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!

Biggest Loser Resort Malibu, Are you ready for me?! CHECK- IN TIME

Today is the day!  I get the opportunity to return to the Biggest Loser Resort for PART II of my journey towards a more healthy and fit me! 

The morning started very early.  I loaded up my friend Rae's car (THANK YOU Rae for your willingness to take your sweet ride with me all over without a second thought) and headed on my long journey from my family home in Utah to the Malibu, California which is supposed to take 10 hours.

I was cruising along until Vegas.. and this time what happened in Vegas is not staying there I am going to tell you!  Once I hit Vegas I hit traffic, horrible stop and go and stall traffic.  In fact, it took me 3 hours to get from Vegas to Prim, Nevada (which is usually about a 40 min drive!).

But there were billboards to entertain me and make me chuckle (even though they weren't meant too) as I sat in non moving traffic...I know potty talk, but it was quite a fun chuckle!

After much effort, I made it to the happiest healthy living resort in the country, The Biggest Loser Resort to recommit and continue myself with the journey I started a couple years ago.

I was greeted by staff like a long last friend.  I was helped with ALL my luggage (we won't talk about my travel hoarding ways) and I was given my work book, name tag and my private room to retire with for the night.

I didn't get a chance to be at dinner or orientation which is where you get to meet a lot of the other guests here by one thing I know for sure, this week I am blessed enough to be side by side with many great people, here are a few of their bio's:

Jerry and Estella Hayes Season 7 of the Biggest Loser. They are the oldest couple to be on the Biggest Loser, but they showed America that you are NEVER too old to get in shape and loose the fat.  Collectively, they lost 262 pounds! They are here with cousin Jim and his cute Wife.

Sharlene.  She is from this area and a movie producer. She went all the way through season 13 casting and was cut at the last minute. She is my neighbor across the grass from me here at the Ridge. She also runs an AMAZING non profit organization which I will share with you at a later time cause I think it is AWESOME!

Cara and Danielle are sister's who also tried out for season 13 of The Biggest Loser and weren't cast.  Cara was turning 30 and really wanted to redefine her life in her 30's year and shared that with her husband.  When they missed out on the opportunity to be on the show he sprang into action and booked them a 2 week stay.  You can read about their journey's here.  http://www.phatchances.blogspot.com/

One that haven't got to meet but know she is here and can't wait to meet her is the current season 12 Courtney Rainville's sister Kelly is here the 2 weeks with me as well.  For you avid Loser watchers, Courtney won a challenge on the show which allowed her the chance to give a gift of Biggest Loser Resort to a family member for a 2 week stay, she chose her sister, and she is here!

I am now officially excited, unpacked and anticipating the hard, grueling, life changing work tomorrow!  Nothing says you love yourself than letting someone kick you into healthy living, and the best person to do that is YOU!
Ready to start this time's week ONE! It is going to be hard work and amazing..  I do have one thing on my side, EXPERIENCE. I have been here one week before and look at me, I came prepared this time!

Now, the best thing I can do for myself tonight is to get a GOOD NIGHTS SLEEP I will be up at 5:30am for a shower with stretch class at 6am!  

Good Night!