"I am happy with the way my life is. I'm happy with my boyfriend. I love my job. My dad's doing great. Everything's great. So, why am I fat?"
These are some of the thoughts that pop up in Melissa A. Schaffner's mind every time she looks in the mirror.
"I've gone from 160 pounds to 230 pounds [within the past 10 years]," she said. "I look in the mirror and I'm like 'eew. Who are you? How did this happen to me?' I don't like what I see. I feel like it's unhealthy."
In her childhood, Schaffner said weight was never an issue. Her metabolism allowed her to eat whatever she wanted. When she married in her 30s, she wore a size 10. Now, she said, "18s are getting tight."
Although she rarely gets sick, eats two meals a day and even takes vitamins, the Fort Campbell Morale, Welfare and Recreation marketing director admits she lives a sedentary lifestyle, which contributes to her weight issues.
Now at 230 pounds, the 5-foot-7, 50-year-old said she wants to take control of her weight and transform into a healthier person.
"At the end of the day, you can blame it on whatever, but it is what it is and something's got to be done. And I hate exercise," she said.
Starting Tuesday, Schaffner will get up off her couch for Estep Wellness Center's Boot Camp Xtreme. Much like the Army's Basic Combat Training, which transforms civilians into Soldiers, BCX is designed to help its participants transform their unhealthy lifestyles into healthy ones.
Under the guidance of lead trainer and Estep fitness instructor Mandy Alexander-Wynn, BCX uses an intense mix of cardio, strength and agility challenges.
"I know those ladies and I'm scared to death of them," Schaffner said jokingly, of the Estep trainers. "I've always said if I was going to do something I was going to need somebody standing beside me yelling at me to make me do it."
Since the program debuted in the fall of 2012, 38 participants have completed Boot Camp Xtreme. This is the third BCX class offered since last fall's pilot program.
"It's been extremely successful," said Estep Manager and BCX trainer Charlene Frasher. "… the last one was the most successful so far based on the camaraderie that was built within the program itself. The people that were doing it in the Spring are still doing it now, but they're doing it on their own and they're doing it together as a group."
Boot Camp Xtreme will be held through Oct. 31 and will meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4:30 until 5:30 p.m. Sessions will be held at a variety of on-post locations including Wickham Trail, Clarksville Base and the Outdoor Recreation Challenge Course Complex.
"Expect to get dirty," Frasher said, noting that participants need to wear exercise-appropriate clothing and footwear every day.
The program costs $125, which includes an initial assessment of a person's physical fitness abilities and another assessment at the end of Boot Camp so one can track improvement. The basic fitness assessment will be based on running, pushups and sit-ups.
"We can put our programs together and I can tell you we're going to flip tires and get down in the dirt and run trails, go to the track and go to the pool, but that's just the physical activity," Frasher said. "… You're in competition with yourself."
In addition to the two days of BCX, participants will also receive one free fitness class of their choice at Estep Wellness Center each week of class (total of seven free sessions any day, any time).
"My plan is to try everything to see if there's something that interests me," Schaffner said. "I could end up loving spinning or yoga. So, I'm going to try it all to see if something grabs my passion, because now none of it does."
This fall, participants also receive free admission to "Tasty Tuesdays" Nutritional Workshops held in November.
"Even though there's a nutrition portion and they have to do a food journal in BCX, Mandy doesn't have time to really get down and dirty to teach the nutrition portion of it, so we added that on," Frasher said.
BCX participants sign a covenant, committing to the six-week program and a lifestyle change.
"If you're going to this program thinking that you're going to go against other people, then you're going for the wrong reasons," Frasher said. "You have to come into this program for yourself and yourself alone."
Schaffner said she's ready to transform her body and her lifestyle, but is a little nervous about the challenges ahead of her.
"I'm not afraid of doing things," she said. "I'm worried about my strength. Am I going to be strong enough to do the things they have planned for us? I'm worried that I have more weight on me, so is my strength going to be enough?"
Frasher said Schaffner and other BCX participants should not worry about their skills or anyone else's during the six-week challenge.
"We're not going to push you to match somebody else," Frasher said. "We're going to push you to go beyond your comfort zone."
Schaffner plans to go beyond participating in BCX. She will be blogging about her experience on Fort Campbell's MWR website, www.fortcampbellmwr.com.
"Part of that is the accountability. Part of it is the transparency … it's kind of like my diary of what happens as I go along," she said. "Any results that are positive results would then hopefully be an inspiration for others to try Boot Camp [Xtreme]."
Schaffner said she'll write about her aches and pains, any weight and inches lost and, hopefully, energy gained from exercising.
"I want people to read what I have to say also because there may be encouragement in that," she said. "I want people to see that if somebody like me -- who has absolutely no interest in exercise and prefers to be sitting on the couch … then maybe someone else could try [boot camp], too."
BCX registration continues through noon Friday. Anyone interested in enrolling may call (270) 798-4664.
"They're still signing up," Frasher said. "We've still got quite a few slots, but they usually wait until the last minute."
Schaffner said she is ready to start seeing a healthier person in the mirror.
"I think that if I get some accountable movement going on a consistent basis that maybe, cross my fingers, I will see enough of a change that I'll be able to carry it through myself," she said. "Boot Camp [Xtreme] is my way of getting started."
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