helllloooo, friends! it’s no secret i’ve been MIA in the blogosphere lately, and i’ve had good reason: i was halfway around the world, trying to figure out a way to stay in Maui forever. i maintain that God allows Maui to exist to give us a glimpse of what Heaven will be like. i will absolutely be reviewing my trip at length in upcoming posts, but today, i’m joining up with our DC gals Mar, Courtney & Cynthia for the Friday Five Link-up. since this week’s theme revolves around food & drink, i thought i’d keep it vacation-relevant:
i’m definitely someone who takes my healthy-eating habits on vacation with me and makes every effort to eat as healthy as possible, especially when i’m on a vacation in a tropical place, where i want to be running outside and wearing bikinis every day. the boy and i did really well on our food choices for this trip and i came back feeling great and healthier than ever, and am committed to maintaining these habits!
ONE: all the fruit. i was craving fruit the whole trip, thanks to the endless sunshine & summery days. apples, mangoes, bananas, dried figs, berries — these became staples in our diet, and were so easy to pack on our day trips. eating multiple pieces of fruit a day also totally curbed any sweets hankerings, and a week without chocolate was much easier than i would have thought, especially when all i could think about was mangoes!
TWO: eat the fishies. every time we went out to eat, i ordered grilled fish tacos or a salad with grilled fish. light, healthy and just the right amount of filling, i consider fish the perfect meal to stick to when on a tropical vacation. i’m sure it goes without saying, but the fish in Maui was sooooo good. Hawaii has a local fish called Ono, which means “delicious,” that lives up to its name. we found the cutest little beachside tiki restaurant called Duke’s just a short walk from our hotel that had great fish tacos & sandwiches, and live music during early evening and sunset. such a gem of a spot.
THREE: easy on the alcohol. because let’s face it: too much is never good! neither of us are big drinkers, and coupling that with the fact that we wanted to wake up early every day to work out before adventuring, we barely drank on this trip — and it felt amaaaaazingggg. no wine with dinner, no random day drinks at the beach — and the few times we did order drinks, i tried to be adventurous and order tropical cocktails that i wouldn’t have at home, of which i knew i’d never drink more than one or two.
Mai Tais are musts in Hawaii, but they really didn’t do much for me, which i guess was a good thing, as i was one and done (and felt great the next morning to run at 8am!).
FOUR: walk the aisles. we were super fortunate to have a big grocery store across the street from our hotel, which we frequented for our breakfast foods and daily staples. not only did we save a lot of $ this way, but we made much healthier food choices and saved time when on the Road to Hana or at the beach by packing snacks. fruit, nuts, bars (Larabars are still my faves), raw veggies, almond crackers, Puffins, coffee — we became experts at healthy vaca snacking!
FIVE: kombucha. this i’m adding as my own personal Maui-specific newbie addition, as i tried a couple of kombucha brands and flavors on this trip and became a believer. kombucha became my new champagne this past week — love those bubbles!
Maui’s Valley Isle Kombucha in Lilikoi (passion fruit) was a refreshing beach day treat,
& i realllllly loved Health Ade’s Power Greens. this hybrid kombucha and pressed green juice concoction was phenomenal. of course, i found this in the San Francisco airport and the local store by me doesn’t have this flavor yet, but i’m hoping that changes soon!
at $6 a bottle they’re certainly not cheap, but on top of being so delicious, they’re good for you, so i can justify this indulgence every now and then.
enjoy your Friday and hope your weekend starts off wonderfully! i’ll be sure to give you the low-down on my trip to Maui soon! đ
Best thing you ate/drank this week?
How do you (try to) eat healthy on vaca?
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i love kombucha!
Best thing I’ve eaten & drank all week? Salmon for dinner and smoothies for breakfast!
YUM to both of those!! two of my faves as well.
I need to try kombucha. It sounds amazing and I have noticed some varieties that look great. We stay so active during our vacations and I think that plays a big role. We also are too busy to snack. Sadly, I rarely give up my cocktails, which would probably be wise.
Staying active plays a huge role!
eating healthy on vacation – that’s no fun! LOL
I a had a Starbucks smoothie with a banana, protein powder and coconut milk – must be healthier han a frappuccino
mmm that smoothie sounds delicious!
These are great tips – fruit and fish and fresh veggies are always a good plan. I still haven’t tried kombucha …
i only recently got into kombucha after being wishy-washy about it, and i definitely think certain brands taste better than others. i’d recommend trying a few out! the Health Ade is really tasty, in my opinion.
Love it there…ran right by Duke’s every day on our morning run in January…we stayed at the Westin just a little south on the beach trail. Fabulous memories!
I saw the Westin property and we used the beach near it – so lovely!
Mmmmm I love kombucha! What a great trip and great tips. I’ve never been to Maui. I do need to run a marathon in Hawaii though…so maybe someday soon đ I am pretty good at eating healthy on vacation. I try to pick everything healthy and only eat something unhealthy if it’s REALLY worth it. Like if I’m in New Orleans, I will eat beignets from Cafe du Monde, for example. All that being healthy definitely deserves a reward every so often đ
So true – we all need to let ourselves have treats now and then! I try to pick mine wisely (aka what I reallllly want) as well. Usually that’s dark chocolate!