Lumpy Has Relatives

As we were leaving the Center after dinner, we met one of the men in our program who had been out walking, and he said "I just saw the biggest alligator I've even seen on this island!" He described where it was, so after quickly going back to our condo and grabbing cameras, Amber and I jumped on our bikes and went out looking for the giant reptile.  We found the place the man had described, a ditch just off the road.  We parked our bikes and crept cautiously forward.  It was kind of creepy when we saw him, just sitting there in the shallow water.  We found ourselves whispering to each other.  I don't know how acute an alligator's hearing is, but we certainly did not want to startle this guy!  He was definitely big, probably about seven feet long, and, remembering the taxi driver's story about the alligator that lunged thirty feet and swallowed a dog, it seemed like the whole mutual respect thing I had talked to Lumpy about might not be what this gator would think of if his stomache started to rumble.  Fortunately, he just sat there.  Sitting still seems to be something that alligators do a lot.  I guess they are saving up their energy for those big lunges.  I whipped out my camera to take some pictures and realized it was really good that I was photographing a motionless alligator intead of, say, a cheetah, because my lens was completely fogged up from being taken out of a cool house into 89% humidity! Lumpy's Grandpa thoughtfully continued to sit still and wait while my lens unfogged, and I got some photos.  It was interesting to see the spikes on his back and tail - like a dinosaur, really!

When we returned to our condo, I walked out by our little creek to see if Lumpy was there.  I haven't seen him for a couple days and had wondered if the animals might be hunkering down due to the hurricane in the gulf which has sent some big thunderstorms and periods of torential rain out our way.  I noticed some movement in the water and saw a small alligator head poking out, but I don't think it was Lumpy.  This one was smaller and looked younger.  So I decided that this must be Lumpy's cousin, Sheila.  I watched as Sheila swam over to the other side of the creek and went into "sit still and look around with my slanty little alligator eyes" mode, which got kind of boring after a minute or two, so I went inside.

We went to a class today about the importance of sleep in weight loss.  It was mostly stuff I have heard before, but let me tell you, I fully agree that sleep is very important for a lot of reasons, and that most of us do not get enough of it!  So, I'm going to go do my homework now and see if I can improve in the area of getting more sleep!

Here's Lumpy's Grandpa's Head

Lumpy's Grandpa - Look How big he is compared to the baby!!

This is one of the babies we saw the first day

Feeling Better

Today I went to this class, about sleep apnea of all things, and Bob, the instructor, said something really interesting. He said that a lot of people come here to make some changes and that most of them say, "I didn't know how bad I really felt until I started to feel better." This really struck me because it has been 100% true for me. Every day I come here and I sweat and I work and I think that I can't keep going, but after it's all said and done and I've done my very best, I look back at where I was even last week and the change is phenomenal. My quality of life before was really very poor. I didn't have any real vibrancy in my existence, and I could only focus on a little tiny part of life. On top of that, it was usually something negative that I was focusing on. Life was too hard. There wasn't enough money to make ends meet. Lance was never home. I didn't have any friends. People judged me because I was fat. The list went on and on and on. There was always something to gripe about.
Just in the short time that I have been here, I feel like a void within me has been filled. I know that sounds odd and probably overly dramatic, but I really feel like it's true. I really didn't know how bad I felt until I got here and started to feel better.
Today during ULTRA Circuit, I wasn't completely sure how I was going to do. I tried it yesterday and I thought it was going to kill me. Seriously, people. Anyway, today there were so many times that I was tempted to take a break or reduce my speed or not do very many reps. I'm so happy to say that I didn't give up. During all of the cardio segments, I really did my best and pushed it as hard as I could, and I kept that focus through all of the strength portions as well. And you know what? At the end of the class, even though I was completely drenched with sweat, I felt so great.
Last but not least, here are some funnies to bring you a chuckle.




Hope you're all having a lovely day!

Making Friends with Sweat

Warning:  This post contains numerous uses of the word "sweat."  Just so you know.

