#109] Kristi Eramo O'Connell: All Things CrossFit, Finding Your Why, + Body Image

Krisit [@kristieramo], CrossFit athlete + owner of CrossFit Polaris, shares her CrossFit journey... + dives into "CrossFit athlete" vs "CrossFit health," body image within CrossFit, + owning a CrossFit box! If you're in Columbus, make sure to visit her box! 

Notes:
-- Connect With Kristi: YouTube
-- CrossFit Polaris
-- IBEXTrained.com
-- For Recovery: GoWod + Sidekick
-- Kristi's Sponsors: NOBULL + 1st Phorm
-- Book Rec: Power of Now

Transcript

spk_0:   0:05
guys. Welcome to the charge podcast. Today I am here with Christy Eramo O'Connell, and I'm so excited because we have had over 100 episodes on this podcast and we have yet to talk about crossfit. So I'm here with you, The expert on CrossFit and just so excited to have this conversation.

spk_1:   0:26
Yeah, Thank you for having me super excited. Excited to share about CrossFit as well.

spk_0:   0:31
Let's start with when you were a freshman in college, What did you imagine your life toe look like?

spk_1:   0:36
Oh, my gosh. Nothing like it. ISS currently, which is really interesting. So I thought I was an accounting major. As a business major, I would be working maybe in a big city somewhere. Uh, I started out as an auditor, so by now, probably a manager in, like a big four firm, Um, and just kind of living that life where you're just, you know, maybe walking to work, living in a not necessarily a big corporation, but a big city and just in my business attire, straight businesswoman. And that is not not that I'm not a businesswoman now, but completely

spk_0:   1:09
opposite of kind of the life that I'm currently living. Oh, my God. So you were an auditor for a little bit after college? Yes. So I worked for KPMG for about two years, Okay. And when did that switch happen? So

spk_1:   1:21
it actually happened When I met my now husband. It kind of slowly was boiling. So I was dealing with a little bit of anxiety every morning when I was waking up when I was going to work, I was just not happy. But I couldn't figure out why. Because I worked so hard in college to get the job and because it was it was competitive to be selected by a Big Four firm. And so I had worked my tail off to get good grades to have the internships I did. My internships, I, you know, accepted the position at the Big Four firm and then slowly into it. Like after my first busy season. I was just miserable was like there has to be more to life than this. And I was losing my fitness. So I've been an athlete prior losing my fitness. That also was making me unhappy. So I joined across the gym from there. I met my husband and I was like, Wow, this is so cool. Like, there's there is more to this, and I feel like this is more of my calling, not necessarily competing, but just I love fitness and I want to do something with fitness. So he was the one that encouraged me to kind of take the jump and switch my change my entire career path. So I ended up getting a position with one of the local CrossFit gyms helping them start a gym. I went a part time accounting with just a corporation and set a big force. I was working part time accounting on, then helping run another gym. And then slowly, I was able to make it my full time job. Yeah. Whoa. When did you

spk_0:   2:43
decide that CrossFit was going to be your fitness post college? Like, did you do research on CrossFit gyms? And you hear about it from someone else? What does that look like?

spk_1:   2:52
I actually was a little bit scared and nervous to try it, so I had friends in college who kept me like Percy would be really good

spk_0:   2:59
at this. Like you should try it. This

spk_1:   3:00
is your thing. And I think seeing on TV and just seeing the girls like I was super intimidated. And so I even did start my CrossFit. So it was probably I went into endurance sports after, so I started running marathons. I started doing a ton of cycling. I was still swimming a little bit, and I put that into traffic. So marathons and triathlons and then I was just kind of getting bored. So it was like me out by myself, just running lots of lots of miles cycling, like nobody wanted to do it with me. It was just like waking up before I would go into work or after when I was still just auditing or just in accounting in general and trying to get my miles and so I could feel like I was still fit. And I just missed the weightlifting aspect from in the teen aspect from being a swimmer. Uh, and so finally I was like, Okay, they told me I should give it a try it like I will go. I went and I quit because you're like I did my 1st 5 or six sessions out of the 10 and then I stopped because I was super intimidated, and I was like, Well, I really enjoy. I should really just give this a try like I can do this. And so I finished out my onramp sessions. I joined the classes and then I met of really awesome group of friends and my husband. So I would say I dabbled in the endurance stuff about a year and 1/2 almost two years after college. And then I joined CrossFit right when I was 24. So 2 to 3

