CrossFit.

This is the story of a chubby 10-year-old girl who was always picked last for the sports teams, even by her best friend.  The girl continued to struggle with weight for the next two decades, transforming from healthy-ish, back to chubby, and around again.  Until finally, she decided to embark on a journey to discover her fittest self.   In order to hold herself accountable while simultaneously inspiring others who might struggle like her, she decided to utilize the internet and put the entire journey out there for anyone to see, on a web series/blog called the FatNoMoSho.Hello!  I’m that girl! The journey of a thousand miles, as Lao Tzu said, begins with a single step.  And that first step toward true fitness was to figure out what physical activity I actually enjoyed doing.  I tried all sorts of things, from flying on a trapeze to stand up paddle boarding.  And of course, I tackled running, and have done some fun 5ks.  But nothing quite challenged me like CrossFit.  You may have heard rumors of this quickly growing sport – such things as… it’s a cult, it’s expensive, that you get ripped…I had to find out for myself.   So I set out to shoot an episode of the FatNoMoSho to see what this elusive CrossFit was all about.  And all of those rumors are true, wonderfully true.  But here’s a secret – for the next year after shooting the episode, I kept thinking and talking about joining a CrossFit gym.  But I was afraid, partially because of the aforementioned rumors, but mostly because of the intensity – I wasn’t sure if I could be athletic enough.  But a friend of mine was so inspired by the episode that she joined a CrossFit gym, and to date has lost over 68 pounds, while discovering amazing strengths of her body like never before.  So although I initially inspired her, it took her to full-circle inspire me to really give it a try.  And here’s what happened.

At my first workout, I was the only female.  Surrounded by incredibly athletic, built men, ready to lift some serious weight, and I could barely do a jumping jack without getting winded.  I decided to announce to the group that I was nervous – I didn’t know if I’d finish the workout, or die.  They assured me that they had my back.  And they did.  Here was the WOD (workout of the day):

800 meter run

21 front squats

21 pull ups (modified with a resistance band)

400 meter run

15 front squats

15 pull ups

200 meter run

9 front squats

9 pull ups

During this workout, as I panted and huffed and groaned, face as red as a tomato, these are the thoughts that raced through my head:

I’m gonna puke.  I’m gonna puke.  No, I won’t puke.  What if I have a heart attack.  Yep, definitely going to have a heart attack.  My legs are jelly.  How am I supposed to squat again?  I can’t squat anymore.  Ok fine one more.  I can’t pull up any more.  Am I going to cry?  No, don’t cry.  But my inner fat girl is saying I told you so…look at all these fit people…and you were always put in right outfield because you had no athleticism in your entire body.   Ok I think I can run one more time…

And understandably, all of the ripped super men were done far before me…but they had all converted into full on cheerleaders.  My inner voice was silenced by shouts of exaltation.  You’ve got this!  You can do this!  Come on!  I had somehow completed all but the last 9 pull ups…and they all counted down as I finished each one, ending the workout gasping, high-fiving, and feeling victorious.

The next day, my muscles screamed with every step, reminding me that I gave everything and worked out as hard as I possibly could.  With a small boost of confidence, I went back the next day, and have been going 3-4 times per week for the last two months.  I still have a long way to go, but I can already tell a difference in every part of my body, and with every WOD, I feel stronger, more sure-footed, and I can now cheer on my fellow CrossFitters…from those ripped men to the newer members with the same look on their faces that I had.