Send Me On My Way | Week 76 Weight Loss

Day 547. 212.5 pounds lost.

Attending the CrossFit Level One course was an exciting but humbling experience in more ways than I can count. The takeaways from the class were immense, but let’s talk about a few tonight.

Nutrition was a considerable takeaway which I discussed briefly in an earlier post. Implementing since I have been home hasn’t been a challenge necessarily, but there have been surprises. I had a bit of a freakout today when I learned what a nut serving size was. I made a first attempt at putting together a menu for next week after I had my Zone plan written up for the next seven days. Meal planning has never been my thing, and in fact, a few weeks ago I would have grumbled at the idea of “prepping.”  I had to make peace with the fact that I needed to refine the diet and dial it in even more and realized that prepping had a purpose. I use to stare in wonder and amazement at Instagram images of prepared meals for the week. I was NOT going to have any part of that. I didn’t know if they were really dedicated or slightly OCD. Either way, I was impressed, but I wasn’t getting on that bus.

After I got home, I realized that it would be incredibly difficult to measure and weigh every day at a time. Not to mention there are so many times I would grab things and go and not realize that my portion sizes were out of whack in an attempt to get out the door quicker. I could make better choices if it were thought out and prepared. I finally understood why people do it. Uhm….. *shaking head*. The stuff you learn.  

The “Movements” portion was another huge takeaway. I was never fully concerned with learning the technical way of doing things because in the beginning, getting technical was irrelevant because I wouldn’t be able to complete the movement.  I learned how to do the movements scaled and can’t say I ever looked at another human and thought to myself, “wow, you aren’t doing the movement correctly.” I never saw anyone through the lens of a “trainer” which is something you need to do at the Level 1.

 I struggled with a concept called “Spot the Flaw.” People would choose a partner, and we would take turns coaching; letting each other know what we could improve on. I would stand there humming to myself and tap my chin… “hmmmmmm”….. Did I know their toes should be pointed a certain way? Nope. Did I ever see the difference between a leg-powered kipping pull up versus someone that was correctly using their chest and shoulders? Can’t say that I did. Many of the movements I struggled with might have had something to do with the fact that I have never once attempted it. Even on moves like the deadlift and clean that I thought I had nailed down, I was making errors.  I had no idea what a huge impact learning proper movements would have.

When I’m at the gym working out, I see people all the time using little GoPro’s or cameras while they film themselves. I couldn’t help but think that maybe they just liked filming themselves while they worked out? Maybe they were hoping they’d hit a PR or something.  It wasn’t until I took this class that I realized it’s how people self-evaluate the movements. Wholy cow, this filming had a purpose?  {{laugh}}. I had no idea.

I learned that I have an ego when it comes to weight on the bar. No doubt I can pick up some serious weight, but during workouts, the point is not to PR. The point was to challenge ourselves but get through the entire series of movements. One of the exercises we had to do was 15 thrusters and 15 Burpees – 3 rounds for time with a ten-minute cap. The very first thing I heard was “we’ve never had to time cap, anyone.”  In my head, I thought…. “shit…. I’m going to be the first”.  

I had a smaller 22-pound bar, and the coach said, “Athena just use the bar.” What? No weight? Most everyone else was using 35-45 pound bars with at least 5-10 pounds on each side. I had this small little 22 pounder. Well, I was NOT going to use an empty bar, so I added 5 pounds to each side so that I could have plates on it. I’ve done tons of thrusters before, why was I getting stuck with this tiny bar? Uhhg.

The coach looked at me and said, “Ok Athena…. Let’s try 15 unbroken thrusters”.  I got to about 7 and had to put the bar down. Yikes, this tiny 22-pound bar got heavy by the 7^th thruster. The coach explained to the class if you couldn’t hit 15 unbroken thrusters you had too much weight on the bar. Slowly, I see other people yanking plates off the bar. I had missed the point, and it had nothing to do with weight. The point was to get through THREE rounds. Well, how was I going to get through three rounds in under ten minutes if I had to set the bar down after every 5-7 thrusters? Okay, fine…five thrusters.  I felt that little *gulp* in my throat. It was a beautiful learning lesson for me.

I could probably think of a million examples, and I don’t have time for all of that in one post. I will say this without a doubt – this class unlocked an insatiable desire for learning and knowledge. Now I want to learn everything.

Lovingly,

Bean