Andy’s Nationally Published Articles :: Packing to Survive
5am. Your wake up call announces- It's show time! You grab some java and scramble down to the exhibit hall for a few finishing touches.
8am. Last minute changes have grown into a serious list and already you feel like you have put out more fires than Smokey the bear.
11am. The hall doors open. Trying to remember when the bone crusher headache started, you wolf down a cheese danish and more coffee.
3pm. A two-minute hiatus- a petrified hotdog acts as missed lunch, and your headache has a new friend, an aching back.
7pm. The doors close on another day. As the adrenaline wears off, you start feeling like you were dragged behind a stagecoach all day.
10pm. Dinner ends and your third cocktail arrives.
11pm. Exhausted, you fall into bed, too tired to sleep. Your mind races. The clock ticks.
Putting together a successful event is one thing. Surviving it is another. No doubt life in this industry is stressful and often consuming.
Case Study
One such meeting professional, whom I will call Ima Tired, logs over 100,000 miles annually. Fifteen years of coordinating events left her overweight, out of shape, and feeling powerless to do anything about it.
Finally, on a simple property tour, Ima grew so breathless and fatigued that she was forced to stop as her group forged ahead. This was the moment of truth for Ima. She knew she had to change her ways. Now, fourteen months later and over 105 pounds lighter, “Ima Energized” is speed walking properties with a “catch me if you can” attitude. With a body that she cannot believe is hers, Ima is living life in the fun lane.
Her journey to health and fitness began by changing her mind set. She admitted that a quick fix like a fat dissolving pill or an Ab Dazzler was neither quick nor a fix. Her solution could only be found by looking within. She wanted a permanent change.
So, I taught her to pack her suitcase.
5 things you can pack to “lighten your load”
WALKING SHOES
If being on your feet all day constituted exercise, most meeting professionals could run marathons. Being on your feet is as exhausting as running, but it will do nothing to eliminate your love handles. That requires thirty minutes of physical activity four to six times a week. So, where are you going to find 30 minutes to workout? The good news is three ten-minute mini-walks are JUST AS EFFECTIVE as being chained to a treadmill for a continuous thirty.
Ima finds it easy to slip on her walking shoes and walk ten minutes to her first meeting, where she retrieves her heels from her event bag when she needs them. Her second ten minutes comes with a bonus. Instead of waiting in line for catered lard, she grabs her event bag that holds her small can of tuna, crackers and an apple and then walks five minutes to get away from the crowd. To finish her thirty minutes, Ima walks the long way back to her room after dinner, feeling the stress of the day fade away with each step. Now packing her walking shoes is a reminder to walk, walk, walk her way to a better body.
BYOF: BRING YOUR OWN FOOD
Eating when traveling typically includes coffee for breakfast, a moderate lunch and a huge, heavy dinner. This eating strategy has been proven by scientific research to be the most efficient way to out blubber a sperm whale. The strange thing is that people who eat this way often cite extremely low energy levels, even when eating large quantities of food.
When asked “what is the most important meal of the day?”, most people will cite breakfast. While breakfast may be the most important meal for children, for busy adults I have found the most important meal of the day is a healthy 3pm snack. If you eat nothing in the 6 hours between lunch and dinner your blood sugar to drop to the basement, which in turn causes low energy, mood swings, poor productivity and a rhino sized appetite.
For Ima, the solution was to pack a snack in her event bag and set the alarm on her watch for 3pm. By eating a snack at 3pm she found she could control her appetite and maintain her energy level. There are many healthy, packable foods such as dried or real fruit, energy bars, low fat granola, tuna, baby carrots, pretzels, high fiber dry cereal, whole grain bagel, instant soup and packages of instant oatmeal. Small containers of orange juice are another must pack because high stress jobs demand more Vitamin C.
While eating healthy implies staying away from the Cinnabon counter, the impulse that led you there is real. A Cinna-binge impulse is basically the body’s signal that your gas tank is empty. If you let your gas tank run completely dry your body’s natural impulse is to crave the most calorically dense foods: chips, candy, cookies, nachos, pizza, burgers, etc. The bottom line: if you BYOF you will beat the afternoon lull, increase your willpower and not gain F A T.
WATER BOTTLE
I have surveyed of hundreds of business travelers from several different corporations. Amazingly, I found the average business traveler drinks less than one glass of water a day while traveling. Similar to low blood sugar, dehydration is a common cause of afternoon fatigue and a rampant appetite. Even slight dehydration reduces mental and physical energy by up to 25%. Unfortunately, most event professionals start their day dehydrated and never catch up. Drinking enough water can be the difference between crashing at 3pm or finishing the day strong. Water is a magic elixir capable of significantly boosting energy and decreasing appetite. So having a bottle of water by your side is a MUST for traveling professionals and consuming a bottle of water between each meal is the key to healthy hydration and quick thinking.
BACKGROUND NOISE MAKER
What happens to a child’s mood when he misses his nap? What happens to a meeting professional’s attitude who lost needed sleep? Quality sleep is critical to being happy, healthy and productive, but it can be hard to come by in a busy hotel. One of the best ways to allow sleep in is to change the mind’s focus, often trapped by the intrusive noise. Background noise, like the random sounds of electric fans, a crackling fireplace, rain and even the purring of a cat, can provide relief. Aside from stuffing Kitty into a suitcase, packing a sleep machine that will produce similar sounds will assure you the rest you need to be at your best.
HEAD PHONES
When the stress that comes with coordinating people and events hits, the idea to stop and rest deliberately wouldn’t cross your mind. Yet, just 5 minutes of quiet, focusing on slowing your body and mind can send you back to the front energized. By packing a pair of head phones and some relaxing music you always have access to an instant mini-vacation. Listening to relaxing music will refocus your mind and enable you to regain your mental and emotional well-being. A great way to enhance this feeling of relaxation is by incorporating deep, diaphragmatic breathing. There is a mountain of research to support deep breathing as one of the best stress management tools. An easy way to implement deep breathing is with a 4-1-4-1 breathing pattern. This pattern consists of a deep four second inhale, one second pause, four second exhale and a final one second pause before your repeat the cycle.
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
When Ima gets a break in her day she slips on her walking shoes, walks just 5 minutes away, where she can sit, eat and enjoy a few precious minutes of peace. Listening to her head phones, sipping from her OJ and water bottles, Ima finds herself feeling back in control of her stress, her body and her life.
The irony of Ima’s success is that the travel schedule that once caused her weight gain, now provides motivation to lead a healthy lifestyle at home as well. And all it took was learning how to pack her suitcase.
Andy Core is a professional speaker who helps busy people beat stress and live life with maximum energy and health. To have Andy speak to your group call (479) 582-2639 or go to www.fittraveler.com.
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