Debbie: Bootcamp Ain't for Sissies (from Jan 9)

Boot camp ain't for sissies so why am I going to one? Therein lies the rub - I'm trying to do something I'm totally under qualified for. I've been three times now and it isn't getting easier - yet. The first night was awful. I was having a terrible time trying to keep up with the trainer. Trainer, that's Latin for Evil Spawn of Satan.

The first night I'm thinking we would be doing this stuff at a level appropriate to our abilities - not so much. ESS had us up and down the step things, doing crunches, then up 6 flights of stairs, then stretches, push ups, step things again, crunches, push ups, and again with the six flights of stairs! Only one or two "water breaks" - 2 minutes which he timed! Oh yeah, and no smoke breaks - not a single one!

The second night wasn't quite as bad, by then Chris had told him about my previously broken bones and related injuries from the car wreck, so he modified what I had to do so it wouldn't hurt so badly. Mind you, it still hurt - just not as badly! We had to do lunges, weighs, more lunges, more weights, skipping rope, lunges, squats, crunches, push ups, and again with the six flights of stairs. Yeah we were feeling the burn!

The third night was freakin ridiculous - which is ridiculous squared. This time we had a bit of stuff from the previous nights, weights, lunges, stepping things, jumping ropes, crunches, throwing a heavy ball back and forth to a "fitness partner" (broke 2 nails on that one),
running relays up and down the hallway and of course those damn 6 flights of stairs!

There was a difference the third night - ESS came over to me and modified things that may hurt my previously broken bones, told me to slow down on a couple of exercises so I don't hurt myself "too much" and complimented me for sticking it out so well. He was actually very nice to me, quite compassionate in fact. It made me sort of bad about pushing all those long hat pins in that Rick doll I have. I pulled out a few of them when I got home - I can be compassionate too.

I've learned a lot of things since beginning this boot camp. Things I never knew before, like you have muscles in your arm pits, sports bra come in low, medium and high impact, and even your ear lobes can sweat. Anyway, that's how its been going. Thanks for all the support, encouragement and kind words. Its meant a lot and guilted me into trying a little harder and sticking with it a little longer.

Debbie: WTFO - that's Air Force for WTF - Over!

So now I've completed, a term I use loosely, 2 more sessions and I'm rethinking going for a third. In the meantime, I did hear back from the Geneva Convention folks and they turned down my request for a review - apparently if you are free to leave its not really their definition of torture, details!

Monday night was all about the cardio. I had forgotten to pack my sports bra (high impact) so I was trying to squeeze one more hour out of my 18 Hour bra. We did the nothing but cardio which means non stop motion with varying degrees on intensity sprinkled in just often enough
to keep you from EVER catching your freakin' breath! During the thing called mountain climbers, when you're down on all fours as you alternate which leg is in back - my left shoulder seized up and died. It knocked me to the floor for a nano-second or five. First I just sat there in
the sitting fetal position, rocking back and forth, fighting the stars in my eyes, sirens in my ears, the room spinning, the lights going on and off for no apparent reason and trying not to puke on anyone I like.

(Chris was in front of me and Pat was on my right side which left the stranger on my left as my only possible target). That's a lot to grasp all at once! Pat had to help me up, my body just wasn't responding to my commands but I think I mentally shot about 5 more pins in my Rick
doll. ESS came to check on me, and again he was being nice, even compassionate. But I digress - long story short - the rest of the session ESS told me to go easy so I slacked off a bit. When it was finally, mercifully over I went home, took drugs, a hot shower and crawled into bed, to sleep perchance to dream. . .

Tuesday I started feeling bad for having slacked off on Monday so, after finding out that Pat was going to the 5:30 session, I suited up (including my high impact sports bra) and went on down there. ESS seemed surprised to see me, inquired about my shoulder and said he'd modify his planned session so as not to hurt my shoulder. His weirdly timed compassion is really starting to grate on my nerves! The guilt over the Rick doll and the long pins passed quickly though. We worked on legs and abs. Squats, lunges, crunches, leg lifts, walking lunges, stair climbing squats, stretches, squatting stretches while you lunge - the pain was magnificent, I know he was proud! He was bouncing around with that big ol' smile of his, talking about how much this is helping
us, how its gonna improve our health, our looks, blah, blah, blah - made me want to slap that smile right into next week! When my arms don't hurt so bad I may just do it too!

