A NEW LIFESTYLE  

I was unhealthy. I mean, VERY unhealthy.  

I never liked to cook. For breakfast, I always ate very sweet cereal with ​milk.​ To 

make the cereal healthy, I would buy​ a bunch of bananas​ and cut them into 

pieces for my cereal. When I arrived at the office, it was always someone's 

birthday and there were many snacks, (never healthy ones either, of course). 

Last week, there were at least 5 office birthdays. Literally a birthday for EVERY 

DAY of the week! One guy brought in cake, another one bagels, a lady in the HR 

department made pizza for everyone...How on earth are you supposed to resist 

that? You wouldn’t believe how many nights I came home and promised to start 

a diet the next day. ​Famous last words...   

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For lunch, I would go to the snack machine and get a bag of chips and a candy 

bar. The only thing that would stop me from eating this unhealthy of a lunch is if 

my food got stuck in the machine. My already poor lunch choices also went good 

with ​a bottle of lemonade.​ I always “”​tried””​ to bring some fruit for a snack like 

pears, peaches​ or ​melons ​but I never ate them. Ok, don’t judge me. Who ​really 

likes ​pears​? Dinner was similar. Go to the supermarket, get a ​burger​, ​a can of 

cola​ or another ​soft drink​. (Just so you know, the ​burger ​always had pickled 

cucumbers, tomatoes ​and​ carrots ​on top. Every little bit helps, right?) 

But it wasn’t only my eating that made me unhealthy. 

I did very little sport. I sat at work on the computer, at home on the sofa and in 

my car to get around. I only got exercise when I walked the dog (but the poor 

thing was fat too). Even at the superstore, I used to use one of those motor carts 

they keep for elderly people. I know what you’re thinking, but I am POSITIVE 

that I was not the only lazy person on one of those. As I said, I ​WAS 

unhealthy….so…. what changed?  

Two things. 

Firstly, “I” changed. After I took a trip to the Mediterranean Sea I started to hate 

my lifestyle. Secondly, I realized that with my health it was a life or death 

situation.  

Regarding my life changing trip, no matter what country it was, when I left the 

boat in Spain, Italy, Greece, I always saw the same story. Very healthy, active 

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people. There were old people riding bikes with no problems, some worked in 

the fields on a hot day and drank no ​refreshments ​except for ​mineral water 

with ​ice​. Gray haired people swimming, fishing, laughing, enjoying life.  

For me, I was always tired, even after 9 hours of sleep! (Though, I often woke up 

to look at my phone). I was always thirsty (no matter how much​ coffee​ or​ juice​ I 

drank!) and, I HATED taking the stairs to my flat. (Why use the stairs when 

there’s a lift?). 

Finally, when I got to the last place on my trip, Cyprus, and saw the same healthy 

lifestyle yet another time, I decided to ask someone.  

A friendly waiter at a restaurant started talking to me and I told him how I liked 

the Mediterranean coast. I said that I was amazed by the people. “Where I’m 

from, people are always tired, stressed and poor diets are normal. Here, 

everyone looks happy and healthy. Why’s that? ” I asked. He told me, “It’s the 

Mediterranean diet. Here, we eat a lot of olive oil, vegetables and fruits,​ fish​, 

fresh dairy and even wine! Pasta and rice are important too.” “I eat a lot of those 

things…” I said, “I don’t think it’s so healthy.” “It is,” he replied. “Everything we 

eat is all fresh, not from a factory. The food we eat stops us from getting many 

illnesses common in your country. Also, as you noticed, we are very active…”. 

You know, I never understood people in my country. Why maintain a lifestyle of 

BAD food and habits that make you feel WORSE instead of learning to live with 

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good food and good habits that make you feel BETTER!?” I thought about his 

words the whole trip home. 

When I arrived home, I began to hate my lifestyle.  

I didn’t care before but now, I did. My clothes didn’t fit well. I spent a lot of 

money on junk food. I couldn’t remember when I last had real, fresh, air...  

I thought about all of this one morning. I don’t know why. But I knew, I needed a 

change. A change of heart, change of mind, change of lifestyle. Yet, one more 

thing had to happen before I made the change.   

About a week after my trip, I got a call from my mom while I was at work. I 

wasn’t able to answer the phone but on my lunch break I read her text message. 

“​Dad in hospital. It looks bad”. 

It took me 45 minutes from the time I read the text message to get to the 

hospital. It took me twenty minutes from my arrival at the hospital to learn that 

my father had had a heart attack. It took about 15 more minutes before the 

doctors said there was nothing more they could do, my father had passed 

away…. 

Time is so short in those scary and terrible moments of life. My bad lifestyle 

habits weren’t only my own, they were my family habits.  

