Day 18 Fitness Ridge

Wednesday had me saying rain rain go away, and don't come back till I've gone away!  I am the biggest couch potato when it's a rainy day and the idea of taking a hike today in the wet weather was just uninviting.  I contemplated staying at Fitness Ridge and working out in the gym.  But my group were put on Stop Sign Hike today and I thought okay I can do it.  As you know from following my blog my feet and knees have been bothering me.  And so I chose to go to mini stop sign then back down to the very bottom rather than aggravate my feet.  You have to get to a point if you are having issues with your body to know what is best for you.  There are many alternate exercises in all the classes for any problem areas you may have.  Some guest have pinched nerves in their spine, lots of knee issues, ankle problems and some feet.  We all manage to work around it and keep moving.  Today was much better for me since I had the good sense to take it a little easier today on my hike.  It made it possible to get a better workout throughout the day.

Before our hike we had breakfast, today was a sausage and egg muffin sandwich.  It was okay, I seem to not really get too excited about breakfast here.  Ironically my favorite breakfast so far is the peanut butter and fruit sandwich.




 We had a chance of thunderstorms all day today, but the sky was kind and instead only brought us a little rain and a lot of cold. Burrrr.....


We had Cardio Circuit on our return from Stop Sign and I was so cold I got a cup of hot tea before the class to warm up.  Once again I planned what machine I was starting on so I could end up working my abs.  There is so many workouts here for your arms, legs, shoulders and back so I like to get in extra exercise on my abs whenever I can.



I was so tired today, I didn't even care if I had lunch.  Seriously I would have been happy just sleeping my lunch away but I knew I would be needing those nutrients later in the day.  Lunch was a yellow beet soup, and I mention the color because they also have a red beet soup here.  The yellow beet soup needed some extra spice and luckily you can get some spices that are always available.  I will picture the red beet soup because it is so beautifully presented.  With our soup we had BBQ pizza,
which is similar to the greek pizza and the green pizza.  This would be my 3rd favorite of the 3 pizzas I have had here.  But it was good either way.  I was so tired after lunch I went straight to my room and set my alarm so I could get a decent nap.  If you are here for more than a week, this is your opportunity to go to open gym or rest up.  I enjoyed and needed my nap today.





Right after my nap it was on to Kickboxing with Sharon which is always funner!  It is actually a funner class having Sharon as our instructor, and I always enjoy it.  We had Mountain class next and I used the treadmill for it.  I went to the top incline of 15 in my mountain class, although I was so tired still.  Following that class we had pool, and Marjorie instructed both classes with us.  She was all bundled up and we were all cold in the pool.  Well really, we are not cold in the pool, just getting in and out.  The pool is heated and on cold days the water always feels warmer.  I couldn't wait to take my shower after pool class, when you have pool for your last class you can take your time and even blow dry your hair before dinner.  And that is a rarity around here.

Dinner was the cafe salad again, which I always eat half of, then wrap the other half into a sandwich.  Our dessert was mango banana sorbet and actually had the consistency of ice cream.  Many people here do not eat all their food, or substitute some of their food for salad bar or fruit.  I always stick with the program that has been set for me here.




I went to the pro shop tonight to try out some rub called, "BioFreeze" for my feet and knees.  They were waiting on an order and Cody was a dear and gave me a lot of samples to take to my room.  Cody runs the pro shop and is a sweet heart.

Alan got me fresh flowers today, and they make my room feel warm and
cozy.  Thank you honey I love you too! This is a picture of the 2 buildings where are rooms are. (across from the pool)


So, although today was a dreary rainy day, I managed to burn 3,000 calories.  Guess the thing to learn here is, don't let the rain slow you down.  Get a move on and make the day count.  It worked for me today.  I may have to lose the couch potato attitude I get on my rainy days!!