Getting Better Means Making Sacrifices

Now, I’m sure you’ve heard this before. I know I’ve heard my coach say many a time that if we want to get better we need to eat more, mobilize more, practice our weaknesses and drink less. Those are the obvious sacrifices for any athlete.

I’m speaking specifically to women about this one – getting better at CrossFit means sacrificing our (and society’s) body ideals. Now what do I mean by this? I will explain with a story…

About 6 weeks ago I started a strength and conditioning program from Catalyst Athletics. At the same time I started an eating (I don’t like the work “diet”) program from Eat to Perform. Long story short, I was eating more and lifting more with the end goal of getting stronger.

So, I ate a lot of protein (150g/days) and added in more starchy carbs. In the beginning I felt a little bloated – like I was drinking a case of a beer each night, but I knew I had to see this thing through. After a few weeks the bloat went away and I was slowly but surely feeling stronger.

A couple days before my testing day I decided to try on this fabulous dress I bought a few months ago for a friend’s wedding coming up the next weekend. I absolutely fell in love with the dress – it was more than I wanted to spend, but it just looked amazing and was posh enough for this NYC wedding. Well, the dress didn’t fit…I was too nervous to even try to sit down in it, there was no way I was busting any moves on the dance floor and I would even need someone to go to the bathroom with me! This obviously was not going to work!

At this point I was devastated. I’m a girl, I loved this dress, and now it doesn’t fit. 

The next day I went into the gym and told my male coach my extremely girly problem…at the end of the conversation I said, “I better PR on my lifts!” Obviously, not really into my tremendously girly problem, he kept it short and said, “you will…”

It came to testing day and needless to say, I was ringing the PR bell like no one’s business! Below are my before and after numbers:

• Snatch: 105 - 125lbs
• Clean & Jerk: 125 - 140lbs
• Back Squat: 180 - 200lbs

I was beyond excited! 125 was always my “dream” goal for my snatch and after I stood up with that barbell, did a dance, and dished out some hugs – with a smile on my face I said, “that was totally worth my dress not fitting!”

We all make sacrifices. I had to sacrifice how I viewed my body in order to get stronger. My legs, butt, and arms are all bigger…infact, I think I only have one pair of jeans that actually fit now! But, I’m fine with that. I will take bigger thighs and ass if that means my lifts go up and my times go down.

You have to decide if you are willing to make the sacrifice.

I leave you with this quote: “Sacrifice is giving up something good for something better.” - Unknown


**below are videos of my snatch and clean & jerk PRs...not the prettiest jerk - something I know I need to work on, but I'll take it! 

Meghan Prunty is a Holistic Health Practitioner and Fitness Coach. I work with athletes of all ages and skill levels to perform to their optimal ability in sport and life. We work together to form a set of goals for your sport, relationships, career, nutrition and lifestyle. From these goals we formulate a game plan for you to meet and exceed your goals.

For more information or to sign up for your free 50 minute consultation please visit www.therealrx.com

Gaining Weight and the Tight Pants Dance

You know when you have to do a couple air squats to get those tight pants on? Ladies (and hipster boys) - you know what I'm talking about! Well slowly but surely I needed to add a few extra air squats to my morning regimen.

Thats right...I have gotten bigger, even put on a few pounds. But for the first time in my life, I'm okay with it!

If this happened anytime from age 14 to even just a year ago, I would probably be upset, beating myself up and stepping on the scale everyday just to see if I lost a couple pounds.

So what changed? Simply put, I started looking at food differently. I now eat in order to fuel myself for my daily life and workouts. Since I started this mental shift I have seen some extreme gains, especially in the past couple months!

CrossFit forced me to look at food differently. I no longer look at a meal and think, "Man, this is going to make me feel fat and put on at least a couple pounds!" I look at my meals and think "this is going to help me in my workout today, tomorrow and a month from now."

This isn't to say that you can just eat whatever you want in order to "bulk up." The quality and types of food you choose are still extremely important. When you take an approach of eating as fuel, you will then choose foods that help your performance.

I recently used a calculator on eattoperform.com (great website!). In the end it told me I should be eating close to 2500 calories a day! I was amazed! In high school I probably only ate close to 1200! I used to go by the model "calories in = calories out." However, this thinking is just plain wrong. It doesn't take into account basal metabolic rate (BMR) - which simply put is the amount of calories your body needs to functions on a day to day bases.

Now 2500 may sound a bit much for a 5'4 girl, but I have to say it has done nothing but good for me.

Yes, I have put on weight; not only on my body, but on the barbell - and that's what counts for me!

Maybe one day I will be able to back squat 300lbs like Camille LeBlanc (maybe...)