My move from the “exciting” world of consulting to your more typical non-roadwarrior hasn’t just had the beneficial effects of having more free time and getting to sleep in my own bed at night, it’s also allowed me to get into a much healthier routine. This was a big reason I made the move actually. I didn’t like having to eat out for every meal four or five days a week, I didn’t like the crazy work hours that hindered me from working out, and I didn’t like mental stress of hating to travel which prevented me from working out as much even on the weekends while I was home. Now, I know there are plenty of people who live that kind of traveling life and who are able to stay in great shape (I worked with several of them) but it wasn’t doing it for me. And it wasn’t that I didn’t eat healthy or work out, because I did, it was that my routine made it hard to establish those things as good habits which I did all the time. The result was a half-hearted attempt at staying fit which just wasn’t doing it.

Back then I was coming back to an apartment in a city that didn’t have many friends in anymore. I’d come home and unless I felt like driving an hour and a half to Detroit (which I really didn’t feel like doing all that often the day after you step off a plane). And when you’re sitting at home (in the winter, in Michigan) and you’re bored, it’s easy to eat more than you should. That right there isn’t great. Combine that with the fact that I’m dead tired from working long hours and traveling and you have little desire to exercise on the weekend even when you do have the time. Obviously not the healthiest routine.

Now things are a lot different. The Compuware Corporate HQ has a huge fitness center on the second floor that I make use of four days a week. Because management here has a fairly progressive mindset it’s easy to slip down to the wellness center (as they call it) for an hour at lunch time and get a good workout in. Not only is it nice to get your workout done in the middle of the day, it really gives you a nice boost of energy for the afternoon. I find it actually makes me more productive in the afternoon, so any time that might be lost by allowing employees to work out during business hours is made up for in productivity gains (not to mention preventitive health care that reduces time off due to illness). For meals I keep it simple. I wouldn’t say I’m dieting so much as just having a good diet – there’s a pretty big difference. It goes without saying that being able to cook for myself is going a long way toward improving things on that front.

I also re-enrolled in Aikido training (two or three nights a week), which I’m really glad I’m able to do. I trained quite a bit a few years ago and when I started consulting that was out of the picture entirely. I’ve lost a lot of my technique, but I’m definitely starting to pick it back up a little quicker than I thought I would. Probably the worst thing is that I’m not as flexible as I was back when I was training regularly. That’ll come with time, but until then… Oh god, my poor muscles.