Mixin' it up.

I'm a creature of habit. Big time. I don't get easily bored of eating the same foods or feel the dreaded stagnation of a routine in the gym for months after months. But this is of course all relative. I say this because, compared to most people I know, I can eat the same foods for longer and do the same workout routines more.

However, I do tend to make small adjustments every so often to spice things up a bit. I think, on some level, we all need this. I think I might just need it a bit less than most. A lot of this comes from my disordered eating days of having "safe foods" and only feeling comfortable if I was doing the same thing in the same way day after day. While I don't have such strict requirements anymore, I still find routine reassuring.

Recently, though, I've found that I haven't been quite as excited to go to the gym. This is due to several things in my opinion. One is that I've been traveling more than I typically do, which tends to be tough on my body (I'm pretty bad at working out when I travel). It's also become a bit frustrating to continue my run-to-the-gym, do the elliptical, lift, walk back to work when it's gotten much colder out. The short run to the gym starts to hurt my lungs (I'm a terrible winter runner...I hate it). The elliptical, even though it's great for my joints, is starting to bore me, and on top of this, I don't feel like I'm actually working as hard as I could.

The body adapts. This is what it's good at. The problem with me loving routine so much is that my body pretty much gets optimized for doing that set routine. Sure, I lift, run, walk, do the elliptical and that's variety in and of itself, but I felt like it was time for a bit of a change -- nothing too drastic, just something to mix it up.

Enter spin class.

Now let me say, I'm not a big "fitness class" fanatic. I took several in college, and only really LOVED one. It was taught by probably the most in-shape, muscle-burn-loving teacher you could imagine who had a great taste in music and could have probably been both a cheerleader and a drill sergeant. Her class eventually became so crowded that she had to teach another to accommodate all the students.

Every other fitness class I've taken (at any gym), I haven't been a fan of. I've taken yoga, step, aerobic dance, kickboxing, kickboxing bag, and weight training/resistance band classes. They were always ok. I didn't hate them, but I also always just preferred working out by myself.

Not my thing.

So I was hesitant to try the spin class offered at Duke. Also, I'm not a big fan of stationary bikes, which before I took the spin class, assumed meant that I would also dislike spinning (there is a big difference thank goodness!).


After the first class I tried I was dripping in sweat and had trouble doing squats several days later. Clearly this was something that was challenging for my body. The bikes were also much different than either the regular bike I occasionally ride or the stationary bikes at the gym. I liked the loud music, the fact that it was taught in a dark room (lit only with a string of Christmas lights around the top) and the fact that it was a really good workout.

My new thing.

I've been hooked ever since. I take express classes every Wednesday and sometimes Friday now. They are taught during lunch and are 30 minutes of quad-tearing, glute-screaming pain. Which I enjoy.

It's also given me a welcome change of pace from my normal routine. I now don't stress so much if I don't get an amazing workout on the elliptical, or if I just want to stay bundled up and walk to the gym instead of run.

One caveat I've found though is that the quality of the class (not necessarily the workout though!) is really at the mercy of the instructor. I've experienced 3-4 different ones at Duke who have ranged from everything from ok to awesome. Thankfully I haven't had any bad ones. Some are easier than others. Some prefer hills to speed work. Some focus on more drills with fancy names and less riding. But overall it's a pretty good mix.

Trip to Orlando

Last week I attended a conference in Orlando. The optics was definitely good, but let me say -- I don't think I've been in many situations where I was trapped into eating specific food (except for at relatives' gatherings and holidays) as much as I was here.

I thought there would be plenty of choices. When I've went to conferences before, if I don't find food I like at the venue where the conference is, I just go walking in the city/town until I find a place that seems like they would have something healthier and load up on that, and return to the conference. I don't mind wandering for food. That's what our ancestors did, after all, and walking usually gives me a nice break to clear my head and be outside. Since I was in Orlando, I figured there would be plenty of places to walk to near the hotel, as well as maybe a cafe or gift shop in the hotel.

