I remember the first focus meeting I had with Kristen, one of the trainers at the Burn Bootcamp location that I attend. Her first question, before she started anything, was, “What are your goals?” 

Simple enough. What are my goals?

And I answered her honestly.

“My goal *isn’t* to lose weight.” 

She said, “Good. So what is your goal?” 

I replied, “To feel better, to have more energy, and to know that I’m being the healthiest version of myself that I can be. If I lose weight, that’s great, but it’s not my goal.” 

Kristen said, “That’s awesome. We can do that.” 

It was so refreshing to hear a trainer essentially say, “I’m glad your goal isn’t to lose weight!” 

You see, I know myself and I know my body. Losing weight is hard for me. Really hard. Over the years I have dieted, I have been a runner, I’ve been a regular gym-goer, and I’ve also completely fallen off of the wagon. The thing is, even when I was running HALF-MARATHONS, losing weight was so hard for me.

When I was in the best shape of my life, I was still around 16o pounds – and I’m 5’4″. I’m not going to go back and forth about my weight history, but let’s just say, at nearly 32 years old, I know that losing weight is not easy for me. So, setting myself up with a goal of losing weight is basically setting myself up for disappointment.

And here I am, three and a half months in and I feel like I look and feel better than I have in a long, long time.

When I started Burn Bootcamp, I did it because I wanted to feel better, not beause I want to lose weight. I knew I needed a change in my health and fitness routine, and I knew it needed to happen quickly because I felt myself falling into a place that would be hard to get out of.

Well, the thing is, what I didn’t realize I would gain by doing Burn Bootcamp, was a renewed sense of confidence, a renewed sense of purpose, a love of exercising (which is CRAZY because I’ve always loathed it), and most importantly, I gained a supportive and encouraging community. I am not saying all of that to sound fluffy or overly sentimental. I am saying that because I mean it. The women that I have met since coming to Burn Bootcamp are some of the most wonderful people I have ever had the pleasure of knowing.

When I miss a class, I get messages like, “Where were you?? We missed you!” When I am totally dripping in sweat and I don’t think I can do another rep, I hear the rest of the class cheer, “You can do it! Just one more rep. You got this!” When I’m the last one in after a run (I’m a slow runner), no one complains that they had to wait for me. When I need an idea of a healthy dinner or I need to find a funny animated .gif to make me laugh or I just need some encouragement, the Burn Bootcamp community is there… without a doubt.

But the thing is, in just a little over three and a half months, I feel very much like I’ve reached my first major goal. While I’ve only lost about five pounds, I have lost a total of 7% body fat which is HUGE. 7% body fat is a lot. I’ve lost well over 6 inches total. It’s body recomposition – turning fat to muscle. I feel better. I feel healthier. I have more energy. My clothes fit better. My husband *definitely* has said he notices a difference and a positive change in my overall attitude and mood.

The fact that I’ve only lost about five pounds? That’s okay! I’m not letting it discourage me at all because I feel like I’m doing exactly what I need to do, and not want to lose weight, only. It’s slow and steady. I didn’t gain the weight or get out of shape overnight… so I’m not going to lose it and get back in shape overnight.

These pictures aren’t easy for me to share, but honestly, I want you guys to know that the girl on the left and the girl on the right are the same… yet very, very different.

I eat clean and well 80%-90% of the time. I still eat what I love and splurge every now and then, but it’s in moderation and it’s limited. I’ll talk about the diet portion of all of this in another post, but the nutrition component is so, so, so, so, SO key.

The fact remains, the past three and a half months have been amazing since I started attending Burn Bootcamp and I’m sorry I’m not sorry I can’t stop talking about it. It’s literally changed my life.

My next big goal? I want to get stronger. I want to feel stronger. I’m going to start really pushing myself to try heavier weights on exercises and work towards trying all of the mod-ups (more difficult) exercises. I’m determined and nothing is going to stop me!

Want to know how to be unstoppable? You gotta start first…

In all honesty, if you’ve been looking for a workout routine that you’ll actually enjoy (seriously! It’s so fun!) and look forward to… you should look and see if there is a Burn Bootcamp in your area!

And if you’re in the Durham, North Carolina area, PLEASE come out and try Burn! There’s a 14-day free trial you can do OR you can actually get their deal on Groupon right now to try it out for 30 days!

What about you? What fitness goals do you typically set for yourself? Have you tried Burn Bootcamp? How do you set realistic goals? Do you want to lose weight or get healthy?

Read my intro post about Burn Bootcamp here. Check out my “Beach Blitz Bootcamp” workout tutorial here.