TheBodyShopSpa Week 4

This is a repost of the emails I sent out during my fourth week at TheBodyShopSpa (now Fitness Ridge) from Oct. 10th to Oct. 16th of 2004. (Though with only a selection of the photos from those emails.)

Day 22: Oct. 10 Nothing
And so begins week 4. I weighed in at 9:10 AM this morning with great results. I finally broke the 300 lb mark at 294 lbs! From last week I lost 9 lbs, 1 inch at the chest, 1.5 inches at the waist, .75 inches at hip, .25 inches at the arm and 1.4% body fat. Thigh and calf stayed the same. I'm pretty happy with these results.

Originally I had planned to go to Bryce Canyon today, but it was cloudy, rainy and windy today so I decided to stay in and watch a movie instead. So no attached photo's today! For lunch I went with Paula (still here from last week since her car is in the shop getting repaired) hoping to go the Samurai 21 Japanese Steakhouse and Sushi but they were closed on Sunday. So instead we went to the Red Lobster next door. Mistake. There is nothing on their menu that even vaguely resembles healthy. I tried by ordering a garden salad and the salmon, but those biscuits were way too delicious and I ended up eating three of them. And the salmon came covered with shrimp an a creamy butter sauce. I avoided the potato but the vegetables that came with it were disgusting. I had a Wasatch Amber Ale and water with the meal. After dinner we walked across the parking lot to Cold Stone and each had a small "Sinless" (made with no sugar and no fat) ice cream with a nut mixer. Definitely the worst cheat meal for me yet, but now I know not to even attempt to eat at Red Lobster. My calorie count for the day is real close to or a little more then my resting metabolic rate, so no weight loss today. Guess I'd better work extra hard tomorrow.

After lunch I finished watching the third Matrix movie then went down by the pool and read until chased away by the cool wind and clouds. At dinner I met the most of the new guests (once again not everyone was able to make here in time for dinner). This also appears to be a nice group though I can't see where they can even begin to compare to the great people I've spent the last few weeks with, but they still seem like a pretty nice bunch. I already really miss the vibrant, energetic, friendly and wonderful people I have spent so much time with here in the brief week that we got to know each other. The last few weeks have been so amazing.

My means of exceeding todays calorie expectations: Breakfast: Oatmeal w/ raisins Lunch: 3 Red Lobster's biscuits, garden salad w/ baby shrimp, Salmon w/ shrimp, a beer, and a small Cold Stone "Sinless" (no fat, no sugar) ice cream w/ coconut flakes. Dinner: Spaghetti w/ white sauce and pumpkin pie

Day 23: Oct. 11 Snow Canyon
Back to Snow Canyon. for another "test hike". What a great hike over interesting terrain. This week we did the more difficult route again that involves a lot of climbing through the slick rock (which ironically is extremely NOT slick but very "grippy" Navajo sandstone). As I reached the top of the highest of these rock outcroppings, my phone (which I carry in my backpack in case of emergency) started ringing because of an incoming text message. Strangely the reception was just strong enough to receive the message but not to make a call or return the message. Then as we were hiking through the last of the desert before climbing up onto White Rock it started sending and receiving again. I think that the cell phone reception must of been coming from somewhere in downtown St. George and I would get a weak signal when there was line of sight back to the city many miles away, enough for text to send and receive but not enough to phone anyone. I guess the phone probably wouldn't do me any good in an emergency anyway then. One of the guests who came last week (Mike), who decided to do his own exercise program instead of the spa's, had made the comment that he would finally do the program today but there was no sign of him at breakfast or any of the classes. It really blows my mind that someone would spend the time, effort and money to come here and not at least attempt to follow the program. Well, not my problem. I'm pretty happy that this week I'm not bringing up the rear in the hikes. Merle and I kept a pretty similar pace with the guide Cindy keeping an eye on us, while Ann, Brita and Christine raced ahead with the guide Tom. Chas and Kappy brought up the rear under the guidance of Cameron. It's nice to finally not be the slow straggler bringing up the rear. We got back from the hike in plenty of time for Tai Chi, which is such a nice mellow way to stretch and relax the muscles after that hike.

