Thursday, May 16, 2013

What If Girls Were Encouraged to Be Strong...

What If Girls Were Encouraged to Be Strong Instead of Skinny...


Everyone has that pair of jeans in their closet from their high school days that they are just dying to fit into. There's this one pair that I have had saved, I remember I wore them on my first date with Adam seven years ago, and haven't fit in them since...well this morning I got a, hmm what some might call, a wild hair up my ass, and tried them on. They FIT! Three weeks ago I couldn't get them up over my butt, this morning I not only got them over my butt...I also zipped and buttoned them with no muffin top! Whattt Whattt!

Anyways the point is this, in highschool we all just want to be a size zero. We are taught that the skeletal model who's skin is literally hanging off her bones is the ideal of perfection. Not only in the eyes of the males around us, but in the eyes of other women. Sorry Dudes, honestly we don't get dressed or starve ourselves for you, we do it for other girls.

I can remember being in a size two, and standing in the mirror pinching my "fat"...looking in the mirror loathing my "fat" butt, and my big boobs. I hated them. I hated myself. I would go to school, chew gum all day so that I didn't get hungry, drink some "peach and papaya" falvored juice drink loaded with high fructose corn syrup, then come home from school and sleep through dinner so I didn't have to think about food. I would wake up do my homework and eat some stupid toast with mozzerella cheese on it then go back to bed. I didn't exercise, I didn't pay attention to my caloric intake or the nutrituonal value in anything. I just focused on the number on the tag of my Abercrombies. The summer when my hips came in and my boobs grew and I had to buy a size six when we went school shopping...I thought I would die.

Never then at 140 pounds, with zero muscle tone, could I have imagined that I could have reached a staggering 289 pounds the day I went in to give birth to my sweet little Addy Bear. That thought still makes me sick. In my journey back down into "onderland" I learned so much about myself. I think a lot of it has to do with the divorce, and the removal of Adam from our lives...but as I sit here today I feel like more of a strong, complete, honorable woman then I ever have before. I am strong, in every sense of the word and that is amazing...

I look next to me at crossfit last night and the room is filled with people that I love. My Adaline, who is doing "box jumps" and wanting to pick up the bar. At home she does "exercises" and tells everyone when she grows up shes going to "ecessercise like Momma". She has little pink dumbells, and thinks jump roping is the coolest thing ever, and dangg that girl can squat. My heart swells up with pride. My child has looked at me and seen the positive example I am setting every day and she wants to be strong!! The room is filled with people that love me and my beebe...other women that want to be strong. Those same girls that were next to me in highschool killing themselves, literally, to fit into the size 00 jeans at Weathervane. Now here we all are with chalk on our hands, hair thrown up on top of our heads, squating down to pick up a bar with 200+ pounds on it. Clearly still looking like divas while doing it...I mean obviously. Now when we stand in the mirror we flex our muscles insead of pinching our non-existent fat. Yes I flex in the mirror...every morning.  Now as grown women we are inspired by, and inspiring eachother to be strong! To pick up that weight that we would have never even thought we could...to love ourselves, to challenge ourselves every day to do better, be stronger.

I look in the mirror now at my obnoxiously large calves, my big booty and my ridiculiously thick thighs and I LOVE them! They are powerful. They are strong. They allow me to squat hundreds of pounds. They allow me to run, to walk, to carry my child AND the groceries. They are the base to my entire exsistence, every functional movement we make every day uses our legs. That is a heavy load they need to carry, I am grateful for my legs some people might call "big" or "fat" because they are strong!

The point I am trying to make is what if instead of teaching girls that skinny  scrawny frames with clothes draped off them and hip bones pertruding from their waistbands was sexy...What if we tought girls that STRONG IS SEXY. We are the women who will shape the next generation. Their self esteem, their values, the way they see themselves. What if they based their self worth on the amount of push-ups, or how strong their back squat is instead of the number on the inside of their jeans! Would that be the worst thing in the world? I want my daughter to be strong, I see the way picking up heavy things and puting them down has changed my outlook on physique and life in general in just two short months...I want her to grow up with a strong spirit, a strong body...I want her to love herself. I want her to be proud of who she is and what she is capable of. Not be proud that she starved herself and can now finally fit into a pair of size 0 pants!!!