I've talked before a little bit about being hungry and how my automatic reaction of wanting to "fix" that uncomfortableness can end up causing more problems than it fixes. While ruminating over this conundrum, I have noticed that the basic concept expands to a number of other areas that can also impede our progress.  I have been trying lately to closely observe how I feel in different situations, and it occurs to me that I must have a lower tolerance towards being uncomfortable than some of my spunkier peers.  I really don't like being hungry or thirsty, or too hot or too cold.  I face with something akin to desperation a situation where I REALLY need hand lotion and none is available.  Take me outside without my sunglasses and I will squint like a mole and cast around frantically for something to throw over my head.  And don't get me started about the rampant epidemic of apostrophe misue which has become a plague to the English-speaking world, and makes my skin crawl (although, as you must have observed, I have a rather high tolerance towards sentence fragments).

I guess the operative term here is "high maintenance."  I never consciously tried to become high maintenance, it just sort of happened.  As I've mentioned, I am working on being more mindful of the hunger thing, to use it as a tool rather than to think of it as something that automatically has to be fixed.  That's been an interesting exploration.  But one thing I realize that I must come to grips with in order to thrive in a fitness environment is SWEAT.  I'm not talking about other people's sweat; that doesn't bother me a bit.   Well, maybe it does if  I am on a crowded bus in, say, France, in the middle of summer, if you know what I mean, but just regular old well-earned fitness sweat is fine.  Except when it is on me.  I have never liked the sensation of sweating, just never have, and it has dawned on me that in my previous attempts at exercise I have deliberately stopped before the point where I really started to sweat because of my aversion towards being UNCOMFORTABLE.  Ah ha!  Yes, this might be an "ah ha" moment.  I have to learn to like sweating, or at least tolerate it, in order to help my body become healthier and be able to do more things.  The trade-off is worth it!  I have spent a lot of time in denial about that whole "optimum heart rate" thing that the fitness gurus are always droning on about, and I think that this is because I was unconsciously thinking "yeah, I would have to sweat to make that happen."

Today I went to a class called "treading," which Amber has already done several times.  I wasn't sure if I could do it, and I knew that if I did it would make me sweat.  It involves getting on the treadmill, being allowed (mercifully) to choose your own speed, and then stepping along as the instructor yells out the various degrees of incline which we must set.  Let me tell you, it got pretty hilly!  But I made it, and I did hit that optimum heart rate number.  I did sweat.  It wasn't really that uncomfortable, and the trade-off for how good I felt afterwards....was worth it!

Something Funny to Brighten the Day

We watched this video during our lecture about nutrition. Watch the whole thing, it's hilarious.

Week 2, Day 1

Today, I really pushed myself. I feel like last week was pretty good, but I am definitely going to be kicking it up a notch this week. I started the day off with a nice, sweaty Treading class. During that class, I felt so free. I pushed my speed up higher than I have ever been able to before, and lo and behold, I didn't die, and I didn't fly off the treadmill. To make that success even sweeter, I realized that my body actually has a point where it wants to run. Do you know how rare that is for me? I was completely shocked to discover that such a point exists for me. For as long as I can remember, I have had an almost pathological fear of running. In school, P.E. was the absolute bane of my existence and I trudged through the whole experience completely certain that bad things were in store. I had such a tragic view of my own abilities, and I did not trust my body to do anything that it was designed to do. Today, though, I was free. I was browsing on Pinterest and saw this picture, and I think it describes perfectly the way I have felt since starting this journey.



Can I just tell you how refreshing it is to me to feel like I am finally starting to deserve this body that I've been given? For so long I've let my own feelings of inadequacy keep me from trying so many new and great things. Our bodies really are amazing things when you think about it, and I'm so grateful that I am having this experience. I'm using my body for what it was designed to do, and I am healing my spirit so that the whole package unite and finally live life rather than being alive while the world passes by.
Today I discovered what freedom feels like. 

August 26. On Being Hungry. And Lumpy, the Alligator

Well, we have completed our first week of camp!  It's been hard, but SO fun and enlightening.  I have learned a lot about the extent to which our weight problems come from our heads.  Brings new meaning to the term "fathead," doesn't it?  Ha ha.  The relationship with food is deep and complex.  One concept that I have been working on is that it's ALRIGHT to be hungry sometimes!  It actually kind of feels good for awhile.  Better than bloated, you know?  I think we are kind of programmed to think that in most aspects of our lives if there is something we perceive as being "wrong," that we have to fix it.  If we feel sick or have a pain we can often take a medicine to help.  And usually that's a good thing, but not always.  As one of our friends, a prominent British pharmacologist said, "the only reason to take a medication is if the consequences of not taking it will be worse than those of taking it."  I think it is entirely possible to think about food in the same way.  We think that being hungry is always a bad thing, so we have to fix it.  We fix it by eating food, often too much or the wrong kind, and the side-effects we get from eating too much can be worse than feeling hungry.  Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that I like being hungry very much.  I don't, and I sorrow to think that such a large percentage of the world's population has to feel that way and can't do anything about it most of the time.  But the mind games we play with ourselves about food are many and multi-faceted.  There's my philosophizing for the day.  More thoughts on this later.