The beautiful hotel!

Now let me start off by saying, this wasn't any hotel. It was probably the most expensive hotel I've ever stayed in (thankfully my travel grants pay for it). Now here's the thing about expensive hotels...nothing is cheap or free in them. I took a look at the restaurants in the hotel (there are about 4-5..one is just a lounge/sushi bar) and was shocked. The appetizers were between 12-18$ and the meals, anywhere from 20-60$ depending on lunch/dinner and what you ordered. Being that it was also fancy, there weren't many options (most only had one chicken dish on the whole thing!). Doing this research before hand I came up with several plans to avoid having to eat at the restaurants.

Plan 1: Hotels always serve continental breakfast. Usually they include healthy(ish) cereals, fruit, maybe a whole wheat bagel or muffin. My plan was to get my breakfast and take a few extra things for snacks or a meal if need be during the day.

Issue with Plan 1: Remember I said really expensive hotels don't give anything for cheap/free? Yea. No continental breakfast.

None of this :-(

Plan 2: Find a close grocery store/convenience store and go load up on lower calorie things that I could eat for the few days. My room had a fridge in it, so I could get some things to take back that were perishable too!

Issue with Plan 2: The closest store was (as the crow flies) a little over a mile away (win!)...BUT the fastest way there was over 3 miles on fast roads with NO sidewalks! It amazed me, but as soon as you left the hotel complex, the sidewalks just stopped. No one walked here! I didn't see one person out walking on the road leading up to the hotel...it was just simply not meant for walking. Also, the hotel was surrounded by a moat and thus swamp land and thus alligators. This meant, with no sidewalk my choice was walk on the busy road or next to the swamp. I would have chosen the road...but neither was really a good choice.

Plan 3: See how long my protein bars and half a box of crackers I brought in my backpack would last.

Issue with Plan 3: Not long!

I was basically stuck with the hotel food. For the first day I really tried to eat the slimmest meals I could. I had a protein bar for breakfast (free-ish). I got a turkey sandwich from the cafe (only 8.52$ it was the cheapest thing on the menu). And I can't remember what I had for dinner, but it wasn't bad.

I met a few people who had rented a car and they had been going out for lunches and dinners because it was too expensive (even for professors!) at the hotel. I went to a tapas style place where I had chicken quesadillas and tried alligator!  On the last day I went to a Thai place and had chicken pad thai (which is one of my favourites).

Gator "bites"...Didn't really love them. The best part was the honey mustard :-/

The thing was, with every passing day, I just gave up a little more on trying to eat healthily. The fact that there were almost 10-12 straight hours of talks, combined with "networking opportunities" combined with me being so nervous about giving my talk, just made hunting for healthy/cheaper food options that much harder, and that much more tiring. Four days of unheathly eating and probably almost 3-4x the calories my body was used to wouldn't kill me. But it definitely did not make me feel good. Sure, the cinnamon bun for breakfast because they only had baked goods and no normal breakfast was one of the most delicious things I've had in a while....but I was SUPER hungry again 2 hours later. I always felt hungry there. And I never felt "good" after eating...just full, in the unpleasant way.

So goood, but so bad....

Coming back here was hard too. Everything seemed a bit blander after my sugary, buttery, cheesy, greasy food from there. But boy does my body feel better. I didn't even work out this weekend but I can feel the difference. Of course, it's probably due to not being too stressed out anymore too. I am very thankful that I don't have to go to these types of events very often.

What I've learned:

1). It's ok to go a couple days eating this way, but if you do, be prepared not to feel great in the long run and have food you used to think was super delicious be only ok when you come back. The taste buds will bounce back, but it'll take a few days.

2). Bring more protein bars next time. And maybe more crackers and something healthy to snack on.

3). Alligator is wayyy too chewy and a mix between chicken and fish, but not really as good as either. Don't eat it.

4). Be so thankful for a boyfriend who cooks DELICIOUS food for you all the time. And tell him you're thankful!