Vienna, Prague, Berlin + Amsterdam....

bitterbrownie
bitterbrownie Posts: 369 Member
edited December 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
i'm spending a week in the Austrian Alps next week and the following week will be spending 2 nights in each of the title cities.

The first week I'm not too concerned about as will be walking all day every day and am staying in self-catering apartment so won't be eating out too much and control breakfasts etc

however:

the second week will be no self-catering as will be staying in hotels. So I would like tips on:

1. maintaining throughout this second week
2. choices for hotel breakfasts (i know it depends on what they have :L)
3. choices at lunch and dinner as will be cafes/shops/restaurants in the cities

it is a holiday so i won't be too worried but don't want to put lots on as it's my birthday when I get back and I know there'll be cake and dinners out ;)

thanks for any advice!!

Replies

  • Eleanorjanethinner
    Eleanorjanethinner Posts: 563 Member
    Gosh, sounds fabulous! I'm jealous!

    I'd personally not worry too much about it as a bit part of travel is enjoying the new food and wine (in moderation). I've also found that four to six hours walking a day tends to burn off quite a bit of cake!

    However, suggestions:

    Have a large bottle of water with you at all times and keep drinking!

    Breakfast - filling foods like oatmeal, low fat yoghurt with fruit, boiled or poached eggs (not fried or in omlettes etc). Avoid pastries, cheese and meat, bacon etc.

    Lunch and dinner - do your best to chose high protein, low fat and as much vegetables as possible. Don't eat fries. Do eat at least one meal of sausages 'cos they're so damn good! (Om, nom, nom... drools). Drink one glass of wine or beer.

    Snacks - do eat one or two fantastically creamy German/Austrian cakes (Om, nom, nom... drools).

    Hmm... I think my advice is going off course. I'll stop now.

    ENJOY! :smile:
  • milkyskinn
    milkyskinn Posts: 126 Member
    ohh have fun! :) In Amsterdam they'll have plenty of choices for you, there's a large variety of restaurants to choose from though if you don't want to eat fattening food, I'd really recommend staying away from Dutch restaurants. The ones that are really expensive are probably better for your waist but not so much for your wallet!

    In Holland you will find a couple of things a lot: (read; in almost every street/cafe/restaurant)
    fries (topped with mayo or peanut sauce, abt 800 calories per portion.. oops) fish stands, but usually except for herring which is VERY healthy and I would recommend, the rest is fried in batter. Dutch pancakes, poffertjes, apple pie and food you van get out of the wall. Also avoid the 'wall food'. Almost everything is fried, very processed, and fattening, especially the 'frikandel'. And then to think most people also smother these in mayo and curry... anyway!

    Things I can recommend to you that are worth trying, (pretty) safe, and not very expensive, are these;
    herring (and eat 'em the traditional way!) very fresh and in season right now. :)
    From the 'out of the wall food', you can try the kroket (usually around 140kcal, 6gr fat, which isn't too bad!) or it's round variety which you can also order at many cafes, 'bitterballen'. Usually served in portions of 5-10 and contain about 35-40kcal per ball (size of your palm)
    Certain shops also have pretty good and fresh banquettes/sandwiches, fruit salads, or smoothies. I really like going to la place (which is part of the V&D department store) they usually have a to-go section and a restaurant where you can sit down inside. They can offer anything from regular, hawaii or italian burgers, pizza bread, salads and soups in their restaurant, and their to-go section has some very tasty paninis and sandwiches (a good choice is the mexican chicken one which has a raw, fresh tomato salsa!) at reasonable price :) Delifrance is also good, and I'd recommend Dutch cheese as well (still remains the best for me. But maybe I'm biased because I'm dutch!) you have reduced fat and salt cheeses but if you order a little platter somewhere with mustard it;s not going to add up too bad.
    Also greek and italian restaurants are usually pretty good around here. Also some seafood restaurants! It's best to stay away from Chinese restaurants as well as the small turkish take-outs. Indonesian and Surinam food is also a good choice!

    The sweet stuff;
    Dutch pancakes - they usually contain less fat than their american counter parts, and are larger and thinner. You can top them with anything you like, from fruits to syrup or even have them cooked with a little liquor!
    Little note: STAY AWAY from the smaller round ones called poffertjes. That's nothing but a bite of wheat in butter. :/

    Caramel waffles/stroopwafels - go for the fresh warm ones :) Average sized waffles are around 120-140cals and are very thin. If you buy the fresh ones at the market you can usually also buy the crumbled variety which has less to no caramel and can save you calories.

    Dutch apple pie is also not too bad; if you don't top it with the whipped cream! It's definitely better than cheese or mousse cakes.

    Some other general rules of thumb; avoid any dish that contains 'spek' (worse than bacon) don't get 'rookworst' (saaaallttt lots of trans fat), avoid most schnitzels (fried), don't get saucijzen/kaasbroodjes (filled with fatty meats and cheeses..)
    Look out for these lean options if you see them; ham is usually pretty lean meat around here, 'tartaar'/tartar which is very, very lean beef usually served on bread with onions, a less rough variety on this is filet americain (only opt for this choice at decent bakeries/butchers/market stalls specializing in beef), smoked fish, etc. Hope this helped you :)
  • bitterbrownie
    bitterbrownie Posts: 369 Member
    wow some great tips here, thanks a lot!!

    really looking forward to going now :D
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