Day 18: :) Smile smile smile

Hey everyone! Sorry to leave you hanging but since I've been back in the saddle, I've been really tired. So the next 4 days will be written in retrospect. Good thing I took notes! (very short brief notes but notes nonetheless!)

Schedule:

6:30AM: Hike (I went to the gym)
9:30AM: Breakfast
10:15AM: Open Gym
11:15AM: Liquid Moves or Gym Class
12:45PM: Lunch
1:45PM: Open Gym
2:30PM: Ball Works
3:30PM: Treading
4:30PM: Total Body H20
5:45PM: Dinner
6:15PM: Increasing Your Income

Soooooo. I overslept today. Yup yup. My body said,"I iz tired." So I listened and got another hour or two of sleep in. Since I missed the hike, I  made certain to go to all the rest of my classes and pumped it up a notch to make up for the slack.

Breakfast was that yucky muesli so I had cereal again. For open gym I did 35 minutes on the elliptical and managed to squeeze in a few minutes in of weights Generally, all classes here last for 45 minutes. Breaks (I say that loosely) are 15 minutes between classes. If you don't need to change for a pool class, you can usually get a quick bathroom break or sit down for a few minutes before you should file in to prep for your next class. As one of the instructors say, "If you're on time, you're late." Most classes you need to grab stuff to start the class or just center yourself or something. You may have to grab mats, weights, take off your sneakers, etc; No one yells at you for being late but you can miss out on your favorite machine or a good spot for your mat if you're late. I would say I'm late as often as I'm on time. Usually only by a few minutes but still! I have work to do while I'm here so I pop up to check work emails between classes a lot.

Gym class is different from Open Gym. The way my schedule looked, it seemed like it'd be a full day in the gym but gym class is intense. It's like a mixture of cardio intervals and circuit. Burned lots of calories in that class.

Wow, really trying to wrack my brain for what exactly happened but I can't remember exact details. This is why you need to write down things as they happen otherwise the details just slip away!! Sorry folks!

Ever since we switched to this new summer schedule, I've noticed that the pool classes are more difficult than they used to be. Variation is good. Strangely enough though, it's actually been cooler than it has been in the past few weeks. So the pool classes are a bit more uncomfortable since the air is so cold. Remember though, you always have the option to jump into the hot tub for a few minutes to warm up if you need to. There's also saunas (both a wet and a dry one) to the right of the hot tub but you almost never see anyone in there.

Another thing regarding the weather. Since I'm from the east coast and it can get quite humid there, the temperatures have been throwing me off a bit. When I see 75-80 degrees, I know that in NJ, it's a really comfortable warm temperature. However, here in Utah, 75-80 degrees can be pretty cool if you're not in direct sunlight.  When I had originally tried to book my trip, I wanted to book in April because I saw that the standard temperatures in May were in the 90s. Well... temperatures in the 90s normally is terrifyingly hot for heat sensitive-moi but here in Utah, temps in the 90s is divine. Just don't forget the sunscreen!

Lunch was yummy. It was a turkey sandwich that they pump up with alfalfa sprouts (you don't even taste them and they are super nutritious) and the most delicious mushroom soup. It was chunky and very flavorful. For lunch today, I opted to sit by myself. I walked into the dining room and saw that there weren't too many people there and I really didn't feel like talking. So I just sat down at an empty table and ate. It was nice surprisingly. It was peaceful and I finished my food way faster than if I had sat with anyone else.

Ball works.. I still don't really like that class too much. Perhaps it's my lack of core strength and balance but even with a great instructor (Sharon), it's not a class that I look forward to. Had treading after ball works and it was AMAZING. Seriously, I absolutely love that class. It's hard as heck but you can NOT beat the euphoria and feel good endorphins you experience after the class is done. I've always strived towards that runner's high or exercise endorphins you hear about all the time but it wasn't until this class that I ever experienced it. I always leave that class smiling. ;) It was exciting because I got up to 130 rpm on the recumbent bike that I was on and when I got off, there was actually 2 baby drops of sweat on the back seat! (I NEVER sweat, I'm a freak of nature I swear, I can be working my ass off and no droplets will appear on my body) Those baby drops of sweat thrilled the heck out of me. lol.

Another thing about treading is that we are advised to only do it once per week. It's a class where we go anaerobic and it's supposed to help us over plateaus that we may experience while we're losing weight. Doing it more than once per week isn't good for you and you can lose out on the benefit of the session.

Total Body H20. We kick, we work with weights. It's a pool class. he he. (I can't remember exactly what happened)

Dinner was soooooooooooo good. It was green beans and two stuffed peppers. It was HUGE and so filling and yet it was less than 400 calories. The peppers were stuffed with a ground turkey, corn, oats and veggies stuffing and they were fantastic. Since I was chatting through dinner with another guest, my dinner ran into the lecture and when I saw the dessert real quick (I thought it was warm fruit), I opted to leave it and go. I found out later from my roomie that her friend was wondering why I left the dessert untouched and she joked that people were all thinking about fighting over it.

So funnily enough, after my enthusiastic waterpik post, my darn waterpik stopped working. hmph.

I'm really thankful for my new roomie. Her drive and positive attitude and just the fact that she's so genuinely nice has really improved my experience here. I can't say enough good things about her. I guess just one person who totally has your back here CAN make all the difference.

Anyhow, on to the next post!

Calories burned today:  3438, not including my pool class.