Funtime Friday

Pictures from bottom to top: Today's Menu ... Group on top of Barrel Roll ... Sue from California ... Dee Dee ... Jamie Lee (from Calif that was here in Jan when I was here) and Dee Dee.

Yup, Friday is here! Yayy! I might say that I feel so much better since my massage last night! What a difference a massage can make! I decided to get off my lazy butt and go to the 6:00 am Kickboxing Class with Anne Marie ... I'm so glad that I did! I burned 375 cals in 45 mins of that class! Thank you, Anne Marie for such a wonderful class! For you that will be coming to FR ... this is a don't miss class for Fridays when you're here!

The rest of the day went good too ... the hike was boring, but a calorie burner. We went to Barrel Roll which was more of a bike/hike path that was winding up to a mountain top and then we walked back down it. The only bad thing is that one of the ladies in our group fell on a loose rock and went down hard! Ouch!

During our discussion group today for next week's plans, they told us they were going to try something new ... during breakfast and lunch they will be offering additional snacks besides the fruits and salad bar buffet. The snacks to be offered will be either 10 almonds or a boiled egg. The almonds can be taken on the hike, but not the egg (due to the smell). I don't know why they want to change something that has been working so well before. Oh, well, I would like to have the almonds for late night when I get the munchies. :)

Breakfast
8:30-10:30 Hike
11:15-12:00 Cardio Intervals
Lunch
1:15-2:15 Discussion regarding next weeks plans
2:30-3:15 Zumba
3:30-4:15 Zumba (supposed to be pool)
4:30-5:15 Circuit
Dinner
7:00-? Movie out by pool

I had an awesome calorie burn day today ... over 3200 cals! Woohoo! Zumba took the place of John's old Cardio Disco Jam classes. It's on a trial basis for 4 weeks to see how it works. I liked it, but the instructor needs to get better on being more personal with her students and maybe explain her moves before the class for those that are clueless.

Foods were good today too:

Breakfast: Bacon and Egg Sandwich
Hike Snack: Banana
Lunch: Tomato Soup and Sloppy Joe
Dinner: Salmon Burger and Fruit Skewer

Totally Thursday

From bottom to top: Today's Menu ... Dee Dee, Laura, and Kat posing (2 peaks in back is where we will be climbing later in next few pix) ... Some of us climbing up one of the two peaks ... Some of posing by a pond on the top caused by all of the rain while behind us is straight down!!!

Thursday was a tiring day, but I made it through somehow. I didn't burn as many calories today which was a bummer, but hopefully I'll do better tomorrow. We hiked Camel Back which was unbelievably beautiful! A must see for a hike if anyone ever comes here! I almost cried today when I got to the top of it!

Breakfast
8:30-10:30 Hike
11:15-12:00 Stretch
Lunch
1:15-1:45 Cooking Demo
1:45-2:30 Open Gym
2:30-3:15 Treading
3:30-4:15 Treading (instead of pool)
4:30-5:15 Ball Works
Dinner

My day ended with a wonderful massage from one of my old friends from Utah, Brenda! She came and picked me up and took me to her place and I totally enjoyed my hour and a half massage! She took me back to FR and it didn't take me long to fall asleep!

Foods for the day:

Breakfast: Hot Muslix
Snack after hike: Banana
Lunch: Mushroom Soup and Turkey Sandwich
Dinner: Stuffed Bell Peppers with Salad and Vanilla Pie

Sorry for the boring blog today, but I am really tired ... until tomorrow! :)

Day 3 ... More Pix

Day 3 ... Feeling better!

Okay ... it's day 3 here at Fitness Ridge and I'm feeling much better! I had a great hike through White Rock Reversed into Piano Rock and ended up going through Hidden Pinyon. I burned 800 cals on that hike, but did 3200 for the day. On the hike we saw a Tarantula Spider! A bit scarey, but interesting! I didn't realize they could jump 20 feet! But, silly me, took a pic of it up close as well as sitting behind it for a photo op! :)

My day was packed full of working out!

