Day 7

Emerald Pool

Angel's Landing

The Grotto

Today was the day to test out. We finally got to see how the hard work paid off. In just five days I had fantastic results. I lost one and a quarter pounds, five percent body fat, seven pounds total of body fat, and one and three-quarter inches. I lost one and a half of the inches alone in my waist! This is amazing and set me up to keep losing weight and getting toned once I return home. After hearing the great news we had our protein packed breakfast of an omelet and fruit. Then we set off to Mt. Zion, an exciting hike. We hiked the Emerald Pools, the Grotto and the Refrigerator Canyon. It was beautiful and I burned 1,100 calories in just three hours. The scenery is always worth the hard work. It was a great way to end the week and prepare for going home. On the hike we had hummus wraps, fruit and veggies. We're looking forward to barbeque chicken or tofu pizzas. We'll be heading back to New Bern tonight and starting another new adventure to continue with these results. Coming here taught me so much. It showed me new things that I love such as hiking. It gave me a wide variety of classes to enjoy. It sped up my metabolism, taught me healthy habits, and, above all, gave me the results I wanted! I reccommend Desert Cliffs and the calorie counting diet for weight loss.

Day 6

Today was exciting! We had delicious whole wheat pancakes with strawberry sauce and fresh fruit. We woke up early and did a second Tower Run. I was able to keep a fast walking pace all the way to the top. Tower Run has beautiful views, especially in the morning. Although it is tough, you can burn about 250 calories. Then we went to the gym and did a circuit, done previously before. I love working out my arms mostly because I have almost no muscle. After the circuit we went back to the house and prepared for a long hike. Today we went to Snow Canyon, is very large with many different peaks and paths. We started at another sandstone climb. It was fast and got us going. We then traveled what felt like a few miles, through a sandy path. We sat down to eat and had some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, vegetables and watermelon. We started again and went through many different peaks. Red White and Blue, lava trail, Butterfly Rock, and Piano Rock are a few of the hikes we endured. It was great to do so many up and down hikes and see such a large landscape. I burned about 1800 calories in the climbing. We went back and had the rest of the afternoon to relax. We ate turkey burgers and a spinich salad. It was delicious. The burger was on two flat breads. For dessert we had chocolate pudding! Today was great and I love how much energy I am getting out of exercising.

Tower Run

Snow Canyon

Red, White and Blue

Butterfly Rock

Piano Rock

Day 5

Today was tiring. We woke up early and ate breakfast at 7. A delicious protein shake with fruit, oatmeal and more was prepared for us. We got ready for our Balance Body class. It was much easier than on tuesday. I burned almost 600 calories. We came back and prepared for a hike. I got to hike Saddleback. It was steep, but a much faster hike. We completed it in only 45 minutes. I burned over 1000 calories. We came back to the house and had bean soup and some veggies. After having a little rest, we started our afternoon. Our first class was a crossfit. We worked on a lot of different weight lifting machines. We did 45 seconds, then 8 reps as hard as we could and 45 seconds again. I burned 250 calories. After, we had a short spinning class. We did a 5-4-3-2-1 sequence. This sequence consists of doing five minutes of biking as hard as possible and than a five minute slow down. You follow with four, three, two and one minute segments. I burned over 400 calories and only had about 30 minutes of real exercise. This is great if you have limited time and need to burn a lot of calories. Last, we enjoyed a water aerobics class. We focused on abdominals and resistance in the water. At the end of all the classes today I burned about 2250 calories. For dinner we had yummy tuna melts topped with less then an ounce of cheese. A salad and vegetbales were the side item. I feel great!

Saddleback

Day 4

Camelback

This is the group!

We woke up early for an Abs Express class. Then went back to the house for a delicious breakfast of french toast. We had a short break and then went out for our hike. It was a long day hike and we ate lunch during it. Our lunch consisted of hummus wraps with vegetables and fruit and other veggies on the side. This hike, Camel Back is my favorite so far. The rocks are all sandstone.  I asked the guide how they were created because it was so beautiful. She told us that at one point, millions of years ago, these were sand dunes. The ocean water completely covered them and the pressure and different chemicals petrified the dunes into rock. We climbed back down in about three hours. I burned a total of 1400 calories on the hike. We went back to the house and had a nutrition expert lecture and teach us about healthy food and habits. She talked mostly about eating the right calories and picking a good zone, around about 1400-1600. She also mentioned how you must try to get atleast an hour of exercise each day. It is good to be creative when planning different workouts so that you never get tired of the exercise. After the lecture we had our dinner of salmon, cucumber and tomato salad, tomato soup and veggies, very tasty. Tired, we relaxed and went to bed early to prepare for another day.

