Success Stories

It wasn’t until 2013 that I’d heard of CrossFit for the first time. At the time, I was doing barre and yoga classes at Exhale, I had lost 15 pounds, and I thought I was in fairly decent shape. But, I was curious, and I began to research CrossFit to figure out what it was all about. I watched videos of people doing these incredibly high-intensity workouts, and I was intrigued. I was, however, a bit intimidated by the weights these people were throwing around and decided to do a year of weight-training at a regular gym before diving into CrossFit.

In March of 2014, I started working out at CrossFit HD in Chamblee during the heat of The Open. My first WOD was an Open workout, and I couldn’t even finish. Regardless, I knew I was hooked. I loved the intensity, and the fact that I wasn’t able to finish made me want to do CrossFit even more. I loved the challenge. I started out doing around 3 to 4 classes a week. I knew with a bit of patience I’d see some major changes over the next few months as long as I stuck to it. In 2015, I participated in my first Open, and I was up to about 5 classes a week. At that time, I noticed how much stronger I had become in a year. I was also in way better shape—I had gained a lot of muscle, and my fat percentage had dropped considerably. I’d say I was in better shape than when I did classical ballet training, which I had done for 15 years since age 5. 

In September of 2015, I came to CrossFit East Cobb, where my strength and endurance improved even more over the course of the next two years. I managed to complete two CFEC Assault Courses, and my hero/girl WOD times improved. I never imagined doing the things I do now in CrossFit. In addition to the 4-5 classes I take per week at CFEC, I regularly get together with some of my girlfriends from my old CrossFit gym on Sundays and do 2-3 WODs with them. 

Of course, there are quite a few movements I am unable to do (e.g. bar and ring muscle ups, butterfly pullups, etc.) or the ones I still need to work on (e.g. squat snatch, C2B pullups, etc.), but that’s part of what drives me to keep coming back for more. There have been a few setbacks due to injuries here and there (hamstring, wrist, ankle, and knees), but nothing a bit of rest and PT can’t fix. 

Here we are in 2018, with The Open on the horizon, and it’s a bit overwhelming to think I’ve been doing this for almost four years! The journey has definitely been challenging, but I wouldn’t change any of it. At 40 years old, I’m definitely in the best shape of my life, and I plan on doing this for as long as I am able.

Ever since I was a teenager I've been overweight, packing on the pounds in college and grad school. Sure, I'd get motivated for short times and lose some weight, played intramural sports and such, but I was never able to stick with anything more than a few months. That changed in 2010 when I started running. I work in healthcare and for a long time I knew I needed to make major changes or else I was going to end up like my patients. I knew that obesity and physical inactivity were going to lead to a poor quality of life in my old age. Running was something I'd tried before and knew I could do again. I had the support of a close friend and slowly but surely, I grew to love it. I even ran a marathon in 2012 and lost 70lbs in the process. I finally felt like a real runner and discovered the wonderfully supportive running community. Then came the dreaded running injuries and the lack of focus that goes with them. I knew I needed to add other types of exercise, so I joined a big box gym, went to classes, and even tried their expensive personal training. I didn't hate it, but I didn't seem to be going anywhere, and my running fitness was slowly declining as some of the weight I'd lost crept back on. At one point I even tried crossfit for a month, but didn't bite. But still I ran.
Fast forward to mid-2016 when a running friend kept talking about crossfit so much I decided to give it another try. Crossfit was what those big box gyms were lacking for me. I loved that I only had to show up, and someone would tell me what to do; I didn't have to think about it. In the beginning, the WODs demanded a lot of interpretation and a whole lot of scaling. I'm a morning person and I always have better success getting my exercise in early in the day, so the option for a super early 0430 class was definitely a plus. But I still felt out of my element and my focus remained on running. 
Then a family illness required I take a few months break. Upon returning I almost thought of quitting altogether, but I still had 2 months membership paid for which I wasn't going to let go to waste. Unexpectedly, things started to come together. I could finally look at the WOD and didn't need the alphabet soup spoon fed to me! I started making connections with the other members, and looked forward to encouraging them every day. Another thing that helped me turn a corner was Hero Week. I was determined to get that T-shirt. Lo and behold, I was able to Rx one of the WODs. Rx? Me?!! No way! I started committing to getting to the box more, and began to notice little gains here and there. I'd PR a lift, or be able to do more reps without taking a break, or increasing the weight of the kettlebells or wall balls. Little things that started adding up to mean a lot, especially when others started taking notice. It really is an amazing thing when your body learns new tricks! 
I finally felt ready to make other changes, which happened to coincide with a nutrition challenge. While I'd always focused on calories in, calories out as a way to lose weight, the challenge shifted my focus to the quality of those calories and focusing on getting a better balance of carbs, fats, and proteins. When the nutrition challenge ended I decided to keep watching my macros and was able to end 2017 with 10 lbs less fat, 1 lb more muscle, and a 215lb deadlift PR. 
For the first time in my life I'm starting a new year with different resolutions. Instead of making changes I'm resolving to continue what I'm doing to get stronger, fitter, faster, and leaner. While losing weight will be a welcomed side effect, it's not the main goal these days. I've learned that fitness isn't a destination, it is a lifelong journey and I feel like crossfit is something that will grow old with me. So I will always be a runner, but it feels really good to be able to finally claim the title of "crossfitter" too

