I’ve been with CrossFit Central since around 2009 or so. Time sure flies when you’re having fun. In 2009 was doing bootcamps at the time that were poorly ran and very inconsistent. I was looking for a change so I did some research and found out about CrossFit. I happened to office near the CC Burnet location so drove by one day. The garage doors were open during a WOD, so I parked across the street and watched from my car. I saw what they were doing and said “I can do that!”. I signed up and jumped in head first. I’ve worked out at all of the CrossFit Central locations over the years and I’m currently at CrossFit Central Downtown.

Even though I did the MWF classes and rode mountain bikes, I had lost focus on my nutrition. I let my sweet tooth and love of margaritas dictate my food choices and my weight reflected it. I got to the point where I actively avoided my scale knowing I wouldn’t like the result. My willful negligence let my weight creep up over time. I’d eat and drink garbage because I justified my actions because I was still active. Change is hard. I wasn’t happy with myself nor the choices I was making but I wasn’t ready to make the commitment to change.

In October of 2018, I went with friends to ride in a mountain bike event in Bentonville Arkansas. We did rides over three days and the race itself was a 35 miler. I physically just felt awful. At the end I was totally blasted and was disgusted with myself. Mountain biking is normally a fun activity for me. Yes, it’s taxing and challenging but I normally enjoy it. My weight gain made it miserable for me. That was the final straw for me. I was so over it and ready for a change. When I finally got back on the scale when I got home I was blown away that I weighed 223 pounds. This made me sad and angry but it was the kick in the pants I needed to make the change.

After the event, I looked at the calendar and saw my 50 birthday was right at 6 months away. I saw that as a great opportunity to set a long term goal that was attainable and would drive me to be accountable for myself. I decided that I’d be sub 180 by my 50th birthday and I told Jeremy about my goal. I leveraged the Lean Turkey and I AM challenges to help my journey. During the rest of the time I kept on pace with encouragement from Jeremy. My weekly workout schedule, my riding groups and keeping on top of my nutrition allowed me to hit my goal. Now… riding has been super fun again. I’ve moved from the back of the pack of in my ride group to one of the leaders. I’m able to climb simnifically better and I’m clearing technical features that I’ve previously had to walk. I’ve also cleared some that I’d NEVER cleared before… mountain bike PRs!

James Lost 43 lbs. and 8.7 % Body Fat

Mentally, I’m more confident and I feel better about myself and my mental state. I believe I can take on anything!

The community and coaching is what keeps me coming back to CrossFit Central. Our 5:15am class is a fun group of people. I enjoy the camaraderie of the group. We encourage each other (and sometimes give a little ribbing when appropriate). The programming is always challenging which is what I want and the coaching is great. The coaches know their stuff and share their knowledge to push us to do the work in a safe, productive manner.

Coach Jeremy Thiel
”James has been an athlete at CCDT for 8 years. This past year was his 50th birthday! He wanted to drop weight and be a rockstar in his new decade! We set goals took on challenges stayed focused on nutrition and cutting margaritas back. With his dedication and focus was able to lose weight and keep it off! James consistency has been on point all year. In the past we fell behind on good nutrition choices. Once he got honed in on his target goal results happened. James is awesome and really funny guy. He always shows up to do the work and has great comments to go along with it! He is an anchor in the 5:15am MWF class and I always look forward to seeing him there!”