A woman was stunned when she realised she’d lost 20lbs (9kg) without even trying to lose weight. Richa Prasad stepped on the scales to find out she’d shed some pounds unknowingly – and said it’s all down to picking up some “European habits”.
The 39-year-old moved from the US to Portugal several months ago, and realised she’d adopted certain lifestyle changes that have helped her easily lose weight.
Approximately 16 per cent of adults considered obese in Europe, but Portugal falls just below this mark, and experts believe it’s due to the lower amount of ultra-processed foods, less unhealthy food marketing and less reliance on transport for short journeys. Richa has realised the small changes have done wonders for her waistline, and shared some of her findings since making the move to Portugal.
The American content creator said she first started applying a “slow and steady mindset” to everything, including mealtimes and working. When she lived in the US, Richa said she would often “eat on the go” but when she did this in Portugal, would get weird looks doing this.
The fitness influencer took to YouTube under the username @coachviva and said: “When I first got to Portugal, I’d walk around with a drink in hand, sometimes even having my lunch on [the] go. I felt it was productive knocking out two tasks at the same time. But I noticed people kept giving me weird looks. It turns out that nobody in Europe walks or eats.
“Meals last one and a half to three hours even during workdays, not because they’re eating more, but because they’re pacing themselves for conversation.” She said this same lifestyle habit applies to drinking alcohol as well as “people nurse their drinks for hours… The goal isn’t to drink, it’s to talk.”
She told her viewers that “Shifting our mindset from dramatic, high-stake sprints to steady consistent marches. Meaning you commit to no longer pendulum swinging between being on a diet or being completely off the rails. Meal prepping with military precision or bingeing on takeout when life gets busy… then doing hardcore workouts as punishment for the binge.
“Instead, you do what Europeans do. They don’t diet, they don’t start and stop. They just exist in a steady rhythm, and that’s the shift that changed everything for me.”
Another change Richa made was that she stopped snacking, and instead had regular scheduled meals. She ate breakfast at 7am, brunch at 10am, lunch at 4pm and dinner at 6pm. She said Europeans “by and large, they don’t snack, they tend to eat at set meal times and do mini intermittent fasting of three to four hours in between meal times.
“This, in turn, reduces the chances of giving in to cravings because you’re no longer making a decision every time an urge to eat strikes you. Remember, willpower drains as the day goes on. So the fewer times you have to make a decision the better.”
Richa also said she recommends having a “non-guilt approach” to what you eat and said, “if you don’t enjoy it, you’re never satisfied.” She concluded: “If you love food, eat like you love food. Europeans eat real butter, full-fat cheese and croissants without guilt.
“They don’t eat with a restrictive mentality where even as you’re digging into that croissant, every bite is taken with guilt, because guess what happens when you eat with guilt: you don’t enjoy it, you’re never satisfied. So you keep eating more and more chasing satisfaction, which ironically becomes harder and harder to achieve because the more you eat, the worse you’re feeling. You’re not actually loving food.”
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