It took my dad 63 years of bad living to die in 2 hours. In sadness, you begin to 

think about a lot. Mainly, that you want your family member back. When you 

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realize it’s an impossibility, the second thought is, if it’s possible, I don’t want to 

die like he did.  

So, my true change came.  

At first, I improved small things in my life. I went to bed and woke up at a normal 

time, turned my phone off every night, drank more ​water​….Then, bigger changes 

came. Exercise in the morning and biking to work, staying away from office food, 

very easy things. But the most important change was my diet. I began to eat 

healthily.  

After I read a lot of blogs, watched many videos and learned enough information, 

I got started. I decided to try and eat more foods like people living on the 

Mediterranean Sea. I began by planning my meals for the week.  

Let’s see. 

Monday-Friday: 

Breakfast​ - Fruit ​salad ​with ​apples​,​ grapes​, ​strawberries​ and ​yogurt.​ Yum.  

Lunch​ -Cooked ​tuna​ with​ lemon​ and ​garlic​. Olive oil roasted ​potatoes​ with 

broccoli​.  

Dinner​ - A ​piece​ of​ turkey​ or ​chicken​ on top of a ​lettuce ​or ​cabbage salad​.  

Every weekday was similar. Maybe instead of a fruit ​salad​ for breakfast I had 

tropical fruits like ​banana​-​coconut​ ​yogurt​. For lunch, I could exchange ​tuna​ for 

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salmon​ or any​ fish​, even ​beans​. Dinner was also usually the same, though, 

sometimes I liked ​corn​ with ​chilies​ as a side dish.  

The important thing was to eat fresh, in small amounts and to make little 

changes in the meals from day to day. Also, always drink a lot of ​water​ in 

between meals ​(with the occasional cup of tea, ​of course​).​ At the weekends, I 

was more relaxed about what I ate. 

Weekends:  

Breakfast​ - An​ egg​ omelet with ​slices​ of ​cheese​ and small ​pieces​ of ​onions​ and 

peppers, (I always added a little ​spinach​ to have some green in my omelet) with 

a ​glass​ of ​orange​ ​juice​.   

Lunch​; Pasta with ​mushrooms​ and ​onions ​cooked in olive oil or ​butter​. 

Dinner​ at the weekends, I’d have ​steak​ or ​sausages​ usually with rice, vegetables 

and a little red wine (hey, if they drink it in Spain, why not me?).  

My weekends I would spend doing fun things like hiking, playing basketball or 

walking the street markets with my friends. I realised walking for a long time is 

not so bad once you get momentum, and it makes you so tired you just CRASH in 

bed when you get home.  

I swear I feel MUCH better now. This is unbelievable.  

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It’s only been a month, but I have a lot more energy, save a lot of money on food 

and have even lost some weight. I ​WAS​ unhealthy but I focused my mind, 

changed my habits and now, I can say I am a healthy person.  

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VOCABULARY LIST  

FRUIT 

- apple (manzana) 

- banana (banana/plátano)  

- coconut (coco) 

- grape (uva)  

- lemon (limón) 

- melon (melón) 

- orange (naranja) 

- peach (durazno) 

- pear (pera) 

- strawberry (fresa) 

VEGETABLES 

- beans (judías) 

- broccoli (brócoli) 

- cabbage (col) 

- carrot (zanahoria) 

- chilli (chili, guindilla) 

- corn (maíz) 

- cucumber (pepino) 

- garlic (ajo) 

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- lettuce (lechuga) 

- mushroom (champiñón, seta) 

- onion (cebolla) 

- pea (guisante, arveja)  

- potato (patata) 

- spinach (espinacas) 

- salad (ensalada) 

- tomato (tomate) 

MEAT 

- burger (hamburguesa) 

- chicken (pollo) 

- duck (pato) 

- fish (pescado) 

- salmon (salmón) 

- tuna (atún) 

- lamb (cordero) 

- sausage (embutido, salchicha) 

- steak (filete) 

- turkey (pavo) 

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DAIRY PRODUCTS 

- butter (mantequilla) 

- cheese (queso) 

- egg (huevo) 

- milk (leche) 

- yoghurt (yogur) 

BEVERAGE (bebidas) 

- cola (cola) 

- coffee (café)  

- juice/ fruit juice (zumo/ zumo de frutas) 

- lemonade (limonada) 

- mineral water (agua mineral) 

- refreshments (refrigerios) 

- soft drink (refresco) 

- tea (té) 

- ice (hielo) 

QUANTITY 

- a bunch of (bananas) (un racimo de)  

- a bottle of (water) (una botella de) 

- a can of (una lata de) 

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 - a slice of (una loncha/rodaja de) 

- a jug of (una jarra de )   

- a piece of (un trozo de) 

- a glass of (un vaso de) 

 
 
 
 
  
 

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