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Nashville, TN: At the end of last year, as I was heading out the door to partake in a ridiculously amazing meal of fish & chips (and pints), I realized if I kept up the same eating habits I had somehow seemed to acquire over the past fewweeks months, I may have to go shopping for some new pants... in a bigger size. Before I left my hotel room, I googled "East Nashville Boot Camp" and checked out the first result that popped up: Julia's Body Shop. In a very start-the-new-year-with-a-resolution-to-lose-weight cliche, they offered a boot camp starting January 2. Within 5 minutes, I signed up for the 5 week boot camp.
And then I left my room and ate the hell out of some fish & chips
When January 2 arrived, I found myself outside of a non-descript building with a single sign rigged up that said BOOT CAMP and a phone number underneath. While the idea of skipping this adventure all together and going to the nearby wine bar around the corner crossed my mind, instead I headed inside and met my new best friend for the next 5 weeks.
Julia Ledbetter, the owner, is just a hair taller than me with a body that most women couldn't even dream of having. She used to compete and train in the martial arts, then went onto bodybuilding and now personally trains in her own gym with her husband, Levi Montgomery, who you would never want to run into in a dark alley (unless he was protecting you!).
The boot camp is held 3 times a day in the gym: 6am, 9am and 5:30pm. In the winter time, all of the classes are held in the gym, though I've heard rumors (and seen pictures) of the 6am class moving to a park in the spring and summer. Luckily, there is no way I am getting up at 5am to go work out, so I'll continue to stay in the temperature-controlled room at either 9am or 5:30pm.
You can sign up for a regular boot camp, which is meeting at the gym 4 times a week (class time of your choice) or a "mini-boot camp" which means you go 3 times a week. Originally, I signed up for the mini (God forbid I make a full commitment, especially when it comes to yet another workout program), but after the second class, I realized there's no way I'm actually going to work out on my own, so why not jump in for the long haul? By January 4th, I was a full timer.
The workout itself is an hour of intense circuit training. 50 seconds of doing some sort of cardio really, really fast and 10 seconds to catch your breath. Each day was a focus on a different muscle group, so in between short spurts of cardio, on arm day, we'd do bicep curls for 50 seconds with the heaviest weight we could handle for as many times as we could muster. It isn't fun, per se (not that any type of working out I would consider to be "fun"), but because you figure you can do anything for 50 seconds and there's something different to do in the next minute, the hour seems to fly by.
Plus, Julia is a true cheerleader. Just when you think you have hit your limit on being able to lift your leg any higher or do any more crunches, she yells, "you can do it! Just one more!" Except for Julia, her "one more" promise begins with about 20 seconds remaining, which means it's more like just TEN more.
Though a professional trainer, Julia uses real, blunt language that pretty much everyone who is at her gym understands. For example:
- do your shit right.
- drink your water.
- if it tastes to good to be true, spit it out.
Which leads me to the next component of the boot camp: eating. I figured I'd have to change my not-very-good (but very-delicious) pattern, and was hoping I could just cut out the fish & chips and call it a day. Instead, I was handed a booklet called the "Eating for ABS Plan." Nothing in it was shocking or a big secret: eat whole fresh foods, drink protein shakes, eat five times a day, etc.
But the ABS part was going to be the big shock to my system. For 5 weeks, no Alcohol, Bread or Sugar. I've done the no alcohol thing before (for 40 days, thanks to lent!) and I can give up sandwiches for salads if I really need to, but the sugar part was going to be hard. I'm a fake-sugar-aholic. Pink, blue or yellow -- if I'm drinking coffee, it's GOT to be in there (plus sugar free vanilla, if we're talking a Starbucks non-fat latte). If I eat oatmeal, I'll forgo the brown sugar for a little packet (or two). Hell, even if I'm eating a strawberry, dipping it in a pile of powder makes it taste that much, well... sweeter! And now I have to give up all 3 at the same time!? I suppose if I really want to see a change, I've got to play by the rules. Plus, it's only 5 weeks, so I can suck it up, right?
And on that note, another part of the whole plan is drinking a lot of water. And by a lot, I mean a GALLON of water A DAY. Do you know how much a gallon of water is? And better yet, do you know how much you go to the bathroom after drinking a gallon of water a day? A LOT. Between working out, eating 5 times a day and going to the bathroom, I kind of feel like I didn't have time to do much else.
I didn't want to blog about this from January 2nd, since not only would it be a typical new year's cliche, but also because after looking back through my blog, I found myself mentioning more than once (like multiple times) the newest eating plan I was trying or a new gym membership that I had joined. And while I suppose it's good that at least I'm doing something in terms of trying to stay healthy, I do feel a little ridiculous when I mention the latest trend I'm attempting and they respond with, "oh, you're joining another gym?" Er, yeah, I guess....
