Having two older brothers, I grew up always wanting to keep up with them in every aspect of life, especially when it came to being active. I started playing sports at a very young age, which led to playing basketball, softball, and lacrosse in high school, and once graduating, I ended up playing college softball at Agnes Scott College from 2009 to 2013. Once I graduated I was looking for a way to stay in shape and to somehow mimic being a part of the “team” atmosphere since that had been such an integral part of my life. I walked into a CrossFit gym 8 years ago and immediately felt a part of a community. That community has followed me all over the world, even when moving to another country. CrossFit gave me common ground with the people of Brazil and even with a language barrier we were able to be a part of something greater. In 2021 I got my L1 and hope to be able to coach and make an impact in people’s lives like my coaches have done for me.
I’ve always had an athletic build and growing up it was frequently pointed out to me that I wasn’t built like most girls. I had thick, broad shoulders, balanced with a thick, dense, bottom half. I spent more time than I’d like to admit trying to change that about myself. Even as a very successful collegiate athlete, I felt uncomfortable with how I looked. I began getting fixated on overtraining and undereating to the point where I had to have some intense conversations with a sports psychologist about what was going on. I denied that I was doing anything other than trying to get myself in the best shape possible to be a vital part of my team. However, once I graduated, those unhealthy habits transitioned to disordered behavior in which I began to binge eat, following an all-or-nothing type mindset. I used my circumstances as an excuse to treat food as comfort. When I moved abroad in 2015 I gained 30 pounds and have never felt worse about myself. I went from 145 to 180 in about 6 months and began to notice how small things like walking downstairs to check my mail would wind me. Although I was doing CrossFit at the time, it kept me from gaining even more weight. In 2017 when I moved back to Peachtree City I decided I was tired of feeling miserable and making excuses for myself. I got a nutrition coach and began to learn the fundamentals of food and how to use it as fuel. Doing that alone gave me even more energy to start pushing myself in workouts. I learned that food is not the enemy and there’s room to enjoy life AND food. I now look at my body and don’t hate it for being muscular and different, I praise it for what it does for me. I’m strong, disciplined, and confident. If it weren’t for CrossFit I may have never gotten to this point. The longer I’m immersed in CrossFit, the more I believe in its ability to change lives.