Fun Weekend

It was a fun weekend! Cold and sometimes rainy but fun. We did a really great hike Saturday morning followed by stretch and then a few hours of free time. We went out for a really dinner at the steak house and then to downtown LA to the Staples Center for the LA Kings Pittsburgh penguins game. Very exciting - penguins won in a shoot out.
Today was our day of rest but we did do stretch/yoga because it was raining and cold we did not go to the beach. I can tell that I am much more flexible and might do some yoga when I get back.
One of my peeps, Vicki, left today. :( We took her to the airport and then did some shopping. Came back to the resort for dinner and meet the new guests. 10 of us stayed over from las week, 30 new ones came in. Biggest number so far - should be interesting.
I am feeling GREAT! My knees are doing much, much better. Enjoyed the day and half off but I am ready to get back to it tomorrow. Really enjoyed the hikes here and looking forward to continuing it. The afternoon classes are good but they are more cardio based then weight training and I do miss weight training. I guess I need to do more of that on my own!
Pictures below - hike on Saturday, my BLR group at the LA Kings game.

Friday!!!!!

Today is Friday and I am tired as I should be. Much better week all around - knew what to expect, started the week out with a good support group (my BLR posse) and my body was more adjusted to working out 6 to 7 hours a day!
Yesterday I saw Emily Vancamp as she was filming a scene for Revenge. On the way back from the hike (photo below), we stopped at Paramount Ranch where there is a western town scene - they filmed Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman. It was pretty cool. Photo posted on facebook.
Tomorrow is Saturday and all I am doing is hiking in the am and then stretching and then a day and half off!!!!! We are going out for an early dinner ( more like lupper) and heading to Staples Center to see the LA kings play Pittsburgh Penguins in hockey. Looking forward to getting off grounds for a few hours!

TV star siting

We were out on our hike today which was the beach walk/hike and we ran into a shooting scene. It was for the show "Revenge". They were shooting right on the side of the cliff were we were walking up. They were right on the trail and when we given the ok, we were allowed to walk through. Emily Vancamp is the star and I walked right by her. It was all I could do not to say "love your show - would have watched last night if I haven't fallen asleep at 9:15 pm!" we then went to the top of the cliff/hill where I took the posted photo. It was pretty cool and I'm glad that I can now say that I saw someone semi-famous!
It is chilly today, high in the 60s and windy but at least the sun is out. Tomorrow it is going to be rainy and cold and I will be hiking - fun!!
Don't usually blog at this time of day - got to go and start my afternoon torture - cardio class, then ball class (body ump on a ball) and then pool.

Menu board

Shown below is the menu board at BLR. Today the meals were good - no subs were needed today. The beet soup we had for lunch was ok, ate it, but I am pretty sure that I will not be making that at home ( we do get a cookbook of their recipes).
Dinner was not what it seemed - Cafe Salad. I thought it would be some kind of salad with chicken or something like that. Instead it was a burrito in a bowl - whole wheat tortilla with chicken, brown rice, black beans, lettuce, and salsa. It was tasty.
The mango sorbet is definitely not like it sounds - it is basically shaved ice and mango. It's fine but not really satisfying as a dessert.
We were told that Wednesdays are hard days for everyone, whether you are new or a stay over guest. That is true. It is humped day and everyone is feeling the workouts for the past two days. Today I did an extra class - spinning. It was great to do at the time but it was followed by Mountain Cardio class then kickboxing then a pool class.
I feel fine just tired!

Food!

A lot of people have asked me to talk about the food. At breakfast, we always have mixed fruit and and an entree. Today to was a banana muffin. Even though I was told it was really tasty, I needed something more (bc it was not a Whole Food 's muffin ) since I was heading out on a 2 1/2 hour hike. I had one of the subs that we are allowed to have - oatmeal with fruit and nuts added with some almond milk. For lunch, we had a turkey sandwich with salad. For dinner we had veggie lasagna made with whole wheat pasta, and streamed broccoli and cauliflower.
The meals total close to 1200 calories a day, some days more, other days less. We are allowed extra calories if we so choose - very healthy salad bar at lunch and dinner. Fruit on the salad bar that we can grab all day. At breakfast and lunch we can ask for a serving of almonds or hard boiled egg to eat later as a snack. I always take an egg as a snack.
The food is very good - have not had anything bad yet and it is a damn dream come true to have someone cooking my meals bc I HATE cooking.

Feel great!!!

I feel great today!! Really!! My knees were basically a non-issue today. I kicked butt today on the hike and I really got a great cardio workout this afternoon. My energy level is great - I think it has been at least a year since I felt this way!! Yay for me!!!
I know that I said I would start talking about the food today but I forgot to take a photo of the menu board today and a photo of my plate, but really today was not a good day for food for me. I sub both breakfast and dinner today - if you do not like what they are serving you can ask for a sub -
Breakfast: scrambled eggs and toast or oatmeal or some kind of cereal. I had oatmeal this am. For lunch you can have a veggie burger or hummus and pita bread. for dinner, eggs and toast or veggie burger - I had eggs and toast for dinner.
At breakfast there is always a small plate of mixed fruit along with an entree of some kind. At lunch there is always some kind of soup along with entree, and dinner always dessert of some kind.
More about food tomorrow.
Below is a photo of me and my posse this week - Darryl (guy with mustache), Vicki (his wife), Cameron and me! We are missing Allison, Charlotte and Nicole from last week! :)

Rest day!!

Sunday is a day of rest and well needed.
Started the day with a weigh-in - I did decide to go ahead and do it. I was surprise, lost 8 pounds. Now, I know that I probably lost at least 4 pounds of water weight because I was really swollen from the flight when I weighed in last Sunday - major water retention!!! My knees and calves were like water balloons. I am prepared for my weight loss not to be as much next week. But it was very nice to see the scales down.
The next few hours were bittersweet - great breakfast of omelet bar, but then we had to say goodbye to guests that were leaving. It was a good group this past week and we all really supported each other so it was sad to see then go.
I am already missing Allison, Charlotte and Nicole!!! Thank goodness Cameron, Darryl, and Vicki are still here!
We did have a yoga/stretch class at 11am on the beach. It was really a stretch class with some basic yoga moves (see "warrior"photo below). That was great - little too warm by the end but good. The first part of afternoon was spent by the pool and then four of us drove into Santa Monica to go to REI. Saw the Santa Monica pier - making a trip there later. Back in time for dinner and to meet the new guests this week.
Last week there were 35 guests - 13 of those are now "stay over" guests. 17 new guests came in this week and most are one weekers.
As a stay over guest, my schedule will change somewhat this week. I only have two lectures that I have to attend. Last week I attended a lecture after every lunch and every dinner. So, this week, after lunch I am required to attend "open gym" for an hour before the first group fitness class. I can either have a personal training session during this time, which cost extra, or they do have a trainer there to lead some kind of class - different every day.
Since my workouts are basically the same, this week I will talk about the food, which is really good, for the next few days!