Avis' Boot Camp Challenge Pictures and Essay

After approximately two years of eating everything that I imagined eating, I was introduced to the Great Shape Fit Club and the Great Shape Transformation Challenge. From the minute that I was introduce to the boot camp and challenge, I immediately evaluated my current health condition, outer appearance and my will to live a healthier life style. I knew it was time to make a life change and not continue along the path of yo-yo dieting with no exercise. I must admit, I have tried almost every diet plan on the market to include NutriSystem, Jenny Craig and The Diet Center. As long as I stayed on those diet plans I had a weight loss or maintained my weight. The problem with those plans was getting off the plan then gaining the weight that I loss plus an additional 10 to 20 pounds. This was the first time and will be the last time I approach 200 pounds without realizing it. I have found a program that will allow me to eat the foods that I enjoy without falling off the wagon and never getting back on track. The plan allowed 4 splurge meals per week which in my opinion is more than enough opportunity to eat and feel like its my decision to eat whatever I want when I want it, but in moderation.

When eating off while on the other diet plans I gained weight immediately following a splurge meal and in some cases I had to go through a clean up process prior to getting back on my specific plan. The clean up consisted of eating additional pieces of fruit and limiting myself to one starch per day for a few days. The Great Shape Transformation Challenge only required that I eat "clean" for a couple of days following the splurge with very limited weight gain if any. This in my opinion is probably the closest way to have a normal lifestyle without having a feeling that I am missing out on something. Its about keeping it in prospective. At no point did I feel fatigued or undernourished with the 6 meals per day meal plan. I love to eat, so it really made me feel as if I wasn't missing out on anything. Pretty quickly I started to feel my endurance increase, I could see a difference in my upper body appearance and my clothes started to fit a lot better. In addition to the meal plan, the boot camp classes allowed me to bring my "A" game and I worked towards melting away inches each session. The Highland Village evening boot camp class participants were extremely competitive which kept me motivated to do more.

Participating in the challenge also kept me going and it kept me determined to achieve my lifestyle change goals. The daily reporting structure became a challenge within itself, but I tried extremely hard to report in each night and at times I found myself getting out of bed late night to report my activity as required. I wasn't successful reporting my time by 9:00PM each night, but I did follow through in effort to comply with the rules and for my own personal benefit. Overall, I truly enjoyed the challenge and I look forward to continuing my own personal challenge that will allow me to get back into my skinny jeans.