Boot Camp: Day 4

Day 4
Woke up to a foggy morning, like my brain. Late night because of the ball game and had to make myself get up, but at least this time I wasn't grunting. I actually felt good and my muscles did not hurt like they did the day before. Once again running around to get ready but I knew I had to eat something lighter because I didn't want to be nauseous again. I made myself a smoothie with whey powder and raspberries. I had a little mini BabyBel cheese with it.

By the time I got to Cynergy it was probably close to 80 degrees and HUMID...this is October; I thought it would be nice and cool. The heat and I are not good friends and exercising in the heat is the last thing I want to do. Usually I look for shade. I've started wearing a sweat band around my head because I was leaving boot camp with a totally wet with sweat head. Gross. It dripped into my eyes and burned. I felt like Olivia Newton-John when I put it on. "Let's get Physical, physical." I may look like an 80s throwback but it works, I can leave not looking like a stringy, thin-haired yucky sweat ball. Like the visual?? Not attractive.

After the usual round of warm-ups we got ready for the main event. Relay races...well sort of. Today we were broken into teams of two and Cyndi the trainer was my partner. No losers, only winners because we were doing it. There were 3 stations set out and at each one you would do an exercise for 10 reps and then back, and your partner would go to the same station and on return you'd go to the next station and so on. The three exercises were the kettle squats, 15-lb weight arm raises and sit-ups. We did that for 8 minutes. I'm happy to say that it was great that Cyndi was my partner because she called out encouragements as I struggled to complete the exercise and I think if I had someone else as a partner I'd be slowing them down. At one point I was struggling to get the 15-lb weights up and above my head. Cyndi yelled out, "Dottie, you're doing great. Remember why you're here. Push! You can Do it!!" And I did!!

Then we did 3 different exercises for 8 minutes again...they were burpees (which now I do modified until I build up my hip flexors, squats with weights and arm raises, and the Russian Twister (sit on your butt with your legs bent and preferably not touching the ground, holding a 5-lb medicine ball and twist side to side). Because alot of those exercises involve the core, I got nauseous again!! Plus the sun beat down on us and the air was so thick and icky. "Eat earlier," Cyndi reminded us. I told her I thought an hour before was good but she said even 2 hours would be better. I have a hard enough time getting up at 7:30 to leave by 8. Jen, the new girl who started the day before, was extremely nauseous. She had oatmeal for breakfast and felt very ill. She couldn't do the cool down. She said her head hurt too. She felt lots of pressure. It was so damn hot and humid I understood completely.

However, we took a walk before cooldown and I walked with Cyndi and Jen. "I have a hard time not weighing myself every morning," I said to them. And Cyndi said, "Don't, because you may not show a loss. You're building muscle and some people even gain weight after the four weeks of boot camp." Inside I was screaming, "WHAT!" Muscle weighs more than fat. But still, how can I not lose weight by doing the amount of cardiovascular exercise and weight training that we've been doing all week?? This is hard work and my body hasn't worked this hard in a long time, if ever! Cyndi went on to say that I will notice inches lost on my waist, hips, legs and arms after the 4 weeks. Which is good, no, great...but I really really want to see lots of pounds lost, well at least 8-10 pounds would make me happy.

We all left camp that day knowing we worked our bodies hard. But you know what? I am having a blast! It has been so much fun! It feels good to move my body and challenge it like it has never been challenged.

Gut Instinct: "If you think you can, you can. If you think you can't, you're right." Mary Kay Ash.