spk_0:   4:16
years, right after what is on ramp mean honor. Good questions. So

spk_1:   4:21
not every cross the gym does this. I'm a really big believer in it. I think it helps you. We do it at CrossFit players, but basically it's just you're getting started. Process. So cross That can be like speaking another language. And that alone makes intimidating is like they're telling you to snatch that gun. You're clean. You're like, What the heck does that mean, let alone getting my body to do it. So on ramp is we do small group sessions like five people in a class with a coach, and it's all people who have never learned it before, so we go through all of the movements that they're going to see in the classes. So when you get into the class you've had coaching, you've had queuing, you've had that small group or one on one. Do you feel comfortable and you know what you should be doing? So I was doing my small group sessions, and it's not even that it was. It was just the atmosphere. The first time I started in, the walls were painted black. There was like graffiti on the walls. There was a lot of like, heavy music, and I felt like I didn't belong. If I would just give it a chance, I'd quickly realized that obviously you can't judge a book by its cover, and that kind of went for the gym as well. I met, you know, my now husband. I met some really great friends, and it's also completely changed

spk_0:   5:24
my career in my lifestyle. So it's been awesome. I was actually going to share that. It is so intimidating, like I feel like I've tried all the workouts and I've only done CrossFit once and that was back when I was in charge in college. But it's so good to know that there is that on rooms I had never even known that that was even possible.

spk_1:   5:46
It's finding the right Jim, so especially with Cross. But nowadays is it's been around longer now. I think finding some gyms have more of that. You know that intimidation factor in that feeling. But if you can really find their community and that's what we try to stash like we painted our walls bright blue at players like a Caribbean blue. We wanted to be warm. We wanted to be welcoming, and we have a lot of families under Jim. So large part of our population is, you know, 35 to 55 or 60 year olds who are there for their social hour. And so I think it's important just to find a place, one that has an on ramp so you cannot have that intimidation, like when you get to the regular cost, is you know what you're doing. But to that stresses and focuses on community, and not just like loading up the bar with as many waits as possible. So I think there's there's a if you walk into one Jim, and you're like, Wow, this is just it doesn't feel right. It's not the vibe I'm looking for, I think trying multiple gyms because each Jim is gonna have their own personality in their own

spk_0:   6:41
vibe. When you took a break after those five or six sessions, how long to take you to go back and why did you decide to go back?

spk_1:   6:51
I think it was only about four or five weeks. Um and I went back just cause I was still in busy season and I was like, Okay, I really did enjoy those workouts. I should give this a try. Um, it's just obviously, people love it. And so I think it's just kind of also being humbled by it. So just being an athlete in college and realizing like, I might not be good at this and that's okay, But if it's, you know, helping me achieve more of my fitness goals and I do enjoy it, maybe I'll make some friends through it, Then I should give it a try. So it was probably I was on a side that actually remember that it was about five weeks when I got back. I was like, Okay, I'm gonna do this again and I'm gonna finish it out, and I'm gonna give it us all a try. If I don't like it after a month, then that's fine. But, you know, people are raving about it, and I definitely was looking, and I needed something else to fill kind of the void that I was missing from my team. Sports in

spk_0:   7:38
college in the beginning, What do your workout schedule look like with CrossFit? Did you go every day

spk_1:   7:46
in the beginning? So I've typically followed and I still stress it's with my athletes as well a player. Some I would do three on take a day off outside running, and then I would go back Friday, usually Saturday and then takes on a totally off. So and that actually, maybe an extra day off in there, depending on how I felt when I first started. But I try to get three or four days a week in and then do something outside of the gym. If I felt not very sore, if I felt like I had energy and I wanted to, um, fitness has just been a huge part of my life, it's completely changed. So whether I was in the gym or outside. I just always feel better when I'm moving and when I'm sweating and I feel like I'm more of my best version of myself. So 34 days in the gym and then, you know, a day or two outside of the dome. I think most people

spk_0:   8:31
know the basics of CrossFit, but I'd love for you to share What are some things that probably your average person does not know about? Prospect that we should know?

spk_1:   8:40
Yeah, I think. CrossFit So it's constantly varied, functional fitness. So the goal of cross that is to help you be fitter outside of the gym to teach you to move well outside of the gym to keep you healthy. So I think it's really important, and I always dress this to the athletes that are just getting started with us is it's a lot of times kind of becomes so where you always you want to do more when you get into this gym setting and you've been in with people who've done it for five or six years, and you look at what they have on the bar and, like, I'm just gonna jump straight there. I think viewed as long term health and fitness. So the goal is gonna be teaching you how to pick something up safely. So if you're outside and it snows a lot, you need to shovel snow. You know, howto brace with your midline and you know how to lift us. Now if you have to pick up a heavy box, we did. You have a dead lift, which is picking up the bar bell. So again you know how to safely pick up the box in your home or, if you're moving wherever you are, we makes lots of different components, so we do a body weight component. We d'oh aerobic conditioning, which is gonna be your rowing machine or your bike or running outside. Whatever that sweating pieces, we do a little bit of what we call gymnastic, so there's usually something that you'll see that looks like a pull up bar that we tend to call a rig. So that'll build upper body strength midline strength. Where will bring our toes to the bar for the midline or pull ups or things like that? So there's the aerobic conditioning. There's the gymnastics piece, then you've got weights. So Now we throw in, you know, dead lifting, squatting to build muscle. And I think with that topic a lot of people to see the CrossFit is on TV, and I'm like, Oh, my gosh, they look huge. Um, with the building muscle, they work very, very, very, very hard to get like that, um, and they're structuring their eating, their recovery, their sleep, everything around to look that way. And a lot of times, I think when people see them in person, I know the number in common I get is like, Oh, my gosh, you're so much more

