Why I traded in ballet slippers for these…

Allow me to introduce myself! My name is Danielle and I am a CrossFit addict! For as long as I can remember I have been active. I grew up a dancer and spent years upon years in the studio working hard at both my dancing abilities and my image. I even received my Bachelor’s degree in Dance and loved the process.

Along the way, though, something was missing. I struggled with my eating and ate healthy but never enough. I became focused on my appearance, eating, and weight instead of the actual activity I was doing. As I began to realize what was happening, I turned to fitness to help.

I started to lift weights with the hope of building muscle, only to help my image.  But as my eating habits improved, I started to become incredibly obsessed with how I looked. Studying dance was no help, staring at a mirror all day was not the best thing for me; couple that with having to wear a leotard and tights and you’ve got a train wreck.  As I moved on to graduation, living in New York, and moving back to Boston, I continued to improve but still struggled with body image. Then I found CrossFit.

Slowly as I got more and more into CrossFit, I found myself healing more and more. Suddenly I was in a room with no mirrors, where finally no one cared whether I was thin enough to compete. I began to make little accomplishments, things that may seem totally normal to the average person such as wearing a tank top (yes I worked out in sweatshirts 24/7), cooking with oil (not in 5 years), eating full fat almond butter (reduced fat Skippy was my favorite, measured in a teaspoon), and actually stepping on a scale without having a subsequent meltdown.

I have finally found a balance in my life with CrossFit. Suddenly I learned how to feel proud of myself for accomplishing something (kipping pull-ups were my first goal) and slowly started to not worry so much about how I looked but actually pay more attention to what I was doing…it’s very difficult to worry about what your hair looks like or how thin you are when you are in the middle of Fran! I would much rather be strong enough to do CrossFit than thin enough to dance! I continue to CrossFit 5 times a week and am totally addicted.

In addition CrossFit has completely shifted the way I see nutrition. I eat to fuel my body! I eat to CrossFit. I haven’t been happier since beginning blogging and exploring nutrition, health, fitness, and sharing all of my favorite recipes and thoughts.

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Tags: fitness, fitness aha, healthy living, making changes, nutrition, success, sweat pink, trying new things, workout