Day 8: Setting an Intention for the Week

Today started my second week here at Green Mountain. I'm excited to begin this week but also quite aware that every day that passes brings me closer to the end of my time here. This week just happens to be "Health Professionals Week" so there are a few nurses, NPs, ect here. While I find it encouraging that these women are here to learn the program, whether for themselves or for to take back to their patients, I am not going to be participating in any of the health professionals events. I am here to work on myself and not my nursing career.
The morning started with breakfast at 8am. We had egg and vegetable frittata. I have managed to master the art of picking out a balanced breakfast. We were excited to see eggs and not rolled oats on our breakfast menu.
Our first class of the day was called "Overcoming Exercise Obstacles." This was a great class for me. I have so many obstacles to exercising. I call them excuses but I really like the word obstacles better. One of the most important things that the instructor told us was that by choosing to exercise, we are making our health a priority. We were also encouraged to write ourself a letter about all the things we accomplished and all the "nuggets of success" we had while here. Once we get home, we put it in an envelope and entitle it "For Emergency Only." Whenever we are feeling our motivation lacking, we can pull that letter out and read it to remotivate ourselves.
Our first cardio class of the day was low impact aerobics. I took this class last week on my first day at Green Mountain. I remember feeling winded and sluggish. Today, I could tell my body was so much stronger. I still sweated and huffed and puffed. But it was different today. It's amazing what we can accomplish in one week.
Lunch today did not thrill me. It was a zucchini casserole. I'm not a fan of zucchini and it had tomatoes in it. We are taught here at Green Mountain that we must learn to eat on a schedule and that even if the meal is not "thrilling," there will be other meals and we can eat something better later. One problem that many women have is the fear of when the next meal will come around. This is from years and years of depriving ourselves on a diet. So, despite the fact that I was not excited about the meal, I ate it mindfully, knowing it would provide me with the nutrition and energy to get through the rest of the day.
After lunch, our first class was "Sustain the Change: Setting an Intention for the Week." This class gave us a chance to stop and reassess what we have learned and to figure out what our goals for the week are. We wrote down the things we want to work on for the week. We also had the chance to ask questions and maybe get clarification of something that may not be so clear to us.
After the class, we had a Total Body Strength class with LynnAnn. She's one of the trainers and has been around here for a long time. She makes the class entertaining and challenging. At the end of the class, we closed our eyes and repeated a mantra. "I'm doing this for myself. I'm making myself stronger. I did this here and I can do it at home." There was more to it than I can remember. I've asked LynnAnn to write it down for me so I can repeat this to myself after I work out at home. I'll put it here on the blog when she gives it to me.
After a snack of yogurt, fruit, and nuts, we had a class called, "Separating Weight from Health: Looking at Weight Bias." As the class also included those women here for the health professionals week, we looked in particular at weight bias in the health care system. It was enlightening but seemed to touch a nerve with myself and a few of the other women who started with me. We almost felt like some of the health professionals here for the week are here only to learn about the program and not so much to implement it in their lives. We also felt that in some of their comments, there was some weight bias or judgement.
Dinner thrilled me and completely made up for lunch! We had a turkey cannelloni and salad. It was real pasta and yummy cheese. Delish. For dessert, we had apple crisp. Last night was supposed to be fruit crisp night but instead we had bananas with blackberry sauce. As we had looked forward to a fruit crisp all day for dessert, we were disappointed. So, we were all so happy to see the fruit crisp tonight. Seriously, you are all thinking I need to get out a little more since I'm so excited to see apple crisp on the menu!!
After dinner, I decided it was time to let my rebel self out a little. So instead of watching the educational movie, I went with another woman down the driveway to this pristine patch of snow and proceeded to crawl around in snow up to my knees and then roll down a wonderful hill. It was so much fun and we laughed so hard!! Unfortunately there are no pictures of me rolling down the hill, which might have caused you all to laugh so hard too!
I just returned to my room from having my evening snack of Triscuits and an ounce of cheese. This is my favorite snack. You cut the cheese up in blocks and put it on the Triscuits and melt it for 15 seconds. Yummy. Like I said, it's the little things we've come to appreciate.
As a closing, I want to encourage all of you to set your intention for the week. What are your goals that you want to achieve? This has nothing to do with your job and everything to do with your health!!
Goodnight from Vermont.

