Never underestimate someone when they tell you Milan has a cold winter. And come to think of it, it's not even winter yet! Go figure...
On the "Milanese" note, I'll have to take the opportunity to tell you a little bit about the Lombard capital.
For years I've heard harsh comments about Milan. "It's dirty", "There's nothing to see", "It's boring", "Milanese are rude" and so on. When I first came to Milan, to be honest, I didn't think much of the city, it certainly didn't make a big impact on me. As destiny worked its ways, I ended up getting into a relationship with none other than a Milanese. This brought me a lot closer to the city, since at the time I was studying in Madrid, Spain and we had to take turns in visiting each other. I started really appreciating the historical, artistic and cultural richness of the city. Now, Milan is no Rome, it doesn't have the impressive coliseum or the roman ruins or the great Vatican City, but it has definitely been as important in history.
Being in the center of northern Italy, and neighbouring so many other regions and countries, Milan has been the victim of many quests, in which it has lost many of its monuments and precious possessions, leaving us with what we know today. If you go on a tour that stops in Milano, you'll see that most tours take you to the usual: Il Duomo, Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, La Scala (if you're lucky) and Il Castello Sforzesco. This would encompass a third of what you can really see in this beautiful city.
Il Duomo (above in picture) is the fourth largest Cathedral in the European Union, it's a perfect example of the era's Gothic architecture, and believe me when I say this, I've been in there hundreds of times and every single time it mesmerizes me. Its beauty and perfection are just breath-taking.
If you do your own research before visiting this amazing city, you'll find that it holds some of history's most interesting sites since it was ruled and conquered by so many ethnic groups including Romans, Visigoths, Longobards (which gave the province its name), Celtics and was even under Spanish, French, Austrian and German power. The only unfortunate thing is that because everyone wanted a piece of Milan, there were countless wars hence the lack of fully-standing monuments today.
If Milan is in your future traveling plans, go to the following website which has a lot of info on tours, worth-seeing sites and a lot more. It's a Milanese page so it's trust-worthy:
http://www.visitamilano.it/
On that cold note, I was sitting here wondering why I suddenly started gaining weight and I asked myself one question:
Could the weather have something to do with it?
Ever since it got cold, I noticed my appetite has increased considerably so I did a little research online... It turns out cold weather is indeed a factor in increased appetite. From what I read, it so happens that during winter our bodies need to store more fat in order to keep its temperature and energy stable or at a rate that allows us to continue performing our day-to-day activities.
It does actually make perfect sense in obvious ways. So there it is, cold weather can definitely trigger our appetite; of course, being from the U.S. West Coast, more specifically from South Cal, I never had to worry about a thing like this given that we have pretty decent weather and it's almost always sunny. Can't say the same thing about Milan...
So this definitely makes losing weight a difficult challenge and it gets even more difficult as we're now moving into the year's most festive season with Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's coming up. The problem is they're not one-day holidays, oh no, they're the extended kind; there's always parties, gatherings, work get-togethers, soirees and so on. In other words: endless invitations to all kinds of overeating fests. Now, I love food and I love cooking, so if you're anything like me, who can resist the exquisite tradition of baking cookies and pumpkin pies? Not me that's a given!
Tell me, how does one manage to stay out of the temptation zone? And in addition to that, how does one manage to stay out of the temptation zone in a country like Italy?
If you've been to Italy or like Italian food (who doesn't?!), you probably know that there's no need for a holiday to make us crave everything we see. I mean, I'm talking about the country that introduced us to Gelato (for you beginners that's Italian ice cream...), Biscotti (who's real name is Cantuccini), Pizza, Pasta and Panettone to name a few. Ah, my mouth is watering; now, can you imagine a holiday season in Italy...with cold weather? S-C-A-R-Y.
I'll throw another question at you, how do Italians manage to stay moderately fit?
E.G. I've been recently watching my boyfriend's sister's eating habits and let me tell you it's no conventional Mediterranean diet that's for sure. To give you an idea: the other night she had a plate of Gnocchi, which is a pasta-type dish made of potatoes, Mortadella, which is the Italian name of our Baloney (since it's mainly from the region of Bologna, Italy), and as dessert Torta del Paese which is a chocolate-nut based cake that is popular in the region. Oh yes, and to wash everything down, she had an Italian soda. Can you imagine the fat, the carbohydrates, the sugar and the calories this meal contained? I can't give you an exact number but it's undoubtedly too high. Oh, and I forgot to mention she almost never works out and she drives, she's not one of those I-have-to-walk-everywhere Europeans. If I did this, I couldn't get away with it like she does, I mean she's F-I-T fit.
This makes me want to write my own version of "French Women Don't Get Fat" except of course my book's title would be: "Italian Women Don't Get Fat Either". Kind of like its sequel, or its companion.
But as I said on my last post that we shouldn't look at someone Else's greener grass, I know I must focus on how my own body reacts to certain foods or eating habits and learn which ones I need to stay away from.
So while the weather outside is indeed frightful, it lets me go running every morning without fainting or dehydrating under an otherwise hot California sun.
