Final Stats!

Here we are, saying goodbye! My final stats are: I lost 13 lbs and 21 1/2 inches total. 7 of those inches were off my belly alone. I am excited, nervous and ready to go for it at home. I have a 12 week plan they have set me up with and then the rest of my life to live happy and healthy. I will continue to post how things are going at home.

Welcome to Hell

We made it to the top! For our graduation we hiked to the top of a very steep climb. We blazed our own trail up a mountainside and made it to the top. At one point near the top, I heard a plane flying by and looked up to find it. That is when I noticed that I was above the plane. As you can see we are on top of the world. I asked Wayne if the hike had a name while we were trudging up the mountain and he said "yes, I call it Hell!" Well, welcome to Hell Lisa, you made it!

girls camp break

I took the day off from Premier Fitness Camp Wednesday and went up to girls camp with my girls. I needed a day for a break anyway because I was having breathing problems again. Stupid Asthma! Girls camp was fun, however when you are up in the mountains with a bunch of girls there is not much to eat healthy. I really had to watch out, there were temptations everywhere. For lunch they served Cafe Rio' style salads so I had to be selective and take only the chicken and lettuce. Of course I had to steer clear of the frosted brownies! For snacks, I brought my own carrots, celery and laughing cow cheese while they ate popcorn, pretzels and other goodies. Dinner was the toughie for me, they made homemade lasagna with rolls and salad. I piled on the salad with lots of veggies and and ate a teeny piece of lasagna. As soon as the lasagna hit my mouth I thought I gone to heaven. I had to hold myself back from running down the mountain with the rest of the pan and hiding behind a rock and gorging myself. When they pulled out the triple chocolate mess for dessert...I left.

Retired pants!

Yeah, I have officially retired the pants! We had up-downs today in weight training and my pants kept falling down. I kept mooning our cute trainer, Mindy during the whole hour. At least we had a good laugh at it. We then went to Draper park and did intervals (running/walking) on the running path and I had to hold on to my pants at the waist like those boys that wear their pants too low when I did my running or they would have gone down to my knees, so after lunch a few of us ran down to Target and bought a few more workout clothes. It feels good to be shrinking!

Habits and Triumphs

It has been 21 days! That is how many days you need to do something consecutive to form a habit. I am feeling really good and strong, like I can actually make permanent changes in my life. I had two great triumphs on Saturday that really helped me to feel like I could overcome my challenges and win!
Here is the first:
I made it up the back side of the trail to the lake before the others made it up the face. When I first started this three weeks ago, I had to stop about every 50 feet to catch my breath. Saturday I bounded up it without stopping and in record time. Since I still have problems with my breathing, the doctor didn't want me climbing the faster, steep side. But, here I am in the picture by the lake, they thought they were going to have to wait for me. Hah!!!

My second triumph is that I was supposed to walk the trail around the lake while the others hiked up the rest of the way to the waterfall which was about another 2 hours up. I wanted to try it and I thought I would come back down if my breathing became a problem. The last mile of this hike is called the stair stepper because it is straight up in a rock bed. I made it the entire way and felt fantastic. My breathing was under control the whole time and I was compelled to keep going.
I made It!

Now I am feeling like I can accomplish so much. I can keep going even if it is hard and life throws challenges at me. My good habits are forming and now I have my final week here to solidify those good, healthy habits and make permanent changes in my life and my families. Nothing will stop me now!

and it's not even Monday!

Yet another set back! Really, this is getting a little old. This old, out of shape body is really fighting these new changes. I will win though!
Last night as I was going to bed, I started to feel some tightness in my chest. I did some stretching exercises to try to open my airways and went to bed. All night I struggled to take a deep breath. It was a very panicky feeling. When Wayne got to the home at 5:45 a.m. I told him I was really having a hard time. He called the doctor that monitors us here and left a message for her to contact me. In the meantime, Mart came up and took me to the insta care. They listened to my lungs and decided I might need an enhaler. As soon as I got back, I went to Zumba class and still did not feel any better. There was quite a strain on my lungs. Our doctor called and she advised me to go to the emergency room. Because of my earlier scare with a blood clot in my leg, she wanted to make sure I did not have one in my lungs. So off I went with Cherie as my companion to the E.R. They ran a bunch of tests, took blood, ekg's, and x-rays. They told me they needed to look at a specific blood test to see if it was elevated. If it was elevated it could indicate a blood clot. Of course, the test came back very elevated and so they wheeled me in for a CT scan. Thankfully, everything came out clear and the doctor said I probably have exercise induced asthma. Oh yippie, something else I get to overcome! I was sent home with steroids to try and open my lungs. I am still waiting for that relief. I will have to take it easy tomorrow but hopefully I will be able to get back in the swing of things come Friday. I am antsy to keep moving!

