My family and I travel quite a bit, however, this was my first time trying to be health conscious while still enjoying myself. I noticed a lot of things while I was in France and Italy. First, their food is fresh and simple. Most sauces were a simple olive oil based sauce with fresh lemon and herbs. Even the pizza manages to seem light and figure friendly, thanks to their wood ovens. In my opinion, this is the key to success. Keep it simple and let the ingredients shine through. I am moving to Paris on September 15th! so...hopefully this simple eating will agree with me :)
Overall, I think I did very well watching my portions and sampling everything. Here are a few of my tricks:
1. I choose to skip the bread (for the most part) in Italy because I don't care for their bread, while in France, I enjoyed it.
2. Share, share share. We ordered mutiple entrees and appetizers and desserts..and shared. This way you aren't stuck eating an entire plate of creamy risotto by yourself (not that that would be s0 bad... lol)
3. Sad but true fact. On normal family vacations, I have been known to eat gelato MULTIPLE times a day. More than one scoop at each sitting. This time, I tried to limit it to once per day. There were a few days where I did not have any at all.
4. Water, water water..and red wine...and a few limoncellos...but nothing crazy.
5. I ran at least a 5k 6 out of the 11 days I was gone. Book a hotel with a gym..I felt TOO guilty to walk by it and not stop in...
Some food highlights:
1. Entire Seabass, de-boned in front of us by our lovely assistant waiter, Mei.
2. A HUGEMONGO bowl of chocolate mousse..for 2.
3. Veggie Pizza in Venice :)
4. Vanilla Pan Seared Scallops in France
5. HUGE white asparagus in France. Out of this world good.
6. Delicious, authentic vegetarian falafel
Needless to say, this girl is back watching what she eats :). To be truthful, I've taken a month off of really being food conscious. It was an unintentional break..that I actually didn't like. I realized I enjoy eating healthy, whole foods, watching my portions and indulging every now-and-then. So I'm back..and it feelsss soooo niceeeee....
I am making turkey burgers tonight with baked sweet potato fries and asparagus!
Here are a few cute tips I saw in my SELF mag while I was lounging at the pool:
1. Cake's just not that into you. HEHEHE. Agreed. But totally worth it once in a while
2. Make sure you can ID the animal..scary..but true.
3. Don't buy food where you buy tires. Honey Buns are not food items people.
4. Your hips are not a fridge. AKA you don't have to eat everything.
5. Cut yourself a break! Don't forget to ENJOY!
I leave you with some pics of my adventures!
mousse au chocolat!
Don't worry. I shared this bad boy. Falafelllll in Le Marais, Paris, France.
Mei and the sea bass.
Sisters!
Gondolas!
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What fun photos - looks like it was an awesome trip, I would love to visit Europe.
ReplyDeleteI think it also helped a lot that we walked EVERYWHERE. we did very little driving and i suspect walked at least 6 miles a day. Also the portions in Europe i think are a bit smaller. I definitely agree that sharing is a great way to go so you can sample multiple dishes and don't feel compelled to finish any particular dish.
ReplyDeleteDo you haVE any more food photos????
I loved the food in Italy when I studied abroad there! It was fantastic...did you eat a lot of gelato? Also..I skipped the bread there too...it was very bland and flavorless. I found that the meat was kind of disgusting because it as doused in oil so I stuck to salads and pasta...the gniocci in Florence was amazing. Did you go there?
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh--that makes me miss Europe so much! I spend most of the summer there last year...unbelievable!
ReplyDeleteGlad you had fun!
GELATO---HECK YES!
So jealous!
ReplyDelete