Weekend Update

Okay -- so this won't be as funny as Kevin Nealon's but it's still my weekend update :)  I'll be honest... this weekend was HARD!  Again -- it's the food.  I worked out Friday (did an awesome spin class at the YMCA with two of my friends) and then I was able to walk tonight and burn some calories, but man, this food thing is hard!  I cracked and had my first soda since I got back.  The good news is that even since I had that,  I still feel like I could wait awhile before having another.  And I was still craving water today.  I really think that's a big part of my answer -- drink more water. I drank so much water when I was at the resort and I really think it helped with my hunger.  I just don't drink as much here because I usually drink when I'm working out.  There I was working out all day, here I'm not.  That will be my goal this week -- to drink more water!!! 

I've kept pretty much to my 1600 calories a day during the week as well.  The weekend I was probably over a little -- maybe 1800 or so, but nothing too crazy.  But I know I'm not nearly getting the nutrition I need -- as far as veggies/fruits, etc  -- that I had at the resort.  So -- my solution?  I'm trying a place called B Healthy Meals -- http://bhealthymeals.com/  My previous roommate, Leah, had actually learned about this place at a benefits fair she was at for work and at the time I was hesitant to spend the money on it, but honestly, after finding out how hard preparing meals (and I mean HEALTHY meals) was during the week, I decided to give it a try for a week. The meals look good.  And I keep saying that if someone prepares the food for me, I'll eat it, but on my own, I'm less likely to make a healthy meal.  So -- I pick up the meals Tuesday -- I'll let you know how it goes!!

PS -- even thought I haven't done the best I could this week, I haven't gained any weight and I'm still down 11 lbs from when I started which is a bonus.

Oh -- and I saw the Hunger Games last night -- I had a really hard time picking out Dakota (my seatmate on the plain) because she looks a lot like one of the other tributes -- and of course I didn't want to miss any parts of the movie, so  I'll have to watch the movie again just to look for -- okay twist my arm.  :)  It was a great movie.  Here's a cute clip of her I found though --  http://www.imdb.com/video/hulu/vi3997409561/

So -- I'll keep you posted about the meals!!  A new week, a new start!!

In the Real World

I wanted to quickly post today because I had two victories today that I wanted to share with you . . .


1)  We had cupcakes at the office today and they looked so good that I wanted to try a 1/2 of one.  So . . . I cut it in half, took a bite and YUCK!!!  It's true what they say -- your taste buds do actually change!!  It didn't taste good at all!!


2)  I did make it to the gym and boy -- did it feel good!!!  I felt so energized it was crazy!!!


In my mind, those were two major victories for me!!  This is doable!!!

Home Sweet Home!!!

So, back in PA.   The flight home was uneventful -- but I got some pretty pics leaving LA.

I still hadn't seen a grey whale yet and they were supposed to be migrating so my nose was pressed to the window looking one last time!!

 And I guess the rain and yucky weather had to follow me :)  Anywho -- I'm glad to back and from what I can tell, so is my cat.  She won't leave me alone!!  I actually couldn't sleep last night because she was purring so loud!! 

And there's the three hour time difference -- that may have played a role in it! 


I probably won't post every day, but I would still like to occasionally post when I've learned something or when I'm experiencing a challenge in this journey.   So if you'd like to continue to follow, just sign up to follow by email and every time I post, you'll get an email. 


So today was a good day.  After finally falling asleep at 3 am, when my alarm woke me up at 6:30 in order to go to the gym, yeah . . . I hit snooze.  And then I reset it.  There was no way I was going to the gym on 3 hours of sleep.  So, needless to say workout today did not happen. But that's okay.  It's probably best to give my body some more rest.  I will definitely make it tomorrow.  BUT . . I did really well with food today.  I was able to withstand temptation several times (although when I got stressed at work and felt overwhelmed it took EVERYTHING I had to not go into the kitchen and look for a snack -- but I didn't!) and I even ate pretty healthy.  I know I didn't have a 1200 calorie diet, but more like 1600 which is pretty reasonable considering.  And according to my polar watch, I've burned 2300 calories already so I've got 700 in the bank already towards weight loss.  I can live with that :)


I did treat myself one more time and went and got my hair done this morning before going into work . . .

