My first day at Canyon Ranch was amazing. It was a great mix of stimulating activity and pure relaxation. Best of both worlds.
Breakfast
I woke up hungry and excited for breakfast this morning. After last night’s dinner, I was really loo...
My first day at Canyon Ranch was amazing. It was a great mix of stimulating activity and pure relaxation. Best of both worlds.
Breakfast
I woke up hungry and excited for breakfast this morning. After last night’s dinner, I was really looking forward to breakfast. It’s by far my favorite meal of the day and everything I tried at Canyon Ranch so far was healthy and delicious, so I was ALL about breakfast.
Not surprisingly, breakfast started with a decaf iced coffee with almond milk. I’m not going to lie, I got pretty excited when my server said they had almond milk. (Oh, the little things!)
Then, I headed to the breakfast bar, which is available every morning. It had all sort of goodies on it, including fresh fruit, granola, cereal, yogurt, nuts, dried fruit, baked goods, and something called “Peanut Butter Delight,” which, of course, I needed to try.
I added a scoop of the “Peanut Butter Delight” to some banana slices, which were soaked in a lemon meringue sauce. I topped everything with a sprinkle of ground flax, and, holy yum, I loved it. It was almost like eating dessert for breakfast.
I honestly could have filled up on various foods from the breakfast bar, but I figured I should order something from the menu. I wasn’t sure whether I was in the mood for sweet or savory for breakfast, so I ordered both: Gluten-Free French Toast and some scrambled eggs.
Both were delicious. The scrambled eggs were especially flavorful. Hello, fresh eggs!
Workouts
After breakfast, I attended a class called “Advanced X-Training.” Before I tell you about it, let me give you a little info about the group exercise classes at Canyon Ranch. Pretty much every hour from 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM, there are anywhere from three to seven classes offered in six different categories: aquatic, cardio, dance, flexibility, mind-body, and strength. And within these categories, there are four fitness levels (beginner, intermediate, advanced, all levels). There are seriously SO MANY CLASSES. You could stay at Canyon Ranch for a whole week and still not do them all. Some of them repeat (M, W, F), but there are specialty classes (i.e. “Real Deal Boxing,” “Berkshire Beat,” “Versa Bootcamp”) mixed in, so there’s always something new and different to try.
Ok, back to the “Advanced X-Training.” This class was only 30 minutes (most classes are 45 minutes unless otherwise noted), but it was fast paced and challenging. Using the indoor track and various equipment (medicine ball, ropes, kettlebells), we did a circuit-style, full body workout. There were six stations, each with a different exercise, so we performed that movement until the person running completed one lap of the track before moving onto the next station. We did the circuit three times with a 60-second rest in between, and I was a sweaty mess by the end. I definitely got a great workout!
Up next was “Yoga for Athletes,” a 45-minute class, which included flowing athletic moves (arm circles, lunges) and yoga poses to improve strength, balance, and flexibility.
It was a nice mix of athletic-y exercises (planks, push-ups) and traditional yoga postures… and a beautiful view.
After yoga, I attended a lecture called “Inflammation & Immunity,” which was led by Dr. Teresa Hubkova. Most of the information covered was intended for general health and wellbeing, but Dr. Hubkova talked a little bit about autoimmunity and specifically Ulcerative Colitis. She actually went on and on about how frustrating the disease is for patients and doctor, and then shared all of the terrible UC symptoms. The woman sitting in front of me squirmed in her seat and then said: “That sounds horrible.” Yep, yep it is. And I’m not even ill with the disease! Ugh, IBD is the worst.
Anyway, I just wanted to share a couple of the new treatments out there for UC and other autoimmune diseases:
Helminthic therapy: An autoimmune disease is one where the immune system basically gets confused. Instead of attacking an “invader,” like a virus or bad bacte
