My husband and I are in Italy right now on a belated 25 year anniversary trip. As a health professional I'm always looking around to the local people, what they eat and how they move!
My first observation- there are no diet drinks. Americans consume these by the gallon and there is not one to be found over here. There are no big gulps, no super sized anything. 95%(I saw a few coke zeros) of the drinks sold were 10 oz or so.
There is no abundance of junk food. At a gas station they have real food to purchase. Very little if any candy/crap- a shocking change to what we see in gas stations in America. I'm thinking of the rolling hot dogs/ nachos/so many choices of chips and candy.
There was also an express bar at each gas station we stopped at. There are no artificial creamers to be found. The only thing you put in your coffee is milk or nothing. There are no mochas or frappuccinos! They serve either expresso or cappuccino- period.
People do not wear workout clothes out and about. They dress nicely- most women are in dresses and men's clothing is fitted. Literally no spandex in sight. Compared to oversized baggy clothes or workout clothes, people here dress well.
The biggest difference was obesity. I saw none. Not one man over 200 lbs(except tourists) or one heavy woman. They are not exercising per se, but they are walking everywhere. It's shocking to see all of the people at a normal weight and makes me so so sad when I think of the people I see in my town daily. And they bike! I saw women over 70 biking in a dress :), there is no age limit when it comes to biking. It's a mode of transportation more than anything else.
In different places that we walked(some very steep stairs) we commented this would never be acceptable in America. No wheelchair access. Many would not be able to get up the step. But here, no one had trouble. Literally 1000's of steps.
The takeaway for me is this... ditch the diet drinks/food. Focus on eating real food only. Cook it if you can. If your grandmother wouldn't recognize it, you should not be eating it(or eating it very often). Walk as much as you can!