So, day #1 post BLR was a success in my book!!  I'll keep you posted as the weeks go by!!!

I did it!!!!

Yep!!!  I did it!!  I survived the week at the Biggest Loser Resort Malibu.  And today was  . . . .well . . . an interesting end to it!  I woke up this morning to a downpour of rain and headed over to get my final assessment where they measure me again like they did when I first arrived.   Guess what -- I lost 8.5 lbs!!  I'm sure the majority of it came from not drinking any soda all week, but still! I'm pretty pleased.  Sometimes you don't even lose any until you're home for a few days because you're muscles are all swollen up and retaining water while you're here so I may lose even more!

After the assessment and breakfast, I was headed off to another beach hike.   As I was getting ready to go, Ramon and Jessica (BL Season 12) were trying to pack up their car to catch a flight.   I got to talk to both of them and even got a sneak peak at what Jessica will be wearing for the BL Season 13 premier! 

On Saturdays, we can choose to either go on one of three hikes or attend a cardio blast class.  Then we have our last chance workout.  Because I couldn't stand the thought of 4 hours in the gym, I chose the hike.  Not only was it to the beach which was my favorite hike, but it was really cool to see how far I've come in the three days since I had last hiked it.  I wasn't nearly as out of breath going up the hills -- it was awesome.  The only non-awesome thing about it was the weather.  It was COLD, WINDY, and RAINY. . . yuck!!  Check out the pictures today and compare them to Wednesdays!

This little guy was sure enjoying the rain even if we weren't!!!

After the hike and we dried off it was time for our LAST CHANCE WORKOUT!!  It honestly wasn't as bad as I had thought it was going to be -- not sure if that's good or bad!!!

Then it was time for lunch and my facial!! It was AMAZING!!!  She not only did my face (which was so dry from all of the pool time) but also my hands, arms, and FEET!!  What a great facial!!!  I came back and took a lovely nap and awoke in time to prepare for graduation to hear none other than HAIL!!! Yes . .  it was hailing!!!  I thought for a second I had been transported back to PA, but yes, indeed, I was still in California!!  Crazy!!

You have to see it to believe it!!!

Then it was time for graduation.  They created a wonderful DVD for us of all the pictures and videos they had been taking this week. It's really great. 

The dining hall

And finally the week has come to a close.  Although I know I could probably benefit from a few more weeks here, I'm definitely ready to come home.  I miss everyone.  And I know if I really put my mind to it and don't let my emotions get the best of me, I can do this.  And I know I have a great support system.  Thank you all for being that support system.  Thanks for joining me on this journey!!  I love you and will see you all soon!!!

TGIF!!

Truly it should be TGISITF (Thank God I survived it to Friday!).  Wow -- I am definitely sore.  Now besides my knees hurting me, my foot also started bothering me today.  Luckily, we only have a hike and Last Chance Workout tomorrow.   So . . . .Friday . . . .

Today's hike was at Nicholas Flats (Malibu Springs portion) and it would have been great -- if we could see through the fog!! It was completely foggy the whole time. Today in general was a gloomy, cold day . . . yes, I know it's been beautiful in PA this week. But it's probably best it's yucky here because otherwise I'd want to be out lounging by the pool rather than working my butt off inside a gym!! Here are some pics from today . . ..


Here's the van that we travel in every morning to the hike sites



Check out that fog!!

