Results after 90 days of Crossfit

Introduction

I had written about how I started Crossfit about 3 months ago and had a 1 month update.  Well here’s my 3 month update.  I’ve been looking for the right adjective to use for the past 3 months, but there are so many that I can’t decide on one.  It’s been fun, hard, exciting, painful, easy, tough, etc.  Motivation wise though, it’s never been higher; I look forward to working out almost every day versus I dreaded going to the gym when I was younger.  It’s mainly because the workouts change every day so lots of variety.  Plus it’s fun to socialize with the other people who you see every time you go (I hardly spoke to people in the gym.)

 

Results

Let’s cut to the chase and get down to the results.  I’ve only lost 6 pounds since I started.  While my coach told me not to expect that much weight loss, deep down, I thought I would prove him wrong.  But he was right.  I know a lot of people go on diets and will lose 10-15 lbs of water weight in their first month, but I’ve only lost 6 lbs.  And I’m totally okay with that.  I know muscle weighs more than fat, and I’ve certainly gained a lot more muscle since I started.  Plus, I’ve lost 2 inches from my waist line (have to wear a belt on a pair of jeans now.)  Here’s a picture of the results:

As you can see, the biggest change has been my gut is mostly gone.  The arms have gotten smaller and more defined.  My shirts fit better and the “guns” are growing daily.  The next step is to keep it up and see if I can get a 6 pack, which may take another 90 days, but hey, #goals right?

 

Workout Routine and Injuries

I started with the 2 week beginner routine where I went 3 days a week.  Then after that, I signed up for the 3 times a week plan.  After that month, I upped it to the unlimited plan and was going 4-5 times a week.  That’s when I started to add more weight and started to get injured.  It’s funny because I went back and read the comments on the last post and everyone warned me of injuries.  At the time, I just sorta nodded my head thinking it won’t happen to me, and sure enough, I’ve injured myself multiple times now.

No major injury (thank goodness,) but I tweaked my wrist from holding on to the bar too wide doing power cleans.  After that, I got a weird rib injury that I’m not even sure how it happened, but I couldn’t do situps for a week (and it still flares up once in a while.)  Then there was the back spasm that started from doing too many push presses.  That injury was the worst because if you hurt your lower back, you’re not doing ANYTHING.  That took about 1.5 weeks to recover.  Then sure enough, 3 days after that (and right now,) I injured my wrist again trying to do too many 40 lb dumbbell snatches.  As you can see, the common denominator for all the injuries was either bad form or trying to do too much.  So my goal now is to try not to get injured again.

 

Diet

I didn’t go on any kind of diet during the last 3 months.  The problem with diets that I’ve seen is that they usually aren’t sustainable.  People will go on a diet, lose a lot of weight, and eventually crack later and gain it all back and then some.  It’s inevitable.  I’ve also seen people who work out a lot and eat whatever they want because they know it’ll burn off during their next workout.  But if and when they stop working out, oh man, it’s bad news.  Have you seen retired basketball and football players?  Exactly my point.  Of course as I type this, I’m eating a small handful of M&M’s.  You see?  IT’S HARD!

Anyway, what I did in these past 3 months was just try to eat less and eat better.  Instead of saying NO to dessert, maybe have a bite so you at least satisfy your craving.  Instead of having a big plate of chicken enchiladas with rice and beans, get the chicken salad instead.  That sort of stuff.  Even now, I feel myself caving.  So trust me, dieting is definitely the hardest part.

If you’re curious though, my meal routine consists of this:

• Breakfast – plain oatmeal, banana, multivitamin, protein shake
• Lunch – usually a homemade sandwich, some chips, some fruit, and a La Croix
• Afternoon snack – turkey jerky or some nuts
• Post workout – protein shake
• Dinner – a protein (fish, steak, chicken, etc) and some vegetables and/or salad.  Fruit after dinner

 

Being fit is expensive!

This needs to be called out.  My crossfit runs about $175-$200 depending on the plan you are on.  Then the occasional massage (1-2 times a month) to help me with the soreness that runs about $60 a pop (Groupon or shady Chinese massage.)  Then eating healthy (like salmon) at home is more expensive than say chicken.  The protein shakes add up as well; that’s about $25 a month.  Now I’m looking to add on some hot yoga sessions to help with my flexibility and that’ll be about $50 a month or so using session passes.  Being fit is expensive folks!

 

Going forward

Going forward, I think I’ll lessen the weights and try to not get injured anymore.  Then keep on fighting the urge of not going overboard with food.  Simple as that.  Would I have gotten the same results if I had gone to the gym instead?  I don’t think so.  Mainly because I wouldn’t have stayed motivated enough to go.  I probably wouldn’t have gotten as injured though, so that’s a point for the gym.