German food and its effect on your weight

I wonder, why do you consider pasta to be healthier than spätzle, why ham healthier than schnitzel?

Have you ever been to Whole Foods in America? What I like most about American stores over German ones is VARIETY. The stores in my hometown all have a large (and growing) health(ier) food section which if placed in an Aldi or Leidl would take up half of the store or more. Also, imo, there is NO comparison when it comes to produce. The quality in most major grocery stores here is crap, the best (from my experience) has been in Edeka.

L8...stores in Germany tend to be smaller than ones in the US, of COURSE the organic section at home would take up half the space of a store here.
A supermarket chain is not the best place to go for fruit and veg anyway.

You're not being serious are you?

You get loads of health food stores in Germany as well though.

I'd be careul though if all things labelled 'organic' are local as well. I'd rather buy the 'normal' fruit and veg if it's regional rather than the supposedly healthier organic stuff that gets flown in from the other side of the world.

It's the other way around. "Snack foods" is a euphemism for "junk food".

I always thought a snack is just something you eat between meals which is not a proper meal, but regardless of being good/bad, i.e. yoghurt, fruit, a passtrie, a bretzel...

Monk - Thats exactly my point... you could fit 3 or 4 German stores in one grocery store from home, because we have VARIETY. Which is what I'm trying to point out. There are healthier options to almost everything and unless you go to a specialty store here or far out of your way, its difficult to find them or the options are far fewer. I'm not in the city center so I don't have as many options as others may have.

For those who don't know what Whole Foods is - http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/ I remember reading something awhile back that they are coming to Germany, is it true?

Nope.
You can fit four or fives German stores into one American store becasue of the lack of space here / different approach to town and traffic planning.

I don't buy a whole bunch of stuff but I doubt there is much that you can get in the USA that you can't get here tbh.

American eco food chains coming to Germany?
There's already 2 or 3 chains operating in Munich plus the regular supermarkets are rapidly expanding their range in that direction so I doubt it.

The regular UK supermarket chain has already said they don't plan on coming to Germany.
margins are too tight.

The Rewe by my place is just as big and offers just as much variety as any normal grocery store in North America.

I read recently that they are coming to Britain, everybody seems to think that the food business is so cut throat here that major players, like Tescos in Britain and probably Wholefoods, won't set up here because they can't make money, sorry, enough money.

I agree with ER, REWE are good, wish there was one in my village.

I haven't been in Rewe but I do get their advertisements in my mailbox. I'll have to look where there is one near me and give them a try then.

Whole Foods is in the UK and it isn't that popular - Times Online.
Nowt wrong with Basic if that's your thing, tend to use Voll-Corner more myself here.
Yeah German food gets classed as heavy, UK food as stodgy, US food as big, Eastern European food as fried, Russian food as cabbage...

REWE is the new trading name for all the upper end supermarkets in the REWE group that previously had different names.
Penny is excluded as that is REWE's no-frills brand.
They always had a "least worst" reputation (this is Toytown ) and seem to be at the forefront of stre improvements and new services eg cashback.

I agree, Rewe are pretty good, but they are definitely not the cheapest..

Hello everyone

I am hoping to move to Berlin this year sometime, but am 57, single, chronically sick with ME and unable to work, so some might think it foolish However, I have built up contacts and have a couple of friends who will help.

On diet, I am worried now! I do not need more weight! It is good to be warned though. I wonder whether one of the factors is the stress of the adjustment, as it has been found that stress can make the metabolism slow in some especially older people. I will keep off the high fat and sugary foods for the first year. Ha! Some hope! I love the ice cream and pastries and potato salad. One good thing is the cheap fruit and veg compared tot he UK.

I wonder that too, haha, but just in case she is:
Pasta is lower in calories than Spätzle (Spätzle are made with eggs, normal pasta is not), and often Spätzle are fried and with cheese, which makes a huge difference in fat/cals; of course the sauce can make a difference too, I usually eat tomato sauce, not sauce like carbonara.
Ham is also a lot lower in fat than Schnitzel, especially breaded Schnitzel. Ham & Chicken / Turkey breast usually only contain 2-3% fat.

