Homeward bound - back to the routine

So I have been at a computer conference for the past week. You would think that I would have been able to post often. But, no internet access in the hotel – well, I’m not willing to pay for internet access in the hotel. I also brought my laptop but it is a ‘desktop replacement’ computer which means it is HUGE and weighs a ton. Back to the events of the week.

Airport

I have missed you guys. I am not current on any of the blogs I follow. I have been away from home and my routines all week. I have missed a lot of things.

Patriot

Boston Common

Lunch in Chinatown

Dessert in Chinatown

Harvard Square

Harvard Redline Stop

First, this conference provided almost all of the meals and snacks. I think this is what most people eat everyday – the food was, well, typical. I am only speaking of the types of food not the quality. Breakfast consisted of assorted Danishes, cereals, yogurt, etc. These foods taste great but are all highly refined and full of sugar. I quickly noticed that I was going from a diet of 40 – 50 grams of fiber to a diet which is more typical of the average US population. This means that I was eating less than 5 grams of fiber a day! I am pretty sure that is the typical American diet. I can’t believe this.



Lunch was various sandwiches on white highly refined bread. Lots of meat choices. There was a vegetarian option but it was not ideal. It did have vegetables but they were sautéed in oil. There were also chips and various kinds of cookies and brownies.



Each evening there was ‘happy hour’ - The beer flowed freely. I am not complaining here; the beer was of fine quality – Harp’s, Sam Adams, Magic Hat, etc. They were all very high calorie – and delicious.



For diner it was more of the same – lots of meat and refined grains. I did not realize that my diet, although very simple, varies so much from the mainstream. I know many people that I consider to have extreme diets that require a lot of preparation and expense (raw food diet) – to each his own. But my diet takes very little extra effort or expense and is so much better than mainstream.



Now, on to the exercise front. I knew that I would not be able to doing much of anything except run. I had hoped to be able to explore Boston by foot – I love doing that in new cities. You can really get to the soul of the town. However, I registered late for this conference and I had to stay at a nice hotel – at the airport. To get to any green space I have to take a shuttle to a subway. I could have done this – I should have done this but I did not. In fact I was at these conferences from dawn till dusk. There were so many actives scheduled that I just made it back to the hotel each night and climbed into bed. There was a ‘pub crawl’ scheduled last night – I skipped that!



Don’t get me wrong, I learned a lot and had a very good time but I fell off of my diet routine and my exercise routine. I would love to stay that this was a recovery week but with the long hours, bad food and much drink my body is probably less recovered than if I was racking up the miles.

Tri-bike with straight bar