Check out that spider web! That was about the extent of our wildlife we saw today! :)

The ocean is supposedly what we're looking at : )  We called it the 'Nothing' all day -- Neverending Story flashback :)

This afternoon was actually a 'lighter' afternoon if you can believe it!!  We started out with cardio circuit in the gym, then went on to Disco Dancing class -- boy was that hilarious!!  But  . . .  good lesson for me was that I can get my heart rate up to the rate it needs to be to burn max calories in a dancing class -- Zumba here I come!!!  Then we ended up playing water volleyball in the pool for our last class.    For dinner we had this yummy meatball sandwich and a chocolate parfait.  During dinner, the chiropractor on campus, Dr. Ray did a little spiel and then introduced a guest to demonstrate the muscles of the body since he said his powerpoint slide didn't do it justice.  I got all excited when he said his guest's name was Jerome and from the picture I could see I totally almost had a heart attack thinking it was Jerome Bettis . . .no luck . . . .it was a pro body builder named Jerome -- but trust me, he wasn't bad to look at!!!!

Then I had my free nutritional session.  The great thing about this place is that everyone is really supportive.  They give out their emails and the life coach today even gave out her cell phone number and they tell us to contact them anytime we need help or have a question.   The nutritionist is even going to email me some hints and personalized menus based upon our discussion today! 

After that session, it was time for my mani/pedi!!  Check out these nails!!

After coming out of my mani/pedi, there was a familiar face in the dining hall that I couldn't quite place.  Turns out to be Ramon from the Biggest Loser season 12!  Rumor has it that he and his girlfriend Jessica (also from BL 12) are going to be heading up the Niagara resort!!  Very cool!  He looks amazing, so he is obviously keeping it off! 


So here's my insight for today -- I obviously knew that I was going to be experiencing healing while on this journey, but what I didn't account for was healing that I wasn't even aware of.  Each night I have had some CRAZY dreams.  A lot of them involving ex boyfriends -- which has been interesting.  I think that even my brain is trying to heal me emotionally while I'm asleep -- trying to work through emotions and feelings that sometimes lead to me want to eat for comfort.  I thought that was very interesting.  I did have a brief emotional break down this afternoon -- not really sure why.  Just was upset about something (nothing major) and felt myself just about lose it for really no reason.  BUT . . . . instead of what my normal emotion would probably be (eating if it was available) I handled it properly by deep breathing, crying to release my emotions, and then taking a nap!!!!  :)  A success in my book!!


Well -- the week is almost over, and to be honest, I'm ready to come home.  I miss my family, friends, and cat :(  and my body is SORE!!!  but I'm also nervous simply because I now have all of the tools I need to succeed -- it's just up to me!! 


Catch you all tomorrow! Happy Saint Patty's Day!!!


Cyndi :)

Thursday?? Already??

Okay, so in some ways my body is saying, 'Thursday!! Finally!!'  but my mind is saying, 'Really? It's already Thursday?'!!  It's crazy how fast this week has gone, I can't believe it's already Thursday!!


So today's hike was to Tapia Park which is part of Malibu Creek Park. Before land for Malibu Creek State Park was acquired in 1974, it was divided into three parcels belonging to Bob Hope, Ronald Reagan, and 20th Century Fox, for which it is still a popular place for movie filming. One of our guides for this trip, Colton, was very unique. He works in rehab in Malibu (so you can imagine he knows a ton of stars) so he was very knowledgeable about the area. He pointed out the house that the Bachelor/Bachelorette is filmed in, Mel Gibson's private church, Charlie Sheen's previous house (which his neighbors ran him out of!), the bar that Bob Hope, Clint Eastwood, and Ronald Reagan used to share drinks, Sherwood Forest where the first Robin Hood with Kevin Costner was filmed, the actual Biggest Loser Ranch among other things. BUT . . he is very 'nature oriented'. He actually played his wooden flute for us on the trail and had lots of interesting information regarding the flora and fauna of the park. It made for a very interesting trip! Here are some pics . . . .




View from the top -- today started off foggy and yucky as you can tell!

We think that the area down in the valley there was a youth detention center . . . talk about isolated!!

Colton 

You can see some of the group on the trails below

A baby gopher snake.  Colton is a snake charmer in his spare time :)

By the time we returned from the hike, the sun was starting to shine and things were getting warmer. We had our first pool class of the day (which I'm learning some great exercises in the pool, especially for my abs!) and then went to a delicious lunch -- Pumpkin Soup and Hawaiian pizza -- yum!! 