I find there is much more healthy prepared and restaurant food in the US and UK. And because I lived in Seattle, much more healthy fresh seafood. In the Seattle I lived on Whole Foods prepared meals, organic and vegetarian frozen food. Also lots of Vegetarian and asian restaurants. If you don't eat meat or poultry, the variety in Germany is pretty scarce. And just like anywhere, if you cook all your own food it's easier to eat healthy. I just don't have time and don't like to spend all my time going to markets and cooking.

I actually lost some weight, I don't credit the food, but frequent trips to the sauna. I heard that the average person can burn up to 500 calories for 30 minutes in the sauna. There is no real explanation as to why European women are slim, probably has to do with cigarettes, they smoke a lot, and that actually suppresses hunger. Also more people walk and take public transport than in the US, Canada, or Australia.

Yogurt, cheese, and whole grain bread are very good for weight loss. These foods are dense in nutrients and relatively low in calories vs. other foods. I noticed Doner Kebabs are far more popular than McDonald's as far as junk food this is relatively healthy compared to Maccas, you have a little bit of meat, Turkish bread, vegetables, and yogurt.

That must be BS (but I'd quite gladly be corrected )

Saunas actually do help with slimming down but it does not replace exercise. My favorite workouts include Tae Bo and Boxing. Tae Bo is basically a hybrid of Thai boxing and Aerobics. I know an instructor in Düsseldorf who teaches what he calls Thairobics, but its really just a less intense version of Tae Bo. Any exercise that involves a lot of punching and kicking will burn calories.

but how does sitting on your ass in a sauna burn calories? You'll definitely lose water but other than the minimal energy it takes to perspire how does it help you lose weight?

Well you are sitting in intense heat, that causes you to sweat and sweat a lot.

I'm still not following you, how does that burn calories?

I am not quite sure, I do know that people who regularly bathe in saunas tend to have better skin, overall better respiratory health, and tend to be fairly slim. There are many people I know who do not go to saunas and are perfectly healthy. Boxing is one of my favorite workouts. I am 32 but no one who has met me has ever thought I was over 30, my girlfriend thought I was 20. I just tend to follow healthy habits.

I'm not debating that sauna's have many benefits but sitting in one doesn't burn many more calories than sitting in an office let alone the ridiculous claim of 500 calories.

A sauna will help you excrete water and salt by perspiring which can reduce water retention but as many women know, water weight isn't real weight as it is constantly fluctuating.

ER - you'll be glad to know that sauna increases metabolism. Not so ridiculous a claim.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?d...;indexed=google

Drinking green tea also increases your metabolism.

Find me some evidence to back up the 500 calorie claim, in fact, find me some evidence that states that sitting in a sauna for 30 minutes will burn even half that amount and I'll take back my claim that it's a ridiculous statement.

It's better to stand in the sauna than sitting, as standing burns more calories than sitting .

Many things can increase your metabolism, drinking Green Tea is one, Coffee does the same too since it increases your heart rate. People who lift weights often have faster metabolism, most people after 30 lose muscle mass and that is why many people gain weight after that age.

This is what I found about Saunas and calorie burning:
http://www.cankar.org/sauna/health/health.html

@Zeelander - As much as you might "tend to follow healthy habits" "looking 20" is more due to your genetics than anything else.

Well, an hour of not doing much is about a 100 calories or so. An hour of high UV sauna "claims" a 1000 calories. :advertising smiley:
I'm not saying that you'll get 1000 or even 500 calories out of an hour in the sauna but the effects of increased metabolism *might* do it - that is why I wrote 'not so ridiculous claim'. No absolutes on my part.

Me? I prefer running and biking.

You might like this http://bodywrapme.com/infrared_sauna

Edit: and see ZZ link above - a bit more balanced.

I stopped drinking beer for 1 month and dropped 5kgs. Beer is the the killer weight gainer for blokes.

No, even if you take into consideration any increase in metabolism that definitely will not do it. Even if you spent that half hour cycling, you'd only burn about 250 calories. I love sauna's and believe me if it were that easy, I'd be in them all the time but unfortunately it's not. If you want to burn calories you actually have to get off your ass.

You are probably right, my girlfriend eats some sort of fast food about four times a week but is quite fit, doesn't really exercise as much as I do. I guess I am lucky. But healthy habits can benefit people. Anyone can improve themselves, it requires hard work and discipline.

