Pink and Green Invasion!

That was what happened in South Florida this weekend. My sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., hosted it's regional conference which consists of sorority members from Florida, Georgia and South Carolina.  During the course of the conference which started on Thursday and concluded on Sunday we went to plenary sessions where they talked about the state of the sorority, did committee reports and talked about all the community service we've been doing in our local communities and how it made an impact globally.  This weekend alone we collected shoes for a organization called Soles4Souls. Soles4Souls is a Nashville-based charity that collects shoes from the warehouses of footwear companies and the closets of people like you, according to their website.   This weekend alone between the hotel staff at the Westin Dipolmat and the members of the sorority in attendance ( over 3000 ladies) we collected over 6,000 pairs of shoes to go to people in need! Way to go AKA!!   I gave four pairs of shoes from my own household.  I think this is a great cause and if you'd like to know more about this organization, you can search here.

So that's just a little bit of what I was involved in this weekend. But in addition to getting to know what the sorority is up to on the national, regional and local level we had a lot of socializing!! And usually what comes with socializing is FOOD!

So it wasn't that long ago I posted a blog about how vacations are rough on the diet. One thing I learned from from my vacation to Sea World is to come prepared. And I tried. First thing was I skipped the Thursday evening Public Meeting. Now this was a for a couple reasons, one was that I was compromising with my hubby. I figured since he would practically be a single parent this weekend with me away at the conference I would let him to go Happy hour and have a good time.  But the other reason I didn't go was because I wanted to go workout.  I knew during the course of the conference I wouldn't have time to workout. So that meant Thursday was going to be it for the rest of the week. So I went to Kettlebell and worked my tush off. Like literally, my buns were sore for 2 days!

Friday morning I needed to be at the hotel at 9:00am. I got up and made the quickest thing I could and that was a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on whole wheat bread and glass of milk.   I knew the protein from the peanut butter and the fiber from the wheat bread would keep me full for a couple hours. The first session went from 9:30-12:30.   Long morning.  So after the craziness that was registration and the actual session it was lunch time.
Of course for someone like me who is trying to watch everything I eat when I'm out and about and at the whim of what's available I start to panic. Like literally I feel my heart start racing and I start getting anxiety because I don't want to do something that is going to throw me of course and make me feel guilty and bad about myself.  So me and my conference buddy Sheila, we hop into my car and drive down Hallandale Blvd.
I remember seeing a Boston Market on my way to the hotel so at least there was one viable option for me.  I always have the turkey breast, vegetable stuffing and a veggie side, when I go there. But I wasn't really feeling Boston Market that day. Luckily for us there was a Panera Bread right behind Boston Market. So we pull in there and grateful we got there before the rest of the conference attendees got wind of the place. Let's just say, the employees and the regular lunch crowd was not prepared for the sea of pink and green. LOL. We got a lot of "Where are you guys from? What's this all about?"

Anyways one of the things I adore about Panera Bread is that they put the calories of the food right next to the price. I love this about them and wish every restaurant would do this!!  This is great when you're trying to make better food choices. We ended up going here both Friday and Saturday for lunch. The first day I had the half Cuban Panini sandwich with the vegetable soup.  Saturday I had the half Asian Sesame Chicken salad and the Black Bean Soup. And a apple as a side with both meals.  Altogether that was less than 500 calories each day for lunch and kept me well within my calories per day.
Dinner was a little bit more dicey. That's why I had to be careful what I had for breakfast and lunch. I knew dinner was going to take me far over. Friday night we had a little gathering at a restaurant across the street from the hotel.  I chose the Salmon with veggies. It was good but let me tell you the burger sliders looked scrumptious!! But I controlled myself.  LOL
Saturday night the sorority conference hosted a gala where we were served Chicken ( dry) and 2 pieces of jumbo shrimp, some kind of baked mashed potato and 1 carrot and 2 asparagus tips.  LOL don't ask. And it was all in some creamy sauce. I don't know what the calorie count was for that but the portions were a little big on the chicken. And I was more worried about the sodium levels then anything else. I made sure to keep the water flowing.  I didn't eat my whole dinner but I did indulge myself in the dessert. It was some pink strawberry mouse on angel food cake I think. I don't know what it was but it was nice and sweet. I took a few bites because I know I could dance it off.  LOL
Sunday I did not attend the closing of the conference because this was Easter and I had to go to my own church. I did the whole Easter Egg hunt with my son and he got a lot of candy. Some of which I did partake in I let him have 2 jellybeans and I threw the rest away.  My son is hyper enough, he doesn't need artificial sugar to keep him going.  LOL. I had some eggs and spinach for breakfast, we had a lunch at my church but I didn't really eat anything except the leftovers of my son's plate of rice and turkey.  For dinner I made my 2-bean chili, which is delicious.
So that was my weekend. Monday it was really hard to get back into the fitness groove after taking so many days off but when my husband suggested us go walking after dinner I suddenly felt my fitness mojo kick right back in.   We mostly walked 2 miles at a brisk pace but I did things like high knees and fast kick ups to get my heart rate up and burn more calories.  Then when I got home I did two "Tone It Up" workouts. If you haven't heard of the Tone it up girls, you are missing out. Their workouts are so great and the girls are ridiculously cute and they get on my nerves with how nice their bodies are!!  LOL I think my next blog will be about all the sites and blogs I visit.

I was glad my husband suggested the walk or else I would have just went to go lay down after dinner and never got up and felt really guilty about it.  My hubby is a great cheerleader and he is very supportive of my weight loss and fitness goals. I know he hates it that I'm gone a lot and he worries about me when I go running at night. Our neighborhood is very dark. He's always encouraging me and I really appreciate that.  Let me tell you that it hurts when people you care about don't support your health and fitness goals.  It's good to have people around you that want good things for you.

And speaking of, this weekend I actually met a sorority sister that lives down the street from me!! And she's into health and fitness too. We already have friended each other on Facebook. Is friended a word now??  LOL

So with that I leave you with a view of the beach I took at the conference hotel, Westin Diplomat.

Side Note: One more thing about these conferences. The amount of walking we do at these things should really be counted as exercise. Next time I go to a conference I'm going to wear a step counter for the whole duration and see how many steps I take because Is wear we might have walked 5 miles in 2 days alone!  LOL