On the move in Mexico! Greg snapped this as we climbed down the cobblestone streets to town in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico

My friend Hope had to dash home to the States for awhile and asked if we might like to stay at her home in San Miguel de Allende, high in the Mexico dessert, for a bit.

Uh, yeah.

So here we are.

The house is beautiful, brilliantly decorated, and very private.

And as usual, travel to Mexico means there are plenty of ways to “sneak in” fitness.  Actually, more like “built in”.

Here are 5 ways that hanging out in Mexico can keep you fit:

The house in San Miguel where we are staying...5 floors, count 'em!

1.  Stay in a vertical casa:

Now, Hope had told me “the house is on 4 levels”.  I think it’s more like – 5?  First you spiral from the garage to the kitchen, dining room, and lower level gardens. 

From there it’s UP to the bedroom and den and second level deck.  Out the door, past the lush cultivated gardens, you climb again to the dining platform that looks out across the city and the valley beyond, and the artist’s studio.

Wait, there’s more!  There’s another spiral up to the viewing platform high above all.  Did you count 5?  Tell me you did!

2.  Eat your meals on heavy Mexican pottery:

Easy, that’s all there is in the house!  I figure whenever I load up our dinner plates with our usual mountain of rice, brilliant veggies and side of beans, I have at least 5 lbs in each hand to carry – well, UP to the dining levels since we like to eat outside, it’s so darn pretty in the gardens.

Carrying these dinner plates in Mexico keeps the biceps on their toes

3. Load up on veggies and fruits in the market and via street vendors: Our first market outing was a roaring success, as we returned lade with tomatoes, avocado, onions, eggplant, squash, bananas, cilantro, washed greens, mango, papaya, and lustrous carrots.

Eating a plant-strong diet is one of my secrets for staying slim and it’s easy – and cheap to do here.

4.  Walk – everywhere! Right out the front door, the cobblestones lead in 2 directions:  UP to the higher levels of the city, and down into the heart of town, with shops, cathedrals, art galleries, and parks.

5.  Ask for – and get – what you want in restaurants.

So far, 2 out of 3 lunches we’ve eaten while walking around town.  Now, this can be challenging even in the states where restaurants seem to throw oil, cheese, and cream on everything they can!  To date, my simple request for “sin queso, sin crema, y sin grasa” (without cheese, cream, or grease) has been met with a gracious smile and full compliance.

Our veggie burritos at Media de Naranja

Yesterday at Media de Naranja (translation:   “Half an Orange”) Restaurant was veggie burritos with black bean, avocado and side salad of dark greens, with shredded carrots and beets – dressing on the side please, and the veggies were so sweet I didn’t even bother with a squeeze of lime except for in the cerveza.

Today we ate at “CafeOrganico” and had veggie burgers (house recipe) with side salad.  “Sin queso, crema…” …you get the idea.

We hear there are some hot springs nearby.  I’m betting some kind of hiking will be involved!

Have you any travel eating tips or adventures that you’d like to share?  Tell about them in Comments below.

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