Where I Started

My name is Calli, I am 27, a wife, a mother of two, and in search of my best self.

I started crossfit November 2011. My youngest of two sons was four months old. And I was OVERWEIGHT. I knew I needed to change something fast.

Trying different gyms didn't motivate me enough. P90X was good, until I got board of doing the same things over and over...

A tender mercy: (try and keep up) My husband's friend's brother had been involved in with crossfit through serving in the military, and at home for his own personal fitness, and was playing with the idea of opening a crossfit box. Playing with the idea, he set up a crossfit area in his garage and was helping others get started in there own fitness goals. Here's the tender mercy, he was willing to work with me for free. And at the time was the biggest blessing of all... Money was tight.

If I can find my measurements somewhere I will post them! But I have to let you know I lost over 25 inches on my body in a matter of 3 to 4 months.

Why? What was different?

I realized (for me):

*I needed to be PUSHED: having someone there who knew I could do one more rep, or a little more weight.

*I needed to be held accountable: If someone was waiting for me to show up, i'm not going to let them down, or give lame excuses.

*Most WOD's were fast: I needed to get home to my two boys so my husband could go to work.

For me, this was the beginning of

MY RECIPE FOR SUCCESS.

AND THEN... SOMETHING AWEFUL HAPPENED... my trainer moved. Sad I know. Okay, he didn't move to far, but it was far enough away that going was a bit harder. THEN SOMETHING EVEN WORST HAPPENED... I stopped going altogether.

Summer was approaching fast, and my husband was getting ready to leave for work. He would be gone for five weeks, back for a week, then gone for another ten weeks.

BOOM- There it was. MY MOTIVATION. Goal: get fit before my husband got back!

But, where was I suppose to start? I knew that crossfit was my jam. So I drove to my trainers home, who had set up new crossfit stations in his garage... but I couldn't justify the drive time... I then found out that my (try and keep up) husband's friend's (same friend) girlfriend just got crossfit certified. She was close to my home, and working out of her garage (a familiar place). Another tender mercy, she wasn't going to charge me, being newly certified just looking for some experience training others.

After my husband left I went to work! This was around May 1, 2012.

FIRST STEP: EATING CLEAN

SECOND STEP: CROSSFIT

When I first lost my 25 inches, I actually didn't lose more then five pounds... Why you might ask? Sure I gained a lot of muscle, and I could have justified it there, but bottom line: I NEEDED TO EAT CLEAN! I had not changed my diet at all, if anything it got worse. With this new start, I was going to do my best, and do it right.

I cut out ALL processed foods. Ate lots of veggies, fruit, and protein. The first thing I did was throw away any temptations that might find there way in front of me in my home! Even if I just bought it! (cookies, pop, chips...) Of course I did have to keep some processed foods in the home to feed my two growing boys, but I made sure any food was far from fatty.

I took my two boys with me every morning (7:00AM) to crossfit. My boys are perfect, so it's something I could do. :) My new trainer eased me back into the workouts. Again, it was perfect because most of the time the workouts were fast.

Between May 1 and August 1 I lost 30 pounds! (didn't do measurements, sorry) but 30 pounds! COME ON!

AGAIN, ANOTHER TRAGEDY. My trainer's life got to busy for me :) So, again the bigger tragedy followed... I stopped crossfitting.

That was around Sept 2012

I call this next period of my life:

THE DARK AGES.

Around October I started hearing about a new gym... My first trainer had opened a Crossfit box! I was so excited... But it still took me a little bit to move forward... even tho I wanted to crossfit.

There were three factors that got me going again.

1. My first trainer posted a video about crossfit woman. And how crossfit doesn't make woman bulky. Something rang true to me in that video: Worry about the things you can control: your eating, and: I want to see what my body can do!

2. My sister in law posted this on Facebook: If you are tired to starting over, STOP QUITTING. (ouch, that one hurt)

3. Messaging my trainer about the new box: "it's worth it, it's always worth it".

Yes, I joined the new Crossfit box! Yes, at times it's tight financially. But ITS WORTH IT!

After my first 5AM WOD at the box, later that day, (having forgot I went to crossfit that morning) my husband turns to me, "you seem happier".

Started at the Box around November 2012

AND HERE I AM.