Fitness and athletics have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. As young as age 3, I was taking dance lessons, playing on the T-ball team and trying every other sport under the sun. In my teens, I really focused on competitive tennis and dance, and I joined a gym at age 15.

After college, I developed a passion for running, completing four half-marathons and a handful of 5Ks. Running and being mindful about my diet helped me stay at a level of fitness I was happy with. And then it all changed when my daughter, Heidi, was born. With my son, Owen, I was still running at 7 months pregnant, then back at it 6 weeks postpartum, and I never missed a beat in my fitness routine. Adding a second kid, a second C-section and hormonal changes, along with my 40th birthday looming, my body didn’t respond the same way it used to. Accepting that what I have done for a decade no longer has the same results is a tough pill to swallow, but that’s the joy of motherhood and aging!

In this season of life, I need to involve more strength training, but it has proven challenging to find time for myself. I have seen so many women in the neighborhood attend Burn Boot Camp, and when I learned that they offered childcare, I had to check it out for myself. After my first class, I was hooked! Burn offers 45-minute workouts that leave me drenched in sweat and feeling sore and accomplished, and they require no thinking on my part. I am guided through the workout by the awesome personal trainers, so I just have to show up, give it my all and come back the next time.

My kids look forward to going to the play area and my son, Owen, has started talking about being a “buff kid” and doing workouts at home with me. The fact that I can include my children in my fitness routine is just the icing on the cake and sets a great example of health for them. The community I have gained in my short time at Burn has been so meaningful, and I look forward to going there for the friendships and the mental and physical health results I am already seeing!