In November of 2008, I was as sedentary as it is possible for a college student to be, and wore a whopping size 18 (almost a size 20) at the young age of 19. I had been chubby for as long as I could remember, and hadn’t really noticed when I passed from being pleasantly plump to looking, and feeling, unhealthy, and winded after a simple flight of stairs. 

I’m a student at Agnes Scott College, the home of the Decatur camp, and almost completely on a whim, I conned a friend of mine into thinking that getting up at 5:30 to get our butts kicked on a daily basis would be a good idea. 

After that first frosty morning, I was utterly convinced that I, my friend, and everyone else that got up that early was insane. This idea was only reinforced later that day when suddenly every sadly underused muscle in my body had tightened up and appeared to be on fire. After a few days, the all consuming agony that I was in downgraded to an ache, centered in whatever area we had focused on that day. 

After one month, I was hooked. I had more energy, and an entirely different attitude about not just exercise, but life. My self confidence had sky rocketed, and while I would still loudly proclaim to anyone who would listen that I was very slow, I no longer thought that there was anything that I couldn’t do, if given enough time, and the right motivation. I took a minute and 18 seconds of my half mile, and was wearing a size 16. The camaraderie alone could have propelled me through the first month; I was on such a high!

Of course, after this, what was there to do, but to keep going? I have now taken a full two minutes off of my half mile, and improved my other exercises by immeasurable amounts, as it is fairly clear that what I considered a full sit-up during my first month is very different than the standards by which I was measuring the 37 that I did at the end of July. 

I have lost over 45 pounds, although I stopped weighing myself recently, and now wear a size 12. In addition to the obvious physical transformations (my friends and family are shocked when they see me after a long time) I now look at food in a very different way, and have done things that I never would have dreamed possible. I will continue coming back to Decatur boot camp for as long as they’ll have me. I get an incredible amount of joy from the familiar faces of instructors, as well as greeting and encouraging the new campers every month. I can’t wait to keep going!