Wednesday, May 15, 2013

WIW: 10 Things Crossfit Has Taught Me

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Ahh It's Wednesday again. I decided to extend my blogging break, I needed some time, I took it. Now I am back refreshed & wayyy over my break! I missed you girls! It's Wednesday, which means we are supposed to report in our weight progress for the week. Yesterday when I stepped on the scale I was down 2.5lbs from last week. Honestly I was very surprised...Since beginning crossfit I haven't really been loosing weight. Like at all. In two months I have lost 8-10lbs, BUT I have put on tons and tons of lean muscle mass...I've gone from a 14/16 to a 10 in eight weeks. Yesterday  I was even able to put on a pair of my old 8's, I about had a heart attack. It is amazing the things that happen when you stop focusing on the number on the scale going down and instead focus on the weight on the barbell going up!


Left is me at the very beginning of my crossfit journey, Right is me two weeks ago.

10 Things Crossfit Has Taught me: 


1. I am stronger then I think, and more powerful then I ever imagined. In that moment as you are walking up to the rack, about to throw a ridiculious amount of weight over your head, any bit of self doubt goes away. Just Pick It Up.

2. Sometimes it's a good thing to do more then you think you can...Scared to add another 10 pounds to your bear complex because you're scared when you come from your back squat to over head press that it will crash down and bounce off the top of your spine...you're probably right. Speaking from expirence, it will hurt, it will bruise, you will be fine. And that failure will humble you, make you stronger for next time.

3. Failure is a good thing!! In life it is inevitible that we fail, if you're sitting there thinking "not me I always win" then you are a giant douche who's lying to themself. Failure keeps you humble. If we always win, if we always succeed the first time we try something...where's the lesson? Where is the excitement when we finally do suceed?

4. Spray Tans Should Be Scheduled Around Rest Days! If you spray two hours before you go to crossfit, and that workout includes running, even if it's raining...you WILL still be running in the rain...and you WILL look like a streaky little faaareeeaaakkk. Not to mention probably definitely sweat it out. Not cute. Been there done that. Ain't nobody got time for that.

5. I Can Do Anything for a Set Amount of Time. You walk in, look at the white board and the WOD is full of burpees...but it's only 8 minutes. I can do just about anything for 8 minutes, even burpees. So basically that means I can survive a n y t h i n g!

6. Wine and Pasta should be are considered paleo...ohh they're not? Hmm. You must be on the other Paleo diet! I mean, wine is grapes right?  ;)

7. Calluses Are Effin' Sexayyy. Calluses are a result of hard work and dedication. Picking heavy things up and putting them down, day after day. My hands are now contantly callused, cracked and blistering. I'm damn proud of it too.

8. Stop Focusing on the Number on the Scale!!!! The scale basically tells you a random number of what your body weight is at any given time. BUT it does not tell you what your lean muscle to fat ratio is...or that you are retaining a little extra water because your workout was super intense and your muscles are holding onto it for recovery purposes. We put WAYY WAYYY WAYYY too much emphasis on that number! It's just a stupid number, it doesn't mean a dang thing.

9. Working Out Is FUN! All day I look forward to 5:30 when I leave to go to crossfit. I enjoy everyone, we laugh, we joke, we work wicked hard and encourage eachother every step of the way. We are a family, and it's a wonderful thing to be a part of.

10.  I Can Overcome Anything!! I will and I have.


Crossfit has made me into a brand new person...Or maybe it has reminded me who I am. I look back on the last eight months since Adam kicked us out I left Adam...In the beginning it was hell. I was a miserable mess, falling apart and full of anger. Then two months ago when I walked into crossfit my world changed. Crossfit has taught me to focus, when you walk up to that bar nothing else matters, there is no time to think about anything besides picking it up. That is peaceful. Crossfit has given me strength to press the ignore button, to not pick up the phone when I have a weak moment as I'm watching Adaline sing about squirrles and I look to my right and he is not there... when I get pissed and just want to tell Adam what a heaping pile of garbage he is. "It is what it is" is my new attitude about everything..."Let go and let God" every single thing in life is a lesson, or a blessing. I've learned to take things as they come and just get through them, just like the 15 min AMRAP from hell, this too shall pass and I will be stronger on the other side! The sense of pride and accomplishment you feel when you come out at the end of something you struggle through is astonishing.




Left: Me last June Right: Me yesterday


Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Weigh In Wednesday...Where Have I Been




Heyyyy Divas.
Have you missed me? I know I've missed you.

