Apologies if you’re seeing this twice! Been having some tech mishaps this week!

Part of my job involves going to different media events, often sponsored by food companies. I’m not gonna lie, it’s definitely a fun part of my work—I get to meet all kinds of interesting people and eat delicious food. That said, it ‘s still work, so keeping my act together and making good use of that time is key. To me, it’s about learning and connecting and building relationships, so showing up as my best self (cliche for a reason) is really important.

Sometimes I get questions from clients and readers who also have to do a lot of events for work (think client dinners, trade shows, conferences, and the like) about how to stay healthy without being that person asking for a dry salad and mineral water. For today’s What I Ate Wednesday post I’m sharing a page from my playbook.

When I was in my teens and twenties it was like I could drink or eat whatever  the hell was put in front of me and feel totally fine after, but my current reality is that I need to be mindful and plan ahead so I can still get through my day and feel energized and focused. For me, that usually means practicing portion control, going (very) slow with sugar, and spacing out alcohol intake—aka no day-drinking if I have an evening event and sometimes skipping a round to rehydrate even if the rest of the group is getting more cocktails.

I also make physical activity a regular part of my day—yeah, it burns calories, but more importantly, a workout builds in some “me time” when I’m going to spend the rest of my day interacting with lots of other people—often strangers or people I’ve only ever exchanged emails with.

This particular day I had 3 events—in the morning I had a brunch sponsored by Handsome Brook Farm, and then a meet-and-greet with Pearls Olives in another part of town after. In the evening I went to the Resident July cover party (long story) in Chelsea and then ended up wandering to the East Village for a late dinner at Taverna Kyclades. So yeah, definitely a day pacing myself was important.

I started off my morning with a little cardio and a Pilates class, and even though I had a brunch event, I made sure to have a balanced snack/mini-meal around 6:30. Even when an event starts at 9:30, you’re realistically not going to eat in most cases until 10:30 or 11, and I learned a long time ago that I’m much better able to stay alert and connect well if I’m not hangry when I arrive.

Then later in the day after catching up on work after the second event and a phone meeting, since I knew dinner would be late if it happened at all, instead of my usual snack of yogurt and frozen fruit, I had a salad around 430 with some fat (avocado) and protein (tuna) in it to keep me going. It was a good thing I did—I did end up having dinner but not until 9 or 9:30 and after a lot of walking. Not being crazy-hungry made it easier to have a smaller meal so I didn’t have to go to bed on feeling stuffed.

I’ve been doing these What I Ate Wednesday posts for a long time now, and I hope it’s helpful to see what a real day in the life looks like and shed some light on how to make room for indulgences and favorite treats in the context of an overall healthy diet.

Here’s the “what I Ate” part of this event day:

Morning Snack: leftover herbed cucumber & tomato salad, plain yogurt
Brunch at Le Coq Rico: deviled egg & grilled octopus with cabbage salad; egg in tomato sauce; a few bites of a mille feuilles dessert and longing stares at the other dessert I was allergic to—a “floating island” meringue in creme anglaise with pecans ; LOTS of water and coffee
Snacks: a few olives at an the Pearls meet-and-greet; a glass of ginger kombucha at home
Pre-event meal: arugula with radishes, zucchini, pickled red onion, avocado, and tuna tossed with red wine vinegar
Evening stuff: a gin drink at the Resident event and then shared a late dinner at Taverna Kyclades of horiatiki salad, grilled octopus, and halibut in a tomato sauce with onions & capers; half a glass of white wine with dinner

How do you pace yourself when you have a full day? 

To see more WIAW, check out founder Jenn’s blog Peas & Crayons or visit host Laura‘s blog.