After lunch Michelle gave her lecture on aerobic exercise, etc. It's kind of neat that every lecture that I've heard here is always a little different and I always get a little something more out of the lectures, even the ones that I've sat through four times now. Due to questions and stuff the lecture ran a little late and so the Ballworks class started a little late so ran a little short. I have to admit that even though I've noticed an improvement in my ability to do the exercises, I still have not developed any liking for those fitness balls. In fact I have more then a little antipathy toward them, and am glad that I won't be using one again for the foreseeable future. I would have to say that of all the exercises and classes that we have done here at the Body Shop Spa, it was my least favorite. It certainly wasn't the hardest or most exhausting, but something that I can't put my finger on just turned me off of it. On the other hand, I really have enjoyed the Aquacise classes. I still have four more of those this week. I'm going to have to search around for classes in San Diego or maybe just try to do them on my own in the apartment complex pool. After Aquacise I went up to the elliptical machines and did an hour on that while maintaining my heart rate in it's maximum fat burning zone.

The after dinner lecture was from Dr. Brad. I have really enjoyed his lectures and gotten a lot out of them. The lectures have a lot of information, and that information always has a lot of depth to it and he's not afraid to admit when he doesn't know something. I really think that his and Michelle's lectures have given me a lot of information that I can really use to help get myself more healthy and to stay healthy.

Today's dietary adventures included: Breakfast: fruit and tofu French toast Snack: plum Lunch: salad, corn chowder and bean tostadas Dinner: salad, cabbage, egg-less fu young, and a brownie


Day 24: Oct. 12 Stop Sign
The snooze alarm was a very heavily used feature of the alarm clock this morning. I had a lot of trouble getting out of bed and facing another exhausting day. The hike this morning was to Red Mountain, which I did two weeks ago. There is a really impressive view at the end, but for the most of the trip the view isn't all that spectacular and the jeep trail that we climb is just covered with loose rock that is just waiting to twist your ankle. So rather then go on that hike and spending the morning staring down at my feet worrying about where to step, I decided to join the small group doing the Stop Sign hike. I wore my heart rate monitor and spent the hike trying to keep my heart rate between 120 and 127. I found that in level places a fast walk is good to keep my heart rate around 120 to 123, and going downhill I now have to practically run to keep it near 120! Most of the uphill sections were good for a heart rate of 127-129 at a reasonably brisk walk except the steepest section of the road part of the hike where I had to go at a slow crawling pace to keep the heart rate down in the low 130's. A nice hike, but over for me much quicker then I expected. Luckily I had a book to read for the 40 minutes while waiting for the others to get to the end so we could talk while waiting for the van to come pick us up. That kind of made me feel pretty good about how my health is coming along. Likewise Pilates is getting much more doable. There are still some exercises that I have a lot of difficulty with, but in general it's possible to actually do the exercises unlike a few weeks ago. I'm thinking that I might start taking some of the Pilates and Yoga classes at 24 hour fitness when I get home to try to keep working on the flexibility and core strength.

I went a little early to the Circuit Training to spend a little extra time on the elliptical machine instead of the normal 5 minute warm up that we do. For some reason the weights seemed a little heavier this week then last week. It must have been some local gravity increase, because it can't be because I'm tired or worn out! ;-) I was even feeling a little more tired during Aquacise, and that almost always seems to refresh me. So instead of hitting the elliptical for some extra workout, I headed back to the room to relax for a little bit before dinner. After dinner Dr. Fisher came in and gave a lecture on how to shop for healthier groceries. Definitely the most useful of her lectures for me.

Today's menu: Breakfast: fruit, the breakfast burrito which I don't care for so I ate the facon (fake bacon) and some oatmeal. Snack: apple Lunch: salad, vegetables on brown rice and Indian Dal soup. Dinner: salad, spinach, vegan lasagna (which is my favorite dinner served here) and carrot cake.

I'm calling it an early night and try to be rested for tomorrow.


Day 25: Oct. 13 Gila
Today's alarm clock got the snooze alarm treatment again. It woke me up from a dream where I was trying to buy cheese at the grocery store and order pizza. Hmmm. I wonder what that means... :-) Our hike today was Gila, one of the nicest (in my opinion) that the Body Shop Spa does. Starting this hike I ended up falling way behind the rest of the group. But as we started to climb I found that I was catching up with the rest and even passing some. Once we got to the top, that changed again. Kind of odd, but it almost seems to make sense. I've always been slow walking and running. I think it's a better indication of my improved endurance that I'm not slowing down as much when the going gets tough. It reminds me of my high school days on th crew team. I was a real slow runner then and always had to struggle with the runs that we had to do. One day our coach (who was tracking our run times) got us together and was screaming at us that we were slacking off and not improving our run times, "...except for one person" he said. Then he shocked all of us (including myself) by pointing to me and saying that I was the only one training properly. Yes, every time I was the last person to finish the runs, but I was the only one who was running my hardest and who's running times was getting just a little bit better each and every time we ran. That really struck me as an important lesson. When training, you can't judge yourself by how other people are doing in relation to your performance but by how hard you are pushing yourself and improving yourself over your past performance and abilities.

