Sacrifice

If you’re like the average human being, it’s likely you slack off on your health regimen while you’re on vacation. As for me while on my current vacation in Israel, I’m probably being more diligent about exercise and less so about food. I knew this going in and decided to go with the flow. While the sun and fun are agreeing with me, the dietary changes are not.

Israelis like their dairy. They also like their bread. Two foods I hardly, if ever, eat while home, and foods I have to eat at least a little bit here unless I want to starve. I know we have a few Israelis reading this blog, and I’m sure they will be quick to tell me where I might find gluten-free products in some major city I’m passing through or some soy alternatives. But for the most part, I’m staying in the less populated Northern region, and traveling with my mom, who is, shall we say, less adventurous than I when it comes to food.

Organic produce offered at the gift shop

The one brief relief I had from this gluttony was my overnight stay at an amazing organic farm, hotel, and spa called Hotel Mitzpe HaYamim (which translates to “Lakeview”). My husband booked this stay for us as a joint birthday gift for my mom’s and my August birthdays. He knew I’d fall in love with the place and he’s lucky I didn’t take up with my amazing massage therapist or beg the management to let me manage their wellness program in exchange for food and board. (I would! I would!)

At Mitzpe Haymamim, I didn’t have to worry about what I would eat or what I was eating. I knew there would be healty options for me and I knew that those healthy options were picked straight from the organic farm that day, prepared, and placed on the vegetarian buffet for me to choose. (Next door, they offer a meat restaurant called Muscat, one of the top restaurants in Israel. The meat comes from the cows and chicken on the farm who are also fed organic vegetables!)

Why can’t life be a vegetarian buffet, I ask you?

Why is relief and serenity so accessible at a fancy-schmancy spa, but not so in every day life?

Don’t get me wrong. I’m so grateful to have even had this experience. Contrary to what you might think, I’ve never been to Canyon Ranch or any equivalent. So this was a super duper treat which I enjoyed to the fullest.

It just bums me out that what I want and need may be at my fingertips…but only if I’m on vacation…and only if that vacation includes a high-priced stop at a rare gem like Mitzpe Hayamim.

I’m sick of healthy options being a luxury only for the wealthy.