Tired Tuesday - Day 9

The best hiking group ever!!! All of my buds on one van, who could ask for anything more?

Total toning totally stinks LOL No really, I can't feel my abs!

We got new pool furniture. It was quite exciting; They did a photo shoot and everything. Then we all felt so Fitness Ridge Malibu!!!

These are the new lounge chairs. They adjust and are upolstered leatherette.

The company that sold them came out and did a photo shoot.

All hail Biggest Loser;)

Makin it to the top of Hidden Pinion. Quite a feat!

Hilda beat us up there.

Reg's Angels (he's the only guy on our van)

That's the top and we are tired!

Made it to the overlook.

Susan giving Reg a gentle nudge.

You can make it Julieann.

Woo Hoo! Climbed Stair Mistress again today. I look so sad with my two size too big clothes on. Signed up for Target van on Wednesday though.

Stairmistress from the bottom.

Me and Julieann, so glad she got to add another week. Now I only have to be here one week without her.

Banana muffin. Looked and smelled yummy, but I thought it would be too wimpy so I got the eggs and toast.

Cauliflower soup, much better than it sounds. Chef puts some coconut milk in it.

Chicken salad with apple salad. I got the tuna instead. This is lovely EJ's meal:0

The meatloaf. Made with turkey and to die for.

Here it is Crystal. That dessert you asked me about. First time it has ever been served at the Ridge. Creamy tofu and apricot goo on a baked flour tortilla with cinnamon sugar and raspberries.

Quite a lot of pics for today. I tried to get more of my friends in the shots and I will try to take some of the gym classes, but we are always pushing in there. Hike was really hard this morning. I love my group though. Can't wait to see what we do tomorrow. It's 6:30 and I'm headed to bed. Exhausted and sore all over!

Day 8 - Mad and Crazy Monday!

Here we are after hiking Temple Quarry. Caron, Frances, Chelsea, Reg, me and Anthony.

Here is the terrian we were hiking in. A rock quarry with tiny little dirt paths. Luckily no sand!

This is Avalon one of our hiking guides. She and I "killed it" this morning while talking about goats.

This is my buddy Reg. He and I will both be running 5Ks when we get home in July.

Annamarie, one of our trainers and Reg.

Sharon giving those first weekers "what for". LOL glad it's not me. She beat me up enough in core class!

The Daily Bread

Breakfast was an absolutely fabulous Greek fritatta. Spinach, feta, turkey sausage, guacamole, and balsamic reduction. One new girl thought it was choc sauce! OK...

Carrot soup, very good.

Wish I had taken a pic of the innards of this burrito. Brown rice, black beans, ground turkey, and veggies. The garnish is a guacamole and red pepper sauce.

Salmon burger with green beans. Color is off since we were dining al fresco under the patio;)

Cranberry sorbet;)

Huge events have unfolded at the Ridge today. First, I hiked like a mad woman and after our Monday morning accessment hike, they bumped me up two levels for the week. I am now in the first intermediate group with only one group ahead of me. You progress each week (hopefully) and the hikes get harder, faster, and longer. I am on Van 4 with all my favorite buddies: Frances, Julieann, Reg, Chelsea and her mom Carol, and Caron.

Great event #2: I did the class called Mountain after hike, breakfast, and stretch. In this class you go up in incline every three minutes while you are walking on the treadmill at about 3.5 mph. You go up a total of 12 times. The highest the treadmill will go is a 15. By the time I finished I was at 15 for the last 6 minutes. There isn't a feeling that quite matches that. I want everyone to know what's going on with me, but I also want to put this into words so when I'm tempted to slack off or cheat foodwise when I get home I will have something to look back on to see how far I've come. My friend, Julieann, ran for the first time on the treadmill today. I'm so proud of her.

And the big finale: When I was around 8 I went off a huge ditch with my bike and skinned all the skin off both my knees. I rarely rode a bike since then, maybe like 4 or 5 times and not very far. Today I asked Tiffany if she was teaching gym class and she said she was and it would be at the park and grab a bike and a helmet and head over there. I got sick. I told her the story and she said, "Well class doesn't start for an hour, so go get a bike and a helment and ride around the parking lot until you are ready to go to the park and I'll follow you in my car." Are you kidding me!!! You can't get out of anything here! So I did and guess what? I rode a bike all the way to the park (about a mile) and played kickball and came back on the bike! And guess who was there to clap and cheer me on when I arrived? All my buddies! I am so blessed to be here.

