Hard Work Pays Off!

My bootcamp location is SW, at Mills Elementary School. This week the sidewalks were decorated with chalk pictures, crooked hopscotch diagrams and some angst-ridden elementary age graffiti. My favorite was “SCHOOL were (sic) all students are tortured.” I had to laugh at it. After all, I saw it as I was hobbling to my car after a grueling, some might say torturous, work out.

Whether or not it was a brutal week of camp, the last week is awesome for one main reason: evaluations. You gotta love the day when you find out that there are inches gone and pounds lost all through the power of moving your body. I love the fact that my thighs and calves are showing definition and have gone from firm to downright hard when I flex the muscles.

There’s no better feeling in the world than the satisfaction of a job well done and the rewards that go along with it. I want to tell everyone that I’ve lost inches here and inches there and oh, several inches right here. I want the world to know that while they were sleeping I was out under a starry early morning sky doing The Ring of Fire and hey, won’t you look at me now!

I’m thrilled with my results. And I feel empowered knowing the harder I work, the more I benefit. Let the saga of The Incredible Shrinking Woman continue! My dream of becoming lean, toned and fit is well underway.

"Champions aren't made in the gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them---a desire, a dream, a vision."

~Muhammad Ali~

Gonna Fly Now

The song stuck in my head this week is the theme from Rocky. I was singing it all week long except for the hour we’re working out, but only because then I’m too out of breath to muster up anything more than a wheezing conversation. And while I’m on the subject of the hour work out can someone answer the riddle of “why does an hour of bootcamp feel like 120 minutes”? My conspiracy theory is that bootcamp instructors have some sort of magical control over time that actually stretches it into a suspended state so that we sweat and strain for hours before it snaps back to real time. But I digress.

“Trying hard now, it’s so hard now, trying hard now…” goes the song, totally summing up the early part of my week. I felt weak and was dealing with major muscle cramping thanks to dehydration. I know and I know and I know that we need to hydrate each and every day but I cannot remember drinking a single glass of water on Sunday. Please learn from my example and drink your water. It took days to recover and become well-hydrated again. And the only thing worse than running drills is calf cramps and running drills.

“Getting strong now, won’t be long now, getting strong now…”. During our training stations day I was happily shocked to discover that the easiest exercise for me, aside from regular crunches, was holding plank. What?? I’ve gone from barely able to hold plank for 15 seconds in my first bootcamp to an easy 45 seconds. I’m excited and can’t wait to see how I do next week! Add to it a midweek mirror check that showed me my stomach is looking smaller. It’s not anywhere close to flat, mind you, but smaller is wonderful! These little victories are what keep my motivation level high. It feeds my confidence and shows me that I can do more than I ever thought my body was capable of accomplishing.

“Gonna fly now, flying high now, gonna fly, fly, fly…” We’re two-thirds of the way through camp and I am feeling stronger, more energetic and my endurance is rising. My first bootcamp was the same way, by the end of the second week I felt great. I’m proud of working hard toward my goal of living healthfully. Sometimes results are hard to see, but my body feels different. Even something as simple as walking from my car to work is different; my stride is longer, my steps are faster and I move forward with a sense of purpose. Yeah, sure, I have more pounds to lose and a long road ahead but right now, this minute, today I'm happy. I’m happy with my commitment to exercise, happy with bootcamp and happy with my work-in-progress body. I dragged a bunch of my cute "skinny clothes" out of the closet and tried them on last night. No, they didn’t fit yet but I know they will and probably sooner than I imagine.

"There's no easy way out. If there were, I would have bought it. And belive me, it would be one of my favorite things!"

~Oprah Winfrey, on exercise

Moving Forward Toward The Goal

Ahhhh, Friday! The day I sleep late, even if “late” means 6:30am. First time bootcampers are probably more excited with a few extra hours snuggled up in bed than those of us repeat campers. Getting up early does get easier. It’s kind of like squat thrusts. The first few times you’re thinking “Really?? No way!” but after a few weeks it becomes “Alright, let’s do this”. It’s still a struggle but not an impossibility. Impossible to me would be the evening bootcamp, so hat’s off to ya’ll. My energy level is highest in the morning so I have great respect for the workout-after-work crowd.

To say this week of camp has been a challenge would be a tremendous understatement. Coaxing my weak and flabby muscles into giving a power performance isn’t an easy task. But baby step by baby step I’m growing stronger and seeing the results. I find motivation in the oddest places. This week it was the Grammy Awards. Running a lap, I gasped out my mantra “Tina Turner legs, Tina Turner legs”. Hey, whatever it takes, right?

Knowing that my body is firming up, getting leaner and trimming down is what keeps me moving forward. Aching muscles and stiffness eventually get better and go away. Even when I wobble out of my car after camp and toddle up the driveway toward my front door I feel good. So what if I drop my keys then try as I might can’t seem to squat down to get them? The people waiting at a nearby bus stop watched me hunker down like an arthritic senior citizen, reach for my keys and fail, reach for them again, groaning into a deeper squat and then finally tumble over into the lawn. Who knew my bootcamp experience would provide such great entertainment for the world at large?

