Temptation - Sweets & Snacks Show

I'm fortunate to be working in an industry I love.  I'm a VP of Sales & Marketing for a brokerage company that works primarily with Costco.  I get to be innovative, creative, and work with companies from all over the world each and every day to try and both design and sell their products into the club channel.  Honestly, I eat for a living!  Now with that kind of job comes a level of temptation that is not always easy to resist.  Case and point...today's trade show.

620+ exhibiting companies with more than 3 acres worth of products...15,000 qualified professionals and participation from over 90 countries.  This is what makes up the 2014 Sweets & Snacks Show at McCormick Place in Chicago, IL!  What I want to know is how the hell ANYONE has the will power to walk a show like this and not give into temptation?!!  I'm no different than anyone else and I definitely have my weaknesses...chocolate being one of them!

I'd be lying to myself and everyone else if I told you that there wasn't at least a 5lb bag of trade show samples sitting on the desk in my hotel room right now.  Everything from fudge, to chocolate covered almonds, from jerky to popcorn...it's all there in my room in little sample sized portions!  Not only was I faced with temptation all day long, but now it's staring back at me from across the room!

There's a level of guilt that comes from sampling your way through at least one meal of the day, eating nothing but sugar and not having a chance to exercise because you have the earliest flight of the morning and a client dinner in the evening.  It's an awful feeling BUT I declared today my "rest" day in regards to my workouts.  Now, even with that being said, all the crazy walking between airports and the trade show floor accounted for approximately 4.25 miles according to my FitBit.  I guess it wasn't too bad overall.

I pride myself on living a healthy lifestyle...working out, eating right, practicing yoga/meditation, etc...but I am human and I definitely give into temptation every now and then.  But...even when I give into temptation, I still do it at a very moderate level compared to most.  For all of you who have ever attended a food based trade show, you know how crazy it is and how many hundreds of samples you are expected to try.  My trick?!  One bite (out of respect) and then toss it in the trash can.  Once it's in the garbage you obviously aren't going to have a second bite but you've given yourself the ability to taste the product and give the client your ample feedback.

Tomorrow is day #2 of a sugar high tradeshow and I'm sure it's going to be as equally tempting as it was today.  As with anything in life, I'm a huge believer in "everything in moderation."  I won't give up trying products again tomorrow but I will not overindulge and I will definitely make sure to be up bright and early and running the streets of Chicago first!!