Yoga certainly felt good today, the emphasis was on stretching and everybody needed that after today's hike. After lunch I ran down to AAA and got maps for Utah, Arizona, Nevada and Southern California so I can plan my ride home. I would like to stop and see some scenery on the way home and I want to look at the options along different routes. Then it was off to Kickboxing and Aquacise. After Aquacise I got on the elliptical machine for an hour, which gave me just enough time to get back to my room to shower before dinner. At 6:00 I had an excellent massage. I really, really enjoy the reflexolgy foot massage that Jane-Anne gives. My feet hurt and are very tense after all the stuff that I'm doing here and the reflexology fixes that like you wouldn't believe. I ended up missing the first hlf hour of the presidential debate but as much as I hated missing that, I enjoyed the massage much more. And somehow I doubt that I missed any groundbreaking revelation that would change my vote.

Today's cheese and pizza free meals: Breakfast: fruit and blueberry buckwheat pancakes Snack: pear Lunch: salad, pea soup and garbanzo bean salad sandwich Dinner: salad, brocolli (which Megan was very nice to make sure that they didn't even go near my plate) and Scietan "Chicken"


Day 26: Oct. 14 3rd Ravine
Today started with a little bit of a thrill. The hike was the Third Ravine, but at first we got to rappel. We hike up a dirt road (that is mostly dust in some parts as you can see from the first photo then down a mini canyon to where the boulder we rappel from. A lot of fun! Even those who were nervous about doing it ended up enjoying themselves. The rappel at Camelback is a little nicer but this was still a blast. The last five feet of this rappel leaves you dangling under an overhang, so I had a little fun just laying there dangling at the end of the rope while slowly lowering myself. Rock climbing is a little over the edge for me but I could get used to doing the rappelling. After that we hiked up the dry wash in the ravine until we get to a wide circular valley, then up the sides to where there are some caves and a great overlook. From the overlook you can see where the Mojave Desert smacks into the Colorado Platte. From there everything to the east looks tilted to it's side.

When we got back it was time for Pilates with Michelle, then after lunch it was Circuit Training then Aquacise. Before Circuit Training, I decided to do an extra half hour of elliptical machine instead of waiting until after Aquacise to do my extra cardio workout. That way I didn't have to climb back into nasty wet sweaty clothes after the pool. Margaret ran the Circuit Class today but had to go somewhere afterwords so Michelle did the Aquacise class today. So after lifting the weights for the Circuit Class I had to say goodbye to Margaret. The Body Shop Spa has been wonderful for introducing me to so many great people, but it's so tough to say goodbye to them after such a short time.

Before dinner I ran out to get some money from the ATM and stop by the Health Nut to pick up some odds and ends to take back with me. I got a bunch of different "Just..." fruits made by JustTomatoes (http://www.justtomatoes.com/), some other dried fruits and some trail mix. While I was there I also got and ate a small vanilla "oatcream" which is just like ice cream except made from oatmeal. After dinner Michelle gave a lecture on staying fit after we get out, giving us a handout and demonstrated proper techniques for working the different muscle groups using body weight and discussing different other ways to work them out. She especially emphasised the proper form for doing squats and lunges.

Today's culinary delights: Breakfast: tofu/fruit smoothie and fake Canadian bacon on whole grain English muffin Snack: Apple Lunch: salad, artichoke salad sandwich and lentil soup Snack2: 8 oz. vanilla "oatcream" from Health Nut Dinner: salad, Shepherd's Pie (I ate good tasting part of this which was what was left after pulling off the mashed potato topping and also removing the cooked carrots), green beans (not a fit vegetable for consumption, so they were'nt consumed) and a cake with strawberry topping



Day 27: Oct. 15 Saddle
It's hard to believe that the end is just about here. Today was the last of the "real" days. It's hard to imagine that there's not going to be any more days filled with hiking and working out with such great people. It's going to be a tough adjustment going back to the "real" world. The Body Shop Spa saved the best hike for the last. Today's hike was to one that I hadn't been to before called the Saddle. This hike goes up a narrow steep canyon that ascends quite steeply to a small saddle between two mountains, then descends into another canyon that lets out into Snow Canyon. The terrain and plant life on this hike varies from one extreme to another while the photo opportunities were amazing. I guess I need to apologize for the shear number of attached photos, but I couldn't narrow the selection down any more. One of the photos is of a sign that we passed that might be meant to show the direction of the trail for hikers and equestrians. If you read it from top to bottom, you should be able to interpret the real meaning... "Hikers" "This way" "Jackass" What an amazing final hike here in St. George.

