A Different Kind of Day

Today didn't go as I had planned or hoped. Last night I spent from 9pm until 3am vomiting up all the good food that I had during the course of the day. Let me just say that I did not enjoy it the second time. It was probably one of the worst episodes I've had. 'Nuff said. . .

I missed the hike this morning so I could sleep in a bit. (Therefore, no hiking pics from today.) I was bummed because the hiking is my favorite part of the day. Today my van was scheduled to do the infamous Stop Sign hike. I was looking forward to doing that hike to see if my time would have improved at all since last year. (As I recall, last year the first week I did Stop Sign I did it in about 1:30 the first week, then in 1:15 and went further.) I've decided to choose that hike for Saturday's hike so I can at least get it in.

Part of me thought I should just go on the hike and do what I could. . . you know, that "No matter what" mentality. However, one thing I am learning here is to listen to what my body needs, and resting is really what my body needed. I slept until about 9:15 and then went down to breakfast. I was still a bit groggy, and I wasn't too excited about eating, but I knew I had to eat. Here's today's menu:

The warm muesli (a neighbor's bowl)

So, right off the bat I knew I didn't want anything hot. I thought about asking for some toast with soy butter. Then I remembered one of the other options was the Chef's mother's recipe of homemade granola with almond milk. It was very good. (And, I forgot to take a picture of it. . . maybe I'll have it againlater this week.)

The rest of the food pics for today:

Very tasty, but could only eat about half

This was very yummy, but, again, I couldn't eat it all

I was nervous about eating turkey again, 

but this was prepared differently. It was quite good.

Most everyone's favorite dessert! They were SO good

And, yes, I ate them ALL!!!

Since I wasn't feeling 100% today, I decided to attend a lecture on Health and Wellness, and a stretch class before lunch. After lunch was a lecture on Emotional Eating (which was excellent!) before my three afternoon workout classes. I talked with a trainer about my "episode" last night and told her I planned on walking on the treadmill for those 3 classes (which she said was fine). I actually used the recumbant elliptical machine for the first class, worked the circuit machines the second class, and by the third class I felt good enough to go to my regular kickboxing class. That felt GREAT! I really worked up a good sweat for that, and it felt good to be punching something! Not to mention it felt good to end the day in such a strong way.

After dinner was another (optional) lecture on Intuitive Eating (again, excellent), and then a Hot Stone Massage! Aaaahhhh. A perfect way to end this day.

I'll have to come back to the pics from yesterday another time. This girl is off to bed, excited that I will get to hike again tomorrow! (Dash is excited, too!)

Goodnight!

Dash's first hike

Dash is currently sacked out. . . boy is he tired! So, I'm taking this time to share a few photos of his first day. He was pretty excited, and he did really well!

We shared an orange before the hike

Monday's hike is an "assessment" hike. Most of the guests self-determined what hiking ability they might be. I figured I was "Intermediate"—not super fast, but also not new to hiking. So, we went to Chuckwalla today. I had done this hike on my very first day the last time, so I felt like I knew what to expect. Well, we entered the trail from a different point, so it was like I had never been there before!

Riding beside me in the van

Watching out the window as other vans pull away

Checking out the other guests in the van

Here we go!

OK We're on the right trail

Note: The sign says Chuckwalla,

but nearly everyone says Chuck-A-walla. Hmmmmm

Right away there is a bit of a descent 

(which means an ascent at the end of the hike. . .)

Our first big ascent

Enjoying the reward at the top

A better view from the backside

Looks kinda like another famous rock formation in Utah!

My hiking shadow

One of the many spectacular views today

And another. . .

And yet another! Well worth it :)

A nice spot to take a little rest 

on a fencepost on our way back

Sand + uphill = challenging!

Major calorie burn, too

A wild animal we encountered near the end

All in all this was a great hike. 5.9 miles, and my calorie burn for this hike was nearly 1400! We only eat 1200 calories a day, so already I'm on the "losing" side! 

So after being greeted at the van with a nice, cool, wet cloth we head back to the FRidge for breakfast. Here was my schedule for the rest of the day:

Lecture: Emotional eating—All or nothing thinking, and Perfectionism

Pool class

Lunch

Open Gym/Gym class—I did cardio on a recumbant elliptical machine

Circuit Training

Core Work

Pool class

Dinner

Lecture: Using your calories wisely

Total caloric burn for today was over 3100! One pound is 3500 calories, so if I keep this kind of "burn" going, I should be able to lose Biggest Loser kind of weight in my 2 weeks here!!!

Simple. Beautiful. Delicious!

Dash was excited about the pineapple, too 

Yummy frittata!

Yummy. I couldn't eat all of it, though

Very good. I think I was still full from breakfast

because I only ate about half of the salad,

and made myself eat the burrito 

(but I felt full at about half)

By the time dinner rolled around, I was really ready for it

That salmon-burger was HUGE! And, of course, delicious

Very refreshing, and so few calories

Perfect for a hot desert dessert!

Thanks for reading. Goodnight!

Something old, Something new

I arrived safely back at The Biggest Loser Resort at Fitness Ridge in Ivins, Utah. It was, mostly, an uneventful drive here from Denver. There was LOTS of gorgeous scenery, from the still snow-capped mountains in Colorado, to the white and red cliffs in Western Colorado and Utah.

I say "mostly" uneventful because there was one very scary moment for me. I had just pulled back onto the highway for my last leg of the trip after gassing up the car and having some lunch. I merged onto the highway and got behind a small silver or white car, which was moving kind of fast, but not anywhere near the posted 75 mph. So, I pulled into the left lane to pass them. Just as I was passing them, I noticed something in my lane. Now, there were a lot of "road gators" on this trip (you know, the misc. tire "peelings" that lay in the road all over the place). So, I thought that's what it was. 

As I was just about to run over this object, I noticed that it was a full sized shovel just laying in the middle of the lane—SIDEWAYS! I only had a split second to figure out what to do. I couldn't swerve to the right, the little silver/white car was there. I couldn't swerve to the left, the shoulder was minimal, and there was a grassy median. (Been there, done that!) And, I couldn't slam on the brakes. I was going too fast. I had to go over it. Thank goodness I have decent spatial awareness, so I WAS able to drive right over the shovel and my car did not hit any part of it! That would have caused MAJOR damage. . . Holy Moly!

OK, so, meanwhile, back, safely at the FRidge! If you've seen my FaceBook page, you've been introduced to Dash. He's like my personal little warrior/inspiration token, given to me by my friend and co-worker, Jane. His purpose is to "motivate you to break your own personal record." Perfect motto for this, here, trip! 

So, here are a few pictures of Dash familiarizing himself with his new digs at the FRidge. Sort of a self-guided tour. Any questions? Comments? (I love reading your comments!!) Feel free to put them in the comments section, and I'll answer them in tomorrow's post!

Thanks, in advance, for following along!

Enjoy!

Goodnight! 

P.S. I did take pics of tonight's meal. I did not post them because 1. There is a picture of that same meal in one of my archived posts (check it out!), and 2. the internet here is incredibly slow, so the uploading of pics is taking FOREVER!!