Vitamin D and Cadbury Cairns

Flying solo today.

Thought I could use a pick-me-up dose of Vitamin D and chocolate. What better way than to venture out to Snow Canyon on a 75º, crystal blue sky day.

And before I polished off the last of the Cadbury Mini Eggs, I thought I'd use them for fuel and trail marking along the way.

Here are Cadbury's and Moqui Marbles

Cadbury's on the Tongue...

Cadbury's on Red, White and Blue...

Cadbury's and cacti...

And Cadbury's at White Rocks...

Cadbury cairns are the perfect snack and markers, in my opinion.

And while I was filling my Vitamin D tank, I saw Push-over rock...and gave it a nudge...

And got more than my share of sun in Furnace Wash.  It seemingly never ends...in the blazing hot sun. That's why I've named it Furnace Wash.

Ah, Snow Canyon, brings relief.

Got my fill of Vitamin D and Cadbury Cairns...

Hanging by a Shred

Hangin' on by a shred of sanity here in Dixieland.

You know the window that is supposed to open when a door's been shut?  Well, imagine running through a skyscraper, that's on fire, trying to find a window.  That's more like what it feels like.

In the meantime.

I found my new favorite petroglyph.  Looks like a pregnant woman with a man attached through an umbilical cord.  Learning new stuff in the desert all the time.  Looks like this guy is 'hangin' on too.  Lotsa metaphors goin' on in the rocks.

Hiking business is going well.  Keeping me busy and sometimes even keeps my mind preoccupied.

Keep on hangin'.

Land Before Time

Still Standing

With a smile on my face too.

Changes are coming

Spring is in the air.  Flowers are blooming, trees have exploded and grass is green.

Source: bookspaperscissors.tumblr.com via Cheryl on Pinterest

Changes are on the way at the Retro house.

Source: Uploaded by user via Cheryl on Pinterest

I'm going to have to let this be my motto.

Source: google.com via Cheryl on Pinterest

A new season is here.

Beautiful Days with Cindy

My friend and hiking comrade, Cindy is moving.

I can't even tell you how sad this makes me.

I have learned so much from my friendship and association with her in the last year since we began hiking together.

Miracles happen every day in the desert.
Nature is beloved and sacred.
Warm weather and blue skies = bliss.
Don't panic on the rocks, you can hang on.
Starting over can be accomplished and managed with dignity.
Don't leave your orange peels on the trail.
Courage can be found in a tight spot, with a helping hand.

I know this move is necessary for her family.  I know it is a difficult trial to start over and move forward. But with her long legs and courage, she will take it all in great stride and grow and progress in leaps and bounds.

But, the desert and I will miss her.


Beautiful Day from Cheryl Kanenwisher on Vimeo.

Have courage my friend.  Be well.  Safe travels.  And come back soon.

Desert Cliffs Day Six

Day Six with the Desert Cliff's food plan and now my week is coming to an end. If I were religiously following this program, I would have spent the day hiking in Zion National Park.  But, Saturday is a day of work at home when you aren't on a holiday, so no work out for me on the last day.  Maybe I could have squeezed out another pound?  Maybe not. But I am still pleased with my results.

Lunch today, was another delectable wrap of turkey, sprouts, spinach and laughing cow cheese in a wheat tortilla.  Of course, we had another huge baggie of cut veggies as well as a bag of grapes.  I was able to save those for a perfect afternoon snack.

Dinner left me speechless.  As in...how did they do that?  How did they feed us this meal and dessert for under 500 calories?  Wow.  We had steak.  A small, but perfectly cut steak.  Grilled, seasoned and nice and tender.  With that we had steamed veggies and.....wait for it.....potato salad!!  Who can have a cup of potato salad when they are dieting?  At Desert Cliffs you can.  Our chef has come up with the most amazing recipe, chock full of veggies and creaminess.  I was impressed.  And for dessert, we had a Skinny Cow ice cream sandwich.  Oh, for the love of the makers of Skinny Cow.  Dinner felt like we were celebrating the 4th of July at a BBQ outside.  Loved it.

I'm sorry to say my week of being spoiled is over.  I've learned so much and I feel great!

And now.....the results.  I lost 4.4 lbs this week.  I haven't been able to lose that much weight in a week in a decade, when my metabolism wasn't a weakling!  I'm sure, had I attended all the workouts and hikes I could have easily reached 7 lbs and I really mean that.  If I can do it, anyone can!!

A week at Desert Cliffs is a great way to kick off your life style change. Better still...two weeks really gets you going.  A client of ours recently checked out after a two week stay with a weight loss of 19 lbs and 12 1/2 inches.  Incredible.

Thank you to the Desert Cliffs staff, John and Leanne Kemp, Kim, Lynette and Apryll for everything!

Get out there...and GO TAKE A HIKE!

Desert Cliffs Day Five

I think the biggest mistake I've made this week was not having myself measured before I began my Desert Cliffs meal plan.  My biggest number loss may not be on the scales but in my waist line.  I'm feeling great on Day 5!

After my usual breakfast I was off on an 8.5 mile hike in the Red Cliff's Reserve.  We explored Johnson's Arch, Scout Caves and strolled around the Island in the Sky.  Sounds heavenly right?  It was.  I have lived in Dixie for a year and a half now and the scenery still never fails to blow me away.  I never tire of the cinnamon and sienna sandstone, the electric blue skies and silver-green sages and creosotes.  With every step I take in the desert, I am rejuvenated.