Are my legs still attached?

Boy, did they up the intensity with our workouts this week! Cherie and I were fortunate to have lower body (aka legs) in weight training today after we went up the steep, front side of the mountain on an hour hike. My legs were already wobbly when we entered the gym. Our trainer, Trevor, pushed us to our max. We had platforms that were different heights that we had to continually step up and down on and then sit in a squat afterward for 1 minute. Then we strapped in those bands that go around our waist and we had to pull Trevor across the entire gym with him pulling against us. We did this running forward, backward and side to side. I couldn't catch my breath. Sweat was pouring down our faces and he told us to do it again and again. I think my legs actually fell off on the gym floor and Trevor pasted them back on when he stretched us out.
But hey, I actually managed to do Pilates and dance blast after that. We get to watch Biggest Loser tonight but don't worry, in case you think we are slacking, we will get up every commercial and do sit ups, leg lifts, jogging and stretching. Will You?

Great Chicken

Tonight we had grilled chicken that had a breading on it. I couldn't figure out what it was made out of but it gave the chicken great flavor. I asked the chef about it and he said all he did was grind up some skinless almonds in a blender and then pressed them on to the chicken with a little salt. He grilled them in a frying pan sprayed with Pam on top of the stove until the chicken was done. Try it, it is great!

2 week assessment

13 1/2" ! This morning we did our body assessments that we do every two weeks. I have lost 13 1/2 inches in my measurements in two weeks! That pumps me up for the morning. By the way, it is snowing this morning, and it is sticking!! I will post more later today.

Ups and Downs

DOWNS:
Like many of my days here, I experienced a lot of ups and downs today. I really struggled in our boot camp first thing this morning. Wayne kicked it up a notch or two and everyone felt it. My calf is still giving me some grief ( which is obvious now that it is not just a cramp) When we went on our hike I of course fell into position of bringing up the rear except this time I was so far behind I couldn't see anyone. I decided to have my own pity party and had a little cry session in my private moment. It is very frustrating to be so far behind everyone else. I can't believe I ever let myself get to this point and now that I am working so hard and trying to stay focused, I get so mad that I am always nursing injuries or some other ailment. AAARRRGGG!
UPS:
I thought I would focus more on the positive to end with. When I worked out with Wayne for my lower body workout after the hike I did feel a little more energized. He did kick my hiney but I had Cherie to laugh with the whole time. She is my workout buddy and I love her to death. She has my sense of humor and many times we end up laughing so hard the trainers are ready to kill us. It gets us through some grueling times. We can usually get Wayne to start cracking up with us, but he is quick to bring us back to focus. Today we discovered that I am like Maria Sharipova (the tennis player) when I lift weights. (not that I look like her by any means) Sharipova is a grunter when she hits the ball which drives me crazy. We discovered though that I am a grunter also, except when I lift heavy weights. I couldn't stop doing it. I guess I also screw my face up in weird contortionist type ways. Wayne and Cherie had fun at my expense the whole hour. I love it! We finished the evening with a Chris Butt "walk". The hike was all stairs and strait up. but when we got to the top 30 minutes later we ran into a beautiful waterfall. It ended our evening on an amazing high. I am grateful to be a part of this.

Things I've learned

I am starting to feel great today! I can feel that I am getting stronger every day even though I have been nursing injuries. I actually went for a brisk walk tonight after dinner and I wasn't out of breath. It felt invigorating!