spk_0:   10:30
than I thought you were gonna be like your tiny So

spk_1:   10:32
I think TV makes you look a lot bigger. So I think sometimes people are intimidated like, Well, I get women in all the time. They're like, I don't want to bulk up that you're not going to buy just lifting weights, right? So we have that weightlifting component and then trying to think it's just so conditioning, body weight, weightlifting, gymnastics. Those are gonna be some of the main components that make it up on. Then we'll just constantly switch out those movements so we'll pair a weight lifting movement with a body weight movement. And you'll do, for instance, a seven minute workout with just continuing to Pete. This repeat the same rounds and reps, um, or will have a designated amount of works. We have a task, so we'll say, you know, 50 dead lifts, 20 air squats, 100 meter run. When you're done with that, you're done. That would not be a great workout that just came off like 50. Yeah, right. So that would be, but something like that, where you have a certain amount of you have a task. When you complete your task, you're done. So we just we do all difference. We hit all the different energy systems, which is what I think give people really great results. We'll do a workout that's 20 plus minutes. Will do interval workouts a minute on and then off. We'll do a workout in the 7 to 9 minute range, and it's constantly varied. And I think that's really

spk_0:   11:45
what gives people of results in CrossFit. Uh huh. What about competitions? Competitions? Oh my gosh, it's

spk_1:   11:51
like a whole nother ballgame. So competitions that programming is up to whoever's putting on the competition, so you will have some competitions that program a little bit heavier. So when I see those, I don't always love them because I'm a smaller athlete. So that means when I say heavier the weights, they're gonna challenge you. It's a lot more week driven of a competition. Um, the one you see on TV across the games is super well rounded. So you'll go about three days, two or three events a day, and each event is gonna like I was talking about earlier hit a different domain. So some athletes airpower athletes where they're great at the weights, but maybe they don't like the 20 plus minute workouts. Very well rounded competition is gonna have a little bit of all of those different domains. Gonna have high gymnastics, a little bit of weight lifting and endurance piece on. And you're gonna test all around to see who in the end comes out with the most points or average is the

spk_0:   12:42
best throughout the weekend. Are most of the people in your it's called a CrossFit box, right? Yeah, in your box. Are they training for a

spk_1:   12:50
competition? No. And that's so most of the people in the box are not training for a competition. We actually have a very small handful of people that are, and I think that's where people get confused as they see it on TV. And I'm like, Oh, it's just a competitive sport. What we have a Polaris is I feel like we have a very special community. But we have a lot of people who just want to be able to play with their kids. They just want to keep their energy levels. They're just they don't know what to do. L a fitness, but they want to keep their bones strong. They wanted, you know, they want to build muscle mass or lose fat or whatever. Lean out whatever it is. Um, they're just there for their fitness regimen, and I think that's where CrossFit gets lost. You have crossed that as the sport, which you see on TV, and then you have crossed the health and crossed the health is just gonna be. We have people who come in every single day, or I encourage them to take rest days. Uh, but we work on a strength component, and then we just sweat and we move and, you know, we try to be the best hour of their day and they get the benefits from the high intensity workouts, like you would see with a boot camp or something along those lines. And we can get him in and out on 60 minutes. And then they feel great to get a great sweat. They get the social hour and they're just doing it for long term fitness and

spk_0:   13:59
health. I like how you broke it down into CrossFit health and then cross fit Sport. Yes. When did you decide you wanted to go? The CrossFit sport row.

spk_1:   14:11
I actually never intended to go cross, but sport home. My husband at the time he was competing, So I got to watch him. And I love supporting him and slowly was like Christie, like you're getting better. Like you should do it. Mmm mmm. No, thanks. I'm not cut out for that. It's really nerve wracking. I have I do have a sports background. So swimming my whole life, playing soccer s. So I did a Friday night throwdown with friends, Which is that when I say Friday night throwdown, it's very small. So there's probably 15 girls that were competing maybe 15 guys and it was just in a local box and they were just running heats. So I did that and I did really well. And I kind of got the adrenaline and the rush that he used to get when I swim, which I absolutely left, and I even raced marathons and things like that. But I'm just a goal oriented type of person. So for me, it was like, Okay, that was really fun. Maybe I'll do another one on DSO slowly. I just didn't honestly, to do it with him, so he would be doing online competition. And I would do the qualifier workouts with him just to spend time with him when we were dating. And then we'd both qualify. And we'd get to go for these really fun weekends and both compete. So then I slowly he helped me. He just coached me the whole time on Die slowly, got better and better. And then I made it used to be so cross That has changed. We don't have this anymore, but we used to have an open and then you'd qualify into regionals and then you qualified to games. So I made it to the Open. And then I made it to regionals. And then I made it to the game. So it just kind of like it just happened with hard work and with him coaching me. And now that's just kind of what I do. Oh, my gosh, that's