We had a little bit of time in the afternoon, so I came back and took a nap  . . . .ahh!  The first afternoon class was another pool class, then we went to a ball class.  We took the large stability balls and did all kinds of upper and lower body toning exercises on them.  Then it was off to treading which was basically a cardio class where you start off high intensity for 5 minutes, then recover for 5 minutes, then high intensity for 4 minutes, recover for 4 minutes and so on.  During the one minute intensity, I chose to do 'Jacob's Ladder' which wow . . . that's a challenge.  I remembered a Biggest Loser episode where they did that for a certain amount of steps --  1 minute was rough, I can't imagine how long they had to do it!!! 


After that I had another massage -- ahhh -- and then dinner.  After dinner we had free time, which feels weird!!  I'm used to having lectures or appointments, but not tonight!  So I am able to relax a little tonight and rest my tired body :)


So, that's Thursday in a nut shell.  I think the biggest thing I'm taking away from this is that I can survive on 1200 calories and not feel hungry!!  It's amazing.  I'm excited and nervous to keep this up when I come back.  I think I'm going to try and get another freezer so I can make up a bunch of these meals and freeze them so I don't have an excuse for not pulling one out when I'm tired at night and don't want to fix dinner.  It really can work -- but I definitely have to put forth the effort!! So if you live close, I might just need people to test out these meals on -- expect an invite!!  And don't worry -- they are yummy as well as healthy!!! 


Thanks again for supporting me through this journey . . . . until tomorrow!!!

BLR

Since I promised . . . .

The gym

The aerobics room

 

Walkway down to the main dining area

Walkway down to the main dining area

The pool at night

The pool at night

Wall Wednesday

So, they warned us today that Wednesday is when guests hit their 'wall'.  Yep -- they were right!  I actually felt pretty good when I woke up.  Mostly because I skipped stretch this morning and slept in :)  But my body needed it.  Then . . . today's hike was AMAZING!!!!  So VERY, VERY beautiful.  Check this out . . . .

Wow . . . .loved the beach hike.  We saw a ton of surfers, dolphins, a sea lion (way far out), and a star (of the human variety) ! :)




Check out some of these pics . . . .

You can see the rest of the group hiking up behind me!

Our group added a few more today and we also hiked with another group

We hiked that beach right after taking this picture

I thought this pattern of the water running through the sand (minus the footprints!) was cool.

We found a starfish who was still alive . . . totally reminded me of the speech I gave at our High School Graduation -- 'Made a Difference to that one!' (and don't worry, we threw it back in the ocean so it really did make a difference!)

Birds of paradise flower -- so very cool!

For the way back chose to hike back through the development where Sean Penn lives -- here is his house.

After we got back, we had a pool class.  Then lunch (an amazing Greek Pita) and then CRASH -- smack dab into the Wednesday Wall.  After lunch we had a lecture on emotional eating (which I was very excited to hear about) but I couldn't keep my eyes open!  We had a 30 minute break before our afternoon workouts began so I decided to head back for a quick cat nap.  Wow -- when my alarm went off . . I TOTALLY did not want to get up.  They hold us accountable for attending classes, so if they see we're not there, they do call our rooms, so I was debating calling and telling them I wasn't feeling good because I just couldn't fathom getting up and going to kickboxing.  BUT . . . I was reminded of what I'm here for and how much I'm paying and how many people I have supporting me and I drug my butt out of bed for kickboxing, mountain (which is increased intervals of either speed or incline), and another pool class.   Next came dinner and then another lecture on Intuitive Eating . . . very insightful.  Finally I had an adjustment by the chiropractor here.  So, needless to say, the wall was beaten. I have to include here that a big part of the wall coming down was when I returned to my room after the lecture, I had a very sweet voicemail from my small group encouraging me.  It totally made me break down because it made me realize that I really do have a wonderful support group at home and I really shouldn't have any excuses for continuing on with this healthy lifestyle.   So thank you.  Thank you for encouraging, loving, and supporting me through this.  I love you all!!!

