Mit einem vollen Bauch schläft man schlecht; und was man abends isst, macht dick.

Since this blog is about learning German and losing weight, I decided to combine both by having the post title in German so that only like, 3 people who read this actually know what it means. :D

I found the phrase in my German book while reading a short explanation of German/Austrian/Swiss eating habits.  The translated phrase would be: "You sleep poorly with a full stomach and what you eat in the evenings makes you fat."  It's a really interesting concept and, judging by the American obesity rates compared to those in Europe and the timing of meals here verses there, I would bet that it's true.  I've been to Austria twice and I'm pretty sure that in both visits I saw approximately one person who was obese; most of the people there are twigs.  It obviously has something to do with the generally more active lifestyle and the fact that any additives (preservatives, food colorings, etc.) have to be approved by the government before they can be used, but the timing of the meals is important too.

The idea is that your metabolism slows down the later it is during the day, so if you're eating your biggest meal of the day when your metabolism is the slowest, you're not going to burn off those calories nearly as effectively as you would if you ate a large lunch and a small dinner.  It's also difficult to work off a big dinner before bedtime whereas with a big lunch, there's plenty of time left in the day to get in a nice workout.  Since I don't have the time to make (or eat) a big lunch, I've taken to trying to snack on healthy foods throughout the day so my metabolism is always going, but to kind of dwindle toward the end of the day.  I'm also trying not to eat anything after dinner.

Eating healthy and exercising, I'm finding, go completely hand in hand - if I'm exercising I want to eat healthier for the exercise to be more effective and if I'm eating healthier, I want to exercise more to see faster results.  As long as I'm in the circle I'm good.  Hopefully it stays this way.  I just need to keep my motivation up and I'm doing pretty well at that.  Currently I'm very motivated by the idea of seeing people who I haven't seen in a long time and looking different enough that they have to do a double take.  I think that the numbers going down on the scale will only keep me going!  And with that said, I need to get my workout in tonight before I collapse in a pile and fall asleep on the living room floor.

Tschüss!