Sarah's September Conference Challenge
minigrrll
Posts: 1,590 Member
This is my September Conference Challenge thread... (Copied from September goals thread).
I am going to a conference in the US (San Diego) the day after tomorrow (Thursday 7th Sept) which goes from Saturday - Thursday. Darcy is coming (so he gets a nice holiday while I work my fingers to the bone). We are also going to head up to the mountains above Palm Springs to Idyllwild for the weekend afterwards to visit friends.
I go to this conference 3 times a year and it is a total eat and drink fest. My company has rented a big beach house and we are hosting a party on the Wednesday night.
So my challenge is:
The wild card in the meal planning will be the time we spend with friends after the conference. I've never stayed with anyone before and tried to do OMAD. They are cool though, so it shouldn't be a problem.
I'm also planning on fasting from my last meal on the Wednesday night in Australia until dinner on Thursday night in San Diego (which is Friday morning in Australia). This will be probably around 36 hours fasted which will be my longest fast ever - never done more than 24 hours. The hardest part of this will be the free buffet and free drinks in the Qantas lounge before we leave. There's just something about free food. Plus they always have really nice wine and cheese... Sob...
I'll do something similar on the way back also - though I think this will only be around 24 hours even though we lose a full day. I will use the free buffet and free drinks in the LAX OneWorld lounge on the way back as my OMAD and that will be my last meal until dinner at home 24 hours later. The flight back leaves really late (like 11pm or something), so that should be doable.
I will update here every day to keep myself accountable.
I am going to a conference in the US (San Diego) the day after tomorrow (Thursday 7th Sept) which goes from Saturday - Thursday. Darcy is coming (so he gets a nice holiday while I work my fingers to the bone). We are also going to head up to the mountains above Palm Springs to Idyllwild for the weekend afterwards to visit friends.
I go to this conference 3 times a year and it is a total eat and drink fest. My company has rented a big beach house and we are hosting a party on the Wednesday night.
So my challenge is:
- Stick to OMAD for the whole trip - I will NOT be eating the buffet lunch even when I have lunch meetings! I will NOT be eating the giant cookies in the afternoon breaks. I will be having my one meal at night, plus drinks, so my eating window will be longer than usual. It would also be good if I could NOT be hungover every day so that fasting won't be hard.
- Not gain any weight during the trip (this would be huge for me - I have been going to these conferences since 2009 and I generally gain anywhere from 5-10 lbs each time - I can actually look at my weight chart and see every conference clearly from the weight jumps!)
The wild card in the meal planning will be the time we spend with friends after the conference. I've never stayed with anyone before and tried to do OMAD. They are cool though, so it shouldn't be a problem.
I'm also planning on fasting from my last meal on the Wednesday night in Australia until dinner on Thursday night in San Diego (which is Friday morning in Australia). This will be probably around 36 hours fasted which will be my longest fast ever - never done more than 24 hours. The hardest part of this will be the free buffet and free drinks in the Qantas lounge before we leave. There's just something about free food. Plus they always have really nice wine and cheese... Sob...
I'll do something similar on the way back also - though I think this will only be around 24 hours even though we lose a full day. I will use the free buffet and free drinks in the LAX OneWorld lounge on the way back as my OMAD and that will be my last meal until dinner at home 24 hours later. The flight back leaves really late (like 11pm or something), so that should be doable.
I will update here every day to keep myself accountable.
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Replies
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It is hard for me to turn away free stuff also. Think about the satisfaction you will have in your weight loss journey might help. You could set a drink limit like you did the cookie limit to prevent the hangovers. I don't drink at all and I imagine after one it would be hard not to have more just like when we eat early it is hard to stop eating. Good luck! Having a plan is a great idea!0
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It is hard for me to turn away free stuff also. Think about the satisfaction you will have in your weight loss journey might help. You could set a drink limit like you did the cookie limit to prevent the hangovers. I don't drink at all and I imagine after one it would be hard not to have more just like when we eat early it is hard to stop eating. Good luck! Having a plan is a great idea!
Yeah, that's a good idea about the drink limit. It is hard not to have more after just one. Drinking just a little bit too much also has other far-reaching consequences: I'm more likely to indulge in bad food choices both that same night (think bowls of salty snacks put out on bars) plus it makes it just that much harder to fast the next day. So over indulging in alcohol is just bad in so many ways! Unfortunately, it's fun!
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It is hard for me to turn away free stuff also. Think about the satisfaction you will have in your weight loss journey might help. You could set a drink limit like you did the cookie limit to prevent the hangovers. I don't drink at all and I imagine after one it would be hard not to have more just like when we eat early it is hard to stop eating. Good luck! Having a plan is a great idea!
Yeah, that's a good idea about the drink limit. It is hard not to have more after just one. Drinking just a little bit too much also has other far-reaching consequences: I'm more likely to indulge in bad food choices both that same night (think bowls of salty snacks put out on bars) plus it makes it just that much harder to fast the next day. So over indulging in alcohol is just bad in so many ways! Unfortunately, it's fun!
