From the moment I arrived at Fitness Ridge, I felt like I was part of a spa family. This is often the case at Destination Spas, but I found this to be especially true at Fitness Ridge. Just one reason I would have liked to have stayed longer and definitely one of the reasons their weight loss program is so successful. Unfortunately, my schedule only allowed me to stay for 4 days (note - Fitness Ridge is a 7 day minimum program that runs from Sunday - Sunday).
Upon arrival I was whisked away for a consultation with Sharon. I closed my eyes while she measured my body several different ways - scale, tape, and body fat analyzer. Like most women, I always see room for improvement with my body, especially when it comes to measurements. That said, both Sharon & I were pleased with the "healthy" results. With some encouragement, I decided my goal for this visit would not be to lose weight, but rather to participate in as many activities as possible and work on resetting my sleep schedule.
After a quick (reminder) tour of the facility, I took some time to settle in. The room was very comfortable, nicely decorated, and equipped with everything I needed (2 queen beds, desk, dresser, TV/DVD/VCR, full bath). Considering the budget pricetag of Fitness Ridge's program, the rooms are definitely above average.
About an hour later, my adventure began with Aikido (pronounced a-key-doh). I had heard of Aikido and knew it was a Japanese martial art but I wasn't quite sure what to expect. Basically it felt like a mixture of tai chi and self defense moves. Instead of opposing the attacker's movements, you use the attacker's movement and redirect it. Kwintin taught us 4-5 simple moves to escape most attacks. I'm still amazed how easy it was to get free. What a great class with real life lessons.
Dinner was next; my first meal at Fitness Ridge. Typically I eat ~1800 calories/day spread throughout the day with 5 smaller meals so the 1200 calorie meal plan had me a little worried. Tonight's dinner was a chicken breast with a couscous pilaf and a frozen yogurt dessert. It was definitely enough to satisfy my hunger and discerning taste buds - absolutely delicious! Chef Cameron worked for Wolfgang Puck in his younger years, so his culinary skills are highly developed. In one meal he managed to quell my concerns about the food.
Off to meditation. Ahhh.... what a great way to end the evening. Unfortunately, I can't tell you much about the meditation that was offered on this night. The room was dark, there was soft music playing and the leader guided us on a journey. I remember something about a red ouse and then I fell asleep (as did several other guests). I took it as a sign to retire for the evening. Not bad, ~10:45pm and I was in bed.
The next morning started with a hearty breakfast of pancakes. They were delicious, but frankly it was hard to eat something "sweet" so early in the morning. It didn't stop me or anyone else; we knew we needed the energy for the hike. After fueling up, all of the hikers met in the front lobby for brief announcements. The hikes (3 levels) were explained and the leaders introduced. Suprisingly, many guests chose to walk the "Stop Sign" route because of the even surface (safety and calorie-burning potential). I prefer the adventure, challenge and scenery that the trail offers.
I'm an avid hiker, so I joined the level 3 hikes each day. Today's hike (Gila; pronounced Hee-la) took us to Snow Canyon, which is a short drive from the spa. Later we would find out from Annie (our hiking guide) that the trail is named after the gila monster lizard which roams the area. I think the severe cold and snow kept everything, including the gila, away. We were the only thing moving out on the trail. We did take a quick yoga pose break to pose for this picture, but otherwise we were moving at a good pace for seven miles and 2.5 hours.
Aquafit class is scheduled for 11am every day at Fitness Ridge. Normally, I would be the first to jump in the pool. Not today! Did I mention it snowed the day before? A hot shower sounded a lot more appealing to me. Many other guests took part in the aqua class and claimed it wasn't that cold. I wasn't sure if I could trust my new friends yet. Maybe tomorrow...
The hike worked up my appetite for lunch. As I walked in to the dining room, I saw a server bring a bowl of soup to the table. I'm a bit of a soup fanatic, so I was thrilled to find out that all of the lunches (not just today's) include a soup. And they were all delicious, especially the roasted pepper soup. Apprarently I missed a superb cauliflower soup the day before; all the guests were raving about it.
After lunch, Chef Cameron emerged for a cooking class. He started by sharing his pantry secrets with us. Tofu, agave syrup, feta cheese and Bragg's amino acids (soy sauce substitute) were the ingredients that stuck out most in my mind. The other suggestion that he made (and the spa advocates) is to use the spray salad dressings (e.g. Paul Newman) in order to limit the serving size. Following several questions, Cameron moved to the demonstration. I joked with him that it was a big tease session as he prepared the lasagna and then mixed brownies in front of us. Half-joking, half-serious, several guests offered to lick the mixing bowl from the brownies. Cameron just smiled, politely laughed and promised that we would get to taste the end-product later on that evening.
