Eat, Drink, Run

The food in South America is a dieter’s worst nightmare. I’ve talked before about the cakes, carbs and lack of vegetables but to add to the equation we now have $3 bottles of lovely wines to contend with, luckily I am not on a diet, right? And hopefully will never have to be as over the year I have learned to eat (lot’s and often) in a way that my metabolism has become super fast and I have also learned what type of food to eat to ensure my body does not become sluggish and struggle to process. All the same I am well aware that I will be gaining weight over these six months but as Rob says to me, “you can loose it all again once we get to Canada”.

A picada platter I ordered for lunch (all to myself) kind of by mistake in Mendoza, Argentina. It’s one of the national dishes, I had to try it!!
Breakfasts at the majority of hostels is included in the price so although it’s not all that cost effective buying my own breakfast ingredients every few days, it does keep me sane. I have been making overnight oats the evening before if the kitchen seems small or cooking up my own oats in the morning if it seems like it won’t be a clash with the “chef” making breakfast for everyone else in the same kitchen. In Argentina making oats in the morning wasn’t too much a problem as preparing a basket of bread and a jar of spread doesn’t require too much work for the “chef”. It takes a bit of organization and dedication carrying around my breakfast ingredients but we now have a “food bag” that goes along with us when we are moving from city to city, which usually has nuts, fruit, rice cakes and also a multitude of tea bags I have knicked off with other the past few months.

What we were given for breakfast vs. what I pulled out of the “food bag” to eat during an overnight 14 hour trip in Argentina
Lunch and dinners can often be food I would usually not touch with a ten foot pole, BUT these dishes are often the local cuisine and eating them is all part of the experience so they usually only go down with a slight amount of guilt. Another way to curb the guilt and the kgs is keeping up my running, I have done a couple of workouts in the park but I have found it’s easier to just run.

Getting a few km’s in, in Ushuaia Argentina. I bought the orange Nike jacket in case of rain but it’s really good for training in too actually.
I have now run at least once in 17 different cities over the past three months.
Phi Phi - Koh Lanta - Phayao – Krabi – Chiang Rai – Chiang Mai – Siem Reap – Rio de Janerio – Paraty
Buenos Aires – Ushuaia – Cafayate – Mendoza – Salta – Colonia – Montevideo – Santiago – Valparaíso