Things I have learned:
* Even if you don't feel like moving, do it anyway! It has been hard to drag my body to and from every workout but I have done it anyway and I am now starting to feel so much better!
* The first week and a half was so hard, I hated every minute and did not feel the "runners high" that everyone talks about. You have to push past it! You will feel it eventually.
*Yoga by the pool rocks...Mart, I need a pool. he he
*To get meat to be so tender you can cut it with a fork, you under cook the meat just a little, then remove it from the heat source and tent it. (cover it) The heat from the meat will steam it the rest of the way done. AWESOME.
*To get flavor into veggies without the fat, put soy sauce and garlic in the water in the pan and then steam them.

P.S This was our restorative yoga by the pool tonight...LOVE IT!

Pass the mustard

I do not get the mustard fascination here. Four of the women here put mustard on everything. We had steak tonight, a real treat, and what do they do...they smother their steak with mustard. What?!? I don't get it. They put it on their broccoli, their meat, their shrimp, I even witnessed mustard applied to celery sticks. I watched one pile a lump of mustard on her plate after dinner and licked it up like an after dinner mint. They say they are hungry and it helps to fill their bellies. ok, whatever.

Thanks Jeff

Jeff, I just have to say I look forward to your comments. You are cracking me up! Thanks for putting a smile on my face.

water logged

Well, I spent at least 3 hours in the pool today. I swam and did water aerobics while the others went hiking and biking. I feel like I am going to start sprouting gills! At least I got a little sun on my face and arms. We did finish our day with pool-side yoga which was really nice. The water made me so tired that I fell asleep in our week overview meeting with our trainer. I just sat right down on the couch and was out cold. Hope Wayne doesn't take it personally!

Monday Funk

Monday must be my yucky day. This morning I woke up and went upstairs for my body assessment. As I walked down two little stairs, my one leg gave out a little and my other leg's calf slammed into the back of the stairs. I thought for sure I had snapped something. Pain just shot up my leg!

I was helped to the couch and put my leg up. Through a series of questions, touch, and Mart's internet diagnosis from home, we figured I had a massive cramp in my calf muscle. I was relieved that it wasn't more than that but I still couldn't put any weight on my foot.

They took me to the gym so that I could go in the pool while the rest of the group hiked. I sat in the hot tub for about 20 minutes and tried to loosen up my leg. I was able to hobble out to the pool and I worked as hard as I could with a gimp leg.

Fortunately, today was my upper body weights so I was able to do that afterward. I am still limping around but at least I am up and moving. I have never had such a painful cramp in all of my life. The pain goes all the way up my leg to my upper thigh. Hopefully, I will be able to work it out before tomorrow. I do not want to waste any time!

Lessons Learned Along the Way

As Lisa and I talk each day, I thought it might help to capture and summarize all of the tips that Lisa is learning and sharing:

Work your buns off! Okay, as if that one isn't obvious.

It's as much or more about changing your mindset than only working your buns off!

Eating smaller meals three times a day and eating tiny snacks in between maximizes your body's calorie-burning system. So, it's a healthier way to go than only eating 3 bigger meals a day. For example, she's consuming her calories over a six-meal period--I think 3 meals and 3 snacks.

To lose one pound of fat, you need to burn 3,500 calories more than you consume.

Lisa or I will add more lessons learned as she learns and shares them. :-)

Rockier and steeper

I guess I shouldn't have said our hike was the rockiest and steepest on Wednesday because I had no idea what was coming! I guess that was the easy way up. We went up the front Yesterday. HOLY COW! It was strait up. There were parts I had to kind of half crawl up. After all of the hard core workouts yesterday, our last trainer of the day decided to take us out after dinner to run the stairs at Hillcrest High school's football stadium. My legs gave out the 2nd time around the stadium and I still had 1 more time to go. It was soo tough.

oops I forgot!

I don't know how I forgot this off of my schedule. I am sure my mind blocked it out! After our extreme hike yesterday, we were fortunate enough to go to a spinning class. Of course, remember that I did not have a rear end because it was left up on top of the mountain, so let's just say I am walking like I rode a horse for 10 hours yesterday. I could barely scrape myself off of the bike.

