Sorry to sound like a whiner, but I am so exhausted and ridiculously jet-lagged.

I need to go to bed stat, but wanted to share a few trip highlights relevant to my blog’s messaging.

You can check out my photo albums on Facebook here and here.

*Also here!* New album with hubby’s pics!

(Please let me know if you can’t view these albums — Facebook says I should be able to share them!) The pictures tell the stories best, and there’s a little commentary, too 😉

Here’s my round-up of food, drink and exercise related to my trip.

Food:
I am really proud of how I handled the food situation over there. I had absolutely no control over how things were cooked or even what we were eating (my brother did most of the ordering since he speaks Korean and knew more or less my comfort level re: spiciness).

I ate small portions of everything … and a looooot of broth-based soups with mandu (pork/cabbage dumplings) since it was one of the few non-spicy dishes. I didn’t mind though; it was delicious and I’d order it at a Korean restaurant if ever I went to one here in the U.S.

I did pass on the eel at the farmer’s market Saturday (everyone said it was good and tasted like white fish, but after watching the lady decapitate the eels for our lunch, I just honestly couldn’t stomach it …) … but ate many other things I hadn’t had before.

For example, I tried new foods including: dried seaweed and seaweed soup, mandu, cuttle-fish, fried donut things, pig spine soup, kimchi, Korean noodles, fish cake, rice balls stuffed with tuna, Asian pear (I think I’ve had that before but it tasted so much better IN Asia ;)) plus we shared lots of bakery breads (my husband and I both love bread and it’s just not a staple of the Korean diet so we got a little bit each day) …

I wouldn’t say I loved the food on the whole — I much prefer Mediterranean cuisine above anything else –but I absolutely loved the experience, the art, of eating over there.

The way we ate was a real treat … on the floor, often sharing communal dishes, cooking our own BBQ and fondue-style meat-veggie-and-broth dishes.

It was unique and fun and while I was happy to have a turkey Subway sub on the drive home from O’Hare yesterday, I left Korea feeling proud of how non-disordered and, well, normal my eating was. I’d give myself a B for sure!

Sure, I didn’t eat big portions of meat and didn’t experiment too much with spice levels … and I did enjoy quite a few FiberOne bars when everyone else was enjoying street food, but still, I tried nearly everything and tried to be open-minded as I could be (save for the eel)!

Drink:
At cafes, I drank low-fat and full-fat milk (was not about to turn down morning lattes due to the milk type used — plus, portions were small — read as “normal.”) Also drank a good amount of soju, a rice liquor that was just delicious when mixed with (regular) lemon-lime soda called “cider” … happy just thinking about it!

I did find Coke Zero and Coke Light (which I love, love love drinking abroad — it tastes so different than Diet Coke we have here in the States) in a few places, but stuck to water a good chunk of the time.  I still have an obsession with Diet Coke, but I found that I can live without it … I just choose not to.

Exercise:
I’m proud to say I didn’t take out my sneakers once … there was no way we’d go running unless it was in a park there …. but every day (except for travel days) we walked a ton. All over the place. And it felt good. In fact, since I was sick the three days leading up to our trip, tonight was the first workout I’d done in nearly two weeks and I felt stronger than ever … probably from having given my body an actual REST!

Summary:
I over-ate according to Weight Watchers but that is to be expected on vacation. (Actually, I did fine until Thursday – then things kind of went downhill, especially since Seoul had such good food!). I enjoyed everything in moderation and tried to be open-minded as much as possible.

I am sure I gained weight — that often happens with travel, and within a week it’s gone. The thing is, looking at my photos I see just how chunky I’ve gotten … and finally, I feel ready and willing now to tackle my weight.

I know I’ve said it before, but I’m carrying around extra pounds that I simply don’t need. With spring in the air, I feel motivated to calm down a bit and see what happens.

I enjoyed myself to the fullest, deprived myself of nothing and was aware the whole time. But I’ve been “over-spending” and it shows. I looked at my food journals and see all the extras and I know what I need to do. Instead of being overwhelmed, though, I feel calm.

Maybe it had to do with being in another place where life is just so different. Calmer. Whatever it is, I’ll take it!