I recently returned from a week’s holiday in Lisbon, Portugal.
As I’ve shared before in previous blog posts, it’s common to get insights when we’re out of our normal routine and environment, and even more so for me when I’m in a different country experiencing an entirely new culture.
Sharing these ‘lessons learnt’ has proved popular in the past and so today, in no particular order, here are some of my insights from this recent trip:
Traditional Eating Habits
You’ll typically find that all traditional diets have key elements that naturally support health and longevity. In Portugal, it’s things like:
- Side salad with or before the main course
Tomato and onion salad was a menu staple, usually finished with some fresh basil or dried oregano and good quality olive oil. Studies have shown that eating salad or vegetables before protein and carbohydrates, lowers the glucose spike of the whole meal, therefore maintaining stable blood sugars and reducing the fat-forming potential of all components – even though you are ingesting the protein and carbs afterwards. The order in which you eat matters.
- Flavouring dishes with simple herbs
I’ve now come back from this trip inspired to make some new yet super simple salads and to use more herbs. I purchased some basil and oregano last weekend to grow myself so that I can add them to meals on a regular basis. Two reasons herbs are great: Within a matter of seconds, they can make meals far more interesting and appetising and there are boundless nutritional benefits to eating herbs … So much so, that I could write a whole blog post on each herb!
- Olive oil & vinegar as staple condiments
This isn’t new to me; I usually add some high-quality olive oil to my salads and vegetables and often use different kinds of vinegar on my salads as well. But it’s worth mentioning here that, similar to the first point around eating salad or veg first, studies have shown that consuming vinegar with your meal (or even better to drink one tablespoon of vinegar with water 20mins before) lowers the glucose spike of the meal by 30-60%. Apple cider vinegar is probably the most recommended due to it being less acidic and more palatable.
- Keeping meals simple
The classic main course in Lisbon was grilled fish (mostly white) with vegetables and potatoes. The veg and potatoes were boiled or steamed and didn’t have any kind of flavouring or dressing at all. It’s worth remembering that the good old ‘meat and two veg’ style of meal is wholesome, nutritious and simple to make.
I also want to note the emphasis on white fish. I think most people opt for salmon or prawns when they have seafood. White fish isn’t so popular unless you live by the sea and buy fresh fish. However, in numerous studies, white fish has been shown to be better at supporting a healthy thyroid and metabolism than more oily fish. So, if you’re someone who mostly has salmon, this is your reminder to mix it up!
- Small yet satisfying portions
Portugal is famous for its pastries and so every morning I went to a café at the local square and I tried one or two different pastries with my morning coffee. What struck me most was that they were generally small, and many had some kind of raw egg yolk component – so they were in fact very filling, rich and I would also say nutritious because of the egg yolk.
Likewise, coffees are either espresso or if you have them with milk the cup is very small. I typically prefer this myself anyway, especially if having a milky coffee, so, I was very happy to have a small cappuccino-style coffee every morning.
You’ll typically find this in all the countries where coffee has been traditional for a very long time – they mostly drink espressos and if they do have milk with their coffee, it’s not a lot!
Letting Go Of Control
Before I go on holiday, I’ll usually spend some time researching the city or area where I’m going. I’ll look up the popular restaurants, cafes, tourist attractions and shopping areas and make a loose plan and itinerary of what I want to do and see. However, I wasn’t very well on the day I was due to do this and ended up not getting around to it!
Firstly, I had to let go of control around not having had the chance to do any research and essentially arriving with only directions to my hotel.
Then, once I was there, I started looking things up on my phone but just wanted to get out and explore, so I then made a conscious decision to simply go with the flow! And what happened was really interesting…
Despite not having a plan, I don’t think I could have planned things better if I’d tried – I ended up doing everything I wanted to and more!!
I was recommended places to eat and got some great tips from locals, which resulted in a day trip out of the city where I managed to see two popular villages in one day. I was told to forget some of the main tourist attractions and instead given directions to amazing panoramic views that most people wouldn’t have found. I randomly hopped on a tour bus which taught me so much about the city and meant that I saw places I wanted to go back to and explore on foot.
The lesson learnt here for me was about letting go of control and just going with the flow – to take inspired action in the moment and follow what feels good!
More Movement
If you’ve been to Lisbon, you’ll know it’s a fairly large city with lots to see and it’s also very hilly, which meant I did a lot of walking.
It made me realise that I’ve not been so good over the past few months at getting my daily 8-10K steps. But what’s great is that I came back from Lisbon with the walking bug and have since been motivated to get more walking back into my daily routine.
The lesson here is that it doesn’t take the body too long to get used to some kind of physical activity and then start to crave it. After averaging 12-15K steps a day in Lisbon, I came back feeling the need to walk more. This is true for any exercise regime – do it consistently for 1-2 weeks, pushing through any initial resistance, and soon enough your body will anticipate it and you’ll feel ‘off’ when you don’t do it.
I hope these lessons and insights have been helpful, look out for part 2 coming soon after next week’s regular Q&A feature.
Kate x
