My Final Day and Results

I'm so anxious and excited to see Justin and spend some time with him in Savannah! And then home to my home, kids, puppies and friends. Not necessarily in that order :)

Let me start with yesterday...

I had another slow day. First of all, I was so sore from the day before that I could barely walk when I got out of bed. I was anxious to be leaving here, and stressed out from all the people. There are so many now. The classes are over full, the dining room is loud, the computers are always busy... just a different atmosphere than last week. So needless to say, I did some self-nurturing. I did a little of the arch trainer, and a little of the Nu-step. I did a going home class about using the website, then after lunch I went home, read a little, took an hour nap then decided that I didn't want to go back for dinner. I headed out shopping looking for a new outfit to meet Justin in. (NO, not that kind of outfit... We'll be meeting at the main building.) LOL. I wasn't real excited about my choices, but I found a shirt. Then I went to the Bonefish bar, because that's were I felt comfortable ordering healthy. I had 1 glass of wine, 2 small pieces of bread and olive oil (OMG it was 'that' good. Can't remember when I had bread... white bread...) and for dinner I had a small piece of Chilean Sea Bass with sauce on the side (used dip and spear method) and steamed veggies. I was happy with my choices and it was yummy beyond belief.

Today I was back at it. Could not do the sunrise beach walk because I had my final blood work, weigh in and measure. Results below. I took the Hip Hop class then Boot Camp which was really hard but I'm glad I did it and I felt good when it was over. After snack I went to a great lecture about successful weight management.

I took a golf lesson which was fun. I'm now ready and excited to start golf season.

I took a Yoga class and then had a really yummy gourmet dinner with scallops cooked perfectly. I think it was the best meal since I've been here.

Ok, and now for my results... drum roll....

I lost 12 lbs and 19.25 inches. I do admit that they pulled the tape a bit tighter for the final measure, but still, I'm completely thrilled with those results. Best of all, I feel like I can do a lighter version of this at home and continue to lose. It will be slower but it will be livable.

Most of my blood work was good to begin with, but it did improve some more. My blood pressure was a bit high at 130/92 and went down to 110/78. I'm so happy with that!

My BMI went down 2% and everything improved a small amount.

I'm off to pack and get to bed at a decent hour, I still have half a day left tomorrow! Justin arrives around 2 pm. I plan on showing him around, introducing him to everyone then maybe see the island a little before heading to Savannah.

Kayaking and Dining Out

Hey y'all, today was another good day. I'm sore and exhausted but I had fun today and I feel good about what I accomplished. I'm learning to take the small accomplishments and be happy rather than berate myself for what I didn't do. That's a huge step for me.

I did another 5k this morning, my last while I'm here. I was hurting so much this morning that I almost didn't go. Yesterday I did a lot of strength training, and my knees are still hurting, so this morning was very painful. At the last minute I decided that if I chickened out and didn't go that I would regret it. My shirt said 'Never Give Up', so I made that my motto. I figured completing it with a slower time was better than giving up. So I went knowing that I was going to be slower and that was OK. The first half was really hard and hurt like heck. The beach is on a slope and my left leg was killing me. I told myself that it was going to hurt and that's ok but as soon as I finished I'd be proud of myself (Never Give Up). After I hit the half way point and turned around I got a second wind and hauled butt. I jogged back more than I've ever jogged before and made up some time. My final time was 48:52, only about 40 seconds slower than last time. I was proud of myself, not only for not giving up but for pushing so hard at the end. Another small accomplishment.

Later I went on a Kayaking excursion. Pictures above. It was cold and I got dripped on and I wasn't enjoying myself as much as I was hoping, but I'm glad I did it. I'd like to try it again in warmer weather, I might like it better then. Parts of it were fun, but after I got wet and cold I was ready to be done. When your with a group of other people, you just have to shut your mouth and try not to ruin everyone else's time too! :) My good deed for today! HAHA

Tonight a group of people went out to the Bonefish to try eating out. It was fun but very loud and I had a headache. Our main objective was to do better than we would have before the "Institute". I had 1/2 of a scallop appetizer, ordered dinner first, then 1 glass of wine. I got full, put my fork down and asked to have my plate removed. I savored the 1 glass of wine thru the whole meal and saved a little for desert as well. The whole eating out seemed to be hard and confusing to a few people, but it was simple to me. I did realize that I didn't need to eat the most healthiest thing on the menu and be perfectly on my diet. I just needed to do BETTER that I would have done before. That was huge for me. If I can make better choices without the restriction and deprivation of being perfect, I can be happier than either failing and eating the most unwise meal, or suffering thru and obsessing about what I really wanted. It was good for me to learn that lesson. Besides the scallop app, I had a 6 oz fillet, steamed green beans and steamed asparagus, and didn't even finish any of it. I also drank 5 glasses of water, so it may be a long night! Another accomplishment... I dropped my napkin, bent over to pick it up without using contortion and grunts. Anyone who has been overweight knows how fun that is!

The final calorie burn yesterday was 3189, and so far today it has been 3000+

Friday is my final weigh and measure day. They will also check my blood and blood pressure. I'm on the home stretch and excited to be checking out soon!!

A better Day

This is Gerry and Homa. They started the same week as me but left last Sunday. They were the funniest, sweetest couple here. I miss Gerry's laugh and Homa's ability to kick ass in the work out classes! That lady has some energy!

