On my way home.......

Drumroll please........this morning I was weighed and measured and this stuff really works.  Lost 10.3 lbs,  4 inches on my waist and just under 3 on my hips.  I lost 1% body fat and my BMI fell from 31.6 to 30.  Yippee!  Now to bring this all to real life and make it continue to work.

I truly loved the experience - well maybe not the over 100 degree heat and the record rainfall but it was overall a great experience!

Day 14 - Saturday

Started the day with a beach hike at Point Dume in Malibu.  Although it was in the 60s where the Ranch is, it was near 80 at the beach.  We hiked down a long stretch of beach and then up to the bluff just above the beach.  It was there I ran right into Martin Sheen and his wife.  He was so friendly.  After the hike, I had one last pool class and then lunch - squash soup and a turkey sandwich.   


In the afternoon, me and four of my new friends went to the Mall.  I ended up in my favorite store - Nordies - where I ended up trying on pants.  I was happy to discover that the 14s were too big.  


Graduation was great - they made a DVD of our time here which is a nice momento.  I met so many great people here.


Tomorrow I have my final fitness summary where they weigh and measure me at 7:25 a.m. and then I am on my way........Can't wait to get home......

Days 12 & 13 - Thursday & Friday

Two great days - really working hard.  Back to beautiful weather so Thursday I hiked the beach and today I hiked on a bluff above the ocean.  Afternoon class today was a latin dance class - burned tons of calories.  Mushroom soup for lunch today ... delicious.   Had a VO2 test and they calculated my RMR (resting metabolic rate).   So now I know the math/science behind losing more once I return to the real world.  Tomorrow's a morning hike and class and then I am free until graduation Sat night.  Weighing/measuring out on Sunday a.m.

Part 2 - Day 11

This seemed like a long day especially since we didn't have a hike.  The morning flies when we hike.  I even got in the pool for a cardio class - in the drizzle.  Afterwards I couldn't get to the hot tub fast enough to bring up the body temp.  Kickboxing was especially excruciating.  Beet soup and green pizza for lunch.   Needless to say I skipped the soup and had a side salad instead.  And although green pizza sounds ominous it's really only pizza topped with broccoli and lettuce.  Dinner was a cafe salad - tortilla lined bowl filled with beans, rice, tomato, onion, lettuce and chicken - and mango sorbet.  Heading for a massage tonight - I deserve it!

Until tomorrow......and hopefully back to nice weather.

Day 11

It's 1:40 and I have already burned 1368 calories.  Woke up to pouring rain this a.m.  Could barely hear the instructor in 6 a.m. stretch because of the sound of the rain beating on the roof.  

Tuesday - Day 10

Tuesday was another bad weather day - high was maybe 65.  Did a 5 mile hike this a.m. through Malibu Creek State Park which used to be a part of the Reagan and Paramount ranches.  We saw the site of the Planet of the Apes movie.  Our guide was very "one with nature" eating certain plants pointing out others, playing a handmade wooden flute.  It was surreal.  After that I had a pool class - outdoors.  The pool is heated but it's still rough to get in and out in the cold/raw air.  Lunch was parsnip soup which I ate - can you believe it.  It wasn't bad and the hot soup felt good.  The main course was a tuna nicoise salad - I got a PB&J.  Lunch was followed by 3 additional courses - cardio intervals, total toning (a killer burn) and H2O intervals.  The hot tub felt fabulous after the pool - instructor let us stretch in there.  Dinner was delish - vegan lasagne, broccoli, salad and chocolate covered strawberries - sticking hard to our daily spend of 1200 calories.  


I wore my watch and strap for the entire day - burned over 2400 calories so I am up 1200 on the day and that's without figuring in my resting calories burned.  


Tomorrow is hump day - working hard but missing Wally and home!  Soon enough......

Day 8 - Monday

I woke up to a rainy day which is quite unusual here.  The temperature also dropped considerably from last week - down in the 70s.  No official hikes today - rumors said that the resort didn't get their permits.  The resort said it was due to the rain - not sure if it would get heavier.  Anyway, after my toast with almond butter and jelly, I took the short hike they offered around the property which is on the order of "Southfork" on Dallas, 100s of acres.  PS - as I waited for the hike, a big black BMW pulled up and out came Jillian Michaels.  She is an incredibly tiny woman.  


After the hike, I took an intense class whose name I do not know how to spell.  The class combines martial arts, yoga, stretching - it was mind and body work - a lot of crying going on.  Then stretch, and lunch - carrot soup (delicious) and a rice and bean burrito (also not bad).  


The afternoon was filled with 3 classes.  The first was Step and Pump (renamed by former guests Step and Puke).  Got through....then pool class.  The water was so warm that steam was coming off the water.  The air was very cool but once you got going, you were warm until I got out of course.  Last class was a cardio circuit and I killed it!  


