I had just started CrossFit for the first time ever before moving to Austin last year. I visited a couple gyms, but I liked the atmosphere and coaches at CC. Honestly, CC was also closest to me, but joining the Burnet location is probably one of the best things I’ve done since moving to Texas. CC had the accountability, community, challenges, and support that I was looking for in a gym. I joined because I felt like I could be successful with these people - I think the results below agree.

Though I never would have admitted it, prior to joining CrossFit Central I was a wreck. I had always been active and played two or three sports growing up, but by the time I joined CrossFit Central I had reached a point where I was severely overweight and rarely exercised. I remember one moment when I tried to bend over to tie my shoes . . . and I couldn’t. I had become so immobile and heavy (not to mention miserable) that I couldn’t even bend over and touch my toes. I was extremely unhappy, but I wasn’t willing to try and change my eating or exercise habits.

It wasn’t until I tried CrossFit that I found out how much I had missed competitive sports. I hadn’t even realized I missed being active until my sister forced me to find and join a CrossFit gym with her in Birmingham. I was sold after the first class and have been attending regularly ever since the summer of 2017.

I did The Lean Turkey Challenge last year and the I AM Challenge this year with CrossFit Central Burnet Road. I normally go 4-5 times a week and will sometimes run outside of the gym a few times a week. Since joining CrossFit Central in October of 2017, I’ve lost 55 lbs. and 40.45 total inches (from all over - 8 from my waist, 6 from my hips, etc.). I’ve rediscovered my love for movement and competition by working out regularly and entering my first-ever powerlifting and CrossFit competitions this year. I have been able to test how far I can push myself with a barbell, loading on the weights and seeing how much I can lift. Most importantly, CrossFit Central has given me the tools to change my relationship with food, body image, and exercise—for life. I’ve never been so happy to wake up at 5:30 each morning to hit the gym and start my day!

Lost 55 lbs. and 40.45 total inches

The most difficult barrier CC is helping me overcome is my relationship with food. I was seriously addicted to sugar and was constantly overeating before starting CrossFit. Doing the lifestyle challenges with CC, though, has entirely changed my eating habits and mindset. I had no idea how much your palate could change simply by cutting out refined sugar and processed foods. Though I still struggle with eating most green things, my diet is now far better and more balanced than anything I’ve previously adopted. CC has helped me surmount “the diet mentality” and figure out how to implement changes and practices that I can use for the rest of my life! Better nutrition and weight loss are no longer these far-off, unachievable goals; learning how to manage my macros, baking Paleo recipes, and even logging my food has shown me how simple a healthier lifestyle can be.

I think pushing myself in the WODs and watching myself improve has given me confidence I didn’t know I was lacking. Having success at CC and knowing what I’ve accomplished there has made me feel more capable in general, whether it’s for work or school or just in life. With my family, all my immediate family members have done CrossFit at one time or another; it’s one more thing that brings us together, just like it pulls you closer with the regulars you CrossFit with each day. My older sister currently does CrossFit, and she and I always chat and compare notes on our WODs (mostly to decide whose was harder).