On to my day. It was much better today. SO much better. I woke up with a great attitude, thanks to everyones encouragement and support. I was able to jog a little during my Ultra circuit class and I was so happy. Tomorrow is the 5k but I'm not sure if I'm going to do it yet. I wont be able to do it as fast as last week so I might just leave my knee alone. I'll see how I'm feeling tomorrow.

My exercise today:

Sunrise Beach walk

Ultra Circuit

Super Circuit

Personal Training with Amber

4 mile walk around the compound by myself

A huge group came in last weekend so everything is busier and louder and more chaotic. It's not only me, most of the "older people" who have been here at least a week are so irritated with the new group. There are a few cool people, but most of them are getting on our nerves. So anyway, I went for a long walk by myself today. It was sunny and peaceful and I had a really relaxing time! Tomorrow I'm going kayaking and out to dinner with a group and one of the instructors here. We are going to Bonefish to practice real life eating out and ordering. I will not be getting the Bang Bang Shrimp :(

Thanks to Justin, mom, Carey, Brenda and Tamy for writing me a little pick me up after yesterdays blechy day! You guys are the best!

Most of the lectures have been repeats so I have no new information to share with you. I met with the head chef today to discuss cooking at home and how to sneak veggies into Justin without him knowing. Also talked about food planning and shopping. It was good info!

Calories burned: 2900

steps walked: 26297

My Disappointing day

I finally saw a decent size alligator! There have been baby alligators and turtles sunning themselves, but this 4 footer is the largest I've seen that I could take a picture of. There is a 7 footer that you can see across the lagoon sometimes by the front gate. It's massive and scary! There are signs all over the island reminding people NOT to feed the alligators. Tonight at dinner I told a newbie that the alligators are so cute cause they'll eat right out of your hands. They didn't believe me. HAHAHA. Who would?

Here we are causing a scene in our matchy match shirts. It was fun looking like a team and everyone was asking about the shirts. They say 'Go Out And Get Active' and every time we wear them to work out at home we can remember our support system.

This morning I got up with the intention to work out really hard this week, burn as many calories as I can and train real hard to run the 5k on Wed. even faster than last week. I figured with 2 days, basically off my knee, I'd be able to use it again. Wrong. It hurts even more than Friday. Between the disappointment of not being able to run, the frustration of my knee, and generally just ready to head home, I got depressed today and had a little break down. I cried and my friends and a staff member helped me get through it. I took the last 2 classes off and did soduko instead of treading. I really honestly wanted to get on the treadmill but every time I get on and start hurting and I get even more frustrated. They also put in perspective why I'm here. Not to injure myself or burn as many calories as I can, but to learn a new lifestyle and I can do that without my knee. I wanted to go eat to sooth my emotions, but worked thru that as well.

That's my day in a nut shell. I'm very anxious for Justin to get here and spend some time with him (away from here) and then home to my lovely life and kids and friends. Tomorrow is a new day and I'll wait to see what it brings me.

Pictures

Not much to say today either so I thought I'd send out some pictures. I'm sure all y'all know how much I love my pictures being taken, so this is hard for me :)

We did a few classes today then 4 of us girls went out shopping. We got matching shirts to wear on Monday when the newbies come in. Should be fun! I'll send a picture of that too. All of the newbies from last week want to mess with the new newbies. I keep reminding them that I was nice to them when THEY were newbies only 6 days ago. HAHA The three girls I mostly hang out with are fun and rambunctious and crazy. We have a lot of fun together.

Here is me doing Yoga:

Warrior II Pose

Tree Pose

Karen and Karen, my yogi. She is awesome, my favorite instructor. We are both doing tree pose but the lady taking the picture didn't get out legs :)

Alligator sunning himself on the golf course during lunch. This picture is taken from our dining room.

Me at lunch in the dining room. I have real clothes on because we are going shopping afterwards.

I'm a lucky girl!

Hi everyone, just a quick note tonight. Worked hard in the gym today, but the only thing I wanted to mention tonight is what I learned in a lecture titled "All About Me".

It was about putting yourself first and taking care of yourself before you can care for others. I don't think I really have a problem doing that, but after listening to others talk, I feel blessed to have the most caring supportive loving husband ever!!! I want to take a moment and thank you for being so awesome. I love you so much. Sometimes I get caught up in life and forget how lucky I am. I also have an amazing family and the best friends ever. I'm serious when I say that you guys are the BEST!! I am blessed to have all of you in my life. (P.S. That is NOT the homesickness talking)

I love you all!!!

Comedy Night

Went out on the "town" for Comedy tonight! It was fun, but the comedian was dissapointing. It was just to get out of the farm for awhile :) and the wine was YUMMY! (1 glass).

The first pic is of us girls who went out tonight, the second is my new room mate Suzette and myself on the beach walk this morning.

I only have a quick blog tonight as not much happened today:

Got up for a beautiful sunrise beach walk. Had breakfast and went to a core class for an hour or torture. After that it was a disappointing water class. The instructor gave a boring class that drug on forever and didn't even raise my heart rate. Next was snack and lecture time. I had already heard the lecture so I iced my increasingly aching knee and read my next book club book. Then lunch which was yummy, and a cooking demonstration which included peanut butter mousse. 3/4 cup was only 80 calories and it was soooo yummy. The only thing I didn't like about it was that I had to stop before I licked the bowl in front of everyone (I wouldn't have been the only one) HAHA. After that class, I was exhausted, sore and feeling down so I went back to take a nap and get dressed for the comedy club. It was a slow day for me, but I really needed the time off. Part of this process is listening to your body, and mind. And mine was saying... "chill girl"! I didn't sleep much last night and I'm getting very homesick. I'm also getting nervous about making this work at home with all the distractions and old habits. Just things I need to work on!

