Andrea

 

I started CrossFit in April 2010 after a friend in grad school suggested it would be a good fit for me.  I few weeks before this, I had gone through Peace Corps medical clearance, where my doctor told me that I needed to lose weight to come down from 200lbs. This terrified me! Even though I am tall, no one wants to hear anything like this from their doctor!

 The minute I picked up my first barbell, I was sold! I used to play rugby in undergrad, so the similar intensity and team work like environment really appealed to me. Work Outs of the Day were so challenging (they still are!) but it felt good to be getting a real workout and have people around that supported me, as opposed to going to the gym and sitting on an elliptical.

I am hopeful that while serving for the Peace Corps in Ukraine, I will be able to stick to a fairly similar CrossFit lifestyle, even if it means doing walking lunges with a sack of potatoes! CrossFit has improved my health both mentally and physically, not to mention giving me friends I will have for life, and I don’t intend to give it up, no matter what country I’m in!