CrossFit Athletic Group

I have never lost weight in my life.

Read that again.

I was born 10 pounds 11 ounces with curly blonde hair, had a mom and grandma who left cut up fruit and veggies on the counter for us to snack on at our convenience, had a dad who emphasized the importance of push-ups and sit-ups during commercials, developed a 6-pack and arm muscles in 6th grade, never had to run laps after football practice to make the weight limit, and learned about CrossFit and the Zone Diet when I was 15. When I turned 17 I hit 170 lbs., haven't gained or lost weight since (give or take a recent bout of food poisoning probably), and by the time I was on road trips in college I was at the salad/fruit/chicken stations at Golden Corrall and reaching for my ziplock bag of almonds while the rest of the team was dipping rice crispies in the chocolate jizz fountain. Now, 17ish years into CrossFit and 14ish years into the Zone my nutrition habits are as built in and routine as they can possibly be.

I was spoiled rotten, plain and simple, and set up perfectly for my health to be where it is now.

Mrs. Hana was not.

Mrs. Tara was not.

Bubs was not.

Mr. Ron was not.

Me. Gjon was not.

I don't know what they were all doing on November 12, 2005, but it definitely wasn't trying out CrossFit for the first time. They were probably consumed with believing that fat was bad, carbs were good, meat gives you cancer, eggs give you heart disease, and long, slow distance running was the best measure of fitness.

And yet, Mrs. Hana lost 10 pounds in 4 weeks and is crushing workouts, Mrs. Tara underwent a full-body overhaul in 2021 and has not lost a step since, Bubs underwent a full-body overhaul and went back-to-back with Athlete of the Spring and Athlete of the Summer, Mr. Ron turned into a wind-up monkey that now runs at the same pace he talks, and Mr. Gjon still talks faster than he works out, but he also lost 10+ pounds and managed to keep the momentum going even after dropping Sir Grips-a-Lot on his foot.

Mr. Curtis and Mr. Malak each lost 80 pounds and can do gotdamn handstand rollouts.

They're the experts. I don't know what it's like to take care of Mrs. Leze and still keep my fitness and food consistent, or be healthy and be social, or have a family that eats different than me, or have kids in travel sports. They all do.

Mr. and Mrs. Van underwent full body overhauls, Jay has been consistent with his food and fitness for almost 12 years, Josh Bennis cut down on eating pizza for lunch... Allie... Mrs. Robinson... the new girl Mya... Dillon... Owen...Saporito... I could go on. The point is, when you do something, you automatically become an expert at it, no matter how insignificant it seems. Mrs. Gloria can tell you exactly how to make 1 basket in 81 attempts. The longer you allow the habits to form and the results to happen, the more things you'll be an expert on. Mrs. Hana might not be able to confidently help you with a 2-year nutrition plan yet like Mrs. Tara might, but she can surely help you get your first 4 weeks right.

My job in this nutrition journey is to hold people accountable to their standards, expose limiting factors that might be uncomfortable to address, and subtract things that aren't important. You guys can do the rest. You're the experts! Have the confidence that sharing your individual expertise with enough people in here will eventually lead to the best practices being exposed.