success-stories

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Searching for “Onederland”, and Finding Fitness …. My story

My name is Jamie Chisholm. I am 37 years old. When I was asked to share “my story” complete with photos… I was hesitant because it’s emotional, personal, and frankly, I felt ashamed I had let my weight get so out of control. Then I remembered “our numbers” and I thought maybe it was time I owned my own story.

 

I have struggled with my weight my entire life. I have looked for every magic pill, and magic diet, I have attended “fitness spas” for weeks at a time. My family (God bless them) has spent THOUSANDS trying to help me.

 

I have no photos of myself from the past 10 years. The struggle with my weight had me depressed, and I was losing hope. I dreamt myself thin, I wished myself thin. On August 11th, 2011, I went to the extreme measure of having the “Lap Band” procedure. While I felt hope I had not had in years …I was also so ashamed that I had to allow a doctor to sew a band around my stomach because I had lacked the self-discipline to control what I put in my mouth.

 

Jamie Chisholm August 10, 2011 before lap-band

The first six months with “the band” I had great success. I lost somewhere around 55 lbs. But what had changed? I was the same shape just a bit smaller. My habits were pretty much the same. In January 2012 my weight loss with the band slowed, then stopped all together (GASP!!!) . It stopped for months.

 

January 2012 Weight Loss at a Standstill

Now imagine my terror… I had an extreme procedure, which has side effects I live with every day. Not to mention the THOUSANDS it had cost. What I had failed to remember was just like everything else the “Band” is not magic… If you do not change your habits, your metabolism will slow and weight loss will stop. Most “banders” lose approximately 30-40% of their excess weight.

 

I called Matt Costa the day before my 37th birthday and started my first boot camp one week later. I also joined KnuckleUp gym. In the past I had worked out sporadically. For someone like me there is something very anonymous about traditional gyms… show up if you want…give 20%...50%... whatever you feel like and leave. You are a “card swipe”, not a name. Not at Boot Camp, and not at Knuckle Up.

 

All of a sudden I was with people of all ages, shapes, and fitness levels, all supporting each other. Suddenly I was doing things I never thought I could do, and to my complete surprise I wanted to do more. Our coaches know when we fail to show up. Our coaches ask for 100% all the time and then they ask for more. I am not a card swipe, I am Jamie. Seeing my “team mates” give their all every time inspires me to do the same.

 

And guess what… my weight loss has started again! I have lost and additional 23 lbs. Not only that but my shape has changed. I am stronger both physically and mentally. Now it is not so much the Band controlling what I eat… It is the thought process of “I worked so hard today, do I really want to undo my work out by eating that?”

 

Last Saturday I took a run down Villa Dunes Drive. When I reached the bypass I thought I will just keep going. I took the beach road to Kitty Hawk Kites. Then I thought “I will just head over Jockeys Ridge to get home”… As I stood on top of the ridge with the sun shining I could hear Matt and Jay in my head saying “Look at where you live!”

 

I feel like Outer Banks Boot Camps and Knuckle Up is saving my life one step at a time. I am so grateful to have found this “community” that accepted and supported me immediately.

 

I am currently approximately 25lbs from what we “banders” call “Onederland” (100 lbs. total weight loss) …It was my goal. The funny thing is, is that now I am not so focused on “Onederland”. Probably the best thing I have gained from my experience from Outer Banks Boot camps and Knuckle Up is suddenly it’s not about a number anymore; it’s not about a size. It’s about finding fitness, finding health. My goals are now the next 5k, a half marathon, and next summer in VA Beach, a Tough Mudder. It’s about being stronger and always pushing for more. I am no longer searching for “Onerderland” …. I want that orange Tough Mudder Head Band instead!!!

 

It is not a magic pill…It is not a magic diet or procedure… I think I have finally found out where the real magic happens…

Jamie-June 2012

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The Benefits of Team Training - Guest Post by Lisa Nicholson

If you had to choose between training by yourself or training with a team, what would you choose? I know I have gone the route of training by myself. I downloaded couch to 5k, and due to lack of discipline by the 3rd week couch to 5k was gone and forgotten. I’m not knocking the program; I just knew I needed something to motivate me to exercise.

I actually had a reality moment for me while volunteering for our local “Go Far” program. I had signed up as a coach, with the goal of getting into shape. I ended up feeling embarrassed and couldn’t even keep up with the kids.

One afternoon, my daughter and I were at the back of the pack and one of her friends had stayed with her to motivate my daughter to run. What happened was this young lady (a 10 year old) motivated me. While listening to her encouragement I knew that I needed to do something to better myself. She was a natural motivator and I knew what her father did for a living. Not only was he a local wedding minister, he was Jay Bowman, lead instructor at Outer Banks Bootcamps.

I had actually checked out the program on Facebook, and had been going back and forth for the last 6 months checking their website and Facebook page. At the time I didn’t have the courage to take the first step. That all changed with my wake-up call.

I went home and sent an email that night. I heard back from Matt Costa right away. He informed me there was a camp that I could join the very next day. Talk about going for it, I jumped at the chance and have not looked back.

I found a place to help get me back into shape, back into running and out of the couch potato status that I have lived for the last 10 plus years. Outer Banks Bootcamps, a place where they set the bar high, help you succeed and onto the journey of health. Not only did I find a fitness program, I have found a second family and supportive friendships.

