Amanda S., Age 30: A Diehard Believer in the Paleo and Crossfit Combination
As a collegiate athlete, I was active. It was easy to stay relatively fit when it was a requirement for competition and your fitness was being monitored by coaches and trainers.
After college, I got a desk job at the corporate office of a very popular fast food restaurant. It was then that I began to see significant changes in my weight. I worked eight hours a day at a desk, had a two-hour commute, and was faced with an all-you-can eat buffet every day. Those factors quickly turned into extra pounds and expanding clothes! Like everybody else, I knew I was putting on weight but didn’t realize the extent until I attended my brother’s graduation from boot camp. Standing beside him, in awe of his accomplishments and level of fitness, I realized that I was overweight and had to change…immediately!
I did what most women do. I started eating frozen diet meals, bought an elliptical and the most popular exercise videos. After months of starving, watching TV from the elliptical, and jumping around the living room, punching and kicking the air, I had lost only a few pounds.
All of this changed on Christmas morning of 2010. My sister and brother-in-law were excitedly talking about Crossfit and Paleo. They were so excited about their new “gym” and were going to start eating Paleo on Jan. 1st. We decided to commit to 90 days of Paleo, no cheats, as a family for our New Year’s Resolution.
The transition to Paleo was easy for me and in just 90 days, I had lost 30 pounds. I then made a personal commitment to continue for 90 additional days and lost 20 more. My reward for losing 50 pounds was to join Crossfit East Cobb.
Since joining in June, I have dropped five more pounds, replaced five lbs of fat with muscle, and lost nine and a half inches for a total of five sizes lost. I have completed WOD’s (workouts of the day) I thought would kill me, competed in the Fight Gone Bad 6 Fundraiser, and have cut 1:30 off of my mile. My max weight in every lift has increased and I can’t wait for the next CrossFit Total!
I am a diehard believer in the results of Paleo and Crossfit and have never had better camaraderie than with my new friends in the 5:45 a.m. class!!! I am so happy that I can share this transformation journey with some of the best friends I have ever made who understand what it means to push yourself hard in the box and out!
Beau D., Age 43: A Complete Transformation and Breakthrough Results
I ran 100 miles in under 30 hours. How did I train and accomplish this goal as a busy 43 year-old husband and a father of three? The answer can be found in the unique training program offered at Crossfit East Cobb.
Like most busy men, I found it challenging to find a fitness program that offered a flexible training schedule while also producing measurable results. As a lifelong athlete who enjoys participating in a variety of sports, I was surprised to find my health and fitness on a slow downward decline. I struggled to put together an effective training program at my big-box gym. I supplemented my gym workouts with a few 5K and 10K road races over the years and I thought I was in decent shape. Unfortunately, my body told a different story.
My weight had been slowly creeping up over the last fifteen years. At a height of 6’1”, my college weight of 175lbs was a vague memory when I hit 214lbs at the age of 40. My waist size had also increased from 32” to 38”. This was not a trend that I wanted to continue so I began searching for an effective training program that would work with the demands of my everyday life.
I heard about CrossFit training a couple of years ago and was intrigued enough to do a little online research. I read about the functional movements incorporated into short, high intensity workouts and about the amazing results being experienced by people from all walks of life. When Jason and Chris opened CrossFit East Cobb (“CFEC”) in my neighborhood in 2009, it was time to give it a try.
I started training a few weeks after CFEC opened its doors and now average four or five workouts each week. The results have been absolutely amazing. I have dramatically improved my overall fitness and have completely transformed my body. I am now in the best shape of my life. My weight has dropped to 192lbs and my waist size is down to 33”. In addition to the incredible physical results, my strength and running times have dramatically improved. CFEC has even given me the ability to complete a 100 mile trail run in under 30 hours.
Crossfit East Cobb has provided a way to pursue fitness efficiently and effectively. In addition to a challenging workout program, CFEC offers a supportive community of Crossfitters who motivate and inspire you along the way. CFEC also provides foundational information about proper nutrition. When you couple that with an effective fitness program in a supportive environment, you have all the tools you need to make dramatic and positive changes in your fitness and overall health. Jason and Chris are passionate about helping you produce real results for a complete transformation. If you are looking for ways to improve your fitness journey, then you have found your answer. The rest is up to you. Hope to see you at CrossFit East Cobb.
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CFEC Transformation Talk: Maria & Rob Lipop
We were like a lot of couples. We wanted to be thinner, healthier, and to feel better, but we weren’t doing anything about it. As the years passed, the scale crept up. Still, getting fit was not a priority—until one night when we ran into an old friend at a party.
He was so fit. He looked fantastic. We asked him what he was doing and he told us that he had been Crossfitting. Curious, we began researching Crossfit. Once we read all of the rave reviews online, we were ready to try it for ourselves.
The first day we entered Crossfit East Cobb (CFEC), we were nervous, scared, excited, and intimidated. We couldn’t believe we were actually going to do this. We started with the warm-up, the foundation of every Crossfit class. The t-shirt we saw was not kidding. The warm-up was definitely harder than our normal workout. Still, we made it through and came face-to-face with our first workout of the day (WOD).
The coaches were great and made us feel really comfortable. No matter how much we wanted to quit, they were right there encouraging us to continue – to finish well. We did it! The feelings of exhaustion and elation were unforgettable. So was the way our muscles felt the next day. We were wondering, “What just hit us?” We were sore, but we were hooked. We had seen the results in other people so we were willing to push through the discomfort to give Crossfit a fair try.
As of today, we have been at Crossfit East Cobb for about five months. To say we are glad we persevered is an understatement. During that time, Rob has lost 40 pounds and is now at 9.7% body fat. Maria has lost 30 pounds and is now at 17.1% body fat. Our eating habits have completely changed and we love what we are eating on Paleo. Our strength has increased exponentially as we hit CFEC four to five times a week.
We have had to buy all new clothes. We see muscles and bones we haven’t ever seen or at least haven’t seen in a LONG time. We have more energy, more confidence, our marriage is stronger and we are now “in the best shape of our lives.” The results we have experienced make us say, “HECK YES, Crossfit works.”
Crossfit is empowering. Every time we walk into CFEC, we are faced with a challenge. We look at the WOD on the whiteboard and think that there is no way we can finish, but we do. The feeling is addictive. It is like being in love!
The community of CFEC members is unlike any other and may be our favorite part of CFEC. Every day we look forward to seeing other members. We love meeting new members and welcoming them in. We also love seeing our ‘old friends’ that we work out with on a regular basis. Everyone is at a different fitness level, but we are all striving for the same goal. We are all pushing and striving to do our best.
If you are reading this, chances are that you are interested in Crossfit. If you want to get into the best shape of your life efficiently, it is our opinion that there is no other option. You may be tempted to say, “Crossfit is too hard for me. It is too advanced.” EVERYTHING in Crossfit is scalable. There are all ages, body types and stages at CFEC. We will tell you what we tell our friends: give Crossfit three months. You won’t regret it.