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!

Day 4: Aha moments

Hello friends. I hope everyone had a good day. My day did not start the way I wanted but it got better. At 7am, I was going to go to the Green Mountain Morning Momentum class. I did this on Tuesday and really enjoyed it. However, I woke up with a bad headache and nausea. This I attributed to being over hungry. This was the first time I had experienced feeling so hungry since I arrived here. I went back to sleep for another 30 minutes and got up in time for breakfast at 8am. Breakfast was very good today. We had waffles and vegetable sausage!! I got in 3 proteins and 4 carbs and felt very good after eating some breakfast. I had a talk with the nutritionist and she made some great suggestions. But this brings up a great point. Many times, diets limit our calories and by the time evening rolls around, we have "run out" of calories and decide to go to bed hungry. This really sets us up for failure the next day. Sometimes it continues a cycle of being overly hungry the next day. Or, like it did for me, it might keep you from getting up and participating in exercise that you had planned. I do want to clarify, however, that here at Green Mountain, they do not restrict our calories to some impossible number. The probable reason I went to bed hungry goes back to dinner, which many of us thought was not as filling as usual. In that case, I should have added a salad to my dinner. By the time snack time rolled around, I was very hungry and I should have had 2 snacks. However, my ingrained "diet mentality" told me I did not need 2 snacks and, therefore, I went to bed hungry and that set me up for not getting up for the morning momentum class.
Our first class of the day was "Listening to your Inner Voice." This was a great class taught by the psychologist. Her classes are always great and I have gotten so much out of them. I had an Aha Moment in this class. We were talking about the different types of inner voices and one type of Inner Voice is the rebel self. We all have it in us and it is expressed differently in everyone. Some people allow their rebel self to have more control over there lives. Others suppress that self with their compliant self. Women in general give themselves very little opportunity to express anger. However, our rebel self wants to express that anger. In those who allow their compliant self to control them, their rebel self still has to express itself. In many women, that is done by eating. Binge eating, eating in secret, overeating, or even undereating. I was thinking about when I think my weight really became a huge problem for me was in my teens. This is a time when many teens allow their rebel self to have more control over their lives. However, I did not. I was very much ruled by my compliant self. So, the way my rebel self expressed itself was by eating. Overeating and eating in secret. And that was my AHA MOMENT. It was like AHHH. A light bulb just turns on. I AM A REBEL EATER!! We then went over some ways to allow our rebel self to express itself without food.
After such an amazing class, it was time to get active. Today I chose to go on the walk. It was a cold day but the walk was so nice and really helped clear out any traces of a lingering headache I had left.

Our fitness instructors took us up a very long hill and we had a sense of exhilaration when we got to the top. It was definitely camera worthy.

My roommate and I after our walk

Lunch today was a chickpea saute on brown rice. After lunch, we had another class with the psychologist called "Body Neutrality: Messages from the Past." This was a great class on learning to move away from negative self talk. The goal here is that so many women have negative self talk. It may be such a huge leap to go from negative self talk to positive self talk that if we can just get to a neutral place, that is great. Next time you are experiencing negative self talk, saying something like, "I can't believe I just ate that brownie. I'm such a fat pig." ask yourself, "would you talk to a 9 year old girl that way?" Obviously that answer is no so why should you talk to yourself that way.
At 2:30, I changed into my bathing suit and we headed over to the pool for some water aerobics. Today we did circuits. This involved doing one exercise for a minute and then moving on to another one. There were 10 stations and we made the circuits twice. It was a lot of fun. This is definitely something I could do when the pool opens at my apartment.
Our last class of the day went perfectly with the exercise class we just did. It was called, "Design Your Own Circuit." The trainers helped us put together simple and easy circuits we can do in our apartments, the park, or the pool.
Dinner tonight was salmon, vegetable couscous, and broccoli. I also threw in a salad to see if that helped with my hunger.
After dinner, we had an arts and crafts activity. We made Green Mountain Cookie Jars. But you don't put cookies in these jars! Instead, we identified feelings that typically make us overeat. For example, mine were being bored, lonely, and anxious/overwhelmed. We then picked out activities that we could substitute for eating whenever we are having those feelings. We wrote them down on colored pieces of paper and then, if you are feeling bored, you can reach into the cookie jar and see a suggestion such as paint your nails or go for a bike ride.
Tomorrow morning, we will not have a morning momentum class so we get to sleep in an extra hour!! Good night from Vermont!

