Amber Wilson
Sunday, August 22, 2010 at 7:00PM 
On a scale of 1-10, my activity level has pretty much been at a 2 for the past 14 years, and while that worked for me in college, as an adult, it meant a slow steady weight gain. I’d sign up for a boot camp here and there, but once the 6 weeks was over, I’d go back to being a desk jockey and couch potato. Even free membership/access to a fully-equipped gym and fitness center couldn’t pull me out of my sedentary lifestyle. At the age of 24, I was put on medication for high blood pressure and after several years of feeling like I was going through life in slow-motion, in 2008 I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism, which can make gaining weight easy and losing weight extra hard. Add onto that serious insomnia and I was just totally out of whack. I just accepted the fact that I would probably never be able to lose all the weight I’d gained since college. Last summer, a friend asked me to go with him to check out this new gym called CrossFit. When we pulled into the warehouse facility and then drove up to the ‘gym’, I was uninspired and the completely UNimpressed.
It was hot. Sweat was flying off the few extremely fit guys that were working out. There was no equipment set up. It was hot. No TVs. I sat on the bench and played on my phone while Ben talked to my friend (did I mention I was hot?) and waited impatiently. After we left, I made it clear that I wasn’t interested in working out in a bare, hot garage in a warehouse complex. Several months passed and I heard the same friend inviting people to join him at that same ‘gym’. He remembered what I’d said before and didn’t bother asking me. I still thought working out at a garage was dumb, but I was insulted that he didn’t ask me…so to teach him a lesson, I signed up for the February On-Ramp class he had signed up for.
“300m row, 40 squats, 30 sit-ups, 20 pushups, 10 pull ups.” Back in February, the day before I was supposed to start On-Ramp, Ben casually told me with a smile that would be my fitness evaluation. 8 or 9 minutes later, I finished and was ready to pass out. I got in my car to drive home and was right at the puke-point…I sat in the Kroger parking lot trying to compose myself for 25 minutes because I felt like if I took just one more step, my lunch would be revisiting me! I wondered if I was kidding myself by thinking I could handle On-Ramp if that one ‘evaluation’ nearly killed me, especially since I only signed up to prove a point. I decided that I would at least try, even though I thought it would be way too much for me. But as I progressed through On-Ramp, Ben, Jen and the other trainers were incredibly supportive and encouraging…I started to think “well, maybe I can do this!”
When On-Ramp was coming to an end, I was still hesitant to sign up for a ‘real’ CrossFit membership. I’d been making progress, but still just running 200m left me out of breath and for every WOD, I would pray that I could snatch up one of the two 15lb bars before anyone else. And to top it off, I couldn’t remember seeing any women that looked as out of shape as I was--it was slightly intimidating! But I decided to try CrossFit with the training wheels off for a month since I’d already noticed my body changing…plus I was sleeping better and had more energy during the day. Turns out maybe working out in a hot garage in a warehouse complex WAS for me?
Then, towards the end of my first real month of CrossFit, I heard about a Paleo challenge that was going to start in April. I didn’t really think much was wrong with my diet, but my problem was more that I didn’t eat regularly. I pretty much never ate breakfast, might not eat lunch until 1 or 2 pm, and dinner would be something quick I grabbed on the way home from work. I started reading up on the Paleo lifestyle and immediately started sweating: no grains? I could eat a whole loaf of wheat bread by myself if I wasn’t careful and wouldn’t have a problem if I just had bread as my meal. But as I kept researching, I began to find not only stories of how eating Paleo affected ‘normal’ people, but how it impacted and improved the general health and well-being of other people diagnosed with hypothyroidism. I knew it’d be tough, but I figured it couldn’t technically hurt me, even if the sacrifice would hurt.
I armed myself with recipes, planned out menus and tried to stay as prepared as possible 
so that I didn’t just reach for something convenient when I got hungry. The hardest thing to avoid was sugar…who knew sugar was added to so many things?? I was worried I’d miss bread/grains, but I quickly learned about Paleo alternatives to replace them. After pushing through the first two weeks, I started noticing a lot of changes: after years of stomach/digestive problems attributed to IBS, my stomach problems started clearing up, I had much more energy during the day and during workouts, I started having strength gains during workouts, I recovered from workouts quicker, I was getting restful sleep at night, I stopped getting reoccurring sinus infections, I felt more satisfied when I ate meals...I was determined to put my all into eating clean and see where it would take me when I paired it with CrossFit. At the end of the challenge, I'd lost 22.5 cm (almost 9 inches), dropped 2 pants sizes, increased my back squats from 1 at 120lbs to 10 at 155lbs, increased max pullups in 1 min from 15 to 23, increased my dead lifts from 1 at 195lbs to 12 at 195lbs, finished Fran 3 minutes faster, and last week, in the strength WOD, I did a 95lb Clean and Jerk!
The support and encouragement from everyone in the box is incredible; there have been times I wanted to quit in the middle of an insane workout, but having people that I've just met cheering me on and giving me the extra push to finish strong is something I've never experienced...now it's something I can't imagine being without!! CrossFit truly IS for everyone and I feel lucky to have found a box as awesome as Clear Lake CrossFit!!
Reader Comments (3)
This is awesome. I didn't know of your health issues and how Paleo helped with this. Such an inspiration for me, Amber. I'm so glad you stayed! (and glad you wanted to put it to J for not inviting you the second time!!! )
Amazing, Amber. Go girl!
I been knowing you for 5 plus years now and didn't know all this...YOU ROCK KIDDO (aka Beezay tha Beast)!!!