For me, that’s a loaded question. I could date it back as far as middle and high school where body image became slowly more and more important, or college when I was extremely fit but still not a size 4 like my sorority sisters, or graduate school when I worked out as a stress reliever, or the start of my career when I didn’t have the energy to workout at all. Regardless of where I start, this is where I am today. I looked at myself in the mirror, 28 years old, perfectly healthy, but disgusted with my body. The last time I had been happy with my body, I was 25 years old. Then my metabolism started changing, I had moved to a new city, made new friends, and became too busy making memories to pay attention to what was happening. I put on a few pounds and fluctuated for about a year and a half. Then I met my now husband and became far too comfortable and put on more and more weight. The day after he got down on one knee, I weighed myself on the scale. I decided it was time to make a change because we were getting married! So, I started weight watchers and went from 216 pounds to 198 the day of our wedding. I felt beautiful on our wedding day! But after our honeymoon, we cheated on meals and any exercise for about a month. I put the weight back on way too fast, which was when I realized it was time for something more. Something more than just a diet, something more than just a way to lose the pounds, something that made me feel good about myself. My husband had been doing CrossFit for about 4 months and I was SO anti CrossFit because of everything I had seen or “thought I had seen”. I said I never wanted to be buff or look like those girls that did CrossFit, but I knew I needed a change. So, I challenged myself to try it. The first day was a lift day, nothing serious, just some back squats. I thought okay, I can do this. HA, little did I know what I was getting myself into! The next class was a mini Murph training class. Holy. Moly. Don’t make that your second class, just a word to the wise. But I didn’t let that stop me, instead it motivated me to be able to do what everyone else was doing, to push my body to new levels. So I decided after three trial classes I liked it enough to join. I would go 1-2, MAYBE 3 times a week, until July. I was feeling pretty good about my body at this point, I had lost about 5 pounds, but was seeing a difference. So I made a promise to myself to go no less than 2 times a week and try to hit 3 (but let’s be honest, we have to give ourselves a little grace). On July 7th I weighed myself at 206.6 pounds. I went 2-3 times a week, I pushed harder than I thought I could, I lifted weights I never thought I would, I failed at movements but I kept trying, and I only threw up a few times! Haha! BUT I was losing weight and seeing noticeable results. Friends and family were noticing, colleagues asking what I had been doing, and that “daaaang” look from the husband was coming much more often! So now, here we are, a little over 3 months into a dedicated 2-3 day a week workout schedule paired with a healthy diet (with allotted cheat days/meals, because let’s be honest, it’s part of life) and I’m down 20 pounds, 1.5 pants sizes, and a crazy amount of changes have occurred in my measurements all over my body! Although we have a strong love-hate relationship, this thing I thought I would hate, this thing I thought would make me gross and buff, this thing I joked about has now become something I look forward to. P6 CrossFit has impacted my life for the better in providing me with a healthier, stronger, and happier body! So, even though I may not be able to Rx all of my workouts, lift the most weight, or bring the most points to my team for the Open Intramural Games, I can share my story and pictures as to how this crazy thing called CrossFit has changed my life for the better!
P.S. I wore a 2 piece swimsuit for the first time in 3 years this summer!
P.S.S. You can do it!
