Tuesday July 24- May Not Make it

Rosie and I had a tough day today but we both survived. It is funny watching her survive on 1400 calories. I have re-injured my right shoulder. I have known for a long time that I need to have my AC joint scoped and I continually put it off. I am in some rough pain and I am hoping that it does not cut me short of my goal. The therapists have done a great job keeping me going and I will see how tomorrow goes. Sorry for such a short post but I am tired and in pain. Good Night

July Monday July 23- Start of week 3

Hello everybody. Today I have no written my blog but rather have a quest writter. My new camper is an old frind from HS Rose Marie Abate Moeller. I am sure that you will enjoy her posting. I asked Ira if I could write the blog this evening so that his followers can get a fresh look at what he is going through down here through someone else's eyes. Earlier this year when I was speaking to Ira about the journey on which he was embarking, it sounded great to me, just what I needed to kick start my goal of giving myself the gift of great health and good form for my 49th birthday. So I signed up for a week. After all, how hard could it be for me? I work out regularly, eat right, and drink plenty of water. So this wouldn't be a huge departure from my normal life. Maybe I'll even learn something. Well I did learn something that I am not as fit as I thought I was! Today was my first day. It started at 7:15 with a 4 mile bike ride to a local park, where the trainers (who arrived at the park before us because they drove) had ample time to devise a series of circuits that would challenge every part of our body. Not only did the circuits challenge muscles in my body I didn't know existed, but, do you have any idea how hot it is in Florida in July? Hot enough to make you hurl up your breakfast (which I did after lugging 2 huge kettle bells back and forth across the park, and threw a 25 pound medicine ball against a wall while doing squats, pushups, dips, etc.) The torturous work out was followed by a 4 mile bike ride back to the camp (against the wind), 1 hour of aerobics, then an hour of weightlifting and finally a break. 30 minutes for lunch when they give us our ration of 300 calories and then back to work doing various forms of strength and aerobic training and then stretching through 2:30 when they gave us another ration of food. Did I mention that meals are: breakfast at 6, lunch at 10:30, dinner at 2:30 and then you get a protein shake at 6 pm? I was so hungry after lunch I convinced another camper to give me the leftover food she had in her refrigerator. When we got to her condo, we found that the cleaning staff had thrown the extra food away so everyone can stay on their 1200 calorie a day diet. I gotta give Ira a lot of credit, he did even more training than I did and several other activities that I didn't. I have to admit that I had trouble keeping up with him in the morning during the boot camp. As I sit here icing my shoulder and back and licking the cup that holds my protein shake so I get the benefit of every single calorie I am entitled to, I must say that I have a newfound respect for Ira and what he is putting himself through. The program is grueling, unforgiving and continuous. His commitment and determination are inspiring. I am hoping I make it through the next few days; I can't imagine doing this for 6 weeks like he is. Time for bed now, so I can get up at 6 am and do it all again!

Sunday July 22- 3 Weeks Done

It is Sunday morning and I am sitting in an Epsom salt bath resting my sore aching body. As many of you know I am competitive and do set goals for myself. I have a lofty goal while here at Core. I would like to lose between 45-50 pounds, so the trainers are pushing me hard. I realize that whatever I lose makes me a winner but it is nice to have goals. I have not written since Wednesday as I was just beat. Thursday is our late day as we have nutrition in the morning and we end with cardio tennis. I decided to do an extra cardio session(45 min)not knowing that no other campers would show up to kick boxing and I would have a private session with Doug. He just plain kicked my ass. After that I had a PT session with Sweet Sarah whom you know by now is not really sweet at least in the gym. Then I decided to attend water aerobics. I said to myself how hard could that be.....needless to say Sarah was teaching and she never got in the water just barked orders like a drill Sargent. So needless to say after two PT sessions and two cardio sessions and water aerobics and then 2 hours of cardio tennis I was ready for bed. Friday was more of the same. Saturday I woke up sick and could barely eat breakfast but I did and I went. We started with a beach boot camp. I have now graduated to a 30 pound kettle bell as my BFF. We had a series of drills that included suicides ( yes I did run) and squats and a whole host of things. The trainers are creative as it is tough to keep coming up with creative workouts without getting bored. They do a great job. After that workout we had a 15 mile bike ride. I did finally get sick and lost it. I found out latr that my trainers had a bet on whose exercise I would "Lose it" with. "Sweet Sarah" was the winner. Estée from Brooklyn left Saturday and Maria from Curaçao and Jackie from Tampa leave on Tuesday. We got one new camper Rosie. Today if my bones will allow I will get a little culture at the Dali museum. Thanks for all the support.

July 18- Day 16

Today started at 6am with John "Mr Cross Fit". It was 45 minutes of being pushed...not to my limits but close. I am definatly getting stronger. After that we were supposed to have a beach boot camp but alas it was raining so we had to have a parking garage boot camp. You may remember the last one kicked my ass. I actually think that the parking garage boot camps are tougher then the beach. After that I then went on a 12.6 mile bike ride. By 10am I was beat. I then had lunch and was supposed to have cardio and Pilates. I went for a 30 minute nap that turned into two hours as I was just physically exhausted. I actually missed my first class but I guess my body just needed the rest. All in all it was a good day. Tomorrow is a "late" day and we do not finish until 8pm with tennis.We did get a new camper today...I think her name is Jaclyn but not sure. I want to continue to thank all of you for the messages and well wishes.

