Diary of a boot-camp survivor

I 've always been chubby. I lost 100 pounds 20 years ago and then put on 110 pounds after having a baby and taking steroids to treat Crohn's disease. I joined a local gym this year, and one of the owners persuaded me to join Work It Out Boot Camp in Maple Valley. For six weeks, I worked out, sweated, twitched, ached and ate carefully. Here's a glimpse at a rookie's six weeks of boot camp.

June 18

What the heck am I doing here?

All 20 members of this odyssey are photographed, weighed and measured.

We sign a contract full of things we can't have or do: "No sugar, no alcohol, no caffeine, no salad dressing, no processed food, no artificial sweeteners, no soda and no cursing."

This last, one assumes, is to protect leader Carol Kayler, who took away our diet cola and morning coffee.

We must eat five times a day. We are told to eat lean protein with every meal and snack, with lots of vegetables and fruits, plus whole grains. We're to eat 1,800 calories a day and drink eight glasses of water.

Kayler wants us to bring at least a pint of water with us to the four exercise outings we're required to attend each week.

I have a motto for my goal: "I'll be looking fine by 2009!" I plan to go to my 30th high-school class reunion and show off my rippling butt muscles and flat abs to the guys who nicknamed me "Bertha Butts" in 1979.

June 19

Tonight, after a series of stretching exercises, we all stand in a circle and recite what we ate yesterday.

I confess to eating frosted flakes for breakfast because it was the only cold cereal in the house and am sentenced to 20 push-ups, the punishment for consumption of forbidden food.

We run or walk a mile and are timed for comparison in six weeks at the final session. I come in at 19 minutes.

Then we're tested for the number of crunches and push-ups we can do in a minute, either military-style or what Kayler calls "girl-style" on your hands and knees. I managed 30 of those, but then had to add my punitive 20 to make 50 push-ups in two minutes.

June 20

We walk almost three miles around Lake Wilderness in Maple Valley and do a brief upper-body workout with weights.

I've been really hungry all day and have eaten my allotted snacks and meals.

When I tell Kayler about feeling ravenous, she says that I neglected to eat protein and that I should have added soy-nut butter to the apple I ate so my metabolism would take more time to digest what I was eating.

June 21

As we walk backward up a hill in a residential neighborhood, two children circle me: "Why are you walking backward, and why is your face so red?" the girl asks.

"Are you related to Santa Claus?" adds the boy, looking suspiciously at my belly and sunburned nose.

After the climb, in which I came in dead last, we climb a steeper hill as fast as we can, then with as long of a stride as we can muster.

We stretch in the nearby park, do 30 push-ups and 40 crunches.

Whew! I am wiped, but Kayler says she's gone easy on us this first week.

June 25

After a weekend of eating too much, I have to do punishment push-ups.

I made risotto in the microwave, and although I meant to eat only one cup, I devoured three cups.

Because we're not allowed any fat that is solid at room temperature and I used light margarine to make the risotto, I have to do 40 push-ups, and then 20 more for eating half a tablespoon of salad dressing.

I ask Kayler if I can swear during the final 20 push-ups. "No!" she says sternly. Rats!

June 26

My muscles feel like I've gone a few rounds in a boxing match.

The backward walk up the winding, hilly street seems slightly less difficult tonight than the first time I did it.

A former neighbor, who hasn't seen me for 6 months, gasps when she sees me. "You've lost a lot of weight," she says. "Your whole body looks different."

June 27

I haven't been sore at all today, and I feel lighter.

I have been hungry for salty and sweet foods and have taken Kayler's advice and eaten red bell peppers and apples, which are naturally sweet, to curb my cravings.

June 28

We hike a trail that runs under Highway 169 in Maple Valley. It is flora-shrouded, but the plants don't block the smell of the nearby McDonald's. My glutes and hamstrings ache, so I try to take my mind off the pain by counting all the slugs along the trail.

