Jackson Free Press

I just got back from an extended weekend in Dallas with thousands of my closest friends at Project A-Kon, the longest running anime convention in North America. I have been attending this event for about a decade now (seriously? Sheesh!) and I always look forward to it as my big vacation of the year. There are so many things that pull me back each year, and seeing all my out of state (and some international) friends for one long weekend of pure chaos is just part of that attraction. Something is happening nearly 24 hours a day from Thursday though Sunday. How do you keep up with that AND stay healthy?

My attempt to drink more water was certainly shining forth during this weekend. The heat index was into the triple digits, the hotel and convention space was filled with 17,000+ people, and the air conditioners couldn't quite keep up. Water stations were found all over the place and I made full advantage of them to keep hydrated. Score one for me!

My restfulness and calm was totally shot though, no matter how hydrated I tried to stay. I slept like 4 hours a morning and ran around the entire time. My friend's pedometer says we walked 30 miles this weekend and I totally believe it. That's not EVEN counting the three nights of dancing. Activity is good, and you'd think we would have come back all five pounds thinner from the experience, right? But then there was the dietary issue.

Unless you wanted to take the DART downtown, your only food option was pizza by the slice in the hotel or take the skywalk to the food court. I learned that no matter how healthy your choices are in a mall food court, none of it is a substitute for the home cooked meals I'm used to. Sure you can go with black coffee instead of an oreo frappe, but what about a seemingly healthy sandwich that ends up being coated in oil before it was toasted, and the fatty but delicious condiments that hold it all together? Yakisoba with fresh ingredients is better than a burger and fries but it's still more starch than veggies. And are eggs and biscuits really that much healthier over the donuts that were offered? Just imagine if I'd found some of the candy everyone was selling!

The only other saving grace was the discovery that NOS was giving away free energy drinks at the convention. Every time I caught them giving away this free nectar of the sleep deprived gods, I'd luck up and see that only the sugar free options were left. That's not SOOO bad, right?

Meh. I still gained three pounds this weekend. Excuse me, but I'm gonna go buy a Wii Fit now.