Day 17: Breaking Through That Wall!!

A Brand New Day! 

So I didn't go on the hike today and opted instead to go to the gym just in case I needed the bathroom. I had a really productive time in the gym and managed to burn lots of calories in there! Btw, 'Evil D' arrived at the same time I did. We were the only ones in the gym for the first 45 minutes or so until some of the other trainers came in for their morning workouts. I ignored her and she ignored me. Cool beans.

So, I warmed up and did 30 minutes on the Nustep and then I did 45 minutes of weights. I worked on my abs, obliques, triceps, biceps, deltoids, chest muscle thingies, glutes, inner thigh and hip abductor muscles. After the 45 minutes worth of weights workout, I hopped back onto my exercise nemesis (though he's quickly becoming a buddy), the elliptical machine! I did 30 minutes again and was even late for breakfast because I wanted to do a minimum of 30 minutes again. I felt great afterwards. :)

Brekkie this morning was an english muffin with a turkey 'sausage' and eggs and salsa. It was pretty good but my stomach started lurching a bit so I only ate half. The turkey sausage was more like a teeny tiny ground turkey meat patty. It was a little bit larger than the size of a half dollar. Seriously. lol. What's neat was there were tiny bites of apple in it. You'd think it be strange but it really went well together. Will definitely be trying this at home.

After breakfast, we had a nutrition workshop that was new where we learned to read our labels properly. Seriously, the FDA is one corrupt mofo letting all these horrible companies get away with murder... literally! There are so many different names for all sorts of unhealthy stuff like sugar and fats and whatnot. It really seems far better to just stay away from all processed foods and really try to stay true to the source. There's so much unhealthy crap in all processed foods it's freaking scary.

Saw one of my friends walking to class in a dazed state today. Asked her how she was. Exhausted was her answer. She was telling me how tired she was and how badly she wanted to take a nap. She's here for 4 weeks as well and I told her that if she really needed a nap, then she should take a short nap. I don't think they mean to do so but the fear of missing classes is really strong here. That and the peer pressure/group mentality. It's both helpful and hurtful in a way.

Our schedule here is so tough on our bodies and if you're here for a long period of time, it's truly unrealistic and possibly even unhealthy to be sleep deprived and physically exhausted for so long.  If you speak to any trainers about it, even THEY will tell you to listen to your bodies. So listen to your body!

After the workshop, we had stretch. Aaaaahhhhh. Love it. They've really been incorporating more stretch classes into our schedules which many would agree is a good thing. The only thing is that because there are so many people here and limited workout space, we can't all technically have stretch at the most opportune times. Stretch would be perfect after hikes or after other rigorous classes when our muscles are warmed up but unfortunately it's not always possible. Oh well.

I did notice that it seems like they're prepping for another construction site. There's been whispers of them building an indoor pool too. Don't know how much truth is in the rumors but this place is booked out so far ahead in the future that they really should and CAN expand. 

Had lunch right after stretch and it was pretty good. A barbecue 'pizza' (you know it's faux if I use those quotes) and beet soup. Also pretty good. Since they've changed our schedules recently, it's kind of annoying that breakfast and lunch are so close together. Another oh well.


For those that are worried about any of the foods here staining your braces. (Probably a very small percentage of you, lol) You are good to go! I was worried mostly about the beet soup that they have here staining my ceramic braces or my bands but everything was fine. Thankfully! I would be mortified if I had to walk around here for another 2 weeks with neon pink teeth.If you can spring for it though, I highly recommend bringing your waterpik to FR. All these veggies and stuff get stuck in the braces like no tomorrow. I don't know what I would do if I didn't have my waterpik! I've already walked around here like several times with food stuck in my teeth while talking to people. Embarassing!!

So after lunch there was an optional trip for us long timer folks to go to the grocery store with the nutritionist to learn about shopping for groceries. I saw that 'Evil D' was going so I decided not to go. I know all that stuff anyway. Being on a diet for most of your life, you pick up things. Stay on the outskirts of the supermarket, don't venture into the middle, that's all processed stuff, whole wheat, fresh veggies, frozen veggies. I know it all already. I'll talk with one of the ladies later to make sure I didn't miss anything.(update: I didn't miss anything.)

After lunch, I had mountain, which is my least favorite class. I got there a bit late so I had to use one of the treadmills. I gave it my all but by the end my calf started getting tight and hurting again. Crapola.

After mountain I ventured into the pool for the H20 Circuit. It was with John and it was intense! The water was chilly but thankfully the air was warm today. I stayed in the shallow end and floated/sat on a noodle while doing the exercises. Water circuit goes a bit like this: You do a few minutes of cardio (kicking in the water for a few minutes while holding onto the edge of the pool or running back and forth in the pool) and then you do  a few minutes of weights. (We have water weights here that you hold underneath the water and do regular weight type exercises like bicep curls, tricep dips, etc;) That's the gist of the class. John also lets us do this thing he calls frolicking at the end of class where he plays music and we do a few synchronized movements with the noodles in the air. Fun stuff. ;)

After the pool class I headed towards kickboxing. That's always a fun but very intense class. Sharon is a bundle of energy, it's amazing. We punch, kick, hit, jab these upright bodybag type things and hop around. It's more intense than you would think and gives a great workout. The class always goes by super fast too which is great. Also, during the class you get a mini massage. You hold the upright bodybag with your back and your partner pummels the crap out of it. A free massage! So when you get a partner, look for one that looks strong. lol.

After kickboxing was dinner. It was a salad. Meh. You really had to dig deeply into the salad to find the 3 slices of chicken breasts hidden within. It wasn't the most filling of dinners that's for sure. Dinner was a mango sorbet that was pretty sour. It was cold though so I ate it.

One great thing though is that my roomie and I will be in the same room for the rest of my stay so I'm looking forward to that. We get along really well and she's super cheerful and sweet. A real inspiration too, she's been kicking @ss in all her classes, it's amazing. Anyhow, going to relax for tonight. I don't think I'm going on the hike tomorrow because it's one of those scary, high intense hikes but I'll make certain to be kicking bum in the gym.

I really think I'm over what they call here, 'The Wall.' Apparently it hits all of us that are here for an extended period of time. Those that come for just a week or two can't understand. That wall can be a mental AND physical block depending on your personal experience. Who knows though, I've still got another week and a half to go! I'm excited about getting home and continuing everything I've learned though. Really excited. I can't wait to get all this fat off me. :) Good night!!

3435 calories burned today!