We have taken things a little bit slower this weekend, so tomorrow we have to start cranking it up again!  Yesterday we went on a fun, kind of strange little tour of Hilton Head Island.  We have discovered that the scenery here is actually kind of monotonous.  It's very flat, with lots of trees that pretty much get in the way of anything you are trying to look at.  We have learned some very interesting things about the history of the Island, though, especially its role during the time of the Civil War.  Today we went to church and then were just on our own for the afternoon; not many organized activities here on Sunday since that is when the people who are leaving check out and the new people check in.  Looking at the group of newbies shuffling in to the dining room for their first meal, I felt like we are now The Experienced!  We have been here a week and know a lot more than when we started just seven days ago.

I have had a chance over the weekend to do some critter-stalking with my camera.  Yesterday evening I saw another, larger alligator and some beautiful Great Blue Herons.  Today I was out walking around by the little creek behind our condo and as I approached one spot on the bank I heard some splashing and saw movement out of the corner of my eye as a group of three or four turtles plunged into the water, alarmed by my approach.  One large turtle didn't follow the others, though, so I was able to sit quietly and take some close-up shots of him.  His shell had a layer of algae or something growing on it!  I thought his back feet were especially interesting.  They are chunky with tiny little toes and must be very strong, for pushing him through the water.  As I watched the turtle, I noticed something swimming a little further out in the water, and saw that it was the same small alligator we saw on the first day.  Well, I guess it was the same one; frankly, they all look pretty much alike to me.  Anyway, as I watched he came swimming closer and closer.  I sat still and he came right up to the bank just a couple feet away from me.  I wondered if I should be concerned.  After all, he is quite a small alligator - but when do they start growing their teeth?  When do they start looking for mammals to eat?  I am quite sure that my new-agey "embrace the hunger" ideas outlined above would come nowhere near penetrating that little reptilian brain.  I thought about the story our taxi driver had told us this morning on the way to church, about the alligator who had lunged thirty feet out of the water and eaten not one, but two, dogs!  Still, I was fascinated by the chance to observe this creature up close.  He was only about two or three feet away from me.  He swam up and stopped at the edge of the water and put his head on the bank and just sat there.  I had a little talk with him and suggested that he might want to just stay right there.  I thought maybe he should have a name, so I named him Lumpy.  And since we were both just sitting there in our spaces at the edge of that creek, I figured we ought to have some sort of agreement.  "Lumpy," I said, "it's all about mutual respect.   That's just what we have to do, respect each other for who we are and not get in each other's spaces."  He seemed to agree, although I must say that when he took a couple steps forward onto the bank, my mind raced through all the fitness classes from this past week and I hoped that I would  at least be fit enough to jump up and run if need be.  He was so close I could see his nostrils flare a little, and I wondered if he was thinking, "mmm..."  But in the end he just stayed where he was, and I stayed where I was.  The big turtle was still on the bank a little further down, and other turtles came swimming up and paddled all around where Lumpy was sitting, and they took no notice of each other.  The sun shone, and  a brilliant, pink dragonfly buzzed over the water, and a squirrel ran up a nearby tree.  It was a peaceful summer day by a creek in South Carolina.

The Mildest Salsa Ever Made

So, unlike someone, I stayed in the salsa dancing class this morning. Let it be known that I have no sense of "groove" and that I apparently do not possess the ability to "shake my booty." Maybe I'm too tense? Anyway, trying to learn Salsa was not only a good workout, but it was completely hilarious. I imagine that I looked a little something like this, only much more klutzy, and not in step with the beat.

On second thought, this one might be a little more accurate, especially at about 0:59

At the end of the day, I was still glad I attempted the class. You have to start somewhere, right? I'm guessing that I will become significantly more agile over the next 5 weeks and that it will continue to get easier. Who knows, I may even get my groove back.

August 24 - I Don't Salsa. Yet.

