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My trip to Arizona

I spent the last couple of days in Arizona touring an eating disorder facility called Rosewood.  Rosewood gave me the opportunity to tour their facility and paid for my airfare, hotel stay and the majority of my meals.

I flew out Thursday around lunch time.  For lunch I grabbed an iced vanilla latte from Peet’s + a bagel egg sandwich from Dunkin.

Arizona trip | immaEATthat.com Arizona trip | immaEATthat.com

The plane ride was just over 2 hours long.  I passed the time by re-reading/listening to the Intuitive Eating audiobook.  

At some point I had a snack.  Have you seen the KIND bar that is this flavor but has chocolate on the bottom/drizzled over the top? I can only find it sometimes, but it’s my new favorite.

Arizona trip | immaEATthat.com

Once we landed I had a blood orange (yay for something FRESH after a flight).  Then I got in the shuttle that was taking us to our resort for the evening. 

Arizona trip | immaEATthat.com

We had a 1 1/2 drive to where we were staying.  

More snacks were eaten.

Arizona trip | immaEATthat.com

Then we arrived at Rancho de los Caballeros, which was a Dude Ranch.  SO COOL.  I spent 3 years thinking I was going to be a large animal veterinarian, so I’m all about the horses.  I didn’t really know where they were having us stay, but it was such a neat resort.

Arizona trip | immaEATthat.comArizona trip | immaEATthat.com

Once we arrived I checked into my room.

Arizona trip | immaEATthat.com Arizona trip | immaEATthat.com

I had an hour before a group dinner for the eating disorder clinicians that were on the trip, so that meant I had at least 30 minutes to get in the pool.  I had been craving a swim for the last 2 weeks, but I don’t have access to any pools in Houston!

I had thrown a swimsuit in my luggage at the last minute and I’m so glad I did! When I was growing up, my mom’s number one rule of packing was: “always pack a swimsuit.” I very, nearly forgot…which would’ve been such a bummer.

Arizona trip | immaEATthat.comArizona trip | immaEATthat.com Arizona trip | immaEATthat.com

I love the above picture because the cactus is sticking right out of my head.

That night we ate dinner at the resort.

Arizona trip | immaEATthat.com

The first appetizer was some tortilla chips + a variety of salsas.  Then I had a watermelon + feta + watercress salad.

Arizona trip | immaEATthat.com

Entree was scallops + gnocchi.

Arizona trip | immaEATthat.com

Dessert was the daily pie.  I ordered it not knowing what type of pie it was.  It ended up being apple and I was a fan of the streusel top, the filling and the ice cream.  The crust on the outside I could take or leave.  So I went with the latter.

Arizona trip | immaEATthat.com

After dinner I wandered around the property a bit trying to find the 30+ horses they were supposed to have.  I didn’t find them.  I was still wandering when it got dark.  And then I got creeped out about being bit by a snake.  Fortunately I made it back to my room snake-bite free.

The next day, Friday, I got up and thought I had missed the days events.  It was so sunny! My phone said it was 10 minutes til 6am, but I couldn’t believe it because THE SUN!!  Since breakfast didn’t start until 7:30, I decided to do some yoga.

My room had this great patio attached.

Arizona trip | immaEATthat.com

So I got a towel and flowed for a bit.

Arizona trip | immaEATthat.com

Breakfast was a buffet.  I was impressed that they had soaked oats.  Similar to overnight oats, but with less of the yogurt taste…my favorite!  

Also my favorite was all the brightly colored tile everywhere. 

Arizona trip | immaEATthat.com

After breakfast we headed to tour Rosewood Ranch

Rosewood Ranch is a residential treatment facility for eating disorders.  To respect the privacy of the current residents at the facility, I won’t be sharing any photos of Rosewood.  At Rosewood those struggling with an eating disorder (anorexia, bulimia, binge eating disorder) can go live for months to begin working towards recovery of their ED.  They have nurses, doctors, therapists, dietitians and are pretty much just like a hospital without the hospital feel.  They also had horses, goats, and dogs that all of us on the tour got to do a therapeutic experiential with.

Later on in the morning we went to visit another Rosewood eating disorder facility that is a step-down in care from Rosewood Ranch.  At Rosewood Capri patients cook their own meals and get the chance to practice recovery-focused behaviors.

I really enjoy getting to see eating disorder facilities so when I have a client who needs more support than I can provid I can match their personality to the vibe/personality of the facility.

After tours, we headed back to the resort for lunch, which was another delicious buffet.

Arizona trip | immaEATthat.com

I went with a sandwich with a piece of swiss + a piece of cheddar + some turkey. On the side were some olives + homemade potato chips.  I totally underestimated how delicious the homemade potato chips were going to be, so I ended up going back for more.  And I made a cheese + turkey roll-up, since I wasn’t sure what the afternoon snack situation was going to look like and I didn’t want to be hungry in presentations.

Oh yes.  And then the wonderful staff was like reading my mind because they came around with a pitcher of iced coffee after lunch.  Why yes, I would like an iced coffee with my dessert.

Arizona trip | immaEATthat.com

Dessert was tiramisu!

Arizona trip | immaEATthat.com

After lunch we had 3 presentations from the Rosewood doctor, dietitian and program director.

Arizona trip | immaEATthat.com

EPIC CARPET^.

Around 4pm we got on a bus and headed back into Phoenix to another hotel that was closer to the airport.

Car snack was a couple handfuls of trail mix.

