If you are a #lazygirl follower, you would know that I have spent the last 10 beautiful weeks in the island of Phuket, Thailand. I have been living, eating and training like it is nobody business and loving every single second of it! Of course, with a new country, new routine and new culture I definitely had a few lessons throughout my time here so I have compiled them into a 'how to' for your future reference.
1. Don't over train, you will feel like you are dying
I came here wanting to live the shred life. Train 2-3 times per day, eat like a Thai and sleep like a Thai (a lot). What I didn't take into consideration was that I am not an athlete, nor do I train 2-3 times per day on a usual basis. I became run down, lethargic and dreading the early rises. Not cool! After resting and reassessing I got my head in the game again and stuck to training just 1-2 times per day. Much better!
2. Don't eat the ice - even if there are $4 cocktails on the beach
Ahh, how good is gastro. This came at the same time I was run down from over training, which only made it 1000 times worse. My friend was leaving from her quick holiday she took over here so we decided to head for a night out - bad decision! We both ended up so sick from the ice that we were thrown around for almost a week. Note to self: do not be tempted by cheap cocktails, they are cheap for a reason.
3. The purified water isn't actually the best for you
FUN FACT! The water that they say is purified and clean to drink from filters and taps are so clean that they are stripped of all the salt and minerals that are needed to actually absorb the water in your body. If you find yourself feeling a bit bloated and always thirsty even though you are drinking buckets of water, this is most likely why. Buy some bottled water or Hydralyte from 7-Eleven or make your own at home with salt and sugar (doesn't taste as good but still works).
4. Respect
The amount of respect the Thai's give to each other and foreigners (or 'farangs' as they say) is humungous! They always have time to acknowledge you and try their hardest to understand what you are after or where you need to go (even with my very, very poor Thai pronunciation). They have a level of respect for the elderly and people of power which is refreshing to see in contrast to Aussie culture where everyone is 'mate' and a receives a handshake. Don't get me wrong, I definitely appreciate how easy going our land is, but it's nice to experience such a difference for an extended amount of time. Nailed it.
5. "Up To You"
My new favourite saying. Furthermore to lesson #4, a lot of Thai's believe 'each to their own' and have no involvement in anyone else's decision making. I personally have had this mentality for a while now, being that each person makes their own decision and as long it doesn't hurt anyone, I am totally fine with it. Want to smoke a packet of cigarettes a day? Up to you. Want to get drunk every night of the week? Up to you. Want to eat bad food, spend money on unimportant things and stay up late? Up to you. It's your life to live and you can do with it what you choose. Hearing this saying so much while being here though has really resinated with me and my journey. I have had a mix of 'advice' from people commenting on my life choices of late, and keeping those words 'up to you' in my mind has made me happy within and therefore externally content and strong.
So there you have it - 5 lessons from living the life in the 'smiling country'.
Listen to your body
Don't eat the ice
Buy bottled water
Respect goes a long way
Up to you - You do you
PS. Move more, move better
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