Week 2: May 28-June 3

Hey, that's me over there...doing a deadlift...for the first time...I felt strong until Jason pointed out I was using a training bar...how was I supposed to know the difference? Oh well - GO ME!

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What a difference a week makes. I am a little over two weeks into Crossfit and I can see improvement already. It isn’t Olympic style improvement but it is something. I can actually finish the warm-up and want to do more. I haven’t been incapacitated by my soreness this week. I am very aware of most of the muscles in my body but I have my range of motion back. Whew.

One thing I learned this week was the importance of protein in speeding up muscle repair. It really makes a difference. I am eating my share of lean, organic meats and high-quality eggs with a whey protein shake thrown in here and there. I am rebounding faster. They say nutrition is 80% of the battle – and I believe it. We spend 30 minutes to one hour in the gym a day vs. 14-16 hours making food choices. You do the math. A friend recently told me, “It’s a whole lot easier not to eat something than to try to work it off in the gym.” I am finding that to be the truth.

This week I also did something I swore I would never do again. I bought a scale. I won’t bore you with the hell that a scale can bring into my life. However, I do need one to make sure my nutrition is staying in line with my work outs. I don’t want to come out of this heavier (and I have done that before with workout routines). I started at 253 pounds. Today, I am 247.2. 5.8 pounds is a fantastic loss so far. My diet has changed drastically. My life has changed drastically. I eat ‘clean’, I do Crossfit, and I find excuses to be active. I have traded in meeting friends for meals to meeting them for walks. I cook my own food. I choose whole, organic, unprocessed food.

This is how I should eat and move. This is how I want my life to look long term. I have had my share of the other stuff and it has just led to pain and limitations. Isn’t it amazing that we can change what we put in our mouths and how we move to recreate the quality of our lives? That is a blessing – so many people around the world don’t have this opportunity.

As for Crossfit, I am really impressed by our leader, Jason. Today, I ran the parking lot. I felt accomplished. He encouraged me to hold off on running until I get more weight off. I was a little deflated but was also thankful that he isn’t just trying to be the hard core trainer – he’s concerned about my overall fitness. What do I accomplish by training too hard, too quickly and coming out injured? Nothing. He is constantly watching form, coaching, but he is still pushing for best efforts.

There is someone out there right now who has looked at the Crossfit site and has said, “Man, that’s intense. There’s no way I could do that workout.” I am here to tell you that you can. With commitment, consistency, and conditioning, you can do this workout. I know I will improve and as Jason said today, “There will always be something in the gym you have to work up to doing.”

I think the key is overcoming your pride, walking in the door and saying, “I am not there today but I want you to help me get there.” Then, you keep walking in and saying it – day in and day out.

Crossfit Week 1: May 20-27, 2010

(Look over there - my name made the board - even if you do a modified workout, you make the board!)

*****

Can you be 36 years old and still feel like the fat kid in gym class? Absolutely. It happened to me this week when I walked into Crossfit for the first time. Thankfully, the feeling subsided quickly as I was met by a group of encouraging people who are focused on one goal: trouncing the Workout of the Day…and sometimes trouncing is simply completing it. After the first day, I realized I had just one goal: surviving the warm-up. We all have to start somewhere, right?

Thankfully, I quickly remembered that I signed up for this. The state didn’t mandate it. My mother couldn’t sign me out of it. I already know who I am in life and it isn’t an insecure 13 year-old with her last name on her gym shorts. I am a confident 36 year-old woman who is ready to reclaim her abused and neglected body. The gym teacher is no longer an old high school athlete who feels better by making fat kids feel worthless. My Crossfit owner, Jason, is a guy who is for me and my fitness – and he’s going to be in that gym to see it through- one workout at a time.

The ‘other kids’ are on the same journey – although most are further down the road. Every once in a while, one stops, looks and says, “I was back there once. You can do this. Keep it up!” So I do. I push through the pain I feel in carrying 100 extra pounds. I push through the shame I feel at finishing a modified Helen in 20:30. I push through the frustration that I couldn’t walk for 3 days after doing a highly modified version of the Workout of the Day. I push through the fatigue to try one more set. I chose this. I can do this. Even when I don’t believe it, there are other people on the road to remind me that I can.

Was I the fat kid in gym class this week? Yes, but it was a different class entirely – one that reminds me that I have to start somewhere. Thankfully, what I do today impacts who I am tomorrow and one day I won’t be the fat kid in gym class anymore. I will be an athlete. When I am, I will stop, turn around, and look the person behind me in the eye and say, “I was back there once. You can do this. Keep it up!”