Let's just talk a little about why I took a little hiatus from blogging. A couple weeks ago I walked into crossfit and heard the words no blogger wants to hear.."I read your blog." It turned into a discussion about Adam, divorce, infedility, and the hurt I feel about Adam choosing not to be Adaline's father.

Ya'll know my raw side, the real side you've stuck along with me and held me together as I have sorted out this mess and written may way to this new place of peace. Single motherhood was something I was ashmed of, scared of. It was the reason I stayed in an abusive relationship with an unfaithful man who I didn't love anymore. Now, today I can honestly say being a single mom is something I am proud of. I am so lucky, we are so blessed that I have such an amazing family that has been there through every bit of this. I get to come home, and be safe...I get to fix this mess and start over. I honestly don't have it figured out, who ever does, but the fact that I know we are safe for the first time in years...that is the best feeling in the world. BUT I wasn't ready for anyone who I "knew" to read any of this, to know that I went through what I did. I didn't want any one to think less of me because I stayed with a man who hurt me. SO I took a break for a couple weeks, and now I'm back!!
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It's Weigh In Wednesday, as you all know. I'm still not really weighing...okay I'm not weighing at all. That number doesn't mean anything to me anymore. The fact that I was able to go into underarmour and buy a pair of size MEDIUM capris..that means something. I may or may not have wanted to wear them inside out with the tag showing. The fact that I am able to run around and play soccer with Adaline and not die while doing it, THAT means something. This week I gained 30 pounds on my PR for deadlift (175), 25 pounds on my PR for hang cleans(100), and my one rep max for the Bear Method by 15 pounds (85)...those numbers are all way way way more important then anything that scale has to say.

For me finding a balance has been a challenge. I will have great weeks where I am nearly 90% Paleo, then I will have a week like I had last week where I decide drinking way too much tequila is a good idea, and McDonalds for breafast when I'm hung over is an even better idea! Such is life. I will never be the person who doesn't enjoy time with her family and friends because she's "dieting:" It's more then a diet, diets have deadlines, an end date...this is my life now. Fittness is something that has become part of me. Crossfit is all I think about from the time I wake up till the time I go to bed. I just want to get stronger, better then I was yesterday.

I am a different person then I was seven months ago when I left Adam.
I am a different person then I was six weeks ago before crossfit.
My spirit is unbreakable, I know I am strong
I know I can and WILL do anything and everything I want to do.
My sport has given me confidence, taught me to love and care for myself again..
My sport has given me my body back, it has taught me to love it in a different way.
And on top of that it has given me love, a family, friendships that will last forever.
It has given me PEACE.

Where have I been...I've been taking some time for me. Some time to be quiet and enjoy my life.
I've been searching for my happy again...
I have found it!
















Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Weigh In Wednesday...

Everyone Needs To Fail Sometimes...


This week I'm feeling pretty defeated. On Monday I was pretty excited for the WOD. I had already known that it was tough, and that not everyone finished it, let's be real, most of us didn't finish it...but I love knowing it's going to suck. Well at least I thought I did. Monday was the FIRST time I couldn't finish. I hadn't  eaten properly, I had only had a protein shake and half a think thin bar I shoved down my throat on the way to class. It used to be okay to get busy and not eat...that is not okay anymore. I thought I was going to pass out at the end of the third round when it was time to run, we were supposed to do two down and backs, I only did one. I have been pissed about it ever since. I need to feed my body with fuel to support the kind of results and progress I want. Eating less then 600 calories all day then trying to do an insane WOD...b a d idea. Then last night I got there, and we ended up talking about The King, I cried, I got upset, when it was time to start all I could think about was him, then when I went to bed last night that's all I thought about...that and the fact that I didn't break 90* with my wall balls #crossfitgirlproblems. I let him take away my special time that I cherish every day, I went to pick Addy up and felt like I didn't even work out...Wednesday is usually my rest day, but I'm going tonight...I need to have a good workout after two failures to snap out of this funk!

Over the last month I have been up and down on the scale, so I decided to stop weighing myself every single day & now just do it Wednesday mornings. Yesterday morning I was 184, and I realized that my goal 18 months ago when I started to loose weight was 185. I made it to my first goal, and didn't even realize it. Honestly I would be fine if that number never changed...I did the things I wanted to do, I fit in my old clothes, I can run if I need to, eventhough it is still not something I "enjoy" and I am a hell of a lot healthier then I was 114 pounds ago.

BUT today, I am not happy with where I am. Today my goals were different then they were over a year ago when I started this process. Today I want to be strong. I want to be fit...I want muscles. Something I always thought looked weird on a girl, but that was because I didn't think I could have them...now I know I can and I want them!

