Boot Camp Reviews & Testimonials, Page 4

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Well it's been over a week now and it has changed my life definitely for the better. I went to Prestige Boot Camp not aware of what to expect but came out a new person and more importantly I got educated on things I found really helpful.

The staff, chef and management were 1st class. I am motivated now to only get fitter and keep up my training - hoping to be back in the boxing ring very soon. Got a fight lined up in January which is my big goal at the moment.

Boot camp is absolutely worth it and is so rewarding! I am looking forward to seeing all my fellow campers again soon for a reunion!

Only one request though- to the staff... Maybe change the morning wake up time to 8,9,10...hey maybe 11?? As I need that extra beauty sleep... ha ha!

Attal Mihanpoor, 8lbs & 6.5 inches
25th Sept 2009 – Herefordshire

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Having now had time to reflect....and recover!....from last week’s first all male boot camp.....the verdict is.....near as dammit....the best week of my life!!!.....and trust me I have done some stuff! Guys....you need to do this.....it’s not for poseurs.....you need to come on this, open your minds and get yourself into gear, it demands TOTAL and UTTER COMMITTMENT....do this and you will feel a million dollars.

I faced up to some big fears last week but with the help and support of Staff's Reitze and Wincott......I conquered them......these guys really know their stuff.....they are a big loss to the British Military......but a huge gain to us lot in "civvy street".

Made some great friends also....we had a lot of fun, urging each other on when energy levels dipped, but by the end of the week we had all been on the same journey, achieved our goals and agreed to meet up next year for a re-union!

What a week....long will it live in the memory.....thanks to all.

Alan Ellis, 11lbs & 8 inches
25th Sept 2009 – Herefordshire

The course was amazing and organised to perfection. Lots of 'blokes' style muscle toning, fitness, instruction and of course bags of motivation.

All the staff at Prestige were extremely professional, patient and encouraged me to keep going each time I felt I couldn't give any more. Don't underestimate this course; it is a lot of it is hard work but also very rewarding. The inclusion of additional 'off camp' activities such as high ropes, assault courses and gorge walking were all welcome components to a great week. Please also note the food is fantastic.

Be prepared to come away with potential lifetime friends, the camaraderie of the group and staff all combine to make a great life experience. I ended the week with excellent weight loss and inches lost and a positive mental attitude to continue. We are already planning a reunion at the camp for next year!

Pete Bailey, 6.4lbs & 6 inches
25th Sept 2009 – Herefordshire

At first when I signed up for a Prestige Boot Camp I didn’t really know what to expect. I thought it was going to be a lot of big guys shouting at me to do more however when I got there I discovered it couldn’t have been further from the truth. The first day I was greeted at the train station by two ‘Staff’ who were very friendly and accommodating and also knew how to have a laugh (which becomes a real morale booster through the week).

When we arrived at our camp (a lovely group of barn conversions) we were greeted by the Boot Camp Manager who was on hand all week if we had any aches or pains that were niggling or frustrating. After that we quickly changed and had a fitness test which consisted of a cardio exercise and also some short bursts of sit ups/ press ups so that we could be placed into the most rewarding group (Alpha, Beta or Charlie group) for us. This is in no way singling out the fit from the unfit but to identify certain aspects of your fitness that you can improve and to also know that you can be pushed to a limit that your body is capable of. The second day and we did circuit training which was fairly difficult for me personally (this changed towards the end of the week as my fitness levels drastically improved).

With every session that we did I could feel myself becoming mentally and physically stronger! This showed when we did our last circuit of the week where I was able to push myself beyond my wildest imagination. A highlight of the week for me was the rock climbing, abseiling and zip wiring which was extremely fun. It is fairly daunting at first but when you realise that you are in safe and encouraging hands, you seem to forget all the worry that was in your head before.

The food that we had in the seven days was some of the best food I have ever tasted and the chef was our saviour at the end of a busy and tiring day. You get a sit down session with the chef and can request certain recipes from some of the meals that you have had during your stay.

Come the end of the week we were treated to a lovely ‘last supper’ together where we were all awarded our certificates and had a little speech given about our accomplishments (you can’t help but feel proud when you hear how hard you have worked and rightly so, you deserve it!). The people I met on the boot camp were some of the best characters I have had the pleasure of meeting in my life which you come to rely upon when you are having a down day and also you then step up when one of your friends are having a tough time by spurring them on. A real sense of camaraderie!
The hardest thing that I had to do on the whole week was to turn up on the first day and I promise that you will amaze yourself with how much your body can actually do, for instance when I first arrived I had no pace at all however by the end I was sprinting with speed and my recovery period dropped significantly!!!

I learnt a lot from my experience like how to train correctly and how to eat properly without being starved. My whole lifestyle changed without even realising it. The only thing that I could fault was Staff Reitze’s choice in music… TERRIBLE!!! Other than that I don’t have a bad thing to say about the Staff. They were extremely supportive and anything that they could do for you was never enough.

