A Day of Fun, Exercise, and Meditation

Today I took my fall "G.P.S." class of Girls on a field trip to Santa Barbara. My friend Hildy volunteered to come along too.

We left the Valley in the morning and drove along the beautiful coast line south to Santa Barbara. We couldn't have chosen a better day. The weather was perfect, 73 degree's or so.

Our first stop was the Santa Barbara City College. This is one of the best community college's in the country. The track is a great place to work out with very challenging stadiums that offer an incredible butt and leg work out.

The girls ran two laps on the track and then did two stadiums, running up the bleachers. This is an anaerobic workout that shoots your heart rate up to its 90 to 95 percent. It will really tone up the legs and butt as well.

After finishing the stadiums, we did push ups off the railings of the bleachers, tri-cep dips on the benches, and V sit crunches also on the benches.

Then the girls repeated the whole thing, two laps, stadiums, push-ups, tri-cep dips, and crunches. A great work out in an amazing place. At the top of the stadiums was a view of the ocean and the boats in the marina. Not a bad spot to work out.

We left the track and did a walk on the beach. Here we were in short sleeves, barefoot, and sweating, while the rest of the country is in freezing temperatures. We felt lucky!

Now we were hungry! The girls had burned around 500 calories during their workout, so we were off for lunch on the pier overlooking the beautiful Santa Barbara Harbour.

Our lunch was great, with the exception of some menacing pigeons flying around our heads and feet while we ate. Everyone chose good things for lunch...no one ordered anything deep fried! Excellent choices Girls!

After filling our bellies with good food, we left the restaurant and headed for the meditation temple located up in the hills of Montecito.

This Temple is serene with a view of all of Santa Barbara. It is peaceful with only the sound of the birds outside while we sat in quiet meditation.

Now that we had been exercised, fed, and mentally quieted, it was time for a sweet treat.

We were off for Pink Berry Yogurt. It is a great treat with less sugar than most other brands. We all got fresh fruit on top, and then ate it as we walked through the shops downtown. A nice way to end a great day.

My point to all of this is to show you how you can blend exercise and healthy activities into your weekend of fun. Instead of feeling guilty about eating too much and not moving enough over your weekend, plan some activities that include your exercise and healthy food.

We had a great time and I look forward to doing it again soon.

Thanks Girls!! You were great!

Till Tomorrow
Queenie