I've set a new goal for myself...the number I have in my head is 145, so that's what 40 more pounds? I want to be there by the end of August. I don't even know what 145 pound Alex will look like. The smallest I ever remember being was 155 pounds...and I was fourteen. I'm not so focused on the number as I am just being strong...but let's be real, that number would be awesome!

I've been talking a lot about food lately because just like exercise it is a essential part of any weight loss, or muscle gain. Over the last 18 months I kind of just ate whatever as long as I was eating less then 1,100 calories a day wine calories don't count right? That worked for a long time, I would hit a plateau when I wasn't as strict with my eating for a few weeks, maybe even a month, then I would clean it up and start over. The cycle kept repeating itself...and I stopped loosing. Now I spend 2-3 hours a week meal prepping and don't have to think about it again for the rest of the week. Now when I looke at my food I see protien, and carbs insted of calories. It is never beneficial to binge, then starve yourself, or restrict your calories down to 1,100...I was an idiot. Had  I picked up some heavy things and started feeding myself for fuel I would have reached my new goal a long time ago.










Monday, April 15, 2013

Happy Anniversary & Weekly Eats...

"That feeling that doesn't go away just did
And I've walked a thousand miles to prove it
And I'm caught in the crossfire of my own thoughts"
-E.G
Today marks my one moth crossfit anniversary.
In one month I have become stronger then I ever thought possible.
And I am not even talking physical strength...
I am stronger today, emotionally, mentally, AND physically then I have ever been.
Crossfit has helped me cope with the burden of a failed marriage...
And to be able to be me again.
My life is now filled with life long, positive friendships.
Weekends are spent feasting on healthy food and snuggling on the couch with my woman,
Instead of getting drunk by the fire with Adam & "friends"
I am a better mom, friend, daughter
I am a stronger woman then I was four weeks ago.
 
 
_______________________________________________________________
 
I have had a lot of questions about what I eat...I haven't been super strict lately with my eating, but last week I started "pale-ish"...I am only 40 pounds from my goal weight, I am 2/3 of the way there...AND I want to be there by the end of August. So it's time to buckle down and get serious...Here are my eats for the week.
 
 
Monday 4/15-Sunday 4/21
Breakfast: (Pick One)
 
-Oatmeal w/ water + tbs sugar free organic applesauce
+ two egg whites
-Protein Shake
(w/ 1/4 cup strawberries, 1/2 bananna, 1 cup spinach, 1 cup almound milk)
-2 Egg White Scramble Muffins
(grass fed organic un-cured bacon, peppers, onions)
Lunch: (Pick One)
-4-6oz Chicken Breast w/ 1/4 cup long grain wild rice, 1 cup broccli
-4-6oz Chicken Breast on top of spinach salad
w/ cucumbers, carrots and peppers + 1/4 cup home made croutons + 2 tbs greek yogart dressing
-4-6ox Chicken Breast w/ 1/2 roasted cubed sweet potato + 1 cup green beans
 
Dinner: (Pick One)
-Think Thin Gluten Free Protein Bar + bananna
-Protein Shake
(chocolate w/ 1 tbs all natural organic PB + 1 cup spinach+ 1 cup almound milk)
 
Snacks: (two each day)
- 1/4 cup unsalted cashews
-1/2 Think Thin Gluten Free Protein Bar
- Apple sliced w/ 1 tbs natural organic PB (melted)
- 2 egg whites
-Baby Carrots
-Plantain Chips (home made)
 
OFF DAY: (Saturday)
Morning:
-Omlet (2 egg whites + 1/2 cup spinach + onions + chopped grass fed un-cured organic bacon)
w/ protein shake (1/4 cup berries, 1/2 bananna, 1 cup spinach, 1 cup almound milk)
Lunch:
-Chicken wrap (whole wheat wrap, spinach, cucumbers, 4oz chicken breast,grass fed organic un-cured bacon, 1 tbs greek yogart dressing)
w/ carrots or apple
Dinner:
-4-6 oz chicken breast, 1/2 cup Gluten free pasta, artichoke hearts, asparagus, grass fed organic un-cured bacon, parm cheese
Treat:
-1/2 cup dairy free, almound milk "ice cream"


Happy Monday.
xoxox

Thursday, April 11, 2013

Little Lion Man...

