then and now

Happy Thanksgiving...yesterday.
Not that I need Thanksgiving to remind me that I have much to be thankful for, but 'tis the season for it all to bubble to the surface!  Half our family was home, and the other half was a mere "facetime" away, so we all had a chance to hang out with each other.
Joy joy joy!

I headed into CrossFit Beacon to WOD yesterday and was so happy to see at least some of 'my' Beacon Peeps, my other family.  The community that has/continues to develop at Beacon constantly reminds me how grateful I am that I have been able to be a part of it all since Beacon opened in April '12.  We have an eclectic mix of ages and occupations, but the common denominator is that we are all people who have learned the value in becoming a Beacon member and in taking care of ourselves through physical activity, nutrition, and connection.
Physical activity: sweating together
Nutrition: clean eating...and beer mixed in with the Vita Coco in the gym's fridge
Connection: realizing the energizing quality of spending an hour a day in a class of crazy-ass people who laugh hard, work hard, then laugh hard all over again

I am extremely wowed by seeing the transformations people are making right in front of my eyes.  It's impossible not to be aware of it.  After a few short weeks, I notice these already wonderful people are creating a 'new normal' for themselves: standing straighter, getting firmer, laughing a little louder, getting bolder with their efforts, showing off their increased muscle definition, and talking about their new feats of strength (ie: the wife surprising the husband by rearranging the entire living room all by her dainty little self...BAM Susanna! :] )  It's impossible to take one's health and abilities for granted when you are surrounded by this type of energy daily!

Until recently, I kind of realized that while I do not take my own health and abilities for granted, I don't always appreciate my own gains because I have been living my current lifestyle for over two years now, so it's my *normal*.  I also happen to be lucky enough to have a family of my husband and all 8 of my children (my 4 daughters and their spouses/partner) who all live very healthy lifestyles as well. And my granddaughter will have no choice but to grow up thinking 'normal' translates to being physically fit and eating cleanly. :) Because of this, I just don't really dwell on where I used to be...that was a place of relative health, although being 35# heavier and feeling as though that would be where I was destined to be the rest of my life.

from May '10 to Aug '12

I began CrossFit in May 2010, connected with it immediately, started dialing in my nutrition within about a week of starting, and am forever thankful that the combination of both has changed me from the inside out.  Well, okay, I kind of like the changes from the outside in, too. ;) 

There was no way I could have imagined my own transformation.  To know my own, however, makes me totally appreciate the courage it takes for a person to walk through Beacon's doors and make the commitment to themselves to become healthier. Often they come in, as I did, knowing their former 'athlete' is inside of them somewhere and they want that person back. What they may not realize is how far their transformations can take their attitudes/outlooks in their lives in general.  The journey becomes a series of wide-eyed joy and discovery of one's true strength, both inside and out.

'Tis the season to be thankful, but as the days pass and holidays are behind us, never forget that it's just plain healthy to appreciate one's own transformation.  There's a "then and now" in all of us.  Some of it may be physical, some emotional, but it's there.  Enjoy the "now" by getting a little sweaty, enjoying a few laughs, and swigging a good beer in celebration of all your hard work!