Be Better Fitness Boot Camp Review

it was with a mixture of excitement and anticipation that I packed my suitcase ready to head off to sunny climes.

Only this time I was making sure I had enough lycra shorts and workout tops rather than bikinis and heels!!

I was getting ready to head off to a Luxury Boot Camp ran by Will Judd of Be Better Fitness. I would be spending the next week in a 5 star villa located in Faro which is in the Algarve region of Portugal. This would be my first fitness holiday review for The Fitness Blogger Network and to be honest I was more worried more about meeting new people than the week of hard exercise and strict diet that awaited me.

This would also be my first time travelling abroad on my own and the first week away from my three young children. I am sure most people who decide to take on a health and fitness challenge like this are in the same boat and have these mixed feelings.

I had already received a welcome pack and introduction letter (by email) from Will and was lucky to be able to ask him a few questions in preparation. You can read my questions here http://fitnessblogger.net/luxury-boot-camp-review/

Also check out my first video blog below

So the time had come to head make my way to the airport, give all my children and even the husband a kiss goodbye and I was off.

I was flying from Birmingham Airport and managed to get a flight for £150.00 return, however there were cheaper alternatives but I decided to pick a more sociable hour to fly.

The flight to Faro gave me some quiet time to gather my thoughts together and think about my own health and fitness journey over the last year. After having my three children it’s fair to say I had put on quite a bit of excess weight!! At my heaviest I was 17 stone and through exercise and a good diet I managed to lose the weight and get back into a fitness regime.

April 2012 I weighed  just over 14 stone and within 7 months I had got my weight down to 10 stone 4 lbs. However after losing the weight I was left with quite a lot of excess skin and because I had c-sections with my children I was left with an over hang from my caesarian scar. No matter how much exercise I did or how strict my diet was I would never lose this and so I made the decision to have abdominoplasty or “tummy tuck” as its better know.

My operation was in February this year and I am pleased to say everything went well (Thank You Mr Meleagros) I also made sure Will from Be Better Fitness knew about my surgery as this means I have to be careful of direct abdominal work as my abs are not as strong as they once were. Will was very reassuring and I must say the emails and texts before the boot camp really helped put me at ease.

Just arrived at Villa 

When I arrived at the Villa I was introduced to our Chef for the week, who was actually Will’s mum, Chris. She had prepared a lovely evening snack for everyone on arrival, consisting of  home-made hummus, peppers, 2 rice cakes, cucumber, olives and a tomato based dip. It was just what I needed and I even ate olives for the first time.

“Olives are actually quite nice!”

There was a drink station located in the lounge of the villa that we were allowed to help ourselves to as much fruit tea as possible over the week. (I can safely say this will be the last time I ever drink fruit tea again!!!)

My First Day at Boot Camp

Today we started with bright and early with a meet and greet, Will was first to introduce himself and tell us a bit about himself and his background. We then took it in turns to introduce ourselves to the group although I was nervous I think I managed to come across quite well.

There was 8 boot campers in total (including myself) and each of us had a slightly different level of fitness and reason to be there. Then it was time for us to be weighed and measured and surprisingly I weighed 9 stone 12 lbs on Will’s scales which was actually 3 lbs lighter than my own at home.(I can cope with that!)

Then it was straight into the first workout of the day, this was also a a fitness test and we were timed doing various exercises such as squats, press ups and sprints. We would also be tested at the end of the week to see how we all had improved.

I had been worrying for a few weeks prior to the boot camp about a previous calf injury so I had been staying off the running, however  today with the sprints and a short jog it seemed to be fine so far. Then it was time for breakfast;

Here is a breakdown of the food from the first day.

Breakfast : Grilled tomatoes and mushrooms on toast (no butter)

Morning Snack : Half an orange, 3 grapes and some sunflower seeds

Lunch : Tuna Salad

Dinner : Salmon fillet, roasted peppers and courgettes. 

Morning Snack

Day One – In the Big Brother House

“I did not pack a jumper… what an idiot!!”

Day Two – The Grind

Today we all woke up bright and early and went outside to sit on the patio, Will had set up some motivational music for us to listen to – Welcome to the Grind - I must admit I got goose bumps from listening to this and it really gets you going:)

After this we all took a run down to the beach for our first exercise session of the day, we are approximately doing about 5-6 hours of exercise each day and today the beach session included lots of squat jumps, sprints and press ups.

It was harder working out on the beach due to the sand and being barefoot, on a plus point we also got to see some dolphins today at the beach. Talking about dolphins Will’s mum Chris (Our Villa Chef) made us a really lovely dolphin (banana) snack.

 Day Two -Sand and Dolphins

Day Three – Kayaking and a Gun Show

We started today with a tabata workout in the basement of the villa and we had lots of fun incorporating games into this workout. I was not very popular though when I got the “Bull’s Eye” on the dartboard.. because this meant everyone had to do another 50 squats!!

This was then followed by a steady jog to the beach and another full body workout on the sand!! Today was also the first of our activity days, so off we went to Lagos for an afternoon of kayaking, this was really fantastic and a great opportunity for a bit of  team building and I think the group is coming together now and we are all really bonding.

