Days of rest

Hello friends. Hopefully everyone had a great weekend.
Since I haven't update everyone since Friday, I'll do a weekend update tonight.
Friday started with a beautiful surprise. It had snowed about 6 inches overnight. It was still flurrying some during the morning hours. As I laid in bed, I thought, I'd really like to have some scrambled eggs this morning. Well, to my surprise, we had scrambled eggs for breakfast. It's the little things we learn to appreciate.
Our first class of the day was the Total Body Strength class. Strength training is important in any exercise routine. It is really stressed here that strength training should be done 2-4 x week. If it is too hard to add this to your cardio routine, you can alternate upper body and lower body on different days.
We got a little treat before lunch of getting a little time off. My roommate and I both chose to use this time napping. We started our nap with a meditation.
Lunch continued my happy food day with pizza. We had selection of different pizzas, all with whole wheat crusts and not too scimpy on the cheese. I had one slice with feta and olives and another slice with mushrooms. Both great.
After lunch, we went Vermonting. I've been looking forward to this since arriving at Green Mountain but this was my first chance to go Vermonting. Vermontings are different than the regular walks because they involve getting in the van and driving to another location for hiking. Because of the snow, a lot of people chose to stay indoors so it was only one other woman, myself, and 2 trainers who went. We drove about 20 minutes away to a town called Westin. The trainers didn't think the snowshoes were necessary but when we arrived to the trail, we realized that the trail had not been touched yet that day. It was beautiful untouched snow. This made for a very challenging walk! I ended up walking with the lead trainer who set a very quick pace. I kept up but it felt like my legs were on fire. It made me feel a little better when she told me her legs felt like they were on fire too. We walked about 2 miles. Thankfully, about 15 minutes into our walk, some snowmobilers came by and made some tracks for us. This helped ease the walk a little but not much.

Pristine untouched snow.  A great workout for the legs.

Enjoying the tracks the snowmobilers made for us

After the walk, we got a fun treat. We got to go to the Vermont Country Store. I had been wanting to get a chance to visit this store. I did a little shopping but avoided the food section completely. Some of us have commented on how safe we feel here when it comes to the food. We don't have to make decisions, smart or not. For the time we are here, it is a break from the constant food fight that we have had our whole lives. We also feel like leaving here and being exposed to "normal food" is like reentering the real world and we aren't ready for that. The trainer encouraged me to look through the food section if I wanted to but I declined. I have one more week without having to worry about making food choices.
After getting back to Green Mountain just in time for the afternoon snack, we watched a video called "Stress the Silent Killer." It is very interesting to learn the effects of stress on our bodies.
Dinner was the best meal of the day. The meal itself was ok, grilled chicken breast, mashed sweet potatoes, and veggies. But after dinner, we got a treat. Ice cream! Real, full fat, Vermont ice cream. It was delicious. I had a mix of chocolate and vanilla. I ate my ice cream very mindfully and savored every bite.
After dinner, we had a field trip to the town of Ludlow to paint pottery. It was a lot of fun. I chose a container to use as my Green Mountain Cookie Jar. There was a lot of laughing and talking going on in the pottery studio.

My Green Mountain Cookie Jar

Saturday was a day to say goodbye to the one weekers. These were the women who started the program with us and were only staying one week. There are other women here but those of us who started together really got to know each other in our classes over the week.
There were no classes on Saturday but there were 3 exercise classes. I took a cardio Mix class that was a combo of floor aerobics and kickboxing. I've come to the conclusion that I am not a big fan of kickboxing. That is why am I here, to learn what exercise I like and what exercise I don't. After cardio, we had a yoga class. A few of the first few moves we learned to do on the exercise ball. I love yoga and was looking forward to this class.
After lunch and a shower, we found ourselves with some free time. We watched the Hunger Games, played Taboo, and had a good time talking and laughing.
For dessert on Saturday night, we continued an ice cream theme with chocolate banana milkshakes.
Today has been a very leisurely day. Our one day of rest from working out. Other than taking a leisurely walk on the logging trail with my roommate, we've napped, watched tv, and read. A trip into town seemed a little overwhelming to us as we weren't quite ready to face the real world. Those of us who have been here for a week now had the fun of sitting in the living room and watching the "Parade." This is what they call the arrival of new women arriving, lugging their luggage up the stairs. I was part of that parade last week. I arrived at Green Mountain with hopes and expectations. I'm happy to say that those hopes and expectations have been met. My first week at Green Mountain was eye opening, enlightening, and so enjoyable. I'm very ready to start a second week but also very aware that this is my last week. Every day that passes brings me closer to the end of my time here and closer to returning to real life.
But I won't think about that now! I'm going to look forward to another packed week of classes and exercising!
Good night from Vermont!