In an attempt to avoid too many mundane details, I will just say that I have a multisport athletic background. By the start of On-Ramp, many years and pounds of fat had found themselves between me and that background. After college I went to work, got married, and made babies. Oh yeah, and sat down on the couch and didn’t move for almost a decade.
I’ll admit, I do have a demanding schedule, but that schedule became my primary justification for slowly eating/sitting myself to death.
I learned about CrossFit long before I started ‘doing’ CrossFit. A close friend of mine was/is super active in the world of CrossFit and – like most CrossFit’ers – told everyone who would listen about how great it was. I was sold, still fat and lazy, but sold on the concept. I liked the intensity, the variety, the community… etc. So, I would browse the internets and live vicariously through all the other people who were actually doing the work.
Fast-forward to the summer of 2010. I was shooting a wedding (I’m a photographer, not a maniac with a gun) and one of the groomsmen was telling a bridesmaids about pull ups, kettlebell swings, double-unders, and Olympic weightlifting. My keen skills of deduction led me to think, “I bet he’s talking about CrossFit.” Since I had been cyber-stalking CrossFit for a long time, I figured I should have a conversation with the groomsman. He told me that he was a police officer for the state and that he owned an affiliate close to Cincinnati, but he REALLY wanted to come back home to Bloomington and run an affiliate full-time. Crazy thing was, he knew my friend, the one that told me about CrossFit originally (it’s a small CrossFit world we live in). That’s how I met Shaun for the first time.
I also met Jenna that day, and shortly after, we all became Facebook friends (the only type of friendship that truly matters). That friendship led to me doing some photography work for Hoosier CrossFit, but more importantly it led to Shaun and Jenna inviting me to On-Ramp, over and over and over and over; and in May of 2011, I finally started On-Ramp.
I was scared to death. I did my best not to show it, but I knew I was in over my head. My fitness level was non-existent and the prescribed workout seemed impossible. To be completely honest, the workout almost killed me, but I finished it. I finished it and I felt great (not physically, but mentally and emotionally)! As On-Ramp progressed I learned a lot about CrossFit and about myself. I also learned that Shaun and Jenna are great trainers. They care about you, your success, your failures, your safety and your form (butt tight, belly tight). It was one of the best months of my life. I knew that things were changing and this time it was for real.
Another huge piece of my fitness puzzle was put into place in September of this year, nutrition. I started eating Paleo and I’m SO glad I did. Since starting to eat Paleo I’ve lost about 50 pounds and haven’t felt this good in a long time. My ‘bad knees’ don’t ache anymore. I was convinced I would live out the stereotypical life of an ex-football player and limp around until I needed a replacement and then possibly have to walk with a cane. Removing inflammation from the equation transformed my body. Nutrition is the foundation of EVERYTHING we do, if you get it wrong, it’s impossible to get anything else right.
Since On-Ramp I’ve been a 3-to-4 times a week Hoosier CrossFitter. You can usually find me at the 6:00am class with the other early-risers. I’ve gone from barely being able to run 200 meters to signing up for my first half-marathon; from needing the most assistance to do one pull-up to being able to complete workouts with no assistance; and most importantly to me (because of a nasty shoulder injury), I’ve gone from not being able to overhead squat the bar to being able to overhead squat my body weight. Oh yeah, I’ve also dropped 4 pants sizes and 2 shirt sizes. I say all of this in hope that someone will read it and realize that they can do it too. I’ll admit, I am really happy for myself, but if someone reading this can get that last little bit of inspiration to get off the couch and make it happen for themselves… well, that would be about the coolest thing ever.
