Bye Bye Crohns disease

Yeap, it's true...I saw Dr. Chande this morning and the news was HUGE. I am in remission from Crohns disease. White blood cells perfect, colonoscopy perfect and biopsies perfect. No more Remicade. When I asked how could this happen, they didn't know but are hoping that the Remicade worked. They still label me as "high risk" because I have been hospitalized for the Crohns so I have to have a yearly colonoscopy - ok - no probs as long as I do not have to have any infusions, any more meds or poking and prodding - amazing news eh!!!

I wonder what kind of link my healthier lifestyle will play in this amazing discovery. It must as having fresh fruit and veggies, no caffeine or alcohol and limited red meat must help the health of your colon - don't you think?

I think all the water and exercise has to help too - now if I can keep the stress down and the sleep up - it should all be good.

Stay tuned.

There's no place like...the gym

Home for one week and I can not believe that I have actually stuck to a plan, ate well and exercised.

I went back to work on Tuesday and biked home on Thursday - about 10 kms and did it in 45 minutes but really slowly as finding a safe route without cars cursing at you will be rough - but I plan on continuing - walking will take more than 2 hours so the biking will be awesome.

Megan and I also hit the ski hill with the kids yesterday and burned over 500 calories in 1 1/2 hours going up and down the hills - I even carried 7 year old Emma up once to see if I could get my heart rate up - I did - 180!!!

I have also walked to the grocery store - Lennie drove up and I met him - took no time at all - kind of embarrassing to think of all the gas and laziness spent getting there in the past.

I got an exercise ball from Rainer at work but my principal does not think that I should sit on it in my office - doesn't think I should have parent meetings with it - oh well, will bring home and sit on it here and do more exercises anyways.

Food has been great. Made many recipes from the cookbook. Right away made the cereal mix and have it ready to go at all times - had to drive to Port Huron to find Post Grape Nuts but stocked up for desserts. Also made turkey enchiladas - amazing and so filling - was planning on eating have the casserole dish but had to settle for one scoop - it's a miracle because in the past I would have stuffed myself with a second helping. Also made the breakfast smoothie - blueberry, strawberry and banana with the tofu - yeap, I am eating the tofu!!! I have looked high and low for the Mori-Nu pudding mix to make the desserts but can not locate anyway so I checked the Internet and found the Mori-Nu website. They do not ship to Canada but several other health food stores do so after some calls, price checking and searching, I found a place in Michigan that will ship anyway in Canada for $10.99 - yahoo - http://www.theBetterHealthStore.com. I ordered 12 of chocolate, vanilla and the lemon - can hardly wait for it to get here for the parfait and key lime pie.

I have gone out to eat this week. Had lunch with Deb and Heather and ordered the chicken salad on whole wheat - came with a fruit salad and got water to drink. Lennie and I went for dinner in Port Huron when we were shopping for the Tofu products and I ordered the fajitas - no cheese or sour cream and they were delicious - probably ate 1 too many - know for next time - ordered water to drink too. Still no alcohol, caffeine or dairy oh... or red meat - my system is sooooo happy.

I weighed myself this morning for the first time on my scale and it says 100 kg. That is 22o pounds - amazing - this works and I can work so watch out 199!!!

Stay tuned as I go back to school with all the teachers next week to see if stress contributes to me falling off the wagon - thanks for the support and please continue to keep me accountable!

And the work begins at home

Arrived home at 3:15 after a very, very long day. Lennie picked me up at the shuttle stop and we came home and watched the DVD of FR and looked at pictures. I was thrilled to find a beautiful framed picture that I took that Lennie and Scotty got for me - it will be hung in my office tomorrow to remind me of the great times at FR.

I got up at 11:30 and put my watch on to track my calories burn in a typical day - needless to say, very few. So, after a visit with mom and dad, I walked - yeap walked the grocery store to start finding some products to cook with - found the Mori-Nu tofu but no pudding for the delicious parfaits - I have e-mailed Mori-Nu in California to ask how I can get the pudding here in Canada. I then walked to a 2nd store and home again now burning 1200+ for the day.

Lennie and I made a delicious dinner with chicken and wraps, veggies and hummus as the spread - amazing how yummy things are at home - I even weighed my food and calculated the total calories.

I am off now to make the Kashi mix for our cereal in the morning - found the Almond milk and Lennie got the Kashi bars at Costco - I asked him to switch a lot of the products to whole grain and not just whole wheat - all will help.

Stay tuned for more progress as I head for 199~~~!!!

Day 14 - Sunday, August 23

Here I go home...my day so far has been perfecto - got up at 6:15am to see Shane off. It is a perfect temperature day - cool and humid - the storm last night is continuing this morning and keeping the crazy hot away. I did my weigh out at 7:05 with Marjorie and John (boy was I pleased with 14 pounds) and then ate breakfast with Kent, Lisa and Maria (they are hitting Target today!!)


I have checked out, got my shuttle to Vegas (slept the whole 2 hour trip) and now waiting at gate D36 for the flight to Detroit. It sure smells good here - Cinnabon - yummo - but, totally not interested in sabotaging any of the work I just did. I do love Vegas though.


I have been thinking about how I will answer the question..."Should I go to Fitness Ridge?" My answer to that will be, "I can not make that decision for you." I would love to show the photos and especially the DVDs so that you can check out if it is the place for you. If you love hiking, need a kick start for a new fit life and like a lot of structure then go for it. You will know if you are ready or not.


I will really miss all the people and I continue to feel that the experience was really like fit camp - I want to go back for the same time next year and hope that the same people are there as that is what made it terrific.


I do need to make a few promises to myself though; I will not complain about humidity ever again, I will take better care of my feet, I will run a 10km race, I will walk home from work, I will continue to wear my heart monitor watch to track calories in and calories out, I will not get "all you can eat popcorn" again at the movies, I will ride my bike to the Purvis', I will buy water weights to use in the pool.

