Boot Camp Blogger is a look into the life of Boot Camp participant Tara. Follow along each week as she experiences the challenges and successes of Boot Camp the Extreme Fit way!

When I started the Extreme Fit Training Boot Camp, I thought it’d be a good way to maybe, possibly get myself in shape and get rid of some of the extra weight I‘ve been carrying around the past couple of years. I didn’t think it’d be a mood-altering or life-changing decision, just something to get me back on track. But the former has become true for me: I realize now that the decision I made to participate in this Boot Camp has the potential to really change my life.  

We’ve been told that this week is supposed to be “results” week for us Boot Campers, meaning that all of the hard work we’ve put into Boot Camp the past three weeks should start paying off. For some of us, that will mean changes in the way our bodies look. For others, it will mean changes in how we feel physically and emotionally. For some, it will mean a change in the cravings we had before. For me, “results” has meant a little bit of all of the above—and a whole new view on life.  

Yes, I’ve noticed my body has changed a bit since I started Boot Camp. My food cravings have radically declined because of my change in diet. I’m definitely stronger than I was (by leaps and bounds, really). I recover a lot more quickly from exercise than I did before, meaning my heavy breathing and exhaustion and yearning to die after finishing a station ends much more quickly than it did pre-Boot Camp, which allows me to easily move on to the next move (I use the term “easily” loosely). And my endurance has really spiked: I don’t feel as if I may collapse after doing 50 jumping jacks (which I did on Day 1) or running what equals about a half-mile (Week 2). But more than anything else, I just plain feel better.  

Unfortunately, since Day 1 of Boot Camp, I’ve incurred a few handicaps. Before beginning Week 1, I already had a pulled muscle in my left thigh, but I didn’t realize how much worse it would get and soon affect every single workout. Lunges are nearly impossible (I get a sharp, stabbing pain that seems to shoot all the way up my body), and up-down up-downs are excruciating. But luckily for me, Coach V has given me some other moves I can do in place of the ones that affect my pulled muscle, as well as ideas on how to help it to heal. (I’m now a master at the Frankenstein Walk and squats.) So I’m still getting a good workout and burning as many calories as the other Boot Campers, but I’m not reinjuring myself over and over again.  

This week, I pulled a muscle in my stomach doing the drag-yourself-with-your-feet-sliding-on-plates move (an ailment I’m pretty much already over, though it did affect my routine a bit this week). I also bruised (I think, though I have yet to see a doctor being I will not allow myself to not finish this Boot Camp for any reason) my right foot. Now, a bruised foot may sound pretty insignificant to some, but it really hurts! After Wednesday night’s class, I noticed it: The sharp pain shooting up my right side from the outside edge of my foot up into my calf. I assumed it was a byproduct of the thousands of frog leaps we did in class that evening and would go away by morning. But it has not gone away. It actually seems to have gotten worse. I’m hoping hot water, Epsom salts, ice, and a little grace will get me through this one before next week. (I’ve learned that the older one gets, the more patient one must be with the shortcomings that go along with aging.) So, unfortunately, I had to miss Thursday’s class, and I had no idea how bummed I would be to miss it!  

Before joining Extreme Fit Training’s Boot Camp, things other than a healthy lifestyle got me excited: luscious meals, divine wines, drinks out with good friends, cherished moments stolen just for myself. Don’t get me wrong, these things still get me going, but now, the possibility of finally being the person physically who I’ve wanted so long to be far outweighs any of those other things. In the past three weeks, I’ve finally caught a glimpse of what lies ahead, and I’m not letting that dream scatter to the wind for a few pieces of pizza or a bottle of good wine. So this foot injury has really thrown me for a loop. I cannot let it deter me from my goals. I. WILL. NOT. Luckily, Helena Boot Campers have a wonderful coach, and she’s helping me out in every way she can: a make-up class for the missed one, tips on how to speed recovery, not yelling at me and calling me a loser for missing class. These things are important in a good coach, and I know with Coach V’s help, a little luck, and a lot of perseverance, I will be back out there in Week 4 strong, steady, and starving for that physical wrath I now so crave.