When it came to what we were going to eat in Cuba, I didn't know what to expect -- see my vacation
here. The reviews of our resort were mixed between saying that the food was bland, or that there was nothing wrong with it at all. I knew that we wouldn't be getting French cuisine while we were there, and I'm not much of a sauce person so bland food doesn't bother me anyway.
What I discovered while we were there was a buffet full of fresh fruits, meats, and some vegetables. I am assuming that over time the resorts have figured out the kind of expectations that we have when it comes to food, and have tried their best to provide us all with food that it similar to what we eat at home as there were definitely foods that were imported -- like the jams and jellies that I liked to put on my crepe-like pancake as there was no syrup.
But this is beside the point. The food that I ate in Cuba was fresh and -- mostly -- local, and I lived my days eating foods that I wouldn't normally be eating at home. I ate very little meat and focused more on the fruits and salads, breads and rice that were available to me -- because there was no junk food for me to gobble up, except for colas.
What I didn't notice then, that I figured out once I was back in Canada, was that my body was detoxing from all the foods back at home, and, as soon as I started back into my old habits at home, I got sick.
While I was laying at home sick on the sofa, I watched a couple of documentaries on Netflix -- I loooove documentaries on Netflix. One of them was a show about food and the effects that it has on our body called
Hungry for Change.
As I was laying there exhausted from the illness that I had developed from the food that I had eaten when I came home, and realised that I had been exposed to such fresh food -- and nothing else -- while I was away, I knew that I had to go back to what I was eating like in Cuba.
I'm not going to lie to you, I still eat chips, drink pop, and go out for supper to places that we really shouldn't be going, but my main focus is on vegetables and fruits. I eat salads and fresh cut veggies every day, and I eat fruit and nuts on my porridge instead of brown sugar. I have made little adjustments here and there in my diet that have made a huuuuuge difference to my body that I would have never figured out had I not gone to Cuba.
Most of you that have been following along for a while know that I have been going through a weight loss period for about five years now -- read the history
here. While I haven't done a "Weight Update" in quite a while, you can consider this my newest one.
Around this time last year I decided I wanted to lose a couple more pounds -- the last of my weight loss goal -- and I did it by counting calories, etc. It was difficult, and took me a long time to achieve my goal. Some days I felt like I was practically starving myself, but I never felt good, healthy. My asthma became a serious issue again during my pregnancy seven years ago, and I was still relying on my steroid inhaler a lot -- which is something I don't like to do.
Since I began making vegetables and fruits my main focus, I am so proud to be able to tell you that I have not used my inhalers -- steroid or Ventolin -- once since my visit to Cuba back in January. I do not remember the last time that I became seriously ill, and as soon as I feel myself becoming sick, I do a mental check and realise that I have been eating really junky and get back on track again and the sickness goes away. I have lost the last couple of pounds for good, and even a couple more that I was surprised about.
It's so hard to explain, and not sound super preachy about it. Just know that I learned a valuable lesson that I know has done my body good.