I have decided to post to this blog on Sundays to continue my fit battle - stay tuned for updates.

Thank you to everyone for their support, encouragement and thoughts - I couldn't have done it without all of you.

The weigh out results are in!

Ok, so I hiked up crazy rocks, spent 22 hours doing water aerobics, got 4 huge blisters, did not consume any caffeine, sugar, dairy, or red meat. I did cardio, step, kickboxing, dance and stretch classes. I attended every lecture, class, meal, meeting and did every challenge. I NEVER hit the salad bar or ate extra dessert. I flew 1000s of miles and took 2 weeks away from my family. I crushed my big toe, sprained an ankle, turned into a lizard skinned lady,and had trouble sleeping....so what did that give me RESULTS!!!!!

Are you ready to see???


Are you sure???


Here we go???


Weight - 242 - now 228 - that's 14 pounds my friends!
Body Fat -41.8 - now 35.5 - that's getting healthier!
BMI - 35.7 - now 33.6 - getting much healthier!
Chest - 46 - now 44.75 - sorry Lennie
Belly - 46 - now 43.25 - big difference from the side
Hips - 50 - now 48.50
Thighs - 24.5 - now 25 - that's muscle build up my friends!!
Calf - 17.5 -17.5 - don't care as I lost everywhere else :)
Arm - 15.5 - now 14.5 - pump it up!

Total inches lost TONS!!!!!!

Is it worth it to come to Fitness Ridge...YES..don't forget to tell them that I sent you and YOU save $100 - it will change who you are on the outside but really and almost more importantly, it will make you stronger on the inside.

Day 13 - Saturday, August 22

Our schedule today was ...
6:30 - final stop sign hike
9:30am - Breakfast - cereal with fruit
10:15am - water aerobics
11:15am - water aerobics
12:30 pm - Lunch - tomato soup with tuna salad - delicious
4:45pm - DVD and graduation
5:00pm hair appointment - thank god as it is a rat's nest
6:00pm - Dinner - chicken and rice stir fry with sorbet

Remember last Saturday...I did the stop sign route in 1:13 well today I did it in 1:09 yeap that is 1 minute slower than Monday but I had to compare apples to apples. That is fantastic. Burned 1100 calories up to the top of hill. Only 37 people did it this morning as everyone is so pooped. I feel terrific and am excited for the last two classes of our time here.

I had to say goodbye to Sonny this afternoon - he is going to Vegas to meet his girlfriend for the weekend and he has completed his last week here - he lost tons of weight and lots of inches. He helped motivate all of us and was too funny for words - good luck Sonny back in California with your farm business and horses.

Tamera had to leave today too. She was a great roomie - I know I said that she was great because she did not snore but I do not think I could of been paired with anyone better for me. She was very neat and tidy, a great athlete to push us all on, hard worker in and out of the gym, funny and I loved to hear her talk about life in Alabama and being married to a guy from Belgium - all around great person.

Tomorrow Shane leaves :( she and I met within 5 minutes of being here and have done tons together - I am glad she is only 7 hours away in Chicago and I know I will see her again and I hope she will come to Canada to meet Lennie and stay for a weekend of fun - she is studying to be a teacher and she will be amazing.

This place does something to everyone - if you let it - kind of like life rehab in a way - you see what you are capable of, you learn what you need or do not need in your life and they send you on your way to continue growing. (hopefully in and not out)

Tonight's DVD and pictures that Dillon put together are amazing and what a difference from last week. I am so happy I stayed 2 weeks - perfect time.

My hair turned out great - nice and healthy now for school to start.

I am starting to gather a list of things that I love about this place;

• ceiling fans in the rooms
• tons of handouts to take home
• amazing food
• trainers are so positive and helpful
• the spa
• such great service in the dining room
• water everywhere to drink
• the name tag card you carry around your neck for convenience
• horses out back
• cute kitchen staff
• Emily and Kwinten's lectures
• the varied classes you take
• the pool, hot tub and steam room
• the hiking
• the lectures
• the robes
• everyone and I mean everyone knows your name - please stay small FR!

I am just finishing packing and watching a huge storm roll through - I never thought it rained here but we had a wicked storm at dinner and it continues to rain now. I had the chance to sit and hang with Shane, Lisa and Maria tonight before finishing my laundry. I am very sad to be leaving and know that I will return fitter, stronger and able to beat Stop Sign in under 1 hour.

I will be back tomorrow with my final measurements...should be good...don't think that I am totally different by the way - it has only been two weeks but I certainly feel terrific and look forward to seeing Lennie and the Tigster.

Day 12 - Friday, August 21

Our schedule today was ...

7:00 - gym - need to burn 1000 calories on my own before breakfast - really tough to do

9:30am - Breakfast - sopes (corn/egg thing) with fruit

10:15am - lecture on taking FR home

11:15am - water aerobics

12:30 pm - Lunch - French onion soup with stuff baked potato - could NOT eat it all

1:45 - Open gym

2:30pm - Circuit training

3:30pm - Circuit training

4:30pm - Water Aerobics

5:30 pm - Dinner - BBQ chicken sammie with Magic Brownie.

Well, I am pooped! I had to get up today and try to burn 1000 calories on my own in the gym before breakfast - boring - I tried on the treadmill, step master, elliptical, hiking out back and still on about 750 calories burned. I will have to do classes at home for sure in order to get the calories up.

Emily, their dietitian spoke today again about healthy choices at home - she truly is a wealth of knowledge and a great resource. She continues to say remember 'calories in and calories out' this should be our focus. She also gave us an awesome page of websites to check out and that will help at home. Also, she gave us several week food lists with calorie counts to help us right away. I really like the mantra today; knowledge+motivation+a plan = change - cool eh.

This afternoon I felt terrific after a little lie down and did two circuit trainings in a row - tomorrow everyone who is leaving is getting weighed out - they are all nervous. My weigh out is Sunday morning at 7:05 - will post results for sure. Tomorrow I meet with John my trainer to talk about my exercise plan at home.