So, instead, I'm writing with the results. The 5 weeks are up. I went to boot camp a total of 20 times. I met friends for walks instead of dinners. I didn't have any sweetener, which means I only had 3 lattes (with only soy milk!) and 1 cup of coffee (I tried it black... but just couldn't do it). I had NOTHING alcoholic to drink. I ate vegetables and lean meats and hard boiled eggs. I cooked! (Surprisingly, my stove really does work!) I drank a lot of water (not always a full gallon, but a whole bunch more than I ever have).
I also kept one cookie in a cookie jar that my mom brought to me from my parents' Thanksgiving trip to Nashville. Not that it would have been necessarily good after sitting in a jar for over a month, but it was a reminder that I COULD have the cookie if I wanted to. I have a CHOICE in this whole thing, so if I wanted to eat whatever I wanted to eat... the cookie is available. The good news is that the cookie is still there. (Probably time I threw it out now.....)
Thanks to Julia, her workouts, her eating plan and her positive daily emails, in 5 weeks, I lost 9 pounds and 4.5% body fat! Granted, it would have made for a better blog to have lost 10 pounds and 5% body fat... oh, who am I kidding. I wish it was 20 pounds & 10%! But, I am still proud of myself and happy that it at least went down instead of up. Plus, my body just feels different now, so I am pretty sure I'm going to sign up for another boot camp.
Of course, this will have to wait until March since I plan on eating the hell out of some fish & chips in a few weeks.
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Nashville, TN: At the end of last year, as I was heading out the door to partake in a ridiculously amazing meal of fish & chips (and pints), I realized if I kept up the same eating habits I had somehow seemed to acquire over the past few
And then I left my room and ate the hell out of some fish & chips
When January 2 arrived, I found myself outside of a non-descript building with a single sign rigged up that said BOOT CAMP and a phone number underneath. While the idea of skipping this adventure all together and going to the nearby wine bar around the corner crossed my mind, instead I headed inside and met my new best friend for the next 5 weeks.
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| Julia! |
The boot camp is held 3 times a day in the gym: 6am, 9am and 5:30pm. In the winter time, all of the classes are held in the gym, though I've heard rumors (and seen pictures) of the 6am class moving to a park in the spring and summer. Luckily, there is no way I am getting up at 5am to go work out, so I'll continue to stay in the temperature-controlled room at either 9am or 5:30pm.
You can sign up for a regular boot camp, which is meeting at the gym 4 times a week (class time of your choice) or a "mini-boot camp" which means you go 3 times a week. Originally, I signed up for the mini (God forbid I make a full commitment, especially when it comes to yet another workout program), but after the second class, I realized there's no way I'm actually going to work out on my own, so why not jump in for the long haul? By January 4th, I was a full timer.
The workout itself is an hour of intense circuit training. 50 seconds of doing some sort of cardio really, really fast and 10 seconds to catch your breath. Each day was a focus on a different muscle group, so in between short spurts of cardio, on arm day, we'd do bicep curls for 50 seconds with the heaviest weight we could handle for as many times as we could muster. It isn't fun, per se (not that any type of working out I would consider to be "fun"), but because you figure you can do anything for 50 seconds and there's something different to do in the next minute, the hour seems to fly by. 
Though a professional trainer, Julia uses real, blunt language that pretty much everyone who is at her gym understands. For example:
- do your shit right.
- drink your water.
- if it tastes to good to be true, spit it out.
Which leads me to the next component of the boot camp: eating. I figured I'd have to change my not-very-good (but very-delicious) pattern, and was hoping I could just cut out the fish & chips and call it a day. Instead, I was handed a booklet called the "Eating for ABS Plan." Nothing in it was shocking or a big secret: eat whole fresh foods, drink protein shakes, eat five times a day, etc. 
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| Credit |
I didn't want to blog about this from January 2nd, since not only would it be a typical new year's cliche, but also because after looking back through my blog, I found myself mentioning more than once (like multiple times) the newest eating plan I was trying or a new gym membership that I had joined. And while I suppose it's good that at least I'm doing something in terms of trying to stay healthy, I do feel a little ridiculous when I mention the latest trend I'm attempting and they respond with, "oh, you're joining another gym?" Er, yeah, I guess....
So, instead, I'm writing with the results. The 5 weeks are up. I went to boot camp a total of 20 times. I met friends for walks instead of dinners. I didn't have any sweetener, which means I only had 3 lattes (with only soy milk!) and 1 cup of coffee (I tried it black... but just couldn't do it). I had NOTHING alcoholic to drink. I ate vegetables and lean meats and hard boiled eggs. I cooked! (Surprisingly, my stove really does work!) I drank a lot of water (not always a full gallon, but a whole bunch more than I ever have).
Thanks to Julia, her workouts, her eating plan and her positive daily emails, in 5 weeks, I lost 9 pounds and 4.5% body fat! Granted, it would have made for a better blog to have lost 10 pounds and 5% body fat... oh, who am I kidding. I wish it was 20 pounds & 10%! But, I am still proud of myself and happy that it at least went down instead of up. Plus, my body just feels different now, so I am pretty sure I'm going to sign up for another boot camp.
Of course, this will have to wait until March since I plan on eating the hell out of some fish & chips in a few weeks.
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