Arizona trip | immaEATthat.com

There were 5 other clinicians whose flights didn’t leave until Saturday morning, so we ended up going to dinner together.  They suggested walking to Ruby Tuesdays for dinner and since that sounded like the biggest snooze-fest ever, I called us an Uber and we went and ate tacos instead lol.  I wanted to experience a restaurant unique to Phoenix!

The ladies I was with had never Uber’d before and I was happy to show them how ridic easy it is.  

Dinner = Taco Guild, which was in an old church.  So fun!

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We ordered the mint + caramelized pineapple guacamole to split.  I liked it even tho I’m not the biggest mint fan!  

Arizona trip | immaEATthat.com

Then I had a chicken taco + a side of red beans.

Arizona trip | immaEATthat.com

The next day I was still on Houston-time (2 hours ahead), so I woke up early.  

I have a thing for hotel gyms.  I just think it’s exciting to see what they have.  So I headed down to check out the gym and move a little before the plane ride.  

I did a quick circuit-ish thing: 5 minute warm-up on the elliptical + 1 minute of each (bicep curls, overhead presses, jumping lunges, tricep pushbacks, chest fly, ab twists) + 10 total up and down planks + 5 minutes of stretching.  It took about 20 minutes and then on with my life.  I really wanted to get to the airport early so I’d have time to explore.

Arizona trip | immaEATthat.com

At the airport I ended up finding a really cool coffee place and got my usual.  They had an agave iced latte that I’m now wishing I would’ve tried!

Arizona trip | immaEATthat.comWith my latte I had a sad breakfast sandwich from the restaurant next door to the coffee place.  It was good, it was just too small. 

Arizona trip | immaEATthat.com

On the plane I met the sweetest couple who had been married for 56 years.  They showed me pictures of all of their grandkids and all of their great grandkids and all the different species of flowers/cacti in their front yard.  I’m making it sound bad, but I did really enjoy talking to them.  AND I got to sit in the window seat, which is my favorite seat on the place.

I spent the rest of the flight planning out blog content for the week and had super cute, plane-shaped cookies as a snack.  

Arizona trip | immaEATthat.com

On my way home from the airport I picked up Chick-fil-a for me and Andrew for lunch.  We spent the rest of Saturday visiting Andrew’s grandma.

Arizona trip | immaEATthat.com

And that’s it! I hope you have a good week ahead of you.  What are you most excited about? 

Houston opened a new donut/breakfast/brunch/latte place and I’m most excited about finally getting to try it.  And I really need new contacts so I hope I get it together and call my eye doctor.  Random. 

Have a good week!

14 comments

  1. Sounds like such a great weekend trip, and so jealous of your swim! I know I’ve been wanting to go for one, if only Memorial Day would speed up and get here so they would open up!

  2. I have always wanted to go to a dude ranch! How fun!

  3. I just wanted to tell you I found your blog recently and it has been a breath of fresh air. After a few years of dieting, calorie counting, and generally loathing myself and my body I recently gave it all up! 

    I am still overweight but I am healthy and thriving and surprise, surprise, I have not gained a pound. Instead I gained some freedom and peace of mind. Your blog really speaks to me and I look forward to your posts.

  4. I love Uber so very much. The idea freaked me out for about 3 seconds and then I did it and now I’m a total convert. And those tacos look amazing (as tacos tend to ?) 

  5. In 2011 I spent a few months doing treatment at Remuda Ranch, which is in the same town as Rosewood. It’s interesting to me to think of viewing a treatment center from the point of view of the clinician. I hope you had an enlightening trip!

    • Hey Kendra, I’m familiar with Remuda. I hope they were able to support you well in your recovery:) I haven’t gotten to see their facility yet, but hope to in the future. Hugs to you!!

  6. What an awesome weekend!

    Such a good idea to have a conference style thing with eating disorder specialists!

    xx

  7. Looked like a nice little getaway, Kylie, even though it was a work trip. I love Arizona!

    I will admit this post was difficult for me to read. I desperately needed treatment at one point and reached out to Rosewood and Remuda. They were happy to accept me as well as over $100,000 (I think Remuda wanted $220k). That is not a typo. These facilities are big businesses at their core. And they make A LOT of money–clearly if they were able to fly several clinicians out and pay for everything! Please know I’m not angry at you or anything, I just find the whole situation incredibly frustrating.

    I have been in residential facilities before and I truly believe they do more harm than good. Obviously not everyone feels this way. The only thing that saved me was Family Based Treatment for Eating Disorders, based on the Maudsley Method. If you haven’t looked up FEAST’s website, I really encourage you to do so! d

    You are my favorite blogger so please don’t take this as an insult towards you or anything! just wanted to make you aware of another persons experience. 

    • Hey Caitlyn. I was hesitant to share my trip for this reason right here. Since I’m BIG on disclosing when I’m not having to pay for something or when I’m getting paid for a post, I knew I would be disclosing that the majority of the trip was paid for and some might be annoyed by this.

      I completely understand how this post would be frustrating for you. If insurance won’t cover your residential treatment, it doesn’t surprise me that the price would be as extreme as those prices you mentioned. I’m sorry to hear about your experience with Rosewood and Remuda:/

      But I’m glad to hear FBT was helpful for you! We use it in our practice regularly.

  8. So cool that you got to visit Rosewood! This sounds like such a fun trip and that resort seems to nice. Also, we both share the same love for Dunkin. I love their iced coffees, bagels, and muffins :) 

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