I can't believe that today is my last full day of activity. As I woke up this morning, I was still thinking about yesterday. Every Sunday evening during orientation, one of the trainers talks about self-discovery, which means that each person will get to know their own body well and what it is capable of.
When I arrived here about 8 weeks ago, I knew what my body was capable of - at least I thought I did. Every day I tried to push myself to my limit then recover at night. I remember in my second week of classes when Sam pushed the resistance on my arc trainer to level 50. I thought he was nuts at the time. After doing that for a few minutes, this started to change my mindset and made me wonder what the maximum resistance is on the machine. I discovered that I could max it out at level 100 and keep up with it.
Halfway through my journey we did treadmill sprints in class one day. My first achievement at this was 6.0mph, then I ended the class at 6.5mph. I thought my body was pushed to the limit that day. Now at the end of my stay I ran at 10.0mph for 10 seconds!!
The Jacobs Ladder starred at me every day for several weeks before I felt ready to try it. My first time I could only stay on for about 30 seconds and now I can do 2 minutes straight.
I tried to put into words how much I struggled with the hikes at first because of blisters and problems with my feet. It took me 3 weeks before everything was corrected and this last week I hiked Castro's Crest, the beach, Solstice Canyon, Zuma straight through, and today will be Ocean View. These are the toughest hikes at the resort and I did them all in the same week. I had no idea that my body can make it through these brutal hikes in a row.
There's only one class where we lift weights, and that is in circuit training. Yes, we build muscle with resistance training in other classes, but it is different because we use the resistance of the water in the pool and body weight exercises outside of the pool. My legs take such a beating throughout the day so I stay on the upper body side of the weights during circuit training. Over the weeks my strength has improved so much and I am breaking personal records almost every circuit training class by using heavier and heavier weights.
One of the common exercises we do in the pool is treading water in the deep end. That may sound easy and regular treading water is not bad. However, we start with the regular treading water, then lift one arm out of the pool so we tread water with both legs and the other arm. Of course we have to switch and lift the other arm out of the water. Then for the killer one, both arms out of the water and tread water using just the legs. At the beginning these treading water exercises were easy, except the one with both hands out of the water. For the past two weeks I have struggled to tread water because my body's buoyancy has changed as the fat has been burned and muscle mass gained.
At the end of most days, there was some accomplishment that I achieved that day to be proud of. This resulted in keeping the motivation high throughout my time here. Yes, there were a few days where my body just didn't react or I was mentally exhausted.
The food is still a big weakness for me, but now I realize that I can eat around 1500 calories per day and feel full. I've tried new foods almost every day and still don't like them. I've discovered that my taste buds haven't changed at all since I've been here.
In the end, this place has been worth every penny, and there have been a lot of pennies involved. It has changed my life completely. I've met people that I know that I'll be friends with for the rest of my life. The staff is so awesome and I've built a good relationship with Sam. On the weekends it was great to get out of the bubble and experience real life in LA. I've seen some cars that I only dreamed of seeing someday. I have eaten the best steak in my life at Cut in the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. No other steak will compare to this Australian kobe beef steak. Then of course there's the Ronald Reagan museum where the highlight is Air Force One. When I came here, my intentions was to lose weight and learn how to continue the journey at home. Everything mentioned above was a bonus and I'm very glad that I got to experience these things.
Closing thought for the day: I leave here this weekend having accomplished all of my goals and without any regrets. This experience has changed my life and I am now armed with the tools to continue the journey at home, overseas, offshore, or anywhere in the world my job will take me in the future.
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