Healthy Danes

Now that I’ve been in Europe for three months, my perspective looking back at the US has really changed, especially in terms of food. Danes are so health conscious and make time for working out and taking care of themselves. At first, it was really frustrating to take a 30 minutes train to class everyday, but I’ve learned to use it as time for me to read or just space out and think. I have never made time for this in the states. I think this alone gives me sanity. But also besides cycling to work or walking everywhere, Danes also work out on top of everything. This isn’t to say that American’s don’t do the same – especially coming from Austin, but it just seems that everyone here does everything: cycles, walks, works out, takes time off to relax, and eats right. And on the topic of eating right, I think that it’s also just natural in Denmark that everyone eats less. Food, here, is expensive. That’s enough to stop me from eating right there. It also comes in small quantities. Everything is tiny like the pieces of fruit, bread rolls, vegetables, packages of meat, and the shrimp. And the meal sizes, if you’re wealthy enough to go to a restaurant, are moderate. There’s no supersizing here, and no transfats! Yay! But even though I still eat more than my host family, it just goes to show, Americans just eat way too much. There’s no reason for us to be eating as much as we do to try to be “getting our money’s worth.” And it’s not just food intake alone, but the whole package that makes the European lifestyle so healthy. Now, if we can only work on smoking issues…..