Day 3: What do you mean there's no Ideal Body Weight??

Good evening friends.  Hope you all had a good day.  From what I have heard, DC had some snow today.  I sent it to my coworkers as a gift because we have plenty to spare up here.  I figured it was the least I could do if I wasn't there to work a Wednesday clinic with them.  Hopefully they got some relief from a crazy Wednesday.  :)
It flurried all day here but I'm not really sure what the accumulation was.  There is already so much snow on the ground, it's hard to tell.  I didn't go outside today.  One of the fitness interns from Boston told me it was cold outside and that was all I needed to know.
The day started nice and early at 7am with Tai Chi.  This was my first real experience with Tai Chi other than the little bit we did yesterday morning with the Morning Momentum class.  Tai Chi is connecting your breath through movement.  It is very different from yoga in that the movements are fluid and moving.  The movements are very slow and deliberate and you have to make sure you are not rushing too much through the moves.  The window in the exercise studio overlooks the Okemo Mountain, which is covered in snow, quite beautiful scenery to see while doing Tai Chi.

Waiting to do Tai Chi at 7 am.  Thats a smile on my face.  At 7am!

Breakfast was a challenge again this morning because I just couldn't find enough protein.  The special protein this morning was chocolate hummus.  It's mushed up black beans with cocoa powder in it.  It sounds good but it just didn't do it for me for breakfast.  I had a nice chat with the nutritionist after breakfast to come up with some good strategies for tomorrow morning.  

The first class of the day was "Redefining Healthy Eating."  One of the great things about Green Mountain is the idea that you cannot deny yourself all the time.  Doing that only creates a vicious cycle of denying, restricting, denying, and then finally losing willpower and having what you where denying yourself.  Then you have feelings of guilt and shame.  That is no way to live!  We also discussed healthy ways to pair foods so that you satisfy your hunger and then don't have cravings later.

At 10:30, I did the Cardio Combo class.  This was a lot of fun and hard work.  It was a combo of floor aerobics and step aerobics.  I really worked up a sweat.

Lunch today was taco day.  Today we had to make our plates based on the "plate model."  The plate model basically divides the plate into half veggies, salad, etc, 1/4 protein, and 1/4 carbohydrates.  

          

After lunch, we had a class called, "Mindful/Intuitive Eating:  Identifying your Eating Style."  Apparently I am a diet mentality eater.  With a diet mentality, we tend to deprive ourselves and have good vs bad foods.  Some ways to overcome this mentality is to give yourself the option to have what you want (chips, cake, etc) by adding them to your meal.  You intentionally allow yourself access to so called "bad foods" once or twice a week.  This way you do not deprive yourself and then overeat or binge on "bad foods."  Also, you do not label foods as good or bad.

At 2:30, we had a total body strength circuit class.  This involved 12 different strength stations set up around the exercise studio.  Every minute, we would switch stations.  We made our way around the stations 3 times.  

The afternoon snack was a Green Mountain special.  It is called the Green Mountain Truffle.  It is yummy.  I'm not exactly sure of all the ingredients and I have to find the recipe on the Green Mountain website, but it is peanut butter, powdered milk, raisins, and puffed cereal all rolled together and put into a cored out apple.  It was so good and very filling.