"Weep for yourself, my man,
You'll never be what is in your heart
Weep, little lion man,
You're not as brave as you were at the start
Rate yourself and rake yourself
Take all the courage you have left
Wasted on fixing all the problems that you made in your own head"


I need you divas today, I need your words, your advice.
I know so many of you have been right here...right where I am.
I need you.


The King and I have not spoken in weeks, he hasn't spoken to Adaline, he hadn't even really tried. I was absolutely devistated when I found out about Kayla. The fact that he had been seeing her and was in love with her since OCTOBER...two weeks after he kicked Adaline and I out made me absolutely physically ill. I didn't want to talk to him. I didn't want him to talk to Addy. I wanted him the hell away from us.


Yesterday we talked on the phone, and he mentioned that he had a job wating for him here, in New York, if he wanted it. We talked on the phone for a good fourty-five minutes with out really arguing. I talked, and he listened..well I thought he was listening. I texted him last night on our way home from Mason's game and asked him if he wanted to see Addy. I know, I must be a masochist or something...because I keep dragging myself right back to the same place over and over again.

I keep thinking this time will be different.
I keep aching for Adaline to have her real "Daddy" in her life.
I keep expecting more from him then I think know he is willing to give...
I keep getting disappointed by the man boy that has hurt me physically and mentally for the last seven years..
I keep letting him do it...
I want him to be better, I want him to love her...
Just like I wanted him to stop abusing me, and want me...
That didn't happen until I left seven months ago...

I feel like I am failing her by protecting her from him. But am I really? It is so incredibly hard to make that call, I don't want her to hate me, I don't want her to go with out anything especially her father.

Last night he said all the things he always says. That I am too good for him, how much it killed him to see me in that house doing nothing, how he never meant to hurt me, how the military ruined our love, how he didn't know me anymore and that all this was bound to happen. That I deserved someone who could really love me and appreciate me, because he would never be good enough...Last night was the first time I recieved those words and they didn't give me "hope." Instead I was left after that conversation thinking "what a waste of fucking time" Everything he said was completely and totally one-hundred percent true...

I am too good for him
He didn't deserve me
And I do deserve someone who can give me what I give them
BUT
The military did not ruin our love...
He was an abusive angry little shit long before he joined.
And I was happy being "stuck" in that house all day.
I wanted nothing more then to make his life easy and perfect, to spend my days raising my child, not missing a single second of her life.

The King took so much of my life. Seven years...nearly a third of my time on this Earth was spent with that man. We made a life and a family, he threw it all away. He doesn't get to disappear for months while he falls in love with someone else...he doesn't get to tell me he "has had time to reflect on what he has done to me, he's sorry and he's changing" I call bullshit. He is "changing" for HER. Not for his daughter, not for our family. Not for ME the woman who gave her LIFE to him for way too fucking long. Now believe me, I do not want him to change for me...I do not want him back in our life, I do not want to have his last name, I do not want anything to do with him..but it still shatters me that I wasn't enough, that Addy wasn't enough to make him change.

We desereve a good life. We deserve a real man. He does NOT deserve to be in our life. I do not trust him, or his intentions. Every time I give him an inch he takes a mile. Last night I tried to talk to him about the money he owes me, and he had the nerve to say "I need it too" meanwhile he's sitting in our home, with our furniture, driving our vehicle...with a brand new overhead projector above his stupid head. Complaining about how the house payment went up and his child support payment is so high that he can't afford to pay his bills. Talk about a fucking J O K E. He is seriously the most selfish person in the world, he cannot even see what WE need, what his wife and his daughter need. He cannot see his responsibility in any of this, monetarily, emotionally...nothing. nadda. It's my problem now, he has bigger ones apparently.


I was so conflicted when I started writing this today, now at the end of it...I no longer feel that way. I know the way I feel is right. I can hold my head up and know that I have taken the high road in every sense of the word through this entire process. I have carried the burden of a failed marriage, of motherhood, of heart break...and The King has done nothing but keep piling the stress on. Yesterday is a perfect example, he said he was thinking of taking a job at home...so I assumed he meant SOON, so I thought " I guess we should get our shit together, because we are going to have to parent Addy together" turns out that is over a year down the road! He knew exactly how to get to me, and I LET him.

I know better.
I am stronger.
He is not worth any more hurt.
He is a coward.
He is not a real man.
He certainly is not a "Dad"
His words mean nothing until his actions prove other wise
He has a LOT of making up to do for all he has destroyed.
He needs to start over and EARN a place in that perfect child's life.
He gave it up.
He gave us up.
That was his choice, Now it is my choice not to let him just walk back in.

