Beginning CrossFit

We have some exciting news!

John and I joined an amazing CrossFit gym called Troy CrossFit that just opened up and we couldn't be more thrilled! One of our family values is health, and consistently taking care of our bodies through staying active got put on the back burner this year.  For us, health means a state of mental, physical, emotional, spiritual, and relational well-being and satisfaction. Health has looked a lot different during this season, and I am pleased with the hard work I have put into creating a greater sense of sense of contentment and peace, despite external circumstances. I have had to trust God so much more than I ever have in my entire life since Mason was born, and it has been so hard and yet so good at the same time.  

Once piece of the health puzzle that has been missing has been my passion for challenging myself physically. I haven’t done anything in years that has satisfied my desire to do what I absolutely love, which is working out with other like-minded people, lifting weights, becoming stronger and more skilled with movement patterns, and crushing goals I set for myself. I really enjoy working out hard and pushing myself, but I've felt stuck as a mom because lots of weekly commitments and nap time didn't seem to jive with joining a CrossFit Gym. Troy CrossFit has exceeded our expectations for being AMAZING, and they offer 4 classes a day with supervised childcare in addition to a bunch of other classes. John and I are so happy to be on our way towards a lifestyle of better health! Troy CrossFit highlighted me as their athlete spotlight last week, so check out this YouTube video to learn more about what this community has meant to me so far and how I am loving what they have to offer! 

I wanted to share with you guys what health means to me, because I think it can be a strange thing for many people to think of health as encompassing more than what the scale says and what a doctor or other health care professional tells you about your body. I want to make a disclaimer first, however. I am not a medical professional and the things I say are what I have learned from my own personal journey towards greater health for myself and my family, and should be treated as such and not as medical advice. I am also aware that I am privileged, and the things I say come from my own life-experiences and the opportunities I have been afforded. I am a white, middle-class, stay-at-home-mom who was raised by healthy parents with a mostly healthy family dynamic. I have been taught healthy eating habits from my family, friends, and a dietician. Growing up, I had athletic opportunities that took me on to play water polo at a prestigious university. My body type is such that it is easy for me to put on muscle, and to lose fat when I want to. I recognize that my readers may not have this shared experience, and your background, body type, and health concerns may look very different than mine! I applaud every effort you take towards living your best life, even if that is something that may seem small to others. We are all on a journey, and please remember that health looks different for each and every person!

Ok… so here are my personal definitions of health...

Mental Health

This is psychological well-being, and in general my "mental state". Most people think of "mental health" as a person managing mental illnesses and addressing past or present addictions. I also think this includes asking myself a few check-in questions, since my mind is the source of how I operate EVERY single day. What are my thought patterns like towards myself, towards others, and in situations of stress? What is my mental fortitude like when I set goals, make a plan to reach them, when I make mistakes, and when I have moments of failure? Do I have any addictions that are invisible to others? For me, MY THOUGHT LIFE DETERMINES THE QUALITY OF MY LIFE. 

Physical Health

The body is such a complicated thing! Our body is with us till our last breath, and it is an absolute work of art from conception to the grave. How our body functions (or does not function) can be so deeply connected to our emotions, our relationships, our spirituality, and our mental health. It is way too complicated for me to even go into the full details of what it means for me to be physically healthy, so here are the basics for what that looks like for me, based on what I have learned over the years of listening to my body and learning how to pay attention to more closely to what I need. In my most optimal state of health, I am sleeping 6 hours at night, I am consuming a mostly whole foods diet high in protien, I am eating every 2-3 hours, I am intentionally physically active for 30-60 minutes each day, I am properly supplementing with targeted vitamins, and I am not consuming processed sugar. News flash: I rarely do this 100% of the time. Maybe I've done all of these things for like 5 days in a row my entire life. Life is about balance and progress, not physical perfection. Intentional physical activity got put on the back burner this past year as I have mentioned, and I am SHOCKED with how amazing I feel now that I got back into a good routine. I have become more motivated to take care of myself in other areas that I was neglecting, and it has been so life-giving.  I am seriously loving CrossFit sooooo much!

Spiritual Health

My spiritual health is my connection with God and with my faith community. I am forever on a journey to embrace the fact that God made me, and God loves me, and God wants to be my friend. This blows my mind daily. I am created with beauty and with purpose, and so are you! I believe how I treat each and every other person I interact with throughout my days on earth is also an act of spiritual worship.  Do I fail? Yep, usually the way I speak to my kids is not the way I think God would speak to these precious little creations. Whatever you do or do not believe about God, know this: you are valuable because you were made by God, and you are supposed to be here on this earth. Your worth does not come from what you look like, how much money you make, what you can and cannot do, who your parents were or who your kids have become, what your failures and accomplishments have looked like, what your past or present says about you, if you can say the right things, or if you bring value to others' lives. Simply existing and breathing the air on this beautiful earth makes you valuable to God, and worthy of love and affection.

Emotional Health

Emotional health is my ability to cope with challenging events and situations, and to have resilience when things don't go according to plan. We were created to feel the full range of human emotions, from deep sadness and despair, to exuberant joy and delight. I very well may feel all of those things in one day! For me, emotional health is very closely tied with physical health. My hormone cycles, blood sugar levels (I have hypoglycemia), and the amount of sleep I get all will amplify my emotions and my ability to cope with stress and experience joy and contentment.

Relational Health

Relational health is my ability to form long-lasting, deeply connected relationships with others where I feel safe and completely "known". In these relationships I am able to freely express my thoughts, emotions, opinions, and struggles, all within the safety and security of knowing that I can trust that person will hold those things in confidence, and they definitely won't speak badly about me behind my back. With that being said, relationships can be so very messy and complicated! I bring this whole mess of the “history of me” to the table each and every time I form a new relationship. I have plenty of relational dysfunction tendencies (especially in my marriage, where is gets amplified the most) and relational health for me means continuing to become more aware of these tendencies so that I can make a positive change.

I hope these definitions of health have been helpful for you in some small way! I am hoping to do a few more blog posts expanding on some topics I have touched on here, so please let me know if there are any questions you have that I can answer or if there is a topic you would like to to cover with greater depth!