Days 14, 15 & 16

First here's some pics from the hot tub & one of Rae & Barb from my 3rd hike!

Day 14: Made it to Sunday!  Who would have thought that day could have any more meaning!  :)  So had the usual breakfast buffet.  Really sick of egg whites.  Have to find some new way to eat them...  Out to the patio to catch up on things like paying bills, etc.  Nice to do something normal, although not so sure how fun paying bills was.  Ha!  Carl Malone (The Mail Man) from the Utah Jazz just walked past us on the patio to his Tundra.  He is really tall!  Had lunch with the girls: cole slaw (OMG: that was definitely a first for me.  smell of the slaw dressing still makes me want to gag, but at least after I got past that and tried it, I liked it.  it's a miracle!) with pineapples on top, whole wheat tortilla with chicken.  Went in the pool with Barbara later to get my 60 minutes of non-strenuous exercise.  That was nice, but man it was HOT!  When in to shower and watch a little tv to relax, etc.  Dinner was later with a quinoa salad and dried cherries we have had before: like that, lots of veggies in some type of italian like marinade and watermelon.  Pretty good overall.  Out to the patio with the girls for a while, then off to bed with my Pop Chips!  No watch on today, so don't know calorie burn...

Day 15: Monday/Assessment Day!!!  Good news.  I lost another 5 lbs. for a total of 8 now, along with 7.75 more inches.  Think my total on inches is around 11 or 12 now overall.  Some of the main inches this time were 2 inches on the chest, 1 more inch on the thighs, and another 1.25 inches each on the waist and hips.  Woo Hoo!  Very happy about all that!  Then it's off to the gym for the Stair Master from H-E-Double Toothpicks!  30 minutes worth of it!  Then Power Flex class with a great sub instructor.  Then a final fat blaster workout that was tough, but good.  Lunch was good with a multi-grain sandwich thin with turkey, veggies and a dill mustard (liked that: never had it) and a peach.  Jacque did a lecture on having a "Fitness Mantra" that summarizes your ideas/feelings about your fitness.  Mine is "Live Strong", since that pretty much covers it all.  I have always felt strong in everything in my life (my job, my family, etc.) other than fitness, till now!  Then we talked about the 4 R's of personal energy management: Regular activities that you have to do on a daily basis, Relating in your relationships with others that are a positive influence & being sure to be a positive influence over them as well, Reaching in pushing past your comfort zone (like coming here for me) to break out of old bad habits, etc., and Rejuventating yourself with things like the massages we get here, mani/pedis, rest, etc.  You have to be sure to balance all that so that not just 1 area like the regular activities take over!  Next we headed to the gym again for another 90 minute crazy cardio/strength training workout.  Crazy one like last week that pushed me over the edge that next day!  So I made sure to pace myself better and we were able to do the intermediate one this time, which is where we really are!  Then came flexibility and stretching class.  Elena used these bands she made at her husband's work.  They just helped us get good stretches that felt great!  Then we had our usual dinner buffet and off to the park for those horrible grassy hill climbs!  I wore my pants this time so I wouldn't break out!  We did all kinds of crazy things like walking up it backwards, doing bear crawls (which I couldn't do b/c my hands would break out, so I just did another backwards walk), etc.  Time for Pop Chips and bed: thank goodness!

Day 16: Usual breakfast buffet, but brought down my mustard that we can have and put in on my eggs and made a little sandwich.  Yum!  Much better!  Headed to the gym for a cardio, then Power Flex class which had an awesome sub instructor.  Then a final weight training with Meagan on abs and back.  Felt good on my back b/c it has been hurting a little lately!  Had lunch out again today to Einstein's Bagels for lunch.  Pretty good.  They toasted a wheat bagel thin and I had turkey with veggies and a "shmear" which is a veggie cream cheese, avocado (which I had tried at home and liked) and a fruit cup.  Then we had an outdoor (yuck: 98 degrees today and sunny: not happy about that) circuit with Courtney and Meagan which was pure 90 minutes of torture too!  The heat was awful!  But we got to do boxing and the ropes which I like.  Time for Foam Roll class now, so have to go!