SUNDAY: TRUTH DAY, YOU CAN'T HIDE FROM THE SCALE!

I love these women that are all lined up to see what results they are going to have this week. They are strong and they are on a mission to lose the pounds just like me! One thing is for sure, I know they will do it!!

Today was our weigh in. If The Resort teaches one thing that I wish everyone would realize is, OUR BODIES ARE ALL DIFFERENT! Here is a perfect example of just that. We eat ALL the same food (minus a few variations...but we have the same chef), we do the same workouts and live close to the same lifestyle while we are here. Yet, some people loose really big and other loose a little. Does little vs. big weight loss take away ANY of the glory? No! You have to think about where you were before, how different and better you feel, and if you would be making this change without such a jump start. If all of those facts are positive then NO MATTER WHAT your results are just where they should be!!

This week I lost a total of 5 lbs. The last time I came I lost a total of 8 in week one. Why didn't I loose more? I don't know. But I am going to celebrate every pound that was shed because since May when I was here last, my body has been losing inches, but the pounds were holding on to dear life! I was THRILLED that the scale budged!!

I need to give a shout out to two of my BLR friends! Bri (aka Danielle I tend to call her that, no reason, just do so now it is her nickname whether she likes it or not!) you knocked it outta the park! 12 lbs!! You fought through every single lb. You never gave up. You kept yourself positive and even hiked your butt up mountains when you wanted to throw the towel at the mountain! You inspired me OODLES and you're a bestie for life! Jim lost 11 lbs. He inspired me every morning on our hikes. He has had health problems and instead of sitting around letting it make him bigger he got off his couch and got active! He was at the top of the pack in all our hikes and always brought leadership and team love when he was around! WAY TO GO! (Jim is the cousin of Jerry Hayes, season 7)

Sunday breakfast is a FAVORITE!! It is a omelet bar! So delicious! Who knew feta cheese and an omelet is a bit of heaven?! Then the resort packs you a sack lunch...Today we had a Almond butter spread on a Orrowheat sandwich thin. Along with some string cheese, cut veggies and an apple. It is packed like that so that people traveling will be prepared and not have to go through the temptation of airport food, etc. I appreciate that this is part of the program and it is nice to have a lunch so that you can do your own thing and not have to be there at a certain time.

After saying goodbye to departing friends, with my lunch in hand I went to my room to set some personal goals for my week. My Sundays each week will be dedicated not only to my Savior but to bettering myself and choosing goals that will get me where I want to be in this journey.
My first activity this Sunday was to:

WEEK TWO Goals for myself:

Be HONEST with myself.
NO EXCUSES

PUSH myself further than I ever have
ENJOY the journey

Make time for MEMORIES

TAKE IT HOME

After goal setting, pondering, a nap and a few phone calls, the long awaited moment was here! Since booking my stay at BLR I have been anticipating being with some people I really adore. My Courtney, My Amanda. My Arthur and My Sarah ARRIVE TODAY!! This week is going to be AWESOME! I honestly cannot wait! I get to pick Court, Mandz and Arty at the airport and want to squeeze them all! This will be the FIRST time I meet Amanda yet we text each other through out each day and she is my adopted lil Sister!

This week coming up is gonna be a week of GREATS...EPIC really!! We are all going to do things we never before have done and meet personal goals and maybe even go beyond them, we will see! This week is going to help me get closer to my goals.

I am looking forward to getting to know Sione better and Tara the "iron woman!" Plus, I hear a few surprise "Loser's" will be dropping by (this is the week before finale) to say hi, so it is a week never to be forgotten I am sure. Last week would be pretty hard to top, I love all the new friends in my journey...there is a HUGE support system here!

Picking my sweet friends up at the airport was awesome! I loved having them all in the car with me. We were talking a mile a minute, laughing, sharing stories about all the CRAY CRAY people in this world and just loving spending time with each other. When we arrived to the resort, the excitement in the air was intense! SOOO excited for this week!


These people warm my heart! I am so blessed to be part of their lives!

Last Chance Workout...No Joke!