After my remarkable debut as a Zumba Dancer, I looked at where it said "Salsa Dancing" on today's schedule and thought "piece of cake!!"  After all, I really like Latin music.  And for that matter, I like salsa, as long as it doesn't have too many onions in it.  Boy, was I wrong.  All of the above do not a salsa dancer make.  I lasted about five minutes in that class, and then slunk out, feigning a pain in my hip.  Well, feigning isn't entirely accurate.  I did have a something like a pain in my hip.  Both hips, actually.  But it wasn't what you'd call a "stabbing" pain, or even a "dull" pain, and on the smiley face pain chart it wouldn't have looked anything like Edvard Munch's "The Scream."  It was more like, when I stood up and attempted to go "forward, back, one, two, three"  I could only do
"forward."  And then my legs simply refused to move.  My hips felt like the joints had been welded shut, and my leg muscles felt like they were from another planet.  It was a very strange sensation.  I made a few vain attemps at mamboing, and then decided that this was not going to be the day when I went on "So You Think You Can Dance," even though for a moment I had thought that I could.

Well, don't worry, my hip joints did not remain welded shut, and in fact worked quite well as I retreated from Studio B in search of greener pastures. I just wasn't in the salsa zone this morning.   I was pretty tired,  having not slept especially well and woken up later than I wanted to.  I had quickly gotten dressed, jumped on my bike, and rushed over to the center just in time to gulp down breakfast and skid into class.  Oh, and my bike lock disappeared in the process of riding over to the center, so I had to go back and look for it.  It appears to have just evaporated into thin air.  I unlocked my bike (which, by the way, I have named "Aristotle," because he was wise and I am finding that wisdom is a crucial component of weight loss), put the lock in the basket and when I got over there it was gone.  I retraced my steps and it wasn't anywhere to be found.  Maybe an alligator ate it.  Anyway, I then had to carry Aristotle up the front steps of our condo and leave him inside just to be safe, and walk back to the center, although I don't think they have a real problem with people snatching these fat-wheeled bikes around here.

So, I  was beat from all the rushing about, and didn't feel too bad about not salsaing with the stars on this particular occasion.  I did somewhat redeem myself in the eyes of the Dance World a while later when I attended a "Wii Dance" class and successfully stepped my way through a series of rockin' tunes, including "Proud Mary" by Tina Turner, which goes A LOT faster than the Creedence Clearwater version.

All in all, it turned out to be a pretty busy day.  After lunch, I did a strength session, then a class called "Roll It Out," wherein you lie on a mat on the floor and roll around on a big foam noodle (much harder than the pool noodles) to put pressure on your various muscle groups.  The intention behind this particular activity is that you "relax" your muscles with a pain intensity equaled only by deep tissue massage,  if you don't first kill yourself trying to get into the positions where you can roll your muscles on the noodle.

Having somehow survived "Roll It Out," we stayed in the same studio for "Gentle Yoga," taught by the same teacher, who is from New Jersey, and is very funny as well as very enthused about yoga.  I was surprised to be able to do the yoga better than I thought I would.  So maybe I will try another yoga class tomorrow.  For now, namaste!

Zumba and More

Whew.  I am exploring new worlds of exercise.  To boldly go where I never thought I would go, ever.  In the past two days I have done step aerobics, lap swimming and Zumba, among other things.  All I knew previously about Zumba was that it is "the new exercise craze," and that it involves rhythmic music.  Wow, now I know that I can be as "creative" a Zumba Dancer as I am a drummer.  I entered the studio with some trepidation, but I was immediately reassured by the peppy instructor  "Hey," I thought, "if she can do it, I can do it," the complete illogicality of that idea escaping me (her whole body was roughly the same circumference as one of my thighs) as I was swept up into the pounding ryhthyms and Latin melodies. Also, it was really, really loud, so I couldn't have heard myself thinking, anyway.  The thing that I liked about Zumba was that the movements seem more circular than in some other exercises.  It feels smoother, and less jerky. The music was fun, and even if I was "creative," I definitely worked up a sweat, so I'm sure it was good for me.

Step aerobics was good.  We marched in place a lot, which I liked.  Eventually, we did have to start stepping up and down, but fortunately the instructor had given us all the lowest possible step thing (smart lady) so it wasn't too bad.  You know what really bugs me about exercise instructors, though?  They always think that the ending of one routine is a good reason to start another one.  I mean, you're going along, being such a trooper, figuring if you can just keep going for ONE MORE MINUTE you will live to see another day, and then the music stops and you think "Yes!  I made it," and then rather than saying what she should say, which is, "Good job, go sit down, take a rest, you deserve it, your massage therapist will be here in a minute," she says, in a high shrill voice, something wretched like "now take it over to the side and do it double time!"  And smiles.

