The 8-week Food and Fitness Challenge has come to an end. There were 101 people who participated in this challenge and we divided the cash prizes based on the number of participants in each division (with each participant paying $20 to compete).

Participants could earn points in a variety of areas including clean eating, WOD performance, WOD improvement, body transformation (inches), goal setting, goal accomplishment and weight loss.

We've had some amazing results! The total weight loss at the end of the 8-week challenge was 591.8 pounds! The total inches in body measurements decreased by 360 inches (5 measurements were taken on women and 2 measurements were taken on men).

Congratulations too all our members who competed!  They worked very hard and the results have been very inspiring for everyone at the gym.  And the winners are:

Check it out!  The Casual Open Competitor Who Qualified: Jessica McNabney 

Why You Should Sign Up for the 2013 Reebok CrossFit Games Open

Talk to any CrossFitter and they will gladly rattle off two or three (or a dozen) ways in which CrossFit has changed their life for the better.  For example, they are stronger, faster, healthier and happier.  For me, the single most important benefit I have seen occur in myself and in my fellow CrossFit athletes is the subtle, yet profound, paradigm shift that happens after repeatedly and consistently doing things that seem impossible.

Every day, CrossFitters walk into their gyms and see the workout posted on the whiteboard. For many, there is a little bit of nagging dread somewhere in the back of their brain. That dread comes from the fact that for 99.9 percent of the human population (I just made up that percentage, but I am convinced it is accurate), the workout staring them down from that whiteboard would seem impossible. Somewhere in the back of that athlete’s brain there is a little voice that says there is no way that any human being can run through the gauntlet described on that board and come out the other side. Yet in less than sixty minutes, he or she will leave the gym having just done the “impossible.” 

Lather, rinse, repeat.

Three times a week. Five times a week. For six months, a year, two years, more. Eventually that nagging little voice of dread has been overcome so many times it becomes, for all intents and purposes, silent. Over time it becomes apparent that somehow, not only are the most brutal WODs completely doable, but things outside the gym that used to seem daunting are now no big deal. Gradually, nothing seems impossible! It all starts the first time you look at that whiteboard, see something that really scares the hell out of you, and you do it anyway. 

The Reebok CrossFit Games Open are  17 days away. The Games begin with the Open – five weeks of workouts that will be performed by CrossFitters all around the world. For the novice CrossFitter, the workouts that are going to be prescribed during these five weeks will probably seem impossible. That little voice of dread will probably be coming through loud and clear: “this is going to be too hard,” “the weights are going to be too heavy,” “I’m not going to qualify for Regionals anyway.” But for those that manage to quell that voice and sign up for the Open in spite of their doubts, they will likely see and experience something pretty amazing.

At CrossFit boxes all over the world, beginning in just a few short weeks, people will be lifting weights for reps that they had never done even one time. Athletes will be getting their first muscle up or first handstand pushup. They will be doing the impossible. Novices and fire breathers alike, side by side, will be exceeding their own expectations and pushing each other past that voice of doubt and coming out the other side. There will be a synergy there between beginner and Games contender doing the same workout, side-by-side, each one finding inspiration in the other. Witnessing this is exciting.  Experiencing it is empowering.

Each year we encourage our athletes to sign up for the Open, both beginners and experienced CrossFitters and everything in between. Not because we expect all of them to qualify, but because we know that five weeks after the Open begins, they will come out the other side… different. We know that five weeks from the start of the Open that nagging voice of doubt will be a little bit quieter, and all the difficult things the world dishes up will look a little bit less impossible.

This Saturday, FCCF members will be doing the WOD "Hope for Kenya" during our normal Saturday class times.  We wanted to give a special acknowledgement that one of our members, Carlie Chalmers, has raised nearly $2400 for this cause and currently is the third highest fundraiser for all of the CrossFit affiliates participating!

