Mykonos Travel Guide

Traveling to the Greek Islands has been on my bucket list for at least ten years now, and I’m so happy I chose Mykonos and Santorini for my first time (yes, I’ll definitely be going back to Greece again and again to visit the other amazing islands!). Both of these islands were quite different so I’m dedicating this blog post to Mykonos and saving Santorini for its own.

When my husband and I travel, we like to do plenty of research so we can guarantee to hit all the right spots and have zero regrets. We did tons of sightseeing, enjoyed the spectacular beaches, and ate a ton of authentic Mediterranean food, of course! Keep reading to get the full view of where we stayed, what we did, and where we ate. You can view my Instagram Mykonos highlights here.

Mykonos Beach at Royal Myconian Resort

Where to fly into:

We spent a couple of days in Athens so we took one of many 30-minute day flights from there. Even if you aren’t planning on visiting Athens, I recommend this route anyway! There’s only one airport—Mykonos Airport (JMK) and it’s pretty small so can get busy during the high season. Our resort arranged a private transport, which I recommend setting up ahead of time, rather than having to wait for taxi service.

Where to stay:

We stayed at the Royal Myconian Imperial Resort, which was on one end of the island (about a 25 minute drive). The reason we chose this location rather than staying close to the town was because it was a quieter area and the resort has its own beach, which was a 1-2 minute walk down a small hill with resort beach chairs, umbrellas, towels, and food/drink service.

Royal Myconian Imperial Resort

I fell in love with this resort from the moment I arrived. The views from the lobby and walk to our room were spectacular and the staff was incredibly helpful throughout our entire stay. Since we chose a room with private pool, we were located on the very first floor—the lobby is at the very top so this felt like a million steps down to the room! Thankfully I’m all about staying active so this was a bonus for me to get in my steps for the day. HA! The room was beautiful, updated, and private. BUT, I will admit we ended up not using the pool at all because it felt like 30 degrees (we are from Miami, so this was brutal for us!). Next time I’ll opt for a room sans-pool, higher up with a better view.

Where to eat:

My husband and I are big foodies, so eating at the best restaurants is usually at the top of the list when we travel. Here are the five we dined at:

SISHU SUSHI BAR: Luckily, this was right in our hotel at the pool level. I will never forget the sushi we had here. Absolutely delicious! We shared several dishes and I cannot remember a single one I didn’t like.

CELEBRITIES SEAFOOD RESTAURANT: Also located in our hotel, this was a fancier fine dining experience with live romantic music and excellent service. I had a seafood and carrot soup as a starter and the shrimp, grilled and prepared table-side, for my entree. Check out my Instagram highlights for videos!

LA MAISON DE KATRIN: This spot was located in an ally in Mykonos town and is family owned—a twist on Greek cuisine with French gourmet cooking. This was a more casual, noisy restaurant but worth it! I took a break from the traditional Mediterranean food and ordered pasta that did not disappoint!

MATSUHISA MYKONOS: More sushi! It’s my favorite cuisine so I can never have enough. This restaurant is located in the Belvedere Hotel (in Mykonos town) and has a sexier vibe. The food was excellent as well. We stayed at the hotel bar after dinner to have a couple of cocktails, too. Highly recommend!

180º SUNSET BAR: This is a MUST if you visit Mykonos. You need to reserve ahead of time in the area you want to dine. Most seats require a minimum spend per person. We chose the Private Deck front row cushions for 200 euros pp. It was well worth the money because you can view the sunset without anyone blocking you, but you are sitting on cushions on the floor to eat which wasn’t comfortable. Oh yeah—the main reason to come is for the sunset, so make sure you reserve 6:30-7pm the latest (we went in September). The food wasn’t anything special—typical mediterranean but not the best we had.

SISHU SUSHI

CELEBRITIES

KATRIN'S

MATSUHISA

180 BAR

180 BAR VIEW

What to do:

MYKONOS TOWN: We spend about a half-day walking around. There are tons of shops, restaurants, bars, and of course great photo ops! Don’t miss out on all of the kitties—they are everywhere and very cute and friendly! A trip to see the windmills is also something to put on your list. It’s an old town, but has a lot of character.

BEACH CLUB: There are a few beach clubs to choose from in Mykonos, but since we did not want to be in a party atmosphere, we chose a more private option—PRINCIPOTE BEACH CLUB. Two cushioned chairs with umbrellas was 160 euros for the day and it came with food and cocktail service and towels. A must-try cocktail is the “peppy skino” — cucumber-infused gin, mastiha, fresh cucumber, lime juice, and pink pepper—I was sipping on this all day! Instead of eating lunch right on the beach, we walked over to their restaurant and had one of our favorite lunches on our trip—hummus, pita, potatoes, calamari, and Greek wine.