One thing that I learned in the swimming class is that what I used to think of as swimming was merely splashing around like a wounded manatee.  I am trying to conquer my aversion to getting water in my ears and have gotten a little better at the crawl.  I still keep coming in last, but I am making it up and down the pool, so that's a good thing.

Well, on the schedule for tomorrow they have a Salsa Dancing class - another chance to show my creativity!

Exhausted

That's right, folks. We're exhausted. I guess it makes you tired when you go to five different exercise classes in one day. Who knew?
I'm sure we'll be back to the blogging tomorrow, but here are some pictures from our sunset beach walk to tide you over. (See what I did there? Beach walk? Tide you over? Get it? I kill myself sometimes.)

Olympians Need Not Fear

Reading the title of my post, you might think you were in for some inspiration.  Perhaps a little pep talk about how we are all Olympians in the game of life.  How each of us is a champion in our own right, and nobody should let us think otherwise.  Well, as true as those sentiments are - and I'm sorry to disappoint - this is as far as all that "we can't spell success without 'U'" talk is going to go.  What I was actually thinking is that I should let you know that the world's slowest swimmer has been discovered.  Yes, right here in South Carolina, where all the other old fatties beat me every time in the lap-swimming portion of water aerobics.  I should hardly think it is my fault, however.  Some of them came and warmed up before class started!  Also, I have never been able to swim the freestyle stroke very well.  I don't like to turn my head to the side to breathe because I cringe at the thought of water falling into my ear.  So, the technique I have developed through years of rigorous training is to simply swim as far as I can without breathing, then stop and sort of flounder around in the water until I get a breath, and then repeat the whole process until I reach my destination.  It worked very well until I entered the world of competitive swimming...and now look at me, a turtle among a school of dolphins!  I finally figured out that if I swam slowly enough and occasionally ducked underwater, I could then pretend to be swimming right up with them after they had all turned around, swum to the other end of the pool and started back in our original direction, haha.

Well, maybe I am being a little hard on myself.  After all, I did finally manage to swim freestyle all the way up and back and they all cheered when I made it.  So there you go - my Olympic moment in the game of life.  Never give  up!

After swimming and treadmilling, we went to a class on "Stress Eating."  Ben & Jerry's might need to start worrying a little if word about this teacher starts getting around, because she was really good.  She uses her own life experience with what she describes as an addiction to food to help us understand what goes on inside our heads that leads to eating the wrong things.  I am going to  summarize my notes and post them here, but I'm a little too tired right now.  We did ramp it up a little today with the exercise.  In addition to swimming and treadmilling, we went on a mile walk, did a "body sculpting" workout which was pretty rigorous (sorry, no, I do not yet look sculpted, but even Michaelangelo had to start somewhere, right?) and did a stretching class.  And I took a picture of an egret.  While egrets in and of themselves are not especially rare or exciting, this is somewhat remarkable considering that it required lifting my arms.

So here's a picture of the egret (and yes, I know it is out of focus.  I said I could lift my arms, not hold them steady), also the drum balls from our class yesterday, and our bikes.  I was thinking I should name my bike.  Any suggestions?

Treading

Since arriving at H3, I've discovered something called Treading. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Treading, it is a cardio workout, done on a dreadmill treadmill and has hills/resistance and speed intervals. Even though I was really sweating after about 5 minutes, I loved the class. I was actually shocked at how fun it was, especially since I have never enjoyed walking on the dreamill. I mean...the treadmill. Treading is a good option because you decide how fast you want to go. Obviously, as with any type of exercise, you won't get as much out of it if you don't put in your best effort, but it was so relieving to me that I didn't have some snarling trainer yelling "run faster, fatty!" at me as I huffed and puffed. Instead, I discovered a workout that is fun and easy to customize to my own ability level, and so far the instructors have been excellent.
I'm not going to lie, when I first learned about it, I thought that it sounded terrible. I imagined it going a little bit like this:

Fortunately, I survived.
Not all exercise classes are created equal, however, and my next class was considerably harder.
I also tried this class called Drums: ALIVE! and I was terrible at it. It was a really good workout, but I felt like a total klutz the whole time. I completely agree with everything that has already been said on this blog regarding this class. To give you an idea of what it looks like, here's a video. Just pretend that we looked like that.

