About one year ago, I decided to do something about my fitness and joined my local CrossFit gym.

Since then, I have checked in to workout 168 times. That means I burned around 100,000 calories. In this process, I have turned exercise into part of my routine, and I can honestly say I’m no longer sedentary. When filling out forms, I now check the “yes” box under the question Do you exercise regularly?

CrossFit worked for me for a number of reasons:

1. Programming: If you’re not athletic, chances are you wouldn’t know what to do in a gym by yourself. CrossFit takes the guesswork out and presents you with a carefully planned workout every day.
2. Proximity: the gym is literally 2 blocks from my house.
3. Accountability: Knowing that there are folks waiting for you is very encouraging to get yourself to the gym every day.
4. Community: CrossFit does an amazing job at creating a sense of community around you and your fitness. There are inside jokes, acronyms, ways of doing things which make you feel like you are part of something big and cool.

Now, when I can’t go to the gym for whatever reason, I workout at home, or in a hotel room, or outside at the local playground. I feel the need to workout, and when I do, even without a coach, I know what to do.

And that’s where I’m at now. CrossFit taught me to be active. If CrossFit ceased to exist tomorrow, I’d be OK. I’d know what to do, and I’d have the discipline to do it.

I also made a point of always take a “sweaty selfie” after each workout. Here’s a collage I made with most of them:

As Amy and I start planning for 2018, we decided to focus on being more intentional about our finances. So when I pondered on how much CrossFit costs, I have made the decision to leave the gym.

This is bittersweet.

The coaches and athletes at West London CrossFit have taught me so much. For every ounce of sweat I lost to that rubber floor I gained one of confidence and another one of discipline. I have learned about my limits. I have learned that sometimes in the battle between my body and my mind, my mind usually can win. I pushed myself into exhaustion 168 times, always going through a mental cycle of

No way I can do this – Let’s get started – I cannot do this – Only 2 more rounds – I’ve done it!

And now I’m strong. I make healthy choices for myself. I’m active. I’m an athlete.

As I say goodbye to CrossFit (at least for now), I am confident that I will continue to be active.

So what’s next?

When I was not able to go to the gym for whatever reason, I learned to really enjoy calisthenics. This is a fancy name for body weight exercises like pushups, pull ups, etc. There are some incredibly fit folks out there who just do this type of stuff:

So I’m going to spend the next few months working on a calisthenics program by the folks at Barstarzz.

I’ll continue to be active and share some of my progress here.

How about you? What are you doing to take care of your body? Let me know in the comments below.