What I love about boot camp is we are not judged. They help you discover your strengths as well as your weakness. They don’t judge, they help you to become what you want to be. In bootcamp we feel pride in our teammate’s achievements and sadness when we experience defeat. I feel this is the key to what makes our program not only successful but the best on the beach.

Our bootcamp takes place on the beaches of Kitty Hawk, with training sessions that stretch as far as the pier in Kill Devil Hills. We meet in the parking lot of KnuckleUp Fitness, at Mile Post 4½ and run to the beach or wherever our route takes us. No bootcamp is the same; our coaches keep the program interesting, fun and challenging.

Not only do we run on the beach and swim in the ocean, we train at Jockey’s Ridge in Nags Head, we trail run in Nags Head Woods, we run through the neighborhoods of Kitty Hawk and Kill Devil Hills. Our graduation run is a 4-7 mile run that takes place at the Wright Brothers National Monument in Kitty Hawk and is fondly called “Holy Hill”.

Since the beginning, the Beach Bootcamp has helped our members lose a combined weight of over 1,000 pounds, a number which keeps increasing. The original Beach Bootcamp started with 8 members and has grown to over 100 repeat members with new members added at each bootcamp every 6 weeks.

A couple of OBBC original students have lost over 100 pounds and continue to take the boot camp repeatedly. Almost all bootcamp students come back each and every time for new camps, and the number of new students increases each time.

Just a couple a months ago, Ann Marie Haywood signed up for the marathon express training camp. Her goal was to walk/run the ½ marathon. She ended up running the ½ marathon with 5 weeks of training and with the support of our coaches and teammates.

Our Bootcamp goal is fitness, but we give back to the community by participating, volunteering and hosting events for charities and we work together as a team and as a family to support each other and our community.

We are all on our own journey, but with team support we can set goals and meet or exceed them. I am still on my journey; I have lost 25 pounds and hope to lose 40 more pounds. As a 41 year old Mom I have discovered that I can be a successful athlete. I just have to take the time to make the change.

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Mary Tones Up With the Outer Banks Beach Boot Camp

Most of the regulars of the Original Beach Boot Camp and Knuckle Up know Mary Luton. Mary works next door to Knuckle Up in the health food store, and can frequently be found working out in the gym. She’s 35 and a mother of two. This summer though, you may have been seeing her working with everyone’s favorite super-trainer, Matt Costa, a little more often than usual. Mary entered the Muscle & Fitness Hers Magazine 8 Week Body Transformation Challenge. The purpose of the contest was to lose body fat and increase lean muscle mass. And while Mary didn’t win the grand prize (a photo shoot with Ms. Figure Olympia Nicole Wilkins Lee), she did do an AMAZING job cutting down and toning up. While she wasn’t really out of shape to begin with, you can clearly see the transformation she underwent. The key to Mary’s success was her training style. Mary used High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). Every day, Mary would do ten rounds of focus mitt training for 3 minutes apiece. While she originally was doing cross training, the best results came from her fight readiness training that also included weight cutting. When Mary started, she weighed 127. She was able to cut it down to 115. Wow, what a difference 12 pounds can make! Of course, diet was critical as well. Mary increased her protein intake, and decreased her carbs and sugars.  She also carb cycled, increasing her carbs 30g every three days to keep metabolism burning evenly, eventually going to just once a week. Clearly her appearance changed dramatically, but her cardio endurance strengthened as well. Her next big challenge is the upcoming OBX Triathlon, a 1 mile swim followed by a 25 mile bike, and a 10k run. The OBX Triathlon will be held September 18-19.

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Agatha Knab's Unusual Bootcamp Success Story

Bootcamp Training "Traumatizes" Dog

Lol. Not really.

 

But read below to see how Agatha's bootcamp training made her stroll down the beach a fitness show:

Well, BootCamp has helped me in several ways but just the other day on the beach it became apparent to me more than ever.

 

I was just strolling down the beach minding my own business and enjoying a pretty day when a big sandy wet dog came up to me and then just shook all over me. I thought to myself I have been wetter, dirtier and sandier than this before in BootCamp so no problem. I petted the dog and then walked on.

 

He followed me and did it again and covered me more. Now normally when I look like this everyone else does too at 6:00 am in the morning but this was afternoon and no one else looked as messy as I did. This time the dog had a ball and his owner said “Sorry about that but he just wants you to throw the ball for him”. I am like that is no problem. Still thinking it has been worse it BootCamp.

 

So I threw the ball out there but I guess between all the classes I have taken over the years combined with all the pushups we do on the beach and the road in Bootcamp my arm was a little stronger than I thought and I launched the ball way out into the ocean. The lady got upset and said we never throw it out that far for our dog. The dog started after the ball and she said it was too far for him. We got him back in but he was not going to rest until he had that ball.

 

I told her I would go out and get it and I did. Now we all know how cold the water was a couple of weeks ago. The thing is, I swam out and got the ball, gave it to the dog, made the owner happy, got some looks from onlookers on the beach like who is she or what is wrong with her, and still went on my walk. It would probably not have played out like that before BootCamp. I had a strange sense of confidence when I walked away that I have not had.

 

So thank you KU for making a change in my life and so many others.

Agatha Knab

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Bootcamp Success Stories

BootCamp Success Stories