(My friend Heather from the resort would text us daily motivation she was getting from her trainer back home.. THANK YOU HEATHER, you have no idea how much this helped!)

The last time I was at The Biggest Loser Resort, Saturday was an "optional day".  Lots of site seeing, shopping and sleeping went on.  The new schedule at Biggest Loser Resort sticks more to the purpose you are there..TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE, not to be on a vacation, and it is NO JOKE. 

I am not going to lie.  I was planning to spend my Saturday at Disneyland.  I have ALWAYS dreamed to be at Disney at Christmas time.  To feel the magic even more through Christmas decor and festivities.  I was disappointed at first when I found out that Saturday was a PACKED schedule and my dreams were going to be put on hold for yet another year.

Those feelings were before I experienced what a HARD workout Saturday there would feel like.  A bonus day to get one last chance to get your body shedding the much needed weight!  It was some hard work, but I am glad I participated!

(This is an example of some of the things available in the gift shop at The Biggest Loser Resort.  Lots of products with this saying..love the message and reminder. I should've bought it!)

I opted to rest from Hiking and after a morning Yoga style class chose to do the 2 hr workout back at the resort.  We had asked if a pool class could be offered for that time and they agreed, little did we know that is when the pool guys were there.  I was already in  my swimsuit and so me and my friend chose to do our workout in the hot tub... you may think, that is not a workout.. You better believe it was!!  were running around that hot tub, doing weights, using noodles and sweating to death just like a Birkham hot Yoga class...no joke.  We did it for an hour and then we moved to the pool.  Did I mention that it felt like it was 50 below outside.  It was soooo windy and cold but I just couldn't bear another gym class today, I needed to be outside and was willing to ANYTHING to stay there.  Right after we started our aerobic routine we had a bizarre interruption..an emergency helicopter landing!

As we were in the pool, a firefighting helicopter was hovering lower and lower to the resort and for a minute I thought they were having a malfunction and were going to land and take out the entire Biggest Loser Resort.  I didn't know whether we should run for our lives or just stay put.  They ended up landing in the field a few feets from the back of the gym.  Apparently there was a bike accident in the canyon by us and the ambulance brought the victim to that field.  We all left the pool and the gym and rushed to see what was going on...brrr it was cold! It was so amazing to see what an organized mission this was.  The helicopter had barely touched down when it was off again with the injured person and we were back to our workouts!

After 2 hours in the water and the people on the hike returned, left the pool to get dry before our "last chance" workout!  Do you even know how hard it is to get a sports bra on when you are wet...let me just say contorting your body in that many ways to get your bra on is AMUSING!

They don't mess around with this last chance workout!  We were doing suicides, ladder runs, medicine ball routines, Running up a hill with weights in toe, Resistance ropes and the double heavy rope exercise (wish I knew what that was called) and last but not least yoga ball sit ups.  We did this in circuit like rotations.  I am not gonna lie 90  minutes of this and I wanted to lay down on the floor and kick my feet in a tantrum...if only I had energy to do that! ha ha In fact I had drank my entire water bottle before we were even half way through.

My team was Jerry and Estella Hayes from Season 7.  How I love them and they are the best sports, cheerleaders and loves ever!

We get a little break after the Last chance workout and lunch before the graduation festivities start.  It was nice to just be in my room and talk with friends.  Felt like a great end to an AMAZING week! 

Graduation is a great time of the week.  We watch a DVD that they give to each of us that is coverage of our entire week.  If I can figure out how to post it I will, but my guess is it is TOO big of a file. It basically is a great way to come home and show all your family what you went through and also a reminder to yourself of the new friendships and the new YOU that you found.  There also is a part for the people departing to share thoughts, hopes and successes with everyone, some tears are shed as well (yes, I am one of those crying).

I spent the remainder of my Saturday with my new found friend Sandi who volunteered to help me fill the orders for Wristbands for Sam Poueu (Biggest Loser season 9 contestant and trainer at BLR who had an accident in the fall and is still recovering from serious injuries.) It felt very humbling to be filling these orders right there at his workplace where he had inspired and loved so many of the people that had come through those doors.  I was SOOO happy to have Sandi's help this week.  I had 74 orders to process. It took us 4 hours to complete, but Sam is worth EVERY HOUR, I love that guy! 

