Staying Healthy at Cons

marasw

What do you guys do to keep from ruining your diet at cons? I tend to take the attitude of just eat whatever I want - I'm on vacation after all! I don't worry about it till I get home.

At the last con I brought a hot plate and a griddle so I was able to cook food at the con, but I still went ahead and had one greasy/unhealthy/cheat meal each day of the con, so it really didn't help. I still gained plenty of weight over the weekend!

sangostar

I try to go to a grocery and buy a sack of apples to replace unhealthy snacks at cons. I don't drink soda really but at cons I would stay away from those too.

marasw

I have tried bringing healthy snacks to the con and I find that the more food I bring the more food I eat, and it doesn't REPLACE the unhealthy stuff, I just eat it in addition to the unhealthy stuff! I really need someone to save my from myself!

I'm going to a con this weekend in Fort Worth and trying to come up with a gameplan. I've been doing really well for the last week and it would be a shame to lose all my progress.

sangostar

Try to preplan your meals? I know that sounds hard but maybe?

TriforceRaven

To be honest, I don't eat NEARLY enough at the con that I should! xD A couple bottles of Ramune, maybe like 1 or 2 small boxes of pocky, and that's about it total for 4 days. I'm too busy doing con stuff to bother eating stuff. My parents and little brother come with me (he was a little Ash last year ) and usually bring stuff like poptarts, my lettuce mix (Fresh Express), string cheese, pickles, sandwhich food, eggs, bananas, apples. I usually only have a bite or two of something in the hotel room , and then I'm out partying all day from 6am-5am the next day!

mforcemaniac

I haven't been to a con since I started on the diet, but fortunately in promoting the movie my group did I've been able to get an exhibitor's table which will help immensely in bringing food with to the con. I will likely pack some apples and string cheese for sure, lots of water. Maybe make a couple turkey and fat free cheese sandwiches.

haruvamp

Most of the time I'm to busy on cons to eat. But I pack some healthy snacks and if I buy stuff I make sure it is whole wheat maybe something with tofu. I try to keep at least 2 meals of 3 and still try to eat 2 x snacks. But it depends how much is going on and then also not to forget you can cheat a little especially if you are dancing and stuff at night . BUT, go with the healthy filling options >.< ! chu~~~

sakuradrops7

Does anyone else feel that cons actually stop them from eating as much? Usually I've been having so much fun that I don't even bother with food. Sure I have breakfast and something in the evening but I've never had lunch or majorly snacked at a con before. It made me realize that my bad eating habits are probably mostly down to boredom.

takinawa

Same here! Usually end up going to the con right after breakfast and stay there until the late evening. My group of cosplay friends rarely have time to get food since we're usually helping someone finish final details on their costume or watching tables for our artist alley friends. So we usually just bring sandwiches...Though I always make sure to at least have a water bottle with me since I don't want to get dehydrated.

Kiroshinodeleted

I usually don't remember to eat. XD

But when I do, I don't really care about the lack of nutritional value. Whatever is cheap, tastes good, and fills me up is good enough. Even then, I tend to lose weight every con.

Yakisoba

I don't eat at Cons... The food is gross and overpriced.

mforcemaniac

The last con we were at (Con-G), I wound up buying some baked crisps, apples, and cereal bars. Then at night I went and tried to eat as healthy as possible at the food court across the street from the hotel. Still lost 0.8 lbs while I was at it. Eating at least something light while you're there is better than eating nothing at all.

MoTown91

I'm glad I found this group Thanks Haru. Yeah Anime Boston is coming up and I'm worried that my 3000/calorie a day diet will be ruined that weekend

Kiroshinodeleted

I'm going to Anime Boston as well! ^_^

Not a big fan of the food in Boston tbh, and I've eaten at quite a few places. When I went to school up there, the only thing that tasted good was D'Angelo's Philly Cheese Steak. Fortunately, the place I went to is a mile walk from the con 'cause cheese steaks can't be good for you. Could use the two mile round-trip walk after I eat one, and I do plan on getting one. XD

1200 calories/day goal.

MehiraDeOro

I bring healthy snacks, like certain types of granola bars (mmm Nature Valley), then some fruit like apples, bananas, or oranges. Anything I can easily carry with me. Sometimes I plan ahead and see what type of food accommodations are in whatever building the con takes place, or near the con.

PeachKitty

I find I actually eat less at cons, which just proves that I tend to eat and snack out of sheer boredom. I tend to survive mostly on energy drinks though, so it's not exactly healthy either.

At Kita '09 I don't think I actually ate anything that resembled real food the entire time I was there. I only realised I hadn't eaten anything come the last night, when my skirt was loose.

Zerago

( Hi everyone, just joined the group! I'm friends with Haru and Mo )

I think I end up eating less during a con weekend. In the past I've resorted to two standard meals at whatever fast food they got nearby. I haven't been to a con since I started dieting (November), so I guess I need a plan for Anime Boston.

I expect to bring a few snack options (fiber bars, bananas, mini packs like cheez-its) to keep in the hotel room, and make an effort to not spend money elsewhere. Fortunately my daily goal is ~1600cal so it's not hard to reach that. Also, with a whole day of walking around, it's not going to be a big deal if I go a bit over - in fact, it's probably better that I do, like closer to 2000.

Overall, if you generally hold to the same eating habits, whether that be strictly portioned meals or grabbing to-go twice a day, you'll probably do better over a con weekend from all the walking and whatnot than a normal day (I'm a software guy so my usual routine is a LOT of computer time).

SnakeDarling

I don't eat a lot at Cons lol
But usually, I'll bring a cooler to the hotel room with some healthy sandwich stuff and veggies.

Last year, I mostly ate Genghis Grill
But the portions were small and it was mostly veggies and rice.

Also, i noticed I eat less when I use chopsticks!

Improvised

If you love con food, just workout like a crazy person for a few days leading up to the convention. I'm going to bring a cooler and pack some homemade bentos.

Miriai

I haven't been to a con since I started on the diet, but fortunately in promoting the movie my group did I've been able to get an exhibitor's table which will help immensely in bringing food with to the con. I will likely pack some apples and string cheese for sure, lots of water. Maybe make a couple turkey and fat free cheese sandwiches.

I will pack some bananas and maybe we can bring healthier snacks like yogurts and have juice instead of soda!

I went to a brand new con this past weekend and found it hard to eat healthy because our hotel room was over a mile away and the only line that wasn't 3 hours long was the Pizza! I did however make a healthyish switch and got frozen yogurt instead of ice cream!

superdrive0

I usually just keep a ton of granola bars and juice boxes in my backpack at all times during the con. I don't worry too much about dieting at the con because I will usually end up only eating like 1 meal a day anyways. A typical con day goes something like this:

Breakfast: Just woke up, need to get to con stuff NOW! *noms granola bar and leaves hotel room*
Lunch: Too busy doing con stuff! So much fun! *noms granola bar while waiting in 2 hour autograph line*
Dinner: Holy crap, I haven't eaten all day, I'm starving. *fast food time*

I also make sure to drink a lot of water during the con. One time one of my friends had to go to the doctors after the con cause she got sick/dehydrated from not drinking enough over the weekend. Since then I have always made sure to drink a lot, which I think helps keep me full.