We are all excited for tomorrow morning - our last "stop sign" hike - I am aiming for 1:05 but am worried as I am so tired from the tough week. Wish me luck.

Oh, tonight's dinner was amazing -they BBQ chicken and pulled it for a sandwich which as so delicious and then a brownie - yep - a brownie - everyone was so happy. I am investing in a ice cream scoop as I now know that the correct measurement for all food is one scoop - one scoop of rice, chicken, soup etc. is a very healthy amount - now I know!

Day 11 - Thurs, August 20

Ok, I take it back. Yesterday, I thought the pool was the best part of FR, well, after today's hike, I now believe it is the hiking. I went with the intermediate group to something called "Camel Back". Check out the pictures and the VIDEO!!! Last week's DVD showed these people running in this circle thing in the rocks and I said to myself, I will get strong enough to do that. Well, this morning, I did and you have to watch to see us running in this thing called the vortex - we called it the toilet bowl. But that wasn't even the best part. I then got my ass up "camel back" and then Sonny and Tamera found me from their more advanced hike and dragged me up "hunch back".

There is no way that I ever ever ever would of thought that I could do any of this or even think that I could climb - I remember not even climbing the apple tree in our backyard as a kid because I was too chicken. I have never even gone up the rock face at Fleetway 40 (local bowling alley) because I was too chicken - well not any more I tell you!!!!! Thank you FR!

Our schedule today was a busy one..

6:15am - Meet for hike

6:30am - Leave for hike

9:30am - Breakfast - fruit with scrabbled eggs and a piece of toast

10:15am - Zumba - dance class

11:15am - Gym class - intervals

12:30 pm - Lunch - soup; Southwest corn with a Greek Pita

1:00 - Open gym

1:30 Swim Relay - we lost again and the green team won - they took all 3 challenges

2:30pm - Ball Works

3:30pm - Treading - remember the one where you go to your max for 5 minutes then rest for 5, max for 4 then rest for 4 etc. - tough one today

4:30pm - Stretch class

5:30 pm - Dinner - stuff chicken with orange cream cake

Day 10 - Wed, August 19

Our schedule today was a busy one...

6:15am - Meet for hike
6:30am - Leave for hike
9:30am - Breakfast - fruit parfait
10:15am - Open Gym
11:15am - Pool
12:30 pm - Lunch - parsnip soup and Hawaiian pizza
1:15 - Open gym (this was not mandatory so I had a nap - way overdue)
2:30pm - Mountain
3:30pm - Pool
4:30pm - Kick Boxing
5:30 pm - Dinner - Salmon fillets with wasabi potatoes and berry cake (I ate it and kind of liked it)
7:00 - obstacle course

Hike today was terrific as a whole bunch of us did the west canyon route and hustled our way to the end - we also beat our last week's time - I ran (ok shuffled) the last mile and finished with 1100 calories burned before breakfast.

Wednesday is rough - half way through the week and a lot of classes today along with the big challenge at night - Target trip was at the same time so I had to make the big sacrifice but the competition was awesome. The staff (who rock by the way) set up a course at the local park;run through hopes, under a bar, score a soccer goal, jump rope 10 times, score a basket, hit a tennis ball over the net 3 times and then run through several cones - we lost again but did really well as our team was only made of 7 girls tonight - the green team won again - arggg - we will win tomorrow in the pool at the challenge.

I noticed today that people were a little tired and crabby - it be expected when your body is hurt'n - you should see my feet - ouch. Also, our buddy Kent from Colorado was really sad and missing his kids - he is here for 6 weeks - he has lost 20 pounds already in a couple of weeks and looks great.

Not sure if you have seen it in the news but a hiker went missing in Snow Canyon park Sunday night. (he was not a guest at FR but a local person) ((tons of people hike where we go in the morning)). We have all been worried about him as Monday morning during our hike up to "Stop Sign" because helicopters and searchers were along our route, well we found out last night that he was found, alive, hurt but alive. You must check out this link to see the dramatic helicopter rescue - it will also give you an idea of how amazing these rocks are. http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=7587144

I wanted to tell you my favourite part of FR. It was a hard decision because the people truly make it the place it is but so does the scenery, the food, the gyms, the fun but for me...it is the pool. Being someone who has always loved to swim, was a life guard, swimmer in high school and pool owner; for that part of the day I can always imagine myself at home with the Purvis' lounging with the kids - ok once the classes start that dream goes away because they kick your ass into shape - but it is so nice, warm, big and challenging.

Day 9 - Tuesday, August 18

Our schedule today was a busy one...

6:15am - Meet for hike
6:30am - Leave for hike
9:30am - Breakfast - bowl of mixed fruit and muesli
10:15am - Open Gym
11:15am - Yoga
12:15 pm - Lunch - turkey sandwich and a bowl of minestrone
1:00 - Open gym - this is getting tough as last week we got to rest during lectures
1:30 - Calorie Challenge
2:30pm - Pool
3:30pm - Cardio Circuit
4:30pm - Total Toning
5:30 pm - Dinner - Enchiladas and chocolate covered strawberries

Today I did an intermediate hike with our guides; Jeff, Don and Michelle. It was called ChuckWalla. I really liked how scenic it was but it was not too much climbing just a lot of trail walking. We all felt great about our hikes today because at breakfast we had burned about 1100 calories so we really pushed hard at open gym.

