3 Euro Night

Hey! It’s felt like so long as the past couple of days have been really busy!

One of my best AFS friends spent the night on Sunday after the family barbeque at the end of stay orientation. I’ve been thinking a bit lately about intuitive eating, which has been discussed a lot in blogworld and something that I’m trying to work on. Listening to your body could never be a bad idea, right? At the barbeque I did NOT feel hungry at all, even though it had been a while since I’d had my last meal. I guess it was because of a lack of activity over the weekend–we mainly sat around in our groups. Even though there was a delicious quiche for vegetarians, couscous salad, and a large array of veggies in the salad bar I was just not feeling dinner at all, so I had an apple. But on the other hand, I woke up at 4:30 am starving, so I made a really early breakfast of a toasted roll with walnut butter. The power went out before my toast finished, and I had to fish it out of the toaster with a knife in the dark and then eat it in the dark. Classy. Needless to say there were a lot of crumbs on the counter in the morning.

Anyway! When I woke up at 9:30 I could still feel my early breakfast so I kept my pre exercise meal simple:

Fresh canteloupe and watermelon. My friend doesn’t run as much as I do, so I told her that I wanted to complete at least 5 miles, and I would be comfortable walking them all, so she could dictate when we jogged and when we walked. We ended up jogging for 10 minutes and then walking about 6 miles. It was a beautiful day and we had a good time talking about our years in Belgium.

I needed lunch when we got back (and lots of water!) so I heated up celery root soup, added wilted salad greens to it (making it like a stew) and put some of the goat cheese from the market (which I didn’t realize until today is actually raw) on a whole wheat baguette.

Not photogenic, but delicious. I have been needing a pedicure like whoah, and while walking home from Delhaize I found a poster on the window of a house in the neighborhood advertising inexpensive salon services such as manicures and waxing. 15 euro pedicure? So there. I made an appointment for Monday and it was one of the best things I’ve done for myself in a while. My friend scored a pedicure, too, and we gabbed while she massaged our feet and peeled off entirely too much dead skin. I keep rubbing my toes together and marvel in their softness. After our pedicures we napped for a bit, and after I nap I always need something sweet, which I kept to fruit on Monday, and had a fruit orgy of strawberries, frozen grapes, and a bit of watermelon. We took the train to my friend’s town, Liège, because one of the American exchange students organized a goodbye party of sorts at a bar. Liège is famous for the carré, basically a neighborhood of all bars. I packed a veggie burger and an apple for dinner because I figured drinks would factor into my meal, so I kept the eats light. And boy, was I right.

The bar we went to, Cuba Libre, has 3 euro ladies’ night on Mondays, meaning you pay 3 euros ofor a red bracelet and can basically have as many drinks as you want. The only catch is that you have to wait in a separate line from the bar and it can get packed. I’ve heard there’s been a lot of cat fights that have gone down. I kept waiting for a catch of some kind, but I guess they do this kind of thing to compete with the many other bars in the neighborhood. I also feel like maybe the alcohol was a bit diluted or cheaper because after 3 tequila shots and 3 mixed drinks I felt relatively fine, when usually a couple glasses of wine are enough to make me tipsy. But still gotta love the 3 euro price!

We may or may not have taken those feathered toothpicks from the bar.

A little bit after this photo was taken the bartender had a blending mishap and we got a little frozen beverage on our backs. As a condolence he gave us 10 free tequila shots, which though we could have had them for free, it meant we didn’t have to wait 20 minutes in line! I’ll happily get a little ice in my hair for tequila shots!

Just so everyone knows that AFS was at Cuba Libre.

I spent the night at my friend’s house as she lives outside of Liège. I’m so glad that I had the liberty of grocery shopping and cooking as I please this year– her family eats a very typical Belgian diet which means little fruits and vegetables, a lot of white bread and cheese, and a lot of potatoes. Breakfast was whole wheat bread with nutella/peanut butter/banana and coffee. The fact that they even had whole wheat bread was fortuitous enough. For lunch we had baguette with cheese and sliced tomatoes. As soon as I got home from her house I craved a run, so I went for a 3 miler and made a cereal mess when I got back of a serving of Special K honey and oat flavor, Fage 0% Greek yogurt, and sliced strawberries.

 I made a cauliflower/whole wheat pasta risotto like concoction for dinner, which I served over lettuce/spinach for me.

I made oatmeal chocolate chip raisin walnut cookies afterwards, as I had oats and wheat bran to use up before I leave Belgium this weekend. Host mama MC doesn’t touch oatmeal due to bad childhood memories that not even the most creative of my oatmeal concoctions can reverse and she would have no idea what to do with wheat bran. I baked them while I started packing and had about half a cookie once they cooled. Fortunately my packing is going really well, I’ve done most of the difficult parts and I’m almost all packed besides what I’ll need before Sunday. Since most of my things are already in my suitcase I can see what is still lying around the house in the meantime and pack that as well. At least I don’t have to send anything home, which is very expensive, and I’m pretty sure I won’t have excess baggage. While baking and packing I talked to one of my friends on the phone about her psuedo short lived relationship with her Belgian best friend that ended with him cheating on her over the weekend. Boys. Still up to the same immaturity, even in Europe.

So a lot of people have been talking about clean eating lately, and I gotta say, after this week I could definitely use a few days of much more conscientious eating. I’ve actually lost weight this year (many exhcnage students gain weight) but it isn’t a question of weight. I’m still the same weight after these last two weeks but I just don’t feel so good, which is more important than a number on the scale. I do have to admit, though, I still feel guilt even though I weigh the same. I’m really looking forward to eating well and listening to my body (meaning less ice cream and mixed drinks) before I leave for the States because it makes me feel better.

What do you guys think of indulging? Do you still feel guilt despite what the scale says? Before I would have only felt the guilt of gaining weight after “indulging” and though as I said I still feel some of that guilt, I mainly feel off track and now look forward to balanced eating to feel happier and healthier!

P.S. Emily from Curly Top is hosting a blog makeover giveaway. Check out the the makeover she did for Shelby. Love the banner, much more original than my google search for maps!

A toute à l’heure!

Maya