It's been too long since my last blog post. I was totally gung ho about the paleo lifestyle and working out. I still am actually, I just let life start to make my decisions rather than making my own decisions about life. I have a 14 month old boy, who is energetic to say the least. He's non stop from the moment he's out of his crib in the morning, till his afternoon nap, then till night time. He keeps me busy, and he is exhausting! I love him and I wouldn't want him to be any less active, but it's been my excuse the last few months to slack. It's not a good one, and I am done letting it be an excuse not to workout. I have plateaued in my weight loss, right around 200. I have, for the most part, stuck to Paleo, I have traveled a lot in the last few months and it's much harder to stick to Paleo when you're not at home. At least it is for me.
I just recently joined a crossfit gym close to the house. I've been going for 3 days now, and I can't say enough good about it already! I love it, and I know it's something I will continue with. I am not very good at working out by myself, I lose motivation easily, and I procrastinate often, which leads to giving up on trying to workout because it's too late in the day. It's been hard for me to find something that I truly enjoyed and felt like I could stick to. I'll tell you a couple reasons why I love crossfit so much, first off, I feel like I have a second family! The moment I walked in, I was greeted by smiles and kind words, I had aiden with me, and they told me I was always welcome to bring him. So I did! The second day I went, he was wonderful, playing and walking around with another little 2 year old girl who was there with her mom. Today though.. was a different story. Aiden started out fine, but shortly into my excruciating 30 min WOD, he got very upset and wouldn't stop crying. I was about to go over to deal with him and planned on most likely leaving, but as soon as I started to walk over to him, one of the trainers picked him up and started to comfort him. It didn't help, since all he wanted was me, but it was amazing, they kept saying "it's ok, it's a learning process for the little ones, he'll get use to it, we got this, just keep going with you workout." I was blown away, by their kindness, understanding, and willingness to put up with my screaming baby. Even the rest of the crossfitters there didn't mind and were also encouraging me and saying it was ok. That's what solidified my choice to keep going to their gym. Secondly, I just loved the workouts! The WOD(work out of the day) is fairly simple, but it's intense, and it gets really hard after a while. Today was the "chelsea". It was 30 minutes long, the more advanced crossfitters(unlike myself) did EMOM(every minute on the minute) rounds of 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups, and 15 squats. If you couldn't make the top of the minute you had to wait for the next minute before starting your next round. Most everyone got 20 or higher on their completed rounds! Incredible. I did every 2 minutes, because this is my 3rd day and they don't want to kill me! I was able to do 11 rounds out of 15 that I was supposed to accomplish. Which is pretty good! Especially for being so sore already. That amounted to 55 pull-ups, 110 push-ups, and 165 squats. I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to do 30 minutes of that. It was hard, but there wasn't a point during the workout that I thought I couldn't do it. I felt great, I felt energized and encouraged the whole time! 30 minutes went quicker than I had expected. Aiden did finally calm down too, for the last 10 minutes or so. I sat him down right in front of me while I did my push ups and squats, and I counted out loud for him to try and understand what I was doing. It ended up working well and he was happy by the end of the WOD. My last reason for really enjoying crossfit, is because I finally feel great about myself, I feel like I have accomplished something important once I finish. Life is short, why wouldn't you try to be as healthy and fit as possible, to be there and to keep up with your children/grandchildren, and to feel good for a long portion of your life!? Health and fitness are so incredibly important, having a child really changed that for me. I realized he needed a good example, and needed to be brought up in an environment that encouraged that kind of life style. Too many diseases and problems in our daily lives could be avoided, simply by exercise and dietary changes. I want to give my child the best life possible!
Crossfit is my calling, I know it's early to say it, even though I'm so sore, I can't walk up the stairs without pain, I still look forward to going again. I've never felt this way about any other type of exercise before. I'm so happy that I have a loving and supportive husband who is letting me do this. I wouldn't be able to do this without him. I also want to thank my friend Kara, who has been my workout partner. I don't know if I would have been so excited to tackle crossfit alone! She has been a strength to me that I am quite thankful for. She is working on getting super fit before she ships off to Marine boot camp! I'm proud of her for working so hard before she leaves. She will be a wonderful asset to the military!
I plan to continue to blog more often now that I am doing crossfit, I seem to have more energy despite being so sore and exhausted after my workouts. I don't feel the need to take a nap in the afternoon like I had been the last few months.
Life is good! I am so thankful for a body that works perfectly, that I am able to challenge it, and continue to improve in all aspects of life.
