The Green Mountain Diaries – Day 5

Hey guys!

After breakfast yesterday, I joined LynnAnn’s “upper body strength” class. We stood, sat on chairs & laid on aerobic steps (which were set up at an incline) for these exercises, which included bicep curls, tricep dips, chest press, bent over rows, and crunches (inc. obliques). We were instructed to choose one lighter weight and one heavier weight as certain muscles are naturally inclined to take more weight (like your chest). One thing about exercising here is the you always stretch before and after an exercise -and none of this 3-second stretching stuff. There is also a concentration on breathing, which is helpful because if you learn to exhale on the movement, you can propel yourself through exercises you never thought possible. I have to say they make the exercise environment here incredibly inviting. Everywhere you turn at Green Mountain at Fox Run, there are pitchers of ice-cold water. In the weight room, there are instructions next to each machine. Gotta love it!

After my upper body had its work out, I moved on to mental exercise with Darla’s class, “Messages from the Past,” which is a class on body positivity. This was intense. Darla started the class by reading the blog post, “Deah, just take off your damn shoe!” posted here on the site/blog, “Leftovers to Go.” We were all taken back to that time that we, too, found society’s message as a pebble in our shoe. We then completed a worksheet where we filled in our experience with our body at different time frames in our lives and what influential events & experiences coincided (or prompted) our perception of our body at these times. There is no doubt that the two life events that coincided with my most self-hate (& excess weight) were the time of my parents’ separation and high school. We were allowed to discuss our worksheet with the pal sitting at our table and I found that sharing allowed me to remove some of the burden of this knowledge while also feeling safe and understood. I guess that’s one of the greatest appeals of this place — you know that while everyone has unique struggles, perspectives & life experiences, they can all empathise. The last exercise of the class entailed us putting our hands on our heart, closing our eyes, then moving our hands to the area of our body we’re most critical of, and repeating a few different phrases to ourselves that Darla repeated. I put my hands on my stomach, which has, since a prepubescent child, been my main source of bodily frustration. I’m usually not inclined to like this kind of “close your eyes” stuff. I’m realizing I associate emotional behavior with lack of self-control as well as with mental illness (which I’ve witnessed). This may explain my inability to label my feelings. Anyhow, when Darla repeated the phrase, “I’m sorry I’ve been so mean to you,” the water works came on (and even now as I type, I feel my eyes welling up – jeez!). I feel angry. I’m angry that my first response toward myself has always been, “you’re not good enough,” or some sort of shaming or negativity. Wtf, Bella? But, as we learn here – we can start practicing self-love and make positivity the habit. It just takes time, practice & patience. I’m ready! Are you??????

After a 3-mile run in the gym and dinner, I, along with everyone else, had the pleasure of being instructed by the chefs on how to cook a variety of greens, including bok choy, ornamental (purple) kale, rabe & swiss chard. Most of the dishes included a couple teaspoons of olive oil, lemon, garlic, salt, pepper, shallots & rice vinegar. If you haven’t been following my Facebook page, then you may have missed that I am obsessed with Aaron’s cooking – he’s the vegetarian (since 8!) chef who’s been preparing all of my vegan meals with love. You can check out his site, Localvore Catering, here.

Check out our handsome chef crew, David & Aaron:

A few cool things I learned from the demonstration are:

• if you roll a lime or lemon, you release some of the membranes inside, making it easier to squeeze once you cut it open
• season high (literally. season from higher so that salt & pepper doesn’t just plop on one vegetable leaf)
• a shallot can be described as a red onion mixed with garlic and it’s used in a lot of vegan dishes because it has a buttery taste.

What a fun day!

…I can’t believe today is Friday and that tomorrow I leave.

<3,

The Cranky One

Tags: body positivity, green mountain at fox run, vegan, work-outs