spk_0:   15:43
crazy! How soon after was that from when you started CrossFit Thio When you qualified for the games

spk_1:   15:51
s. So I started CrossFit in the summer of 2013 and I made the games for my first year in 2016. That's amazing. S so it was about two and half three years. Whoa. So what was that like? Ah, it was terrifying again. So that feeling intimidated did come back a little bit because all of these girls who I followed in the sport for so long, who you gonna look up to them and you're like, Wow! Did you see she hit this number on this lift like That's amazing. It was beautiful. And so you're always striving to be better, because it's the same ideas. When somebody runs a sub four minute mile, it's like all of a sudden it's doable. So you've got these people that are doing things that almost seem impossible, but they're doing them, so you're always like setting your goals higher, so to be competing with them. I was like, Oh my gosh, Michael's just did not

spk_0:   16:36
get last like that literally flying out on

spk_1:   16:39
the plane, I was sitting next to Patrick. He's my husband and I was like, I don't know why we're going like this is not gonna be good. And it was just an experience. And again, it's goal setting and just challenging yourself and just seeing what you're able to do and what you're capable of. And that's the stuff that I love. What's your best event? My best event. So with the competition's, the events will change. So most of the time, you'll never repeat an event. It just there's an infinite amount of combinations that somebody could put together. But all in all, I would say anything to do with long distance running. So running or swimming at the games. Usually you guys, if you watch on TV, you'll see we do run in a swim. Those typically go really well or the ring muscle ups, so I tend to do better with anything endurance or

spk_0:   17:22
gymnastics What's something that when you see you're like, Oh, shoot. I wish that wasn't a part of the workout. There is this bike called an assault like and it's a high power output

spk_1:   17:33
machine. So the more weight you have behind it, the more leverage if you're taller, it's gonna go faster. Anytime that shows up, I'm not quite five foot two and I wave out 20 to

spk_0:   17:43
£30 less than the other girls like. I just kind of give it everything I've got. But it's tough for me. Yeah, I read on your instagram that you took a break from this past season. Direct. You share a little bit about that? Yes. So

spk_1:   17:58
that actually was one of the best things that ever did. Patrick and I got engaged, and then we planned our wedding in about four months, and I was kind of ready. I was also turning 30 which I had a I had a little bit of a hard time with, and I was just ready to start a new chapter of my life. And I felt like I didn't know if CrossFit belonged, not cross that with the gym and helping people. But more of my own CrossFit cross but sport for me. I didn't know if it belonged in this next chapter because we felt like what was happening was I was becoming selfish and it was pulling away from, you know, me, being able to help my athletes at the gym and then spending time with Patrick in our relationship. And I felt like it was becoming a little bit self centered and I was losing balance. And then the other thing I felt was I couldn't remember my Why So I think it's really important with whatever you do in life to have your wife. Because no matter who you are, what's going on? You know, it's like you'll have tough days. And so I would wake up and, you know, starting to get a lot of anxiety and almost like a guilt feeling of. I'm spending all of this time in the gym training. Am I being productive in other areas of my life? So for me, the wedding was just kind of like Okay, we're starting a new chapter together, and I don't know if this has a place, so he was very supportive in whether I wanted to do CrossFit or whether I wanted to take a break. And for me it was just taking a break in trying to find balance. And so I just had to step away and figure out if I still loved it, why I was doing it. How could I balance out my life a little bit more and in the end, down back and I've revamped how I do everything and I feel better than ever. Like a lot of my anxiety has kind of gone down. I'm able to tell people like why I do it or when I wake up and I'm maybe I'm tired, I'm exhausted or I feel like I have a really long to do list. I'm able to kind of compartmentalize and also spend time balancing out rather than just only focusing Tunnel visioned on myself. What else did you revamp? So my nutrition is one. Um, so I also got my nutrition certification from precision nutrition. So I've been just making sure that I'm eating enough and eating the right kinds of foods, cleaning up my diet, um, spending time like I now do my own programming. So I previously was working off of or with, uh, a coach who would give me a list. And sometimes that list just didn't feel like it was what I needed to do. Or didn't It just sometimes was taking over my life because I'm the type of person where you tell me what to do. I will check all

spk_0:   20:26
of it off like I don't

spk_1:   20:27
do anything half. So that was sometimes a struggle for me is I need to go to one of my cousin's baby showers. But I have all of this training that I need to get done. And a lot of times I would skip the experiences so I'd miss the baby shower or it missed the birthday party or had missed something that, you know, I'm not gonna get those experiences back just because I was so hung up on that

