The alarm clock rings out at 6.15am.
I’m in a multi-million-pound villa in southern Spain spending a week with 20 women I’ve never met before – and every morning there’s a square-jawed marine at my bedside telling me to shape up or ship out. Taking part in this boot camp was the first of many surprises that this year will no doubt bring. I’ve been a keen hill-walker all my life, so I’ve never been shy of a challenge. But I never expected to be doing press-ups before dawn in the wet Spanish grass or that I’d do two hours of gruelling exercise before breakfast. It would be a bit corny to say I did it all for love. But in a funny kind of way, I did. Celebrating life together: Sian and John in Quebec. ‘I look forward to every new day’, she says My husband, Jonathan Ashman, and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary on December 30. Our paths had crossed a few times before we married, but we didn’t meet properly until we were introduced at a party in March 2007. But a year of happy, contented life – and long, lovely, conversation-filled meals – left me piling on the pounds. Now this boot camp was to be my answer to all those loving calories.
I came through that punishing week fitter and stronger, both physically and mentally, and lost nearly 10lb. I flew back to Jonathan fizzing with excitement. But when he hugged me to welcome me home, he didn’t speak much.