Greek Feast

I really love Greek food and eat it often. But though I loved having the real deal when we were in Greece, I wish I'd eaten better.

While there, I had a lot of fried chese, fried zucchini or items baked into phyllo dough -- all delicious, but not exactly healthy. At the time, I didn't know that I had diabetes, but I'm sure that this didn't help.

It'a a shame because Greek cuisine offers so many healthy options: grilled meats, fresh vegetables, salads, protein-rich beans, olive oil... and in general, the food isn't drenched in sauce.

Since I've been diagnosed with diabetes, I've been eating a lot of Greek food, the "right" way. There's a new Greek restaurant near us that has really great dishes. We went there last night after our walk and movie. I had grilled mushrooms, a Greek salad with the dressing on the side and grilled chicken with horta, which is a spinach/escarole mix. Everything was fresh and delicious and I like that they offer Greens as a side dish. It was a very filling meal, but not fattening at all, and it kept my blood sugar very even.

Last night, I slept well and now I'm up at 9 a.m. - ON A WEEKEND -- doing stuff. I don't feel bloated and am having happy thoughts about our dinner out. It's a nice change from those days when I've had "food hangovers."

I probably still think about food too much, but as someone with a history of eating disorders, I imagine that I always will. Still, if I'm going to have food on my mind, it might as well be healthy, happy cuisine rather than binge-inducing junk, right?

Slowly, but surely, I'm finding ways to enjoy food, feel full and control my weight/diabetes/binges at the same time. It definitely makes life a little sweeter.

All Greek To Me

We're still in Greece and are having a great time. Right now, we're on the island of Crete, which is the largest of the Greek isles. We spent the day exploring the ruins at Knossos and then went to a small museum.

My walking still isn't great, but this trip is giving me a lot of opportunities to be active. Many come up when I don't plan on them. For instance, yesterday we took the Athens subway to the port where we caught the boat to Crete. But what we weren't told was that the entrance to the port was about a mile and a half from the actual boat. So we walked and walked and walked ... and I was feeling pretty good. I stopped every few minutes and was glad I was able to do so much.

Then I looked at my watch and realized that the boat was about to leave in 15 minutes and we were still nowhere near it. At that point, I gave in and hailed a cab. Had I had more time, though, I would've been able to complete the distance.

The day before was spent in the mountain city of Delphi. The bus dropped us off in town and we were told that the ruins were .5 K away. But that was .5 K away from the edge of town -- and the bus station was all the way across town. Again, I ended up walking much more than I'd planned -- on mountain hills, no less. We must've covered a few miles, at least, and by the time we were through with the ruins and made it back to town, I was wiped. My legs hurt and I felt like I was about to pass out. Still, I took a nap on the bus and kind of hobbled to dinner later that evening.

Today, I was proud of myself for hiking all over the ruins, which were pretty vast. The good thing about ruins is that there are always a lot of rocks and walls and large pieces of old things to sit on. So I'd climb a staircase, then sit and enjoy the view. I got to see everything there, but I took my time and enjoyed myself.

I can't say that I've been eating very well. I thought that Mediterranean food was supposed to be healthy, but much of it is fried. The cheese pie, spinach pie, zucchini appetizers ... all fried. I don't like fried too much so I'm getting a little tired of it. Unfortunately, I don't eat fish, so I have to make due with meats and vegetarian stuff -- and it seems like a lot is baked or cooked in oil. Portions are also HUGE, like ridiculously so. I don't speak any Greek so it's difficult to negotiate on an order, so I'm just trying to not eat too much and then walk a lot. I can't tell where my weight is at, but I do feel like I'm getting stronger. I still need Jon's help sometimes when I encounter steep, uneven stairs, and I can feel the lack of strength in my left leg; but I was able to make it around much of the ruins today without help.

Tomorrow, we're heading off to Santorini. I've always wanted to go, so I'm excited. I was nervous about doing this trip, but am glad that I've been able to do much more than I thought.

Greetings From Greece!

Wow, it's been a long time since I've written, but a lot has happened in the past few weeks.

First, there was the craziness with my job situation. My magazine was bought out by a new company and there are a lot of changes. Many people lost jobs. However, I was lucky and received a promotion! FINALLY! It feels really good to get some respect at my job where I work my butt off. I'm sorry that some people lost theirs or received pay cuts, but I'm proud that I've moved up.

