Even though I moved abroad to Dublin, Ireland and completely changed my life, I find comfort in familiarity. I enjoy eating the same things every day (like my egg white oats and protein yogurt bowl) and I enjoy my workout routine. But being in a new country means being around different selections of produce and foods. Therefore, the way I eat has changed slightly. So, here’s 3 ways my food choices changed since moving abroad.
3 Ways My Food Choices Changed Since Moving Abroad
No longer shopping at high-end supermarkets
Gone are the days where I can shop at Whole Foods, Trader Joes, or my favorite place, Erewhon. Sad times but actually, it’s much better for my wallet.
Supermarkets in Dublin are much different than in Los Angeles. The regular grocery stores I’ve been to here are smaller than the stores in LA and don’t carry as big of a selection of items, based on my experience. Items like kale and egg whites have been a bit more difficult to find. But that could also be due to me being new and not knowing where to buy everything yet.
Shopping here has also been less expensive than shopping in LA. I’m surprised by how much less I spend when I do (almost) a whole week’s worth of groceries. That being said, there are more expensive stores like Marks & Spencers which are always fun to go through and see what pricey items they have.
One cool thing about shops like Lidl and Aldi have this middle section where they sell random items. They can range from very practical things like clothes and baking dishes to out-of-place items like…chainsaws or battery chargers. It’s exciting going through it because you never know what you’ll find.
Shopping multiple times a week
In my LA life, I got by with one grocery shop a week because I had a car to lug everything around and the size of them items I got would usually last me the week or more.
Now that I’m in Dublin, I don’t have a car so I have to carry everything by hand. It doesn’t make sense to do massive shops because there’s no way I can carry everything home myself unless I want my arms to feel like they’re falling off.
Also, all the food here is in smaller packages (or maybe the US just sells things in larger than normal packages…) so I go through things more quickly. For example, I got a 500mL container of Greek yogurt the other day and I’ve already finished it.
Maybe I have a big appetite. Maybe the sizes are smaller. Or maybe it’s both.
Buying more calorie-dense foods because of less storage space
When I lived with roommates and my parents in LA, I had lots of fridge and pantry space to store my food. My meals would mainly be A LOT of lower-calorie foods. I enjoyed volume-eating because I ate a little bit of everything but still stayed within my macro and calorie limits. My dinners would basically be HUGE bowls of veggies. I’d eat them out of mixing bowls.
However, in Dublin flat, my fridge and pantry space is considerably smaller so I have to shop a bit differently. Instead of buying bags on bags of different veggies that would take over the whole fridge, I try to include more calorie-dense foods (foods which contain more calories relative to their weight). I still meet my macro and calorie goals while taking up less space in the fridge and pantry.
Currently, that looks like using grains (rice cakes, bread) and starchy veggies (sweet potatoes, peas, etc) to hit my carb goals versus using lots of low calorie veggies (courgette/zucchini, celery, etc).
How My Food Choices Make Me Feel Since Moving Abroad
Overall, I feel really good diet-wise since moving abroad. I’m slowly adapting to the food options I have here and discovering new places to find ingredients I was used to in LA. While things are different here, I don’t feel I’ve had to make many sacrifices to the way I eat. I think it helps Dublin is a major city so it’s pretty accommodating to different eating styles.
I also understand and am ok with not replicating my LA diet. I’m in a new country with access to different foods. I’m trying to adapt to my surroundings rather than wishing my surroundings adapted to my wants. That’s a pretty narrow-minded way to live, in my opinion.
But I digress. I’m having fun being more relaxed about my eating habits and changing them up a bit.
Do you know of any meatless versions of Irish dishes, foods, snacks, and/or drinks I should try? Send me a DM on my Instagram @balancingitall. I want to try them all!