The afternoon fitness classes were all taught by Sharon. First, strength conditioning, then a cardio circuit, and lastly a gentle stretch class. By the end, I felt like my entire body had been worked over by Sharon.
Cameron's lasagna and brownies were a big hit at dinner. I think I even saw a few people licking their dessert plates. After dinner, Michelle taught us all how to balance our calorie budget. According to her formula, my daily caloric allowance (income) should be ~1700 calories in order to maintain my current weight. If I want to lose 10 pounds in 5 weeks, I need to deduct 100 calories/day. Seems simple enough. I'll let you know how that goes...
To complete the day, I scheduled a full-body massage with Sheila. I told her where I was sore (all over) and what body parts to focus her attention on (hips & butt). It has been my experience that most therapists neglect or barely work the glutes even when I specifically request that they hit these spots hard. Sheila was the exception - she gave me an excellent hip and butt massage. Probably the best I've ever had! Totally relaxed, I slowly made my way to bed (10:45 again).
Day 3 started with a breakfast that I'm used to - egg white scramble with salsa - and another hike in Snow Canyon. Ironically, it rarely snows in Snow Canyon so the fact that we had snow 2 days in a row was very special. Everyone was in awe of the beautiful contrast that the white snow created against the red rock. Annie managed to find an ice skating rink to play on; Marika & I decided to stick to hiking. Today the 
hike took us on the appropriately named Red, White & Blue trail. The terrain and scenery continually changed from red sand to white rock to blue lava rock. Another day, another beautiful hike.
Still too cold for me to hop in the pool; maybe tomorrow. Instead, I caught up on some phone calls and e-mails before lunch. Today's lunch was the roasted pepper soup and a turkey sandwich. The soup was my favorite and the sundried tomato spread on the turkey gave the otherwise boring sandwich a great punch.
Kwintin (Aikido instructor) emerged again for a lunch and learn seminar, "Finding Value in Your Body". Turns out he is a licensed therapist as well as an Aikido instructor. Unfortunately, time ran out due to several questions from the guests. My key take away from this session was to have some quiet time to relax before eating meals [Listen: slow down and discern body signals]. While I am usually a slow mindful eater, I do tend to rush the start of the meal.
From the presentation, I moved to the Circuit Training class. "Pick a machine, any machine," Sharon instructed from across the room. The "machine" room is equipped with cardio (treadmills, ellipticals, bikes) and strength machines that have been strategically numbered for the circuit workout. All you have to do is follow the numerical order. Sounds easy enough, right? I exercise very regularly but admittedly do not like machines, so this ranks up there as my least favorite class. However, the fact that we only spent 2 minutes on each machine made it bareable. And with Sharon and the rest of the group motivating me, it was actually - dare I say it - fun?
OK, maybe not fun. I'll stick with bareable. But the next class - kickboxing - was definitely a lot of fun. This was by far my favorite exercise class at Fitness Ridge. Armed with gloves and a boxing bag stand, everyone let the punches and kicks fly for 50 minutes. I forgot how much I enjoy this class; it's a great way to relieve stress and it provides an excellent total body workout. I'm definitely going to invest in a boxing bag of some type for home and will take any kickboxing classes offered at my gym.
To round out the afternoon activities, Alise led us through a gentle yoga class. I can't remember the type of yoga that she said it was. The flow of the class was nice, very similar to other classes I've taken and ending with everyone's favorite - relaxation pose. Again, I managed to fall asleep.
I changed out of my sweaty clothes for dinner so that I wouldn't scare anyone off. Tonight's dinner was another one of Cameron's creations - Asian Rice Bowl. Again, he has created a masterpiece. If I had to pick a favorite dinner meal, this would be it.
After dinner, Emily the dietitian arrived to teach us how to spend our calories wisely. Notice the financial reference. Emily passed around plastic food models which represent standard portion sizes of common foods. You can just imagine the laughter that ensued when she showed some of the miniscule rations. Emily got us back on track and made her way through all the food groups. Everyone took notes, because on Saturday Emily will be testing their knowledge. Every Saturday, Emily takes the guests out for dinner at a local buffet restaurant. Another way, Fitness Ridge teaches it's guests how to live the healthy lifestyle at home; very nice!