Portion Control

These are my buddies, Gigi and Lauren, left to right. They are young, energetic, and full of life. We have a lot of laughs together all day, especially during dinner time. Gigi sang tonight and has an amazing voice. It gave me goosebumps.

My day:

Breakfast

5k on the beach where, thanks to Adam the trainer here, I was able to beat my time by 5 mins from last week. He gave me tips on how to run longer, better and pushed me harder than I would have pushed myself. I was first to finish also! 48.13 mins. There were two other ladies who did awesome as well. It felt like a great accomplishment for me!

Snack

Lecture: Flexibility and Balance

Lunch - Salad bar with a cookie!

Ultra circuit - cardio mixed with weights

Lecture - Portion Control... see below

Snack

Water Resistance

Hot tub

Dinner

Yoga

I burned 2575 calories so far today and have walked 17239 steps

Ok, what I learned about portion control (don't roll your eyes and skip this part. Read it at least once, maybe something will inspire you.)

Re-engineer your environment:

-Use smaller plates and bowls: people eat 20-30% less with a smaller plate. Try a 10" plate, smaller will leave you feeling cheated and invite you to get seconds.

-Use taller thinner glass - people tend to drink 30% less because a tall narrow glass looks like more than short wide glasses.

-Create "pause points". Things that make you stop and make a conscience decision to eat more. For example, single serving packages, don't eat 'family style', keep extras out of sight, never eat out of box or bag, use a plate, etc.

When eating something off your plan or high calorie, ask yourself "Is this worth it"? It may be worth it, but sometimes you might decide that it may not be worth it.

You don't need to be a member of the clean plate club. 'You can waste food, or waist it'

There were several other tips, but these stuck me as worth sharing.

Tamy... SO happy for you, I can feel your excitement, I'm so proud of you! Good luck!! Also, tell Jeff that he better be careful about the retard comments cause when I get back I may be able to kick his ass, then run like hell away!

Carey... already had made the decision to come out to some of your water classes! It will be a blast! btw, we do both shallow and deep water, cardio and strength. I'm ready for it all now!

Dad and mom... So sad I'm going to miss your visit :( It feels like forever since I've seen your guys and wine bottling would have been a blast.

Justin... I miss you too! I've been real strong and thought I was doing great, but this morning Gerry asked me if I was homesick and I held back sudden tears that came out of nowhere, then I did get tears when I told someone else about the sudden homesickness.

I'll share more pics of my friends each day! Gives me a reason to get their pictures.

Pool Class

I know... lovely right?? HAHA This is me in Hydro circuit. No, I was not alone, there were 3 other people in the class with me. Altho it looks sunny and warm, only half of that is correct. It was about 40 deg and sunny. But the pool is heated to about 89 so as long as you stay under the water it's awesome! The sun was out all day today but so cold. This morning on our beach walk, the sand was frozen and crunchy. Weird when you are at a beach with palm trees and the sand is frozen.

I took a recovery day and didn't do as much today. Yesterday was a ball buster and tomorrow is another 5k beach run. I'm also having "hormonal issues" so my energy is waning.

Exercise:

Sunrise beach walk

Belly dancing

Ultra Circuit

Hydro Circuit

Yoga for abs and back

I skipped one class to ice my knee and knit. Also took some of the easier classes to give me some recovery time.

Lectures:

Importance of sleep and sleep disorders - I need to look into my sleep when I get home, I'm sure I'm not getting enough or the right kind.

Cooking Demo - Winter Vegetables. Got some yummy recipes.

After dinner and a game of bingo, I rushed home to shower and watch Biggest Loser only to discover that it is not on because of the Olympics... I'm bummed out!

We had a blast at dinner tonight, our table was laughing so loud and having such a good time everyone thought we were hiding a flask. A few really fun people came this week and although the first group of friends was great, I'm enjoying the new group as well. I'll start taking pics of my friends for the blog, that will give me something to post anyway! :)

Carey... you are so awesome! You never miss a post or making an encouraging comment. You rock! Justin has been just as awesome as well, hopefully he already knows I think he rocks too. Thanks to everyone who follows the blogs and encourages me. I'm so happy to be an influence to people. It's such a great feeling! I love you guys!!!!!

Tamy, got your card and heard the confetti inside so I opened it at the front desk. I left some of it for Kela, my friend at the desk. She is fun and helpful. Thanks for sending the card! Made me smile!

Killin' it Hilton Head Style

I've got no pictures, nothing new is popping up to show you these days. I guess I'll have to just take random pics tomorrow so I have something to post!

I stepped it up today in the exercise department. I'm not even that tired. It's weird, the more you exercise the more energy you get. Who'd-a-thunk-it?? But I did impress all the newbies today on the treadmill. At break they were saying how impressive I looked on the treadmill. It was good to hear and it made me realize how far I've come in 2 weeks. Tonight I told Suzette (my new room mate) everything I did today and she said she had heard that I was doing awesome on the treadmill. It was cool they were talking about me. Good things too!

