Her Active Life

Click here for the Lead Stories

Eating Well on a European Vacation

Posted May 19, 2008 at 02:00 PM by Martinique Haller

Section: Her Health, Her Nutrition, Weight Control

If you’re among the lucky, you might be planning a summer get-away.  Last summer, my wife and I traveled to Europe for about three weeks.  I was, as usual, concerned about eating healthy and had been at my ideal weight for about six months when we left.  Six months earlier I had lost thirty pounds at Weight Watchers and I wanted to keep it that way.

I spent the entire summer before our trip going to physical therapy to work on strengthening and stretching so that I could eventually run again. I continued to ride my bike to work, and to meet friends on weekends. I rode to the grocery store and everywhere else in the neighborhood.  I was excited about my upcoming trip to Europe.  We would be celebrating our first anniversary there and were very excited.  Our plan included a day in London, about a week in Paris and a long weekend in Amsterdam.  After that, she was on to Spain to meet a college friend and I was off for a week in Vienna and Prague to try traveling alone.

Eating well was not easy in Europe, primarily because we were always out.  Food is expensive and the French eat a lot of cheese and meet.  We loved croque-monsieur and the crepes with nutella available on street corners.  We eventually started stopping into little bodegas for an apple or banana since we were sorely missing our usual fruit and vegetable fix. Yes, we were eating lots of cheese, but we were also spending all day walking around. We were there to enjoy ourselves.  Even though I’m a healthy eater, I am not one to obsess, and I don’t want to ever be that person who can’t enjoy themselves on vacation.  There was no way I was going to Europe only to stare down a croissant and wonder just how many calories were lurking inside.  Food is meant to be enjoyed; I’ve always been a believer in that.  I enjoy food more when I’m eating well, when I don’t stuff myself to oblivion and when it tastes amazing. So we enjoyed Europe, albeit cheaply.  This was no 5-star tour of The Continent, this was couch-surfing, cheap beer, sandwiches, and cheap cappuccino the entire time. 

My strategy was to enjoy myself and enjoy the experience. So yes I drank beer until four in the morning with my new Parisian friends.  Yes, I ate croissants and pain au chocolate.  Yes, I drank Czech beer in the Czech Repubic, ate Dutch apple pie (appeltaart) in Amsterdam, and drank melange with apple strudel (Apfelstrudel)in Vienna. But I didn’t take ‘enjoy myself’ to mean ‘eat everything you wouldn’t normally eat and as much of it as you possibly can.’ Walking around Père-Lachaise with an aching stomach would not be any fun.  My other strategy: stay hydrated. We always had bottles of water with us and filled them up whenever we could.  Hydration always helps.

Upon my return home I started right back up again with my physical therapy and riding around town and it felt great.  I had actually missed Chicago in the summer and making my own food at home. Yes, I might have gained a an extra pound or two, but I wasn’t concerned since I jumped right back into my active lifestyle and could finally buy my own groceries again.  If only I could have done as well in my upcoming trip to Cancun as I had done in Europe.  Cancun would prove to be quite different from the Old World.

The picture is the author and her wife enjoying some crepes on the street in Paris.

8 comments, add yours | Permalink | Share this article

Tags: amsterdam, cost of eating, eating healthy, europe, food, france, martinique haller, paris, traveling, vacations, weight loss

Like what you see? Subscribe to our feed!

8 Responses to “Eating Well on a European Vacation” (Leave a reply)