Dancing my heart out, hearing amazing stories and being inspired by fitness goddess Sheila Cluff (pictured) are just a few of the memories I carry from my week at The Oaks at Ojai.
Nestled in the beautiful Ojai Valley of California I arrived late in the evening and was greeted by Christine the Executive Chef with a hot and healthy meal. Being totally honest, I had been nervous about the 1,200 calorie diet plan most guests adhere to. My concerns were immediately put to rest when I saw the dinner waiting for me (pictured). Not only was it flavorful and delicious, but it was a lot of food for only 350 calories. In fact, for the entire week I felt completely satisfied and didn’t miss anything. And…I never snuck down the road to the tamale stand to gobble up some contraband food!
Looking at the weekly schedule, I was very excited by the variety of dance classes offered. For a long time I have wanted to take some fitness dance classes, but shied away from trying them because I was having visions of the class being filled with perfect J. Lo Barbie dolls who knew every dance move. To my relief, the classes were filled with beginners like me.
Starting out with a cardio dance class, taught by the amazing Elizabeth, I quickly realized that not only was I having a blast, I was sweating a lot and burning some serious calories. (Me pictured post-dance). Even when I woke up in the middle of the night with shooting pain in my hips, I didn’t care because I was so excited my hips could still move after a decade or so of sleeping. Yay, they woke up! I think I’ll be finding a Zumba class when I get home.
To be continued... Debra
