Day 6: Numbers, Food & Classes

       CALORIES EATEN: 1122

CALORIES BURNED: 2433

STEPS WALKED: 16,644

FUN FACTS:

ALL of my hikes this week had bathrooms. Yay!

At the end of "graduation" we all got a keepsake DVD of the week. It is very well done.

QUOTES OF THE DAY:

"It's only 2 minutes. Temporary time. It's do-able!" ~ Ursula, during Circuit training (more on that later.)

"This has zero calories?" - Paul, one of the Guests, incredulously asking as he read the label on the mustard, in a funny display of how calorie-conscious you become here.

"Are you there?" ~ my recumbent bike, when I stopped pedaling during circuit training. Ha ha ha.

"Dude, did I ever tell you about the time I almost fell down this ravine? I hung onto a bush and was able to pull myself up and I saw a rattlesnake right behind me." ~ the guy in the photo below in the red shorts who was behind me when he said this - JUST as I was feeling afraid of the trail and what was on the other edge of it. I let him pass so I didn't hear anymore "dude" stories.

Breakfast: English Muffin & Peach Smoothie. I liked the smoothie at first but it had a very strong honey taste that stuck with you. The muffin was good but DRY and coulda been great with some jam & butter (-: also had our fresh fruit. This would probably be one I'd ask for eggs & toast instead unless you looooove the taste of honey.

Lunch: Turkey Sandwich & Squash soup. The soup was YUMMY as usual (they have this hot sauce here called Sriracha that I tried and LOVE - just a few drops adds some nice heat. I put some in the soup and it ROCKED) The turkey sandwich was served on their kitchen staple, a sandwich thin, with tomato, onion & sprouts with an aoli spread. It was very tasty.

only teeny tiny drops needed! it's hot stuff!!

Dinner: Salisbury steak with brown rice & veggies. It was good - reminded me of the meatloaf last night actually. Had a nice little gravy over it. I put the sriracha in the rice to give it some flavor.

Dessert: Pineapple sorbet. Their "sorbets" here are basically chunks of fruit held together by what I assume is the natural juice. It was hard and took some work to break apart but I loved it.

CLASSES: Well, it's Friday. Basically you have the hike or Cardio Blast, then a choice between 2 different classes before lunch. My choices were Total Body H2O or Circuit Training. I was definitely doing the pool class...until I realized how flippin' cold it was when we got back from the hike. So I bucked it up and went to Circuit (only 2 brave souls went to the pool and they got a personal session with Ravenna!) - then I hear Ursula's voice in the gym. Someone on a treadmill actually said "Oh no, it's Ursula" and Urusla says "I hear everything."

Bummer. Should have froze in the pool. And I love Ravenna!

But, I have to say, Ursula was different. Maybe someone said something to her (or maybe she's reading my blog?) Anyway, she wasn't giving everyone a hug but she also wasn't being rude. She was being helpful pointing out the numbers on the machines (you go in sequence alternating between cardio & strengh training and it's NOT easy to navigate) and yelling "you can do it" type quotes during the workouts.

I loved this class.

So, God put me right where I needed to be to have a positive experience with Ursula and make my last class a good one with no bad vibes at all. Cuz that's how He rolls.

After dinner we got to have "graduation" which is basically just watching the DVD they made and then the microphone gets passed around and you can say something about your week. I wasn't gonna cry....and then I cried. I shared a personal struggle and talked about cancelling my trip to Disney to come here and how it was so worth it...that it allowed me a closer walk with God and that I had a spiritual awakening while I was on this journey. Anyway, it was cool to hear what everyone said.

So I am all packed up and ready to go! My "Fitness Summary" is tomorrow at 7am, the shuttle comes for me at 8:15. Ready to head home armed with my tools & resources! (I thought it was really neat that the nutritionist gave me a list of places to eat healthy at LAX - with calorie counts!)

I've enjoyed my week immensely and have had profound moments of physical exhaustion tempered with profound moments of serenity. Just what the doctor ordered! Can't wait to see my guys and get a big sloppy kiss from this one (my husband said he was dreaming of Mommy)

Goodnight!