I think a cool side note to Sandi helping me is that one of the main purposes that she booked her stay here at The Biggest Loser Resort was she wanted Sam to be her trainer.  She was so disappointed and considered rescheduling when it ended up differently but came anyway.  Here she was able to serve him and kind of pay it forward to him...she is THE BEST!

Saturday Stats:

Calories Burned: 4321
Steps: 9,478 (minus the 2 hour workout in the pool)

Menu today:

Breakfast: Scrambled eggs and toast
Lunch: Tuna Nicoise Salad with Pita and Squash Soup
Dinner: Salsbury Steak with Chocolate Banana, Strawberry and Pinapple drizzled in dark chocolate.

YOU CAN DO HARD THINGS!!

Out of anything that comes out of my mouth to myself and others, this one is BY FAR my mantra to all that know me.  I preach it and I BELIEVE IT!  "YOU CAN DO HARD THINGS!" Today was one of those days that I REALLY needed to practice what I preached and reach DEEP down and find that belief in my core, for today I hiked what months ago I would have believed was going to be the death of me and I would never survive it, I hiked SOLSTICE!

This hike started off flatter and then continued to climb and climb and weave all the way to the top of a very tall mountain.  I felt my "exercise induced asthma kick" in as we got higher and higher up and I kept saying to myself, "Don't you DARE stop Megan Christine, YOU can do hard things, quitting is NOT an option!"  The hike guide, Michael must have saw the fear and doubt in my eyes and so he held up and waited for me and continued to stick right next to me step after step for the duration the hike.  (I think he did it cause I told him I was gonna blog about him and give him the credit for sticking with me!)  

(That lil' separation in the mark, that is the thumbs up I will be talking about..this was taken about half way through the hike.)



I will admit that hiking is NOT my most favorite thing.  And sometimes I catch myself looking down the whole time trying not to see the GREAT task I have before me of making it to the top of a mountain.  About middle week this week though, I started realizing, if all I do is look down, I never see the MAJESTY of what I am doing.  I never see the beautiful creations God has given to me.  I never feel the amazing amount of confidence when I finish knowing how far it was to reach the summit, really.  So I started looking up.  I started taking note.  I made time to stop for a picture or two. I identified landmarks ahead that I would say, "if I just can make it to that, I can finish".  Today those landmarks were VERY VERY important.  I will be honest, I was struggling.  My breathing was terrible and I really thought making it to the "thumbs up point" that hike guide Michael kept telling me about, was going to be the place where I lay down and die...literally! 

But something happened today, something quite miraculous.  Not only did I make it to the "thumbs up rock"  I made it all the way around it down back, did an additional climb up to a waterfall and went back down to the base of the canyon and hiked out of there and guess what?! I wasn't the last.  I was still smiling and still breathing.  I had awesome conversations with Michael the hike guide about things I want to do, things I have done so far and things he has done.  It was QUALITY, it is what got me through the hard.

 When I got back to the van, I had an inner conversation with myself, "I CAN DO HARD THINGS!! I just did one of the HARDEST hikes in my life.  I didn't die, I didn't even come close.  I am LIVING, I am REALLY LIVING!"  At this moment in the van, I was completely overcome with celebration of MYSELF.  I have this problem where I celebrate for EVERYONE else and I never celebrate when I accomplish something.  Today I did.  Today I proved, I CAN DO HARD THINGS!

I was thankful for when it came time for lunch just to have time to laugh and chat about things with MY girls Yes, that is right...they are MINE!! They are never gonna get rid of me.  I love them forever.  It is though they were my childhood friends. 

Bri, Cara, Kelly, Heather, Kim, Sandi, Susan, Sue, Haley,Zenia, Regina Becki and my sweet Shelene YOU GIRLS ARE AMAZING! Oh and our honorary males..Keith and Chris.)