Oh -- and I forgot to mention who the celeb was that we saw . . . as we were walking down the beach, there was an attractive man walking with what looked like his parents and his adorable dog. The dog was running up ahead and of course, I couldn't help but reach out to pet him, he was too cute.  On the way back, we passed the threesome again and this time I commented to them that the dog was definately keeping an eye on them because he kept running up ahead and looking back . .it was too cute, but they didn't really respond, just gave me a nod which is odd seeing as most people here have been so friendly.  When we got up to the resting point, our guide asked if we recognized the man . . . I had no clue -- it was Josh Harnett.  Probably best known for his role in Pearl Harbor with Ben Afflec.  No wonder he wasn't so friendly :)   Celeb sighting #2 :)  Maybe #3 will be tomorrow as there are rumors that they're filming an episode of Glee here right now at the resort!! 

I Survived Day 2!

Hello all!! This post will be short and sweet because I have been up since 5 am!!  By the way -- I have added a link that allows you to follow by email every time I post even if you don't have one of the accounts that are listed when you try to comment on my posts.  I'm pretty sure you can only comment on the posts if you have one of those accounts (Google, AIM, etc.) but feel free to email me if you have any questions or comments!!


So today started off with a RMR (resting metabolic rate) test which determines what my RMR is in order to help me figure out how many calories I need to burn and need to intake in order to lose a certain amount of weight.  Unfortunately she inputted my wrong age, so I have to redo it on Friday at 5:30 -- yuck!!  After that was another stretch class. They are optional since they are at 6:00 AM, but I'm afraid to not do it because so far it's seemed to have helped when I go on the hikes!


Today's hike was in Charmlee Park.   From what our guide told us, there is a 65 mile trail that goes from the north Los Angeles county line all the way down to Pacific Palisades.  There are multiple state parks all along this trek and each one has different hikes.  Today we did the Charmlee Park one.  It was BEAUTIFUL!!    Our guide was great and stopped to teach us about the local flora and fauna which was great.  Unfortunately we didn't see any wildlife other than a rabbit, but it was still pretty cool.  Check out the pics . . .

My hiking group.  After yesterday's assessment I was put into a different group than the majority of the people I hiked with yesterday, and at first I was upset with myself because it wasn't a faster paced good, but one of the big things I have learned here is to not compare yourself to others.  Which is hard for my competitive nature.  But I'm really glad that I'm in this group. I like the guides and the group is fun!

Our first great view to the south.  It was a little cloudy at first, but the sun started to come out later.

To the north



Point Dume, part of Zuma Beach which we will be hiking later in the week

A house is being built . . .check out that view!!

The hills are alive . . .   part of our hike

Check out those sunbeams coming down -- how cool!

A shot showing some of what we hiked.

I learned today that the only reason that these mountains can be called mountains is the one particular peak is 11 miles higher than what you can consider a mountain.  Otherwise they'd be the Santa Monica hills!!

 Hear my resounding, 'Yes!' ? :)

After we got back from our hike, we had a nice second stretch class.  Then it was off for my V02 test which is a test specific to my body to show my heart rate when I'm resting, when I'm breathing aerobically and anaerobically and when I'm recovered.  (Bustin' out some chemistry on ya!)  All things that will help me to achieve ultimate calorie burn when put together with my RMR.

After that and lunch, we had a cooking demo from the chef of the resort.  I got two of the cookbooks that have recipes from the resort because the food is so good, so be prepared for an invite to dinner if you live close!! I have to practice on someone!!! :)  After that it was off to the round of afternoon classes.  We started off with Total Toning which was basically a total body workout in circuit style, then went to the pool, and finally ended with Cardio intervals.  I actually felt pretty good after the pool, so I was able to push myself pretty hard in Cardio intervals.  :) 

After that was dinner time, another nutritional lecture, and then meditation class.  Finally it was time for my massage :)  Swedish and deep tissue!!  Wow . . .

I feel pretty good right now other than tired, so in light of that, I'm signing off . . . will post more tomorrow!!!