On the Fly

I'm sitting in the Qatar Airways lounge at Heathrow Airport at the moment, waiting for them to announce my flight.

I was actually here last night … but after boarding and sitting on the plane for an hour past our allocated departure time, we were told that the landing gear wasn't working. The proceeded to offload our luggage. Instead of going to the hotel where they wanted to put me up, I asked for a taxi ride home (on the airline's dime of course). Road diversions made for what should have been a 20 minute drive home over an hour. It was after midnight, freezing, and the taxi driver was heading in routes I had never heard of. All I can say is thank goodness for GPS on my phone so I could make sure he was actually taking me towards home and not to the middle of the woods somewhere where I would be murdered (I watch way too much crime TV). I was totally prepared to use my Jiu-Jitsu if it came to that!

So the whole of 2015 has been quite frantic for me.

I started off the year regrouping, organizing myself for the Whole Life Challenge, and preparing for the Instructor Certification Program evaluations that were going to be held in Los Angeles at the end of January.

While I was trying to sort myself out, I was also trying to come to terms with heading to LA instead of Bangkok where my brother was going to be undergoing his first round of chemotherapy. If he hadn't told me to just go and do it, I'm not sure I would have been able to … anyway.

The WLC is going well. It came at just the right time to help me detox from the holidays and get focused for the new year. Even though I've been traveling during the challenge, I've been really, really careful about my eating and have managed to stay on track by preparing food for travel, being picky with what I order when eating out, and just remembering my overall goals.

My trip to LA was an amazing experience. I passed my evaluations and feel really good about how I did. I am so excited to really get into teaching after I return to London. I'm still working on writing a few posts about my trip on my Jiu-Jitsu blog - I've got a few posts up already, but I haven't finished writing about the whole experience.

My teammate Fabrizio and I -- after receiving our certification! 

The ICP Class of 2015 

Although I'm doing really well with my eating and have been doing Jiu-Jitsu regularly, I'm not training the way I used to … and I can feel the impact.

As I was preparing for my LA trip, I made a conscious decision to just focus on Jiu-Jitsu and leave all my other training until after I returned. On the one hand I do think it was a smart decision. I felt good about my physical performance … on the other hand, I can feel the difference in my body from not having done any weight lifting, yoga, or Muay Thai in almost 3 months …

Still, for the next 10 days while I'm in Bangladesh I'll be away from the gym so I'll just have to focus on walking, stretching, and of course watching what I eat.

Instead of panicking, I'm just taking it all in stride … I know it'll all come together after I get back to London.

Right now, I can't wait to get home and see my brother. I feel like I've waited long enough.

Fingers crossed that this plane takes off and gets me to my destination safely!

The Food

I know I wrote a post on staying healthy on holiday before I traveled -- I tried. I really did, but boy did the food get me.

Although there were mornings of eggs or yogurt and granola or fruit -- there were also mornings of pain au chocolats and muffins.

There were lunches/dinners of salads -- but there were also dinners of short ribs or pizza.

... and there was dessert.

I am so happy I stayed active over the holiday, but it wasn't enough. There too many periods of inactivity between workouts (lounging around, relaxing etc.) and too many calories in those indulgent meals. Add to that what felt like an endless journey back to London and I guess it's no surprise that I've gained some weight.

I know what needs to be done. It's just about doing it now.

The further challenge at this point is that I'm fasting. It's the month of Ramadan during which fasting involves no food or water from sunrise to sunset -- which is from around 3:50 a.m. to 9:15 p.m.

That's a long time to go without food or water, but that's not the part that worries me. I know the first couple of days are challenging because your body is getting used to the new routine. It does get easier.

The tough thing is the exercise. In Kuwait I would usually workout about 2 hours before it was time to break my fast. That way I would get home, shower, and be ready to eat.

However, I don't think I've ever been in a situation where sunset is SO late.

I know that I won't be doing my HIIT workouts during this time (too exhausting and they definitely make me thirsty), but I will be focusing on walking and perhaps some basic resistance training.

So, I won't be falling into a regular routine just yet but will have more of a modified one until the end of Ramadan ... and then I'll see where to go from there.

In a way, it's kind of good to go through this now as it'll be a sort of detox. The trick will be to eat the right things at the right time (isn't that always the key though) as I will be eating dinner much later than normal and will have to choose foods that will slowly release energy through the day.

Citizens was one of the restaurants at the Mandalay Bay. When ordering the chicken salad, the waiter told me that the portions were huge. He suggested sharing the salad - he would divide it into two bowls. I'm so glad he did. This photo is half a portion of the salad (I couldn't finish it -- and I didn't eat the corn or the fried bits that came with the salad). It was really good - chicken, lettuce, tomato, black beans, and avocado. However, the portion size bewildered me.

What's the point of serving such a massive salad? I wish I had taken a photo of the original size. If between 2 people it can't be completed, why serve it in the first place? Isn't it wasteful? The portion sizing in the States was overwhelming. I know people want more for their money but still -- it just seemed so wasteful to me. Still, I'm glad the waiter suggested we share the salad. It was tasty and definitely enough for two!

Eating Out

I love to travel. I've been blessed with several opportunities to travel over the past several years and in particular over the past 2 years. In terms of that passion, ending 2013 and starting 2014 with travel sounded great to me.

However, travel is not always conducive to eating clean (or training dirty).

Over the past 2 years my eating while I'm abroad traveling has changed quite a lot. During most of my trips I have come back either maintaining or losing weight. Portion control, healthier substitutions, and regular exercise while being abroad have been my saving graces.

This past trip to Vegas was not as successful.

Even though I had an amazing time, going such a long way for such a short time was really tough to deal with in terms of general fatigue and insane jet lag. The lack of sleep 2-3 hours a night plus having a cold totally sucked. I found myself snacking more than eating proper meals.

Out of the 5 days that I was there, I hit the gym twice and walked 2-3 miles each day. Still, it wasn't enough to offset the food. While I don't feel like I've lost all control, I do feel unhealthy. I just don't feel as light and fit as before I left.

The only thing to do really is get right back on track, which I have no problem with.

However, in 4 days I'll be on a plane again. This time I'll be heading to Bangladesh to see my family. Bangladesh will be tricky because the eating style there is SO different. Plus there are family expectations (though I've learned how to say no - firmly). Right now the political situation is not good in the country. There are lots of strikes (sometimes violent), so movement around the country will not be easy or safe for that matter.

Joining a gym or having a wide selection of foods is not a luxury that I'll have on this trip. It'll be interesting to see how I cope.

Working out in Las Vegas