09/22/2026
TRANSFORMATION TUESDAY
Burn Boot Camp didn’t just change my body—it helped change the way I see myself and the people around me.
Before Burn, I spent a lot of my life in survival mode. I grew up without much money. My parents were in and out of my life, family took me in, and there were times I slept on couches or was homeless because of addiction.
Chaos was normal to me. Eventually, addiction became part of my own life too.
For a long time, I honestly didn’t think I would make it this far.
When I moved to Ohio, I weighed 255 pounds. I was sober and excited about starting a new life, but I learned addiction doesn’t always disappear. Sometimes it just changes forms. For me, it became food.
Underneath it all was insecurity. I judged people who were skinnier, healthier, stronger, or wealthier than me. I was so caught up in my own pain that I couldn’t see everyone was carrying something.
Food. Insecurity. Comparison. Addiction.
At different points, each one had a hold on me.
My life started changing when I stepped into a gym—but something deeper changed when I became a Burn member.
At Burn, I learned you can be pushed without being judged. You can mod down, mod up, walk through those doors exactly as you are and still belong.
People with completely different lives and struggles learn your name, give you a high five, celebrate your wins, and genuinely want to see you succeed.
I started asking myself:
If nobody here is judging me for where I am in my journey, why am I judging someone else for where they are in theirs?
Someone else succeeding doesn’t mean I’m failing. Their success doesn’t take anything away from mine.
Burn gave me a hobby, a passion, a community, and a place to work on myself physically AND mentally.
For 45 minutes, I get to choose myself.
There was a version of me who never thought she would make it to 38. She was just trying to survive.
Now I’m here. I’m strong. I’m still growing. And I’m finally learning what it feels like to truly live instead of just survive.
Burn may only be 45 minutes, but those 45 minutes remind me that I’m worth showing up for.