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.