If It's Manmade - Don't Eat It

One of the things this trip has enabled us to do is take total control of what we eat. While we were doing a lot of travel and in the consultancy workstyle, we didn't realise or didn't pay attention to how out of our control food options were. Living that way, oftentimes there is no choice as to what one eats, there is only one option presented and you eat what you are given. Lunch is brought in and that's what you get (and you can bet there are no vegetables or salad!). That option is usually not the best choice or one that would even be considered if there were other options available. Five-a-day? Ha, you're lucky to get one-a-day!

And then there is 'treat yourself' syndrome. This is where you've just worked a 14 hour day, you're in a hotel by yourself for the 4th night in a row and you order a 'treat'. (Are you really going to forgo red wine and a ribeye steak with a port wine reduction, garlic mashed potatoes with fresh made bread for broiled fish and some steamed veg?) Do that 3-4 times a week and then celebrate being together as a couple on the weekend and watch the waistline grow!

Steve says, "If it didn't come out of the ground and it wasn't running around, don't eat it." That's the approach we've taken towards provisioning and eating on the boat. And I've found that's really hard to do! Not from a preference perspective or from being able to create good meals from that approach, but to FIND things that don't have added alpha, beta, hydroxi manmade elements added to them. Over and over I've bought things that I thought had nothing added (olive oil, 100% fruit juice), but then when I read the label something has been added. I don't want to eat chemicals, pesticides or preservatives, thank you, but it's a lot of work to find things without them. Even natural (supposedly) products aren't.

And sugar! When did sugar become an essential component of EVERYTHING! I'm not a big sweets person, I tend to prefer savory foods - with a periodic chocolate binge. When I cook, I usually reduce or completely take out the sugar in recipes because they are either too sweet or the sugar doesn't impact the taste so why have it? Now, eating very little manmade or food prepared by others, we really notice when sugar is added. Why on earth would you put sugar in Chinese food? Since when is potato salad or coleslaw supposed to be sickly sweet? Is it really that difficult to make a fancy cocktail that doesn't taste like you're drinking syrup?

So now it takes me four times as long to plan and provision, searching the shelves for things with no 'stuff'' added (as poor Steve loses the will to live), but in the majority of cases I've been able to do it. Where I can't, I've tried to pick the best of the possible options.

And that work is paying off. The weight is falling off Steve and mine is coming down nicely. We're sleeping at night (except in rolly anchorages!). There's no desperate need for an afternoon nap. While we eat great food, there's been no 'consoling' ourselves with a 'treat'. And when we do go back to the 'old' way of eating, we can really feel it. Load up on carbs and sugar for breakfast? All of a sudden there's a huge desire for a post-breakfast nap!

Now of course, some of 'feeling better' is the lifestyle and doing something we love, and living in the same country is a big plus! Those reasons are big contributors to a feeling of well-being. But I think food is one of the biggest contributors, and we're enjoying feeling better than we have in a very long time!

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