We had our first Battle of the Bulge competition after lunch - Calorie Challenge. We were given 5 pictures of food and had to guess the number of calories. Our team worked hard together but did not win the challenge - the green team won. It was really fun and we are really looking forward to the obstacle course tomorrow night. This is a picture my roomie Tamera, Shane and my bud Lisa from Lexington. We all got onto team blue together so it makes it even more fun. As you can also see, we all look fabulous in blue :)

Today was really hard. Without the rest time after breakfast we have to go to open gym where our butts are kicked into shape in a cardio circuit - I did not feel well after todays morning and needed to lie down after lunch - my blood sugar was a little too low (normal thing for me when I am working hard) and I just needed a 20 minute rest - I felt awesome after lying down and kicked butt in the activities this afternoon - burned over 3500 calories again today (Flippe told us that they burned 6000 a day on the Big Loser)((I couldn't imagine how hard that would be!))

They told us that if we have anyone who wants to come here that they save $100 off their trip if they tell FR that I was here - so go for it and save $100.

Everyone is starting to think about going home and how they will transfer their learn knowledge back to "real life". My thing will be trying to figure out how to burn a lot of calories in a day - I think I might need to walk home from work each day - get Lennie to drop me off and walk the way back - it is pretty close to what I do each morning here and think it might work into my schedule.

I haven't had a spa treatment yet and thought about getting a pedicure but I think I will get a hair treatment and trim so I look fabulous when I get home - I have it scheduled for Saturday night - most of my buds are leaving Saturday so it will keep me busy and all the working out is done Saturday at noon.

I am really looking forward to Sunday morning as they do your measurements!!! I am excited to see the results - today we all were kind of a little depressed about our progress as we had toning and still looked in the mirror and saw rolls!! Sonny our bud from California reminded us that this is only the start of a battle but we now have the armour!

Day 8 - Monday, August 17

I have to start by telling you about today's hike. Remember a week ago..I was totally freaking out about the big 8.6 mile hike up to "stop sign". Remember I did 1:17...well as you know on Saturday we did it again and I got 1:13 well just with 1 day's rest and 1 week here...today...I did it in 1:08..yep that is right 1:08 - my goodness. I was 2 minutes ahead of my time at the turn; 41 minutes so I knew that I was doing well but I did not feel as strong or have my bud Rauni behind me pushing me. But, my buddy Mike was right there and my goal was to beat him - did I mention that he is a 63 year old guy - so I needed to beat him as I was starting to feel like a slug behind him each time.

I decide to run past him at the turn and I knew that things were great near the top because my 68 minute podcast that I listen to on the Ipod was still going and it was still going as I ran across the finish line - I also took a funnier picture at the stop sign this time, now that I know it goes on the DVD. What do you think it will be next Saturday?? Can I break the 1 hour mark?? Let's aim for under 1:05.

6:15am - Meet for hike
6:30am - Leave for hike
9:30am - Breakfast - bowl of mixed fruit and an egg mcmuffin
10:15am - Open Gym (this is where we get to chose what we want to do for 45 minutes - 12 of us are really pushing each other this week so we all did cardio circuit
11:15am - Stretch class
12:15 pm - Lunch - broccoli spinach soup with tacos
1:45 pm - Open gym
2:30pm Step-n-Pump
3:30pm - Water Aerobics
4:30pm - Cardio Circuit
5:30 pm - Dinner - Baked chicken with cobbler
6:15 Tai Chi

The watch that I bought has completed transformed my day. I wear a band around my chest that is a heart monitor that sends a message to my watch showing my heart rate. I am then able to see that I am not dying on the hikes and that I am capable of doing a lot more. What I love it that it tells you your accumulative calories burned throughout the day - I was already at 2100 at 1:30pm so if I am consuming 1200 calories for the day - I have already burned those off and working on burning the fat. The mantra that they continue to teach here is "Calories in vs. Calories out"

Remember when I called this fat camp - I really want to apologize and take that statement back - this is so much more - it really is fitness camp and their focus is on you getting fit - I am so happy that I learned that here as I want people to know that getting fit is so much better than getting thin.

Someone asked if I see any difference in my body yet - I can tell that I have lost some weight but they say you lose a lot of body fat than anything and that would make me so much happier as that means that I am so much healthier.

They put us on our Battle of the Bulge teams today - I am on blue team. I am with most of the "stay overs" and that is terrific as we get to rotate through the classes together too.

Forgot to tell you another cool thing they do here - remember how neat it was to get the robe when you arrive - well, when you complete your hikes and get into the vans, they hand you a towel that was wet and then frozen - love the cold towel after the hike - they have thought of everything!

Day 7 - Sunday, August 16

Last night was amazing. Seeing Footloose in the middle of a canyon mountain at an outdoor amphitheatre was too cool. There were bats flying all around throughout the performance and they even lit fireworks at the end - one caught the canyon floor on fire and we all freaked out but the crew got out there fast and got them out but I did have a moment or two of sheer panic about getting up the stairs and out. The show was Broadway quality and then even had a real horse, goats, car, motorcycle and even tractors that they crashed making the bad guy land in a real lake - you had to be there.

Thank goodness that we had today off - it was a bitter sweet day as our buds who have finished their weeks left and everyone was sad to go but we were so happy to be staying. I was able to sit by the pool for a couple of hours, get Cody in the pro shop to hook me up with my heart rate monitor watch (Polar FT 40F coolest thing ever -tells you your heart rate all the time so you know when you need to get it higher to be burning plus, it keeps track of your calories burned and your workouts. You wear a watch and a chest band that sends a signal to the watch of your heart rate. Cody has set me up for sure!!! Tamera, Sonny and I also hit Target today and all the rookies arrived - boy are they in for a shock!.

Breakfast today consisted of a wonderful waffle with fruit. Lunch was provided for all the guests that are "stay overs" and it was amazing - a tuna sandwich, pea soup, veggies and fruit. Dinner was pasta with chocolate pie.