So here is what I did today:

Sunrise Beach Walk

Water Fitness

Nautical Noodle

Instead of taking my 1 hour break, I did another 5k on the treadmill (what the new people were talking about)

Drums Alive

Fitball Strength

I burned 2706 calories (will be over 3000 by midnight)

I drank all my water

I gave the new people tips, suggestions, encouragement, and what to look forward to

I took 2 nutrition classes

So a little about the 5k real quick: I beat my time by a little. My average pace per mile was 16.??, I can't remember exactly. I ran a lot of it and my shirt and hair was soaking wet by the time I was done. Brenda... you tell Dino that if I can go from not being able to walk 3 miles to running this St. Pattys Day race, he better not even THINK of puss'n out because of rain. He's going rain, shine or snow!! Tell him I said so!

Did you know that 2% milk is reduced fat (reduced from whole milk) but NOT low fat? There is the same amount of fat in 3 glasses of 2% as there are in 8 slices of bacon. Skim is the way to go. Also, if you don't like skim milk (or whole grain, or brown rice or other healthy foods) you can retrain your brain to like them. Transition to the healthier selections for 2 or 3 months and you will train your palate to prefer them better. Worth a try...

Karen Goes Shopping

Today I decided that I've worked so hard that I deserve to get myself a little something special. :) I went to the outlet mall and got myself a coach bag! Hehehehehe. Never had one before. It was a really great deal and I'm super excited about it! The lovely flowers are from my mummy and daddy! So beautiful! Thanks mom and dad!

I decided to keep my rental car so I can get out when I need a break. It's been nice having that option. It was a gorgeous (but chilly) day here and I had a blast going on a drive and shopping. It was a good day. I also did 2 exercise classes before I went so I didn't feel guilty about going. Nothing was going on here anyway on Sundays.

My room mate Kelleen left today along with all but 8 of us who stayed. 23 new people came in and I got a new room mate. She is energetic and bubbly so it will be fun to get to know her.

I'm back at it tomorrow and my plan is to bump it up a notch! Up at 6 am for that beach walk in the cold!

Happy Valentines Day everyone! I love you all!

My hunny sent me flowers for valentines day!

My wonderful supportive loving husband sent me the prettiest flowers for valentines day! He also called and set me up with a message. It was a Thai Yoga message. I laid on a mat completely limp and the yoga teacher (also maned Karen) moved my body in various yoga positions, stretching and messaging me. It was delightful! Thank you Justin. You are so thoughtful and I really appreciate your support! I know this is hard for you too, in fact probably harder. I love you for allowing me to do this and taking up all the slack at home.

So today was the day for the departing people to get their results. Weigh, measure, and blood work. Everyone was thrilled and excited. I'm happy for everyone and it was fun to share in their excitement.

My schedule today:

Breakfast

Hip Hop Dancing

Sat in the hot tub

Snack

Lecture-Developing your week one plan (mostly for departing guests, but there wasn't anything else going on so I sat in. Basically it was how to make a meal plan and shopping list.

Lunch

Thai Yoga

Lecture-Staying motivated. Among other things, we discussed the benefits of exercise, where I discovered I was already discovering many of them. I realized that I have been sleeping so well while here. I fall asleep fast, sleeping through the night and pop up when the alarm goes off. That is saying a lot from the 'snooze queen'. I used to set my alarm 30 mins early knowing I'd snooze for at least that long and usually longer. So, that's good and exciting. It has to be because of the exercise!!

Snack

Walked another 5k on the treadmill. Same amount of time as the other day but it was a little easier this time. I was able to run in longer stretches. My lungs didn't hurt so much afterwards either!

Yoga

Gourmet Dinner- it was a little disappointing but nice to spend time with my friends.

Walked 1/2 mile on the treadmill

Now I'm showered, on the couch watching a movie with Kelleen with 1 glass of wine and a piece of dark chocolate. Yum!

Goodnight all! Sweet dreams!

Rest day

I don't have much to talk about today, it was a quiet day with nothing new or exciting happening. my legs were pretty sore from running yesterday so I just decided to do minimal jumping on them so they heal quickly.

I'm getting to know more people now so it's been really fun, always running into people around the main building, sitting at the back of class whispering like high schoolers, giving each other looks and giggles when something funny happens in a class. It's like summer camp, but cold. They are predicting 2" of snow tomorrow which is unheard of around here. Ummm, I thought it was going to be warn down south. I bought a pair of gloves and threw a rain jacket in last min, but I'm not prepared for snow!!!

Exercises today:

Beach walk (Deb, I found a star fish for you)

1 mile on treadmill

Hydro fitness with the instructor that yells at you and makes you do more if you whine. There was a new girl and she started complaining but I quickly told her to keep her mouth shut if she knew what was good for her! HAHA

1 mile on treadmill

Yoga : I love love love yoga! The instructor is awesome too. Love it. Definitely going to join some classes when I get home. My flexibility has improved so much.

Lectures:

Social Pressures (don't have to worry about that with all my super supportive friends)

Building a better body: I set up a work out plan for home and learned about how important muscles are. They:

Help prevent obesity - Increase lean body mass - Decrease body fat - Increase metabolism

Help Fight Osteoporosis - Increase bone density - Prevent physical fatigue - Reverse Physical fatigue

Improve Quality of Life - Increase quality of sleep - Improve emotions - Relieve stress

Help Prevent and control Type II Diabetes - Increase insulin sensitivity

Did you read the part about increasing bone density? Amazing that building muscles can build your bones.

The main point he wanted us to leave the class with: Weight training will not count unless you fatigue the muscle fibers. So make it burn, do the exercise until you can't do it any more, or else it's not really helping. I guess it really IS a 'good hurt'!

Survivor is starting in 2 minutes... gotta run! Lift some weights tonight and think of me!

