Balanced Living with Coca-Cola Workshop Recap

I was compensated for my participation in Coca-Cola’s Balanced Living Workshop, but my thoughts and views are my own.

I just spent an awesome couple of days with Coca-Cola talking about Balanced Living. I was not quite sure exactly what I would get out of it. Coca-Cola and balanced living? Hmmm… It was better than I anticipated. The workshop stretched over 1.5 days and we had a full schedule. We heard from several experts about things such as nutrition, fitness, food myths, and more.

The main thing that realized is that I do not feed myself entirely enough. You would not know it looking at my gut (HA HA!), but I very often skip breakfast. That is a huge no no. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day! We hear that all the time. But when busy running around, dropping off kids, and doing other morning duties it is so easy to skip breakfast and live on coffee. Not good!

Since I left there the other day I have made a conscious effort to eat something in the morning. We were told repeatedly that eating something is better than eating nothing. If you are in a hurry and all that you can get your hands on is a donut, then eat the donut! Your body needs nutrients for energy. If you find yourself tired throughout the day, you are probably not feeding your body. I heard that and I had a major ah ha moment! Ding, ding, ding!! It does seem that on days when I skip breakfast by 1:00 pm I am going “OMG, I need a nap!” No, eating does not cure all exhaustion, but it does help.

Breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks all play an important part in our nutrition. It is suggested that we all sit down as a family and make a shopping list together so everyone can have what they like on the list. This is a great way to eliminate the problem of kids complaining about dinner. There are creative ways to make just about everything yummy, even for picky kids. Ok, so that means hide the veggies in something else. 🙂

As part of the experience we also met with a personal trainer that gave us some tips on fitting a short exercise routine into our busy lives. Don, the trainer that I met with was great. He shared tips on increasing energy throughout the day by making a huge jug of iced tea with green tea and drinking that instead of plain water. I also learned a few quick moves for a 30-minute workout. We were squatting, lunging, and stretching in the hallway of the hotel. LOL!

Coca-Cola and Bruce Powell Photography

Unfortunately I missed the big workout session with Harley Pasternak. It was for a good cause though! My girls were participating in their first ever science fair at the same time, so I had to go and support. And one of my daughters got a first place prize and gets to move on to the next level. Yeah! I am very glad that our staying up super late the Sunday night before paid off. But, I did get a copy of the Harley Pasternakís Hollywood Workout game for Kinect. I think I will have fun with that!

We also met with Kim Kirchherr, the Jewel dietitian and got a nutrition tour of one of the awesome stores. As soon as I saw her I said “Hey, that’s the lady from the Jewel recipe commercials!” She gave us some awesome tips on making healthy choices when grocery shopping that I have to make sure to implement on my next trip. It was a tour that brought back some memories. Jewel was my first job! That was a long time ago.

I had an awesome time with Coca-Cola, Blogher, and all of the other bloggers involved. I do feel like I came away with a lot more knowledge about living a balanced life. Now to work on that New Year Resolutions list…