Katherine B

Tyler has been after me for a few months now to share my Crossfit journey with you all. Since I recently celebrated my 1 year Crossfit anniversary, I felt it was fitting to tackle the story. So here it is:

July 2009 was a very different reality for me. I was overweight, depressed, and continually stressed with my workload. Health wise, I was on an asthma pump and took medication daily for acid reflux. Even though I was unhappy I had accepted this as what my life was – I didn’t have a plan to make any changes – I was stuck!

Luckily I had a great friend (Erinn) who had confidence in me even when I had none. After a chance meeting at a store in Cornwall, Tyler had convinced Erinn to check out Crossfit. She loved it! Erinn was convinced that Crossfit was something that I could take on and was determined to see me join. I kept telling her it sounded too difficult and advanced and that I would make a fool of myself, but she refused to listen to my excuses. I will never forget my first day. It was an outdoor class at Lamoureux Park. It involved sprinting, jumping lunges, overhead squats with a PVC and hollow-rocks. It was hot as hell! I thought the sprint (and I say sprint but I was basically at a fast walk as people sprinted by me) was going to kill me. Tyler had to come over and cut all my required reps in half and modify the jumping lunges to slow regular lunges and hollow-rocks to sit-ups. I could barely move the next day.

After that first class Erinn called me every afternoon to ensure that I would be attending our 5:15 class. She wasn’t going to let me slide. Each class I worked harder and harder at trying to do the movements right and complete all the rounds. It didn’t matter if it took me twice the amount of time or half the weight as anybody else – I was there to improve myself.

I was blown away by the support from fellow Crossfitter’s to do my best and succeed. Not only did I have Erinn yelling at me to finish and push myself, but a whole class full of support. I realized very quickly that although people were there to work on personal goals, the success of the whole club was also important to everyone and that each small improvement was something to be proud of and capitalize on.

Since last July I have lost 50 pounds and a total of 17.5 inches off my waist, hip and chest combined. I have changed my diet and eat paleo as much as possible (although sometimes I fall off the wagon a little).  Most importantly though is that I feel stronger, healthier and more confident. I no longer use my asthma pump and I haven’t taken acid reflux medication in months.

I often have comments made to me such as  “well you’ve lost so much weight so when are you going to give up this crazy paleo diet” or “why do you need to go so frequently to class” or “why do you get up on a Saturday morning to go – you don’t need to anymore”. This frustrates me to no end. I try to explain to people that Crossfit and Paleo isn’t a quick fix work-out regime or a crash diet – it is a lifestyle change. I have decided that I want to live my life differently. That is my choice; it may not be everyone’s cup of tea and that’s ok, but for me it has truly helped me turn my life around and I look forward to each new challenge that Tyler or Kyle put in front of us.