The results are in...

We celebrated our final day of Fit Camp last Tuesday by unveiling our body fat loss results. I'm not the biggest loser. In fact, I'm the biggest gainer, but that's not a bad thing. During my six weeks of Fit Camp I gained more muscle mass than anyone in the history of Fit Camp. 

Not only do I look more toned, but that extra muscle has reved up my metabolism (muscle burns more calories at rest than fat). I've also lost over 3 percent of my body fat.

Everyone in Fit Camp had great results --- fat lost and muscle gained. The biggest loser, John, lost over 18 percent of his body fat.

The next Fit Camp happens in January and will be geared toward training for the Stowe Derby. Participants will spend one session a week at the Swimming Hole and the other at Spruce Peak honing their skiing skills. It's geared toward beginner skiers. 

I'm sure I'll sign up for another Fit Camp session at some point. I liked the camaraderie and the challenges. In the meantime, I'll stick to my almost-daily workouts. I haven't been putting as much time into them as I did during Fit Camp, but so far I've been sticking to Charlotte's recommendation of five days a week of cardio and at least two days of strength training.

I look forward to seeing how the improvements I've gained over the past six weeks will impact my favorite winter activity --- snowshoeing. I have a feeling I'll be covering more ground and a faster pace than last winter. Who knows, maybe I'll finally have the confidence to try downhill skiing, something I've avoided since moving here seven years ago.

Judgement Day approaches and I've been a bad camper

Tomorrow is the final day of Fit Camp. After our Fit Camp session, we'll line up to have our body fat measured and our photos taken. The camper who has lost the highest percentage of body fat will win their Fit Camp tuition back.

I should have spent the past weekend exercising my butt off and eating a low-calorie, low-fat diet, but I didn't.

Instead, I had to head down to Connecticut on Saturday to visit my newborn niece. Then, on Sunday I traveled to Long Island for my nephew's first birthday party.

I was traveling with my two kids and the car was packed with "car snacks" --- a cooler filled with yogurt tubes, snack packs of cookies and crackers, fruit snacks, cheese sticks, Gatorade and bottled water. No sooner had we pulled onto I-89 then my kids began asking for snacks. Each time I tossed one into the back seat of the minivan, I tossed one in my mouth.

We arrived in Connecticut at lunchtime and my sister in law informed us that she didn't have any lunch foods. Instead, she offered us cookies-and-cream-flavored pop tarts. Dinner was french fries, hot dogs, frozen vegetables with a topping of cream of mushroom soup and french-fried onions, and wine.

Breakfast the following morning was French toast with "pancake syrup" aka corn syrup with imitation maple flavoring.  Then, it was back into the car for more car snacks during the two-hour trip to my sister's house on Long Island.

My sister didn't feed us pop tarts, but she put out a great birthday party spread of hot and cold Italian sandwiches and wraps, chips and dips of every variety and mayonnaise-dressed salads. And there was more wine --- a special reserve merlot her in-laws had made themselves to celebrate my nephew's birthday. How could I say no?

After enjoying a few glasses of merlot, a chicken parmesan sandwich, chips and spinach dip, pita chips and hummus, I realized it had been nearly 48 hours since I'd eaten a piece of fruit or fresh vegetables. But, there were none of either in sight. Instead, my sister was bringing out huge trays of about a dozen varieties of homemade cookies. 

On the way home last night it was more car snacks, a Ziplock bag full of cookies, and a few cups of coffee.

Today after work I will try to atone for my sins. I'll take Spin class, do an upper and lower body strength-training workout and swim a few laps for good measure. And so far, my diet has been much healthier: steel-cut oatmeal for breakfast, yogurt and an apple for snack and a Lean Cuisine meal for lunch.

Hopefully, I'll have dropped a few percentage points of fat when it's time to measure up tomorrow.

Triathlon Woman

Yesterday I completed my first triathlon. 

Well, it wasn't an actual triathlon; it was a Fit Camp assignment with all of the components of a triathlon. We had to run/jog 3 miles on the Recreation Path, cycle 13 miles and swim 1,000 meters. 

I didn't set any records but I finished, which felt really good. The hardest part for me was the swim, which seemed to take forever. The most enjoyable part was the jog down the Recreation Path --- it was a gorgeous day and the foliage was at peak.

Today's assignment is a leisurely walk. It will give us a chance to recover a bit before our next group Fit Camp tomorrow. 

Yes you can

The theme of yesterday's Fit Camp was pushing boundaries.

We met in the Spinning room where Charlotte asked us to increase the resistance on our bikes at one, two, three, four and five-minute intervals while keeping our rpms steady. As I struggled to will my legs to move faster, Charlotte explained how athletic achievment is often mind over matter. If you think that you can't do something, your body probably won't be able to do it.

She talked us through the workout until we had reached the top of a huge imaginary hill. Then, it was time to hit the weight room for some circuit training. We split into teams and for one-minute intervals we jumped rope, did combination squats/shoulder presses, threw a medicine ball against the wall, jumped rope and rowed as fast as we could on the rowing machine.