My overall loss was 17 inches in total (5 and a half from my waist alone!) and 11 and a half pounds I had one of the best and most rewarding weeks of my life and I urge anybody thinking about it to just do it! You will never, ever regret it. I know that I will be back again for sure.

Louis Alexander, 11lbs & 17 inches
26th June 2009 – Devon

I know before I went to boot camp (June 26 - July 3/2009) I had a few questions not least of which was "can I really survive a week of non-stop exercise at my weight?" I won’t divulge the actual poundage but trust me, I was heavy. In fact, it turned out that I was the heaviest girl there! That
would usually be enough for me to run (although not literally!) and hide in shame and embarrassment. The fact that I used to be as fit as the proverbial butchers dog made it even worse!

Anyway, a friend suggested we give boot camp a go only a few weeks before we actually went which was a good thing. Too many months to procrastinate and I would have ended up binning camp in lieu of 7 days wine tasting in Tuscany or even better - chocolate tasting at the Cadbury factory! But, remembering that the only thing that fitted me when I went clothes shopping were the cubicles, I resolved to give Tuscany/Cadburys a miss and duly arrived in Devon on a sunny Friday to begin a week’s worth of beasting, Army Stylie!

My resolve faltered somewhat when we arrived early at the meeting point and had to wait a while to be collected........in a ruddy pub car park! I argued with myself for 10 minutes or so as to whether or not a couple of pints and voddie chasers would do too much damage. Luckily for me Staff Nesbitt arrived just before the siren song of the bar lured my sorry, easily lead, breaking strain of a kitkat self towards my bevvies of choice!

(Staff N, all you need do now is to get a cape and wear your pants/boxers/other undergarment of choice on the outside and you will forever be my hero for saving me from a fate worse than vodka!) Now, I could go on and on as I am inclined to do but this email will end up a weighty tome as opposed to the cheeky little missive I initially intended, therefore I shall rein self in....It was hard. No question, one of the hardest weeks I have had, mentally and physically. But without a shadow of a doubt, one of the best!

The people were fantastic. My group gelled really quickly with everyone offering each other a great deal of support. And they came from all walks of life; from a round-the-world yachts-woman to a Jordanian secretary, and whatever you can imagine in between (JJ, I'm still looking for your apples
and pears in M & S!)

And as for the staff - I still miss you all...from camp Mama Katie and Mikey the (best ever) chef, and to all the Staffs - Reitze, Nesbitt and Fernandez. These guys are a truly, truly dedicated team of professionals who give a great big damn about the people they beast and starve, I mean train and feed. Seriously, the encouragement and support they provided was phenomenal and I can’t praise them enough.

If you are overweight or seriously unfit or both, PLEASE PLEASE don’t let that put you off or cause you any angst. Team spirit is one of the linchpins of the camp but within that team spirit, each and every individual is given the opportunity to work at their own pace. That way you never feel that you are holding up the faster members or waiting for the slower ones. But don’t think that means you won’t be pushed and encouraged to go that extra mile. You will be but it’s your choice to give that little bit more every day. If you don’t well that is a matter for you and your conscience. I've always known I was a bit of a stubborn bugger but even I was surprised how you can dig up reserves of energy and determination where you thought only sloath like, couch potato behaviour lay! On one particular day (I won’t tell you what the activity was as it will spoil it for you) I was sick several times and at one point threw teddy in the corner declaring myself done. Totally exhausted not even able to keep half an apple down, I couldn’t stand up, was seeing spots before my eyeballs and caused a little bit of drama on the Devon hills!

However by the time Staff N reached me and fed me some rhubarb and custard sweets (please don’t think they dole them out just any old how - they don’t, you need to create afore-mentioned drama!) I was like, "Sod it; if it takes me hours more than the rest of them, I'm doing this". And I did. They offered me the chance to quit but that is one four letter word I have no use for in my vocabulary....and trust me, I used all the other well known ones that week! So I completed the day to cheers from my lovely fellow campers. How proud was I? Just writing about it makes me feel that I can conquer anything. Everest? Purleeeese...Its nowt but a hill!! And there were a lot of laughs along the way. "I don’t do sheep s***! Shoot me now" whilst doing army style exercise on the sheep filled hills at camp, to "hello nice old lady, you got any food in your handbag?" said to a nice elderly female walking her dog in Blackberry woods during circuit training, to a thousand laughs in between! People you know who you are!

Anyway, if you have read this far dear reader, boot camp will be a breeze in comparison! Give it everything you have and then some. It’s one week out of the rest of your life and I promise you won’t regret it. When Katie weighed and measured me on last day and told me I had lost 19 pounds and 17 inches (no word of a lie - ask her!) I screamed the roof off! I can’t help but wonder if I hadn’t had those rhubarb and custards would it have been 20 pounds.............?

