With both of my kids, I ended up gaining 65 pounds. No matter what I ate, or how much I exercised (up until I gave birth for #2!), I still gained 65 pounds. It was what my body wanted. Although I didn’t want to fixate on the weight gain, and I learned to embrace my postpartum body as who I am now as a mother, I still didn’t quite feel like myself. I knew I could become an even better version of myself.
Going to a few bootcamp classes and working out in my basement on my treadmill and with my 10lb weights just wasn’t cutting it.
I had heard a lot of “scary” things about CrossFit that turned me off at first. Turns out, those were all BS (pardon me, but it’s true!). So at about 1 year postpartum, I joined Reebok CrossFit 306 and I haven’t looked back. I was hooked on day one! No joke.
Things I loved about CrossFit, right from the get go:
- Variation – I get bored easily. But every single day, Jason puts together a different workout. Each time I go to the gym, it’s something different.
- Intensity – The intensity is perfect for me. It makes me forget about my kids fighting before I left, or the next work deadline. The workouts are intense enough so that I don’t have TIME to think about other things. I love that “zone out” time in my hectic life.
- Community – At this gym, you don’t get guys asking if “you need help putting that barbell away, honey?” in a condescending way…. Nobody is sitting there judging you. They’re all just busy working on themselves. Yet, everyone is supportive and encouraging of each other. It’s perfect.
In the 15 months since joining CrossFit, I’ve developed 20% above average skeletal muscle mass and lowered my body fat percentage to close to 10%. My body is now burning more calories while I sit on my butt and type this out. Score!
But more importantly, I feel like myself again. I’m proud of how much stronger I feel and am more confident in day to day activities like loading Culligan water bottles or picking my kids up. I don't need to fixate on the scale or looking like I did for my wedding 8 years ago (too skinny and not strong!) and feel more confident with my own body.
I look forward to a long term relationship with CrossFit and would love to see other mommas join our community at Reebok 306.
- Alex P.
*Results are not guaranteed, individual results will vary.