And The Winners Are…

August 31 marked the end of our two month Paleo Challenge. We had a lot of athletes make great progress but there were three that really stood out. During the past two months these athletes worked hard, stayed committed to Paleo Nutrition, and made some big gains in their athletic performance.

Thanks to everyone who participated. Even if you didn't win you've become a better athlete through all of this. Remember, the judging requirements were only between July 1 and August 31; so although we've had many athletes make some drastic changes this challenge was to see who could make the most gains in the last two months. Congratulations to Heather Williams, Jay Odom, and Kara Anderson; each of whom will be taking home $200 in cash! But more importantly they've made a commitment to a healthier and fitter lifestyle.

Heather Williams

Weight Lost - 18lbs

Inches Lost - 5.5''

Jay Odom

Weight Lost - 17lbs

Inches Lost - 2''

Kara Anderson

Weight Lost - 17lbs

Inches Lost - 4''

Featured Athlete – Missy Allison

My name is Missy Allison and I am a teacher at Oak Forest Elementary in Vidor. In December
the man of my dreams asked me to marry him. After all the phone calls were made and the initial shock
set in my mother, grandmother, best friend and I started looking for that perfect dress. That’s when it
all began.

Before

I decided that if I wanted to look stunning on my wedding day and wear my beautiful, strapless,
fitted wedding gown of my dreams I had to get in shape. I began by supporting the at home method by
throwing away money by buying “walk-away the pounds” to “30 day shred with Jillian Michaels” to “P-
90X”and yes even “flirty girl fitness”. Nothing seemed to work or hold my attention. I hated knowing
exactly what was coming next in the video and really I was only as motivated as I was interested. No
one was pushing me, no one was cheering me on, I was bored. My friend Stephen kept telling me to try
CrossFit. He did it and loved it and praised it every day. However, even though I knew I needed to do
something different, I was scared. I was never the athletic type of girl. I could never run fast or far. I
never lifted weights or even pretended to be strong. I thought I would die if I even tried to participate in
such an intense workout program. Of course, I was wrong.

Coach Neal decided to hold a five week boot camp at our school to show us what CrossFit
was all about. My friends Lydia and Brittani and I were thrilled at the idea at trying this new fitness
program that we have heard so much about. It ended up being the best thing I could have done for
myself. Right after I signed up for the class I ordered my dress, we took my measurements and decided
to go with a size ten. I told everyone I was planning on losing weight but the store employee said that
you couldn’t count on losing weight before a wedding that a lot of people get stressed and will eat
unhealthy and gain weight. I think I showed them. We met three times a week for five weeks starting in
April. I immediately saw results. After being sore for the first week and forcing myself to work through
the pain I instantly started shedding the pounds. Teachers in the hall were telling me how good I was
looking after only two weeks. They could see a noticeable difference and were telling me daily. That
alone would have been motivation to continue going but I was feeling different also. I wasn’t as tired,
I was keeping up with my kindergarteners, and I was changing my eating habits because I wanted to be
healthier all around.

When the five week boot camp ended we weren’t ready to give up. So Neal opened up a
women’s only class at his gym in Beaumont. The women in this class are the best women who work
the hardest and truly care about each other’s goals. Beverly, Susan, Lydia, Brittani, Rochel, and Teresa
have helped me do things I didn’t think my body would ever be capable of doing. We were flipping tires,
we were dead lifting, and we were doing thrusters with dumbbell weights that scared us back at our
own gym. Neal believed in us and knew we were able to run faster and lift heavier than we thought we
could. If I didn’t have a personal trainer telling me to push it, I probably never would. Around this time
my dress came in and to the store owners amazement we had to take the dress in everywhere. My hips,
bust, butt, and stomach all needed to be taken in. My arms were even getting thinner which was always
a problem area of mine and no matter what I did I thought I was just doomed to have thicker arms,

Crossfit changed that. This was only after two and a half months of doing CrossFit.