Dinner was a salmon burger so I went for a substitute.  They made me some scrambled eggs.


It's been so cold and damp today - I just grabbed a hot shower and got under the covers.  Early bed tonight.  Until tomorrow......

Days 7/8 - The Weekend

Sat:  Did a morning hike and some cardio, had the afternoon off.  Mostly relaxed around here.  

Sun:  Breakfast at 7 a.m. then off with some friends - did a little shopping after which we went to the Hollywood Walk of Fame in LA where we promptly got a tour bus which took us to see the homes of the stars.  I saw so much I don't even remember - the 150M Spelling mansion, the house where Michael Jackson died, the Johnny Weismuller estate, Tom Cruise's house, Robert Redford's place and many more.  Went to Bel Air, Beverly Hills and Rodeo Drive, the Hollywood sign.  Saw all the "Pretty Woman" landmarks.  It was loads of fun and a great day to be out and about.  Raced back here just in time for dinner and all the newbies who had arrived.  

So what did we do for food on Sun?  The resort packed us a sack lunch complete with cold soup and chicken salad.  It wasn't half bad.  

Back to the grind....

Day 6

Not much to report...hike was very trying but I did it - even ran part of it; burned almost 900 calories.  French toast for b'fast.  Chicken stew for lunch - YUM!  Finished the day with Disco Cardio Jam with my two left feet.  After dinner (meatball sandwiches), I took a short road trip with my new pals from Wisconsin and one from Boston.  Went to the local Costco to stock up on Propel water.  Really helps keep you hydrated and full of electrolytes AND it tastes like grape.....I thought it would be hard to be in the real world and not want a soda or a piece of candy.  But I am working so hard, it wasn't an issue.

Big news at the resort....the Biggest Loser Season 11 (starting Jan '11) are here.  They are staying here and working out with trainers (not Bob & Jillian) to get ready for the season which begins filming in a few weeks.  I am sizing them up to see who I'll root for.

Tomorrow we've got choices....hike in the a.m. or 2-1/2 hours of cardio blast.  I have opted for the hike.  After that we're free.  I'll post again Sunday for the weekend.

Love to all.

Day 5

Today was my best day so far.....


The hike was a repeat of Tuesday's hike because I switched groups.  What I thought was horrific on Tuesday was not so bad today.  What a difference 2 days makes!  Oh and, by the way, Daris from Biggest Loser Season 9 joined my hike group today.  Great kid! 


This afternoon I had 2 swim classes (cardio in the pool), a ball class and treading.  Treading was interesting - pick a cardio machine, warmup, push yourself to a place were you can't talk for 5 min, then 5 recovery, push for 4, recover 4 and so on.  Seems like all the past guests (from the Utah facility) absolutely love this class.  It was pretty good but it's still unusually warm here and the gym was a bit warm for my taste.  


As for the food, all meals were delicious.  Peanut butter, banana, and jelly on an English for b'fast, tortilla soup and a hawaiian pizza for lunch and for dinner, stuffed chicken, wild rice, veggies, and chocolate covered strawberries.  I ate every bite.  


Planning for the weekend - more down time Sat afternoon and Sunday.


Until tomorrow.......

Day 4 - Wednesday

Today was a good day!  Hiked along the Pacific Coast - on the beach (a killer), above the beach on the bluff.  Not sure how many miles but wasted 1000 calories.  We ended up on the same beach that Matthew McConnaughey is always photographed on.  Unhappy to report however, there was no MM sighting.  The first group that hiked there Monday saw Pierce Brosnan walking his dog - no such luck on my hike. After the hike, we had a good and much-needed stretch class.


The rest of the afternoon was filled with cardio in and out of the pool as well as kickboxing.  What made the day good was that I could actually perform in the last class - usually by 4:30 I have dragging - today I kicked the s--- out of the kickboxing dummy instead.  


Not the best food day so far - Lunch was a greek salad in a pita - Yuck!  I choked it down with a lot of water.  Dinner was salmon - double yuck - my substitute was another Boca burger - which also went down with a lot of water.  I want some yummy stuff that I like tomorrow!  Here's hoping!  PS - Everyone else said the salmon was delicious - served with Israeli couscous.  


Big news of the say:  I sat right across the dinner table from Daris, former contestant on BL.  He stills looks great.   Says his whole life has changed.  


Talk to you tomorrow........

Day 3

Today was a tough one - I think they call it "the wall" here at FR.  Started with a hike which literally had us climbing uphill for about 30-40 minutes right out of the van.  My heart rate monitor alarm was sounding almost the entire way up.  I was moved up to the "fast" hiking group which was indeed that.  I took up the rear most of the journey.  The downhill led us to a house that had burned down.  Apparently a grocery mogul named Roberts built a house in the wilderness back in 1952.  The house was designed by a prominent African American architect named Williams.  It burned down in 82 but the remnants were still there and you could see how incredible it was.  The hike took a lot out of me so I tried Propel for the first time which helped a lot.


