It’s been a few days since I posted last.  Sorry!  It’s hard to post when traveling.

I’m in Colorado for work this week.  I flew out from Boston Monday afternoon and didn’t arrive in Denver until late Monday night.  My team was on site at Boulder Community Hospital for two full days, Tuesday and Wednesday, to assist with their Physician Documentation go LIVE in the ED.  Tomorrow we’ll be at Poudre Valley Medical Center for a kick off optimization visit, and then we fly home Friday morning.

It’s pretty out here!

As I mentioned in “On the Road Again,” it’s hard to be healthy when traveling.  The airport is full of places like Sbarro’s, McDonald’s, and a whole lot of fast and fried options.  Also it’s definitely easy to get carried away and choose not so healthy options when your company is footing the bill for the week’s meals.  And it’s HARD to find exercise time – travel days and being on site gets tiring!  The hotel gyms usually aren’t the best either.

Here’s how days 1 – 3 have gone so far for me.  You be the judge!

Day 1:  Monday

Breakfast:  Plain Greek yogurt with Uncle Sam’s Toasted Whole Wheat Berry Flakes & Flaxseed cereal, and raspberries

Workout:  Since my flight wasn’t until 2:30 in the afternoon, I made sure I was all packed from the night before so I could fully take advantage of my free morning time.  Before I left for the airport, I went to the Y.  I did about 30 minutes on the elliptical and then took Nicole’s “On the Ball” class.  I definitely felt that in my core the next day.  I picked up some new moves for class too.  🙂

Morning Post-Workout Snack:  Peach

Lunch:  Colleen and I decided to meet extra early at the airport to grab lunch there before our flight.  United Airways doesn’t really have the best food options so we settled on Au Bon Pain.  I got a fruit cup and the Mediterranean Chicken Salad.  The salad had all natural grilled chicken, feta cheese, and tomatoes over field greens.  I picked out the kalamata olives of course.  It wasn’t bad for salad in a bowl.  I also got a banana to hold onto for healthy snack options later in the week.

After lunch we stopped at the Hudson News store to grab even more snacks for the plane and throughout the week.  I stocked up on unsalted cashews, unsalted almonds, a Luna Bar, and a Clif bar.

Dinner:  We had a quick connection so couldn’t get anything fancy.  We stopped at the Tequileria To Go in the Charlotte airport and grabbed another quick salad – this time in a box.  I got the Chicken Apple Walnut salad which also had celery and grapes in it.  I ate it on the plane before we finally took off for Denver.  It was rushed and tasted only okay.

Snack:  I ate the cashews I bought back in Boston on the plane out to Denver and the Clif Bar on the ride to the hotel from the airport.

When we finally got to the hotel, I passed right out.

Day 2:  Tuesday

Pre-Workout Snack:  The banana purchased at Au Bon Pain on Monday

Workout:  Colleen asked me last week if I could do a weights lesson for her while on the road this week.  So we found a Rec Center down the street from our hotel.  I find it much easier to workout in the morning when traveling than I do when at home.  Schedule wise it just works out better.  Patrick dropped us off (he was going to the hospital earlier than us) and we did 15 minutes on the elliptical for a warmup.  Then we had a weights lesson with cardio intervals in between.

• Biceps:  Front curls.  3 sets of 8, then 8 pulses halfway.
• 30 seconds jumping jacks
• Triceps:  Overhead extensions.  3 sets of 8, then hold up, hold halfway, 8 pulses.
• 30 seconds high knees
• Shoulders / Calves:  Lateral raises to the side at same time as calf raise.  10 reps, then hold for 10 seconds.  2 sets total.
• 30 seconds jump rope
• Biceps:  Side curls.  3 sets of 8, then 8 pulses halfway.
• 30 seconds football runs
• Triceps:  Row/Extend Series, 1 arm at a time.  10 rows, then 10 extensions, then 10 combining the two.  Finish with 10 pulses to the ceiling.
• 30 seconds football runs with arms pumping
• Shoulders / Calves:  Repeat same as before this time arms raising to chest level in front, and feet turned out.
• 30 seconds mountain climbers
• Glutes:  On all fours, one leg at a time – knee bent and foot flexed to ceiling.  Press up 10 times, cross over other calf 10 times, extend for ham 10 times, straight leg drop 10 times, finish pulsing up for 10.  Repeat leg.

We finished with four moves to target the core:

• Abs 1:  Sitting on ground lean almost all the way to ground, come back up for 16 reps.  Hold and pulse for 8.  The obliques for 10.
• Abs 2:  Arms in front, legs out.  Pull knees in as you crunch, then extend legs out in front.  Swim legs at end.  We did 16 reps.
• Abs 3:  Lying flat on ground sit up reaching arms to feet.  Do that 10 times.  Hold 10 seconds at end.
• Abs 4:  Regular plank with rolling forward and back as variation one and lifting one leg at a time as variation two.

Our cooldown was a 1.3 mile walk back to the hotel.  It was gorgeous out yesterday morning!

