Miss Eurobar Event Industry Fitness Blog #6

Miss Eurobar Event Fitness Blog #6

 Been a couple of months since I last blogged!  Time flies when you are not keeping on top of things!

 Blog #6 Theme:  Yikes! The Dreaded Cold!  UGH!

 I actually spent some time out of the country a couple weeks after my last blog post and within a couple days after I returned, I was whammied with a seriously nasty cold that turned into a six week+ stint of bronchitis.  Talk about suck! 

 The thing is, on my trip I ate super healthy and walked miles every day as the weather was great and why rent a car or take public transportation when you have two legs and two feet that can pump you most everywhere?

 So – I worked out and ate healthy and was away from the office and working events – so why did I come down with such a nasty cold?

Well, I honestly can’t answer that one – some nasty bugger of a germ latched onto me like a tick and didn’t get washed off. 

I eat and live a pretty healthy life (I do have my temptations and vices and my lazy times….but it is overall pretty darn good living).  I also am a germaphobe when I travel.  I wash my hands any time I need to use the restroom and try not to touch the door handles on the way out. 

This is a catering trick in order to keep your hands as clean as possible – I kick the door open to the stall and use a piece of toilet paper to slide the bolt shut.  When I’m done, I use a piece of toilet paper or a clean seat cover to flush and open the door on the way out and push the water on (if needed), wash and then wait to turn off water with a paper towel, throw that away and use another towel to dry my hands and use that to open the bathroom door and toss in the nearest trash can.  Great way to use any public restroom!

I also use hand sanitizer as much as I can during air travel, try not to touch my face much and shower, wash my hair and wash all my clothes that I wear when I get to my destination or home after flying. 

 But this heck of a cold-turned-into bronchitis that I caught really took me out and guess what?  Yup, it also kicked me totally out of my workout routine.  Honestly, I’ve had a hard time getting back on schedule with workouts over the last six weeks.  They haven’t returned back into what I was doing prior to my knock-me-off-my-feet-for-way-to-long cold.

 In order to keep in shape during this bronchitis (which any hard breathing would send me into a 20 minute coughing fit) I had to really watch what I ate and try to do as much yoga stretching as my sinus pain and bronchioles would allow me to do.  I also started back into some short walks – not my usual almost jogging pace either (just getting back to that now!)  I ate good old chicken soup and a lot of veggies and cut down on my portions of other food.

(Well, portion control wasn’t a problem the first couple of weeks since I was never hungry – then I had to make sure to eat of the good stuff!)

 Today’s Tip: The dreaded Portion Control.  Like you haven’t heard that one before!  I’ve already said that diet is a four letter word, but I do firmly believe in trying to control the amount of food I eat. 

Wait – I did tell you that I snack in my last blog, right?

I do snack – BUT at meal time I eat only until I feel the beginning of fullness in my stomach, then maybe a few more bites and stop.  I am the queen of left over meals out!  Love having them for lunch the next day (get more bang for your buck!)

I like a snack at least one time during the day – and since I don’t keep anything bad and tempting in my cupboard, the snack is usually quite healthy.  I keep it a small portion, so I will spend a couple of minutes and actually fix up a plate, say a couple crackers with cheese and some grapes and/or apple slices.  Having that snack laid out on a plate for visual portion control is a lot better than grabbing a bag of something, taking it over to your desk and mindlessly sticking you hand in the bag, food to mouth and back (hey, I’ve done that a few times and was surprised when my hand hit the bottom of the bag).  Besides, you are less likely to take time again to fix another snack plate once you are done!  Keeping easy-to-eat bagged snacks and treats at your desk is a pretty dangerous thing to do.  Just Sahying!

 All right – back to chatting about recuperating after being down-and-out sick:

Actually, doing some exercise when you are sick actually can help reduce the duration of your cold.  Honest! 

But this doesn’t mean get all crazy with yourself.  AND if you are sick – DON’T GO TO THE GYM!!!!  Why spread your nasties all over every single thing you touch in the gym so someone else can be as miserable as you are now with a cold next week? Walk around your neighborhood, the local park, the beach…do pushups and sit ups in your living room…march in place…you feel me?  Stay outta the gym until you are outta the contagious stage.  PLEASE!

 OH!  For all of us in the meetings and events biz – all you huggers out there - scratch the hug and/or hand shake when you are coming down with a cold.  Give a wave and say how sorry you are not to hug/handshake that you are feeling a bit under the weather.  THANKS!!

 Eat healthy, drink lots of water (not soda!) and go for a walk. 

Amazing how much better you will feel!

 When your body is feeling like it can take more – then do more – and work back up to your regular routine with a week or so.

 I’ll see you in the gym when you are all better!

You can take 10 minutes to work out and you can take 10 minutes to pause and eat.  Enjoy the small things in life.  A few short minutes are all you need…

Pause and watch the sun set….amazing how that will relax you!