Staying Gluten Free & Maintaining My Weight in Italy - How Do I Do It?
In the last year (I’m writing this in March 2023), I’ve been to Italy 3 times and totalled approximately 10 weeks there!
Despite it being the country of pizza and pasta, it blew me away with how EASY it is to still find gluten free, healthy options - whilst of course, these foods were still consumed!! Just not daily…
Honestly, it’s the cleanest country eating wise I’ve actually been to.
The food is so clean, the produce is amazing, they don’t lace their veggies and salads in copious amounts of oil and there are so many options to choose!
I definitely needed to stay conscious of what I ate - because, just like most women, I find it extremely easy to gain weight and hard to lose. I much prefer to eat with balance and I definitely figured mine out over there.
I also need to stay gluten free (small amounts are fine) as it’s something that has always affected my gut.
I’d love to share some top tips here about staying gluten free and maintaining my weight here with you.
I’ll also share my top restaurant tips and suggestions for Rome because that’s where I’ve spent about 75% of my time!
Firstly though, this is just what works for me. We are all different and it’s really important to understand that before consuming this. I hope you can take some inspiration from it though and apply it to your travels! You may be able to eat more or differently to me as we ALL have different metabolisms and ways of eating that work for us! Please remember this and use this blog as some inspiration, but not to totally copy! What works for me may not work for you, we are so unique!
1. Research the best places to eat ahead of time and make sure some of them serve gluten free pasta if you want that!
I got some hot tips about where to go from a friend of mine who is from Rome. I pin pointed them on the map so that it was super easy for me to remember / find them. I also researched places that served gluten free pasta because – there is actually A LOT!
So many restaurants also have menus out the front and you can easily ask the staff if the serve gluten free pasta.
Eating gluten free is actually really common in Italy, but so many people seem to believe that it’s not.
Pasta at Otello alla Concordia!
The 3 places that I’ve enjoyed a gluten free pasta at have been Mimi e Coco (fav), Voglia di Pizza and Otello.
But, there are so many other places to try that I couldn’t get to! Rome just has so much.
Why do I eat gluten free and should you too? I explain so much in this instagram post and episodes 41 & 42 on Body Bites with Bec.
2. Know that every single other restaurant has multiple low-carb, gluten free dishes too…
Pasta and pizza aren’t a big part of my life anyway, so for the rest of my meals – I actually found it SO easy to eat similar to how I eat at home – which is lower carb and predominantly protein/ veg based.
There are plenty of meals that are like this, whilst also being in line with the culture (which is important for me to experience) that you can enjoy and salivate over,
Some of the meals that I regularly chose and enjoyed were things like:
Melon and prosciutto
Caprese salad (tomatoes and mozzarella)
Meatballs with a side of salad or sautéed cicoria (which is a bitter, green vegetable similar to spinach, sautéed in olive oil and garlic - Italian specialty)
Veal saltimbocca (veal wrapped in prosciutto) with sautéed cicoria
Baked eggplant parmigiana
Literally the best meatballs in the world - from Dilla in Rome.
Breakfast was easy for me too – because I didn’t eat it! It’s not a big deal over here, and I’m used to skipping breakfast or having something small at home anyway.
In the mornings, I would enjoy a black coffee with whipped cream (at least 2-3 tbsp). In Italian this is an ‘Americano con panna’.
Then, I would have a big lunch and dinner (and of course, lots of extra drinks - far more than I normally drink at home).
3. Choose 1 meal where you eat ‘heavier’ and one that’s ‘lighter’ (80% of the time!)
Look, of course there were / are days when you have 2 heavier meals and that’s fine! I’m talking about the average here (which Is my 80/20 attitude always).
So.. what do I mean by this?
The pictures below will give you an idea!!
I’ll have more of a meat based dish or pasta as one of the meals and then the other meal will be a salad, or melon with prosciutto and a side of cicoria, or a caprese…).
Or, I’ll make a salad myself at home.
It’s amazing here though because even when you order said, they don’t lace it in dressing. So, eating out is actually so fine! Often they just give you olive oil to add yourself on the side!! Mind-blowing - they definitely don’t do that in Australia!
4. Steps steps and lots of steps
I LOVE this part about travelling the most….
You can rack up soo many steps (ie burn calories / exercise) whilst taking in the city and enjoying yourself. I do double (sometimes triple) the amount of steps here, so this absolutely helps me be able to maintain a balanced weight - despite the extra calories from all the extra drinks and eating out at every meal (because no matter what you get, it will always be a little higher in cals that what you prepare yourself!)
You want to see the streets and everything there is in a new city right? It’s so exciting walking around.
SO, walk all day! Or, just as much as you can. Especially in Italy - you literally don’t need a taxi for most places as everything is within the city and everything is so exciting.
5. Maintain strength - find a gym and do weights
I research gyms and make sure that I go at least 2 or 3 times per week if I can.
When I’m there, I just focus on weights - because like I said above, I already do so many steps.
I also like to be in and out - so I do heavy weights (for example, 3 sets of about 15-20 reps) on about 4 different machines and I’m done.
It’s super important to maintain your muscle mass as you travel, because like I always say - the less muscle you have, the slower your metabolism will be.
Also, weight training really helps you burn extra calories throughout the day as your metabolism is raised for at least 24-48 hours post weight lifting. So, this also helps a bit with the extra calorie you’ll be consuming by eating out at most meals traveling!
And finally, as promised, here are my favourite restaurant recommendations in Rome & where I stayed on this trip!
Lunch and dinner:
Mimi et coco
Ristorante Dilla
Otello alla Concordia
Armando al pantheon
Coffee:
Ciampini
Le Coronarie
Casa & bottega
San Eustacio coffee
Drinks:
Antica enoteca
Ciampini
Salotto 42
Vino & spuntini
Any bar / restaurant out the front of the pantheon at night, it is just the most insane view!!
If you enjoyed this blog, I speak about everything here in more depth on episode 80 on Body Bites with Bec!
I speak about:
Gut tips whilst travelling
Do you bring all your vitamins along?
How to eat GF / DF when travelling around an area that has limited options
How do you manage to stay away from your sensitivities when out?
Tips to eat HWB around the world
Do you get anxious eating outside your routine? (weight gain)
And finally, because lots of you always ask, here are some of the places that I’ve stayed so far that I want to highly recommend!
Rome apartment 1 (stayed in this about 7 times)
Rome apartment 2 (apt above wasn’t available. This was incredible - just 3 mins away from some of my fav streets)
Rome hotel - Hotel Raphael (I’ve stayed here 4 times!)
Verona hotel (more so boutique apartments. 5 star room, so well priced, fav street in Verona)
Lake Garda resort - Lefay (just breathtaking…)
Other related blogs…
Where I went & stayed in Italy in July 2022
How to build a low carb platter whilst staying on track with your weight loss goals!
