Eastern Europeans practice what we preach

 

By Mark R. Hailey

ACE Certified Personal Trainer

 

 

Obesity... Not a day goes by when we are not confronted with this condition.  Over 60% of our friends, neighbors, coworkers and school children are moderately to severely overweight.

 

The media bombards us with a barrage of doomsday reports on the obesity epidemic in America; warning of the fall out from diabetes, heart disease, high cholesterol and rising health care costs associated with being over weight. Reminding us always to eat right and exercise.

 

With obesity so rampant in our country, we often forget that it is generally a Western condition.

 

This never became more evident to me than on a recent trip to visit my friend Alla in the Eastern European country of Latvia.

 

Latvia is the ex-Soviet republic now part of the European Union, and its capital, Riga, has a population of 800,000.  When I landed, the first thing that struck me was how gorgeous these people were. Upon closer inspection I realized that almost everyone was in great physical condition. An entire population of thin, physically fit people.

 

This above average fitness level seemed to show no age or social prejudice. Cab drivers, office workers, store clerks, bank tellers, street vendors, students, bar tenders, and so on were all in great physical condition.  In a large population, busy about their day, I did not see one obese person. There was a certain Twilight Zoneish quality about it.

 

As a Health and Fitness writer, and Certified Personal Trainer,  this is not something I could simply ignore.  Why did these people look this way? Genetically they are no different from Americans... but, look at them.  The first place to start was with my friend Alla.

 

Alla is a stunning Russian woman in her early forties; whose own fitness level exceeds that of most American women 10 years her junior.

 

I eagerly anticipated her disclosing some “Iron Curtain” fitness secrets long hidden from the West. Or, a “National Ministry of Health Plan” diligently executed by the population. I was crushed to find she did not seem to have a clue as to what I was talking about, and quickly tired of my 3rd degree questioning of Eastern European fitness habits.  Her stock answer became: “Marrk... dis ist how vee loook... vee dunt do anysing special”.

 

Over the course of my visit I realized that she was right; Eastern Europeans do not do anything special.  That, in it self, was the key that helped solve the mystery. I was in a unique position to observe a population that seemed to effortlessly achieve the kind of body that so many Americans struggled but failed to realize.

 

The pieces of the puzzle began to fall into place on day one.  I had rented an apartment in Riga, and needed to buy groceries. Supermarkets in Latvia are just as modern as ours with one exceptional difference... the content. This is a cash and carry society that shops for dinner 4 and 5 nights a week. There is no driving the SUV up the market and loading 15 bags of groceries. You buy what you can carry home.

 

Noticeably absent were the prepackaged and processed meals full of saturated fats and trans fatty acids that dominate American shelves. Dinner is prepared each night from raw materials, not unzipped and stuck in the microwave. Sodas were sold individually in 6 oz. and 12 oz. bottles. There were wide varieties of breads, but the slices were a fraction of the size of bread sold in the US. Snacks, like chips and a Russian form of cheese puff, were available, but in grotesquely smaller bags than on our shelves. What candy bars I saw were easily half the size of the ones sold here.

 

Another piece of the puzzle came in the meals themselves. Eastern European cuisine is nothing remotely what one would consider “diet food”. Bread, cheese, sausage, meat, potatoes, beets and cabbage in endless combinations dominated the menu. Beer and wine also flowed like rivers.  What made the food more “diet friendly” was the portion size.

 

After decades of Soviet shortages and feeding a family on what you could carry home, these are a people who know how to stretch a meal. Portion sizes, by necessity, were simply smaller. This, as an American, was something I had to get used to. Alla would complain about being full after dinner, and I had felt we had just finished appetizers.  I estimated that, on average, Latvians consumed around 500 calories less per day than Americans did.

 

Another piece of the fitness puzzle was to be found in transportation  Between the urban landscape, and years of Soviet rule, few people in Riga have cars.  Trains, trams, buses and taxies efficiently move the population around. In-between the public transportation systems they walk... and walk a lot.

 

Being summer,  I saw thousand upon thousands of people out walking everywhere; and these people could really move.  Alla, who is several inches shorter than I am, clipped along at a pace that I was hard pressed to keep up with; and she was in heels. At the pace and distance these people traveled, they easily burned an additional 500 calories more, per day, than Americans. This, combined with their caloric intake,  puts them at a 1000 calorie advantage over us, and their bodies reflected this difference. Hang on.... it gets worse.

 

The final piece of the puzzle came in the form of leisure activities. From medieval, through Soviet, to present day,  Eastern Europeans embrace the importance of wellness and personal health. Spas, banyas, saunas, massage facilities and mineral baths dot the landscape. Many of these ancient practices are incorporated into modern health and fitness clubs. As I walked along Riga’s streets, there seemed to be a “Fitness Klub” on every corner.

 

Unlike Americans, Eastern Europeans can enjoy the cosmetic benefits of fitness early on. They do not have to spend months or years in the gym ridding them selves of excess fat, and building up atrophied muscles. On top of an already lean and toned frame, they can quickly sculpt their bodies into the desired effect.

 

As I wrapped up my trip and bid good-bye to Alla, I reflected on her earlier statement about Latvians not doing anything out of the ordinary to look this way. The cause of their being thin and physically fit was as invisible to them as Americans being over weight and out of shape. Neither culture made a conscious effort to be that way; each is a reflection on their respective life-styles. This comparison brought me back to something I had learned in a Fitness class in college; that the body is like a thermometer; it simply reacts, either positively or negatively, to the stimulus provided.

 

When I touched down at Dulles Airport, the first thing I saw when I went to collect my bags was an overweight couple with 2 obese children. It struck me hard that the condition of this family did not exist where I had just come from. Given the right diet and exercise plan, this family would look just as good as those I had left.

 

When I got home I wanted to see if the two weeks I spent living like a Latvian had any effect on me. When I stepped on the scale I was stunned to find I had lost 8 pounds. I had done nothing to achieve this. I had lived and traveled like my hostess and her friends, and my body naturally reacted to that life style change.

 

Balanced meals, smaller portions, and daily exercise are not foreign notions to Americans. We are inundated with books, articles and government reports touting their benefits. A change in life style is the missing ingredient in that formula to success; and through their own life style, Eastern Europeans unwittingly practice what we preach.

 

 

 

© Copyright Mark R. Hailey