Over the next three months we will bring you a weekly diary with Esther Bascome.The HWP customer service representative is undertaking the annual 100-Day Challenge fitness programme in an effort to lose weight and bring down her high blood pressure and cholesterol.The challenge pits two teams against each other to see which team will become the most fit. The challenge will be broadcast on ZBM TV9 tonight at 8pm.Exercising in gale force winds and rain might sound like fun to some perky exercise enthusiasts, but it’s certainly not Esther Bascome’s cup of tea.“My second week with the 100-Day Challenge was terrible, but I made it through,” she said. “It was challenging. It has been a challenge every day.”Participants were scheduled to play tennis as their second fun Saturday challenge.The wind made it likely the ball would go astray if anyone could see it through the blinding rain.Instead, participants in the 100-Day Challenge were assigned different aerobic exercises such as walking up and down hills, sit-ups and running backwards.“We did some things I have never done before like spinning and different types of aerobics,” Mrs Bascome said.During the long, wet workout, Mrs Bascome feared that trainer Dawn Berry’s attempts to lengthen her life were actually going to kill her.“By the time I got home my clothes were soaking wet, but I couldn’t feel them because my body hurt so much,” she said.There’s a lot of running done as part of the weekly training course.According to Mrs Bascome, she tries to run but usually ends up walking. Participants also walk up and down steps. The trainer has urged them to “skip” steps to make it more challenging, but Mrs Bascome said just going up and down was hard enough.People in the 100-Day Challenge are on strictly monitored diets which focus on vegetables and appropriate portion sizes. They are also learning about dieting “no-nos”.“Pastrami and processed meats are out,” said Mrs Bascome. “I like my Vienna sausages in the morning with a scone [but] now I eat cereal for breakfast.“We can eat half a bagel but I haven’t. I figure the less I eat, the easier it will be for me to shed the weight.“That is what is going to keep me from being eliminated. I am the least fit in my team. I am the one who will hold the team back. The only thing that will give me an edge will be to lose more weight than the others.”But there are bright spots on Mrs Bascome’s hard road to fitness.Part of her regimen includes running around a building three times every day. It’s hard, but it is getting easier.Another bright spot, is that she lost five pounds. Still, she is counting the days she has left until the programme ends.