Summer Slim

In Italy, and especially in Rome, how you look is important! In fact, I would say it's importantissimo! It's almost impossible to determine how old an Italian woman is just by seeing her from the back. She could be 14 or 40, but by her body and her clothes you won't be able to tell (once you see her face, though, the years of sun abuse will clue you in really quickly to her real age, but that's another blog for another day.) The point is, they really put a lot of time and effort into their appearance (especially the women), and we have become so keenly adept at spotting American tourists that it's disturbing. They don't even have to speak and we instantly know that they are not only foreign, but clearly from the Good Ol' US of A.

Anyway, as you all know, we have been here nearly two years at this point (yes, it's really hard for us to believe it, too), and naturally we have begun to live a very Italian lifestyle. And it's more than just our regular intake of espresso! We do strange things now, like eat fruit after dinner and drink Coke Light instead of regular. Of course, with such a change in lifestyle we have naturally begun to see a change in our waistlines as well.

With the onset of summer arriving we decided that maybe we could step it up just a bit and see what would actually happen if we gave it a bit of effort. So we took some advice from an Italian friend who recently lost a lot of weight himself. Basically all we've done is stopped eating carbs at dinner. We still enjoy Chuckie's delicious pasta dishes at lunch time, but for dinner we stick to lean meats (lots of fish) and veggies. Naturally we try to be careful about over-indulging in all of the Italian sweets that call to us around every corner, but of course sometimes you just can't win that battle. In order to make up for those times when we give in to temptation, we've also started a little exercise routine. Just short jogs/walks in the neighborhood. We try to go everyday, but we aren't too hard on ourselves if we don't make it.

Like I said before, most of the work has already been done without us realizing it, and to show you what I'm talking about I present two photos of us as a couple. The first you probably have proudly displayed on your mantel piece at home (just kidding, unless you are our parents) from our wedding announcement, and the second was taken about a week ago. Just look at the difference!! You can really tell with Charles, it's incredible. I look at him everyday and say, "man, when did you get so skinny??" A lot of the time we wonder what we would look like today if we had stayed in America....scary!


The other day I decided that since we are feeling really proud of ourselves and like we're hot stuff it would be a good time to go shopping for a new bikini. I've avoided this task since we arrived in Italy because the only bathing suits you can find have the European cut bottoms. If you're not familiar with this, it is basically a backside half the size of your actual backside. Not exactly a thong (although you can find them quite easily as well), but for a somewhat conservative American girl, it feels like you've got a constant wedgie.

Anyway, I tried a few on, and was pleasantly surprised with how flattering it actually looked! This week we have been blessed with beautiful spring-like weather, and if it stays like this we will probably head to the sea on Thursday. It's still too cold to swim, but maybe we can get a head-start on our summer tans!