My first 5k

So I look like crap in this picture, but I deserve to :) I just crossed the 5k finish line, I could barely breath, I was sweating like a pig (even though it was 34 deg and 30 mile p/hr winds), my nose was running onto my upper lip, my legs hurt like hell, any my lungs were screaming. But I finished and I wasn't last and I was so proud of myself for pushing through. My time was 53:08 minutes which is 17:09 miles per hour. I consider this as my time to beat next time. Not to shabby for a fat girl who has never run before! I jogged between 1/3 to 1/2 of it. The first half I would jog till I didn't think I could any more (about 30 sec) then walk till I felt ready to go again. But on the second half I learned that if jogged for 20 breaths, then walked for 30 breaths I could keep on a better schedule. Plus counting my breathing took my mind off the pain. And my main goal was to try my hardest and not be last. There was about 7 of us that did it. Running against the wind, with sand blowing in my face was the hardest. I HURT tonight. Especially my back. I just got back from an amazing mesage and he said after I get up tomorrow I should feel better.

Other exercise I did today:

1 mile thermo walk

Ultra circuit

step machine for about 10 mins.

Thats it.

I can home took a little nap and bath before dinner, I was wiped out.

Lectures:

Healthy Traveling - how to get exercise in while traveling

Goal setting - took this lecture last week but it was worth repeating.

1 thing I learned - there is no excuses for not exercising while on vacation, there are tons of ways to fit it in. (The motivation part is what I struggle with)... need more help in this area!!

After dinner we played a "eat this not that" game and I won a cookbook! Also I received a certificate for my 5k.

Time for bed, the rising sun will not wait for me. :)

PS... mom, Dad was able to send a comment, maybe he can help you with that, but I did get your emails... thank you!

Dinner out of the 'Compound'

Tonight about 11 of us went out to dinner and practiced our new lifestyle plan in action. I guess the ravioli dinner served tonight was dreaded and everyone wanted to get away from it. We all made healthy choices and it was fun! Notice I had 1 (yes only ONE) glass of wine. Yay me!

Getting home late so I'll just jump straight into my day, but first a few quick responses to the comments made. Jeff, there are guys here. Out of 36 people here, there are about 8 guys. One celebrity (Rob Riggle, comedian... google him) but he kinda keeps to himself. Probably afraid people will treat him different. There are like 4 or 5 married couples and people ages 26 to mid 70's. Most of the guests are middle aged women.

Justin, Carey and Tamy... Thank you SO much for sending me cards. It always brightens my day to see letters from home. I really appreciate you taking the time out to do that. Thank you!

OK...

Exercise:

Sunrise Beach walk

Ultra Circuit (2 min stations between cardio room and weight room)

Super Circuit (2 min stations of calesentics)

Step areobics

All the classes made me drip in sweat.

Lectures/Discussions:

Alcohol and weight control. I did NOT want to go to this, I wanted to live in oblivion, but I did go and I have shocking things to share (below)

Cooking demonstration - 4 low cal healthy desserts

Ok, alcohol... the good news, it is actually healthy for us to drink a small amount of alcohol a week. for women that would be about 3 glasses a week. Recommended guidelines say women can drink 1 glass per day and men 2 glasses per day. Now each drink is equal to 5 oz wine, 12 oz beer, or 1 shot (1 1/2oz) liquor. And you can't save them up and drink them all at the end of the week.

Figure this out...

1) take the number of drinks you consume in a week (5 oz wine is 100 cals, 12 oz beer is 150 cals, and a shot is about 100 cals, 6 oz marg is 280, and a martini is about 240)

2) take that number X 52 for the calories you consume in alcohol in a year.

yes that number is shocking, but there is more.

3) divide the yearly caloric total by 3500 to get get your potential yearly weight loss with no alcohol consumption. So basically the amount you could lose by not drinking. My number was sure a wake up call... figure out what yours is just for fun.

Example:

1 beer each night for a week = 1050 calories

On the weekend you have 3 glasses of wine a day = 600 calories

total=1650

X 52= 85,800 calories. Scary

divide by 3500= 24 1/2 pounds in a year. Crazy scary.

But wait there is more:

Not only does alcohol contain all these calories, but it also impacts your diet commitment so you eat more calories than you were originally planning on. "Resolve dissolves in alcohol". But also, 5 glasses or more alcohol a day lowers your metabolism making weight loss even harder. Good news is that it's reversible. As soon as you cut back your metabolism returns to normal. Maybe you don't drink 5 glasses of wine or 5 mixed drinks per day, but are your wine glasses only 5 oz? Are your mixed drinks only 1 1/2 oz shots? Food for thought.

Nobody is telling us not to drink, but be aware of your consumption and try to make better choices. Bob (the other Bob) says to order your drink after you order the meal so you stick to your healthy food decisions. Also savor your drink and enjoy 1 or 2 glasses instead of mindlessly drinking 3 or 4 (or more). Order by the glass so there is not a bottle to refill your glass with. Save it for Dessert. Drink water first if your thirsty so you don't chug. Mix your drinks with low calorie mixers.

Ok, I'm done preaching. It was a real eye opener for me so I wanted to share.

Calories in: Don't know but I made great choices at the restaurant. Broiled seafood and steamed veggies.

Calories burned: 2847

Small goal achieved: I can reach my ankles for quad stretches now without using props!

Pretty Sunrise This Morning!

