Well that wasn't so bad

For the second time, I've survived Day 1 of boot camp. Last time, I hyperventilated in the first 15 minutes and was a useless mess for the next half hour. Last time it was July and 110 degrees in the blazing sun. Last time, I didn't drink enough water before or during boot camp and pushed myself too hard. Last time, I almost lost my lunch in the bushes. Last time, I could barely walk the next three days and almost cried every time I shifted in my seat, sneezed, laughed, yawned or inhaled.

This time, I drank 72oz of water during the day and another 44oz during and after my work out. For those of you playing at home, that's 14.5 8oz glasses of water, almost double the recommended daily H2O intake. And that's less than I should be having. According to Boot Camp Man, I should be drinking an ounce for every pound of body weight when I'm working out this hard. This time around, I paced myself well, and kept moving even if I slowed down. This time, it was July and 110 degrees, but boot camp is now held in a warehouse. It's still hot and humid, but at least the sun isn't beating down. This time, I'm tight and a bit sore, but remarkably mobile. It doesn't hurt to live. This time, I knew what to expect and prepared well for it.

I'm also on Day 4 of no soda. That doesn't seem like much, but I fully intend to go the full month of boot camp without any. I was down to a 20oz bottle of Coke Zero a day and possibly a Sprite Zero. I now only have water and green tea throughout the day: hot tea in the morning, iced tea with lunch. I made cookies and cream cupcakes last night for a coworker's birthday and I did have one today, but that's it. Only one. And that's all I'll have. I know that saying I'll never treat myself is unrealistic and could lead to overindulging in more than just a treat, so I allowed myself a cupcake. Other than that, though, I've stuck to my eating plan. Even though I was late this morning, I made my breakfast sandwich. Even though Starbucks sounded better. I want to be proud of myself in 30 days and know I made the best possible choices.

There was one disappointing thing about my trip back to boot camp. All the water intake and over-exertion has me bloated. I looked in the mirror last night after my shower and noticed I looked puffy. Of course, my brain still felt like it was boiling, so I wasn't sure if I was seeing straight. I asked Dan if he saw it too. Hoping to avoid a "do I look fat?" landmine, my sweet husband tried to dance around the question and eventually relented that yes, the exercise could make me bloated. Not that it did, just that it could. Today, my fingers still look and feel a bit swollen, though they seem to be less sausagey as the day goes on. As my body gets used to the change in exercise and fluids, they'll hopefully get thinner again.

Even though it's only 2 days in, I'm happy with the changes I'm making. Though doing boot camp every month isn't possible, the rest of the changes are very capable of being permanent. As I see results, my choices will be reinforced. The challenge will be figuring out what to do when boot camp is over. I'll need to find something that both gives me a good work out and that is motivating enough that I'll be able to push myself to keep it up. For now, though, I'm just going to enjoy some thorough ass kicking.

What exercise do you enjoy? Give me some ideas for post-boot camp exercise!