spk_0:   20:47
I have to get this

spk_1:   20:48
training in. So just understanding that making sure for me, um, that I'm not spending too much time in the gym and that I'm still enjoying life's experiences and we you know, we're working on taking trips, so doing things outside of the gym toe where not everything is completely centered around my training and so that's been a really big one doing things with people. So that was another reason I stopped working with a specific coaches. I was always in the corner by myself. So now I train with my husband and I trained with our really good friend Dan, a train with another group at the gym. If they're in there, I jump into all of the CrossFit players classes and then focusing on coaching more. So I was missing because I would be tired. I wasn't coaching as much or getting to work with people, and that's the stuff that I love. So it's like, refreshing. I want to help people, and that's whatever area of my life like, whether it's fitness or whatever it is like. I just want to help people, and I want to help them reach their goals. So if it's nutrition as well, um, and I think for me not getting to do that, I just I wasn't feeling fulfilled. So I've just been working on balancing all of

spk_0:   21:53
those things. Mmm mmm. Oh, my gosh. What does it look like in terms of your workout schedule when you're in this peak season of being across but athlete in terms of, like, how many hours a day?

spk_1:   22:05
Yeah, so peak season is interesting. They shifted our season a little bit, but right now I that's the other thing that I'm balancing is less is more right. I always thought more, more, more, more, more. And I think that came from a little bit of my swimming mentality. Yes, and it was just like if you don't hit this number of meters or yards, you didn't accomplish what you needed to, But it wasn't really about that. I I think I had that quantity over quality approach. So now it's quality, so I'm always focusing on. Was it a good session? Did I get out of it? What I needed? If so, then it was good. It doesn't matter if I didn't spend six hours in the gym today, but right now my schedule is I get there at eight. I work out until about 9 15 so in 75 minutes will do a long warm up. Usually one piece with where we're sweating and we're breathing, which we call conditioning and then an accessory piece. So that's focusing on accessory. Could be like biceps or tries, ups or upper back or something just to strengthen all of my stabilizer muscles to keep healthy. Then I'll go home, out work, get to my emails, whatever it is I've got on my plate for the day, get a lot of stuff checked off, and then I'll go back at about 1 45 until about 3 15 So all in all, that's only about two hours and 45 minutes that I have been training. Um, so an hour and 15 plus an hour and 1/2 two hours and 45 minutes, And that's been really great for me, so I'll keep it right around there. I'm a bump it up to two hours in the morning and two hours in the afternoon, but I will not go about that. So previously I'd say I would be closer to six hours in the peak season. But for now, I'm just focusing on

spk_0:   23:35
quality. That's so sad, Marta. Swimming. So you're so used to that? Yeah. Yeah, that second workout Is that the same amount of intensity or is the 1st 1 harder? What is that look?

spk_1:   23:46
Yeah, So the second, the 1st 1 is actually a little bit more moderate. Um, and we've recently shifted into this, so I What we were learning is in the morning, your body's not really primed to be lifting heavy weights. And you know, you're more so at least for me. I'm more susceptible to injury and things like that, and I just don't feel good. So what Patrick and I have been doing is we've been putting a longer conditioning workout up front, which is easy on your body. So we're just focusing on sweating and breathing and improving our cardiovascular. And then in the afternoon, when we've had time to have a good meal, when our bodies a little bit more awake and I'm more alert, then we put in our strength peace. So that's gonna be some type of squatting, dead, lifting the Olympic lifts that you see maybe a little bit more bar Bell work. So there's more weights involved, and then we'll hit depending on the day, either a shorter, faster work out, maybe with some weights, and maybe repeat that. So we'll do like arrest repeat type thing. So you'll hit one round of something rest five minutes and then do it again and try to match what you did the first time. So that could actually be a little bit higher intensity because the workouts are typically shorter. So that's kind of if that makes sense, kind of how we're structuring it right now. So the mornings are a wake up and I won't do a two day every day. Um, for instance, if I if I'm just not mental, if I don't have it no

spk_0:   25:03
longer forcing myself to do it, that's good. What about recovery?

spk_1:   25:08
Oh, I love recovery. Recovery at this stage is actually almost more important than the actual training itself. So, recovery. I actually Donald, did this app called Gawad Mobility. Okay, it's like yoga for cross fitters. Um, I love it because for me, I just need someone to tell me what to do, and I will do it. Uh, the other thing is, I've read a lot and I talked to a lot of Pts in doctors about the fascia and massage therapist as well your fascist. Sometimes especially for cross fitters, it takes two or three minutes for your fashion to actually start to let go where a lot of times I would hold a stretch for 20 seconds and then move on. And really, that's not doing a whole lot for me. So at night, every night I follow my go. What up? Which is I took a mobility test, and it has. Right now I'm working on my ankles and my hips in my overhead position so it will structure 22 minutes. You could do 22 minutes, 15 minutes or eight minutes daily, and then I start my app, and it has a video showing me exactly what I should do and then a timer in each position. So some positions I hold for one minute other positions. It requires me to hold for three minutes. And so all I do is have to turn my phone on, hit the timer, and it will take me exactly through my routine. And for me, that's a really good way for me to recover at night kind of wind down. So I get good sleep because it just takes me. I shouldn't look at my phones. You shouldn't

