My second official week on my rotation was spent in Chicago with all of the other participants in the rotation program for a week of training (another great thing about working for KPMG).  After my last post, you may have been thinking, “wow, Lauren’s really got it together with this huge lifestyle change that she’s making.”  JOKES ON ME.  My week in Chicago was by far much harder than my first week in Houston, so clearly I jumped to conclusions on how this whole being healthy thing would go.

Why was it so much harder this week?

• For starters, with traveling comes dealing with traveling issues.  I was scheduled on a direct flight from Norfolk to Chicago that was supposed to arrive at 5:30 PM.  I was already at the airport when my flight was canceled and there were no more seats on any other direct flights that evening.  After holding back tears and dealing with it like a boss (HAH!) , I finally got there around 11:00 PM.  My well thought-out plan to stretch and roll at the hotel fitness center and to grab a healthy salad from Sweetgreen went out the window. Usually in situations like this, I would go for a large alcoholic beverage or two and get the greasiest comfort food I could find, followed by ice cream to make myself feel better.  But I didn’t – I found a relatively healthy meal option at Chipotle with some fresh squeezed Jamba Juice to wash it down and stuck with it.
• Our meals were provided, so I couldn’t exactly plan anything out for the week, and had to play it by ear on a meal by meal basis.  One lunch was Italian themed and the entrée options were a heavy pasta dish or chicken parm.  Neither of those are exactly “allowed” on my nutrition plan. I did the best that I could with the food that I was provided.  Did I stick to the nutrition plan this week?  Definitely not.  But did I try my hardest to eat the foods I should be eating in the portions that I am supposed to have?  I tried.  And I realized that was all that I can do.  It’s okay if I have one week that is just a little bit harder than others.  It’s not going to stop my progress.
• I was with a new group of people that I was getting to know, and with that comes socializing.  It’s hard to socialize with everyone else at a bar when you’re not allowed to drink alcohol. But I didn’t drink alcohol.
• Along with the socializing came nights out on the town.  Knowing that I had to be up at 5:30 to make it to the gym on time to complete my workout in time to get ready and make it to class on time kind of makes it hard to stay out late with everyone else. I tried to be fun and spend time with everyone, while also not putting myself in a position to hurt myself.  I gave up some of my sleep to spend time with everyone else, but still made it a priority to make it to the gym each morning.  I spend time out, but left before everyone else. Even running on 5-6 hours of sleep I survived.  I was definitely more tired, but it didn’t kill me.  And I don’t think people thought I was a loser for leaving the bar early (I hope!).
• The gym at the hotel that we stayed at was the WORST.  It was small and packed every morning, and there wasn’t a lot of room for me to do my workouts.  On top of that, the weights that I needed were non-existent even though there was space on the rack for them.  How a hotel managed to lose two sets of weights is beyond me. I did some of my workouts in my room when I could and just made do on the other days.  I used the weights available and made it work.  Sometimes hotel gyms are going to suck.

At the end of the day, I might have had a few setbacks, but I did the best with the situation, and it was a huge learning opportunity for me.  Not everything in life is going to go the way it should and you have to be able to adapt, especially in a program such as the one that I’m doing.  Looking back on the week, I think that I made the right decisions and I will do my best to get back on track next week.

Chicago Highlight

We went to this pretty amazing bar called Federales that has an open ceiling and a huge outdoor space.  They are known for tacos and tequila and “Ring the Bell.”  They serve shots (tequila, I presume) in ice glasses that the customers then get to throw at a bell to try to hit it.  I’m not exactly sure what happens if you do, but this was a must-do event.  While I didn’t partake in the shot-taking activities, I did get this basic white girl pic with this awesome mural, so there is that.