**Article by Janet Youtt
For Carmen "Aggie" Paguirigan, the Boot Camp phenomenon clicked after the third week. She had joined at the urging of a good friend who talked her into going together. “All of a sudden I realized I wanted this class. I needed this class,” says Carmen, a stay-at-home mom with two young boys. “I was running at the back of the pack that day and all of a sudden I got angry with myself for being last.”
She recalls how for most of her life she had been naturally thin. After getting married and then having children, the pounds slowly stacked up. She found herself avoiding mirrors and making sure she was behind the camera instead of in front of it. She had never lost weight except after the birth of her sons. With a degree in genetics from Texas A&M, Carmen left a good job at the National Institutes of Health in Maryland to follow her husband’s Air Force career. Like so many spouses, she began caring for everyone else and putting herself on the back burner.
She began Boot Camp when her youngest son was a year-and-a half. She says the free childcare was a huge draw because it’s such an obstacle to getting fit. “The military lifestyle can be very lonely,” says Carmen. “You have to make friends each time you move and hope that someone is interested enough in exercising to want to swap childcare with you.”
In combination with Boot Camp three times a week, she began altering her eating habits. Although she didn’t choose one particular diet, she shrank her portion sizes, drank more water and said no to extra goodies. She also says just moving her body was a large part of her success. After 7 months, she lost 22 pounds and nearly 20 inches from her body. She was ecstatic!
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| Aggie showing off her amazing results! |
Since that time, Carmen has completed several half-marathons along with that same friend, Susan Scrivner, who talked her into Boot Camp. They train on the weekends and sometimes even swap childcare if their husbands are not available. “Thanks to Boot Camp, I’ve learned to set mental goals. I started with one mile, then two and before I knew it I was running eight miles in the Great Aloha Run,” she says. “I’ve never felt better about myself. My self-esteem has gone through the roof. Life is too short to say I can’t.”
