December 14 - Day 24

Wednesday - December 14, 2011

Schedule

  7:00 AM              Breakfast
  8:00 AM              Hike - Pinnacle
11:15 AM              Lecture - Mental Toolbox
12:20 PM              Lunch
  1:00 PM              Trip to Grocery Store - Education
  2:30 PM              Walk to Santa Clara
  5:40 PM              Dinner

Meals

Breakfast            Peanut Butter, Bananas, & Toast         320 Calories
Lunch                 Squash Soup                                          74 Calories
                           Cesar Salad Pizza                                302 Calories
Dinner                Black Bean Hummus & Pita
                           Chocolate Covered Strawberries            91 Calories

This morning we went on a hike called the Pinnacle.  It was actually a great hike.  The first half hour of the hike was through a wash covered with large lava rocks.  It required a lot of climbing up, over, and around these rocks.  I was by far the fastest hiker so Hector, Scott (the guides), and I climbed through the wash very quickly.  We stopped for several minutes at two different times trying to wait for the others, but we were too far ahead.  We ended up climbing to the Pinnacle (the top of a mountain) on our own.  Climbing up to the top was so much fun!  We literally had to scale between two different rock ledges for quite a distance to climb to the top.  Hector and Scott really complimented my climbing skills and said that if I could keep up with them, I could keep up with most anyone when it came to hiking.  :)  Considering I am at least 14 years older than both of them, that made me feel great! 

After lunch, I went to the grocery store with Rachel, a Dietitian here.  She walked through the store with us and gave us facts, tips, and suggestions for healthier eating.  Fruits and veggies are great.  Dark greens for salads.  Salad dressings that are in the refrigerated section beside salads (less preservatives) and yogurt (creamy) dressings.  Reduced sodium lunch meat (no MSG is good too) preferably fresh from deli other than Hormel Natural Choice.  Regular cheese rather than fat free (a lot of additives in fat free foods).  Seafood is great, especially darker/brighter meats - salmon, tuna, etc.  Lean red meat - 96/4 ground beef, Sirloin, fillet.  Pork cutlets, tenderloin are good.  Turkey is great (oven roasted is best, then honey - added sugar, then smoked - a lot of sodium).  Chicken is good.  Top of line hot dogs (Nathan's, Hebrew National, etc.) if you eat them.  Center cut bacon if you eat it.  Land O Lakes Butter ok.  So is butter with olive or canola oil.  Light sour cream - not fat free.  Non-fat Milk ok.  Chocolate Almond Milk very good.  Greek yogurt with Live cultures.  100% whole wheat tortillas, breads, bagels, etc.  Heinz Organic Ketchup has less sugar.  Look for Jelly without high Shredded Wheat, Wheat Chex.  Natural Peanut Butter (has to have the oil separate).  Always look for at least 3g of Dietary Fiber, no more than 6g of sugar.

After we got back, I decided to skip the afternoon workout classes and walk into Santa Clara instead.  I ended up walking 4.5 miles through town and 4.5 miles back. So.... 9 miles in 2-1/2 hours and I even got a few Christmas gifts in between.  The best part.... I burnt 1,000 calories.  :) 

After I got back to the resort, I realized that I had walked/hiked approximately 15-16 miles today!  WOW!!!