Off to bed... I'm still struggling with the idea of going to bed before 10:30pm, but tonight my body is ready for the rest. And the best part is that I slept until 6:45am, waking just in time for breakfast. I'm in luck; today's breakfast is oatmeal & fruit - another one of my morning staples.
We're off to Snow Canyon again for today's trail. Due to the snow and ice we hit a different hike than what was originally scheduled. I don't remember which trail it was, but if offered some great climbing and a lot of exposure (open air space). If you are afraid of heights, avoid the hikes that indicate "exposure" as this essentially means there are drop-offs. For me, I love the adrenaline rush of such hikes. Frankly, I would 
have like to have stayed out hiking all day.
Instead, we completed our course and drove back to the spa, just in time for Aquafit. That's right - I finally jumped in the pool. And my new friends weren't lying, it really wasn't that bad. As a matter of fact, it was warm. Only at the very end, when we 
stopped moving, did I feel the cold air. Danae kept us working for the entire 45 minutes, mixing it up with weight, noodle and aerobic exercises. We finished with a fun partner race where one person does the upper body work and the other does the lower body work. My mother would be proud to know all of those swimming lessons paid off - we finished 1st.
Just as I remember from my childhood, the pool made me hungry. Pavlov? I'm not sure, but I was ravenous. Thankfully, lunch was extra satisfying - soup, salad, and pizza. Remember, Cameron worked for Wolfgang Puck, so just imagine how good the pizza was...Excellent by all accounts! In a matter of fifteen minutes, I went from ravenous to full. I didn't even finish my pizza. After lunch, Cameron treated us to another cooking demonstration. This time he showed us how to make hummus (several variations) and a mango vinaigrette that he had served on a salad earlier in the week (before I arrived). Like the cauliflower soup, everyone was singing the salad dressing's praises so I was anxious to see what it was all about. And like Cameron's other creations, it was delicious and deserving of the praise.
The 2:30pm class schedule said Treading. I was glad to discover that it was not another pool class. However my excitement was short lived; it was another "machine" class, similar to a fartlek or interval work-out. After a 5 minute warm-up, you start the intervals. Work for 5 minutes then recover for 5 minutes, work for 4 minutes then recover for 4 minutes, and so on until you are sprinting beyond your comfort level for 15 seconds and then cooling down for 5 minutes. Now you know why some guests call it the dreading class. Actually, it made the 30 minutes on the treadmill go by fast. Another trick for me to make the machines tolerable at home - score!
After Michelle worked us in the treading class, she led us through a Yogalates session. It is not a typo, yogalates is a fusion class that combines the best of yoga and pilates. I enjoyed it but am not really sure why the two methods are combined. Semi-private Pilates sessions were offered after Yogalates. I hadn't planned to participate in the session. Frankly, the Pilates reformer scared me - it looks like a torture machine with its springs, straps, gears and pulleys. There was an open spot, so I decided to give it a try. When in Rome, right?
Despite it's clunky akward appearance, the Pilates reformer is an amazingly elegant machine. The reformer provides finely tuned exercise resistance that allows you to work very precisely and develop good alignment, core strength, and flexibility. Even though I know Sharon was making us work, I didn't feel worn out after class. Instead I felt like I was stretched and relaxed - similar to that post-massage feeling. Could it be that I have found a "machine" I like?
The aromas from the kitchen drew me right to the dinner table after Pilates. Cameron's creation du jour was salmon and the dessert was a light tiramisu that he was testing. The salmon gets 4 out of 5 stars in my book, but the tiramisu still needs some work. I'm sure by the time you visit Fitness Ridge, he will have it perfected.
Emily was back for an encore performance after dinner. While we did share quite a few laughs, tonight's topic had a more sober message - mindful eating. She shared Evelyn Tribole's Intuitive Eating Principles, which I subscribe to as well. Just look at the first three principles and see if you don't agree:
1. Reject the diet mentality.
2. Honor your hunger.
3. Make peace with food.
One statistic came up during the course of the evening that I must share with everyone - people who don't eat breakfast are 450% more likely to be obese. 450%! Hopefully that will convince a few people to finally break-the-fast and regularly grab a bite to eat in the morning.
I packed my bags and made it to bed by 10:30pm my last night at Fitness Ridge. Three nights in a row I went to bed before 11:00pm - a great victory for me. I fit in a spin class and one more hike the next morning before heading home.
While shorter than Fitness Ridge's normal program and what I would have preferred, I 
managed to get a great jumpstart. I'm not concerned about taking those 10 pounds off, but I am hopeful that I can stick to the earlier bed-time.
