It’s almost two months since I went to Champeys boot camp at Henlow Grange and, miraculously, I have retained my half stone weight loss. I have just sipped an early morning mug of fresh ginger and lemon, our first drink of the day at Champneys to kickstart our detox regime, and I still sip it most days, along with green tea and Redbush.

My boot camp experience has been a mindset change for me. I now eat a high protein and low carb diet when possible and swirl around in my hoola hoop in the garden – made famous by Grace Jones at the Queen’s Jubilee concert. I have also bought a bosu for my squats and this, along with my weights , are in my hallway for a quick burst of activity. My friends get roped in for a session too when they visit – and leave fitter than when they arrived!

What really works for me is having a personal trainer to make me sweat it out really hard at the gym with an intensive interval training programme, it’s my one treat that pays dividends. He keeps trying to persuade me to join his weekend boot camp on a farm where we squeeze ourselves through tyres, but I think I prefer the girlie boot camp where I can be pampered afterwards with a massage or thalassotherapy. Maybe I will try it out on a sunny day as I’m sure it will be tough, but fun.

I can report back on the progress from my fellow boot campers. It’s certainly been a positive experience for most, though one woman admits it’s been tough to maintain due to immense personal challenges in her life right now and her diet has gone right out the window.

I recently heard back from one of the guys and wished I could have given him a hug, I was thrilled for his dedication and ongoing success, and how much better he feels because of it. This guy was obese and really worked his socks off there, the sweat pouring off him every day. This is his impressive news:

“Since boot camp I have  continued to make walking my main exercise which has been quite  successful for me; I’m about to fall through the 18 stone barrier. I  walk for about an hour a day and have maintained a relatively low but  achievable calorie intake. I still manage a few beers here and there  but I’m still able to control my weight. At one point ahead of BC I  was over 20 and a half stone so a loss of 2.5 stones since the end of  April / beginning of May  has me doing imaginary cartwheels of  celebration. I have also saved a fortune in taxi and bus fares -  woohoo!  Also saved more by canceling my gym membership. I am now  really confident of achieving further weight loss and have started  doing band exercises at home  – and with the money saved? – maybe  it’ll fund another boot camp, who knows? Good luck all.”

And one of our ladies wrote in response to say:

Great to hear from you and that you’re doing so well on the dreaded weight loss;  well done you.  I hope you get thru your current barrier very soon – clearly you’re spurred on and will achieve further goals in the not too distant future.

Possibly another BC – WOW !  Must admit when people ask me I tend to say No, I don’t think so – because I’d want to start the week a damn sight fitter than I did 7-8 weeks ago – but I guess anything’s possible.  Whilst the weight loss at the end of BC was shown as 3 lbs, when I weighed myself at home – as previously said – it was 4lbs – also confirmed by Slimming World, since then I too have gone on to lose more and have now lost just over 1.5 stone since February (and 2 stone since last October) and will keep going aiming to lose perhaps 1 stone more – we’ll see.   I’ve certainly gone down a dress size which is brilliant and also very encouraging.  Like you I am controlling my food and alcohol intake, but do succumb to the odd glass or 2 of wine per week – either way it’s huge amounts less than it used to be.

Have carried on with my Pilates, am doing more gardening, did the 5 mile walk for the local Hospice last Saturday night, and am doing another one tomorrow for Parkinson’s UK – I mentioned those to Lewis (our boot camp trainer) on the first day, saying I wanted to ensure that I was fit enough to do them, did a few practice walks as prep and so all was well;  given the forecast tomorrow,  I’m likely to look like the drowned rat I was (well we all were) on our final 6.5 mile BC  walk.   I admit haven’t followed up on other exercise – yet !!!! – but I will, honest!!   I’ve heard of a 3xweekly “BC” starting in the area, with a real mix of exercise which I’m going to investigate.   The local fitness centre is about to close – cos it was so crummy – but a new one will be opening soon with a great swimming pool and lots of facilities – so that’ll also be worth pursuing as I really did enjoy our Acqua sessions.

I thought Ellee’s blog was great and really made clear just how hard we all worked – have forwarded to a couple of friends to prove my point.

Another woman wrote to say:

I’m afraid I haven’t done very well so far on the food front. I think I must have gained every pound I lost during the camp (and possibly a little bit more). I haven’t given up, though, and I have been to the gym a few times and joined a bootcamp Pilates class which I could never have coped with if I hadn’t improved my fitness at the Henlow camp.
I am off to Tring this weekend with my daughters for a pamper weekend. I’ve definitely caught the Champneys bug, though maybe not the bootcamp bug! I am glad I did the camp, however, as it’s given me the impetus to get active again after a long period of no exercise at all. And, of course it was great to meet you all!

And it’s also good news from this boot camper:

Glad to hear you are all keeping up the good work.  I had been doing quite well up until this weekend.  I was on a friend’s hen weekend and managed to eat enough rubbish to make up for the last 2 weeks!   We can’t be good all the time though!

I have been trying some of the lunch ideas from the follow up menus and have been really surprised how nice (and filling) they are – I’ll have also saved enough on Pret sandwiches for another bootcamp soon!

And this message came from my lovely new Greek friend:

Well, it has now been a full week since we left Bootcamp.  I just wanted to touch base and say what a pleasure it was meeting you all, and what a brilliant time I had – hope you did too.  Have you managed to keep some of the regime up?  I was waking up at 6.30am for the next few days and going out for a run at the crack of dawn! (after a cup of lemon & ginger tea, of course, of the teabag variety!)

I have managed to cut down on the number of mugs of tea with caffeine and have cut out the sugar I used to put in, so that’s good news.  I have been drinking more peppermint tea and even red bush, then this neighbour of mine who’s a bit of a nutritionist, reckons we should not be drinking more than 3 herbal teas a day because too many herbs release toxins into our bodies!  Somebody please tell me this is utter rubbish?  Really, is there nothing we can enjoy all day with no limits?….

Must admit after a very stressful day at work yesterday I ate 3 big chunks of Toblerone chocolate, followed by a steaming mug of PG Tips tea, gosh it was yummy! (the highlight of my week actually, I know how to live on a Friday night!)

How have you all got on since we got parole?  Will anybody be going to Bootcamp again the same time next year or is it too early to say?

However, one boot camper couldn’t wait to re-tox!

It does seem like a long time since we have been back, and it’s good to hear from you.  I have managed to re-tox wonderfully.  Spent the first day back at mum’s for Sunday lunch, two helpings of crumble and ice-cream and wine.  I have since managed to drink my body weight in vodka, especially last week which was quite social.  I can honestly say that I have not looked at a red bush or lemon and ginger tea since our return, I have however, taken to a daily dosage of psyllium husk and linseed, I know this is a bit unnatural.

Still working hard in the gym  and managed to shed another pound last week, doubt that this will last!

And she was one of the slimmest and fittest at boot camp!!