Lights, Camera, Ice bags and Advil

Here's my schedule for today. Alarm goes off at 5:30am (this is every morning) We have to be upstairs by 6:00 and eating our morning snack, today was a protein shake. We piled in the 15 passenger van by 6:15 and Went to the gym for our morning boot camp which is circuit training and laps for 1 1/2 hours. After we could do no more, we went back to the house for breakfast which was whole wheat english muffins with turkey bacon, tomato and lowfat swiss cheese. We piled back in the van and arrived back at the gym for water aerobics for an hour and right after we went to a Zumba class for another hour. (which I have realized with horror that I am completely uncoordinated...with 4 walls of mirrors) We came back home for lunch which was a turkey burger, yummy. After lunch we had about an hour of down time and then went for the steepest, rockiest hike I have been on. After we got to the top we were fortunate enough to run sprints back and forth across the top of the mountain, yippee. After that we came home and ate dinner which was salmon, red potatoes and spinach. About an hour later our trainer announced we were going on a "night walk"...HA my BUTT! We went to a park that had hills and we ran those hills for 1 hour. I crawled back to the van, shaking. Lucky us guess what was waiting for us when we got back...a camera crew! They wanted to tape a segment for Premiere fitness. We were quite the sight. Now I am Icing my sore muscles and downing advil like it's candy. I'm going to bed!

I'm Alive!

Yeah, I made it through the day without too much trouble! I felt a little week in the morning but as the day progressed I felt stronger and stronger. Everyone has already gone to bed so I need to make this brief.

We did the funniest thing tonight, we watched biggest loser in the theater room. It felt so funny watching them workout with our own memories of the day and all of our sore muscles. At every commercial we jumped up and started doing jumping jacks until the show came back on. Try it...I burned 300 more calories in that hour just getting up during commercials. I am wearing the body bugg so I know exactly how many calories I am burning during the day. Today I burned a total of 3496 calories. That is some intense work!!!! It takes a deficit of 3500 calories to burn 1 pound of fat.

Tears, Nausea, and More Tears

It's been a rough beginning with Lisa's Fit Trip. After arising at 5:00 AM--wow, do people really rise at that time? Okay, after waking early, she had a snack and did some assessments--I don't think they were multiple choice questions. Then she started her workout, which consisted of a pseudo-hike. Not exactly sure how they hiked, because they didn't climb the mountainside, but instead did the "hike" inside.

She hadn't slept well the night before, and she awoke feeling nauseated. Not the way anyone wants to feel before and during a workout. At about the midpoint in her day's exercise, she nearly fainted. The nausea returned and stayed with her for most of the day.

Not feeling well, she didn't eat much throughout the day either. When you're burning over 3,500 calories a day, you need good calories, and she wasn't taking in very much. By the afternoon, she was done physically.

That's when the tears started to flow--in the quite loneliness of her room. She's been so excited (and nervous) about her fit trip. Her feelings are near the surface. It's an emotional time for her right now.

Despite her rough beginning, she's hoping she feels well tomorrow. She's completely committed to achieving her goals and finding a healthy future.

We thank all of you for supporting Lisa in her quest! She wanted me to share her feelings with you, as she isn't feeling well enough to write them herself yet. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers.

Sunday's Arrival

I dropped Lisa off at the mansion in Sandy, just below the mountainside leading to the ski resorts up Little Cottonwood Canyon. What a beautiful location! I didn't go inside, but the grounds were lined with trees and shrubs. Looks like a great spot for a retreat. :-)


We arrived at 6:00 PM. I lugged Lisa's gear up the grand stairs leading to the castle-like front door. I then snapped a couple photos of Lisa and Wayne (my long-time and still close friend from elementary school). Wayne is one of the trainers working with Lisa in this boot camp. Lisa will probably upload the photos later, once she settles into the week.

We hugged, made out big time, and then she disappeared inside. Coming up on our 18th year of marriage this June, a "make out" session isn't like it used to be--it's better now. We talked briefly that night by phone, before she had to hit the sack for the 5:00 AM wake-up call the next morning. Yay.

The nightstand next to Lisa's bed, covered with family photos and artwork:


Where she chills at night:

I just realized that everything in my suitcase is elastic waist and is made of polyester or spandex. I am feeling like a hot mama!
Wrapping things up for the big day tomorrow.

getting ready to go

How many workout clothes do I have to pack? At least I can pre-pack and not have to worry about needing to use anything. Ha Ha!