cuba

One of the many perks of my husband's dedication and hard work is a yearly trip to somewhere hot and sunny - for free!! (well, free if you don't consider long hours and high blood pressure a form of payment) This is our fifth time going on one of these trips and this year we found ourselves in Cuba. I always have reservations about these holidays, going to a third world country, eating like a pig, drinking way more booze than any human should and sitting on my backside in the sun for seven days just doesn't seem totally right. I usually get over it a few days before we leave, or at least when we land and get on the air-conditioned bus and for sure by the time I step off the bus and unload my bags I have completely surrendered. 

This time was different.

Cuba was never on my list of things to do in the first place, it just never really jumped out at me as a place I should go to. Since I am on a very limited diet (especially on these holidays, nothing like getting the "trots" on a sunny vacation) I wasn't too concerned with all the talk of horrible food, besides, it is Cuba, there must be fruit! I love fresh fruit, fresh, exotic, juicy, just picked fruit! Hard to turn down a "free" holiday no matter where it is, so I packed the usual hot sunny vacation items, sun dresses, sarongs, hats, books, bathing suit, sunscreen, flip flops, shoes, some "safe food", some extra food (in case all those people were right about the food), my workout gear (not that I ever use it on these holidays) and of course - my camera! The food might not be that great but I knew there would be some great photo ops!

We went down for breakfast on the first day but apparently Cubans don't do breakfast, at least not the sort of breakfast I was going to eat. There were wieners cut up in a milky, runny, tomato-like sauce, eggs cooked in a variety of ways, scrambled, over easy, and poached (all cold of course) some mystery meat and some random potato dishes, including mashed with some type of gravy. I was totally wrong about the fruit too by the way. You had three options, if you don't include the fried bananas they served for dessert at night, papaya, white pineapple, and some sort of peach/pear mixture in a syrup that had to have come out of a can. Breakfast was a bust, lunch and supper were no better. My diet for the week included, rice, cheese (when it was available), more rice, fried bananas, more rice and of course my suitcase full of granola bars and protein shakes!

Thank goodness for booze, sunshine and good friends! 

Once we figured out the food situation, realized that toilet paper, bottled water and clean towels were to be hoarded and protected like gold, we put on our bathing suits and made the best of it! We had a ton of laughs, we played cards, walked on the beach, took in a magic show and pretended we were on Survivor! Since there was nothing good to eat at the breakfast buffet and when I woke up at 7am  it seemed too early to drink I  went to the gym every morning. The view from the elliptical was out of this world and on top of that, this was the first holiday I came back from in the same shape or better as when I left!

Knowing that a return trip to Cuba was not likely, I knew I couldn't go back to Canada without seeing this very real, fairly sad, but also breathtaking city called Havana. We rented a 52' Chevy with a driver and spent a beautiful day on the road, it was perfect, even the food poisoning two of the boys were dealing with couldn't take away from this experience.  Everything about it was so interesting, the lack of American influence, the communist government, the millions of people, the skinny overheated horses and most incredibly - the architecture. You just know it was once a vibrant and beautiful city, a place with a rich history. We saw Al Capone's hangout, the parliament buildings, a beautiful cemetery, a fort built in the 1500's, we spoke with our driver about the government, the taxes and the Americans. We were enlightened and by the end of the day, I had a new found respect for Cuba and it's people.

I don't know what the future holds for Cuba, but it feels like change is on the horizon and I am glad I got to see it as it is today....lack of toilet paper and all! 

change is good

Part of being happy is being healthy, so it seems fitting to share the story of how I ended up on a path that has completely changed the way I relate to food. As I have mentioned before - I LOVE food! I love to eat food, I love to cook food and I love to share food! That has not changed, what has changed is the sort of food I can put into my body.

A few years ago I started to notice some strange things happening to me that seemed to be directly related to what I was eating. It actually started out with what I was drinking and how my body would react; I brushed it off as self-inflicted punishment for having had too many drinks. Then when it started to spill over into food, I knew I needed to figure out what exactly was causing me all this discomfort; so I went on a mission and a year and a half ago with the help of a nutritionist and my doctor I discovered it was gluten!

What is gluten even? Gluten is a protein found in wheat (durum, kamut, spelt) as well as barley, triticale and rye. So just stop eating it, stop eating bread and drinking beer – easy.  

Not really. 

It is found in so many things! Things that you would never even think of, soya sauce, lunch meats, worcestershire sauce, flavoured alcohol, salad dressings, certain vinegar, and the list goes on and on and on......

Where to start? I started by talking to a man I work with that I knew was Celiac. He steered me to the local chapter of the Canadian Celiac Association website. He recommended the pocket dictionary and so I bought four, one for my purse, my pantry, my husband and one extra because I was a Girl Guide and we are prepared!  What a fabulous resource, they should be charging triple what they are for them! I would seriously be at a loss without it! My mom works with a woman who has a daughter that is celiac and my friend's father-in law is also celiac and lucky for me all these people were happy to share some tips!

Armed with all this advice, guidance and the support of my husband, I picked up my pocket dictionary and got started on the pantry. A lot of food was donated to friends and local food banks to make my house gluten free. I went through the fridge and freezer and once I was satisfied I had found all the hidden gluten in my house I started this journey. I have experimented in my kitchen with modifying my favorite recipes so that I can continue to eat the food I love and I am happy to say that so far there have been more successes than failures!  I may even post a few on this blog!

It was a year in February and I feel great! There have been some surprising positive changes that I wasn’t even aware of!  It hasn’t been easy and there have been some very painful nights after inadvertently ingesting some of this gluten that my body has deemed poisonous. Overall I feel good, I feel optimistic and I feel a lot more confident than I did a year ago! 

I am able to say “no thank you” to an offering of food now without worrying about hurting someone’s feelings...and that was a big step for me!