8:30-10:30 Hike
11:15-12:00 Circuit Training
12:00-1:00 Lunch
1:45-2:30 Open Gym (I worked on the treadmill)
2:30-3:15 Kickboxing (I skipped pool)
3:30-4:15 Kickboxing
4:30-5:15 Mountain
5:30-6:00 Dinner

We had an awesome breakfast: French Toast with Raspberry Sauce, Sausage, and Scrambled Eggs. For Lunch: Beet Soup (I hate beets, but this soup rocked) with BBQ Pizza. Dinner: Cafe Salad in a Tortilla Shell. I had a banana after the hike for a snack. I also downed all of my water ... again!

I've met another Florida girl here. Her name is Kat. She's from St. Augustine. A funny and sweet girl who is a power house when hiking and in the gym! A true hard worker here! Glad we met!

I had a wonderful day today meeting a lady from Maryland. Her name is Ilana. She is here with her hubby and she's such an inspiration!!! She has battled 2 raps with cancer. Her first being 16 years ago having had Ovarian Cancer. And her 2nd was just last year fighting Breast Cancer. She's had a double mascectomy and has suffered through chemo. She's here at Fitness Ridge going strong. She makes me feel weak seeing her work through all of her issues and doing so with such grace and vigor! She's battled and won ... and now she's battling again to get her weight where she wants it. My idol is now Ilana! (Hopefully I will get a pic of her this week before she leaves on Sunday)

We also went on a Target run tonight ... I only needed clothes detergent, but I wanted to go to escape the ranch for a little while! :)

Okay ... more tomorrow!!!

Fitness Ridge ... Round 2!

Okay ... I'm back! :) This will be my 2nd trip back to Fitness Ridge and I'm already exhausted on my 2nd day out on the hikes and the gym! I arrived on Sunday, Oct. 3rd to be put into my same exact room that I was in while I was here in January (Room 103)! The only difference is I don't have my bestest roomie ever ... Sandy! I'm sad about that! But, life goes on and I'm doing my thing and working out hard! P.S., I haven't missed one class yet! And, I don't plan on missing any!!!

On Monday, I burned 3200 calories for the 12 hours I wore my heart monitor. 1100 of those were burned just during the 2.5 hour hike! The hike was up on Chuckwalla trail and a total of 5 miles hiked! For breakfast, we had a Fritatta. For Lunch, Vegetarian Chili. And, for Dinner, Salad, Chicken with Mashed Potatoes and Asparagus and a pineapple skewer for dessert. I had a banana for my after hike snack (as I always do). I did good!

Monday's workout schedule was:
Breakfast
8:00-10:30 Hike
11:15-12:00 Stretch class
Lunch
1:45-2:30 Open Gym
2:30-3:15 Core Training
3:30-4:15 Circuit Training (supposed to be in Pool)
4:30-5:15 Circuit Training (again!)
Dinner

On Tuesday, I burned 3000 calories for the 12 hours I wore my heart monitor. 980 of those were burned during the hike. Today due to the rain, we went up paved bike trails instead of the norm. It was still hard though as the inclines were killer! For breakfast, we had Smoothies, but I opted for a bowl of their cereal with almond milk and 1/2 of a banana. For lunch, Squash Soup and a Turkey Pita (which was unbelievably wonderful)! And, for dindin ... Baked Penne Pasta with Steamed Broccoli and 2 Chocolate Covered Strawberries for dessert ... yup, Chocolate Strawberry Tuesdays are still in effect at FR! :)

Tuesday's workout schedule was:
Breakfast
8:00-10:30 Hike
11:15-12:00 Stretch class
Lunch
1:30-2:15 Cooking Class
2:30-3:15 Cardio Intervals
3:30-4:15 Total Toning
4:30-5:15 Cardio Intervals (again!)
Dinner

A lot of changes have taken place since I was here in Jan ... they no longer give out awards for attending every class during the week! Instead, you only get a t-shirt at the end of your stay whether you're here 1 week or several weeks! I asked why that had changed and they said too many people were getting injured and doing the classes anyway while injured just to earn the jacket or the backpacks. So, that's a change!

Another change, NO STOP SIGN HIKE ... Ahhhh! I liked being timed! According to one of the hiking guides, they said there were too many complaints from the locals that there were too many people clogging up the trails. So, Snow Canyon made it where they can only have 2 vans on Saturdays out on that trail. And, when you go out on Stop Sign, there is no longer a timed event! So, if you plan on doing Stop Sign on a Saturday hike, take your own timing device.

Okay ... til next time!