FOOD

Well, I just spent the last week in Florida! I had oatmeal and bananas for breakfast every morning in my room, a banana and granola for lunch (the conference was a healthy-food desert), and vendor sponsored dinners every night – of which I had some variation of salad most of the time.

When I was out on my own, food got a little more interesting! Veggie flat bread, falafel, stuffed greek peppers, black bean soup and a great lentil/hummus/tabbouleh/pita dish (that was in Morocco at Epcot!).

Since I’ve been home, it’s been pretty much all FitOrbit meals and fresh juice.

one of the toys I got at the conference. A water bottle with a center you can fill with fruit! Today I used cucumber slices

FITNESS

My workouts consisted of the hotel gym treadmill, a few body weight workouts (burpees, sit ups, pushups, etc), and YogaGlo.com classes on my laptop in my hotel.

Oh, and according to my FitBit, I walked TWENTY SEVEN MILES in three days. Yep, gotta love a gigantic conference room floor!

So speaking of the FitBit….I have to send mine back. Yes, I am one of the lucky FitBit Force owners who have gotten the contact dermatitis/burns on my wrist from wearing it. It breaks my heart – because I love it – but it’s tearing up my arm and needs to be returned. They’ve recalled them and aren’t selling them anymore either because this is apparently a little more common than originally thought. Ugh.

LIFE

Oh gee, where to start? The conference itself was awesome. I went to to some great sessions (the favorite of mine being a congressional panel discussing upcoming possible legislation around what I do), met with dozens and dozens of vendors, did a scavenger hunt for a Vespa (didn’t win, but it was fun), and went to a ton of evening events.

as a Vet, I loved that this is even a thing! I went and ended up meeting with some newly discharged vets to give advice as an “experienced health IT professional”. This felt great to do.

a very small sampling of the conf room floor. Each of these are vendor booths that develop tools and technologies to try and make care better

I also tweeted the heck out of everything, which was fun.

my tweet was scrolling on the big screen just before Hillary Clinton came on stage! I was so proud 🙂

Oh, and the main keynote speaker on Wednesday was Hillary Clinton. I was in the front row (off to the side) and very much enjoyed the hour. I didn’t like some of the questions that strayed from the topic (healthcare technologies), but she redirected everything back to the topic at hand, which I appreciated.

To highlight a few fun ones…..

One vendor did a fun night and had an ice sculpture that was a luge for martinis. They’d mix them, pour them in the luge into your glass, and you’d have a chilled martini! I did not partake, but thought it was cool.

Another sent limos and a car service to collect you and bring you to a lakeside firepit bourbon tasting, wine tasting, and cigar rolling evening. I had the wine. It was good. Car service to and from my hotel was much appreciated as well.

Then there was the river boat, balloon ride, and Irish pub evening. Probably the most fun of the vendor nights, though they were all nice.

Thursday after my morning sessions (the conference ended), I met up with my Aunt/Godmother and Uncle for lunch! It was a very nice time – my Uncle B constantly ribs my food pics on FB. All in good fun, of course. It was nice to catch up.

Thursday eve I saw a friend of mine that moved to FL last year. KD and I went to Taverna Opa, and it was a blast. Belly dancers, sparklers, shots, and table dancing….and that was pretty much everyone in the place! Flying napkins and shouts of “Opa” ensued.

Friday I spent my solo day at Epcot. I walked through the world showcase twice, sampled some beverages, shopped, took in the arts, movies, and performances of each country, and had a very nice time.

Believe it or not, I was in bed before midnight every night.

I came home Saturday and other than my normal grocery and food day yesterday, have been home with the family. Today was work from home – school was canceled for snow/sleet/ice storms. All told, I’m really happy to be home.

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FOOD

This week when I was still at home, I stuck to the quinoa and berry breakfast. I know I love it, I can make bunches in advance and take to work (which I did), and I sincerely don't mind eating the same thing every morning. A lot of the other recipes sound amazing, and when I have free time in the kitchen on the weekends, I plan on checking them out. For now, simple is good!

I'm traveling for work this week, so that's going to be a bit of a challenge. I'm staying in a condo with a full kitchen, so I stopped at the grocery last night. I picked up some Nature's Path Optimum Power Blueberry Cinnamon Flax oatmeal, bananas, and sea salt (butter less, of course) popcorn.

In my few meals out (I just got here yesterday), I've opted for salads mostly, and today also had some hummus with crispy flatbread.

I have all vendor-sponsored dinners this week, and there's not usually many healthy options. Whenever possible, I'll pre-eat a salad or something, just so I don't end up with anything I'll regret later.

FITNESS

I hit up the hotel gym this morning for a run. I really wanted to run outside in the warm Florida morning – but I didn't prepare to figuring out how to carry my hotel room card, phone, etc.

After my run, I did an ab sequence from FitOrbit.

I also walked an additional 8 miles by wandering around Busch Gardens in Tampa and Downtown Disney in Orlando. I love my FitBit and FitOrbit combination!

LIFE

Well, I'm out of town for the week. I'm in Orlando for a conference, and admittedly, 1-2 days of much needed R&R. I took off yesterday morning, had a direct flight here, and killed time in Downtown Disney until my condo was ready, around 2.

I had a wonderful dinner with my Aunt and Uncle who live in FL most of the year and back home in WI the rest.

Yesterday was also my son's first formal dance! Thankfully D took many pics since I wasn't there 😦

I fell asleep watching Shrek 3 on ABC family last night in my hotel – I was beat. Woke this morning, worked out, cleaned up, and headed out to check into the conference. From there, it was mostly driving as I went into Tampa to go to Busch Gardens. Honestly, I only stayed an hour. Ours in VA is much nicer and bigger. There weren't any places to just sit and relax and read – which is really what I wanted to do. So I went back to Orlando, grabbed a late lunch/early dinner, wandered around some more, then headed back to my room!

And now, it's only 7, and I'm ready for bed. It's going to be a long week, so I may as well get some while I can, right??

So I leave this some pics!