The island of Kefalonia; emerald seas, scorching sun and hands down the MOST BEAUTIFUL Greek island I have ever visited (and I’ve been to many Greek islands). I’m sitting on the balcony as I write this, the only sound are the crickets in the surrounding greenery and all around me is deep blue sea, a warm wind every few minutes and the slight rustle of the palm trees below. Kefalonia; home of Captain Corelli’s Mandolin and for those of you completely unaware of my obsession, the tattoo on my ribs reads in Greek (translation: ‘love is a temporary madness’) a famous quote from the book.
If you haven’t yet visited Kefalonia, you won’t regret it. Of course one of the best things to explore when you’re abroad is of course the traditional food and this Greek island is no different. Being accustomed to Greek food anyway, there’s nothing more enjoyable than the decadence of indulgence. But how does my routine differ from home? Read on to find out about my week in Kefalonia.
MY VIEW ON HOLIDAY EATING
Obviously, I chose not to diet for this holiday. Why? Well I spent the best part of 10 months last year dieting for shows that I never ended up doing and honestly, I felt I needed a break from dieting, tracking my food and tracking my weight and surprisingly I have been ok about this. Being the first time abroad since 2019, one of my favourite things to do is eat on holiday. I don’t care what anyone says, Greek food IS THE BEST. My view; if you’re going on holiday, you need to enjoy it. There isn’t time for guilt around indulgence, life is for living and going abroad is all about experiencing new tastes and flavours. That doesn’t mean to say that you should eat until you feel sick, or extremely bloated or disgusting, that’s not what I mean. All I’m saying is taste the tastes, savour the flavours and remember each moment.
MY ROUTINE ABROAD
I had a lot of questions from clients and others in the gym whether I was still going to train whilst on holiday. The answer is, I always train when away. That’s not to punish myself for overeating, it’s not because I’m worried I will put on weight (I probably will, but that doesn’t matter as it’s only temporary), I do it because it makes me feel good. Not only that, training is so much a part of my lifestyle that I simply cannot imagine what I’d do if I didn’t.
This holiday I hit 10k steps most days, I trained 3 times and I ran a 2k and that’s it. I enjoy staying active on holiday anyway because as I have already mentioned, it makes me feel good. Don’t get me wrong, hotel gyms are not the one. You should have seen the look of despair on my face when I saw the dumbbells only went up to 18kg hahaha. But of course, my training has had to adapt according to the hotel’s equipment: not a barbell in sight: 1 bench, 18kg dumbbells, a bosu ball, GHR, Leg extension machine, lat machine, shoulder press machine and a treadmill. Believe it or not, as limiting as this is, you have to just make do with what you’ve got. Check out my training reel from this week to see what I managed to do! So what have I been eating?
Believe it or not, at the start of the week, I was only eating 2 bigger meals, with a Grenade bar in the middle of the day with a Freddo Espresso (a traditional Greek iced coffee). To be honest, when I’ve wanted to eat more I have and when I have felt full I have left it there. I’m not a fan of alcohol anyway so drinking was not an issue. I certainly indulged on this holiday and I don’t feel bad about that one bit!
BREKKIE, LUNCH AND DINNER
My breakfasts this week have all been high protein, especially those days where I skipped a midday meal. I have anything between boiled eggs, egg whites, scrambled eggs mixed with egg whites for more protein. Mushrooms although fried I feel have been necessary to get some veg in, alongside some cucumber. For carbs, a slice of toast or beans has been sufficient but never both in the morning, For the first time ever I made my first traditional Greek coffee using a Briki (an old coffee instrument) which you place either on a hob or in the hotel’s case, a big sand pit that has heat from below. Bitter and super strong, just how I like it, the perfect liquid gold.
One of the lunches I had rabbit (a traditional Kefalonian meal) which was tastier than I imagined! The same texture as lamb but not as fatty. If you saw my stories this week, you would have seen that half my plate was still filled with vegetables (similar to home). I love veg so for me, it’s never a problem, plus it makes me feel good. Also, being blocked up when you’re on and off planes is even more of a reason to eat your veg! One lunch we had was absolutely divine; a sharing fish platter for 2 consuming of sardines, fresh grilled squid, octopus and prawns, unreal and fish at home just doesn’t even compare.
Dinners: the tzatziki here makes the ones at home taste like utter crap in comparison. OMG when I had this on the first night I thought I could die. Fish or chicken souvlaki has been my go to for dinner and also the traditional Greek gyro which is basically a kebab in a pitta wrap with of course veg and some Greek potato. I honestly had to hold back from chucking more tzatziki on my plate it tasted that good.
On our second night here we tried the A La Carte restaurant which was on a rooftop overlooking the sea. The food was just as amazing as the scenery. For starters, I had fresh octopus with pureed potato. Main was the
most succulent veal steak (cooked medium rare) served with potato wedges and vegetables. We shared the dessert (cheesecake and mastika ice cream). Unfortunately, I don’t like the taste of mastika. It's one of those flavours that you either love or hate. It comes from the Mastika tree in the island of Chios (where my dad’s family are from) and usually people make it into body creams as well as chewing gum. I tried it as a liqueur and one sip was enough to remind myself that I hate it as much now as I did as a kid.
Desserts: where to start. The melon over here is to die for. Watermelon and green melon, some nights I just had that for dessert. When I felt like indulging a bit more, the Greek baklava and pastries are just heavenly. Syrupy and sweet…gorgeous.
I have loved this holiday so far and certainly was well deserved after not being able to go abroad since 2019. Lounging by the pool, reading, sunbathing, exploring the local towns, relaxing in the tavernas and feeling very close to my heritage, it’s made me feel the itch to do some possible island hopping next year!
See you soon, guys!
Much love!
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