Eating and drinking on holiday usually means junk food, booze and irregular eating which means pilling on the pounds and bloating out! So how did I cope with balancing an enjoyable holiday with enjoyable food and drink?

Self Catering

I stayed at Buenos Aires Apartments in Playa Del Ingles travelling with Thomson Holidays on a package holiday.

Self catering means you can fill up the fridge with what you want to eat. There was a Spar Supermarket not far away so we did a weekly grocery shop there and stocked up on things for breakfast, fruit, water, healthy snacks, tea and coffee, etc.

Every day we had a healthy breakfast on the balcony and fruit and nuts to snack on. I didn’t buy food for lunch and dinner as we always ate lunch and dinner out.

Supplements

I took nutritional supplements with me including protein powder and fat burning capsules. I therefore continued to take protein as normal which was great for my muscles and metabolism too! I took fat burning capsules in the morning on waking up and just before my lunch. These were great because they helped keep my metabolism going whilst I was not really doing much exercise but also suppressed my appetite which meant I didn’t snack on all the fatty sugary treats surrounding me all the time! Very tempting but I managed to resist!

Moderation

3 scoops of vanilla ice cream for dessert at dinner every day – however because I planned this sweet treat for dinner I would make sure I didn’t also eat ice cream or other sweet treats during the day. Occasionally I would have ice cream during the day however I would not have it for dinner as well.

Regulation

It was about keeping a routine going so my body was able to cope with any additions or slight changes such as the odd treat. My daily food routine looked like this:

Fat Burning Supplements,
Breakfast with protein,
Fruit snack,
Fat burning supplements,
Lunch,
Fruit snack,
Dinner
Before bedtime - a protein shake

Choices

Breakfast – This was purely my choice because I could buy exactly what I wanted from the supermarket and enjoy regular breakfast everyday!
Snacks - These were again my choice because I could buy fresh fruit from every corner shop and made sure I took fruit with me to the beach or by the pool.
Lunch – By the pool I could enjoy a tuna salad from the pool bar. However on the beach the choice was minimal which meant the healthiest option was chicken baguette (white bread!).
Dinner – I was extremely picky about where I ate and opted for better quality restaurants. I tried recommended restaurants and opted mainly for lean meat, chicken and fish dishes as opposed to pasta and pizza based dishes. I always asked for vegetables or salad.
Drinks – Red wine and water with dinner and occasionally a cocktail but mainly stuck to coffee, water, sometimes a gin and tonic – unless I really wanted a cocktail or something different I didn’t have it for the sake of it.

Beach Food

Some people took their own packed lunches to the beach but I find the food gets warm and horrible in the heat so I would avoid that completely and instead I bought my sandwich from the beach bar on the beach (they have fridges).

Chicken escalope white baguette with tomato sauce and Frenchs mustard – it made me feel bloated and was not ideal! There was not a wholemeal bread alternative on the beach so I had no choice but to either eat this or nothing at all, which would have been worse!

The baguette was nice and fresh, but it was the bloated feeling I did not like. Also, the chicken was coated in a crispy coating (don’t know what it was) which was not ideal either. Having the fat burning capsules before eating this baguette definitely helped make me less bloated and helped burn it up much faster.

Gran Canaria Restaurant Recommendations

Anyone going to Gran Canaria should definitely try out the following restaurants:

Pizzeria Centrum

(also known as Restaurante Centrum) in Yumbo Centre, Playa Del Ingles:

Good quality food at excellent prices. I ate there almost everyday it was so good! The pictures show me with some good friends - John and Rieneke Steendam from Holland.

Taberna Bulgaria III

– Yumbo Centre, Ground Floor.

Saffron

– Puerto Mogan.

Amazing quality spicy food, bit more expensive than most places but worth every penny. This is the best place for food on Gran Canaria without any doubt!

Greek Village and Mr Greek

Playa Del Ingles.

Restaurants to avoid in Gran Canaria

Grand Italia, Meloneras

Avoid this one like the plague as the food is served cold, the standards are really poor and the quality of food is no different from any of the beach bars in all honesty. The prices are way too high so a complete rip off!

They added extras on my bill too and refused to take them off. The owner threatens customers with physical violence if you complain! Don’t go there! Not a friendly place at all and for an Italian restaurant not to have Italians working there seems a bit bizarre! A fake nasty place to be!

Hard Rock Café, Playa Del Ingles

The salad is made of fried bread, cheese, and lettuce – not very healthy at all and not a very nice salad! The burgers are made with bacon fat (couldn’t see any meat on the bacon at all). The service was not great. Overcharged on the bill and had to argue with the manager to get it put right. The only nice thing about this place were the enormous chocolate brownie dessert which is worth trying as a treat but that’s it really.

Gran Canaria’s health foods to indulge in

Whilst there I enjoyed eating foods they are produce on the island, these include:

Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Honey – produced in the mountains
Tomatoes – the best tasting tomatoes ever!
Bananas
Fresh Sardines