Yeah, so I have seen the sunrise more times this past week than total combined in my life. I like the sunrise walks even though it is early and everyone knows how much I hate mornings. It is a nice way to start the day. I don't power walk on these, just take my time, enjoy the view and get my blood moving and socialize.

Not much to report today, except that I kicked it hard! I did 4 hard-core classes today and my body is aching already. Tomorrow might be hard to get moving.

A bunch of people left Sunday morning (30) and some new ones came in Sunday Eve. (16). The classes and dining room is feeling empty these days. It was nice to see some new faces, nice to see some of the old faces gone :) and sad to see others gone. It was also fun to see the new people starting out in the classes today, it gave me a sense of how I was the first day and how far I've come, I'm amazed at how much better I am this week. Next Sunday a bunch of my other friends leave and will be down to all new people, with the exception of one older (awesome) couple and myself. So sad...

Exercises today:

Sunrise beach walk

Water Fitness (included a bunch of water sprinting... yowzaa)

Nautical Noodle (More water exercises done with a noodle, you be surprised how hard it is! I sweated in the water!)

1 mile Thermo walk

Treading class (2.5 miles in 50 mins, up hills and bouts of running)

Fit Ball strength (exactly what it sounds like) HAHA

1/2 mile Thermo walk

Lectures/Discussions:

Self Esteem (getting better at this while I'm here)

Setting your values (very enlightening)

1 thing I learned today:

I'm a great person and my body makes me different than others, but people can still love and appreciate me for me. Wow, that was hard for me to 'say' out loud.

Calories in: 1200+/-

Calories burned: 2685 (but I'm posting 1.5 hours earlier tonight, so I'll burn about 300 more before bedtime)

steps taken: 23014

I'm so happy to hear that I'm inspiring people to get out and exercise! I hope I can be an encouragement to everyone to move more and get healthy and live longer! Thanks for doing this with me! Get out there and move! Four 15 min walks equals an hour of walking! You don't have to do it consecutively! You'll burn fat, raise your metabolism and feel good about yourself! Now I sound like Bob!

Me and the girls got to get out today to do some therapy shopping. We had a great time and feel refreshed and ready to hit it hard tomorrow!

Before we went we did a couple of classes. I did a treading class first. You get on a treadmill and go up and down in incline and speed. I sweat my butt off and even jogged a few short spurts. I walked over 2 miles in 45 mins. It was hard, I sweat about a gallon and my feet burned like a son of a gun, but I was proud of myself for finishing. I probably wont run the whole time in that race but I really want to make it over the finish line. After that I did a killer core class on a fit ball. It made us feel good about getting out for the rest of the day!

After dinner tonight we had a Superbowl party in the cardio room. They gave us healthy snacks and Perrier! It was fun but I missed my homies at home. Here are a few pictures of that party!


Sorry for the picture repeat, can't figure out how to delete it.

Calories in: 1200+/-

Calories burned: 2471

Steps taken: 11672

P.S. Got on the scale today and lost 2.6 lbs since I got here. Decent number...

A few days of "me time"

Hi guys, you may have noticed that there was no blog last night... here is why!

I woke up with a weird attitude and it kept getting worse thru the day. I couldn't decide on my first exercise class and finally ended up in pilates by default. All the others were full. The instructor just assumed everyone was an expert and did not give modifications for the exercises and I got really frustrated and angry. I've never done pilates before and was having a hard time. I got mad at myself for not being able to do it and not asking for help. I just let it stew inside me and rot my attitude more. By lunch time I was bored and tired of the program and I really wanted to quit. Same feelings I get after a week on any diet or exercise program. I saw there was a pattern at least. So after lunch I went home and sulked for a while. Then I mentally slapped myself in the face and said to my self "Karen, if your bored, change it and make it work". So I got up (skipped the remainder 2 exercise classes) took a shower, did my hair, put on real clothes for the first time in a week (no, didn't feel any change in how they feel yet) put on make up and made a plan to rent a car and go out. My room mate Kelleen was up for it, so after dinner I took a taxi to the small airport here on the island and rented a car. There was luckily only 1 left... (did I mention SMALL airport??) It was an SUV and more than I planned on paying but this was about me taking my power back and doing everything I could to get thru this funk. Anyway, I got the car picked up Kelleen and we went to see 'When In Rome'. Skipping the popcorn wasn't so bad, I had a small diet coke to keep my hands busy. Driving past all the restaurants and wine bars wasn't as hard as I thought it would be either. I wanted my night out to be about empowerment, not cheating and feeling guilty like all the other times I've ended up quitting.

So today is a slack day at H3I. We are going to breakfast, taking the 2 exercise classes offered, having our healthy lunch then going out shopping before I return the car.

Tonight is a superbowl party with healthy snack options, so I will be late getting home and will not have time to blog.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend. I love and miss you all!

Karen

Gourmet Friday Night!

Dessert : Chocolate cake with chocolate mousse filling and berry sauce
Tillapia with chard and mashed sweet potatoes. Don't know the sauce and "relish" that was on top but it was yummy.
Apple, pecan, blue salad with cranberry vinegarette
Trio of soups: Thai pumpkin and peanut, red pepper soup, and black bean soup. I don't know how they kept them separated but they each had a different taste, and together they were fabulous. Isn't it pretty? They all had fancy names, but I forgot them. HAHAHA

I uploaded them backwards, but obviously soup was first and dessert was last. I don't get recipes until I leave the program but there is a cook book here if anyone wants me to send one to you!

