"Why Do I CrossFit ..."

"Why do you CrossFit ...." I have been asked that question time and time again and I have never really put any thought into it when I am asked the question, until recently. Why do I CrossFit ... it is a hard question to pinpoint for me and I am not really sure why. I use to CrossFit because I was trying to please someone but I was never really into it soooo I stopped but then why did I come back. I came back not because of the community, I wasn't close with anyone when I left so I wondered what really made me come back to what I felt was this horrible torture of an hour that in the beginning made me inadequate and scared and nervous.

Well I guess I came back because I wanted to prove something to myself. I was not sure what it was that I wanted to prove to myself I guess it might have been that I was a person worth something, after the break-up I felt like nothing, I wanted to prove to myself that I could pick myself up and be that women my mom had wanted me to be ... and yet I still remember thinking jesus what am I doing to myself I still come in last in a WOD I don't feel improvement BUT THEN IT ALL OF A SUDDEN HAPPEN ...

...A group of ladies who literally have amazing souls and by some holy power came into my life and really showed me what CrossFit was about .. it is of course about looking beautiful and becoming stronger but it is more than that, at least for me, it is a breaking down of my insecurities and building myself back up into a rock solid positive human being. These ladies did that they picked up the pieces and helped build me back up through their experiences and encouragement, through conversations or just a friendly hi. It was from these women that I learned what really came out of CrossFit.

For me CrossFit Costa Mesa has been a rock in my life that humbles me and yet has been able to instill me in a sense of confidence I never knew I had. The people in that community have nothing but love and positive influences to share with others. It is through this community that I have rediscovered myself spiritually, mentally, and of course physically. I am able to share my every thought with this community without judgment. I will always be grateful for the past year I have shared with this community because without them I sometimes wonder where I would be.

So Why do I CrossFit ... because it continues to open the doors to the person I am meant to be.

Unexpected Life

If someone told me when I was a kid that at 24 years old I would be where I am at today I would have been like you are crazy. When I was a kid I dreamed big like every other kid I wanted to be an actress, I wanted to be a doctor, I wanted to be so rich! But this is not reality ... My reality is very different. As I turned 24 last week I reflected on the past couple years and how I have changed into the women I have become. This past year especially I have really turned a corner. There are three things that have really improved the person I have become.... 1)New Friends 2) CrossFit 3)My mental toughness ..

New Friends
Words can not describe what friends have done for me in the past. They have helped me through two of the hardest times in my life when I was in college and I had friends in law school that helped. BUT in CrossFit I have made the best of friends. Some of the people that have really made me become happy with who I am are my friends from CrossFit. Last year, I broke up with my boyfriend and I was a wreck, I had completely lost myself in him and didn't know what to do, I quit everything, I wasnt mentally there at school, all I wanted to do was just sleep and eat. A friend reached out and asked why I wasn't going to CrossFit so I decided to return. There I met my great friend Liz who was so positive and happy and loved life. From then on I realized that there were so many friends who have impacted me from Linds, Erica, Erica, Kristan, Andrew, Steve, Alec, Ali .... But there was another person who really changed my life and he probably doesn't know it. Ron, my trainer came into my world in May I still was bitter towards guy didn't trust men... And I started training with him .. it helps that he was cute to look at but I still didnt trust guys, so we started talking as the months went on and I started talking to him about other things than CrossFit I felt comfortable finally being able to be like not every guy sucks at life. Ron helped me get me over my ex and although he will never know it, that was a huge thing for me... So yes these new friends have just impacted my life and made me a positive person.

CrossFit
I think everyone knows how I feel about CrossFit. All my posts are about it. I feel strong I feel sexy I feel beautiful ... Yup I am going to say it I FEEL LIKE A BADASS :) This is a lifestyle that improves every aspect of your life.

Mental Toughness
A year ago I would say I didn't believe in myself I was dependent on people I wasn't happy. But because of CrossFit I built up my mental toughness, I came into a WOD and was like already giving up! But now I walk in a gym and I am like how am I going to rock it !!

This is my unexpected life ... And I am happy with it. I am young and I will find my footing but for now my unexpected life is the best life I could want. Live with no regrets live with all your heart and that is best life!