Tonight we were all given the rules for the Battle of the Bulge competition - long story short - in order to participate and win the cash prizes you have to attend all the meals, hikes, classes and LECTURES again. Well, the "stay overs" do not want to attend the lectures again as they are the same as this week. During that time they offer open gym which means you chose an activity to do; anything you wish. So, we all decided to not compete and to chose to burn calories instead of sitting through the lectures but we will be competing in the team competitions on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

Tomorrow we are assigned our teams and the competitions announced. So far we know there is a pool game, calorie counting game and obstacle course off site activity - sounds like fun. They reduce the prize money too so we really didn't think it was necessary to redo our week 1 in order to win $500 or $250. My thinking was that I need to learn to chose to be active when there is free time - this week will teach me that and that is the most important skill that I want to take away from here. Plus, I am now competing against myself to beat my "stop sign" time.

Will post the new week schedule tomorrow and let you know my new "stop sign" time.

Cheers

Day 6 - Sat, August 15

Our schedule today was as follows:

6:15am - Meet for hike
6:30am - Leave for hike
9:30am - Breakfast - bowl of mixed fruit, English muffin with jam, and a banana smoothie
10:15am - Circuit training
11:15am - Water Aerobics
12:30pm - Lunch - Thai pumpkin soup with tilapia tacos
1:30pm - Coyote Gulch trip
4:45pm - Slide show and Graduation
5:30 pm - Dinner - falafel and milk and cookies
8:30pm Footloose at the canyon theatre.

Well, my day didn't start off well - no sleep at all (just so you know, no one is sleeping so it is not me). I was quite pooped from a week of workouts and such sore feet. I decided today that I would run for the first 1 1/2 miles and then chug the rest of the way up the incline. I had the same exact time at the turn 43 minutes, so that meant I had 27 minutes to get to the stop sign in order to hit 1:10. I started to feel so strong and great at the end that I ran the last 1/2 mile and got a time of 1:13 that is 4 minutes off my time or really 1 minute faster miles - awesome eh!!! Found out today that the top of mountain is 4150 feet about sea level - that is high right. Monday we do it again so I will see if a day of rest will get me to 1:10
You will be surprise to hear that I did eat the salmon burger last night and the fish tacos today at lunch - I hate fish but have continued to stick to their plan. Notice the nice robe I am wearing..when you check in, everyone gets a robe to wear around and since I have water aerobics before lunch some of us wear them to lunch. Notice the nice raccoon eyes too...you must have glasses on all the time as it is so bright.

I forgot to mention something cool...a couple of days ago they asked if we would like to sign a waiver to allow photos and videos taken of us for new promo stuff here at FR. I signed it and of course the photographer and videographer have been all over campus. Problem is... I always look like crap...as someone who sweats a lot and is wearing clothes so big that I wondering how yucky I will look in some sort of flyer for FR - maybe not the best idea.

Had a great afternoon at the artisan village - tons of pottery, jewelery and photography for sale. Bought my parents a cool piece of pottery for displaying flowers - something I have not seen before so I think they will like that.

Tonight was graduation. All of the guest who have completed their stay have a moment to speak about their time here, they show a slide show of all the photos and video taken this week by the staff (we all got a CD and DVD for free to bring home). Plus, if you completed everything; all hikes, lectures and classes you get a gift - it depends on your # of weeks here but I earned a shirt this week. Next week if I do not miss anything I get a bag - 3 weeks is a jacket (when I come back you get to continue where you left off - 4 weeks is a $65 gift certificate.

Tomorrow is the day of rest, they do not want you to do anything but relax so we will be lounging by the pool and playing games for sure.

Off to see the musical Footloose tonight so need to get ready.

z

Day 5 - Friday, August 14

Our schedule today was as follows:

6:15am - Meet for hike
6:30am - Leave for hike
9:30am - Breakfast - bowl of mixed fruit and a fritatta
10:15am - Preparing for week 2 of FR
11:15am - Water Aerobics
12:45 pm - Lunch - chicken noodle soup with sloppy joes
1:15 pm - Emotional Eating WOW - learned about moving into intuitive eating - no sadness or fear here - living in the moment
2:30pm - Living Drums - try pounding on an exercise ball for 45 minutes while jumping around - a RIOT!
3:30pm - Circuit Training- 30 machines 2 minutes each - KILLER
4:30pm - Cardio Disco Jam - are you kidding me - at the end of the week - dancing KILLER!
5:45 pm - Dinner - Salmon burger with banana cake

Today has been the best day. Our hike, classes and lectures have all been very moving, inspiring, fun and so helpful. I ate the damn salmon even though I hate it - my buddy Sonny from California said I had to eat it or I didn't get my cake - I sucked it up for dessert.

My buddies Rauni and Kara again signed me up for the next level of hiking. We moved to the Intermediate level and hiked the 'White Rocks" route - 3 miles to see piano rock and back across and down - so tough but again so beautiful. I am so glad they signed me up or I would just be walking that damn Stop Sign route everyday. Speaking of that route - tomorrow we do it again to see if we have improved our time - I am aiming for 1:10 which is 7 minutes off my time - I know that I can improve.

Some people have been asking how I have been feeling regarding Crohns stuff - well I am happy to report that feel terrific - with so much fibre, no caffeine, no sugar, no milk and tons of whole grains and exercise my system is so happy - it is quite the joke here about people's "systems" working so well.

It is amazing that only after 5 days of the program how strong everyone feels - this is where the boot camp part really works. They push you and you follow them past what you think you were capable of - it is pretty emotional to see and feel when you think - there is no way I can do another mile, class or activity and you do it. It also makes you think how wimpy I have been back home thinking, I can not walk around the track another time, go to the gym today or even take a walk as I am so tired - oh yes I can now!!!

Did I mention how dry it is here. When I was thinking of all the stuff that I was worried about - blisters, dehydration, chaffing, headaches from no coffee, sugar, etc. It is the dryness that is killing me - bleeding noses, yucky skin and so thirsty all the time - I have gone through all my moisturizers and Kleenexes that I can get my hands on.

