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