Lunch was eaten while ducking out of the northwest wind, in some rocks. I thoroughly devoured my chicken salad in a whole-wheat pita.  I saved my bag of veggies and 3 slices of watermelon for a snack later.  One common thing I hear from our clients is that there comes a point during your stay at Desert Cliffs, when you cross over from being hungry all the time, to staying satisfied longer.  Many of our guests will say that they can't finish their meals and aren't counting the hours until the next.  This happened for me on Day 5.  I was literally full from my sandwich and couldn't eat another bite.  When 3:30 came, I didn't have the usual cravings and desire to eat the entire pantry.  I can see that for me, another week of eating like this consistently just might cure my food challenges!

For pizza lovers, dinner was perfect.  Layered on a whole-wheat pita, were homemade marinara, tons of veggies, crumbled and browned ground-turkey, measured and shredded cheese and even a dash of parmesan.  Baked into one delicious pie...I really felt like I was eating something better than the average pizza.  I will keep these ingredients on hand because I will definitely be making these again.  Dessert was a chocolate-almond-blueberry cluster.  Who says you can't have dessert...or chocolate?  You just have to make sure you keep your portions in check.  I know that is easier said than done when you are home and cooking for a family. That's why I think you should come to Desert Cliffs to get back on track!!

I'm in the home-stretch now!  One more day of fabulous food.  Let's do this!

Desert Cliffs Day Four

After a bowl of yummy oatmeal, Day four of my Desert Cliff's week found me at the Summit Gym for a morning class of body sculpting and cardio.

I've heard from many clients that there is one day, usually in the middle of the week, where you're 'feelin' it'.  It's typically the day that you are most sore and feeling a little sluggish.  That was me on day 4.  This is the day when I really needed my meals for refueling and energy and I felt it.

Lunch was an amazing wrap of hummus and veggie goodness.  My mouth is still watering thinking about it.  Plus, the bag of extra veggies helped to fill me up.  We also had a small bag of some seriously good trail mix with nut and dried fruits....like cherries and apricots.  Those little snacks sure come in handy around 3:30 in the afternoon.  One of the things I really enjoy when I'm feeling a little hungry, is a cup of herb tea. Not only is it yummy but it's more satisfying than a glass of water by itself.

I'm beginning to be a little nervous that I won't lose much weight.  I have religiously followed the food plan and have not cheated but I'm not able to take all the classes offered to our clients.  I'm not on vacation!  I haven't weighed myself yet to see how I'm doing because I want to be surprised. I know our client has been losing a ton of weight, but he's working so hard too.

Dinner tonight was my favorite so far.  We had the most delicious, 5 star restaurant quality, Orange Citrus Chicken.  Oh my.  The sauce...the spices...I can't quite describe it other than it seemed to be sinful. It was served with a generous side of brown rice with veggies and a huge salad with almonds, cranberries and diced apples.  And as if it couldn't get any better, we had warm berry cobbler with a smidgen of sugar-free vanilla ice cream!  I was a happy girl!

Day four and over the hump...Bring on Day 5!

Desert Cliffs Day Three

Hiking is my favorite choice of workout.  So, it's always a good workout day when I get to lead a hike.  Morning three found the Desert Cliffs hikers on Montazuma for a short hike.  We alternate days of long and short hiking.  A short hike is usually less than 3 hours and a long hike can be 5 hours or more.  As a special treat to our guests, we make the trip to Zion once a week.  Most places will charge extra to go there but because hiking is our main focus for exercise, it's only fitting that we provide the icing on the cake, so-to-speak, by rewarding our clients with a trip to this National Park toward the end of each week.  One of my favorite times at Desert Cliffs is Extreme Hiking Week.  We offer these opportunities several times a year for those who want to come and literally hike all day. We have Extreme Hiking in March.

Montazuma is unique for it's cache of Barrel Cactus and conglomerate rock, not found in as great abundance on any other hike we offer as here. It's also not unusual to see a fox or two. The entrance to this particular range of buttes and ravines is just outside my neighborhood. It's convenient and allows us to spend less time traveling to our destination and more time to explore.  Because our client Mike, was energetic, we added a couple of miles to our normal short route this morning.

One of the great things about the Desert Cliffs program is that it can be customized for our clients.  We can speed up, slow down, add time, add scrambling, add distance...there are so many options in hiking.  And if all else fails and we can't provide you with a hard enough work out....you run on ahead and we'll catch you!!

Barrel Cactus meets my foot.

Mike leaves a rock...and a worry on the cairn.

Take care to mind the cliff behind the cairn, but the views are beautiful.

By lunch time, I was pretty hungry.  On today's schedule...build your own lunch.  Our chef, Kim, came to the spa house to demonstrate some ideas of making a healthy 400 calorie lunch.  We learned the difference between enriched, whole wheat and whole grain pasta.  She also taught us a few tricks on making portions appear larger.  We created a 'leftover' lunch.  Using things found in the fridge, we layered cut veggies, al dente pasta and Kim's homemade sauce into small baking dishes, being careful to measure our portions.  We then baked our little personal pasta bowls for about 20 minutes.  These were served with a slice of wheat toast, seasoned just right.  Eating healthy is so much easier when you plan ahead and learn some tricks and secrets.

Dinner was the perfect end to this day.  So satisfying.  Homemade chili, topped with veggies and cheese and a baked potato smothered in broccoli and cheese.  And then as if it couldn't get much better...a peanut butter cookie for desert.  Hard to believe the whole meal was around 500 calories.

One thing I've also noticed this week is that I'm paying closer attention to my water intake.  Water is necessary and even more so for weight loss. Afternoon hunger can be abated with a piece of fruit and a tall glass of water.  So drink up my friends!

Hump day is just another great day at Desert Cliffs!!!