We were towed out to sea by a speedboat and then let off to go and explore the caves and the stuningcoast line by ourselves. (We did have a guide which was helpful in directing us )

This was such an amazing experience and a memory I will never forget. I have to thank Will for organising this activity as it was a something I would probably never have tried if it was not for this boot camp. The thought of capsizing terrified me but luckily me and Sophie  managed to stay dry…. unlike Lottie and Lewis

 Say “Hi-Ya” to my roommate Sophie

“In bed by 9.00 and asleep by 9.30″

Day Four – I think they are fishing for something that comes in the evening??

Today started with a jog to the beach then on the way back we did lots of sprints going back and forth to the beach. Disaster struck right at the end and instead of my calf giving way as I had feared it was my hip that started hurting.

This is an old running injury that seems to have reoccured. I managed to struggle on and still got through the metabolic circuit in the basement!! This was probably one of the sweatiest workouts but we all felt really good after completing this one. I think this was also one of my favourite workouts of the whole boot camp

After lunch the boot campers did an abdominal workout but due to my “tummy tuck” surgery I decided to sit this one out and managed to rest my leg and catch a few rays on the sun bed. For todays video blog Sophie and I decided to head down to the beach however it was getting quite dark and on the way back it was a bit scary!! Pleased to say we made it back safe and sound and avoided the “Doggers”!!!

Watch the video it will make sense!!

Day Five – Mountain Biking in Lagos

Owww my hip was really hurting today!!

I was not able to run today so had to walk everywhere instead of the usual jogging… but it was quite lucky that today Will had arranged a mountain biking session for us over at Lagos. It was actually quite nice to do todays activity in the morning instead of the afternoon, I also noticed this seemed to help with my headaches as I did not actually get one today!! (the heat has a lot to answer for with my head aches) Everyone really enjoyed the bike ride and this is something I plan to try and carry on doing when back home.

After our bike ride we all sat down and had some lunch, mine was a feta cheese salad. I have not mentioned this before but I am actually a pescetarian so my meals have either been the vegetarian option or fish. This was not a problem for Chris (villa chef) as she catered for all dietary requirements.

As mentioned before although I was eating less than I would when at home I was not  really hungry because we were always active. However today I did find myself thinking more about food and I even mention pizza in my video blog!! I think the whole group is really tired today we have all really pushed ourselves physically this week and we should all be really proud of what we have achieved.

In the afternoon we all went down to the beach for another high intensity workout this time using cones and lots of  bodyweight movements, I am really impressed with all the different workouts we have learnt from Will and it’s amazing to think how hard we have trained and not needed to lift a single weight!!

We are all feeling it now!!

Day Six – The Last Full Day

Today three of the boot campers were weighed and measured because they went home due to flights and other commitments. AMAZING was the outcome, one lost 13 pounds from sunday to friday, another 12 pounds and  8 pounds… one of which lost 3 inches off their waist, which you can imagine was a fantastic result.

One of  todays workout was called “Spartan 300″ and this was one we did by the poolside of the villa. Basically this was 6 bodyweight exercises 50 reps each… boom!! We also repeated the fitness test we did at the beginning of the week and everyone saw improvements, which started the day off nicely.

We all had the afternoon off to go shopping in the local town and  have a look around the Marina, I was able to buy some presents for home, one of which was a lovely omelette maker for the husband. (which I have used everyday since being back)

For the evening meal we had a BBQ that consisted of vegetable kebabs, cauliflower rice and corn on the cob served with a side salad…and of course no pudding

This evening also gave us a chance to sit around and chat about our experience and what we though of each other. It was a really nice end to a perfect week and I felt we bonded the most in these few hours. If there was a few bottles of wine I am sure we would have been well away!!

We have come a long way

 Day seven – Time to go home

Wow, what an amazing week, I have lost 6lbs and 1 inch of my waist, 1 inch of my boobs and 1 inch of my hips and i have toned up my arms and legs which hopefully you can see on the pictures below. (left shots before, right after) but I’m hoping I didn’t need to point that out!!

My last Video Blog

Before and after pics – 1 week apart – 6 lbs loss 

Thanks to Sophie and James (my husband) for taking the pics

Conclusion and My Final Thoughts

My overall experience of the Be Better Fitness boot camp is one that I feel will last a lifetime, I have met some wonderful people who I am really pleased to now call my friends. Will and his mum Chris looked after us really well, they were very accommodating, friendly, and very knowledgable.

This was a high intensity week and on some occasions emotions were running high and stress levels soared for all of us… but we got through this together as a team. Even though we were only eating around 1000 – 1200 calories a day I never felt hungry, only sometimes late at night. (but I probably should have been asleep) Although I was away from my children, I did not really get a chance to feel home-sick as we were always busy and active in the day, however Thursday seemed to be a tough day for us all here at the boot camp and this is when I really missed home the most.

As an experience I would whole-heartedly recommend this to anyone, even if you do not really need to loose lots of weight. While I was really pleased with my weight loss and the difference in how I look and feel is amazing, what I have gained more than anything from this week has been a chance to be myself and not have to worry about getting kids to school on time, making packed lunches and other everyday chores. I have had a chance to spend some much needed time on myself and I would say this has really been character building.

Once again a “Big Well Done and Thank You” to Will for his first solo boot camp. If you would like to have your own adventure in Portugal next year you can now book a place on the next Be Better Fitness luxury boot camp. 15th – 22nd March 2014 – Book Online Now I might even see you there Natalie xxx