After lunch the "Stay Overs" had a meeting pool side.  My heart was so full and I felt sooo blessed that I got to stay ONE MORE week with these people, SERIOUSLY that was like Christmas thinking about it!  LOVE THEM!

This wasn't the only hard thing I proved to myself.  Not only did I climb and conquer Solstice, I conquered fears in my Circuit Training class.  I did my first real run on the treadmill (since being here), I got myself on the Arc trainer again, I lifted heavier weights than I ever had and sweated profusely.

In Cardio Disco Jam (I am NOT a coordinated person, especially on the dance floor) I just let loose and didn't care who was watching...Fetch, I even galloped like a horse hitting my rear end with my hand down the "soul train line" and to make matters worse, it was captured on video...and I could care less!  Now that is SUCCESS!

Liquid moves, is a fancy way to say Water Aerobics, but on Fridays we play Water Volleyball.  I LOVE THIS part of FUN FRIDAY. I love Volleyball.  I am not good at it other than serving the ball, but I love it!  Our team this week was amazing!  We worked together, we cheered for each other even on a bad play, we had the best non-confusing rotation and we WON!  A few of us even stayed later to continue playing...in the water, you can't really do that..a few people doesn't work when you can't move fast..but it was fun and burned a few extra Calories!

Tonight a took my friends Becki and Susan to the mall.  It was good to just go and feel the Christmas hustle bustle of everyone.   We went to JCPenny's where Susan spoiled me and bought me the most AWESOME wallet (She is my Mama at the resort.  I love her!).  I bought the twins the cutest jean jackets and Susan got somethings for her grand kids.  We went to Charming Charlies, Coach, the Apple Store etc.  It was great to just walk around, and feel like we still can dress up like a normal person! 

Tomorrow is a BUSY day for Saturdays at the Resort!  Hike or 2 hr workout and a last chance workout plus Graduation for those departing. Gotta be geared up and ready to go, this is a new change since I was here last, I better be ready for anything!

Today's STATS:
Burned 5,356 Calories (not including 2 water aerobics classes)
Steps: 20,349

Menu:
Breakfast:  Pancake Breakfast
Lunch: Caesar Salad Pizza and Mushroom Soup
Dinner: Chicken Tostada with Pineapple Sorbet

By Popular Request: Biggest Loser Resort Southwest Cafe' Salad

Southwest Cafe' Salad

Servings: 4

473 Calories per serving

Fat: 11g

Protein: 36g

Fiber: 17g

Carbs: 66g

4 Whole Wheat Tortillas (Don Pancho is the brand they use.  I use Orrowheat)

1 Cup brown Rice

1 Cup Black Beans (heated and drained)

12 ounces chicken breast, cooked and sliced

4 oz cheddar flavored soy cheese (I use fat free feta)

8 cups chopped Romaine Lettuce

6 oz Pico de Gallo

8 oz BLR Southwest vinaigrette ( I will post this later...I use Hernandez verde sauce)

Chicken seasoning:

1 tsp Onion Powder

1tsp Garlic powder

1 tsp chilli powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

Preheat oven to 350. Add seasoning to chicken, and place on sheet pan.  Bake chicken for 20 minutes, and then cut into 1/2 inch strips.  Steam the brown rice, and heat up the black beans in a saute pan. Warm the tortillas, and place one in each bowl.  Add 1/4 c of black beans, 1/4 cup brown rice, 5 strips of chicken (approx 3 oz), and 1 oz of cheese in each bowl.  In mixing bowl combine the lettuce and with the vinaigrette until coated.  Split lettuce between 4 bowls and add Pico del gallo to garnish.



NOTHING IS GONNA KEEP ME DOWN!

Today started out a little rough. I had stomach issues and was running to the bathroom every 15-30 minutes for the first 5 hours of the day (5 am-10am). I believe it was due to my session of Reflexology last night. I think she was able to work the toxins and waste out of me, so that is a good thing! As tired as we all are, I could have used that time to sleep my morning away but I refused to waste it like that. Instead I spent it awake and blogging, catching up on emails and all the emails people are sending me with questions, etc.

