When you decide that you need to lose weight you literally can’t do that overnight without surgery. New Year’s is a good time for resolutions, and most people look in the mirror after they binged on all of their holiday feasts and leftovers and say to themselves, “I’ve got to get to a gym.” My experience was a bit different.
I saw what I looked like on camera. They say the camera adds ten pounds, and I asked myself, “Just how many cameras are on you?” This was in October of 2012. All kidding aside, this was serious. According to all the charts and graphs, and even a doctor or three that I consulted with, I was 50 pounds overweight. I wasn’t weak, as I could lift 50 pounds like all job applications require, and even hold it over my head if necessary. I was somewhat athletic growing up, but realizing that I’d never be a professional athlete in any sport except maybe golf. For those that don’t already know, golf is a really expensive sport, and my parents allowed me to pursue it. I even played varsity one game my senior year in high school.
There’s an event held six times a year, The Fit Expo, that came around to LA this past weekend. This was the third one that I attended, starting with this same exact Expo last year. There’s a whole lot of products being demonstrated, and a lot of free samples as well. I saw most of the companies there that I met last year for the first time, although had I been motivated enough, I could’ve attended before the above picture was taken as this was the 15th Annual #LAFitExpo.
I attended for the second time in Orange County back in August, and all I could think of is, “What would Doc think of this?” I sampled food; I took pictures, made a few new friends and one guy that was allergic to publicity, and I’ll give more on that later. But first, I want to say that I had an incredible time overall, while at the same time being a bit perplexed.
At these types of industry events, or more aptly named trade shows, everyone’s product, no matter what it is or where it’s from, is the best of the best. Well, that can’t even be close to true. I counted 7-10 clothing companies, a lot of supplement companies, and several exercise companies. Someone has to be wrong.
There can be only one #1 in each category. You may not have the best yoga pants. Jerky? I didn’t like the taste, and at this point, why am I eating meat in the first place? I had a really dry piece of chicken from a food company, however, the other chicken and the steak with the rice they gave me were tasty.
Chewy too not to be confused with the Star Wars character. I say that in case some of my science fiction friends end up reading this. I don’t know if a healthy lifestyle interests them, although it should. I only say this as I may have made the decision myself too late. I’ve already genetically toasted my descendants, based on how old I was when my children were conceived. Of course, they’ve decided not to have kids themselves, so I guess the line dies with me. Damn. This is what I get for needing to have children as an only child myself.
To continue, the past few days my heart has started to race for no particular reason. Well, I could guess, but my degree is in computer science, not biology or chemistry of the organic variety. I’m sure there’s some reason that some carbs are better for you than others, however, as a carbon-based life-form, I’m pretty sure that I’ve got enough carbon already in me.
I saw a cooking show the other day and got my name mentioned by the host. That was cool. She said that while there were carbohydrates in that particular recipe, they were only the good kind. I don’t know where the line is. I should’ve paid more attention to Mr. Gregory’s honors biochemistry class methinks.
Okay, here it is. I was attempting to get a shot at this clothing booth, and the musclebound behemoth basically cock blocked me and said and I quote, “We don’t want to be in your magazine.” Okay, three things wrong with that in no order of importance: Not my magazine, already took enough pictures to write a story, and finally, rudeness of that level gets you a bad review.
Like I said, other clothing companies were nice to me and gave me free stuff. I even got a baseball cap on the way out the door, as I showed the guy about the heat warning. The visor kept the sun and heat off of my face. Always protect the face I say.
I wonder how many actually know that the largest organ in the human body is the skin? I bet if you asked a hundred people, you might get a mix of about 7 or 8 different answers. They’re all important and interact, however, the skin is the body’s first line of defense, and the ugliness I spoke of previously probably goes all the way to the bone as rumored. Karma’s a bitch or so they say. I do know my Karma ran over your Dogma. Or maybe yours did mine.
It’s not about the money itself. It’s about how you make it. I get that now. You can be positive and uplifting, or you can be like the guy that cock blocked me. If you’re that second one, I will probably write about you. However, I’m not the guy that will call you out by name either, as you know who you are, and if you did this to me, you probably did it to others as well.
I didn’t realize that they’d be able to cover the entire floor of the main convention hall. As you may or may not know, I attend almost every large convention held in the greater Southern California area, and this is one of the biggest. It travels across the country too. There’s one coming to a major city near you this year. Philadelphia, Chicago, San Jose, Anaheim, and San Diego this year, and there’s even one upcoming in Ft. Lauderdale in the Spring of next year already talked about on their site.
So, if you’ve made the decision to eat healthier and stay fit and you missed LA this weekend, the next one in the area is in Anaheim in August. There’s professional dodgeball, and wrist wrestling taking place. The modest ticket price will be more than regained by all the samples you take home, as well as the ones you try onsite. I’ll be posting reviews of the various products I sample at the #LAFitExpo in the upcoming days. Yes, that’s the hashtag for those of you doing your social media due diligence.
Oh yeah. I took a lot of pictures too which will probably accompany product reviews. Here’s some atmosphere.
I think they were shooting a movie….
Making myself part of the story with @nutritionvixen and her friends