Now being a busy bride I was not able to make it to every class like I wanted to. However my
group welcomed me back each time and I felt myself getting stronger each time. I was still seeing
amazing results even if I wasn’t going as much as I would have liked to. Lydia and Brittani gave me
inspiration because each time these girls pushed themselves to the limit and keep going stronger
and faster. Have a support system like that is great. You don’t have people cheering you on in your
living room when you are doing a work out video like you do at Crossfit. You don’t have a system of
friends who are just as pumped and thrilled about your workout as you are. Also the work out is always
different and not the same boring routine. This really kept my interest and kept me motivated. I would
come home so excited to tell my fiancé what our work out was for that day. He would be so proud and
astonished when I told him I ran with a sand bag on my back and did more push-ups then I ever did in
my life. No matter what level you are on Neal works with you to make you the best that you can be
even if it is a gradual step up.

After

The time came for my bridal portrait. My photographer told me if I lost 3 more pounds I would
have to get a new dress because mine wouldn’t fit anymore. She told me to stop working out so I would
stop losing weight. Ha! You think that’s going to stop me. CrossFit was my stress relief from my hectic
wedding schedule. I always felt better when I left the gym. I was proud of myself for pushing through a
workout that I didn’t think I would be able to live through. I had fun laughing and talking with the other
women athletes. Crossfit was my haven from the invitations, tastings, and decisions for an hour. So
instead of putting a halt to my work out routine I decided it was time to have my dress altered again.
Two weeks before my wedding I brought my dress back for alterations. I had to have my dress taken in
to a size 4. I dropped 3 dress sizes in 3 months. Wow, I was thrilled! I did it! When I walked down the
aisle my future husband was stunned. He told me he had never seen me look so beautiful. Let me tell
you that made all my hard work worth it.

On our honeymoon we were able to go hiking, white water rafting, and climb mountains. I
probably would not have been able to have been so active without having done CrossFit before I left.
While we were own our honeymoon I missed doing CrossFit and was looking for a gym in every town
that we went to. Now that the wedding is over and I was able to slim down and tone up to look perfect
in my dress I still want to continue my fitness program. At the beginning it was to just lose weight for
my wedding now CrossFit is a part of my life. I want to continue doing it so I can have a healthy life
style. I am still amazed at what I am able to do and how it affects me in my everyday life. I am able to
move things around the house without asking for my husband’s help, I am not as tired anymore, I have
more endurance, and I am already 10% faster that what I was two months ago. I honestly just can’t
get enough of CrossFit and can’t tell you how much it has done to change my life. I am looking forward
to my new life with my husband and I know it will be a healthier stronger life thanks to Lydia, Brittani,
Beverly, Susan, Rochel, Teresa, Steven, and Neal.

Featured Athlete – Cassi Raley

Summer Lean-Out/Paleo Challenge

Hear ye! Hear ye! Starting July 1 we will be begin our 2 month long Summer Lean-Out/Paleo Challenge. Here's what you need to know if you want to get involved.

• The buy-in will be $25, which will ALL be paid back out to our top three winners.
• Before we start you will need to take and email us RECENT (like this week, not from before you started CrossFit) before pictures, front and side, which will play a role in determining our winners.
• Your performance in workouts will also help us determine our winners. We will do this by having baseline workouts and then doing them again at the end of the challenge.
• There will be three winners; determined by most improvement in our workouts and by most change in before and after pictures. We're not taking about weight loss only, we're also going to be looking at mass gains for you skinny folks. Winners will be taking home the cash; the more people who enter, the bigger the prizes!
• NUTRITION WILL BE KEY! If you want to have a shot at winning you will have to get your nutrition dialed in. I think you will be surprised with the results we can achieve in two months if we really get things in gear. Ask a coach if you have any nutrition or diet related questions.
  

  Paleo Pyramid

CrossFit Beaumont Opening January 18 – First 2-Weeks Free

Neal During the Dallas All Cities Open Competition

We have secured a location and will begin to hold classes on January 18. We will be located at 6727 Eastex Freeway just past Parkdale mall and Cavenders Boots. Class times will be held at 6:00am, 12 noon, and 6:00pm Monday - Friday and at 11am on Saturday. These classes are open to everyone; young or old, big or small, fit or unfit. If you have any questions please email neal@crossfitbeaumont.com or call 409-651-5679. Everyone can try us out for two weeks, Free!

If you're ready to get into the best shape of your life then come join us at CrossFit Beaumont.

Dallas All Cities Open Results

Tyler - Ninja in Training

The CFDC's All Cities Open was a huge success. I competed alongside 47 other competitors from around Texas. Lots of stellar athletes, tons of good food, 3 grueling events.