So this was our 4 course gourmet meal tonight. They do it every Friday night. All this was around 500 calories. Amazing! To get myself ready for this much anticipate meal with DESSERT, I went to the ladies room, went my hands, slicked my loose hairs back and remade my ponytail. Done and ready to go. No shower, no make up, no hair straightening. Sweats and sweat. The food is this amazing every lunch and dinner, but usually it is a make your own salad or soup and the entree. It always is presented so fabulous.

Today's exercise:

Hip Hop dance- very fun and hip! Also learned the electric slide, cupid shuffle, and something else I can't remember the name... another wedding reception dance. Taught by Beverly Perfect (cool name). She is also the one who taught belly dancing and cardio boxing. She is the Jillian here. She likes to make you hurt, yell at you and motivate you.

Tai-Chi - not my thing but I'm glad I tried it.

Ultra circuit - rotate stations between weight lifting and treadmill/elliptical. I ran for 1 min straight. Almost passed out. I got a lot of work to do before the St. Pattys Day Run.

Roll it out - with the foam rollers... I was an expert in this class thanks to Steve! HAHA

Yoga - the Friday night light special. Nice and relaxing for the end of the week.

Lectures:

The restaurant game - how to go out and still stick with your lifestyle plan. I'll get a lot of time to practice this one.

Staying on track - Ways to help you stay on track after you leave the program. I'll take this again when I'm about to leave, it was awesome information.

Calories in : 1200+/-

Calories burned: 2478

steps: 10883

Feeling better daily. Shin splints are almost gone and all the aches and pains are just letting me know I'm doing something right!

I'm a boxer now!

Hi Y'all!

This picture is me and my new friend Pam. We are sunrise beach walking buddies. Check out that amazing sunRISE! Not sunsets like we are used to. I think I've seen like 3 of these in my entire life. Not a morning lover!

Jeff was asking about food and the rooms, so I'll talk a little about those tonight.

The food is actually really good. They use a lot of healthy quality ingredients and if you didn't know the calories, you would think there is more than there actually is. Of course it's not buttery, creamy or salty, but after a few days you start enjoying fresh ingredients. I'll start taking pictures of some of the meals so you can see how fabulous they look. They have cooking demonstrations a few times a week, otherwise, after you leave you get a website address for 100's of recipes to cook at home. Just seeing the ideas they come up with is great.

I share a 2 bedroom condo with Kelleen. We each have our own bedroom and own bathroom. We spend most our free time in our own rooms just because after we get home, we only have a limited amount of time to shower, get ready for the next day, make phone calls, facebook and get to bed at a decent hour so we can get up early the next morning. We have spent 2 evenings in the living room watching tv together. The kitchen is never used. We get everything we need from the main building. It's a nice condo. Not a 4 star place but very livable. It's decorated with a beach theme. I believe it's condos that someone owns and rents out, like a vacation rental type of thing.

So... on with my activities for the day...

The body aching is getting better. I'm super tired at night but I'm getting used to the schedule. My shins were better today but I'm still icing and stretching. Most of the pain is now in my calves so I'm still trying to be careful. I didn't try my 1.5 mile run because I didn't want to push the shin splits (and I'm scared)! Maybe tomorrow...

Exercises done today:

Sunrise beach walk (actually saw a gorgeous sunrise this morning)

Cardio Boxing - hardest thing I've ever done. She kept yelling at us to quit whining. "Boxers don't whine" It was tough and I burned 350 calories in that 1 hour block. But I finished and went on to:

Treading class - get on a treadmill (I used elliptical) and the instructor has you go faster/slower, higher/ lower, ect. We went up to the highest level a few times, and had to run several times "from the alligators" Another hard class, especially directly after the cardio boxing.

Hydro Circuit _ basically water aerobics

Stretch and relaxation

We also walk/bike to and from "home" about .5 mile. Sometimes someone will give us a ride in their car. Everyone is really nice here.

Lectures:

Maximizing your metabolism - main theme and most importantly... get muscles!

Cooking Demo - I can cook you guys a great meal now which consists of:

Pear, dried cranberry and pecan salad with goat cheese vinegarette

Chicken cordon bleu with dijonaise sauce

Cauliflower-Potato mousse

"creme brulee" which is more like a fruit dessert with a brulee topping

All this would be about 450-500 calories and I swear you'd be full and satisfied after dinner.

1 great thing I learned:

You can't pick the weight you want to be and diet until you get there and expect to stay there. You pick the lifestyle you want to live and your weight will follow your choices. There is more to that, but that's the main idea.

Calories in: 1200 +/-

Calories burned: 2650

Steps taken: 16245

Belly Dancing

So, my goal on this venture has been to go out of my comfort zone. It's my mantra really... so, that being said... I Karen Flatt, took a belly dancing class today! HAHA. And guess what? I loved it! I might even buy a skirt and take more classes when I get home. What a great abs and hips work out. So fun! I would have NEVER tried that at home.

So so so sore today, and I am plagued with shin splints as well. I've been icing and stretching and they feel better this evening, so I'm hoping to be even better tomorrow morning.

I met with the trainer today to go over a plan he made up for me. Justin signed us up for a 5k run on March 13. After talking to the trainer, he got me on a schedule to work towards that goal. Tomorrow I have to run 1.5 miles on the treadmill. Yikes. I've never run before, but if my shins are up for it, I'm going to try my best.