I was happy to join my group again at 11am for our stretch class! It felt good to be back in the program and that class was awesome! I left feeling like I could go climb a mountain! (Sure wish I hadn't missed the hike..it is the biggest calorie burn of the day!)

Since I missed breakfast, I was ANXIOUS to get Lunch and it didn't disappoint!

While we were at lunch Jerry and Estella Hayes gave us the most inspiring presentation about their experience and how they got on the show. We were all in tears and so proud of them for saving their lives. I will share that in a different post a little later. But here is a little snippet in their presentation! As many of you Biggest Loser fans know, Jerry went on after only losing 26 pounds on the ranch to winning the at home prize!

Following this amazing lecture there was a space of time for me to go to open gym. On my way there I ended up crossing paths with my new friend Shelene (who I talked about in day one, and will tell you more about her later). We ended up talking about God and how he is in the details of our life. She is a dear soul and I feel safe and loved by her already. I opened up to her and had a little cry session, telling her my story a bit. After we had a very good talk she said to me, "Hey, I know you love Candace Cameron, she just texted me and told me that she was right behind our housing shooting a movie, do you wanna go meet her?!" I was ECSTATIC of course! So we walked at a good pace over to see where she was filming a new Lifetime movie "Puppy Love." Candace was so gracious and made me feel loved right away. It was also fun to see how the set ran and such. One of the funny things is that it was a FREEZING day and they were filming pool side. All the cast were dressed for pool weather and the crew had on Eskimo type hooded coats, I got a kick from that!

The classes this afternoon were KILLER! We had a ball works class where we did a combination of weights, cardio and stretch all using yoga balls (I will be posting the worded workout for this for some people who are looking for a ball workout soon). My left arm is a lot weaker than my right so this class challenged me!

Next class is called "TREADING." In this class we start on a machine and go AS HARD as we can go for 5 minutes. Then we have a 5 minute cool down. Then go as hard as we go for 4 minutes, with a 4 minute recovery. The go as hard as we can go for 3 minutes, with a 3 minute recovery. We go all the way to 1, but I think you get the picture. After that we do a 30 second sprint with a 30 sec recovery and end with a 30 second sprint with a 3 minute cool down. It is challenging, but you feel AWESOME at the end! Today, because of my calves I choose to use the bike. But at recovery 3, I hopped on the Arc Trainer and did that the rest of the time. Here are some of my teammates using the spin bikes as their treading machine of choice!

After those two challenging classes we has a water class that was more of a cool down this time. And cool down it was! It was FREEZING outside. Our instructors don't get in the water, they stay on the surface and show us what to do and walk around to make sure we are doing it correctly. Our instructor was wearing a ski parka, a scarf and gloves and we were in swimsuits in the pool...it really was cold!

Dinner tonight was scrumptious! Grilled Chicken with a green fruit salad and Apple cobbler for dessert! MMMMM!

Tonight as I was at dinner, I was thinking about how I missed one of the most important parts of my workout today, the hike. The Calorie burn from my hike helps me to meet my goals. I was going to let stomach issues keep me down, so I hit the gym for one solo workout before bed and while my clothes were in the wash, it was perfect!

I finished the night with an AMAZING talk with two great girls here, Heather and Haley. We talked about life in our fat shells, we talked about weight loss and gain. We talked about Dr. Huizenga's Book, "Where did all the Fat Go" and how there are some great suggestions on how to know your calories for your body etc in there. But most importantly we talked about US, our journeys, the things that are hard, the challenges of doing some of the routines as a fat person. Sometimes it is hard because most of the trainers haven't been overweight themselves and they try to put you in a position that is nearly impossible for you to mimic because you have a belly or fat getting in the way. It was awesome to talk to some girls (much smaller than I) that knew what I was talking about and knew the discomfort and pain that does cause.
Today I had increased energy and felt rejuvenated! I think the reflexology from Rosa really contributed to that! It was a wonderful, soul searching and accomplished day for me! I love being away from the pressures of life for a bit and being able to focus on me, I never do that and need to be better!

Happy Thursday everyone!