Having A Goal Equals Healthier, Happier Travel

Howdy from Texas!

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It has been a great day thus far even though half the day was spent traveling. In fact, I think I’ve connected more over the past month than I did all last year. New York City’s large airports have spoiled me with direct flights almost everywhere!

But, I can’t complain about today’s trips as I was upgraded on the first leg from Newark to Memphis. It’s always hard to go back to coach after a free upgrade, due to miles, but boy is it nice while I’m there. I was surprised by the level of service on today’s flight. Continuous service, lunch, a hot lemon towel service, and plenty of leg room!  The craziest thing were the real glasses!

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Since my goal this week is to eat as healthy as possible so I’ll have plenty of energy for early morning workouts and long days, I enjoyed the fruit, water, chicken, beans, and tomatoes leaving most of the pasta and feta. I also left the random bread sticks but took the miniature Blondie with me to enjoy as an afternoon snack on my next flight.

I spent the next flight reading a this month’s Shape and Women’s Health magazines, both of which were filled with great workouts. I actually found an abdominal and arm routine which I’m going to try to squeeze in each day I’m here.

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As soon as I arrived at the hotel I headed straight down to log my workout. I find that having a goal while I travel always make the week more successful in terms of healthy eating and workouts. This week I have two goals.

This Saturday is our Diamond Derby party and the dress I bought is actually cut pretty slim. If I want to feel confident and happy on Saturday then I need to:

  • Workout everyday between Sunday and Saturday for 60 minutes, ensuring that I include arms and abs in addition to my hill walking (through Tuesday) and running.
  • Eat very healthy Sunday and Monday/Tuesday breakfast+lunch as I know that we will be having corporate dinners at some of Houston’s best restaurants Monday and Tuesday.

By making goals like this for yourself it can help keep you on track when work travel tempts you spend all your time working or partying with co-workers. It’s important to invest some time in yourself. Next time I travel my goals my revolve around drinking my water and getting plenty of sleep. It all depends on what you need at that time.

These goals motivated me while I was in the hotel gym, which is far nicer than some I’ve seen in mid-price chain hotels before.

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I spent 45 minutes incline walking on the treadmill, ranging from 4-12 incline and 4.0-4.4 speed. After the walk I hit the mat for the two workouts I found in the magazines. Both were far harder than I expected, especially the abs workout. Doing each of these for one minute as a starting point was really hard! To be honest, I only made it 45 seconds on one of them. I finished my time at the gym with a 1.5 minute plank and 15 pushups! Done and Done!

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After a quick shower and early evening snack, thanks to the gym’s fruit bowl, I headed out to dinner with my manager.

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There isn’t much in the area of Houston where we’re staying, right near the airport, so we actually explored and settled on an Outback tonight.  Believe it or not, their salmon was perfectly seasoned and the sweet potato, without the butter but topped with plenty of cinnamon, was delicious!

Here’s to hoping my room has sound proof windows for all those planes taking off just a few hundred feet away!

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What the Doctor Ordered

Friday morning, after coughing all night, I finally went to the doctor. If you live in New York City and ever need to see a doctor quickly, I highly recommend the Beth Israel Medical Group. They have a walk-in clinic at each of their locations which guarantees you see a doctor within an hour! Even better, these doctors spend half their time seeing regular patients as well which means if you like one, they can become your primary care doctor. That’s what happened to me on Friday! Finally, some luck came my way!!

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The doctor confirmed that I had bronchitis and therefore immediately gave me three different prescriptions to help with the cough, aches, stuffy head. In addition, she also suggested that I put aside my running aspirations until at least Monday but preferably Tuesday, depending on how I feel. She insisted that my body needed to use all its’ energy to fight the bronchitis and heal. Duly noted doc, I want to get better too!

With this new knowledge, Bo and I altered our weekend plans a bit. The last thing I wanted to do, thanks to my lack of smell and therefore taste, was go out to dinner. The only thing I craved was some quality time with Bo and comfortable PJ’s.

After 7 meals of soup, I finally decided it was time for some real food. Friday night we ordered from our favorite Greek restaurant and spent the evening catching up on the three Grey’s Anatomy episodes. Holy drama! I’m loving this show more than normal right now!

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The medication worked its’ magic as I slept a solid 12 hours Friday night! We didn’t wake up until 10:30 and spent the entire morning cleaning, taking our winter clothes down to storage, and getting ready for next weekend’s Diamond Derby party. There isn’t much we can do this far in advance but at least we can get out all the décor and such.

Around 2pm we decided it was time to enjoy some fresh air and a workout. Since Bo’s allergies are at their all-time worst state, we headed to Equinox instead of our Central Park plan. Bo ran 6 miles on the treadmill while I power walked 3.5 on an incline, catching up on lots of my April magazines. After the walk I spent 10 minutes doing pushups, ab work, and headstands. The doctor said I was free to workout as long as I kept it lighter than normal, didn’t spin or run and didn’t exceed an hour, regardless the intensity.

We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering through Union Square Farmer’s Market and Whole Foods. We saw some crazy sights including protesters, larger than life flowers and this humungous Opa fish they were cutting fresh in Whole Foods!

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Many people have asked how we make time for each other and one of our favorite ways is to cook together. We unplug for 2-3 hours and spend the evening cooking, laughing, making a mess in the kitchen, and sipping wine together.

IMG_2038Last night was no exception as we made two of the recipes from the Hali’imaile General Store cookbook, my favorite restaurant in Maui!

Dinner included a delicious, spicy Crab Topped Gazpacho which took all of 15 minutes to make using our Vita-Mix!

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Our main course was something we’ve never made at home before, chicken and mushroom lettuce wraps! These took a bit more time, most of which was the chopping and preparation, but the recipe made enough for at least two nights and was so flavorful even I could taste the rich mushroom and the Asian influences.

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All together now!

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This delicious food, paired with lots of Downton Abbey was the perfect way to spend time with Bo while also giving my body the much needed rest and nourishment it needed and craved. Not to mention that chewing was a nice new sensation after many meals of Progresso Soup!

Now, just like that, I’m off to Houston for three days of consumer research! This is trip 1 of many for the next few months and I’ll be back later to share my first round of tips for keeping sane during a busy travel season.

Have a wonderful Sunday! I wish I was staying in New York City so I could enjoy the incredible weather and wish my cousin many happy wishes at her baby shower! I’m so sad to miss Meredith’s big day but I have lots of Hawaiian surprises for her little bean when she finally greets us!

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Friday Face Time

It’s back! In this week’s Friday Face Time I chat about the following:

  • How amazing you guys are!
  • What’s coming up next in terms of races.
  • A few ways Bo and I make sure to make time for US.

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