My exercises for today:

1 mile beach walk (slowly because of the shins)

Belly Dancing - See pic above with Kelleen (still giggling that I did it)

Water Fitness

2 mile bike ride

20 mins on Arc Trainer

Drums Alive

Yoga in a chair

It was a full day. I got a little homesick today but I'm doing better now. I think the exhaustion just got to me (stayed up too late last night). Also, being so tired today and knowing I still have 23 days left got very daunting. This is going to be a long venture but I just have to take it one day at a time.

Notable food:

Salad bar for lunch with DESSERT! OMG the tiramisu was good!

5-Spice Park with Hoisin Sauce and Miso Soup

Lectures:

Supplements (kinda boring... can't even think about that yet, too much other stuff)

Staying Positive - was very helpful since I was having a sad day!

1 thing I learned... How to take a negative thought, change your feelings about it and come up with a positive behavior.

Calories in: 1200+/-

Calories burned: 3001

Steps taken: 13,882

Days without wine: 4

Not missing it: Priceless!

Beach Walk in the Rain

Ouch. OMG, I'm sore today and it's going to really hit me even harder tomorrow. Thanks to those of you for leaving me posts, I appreciate the feedback and well wishes. Still having a great time and learning tons.

We woke up to pouring rain this morning so I skipped the morning beach walk and slept an extra hour! It felt delightful!

Exercise classes and activities today:

Arch trainer - a gliding type of elliptical machine.

Ultra Circuit - one hour class of weight training and cardio in 2 min stations.

Pilates Posture - Pilates exercises focusing on the spine and posture

Arch trainer for 20 more mins.

Beach walk in the rain - turned out to be funner than I thought it would be.

Classes/Seminars:

Mindfulness Meditation - learned out to meditate and how to listen to our body. Sounds stupid but I liked it a lot.

Goal Setting - this will be useful here and when I get home. I learned not only how to set a goal, but how to stick to it.

Food:

Breakfast - Cottage cheese parfait with berries and granola

Snack - Yogurt and banana

Lunch - Salad and Veggie three bean chili garnished with cheddar cheese, mock sour cream and a mini cheese quesadilla

Snack - Cottage cheese and apple

Dinner - Arugula soup, Chicken Cordon Blue with Cauliflower-Potato Mousse and baby carrots

Calories in - 1200 +/-

Calories burned - 2566

Lesson learned - Kill the "Little Man" (the little guy on my shoulder giving me excuses and preventing me from achieving my goals.

My room mate, Kelleen and I are watching the Biggest Loser together so I'm going to get going. I miss everyone at home! Say hi to everyone who's not reading my blog.

Sending my love to everyone at home!

Drums Alive

Ok, guys, I'm exhausted tonight. Jet lag creeped up on me and I got a few good workouts done today. I'm loving it here, it's everything I hoped for and more. The classes are very informative and help full. And the aerobics class I took this evening was a blast!!! More about that later but it was called 'Drums Alive'. The staff is amazing and helpful and the other guest are so nice. The people who have been here before are so helpful to us newbies. It's great to get their tips and advice.

I felt like I ate more than I do at home, but because it's such healthy food, my calorie count was awesome!

Here was today's schedule:

7am- Blood work and vitals. Everything looked good except that my blood pressure was slightly high. I'll work on that. They also took my weight and measurements. FUN. Not. Although it's good to have a starting point.

7:30 - Breakfast (350 cals, 5 grams fat - a fiber, a calcium protein and a fruit) and a 1 mile walk called a Thermal Walk. To get things burning and digested. We do this after each meal. If we have a class right away we walk as much as we can until we have to get into the next class.

8:45 - Health Habit Review - Got results from blood test and a general plan of what I should be concentrating on while here.

9:30 - Planning your fitness experience. Helpful information on how to become fit by combining aerobic exercise with strength training and flexibility

10:30 - 100 cal fat free snack

11:00 - Lecture and discussion on: Redefining our Body Image. I took a lot from this class. Also fun, we laughed a lot.

12pm - Lunch - BBQ chicken Salad and a bowl of soup (squash, I think) and thermal walk

1:00 - Into to fitness - checked out how to work all the machines.

2:00 - Skills session - Body Image - again, a great class that teaches us to accept ourselves and move past our negative feelings.

3:30 - snack

4:00 - Drums Alive!!! So fun! You take a fit ball, put it on a stand in rows, and do aerobics while beating on the ball, and your neighbors balls. I sweated and laughed and smiled the whole time. Great fun workout! I felt like a member of Stomp!

6:00 - Dinner - Salad and Crab Cakes with cheesy grits. Yum! Short Thermal walk.

7:00 - Stretching and relaxation. A great way to unwind and get ready for bed.

8:00 - snack

The food is awesome so far. No complaints except it feels like we are constantly eating.

Calories in: 1112

Fat grams: 15

Calories burned: 2300

Side note... I'm leaving my phone at the condo during the day to take full advantage of the program without distractions. Also, I'm on extended network and service isn't great. I'll check and write in this blog nightly by 7pm your time, then I go straight to bed. If you need to call or text, please do so between 5 and 7pm. If it's important, leave a message and if it's SUPER important you can call to leave a message at the front desk. You can also leave notes on this blog as well.

Oh, and PS... I can get mail and packages (please don't temp me with goodies though:) at the address below. I got a card and note from Justin today and it was awesome. No pressure though! HAHA

Karen Flatt

c/o Hilton Head Health

14 Valencia Rd.

Hilton Head Island, SC 29928

Phone (843) 785-7292

Long post... hopefully you got through it!

Karen... OUT!