Time and time again you see statistics in the news about how people in Mediterranean countries live longer and have healthier hearts. They wonder why this is. Should we emulate their diet? cook with olive oil? Will we then live longer and have healthier hearts?
To be fair, at home I eat a lot more cake and sit around a lot gossiping, I mean chatting, with my friends. Often creamy coffees with added syrups are involved. But I did have a giant chocolate eclair after my bike ride to the supermarket on the main road and got away with it.
Well yes, probably but half of the problem is that you can try all you like but Britain is never going to be the med, no matter how many olives you eat. Not that I'd eat olives. Yuk! (Listen carefully, you might hear my friends heave a tired sigh and add olives to their list of "things that fussy cow won't eat")
I'm lucky enough to be back in Cyprus at my mum's again and with the combination of sun, heat and warm pools and sea I am enjoying walking, cycling and swimming and despite the extra exercise I don't have so much of an appetite.
I don't manage to do much exercise at home- I have fibromyalgia syndrome which limits what I can do without seizing up, suffering pain and generally crashing and burning in an exhausted heap. But somehow the all pervading warmth here really helps and on the whole I manage much more.
So I have lost weight while I am here. Not a lot, but the scales are definitely going the right way.
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| madmumof7 proves you never forget how to ride a bike |
But I think the not so secret secret is that in warm sunny countries you very rarely fancy a Shepherd's pie with buttery mash and salty gravy followed by a nice stodgy pud with custard. And you are much more likely to fancy immersing yourself in water without the post-swim shivering in chilly changing rooms as you struggle into damp jeans and jumpers.
I suppose the effect might be countered after a while as you acclimatise. DS commented yesterday that all the traditional Cypriot food (slow roasted kleftico with huge roast potatoes, stews, grilled meats and meatballs) all seemed to be the sort of food you wouldn't want to eat in 30 degrees. I guess that's why they all eat relatively late at night when it cools down a bit- although it was still 25 degrees in Paphos after dark last night.
Whatever, I'm just glad that despite the tempting giant pork chops, piles of chips and cream cakes on offer I won't be carrying excess baggage on my person on my way home on Sunday. Now in my suitcase, that's another matter....