Yoga was a fun last stretching type class. It's a blast to feel how much more flexible I am now then when I got here. Though Michelle added some fun by trying to get us to do some of the impossible. The "frog" position was a little much, balancing in a crouched position on only our hands. Not going to happen. Then she really blew everyone's mind with the "stand on your heads" bit, no one was able to do that, but it was pretty cool to see Michelle manage it effortlessly.

Kappy, Anne and I went to the Johnson Dinosaur Tracks after lunch. This is a cool little jaunt to take during the break between lunch and class. Treading Class was (as it has been every week) completely exhausting. Those intervals of maximum effort just leave you wiped. It will be interesting to see if I can motivate myself to push that hard on my own when I try that back in San Diego. Well, it's only once a week that I should do it so maybe I can. We'll see. Then it was off to the final Aquacise class, and the last class here at the Body Shop. It was nice and refreshing after the Treading workout, though still very tiring. I can't tell you how valuable these workouts and instruction have been to me. Even when totally exhausted I have more energy then when I got here and my flexibility has increased more then I would have imagined possible. All the instructors here have been so wonderful, helpful and inspirational.

Before dinner Michelle showed the DVD with the photos for the week and gave out certificates of completion (photo sad28.jpg) for those of us who are leaving this week.Then after dinner I finished off the month here with a 90 minute massage. The massage has left me so relaxed that I've felt like I was just going to melt into this chair while I've been typing this. Now I think I'll go melt into bed.

Today's excellent culinary experiences contained: Breakfast: fruit and cereal /oatmeal Snack: apple Lunch: salad, tomato basil soup, and Boca burgers Dinner: salad, mixed vegetables, enchilada casserole







Day 28: Oct. 16 Zion & Bryce Canyon National Parks
Wow. I can't believe that this experience is ending. All that's left is tomorrow's weight-out and breakfast. That seems so strange. For the last four weeks the Body Shop Spa has been everything I experienced from the time I woke up until the time I went to bed. And now I have to go back to the real world. I feel like a little bird getting shoved out of the nest to either fly or go splat on the ground. Luckily all this exercise should have made my "wings" nice and strong. The true test will be to see how well everything I learned here sticks with me a year from now.

Today was the spa's weekly trip to Zion, I drove myself there instead of going in the van so that I could leave early and go on to Bryce Canyon National Park. On the way to the park I stopped at a scenic overlook and watched the sunrise . I met the group at Zion then hiked the Riverwalk at the Temple and Weeping Rock with Anne, Kappy and Merle, then took the bus down canyon while they started the Emerald Pools. I stopped at the Court of the Patriarchs and the Museum of Human History while still in Zion then drove on to Bryce. On the way to Bryce you pass through Red Canyon which was very beautiful and worth visiting all on it's own. Bryce Canyon was impressive. When you first drive in you're in a boring pine forest driving down a road with no interesting scenery. My first impression was "OK, so what's the big deal about this place. I can't believe I drove all the way out here for nothing." Then I pulled into one of the overlooks, get out and walk to the edge and had my jaw just drop in amazement. It's the most amazing scenery. I really regret that I didn't have the time to go on any of the hikes. I would love to come back here and spend a few days hiking around this fairyland of natural sculptures and scenery. On the way back, I took a different path and took route 14 to Cedar City rather then continuing down route 89 to route 9 and through Zion. Route 14 goes up through the mountains to around 10,000ft altitude. Up there at one point there is a scenic overlook where you can look out through the mountains and see Zion spread out in the far distance.

Then it was back to the hotel for my last supper of salad, Mongolian Stew over couscous and a delicious fruit pudding. Everyone's beginning to say their goodbyes, which is always the toughest thing to do. You can't begin to imagine how many great people I've met over the last month. When looking back at all the great experiences, all I've learned and all I've done here, the best part of this last month has been the people.