One thing I will say about this camp is that from Monday through Friday there is very little free time. For all of you that have been sending me texts and other messages that I haven't responded back to I apologize. I have about 10-15 minutes between activities and those go from 6am till 6/7pm.
First impressions so far are great. It is odd being driven in from LA into Malibu, it felt like going through Miami, however the ranch I am on is up in the mountains/valleys of Malibu so the scenery is much like Red River Gorge in Kentucky. It is very scenic. It is pretty chilly as well, and I did not pack for excessively chilly weather.
My first day here was on Sunday and I was checked in and had my initial weigh in. Everyone here is exceptionally nice and the atmosphere is open and inviting. All of the other guests are quick to start up conversation and the people that run the resort encourage this and go about setting up groups so you can bond with other guests fairly quickly.
Sunday was very basic, check-in, weigh-in, and then relax in the room till dinner. Dinner consisted of a teriyaki chicken dish with brown rice and veggies. It was very good, and there was a desert at the end of a little sliver of some sort of whipped cream with Grape-nuts on the bottom of it. After that it was off to bed for an early rise.
Monday... where to begin!
Woke up at 5AM and went to my stretching class at 6AM. Stretching was great and relaxing on Monday. It was an hour of pretty difficult stretches but very calming. Next came breakfast which was great. First came fruit plate and then an english muffin with eggs, some cheese and a little bacon. It was really tasty, and was around 300 calories. I chose to take a 12 almond snack with me for my hike later on in the morning.
The hike...
This was a horse trail right next to the campus we are staying on. We walked over and the trail itself was challenging and fairly muddy. I ended up getting some wet feet which was not too much fun. Oh and the horses left presents along the trail for us to find. We ended up having extra time after looping around these trails so we went and walked up some of the streets to the houses around here, and they were at crazy inclines. That was actually more difficult than the trail. Our guides were talking about how much they love challenging inclines. They are fairly crazy if that is the part of the hike they enjoy if you ask me.
Here are some pictures from that hike:
For lunch I had Chili with cornbread and it was probably one of favorite meals so far. The cornbread had pine nuts and dried cranberries in it and was amazing. The portion seemed huge too, it was almost as big as my hand. I will grab a picture when we have it again.
After lunch there was a lecture on calorie budgeting that was great information, but tough to stay awake through considering all the working out. Next was core training which was amazingly tough. Following that was H20 intervals class which is basically crazy intense water aerobics. Not was easy as it sounds, Finally, the last 45 minute class of the day was circuit training. This was 2 minutes on cardio equipment followed by two minutes of weight training, rinse and repeat for 45 minutes.
One thing I wish there was a little more of was time here. I am not able to do anything except change clothes from 6AM till 7PM so I get little time to chat with friends and family. It is probably a good thing the time is short or I might fall asleep.
After the classes I got cleaned up a little and went to dinner.
Which you can see is Chicken with Yam Puree and asparagus. It was once again very good, and I was very happy to have it after all of those classes. The interaction at dinner with other guests is nice and I am starting to get to know the people that sit around me decently well. The atmosphere here is crazy supportive and positive. People are here from all over too which is interesting. We have people from Venezuela, South Africa and the UK. People stays vary quite a bit. Many are here for just a week and some are here 2 to 3 months. I can't imagine being here that long, but it is definitely a great place to be if you have a good bit of weight to lose.
After the nice meal pictured above they brought out:
Grilled pineapple with some sort of raspberry sauce on it. I have to say this is the best pineapple I have ever eaten, and that includes my time on Maui. Everything they have here is fresh and organic and with some of the things you can really taste the difference. Believe it or not I ate this slowly and it lasted about 20 minutes. I have noticed that most of us have slowed down our eating to enjoy it considering out limited availability of food. I really am not feeling overly hungry though. The food is filling even at these low calories and with a snack, or extra fruit here and there the days are not hunger filled.
After dinner we had our Spending Your Calories Wisely lecture which is two parts. This is only a week one activity and I am looking forward to having some extra time next week after dinner to get to the room and relax. The lecture is give by one of the dietitians here and is really good. All the information here I have seen in one way or another, but they do a great job of collecting and present it here anew.
That is it for my Monday. I am actually finishing up this post on Wednesday morning so instead of adding Tuesdays information to it I will just go ahead and get this first post up. Hope everyone is doing well.
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