I spent Thursday and Friday last week attending a fantastic conference in Downtown Denver. The information provided by the conference indicated they would be providing a coffee and tea bar, but that all other food would be on our own. The conference ran from 8:30-4:30 daily. I packed my backpack with some of my typical snacks and headed out.
First to reflect back a bit. I have attended a fair amount of conferences in my day. I am typically the one that snacks throughout the day and can’t wait for the meal breaks when they come. I am also typically the one that comes back after lunch and feels like a nap would be a much better alternative than sitting through the next session. My expectation, with my snacks in my backpack (although much better snack choices than in the past), was for this conference to by the typical.
I arrived at the end of day one and reflected back on the events of the day. I drove in enjoying my usual cup of decaf coffee. I brought with me my 1:1 smoothie which is my typical breakfast and had that when I started to feel hungry around 10:00. There was a snack provided at the break which included make your own trail mix. I selected a small bowl, mostly filled with nuts and a few dried berries. (I wasn’t hungry at the moment it was offered, but the selection was too good to pass up!) The lunch break ended up being about an hour behind the original schedule. I stepped out with a friend for a sandwich and a cookie. Upon returning we were back at it. I did not experience my usual need for a nap and found that I remained engaged for the afternoon. The afternoon snack provided was fresh baked cookies and milk. I was not hungry and opted to pass on the cookies and in fact did not snack at all that afternoon and enjoyed a late dinner.
I took time throughout the day to observe what other conference attendees were eating, many snacking throughout the day and the choices made with the foods served, and also to notice whether I was able to observe ebbs and flows in their energy. The delay in the lunch time was the biggest obstacle I observed for people. Attention dulled and people became anxious. Post lunch, not seeing what people ate, I noticed people were drowsy and the energy upon returning from lunch quickly disappeared. Interesting and now, with the training I have received over the course of the last year and implemented in my own life, I was able to observe the impact of blood sugar types.
I have spent nearly a year revamping my nutrition choices following the guidelines of Metabolic Efficiency. The changes in my life have been substantial - body composition, weight, training performance, sleep habits and more. The conference this week and my observations both of myself and others further reinforced to me - “this stuff works!” I did not experience any blood sugar spikes throughout the day and was focused and attentive throughout the two days. This transition has been an adjustment but like everything else in my life, I chose to make the transition one day and one step at a time. There are struggles and obstacles along the way and I continue to grow in my comprehension of the true impacts that it has on my life. It is nice to have reinforcement of my choices and I am excited to press on with this knowledge and the opportunity to continue to grow personally and to share this with others.
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