I guess all big changes take time to adjust to and this is what we have to do: take it one day at a time. Have a great day everyone!
On the "Milanese" note, I'll have to take the opportunity to tell you a little bit about the Lombard capital.
For years I've heard harsh comments about Milan. "It's dirty", "There's nothing to see", "It's boring", "Milanese are rude" and so on. When I first came to Milan, to be honest, I didn't think much of the city, it certainly didn't make a big impact on me. As destiny worked its ways, I ended up getting into a relationship with none other than a Milanese. This brought me a lot closer to the city, since at the time I was studying in Madrid, Spain and we had to take turns in visiting each other. I started really appreciating the historical, artistic and cultural richness of the city. Now, Milan is no Rome, it doesn't have the impressive coliseum or the roman ruins or the great Vatican City, but it has definitely been as important in history.
Being in the center of northern Italy, and neighbouring so many other regions and countries, Milan has been the victim of many quests, in which it has lost many of its monuments and precious possessions, leaving us with what we know today. If you go on a tour that stops in Milano, you'll see that most tours take you to the usual: Il Duomo, Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, La Scala (if you're lucky) and Il Castello Sforzesco. This would encompass a third of what you can really see in this beautiful city.
Il Duomo (above in picture) is the fourth largest Cathedral in the European Union, it's a perfect example of the era's Gothic architecture, and believe me when I say this, I've been in there hundreds of times and every single time it mesmerizes me. Its beauty and perfection are just breath-taking.
If you do your own research before visiting this amazing city, you'll find that it holds some of history's most interesting sites since it was ruled and conquered by so many ethnic groups including Romans, Visigoths, Longobards (which gave the province its name), Celtics and was even under Spanish, French, Austrian and German power. The only unfortunate thing is that because everyone wanted a piece of Milan, there were countless wars hence the lack of fully-standing monuments today.
If Milan is in your future traveling plans, go to the following website which has a lot of info on tours, worth-seeing sites and a lot more. It's a Milanese page so it's trust-worthy:
http://www.visitamilano.it/
On that cold note, I was sitting here wondering why I suddenly started gaining weight and I asked myself one question:
Could the weather have something to do with it?
Ever since it got cold, I noticed my appetite has increased considerably so I did a little research online... It turns out cold weather is indeed a factor in increased appetite. From what I read, it so happens that during winter our bodies need to store more fat in order to keep its temperature and energy stable or at a rate that allows us to continue performing our day-to-day activities.
It does actually make perfect sense in obvious ways. So there it is, cold weather can definitely trigger our appetite; of course, being from the U.S. West Coast, more specifically from South Cal, I never had to worry about a thing like this given that we have pretty decent weather and it's almost always sunny. Can't say the same thing about Milan...
So this definitely makes losing weight a difficult challenge and it gets even more difficult as we're now moving into the year's most festive season with Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's coming up. The problem is they're not one-day holidays, oh no, they're the extended kind; there's always parties, gatherings, work get-togethers, soirees and so on. In other words: endless invitations to all kinds of overeating fests. Now, I love food and I love cooking, so if you're anything like me, who can resist the exquisite tradition of baking cookies and pumpkin pies? Not me that's a given!
Tell me, how does one manage to stay out of the temptation zone? And in addition to that, how does one manage to stay out of the temptation zone in a country like Italy?
If you've been to Italy or like Italian food (who doesn't?!), you probably know that there's no need for a holiday to make us crave everything we see. I mean, I'm talking about the country that introduced us to Gelato (for you beginners that's Italian ice cream...), Biscotti (who's real name is Cantuccini), Pizza, Pasta and Panettone to name a few. Ah, my mouth is watering; now, can you imagine a holiday season in Italy...with cold weather? S-C-A-R-Y.
I'll throw another question at you, how do Italians manage to stay moderately fit?
E.G. I've been recently watching my boyfriend's sister's eating habits and let me tell you it's no conventional Mediterranean diet that's for sure. To give you an idea: the other night she had a plate of Gnocchi, which is a pasta-type dish made of potatoes, Mortadella, which is the Italian name of our Baloney (since it's mainly from the region of Bologna, Italy), and as dessert Torta del Paese which is a chocolate-nut based cake that is popular in the region. Oh yes, and to wash everything down, she had an Italian soda. Can you imagine the fat, the carbohydrates, the sugar and the calories this meal contained? I can't give you an exact number but it's undoubtedly too high. Oh, and I forgot to mention she almost never works out and she drives, she's not one of those I-have-to-walk-everywhere Europeans. If I did this, I couldn't get away with it like she does, I mean she's F-I-T fit.
This makes me want to write my own version of "French Women Don't Get Fat" except of course my book's title would be: "Italian Women Don't Get Fat Either". Kind of like its sequel, or its companion.
But as I said on my last post that we shouldn't look at someone Else's greener grass, I know I must focus on how my own body reacts to certain foods or eating habits and learn which ones I need to stay away from.
So while the weather outside is indeed frightful, it lets me go running every morning without fainting or dehydrating under an otherwise hot California sun.
I guess all big changes take time to adjust to and this is what we have to do: take it one day at a time. Have a great day everyone!
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