A Nutritionist in Italy: What I Learned on My Trip

A couple of weeks ago I went to Italy. It was a bucket trip for me — to travel through Tuscany, biking the rolling hills, nibbling on grapes that were ready to burst, seeing the olives weighing down the trees, and enjoying early fall food, wine and all!

It was a fantastic trip. The hills were big and I pedaled my legs off. The wine was spectacular (not a red wine drinker and it turns out there is fantastic white wine in Tuscany). The olive oil was divine. The food was as good as I could have expected. As always, I like to reflect food-wise on how it went. As a nutritionist in Italy, here’s what I learned on my trip.

My Italy Takeaways

Mediterranean still wins. BUT is not a slam dunk. As I have spoken about before, when I travel, my digestion isn’t as happy as when I am home with my own fridge and routines. When I travel to a Mediterranean country, I normally do well. Tuscany started off OK, and as the trip progressed, perhaps a bit too much pizza and wine threw my digestion off. So let’s say 60% GOOD, 40% COMPROMISED. Note to self (and all of you who travel with digestive issues): stay engaged in good habits, to continue to feel good, even when you go to Italy.

Farm-to-table meals are great. We had a lot of farm-to-table-style meals. What was on the menu was what was readily available. I LOVE eating seasonally and Italy did not disappoint. Except for the artichokes—weirdly, there were lots and lots of them.

Slow food + normal portions + walking to dinner is a helpful equation. Meals take time in Tuscany. There is no hurrying, and you really don’t want to. Meals were coursed and well timed. A normal dinner contained at least a few dishes, which were generously portioned, but NOT huge, which was nice. We walked to dinner each night and walked around before heading home. By the time we reached the hotel, I felt like digestion was helped along by the late-night stroll.

Active vacations for the win. Although I would consider all vacations pretty active, this one was even more so because for 3 days we biked pretty big hills. All of the biking gave me liberty when ordering. I ordered what looked good, knowing I was burning LOTS of energy and needed lots of fuel. That’s a wonderful way to go. And it worked. I came home weighing exactly what I did when I left, even after several bowls of tasty pasta!

Rest is key. We all know it’s important to rest and recharge. And when you’re used to go-going, that can be hard. But I did find time to slow down and, consequently, found myself more creative and focused upon return. Turns out, vacation is a grand concept and something we all need in our lives.

Taking time off is part of self-care. Make sure you take care!

XO

Robin

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