Breakfast:  I actually love Marriott breakfasts.  I got Quaker oatmeal which I mixed with some walnuts and a strawberry flavored Dannon Light & Fit yogurt.  I also got a bowl of fresh fruit on the side – strawberries, pineapple, and melon!  And I snagged two more bananas for later.

Mid-Morning Snack:  Half the bag of almonds I bought at the airport.

Lunch:  We had to settle for Subway.  I opted for a sandwich instead of a salad there.  It’s actually kind of cool how Subway outlines the Fresh Fit choices for you right at the counter.  I ordered a turkey breast sandwich on a whole wheat 6″ sub, with lettuce, tomato, shredded mozzarella cheese, and mustard.  I had a bag of Sun Chips on the side.

Afternoon Snack:  Banana #1 taken from breakfast.

Dinner:  We ate at Walnut Brewery in downtown Boulder.  Hands down best meal I’ve eaten this week so far.  I ordered the Seafood Chef Salad.  It had citrus shrimp and crab served over mixed greens with cucumber, tomatoes, chopped egg, mandarin oranges, and avocados.  Look how good this looks!

Day 3:  Wednesday

Pre-Workout Snack:  Banana #2 snagged at Tuesday’s breakfast

Workout:  Colleen wanted another training session!  Today we did 20 minutes on the elliptical, then some more weight stuff.

• Biceps / Legs:  Combined the front & side bicep curls we reviewed yesterday with forward lunges
• 30 seconds jumping jacks in between each leg
• Triceps / Legs:  Combined the row & extension combo with squats
• 30 seconds high knees
• Outer Thigh:  Lying on one side with knees bent, slightly in front of stacked hips.  Knees and toes forward.  15 single leg lifts, then 10 pulses.  Then rotate leg forward and back, from the hip, 10 times.  Finish by extending the leg straight out, doing 10 circles front, 10 circles back, 1 big circle front, and 1 big circle back.
• Inner Thigh:  Place the foot on the side just worked flat on the ground, extend the other leg straight in front of it.  Lift for inner thigh singles for 15, then 10 pulses.  Then 5 reps of 2 pulses, lift all the way up, all the way down.
• Obliques:  Side Plank.  Hold up for 10 seconds.  Then drop hip down & up for 10.  Finish with another 10 second hold.
• Repeat outer thigh, inner thigh, and oblique combo all on other side.
• Chest:  10 pushups, 10 hand taps.
• Abs:  Same 4 abs exercises as Tuesday’s workout.  We also added in some extra oblique work for abs 3, and instead of rolling for a variation on the plank we did the spiderman knees.

Breakfast:  Repeat of Tuesday.  Quaker oatmeal with walnuts and yogurt (raspberry yogurt this time!) and a bowl of fruit on the side.  Snagged an apple for later on in the day.

Mid-Morning Snack:  Finished the other half of the almonds from the bag I bought at the airport.

Second Morning Snack:  Lunch ended up getting delayed, so I ate my Luna Bar (from the airport) to hold me over.

Lunch – We ate at The Hungry Toad down the street from the hospital.  I got another salad – this time the Strawberry Fields Pear Ever Salad.

I added grilled salmon to mine!

Treats:  In the afternoon I helped myself to two small mini sized chocolates for a little pick me up.  The day was kind of dragging.

Afternoon Snack:  On our ride from Boulder to Fort Collins I ate the apple I got at breakfast.

Dinner:  So mad about dinner.  WORST MEAL EVER.  We went to Jackson’s All American Sports Grill.  I decided that I was ready for a little break from my salad ordering, and the California Turkey Club sounded good to me.  The menu described it as shaved turkey breast grilled and topped with melted jack and cheddar cheeses and applewood smoked bacon served on grilled sour dough with lettuce, tomato and fresh avocado slices.  So I got that instead of the Chicken Mandarin Salad – which is what I should have ordered!  Instead I was forced to eat this piece of CRAP.

First of all, that is NOT a club sandwich.  I never asked for my bread slathered in grease.  The sandwich was SOGGY.  It was so gross and totally not worth it.  I only ate half the sandwich.  I substituted a side salad instead of fries or tots, and even that was gross.  It was pretty much lettuce with cheese and croutons.  YUCK.  What a waste.  At least it wasn’t my money that paid for it.  But still – if I’m gonna treat myself a little to something besides a salad on the road – I want it to be worth it!  Grrrr.  Not over it yet if you couldn’t tell.

Snack:  Since I only ate half my sandwich, when I got back to the hotel I stopped at the little market and got some Nature’s Harvest granola trail mix to munch on because I knew I’d still be hungry.  I’ve been having the trail mix as I’ve been writing this.  It has cranberries, cherries, raisins, almonds, and pecans mixed in with the granola.  It’s pretty good.

Phew!  It’s been a long three days.  Up early again for another morning workout before being on site.  Then we fly home Friday, yay!

Question of the Day:  What’s one of the grossest meals you’ve ever ordered at a restaurant?  Comment please!