Tomorrow I have signed up for an afternoon trip to Coyote Gulch; an artisan community about3 miles away where we can stroll shops and booths to see local artists at work. At night, I am going to see Footloose at Tuacahn theatre - which is an outdoor theatre built into the side of a mountain - a couple of the kids from So You Think You Can Dance are starring in it. Check out the virtual tour at http://www.tuacahn.org/virtualtour.html#

It was great talking to Lennie last night - Lennie is not too lonesome but golfing and hanging with the Purvis'/Dimitroffs/mom & dad so that make me feel good that he and the Tiggster are ok.

Think of me tomorrow morning at 6:45 (8:45am) your time as I get up to the top of Snow Canyon in a faster time.

Cheers.

Day 4 - Thurs, August 13

Our schedule today was as follows:
6:15am - Meet for hike
6:30am - Leave for hike
9:30am - Breakfast - bowl of mixed fruit and French Toast
10:15am - Workshop on understanding your body's anatomy
11:15am - Water Aerobics
12:45 pm - Lunch - tomato basil soup with a BLT - I was totally full and almost didn't finish it
1:15 pm - Lecture on Breaking Barriers
2:30pm - Body Toning with the Ball
3:30pm - Treading - intervals again - killer work out
4:30pm - Stretching
5:45 pm - Dinner - Stuffed pepper with Key Lime pie
6:15pm - Lecture on understanding the 4 workout regimes
7:00pm - Local jewelery artist display (bought a pair of beautiful earrings)

Before I talk about today's hike I have to tell you about this crazy 45 minute class today called Treading. You come to the class and pick a machine - treadmill, bike or elliptical. You have a 2 minute warm up and then for 5 minutes you have to put it to max and giver! Then you get a 5 minute recovery, then you giver for 4 minutes with a 4 minute recovery, then 3 minutes...etc. They want to get your heart rate up as high as possible and get you working at your max. I have never sweated so much in my entire life and for the first time in a long time I actually felt sick - but that is ok, it was amazing. The problem is that I have already hiked, swam, and body toned so my max heart rate only hit 167 - they really wanted it at 180 - we were all so proud of completing the class.

Ok, today's hike was amazing. Since I have done the "Stop Sign" route and yesterday I moved up 1 level to 101 which was the "West Canyon" route, today my buds Rauni and Kara from Vancouver told me to move up 1 more level and do "3rd Ravine" well turned out to be the best climb ever. We had Cody from Utah as our guide and he is awesome and kicked our asses for 5.5 miles up and around Red Mountain. I have a video below to show up at the top on "teeter totter" rock which was a great accomplishment for the 3 of us. I got great photos along the way too of this unbelievable ravine, caves and rocks that we climbed up and through.


I was so happy to have hit Target last night for more band-aids, sunscreen and lotion - it is so hot and dry here. The area is called a high desert for a reason - it is high and hot.

Did I mention there are 5 other Canadians here and 1 right from London who is also a teacher at Saunders - small world eh?

Another thing that I really like here is their pro shop. It has everything you need and you do not need money right away. They charge whatever you take to your account so you can grab and go like I did the first couple of days with band-aids.

I am happy to report that I finally slept last night - 10:00pm till 4:15am that is pretty good. Our alarm goes off at 5:45 anyways so I just puttered around till the alarm.

Tonight we are all doing laundry and then to bed early as we are moving up another level in hike and it has been a long week.

Photos so far

Here is one of the residences. It holds 40 people and there are currently 2 on campus - some people stay off campus and participate in the program - I am glad that I stay here to easily moved from event to event and activity to activity.

Here is my roomie Tamara from Iowa but she was born in Alabama and has a wicked accent. She is a great athlete and does all the hard hikes - good news is she does not snore.




Here I am with our buds Flippe and Sione from the Biggest Loser season 6. They called me their Canadian cousin because as you can see, I have gotten quite tanned from being in the pool a million times for water aerobics - they were so much fun

Here is part of lunch today - yummy pizza!!









Check out this view from the front of the building - these cliffs are huge, red, and look like the volcanic rock that people put in their flower beds.

Here is my buddy Shane from Chicago - she is the one who smuggled in her coffee maker - she thinks really positively and makes us all feel great about our success.

Day 3 - Wed, August 12

Our schedule today was as follows:

6:15am - Meet for hike
6:30am - Leave for hike
9:30am - Breakfast - bowl of mixed fruit and a bowl of museli with more fruit - delicious
10:15am - Free time - thank god as my feet needed a rest and I met with the "blister guru".
11:15am - Water Aerobics
12:45 pm - Lunch - Pizza with mushroom soup
1:15 pm - Lecture on Breaking Barriers
2:30pm - Mountain climb class- really just interval training
3:30pm - Kickboxing
4:30pm - Water aerobics
5:45 pm - Dinner - taco salad with fruit mousse parfait
6:15pm - Lecture on grocery shopping
7:00pm - Target trip - yahoo off campus.

Well, I had the name of the place wrong it is called Snow Canyon state park, named for the Snow family who donated the land to the area during the pioneer times.

Ok, so you are dying to hear about my hike. I chose the "West Canyon" route today. It is 3.9 miles out and then you turn around and come back 3.9 miles. No vans to pick you up like the "Stop Sign" route that is along the park road. This was my first trip into the land. The whole time I was laughing because I was expecting to see a stage coach come flying down the road or when I looked up at the cliffs, I was looking for Tom Cruise to be hanging by one arm like in Mission Impossible 1. Anyways - I MADE IT TO THE END. I ran and walked with this great guide name Gretchen from Boston who pushed to get to the end of the ravine and then we flew back to get to the pit stop by 9:00. You only have a 2 hour time frame so I had to make it to the end of the canyon in 1 hour in order to be able turn around and come back in time for the vans. I lost my watch on the route but some people after us found it - thank goodness or I would have had to buy a new one at Target tonight :). Anyways, my pedometer read 1300 calories burned just on the hike and as you can see we had a busy day after that.

