Health Transformation Challenge: Day 1

Today was a big first day for me in the Health Transformation Challenge! 

I had my first CrossFit class and it was incredibly difficult.  I knew it would be.  It is so difficult to walk into any gym and feel like the person at whom everyone is looking.  I know how important it is to burst through my comfort zone and into the path of the goals I want most in life.    So, I asked lots of questions (some seemed silly) and let them watch as I learned.  Then, something happened; the other people in the class I never met before started calling me by name and encouraging me.  Perfect strangers that, in my mind, were staring in disbelief, were actually eager to see me succeed.  What an incredible sense of community!  My awakening: my self-sabotaging thoughts were absolutely misplaced.

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At CrossFit, I took part in a body composition test to determine my body fat percentage.  I was surprised that, although I was within my healthy BMI range, I was very close to an unhealthy level of body fat (23-30.9% body fat is healthy for a woman).  That means too much of my body weight consists of fat and not enough of my body consists of lean body mass.  For accountability's sake, here is a picture of the results:

It is my goal to reduce that body fat percentage to 25% through this Health Transformation Challenge and replace it with lean muscle mass. 

One of the parts of the Health Transformation Challenge is to take pictures of yourself.  Whether you share them is up to you.  Now, most people are willing to share their "before" photo when they have an after photo next to it showing how far they have come and how much healthier they look in comparison.  Rarely, however, do you see someone sharing a "before" photo on the day it was taken.  Typically, my pictures look something like this: 

I feel like I look okay in tight-fitting clothes and this isn't a terrible "after losing 75 lbs. healthy photo."  But, if I were to be honest and true to this challenge, I would share these photos to show you where I started today:

Quite a different perspective, isn't it?  I think vulnerability goes a long ways (please be kind!).  I am sharing it publicly here because I think it is important to show you where I started this 12-week journey to a healthier me.  I don't know what I will look like in 12 weeks, but what I do know is that I will continue getting healthier, increasing my lean body mass, and my hope is that it will show in the photos. 

The second part of the challenge was to take the stairs whenever possible.  I didn't encounter stairs today, but I am happy to report that I did park my car as far away as possible at the grocery store and walked extra with a loaded shopping cart (all after an intense CrossFit work-out!).  

Stay tuned for my posts about my goal to reduce stress and create a health mind with balance!


If you are interested in joining me in this free Health Transformation Challenge, please email me at HealthyandFitLife@gmail.com.