Locking Out

Today I had a very intense and emotional chat with some friends about my life. I didn't plan to share my life story with them nor did I think I ever would. I was always too afraid of what they were going to think of me, if they would see me in a different light, if they were going to act differently towards me ... That is what kept me from being raw and honest with them.

As I shared with them two instances in my life that have been probably the hardest things I have experienced it kinda poured out and I could hear myself saying the words and in my head being like SHUT UP you are just making yourself look bad and I kept thinking they are so quiet and they are not saying anything they must just think who is this person we though we knew ... But I told them .... I was truly honest and after I told them I felt like something was lifted off my shoulders and I felt like I really truly could be my own person around them like I am in the gym.

When I step into the gym you can't pretend you are some badass, I lift heavy weight, you can't fake your way through CrossFit you are what you are ! You are only as badass as the weight you lift, you are only going to push as much as you can, you are being raw and honest with yourself with every WOD you do, every lift you do ! It is just you and the bar and maybe GOD, praying that you can lift the sucker or get under the weight ! But there is no faking it, if the chin doesn't get over the bar then you can't count the rep, if you don't lock out at the top you can't pretend you did ...

So when it came down to it, I have truly become close with these people in my life and I wasn't "Locking Out" with them like I should. I was halfway there but not always... To be so raw with them today felt amazing, I felt like they could truly understand the women and the struggles I have had and am going through ...

The best part of this was I was still nervous when I was at my apartment so I decided to go get some yummy almond milk and have some hot cocoa ... As I was driving back my phone beeped and I saw a message from one of my friends ... In it she expressed how she truly thought I was an inspiring person and was happy that I had shared my story with her ... I literally broke down in my car crying ! To know that is how she felt was just so great ~

"A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked."
~ Bernard Meltzer

Taking Charge

I was just given a bill today that I have no idea how I am going to pay I have a payment plan set up for a year but the amount I must pay after trying to talk it down is close to impossible for me to do! I had a panic attack for a second and I was like what am I going to do I am barely staying afloat. So I decided to take charge of my life.

I am starting a new venture on top of my pursuits to become a lawyer. I am going to start a dog walking business. Why not ?! People are looking for dog walkers and I can be that person. At the moment it seems impossible and in the back of my head what about if I don't get anyone to bite. But then I remember I got to try ...

In CrossFit, sometimes I walk up to the board see the WOD and go wow that is going to be impossible (in my head) never say it out loud Steve would not be pleased to hear that, but I am going to try to do it. This happened when I did "DANIEL" I walked up and was like 21 thrusters at 65, running, so many pullups ... Jesus ... But I tried ... I really did I took charge and told me mind to shut up and did it ...

Results I BECAME A FIREBREATHER !!! Basically a badass, because I tried! So, I am going to try and start a business because if I don't try I will never know .. If I never tried in CF I would still be doing jumping pull-ups, using the bar and never improve.

So I will take charge of my life, like I take charge of the WOD !!!

"Continuous effort - not strength or intelligence - is the key to unlocking our potential." - Winston Churchill

Be A Shark

I constantly feel like there is always something wrong in my life. When one positive thing happens, two negative things happen. I constantly feel overwhelmed with my life, if it isn't money, it is my career path, my parents, my love life etc. Then I remember what my Mom has always told me you have to work hard for what you want, you can't expect things to just happen you have to make it happen for yourself. How true my wise mother is. I need to get up and make it happen ... a friend told me a funny quote today but I realized how true it is "Sharks have to keep swimming or they die. Be a shark."

Sharks go after what they want they aren't lazy they attack. I got to attack, I can't just lie in bed and throw a pity party I got to get up, dance a little maybe, and go outside and make it happen. As, always everything for me comes full circle to CrossFit. I want to be a Shark in CF, we have sharks at our gym and I want to be them and I know I can. I just have to keep working, through injury, through the frustrations I have with my outside world, I got to step into the gym and "shark it up!" Lately, I have felt like a big shark in the gym, 50 pull-ups RX, PR's .... :) Nothing can stop me, maybe my stupid back but still I will do everything I can to not let it.