The five nights and four full days was a perfect length for us, since we like to have a couple of days of beach and pool relaxing in the mix. Make sure you check out my Instagram highlights for full details and videos of our trip! You can always send me an email with any questions you have before planning your Mykonos vacation. Stay tuned for a blog post on Santorini next!

STYLE Links:

Black belt bag

Wide felt Panama hat

White sneakers

Sunglasses

Swimsuits & Coverups

AMAZON FAVORITES

Cheat Meals: They May Not Be So Bad After All

Consuming a diet that is 100% healthy food is not the easiest way to live. Although some people do just fine cutting out all of the “bad” foods from their diets, the majority have a hard time. Daily stress surges, cravings kick in, and the temptation of indulging in a whole pizza pie or bag of cookies becomes impossible to dodge. It is known that one of the best ways to even start a diet is not necessarily to go cold-turkey and cut everything out at once, but rather in a gradual manner over the course of weeks. It has been questioned whether including a cheat meal in a diet is harmful or not, but recent research has stated that it can be helpful in order to stick to your strict eating plan as long as you do it the right way.

Not a Cheat “Day”

It is important to note that cheat meals are only helpful to a diet if they are left as that— meals. Often times dieters use an entire day to indulge at every meal and this can wreak havoc on your weight loss goals. Although a cheat meal can rack up to a few thousand calories, it will not undo any of your dieting from earlier in the week. But an entire day of feasting will double or triple those few thousand calories. Having more than one cheat meal may make it hard to get back into your normal healthy eating habits.

Motivation

A cheat meal serves many purposes. Many times it is a source of motivation for someone on a strict diet. Eating plain chicken and vegetables day in and day out can get boring, but knowing that you have a night of burgers and fries or ice cream waiting for you at the end of the week can motivate you to keep strict. Cutting calories when trying to lose weight can lower overall energy levels, especially within the first few weeks of beginning a diet. One cheat meal will actually provide much needed energy to maintain a balance in the body.

Increased Metabolism

Consistently consuming a diet too low in calories will eventually slow down your metabolism, leading to slower weight loss. A cheat meal provides a boost in overall calorie consumption, which will cause a “shock” to the body’s digestion. This will increase your metabolism and help you burn more calories on a daily basis. It is hard to believe, but yes, a cheat meal will actually help you lose weight! There are diet plans that will fluctuate the number of calories you consume each day for this same reason.

The reason this works is because the seldom ‘jump’ in calorie consumption on one day will help regulate the hormones in charge of hunger and satiety. When on a weight loss diet we should be eating fewer calories than we burn, but over time our bodies end up adjusting to this new calorie amount. That is when we hit a plateau and stop losing weight. Adding in one day of a bit higher calories keeps the body in a burning state, helping with further weight loss. Leptin, the hormone in charge of controlling the sensation of feeling full dramatically decreases over time when on a low-calorie diet. Ghrelin, on the other hand, is the hormone that is responsible for telling you that you are hungry and will increase over time on a low-calorie diet. In order to keep burning calories, one should strive to keep the leptin hormone elevated and ghrelin on the lower end. A cheat meal assists with this regulation and aides in continued weight loss.

Keep the Balance

When choosing your cheat meal, it is best to not have the ‘all or nothing’ mentality. If you are going to splurge, make sure it is on something you actually care to eat. Do not waste calories on something that is not that satisfying to you. For example, when going to a restaurant and planning on having a big bowl of creamy pasta for dinner, stick to just that. Your date or party may order a few appetizers that are far from being on the list of your favorite foods, so do not even grab a bite! You will enjoy your pasta dish much more if you steer clear from giving into calories you did not care for in the first place.

The best way to indulge in what you truly enjoy as a cheat meal, but not go overboard, is to cook at home. If you want pizza, make a homemade one—crust and all. This will ensure you know exactly what ingredients are going into every bite. If what you crave are a burger and fries, make your own at home using cooking spray rather than oil, whole grain burgers buns, and baked fries. You will most likely save about half the calories than eating this same meal at a restaurant or fast food joint. It is best to learn the most you can about healthier substitutions. You will be surprised as to how much you can still satisfy your cravings and not feel guilty when opting for healthier alternatives to those ‘bad’ foods.

Sources

Rita Coelho do Valea, Rik Pieters, and Marcel Zeelenberg, The Benefits of Behaving Badly on Occasion: Successful Regulation by Planned Hedonic Deviations, Journal, May 4, 2020.

Tips for Eating Out at Restaurants

If only we all were gourmet chefs or at least have the time to create amazing dishes for every single meal of the day, we would probably always eat at home. The eating culture has shifted tremendously over the past few decades, with dining out increasing from 18% of daily intake to 33%. Most of us know how unhealthy many restaurant choices are, especially in the fast food world, but we continue to consume it more than we should. Even the “healthier” items on the menu such as salads and vegetable dishes are loaded with calories from the extra fat and sugar added to the cooking process to make them taste much better than home-cooked meals. The highly processed and fat or sugar-laden foods are what cause eating addiction, which is a reason why more people continue to crave restaurant meals.

