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!

I am so excited to be doing another month of the Extreme Fit Training Boot Camp, and even more excited that I’ll still be with Valerie, our exuberant trainer. Though many things have changed in our class, including the addition of some new trailblazers, the loss of others, and Coach Val being just a little bit more assertive with us (though still sweet as she can be), one thing has not changed: It’s still tough. But tough is what proved fruitful for me last month, and hopefully for others, as well.

My results: I lost four pounds (doesn’t seem like much, but wait, I’m not done), 12 inches (right where I wanted to lose it, in the “baby” region), and, get this, 10 percent of my body fat! (Insert jaw-drop here.) TEN. PERCENT. BODY. FAT. For me, the results say it all. Extreme Fit Training Boot Camps work, they work quickly, and they’re effective.

When I got into this extreme form of exercise, I wanted results now. I wanted a quick jumpstart, a little bit of an initial weight loss, and then to be able to move on and at my own pace. But when I began to see results, and then got my final results, I realized this was exactly what I needed, and I was hooked. Hooked on working hard, hooked on doing it with the support of my coach and my class around me, and hooked on the (amazing) results. I don’t believe I could have ever gotten to where I am now without this amazing program.

So Month 2 of my journey has begun. We’ve already had a week of class, and since I was injured (in Week 4, I pulled a tendon in my foot and was put on a bit of a rest for two weeks) and unable to do the football feet, the frog leaps, the up-down up-downs, the drag-yourself-with-your-feet-sliding-on-plates move, the praying-position-bounce-to-squat-with-your-arms-out-like-you’re-about-to-attack move, I was able to do the personal workouts Valerie was so great to put together for me. These consisted of more abs than I could ever have imagined in my wildest dreams I could do (I didn’t realize how bad my sides could hurt!), leg lifts that made my hips and butt feel like they’d been set on fire, hundreds and hundreds of push-ups and upper-body moves, squat curtsies galore—anything to keep my heart rate high and me burning calories. I may not have been running and jumping and leaping and hopping, but I was working, and I was sweating.

Week 2, I expect to be back out there with the best of ’em. I only hope I haven’t lost the stamina that I had built up in the first month. Because without that, I don’t know how I’ll make it through the cardio! One thing I gained in that first month (among many others), which I now know is absolutely invaluable, is how quickly I can recover from the pain of the cardio. At first, I just wanted to give up, sit down, and die. But now, give me 30 seconds of deep breathing, a sip of water, and I’m ready to go again. I just hope I haven’t lost that stamina, because I’d hate to have to go through what I did in the first month!

As I sit here and write, I can’t wait to get to class tomorrow, see the smiling (OK, maybe some won’t be smiling, but I will be!) faces of my classmates, and be confident that I’m rested, healthy, and ready to shed another 10 percent! Go Team Spain Park (formerly Team Helena)!