Tess Nichol's boot camp, week four: Back on track

My week of endless fury has ended and I'm back on a more even keel.

Apologies first and foremost to my nothing-but-supportive boyfriend for snapping at him for reasons including but not limited to:

• Deciding too slowly for my liking whether or not he wanted to come to the garden shop with me.

• Not drying the cutlery before putting it away (he had).

• And for making and cancelling about 20 plans I was too grumpy and tired to follow through on.

My journalistic integrity compels me to admit my mood improved largely because I skipped Monday's boot camp session and had a lot of shawarma and pita-bread delivered to my door last Tuesday.

I uh, also may have had three glasses of wine, some chips with gravy and two (small, insignificant) slices of cake.

Look, sometimes you just need to take a break while shovelling an entire plate of fries in your face.

Perhaps buoyed by the unexpected sugar in my system, I was back into my fitness with a vigour I hadn't felt since week two.

I'm getting noticeably stronger. It's a wonderful feeling.

Where one push up before left my arms shaking three weeks ago now I can do ten in a row, challenging myself to go lower every time.

Reporter Tess Nichol is enjoying feeling stronger as she progresses through her six week challenge. Photo / Nick Reed

Our DRILL fitness classes are based around continuous sets of reps, alternating to work out different parts of the body.

A useful way to keep yourself going when you have to do 50 sandbag squats is to break the numbers down - can I make it to ten without stopping? How about 15? What if I try to make it halfway before I take a break?

I remember at 14 facing a netball opponent who was so much better than me I walked off the court in defeat mid-game rather than face the frustration of playing against her for another second (it's a real mystery why I was put in such a low ranking team).

Having the fortitude to actually challenge myself physically is a new and welcome addition to my mental capacity.

My trainer, Raphael Barcellos Victoria, keeps pointing out to me how much better I am too.

Like, quite often. Always saying how I couldn't even do one sit up when I started.

He's proud of me, I reckon.