CF can really transcend into the rest of my life though. I have recently been complaining to my friends about how my life is terrible but I need to stop talking and be as proactive as I can. I could just let the setbacks swallow me whole or I could just try harder. I could just let my passion for life die or I could "swim" ... if I can do 50 pull-ups and come off the bar and say nothing but a peanut, I can for sure kick my butt into gear and climb the hills of life and look back and say "Ain't nothing but a peanut" !!

My mind is ready to "Keep Swimming !"

Family

Family can mean so many things .... It can mean mom, dad, sister, friend but what really is it ? ... It is the people you surround yourself with everyday of your life and for me my home away from home is CrossFit Costa Mesa... I have never experienced the kind of support and love from a group of basic "strangers" every single day ... I call them "strangers" because they haven't been your friends all your life, they don't know your history, your hurts, your needs but what they do know is your inner strength your inner self fighting everyday to become the person you were meant to be ... these "strangers" have become my family ... I come into my gym everyday and am inspired by the amazing women and men there everyday ... They not only inspire me in the gym but their happy soul and persona rub off on me and I carry it with me throughout the day .. My CrossFit family is the best part of my day !!!!

Pain is Good

One of the most amazing things I have learned about CrossFit is the pain of Crossfit and the joys that come from that burning pain. You do one WOD and you are dying on the floor literally or you are outside puking your brains out and for a split second you think to yourself why am I putting myself through this, who does this for fun? I probably ask that question not only after I do the WOD but during it and when I walk in and read what I am about to put myself through!

The one thing about Crossfit is this is not bad pain its good pain. Its the pain of knowing you are eating wrong, the pain of knowing that you are not treating the body the way you should be, the pain of realizing damn you just put your body through such a good workout, muscle pain, new muscle growing pain ... any pain you can think of but its all good pain.

And one might hate this pain but its a good pain! It helps you overcome the emotional pain of life. It makes you stronger not only physically but mentally! You kick your brain for giving up but you push through. Everyday I step onto the blackmats of the CrossFit floor and I embrace the pain because one day you will look at yourself and realize it was all worth it.

So in the end yes Pain is Good!

Beginnings of Crossfit Passion

I use to hate CrossFit I will be the first one to admit it. I thought it was a cult, I thought it was only for boys and I thought that if I did it I would look like a boy too. I was also scared that if I ever tried it I would be weak and the people would look down on me. Boy was I ever wrong about that.

I was first introduced to CrossFit by my ex who was constantly talking about how amazing it was. I remember him telling me once that the gym I went to was doing nothing for me and that Crossfit was the new thing. I was stubborn didn't listen I had a groove; get up go to YMCA be on a machine for one and half hours and then I would be in great shape. He constantly would talk about it still and I guess to shut him up I decided to go and try it out. I literally went into it with the mindset that I was never going to actually sign up. This wasn't for me, this was a guy thing.

So I took my first Crossfit class at Crossfit LA, Becca was my instructor and I took everything she said in and then she was like alright lets do WOD. A WOD oh god I had heard about WOD's jesus was she for real? It was the basic baseline WOD and once I was done I was dead. I had never sweat so much in my life since I was in high school playing tennis. I couldn't believe it. I was surprised and happy I had done it. As I was about to leave I glanced over and saw this woman doing pull-ups and I was like wooahhhh wait a minute I want to do that but I wasn't entirely convinced yet. What about if I could never get there?

I took sometime to think about it and then I thought why not give it a try what is the worst that could happen, I get fit!? So I decided to look for a Crossfit closer to my place and I found one Crossfit Paradiso. It was just in its beginning stages, the "gym" was located in a former restaurant but it had everything that you would need to do a WOD and I basically got private instruction. For that moment on I realized that there was just something about Crossfit that began to shape my life. First off, a month into it I was performing better in my job and was gaining more confidence.

Honestly, Crossfit is something anyone can do and I will be the first to say I never wanted to do it because I didn't think I could but now that its coming on a year and it is one of the best decisions I have ever made in my life. CrossFit; you will love it if you try it!!