Daily Motivation 353

It was always going to be an interesting holiday and my poor dad was so worried that we were not going to enjoy ourselves in our favourite restaurants. The Spanish traditionally like to eat a lot of meat, and up until recently even the concept of vegetarian food was lost on many. So how would Dom and I fare as vegans? And read on for some tips on healthy eating in general on holiday.

Firstly lets take a look at how we view eating on holiday. I witness many getting in shape for months beforehand, and then ‘letting loose’ because they ‘deserve’ to eat crap whilst on their well earned break. When did anyone decide that eating rubbish was a ‘treat’? I’ve talked about this many times before, as it doesn’t make any sense. Surely we should be TREATING ourselves to foods that nourish and keep us feeling alive?

This all clicked in for us a few years ago, when we dropped the false beliefs that to ‘enjoy’ yourself you needed to drink alcohol and to ‘treat’ yourself you needed to eat crap. And once you seriously begin to question the logic behind these assumptions, have a period of time without dead foods and liquids, you realise just how light, bright and happy you could feel. The thing is you probably haven’t been there before, like a lifelong smoker doesn’t realise how deeply they could breath, until you take a leap of faith and try.

And please don’t get me wrong I am not suggesting that you go vegan now. Our programmes don’t demand this, but if you visit Inner Guidance you will be fed nutritious, vegan, exciting, healthy food. What this blog demonstrates is that whatever substance/behaviour you are actively working on, you can use the QS approach with. It just so happens that for me at the moment it is veganism.

So, back to Spain
First stop Stansted

Now there are a host of possibilities here, as I’m sure there are in most UK airports. Joe and the Juice for smoothies and well, juices, and Pret who have a whole host of healthy options. I opted for green juice and then headed to WH Smith for nuts and Nakd Bars. Plenty of food for the journey. Unfortunately there are food casualties everywhere on our path;

• Packed fast food joints
• A full pub
• Burgers, chips, crisps and chocolate eaten all around us on the plane
• The fizz of coke and fanta cans popping…

We arrive in the evening and have ordered ahead! Dad has bought in salad, humus and corn crackers 👌

TIP ONE ⬇︎ 

Day One
Well rested we head straight for the supermarket on our first day. Just as we advise on a day-to-day basis, the easiest way to success whether it’s with food, alcohol or any addiction / change is:

PREPARATION

Stock up on veggies, fruit, humus, nuts and seeds
We also bought chickpeas to make our own humus (enjoy Dom’s recipe with this blog) and brown lentils to use in curries and for burgers (bulk made for ease, and eaten over multiple lunches/dinners).

We were also very (pleasantly) shocked to see a lot of organic products in the supermarket for the first time ever. The shift is happening friends!, it is becoming easier and easier to be healthy, and more and more people are waking up to improving their well-being.

Day Two
We went to one of our favourite restaurants La Cocina owned and run by UK couple Cliff and Laurie; you may remember me blogging about them a couple of years ago. They are very forward thinking and have offered gluten free dishes for a few years now, and do not use sugar in any of their main courses. They love what we do and we love eating there and supporting their business.
Can you imagine our shock when we sit down and are given a vegan menu?

YES you heard right!
A whole vegan menu!
Not just the ONE DISH option that you get  in most restaurants!

Dom and I ordered differently so that we could try as much as possible on the menu and it was all amazing. If you are holidaying in Javea we highly recommend you eating at La Cocina: www.lacocinajavea.com And say hi to Cliff and Laurie from us!

TIP TWO ⬇︎ 

Do Your Research When Going Somewhere New

Perhaps at the airport whilst waiting for your plane, or on the coach/bus/train en route. La Cocina are high up in the vegan section of Trip Advisor plus there is a new vegan restaurant ETHOS (www.ethoscafe.es) that has also opened in Javea this summer. Although we didn’t get to eat there this time, I had a lovely chat with the British owners and it seems they have been very well received; so we’ll definitely be eating there in the future.

TIP THREE ⬇︎ 

So What To Eat? 

We ate fruit for breakfast
Lunches consisted of salad with either lentil burgers (batch made), hummus (batch made) or a selection of olives
And then dinner was a main meal either out, or we had a few meals in.

Then on our last night we had our biggest challenge; our favourite tapas restaurant. On arrival we spoke to the Spanish owner and the conversation went something like this,

“No eggs?”
“No”
“No milk?”
“No
“No fish?”
“No!”

To be honest he didn’t look best pleased, like we were insulting his creations by opting for vegetables only. Over the years our choices have got thinner and thinner, to the point now where there were just four choices out of all of the a la carte dishes AND everything on the tapas menu:

1. Patatas bravas
2. Salad
3. Fried green peppers
4. Grilled veggies

Dom and I ordered the lot and watched as everyone else’s tapas was presented, and we were surrounded by all manner of foods; garlic prawns, calamares, tuna, liver and chorizo, to name just a few.
Rather than feel left out, I was relieved that I didn’t have to eat all of that and our vegan food was delicious. Well lets face it patatas bravas is the Spanish equivalent of chips so really we were eating salad and chips alongside our amazing roasted veggies which tasted divine. Everyone kept asking us:

“Have you had enough to eat?”
“Yes”
“Are you still hungry?”
“No”
“Sorry the choice was so limited”

Perception is so funny
How people think that just because you’ve only eaten vegetables that you couldn’t possibly get full, when in fact we were about to burst. Both Dom and I even left some of our food as it was too much and we felt satisfied with what we’d consumed.

We looked at each other and smiled
We’d done it
Our first vegan holiday, and it was a breeze
No crap
Just a ton of veggies
And as we sat on the plane coming home looking around at the junk food carnage that surrounded us, we really do feel that it is the other that is truly missing out and that we are the real winners 🍠🌰🍓🍴

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