Camper P.O.V.

Welcome to our Camper P.O.V. series. We'll be following a camper's journey through one of our many locations. Check back weekly for updates on their goals, successes and challenges. This month we visit with Katie Drew Clay who has entered into her own "Motivational May."

I'm not going to lie, it was difficult to decide what to discuss in this week's blog. After finishing out week three at Boot Camp, Chastain Park, all I can really say is that things did not go according to plan...

I finished week two with a renewed spirit, and vowed to stop throwing away entire weeks on junk food and laziness when one day didn’t go well. I wanted to refocus daily (or even hourly) on my quest to be fit and healthy. Let me just say, my learning curve is a little bit slower than I would like. I wish I could report that I nailed those goals in the third week...that I stuck to the plan and did better than ever, but my reality is a different story.

I’m sad to say I only made it to two workouts in week three. TWO! That’s a horrible percentage no matter which way you slice it. And while I can say in good faith that one of my absences was unavoidable, the other two were from sheer lack of motivation. In all honesty, I just felt that “life” got in the way. You know -- the everyday responsibilities that weigh on us…work, friends, household errands. All these things pushed my fitness goals to the back seat. Instead of dedicating myself to seeing results, I was focused on the upcoming beach trip we had planned, the huge project due at work, and the impending maintenance service appointment for my car. With these things on my mind, waking up at 5:30AM just didn't seem as feasible as it had in the previous weeks.

And it didn’t help that I’d felt I’d already seen some results. Weird, huh? The minute I started feeling these workouts paying off, I back off. Sure, it was great to feel leaner and stronger, but it totally back-fired in terms of motivation. I felt I could slack off since I’d already worked hard – “I deserved it.” This is a common thing for me, seeing results and then backing off.  Every time I make progress, I think I can revert back to old habits without the same consequences. It's such a ridiculous way of thinking when you look at it rationally because it's those exact same habits that put you there in the first place. I guess I should add it to the list of attitudes I need to adjust...

Food was also my enemy last week for those same reasons. “I’ve worked hard and feel great, I owe it to myself to have that quesadilla.” That on top of the additional stress at work made lunch, and consequentially dinner, a meal of convenience. I won’t bore you with details of my culinary digressions, so let’s just say that last week took its toll on me; and there’s no excuse -- just the simple break down of my defenses. 

Let it be known that I have re-motivated myself for the final week, and I've come to the cold hard realization that the types of changes I dreamed about in week two do not happen overnight. I’ve always been one to live by the simple idea of “you do what you can do, when you can do it.” And I continue to live by that. So what if life gets in the way? You can only control how you act in that moment. And as a testament to that mentality, I’ll leave you with a positive from the week. On my beach vacation this past weekend, I woke up early and went for a run. I did what I could do, when I could do it.


Katie Drew is a camper at our Chastain Park location. She hails from Macon, Georgia and loves celebrity gossip.