The first event to start the day was a max effort clean and jerk scored as a percentage of your body weight. I was able to get 185# (1.2xbody weight) cleanly. I was able to get 200# overhead but wasn't about to lock it out at the top and ended up finishing around the middle of the pack. Spencer put up a monster 280# (1.35 x BW) in event one to take 8th and Chase was able to successfully lift 205# (1.05xBW) and finish right behind me in the middle of the pack.

The workout for event two was:

This ended up being a lot tougher than I initially thought; I wasn't prepared for the onslaught that was about to ensue. It took me a good 20 minutes after I was done to walk again. My lungs were burning, my legs ached, and my grip was shot from the kettlebell carry but it was worth it. Chase and myself were able to redeem ourselves in this workout. Chase won this event with a time of 5:15, I came in at 4th place with a time of 5:54, and Spencer finished right behind me at 6:12. This put Chase and myself into the top 10 along with Spencer who was already in the top 10 after his performance in the first event.

The third and final workout looked like this:

I started this event strong and could see that I was leading my heat. I wasn't worried about the deadlift weight but wall ball isn't my forte so I thought that would be my limiting factor. WRONG. Although #255 isn't much when lifted 5, 10, or even 20 times anything after that becomes hell. I was cruising through the first 3 movements with no problem but then the deadlifts became unbearable. My body was screaming at me to stop but everytime I looked over I saw the guys next to me grueling it out so I had to continue. I ended up completing 9 rounds (45 deadlifts = ouch) and 2 extra wall ball to finished second in my heat of 10 guys, but it wasn't enough to hold off the athletes in the later heats. It was obvious that the deadlifts were the limiting factor for everyone involved. I talked to an a competitor who had a 500# deadlift and even he was crippled by the high number of reps. Spencer finished in the top of the ranks again; completing 11 rounds and finishing 5th in the event. Chase had tough times with the deadlift and completed just under 7 rounds when the 20 minutes were up. Everyone was pretty worn out by this time and it was time to award the prizes for the top 3 finishers.

There ended up being a 3 way tie for 2nd place in the mens division and a two way tie for 2nd place in the womens division. The women settled the score by seeing which athlete could perform the most pull-ups without dropping from the bar. Katie Russel edged out Beth Spearman by completing 32 pull-ups to Beth's 30. The men settled the tie breaker by seeing which athlete could perform the most muscle-ups (using gymnastic rings - a pull-up followed by a dip). Jeff Reed and Vic Zachary performed 7 muscle-ups each so we still had a two way tie for 2nd place. What better way to settle this than an arm wrestle? Both athletes were locked in place for about 15 seconds until Jeff Reed finally pulled ahead to clinch the second place spot. Matthew Brisebois from Denton took the first place prize for men while Lindsey Smith from Houston took home the prize for the womens division. Spencer finished 7th, Chase 8th, and myself 12th.

Great job to all the athletes who competed. Bobby, Mel, Meredith, Jim, Sam II, Vic, Russel, Erik, Matt P - You guys all did awesome. And a special shout out to Michelle, I'm so proud of you for finding the courage to sign-up; it was awesome watching you perform out there. Thanks to everyone who came in from out of town; it was great to meet you all and I look forward to seeing everyone again!

Dallas All Cities Open

CFDC ACO

Saturday, December 12, CrossFit Dallas Central will be hosting the All Cities Open. It is a one day competition consiting of 3 events; a max effort Clean & Jerk (scored as a percentage of body weight), a time specific workout (as many rounds as possible in X minutes) , and a task specific workout (finish workout as fast as possible). We won't know what the last two workouts will consist of until the day of the competition.

The event will be sponsored by Luke's Locker, Lululemon, Centre, Catalyst Athletics, and Kozy Kitchen. Kozy Kitchen will also be catering the event with some great food. If you're interested to see some great athletes go head to head this is the place to be. The competition starts at 8:00am and will be finished at 5:00pm.

