A Note on Free Food

So I'm sitting here, on my best friend's couch in Dallas (watching Maury,) contemplating my time at my company's training facility earlier this week. Maybe the Maury part is irrelevant, but let me tell you -- this training facility is AWESOME. It's my third time going, and every time, I'm blown away by the top-notch amenities. It truly is one of the best investments I've ever seen a company make in its people.

This week, I went for promotional training (woo hoo!), and stayed there for three days and nights -- among a gourmet buffet, a free full-service Starbucks, and not just accessible snack bars by the classrooms -- but 24/7 kitchens in the residence halls (as in, walk 5 feet outside your room door and grab a bag of pretzels if you want.) Trust me, these type of places are not easy when health isn't on your mind -- so you can imagine how hard it is when you ARE watching your health & weight. However, even though there were some blips here and there, I do feel like this is the first time I've gone to training and felt proud about how I managed myself, and I wanted to share a few tips I'm proud of.

When you are constantly among free food, there are a few things you can do to make sure you don't jump off the calorie cliff. This is what I did:

1. Try to think "Am I hungry?" Often, when there is free food in front of us (especially unique food that we think is a "deal" or something we don't often get at home, like coffee-roasted prime rib with a chef cutting it in front of you) we make bad decisions almost like that food is exempt from our plan to stay on track. If you ask yourself if you are hungry, you'll avoid being where the food is -- because you were honest with yourself that you didn't need it.
2. Don't beat yourself up -- be honest. It's dinnertime, class is out, and everyone is heading to the cafe. But honestly, you had one too many granola bars during that last 10-min break an hour ago. Instead of beating yourself up and going to eat (if you're not hungry)-- or worse -- beating yourself up and choosing not to eat dinner (when you actually are hungry) make a choice that's right for you. My point is, we all slip up. Accept it, and then ask yourself if you're hungry -- then act accordingly. You're only as good as your next set of good choices -- remember this is a marathon not a sprint!
3. If it swims, eat it. Instead of being swayed by all the steak, chicken tenders, lasagnas, and creamy soups in fresh-baked bread bowls, I chose to be impressed by the extraordinary fish. During my three days, I had seabass, swordfish, seared scallops, barbecued shrimp skewers, seafood ciappino (like a stew) and the like. It still felt like a treat because while seafood tends to be lower in calories than most meats, those are not fish I usually can afford to eat on a random Monday (looks at you, delicious seabass.) For lunch, I would fill a bowl with arugula and place the fancy fish on top with some vegetables. Often it was so well seasoned I didn't need to add dressing. And if you see something else you must try, do just that -- TRY it (like I did with the bourbon bread pudding on "Texas Night".) Don't take a full serving of everything exciting that you see -- by the time you've circled the buffet, you'll have put 3 dinners on your one plate. Take a lap, see whats out there, decide on what you really want -- then take a piece, love it, and move on.
4. Move. This isn't just when you've overate or when you're in all-day trainings. Anytime you find yourself sitting in the same chair for the majority of the day, it relieves stress when you move. It's what your body was created to do! Think about it, for the majority of human history, were there offices/cubicles? Nope. Get up, take a lap, hit the gym, whatever! It all helps. Hell, I walked on the treadmill while streaming a show on Hulu. It wasn't sweat-inducing exercise, but I could feel the difference.

By the way, he wasn't the father.
xoxo n