Meantime, my jewelry business is going well. My last fair was successful and a lot of fun, and I've been invited to a third fair in June. If things keep up, this could end up being a profitable side business.

As for my weight loss efforts, well, they haven't gone as well as I'd hoped, but they haven't gone badly, either. I haven't gone to the gym as much as I'd planned. However, I've been watching what I eat and have stopped eating when I'm full. I also made an appointment with an endicrinologist for August. I don't like to blame my weight on anything other than myself, but I do suspect that I have a hormonal or thyroid problem. If I do, I need to get it fixed.

Right now, as you've probably guessed from this post title, we are in Greece! We flew into Athens yesterday and will also be visiting Delphi, Crete and Santorini. I was nervous about walking around the city with my limited mobility, but I'm doing pretty well. I even managed to hike up to the top of the Acropolis this morning! It was a long way up, about a mile vertical, with steep hills, but I took my time and stopped every few feet. I enjoyed the view and before I knew it, we were at the top!

I'm glad I did this because yesterday, I was seriously feeling like a Freakish Fat Girl. The seat on the plane felt so tight and I just about made it into the plane's little bathroom. I couldn't put the seat tray down so I had to keep my food on Jon's tray. The nice, but annoying flight attendants were all concerned and were like, "Are you okay? We can bring the food later?" and making a big deal of it when I just wanted them to put their attention elsewhere. Then our hotel room in Athens has this weird, little bathroom with a huge sink that juts out. I was having nightmares back to our hotel in London where I couldn't squeeze into the bathroom to get to our shower, only in this case, I was afraid I wouldn't even be able to get to the toilet -- but I was able to squeeze past and get in. And then this morning, getting in and out was even easier. Hopefully, after all the walking I've done today -- about two miles -- that squeeze past the sink will be even less.

I know that regular-sized people don't encounter these types of problems ... but in-shape people do enjoy things like hiking up mountains and traveling and walking around cities, so it feels good to be doing that.

I think that Greece is going to kick my ass, but as Jon said, I've probably been underestimating myself since I had my surgery. If a country is going to whip me into shape, it might as well be a place that's as beautiful and interesting as Greece.

It's All Greek To Me

For some reason this weekend, I was really hungry -- and not just emotionally hungry; my stomach was growling and I felt light headed. Fortunately, I didn't go too crazy. I had some chocolate cake, but I journaled every bite. And tonight I went out for Greek food with a friend.

Many nutritionists recommend the "Mediterranean diet" because the countries in that area tend to rely on simple, but fresh and tasty foods. Our meal tonight definitely illustrated this. I had a combo kebab with grilled chicken and lamb chunks, beans, roasted potatoes and lemon rice; a Greek salad with balsamic vinegar and two small cubes of feta cheese (some places go completely overboard with the feta; and some hummus. I ended up leaving over the side dishes -- the potatoes, rice and beans -- and had only about half the meat. My friend and I then shared baklava for dessert, but between the two of us, we didn't even eat half. We each took about two bites and that was enough; I then brought my leftovers home to Jon and he finished them.

I feel as if I'm getting much better at this whole "eat when I'm actually hungry" thing. I'm not feeling a need to wolf down my food simply because I ordered it or it's in front of me. I'm okay with taking a few bites to get the taste and then saving the rest for later.

My walking is continuing to improve, as well. It's still not great, but I can walk about two blocks without the walker before I need to stop for a rest. I know that soon enough it will be four blocks and then eventually a mile. I'm still trying to find that balance between working out and not overdoing it. If I do too much, my ankle swells up and yells at me to stop.

Meantime, my jewelry making supplies arrived! I'm very excited, though I still have to order some stuff before I can officially start making items. But I've been watching a whole bunch of instructional items online and am very anxious to get started. It'll be good to try a new hobby that's challenging and different from what I usually do for fun (writing and music). I like the idea of being able to express myself in another venue. Plus, I'll be able to make some cool gifts for the holidays.

It's amazing how good it can feel to have a project in the works and something to look forward to. For once, I don't even care if I'm any good at it -- I'm just happy to be learning something new. Maybe this is really a way that I can overcome my eating disorder; to fill my life up with things like hobbies, interests, friends and love. As cheesy as that sounds, no amount of food can make up for that.