Healthy Eating in Senegal

Today I'm catching up with my healthy eating accountability blogging - I think today went well considering I am still in Senegal, living in a hotel with no kitchen and trying to make the best choices for accomplishing my goals.


At the breakfast buffet, I completely avoided the fresh baked croissants and the rest of the carb section - I had some muesli mixed with fiber one cereal, a couple of hardboiled egg whites, some cherry tomatoes and cucumber, and some cantaloupe. So, I made it out alive today. That breakfast buffet kills me – so many delicious cheeses and breads, etc. Imagine being in france..that is the type of spread they offer..i could easily consume my entire day’s worth of calories at breakfast..much lIke I did last Saturday morning by eating this bad boy:



Rediculously good waffle with Nutella - I did not hate it.

 For lunch, I brought with me to the office some canned stuffed grape leaves, canned hummus and some wheat Arabic bread that I found at the supermarket. Oh and you would not believe what i found at the supermarket here - it might as well be crack considering my addiction to the stuff....LEBNE!! AND introducing something I have not found, not even in the US..LEBNE BALLS WITH ZAATAR ALREADY MIXED IN!! are you kidding?? no, i'm not.  But i did not eat that for lunch..I bought a jar to take home with me..i'll probably buy a few more. I got nervous that it would get bought out because that's how African supermarkets work..buy it while it's there is a lesson i was taught very early..so since i didn't have much money on me i hid some in the store somewhere where not even the finest stocker in all the world will see it!! yahooo!!!! like i said..crack.

I am really missing veggies though. It’s hard to eat veggies while living in a hotel. The salads at the hotel cost $18 and really leave much to be desired. I haven’t been successful at trying to order cooked veggies…heaven forbid the kitchen deviate from the menu – thinking outside the box is out of the question. The mall next to me has no salad options – except for a really gross fatoush with cabbage and radishes?? So, I think I’m going to buy some veggies and bring them to the office to at least eat for lunch. There is a fridge and full kitchen there – our office is actually a giant apartment. My office is a big bedroom with a gigantic bathtub and shower.

Lunch

Crack

For dinner I did good – chicken brochette with a side of couscous [no veggies on the menu of course]. After driving out into the field and seeing many other areas of Senegal I think I understand the no veggies thing….the land is either completely dry or flooded here [around the coast line]. In all the driving around that I have done (days and hours of driving...ugh), I have not seen any good farm land at all. Sad really..you can see people trying to farm but it’s just so dry and the soil just doesn’t seem rich for agriculture. I may be talking out of my rear end right now but that’s what I have noticed here. Nothing like Kenya, Rwanda, etc where you can see good fields of fruitful crops everywhere.

dinner turned sideways..okay so i'm not a food photographer but the cook was not a food artist either

So, tomorrow I start all over ...I think i'll start each morning with the serenity prayer..since I truly do believe I have a sugar and refined carbs addiction and it is painful weening off that stuff!! And though it may not be life threatening for me or as serious as drug and alcohol addictions...it's never a good thing when something has control over you to the point that you feel powerless to change. So.....

God grant me the serenity

to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.