I encourage each of you to face those fears this week and get out there and do something extraordinary! Just one thing. What are you afraid of? Failure? If you fail, at least you tried. Don't let the day go by without facing the challenge. It's that important and you can and you're worth it:)

Sensational Sunday - Day 7

So the pics are all out of order today. This is dinner. A grilled chicken breast over spaghetti squash with turkey meat marinara and roasted brussel sprouts with purple onions.

Key Lime Pie with coconut and raspberry drizzle.

This is mine and Michelle's before pic. When I leave here on my birthday, I am going to spend the night with her in Vegas where she lives. We will post the after pic then.

Our chiropractor, so far I've been lucky and haven't had to visit him.

Turkey sausage, eggs, and whole wheat waffle with raspberry reduction. Best breakfast we have had yet!

Didn't take a pic of the lunch. It was a string cheese, green apple, carrots and cukes, pita, and the hummus. Really good. I ate it on my bed while my new roomie Julie unpacked.

Sunday has been a wonderful day of rest and relaxation. We woke up at 5:45 and couldn't go back to sleep. I grabbed some clothes and headed over to weigh. Drum roll please...5.5 lbs for the week!!! I was happy with it.

The sunrise was beautiful. Red sky was amazing, bad weather on the way. Right now it's 2:30 pm and still no rain, but 40 mph winds and the red sand has blown into the pool making it look like the Red Sea! Chatted with a few people, Steve and the boys, my mom, people at church, and my friend Crystal. Started missing everyone so I did what I had to do...laundry. You have to wash your hiking shoes over the weekend here so you get the red sand out. Got to meet some of the newbies and help them to not be so nervous (one of my Sunday goals thank you Sharon).

Talked to Chef Cameron as Julie was getting checked in and supper will be chicken with a marinara sauce over spaghetti squash with brussel sprouts. Chef Cameron Payne is on Facebook. You can go on his fan page and like him. There are recipes of the food I'm eating on his page. They also have two cookbooks here. If you want to know how to order them, message me.

Dinner was good. The new guests were all there. It seemed strange after eating with the same people for a whole week to walk into the same dining room and it look so different. It was good to hear where they were from and how they were feeling. I loved hearing advice from stay over guests too. They are so confident and radiate life that they didn't have last week. We are all rested up and ready for the week.

It's almost Monday. Set your goals, look sharp, stay focused. What are you waiting on. It's your life!!!

Wanted to let you know. If you like what you see on my blog and think you might be interested in coming out they have a deal. You can mention my name when you book your reservation and you get $100 off your stay. In return I get $100 towards my next stay. It's a win - win!! You can go online to http://www.biggestloserresort.com/ to read all about Fitness Ridge Utah or Malibu.

Off to bed...5:15 am comes early!

Day 6 - SATURDAY!!!!

Is that a carmel double espresso latte...Of course not you silly goose, it's PERO barley drink! Umm Umm;)

Choc covered banana was da bomb!

Here it is guys...enchilada night. I am happy, happy, happy!

Julieann taking a snooze while I blogged.

I made it! Saturday came and went. I enjoyed the whole day. Went on a super easy hike, and took two stretch classes cause I could and I'm worth it!!! Woo Hoo!!! After lunch I hung out with friends then headed out to the pool to enjoy the weather by the cabana and catch up on my blogging. Some of my friends will be leaving tomorrow and I'm very sad. My roomie is one of them. Nancy in reservations told me that if I rested tomorrow, I would see a huge difference in my stamina and strength. We are all having work out withdrawls now. Feels great to have a rest though. The weeks are really hard.

So the food board was awesome. I mean who doesn't like ENCHILADAS!!! I had the eggs and toast again for breakfast and substituted a tuna sandwich on a bagel thin for lunch. Enchiladas were awesome but when my table ordered some sour cream the girl just laughed at us LOL! I haven't been hungry but maybe two times this week and thats saying a lot. The food is so filling and you are so busy you don't have time to think about it.

Sandy and I decided to just hang out here tonight after dinner. They took a van to the bowling alley and had a blast. Frances didn't go and she has a private room so she came down for a party in our room. We got our pic CD and movie DVD of the weeks events. It was so cool. They did a Star Wars theme for the music and videos. I will cherish it.

Chelsea, my hiking and accountability partner, rolled her ankle Thursday and had to do pool on Friday. She's feeling better so we are going to try to get on the same van to hike together this week. She's here with her mom from Canada and they are so much fun.

Well the day is over, and I feel good. Decided I would weigh tomorrow, since I know you are all holding your breath. Wish me luck and keep those comments coming. Love you guys so much whether I know you or not.

