Week 15: Kate’s hungry in Hungary

Ah, Europe. There is no continent more historic, more elegant, or acculturated than Europe. It is home to dozens of countries, and consequently, dozens of cuisines. Since my first trip across the pond a few years ago, I’ve made it my mission to visit several cities on this magnificent island, and living in London has made my goal even easier.

What’s not easy is that I am also trying to lose weight. I thought dieting in London was difficult. But that was before I tried dieting in Paris when your hotel is on top of a bakery. Or Brussels where they give hand outs of chocolate like it was… well, candy. Or this week, Budapest, where evidently the word “diet” doesn’t even translate.

My friend from home came to visit this week and she and I decided to make the proverbial post-grad backpacking trip across Europe, but in our case a mini one.  As you may have read, I’ve had the Dieting Blues recently, but I must assure you that I’ve never lost sight of my goal. In a preemptive attempt to salvage my diet from whatever damage I could potentially do while traveling, I emailed Tanya for some guidance. “Budapest will be a cinch.” Her optimism radiated even 3,500 miles away. “Just be prepared. Pack your GG’s, make portion-appropriate healthy snacks, order a lean protein with veggies at meals and WALK EVERYWHERE!” She had me so amped that I thought I could move to Hungary and still drop an Olsen twin.

I was not quite as motivated when we sat at breakfast the first day. If this was a forecast of Hungarian cuisine I knew I would either starve or eat myself to death. There was tomato and cucumber (OK, that’s a Go), a variety of whole fat cheeses (entering slippery-slope territory), white bread (really?), and a smorgasbord of spreadable yumminess, including but not limited to jams, jellies, and my arch nemesis, Nutella. Awesome.

I frowned helplessly and turned to my friend who at this point was half way done with her Nutella with a side of toast. She stared back with a tinge of guilt, but redeemed herself by saying, “What Would Tanya Do?”

WWTD. Tanya, I thought, would pull out her GG’s, add a slice or two of the lowest fat cheese available, pile on the cucumber and tomato, and perhaps, if she needed something sweet, would spread just a little bit of jelly onto a cracker. Add a cup of tea and viola! There’s breakfast. So, I did what Tanya would do, and I whipped out my GG’s and started assembling.

Lunch and dinner posed similar difficulties, but I was armed with a new slogan: What Would Tanya Do. No matter where you are in the world, dieting is possible, it’s just about making better choices; doing the best you can with what you have. Maybe I won’t lose poundage this week, but I also won’t feel guilty about sabotaging my diet by abiding the lame excuse that “there were no options.” There are options. It’s just up to us to make the choice.

Share your tips: How do you keep your diet on track while on vacation?

Comments (3)

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Friday June 4, 2010 JoD wrote:

... About a year or two ago, in the interest of trying to stay on track with our eating, my sister and I planned our "sister" vacation down to the meals. My sister did a spreadsheet of our meals. We are coupon people so we figured out what places we would go out to and for what meals according to the coupons or cards we had. We reserved a room with a fridge, microwave and coffee machine to be used for all of our other meals. Wee went grocery shopping beforehand (and for anything we were lacking, we went to a nearby Walmart). We brought food and snacks with us that we enjoyed but that kept us on track. We got up a little earlier to make our breakfasts. We planned our days so that we would be in our rooms for which ever meal not eaten out. Two of our meals came with the hotel room package and they were big meals so we saved the leftovers and used them! We did so well that we had food leftover to take home. That was one of the BEST vacations that we ever had because we stayed on track, we did not gain AND we enjoyed the whole vacation!!! We are planning to implement this type of planning with all future "sister" vacations!!

Sunday June 13, 2010 GiGi wrote:

... I just came back from Turkey and let me tell you, it was actually pretty simple to not gain weight! Turkish food (on the coast) is pretty delicious and super healthy!!! Every day I would have eggs for breakfast (with sun-dried tomatoes, olives, little pickles, capers, etc) and for lunch I would bring some stuff I took from the breakfast buffet (because lunches were actually typically not too healthy because my father & brother wanted Gyros, etc) but then at dinner... GRILLED FISH & healthy mini appetizers (called Mezzes) such as: seaweed in olive oil, sea food salads, grilled octopus & calamari, eggplant dishes, green beans, etc! Soooo good, I wish I could go back, it was so fresh & delicious!

Friday June 18, 2010 tomato salad bar wrote:

... I guess you didn't find us at www.tomatosaltabar.com

Tomato is a cool salad bar, bar, tea and coffee house. House salad suggestions: Greek, Caesar, Seafood, Deli and House special, or create your own gourmet healthy salad, sandwich or wrap. Serving homemade soups, herbal teas, fresh juice, wine, bottled-beer, palinka, cakes & much more. (Order food online: Regular full party and delivery service to your home or office)

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