spk_0:   26:25
looking electronics 30 minutes before

spk_1:   26:26
bed. But I do this and then I get in bed and relax. Um, but it just helps me breathe wind down and kind of make sure that I'm staying mobile in lumber because that will also helps a healthy image in the other thing is gonna be I do recovery shakes depending on the workout. So I do a protein a carb right after so nutrition, essentially making sure that I'm not eating a lot of processed foods. So I have kind of like a list of foods that I try to stick. D'oh! And I build my plate around veggies. So I know everyone always thinks like protein, protein, protein, just making sure I'm getting in all of the nutrients that my body is craving drinking tons of water. And then I also I wear woop, which is like a heart rate tracker. And it tells me my day strain and how much sleep that I've gotten. So I don't know all of those things and wanna have Ah, uh, grass and tool, which is psychic. So Oh, yeah, I love that. Yes. So I used to go to a car packed and have them do it for me. But now I could just do it to myself so the grass didn't paired with the stretching for me are two really, really awesome things to keep my joints and my muscles and everything Feeling good? Do you have any

spk_0:   27:31
resource Is for how to properly do the grass today.

spk_1:   27:35
Yeah. So a sidekick tool is who I use. They have something called Sidekick to university. So they have a whole bunch of online tutorials that literally show you exactly how you should do it. I'm using that doing that way. Always think like flushing up toward your, um, in for your limp systems. You can kind of pump everything.

spk_0:   27:53
Okay. Oh, that's so cool. I am so curious what it's like to be at the highest level of CrossFit. Do you have sponsors? I know you obviously have a ton of Instagram followers, and I want to hear about that journey to, but what is that? Like

spk_1:   28:10
the, um, to me. I don't really know if if much has changed for me. Um, I do have sponsors, which I have been super blessed and very fortunate that I've gotten to work with the companies that I get to work with. I feel like for me, it's always about what do I actually use and how and what the company is about right, So my number one is noble. It's an apparel industry company, and I still to this day, like I am so blessed that people are amazing. I know the founders like they they just It's a family, so it's It's very different to me. It's not a company, but it's is a brand about hard work. But it's something like I'm so proud to wear just because of how how the owners are, how the founders are like what the company stands for. And so it's more than just gear and more than just choose to me if if you haven't checked out, you should check out noble project dot com Um, they are. They're not just across the brand, either, so I believe we will start to see more of it. They're still so new. I think 2015 was like their first kind of year. I joined them in 2017. So I've seen the girl that they've had, and they're just that I can't say enough like this, just an incredible company. So that's been really cool. And that was something that I don't know how they found me or why I got the opportunity to be part of their company, but something that is very special and very dear to my heart. That's just it's like you guys should definitely. I heard of that noble subject dot com in there out of Boston. So and they now have a store in Chicago. They have a store in New York. They have a store in Boston. They just opened Miami. They're moving to L. A. I think, but they're slowly opening stores around. So previously Justin online business. Um, so that was one. And then I have a couple of recoveries of sidekick is they'll help me as well, and it's just people will send you gear and you'll get to try him out. Um, first forms. I use first form supplements in that something that if you follow me on instagram, you're gonna see me talking about all the time because I I love it. So they have this one product called Reds and greens, which I take every day. I do eat a lot of vegetables, but I don't eat a lot of fruit. And so I feel like I missed the antioxidants and certain things and properties that come from fruits and veggies. Um, so I take that every morning, and I swear that it has taken away my stomach ache. So I used to get really bloated. And I have a sensitive stomach. Uh, since I've started taking that, I rarely ever feel that throughout the day unless I really, really, really bad. Um, but so that's a really awesome company, but just these people who want to support you like they just want to help you be your best version of yourself. So I'm very fortunate and very blessed and very lucky to have them by my side. And I literally, like, could not do some of the things I do without them. So that's super awesome. Other than that, I don't feel like a whole lot of change. Like I still I'm back to why I'm doing it for me. And I think originally maybe some of those sponsors come on and you're like, Oh, my gosh, I have to succeed. I have to go do so well or else they're not gonna be happy. But really, they care more about you as a person. And those are the companies I try to work with. because they care about me as a person and I genuinely like their stuff. So it's just creates a really great relationship. Um Instagram. I actually don't I have a think a few followers, which is amazing to me. A few It's It's for me. It's just been slowly building over time like there hasn't been like an instance. I know one of my good friends. I was sitting extra her at one of the first regional competitions. I think she went from like, 1000 followers, like 100,000 in, like, three days or something. Yeah, it's not been anything like that for me. It's just been sharing little pieces of my life that I guess people are interested in, Um, I I love instagram it, but I think actually started a YouTube channel, which has been something I love even more instagrams awesome. And I love sharing little recipes or workouts or just about my life. But YouTube is where I can actually like put up a 10 minute video, and I feel like I'm helping people. So the response that I've gotten from YouTube has been unbelievable, like it's just so rewarding to hear, like to see people get their first bar myself after I've done a bar muscle video or to give them nutrition tips and then see people making the recipes that I've put out and just help them get to know, like my little quirky You're fun personality that I can't necessarily share as much of through instagram. So I was really again starting to YouTube General until my husband and one of my friends really Come on, Christy, just do it like just see the coup cares just be you. Okay, so it's been something that I have absolutely loved every second off. So YouTube is more for me. I just feel like I get to share who I am a little bit more and a little bit more about my lifestyle than just kind of putting up