July 17- Post Weigh-In Blues

So today was the day after the big weigh in and there was definatly a emotional let down. I struggled to get up this morning......but I did. I have not missed a class or boot camp yet other then when I was out of town. I am not very happy as tomorrow morning my PT starts at 6am. Means I will be going to bed early. Tomorrow is a brutal workout day. I am glad that I got my bike fixed as it was damaged when I fell on Saturday. My knees are killing me and I have difficulty walking down stairs. It is the only actual activity that makes me feel "old". So today we had a beach walk as we usually do but today was different for me. I actually did interval jogging which for me is huge as running is not my friend. Today was tennis day and we had a great workout. My PT was with "sweet Sarah". So get this the first thing she asks me is "does anything hurt" and I told her about my knees so what do think she made me do. Squats with dumb bells, and she made she made me jump over some bars. I kept trying to tell her that overweight white men can't jump. She just smiled and made me continue. She did have me do an exercise that for the first time I cold just not physically do so we needed to replace it. Tonight was "night out" where we go. To a restaurant and learn how to eat healthy. Was a great dinner and I am thankful I got up to work out. Thanks for all your support. Please sign up as a follower as I want to get to 210 which is my weight goal.

Monday July 16- Weigh In Day

So today was the big day. I have been here for two weeks and it was time for my weigh-in. I weighed in at 282.5 so that means I lost 20.5 pounds. I was happy but had hoped for more. So today we were supposed to start our day with a 3.8 mile bike ride to the park and have a boot camp but it was pouring out so we had to have it in the covered parking lot. I was dissappointed as I thought that we "lost out" on a bike ride and an additional workout. Boy was I wrong.....I think that I finally had the "right to passage" and understand how you can work out so hard that you vomit as I did 4 times during this morning boot camp but I perservered and finished the workout. One of the activities was pusing a Dodge Ram pickup truck up and down the parking lot. So you can see it was tough. Right after that I had a workout with John and I mentioned to him about a friend doing some Cross Fit Stuff and tried to show him a workout that I thought was impossible and he said "Great I think you can do it" Anyone ever done a turkish sittup??? It is soooo much fun...NOT. Well I survived the day and I have made it two weeks. We lost two campers Teresa and Nikki and gained a new one Jaime. Always sad when people leave but always nice too meet new people as well. Life is funny last time I was here my weight loss slowed each weigh in. I am going to push myself even harder in hopes of meeting my goal of 45-50 pounds. Thanks again for all the support.

Sunday- July 15- Day Before My First Weigh In

Sorry I have not written since Tuesday but I have been really busy and tired. As I alluded to I had to leave on Tuesday night for a meeting in Minnesota. You should be proud of me. I woke up at 5:45am and did 45 min cardio and 45 min workout. Then I went to my room and ate the breakfast that I brought. When I got to the conference room there was bagels, donuts and coffee. It all looked good but I knew it would not be worth it. At 10:30 during the meeting I took out my lunch ( did I forget to tell you that I brought my meals on the plane). I did not care what was going on as it was all about me and it was time to eat. I was on my way to the airport and got home at 5PM. All in all it was a great day on the real world. Thursday was a brutal day for working out as it is normally our late day but I had to have a conference call so I did my cardio early and then I had a workout with Doug. He did something called "21". Used to be my favorite card game but now I hate that number as I will always relate it to torture. Needless to say we have our late night Tennis on Thursday and as we discussed it is not the fun tennis that you all know. But I survived. Friday was actually a fun day. We went to the beach and had a boot camp based on how many times we hit a volleyball. It is great how creative the trainers are but I am sure if I stayed here long I would become bored. We then played soccer and it too was fun as we have more campers. I forgot to intorduce the cast of characters. Mollie is still here and we were joined by Estee from Brooklyn, Teresa from CT, Maria from Curaco, and Nikki from Kissemmee. So it is Ira and 5 women what a shocker....Saturday was one of those days that I just did not want to wake up but I did. Wish I would have stayed in bed. Although we had a great workout and I did about a 15 mile bike ride i FELL twice. Once in traffic. No real injuries other then road rash and then I had PT with Sweet Sarah. I called her a midget and her response was "are you sure you want t call me that while i am training you" and I said " Bring it on" and boy she did. She took out a truck tire you know one of those really big ones and made me flip it about 50 feet and then jump on it 10 times. I had to go back and forth 8 times. Then we went into the gym and she tied two 90 pound plates together and sat on them and I had to pull them one hand at a time hand over hand. I did survive. I had a very nice plan for the rest of the weekend. My friend Tatiana and her boys came to visit. We spent Saurday afternoon at the beach and then we went out for a nice healthy dinner. Sunday we went para sailing and then beach time. I am not detoxing and will spend time with my co-campers after they come back from getting manicure and pedicures. Sure glad that I dont need them. TOMORROW IS MY FIRST WEIGH IN. WISH ME LUCK