After the hike, we had a lecture on use of free weights and then lunch.  So my luck ran out today - tilapia tacos was the planned dish.  I had a Boca burger with a delicious homemade tomato soup and salad.  We had a nice cooking demo after lunch and I picked up the 2 cookbooks of recipes served here.  Very excited to experiment at home.


The afternoon was filled with, what do you think, MORE EXERCISE.  I had a interval training in the pool, followed by another one in the gym, then total toning.  Dinner was an enchilada, broccoli and pineapple sorbet.  Once again, I ran back to the room after our nutrition lecture, took a long-awaited shower and I am resting supine on the bed writing this entry.  Biggest Loser is on the tube tonight but I don't know how long I am lasting. 


Goodbye for now......looking forward to Day 4.  

Day 2

First to answer Jodi R's question:  All sizes and shapes are here, not to many men - they are outnumbered probably 10 to 1.

Up at 6 a.m. for a 45 min stretch class.  Awesome start to the day.  Breakfast was delicious - did I mention the chef worked with Wolfgang Puck.  Then off to our hikes.  There were 7 hikes in all - randomly assigned.  It was for assessment so that tomorrow we could be properly placed with people similar to ourselves.  I felt terrible for this one young lady who couldn't make it back up the canyon.  We ended up leaving her and they went back for her (with the guide of course).  We went 6 miles down into the canyon to the site where MASH was filmed.  Leftover jeeps, trucks , some other MASH stuff.  It was a tough climb - steep plus the temp had risen quite a bit from the hike down.  All good though - I was the first one up, right behind the guide - can't help it, I'm competitive.

Next was a water aerobics class, followed by lunch.  We had a turkey sandwich on this odd bun - maybe a sandwich round.  Also we had a artichoke soup and I drank every spoonful.  Some of you are saying, no she did not but I did and it was delicious.  My mantra is try everything especially since I am living on 1200 calories - which was pretty easy day 2.

After lunch, we did 3 hours of cardio - 2 of circuit training and another pool class.   The heat hasn't broken yet - the temp reached 89 which made the rooms, gym, etc. hot.  Also apparently Cali is known for rolling blackouts and we had a few yesterday.

Dinner was also great - chicken, wasabi potatoes (yes, I ate them), asparagus and banana dipped in chocolate.

There is absolutely no caffeine here but they do have decaf teas - Thank God.

So exhausted - I was in bed by 7 after a long-awaited shower and asleep by 8 p.m.  I was too tired to even write this last night.  I woke up at 11 p.m. thinking it was morning only to discover I had 6 more hours to snooze.z.z.z.z.z.z.z.

So now on to my Day 3.....

Day One - Biggest Loser Resort

I'm here!  Nervous, excited, scared...


I arrived at Bob Hope Airport aka Burbank at 11 a.m.  Took the shuttle with a few others including a kid from UCLA so I got the scenic route as I was the last one to get dropped off.  It was fabulous - Pacific Coast Highway, right out of the movies.  Incredible vista, surfer dudes everywhere - it was 90 here today (normally 70s) and gorgeous so everyone was out and about.


When I finally got to the Resort - in the mountains between Malibu beach and the San Fernando Valley, called the Canyon area - it was about 1 p.m.  Checked in and was ushered to my room or shall I say cabin.  It's roughly 10 X 10 - bed, desk, etc.  Bathroom is a nice size.  The unfortunate thing is that because it's the first week it's open, there are few things missing, bathroom towel racks, hooks, toilet paper holders, alarm clocks.  Supposedly all arriving on Tuesday.  A little problem with my air con - needs freon.  Should be fixed tomorrow a.m.


I was scheduled for my weigh-in and measurements at 2:40 p.m. Usually weighing in the middle of the day would make me nuts but since the last time I had really eaten with breakfast in JFK, I was ok.  The stats - 202 lbs, 33% fat, measurements 45 X 40 X 46 - an hourglass, a big hourglass. 


First meal:  Well, I almost missed it.  I took a nap and overslept by 7 minutes.  Ran into the dining room without a minute to spare.  Dinner consisted of a small salad, a chicken/black bean and rice mixture in a whole wheat tortilla shell and a desert with fruit in a chocolate pudding like concoction.  It was all delicious!  Quick orientation including the rules of the road - no cell phones, no outside food, participation required!


Now I am in my room - 7:44 p.m. and getting wound down and ready for bed as the first class is 6 a.m., followed by b'fast and a 2 hour hike.  


Until tomorrow night.......  

At the airport

I'm on my way.............