spk_0:   32:51
a picture or something like that. So the

spk_1:   32:53
instagrams fun and it's all good. But again, it's fun in the sense of if you could have balanced. So yeah, not compare yourself. The hard thing I was finding for a while was I'd be scrolling through Instagram because it is a highlight reel essentially, and I'd be like, Oh, my gosh, Pat, did you see they lifted or they did this many things. He's like Chrissy, anybody could do something in a 12th window, like leading into competitions. It was actually kind of a really big mental. It was a roadblock for me. My confidence would go down because of what I was seeing all the other girls do on Instagram. So I'd actually have to kind of deactivated my account for a little bit and just focus on me. So I just

spk_0:   33:28
really like you too. Oh, my gosh, I'll have to ask you for some YouTube tips here. I really wanted to touch on body image within CrossFit. What has that been like? Like, did you ever experience any sort of? I mean, obviously you have negative thoughts sometimes, but has there been any, like, severe issues that you've experienced?

spk_1:   33:50
Body image and general husband Really interesting for me, Um, coming from the endurance world. So I always wanted to have, like, pencil arms and I could buy Gap and, you know, you see all of that. And then I was hungry. And I remember when I met my husband, he was like, Chrissy, why are you getting the pan out? to make one egg like that. What? What are you doing? And I really was restrictive of my calories. And then I started CrossFit and all of a sudden, now I'm looking up to these people with all of these muscles. It was like this really drastic change in trying to battle like some days. Then I started to gain muscle and my scale started to go up, and I really struggled with that guy. Had to stop weighing myself because at one point out that like, hide this girl. Um because I was looking up to these people with so much muscle. But then I always wanted the pencil arm and to be super skinny. So just obviously that's two completely different things. So for me it was and I deal with us with some of the females in the dreamer. I talked to them about this a lot is muscle weighs more than fat. And in the end, I just wanted to feel good, whatever that meant. And I feel like constantly striving for this image that is not achievable or was not achievable and also was not healthy for me. I didn't feel good and so slowly working into the CrossFit world. Now I'm starting to eat more so my energy levels are starting to go up. Yes, I'm gaining weight, but it's good way I'm building muscle on and just kind of shifting my image as to where strong is beautiful and not to put like a label on females or that we have to be stuck on the treadmill are we have to be stuck on the elliptical, and we can only do cardio or whatever that we can lift weights and it makes you feel good. So it was a really interesting transition. I wouldn't wear spandex, and I wouldn't take my shirt off for the longest time. Uh, just because I was, I didn't really feel like I fit in, like, always wore soccer shorts, Um, or I definitely always off my shirt on. But slowly, what CrossFit does for you and what it's done for me is you build confidence and you build confident and I see all the time in players like I see women who are 57 58 take off their shirts and it's, you know, maybe we don't look like people on TV and we don't have eight packs. But we're proud and we're comfortable in our own skin, and I think that's what cross what does for you. And it may take some time in learning to shift in, kind of train your mind, but we don't have to look like the people on TV that you see. But as long as you're happy and you're comfortable in your own skin, it's it's a no judgment zone, and that sounds so cliche. But I think it took me probably about a year or two until I started to like, Wow, I'm starting to see, like I'm developing some muscle or and you could start to see that definition coming in not bulky nous, but you just start to feel like for me, it really boosted my self esteem. Um, and it just gave me a little bit more. I feel like I felt a little bit more empowered, so just a little bit stronger, healthier. I was happier. I have more energy. So when I started to feel all of those things, it started to shift in a positive way. That makes it absolutely. What about body image? Was swimming? Oh my gosh, body image with swimming was a whole other ballgame. So I I remember, like almost passing out after one of my races because I had to eat liked areas that morning because you were constantly we were getting our body fat, tested a lot, and we're wave and were measured. And we wanted to be low. And so not understanding how to feel properly being 18 to 2021 years old, like I just didn't understand. And so I was restricting calories again. Um, just trying to be as light as possible. It's not understanding that light doesn't mean fit right, and so are understanding that I need to have a balance of veggies, proteins, bats and carbs, bats for hormones, carbs for energy protein to build and recover muscle and to feel satiated. And so I think, just not ever, really. Actually, they kind of informed us on that, but not to the extent that we should have been. So I I think a

spk_0:   37:46
lot of us definitely struggled with that in college. What does it look like now? If you ever have a negative body image thought, What do you do?

