This is a post is from fellow gym owner and one of the certified mentor’s in my business group, Jeff Jucha. I’ve written about this topic a few times before: Talking about shifting priorities, thinking about your health an investment not an expense etc. This post reads like a conversation over coffee. He talks about how horrible that first class is, and the “not so healthy” habits become collateral damage and along with that, how much money you can save too 😉 Enjoy!
“Here’s the important part. You’re not giving bad things up; you just don’t need them to feel “good” anymore.
I used to think, “CrossFit ain’t Cheap.” Today, I still think that. But I realize now that all the B.S. bad habits I had, dwarfed the cost of having a coach and living a better life. When you start to give your body and mind the activities they crave, things start changing. They did for me. They will for you too.
Here’s how it will probably go: Your first workout is a wake-up call. None of the things you’re doing at a CrossFit gym are unnatural. You know, like lying down and getting up or stepping up on boxes and stuff. They’re actually like, really, really normal for a human being to do. But when the coach tells you, “Let’s lay down and get up ten times and then step on that box ten times for seven minutes. Let’s see how many rounds we can do. “You learn just how difficult that can be, and you start thinking about what the hell you’ve been doing for the past one or eight years at the regular gym.
Then you go back (the fun starts here.) If you’re like, oh, IDK, every person ever, you want to do better the next time. So, you show up again. Guess what? You feel just as bad again. BUT this time, you knew what to expect and know it’s making a difference because you’re trying harder than you ever have in workouts. It hits you that this would probably feel a whole lot less like the world is ending in your lungs if you show up more often and eat some better food. So you stop wanting to spend a ton on crap food. The coach showed you how to make the food dilemma simple. Pick three recipes you’ll actually eat, print the recipes, and make them in large batches. It’s stuff you like.
No need to deprive yourself; you’re enjoying this so far, and you’re finally losing weight without eating like a rabbit and running for an hour each day. Then you’re saving big dough. It feels good to start feeling good again. You don’t stop at McDonald’s on the way home a few times a week anymore. Let’s be honest, those nuggets are delicious, but feeling like this makes fast food something we’re just not interested in anymore. You stop spending money on fancy coffees from the bucks. Sugar drinks and alcohol while eating out add hundreds of dollars to a monthly budget and pounds to a stomach. But here’s the important part. You’re not giving them up; you just don’t need them to feel “good” anymore. Collateral Damage.
When you weigh less, you don’t have to eat as much to feel full or sustain that former weight. When you’re busy having fun at the place you go to be healthy and connect with a few people, you’re not inside your house, scrolling through newsfeeds, and getting mad at the world. When you feel in control of you again, things become easier, or at least they seem that way. If you can do a thruster, maybe you can show up tomorrow too. If you can do that, maybe you can get off blood pressure meds. You can live a different life. And by then, you’re already re-organizing yourself and becoming a different person. I’ve seen it too many times for it to be a fluke.
Oh, money. P.S. No longer needing that stuff above saves you like, close to two hundred bucks a month. You can budget to afford CF before you start it, but you’ll definitely be able to afford CF after you start. I’ve written this post about eight different times over the years. Just show up, and you’ll save money, I promise.”