My road to Crossfit was entirely unintentional and accidental. My oldest son Ben started first based on a recommendation from his physical therapist. My 14 year old (at the time) twins who could not do a single pull up or pushup signed up next for just two months. At the end of the twins’ time they asked to continue. At that time my husband was on board so we paid for annual memberships for four people. After two weeks, my husband was out, it was not for him. So, extremely reluctantly, at nearly 51 years old, I started because we had already paid after all. 

Immediately I loved it. I love my class of people who were all ages and fitness levels. I love the hardness of it. I love the fact that I could see improvements and actually quantify how I grew. I love that all around me people were focused on what their body could DO, not just what it looked like. I love that I have the same goals as many 5 year olds….”Wait…you want to learn to walk on your hands and climb a rope too?” I love the community, the encouragement and the funny, odd, eclectic mix of people that you will find in most classes. I love the fact that I am stronger than I have ever been in my life . 

At nearly 53 years old, the reasons that I lift and jump and run and sweat have nothing to do with the way I look. I do these things in the crazy early hours of the morning so I can:
• Maintain the bone density of a woman half my age with no meds
• Be the old lady that takes her grandkids on crazy adventures
• Be able to lift and help care for my dear friends’ disabled son, not just now when he is small, but when he is an adult and I am well into my senior years. 
• Have energy all day as I maintain a hectic work/teaching/volunteer schedule 
I never would have believed this two years ago when I started, but Crossfit has improved my life in so many ways. I know more about nutrition, I have a whole new community and am stronger. I am grateful for my persnickety spouse’s decision that pushed me into a place that I never would have chosen, but am so glad that I did

After tipping the scales at almost 250 pounds, having poor health numbers, watching my Dad pass before 70 and nearing my 50th Birthday I thought it might be time for a Life Style change. My wife had been at it for 8+ years and had gotten amazing results. She had been pushing me to do something but I didn’t think I really had the time for a change. The old excuses were there: “I travel too much”, “I don’t have time cause I am busy at work”, “the kids need my time”, “I have bad knees and I don’t think I can exercise” and “my diet is fine”. It is amazing how much you can kid yourself about something so important...your individual health.

I started the journey becoming a runner. OK I really started as a walker and not a very long one at that. Before I could run a 5k I signed up for a Half Marathon, (the Rock and Roll in Nashville because someone told me that it was a flat easy course). After 6 months or so of training we drove to Nashville before the race and I was not happy when we drove the flat course and was ready to throw in the towel before the race began. My partner is crime who had run Halfs before basically told me to “Shut Up, quit whining and run the race”. Some of the best advice I got. She would provide similar positive reinforcing coaching moment through out. We ran together for several years (through Marathon distances) and felt pretty good about our fitness levels. Yet I always had nagging injuries and painful knees. In that process I lost about 50 pounds.

Through mutual friends Terri started at CFEC in 2013. She would come home and talk so highly of the positive experiences she was having and the great coaches and people that worked out there. As most non-CF’s would attest the conversations were not what you wanted to hear. I kept making excuses until CFEC put out a Groupon and I got it as a present. I now had no way out and called Jason to set up a time to come in for my on-boarding conversation. After the first few WOD’s I was hooked. The variation of the work outs, the programming, the coaches and the 0530 crew all came together to get me addicted to CF. It has now been about 3 ½ years since I started, I have lost another 30 pounds (80 total) in that time frame, have better endurance, am stronger/fitter and have a much toner shape. I am most grateful to my Personal Trainer for continuing to push me and for the CFEC Coaches/community for the continued challenge and support I get every time I walk into the box.

I have learned that: you can endlessly make excuses to not start or keep going, that it is easy to convince yourself that you don’t have enough time to work out and that there will be time later to get in shape. The best lesson I have learned is that if I take just one hour a day and challenge myself to get better every day (not worrying about what others in the box do) and I watch what I eat I can see great improvements in all aspects of my life, Thanks to the CFEC Coaches and the Community for helping me every day do GREAT things.

