OUR INTENTIONS
As any great intention, one always starts off superb! My husband and I were off to two weeks in northern Europe and feeling positive. We alway discuss being lenient to our keto ways while on vacation. This does NOT mean going crazy. We don’t pig out on junk food or eat a gallon of ice cream every afternoon. We just don’t want to be overly restrictive if we choose to enjoy the culinary diversity of other countries. Keep in mind, we have been “fat adapted” for over two years and our systems run flawlessly. Our bodies are in maintenance mode and our insulin has been perfectly regulated to handle an occasional high carb treat. I still avoid regular sugar at all times due to gastric distress that it causes! ugh.
OFF TO A GREAT START
We started off our journey in Amsterdam! What a beautiful city and full of outdoor cafes and lots of food options to try. We were pretty lucky and found ourselves eating light and walking a TON! We did splurge one morning when we booked a couples massage at Akasha – Conservatorium Hotel spa. We enjoyed the massage and then had champagne and fruit after. We have not had any fruit for over a year. Wait… no, I did try the new strawberry jam made from stevia a month ago doing a photoshoot for our new keto desserts baking class. But, other than that, this was our first taste of kiwi, melon, pineapple and mango in years! It was bursting with flavor and overly sweet. We enjoyed a few pieces then went off to exploring a small fishing village called Zaanse Schans, where we watched a holland wooden shoe workshop and tasted amazing cheese! We walked over 10 miles a day to different museums and outdoor markets. We never stopped moving and was able to find a variety of keto food options. The last day in Amsterdam, we did indulge in dutch pancakes! Here is the pic!
THINGS WENT DOWN HILL…
After saying goodbye to the Netherlands, we boarded a train to Germany! We have wonderful and kind friends who live there and opened their home to us for the last eight days of our adventure. We are so lucky to have amazing friends who invite us into their life! We had lots of adventures with them and that includes lots of traditional German food! My husbands favorite had to be currywurst and fries.
This is something we would eat often…potato is a common side item in Germany and we didn’t hold back! I even got to help make German Potato Salad! AND I learned what a gherkin was. At this time, I could feel my clothes getting snugger and my gut was not feeling so smooth…
Germany is also known for the beer and we choose to taste a few.. I even got to drink beer out of a cool horn! (when in Germany…)
We visited the Roman Archaeological Park in Xanten and drank roman spiced wine and pumpkin-goat cheese souffle (mostly keto).
We did less walking in Germany due to having access to a vehicle and enjoying game nights on the couch with our friends. By the end of our journey, I was completely kicked out of fat burning mode by all the bread, beer and potato consumption . I have no regrets. Spending time with friendship and not focused on food was nice and worth the six pounds I put on. At the end of our trip, we had a four hour layover in London Heathrow Airport… and was FORCED to have fish and chips… FORCED I TELL YA! It was the perfect last non keto meal of the vacation and was definitely the last thing my body could handle. It was screaming at me. I felt bloated, thick, and massively sluggish. I was low energy and felt like taking a 10 hour nap. I hated the way my gut felt and my skin was showing signs of carbohydrate overload.
BACK TO BUSINESS
So grateful that my body knew exactly what to do. I am so impressed how quickly my body recovered. Just proves how the body WANTS to be in ketosis and how fast I was able to shed the 6 pounds. It took just five days of keto focus to regain my energy, glow and gut balance. I was impressed and in awe on how just eleminating carbohydrates for a few days gets my body into fat burning mode. Hello energy. You are here again. I have missed you. Now if I just had a secret for jet lag….