Yeah but the hangover are not much fun or the other things you mentioned. Anyways, good luck!0 -
I think you will totally do well. You will look forward to your extra special meal with Darcy. If you give in to eating during the day you probably will feel guilty going for your special dinners. You guys will probably talk about your special time in SanDiego for many years to come. Totally worth the good memories. I visited my sister in Florida in February and we walked between 10-14 miles everyday. I got her to do the 1 meal a day with me for a whole month. Man, we got to go eat at all our favorite, forbidden restaurants from yester year. I left there 7 pounds lighter but I don't think she lost anything. We still talk about the good eat...she loved finally to be able to eat whatever she wanted. She said she would do OMAD during her maintenance when she gets there.0
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Yeah but the hangover are not much fun or the other things you mentioned. Anyways, good luck!
Not in the least fun, no... Thanks, I'm gonna need luck!!katjustkat wrote: »I think you will totally do well. You will look forward to your extra special meal with Darcy. If you give in to eating during the day you probably will feel guilty going for your special dinners. You guys will probably talk about your special time in SanDiego for many years to come. Totally worth the good memories. I visited my sister in Florida in February and we walked between 10-14 miles everyday. I got her to do the 1 meal a day with me for a whole month. Man, we got to go eat at all our favorite, forbidden restaurants from yester year. I left there 7 pounds lighter but I don't think she lost anything. We still talk about the good eat...she loved finally to be able to eat whatever she wanted. She said she would do OMAD during her maintenance when she gets there.
Thanks for the vote of confidence - I am a little nervous to say the least!
Unfortunately there won't be many special meals with Darcy - it will be mostly networking type dinners, free drinks parties and catching up with colleagues - most people in my industry work from home a lot - so we all are probably a little starved for human contact!!! Plus we are all uber-nerds and likely rely on alcohol to actually be able to speak to each other (or maybe that's just me!)...0 -
In hour 14 of my 36 hour fast (not sure about the exact number of hours but something around there). Flight leaves in about an hour or so...
Starting weight:
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Have a safe flight.0
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Yeah but the hangover are not much fun or the other things you mentioned. Anyways, good luck!
Not in the least fun, no... Thanks, I'm gonna need luck!!katjustkat wrote: »I think you will totally do well. You will look forward to your extra special meal with Darcy. If you give in to eating during the day you probably will feel guilty going for your special dinners. You guys will probably talk about your special time in SanDiego for many years to come. Totally worth the good memories. I visited my sister in Florida in February and we walked between 10-14 miles everyday. I got her to do the 1 meal a day with me for a whole month. Man, we got to go eat at all our favorite, forbidden restaurants from yester year. I left there 7 pounds lighter but I don't think she lost anything. We still talk about the good eat...she loved finally to be able to eat whatever she wanted. She said she would do OMAD during her maintenance when she gets there.
Thanks for the vote of confidence - I am a little nervous to say the least!
Unfortunately there won't be many special meals with Darcy - it will be mostly networking type dinners, free drinks parties and catching up with colleagues - most people in my industry work from home a lot - so we all are probably a little starved for human contact!!! Plus we are all uber-nerds and likely rely on alcohol to actually be able to speak to each other (or maybe that's just me!)...
Ah shucks...thought you'd have your nights free with honey bunny. My daughter works from home too, she's a recruiter. She just got laid off because of a buy out. She's enjoying unemployment checks right now for the first time ever. Hope you have a great flight and remember long flights make you retain water so don't weigh right away
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Good luck!0
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So all went well on the flight over. I fasted and felt awesome!! Darcy ate and felt bloated... I didn't even envy him any of his meals. So cool.
I made it to lunch time here - which was 34 hour and 42 minutes fasted. I had a couple of drinks and a salad and a few of Darcy's nachos. Then we had a nap and went to dinner around 7 and shared a burger and fries and had a few more drinks. We actually sat in the hotel bar until midnight (because of course we were totally jet-lagged and it seemed like the middle of the day to us) last night. I didn't find any issues with doing the two meals in the day, but will not be tempting fate by trying that again!
Today we slept really late (like 11:30) and then went shopping and for a walk around La Jolla Cove along the coast walk - watching the sea lions never gets boring! We'll be eating tonight around 7:30 at the beach house in La Jolla that my company is renting and hopefully it will be an early night because I have to work bright and early tomorrow morning. (So unfair!)
So, I'm counting days 1 and 2 a success! Woohoo!!1 -
So all went well on the flight over. I fasted and felt awesome!! Darcy ate and felt bloated... I didn't even envy him any of his meals. So cool.
I made it to lunch time here - which was 34 hour and 42 minutes fasted. I had a couple of drinks and a salad and a few of Darcy's nachos. Then we had a nap and went to dinner around 7 and shared a burger and fries and had a few more drinks. We actually sat in the hotel bar until midnight (because of course we were totally jet-lagged and it seemed like the middle of the day to us) last night. I didn't find any issues with doing the two meals in the day, but will not be tempting fate by trying that again!
