Slim and Tone owner Chris Bremmerman started the program last year after her son joined the military.

"My oldest son graduated from Marine boot camp, which is the most strenuous ... boot camp, and I saw him completely change his habits, his body and his mental strength," Bremmerman said.

Bremmerman applied her son's transformation to create her own military-style workout.

"I wanted to apply everything I saw him apply, but make it for real women that have families, careers, neighbors, parents and girlfriends," she said.

Bremmerman said the boot camp workout has four main principles: exercise at least 30 minutes a day, six times a week; eat five to six nutritious meals or snacks a day; rest once a week; and show accountability.

Recruits must exercise with free weights and cardiovascular machines such as the elliptical. Slim and Tone, 8562 W. 133rd St., Overland Park, also offers classes seven days a week including weight training, cardio dance, pilates and body sculpting.

Bremmerman added a 50-minute class for the boot camp program. The class focuses on elements taught in military boot camps such as calisthenics, sprinting and stretching. The cost for boot camp is $179 for new recruits and $79 for studio members.

Bremmerman said the program works because expectations are clear from the beginning; results are absolute if the participant follows the program; everyday foods are built into the program; and trainers are available for motivation and support.

Bremmerman said the boot camp concept is simple: forget everything you know and every diet book you have ever read. Begin to eat regularly and healthy, and exercise often until it becomes your new habit, she said.

"That is not to say that boot camp is the only answer, or that it is the right answer for everyone," Bremmerman said. "However, we do know that the women that have chosen to participate in boot camp and followed it have sustained measurable results."

One such participant is Kristin Muller of Overland Park. After having a baby, Muller wanted "to get back into ... small clothes." Muller turned to Slim and Tone's boot camp program to achieve her goal.

Muller said she needed extra help and motivation to lose weight.

"The classes and personal trainers make all the difference," she said. "I would never push myself as hard as the trainers do, and without that extra push I may have never reached my goal."