7 Italian Phrases to Live Happier

Discover 7 Italian phrases that inspire a healthier, happier relationship with food. Learn how Italian culture encourages mindful eating, slowing down, savoring meals, and building peaceful nutrition habits you can share with clients as a nutrition coach.

2-Tips

By Jennifer Broxterman, RD

Kind Nerd Note: Food isn’t just fuel. It’s connection, presence, and joy, and Italians have mastered this better than almost anyone.

Tip #1:
Italian Wisdom for Nutrition Coaches

Dave and I have been to Italy three or four times now.

We spent our honeymoon wandering tiny side streets, eating slow dinners that lasted for hours, and taking a pasta-making class where our guide walked us through the farmer’s market to pick out fresh meat and cheese, let us hand pick sun-warm tomatoes and basil straight from the garden, and taught us how to roll homemade spaghetti that might still be the best pasta of my life.

On later trips, we went back to hike across the Alps, where tiny mountain restaurants (called rifugi) served big bowls of stew with meat, potatoes, and vegetables, plus crusty bread that cracked open with that perfect soft crunch. It was the kind of meal that feels like being invited into someone’s home after a long day on the trail.

If you haven’t been to Italy, it’s worth going at least once in your lifetime just for the food.

Every time we go back, I’m struck by how relaxed and sacred the Italian food culture feels. There’s no rushing. No guilt. No panic about calories or carbs. Just… presence.

The more I learn about Italian food culture, the more I see how beautifully it aligns with healthy, joyful nutrition. And it’s something I try to translate into my own nutrition coaching practice and share with clients.

Italians often live happier because they have a more relaxed, peaceful relationship with food (and with life). No one in Italy is logging their gnocchi in MyFitnessPal at the table.

Below, let me share seven of the coolest Italian phrases I’ve learned and seen in practice over there.

Tip #2:
7 Italian Phrases to Live a Happier Life

1. The sweetness of doing nothing" – Il dolce far niente

Italians slow down without guilt. They take intentional pauses, enjoy a coffee, laugh with a friend, and don’t rush. Rest isn’t something to earn. It's part of living well.

2. “Make haste, slowly” – Festina lente

They move with intention. They choose one direction and stay with it. This beats rushing through life or chasing five different things at once.

3. “Go for a walk” – Fare una passeggiata

After dinner, Italians go for a walk with family or friends. These evening walks are a ritual: to digest food, reduce stress, reconnect, and anchor the day.

4. “Slowly, slowly” – Piano piano

Everything meaningful is built with patience: good food, good relationships, good work, good health. Build with patience, not pressure.

5. “Years, lovers, and glasses of wine should never be counted” – Anni, amori, e bicchieri di vino

They don’t obsess over age, numbers, calories, daily steps, or deadlines. Those matter far less than how a person actually feels in their life.

6. “Effortless ease” – Sprezzatura

Italians move with calm confidence. Not forced, not loud. Just a grounded, relaxed presence.

7. “Life is beautiful” – La vita è bella

Notice the small joys: the sun on your face, a delicious meal, laughter, a hug with a family member. Choose to savor life instead of rushing through it.

These aren’t just principles for Italians to live by. They’re human ones.

Share this list with your own nutrition clients, and use whatever helps you (and them) live better.

Stay kind + nerdy,   

❤️🐻🌈

Jen Broxterman
Registered Dietitian
Prosper Nutrition Coaching

Thanks for reading. Here are a few additional ways I might be able to help you.

Free
Free Stuff: All Prosper Freebies
Podcast: Podcast Shows
Masterclass: Liftoff Course

Paid
Mini-Course: Accelerator Program
Certification: Nutrition Coaching Certification
  

Jennifer Broxterman, MSc, RD

REGISTERED DIETITIAN & SPORTS NUTRITIONIST
• Award-winning Foods & Nutrition University Professor
• Successful entrepreneur of owner of NutritionRx
• 16 year CrossFit affiliate owner with my husband
• Founder of Prosper Nutrition Coaching & lead nutrition coach