Have you been fortunate enough to meet someone with a great life story? Well I have, and I would like to share her story with you. . . Meet Heather. Heather is a happy person. You can clearly tell by her radiant, confident smile. What you might not know upon meeting her is how hard Heather has worked for that smile.

Just two short years ago, Heather weighed about 240 lbs. A full time sedentary job, a new marriage and having children caught up with her and the weight started to pile on. With no form of exercise and a less than desirable diet, the scale crept higher and higher each year. She coped with the weight gain using humor - always making fun of herself before anyone else could. It worked. She even convinced herself that she was taken more seriously at work because she was big rather than those 'skinny' women. She admits it was denial.

Well her denial came to an abrupt end when she was asked to be in a family wedding. She realized she would have to bare a lot of skin in the bridesmaid dress. She couldn't hide behind the denial anymore. She had to do something. And so her weight loss journey began. She attended Weight Watchers and lost a considerable amount of weight. She even became more active and even started running. As fantastic as these achievements were for her, she started looking for more. She wanted to be more toned and fit. That is when she found Boot Camp.

She chuckles when she remembers the brief feelings of apprehension when her friend described the class to her saying that her body would hurt from all the new exercises. But, she was determined and, throwing caution to the wind, she joined her first Boot Camp session. Heather was blown away by the experience. She laughs about it now, but she vividly remembers the first couple of classes she actually felt like she had gotten run over by a truck. And she LOVED it! “Boot Camp is all about what you put into it,” says Heather.

In Boot Camp everyone comes in at different fitness levels. But no one ever feels inferior to anyone else. In fact, all the girls inspire each other without even realizing it. Heather says that it becomes more about “Wow, if she can do it, so can I!”

The person who has created this unique Boot Camp exercise program is Rachel Howe. She is the owner of Momentum Fitness, Inc. Boot Camp is an hour long circuit training program that has various exercises to accomplish within stations. Rachel mixes up the weekly exercises by incorporating cardio, strength training, balance, agility and endurance routines. The purpose of mixing these weekly routines up is to constantly create muscle confusion. This strategy provides dramatic results in your overall body composition. Your muscles become strong, lean and toned while melting the fat away. In fact, Heather has noticed that the number on her scale has stayed relatively the same but that her clothes size has shrunk considerably. She is currently a healthy size 6……a far cry from her previous lifestyle!

What makes Boot Camp so achievable is that it is tailored so that everyone can do it and is goal oriented. Boot Camp is definitely a venue where you can easily obtain small goals. Let's take push-ups for example. Say someone starts out the first week only able to perform 2-3 military style push-ups. As they progress, in as little as a couple of weeks, that same individual can perform 10-12 push-ups. That translates to a huge increase in overall body strength. Pushing yourself past your current limits is how you adapt and is the basis for Boot Camp.

Heather relies heavily on her Boot Camp sessions to maintain her weight loss and improve the overall strength and toning of her body. She looks forward to each class and to all of Rachel's weekly Boot Camp emails. “Rachel is always providing us with realistic goals and pointers through her emails and is continuously motivating us. She works hard at keeping our sessions new and fun,” says Heather. “Boot Camp is all about pushing boundaries….and it works!”

Rachel lets everyone try one class for free. Heather brought her husband along one night and he was amazed to see how much more challenging Boot Camp was than he originally anticipated. “My husband has been my biggest supporter and it has been great to share this experience with him,” says Heather. “Boot Camp has completely morphed my body into a strong and lean one. I would recommend Boot Camp to anyone who wants to start incorporating exercise into their lives, or who is just looking for something new and exciting.”

Article written by Nicole Healey, a fellow boot camper!