Who is the hungry traveler

My name is Kasia… and I am not here to write about myself, but rather of the interesting places I visit and authentic foods I sample.

I was born at the end of 70s under the Communist regime of the then Republic of Poland and was fortunate enough to witness the changes happening in my country in subsequent 2 decades. Having been schooled in Russian, mandatory still in the 80s, I made a swift change to English and German in the 90s.  This helped me to first start dreaming and then setting about seeing the world (set my foot on 5 continents).

After graduating from my local university, I packed my bags (two to be exact) and left my hometown to establish a life in Denmark. Not the easiest undertaking for a Pole at the beginning of the 21st century, as it just preceded Poland joining the EU.

But I made it!

Another master’s degree, a great job and 11 years later, the faith threw me to a small island on the right side of Mediterranean Sea, Cyprus where I enjoyed the sun, diving and even learned to ride horses.

Life is never boring 3 years ago I moved to Istanbul, the city that never sleeps, is never quite and has layers upon layers of history. As a consequence of this, I completed another master’s degree… in Turkish Literature and Turkology. As you can see, I am curious creature.

In the past 20 years I challenged myself of making my travels as least touristic as possible, as interesting as possible, and as foodie as possible. Yes, I love food, but not just any food, but rather good and authentic food. I am following a warrior diet variation of intermittent fasting regime. I know it is a mouthful, but I will get to it later. Just to let you know though, my purpose here is not to give any nutritional advice nor preach about this and that, but merely to share my way.

I am blessed to have found the Other Me to share my life and my adventures with, with exactly the same degree of curiousity.

I am also an avid reader (still prefer the printed page), practice scuba diving, animal lover (currently giving home to four furry creatures), hiker, yoga maniac, cook, traveler and in simple terms: enjoying my life.

Enjoy it with me!

How the hungry traveler eats

I was never a breakfast eater.

The thought of sitting at the table while you are still half asleep and having bread, eggs, pancakes, cheese (separate or together) and others was not my idea of starting the day. Instead, I have always been quite content with just making myself a bucket of black tea with honey, occasionally with few drops of fresh lemon.

Lunch, similarly, was more of a habit than an actual need. All those days when my sugar dropped to the floor two hours after lunch while sitting at my desk was a nightmare. Could barely keep my eyes open.

But dinners were something else. Cooking at home or going out for food was more of a celebration of the day; time when a need was met with actual pleasure and sense of true satisfaction.

So, when I came across Ori Hofmekler’s nutrition method described in his book “The Warrior Diet”, my transition to intermittent fasting was not only rapid and hassle free but also felt like this was the way to go. I was not experimenting with “yet another Monday diet” but rather had transitioned quickly to something that reshaped my entire dietary outlook. No more stress of what I should have for lunch and no more sugar level rollercoasters during the day.

In simple words, my body enjoys from 20 hours of fasting and cleansing every single day, with 4 hours of an “eating window”. Not to say I just stuff my mouth non-stop for 4 hours, but rather that I spread my food intake over the course of 4 hours with breaks. Importantly, as I eat once a day, the meal is not a “whatever the fridge offers” but a meal meticulously selected and carefully put together. I eat whatever I feel like, not sparing my favourite marble brownies or cheesecakes of course.

So, that is my meal timings. Briefly about my macros, I was a pescatarian and vegetarian and no, the choices I made were not based on any particular book, movie or a social trend. I made those conscious choices when I felt that my body would benefit the most out of it. Several years ago, following detox program I quit eating meat altogether. So, there was no more chicken, turkey or minced beef but much more fresh fish, seafood, and added even more veggies and fruits. But then I decided to go back to eating meat. Again, this was a decision based on my body’s calling. I listened.

I still try to eat as fresh and seasonable whole foods straight as possible. I distrust anything that comes in a pre-packaged can or a container. Remember folks, not telling anyone here how they should or not eat; everyone needs to make that judgment for themselves.