Cusco, Peru
Lake Titicaca, Peru
The Inca Trail, Peru
Mancora, Peru
Mancora, Peru
Lima, Peru
Lima, Peru
Arequipa, Peru
Since February I’ve completely changed my way of living. I suffered from a few health problems and decided to totally re-haul my eating habits and levels of activity. Since then, I’ve started eating really well, started drinking more water, and started working out (or being active in some way) for an hour every day. And I feel – ta da! – just like every single resource told me I would feel. Absolutely amazing. Healthy, happy, and full of energy. I’ve turned into one of those people who likes researching new ways to prepare kale and says things like “super-fruit”.
While some of the things I ate in South America are actually components of my new diet (quinoa, acai, goldenberries, avocados, dark chocolate, and, uh, red wine), many of the things I consistently had were foods I’m now trying to avoid eating a lot of: red meat, pork, white bread, potatoes, cheese, white rice. It’s no wonder that my health suffered and I often felt so sluggish and lazy over the past year; most of my meals in Central and South America consisted of a combination of these foods. It was simply the cheapest and most convenient way to eat.
While not every meal I had in this part of the world was unhealthy (as evidenced by some of those delicious and nutritious meals shown above), I’m happy to be thinking more seriously about my health. I feel healthier and stronger than ever, and I’ve lost ten pounds. I still have a few more 2013 resolutions to tackle, but in the meantime, I may just look up a few recipes for cooking with chayote.
Do you consider yourself a “healthy” person? Have you ever struggled to maintain your health while you travelled?
12 comments
I’m a hella healthy person 🙂 The whole time I was in Thailand I basically ate fruit, unless I found a fancy raw food place to eat at (more common than you’d think), it was easy-peasy!
Yes, I found Southeast Asia to have a few more healthy options than South America! Loved all that tropical fruit…
I’m so happy to hear you’re feeling lighter and brighter my dear – long may it continue!
I’ve never struggled with my health as much as I am on this leg of my trip, it doesn’t matter how much I successfully avoid alcohol or starchy carbs (and as you know I’m an active person and a vegetarian) I am defeated by the dreaded delhi belly time and time again 🙁 I have however managed to stay hovering under 60kgs though… gotta love those silver linings! I’ve just started to take oil of oregano… fingers crossed!
The food in Peru looks Deliiiiish!! xxx
It’s such a shame that your health is suffering a bit in Central America – the body can do strange things sometimes! You are one of the healthiest people I know and you are such inspiration to me now…it’s really amazing how great I feel thanks to good food and lots of activity. Here’s hoping you feel much better soon (and that we get good enough internet to Skype)! xx
I know, sadly ironic really!
Again I really am very happy to hear you’re feeling so great after you’re post travel winter blues 🙂
Good news – my hostel here in Granada does have good internet, I’m here for several days, you just let me know when is good for you xx
Oh, wonderful to hear about the hostel! I’m going to a ball Saturday night (fancy, I know) and will most likely be drunk all of Sunday for St. Patrick’s Day, but Monday night might work if you’re still in Granada??
Oh wow, I totally forgot that this was my blog and not a private message on Facebook. May have been that bottle of wine with dinner…so much for being healthy this weekend!
Haha just think of all those antioxidants you’re consuming!! I’ll switch this over to a FB PM 🙂 Have a BLAST at the ball (you’ll enjoy it even moreso now you’re feeling fab I’m sure!) xx
I guess I’m a pretty healthy person! Being a vegetarian, I eat a lot of fruits, vegetables, whole grain carbs and try to limit my sugar.
Being healthy while travelling can be really difficult, though!
I agree that it can be difficult to stay healthy while travelling! I’m not a vegetarian but I know that that would especially be hard in certain parts of the world…
It wasn’t until I revisited Peru as an adult that I realized just how much I enjoy their food. It looks like you managed to eat considerably healthy in spite of their starchy foods. That first dish look amazing, and I’d devour the second Mancora dish in a heartbeat! 😉
Yes, Peruvian food was my favourite in South America! The ceviche was SO good…