Wednesday Wins – Denisse W!

If you see her throwing around a barbell today, you’d never know she wasn’t always an athlete. She’s a self-proclaimed “girlie girl” who played with Barbie as a kid, went shopping for fun and then became a Real Housewives junkie.  She had tried a ‘regular gym’ and went five times in a year. She bought roller blades and then returned them the same day (apparently they were defective because they made her fall). As you can imagine, stepping through those door took her FAR outside her comfort zone and she’s never looked back.

“It was the best decision I’ve ever made. And I’m so thankful to Scott for bringing me in here. He inspired me to start working out and got me to come. He had been talking about it all the time and knew I’d love it. I came once and that was it for me. I’ve never stuck with anything before. I’m not just working out, I’m having so much fun doing it. It’s not a chore, it’s how I choose to spend my free time.”

For Denisse, it’s a great combination of people and proximity. “It’s nice to be so close to the gym. I’ll come in for class and then come back with Scott and Trevor later that day and run or practice skills like pull ups or jumping rope.”   And regarding the people, “If I had a question I didn’t have to be embarrassed or ashamed. I can talk freely to everyone at the Cove like they are my friends.”

More importantly, her mindset has shifted entirely. At first “I wanted to not be fat.” But now it’s “I want to get stronger. I’ve got quad goals now. . I want to see my quads when I walk. I’m eating to get stronger to meet my goals.  I’ll discover a new muscle in the mirror and scream out loud ‘I never knew this existed’. Or I’m sore in a new place I’ve never knew I had”.

On the nutrition front she said, “I’ve learned how things work for you (and carbs are not bad for you!) and now I eat more, I am full and am still losing weight. I don’t’ drink like I used to. When I drank on a Friday, it would make me lazy all weekend. And I’m at a point where I don’t want to be lazy. I want to feel good and work out.”

Performance-wise, her hard work is paying off. She’s recently done her first rope climb, she’s got kipping pull ups and is stringing doubles together like nobody’s business. “I’ve accomplished things I never thought I could. I have body goals but I have strength goals I’m excited about now too!”

The hero WOD “Murph” is top of her list (mile run, 100 pull ups, 200 push ups and 300 air squats) but she had never run a mile. That is, until now. She said, “I felt like Forrest Gump. I just kept going. I’m 40 years old and have never run a mile. It felt so good. I thought I’ll never do it, but I just did.

And while she loves her Cove family, she’s got the love and support she needs for her fitness journey right at home with Scott and Trevor. “We look forward to 8p every day, then strategize as a family team about the WOD. CrossFit is now part of regular dinner conversation. If I come in early, it’s ‘How’d you do? How do you approach it?”

Yes, she has her weaknesses (anything ‘bread-y’—pizza, muffins, etc.) but she has balance. And we can all learn from her. “If I didn’t have the nutritional piece, I don’t think I’d see the gains. It took a while to figure out, but it’s my new normal. I’ll still indulge time to time.   For example, I ate a whole thing of soda break last week, but working out is now at the top of my list.”

She’s a role model for how to get it all done. And she has fun doing it. She’s spirited and a joy to be around, so that makes it fun for the rest of us. Sorry Barbie. Sorry Real Housewives. She’s ours now.