CrossFit South Bend

[vc_row padding_top=”0px” padding_bottom=”0px”][vc_column fade_animation_offset=”45px” width=”1/1″][container][text_output]Click here to reserve your spot in our Whole90 Challenge – Deadline to sign up is January 15th 2016![/text_output][text_output][image type=”rounded” src=”http://crossfitsouthbend.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/1378476_10201871496083641_831120687_n-e1409857952556.jpg” float=”right”][dropcap]i[/dropcap] was waiting for an amazing story about how I lost a billion pounds before I talked about how Crossfit has impacted me. I am telling this story for the person that might be disappointed because they do not see immediate results. My “transformation” was rather slow but there is value to telling the story of a person that did not get the magic results. I had to stick it through and wait for my body to recover from the harm I inflicted over 8 years of high stress, lack of sleep and poorly managed vegetarianism (I was a cereal-tarian). A lot of people have amazing results after doing whole30. This doesn’t mean you will. There are so many factors that play into successful weight loss some that you may or may not be able to fix immediately. So have patience and wait for your body to bounce back. The body is a tightly regulated machine and it takes time for all the biochemical processes to reach equilibrium and perform how they should after years of having to compensate for your bad habits.

Why I got a little big: For starters, I have never been athletic, never played a single sport in my life. I have always been a book worm, taking lots of classes and staying up all night. I have failed to get more that 5 hours of sleep every night. I mention this because I believe this is one reason why my body was a bit slower to recover and respond to the Crossfit regimen. I put my body through so much stress by not sleeping or eating well from age 15 to 21. Food quality and sleep are essential for effective weight-loss and muscle building.

[pullquote type=”left”] How I decided to get my body back: I was in a unfamiliar place 2,200 miles away from family and friends. I felt down about myself and thought my body reflected that, and caused me to lose out in life.[/pullquote]

I was a vegetarian who ate horribly and was sedentary. Stress from waiting to hear from graduate schools and trying to decide where I wanted to go took me away from my hiking and healthier cooking. I just kinda let myself go even after effectively losing weight I gained in high school. . . I gained it all back (plus more) during my senior year in college and the summer prior to moving across the country.

How I decided to get my body back: I was in a unfamiliar place 2,200 miles away from family and friends. I felt down about myself and thought my body reflected that, and caused me to lose out in life. In a superficial world where people judge you by your outer appearance it is difficult to forge any type of relationship when someone writes you off because you look a certain way. I was tired of being some mean girl’s chubby friend who they used to feel better about themselves. This is a topic for another post but keep away from these people, any person who views your weaknesses as a method to inflate themselves usually does not want you to succeed. They see your success as a threat to the comfort you provide them with. If anyone pulls away as you start to become happier/after you succeed this a person that needs to work on themselves before they could ever be a good friend.

[image type=”rounded” src=”http://crossfitsouthbend.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/63507_10202611461902324_1701569342_n-e1409858577155.jpg” float=”left”]I was angered by this and I thought it was time for my body to reflect my inner beauty. I desperately needed an outlet for my stress and something to ward off homesickness. I started to go to the gym after or before teaching during my first year. I started running outdoors and trying to gain some mileage typically adding a mile to my runs every other week. I dropped 40 lbs in a few months. I stopped losing weight. My diet was pretty clean but the elliptical and treadmill were not doing anything for me anymore. It was time for me to move on to something new.

How I found my Box: I made a great group of friends in graduate school. They were like minded and kind to me and they introduced me to a friend who later joined Crossfit. I saw the results that he got in just a few months and I wanted to try it. I got my roommate to sign up with me for a one month fundamental course. We arrived at this industrial building and we did a short introduction. The coach talked to us about our goals and what we wanted from Crossfit. We gave him the very typical goals which were all aesthetic. This makes me blush and roll my eyes when I think about it now. He probably thought I was a new years resolution junkie that would do the first 30days lose steam and move on to the next thing that promised to make me smaller.

After this talk, he made us do a diagnostic WOD consisting of: 500m Row, 40 air squats, 30 situps and 20 ring rows (pull-ups). I remember it took me just under 10 minutes to finish this “WOD”.The next day I felt like a bus hit me and it hurt to sit on the toilet for a few days. I thought I was going to die. When I finally got to the On-ramp class it took a few days to not feel like a old lady when trying to sit down or like a 400lb manatee trying to do cardio.

Outcome 1.5 years later:

I did Whole30 for about 2.5 months. I did not lose much weight but I lost a few inches. I felt better and learned the hard way that my body hates cheese, nitrates and sulfates. I did not lose the 20-40lbs that some people lose when going on whole30/Paleo diet but I was pretty well versed on processed foods and ate pretty clean before (I ate paleo + beans and some cheeses). I also was a vegetarian for 7 years and my body needed more than 60 days to recover from lack of protein it was used to.

I was pretty happy with how energetic and good I felt: I could now see my cheekbones, I liked my reflection in the mirror. I picked up the pace and upped the WODs to 5 days from the 3 days I started with. I was able to lose weight and get down to 165#. I struggle to juggle my personal life, crossfit and my graduate career. I am still learning sometimes one or all of these things suffer.[pullquote type=”right”]One of the best messages that Crossfit has implanted into society is that strength is beautiful this means that being bigger than that 100# model is okay but if you are an 100# model that is okay too[/pullquote]

I am now back up to 175# but I am a lot stronger and have lost over 21″ all over my body. When I started I had a 65# back-squat and I am now at 165#. My full clean was at 75# I am now at a 123# and 133# power clean, I used to have a 53# overhead squat now my 1rm is 120#. My weight loss and health journey did not start with Crossfit but it gave me the tools to keep the weight I lost off and build muscle and strength. Crossfit turned my new -40lb jiggly disaster of a body to a firmer stronger machine that is working better than it has in years.

Crossfit is a great sport and it had a positive impact in my life. One of the best messages that Crossfit has implanted into society is that strength is beautiful this means that being bigger than that 100# model is okay but if you are an 100# model that is okay too! In society obsessed with the scale and riddled by body dysmorphia and eating disorders, it is nice to see something that embraces the human body no matter the shape it is in.[/text_output][/container][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row padding_top=”150px” padding_bottom=”150px” border=”none” parallax=”true” bg_image=”9549″][vc_column fade_animation_offset=”45px” width=”1/1″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row inner_container=”true” no_margin=”true” padding_top=”0px” padding_bottom=”0px” border=”all” parallax=”true” bg_color=”#f4a8e1″][vc_column fade_animation_offset=”45px” width=”1/1″][text_output][blockquote cite=”Jenn” type=”right”]Crossfit wants you to be fit so you can live life to the fullest looking great is just a side effect of being healthy. It made me accept my large legs, made me view my short stature as an advantage, and it has given me a sense of community and family thousands of miles away from home. So if you are on the fence about making that first step know that we all have to start from somewhere. Change is difficult but the payoff is well worth it. Invest in yourself, we all know that long-term investments often reap the most fruitful results.[/blockquote][/text_output][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row padding_top=”0px” padding_bottom=”0px”][vc_column fade_animation_offset=”45px” width=”1/1″][image type=”none” float=”none” info=”none” info_place=”top” info_trigger=”hover” src=”9531″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row padding_top=”0px” padding_bottom=”0px”][vc_column fade_animation_offset=”45px” width=”1/1″][share title=”Share this Post” facebook=”true” twitter=”true” email=”true”][/vc_column][/vc_row]