Green Mountain Truffle

After snack, our last class of the day was called Myths and Realities About Weight.  This was a great class.  The biggest take home point was that we all have our "set point."  This might not be the weight that is "normal" weight for all people 5 feet 8 inches or whatever height you are.  We allow that people are going to be different heights and different shoe sizes, etc, why can we not allow that all people have a different "normal" weight also.  

Well, friends, I am exhausted tonight and really want to get to bed.  I'm going to skip over dinner and snack, just know they were yummy and healthy.  Sleep is very important to eating healthy and managing weight also.  So goodnight friends!

Day 2. It's like a lightbulb turned on in my head!

Hello from Vermont and day 2 at Green Mountain.  Today was another great day.  

We started the day nice and early at 7am for the Green Mountain Morning Momentum class.  This was a combination of Tai Chi, some cardio, and stretching.  The class was an hour long and really woke me up.  For those of you who know me really well, mornings are just not my thing.  And exercising in the morning, well, that's definitely not my thing.  But I found myself waking up at 6:30, not hitting the snooze button, putting my yoga clothes on, and going.   

After the morning momentum class, we had breakfast.  I think I did a much better job of picking my breakfast this morning.  They were serving a vegetable fritata, which counted for one protein and one fat.  I also added in a banana, a piece of toast with almond butter, and coffee with soy milk.  That made for 2 proteins, 3 carbs, and a fat.  I wasn't hungry again until lunch time.  

At 9am, we had our first class of the day titled, "Mindful/Intuitive Eating:  The Principles of Mindful Eating."  It's amazing how simple and smart the information is.  The major idea of the Green Mountain way of eating is that diets do not work!!  We must learn to listen to our bodies and what our bodies are telling us and trust our body.  And we have to learn to listen to our bodies without judgement.  One of the principles of mindful eating is to eat what you want.  Which is basically in complete opposition of every diet that we've ever been on.  You can't have that cupcake, you can't have that bagel, you can't have that bag of chips.  But if you allow yourself to eat what you want (in moderation) and you eat what makes you feel well, you will not be depriving yourself.  Depriving yourself only sets you up for failure.  You must give yourself unconditional permission to eat what you want without judgement.  Eat it and move on, don't make yourself feel guilty for eating what you want.  I brought up the example of the never ending supply of cupcakes at work and how frustrated I feel when I see them and feel like I must deny myself.  And the instructor looks at me and says, eat the cupcake.  If you want the cupcake, and you really stop and think about it and why you want the cupcake, and you make the decision to eat the cupcake, eat the cupcake and move on.  Don't feel guilty for the rest of the day.  Don't consider the day ruined now that you had the cupcake.  Eat it and move on.  OMG LADIES!!  It was like a lightbulb turned on in my head.  I could go on and on because the class was so enlightening but I will continue with the day.  

At 10:30, I had a chance to get outside.  I had not actually left the building at all since arriving on Sunday.  We took a 2.5 mile walk on what is called the logging trail.  It was snow packed but the snow was not deep enough to snow shoe.  It was so great to get outside and get some fresh air.  The walk really cleared my head and I enjoyed the sunshine and talking to the women during the walk.  I also never felt cold, even though it was 32 degrees, once we got walking, we definitely warmed up.  I'm going to take my camera with me on the next walk and snap some pictures.    

Lunch was at noon.  Lunch on Tuesdays is a silent lunch.  This allows you to eat mindfully, really focusing on your food and your hunger.  I have to admit this was a little hard but overall a neat experience.  For lunch we had chicken quesadillas, salad with cucumbers and blackberries, and fresh fruit.  

After lunch, we had a class titled, "Emotional Eating:  Understanding Emotions That Lead You to Eat."  Biggest takeaway, No amount of criticism will ever change our behavior.  You can look in the mirror and say, you are fat, you are gross, you are lazy, this will not change your behavior.  And emotional eating is not always a bad thing.  But it is always using food to deal with your emotions instead of having ways to cope with those emotions that get us in trouble.  This class was again very enlightening and I cannot begin to cover in this blog the amazing info we learned.  

