Getting in Shape

One of my 2013 New Year's Resolutions was to get in shape.  Not just any shape, but to get in the best shape of my life.  I've always been tall and thin, I think that's pretty obvious based on my pictures.  And for a lot of my life, I've been pretty active--whether it was tennis, or horseback riding, or more recently surfing.  However, I never felt like I put the proper time and energy into really getting my entire body fit & toned.  I made excuses with myself.  "You are skinny, so what does it matter?"  But this year, I knew that wasn't good enough anymore.  And, if I'm being honest about the facts, I'd also put on about 10 pounds over the course of our international travels and my very long job training. 

So at the start of this year, this is what was staring me in the face...
You've put on some weight, what are you going to do about that?
You turn 29 this year, will there ever be a time when you're younger & healthier than this?
You don't have any kids, will there ever be a better time to focus on your health and fitness?
If not now, when?

Those thoughts motivated me, for the first time in my life, to find a fitness routine that I could stick to.  I've dabbled in many things over the years--I ran a 5k using the Couch to 5k app, I did a Groupon for 5 pilates sessions, I tried some yoga here and there, and I did some bootcamp classes at the gym.  But the common denominator amongst all these approaches was that I didn't stick with it.  For one reason or another...lack of self motivation, cost, or schedule...I let it fall by the wayside.

Because of my track record of fickleness, it gives me great pleasure to say that I joined a Crossfit gym in February, and have gone three times per week since.  I never miss, and I would love to go more if money were no object.  Every day, I cannot wait to look online and see what the workout is going to be for the day.  Even when it contains skills that I don't particularly love (ahem*burpees), I'm still excited to go and to push my body and break through my mental barriers.  It's absolutely addicting and I love it.  I even watch videos of Crossfit skills online and my husband recorded the 2012 Crossfit games onto the DVR.  Who am I!??!

I really wish I'd had the foresight to take some legitimate "before" pictures.  I honestly had no clue that my body would change so rapidly.  Instead, I spent the last 15 minutes scrolling through mountains of photos on Facebook and found one that does the trick.  My husband took this photo when we were in Vietnam and it's a pretty good representation of my weight when I started Crossfit.  I wish I had photos of me flexing my arms and such, but you'll have to trust that there wasn't much muscle or tone to see.



"before" picture, taken in June 2012
~140 lbs

 One of the reasons I want to start blogging again, is so I can document my journey toward being the strongest and fittest I've ever been.  I certainly don't plan to turn this into a fitness blog, but I would like to post about Crossfit from time to time--sharing milestones, accomplishments, and such.

I'll get serious about taking some photos and measurements this week, so I can mark my progress.  I hope you'll all join me on this journey!

Have any of you tried Crossfit?