Fyi, I have two alcoholic drinks a day, sometimes beer, sometimes wine. You can eat and drink what you want, you just have to watch your portions.

Whether or not saunas help you lose weight, they clearly have positive effects on respiration and the skin.

Agreed ZZ, everything in moderation, and get off your but and do something. : )
Easier said then done : )

edit: and I wholeheartedly agree with Timmeh! Beer is the devil for guys! : )

Hmm, nope sorry - biking is my sport - depending on type and workout while biking you can burn quite a bit more; (did you read those links?)

Biking, for me, based on my racing weight (last year - 1 hour)

Exercise Type Calories
bicycling, >20 mph, racing, not drafting bicycling 1260
bicycling, <10 mph, leisure, to work or for pleasure (Taylor Code 115) bicycling 315
bicycling, 10-11.9 mph, leisure, slow, light effort bicycling 473
bicycling, 12-13.9 mph, leisure, moderate effort bicycling 630
bicycling, 14-15.9 mph, racing or leisure, fast, vigorous effort bicycling 788
bicycling, 16-19 mph, racing/not drafting or >19 mph drafting, very fast, racing general bicycling 945
bicycling, general bicycling 630
unicycling bicycling 394

I'm assuming that "you" really meant "one" I'm ok on the calories side, really. Off my training right now due to a heavy work year and having my weekends screwed by travelling and 3 bikes stolen ... and the nice intro to the German food (just to bring it back on topic)

I don't do Sauna much - once a year or so, and just for the relaxation part.

Thanks for the reply. You have convinced me in regard to Spätzle/Pasta, and I agree that breading is bad.
I still wonder about your claim that ham is lower on fat than unbreaded Schnitzel. What kind of ham are you referring to? I am under the impression that most samples of ham contain lots of fat.

eatting habits, .. I remember when I first got here, I was force feed 5 meals a day, .. then the weight gain actually came from the beer not food. I think the german 'menu' is very balanced and arranged. I find that when I eat now it is more balanced than it was before, but for that damm beer everything would be ok... weight wise

Even unbreaded Schnitzel is usually fried though (and fried = greasy, even if you only use a little, it is more), I am not sure if the meat used in Schnitzel by itself is also higher in fat than the one used in ham. Ham = Kochschinken (of course without the fat on the side) or Roher Schinken (with the fat on the side removed as well) or Lachsschinken.
They are all about the same in regards of fat. Just check the nutrition facts the next time you go to the grocery store.

Yes, I was speaking in generalities, I thought that was a given considering the number of calories you burn during an activity has many variables, 2 of which being the level of fitness of the participant and the intensity. Believe it or not, I'm not a complete idiot.

If you want to lose weight and keep healthy, the main thing you need in your diet is FIBER...helps you poop and maintain a healthy digestive system.

Fiber is found all over here in Germany, much more so than in the States.. For me, every morning its a bowl of oatmeal with some sort of berries...lots of fiber there. Apple in the middle of the day, dark bread with salmon. At night I eat a passion fruit (insane amount of fiber) and I always cook a bowl of lentils and vegetable mix. I cant eat the German food everyday, maybe once a month as a treat. You should at least once a week just splurge on one meal, eat whatever you want. JUST ONE MEAL THOUGH!

Aster, oats and berries and dark bread and vegetables are like errrrm German foods as well.

It's the "traditional" heavy dishes that carry the calories.
Roast Turkey and squash follwed by apple pie and cream is heavy on the calories.
Doesn't mean all American foods are that way.

most hams are fairly low fat. You can buy them with 2-4g/100g fat. This compares to tinned tuna without oil with 1g/100g, chicken breast with about 2g/100, filet steak with about 8g/100g, lamb with 10+g/100g.

Boxing and Tae Bo are more fun ways to stay in shape than Bicycling and Jogging. Boxing burns more calories and also sculpts the body, ever notice how well built most boxers are?

Especially their noses.

That muscular built doesn't do anything for me - I love guys with a little Waschbärbauch.

Digestion tip #305: yoghurt and Müsli...mmmmmmmmmh!

Am I the only one who came here, started eating german food a lot of the time and LOST weight?

I jump rope almost every day as I can burn the most calories jumping rope in the shortest amount of time.

I eat mostly German food, and have lost weight. A lot of the food I find in my supermarket is actually fairly healthy.