Elisa – your physical, emotional, and mental strength is definitely inspiring.

Eric – So glad you took the opportunity to share!

PS-XX, I did it

Elisa, thank you for sharing your story as well!

I’m so glad you all have become a part of the Crossfit Portland community!

Thanks for sharing your story – keep up the good work! Slow and steady wins the race, and you are at a good pace. Maybe even picking up speed!

Xia Xi,

Who knew you were such a sentimentalist? That was a great video -thank you.

I also want to say that CrossFit has been wonderful for me. My heart beats more quickly when I think of sharing this, but it has been great therapy for me of late. My dad was killed over the summer in a cycling accident, and I am still grieving over the loss. I have good days and really emotional days, and I never know which one is coming my way.

CrossFit has been wonderful because I don’t have to think about what I’m going to do, yet provides awesome stress relief while simultaneously challenging me to get stronger and work harder. Additionally, there is some kind of correlation between my physical, emotional, and mental strength. Somehow I just feel like I can cope or handle more when I am pushing my body to the limits. It also helps to have a group of people cheering you on in endeavors you never thought possible!

So, thanks everyone for accepting me -and all the new “CrossFitters” – into the family. It means a lot.

elisa

th

I represent the estate of Robert Frost. I have a court order demanding an immediate halt of this unauthorized and poorly executed imitation.

You should continue to work on your abs, and leave the poetry to the professions.

Harold Skimpole

For about a week, I did this. I started to feel more confident, lost 2 lbs, but knew that at that rate it would take me a year (at least) to make my weight goal, and pass my initial army PT test (officer candidates must pass the test before you can apply for OCS, unlike just enlisting, where you dont). I was frustrated, and had nobody but myself to blame for my current situation. I chose to eat uncontrollably, I chose to smoke, I chose to drink, I chose to neglect my previous strength, power, and speed (I was a 2nd team all-state defensive end in high school, and a starting defensive end in college) that I worked so hard to attain earlier in life. I had chosen the ‘other’ road.

Now my destiny presented me another fork in the road; an enormous challenge. On the road to my left was complacentcy, laziness and fear of failure. On the right was determination, endurance, strength and a will to succeed at all costs.

This was about the point that a special forces officer that moderates the forums of armyOCS.com told me about crossfit. I did some research, saw some of the workouts…that intimidated the hell out of me – but knew that it was something I could accomplish. I figure that destiny was pointing me in this direction; fleeing from this challenge would be a mistake I would be sure to always regret. Now was the time to push myself to my limits, not on day one of OCS, where I would be setup for failure or injury or both.

So I found the courage to call PDX crossfit, knowing i was tremendously out of shape and obese, knowing that I would get some odd looks on day one from individuals who I envied physically. But I also knew that I would NOT quit. Ever. Period. I did my ‘baseline’ test with rochelle, which took me about 30 min to overcome my faintness and fatigue. But I came back eagerly to Rochelle, and she showed me the way during our one on one’s

almost 2 months later, and I am down 7 inches around my stomach, down to 269 lbs, have legs that feel like they have been cast from iron, definition in places I havent seen in years and a determination that I thought I had lost for good. I am eating 85% paleo and seeing food for what it truly is – fuel. have drank maybe 5 pints of beer in 2 months (comming from someone who still brews every 2 weeks, I think that is rather impressive all on its own) and havent lit up a cigerette since july 23rd. My wife is ecstatic, and I dont have to worry about hearing from my daughter the question she would have eventually asked, “daddy, why are you fat?” (she is only 22 months old now, but childish bluntness would have certainly reared its honest head).

In conclusion – if you have actually read through all of this – if you are hesitant about crossfit; dont be. If you are scared; dont be. Everyone has determination to be successful, but some need to reharness that determination they may have had earlier in life. take the first step down the RIGHT path, all of your other goals will get the hint.

PS. XX, I apologize for hijacking your post, but for some reason I needed to let all of this out.