But I’m pressing on. I’m rubbing liniment on my aches and diligently stretching several times a day. I won’t let anyone, including myself, stop me from my goal of becoming a healthier person. I’ve never been a skinny chick. I’ve never been athletic. I’ve lived my entire life fighting the battle of the bulge. Most of the time it won but I’ve had enough. I’ve put my foot down. I’ve drawn the line in the sand. I’m determined to transform myself into a physically fit woman. Every morning I look into the mirror and tell myself that I can do this. I can and I will.

"All your life you are told the things you cannot do. All your life they will say you're not good enough or strong enough or talented enough; they will say you're the wrong height or the wrong weight or the wrong type to play this or be this or achieve this. THEY WILL TELL YOU NO, a thousand times no, until all the no's become meaningless. All your life they will tell you no, quite firmly and very quickly. AND YOU WILL TELL THEM YES."

-Nike ad

Monday's Motivation: Blanca and Rochelle

Everyone can tell you the challenges of working out or dieting alone. Many times you may feel pressure from your friends and family to just let your nutrition slide or just skip one work out.
Training with a group is a great way to get the support that you are looking for. I have seen this first hand at Austin Adventure Boot Camp. The support of my coach and my fellow campers is what keeps me going on the days when I’m am less than excited about getting out of bed.
At the Southwest 5:30 camp I have had the pleasure to work with Blanca G. and Rochelle G.

Blanca and Rochelle have been friends since the 8th grade and do just about everything together. Rochelle signed up for boot camp with a friend from work in October ‘07 to prepare for her friends wedding. She’d been walking for fitness but not consistently and she wasn’t seeing a difference. She was looking for boot camp to push her and it did just that. At then end of her first camp she was happy to find herself losing weight and feeling stronger. The next session she signed up for solo and she admits it was a little harder without someone she knew but she was still seeing results and she stuck to achieving her goals.
She decided to ask Blanca to come to camp with her, just to see if she would, and Blanca started attending in November ’07. Both women have great attitudes and great attendance. They make a point to keep each other working hard smiling even when the workouts are tough.
Together they have started to get out of their bad habits, no more Late night IHOP runs, eating out of boredom.
“We’ve stopped eating out so much. No fast food, a LOT less junk food and chips.” says Blanca, who is also battling a family history of diabetes and congestive heart failure. After taking her parents to their doctor’s appointments she saw the path that she was on and didn’t like it. She’d tried dieting and working out before and had trouble sticking with it. When asked her strategy to keep coming to camp Blanca responded “I can see that I am making a change, and with Rochelle there, it makes it easier.”

These women not only get support from each other and Austin Adventure Boot Camp, their families have noticed the big changes they are making and make a point to say how proud they are of them.

When you meet Rochelle and Blanca its easy to see that these are two strong, happy women. As they lose the weight and become more athletic they are excited at what is in store for them. Says Rochelle, “We look forward to being healthier, being happier. Making these changes make us feel more powerful—“and the clothes”, Blanca adds, “We love to shop!”

To people considering starting boot camp with Austin Adventure Boot Camp they offer the following advice. “Don’t be scared, the first day is hard—but you do what you can. Take the first step and you’ll see results.”

Since starting at Austin Adventure Boot Camp Rochelle has consistently lost weight at each camp and has taken 4.5 inches off her waist! Blanca has lost over 30lbs and this past camp she took over a minute off of her mile time.
Congratulations to Rochelle and Blanca for all of their hard work!

Are you a camper that wants to share their Austin Adventure Boot Camp success story? Contact Stephanie Delk at stephaniedelk@atxbootcamp.com.

Show Us Your Goods - VALENTINES Day!

Hey, Guys, Show Us Your Goods for Valentine's Day!

Are you still scratching your head, trying to figure out what to buy your girlfriend or wife for Valentine's Day? Did you give any thought yet to making dinner reservations? No?? Never fear! The ladies from 3 Dames Productions have teamed up with Ringers Sports Lounge to make your V-Day shopping easy and painless.

Enjoy happy hour drink specials and the Spurs game (against the Knicks) or poker tournament while shopping with vendors offering jewelry, lingerie and pajamas, bath & body lotions and shower gels, boutique clothing and more.

Amy's Ice Creams will be on hand to take orders for their decadent chocolate covered strawberries. Leighelena, will sell her imaginative and colorful enamel jewelry. Nothing says love like an enameled longhorn pendant, now does it? Sparks Cards & Gifts will showcase their novelty items, Valentine's cards and other gifts as well as manning a gift wrap booth.
Know your sweetheart loves to workout with Austin Adventure Boot Camp!? We'll have a booth there so you can buy her a gift certificate! While you're at it register to win 50% off one of our Men's Only boot camp classes!

If you've really screwed up and not made dinner reservations for the Day of Love you have a chance to win one. SUYG is hosting a raffle of wonderful gifts and reservations at some of Austin's top dining spots. Read that right, you're not scoring a paid dinner, but you'll have a coveted reservation at a restaurant that'll have your significant other smiling like there's no tomorrow. The raffle proceeds go to Breakthrough Austin, an organization that mentors students from sixth grade through college as they become the first generation of their family to graduate.

So c'mon guys...grab a beer and Show Us Your Goods.