Today was a rainy dreary day here in Vermont. I laid in bed this morning, listening to the rain pound the roof, and did not want to get up for the morning motivation class. But get up I did and I was glad by the time the class was done.
We started our day with the Green Mountain Morning Motivation class. It is a really nice and easy way to get in some cardio and strength training first thing in the morning. I bought the DVD and hope to be able to do it some mornings once I get home.
Since I am now in my second week, we have moved past the basic classes and are now moving into the Practice track. This means there are a few less classes and a little more exercise classes for us. Our first class of the day was a ring Pilates class. I was nervous about this because I have taken Pilates classes before and didn't really enjoy them. I really loved today's class. LynnAnn, our instructor, has such a way of explaining things. My biggest success was being able to accomplish a Pilates roll up. This basically involves laying completely flat and sitting straight up, not using your hands to push yourself up or lifting your feet of the floor. In the past, I have never been able to do this move and always figured my size would hinder me from doing it. But LynnAnn explained, it is all in your breath. You take a deep breath in, we held our Pilates rings above our heads, and as you exhaled, you flexed your feet and used your exhale to propel yourself up. Well, at first, I was very doubtful it was that easy. After a few false starts, I exhaled and up I went, completely sitting up. After that, I did about 10 of them just to make sure I could still do it.
Our second class of the day was a Cardio on the Fitball class. This is a very interesting concept. You sit on your fitball and do moves that you would do it a low impact aerobics class. Toe touches, jumping jacks, etc, all the while just bouncing away. It was a great cardio exercise but I did not entirely enjoy it. But that is why I am here, trying as many different classes as possible to decide what I do and don't like to do.
Lunch today was a chicken tostada and salad. My "dessert" was my usual, an orange.
After lunch, we took a class called, "Whole Grains: What the Heck Do You Do With Them?" Well, who knew that whole grains could be so interesting. I am resolved to go home and cook brown rice, quinoa, and maybe even a little millet. I didn't even know what millet was!
Because we have a lot more women here this week, the first weekers classes and some of the exercise classes have been a little crowded. I was going to go do the water aerobics class until I realized about 20 women were going. So, some of us second weekers decided to let our rebel selves be in charge and we skipped the class. Instead, we played Guesstures and Cranium. It was a lot of fun and we got in a lot of cardio laughing.
Our last class of the day was called "Intrinsic Exercise: The Sensation of Fitness." This class is learning how to exercise without exercising. It is a free flowing movement and expression of how our body wants to move.
Dinner tonight was panko crusted pollack, quinoa, and snow peas. For dessert, tonight was baked goods night and we had chocolate zucchini cake! It was so good! So light and fluffy and chocolatey.
After dinner, a few of us sat around the living room and talked. Just talked and talked like women like to do. That is one of the most amazing things about being here at Green Mountain. Finding these women I have so much in common with and can share so much with. I will miss that when I go home. I wish I could just take all of these women home with me. Together, we can motivate each other to continue on our path to being healthier.
No comments:
Post a Comment