Afterwards, Charlotte handed out our assignments for next week --- our last week of Fit Camp. They include long swims, a 12-mile bike ride and six-mile walk/run on the same day and various group finess classes. Looks like I'm going to be busy as I head toward the Fit Camp finish line.

Exposure therapy

Today Fit Camp pushed me to the outer limits of my comfort territory. 

The theme of our session was "high-intensity cardio." It started off simply with high-speed, high resistance intervals on the Spin bikes and Arc trainers. Then, we hit the program room for abdominal exercises using Bosu balls to make it more challenging.

Afterwards, Charlotte announced we would be hitting the pool. When I mentioned that I had forgotten my swim suit she said not to worry; I could jump in with my workout clothes (yoga pants and a sleeveless top) on. I knew I was in trouble.

Our assignment was to jump into the pool and pull ourselves out of it 50 times. This terrified me.  I've had a fear of diving into deep water since I was a child and a neighborhood boy pushed me underwater. I was only underwater for a few seconds, but I can still remember the swirling water and the sensation that I wouldn't be able to make it to the surface.

I can swim in deep water, but only if I start on the shallow end of the pool.

Charlotte offered me a lifejacket. But even with it strapped on I stood frozen as I contemplated jumping into my lane. Charlotte provided words of encouragement and a tip about holding the lifejacket close to my body to keep from sinking too deeply into the water.

Eventually, I faced down my phobia and jumped. Other than inhaling some water, I emerged OK. Each jump became a little easier, though honestly I enjoyed pulling myself out a lot more than jumping in.

I guess I can chalk it up as another Fit Camp victory. My arms and shoulders got a killer workout and I tried something that I would have never contemplated doing on my own.

The Pinnacle of Fit Camp

Today, for my Fit Camp homework assignment I climbed the Pinnacle. Actually, this was tomorrow's assignment, but my husband and I thought it would be a fun way to celebrate our anniversary while the kids were in school. Plus, the weather was absolutely perfect for hiking.

The Pinnacle isn't a long hike (2.8 miles from trailhead to summit and back again), but it's a steep climb. There are lots of rock stairs plus a couple of large boulders to scramble over near the peak. The climb up gave us a great cardiovascular workout. The climb down gave our legs a good workout and helped us practice our balancing skills (who needs a Bosu ball when you can balance as you leap from one rock to another).

There were a lot of hikers of all ages on the trails and too many dogs to count. Some of the hikers were practically running up the trail. One particularly fit woman passed us on the way up and was already making her descent when we ran into her again about a quarter mile before we reached the summit. 

Other hikers zipped along with their dogs racing in front of them, disappearing into the woods like gnomes just seconds after saying hello to us.

Charlotte asked us Fit Campers to take a photo of ourselves at the top of the Pinnacle and e-mail it to her and I was happy to oblige. The view was definitely worth the effort it took to get there.

I get by with a little help from my friends

Today's Fit Camp was torture. Absolute torture. If it wasn't for the support of my fellow campers I would have thrown in the towel.

After greeting us in the lobby of the Swimming Hole, Charlotte instructed us to jog down the rec path and around the building to the soccer field behind it. Once we arrived we were divided into teams and instructed to spring to the end of the field, pick up a clipboard and answer a question that was written on it, and sprint back. We had to do that six times and that was just our warm up.

Next we had to line up behind a rope ladder that had been stretched out on the field. Using some fancy footwork we had to step in and out of the rungs of the ladder, then run to a bench where we had to do 10 tricep dips before running to a bench where we had to hold a plank pose (a type of static pushup) for 25 seconds.

We did that three times before we were assigned two other obstacle courses using the rope ladder and benches.

Then, it was on to our final challenge. The television show "Survivor" had nothing on us with this one. We were divided into two-person team. One person was given a car tire and told to swing it between their legs and toss it over their head; then chase it, pick it up and toss it again until they reached the end of the field; and finally pick it up, hold it over their head and run back with it.

Meanwhile, the second person was given a medicine ball and told to do squats and overhead extensions while cheering their tire-throwing partner on.

I knew I was in trouble when I tried to lift the tire and found that I could barely hoist it over my head. I was terrified that I would smack it into my face, ending my Fit Camp training forever. 

I gingerly tossed it only to watch it roll a few feet behind me. Discouraged, I realized that it could take me all day to get it to the end of the field. And I had no idea how I was going to run back to the starting line with it.

That's when my fellow Fit Camper rushed in to help. Justin, who had just broken a Fit Camp tire toss record, offered to toss the tire every other time for me. I would then run after it before giving it a toss. When we reached the end of the field, he grabbed one side of the tire and helped me carry it home.

During my second turn (yes, we had to do the tire toss twice) Kelly ran over to help me. This time, I declined her help when it was time to carry the tire back. I couldn't quite lift it over my head with my arms stretched out as Charlotte had demonstrated but I was able to kind of rest it atop my head just high enough to see where I was going.

Luckily, no one wanted to jog as we made our way back to the Swimming Hole after a quick stretch. Then, it was time to hit the rowing machine rowing 1,000 meters four times and writing down our fastest time for Charlotte. A 10-minute ride on the stationary bike concluded the workout.