Motivation Monday- What is your "Why"-Natalie Thomas

Jenny Benesh
Mar 12, 2018
3 min read

Each and everyone of us walked through the door at EHP for a different reason. The reason "WHY" is unique to us as individuals. What you don't know is your "WHY" might be the motivation for someone else to start or even continue walking through the door.

Why do you Crossfit?

I started crossfit because I missed college sports. I needed competition back in my life. I wasn’t working out once I finished playing college volleyball and I thought I would be able to maintain the same body but that quickly wasn’t the case after two years out. A friend of mine had done it over the summer while we worked at zorbaz and she talked about it every day. I slowly started asking her questions and then finally in December I signed up for my first class. I was hooked immediately and couldn’t get enough.

I was consistent for two years 2015&2016 - and was starting to see changes. When I took a coaching job at UND I had to put off crossfit until I was back in the FM area but then I moved to Texas and it was put on hold indefinitely. I wasn’t happy in Texas; missing family, friends and my crossfit community. I tried home workout but it wasn’t the same feeling as the community at EHP. When I moved back in July of 2017, I waited until September to rejoin because I was nervous about how far I was away from my initial goals. After talking with Coach Joel, we discussed it was going to be mentally tough rather than physically tough and that was exactly true. I was upset with a few movements and scores right away but had to remind myself that the weights will come back.

I jumped into the the BTC to help my workouts reach their full potential. I knew my nutrition wasn’t dialed in at all and it was a great kick in the pants to get me going back. It was challenging but I can see a HUGE difference in the way I am feeling at the gym. After being off the strict nutrition plan for Dec and Jan I could see things at the gym were starting to slip and I wasn’t happy with that. I am back to strict eating 90% of the time with a few fun things in moderation.

What motivates you to continue?

I am motivated to continue crossfiting because of the high I get from working out. It is a safe feeling I get when I enter EHP. It’s a family and feeling safe and comfortable while working out is important. Meeting one on one with Coach Karla for the 90 day athlete meeting really helped. Speaking out a lot about goals that I have for my future with my career, and workouts.

I see my sister working out at home and thriving. Her daughter has picked up on her at homework outs and one day I want my child to see my workouts and be inspired to live a healthy lifestyle. I feel as though Crossfit gave me back my life. Volleyball was my only identifier for so long and now being a crossfit athlete I feel like it was part of me all along.

Some days are better than others that’s for sure. I have found my passion and what will drive my future. Setting goals with different weights. I love Crossfit bottom line.