What is Hope for Kenya?  CrossFit Inc. is committed to making people's lives better in the 250 square-mile rural area surrounding Mombasa, Kenya. Education, food, and water are three major needs for the population in this area. Through the efforts of our affiliates, we can help the people of Kenya commit to, and invest in, improving their own conditions. We provide no handouts. By creating realistic, self-sustaining solutions to specific problems, we enable Kenyans to stand strong for generations to come. (http://kenya.crossfit.com)

The WOD (12 min AMRAP):  50 Squats, 30 Push-ups, 15 Pull-ups

CrossFitters around the world have raised over $183,000 for this cause!  Do you want to help Carlie raise even more before Saturday?  No donation is too small.  Visit her donation page at: https://kenya.crossfit.com/athlete?id=100168

Go Carlie!!

In his own words...

One year ago today, I was 245 pounds, unhealthy, had high cholesterol, and I cautiously walked in to FCCF for my first WOD (workout). It was a Saturday team WOD, and Lee and I had just finished up Bootcamp the week before. Honestly, I was terrified. The journey that I have been on throughout this last year has had too many milestones to list. For myself, my wife Chanellia, and my kids, we truly love this FCCF community. You all have been so great!

The one thing that I have mainly learned since doing CrossFit is the "I can, and I will" attitude. At the beginning, there were so many things that I said I would NEVER do, like eating Paleo (and here I am 5 weeks into my first challenge).

I feel I have come a long way, overcome a lot of obstacles, but still have many more to overcome. I really want to thank you all at FCCF for being part of my life changing experience over the last year, and especially to my awesome Hot Pants wife for all of the support!

CrossFit Kids is a strength and conditioning program that is specifically designed for kids and teenagers and helps them develop a lifelong love of fitness.

In a group setting, children and teens participate in fun and engaging workouts that deliver measurable results and prepare them to be well-rounded athletes. CrossFit Kids workouts consist of constantly varied, functional movements that deliver a fitness that is broad, inclusive and general and scalable for any participant at any level.

Our next 8-week session starts January 31, 2013 -- click here to Register!  If you would like your child to try a class for free to see if they are interested, fill out the registration form and let us know in the notes field you are coming in for a free trial during the first Thursday or Saturday.

• CF Kids 5-10 years old:  Thursdays 6-7 pm and Saturdays 9-10 am
• CF Tweens 10-12 years old:  Thursdays 6-7 pm and Saturdays 10-11 am
  
• CF Teens 13-17 years old:  Thursdays 6-7 pm and Saturdays 10-11 am

Here and some Games Prep Athletes having some fun tonight at the gym during their WOD where they were racing each other with a partner over their shoulders. 

We work hard but have a great time at FCCF.  The community just can't be beat.  

As always, if you want to try out FCCF, click on our schedule tab above, then click on any boot camp class, and register to attend a class for free. 

Over the last few weeks, we have been holding information sessions and preparing for the New Year's Food and Fitness Challenge to begin.  Today the challenge begins! It is 8 weeks long (January 7 - March 3).  Here are some of the highlights: 

• We have about 100 members doing the challenge and each participant put in $20 which goes to the winners. 
• We have 2 overall divisions:  "Look Better Naked" and "Weight Loss" (want to lose over 15 pounds).  Each division has winners for male and female. 
• Based on the entry fees, we have nearly $2000 is prize money that will be awarded to the winners and it is anyone's game.

• We have taken the scoring that worked well from the Lurong Challenge and changed things up based on what we learned about that challenge and other challenges we have run in the past and we feel we have an amazing scoring system where it is anyone's game to win -- whether you are the best athlete or not, whether you need to lose weight or inches, etc.  It is an equal playing field within the divisions.
  

• Many members have come together to provide resources for our members to use.  We have an online scoring system, resource page, Pinterest recipe page, food tracking, sample week of paleo meals, etc.  Have I stated lately how amazing the community is at FCCF?  This is a community of people coming together to help each other, with the competitive spirit of all going for the prize money.  It is really fun and exciting.  

The members are "in it to win it," the gym is a buzz, and we are ready to go.  Let the games begin!  Good luck to all!  You can do this!  I can't wait to see the results in eight weeks!  Stay tuned.

Today's WOD - "Victoria" Soto sacrificed her life to save her students at Sandy Hook. We honor this HERO.