How Events Affect My Routine

July 8, 2020

Working in events certainly has its perks. Our business is part of an exciting and vibrant industry with lots of opportunities to expand horizons and travel to interesting and far-flung exotic destinations. Over the past 8 years working for Ulterior I have certainly discovered places, customs, traditions, and food that I probably would never have had the opportunity to do otherwise. I have organised dinners at the Tower of London, on the beach in Barbados, and onboard an ancient Merchant ship in Dubrovnik. I enjoy the ever-changing environment of events but it does prove difficult sometimes to keep up a healthy routine when it comes to eating and exercising.

Everyone who knows me well will tell you how much I love my food and exercise! At home, I try to eat healthily and keep up a good exercise routine. But if you’re travelling a lot for work, it can be difficult to make healthy food choices and do regular exercise. You are often contending with sumptuous buffet lunches, a full English breakfast, and heavenly desserts. But I find the most important thing to remember about eating and exercising away from home is to be prepared. I try and plan beforehand so that I’m not always guided by my stomach but by my head instead!

So, the first thing to go in my suitcase is my gym kit and trainers. I get up early before my clients and head to the gym or go for a morning stroll or run. As they say; it’s the early bird who catches the worm and I find this clears my mind and prepares me for the busy day ahead. When I’ve done some exercise, especially outdoors, I feel so much better: obstacles become challenges and I see more solutions than problems. Even if I’ve had a late night, I find that a quick burst of exercise fills me with positivity for the day ahead.

One of my favorite places to exercise has been the beautiful Barcelona promenade where I have taken a refreshing jog before joining my clients for a busy schedule of sightseeing and dining. I am the proud owner of a Fitbit (other brands of activity trackers are available!) and I love to see how many steps I do each day. Typically, on the day of an event I do about 25,000 steps and that’s without any other formal exercise!

One of the most enjoyable and interesting experiences when visiting another country is of course to sample their food and local specialities. I love a Spanish paella, authentic pizza in Rome and my favourite dessert of all time… ‘HIT ME’ in Catch Dubai. However, if I indulge too much I find I return from my trip a good few pounds heavier so I set myself a few guidelines to make sure this doesn’t happen! I always have breakfast, try not to snack in between meals, drink plenty of water and use any willpower I have left to not overeat. I should say though I am certainly no saint when it comes to food and I love to try local specialities and I am also often tasked with tasting menus before we decide which options to offer our clients. I have to also admit that sometimes when we are really busy I skip meals which as we all know is the very worst thing you can do as it means that I massively overeat by the time I sit down and have my meal. However, I do try very hard to stick to my plan and focus on healthy nutritious food but at the same time giving myself the freedom to enjoy a treat here and there.

Pizza


In my experience of running events, staying fit and healthy while away is the key to being energised and getting the most out of the time away. My normal routine is of course completely thrown out of the window: I am busy with my clients, I have late nights and irregular mealtimes but there are definite habits I endeavour to maintain. Keeping some sort of exercise regime going is definitely a stress buster for me and eating a balanced diet with a few indulgences increases my efficiency to make sure I get a good job done! 



Written by Natasha Fogg