In January of 2011, I knew I needed to do something! I had always been very thin, but over the years, the weight crept on… 2-3 pounds a year. It bothered me that, although I was successful and confident in every part of my life, I just couldn’t seem to get control of my weight. I had a body fat analysis done at the Spa at Pinehurst on a weekend trip with my husband, and the results were depressing! For women, 32% body fat is considered obese, and mine was 35% a year ago!
I thought I was doing the right things. My diet was what most would consider extremely healthy, but it didn’t seem to make a difference what I ate. I wasn’t involved in any sports and my efforts to “work out with a personal trainer” (two years with no results) or “start running”, (six weeks until I developed a stress fracture in my ankle) didn’t make me feel in shape and I sure didn’t lose any weight.
I saw an article in one of the local magazines about CrossFit in Wilmington, looked into it online, and found CrossFit OIB. I read everything on the website and then worked up the nerve to call Coach Karen… You’ve seen the photos! She encouraged me to come and said that it doesn’t matter what your fitness level, that CrossFit can work for you.
The May On Ramp was my start. I was sore every day, but in a good way. I felt like I was making progress toward fitness almost immediately. I started to work out at CrossFit OIB 4-5 days a week and I genuinely hate when it’s 4 instead of 5 days! In July, after hearing all the talk about “clean” eating, I began nutrition consults with Coach Karen. She gave me a paleo/zone diet which I began and have stayed with since then. I have a feeling of well-being when I eat that way.
So, fast-forward to now. Two weekends ago, I was at the Spa at Pinehurst again, and made it a point to repeat the body fat analysis. I had lost 39 pounds and gone from 35% body fat to just less than 17%. I’ve gone from a size 12 to size 2. I’d be embarrassed to tell the “before” if I didn’t have such a great “after”. These changes have all been since I started working out at Crossfit nine months ago.
During the summer at Sunset Properties, we are so busy with vacationers! It was almost comical as I periodically had to realize that either my clothing was stretching or I was losing some serious weight! As I drifted from a 12 to a 10 to an 8, I finally stopped buying new clothes and started getting a few things at discount and thrift shops, until I hit bottom (in a good way). I’ve replaced everything I wear, and am looking forward to doing the same with my summer clothes.
I hope that Coach Karen and the other coaches realize how much they do to impact lives. It was really an emotional experience to start seeing results from my workouts! Karen will tell you that it’s YOU who do the work and get the results, but I strongly feel that my results are due to the environment she has created, the wonderful coaches she has hired, the workouts they design for us, and the encouragement of coaches and other crossfitters, old and new. It’s just plain fun to work out this way. Really, it doesn’t seem like I have had to work very hard at all. I know I am a crossfitter for life and wish I had found it sooner. GO BACK TO BEFORE & AFTER