UA&P Campus, 11:00 am
Random Student : Hi Sir GBM! You're back from Cagayan De Oro!
GBM: Yeah, sure was a lot of fun! We ate so much! There was so much food!
RS : Yeah! Looks like it too!
GBM: Um, what do you mean?
RS: Ah, er, uuh nothing! I said you're looking good!
GBM: You said somethinggg!
RS: Well, it just looks like you gained um, er, a couple of pounds?
GBM: Are you serious? I just ate, or maybe it's in my clothes! I actually lost weight!
RS: (Of course you did) But hey that's a good thing! A lot of people aren't eating nowadays!
GBM: You're really kidding right?
RS: Uh, er, of course! (weirdo)
Random Student 2 : Hey Sir! Wow looks like someone had one too many pastels. Those things are good!
Random Student 3 :Hey Sir you're fat! Guess you stopped running eh! I think it looks cute on you though... .
GBM: NOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
(wakes up in cold sweat)
Thank God that was a dream. Specially for those like me who are daytime workaholics, I am assuming a lot of you go through the same thing. You know - we work our butts off in training, run into a rough spot at work, we're stressed out like hell and are just plain too tired to run. And in the process we negate all the gains we had made. Or worse - shudder - we gain back all the pounds we had lost.
As I had reiterated in the past, the main reason I ever started running was to lose weight. After the Botak Ultramarathon, I went down to as low as 160. Right now, throw in my ITBS recovery and stops to Cebu, Cagayan De Oro, and Butuan for work (and all the foodies that came with it) , im walking around at 165. Still not the 195 pounder who lost all forms of self-esteem a year ago. But hey, isn't our worst fear to just regain the fruits of all our hard work? Not because we wanted to, but because we are mired in circumstances beyond our control. So what do we do?
Here are some practical tips based off my experiences where you could at least curb the weight gainThis week's feature dwells on how to avoid becoming a jumbo Gingerbread person when going on a business trip.
Lay off the booze. Yeah yeah I know. When on a business trip, this is easier said than done.With all the stress and weird sense of freedom, it's always fun to let yourself go. But remember you could be getting as much carbs in one San Mig Light as you would in 1 cup of rice. Hence, 6 beers = 6 cups of rice. Eek! Don't even start counting the pulutan and bar chow.
You disappoint me son.
Easy on the local delicacies. Cebu has CnT Lechon, Bacolod has the countless inasal restos, Peking duck is always fun in Hong Kong sidestreets. The point here is, oftentimes we would get carried away, and would end up trying everything out. Guilty guy here. Remember, as much as these goodies can excite any hot-blooded gourmand out there, we have waistlines and 10k times to worry about. Snap out of it. One plate of CnT Lechon = Acceptable. 1/2 kilo of CnT Lechon = shame on you glutton.
But it's just half a kilo... ..
Assume that you won't be able to run. During my last business trip, I cockily told myself - yeah I'll bring my running gear, see the city routes and maintain my mileage. Guess what? Didn't happen. Not even close. When you compress so many meetings into one day, I doubt if you would have the energy to sneak in a run. Why am I saying assume you won't be able to run? See above. Bring your gear, and you would be tempted to eat all the lechon, pastel and Peking duck you come across because you could "burn it off tomorrow morning". Trust me on this, you'll be doing yourself a favor.
After going the trip, these uphills seem a bit harder... .
Buy pasalubong for friends and family, not for you. See all that yummy pasalubong? There's a reason they're called pasalubong. Meaning, they're for loved ones. Not you. Try to have your fill while you're there. Just let it go and let your loved ones partake of it when you get back. Or else, you'll end up maintaining the weight gain even when you get back. Comprende?
Just... one... . more... . box... .
Know the flight schedules of your running buddy flight stewards/attendants. Weird huh? Well get this. On two successive flights from Cebu and Cagayan, guess who was the head steward/purser on my flight? None other than marathon man/ Takbo.ph habitue Ziggy. Unbelievable, got a big kick out of it. And my stomach surely got a big kick out of it, because my kind friend would always drop off a big doggie bag of the inflight snacks for "take out". I have no idea if Ziggy is just really nice, or if it's some weird ritual with em' cabin crew. Thing was, with no snacks in my hotel room, I am pretty sure I wiped out the contents of that little bag - 1o or so Happy Peanuts and about 6 packs of those yummy biscuits with filling. Gak! Felt like 3 pounds right then and there. ZIggy is still the man though, most folks would kill for his job :)
Ziggy is da man
Epilogue
Random Student : Hi Sir GBM! You're back from Cagayan De Oro!
GBM: Yeah, sure was a lot of fun! We ate so much! There was so much food!
RS :Yeah! Looks like it too!
GBM: (this isn't happening) What... what do you mean?
RS : I mean... . you look like you had a great time!
GBM : (sigh of relief) Awesome! I'll see you in class!
Random Student 2 : Hmm... Parang Tuma...
RS: Nah, baka bagong kain lang. O masikip ung barong.
RS2 : Baka nga. .. Bagong... bagong kain lang.
RS: Anyway, want to try the pastel he brought us from Cagayan?
RS2: Awesome!
Who cares about this weight crap anyway? Care for a shot???