I wanted to share another thing that I really like about FR - there is no vanity. Everyone is working out all day so no one has time for hair, makeup, jewelery. Everyone is focused on learning and losing and I love the no fuss stuff - being a tomboy I totally fit in with that mentality. Again, it reminds me of going to camp and wearing t-shirts and shorts all day long and then changing to a new outfit the next day.

A yucky thing that is happening though is that I have not slept yet - I know I know how can that be with being so physically tired? Well, my mind is racing a million miles an hour thinking of how I will use all this knowledge at home or how I will do on the hike tomorrow - I am hoping tonight I settle down and sleep more than a couple of hours at a time.

Today everyone is really pooped, has really sore feet but starting to see results - we had a lot of classes today that we high intensity so at dinner everyone was really quiet. Burned 2300+ calories - the kicking boxing was really intense and we all worked so hard in the mountain class - it is intervals on any machine in the gym - you go up 15 clicks on your machine for 3 minutes each - sounds easy eh?? NOT - try being on the bike (because I have 4 blisters now) and sitting for 45 minutes pedalling your ass off - tiring!

I will be posting so great photos later when I am back from Target so you can see the food, faces and places that I am talking about.

Thanks for everyone's support - I am having the best time - FITNESS BOOTCAMP RULES

PS Happy Birthday to my brother Johnny who turns 42 today - enjoy your day bro!

Day 2 - Tuesday, August 11

Our schedule today was as follows:

6:15am - Meet for hike
6:30am - Leave for hike
9:30am - Breakfast - bowl of mixed fruit and a huge pineapple muffin or bowl of cereal
10:15am - Core Strengthening
11:15am - Water Aerobics (chose this over yoga as I needed to rinse off from the hike)
12:45 pm - Lunch - bowl of vegetable soup and amazing turkey sandwich
1:15 pm - Lecture by the chef Cameron on how to make the recipes of FR
2:30pm - Cardio intervals
3:30pm - Body Toning
4:30pm - Stretch class
5:45 pm - Dinner - baked penne and chocolate covered strawberries
6:15pm - Lecture on food groups - part 2 of yesterday's on portion control
7:00pm - Water volleyball (did not go as I am too tired)

Everyday you sign up for a hike for the morning - they do this so that they can get vans ready and staff ready to accompany everyone to the park. I chose to do the Stop Sign route again knowing I could take a ton of time off from yesterdays stroll up. So I put on some really fast music, took everything but water out of my camel back, ran 2x on the route for 1/4 mile, focused, didn't chat with anyone and plowed my way up to the top again for a time of EXACTLY THE SAME AS YESTERDAY!! I was so mad because I worked so much harder - the guide at the top says that it is normal - the other ladies who climbed with me had the same issues (except for 1) and they all felt that their legs felt like bricks coming up today - who wouldn't when we worked our asses off yesterday.

My bud Rauni from Vancouver got a photo of a rattlesnake today coming down from Stop Sign route - I saw a cottontail rabbit, roadrunner and gekho (you can hear the coyotes in the morning howling from the hills - cool

I am so tired, I believe this is the most tired I have ever been -during stretch class today the leader let us have a 10 minute lay down as no one could really function after another day of working so hard - not to say that it wrong to work us this hard - it is just like camp, you get a schedule, they keep you moving so you don't get sidetracked or sad about being away from home and you fall asleep fast- I just keep feeling like I am at camp - but a really beautiful location and facility with amazing people.

Had some great chats with Sione and Flippe today about their time on the ranch at the Biggest Loser - they are exactly like they were on the show - fun, funny, honest, and really normal. Sione's wife Britnie is here too and she is terrific and working hard at the classes too.

Tomorrow I have signed up for the West Canyon hike - sort of an introduction to the ones in the hills - 3.6 miles one way - so 7.2 total - no problem now that I am use to over 8 miles a day - my pedometer today read over 2500 calories burned - wow.

Oh, the food is terrific. I love the fact that they post the menu for the day and it is served to you by the staff. They are very quick at clearing and bringing your next item and today's lunch was especially amazing. There is always fruit available if you need it and 1 piece extra is counted into the 1200 calories so I have been taking one for the hike and eating it on the way down. There is also a salad bar at the meals so if you need something extra you can make a plate - I have not done that yet as I am trying to stick to the 1200 calories as that is what I would like to try and do at home.

The cooking lecture today by Cameron; their executive chef was terrific. He modelled for us how to make some of the recipes, showed us the products they use and how to find them at home. FR is dairy free so they use not only soy mild but rice and almond too.

It's 7:15pm and I am home to take my first shower yeap - I told you it is like camp - that is why I chose the water aerobic classes (you can pick it or yoga) so that I can get a rinse off from the hike as you moved right from activity to activity with no time grab a shower.

So happy that I got to sign up for a outing tomorrow night - TARGET - yahoo - will pick up more sun screen as Lennie took it all home from Vegas and the sun here is so bright and hot.

Thank you to everyone who is following the blog and has commented - it is fun to share my adventures.

Cheers for now.

z

Day 1 - Monday, August 10

Our schedule today was as follows:

6:15am - Meet for hike
6:30am - Leave for hike
9:30am - Breakfast - scrabbled eggs, whole wheat eggmuffin, turkey bacon and bowl of fruit
10:15am - Lecture on our Resting Metabolic Rates
11:15am - Water Aerobics
12:45 pm - Lunch - chilli with corn bread
1:15 pm - Lecture on understanding caloric burning
2:00pm - Intro to circuit training
2:30pm - Circuit Training
3:30pm - Step aerobics
4:30pm - Water Aerobics
5:45 pm - Dinner - baked chicken, mashed sweet potatoes, asparagus and pineapple cake
6:15pm - Lecture on portion control

Ok, let's talk about the hike. It is called the Stop Sign route because you walk 4.3 miles straight up until you get to the top of Snow Mountain state park and hit a stop sign. 52 people are here this week with 30 people being new - I was not sure how many would make it to the top (if I could do it)

Well, I did it - walked with my Ipod, looked at all the sites, including the place where they filmed Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and made it in 1 hour and 17 minutes. (totally can do it faster but they warned us to pace ourselves)((will be much faster tomorrow)). Not bad but not good either -34 people made it up and the AWESOME news is that I walked all the way back down - 8 others did that, which means I did 8.6 miles of hiking before breakfast. I was crying once I touched the stop sign - they take your picture to remember the event - I was a tad sweaty!!!

