“When Erica mentioned that she was finishing up her life coach certification and had decided to focus on helping women get healthy – I knew I had to sign up. I had been working on my weight – but without any results. Months of work. NO results. I knew Erica when she was a teenager, and I was a young mom in my early twenties (I trusted her even way back then – with my babies). I knew she wouldn’t be intimidated to call me out if I tried to present her with any excuses. There aren’t a lot of people that I would give that power to (I’m a little feisty myself), but I trusted her. I was raised to work hard for what I want, and I am not afraid of hard work – but my body sure didn’t reflect that. Even though I didn’t feel like I was giving excuses – I also wasn’t 100% sure of what I should’ve been doing to get rid of the 50+ pounds that had crept up on my 5’2” frame over the prior ten years. I was frustrated, overwhelmed, and completely annoyed with myself. I felt defeated. I thought I had been eating well but wasn’t sure about what sort of a meal plan I should follow, or what my calories and subsequent macros should be. How much water do I actually need? I had been exercising at a “cheap” gym, but not pushing myself because I had doubts of what I was capable of and what was even the right thing to be doing. I also didn’t want to overdo it and hurt myself because – well, I don’t bounce back like I used to! I woke up every morning angry with myself (before my feet ever even hit the floor) for the body I had to dress and take out into the world, and I physically felt like garbage. I had never been a person to go to the gym or to exercise on the regular (I had literally been living off the body I’d built in high school) – so I had nobody to blame but myself. I tried to give myself some grace because I was busy in my very important roles as a wife, mother and employee – but boy, was I mean to me. It was very intimidating for me to start my program with Erica. I was so worried about what everyone was thinking about me when I started going to Bootcamp Academy (BA) and it turns out that they were all really engaged in their own workouts…not MINE! If anything, some individuals might’ve been paying attention to make sure my form was right so I wouldn’t hurt myself (super important because I didn’t want to be out of commission for weeks with an injury) and to make sure I understood what the different exercise were. I often had to ask for help to remind of the right exercise and everybody was always kind in helping me. I was not met with judgement or negativity – only support. BA has turned into such a source of strength for me and in more than the obvious way. I started with purely the intention of doing what I needed to do to lose some weight and get my body healthy and I walked into the gym every day exactly for that. I went through many moments of “reconciliation”, where I would struggle with an exercise and take a moment to decide whether I’m going to give in or push through (spoiler alert: I ALWAYS push through) because if nothing changes – NOTHING CHANGES. I was not there for a social group or to make friends or impress anyone and I still found this incredible group of people who motivate me regularly! We put a gym in our home shortly after I started at BA because I thought eventually, I would cancel my membership there and just do the workouts in my own gym. It has everything I really needed, except for the support and motivation. The home gym gets used by the kids or on snow days when I don’t want to drive…but what I didn’t account for in my math, were the mental health benefits that came with putting the time and work in at the gym. My results were S L O W, but Erica and the community she built - never gave up on me. Of course, you have to have your own grit to get yourself there and do the work, but you have a whole team of incredible women cheering you on and want to see you win. As I did the work, even if the scale wasn’t moving the way I wanted – I knew I was doing the right things and had all the support I could ask for. My confidence grew and so did the results…all in their own time. If you’d like to try something new but are unsure – THIS IS YOUR PLACE, THESE ARE YOUR PEOPLE!”