July 2

Our leader informs us that after two weeks of "preparation," she's ready to "take it up a notch." That means it's going to be harder, with less time for the back-of-the-pack hikers like myself to catch up.

Kayler hands out boot-camp T-shirts and insists that I can wear a size smaller than I have been. The smaller shirt fits! Bring it on!

July 9

I've spent more than $325 in the past three weeks buying fresh fruits and vegetables, lean meats, low-fat soy products and snacks with no trans fats, high-fructose corn syrup or nitrates.

Kayler swears that after eating nonprocessed foods, fruits, veggies and complex carbs for three weeks, our cravings for the bad stuff will fade.

I didn't believe her until this weekend, when I gave up watermelon sorbet for a smoothie made with soy milk, bananas, cherries and blueberries. It was satisfying — all 412 calories of it.

I learn through an online-calorie counter that I've been eating 300-350 calories over the 1,800-calorie limit. Kayler promises to read through my food diary and "refocus" my diet plan so I can dump that 300 calories.

July 10

It takes a Herculean effort just to get to boot camp on this 95-degree night. I dread the walk along the hilly gravel trail, but I still race-walk in front of the pack.

It occurs to me that I can cut the extra 300 calories from my diet plan by not eating an after-dinner snack. I told Kayler my theory. She says, "Eat five times, not six!" OK, so I'm an idiot.

July 11

I feel stronger and look better than I have in years. We're all here to get healthy, be strong and live long for our families. That's the only goal worth all this time and sweat for me.

July 12

We do push-ups and crunches. I take up a challenge to do military-style push-ups and do 12, eliciting applause from the rest of the group. It almost makes the burning between my shoulder blades dissipate a little.

July 16

At the track tonight, I walk more than a mile in 20 minutes. I also do 40 extra push ups (for eating a teaspoon of margarine and a few potatoes) with no problem. This really is getting easier!

July 19

The sun comes out for our last climb of the "hills from Hades" at Glacier Park Elementary School in Maple Valley. We walk backward up the hill, and Kayler derides my "baby steps" and tells me to stretch out my legs and get moving. I attempt to comply and I steadily gain ground.

The confidence I've gained in my physical abilities has increased tenfold. I can't believe I'm not looking forward to the end of boot camp.

July 23

I have always treated diets as a way to lose weight, not a way to gain health, until I went to boot camp, and now I know that I can eat healthy food and still be satisfied physically and emotionally.

July 24

I go to the doctor today, and my chart notes that I'm 30 pounds lighter than my last visit. "Whatever you're doing, keep doing it," the doctor says. "You look great!"

At camp, we work out and then walk along the trail and up the hills. This time, I'm able to take big steps backward and move up the hill in a decent amount of time.

Kayler notices and says, "No more dachshund steps for you!"

July 25

Tonight we get evaluations. We see how long it takes to run or walk a mile around the track, and we do sit ups and push-ups.

I sprint and walk the mile in 16 minutes, down from 19.5 minutes six weeks earlier.

July 26

We weigh in and get measured on the final day of boot camp.

I've grown by shrinking. I've learned that I can be patient in the face of adverse weather and cramping calves. I can endure that last half mile when I'm winded and tired, and I can push my body up off the ground and do 10 more push-ups.

I cry with my fellow boot-camp babes, as we listen to Kayler read the litany of inches and pounds lost.

Sarah lost an astonishing 25 inches total, including 11 inches off her waist, and she lost more than 11 pounds of fat.

I lost 9.25 inches total — 3.25 off my waist, 2 off my hips and 2 off each thigh. I lost more than 10 pounds of fat and gained muscle tone and strength.

As a group, we have lost 175.5 inches.

A few months ago, I huffed and puffed my way up flights of stairs to my gym. Now I run up those stairs and not break a sweat. I can ride my bike with my son without stopping to gasp for breath. I am aware of my bad eating habits and I act to prevent myself from falling prey to them.

Kayler and 19 amazing women gave me that gift.

DeAnn Rossetti is a Maple Valley freelance writer: archer34@aol.com