Day 5 - Friday!!!

Those mountains just keep on getting bigger! We are in Third Ravine hike here. I took the picture in the ravine and we hiked to the top of the mountain in the middle!!! YES WE DID!

Here's my van girls. My room mate Sandy is on the right. She 65 and ex Navy. What a firecracker:)

Beautiful rock formations.

Our guide Anthony took Chelsea and I (brave souls) up to Bat Cave and we hiked all the way through it.

Here we are in Bat Cave on a boulder, that we climbed of course.

Lots of boulders...

More boulders and a great view from the top.

The hike back is great. You walk along a rim with a canyon on each side of you. I'm guessing we are at about 4,000 ft. This is Anthony our lead guide for the day. Love all the guides.


So you had to pull yourself up to get up over the rock, ok just kidding, I'm not there yet.
The coveted menu board, we rush in every morning to see what's on the menu.
Best breakfast this week. Fresh fruit, eggs, turkey bacon, and french toast with a raspberry drizzle.Roasted Red Pepper soup!! Awesome and only 54 calories.
Oriental chicken salad with orange slices and a peanut satay dressing. Served with chopsticks of course. This is Reg's salad cause I forgot to photography mine and ate half of it before I remembered LOL!Friday night Tour of Italy...well, almost! Turkey meatballs, parma cheese, and lettuce with steamed carrots. We also had a totally wonderful choc. and vanilla pudding parfait with fresh strawberries and blueberrys on top. Deleted the pic by accident though.

Wow - Friday! It seems like I've been here forever and time has flown by as well. Can that happen? It's actually Saturday now since instead of blogging last night I colored my hair. Here's the best part, since we only work out half a day on Saturday I'm typing this by the cabana at the pool on a soft and cozy wicker sectional while Julieann takes a little snoze next to me. Reg is floating in the pool and several other people are hanging out on the lounge chairs working on their tans. The intoxicating smell of suntan lotion mixed with laundry detergent fills the air as we wash our stinky clothes. Oh and its 87 degrees and breezy with no humidity. Life is hard.

So back to Friday. Our hike today was Third Ravine. I should have suspected it would be hard when Paige one of the trainers (with the body of an Iron Man) said, "Oh, that's my favorite hike." I can't tell you how hard this hike was. Monday killed me because I was new to it, but now that I'm used to hiking every day, Third Ravine still worked my muscles til they screamed. The great thing is, everybody finishes the hikes. You may think you can't go on until you look over and see your girlfriend hoofin it and you know you can do it too. Anthony was our guide and he was so great. Chelsea fell behind and in trying to catch up got out of breath and was gasping for air - hey, air is wimpy here! So Anthony took her to the front of the pack and got her breathing down and told her, "So now your going to lead us." I got tears in my eyes. He put her right where she needed to be. When you are up front your whole perspective and attitude changes. You feel more relaxed and comfortable. She and I ended up being the only takers for Bat Cave which went farther and higher than the trail and Anthony gave us the grand tour. He said we were getting our money's worth with him:) The best thing I got from the whole day was something he said. "We are the ones who set up boundries in our lives." Think about that. We say in our minds we can't do it and then we start to believe it. We may be successful in our everyday lives, but there's something we just can't overcome. What walls have we set up for ourselves? What lies has our brain told us? Don't believe the lies. What ever it is, you can do it. Push yourself, find the time, do it for you. Why? OK everyone all together, "Because we CAN and we are WORTH IT!"

I have some great girlfriends here. There are pics tomorrow of us eating at the table together. There's like 15 of us that sit together and for the most part we will all be here next week. Except for Elizabeth, LOVE YOU ELIZABETH! Shout out to ya! Missin you already. I have had so much activity on my blog from people on the Biggest Loser Fitness Ridge Alumni page. They are people who have either been here before or are coming back soon or coming for the first time. I met several people who will be here while I'm here. Looking forward to meeting you guys! Actually I met my room mate on there who will be here next week. Going to miss my Sandy like everything, but looking so forward to meeting Julie face to face.

Some of you have been asking my about the meal plan and the exercise schedule. We do have a few choices. They fix a certain thing for each meal, but if you don't want that they have about 5 other options. They fix for vegatarians, vegans, people with allergies, they accomodate everyone here. The workouts run on a rotation most of the week. For the first week you have to do lectures too then after that they are optional. If you really like something though, like Zumba, you can go to two Zumbas and one Circuit training, and skip the pool. They do take attendance and if you don't show up for class they come looking for you! Looking forward to Saturday and all that time off.