Boot Camp Baby!

I am in love with Boot Camp.  It has been such a memorable experience for me filled with lots of firsts. 

1. I am not athletic and now I am beginning to feel an athletic coordination and drive.  It is crazy how hard I can push myself.  One evening I did 400 squats-in-a- row!  I never would have guessed I had that in me
2. I always give up on physical exercise when I inevitably gain weight in the first month of any new program.  I gained weight and stayed there pretty much in the last four months.  I have hated it and it has been one of the biggest struggles of my life.  I have had to dig deep to not get discouraged and give up.  And I did think a lot about giving up.  Somewhere around August/September I began to notice changes in my body.  My arms started to get cut and my sides were shrinking in.  My WW leader told me to measure and I did and I saw results.  I have never been so happy to see a tape measure in my life.  I can’t wait until the end of this month to measure again.
3. I go to boot camp even if I am feeling under the weather.  It has been years since I suffered more than one cold in a 12 month period and I never get the flu.  But I do have annoying allergies that can turn into a cold if I am not vigilant.  More than once I thought I had a cold coming on and I went to boot camp anyway.  I never take my temperature when I am feeling sick, because for some reason, knowing I have a temperature is enough to stop me in my tracks and really feel sick and just go to bed and give up and let the cold take over.  I think working out even if it feels borderline has prevented me from actually getting sick.  It has now been over a year since my last cold.
4. I am fighting that voice in my head that says “I can’t”.  It is not winning.  It is very quiet now and is cowering in the corner.  I think, “Who knows?  Maybe I can do this?  Let’s find out.”  400 squats later, I find that I, in fact, CAN do this!
5. Sometimes I wish boot camp was harder for me, or lasted longer.  WHAT????  Crazeballs!  Yup.  I said it!  We have had several rotations in my boot camp instructors lately, which I love because they are all different and challenge me in different ways.  But, since my instructor was all braggy about how many squats I did, every substitute instructor seems to think they must break me, aaand they put me in the advanced level of reps/time/distance.  And guess what?  I CAN do the ADVANCED BOOT CAMP PROGRAM!  Zoiks!  And sometimes, when I visit other locations of my particular boot camp and they don’t know me I try to hide out in the intermediate group until I realize they are mainly focusing on the beginner stuff and the reps/time/distance aren’t high enough for me.  That’s when I feel it isn’t hard enough.  SO I must remember to challenge myself when I am under the radar.  I have got to keep experiencing the pain of sore muscles or it does nothing for me.  (What a weirdo)
6. I look forward to getting a tough workout four days a week.  It has always been a struggle to get the motivation to go work out.  But boot camp is priceless.  It’s like deep discount personal training.  Couch potato girl is pretty much gone. It is unreal how much time I used to spend watching TV and doing nothing else.  It really is like a drug and it can ruin your health.
7. I have become competitive.  ???  In a physical way?  Yes!  I have always despised participating in any sort of team sport.  I remember hating kickball in elementary.  Every one was sooooo tied up in whether or not they won and my whole team would shun me (even though they knew they would hate me ‘cause I was picked last anyway) when I didn’t perform to their standards.  I was all like, “Hey, what’s the big deal?  It’s just kickball.”  But man, no one would talk to me for hours after a game at recess if we lost.  Now I get really pissy if someone is lunging across the parking lot faster than me!  It makes me push myself harder.

Who is this new person?  I have no idea.  She bears very little resemblance to me.  I am excited to get to know her and I hope that I don’t sabotage her.  I am craving ice cream after all and we all know that’s a slippery slope with a bad ending.