All the best to you future campers!!

Tracy Maclean, 19lbs & 17 inches
26th June 2009 – Devon

First of all I want to say that I think Staff Reitze and Frankie should be really proud of the work that they have put in to get Prestige going and the end result. I know there are probably lots you want to do still further but for me this was 100 times better than other boot camps I have been on.

The accommodation was brilliant, a really nice choice as it was really comfortable and pleasant after a long day. Especially with the washing machines etc so you felt a little less skanky if you’re dirty /sweaty clothes could be washed.

I wasn't expecting the Boot Camp Manager to have vacuumed our rooms; cleaned our bathrooms; and provided fresh towels, but it was a lovely touch to make us feel very cared for and that we could concentrate on the exercise and fitness. The goody bag, t-shirt, photo’s and leaving pack were great too, I wore the t-shirt to the gym the other day so let me know if you have an influx of people booking from Dartford!

The activities were well planned out and having 3 PTIs between such the group made sure that you weren't lost during a session and if you were doing something using the wrong technique it got picked up really quickly.

What can I say about the Chef, he's brilliant and the food he made was delicious. The menu and portion sizes were a welcome change from my last boot camp, yes probably bigger portions but I never felt starved in order to make that weight loss. The variety within the menu helped to make sure we didn't feel bored.

I can't wait to come back next year for another one of the most brilliant weeks of my life!

Punam Ondhia, 8lbs & 9 inches
1st May 2009 - Devon

Boot Camp was an absolutely amazing week – a completely rounded experience, which is what made it so great!

Not only does the Staff train you and help you with your fitness goals, they are also therapy and nutrition courses, which helped immensely when trying to find out the reason why I was overweight / over, ate in the first place. Initially I was nervous that it would all be about long runs with back packs, hundreds of press-ups and somebody shouting in my face to ‘get moving’, but to my surprise (and relief!) it wasn’t. The exercise was always varied and fun – Staff’s Reitze, Nesbitt and Udall all have a talent for making the exercise enjoyable while pushing you to your (and sometimes beyond!) limits. Believe me, motivating a group of girls at 6am is a pretty hard job! While at the camp I conquered fears I didn’t even know I had, and that was only through the help and support of all the staff and the girls at the boot camp – they were a truly great, supportive team.

I had also been apprehensive about the amount/ type of food we would have to eat, but my fears were unfounded… the food was amazing! Yes, they were small portions (hey, I was there to lose weight!), but it just made me savor the food even more – and it really was lovely and all made from scratch by a fantastic Chef. There was a Q&A session with the Chef during the week and he helped to dispel a lot of the ideas I’d had about so called ‘healthy’ eating, and so has given me some new ideas on what/how I should be eating/ cooking.

So what did I gain from going to Boot Camp? The much needed kick start to get back in to a healthy regime. A new love of exercising outdoors, it just feels so much better than plodding away in a gym, rain won’t stop me from going for a run now! And, when I do go to the gym I’ve stepped it up a few notches and know how much harder I can push myself! I lost the dress size that was promised and have continued to lose weight at home too, exercise and eating more of the right healthy foods have made all the difference, and I’m now in the right mindset to do this properly and get to my goal. I also feel I’ve made some friends for life, not just the staff but also the group of girls that were also there for the week, great people, great support, they just made the week that so much better.

I feel much fitter, happier and healthier (both mentally and physically), and it’s all thanks to the fantastic team at Prestige Boot Camp.

Thank you all, Tia xxx

Tia Bury, 8lbs & 8 inches
27th March 2009 – Devon

Well for any of you who are thinking of booking a boot camp stop thinking and do it!!!...I have been on two now and the experience tops all my other holidays except maybe my first holiday to Benidorm when I was 16 and that is because that was just my first adventure abroad without my mum and dad!!

During my first stay I managed to lose half a stone which was how much I wanted to loose and 10 half inches which was way more important than the weight.

My confidence grew and by the end of the week I felt capable of anything... this camp is not about targeting one level of client it caters for the fit, the fitter and the "never seen a gym or running shoes before". The trainers are all highly experienced and know how to push you to reach your own personal best, always encourage you and correct the training so it is suitable for all levels.

Chef, well if I could have taken him home I would, the food was gorgeous, each day was a different flavour...he spent time talking to the group and answered our questions on how to cook what to eat etc... it was fantastic and very interesting how wrong many of the diets we all try are.

We had a session with a nutritionist...and also had talks on eating behaviour, why we pick the wrong things and emotional always seems to be top of the list...this camp was the whole package: training, fun, knowledge, education, CHANGE, great food, great support and friendship...wow to be in a group of women all working together, encouraging and cheering you on...doesn't often happen in my office!!

I loved it!

Sam Williams, 7lbs & 10.5 inches
27th March 2009 – Devon

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