Would I lose weight if I moved to Germany?

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Alwin E

Most educated Germans are "health-conscious", but there's the same choice of food than is in the US. You can eat exactly the same stuff here than you're used to.

Me myself being an exchange student to France once, I took up their habit of eating little of good stuff, and never gained weight ever since, even if I now live in Germany. "Eating good things, and little of them" is a perfect rule to follow.

That doesn't mean you can't swallow a tex-mex burger all in one. That's perfectly fine. And I don't think health depends so much on nutrition. It rather depends on how much fun your life is. And traveling IS fun, wherever to. Settling, however, is not. Once you settle, you'll sit on your property like an elephant, and never move again.

dbdoit

Let's see when I visit America(Connecticut) and go grocery shopping; The cart is by the door when you walk in the store. Then your groceries are bagged for you and placed in the cart which you wheel to your car. You then drive home, press a button to open the garage door. You drive your car in and then unload your groceries to the nearby kitchen.
In Germany the cart is out in the parking lot. You have to put a coin in to use it. You do your shopping and at the cash register you load your groceries back into that cart. You wheel the cart out to your car and load the groceries into whatever your system is(I use LL Bean Tote Bags). You then return the cart to get your coin back. You then drive home. Park your car and walk a bit with your groceries til you get to your kitchen.
Another fact; From my house I can walk to my grocery store(Rewe, Lidl, Aldi, Teegut, etc), Bakery, Pharmacy, Doctors, Post Office, Bank, tailors, etc. How many American can or Would do that?
To answer your Question? Yes, You Will lose weight if you adjust to a European way of doing things. I have. I am now over 50 and weigh the same as when I was 20.

Kitten

I don't think the move would make that much of a difference, I think a lot of it is food culture.
I am German (living in the UK) but moved to the US during an internship, I did find it quite hard to get hold of what I considered fairly 'normal' food, can't really think of a lot examples now but it did seem harder to do a 'healthy shop'. You are also right to some extent about ingredients, US products tend use corn syrup in pretty much everything, which is not exactly the healthiest option whereas it is not used as much in Europe. There also tends to be less preservatives in food and the standard for rearing lifestock is a lot higher so the meat is higher quality and healthier, at least for beef I know that to be true.
Furthermore, eating out in Europe is expensive. When we lived in the US we ate out a LOT, just because it was available, convenient and cheap. Eating out obviously is not a good choice health wise because you do not know what is in your food even if you try and make fairly healthy choices and the portion sizes in the US were HUGE to me.
So in short, I do think where you live makes a difference but moving to another country is not necessarily going to make the change for you if you do not change your approach to food yourself, and vice versa, you can still lose weight where you are as long as you take the right approach to it!
As the previous poster said, a little of the good stuff, rather than a huge piled up plate of it!

1st Lady09

No you could lose weight by working out and not sitting on your behind! Get out exercise and drink lots of water and watch what you eat. Those rules apply wherever you go

celebrate_me_home_2000

From my opinion, I think Germans have gained a little on their tummies over the years. It is not because of the German food. It is because of the fast food.

When I arrived in Germany, there were not that many McDonald's and many germans would not venture in the golden arches like today. I am not blaming McDonald's. I just noticed that many germans have gained more weight. Maybe Germans are eating more starchy foods.

As far as American food, German is a western nation so you can pretty much shop and get American "type" food.

If you stick to eating German foods whatever that means, walk, Germans walk a lot, you may maintain your weight or even lose some weight.

One thing Germans do not like is waste. For instance, if you go into an all you can eat noodle shop. They will not let you have another plate if you don't finish the plate that you have.

kasey t

I live in Germany and recently had family to visit. Something that they said they noticed is that Germans don't eat nearly as much as Americans. They usually have a small breakfast such as a croissant ot roll, lunch is the bigger meal and a small snack like meal at night. Nothing is ever to big. It is possible, but in reality you could bring all the bad habits with you.

julia d

in germany people think you get fat when you move to america, im german and moved to the states over a year ago and lost weight. its so much better food in germany you probably put some on...

rio-blanco

Beware of traditional german cuisine. It is very tasty but also very caloric. Remind Americans and Germans are the fattest people in the world. I donot believe that you will loose weight in Germany. Here a little bit cake with whipped cream, there sauce with sour cream and then german bread with Schinken or Mettwurst will do their work.

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