Day 4: Numbers, Food & Classes

                      CALORIES EATEN: 1197

CALORIES BURNED: 2895

STEPS WALKED: 22, 783

FUN FACTS:

I got to have a kickboxing workout with some of the contestants from next season's Biggest Loser! It was AWESOME and INTENSE - I burned almost 600 calories in 45 minutes!

QUOTES OF THE DAY:

"You gotta work for it - it don't come for free here!" ~ Brett, our kickboxing trainer

"The most important part of this journey is the mental discipline and focus - you may think it's about your body and what you're eating and that's an important part - but you can control one thing and one thing only and that's the power of your thought - then everything comes together"

 ~Ravenna, who has a litany of motivating speeches that I wish I could remember.

"I can't get in there and push for you, you gotta push, all I can do is cheer lead!" ~ Katina, during water aerobics class

"It's uncomfortable. Hmm I wonder why? WOW it's exercise!" ~ Little Miss Sunshine AKA Ursula when she heard people moaning during Ball Works.

"How 'bout you move out from underneath it? How 'bout that?" ~ Ursula, when one of the people at Ball Works complained the light was in their eyes and asked her to turn them off. (BTW she did turn them off, but still.)

Breakfast: Bacon & Egg breakfast sandwich. My only complaint was that it could have been warmer (I am finding that with quite a few of the meals but I'm too hungry to send them back - although someone sent back dinner tonight) The eggs are scrambled and are egg beaters - the bacon is turkey and I'm pretty sure the "cheese" is soy cheese because they said that's what they use (there is hardly any dairy served here) - I enjoyed this and it felt hearty.

The McBiggest McLoser McMuffin

Lunch: OK so this was my favorite thing so far - a Turkey Club!! OMG it was SO good.

This is NOT it. But this is what I had in mind, haha. See below for Biggest Loser Version (-;

A much, much healthier version

It was filled with lettuce, real turkey breast (not lunch meat!) and onions and tomato and this awesome dressing (made with Vegenaise) - the side salad was incredible too - with walnuts, raisins and apple. Two thumbs WAY up. We also had a yummy vegetable soup. Nice and light with fresh crisp veggies.

Dinner: It was advertised as chicken with asparagus. But given that there were only 2 spears of that I would say chicken with yam puree which was very good. Some broccoli, cauliflower and carrots also. Only served kinda lukewarm though. But once it was in front of me, I was eating it. It could have been frozen for all I cared!

Dessert: Apple Cobbler. Here's one thing I want to mention: get all pre-conceived notions out of your head of what certain things should look like when they are called a name that your are familiar with. For example....apple cobbler. I know the versions we are all used to are thick and rich and usually served with a scoop of ice cream. But here, it's served Biggest Loser style. As in, normal portion, healthier ingredients, less calories, and still a lot of flavor! This was excellent. Loved the crunchy oat topping (which I heard was made with honey, maple syrup, brown sugar and a bit of real butter) - the apples were Granny Smith and nice and tart. Although I could have eaten 5 of these, I enjoyed my normal portion.

CLASSES!

HIKE: This was "meh" today for me. Not much to blog about it either. We went to the same hike as where we did the assessment. This time I was first though.

STRETCH: This is one of my favorite things they do here. Stretching is just so important when you're working out this much. It felt so good. Ravenna taught this and had more motivational phrases to keep on our minds.

LECTURE: on Planning Strategies. Got some good tips to set realistic goals to stick to a plan once we get back to our reality.

TREADING: I actually skipped this, because my knee's been bothering me since Mountain. I had tried every machine and it still is giving me the "no way Jose" feeling. So, I didn't want to push it and I requested to swap it for a pool class. I heard it's intense - you do 2 minutes fast, 2 minutes slow, 3 minutes fast, 3 minutes slow etc.

H20 Moves: I seriously want to be a water aerobics instructor. Love this stuff. Worked out with foam dumb-bells and really got a nice workout. I did two classes in a row but Katina switched it up which I appreciated.

Ball Works: Oh, what a fun sounding class. Not. I've come to get a feeling of dread when Ursula teaches, since she seems mean and doesn't smile like all the other Shiny Happy Employees they have. Basically you take a 55 cm exercise ball and run around with it - above your head, in front of your chest, dribbling it right, dribbling it left, jogging while dribbling...then you get on a mat and do abs with your feet on it. There's also some work with weights here - biceps & triceps. Good workout, but not one of my faves.

Lecture: Nutrition. Went over some myths about caffeine, alcohol, eating at night, sugar and other items that were in everyone's minds. Very informative. 

KICKBOXING WITH BRETT: this was an optional sign up for 7:30 - I am SOOO grateful I did this. As a fan of the show, it was surreal to be working out with some of the cast I'll see on TV next year. But this was an INTENSE workout! Everyone loved it!! I could take this class every day! So different from the kickboxing class from yesterday. Brett's got some DVD's coming out and this workout is on it - honey, this is what I want for Christmas (like, in my stocking haha)  

So there's my Thursday! Ready for stretch at 6am (I promise I'll be there Megan) and then on to my TGIF. Peace out.