Walking into The Ranch on a Monday morning I never know what to expect. Will the guest‘s be nervous for the hike, will they be resisting the letting go aspect of the program and bombarding us with questions. Will they be excited, waiting to feel the detox, dizziness or the hungry feeling that Monday’s often bring. Will they be old or young at heart? I’m curious of each of their intentions for taking time to participate in this extremely challenging program? As I weave my way through the group I first get a general sense of how they are with each other. Is there much talk about where they vacation, who they know in common, or is it more of a quest for the secrets to balance and longevity. As each week is different with changing guests, weather, hikes, food, and guides, each week also has many similarities and can kind of blend together. I’m ever grateful to find renewed inspiration for what we do and what the program does for our guests. Every week we see a change in every guest, but sometimes one person stands out who has such a drastic change we must share his or her story.

Recently we had a guest who made an impression on all of us. She came to us without much experience in exercise, hiking, traveling alone, or challenging herself in any of these areas. She had low self-esteem and questioned whether she was capable of completing our intensive program. Her daughter was actually the person who pushed her to go on this journey of empowerment and health. As we must respect her anonymity I will call her Jane.

On Sunday, Jane ate lunch before meeting us at the Fairmont Hotel in Santa Monica. She didn’t confess much about the lunch itself but a few days into the program she admitted to having a few cocktails with lunch. Hours later she is suited up with her Camelback, hiking shoes and sunscreen trudging up a hill with Marc our Program Director who is known for his constant radio reminders to our guests to remain hydrated, “water, water, water…keep drinking your water”. An hour more of that and she broke down in tears. What had she gotten herself into? She spoke to a few of the guides and they translated to the rest of us; I’m sure Jane can make it through the program, but I’m not sure she knows that. This is day one.

Day two, three, four and five, Jane pushes herself on all of the hikes. She attends all classes.  The guides have noticed the remarkable change in her mental state. “Did you see Jane today in class? She was going for it!”- “Yeah I talked with her at dinner. Did you know she has never traveled alone until now?” “No, I didn’t know that but I did know she was not much into hiking or exercising” “Wow, she is doing so well.” “Yeah, I’m really impressed”. The guests begin to speak about her transformation: “Jane looks great!”,“ Yes, you can tell she is losing weight, you can see it in her face”. “Jane looks amazing”. Jane begins to glow.

Day six and seven, by this time we can all tell Jane has moved through the stages of the program. She was overwhelmed at first, she was worn out second, and then she had her break through moment, when she realized she could do more than she thought she could. In the final days of the program the energy around Jane was so uplifting. As we presented challenges to her she accepted them gracefully and gave it her all. On the final hike of the week, which is usually very mellow, Jane and one of our guides took an extra credit route to add more of a challenge. The extra credit turned into an adventure when they had to scale over loose rocks. Jane looked at the guide and grimaced, “does everyone do this?” she asked. The guide replied “no, I don’t think many of our guests would or could do this”. Jane forged ahead and after the climb, was back to her delightful self.

Recalling Jane’s stay with us it seems less exaggerated than when we were all in it together. Looking back it seems usual that someone would succeed, and we do see that every week but it’s special when the change is transformational. Jane showed up in a negative place in her life. One week can’t change that. What she showed us and herself is while being in an uncomfortable place, challenged at every turn, tired and continually pushed to overcome, it’s ok to grimace, but keep moving forward and you will amaze yourself at what you are capable of.

Tears of joy came from Jane on Saturday as she was departing from the program. As she left she said, “You’re going to use me as an example aren’t you?” It’s hard not to share her story as she came in afraid, with little confidence and self-esteem. She left a new person who will be a better mom to her kids and a better person to herself.

This is why l love what I do!

Now that the weather is clearing up around the country, it’s time to take exercise outside. Fortunately for us in Malibu, we have this option year round. Working out at the beach is great for so many reasons, I enjoy the distraction from the burn of the workout and the natural resistance training created by the sand. For each exercise, whether it is running or doing sit-ups on a slant towards the ocean or away from the sand, different effort is required. During a beach workout compared to a workout in a park you burn more calories as you are building more muscle just due to the sandy environment. Below is a favorite routine of mine when I have 20 minutes to get in a good workout.

Repeat 3-6 times depending on your time constraints and your level of fitness. Move through the sets as quickly as possible keeping your heart rate up.

25 Push-Up on the toes

50 crunches with feet off the sand

 20 Burpees: jump back to a push-up and then jump up

 Sprint 30 seconds and jog back to the start

Plank 30 seconds