Return to top
featured in… The Huffington Post CookingLight Reader's Digest Women's Health BuzzFeed Glamour Whole Foods Oprah Winfrey Network CNN Food Network Healthline Shape

Hello! I’m Anjali. I’m a board certified health coach, author, wife, mom and food lover from the SF Bay area (now living in Seattle, WA!); with a passion for delicious food and a desire to make healthy eating easy, tasty and fun! Learn more about me here and stay for a while!

Anjali Shah

Our Trip to Monterey… And How to Recover After “Over-Indulging”

This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Please read my disclosure.

monterey collage 1One of the things I love about being in the Bay Area is that there are tons of vacation spots within just a couple hours of home. Monterey is one of those hidden gems that is just south of the Bay Area, but feels like you’re in a destination far away.

It’s a sleepy little town, with tons of outdoorsy activities, great wine, and sights to see.

So when the Hyatt Regency Monterey Resort contacted me with a complementary offer to stay at their accommodations in Monterey for a weekend, the husband and I couldn’t resist. We had been to Monterey for a weekend trip once before: when we were still dating and the husband surprised me with the trip for my birthday.

The last time we visited, we took a glider ride over the mountains (which is definitely something you can’t miss), visited the aquarium, cannery row, Fisherman’s wharf, downtown and went on a few hikes.

This time, we just relaxed. The resort was big enough that we could enjoy ourselves for a weekend without really having to do much at all! They had 3 restaurants, each with great vegetarian options (more on how much we ate, and how I got back on track later), an amazing spa and gym, and a beautiful golf course that our room overlooked. They even had running / hiking trails near the hotel for a relaxing walk or more intense hike.

hyatt 1Our first dinner was at Tusca, their flagship restaurant where we met Chef Mike, and the rest of the staff. They have an awesome open kitchen which made it feel like an upscale restaurant (not a typical resort restaurant).

Demo_Kitchen_FV_2_26128

Chef Mike just started bringing out dishes, one after the other. It was amazing. We started with some olive oil, balsamic, fresh (warm) ciabatta bread, and roasted garlic.

IMG_7419 IMG_7420

We enjoyed our pre-appetizer while looking at this peaceful view from our table:

IMG_7417

Next was the Baked Eggplant Cannelloni, which I was a little skeptical about because neither the husband or I love eggplant. But when it came out I was amazed. There was no pasta in this dish! The eggplant was so thinly sliced, it resembled pasta (and definitely did not resemble eggplant). It was stuffed with a meaty, roasted mushroom blend, topped with fresh marinara, parmesan and arugula. It was inventive, light and delicious.

IMG_7423

Next came the freshly baked, wood-fired pizza. But this was no ordinary pizza. It had: fresh tomato sauce, a super light layer of cheese, swiss chard, roasted carrots, basil, cauliflower (yes, cauliflower), and roasted red peppers. It wasn’t super oily or heavy, and the flavors were great.

IMG_7424 IMG_7425

After we were done with our pizza, we received the Grilled Seitan Bastilla. Tusca makes their Seitan from scratch, in their restaurants. It has zero preservatives or artificial ingredients, so even though I’m not a fan of fake meat, I had to try it. It was mixed with apricots and spices, and rolled into a light puff pasty. Underneath were pureed lentils (yum) and roasted chard.

IMG_7428

We were pretty full by this point, but we had to try the Gnocchi. Served with leeks, marcona almonds, whole cloves of roasted garlic, and yes, lots of butter. This was definitely the most indulgent dish we had on the menu! Everything else was on the healthier side.

IMG_7434

Somehow we had room for dessert. An apple galette, Pistachio gelato, and a Dark chocolate vanilla bean lava cake with spiced pear compote rounded out our meal.

IMG_7435

We left incredibly full, but very very happy!

The next morning, we started our day with a light and healthy breakfast, courtesy of room service.

IMG_7443

Steel cut oats, fresh fruit, and milk – I felt pretty good about it. And it was a nice change from our super decadent dinner the night before!

After breakfast we headed to the spa, where I literally had the best facial I’ve ever had in my life. The husband really enjoyed his Trager Method relaxing massage. From the spa, I decided to check out the gym, which I have to say was pretty impressive for a hotel/resort gym! It had great machines, weights, pretty much anything you’d want.

That was one way I balanced out the eating, by working out for 30 minutes on Saturday & Sunday 🙂

But of course, we had to try the food at the Hyatt’s second restaurant: Knuckles Sports Bar. Keep in mind, the food I’m about to share was specially made for us by Chef Bryan. Most of it wasn’t on their traditional menu. But it was such fantastic vegetarian food, I think they should make it an option for vegetarians who visit!

The customized menu was a really cool experience. Chef Bryan came to talk to us about our food and flavor preferences, and then created menu items in the kitchen from scratch. While we were waiting for our dinner, we got to munch on fresh peanuts and popcorn – which was kind of a fun treat.

