Getting fit and healthy doesn’t have to be boring
And fitness bootcamps don’t have to be difficult. Popular TV personality and fitness fanatic Kathryn Thomas speaks to Jessica Thompson for Galway Now about her new boot-camp, Pure Results.
With summer just around the corner, we’re all thinking of the beach and fitting into the bikinis and
swimsuits. But keeping fit and eating healthy can be difficult if you don’t know where to start. That’s
where Kathryn Thomas’ Pure Results Bootcamp comes in.
Pure Results is a diet-orientated training programme that launched exclusively last month on West
Cork’s tranquil Inish Beg Island. Designed to help you get fit, renew confidence and inspire long-term
lifestyle changes, the concept is simple, but new to Irish shores.
Participants will spend seven days on the exclusive island, receive a training plan that will push them
just outside their comfort zone, and a realistic two-week nutrition plan designed by Nutritional
Therapist Jennifer O’Callaghan so that they can begin their journey towards achieving a life-changing
goal.
“It’s really a three-week programme. Every client gets a half-hour phone call or skype call before
they arrive. And that means that Jen has time to assess all the forms and she can go through with
every individual person what is important to you in terms of goals, whether that is weight loss, or
whether it’s increasing strength or increasing fitness or just to de-stress,” says Kathryn, explaining
the unique selling point of Pure Results.
After the week is up, all participants are given a two-week nutrition and exercise programme so they
can continue to reach and stick to their lifestyle goals throughout their daily life, with a member of
the Pure Results team checking on their progress.
Sponsored by the Great Outdoors, Pure Results boot-camp will involve several outdoor classes. In
fact, all activities will take place outdoors – “though we do have a glass house for when it’s lashing
rain,” Kathryn remarks – allowing the participants to enjoy the beautiful scenery Inish Beg has to
offer.
“I drove all around Ireland looking for the right location and when I saw Inish beg, I knew that it was
the right location, because I knew I didn’t want to be in a hotel. I didn’t want to be using a hotel
gym,” says Kathryn of her chosen location.
“You have to feel like you’re in the great outdoors. You have to feel like you’re connected with
nature. The gardens are beautiful; it’s got an indoor pool; the self-catering cottages are exactly that
– they’re just cosy with wood-burning stoves. And Paul and Georgie Keane who run Inish Beg were
great. They ticked all the boxes.”
During the week on the beautiful Inish Beg, the varied fitness programme will mix high-intensity
workouts with low impact classes that will burn calories without burnout. Promising to keep things
fresh and motivating, participants will get the opportunity to dabble in everything from boxing to hill
runs, as well as trying water-based activities and relaxing yoga.
“We do a lot of team-building and exploring the area. So in one way it’s like summer camp for
adults; it’s like that feeling you’d get when you were a kid and you went off to summer camp and you thought you were all independent, and your parents collected you a week later and you felt like
a different person. It’s kind of like that. It’s a healthy summer camp for adults,” Kathryn explains.
“It’s definitely going to be enjoyable. I don’t do anything that doesn’t involve a bit of fun and a bit of
craic, and it’s important that I get that and that I make sure that the clients get that. Because for me,
exercising and being healthy has to be fun. You have to try and make it fun. It’s not going to be a
doddle of a week: people are going to work and have their ass kicked because we’re all there to
reach a goal and we’re there to make them do it. But I want to make sure they have a bit of craic
while they’re there.”
Kathryn is very fond of having “a bit of craic” when working out. She’s well-known for presenting
Operation Transformation and The Voice on RTE, but her passion for adventure and being outdoors
shone through during her 10 years on the small screen, travelling the world with No Frontiers.
A fitness fanatic to the last, Kathryn has climbed Kilimanjaro and the Himalayas; she has done the
Ironman challenge, half-marathons and has trekked in the jungles of Papua New Guinea.
“I wanted to combine my love of travel and the outdoors with my passion for fitness in this new
venture. I want clients to escape to one of the most beautiful parts of Ireland and feel like they have
had a holiday while also pushing them outside their comfort zones to reach their goals,” she says.
“There is something that happens to all of us when we break barriers and achieve things we never
thought we were capable of. When it comes to fitness and weight-loss, a supportive environment is
key, and as most people know, I am a big believer in having fun while you’re doing it as well!”
Due to the nature of the Pure Results boot-camp, Kathryn is completely confident that participants
will see results. With sustainable weight loss guaranteed, the Pure Results team of nutrition experts
offers more than just a temporary fix. Taking a fresh approach to what guests eat, each tailored meal
will be calorie light and deliciously satisfying so participants will see results and stay nourished.
“I have no doubt that if participants stick to the diet and the food plan that we have them on for the
week and they work hard, weight loss is guaranteed,” Kathryn explains.
“I think the most difficult thing will be people who are nervous before they get there, because there
is this expectation of what is going to happen to them and are they going to be able for it, are they
going to be starving? I just want to ground people’s nervousness and uncertainty.
“Because everybody works just to their ability and beyond their own comfort zone, so you are not
going to be expected to do what the next person beside you is doing if your fitness levels aren’t the
same. So it’s about pushing everybody outside where they’re comfortable.”
Another element of the boot-camp that Kathryn thinks participants might find difficult is the fact
that it’s a complete detox. That means no sugar, no wheat, no dairy, no caffeine, no alcohol. You’ll
feel like a new person after it, but if you’re a coffee-addict, you might struggle a little bit.
“But apart from that it’s going to be great craic,” she said.
The Pure Results Boot-camp will be running until June 2015. Costs are €999 per person sharing, or
€1,399 for single occupancy.
For more information, visit pureresultsbootcamp.com.