Chase and Spencer of CFDC

I will be competing along with two other coaches from CFDC, Spencer and Chase. They are both great athletes and excellent coaches. Chase and I competed together at Oktoberfest Obliteration a couple of months ago; which he ended up crushing everyone in the final workout. I can see him doing the same thing this time, however he recently completed his first IronMan race and is still recovering so he may not be 100%. Spencer is a half man half amazing. He will be one of the strongest guys at the competition but is also capable of insanely fast times in Met-Con workouts. As for myself, I'm not as strong as either of these guys but since the Clean and Jerk is scored as a percentage of body weight I will be able to hold my own. As for the last two met-con workouts it just depends on what the workout is. We all have our strengths and weaknesses and I could see anyone of us winning depending on the workout. I'm hoping for body weight movements and no high-rep heavy barbell movements.

Chase, Spencer, myself, and 47 other athletes will be competing for the top spot. The top male and female will win a prize package put together by the event sponsors.

Hope to see everyone there!

Do Something You Hate Everyday

Larry of CFDC Giving It His All

My buddy Sam has this written on the bottom of his computer monitor. It’s a constant reminder that he should constantly be striving for improvement. One of the quickest ways to improve your game is by working on something you suck at. People usually dislike things they aren’t good at, so they don’t do them. I say if you have something you’re not good at, devote more time to it.

Do you spend months trying to get 5 more pounds on your bench press but you can only snatch half your weight? It would be more worthwhile to spend more time working on the snatch and see drastic increases, rather than spend time trying to get a slight increase in an area that is already the top of your game. We have much more room for improvement with things that we suck at. At CrossFit we want to be complete athletes. We specialize in not specializing so that means that we work EVERY aspect of our fitness. By focusing on our weaknesses we increase our overall athletic capacity; which will translate into gains in areas that you currently excel in.

Things we are skilled at are easier to us and so that’s what we tend to do. Bigger guys lift a lot because they have just always been good at lifting. A 6 week endurance program would improve their overall fitness substantially more than a 6 week strength program. With the strength program they may be able to add 2-3% to their lifts since they are already near the top of their game. If we instead focus that person’s efforts toward improving their endurance we could decrease their run times 5-10%. This same scenario could be reversed for someone who runs 5 miles a day and never lifts.

If you want to see gains faster you need to work on your entire game; so hit your weaknesses to become a well-rounded athlete. It’s not easy but it’s the best way to increase your overall fitness.

Choose the hard. You’ll be better because of it.

Get Comfortable Being Uncomfortable

Anna & Dean at CFDC

When you first start CrossFit it’s hard. You’re out of breath, you feel like you might get a visit from pukie, and your legs are momentarily out of service. A few months in and it’s still really hard. But once you’ve been doing CrossFit for about a year something starts to happen – it’s still f$#&ing hard and you realize that it will never get easy; you just suck less at it.

CrossFit never gets easy but over time you train yourself to become mentally tough. You get comfortable being uncomfortable and are able to push yourself further than you think you are capable. Doing a WOD at 6am every morning makes you realize that the rest of your day won’t be so difficult. If you just completed “Chelsea” (5 pull-ups, 10 pushups, 15 squats every minute for 30 minutes) you know that anything that life throws you that day won’t be an issue. CrossFit doesn’t magically make everything in life easier; but it does make you better at dealing with difficult situations.

By overcoming difficult obstacles we set ourselves up for success. You’re fitness will grow by leaps and bounds by doing a harder workout and putting yourself into an uncomfortable situation. You’re mental strength will grow along with your physical capacity. When you get used to challenging yourself inside the gym you will translate it to life outside the gym. You just tell yourself what you have to do and you do it.

THE OFFICIAL CFB LOGO!

I need a name for this - Any suggestions?

I recently commissioned a local art studio, Xulab Art, to create a logo for CrossFit Beaumont. Yesterday they sent the final design and I couldn't be more impressed. It does a great job of capturing what CrossFit is all about; (no, not massive forearms) the gritty/no frills/hard working/no shortcuts path to elite fitness.

The logo is good enough to think that I really did commission an art studio to create this, but in reality a good friend of mine, Dean Xu, created this masterpiece. Dean has done some great work for CrossFit Dallas Central so I knew his designs were top notch. Besides being an excellent designer Dean is a doctor, an excellent chef, a barber, an INCREDIBLE athlete, and most importantly one of the most humble guys you will ever meet. If one of my friends had a secret job as a spy or ninja-assassin I would guess that it would probably be him.Dean - Thank you a million times for your help with the logo.

If this is the best logo you've ever seen let us know in the comment section. Any comments that say otherwise will be promptly deleted.