There are 2 activity options to choose from during the activity hours and, at 2:30, I could choose between cardio circuit blast or a water aerobics class.  I changed into my bathing suit and they drove us over to a resort about a mile away that has a pool.  Let me tell you, do  not think that water aerobics equals relaxing swim.  We had webbed gloves that we put on our hands to increase the resistance in the water and boy did they work us!  We were doing burpees and squats in the pool!  It was quite the workout but also a lot of fun.  We even got to relax in the hot tub for a few minutes after the class.    

After we got back from the pool and had a snack of grapes and nuts, we had a class called "Stress Management:  Nurturing the Whole Self."  Another completely eye opening class!  We learned ways to destress yourself other than using food.  

Dinner was at 6 and I actually showered and put on jeans and a sweater for dinner!  Really just because I had to get the chlorine from the pool out of my hair but still.  I have absolutely resolved not to blow dry or flat iron my hair for the duration of my stay (except maybe the weekend).  For dinner we had panko crusted tilapia, quinoa pilaf, and snow peas and carrots.  Delish.  The food here is not fat or flavor free, let me just say that.  They use olive oil and spices to flavor the food and everything is so good.  And to everyone's delight, tonight was baked goods night!!  For dessert, we had brownies.  Yum.  I don't think I have said before but for beverages, we have water, unsweetened tea or herbal tea, and coffee, and a large selection of hot teas.  They do have stevia or honey to sweeten your beverages with.  

I'm definitely starting to feel the effects of the exercise.  Right now the effects are not so great.  Those of us new arrivals seem to be moving around a little slower and stiffer today.  It really hurts to put my hands above my head lol.  That's a good thing, at least thats what I'm told by the seasoned ladies who have been here a while.  Apparently that goes away after a few days.  There are three flights of stairs you have to take and I think we have climbed up and down those stairs a hundred times a day.  I have resolved that by the time I leave Green Mountain, I will be able to climb those stairs without getting winded.  Of course, my room is on the third floor, so anytime I need to go to my room, I have to make the climb.  These are the little challenges we face here at Green Mountain :)   

I have already made some great friends here.  The women are so nice and I really like my roommate. I especially love the group exercise classes with them.  And mealtimes are fun because you get a chance to talk and chat and get to know the other women.  

I don't feel so tired tonight as I did last night.  My roommate and I are going to head down to the Okemo Room for the optional evening snack.  This is the only meal you have to pay for.  The idea behind that is that we sometimes mindlessly snack at night.  Having to pay for it makes us stop and consider if we really need it.  The Okemo Room also happens to be on the bottom floor which means that we have to go down and back up those blasted stairs to get our snack!  

Goodnight all!  I hope everyone takes a minute to say an affirmation tomorrow "I will have a good day.  I will take a minute for myself today because I am worth it."  And remember, don't forget your movement.  Something is better than nothing!!

Day One at Green Mountain at Fox Run

Today was a very long and busy day.  It started at 8am with breakfast.  Breakfast is served as a buffet style and you get to make the choices for a balanced breakfast.  You start with picking 2-3 carbohydrates and 1-2 proteins and then adjust it according to how hungry you feel.  Well, it may sound easy, but with the choices laid out in front of you, it can be quite confusing.  Needless to say, a lot of us new arrivals were wandering around trying to figure it all out.  I definitely didn't do a good job picking out my choices this morning but I have a better idea of what I am doing for tomorrow morning.  I was very hungry about an hour or so after eating and had to visit the hunger hutch.  The hunger hutch is basically available at all times during the day when you feel hungry and need a light snack.  The snacks are balanced and light and it is stressed that you shouldn't let yourself go hungry and should visit the hutch if needed.
Our first class was a welcome to Green Mountain and Becoming a Skillfull Eater.  The biggest takeaway is that diets do not work.  They teach you to deny yourself until you are ravenous or you are tired of denying yourself, then you binge or overeat and it becomes a vicious cycle.  To become a "normal eater" you must learn to listen, notice, and respond.  You must listen to what your body is telling you, notice what your hunger cues are, and repond appropriately.
After the first class, I took a low impact aerobics class.  Do not be fooled, my friends!  Low impact does not mean easy!!  I was huffing and puffing and working up a sweat.
Mealtimes are quickly becoming my favorite times of the day!  Lunch was great.  Lunch is plated already and you pick it up off the serving table and take it to your table.