Chris: Addicted to weights that are too heavy for me

It's ego. I know it is. Whenever Rick tells us to grab some weights, I go for the ones that I think will make me look like I'm stronger than I am.

But that's not my only problem. It's that I'd really rather be asleep... or watching a movie... or eating dinner... or having my skin buffed with a sand-blaster and dipped in a pool of alcohol that's filled with electric eels. Well, that's just part one of my problem. Part two is that I can't pace myself when I'm doing the workouts, so I go a little overboard. By the end of the hour, I'm drained.

I read all these comments from my fellow bootcampers and I hear it during the torture we endure, and I think, "Why did I ever start doing this?" But just like their stories inspired me to get back on the fitness wagon, their reasons for doing this keep me going.

If it weren't for the mother of two doing this as a way to do things for herself... or my own mother gutting it out every class... if it wasn't for the couples doing it for each other and their health... or the cancer survivor of six years... or any one else in there, I'd have put down those heavy ass 15lb dumbbells, which are way heavier than they look after an hour of use, and walked away. When, at the end of 11 weeks, I look and feel better than I ever have, I'll probably have a lot of nice things to say about these folks.

But for now, I'm cussing you under my breath as hard as I am Rick since it's your "inspiration" that got me into this painful mess in the first place.

(Seriously though, thanks.)

Kim - road block number one.

I think that the major reason that people have problems keeping their New Years resolutions is that life tends to get in the way of us keeping ourselves healthy. Family, work, activities of all sorts get thrown at us and tend to fall into our laps. We are then faced with either working out or doing what is necessary to other people and not necessarily ourselves.

I had this happen today. My brother has finally returned home from a long stay in a hospital out of state, and a day early. I took the day off of the boot camp yesterday because I wanted to go jogging at The Riverwalk, and I found out earlier that my brother is returning home and wants me there.

So, what choice is there to make? The empathetic part of me says that there isn't one. The cold, hard, logical part of me that doesn't want to be fat anymore is screaming at me to get my butt into camp. The only problem is that I won't be able to even get the full workout in. When I'm torn, I go to the advice guru who is also my spouse. He told me that we could go running at The Riverwalk again to at least get cardio in after I get back into Macon tonight, and a trainer at Gateway concurred with the opinion. So, back there again tonight. (Did you know that it's three miles from beginning to end?) (I can't believe I jog/walked that last night!)

I'm holding steady on my diet, and even though my husband came home with Zaxby's for lunch today, I chose a baked sweet potato and a seared chicken breast. Even though life is getting in the way right now, I'm learning that there will be time to keep it up later. Good for me.

Priscilla says "My PHAT is turning into FAT!"

Sleep deprivation can lead you to do strange things. For example the presence of a hacking holiday cough and a 200 lb man snoring next to me who also is cursed with a "jimmy leg" must have caused me to respond to the Fat Camp Challenge in the 11th Hour.

I was thrilled when heard I would be one of the participants. But as I lay in bed this morning waiting for that 5 AM alarm to ring, I found making excuses not to get out of bed. I decided I would go to the evening class instead. Then the "jimmy leg" next to me kicked in, making the departure from memory foam and down all the easier. Driving in the foggy darkness I knew this would be no "piece of cake", or in my case, it's a hunk of cheese. But I wasn't prepared for the serious ass kicking I would receive. I found myself wondering why I thought this public humiliation would be a good idea?

As I lay on the gym floor, doing all kinds of crazy "scissor" motions with my legs, the reality of these next eleven weeks hit me, much like the searing pain I was feeling in my abs.
So after muttering a barrage of obscenities, I tried to focus on how it would all get easier over time. That, and thinking about the banging bod I would hopefully come away with didn't hurt either.

Public Humiliation is a great motivator, and Vanity is a bigger bitch than me!

Pat: the Early Bird

Session 1 down! cardio and abs for an hour, brutal. Can barely lift my arms above my head and don’t know how I’m going to hold my fork tonite at dinner. Rick says it gets better, good. I’m in for the long haul. Oh yea, the ‘water break.’ Didn’t know you had to climb 6 flights of stairs to get your water. Cruel.