Today we slept really late (like 11:30) and then went shopping and for a walk around La Jolla Cove along the coast walk - watching the sea lions never gets boring! We'll be eating tonight around 7:30 at the beach house in La Jolla that my company is renting and hopefully it will be an early night because I have to work bright and early tomorrow morning. (So unfair!)
So, I'm counting days 1 and 2 a success! Woohoo!!
Love it babe! Sounds like a pretty amazing couple of days! Glad you're safe and enjoy your trip!0 -
I love La Jolla. Great place. Have fun!0
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Woohoo for a successful 2 days so far!!! Enjoy your trip 0
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Woohooing here on the east coast for your successful trip and 1st day in La Jolla. It was in a restaurant there that I learned about grilled romaine lettuce with olive oil and a sprinkling of grated cheese. Now it's one of my favorite things.
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Sounds like a great time and you are so in control! Nice that you are feeling the benefits and it's rewarding you as you are watching Darcy struggle with his sluggishness. Great experiment haha0
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Well so much for updating every day! Every second of my day is scheduled pretty much - even have breakfast and lunch meetings. Obviously I've not been eating at those - it's very interesting that nobody even really notices you are not eating. Some people say "aren't you eating?" and I just say no and that's it!
I have stuck to omad every day. The problem has been that my window is open way longer than usual because of the drinks. Not sure how that is affecting my weight - won't find out till we get home... we shall see!0 -
Here is the sorry picture of my fasts! The greyed out ones are where I didn't make my goal of 21 hours:
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Ooooh you're doing so well in what could be a very challenging environment. Remember that you will be retaining water from your long flight when you get home. I'm going to look for that APP on my Iphone...I'm assuming it's called 'FASTRAC'. Does it alert you when your fast is over? Hope you're having a good time. 0
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Way to go on not eating some break and lunches. Not easy when traveling!0
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Ok you guys, I'm baaaaccckkkkk.... And... Drum roll please - I gained 0.1 of a pound (aka maintained my weight) in the week and a half I was gone. Super stoked. I was very scared to step on the scale this morning, because I was SURE I had gained. I didn't even think it was possible to eat and drink like I did and not gain weight. This really makes me hopeful that I can maintain once I get to my goal weight.
I did OMAD almost every day (except two times where I had a snack later to soak up the booze), but like I said, my window was a lot longer than usual because of the drinking (6-after midnight most days). I think there was only one night we didn't drink. Yikes. Even the day we flew out I had 3 glasses of wine in the lounge - our flight didn't leave until after 11pm so I made the lounge buffet my OMAD - our connecting flight got to LAX at 7pm, so I had about a 3 hour window.
Not eating on flights is the best. I felt so good. The flight attendants do not like it - they kept asking "are you sure?". Ha!
My work colleagues didn't even notice that I didn't eat lunch. Most lunches I just went out for a walk but even the ones where I sat with them, they didn't really notice. I think one person asked me once, but was fine with my "no" answer to her "aren't you eating" question.
Here is my weight chart - the red circled weight is the one from the day we left. It hasn't done much for my average weekly weight loss but maintaining is a HUGE success for me, so I don't care! I have ALWAYS gained weight during these things:
Super busy at work today (because I dared to take 3 days off!) but will try to catch up with everybody later today... 0 -
No gain, thats awesome!!! 0
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Thanks! I am still in shock...It's funny how the mind works - I had convinced myself that I'd gained weight -
how could I not have with all the stuff I ate! We had fondue twice in a week and I could hardly walk both times I was so full...
But even after having to replace 2 pairs of pants while I was away because they were swimming on me (I bought the exact same Athleta pants in a size 8 and asked the friend we stayed with after the conference to give the size 12s to charity for me!) I don't fully trust the process.
Definitely doing this for the rest of my life!!2 -
Very nice! That is a great success story. Traveling can be the hardest but you were able to do it and prove things work!1
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Totally awesome!!0
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Thanks guys!0
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I was predicting this based on my own OMAD travel experiences. My fears did not materialize and I actually lost a little despite a few indulgences. It's funny how people don't really pay to much attention if you just sit there with a drink during lunch. They're too wrapped up in their own world to pay much attention. And fasting while flying? That is easy, just take a look at that stuff they call food. Awful.
Good job.0 -
Awesome awesome awesome job dear! What a win!0
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Thanks guys! What really amazed me was how much I looked forward to not eating. And how much better i feel when I'm not constantly stuffing food into my face. Crazy - never ever thought I'd enjoy not eating!!0
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Fantastic victory Sarah It's empowering to feel the effects of eating freestyle as opposed to eating one meal. I had three non OMAD days this past week I definitely felt bloated, tired and overwhelmed that I lost control. Made me realize how much better I feel over all doing OMAD. 0
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Yes it's why I do the longer fasts too! It's a pain but you feel weirdly good lol0