August 20. I Drum and Leap. Sort Of.

The day began at 7 a.m. with appointments for our fitness assessments.  They did a finger-stick and analyzed our blood cholesterol and glucose, took our blood pressure and did our weight and measurements.  Luckily, neither the scale nor the tape measure broke, but yes, there were tense moments  After that jolly experience we went to breakfast, which is the meal each day offering the most choices.  Having woken up in the middle of the night feeling hungry, and in spite the room with the scale and tape measure, I must admit that it was a welcome sight.
   
Our first class of the day was a foot and shoe assessment conducted by one of the most energetic people I have ever met.  Tall and wiry and wearing a shirt that said "On On," our shoe expert, Al ( a self-described "shoe geek") appeared to have taken notice neither of the earliness of the hour nor the arduousness of his task.  He waxed almost poetic as he regaled us with tales of various types of shoe construction, then, one by one, we filed barefoot  to the front and he quickly analyzed our various foot configurations, listened to our woeful tales of past dalliances with shoes of the the Wrong Sort and scribbled down notes on a yellow pad, promising to return later in the day with gloriously well-fitting shoes for us to try.

The day's activities continued with several lecture classes on food, nutrition and health, which I happily attended, secure in the knowledge that each lecture class represented a delay of that wretched moment when I would actually have to step into one of those bare and unforgiving rooms with smooth wooden floors and mirrors, with dreary names like "Studio B," where I would finally have to start trying to, um...well, shake my booty.

The moment finally came fairly late in the afternoon as we attended a class called "Drums Alive!" (yes, with an exclamation point).  The instructor described the workout as a combination of aerobic exercise, sound therapy and music therapy, all of which sounded rather appealing.  The drums turned out to be large exercise balls which were kept from rolling around by being placed on little stands on the floor, and we each lined up behind a ball, armed with our drumsticks.  The instructor said it was going to be fast and loud, and then started the music and began the routine by whacking rhythmically on her set of three exercise balls while incorporating various calesthentics into the process.  Now, I have never been good at following a leader demonstrating any sort of movement.  Visions of my failed attempts at taking folk dance and ballroom dance classes in college (both of which I dropped within the first two weeks) began to swirl mockingly through my brain.  I find that it makes little difference whether the instructor is facing me or standing with her back to me, I seem to have been afflicted with a sort of Dance Dyslexia which prevents me from ever being able to copy the movements successfully.  Even when I think I have finally got it after periods of intense focus on, for example, my feet, I will look up and realize that everyone else is is sliding left and I am sliding right.  But never mind.   The music was indeed loud and fast, and in such a situation, while wielding a pair of drumsticks, one must simply move and whack.  And it was fun.  It was aerobic.  And the instructor even told me that my movements were "creative!"  So take that, you Synchronized Steppers, what could be better than creative?!

After my triumph in Studio B, I moved on to Studio A where an extremely thin and fit instructor with a chipper southern accent put us through a set of exercises using resistance bands.  I consider this class to have been a rousing succes as well, as I managed to get through it without letting go of the bands or having them slip off my shoe and go sproinging up and hitting me in the face.

With dinner only moments away, we hurried back to the conference room to meet with Al, the shoe guy, who had indeed returned with shoes, glorious shoes.  Yes, Al does run a shoe store.  And I'm sure he isn't sorry to be the one who guides us through the bewildering jungle of shoe choices, ultimately emerging heroically with the shoes which will "quiet our barking dogs," as the old Hush puppies commercials used to say.  But, my goodness, someone has to do it!  And the shoes he picked out for me really did make the old dogs feel a lot happier to hit the trail, so what can I say but "Bravo, Al! " Woof!