The lunch menu

The first class of the afternoon was called, "Intrinsic Exercise:  Fitness Soul Search."  The biggest takeaway is that we must exercise but we also must get away from the mentality of exercise.  We must learn to connect to the joy of movement with exercise. 

At 2:30, we took a total body strength class.  This was a weights and abs class.  Very fun and challenging.  That was followed by a light snack of yogurt, fruits, and nuts.  

At 4pm, we did a 15 minute meditation followed by a Mindful Seated Stretch.  

At 5pm, we had an hour break before dinner at 6.  My roommate and I debated it and quickly decided that a nap was a much better idea than a shower.  Do not judge my friends!!  After our busy day, a nap was very much needed.  

Dinner was turkey meatloaf, garlic mashed potatoes, and roasted broccoli.  For dessert, we had sliced bananas with a raspberry sauce.  All very yummy.  

After dinner, we gathered for tv time and watched a hilarious comedian named John Pinnette.  It was good comedy relief after a long day.  

And now I am ready for bed.  I feel a good exhausted and ready for some good sleep.  Tomorrow is another great day of lectures and exercise.  It will bring an opportunity to bundle up and brave the cold outdoors.  Tomorrow starts early at 7am with the Green Mountain Morning Momentum.  Goodnight from Vermont!

Arriving at Green Mountain at Fox Run

All packed and ready to go!!

Hello from Vermont!!  This is my first official blog from Green Mountain at Fox Run.  I am very excited to have finally gotten here! After some packing drama yesterday, I was relieved to finally zip up my suitcases this morning and head to the airport.  The flight to Boston was smooth and I slept the whole way there.  When I got to Boston, I found out that I would be continuing my journey to Rutland, VT on this

I knew there was trouble when I went up to the ticket counter and the guy asked to weigh my bags and then said he needed to know how much I weighed for weight distribution on the plane.  I have to admit it went through my head to lie to him but in the end, I told him the truth.  I would have felt very guilty if the plane had crashed because I had lied about my weight!  How very ironic, on the day I am headed to a place to face my life long struggle with weight, I must actually voice my weight out loud!! 

I was very nervous boarding this little 9 seater plane.  But, once we got in the air, other than being very noisy and my ears kept popping, it wasn't so bad.  We landed in the snow in Rutland, VT at the smallest airport I've ever been to.  After a 30 minute shuttle ride, I had finally arrived.  A year of dreaming and months of planning and saving had finally come true and I was here.

My room here is a double and I will be sharing the room with a roommate.  She is my age and we already seem to have a lot in common.  I think we will get along great.  I chose the loft in the room.  It's a nice setup so that even though you have a roommate, you still have some privacy.  After checking out my room, I had my first lunch which was a tuna melt wrap, salad and fruit (yumm).  I was then able to get in a nice nap before I went for my health and fitness evaluation.  

Dinner was at 6pm and it was grilled chicken, wild rice, and green beans.  Dessert was peach crumble.  All very good and good size portions.  After dinner, we had an orientation to the program and the schedule for the week, followed by a tour of the building.  All the women I have met so far seem really nice.  A few of the women have been here for a few weeks already and are staying on for a few more.  There are 15 women starting tonight with me.  They are staying anywhere from one week to one month.  They are also ranging in ages, sizes, and fitness levels.  

The week looks very busy, jam packed with classes and exercise classes.  The meals are at 8am, noon, and 6pm, with a snack at 3:30pm.  I'm really excited to get the week started.  So I will say a goodnight from Vermont!

One final thought.  Other than the blog updates, I probably won't post many pictures or updates on Facebook, etc.  I promise to take lots of pictures and will post them all when I get home!!