June 2016 – Rachael – CrossFit Eclipse

Name – Rachael Arrington

Age – 27

Occupation – Physical Therapist Assistant

Sports and Fitness Background – I did gymnastics from 4 years old to 7 years old. I played basketball and softball competitively through 6th grade.

First get into crossfit? How did it go? – I was working at Fleet Feet, and one our delivery guys was a coach at a local gym. For 6 months he tried to get me to go, and I finally gave in to get him to quit asking. Also, lots of my customers were mentioning crossfit, and they would say that in crossfit, running is where you get to catch your breath. I thought what could possibly be harder than running? Lots of things. Lots of things are harder than running. From there I was hooked, although as I was finishing college, I was inconsistent with attending regularly.

Changes in my body, health, fitness – When I started crossfit, I couldn’t squat below parallel. My job can be very physical as I have to lift patients from time to time. I want to have a long career, and my training in crossfit helps prevent work-related injuries. Up until January of this year, I did not manage my diet. I would still PR on workouts and lifts, but I felt worse and worse. Brian told me about myfitnesspal, and I’ve completely changed my diet since January between myfitnesspal and Whole Life Challenge. I’ve lost 29 pounds, but more importantly, I feel like I’m making bigger improvements in the gym. It’s like I’m new to crossfit again, it seems like every week I have some new skill that I can do. I’m proving to myself that a good workout cannot overcome a bad diet.

Impact – Crossfit has dramatically improved my life. My focus of each day is my health and how to improve my function. It’s completely changed my way of thinking. The community is amazing to be a part of as well- so many great people that want you to succeed.

Advice – For me, diet, sleep, and hydration are as important as the gym. If you don’t attend to these, you will not be as successful as you could be.

Hobbies – Jigsaw puzles and simplifying my life to live in a tiny house.