January 16, 2008 Canyon Ranch Day 1

OMG I think I have died and gone to heaven!!! This place is AWESOME!

We got up at 5 am and headed for the train station. We had planned on the 6:40 train, but we were so early, we got on the 6:06! It pulled in just after we arrived, so we jumped on. That gave us extra time at NY Penn Station, which allowed us to take our time finding where we needed to go.

We found the Amtrak lounge and got our stuff settled, and I stayed with the bags while Deb went in search of breakfast for her and OJ for me. She came back with fresh squeezed OJ!! Yummy--I was SO tempted to drink more than my 4 ounces, so I threw it away as soon as I'd had that much. My peanut butter and banana sandwich was great. They called our train and we boarded a very nice Amtrak train to Albany. When we arrived, our driver was waiting for us, and less than an hour later we were here!

The place is just beautiful. It was an old mansion, and then they added on to it. You never have to go outsite--it's all glass enclosed. We checked in, left our bags, and headed to lunch. Now, I'm used to a WW or Lean Cuisine meal for lunch, but today I got "real food"! A nice salad with a little bit of hummus, 3 oz of yummy salmon, and 1/2 cup of brown rice with a little butter. I also ordered the steamed veggies, becuase there were 2 in there I'd never tried. So I tried fennel and broccoli rabe. Did not like either one. I asked for some yogurt to take back for my snack, and that was no problem. Our room wasn't ready, so we put it in the fridge at the beverage bar to keep it cold. We then took a tour of the whole place, and learned some important details about what is where.

After that it was off to the Demo Kitchen for Kitchen Basics 101. Now, I'm NOT a beginner cook, but they were covering knife skills, which I really wanted to do, and some other stuff. It was GREAT! I learned so much, I took 2 pages of notes! It was just me, 2 guys, and the chef. It was alot of fun. We made salmon, filet mignon, butternut squash soup, and sauteed zucchini. They were all good, but the soup was AWESOME! So, my snack, instead of the yogurt, was about 1/2 ounce of the beef, a bite of the salmon, about 1/4 cup of the soup, and some of the zucchini. Not bad, and mostly protein!

Our room was ready, so I ran up there and unloaded some stuff, and then it was off to my nurse visit. Fascinating!! She told me some supplements I really need to take--Vitamin C should help my wound heal, and I definitely need Calcium. Caltrate Plus has Calcium Citrate, Magnesiium Oxide, and Vitamin D, and the pills are smaller (you just take 4 a day). She said the magnesium should help my constipation! She also recommended a combination pasta, like Barilla Plus, which combines regurlar and whole wheat, and also some Omega 3 fatty acids. I will have to try it! She also did my body composition, and I came up as only 32% body fat (normal is 20-30%). I knew that couldn't be, but she had a very hard time measuring my calf with the calipers because it is so big and so dense. So it could be off by as much as 10%, which would then put me at about 38-40%, which is WAY more realistic. As measured, my ideal weight would be from 232-251. Ummm, no way! But the corrected numbers would make it 204-221, which is perfect, since I want to be 210!!!

From there I ran (literally!) to the spa for my 5pm facial. It was wonderful. Not only did I get the facial, but she wrapped my hands and feet in paraffin boots--so warm and comfy! It was so funny--during the facial, she did a mask, and as she was putting it on, I felt like she was frosting a cake!! She recommended an Anti Aging Body Treatment, since my skin is so very dry, so I signed up for that and switched some other stuff around too.

Then it was off to meet Deb for dinner. We both chose the very yummy roast turkey with garlic mashed potatoes, green beans, and cranberry sauce. And the soup was the same one I made in class, so we got that too. A salad finished off the meal. It is so odd, but good, to get normal portions, unlike the huge ones at the restaurant! 3 ounces of turkey, 1/2 cup of potatoes, just the way it should be!

After dinner, I came back to the room to unpack while Deb had a Mango Sugar Glo. And then, it was off to BINGO!!! Great fun, and we both won!! I got the Canyon Ranch Cookbook, which I had already decided to buy! Very cool. Deb got a journal, which she was very happy about.

Now we're up in our room, blogging and getting ready for tomorrow. I will have the yogurt I got for a snack, with the granola they gave me at dinner (you can request snacks). I know I drank way over 80 ounces of water today. I also realized I can skip the treadmill here. I am walking WAY more than half a mile each day! Probably more like 1.5-2 miles! Plus I'll be doing the water aerobics. So I think I'll just do the elliptical in the gym and see how that goes