After nearly three weeks of stuffing myself with junk from supermarkets without giving a care to the consequences, I’ve had a change of mind after eating six very sweet Scotch pancakes in quick succession today, which resulted in a net gain of 1100 calories in the duration of a snack as well as an overpowering urge to throw up (not because I was too full, but because my stomach is reacting to disgusting food).
It’s not a sudden change of heart, to be sure. I swore off microwaved food in Cheltenham (about Day 11), when the pervasive smell of preservatives in the room at the youth hostel got so bad it almost smelt like combat rations. So it was only a matter of time before processed food had to go too.
When travelling, I seldom give a care about the nutritional value of what I put in my mouth, reasoning that all the years of eating healthily in Singapore is enough to justify greasy and processed food on the road. But now I realised that I like travelling so much that I don’t want to stop soon. and I want to make it a part of my lifestyle. And if travelling is going to be something I’m doing often, and I continue eating with a short-term mindset that it’s just another quick trip, then I’d soon fall ill, be tormented by constipation, get diabetes before 30, suffer stroke before 40, or a combination of the above.
So now, from this historic moment in the kitchen of Skye Backpackers in the town of Kyleakin on the Isle of Skye, Northwestern Scotland, I vow to eat healthily and treat my body well.
No more 75p microwaveable cottage cheese pies from TESCO and 1.29pound double cheeseburgers from McDonalds. No more 4 for 99p sausage rolls from disgusting chain store bakeries and no more 1 pound kettle chips/walkers crisps from supermarkets. Out with the 82p chocolate chip cookies from Marks and Spencer’s as well. In other words, cut as much processed food from my diet as possible, and cook more healthy stuff. If I have to spend a bit more, then I’ll have to!
Dinner was a step in the right direction. It’s probably the healthiest meal I’ve eaten on this trip, which isn’t saying much because, yeah, I succumbed again to the scourge of processed and prepared food, buying a deeply-discounted cup of soup from Somerfield.
BUT I added vegetables to it. Okay, I admit it was a pre-cut packet of cauliflowers, broccoli and carrots. But hey, its time-consuming to cook and they’ve cut it for me, plus that packet of veg was on discount as well. Haha. In the end my first “healthy meal” consisted of heated soup from a can and pre-cut vegetables.
It’s a very small step, but a step in the right direction nonetheless. Ganbatte!
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