On the Island, Hoping Not to Get Voted Off

We started the day by oversleeping and missing breakfast at the hotel, not surprising since were quite tired from our day of traveling, yet jetlagged enough to not get to sleep until 2 a.m.  We had arranged for a shuttle service to pick us up and take us from Savannah to Hilton Head Island, and scrambled to get ready for our ride.  The driver, whose name, for whatever reason, was "Zoo," picked us up after collecting his other passenger from the airport.  Our ride-sharer was an older gentleman with a long white beard (no, not Santa), who had just spent the last 21 hours travelling here from Israel.  He was wearing full orthodox apparel, which must have been uncomfortable in this heat and humidity, but he was very cheerful and we enjoyed chatting with him as we rode along.  Zoo also provided us with a running commentary on South Carolina flora and fauna, the ongoing road construction and how much he hates his Verizon Blackberry phone, in a charming New York accent (he is a transplant from Manhattan).  Once we crossed the bridge leading from the mainland to Hilton Head Island, our first stop was to drop Larry, the gentleman from Israel, off at a nice home in one of the housing communities on the Island.  A lady came out and greeted him happily, and Zoo told us as we left that she was Larry's mother.  It was a sweet moment to watch a tired son who had travelled far be greeted by his cute little mother.  We continued on, and Zoo told us that Hilton Head Island is twelve miles long, and ranges from about two to five miles wide.  It's very green, with thick vegetation, including lots of live oak trees festooned with Spanish Moss.  (Ha. It's fun when you get to write a sentence in which you use the word "festooned.")

It was about two or two-thiry by the time we checked in and got to our condo.  Orientation wasn't until five so we had a little while to get organized and explore our environs.  I went outside to take a picture of the condo and surroundings and walked down to the little creek nearby where I saw a small ALLIGATOR lurking in the water near the shore.  It was quite a surprise to see him sitting there with his lumpy little head and beady eyes just out of the water.  Amber has posted some pictures along with her report from today.  The water was clear enough that I could see he was probably about three feet long.  I ran to get Amber and as we watched we saw another alligator about the same size come swimming over, along with several turtles.  They all seemed to get along just fine.  I guess alligators are not interested in eating turtles, at least at this size!  Zoo had told us that it is illegal to feed alligators, because, understandably, they don't want them to start thinking of humans as a food source!  Of course, the advice really was irrelevant, since we didn't have any food with us and would not have been able to feed them even if we had wanted to.  Actually, having had no breakfast or lunch, and with the vision of our 350 calorie dinner looming large, it was probably more likely by that point that we would have tried to eat the alligator!

We went to orientation and had everything explained to us by Adam, the fitness director, who we had seen on TV when we watched the A&E reality show, "Heavy," which was partially filmed here.  It was kind of funny to see that some of the actual people who were on the show really do work here!  Adam took us on a tour of the facility, which is very nice and quite intimidating when I start thinking about having to actually start leaping  around doing fitness things instead of just watching other people doing them.  We then went to dinner, which was pretty good, and surprisingly filling, in spite of its low calorie content.  Then we RODE BIKES back to our condo.  Yes, I rode a one-speed bike with big, fat tires, and wore a purple bike helmet, in spite of the fact that it made me look like a combination between Darth Vader and a grape.  I even beat Amber on this five-minute ride.

Well, we have to be back over there at 7 a.m. for our fitness assesment.  How fit I will be at that hour (which is 5 a.m. mountain standard time) is anyone's guess.  But I will put on my purple helmet, mount my trusty bike and ride on over.  Eat my dust, alligators!

Gators!

Yeah, these little guys were just hanging out in the stream by our home away from home. No biggie, right?  You can't really tell from the picture, but there were actually two alligators right by each other. They both appeared to be babies, but that didn't make their beady little eyes any less intimidating.

At one point, a couple of turtles swam up right next to the gators, and I was terrified that the alligators were going to have a nice turtle lunch. Fortunately, that didn't happen. 

Now that we've had our first alligator sighting, it seems like we've finally arrived down here in the south! 

After our exciting animal sighting, we headed off for orientation. I was worried that it would be exceptionally dull, but they made a point of keeping it snappy to keep people from getting bored. The last stop on the tour was the dining room, and tonight's dinner was delicious. We had chicken meatballs served over whole wheat spaghetti with a really nice tomato sauce and a side of broccolini. I thought it was all quite good, and I'm very confident that the food will continue to be delicious. During dinner, we sat with a lady who was visiting Hilton Head Health for the second time, and she said that the breakfasts are quite delicious. I'm excited already, especially since we're currently fasting for our morning blood test/lipid profile. Here's to yummy food that's also good for you!!

Well, tomorrow is the first day of exercise classes! Let the games begin!!! I'm looking forward to trying new things and literally working my butt off!

(Here's a peek at where we're staying.)