Day 3

Gila

Turtle Rock

Chuckawalla

Waking up this morning was not easy. Last night for dinner we enjoyed zucchini spaghetti, tofu meatballs, cucumber salad and pudding. It was delicious and only 500 calories, our largest meal of the day. After waking up we enjoyed omelets and fruit. We walked to the gym and had a Body Balance class, led by an 85 year old woman. I could never imagine someone so in shape at such an age. It was tough and worked out every muscle. From step ups to abdominals and weights I was tired. Burning about 400 calories was a good start to my day. We hustled back to the house and got ready for the hike of the day. We hiked a 6 mile trial and I suffered most of the way. Gila and Chuckawalla will be an agonizing memory as I definitely hit a wall during this hike. Having to catch my breath, we completed it in less than two hours. I burned 1000 calories. Finally back to get some food, we made our lunch. We baked apples, brocolli, raspberry coated tilapia and multi-grain rolls. Only 389 calories this was an impressive meal. Completely exhausted I slept for an hour before the afternoon began. We walked over to the gym and began our first class, Zumba. Working out to very enthusiastic music and many different songs reenergized me. I worked off 600 more calories. We had the last class of the day, water aerobics. It was tough but a great way to end the day. It helped stretch out my muscles and relax my joints. We went back to the house, showered up, and sat down for dinner. Tonight we enjoyed salad, brocolli, rice and a tofu mixture inside a bell pepper. A graham cracker key lime was for dessert. Time for bed to rest up for a long day tomorrow. Let's hope I can make it through. My burned calorie count for the day was 2300 total, not including my resting metabolic rate of calories burned. 

Day 2

This morning we woke up to be measured at 6:30 AM. Weight, body fat, body mass index, and different measurements of our body were taken. All this will be very important on the last day when we see how much we have changed. We had a great breakfast of fruit including blackberries, strawberries, cantaloupe, melon and blueberries and a big bowl of oatmeal. This nutritious breakfast was very important for the following hours. Then we were taken after breakfast to the mountain we would be climbing, The Third Rivine. Hiking up was not as easy as I thought. It consisted of scaling over rocks and hoisting up to the next level. Hiking took a lot of work. After about 80 minutes we reached the top. The view was well worth the climb. Then it was all downhill from there. It was not as hard, but still not easy. It took quite a toll on my knees. Finally back to the car we changed quickly and hopped in the pool for water aerobics. Although I did not feel much in the water, as soon as we were done after 45 minutes my entire body ached. We returned home for lunch, a huge salad of every vegetable imaginable, almost to pretty to eat. After lunch I napped for an hour to rest and prepare for the afternoon. We were back at the gym doing a circuit by 2:00 PM. The circuit consisted of arm and abdominal machines. We did a round of 45 seconds at each machine, about ten repititions at each stop. Next, a round of atleast 8 reps as hard as possible. Last, a round just like the first. My arms were exhausted by the end. We were then shuttled to "Tower Run." It is a very steep hill that you must walk or run as fast as possible to the top. It is about one mile each way. I completed the incline within 15 minutes and the decline under 15 minutes. I never thought I was going to reach the top. I have never even seen a hill this steep. Now back at the house we prepare for dinner, spaghetti. The daily caloric intake is 1200 on the dot with 300, 400 and 500 calories for breakfast, lunch and dinner, respectively. I worked off about 1800 calories today. I am very excited to see my loss at the end of the week. Now time to rest and get ready for a long day of working out tomorrow.

Day 1

Upon arriving in Desert Cliffs , located in Saint George, Utah, I do not know what to expect. My mom has told me about some things I will be doing which includes a lot of exercise. In addition, I will begin to learn the healthiest way to eat. We were finally dropped off at our residence for the next week around five PM. After a quick tour and an introduction of the upcoming schedule we sat down for dinner. We were served a small soup and salad, which unexpectedly filled me up for the rest of the night. Very tired from traveling I'll go to sleep soon and waking up bright and early at 6:30 AM to start.