But this was just the start. As you can see from our day - we burned well over 2000 calories today doing all of the classes - you have to go too or as they keep attendance and find you if you are not there. I like that - hold me accountable! I can not believe I am able to still be up or alive as I have never done this much in one day EVER and I need to remember that it all starts over again tomorrow!

Cool tips learned today.

1. It takes burning 3500 calories to lose 1 pound
2. Take your weight, divide by 2 and change that # to ounces and that is what you should drink in water a day.
3. If you blow back into your camel back after you have drunk, the water will return to the pack to stay cooler than in the tube.

The lecture series that we attend this week is amazing. Facts, tips, calculations and the learning is what will help me back at home to continue this journey. Today we calculated our resting metabolic rate (calories we burn just living) and mine is 1823. So if I add to that the 2000 calories we burned working out and subtract the 1200 I ate I have 2123 left over - that means that I am well on my way today to losing a pound (remember the 3500 rule) Coolest thing I have learned!

Blister count - 2.5 - ouch

Oh my god - no way!!

First the cool news - Flippe and Sionne from the Biggest Loser show are here - they are lovely and are guests just like us.

The next cool news - it is totally like camp - our rooms are great and feel like we are making it into a cabin. The food is served in a dining hall - for dinner tonight they served a whole wheat pasta with tons of vegetables on it and a chocolate pie - ok - not a real chocolate pie but a tofuie thing that was ok - I plan on trying everything.

The tough news, we get 1200 calories a day - 300 breakfast, 400 lunch and 500 dinner.

The toughest news - tomorrow - 6:00am 9 mile hike - yes I said 9 mile hike. They bus us to Snow Mountain state park and we must walk up 4.5 miles with a 1000 foot change in elevation and they time us to the top. We redo this walk each Saturday and Monday to see if we have improved - IMPROVED - how about survived.

Tonight at dinner they gave us an intro and talked a lot about feet and water. You will not believe the schedule we have for tomorrow - you must read tomorrow's entry to see for yourself what 6 hours of working out looks like - and this is on top of the hike - yeap, that's right - the 9 mile hike for 3 hours, then breakfast, then pool stretch, lunch, circuit training, step class and pool - oh my god!

I have met the nicest people who are all here from all over the country - Texas, Chicago, Kentucky and even Hawaii. There are people of all sizes, shapes, nationalities, abilities and personalities. I really like the fact that it is just about changing your life - successful living.

Funny thing of the day is the confessing that is happening by everyone - what they actually weight, eat during the day, amount of exercise etc - my bud Shane from Chicago smuggled her coffee maker here because she can't live without it - too funny.

Wish me luck as I am off to bed to prepare for this crazy day tomorrow - watch for the update at the end of the day to see the results.

Cheers

z

Let the journey begin.

Well, travelling to Vegas to catch the shuttle to Utah is awesome as we had to spend a couple of days there - didn't win any $$$ this trip but got a lot of sun, saw 3 shows; Wayne Brady, V, and Rodney Carrington.

In preparation for the ranch I made sure that I walked my ass off in Vegas. I wore my pedometer and recording most days over 11 km of walking and got up each morning at 8:00am to do a fast 5km hike up the strip - to Mandalay Bay or The Wynn. Lindsey did come one morning but really it was quite hot and I don't blame anyone else not wanted to tag along.

I boarded the St. George Exe. shuttle at the Vegas airport after dropping Lennie at the gate to fly home. The trip to Fitness Ridge is only a couple of hours with an hour time change so I arrived at 2:45pm at the ranch to check into my cute/quaint room.

My roomie is a girl named Tamera from Iowa and she is great - a pre school teacher and married to a guy working on his PhD so she rocks!

Got my stats completed - weight, fat % and BMi - great to have a starting point. I wasn't going to post them here but really if I am going to make a big life change I need to share them as a form of admittance. If you dare to see them read on - if you want to continue to think that I am this gorgeous healthy athlete then DO NOT LOOK!

Starting weight - 242
BMI - 35.7
Fat % - 41.8 - yeap that is big but this is the reason I am here.

I know I know - crappy eh - when the hell did all this pile on - Crohns? Stress? Teaching? Oh, I know - LAZINESS!!! Stay tuned for the update after I wander the place and get acquainted.

Packing for Fitness Ridge

Ok, so I have wanted to go to Fitness Ridge for many years. My teaching partner at Amethyst: Donna Garvey told me about her friends that have gone there, had a great time, lost weight and learned all about fitness - perfect for me - now I just needed to save the $$$. Thanks to some gifts from Lennie, some wins at the slots and a few cashed in RSSPs I am on my way Tuesday. Well, actually next Sunday, August 9th. We are flying to Vegas tomorrow to have a great vacation together before I leave and go to Fitness Ridge for 2 weeks while Lennie returns home from Vegas.

I know that I will have a great time. I have read every article, blog, site and Facebook page about the place and seen so much of it on the Biggest Loser show that I feel I alrealy know the place.

I got a call last week from Nancy and Kate from FR asking if I had any questions and that I knew it was a dairy free place and somewhat vegen in nature - perfect, bring on the tofu - need to try new stuff because obviously what I have tried doesn't work.

I went to Birch Run with the Purvis' a couple of weeks ago and got some great hiking shoes, good socks and work out clothes that fit.

I will finish packing tonight and see you all after Vegas.