MEMBER SPOTLIGHT

Little did I know when I started at CFEC, how drastically it would affect me and fit perfectly with what I needed. My Crossfit journey began in the Summer of 2013 at the end of a very long three-set tennis singles match that nearly wiped me out. I have always been a very competitive and driven person - I lost count of the number of innocent tennis racquets whose lives came to a premature end after a particularly frustrating point. However, these skills have always served me well in my personal, academic and professional life. I thought I was in reasonably decent shape, but after the match, I needed something that would give me more energy for longer matches in the brutal, merciless Atlanta heat. A couple of CFEC members who were on Jon’s tennis team told me about Crossfit and then one of my own teammates told me about it as well. A few months later, Jon and I decided to find out more about this mysterious program which we were hearing about everywhere. In September 2013, we ventured into CFEC, meeting Jason for the first time, and were in awe of what we observed. OK, we were really in awe of how freaking hot it was in there. We were given PVC pipes (and yes, at first, we did pretend they were light sabers) and proceeded to go through the ͞warm up.͟When we were done with all 3 rounds, we looked at each other and said if that is just the warm up, we are in big trouble.

We quickly realized that this Crossfit thing is pretty damn cool. And the coaches are pretty damn cool (especially Whit for playing Pat Benatar music at the 7:30 class!)And the members are pretty damn cool. And the muscles that develop are pretty damn cool. But CFEC still was pretty damn hot (really, no A/C in HotAtlanta?) When I first joined, I played tennis in the evenings, which is also the time I would go to CFEC. I had to choose between tennis and Crossfit....and that was a no-brainer. I not only drank the CFEC Kool-Aid, I bathed in it every night possible. Early on, I even started to record my times on every WOD and my weights on every lift. The Crossfit drug is truly addictive. When I miss classes, for whatever reason, I get really bummed out and strive to make up what I missed at the Saturday classes or elsewhere.

Several years ago, Chris Disser announced CFEC was doing a paleo challenge. I thought there was no way I could participate since Jon made me eat ice cream every night so I would not fall asleep on the sofa while we were watching TV. (Jon here – blatant misrepresentation of the true facts.) But Chris said give it a try, and I did. I lost weight and put on a lot of muscle. I felt better about myself and really started to like what I saw in the mirror.

After the paleo challenge, my Fran time went from 12:15 rx to 10:28 rx and later to 9:05 rx. I remember laughing to myself after Jason once said that my 1RM goal on bench should be my body weight. I said I could easily do that.....at my 1-year old body weight. But after a lot of work, I did it with a 1RM of 132.5. An early 185 deadlift 1RM later became a 235 1RM, and an 80 1RM shoulder press later became 92.5. 3 rep max dead hang pull ups later became 10 and 12 rep max dips later became 18.

Although a wrist injury in early 2017 set me back a bit, I focused on lower body until I was able to heal, but I never stopped coming to Crossfit. Jason and Sarah gave me different workouts until my wrist healed. (The one-armed burpees were my idea, and I don’t recommend that craziness.) Even with an injury, there is always something that you can do. I am still not back to my peak strength, but I am determined to get there and set new PRs, and with Jason and Sarah’s new programming, I know

it will happen. The holiday season has certainly taken its toll, but I’m excited about the 2018 nutritional challenge and getting back on track. There is absolutely no doubt, that more than anything, CFEC has changed my life for the better. CFEC has created a community that truly extends outside of its four walls. We all support each other as we try to get that first dead hang pull up or muscle up, but we also support each other when life throws a curve ball, and for me, that’s what makes it so special.Thanks to CFEC, and thanks to my honey for putting up with me, especially when I get angry with him when he even hints that I should skip a night of Crossfit.

My Crossfit journey began in December 2016. It has not only made me physically stronger but also a better version of me. I have pushed myself and done things I never thought were possible. Although I was a college gymnast, it had been 16 years since I lifted a weight! And even though a little intimidating at first, the coaches and everyone around me were so patient and encouraging. So not only have I become stronger, I’ve also gained an entire community that encourages me every single day. I feel so blessed to have found a home at Crossfit East Cobb. It has been months of hard work, but for me it has been life-changing - transforming me physically and mentally pushing me to be stronger. And what I love most about Crossfit is there is always room for improvement, so my journey continues... ;) I can’t thank all the amazing coaches enough for supporting me, teaching me, guiding me, coaching me, pushing me, challenging me to become better. And to everyone in my 5:30am class for showing me the way, encouraging me and continuing to push me. I am forever thankful for the positive impact you’ve had in my life.