I am too strong, We have come too far, way way way too far to go right back to where we started.
Life with out The King is a lot more peaceful and safe.


Adam,
If you're reading this, which I now know you do. Step it up. You don't deserve us now and you never did. And no I don't mean you and I, beleive me I do not want you back in any way. If it weren't for Addy we would never speak again, but we have little life to consider. A litle person WE brought into this world. If you are not willing to give it all for her, then I would prefer for you to give her nothing. I can do this just fine with out you...I've been doing it just fine with out you. You don't know me anymore, but I know you...your words are empty, and I am ready for some action. You need to prove that you deserve a place in that perfect child's life. You destroyed me, you will NOT destroy her. You break her heart I will KILL you, and there will be a lot of people standing behind me...





Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Weigh In Wednesday...Pale-ish

Happy Weigh In Wednesday Divas!!

As you know I haven't been weighing myself nearly as much, trying to stick to once a week instead of every day before the shower, at the end of the night, every time I pee. Well, that is MOSTLY because that stupid scale has really been pissing me off lately. She's a liar, and I HATE liars. My first week of crossfit I gained nine pounds, talk about discouraging. The next week I lost two of those, then last week I lost four more. Over this past week I have seen numbers as low as 183, and as high as 191. This morning it was at the higher end. Talk about annoying. Particularly since I started Paleo Sunday, and expected the weight to basically fall off.
Last night we got done before the next class came in for their WOD, so we talked a little about food. Basically I think I's exact words were, "You started paleo right, eff that" HA. I was all like okieee, I thought this was the "crossfit diet," I thought I was doing the right thing...

My endurance the past two days has been less then spectacular. In fact on Monday I thought I was going to pass out mid clean&press, and last night the burpees almost did me in. That is just NOT cute...I do not want to be the girl who passes out. I know if you're a hard core crossfiter you take loosing conciousness as a badge of honor...I do not. I can only imagine what that would look like as my body slams against the floor and I lay there like a whale washed up in Boston Harbor...go ahead have a good laugh.

So anyways, the solution he suggested was paleo with no carbs after 2:00pm. I'm going to call it Pale-ish {pay-lee-ish}. In every sense I will technically still be eating Paleo, just with a little brown rice thrown in at lunch. My body needs those carbs for fuel every night at 6:00pm as I beat the crap out of myself...I will not pass out, I will not throw up.

We also talked about "trusting the process" I told him how I was kind of freaking out because of the yo-yoing of the scale, and how I was used to loosing 1-2 pounds a week, and now I was gaining and loosing the same ten pounds over and over again over the last three weeks. He told me what I already knew, it's muscle. There is another girl that does the morning classes, she has lost over thirty pounds over the last few months. She also gained the first month, six pounds...she was pissed and wanted to stop, she too was told to "trust the process".. she did. Now she is thirty-two pounds lighter, insanely stronger, faster, and solid muscle. Esentially she really lost more then thirty-two pounds, because she packed on a ton of muscle. When you are used to just doing cardio, and used to loosing the normal one-two pounds a week, it is painfully hard to see the scale go in the opposite direction. But...I am just going to "trust the process" I know ultimately if I keep doing exactly what I've been doing I will get to exactly where I want to be.


It has been three weeks tomorrow since I first walked into the box and did my first WOD. The picture on the left was taken three weeks ago...I can see diffrences in my body. My belly is thinning out, I'm starting to see the makings of abs, glutes, biceps...but I decided to measure today for the heck of it..Remember it has ONLY been three weeks since I first started crossfit, ONLY three weeks since I last measured.

Before:                                                                    After:
Right Thigh-24                                                         Right Thigh-20 {-4}
Left Thigh-23                                                           Left Thigh -19 1/2 {-3.5}
Hips-44                                                                   Hips- 39 {-5}
Waist-31                                                                 Waist- 28 {-3}
Chest-38                                                                 Chest- 37 {-1}
Left Arm-12                                                            Left Arm- 12 {-0}
Right Arm 12 1/2                                                     Right Arm- 12 {-1/2}

That is a total of 17 inches in THREE weeks!
That is completely insane, I knew I was seeing changes, I have lost two pant sizes, and now three pounds but I never expected it to be 17 inches lost! If that isn't encouragement to "trust" the process I don't know what is!