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Friday morning was my first official Crossfit training session @ HarborCity Crossfit.  It went well, took a little longer than I expected but resulted in a really good workout.  We ended with 200m run, 12 - 35lb kettle bell swings, and 6 pull-ups (can’t do a pull up so did jump pull ups) x 3 rounds.  I finished in a little over 6 minutes which I thought was pretty good.

One thing happened that really hit me.  Durring my last round I was finishing in the kettle bell swings in agony and I limped over to the pull up bar then took a few seconds to breathe and my instructor looked over and said, “do one then you can rest!”  I did what he said immediately, but later after the workout I reflected on how profound that actually is. 

Mentally we need to continue to push ourselves in life, work, as well as our workouts.  We need to always push through mental and physical exhaustion to perform the next rep then we can grab a breath.  If we continue to do that then we will constantly improve.  Isn’t  that the goal to constantly improve in life!

Down to 194, 9 pounds left on the drive to 185 then that goal might have to be adjusted downward!

So I have been delayed starting my actual Crossfit Sessions in the Harborcity affiliate, however since I have been home from my travels I have been eating very well and that is yeilding additional results.

This morning I weighed in at 194.6, which is below my goal of 195 by the end of the week.  I am supposed to start my crossfit sessions tomorrow morning at 6:30am. 

I look forward to it.

My wife wants to make sure that I am commited to this lifestyle and working out before I fork over the $500 plus needed to do the real introductory sessions at a Crossfit Affiliate, HarborCity Crossfit. 

Two weeks into my new lifestyle I have been working out about 4 times a week and sticking to my diet as perscribed.  I have lost 7lbs, and I can feel a difference in my body and energy level. 

At this point I am realizing that I need to apply the same level of effort to my spiritual well being.  Now this process has begun as well!

I started the diet as described in my last post.  To my suprise and satisfaction the food was very tasty and I was losing weight.  So I was off on my way to a more fit self.  I found a WOD (Workout of the Day) that I could do with the stuff I had in my make shift gym and did my very first crossfit workout.  Three sets of thrusters - burpees - pull-ups with repetitions of 15-12-9.  I was determined to make it through the work out and so it started.  I used a broomstick for the thrusters and those went well, then right into the burpees.  I executed the burpess all in succession followed by my nemesis, the pull up!  I haven’t been able to do a full body weight pull up in many years and this day was no different.  In order to finish the program I did jumping pullups where I would jump and use that momentum to get close to the top of the pullup.  That set was difficult to say the least, but I persevered and got all 15 jump pull ups. 

The second set was not so easy as the first.  I had to stop halfway through to catch my breath and I could feel my heart beating like a drummer in a heavy metal band.  Nevertheless I continued and slowly and sloppily progressed through the workout.  When I was done, there was nothing left in me.  My legs were jello and my head was spinning.  I had to lay down to keep from passing out. My wife was proud of me that I put my max effort into the workout. 

End result after the first week, I was sore as I have ever been and I lost a whopping 2.5 lbs.  Although that doesn’t seem all that much, I felt a sense satisfaction and a real change in my perspective.  This was a start to the real change required in my life.

I have let myself go over the past 5 years.  Normally one gets “in shape” for my wedding day, not me.  In fact a few short months after my wedding day I ballooned to a whopping 216 lbs.  Fast forward 3 years and I settled in at around 205 lbs.  I work a desk job and slowly saw my pant size creep up to a 36. 

I woke up one morning and was having trouble finding trousers, my 36s, that would fit.  It was then that it hit me.  I finally had to take a stand.  My sister had just started this weird gym thing called Crossfit.  I was reading up on the program and looking at the local affiliate’s site.  My wife was sitting next to me and she pointed out to me that my sister is blessed with my fathers genes and I unfortunately got my mother’s genes in relations to body type and weight.  That verbalization made my deep dark secret come alive.  I finally had to admit if I was going to be “in shape” I would have to make a lifestyle change.  I took a picture and weighed myself.

I was 202.5 lbs and had a BMI of approximately 32 which is right on the border from overweight to obese. 

The next day I started to do a scaled down version of Crossfit at the house.  As part of my new lifestyle I read The Paleo Diet, by Loren Cordian, and began phase 1 of the new digs.  I am going to update my process on the site as well as the internal changes that I am making with my faith.  This is a renovation project that I really look forward to.  Stay tuned for updates.