Studies have indicated that increased intake of foods eaten away from home is linked to a higher body mass index and poorer diet quality. Diet quality in these cases was described as the amount of fruit, vegetable, and processed food consumption. Most studies showed that women tend to make healthier foods choices at restaurants than men by choosing more fruits and vegetables with their meals. Unfortunately, even choosing these healthy foods does not equate to overall fewer calories and fat. By no means should these facts about restaurants keep you from going out for date night or an enjoyable evening with friends. There are several ways to stick with your diet while eating out without too much sacrifice.

Prepare

If you are truly trying to stick to your healthy diet and have the opportunity to choose the restaurant when going out for a social occasion, it is best to take some time to research a few different places with a wide range of menu items. If the restaurant is already chosen, you can still look up the menu ahead of time and select a few dish options that fall into the healthy category. If the choices still seem high in calories, you can plan to eat much lighter meals throughout the day leading up to your outing to compensate. If you are willing to forgo an entree at the restaurant and instead order an appetizer as your main dish, then you will most likely save about half of the calories as long as you carefully choose a healthier option. To make sure that you are satisfied come meal’s end, have a small snack at home beforehand such as a few crackers and cheese, yogurt with nuts, or a protein shake.

Control Portions

This is probably the most difficult task for most people, yet the lack of this task is the reason why most Americans are overweight. At restaurants it is very easy to consume too many calories even with their smallest available portions, so the easiest way to downsize those calories is to choose low calorie foods to begin with. Unfortunately, side dishes such as potatoes, rice, and pasta do not fall into this category, unless you can be satisfied with only a couple of forkfuls worth. Vegetables and salads are the best choices, but it is important to keep in mind that most restaurants will cook the veggies in oil and butter to enhance the taste so they are not as low-calorie as you would think.

Eating out will usually include many more courses than you would typically have at home. Bread will be served, followed by an appetizer, entrée, and dessert. If you choose to have the bread, simply pick just one piece out of the basket and limit the amount of butter or oil you use. Share an appetizer and dessert with your party rather than trying to portion out an entire one on your own. The highest calorie items that are best to stay away from are fried foods, fatty meats, cream-based soups and pastas, and those delicious-looking baked desserts. Opt for small portions of lean meats and fish, vegetable side dishes, and fruit for dessert.

Choose Intuitively

The best advice is to always think before you eat anything. If you truly do not care for something, do not waste your calorie bank on it. Most people end up eating whatever food is on their plate. If you crave meat more than the carb-loaded side dishes, then make sure to order your steak with green vegetables as a side so that you are not tempted to eat potatoes or rice. For those who have an extreme sweet tooth and look forward to dessert more than anything, it’s best to skip the bread, have a small appetizer as your main dish, and indulge in the dessert that you truly enjoy most.

Eat Slowly

You may have read before that eating alone without any distractions such as company, the computer, or television is a smarter way to keep track of portions and eat less overall. Conversing over meals causes us to not pay attention to how much we are eating or drinking. Teaching ourselves to eat our meals as slowly as possible takes some training. Some steps to practice are cutting food into smaller bite-sized pieces, savor the flavors of your food by chewing more times, putting down utensils in between bites, and eating with your non-dominant hand.

Beverages Count

Whether you are into alcoholic beverages or sodas, calories can add up tremendously. A glass of wine equates to around 130 calories, so if you share a bottle with your significant other, you are adding about 300 to 350 calories to your meal. Light beer and hard liquor are lower calorie choices with about 100 and 70 calories per serving respectively. The drinks to watch out for are mixed cocktails and specialty beverage items. Some are mixed with soda adding double the calories, while others can get into the 700-calorie range if you choose a cream-based or sweetened one such as a margarita, pina colada, or a long island iced tea. If possible, stick to just one serving of your favorite lower-calorie drink and have two sips of water for every sip of other beverage you have.

When on a diet, going out to eat should not be eliminated. There are ways to be able to enjoy your time out with family or friends while sticking with your healthy meal plan. If you go off a bit more than you would have liked, do not be hard on yourself. One night of “bad” eating will not ruin all of the progress you have made. What is an issue with most people’s diets is dining out several times a week. Unfortunately, as much as we try to make the healthiest choices at restaurants, it is important to remember that we truly do not know exactly how the food is cooked, and most are cooked with butter, oil, extra sugar and salt to create those delicious flavors. Enjoy yourself as you dine, keeping these simple tips in mind, so that you can guarantee you will not undo all of that hard work you have put into getting and staying healthy.

Sources

Rebecca A. Seguin, Anju Aggarwal, Francoise Vermeylen, and Adam Drewnowski, Consumption Frequency of Foods Away from Home Linked with Higher Body Mass Index and Lower Fruit and Vegetable Intake Among Adults: A Cross-Sectional Study, Journal, Sept 2019