I'll be honest (like I'm ever not - ha). There are lots of days when I wake up, force myself to get out of bed, drag myself into the bathroom, stare at the mirror, and think, "Really? I'm a CrossFit coach? There are people today that are going to ask me for advice and help and instruction on weightlifting form, nutrition, diet, other exercise...??? Am I really able to truthfully offer that to these people?" There really are days when I feel like I've woken up into someone else's life.
Because almost a year ago, I was 30 lbs overweight, 3 months gone from any form of exercise, eating crap all day long, struggling with emotional grief, and begging God for answers to things in life that I could not grasp or explain.
When I started CrossFitting in January 2011, I could have never imagined how God would use that one small step to completely alter the path I thought my life was on. Because though I've always enjoyed exercising, always been interested in good nutrition, always wanting to honor God with my body and the way that I take care of this vessel He created and is living within, I've never taken a single class that would make me eligible for any kind of title associated with an expert in the field of nutrition and fitness. But somehow - because of the testimony that the Lord has given me and the passion He has instilled within me for these things - I am able to grasp concepts about diet and exercise that I am learning to now communicate to others to help them make life changes as well. It's humbling. It's exciting. It definitely helps me get out of bed in the morning. :)
One question I get a lot centers around the idea of "how did I do this." How did I lose 30 lbs? How did I lose fat and gain muscle? How did I convince myself to stop gorging on peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies at 11 o'clock at night? I've thought a lot about this question, because I realize that if I could just answer it correctly to everyone who ever asks me, I could really start helping people make changes. The best thing I can come up with, though - truly - is just a little bit of tough love. The answer to the "how" is just honestly - it's not easy every day. Sometimes I don't get all my cooking done on the weekend and my week goes to pot and there's laundry to do and I hate doing dishes and my kiddo desperately wants me to color with her on the floor and the mayo that I just tried to make was an *ultimate* fail and if I don't get all my stuff together right now and walk out the door I'm going to be late for work, but then again I don't have dinner prepped for hubby and dishes are piled up in the sink and...............ahhhhhhhhh!!! Yeah, I have days like that. Some weeks I have a lot of them. We are all human, which means none of us are perfect or will ever be perfect.
So.........somehow even in the midst of all the imperfection and bad days and moments that I really wanted to scream nonstop for about 10 minutes into a pillow, I managed to meet the diet and fitness goals I had for myself. Which means you know what? You can too. When you have the kind of day I've had above, choose to toss the bad day as opposed to the good lifestyle. Don't forfeit the game because your receiver dropped the ball in the second possession of the first quarter. Write it off, let it go, and get back on it the next moment you can. This is a marathon, not a sprint - and for most of us, we have a ridiculous expectation of good change coming to us faster and with greater result than the bad changes (i.e., we expect to lose in 6 months the weight that took us 10 years to put on).
Sarah has an excellent post on her blog that expounds on "How to Succeed at Being Paleo." Really it comes down to not how prepared you are in the kitchen but how mentally resilient you are and how willing you are to push through obstacles and stand up to societal norm that says making healthy food choices is weird.
Be strong. Make good choices when you can. And thanks for letting me speak into your life a little about the things the Lord is teaching me about all this. I really do love this new adventure God has me on. :)
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