A year in review

October marks my one year of CrossFitting and wow- a lot has happened in the year. The short version would be something like this:

October 2010- started CrossFit

December 2010- decided I wanted to become an instructor

February 2011- started my 30 hour internship

June 2011- completed the internship/picked up a few classes at the gym

July 2011- Got Level One CrossFit certified

August 2011- Started teaching more classes and joined our competition team

There is a lot to say about CrossFit in general and the way it makes me feel. If you hang out with me for more than 20 mins, you will probably quickly realize how obsessed I am with it. I have gone from being a pretty normal, averagely thin (SOFT!) girl to someone who can (at this point in time) do 29 pull ups on a row, dead lift over 200 lbs, run a 5k in 23mins, lift more than I have ever thought I could lift over my head. I know what things like a snatch, clean, jerk, etc all mean (all weightlifting terms). And pretty much kick a lot of guy's ass as certain workouts. I am not bragging- its just the way it is.

I have COMPLETELY changed the way I eat. I have gone from being almost purely vegetarian and replacing meat with crap. Honestly, I used to not eat meat, so instead would make myself mac and cheese for dinner. Bad substitution people. Now, my diet consists of ALMOST zero processed food. Meat, veggies, nuts and seeds, little fruit, little starch, ALMOST no sugar (minimal dairy, zero grains) . I am still very particular about the meat I eat- but overall I am learning what "healthy" means and becoming more in touch with the way different foods make me feel. Am I perfect at eating like this? ABSOLUTELY not. I am not "paleo" on vacation and I definitely cheat during the week. Balance people balance. I'm not a physco about it.

The BEST thing about CrossFit, actually two things is this:

1) Even though I have been going strong for a year, I don't even feel remotely where I want to be at. Meaning, I can always lift more and try to improve my weaknesses. Every one has their strengths and weaknesses and therefor you never really "master" CrossFit. It really is something you can do forever and not get bored. When a workout gets easy (not sure if thats possible with CrossFit) but all you have to do is increase your weights or put on a weight vest and the same workout is a whole new challenge.

2) The PEOPLE. Honestly, we have the coolest gym around. Since CrossFit is classes only you really get the know the people you are training with. Some of our best friends in Denver are from the gym and its great to have people with the same interest as you to hang out with. I would say 90% of our members are originally from elsewhere- so it is cool to make so many unique/great friends from all different walks of life.

Not that this is the point of the post, but I FEEL so much better when I look in a mirror. Adam even said a few months ago that he hadn't heard me say the term "I feel fat" in a REALLY long time. Thank you CrossFit. I MAYBE will post some before and afters. The owner of our gym, Georgia Maxey (coolest girl in Denver), has some incriminating pictures of me from the beginning of Feb. before we started a challenge (sans clothes). I need to see what those look like and then MAYBE post some... haha.