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!