IMG_7446

When our first two appetizers came out, I was surprised! We were served chaat (at a sports bar!) – and I have to say I was really impressed with the flavors.

IMG_7449

We also got to try this hearty vegetable soup – full of squashes, carrots, and other root veggies.

IMG_7450

For our entrees, I had the tofu tacos, topped with shredded cabbage, a small amount of cheese and fresh salsa. It was served with a jicama, grapefruit and avocado salad on the side – which was delicious!

IMG_7453

The husband had a “burger and fries” – which was a double decker black bean veggie burger, served with grilled asparagus with dates and hazelnuts. The asparagus was so good I kept eating it off my hubby’s plate.

IMG_7452

And of course, dessert. Do you see a theme here? 🙂

Two cheesecakes: a mango cheesecake with fresh berries, and a snickers cheesecake which kind of reminded me of the kind you get at Cheesecake Factory. The mango cheesecake was my favorite: it wasn’t super mango-y, it was airy, fluffy and just melted in your mouth. And when paired with the blueberries – wow.

IMG_7455

We stumbled back to our room, watched a couple movies, and went to sleep. It was an extremely relaxing day.

The next morning we had a similar light breakfast, went to the gym and then headed home. Even though our weekend trip was only 48 hours long, it felt so much longer! The staff at the Hyatt was incredibly nice to us in every interaction we had, and they even sent up treats to our room each evening (a fruit and cheese plate one evening, salad + crackers the next). If we had stayed a couple more days, we would have driven to Big Sur and hiked around there for a while, and probably would have visited some wineries too. But there’s always next time!

(Full disclosure: the trip and the food were complimentary, but all of the opinions in this post are my own – we really did have a wonderful experience!)

So, as you can tell, we definitely indulged on this trip. But for me, it was completely worth it, because I knew I could get back on track as soon as we got home.

And here’s how (it’s only 3 simple steps!)

1) I didn’t feel guilty about indulging. I planned to indulge for 2 days, and I planned to get back to my healthy eating ways when we got home. So I just enjoyed every bit of it, and when it was over I was ready to eat light and healthy again! I know it’s easy to feel guilty or freak out after “falling off the wagon,” but if you end up doing what I did, try not to beat yourself up about it. Eating unhealthy for 2 days won’t make you gain tons of weight. It will likely be mostly water weight which will fall away as soon as you get back to your healthy eating plan.

2) I ate super clean on Sunday when we got home, and for the rest of the week. That meant drinking tons of water and green tea, eating lots of leafy greens and other fruits/veggies, easing up on the sugar intake, eating high fiber whole grains, and going on my standard daily run.

3) I got 8 hours of sleep on Sunday night. Sleep is important for helping you detox, and if you’re going to be exercising you need your rest as well.

I hope this helps you start eating clean after your next vacation or night of over-indulgence! Happy Friday everyone!

14 responses to “Our Trip to Monterey… And How to Recover After “Over-Indulging””

  1. It is very impressive how much food which is considered to be fatty and unhealthy is represented to be actually the opposite of that on this blog. The ways the dishes are presented make my mouth water. The meals look so delicious. Who said that veggie did not taste good? Healthy and delicious must always be the right combination for food.

    • Thank you so much Ted!! And yes – that is exactly right – healthy doesn’t have to be tasteless — healthy food can still look and taste amazing! 🙂

  2. seems like you had a great getaway and amazing food (which always helps). I can always make room the dessert esp if gelato is involved.

    • hehe totally! Gelato is my weakness for sure. When we were in Italy a few years ago, we’d have it every day!

  3. Just discovered your blog and am looking forward to reading more! Your photos are making me hungry – looks like you had a fabulous trip and I love that you were able to indulge for the weekend and then get right back to clean eating.

    • Hi Molly! It’s so nice to meet you! And I’m so glad you liked my photos — the food really was delicious!

  4. Your photography is absolutely stunning. Thanks for this story. You are making me salivate, even as a hardcore spartan vegan! Colour contrast is fantastic. I will be visiting you again

  5. Looks like you had a great time, and the food looks amazing! Those are great, and simple, tips to get back on track after indulging. And you’ve got to indulge every once and a while!

    • Thanks so much Crystal! I’m so glad you liked the tips! And yes – absolutely – indulging once in a while or in moderation is 100% necessary 🙂 You can’t be too strict all the time. I like going with an 80-20 approach (eat well 80% of the time, and leave 20% of the time for more indulgent options).

  6. I just stumbled upon your blog while looking for a few vegetarian dishes to add this week. We’ve decided to go all organic grassfed and now can’t afford to eat meat like we used to. But now I find myself wanting to plan a vacation instead of finishing up my meal planning 🙂

    • Hi Nina!! It’s so nice to meet you! 🙂 That’s awesome that you are going all organic/grassfed! If you want budget-friendly shopping tips for any of my recipes, just let me know – I’d be happy to help! Stay well!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Subscribe to newsletter

Copyright 2024 The Picky Eater®, LLC. All rights reserved.