spk_1:   37:56
I kind of just reset myself. Um, actually talk to my husband about it a lot. So I need to verbalize things, and that's how I process and work through things. But sometimes I'm like, Wow, Pat Alex super bulky. And this one are or whatever it may be that day, um, and held a shake his head and that Chrissy, what's your angle and we always come back to that is like my angle is a smaller athlete is to be stronger, Um and so just kind of remembering like, Hey, where did you start? Where are you now? What are your goals? And so I just kind of backtracked and I just reset myself. I journal a lot, So if something's feeling off or not Good, I talked to him my journal, and then I just usually kind of re center myself and refocus myself on what are my goals. And you know what's going well, what were my wins for the day? So wow, I front squatted this today. I would never have been able to do that. And I'm proud, and I'm happy that I could do that on DSO just coming back to those things and then you remember like hate. My body is strong. My body is tough like I am. I'm working so hard. It's doing everything I'm asking of it and just remembering all of those things of men. It usually just takes it away. Do you have any

spk_0:   39:05
other body positivity or self love? Resource is whether that is a book or someone that you love that you follow on Instagram or anything else we can share with the charge girls.

spk_1:   39:17
Um, I think I do follow a couple of emails I like. I follow a girl named Claire P. Thomas on Instagram. I think she's awesome. She's had an eating disorder herself, and she was a D one athlete. I believe for organ and ran track ended up quitting so similar experiences that I've had, and I think she does a really great job of just giving lots of positive feedback through Instagram. So I think she's awesome to follow. I think for me, the book that actually read was the power of now, and it's more about attitude. Yeah, so it's a really a really good book and just understanding, like not getting caught up in past or future or things like that, but just kind of re centering myself and focusing on where I'm at at the moment. And I think that book is just really, really awesome. It makes you think a lot. So I would come back to that book and then I just have Ah, my husband. I talked to him and then I have a friend out in California who also was a d one summer for the Navy who dealt with similar things. So I think just having, like, a close support system that you can talk to on days that maybe you're not feeling as good journaling or circling back to people who are positive and also have been through things. So you

spk_0:   40:21
don't feel like you're alone. Thank you for that. Yeah, I want to transition into your multiple businesses. I know you already touched a little bit on the fact that you own a studio or I should say across the box and that you have your YouTube. But I know you also have a training program, so I love you to share all of it. And I'd love to also know one. Each one started.

spk_1:   40:44
Yes. So first was cross the player. Switches are box, so I never ever saw myself owning across the gym, To be honest, um, I worked for one. I don't know why. I wouldn't have thought that I could own one. But my parents. So my mom has been super influential in my life. She's super amazing. And so she called me and they across the box back in 2016. And I was living in Louisville at the time, so they thought it was something that we could do together. So Patrick and I moved home to help them run it, and we officially took over from them this year. So now they can just kind of hang out and have more fun. So him and I are now running it, and we actually own it, so But we started there in 2016 so that was super awesome. I've learned so much over the four years. Um, and I looked back at you know how we used to do things, that how we do things now and just how harsh our focus has shifted and changed to the community that I was talking about and just creating a super awesome, non intimidating space for people to come work out so that has been my baby. That's been our number one. From there we started. I've X trained, which is if you go toe ibex trained dot com. It's t r a i n e d. Not training. Um, that is our online programming. So we have a core program for people who just want to strengthen their mid line. We have a backside program. We actually call it Juicy Beauty, cause a lot of girls want, like a strong backside. It's for guys, too, but just to make you I just feel like that's been a big thing in CrossFit is just like having a strong backside. So we created that program based off a lot of stuff that I do every day. We have a strange program for all around strength, and then we have to monthly or daily auto renewing programs. So the one is exactly what I d'oh. So a lot of people were interested just to see how much I'm doing, or for that matter, just what I'm doing to be at the level that I'm at, and it's actually think a lot less than maybe some people would anticipate S o. I released that one daily and then also just a 60 minute program. So it is CrossFit. So it will be CrossFit movements, but it's in and out. So you're gonna do a strength or skill and then a conditioning piece and we warm you up, we call you down and you can do it anywhere. So those two. So we started that just back in October, and we're looking at bringing at home training as well. So that and then running interns, I've got a whole

spk_0:   43:00
less. So we're going

spk_1:   43:01
to be releasing more programs. It's just we're just getting it off of the ground. So we started that about October November on and that also let us into the YouTube channel. So I think the first official date that we join YouTube was actually July of 2019. But we really didn't start to get into it and kind of find our flow and what we wanted to do with it until about October November. So I think we have 100 and 10 YouTube videos up. Wow, yes, yes. So we have 110. We try to release one almost every day, and we're trying to do multiple things, so one day will be of log style where I'm actually taking you through my training. And you know what I did that day and you'll get to see the dynamic between my husband and our good friend Dan. And I think people find some humor in it, and it's also fun just to see, like, we're not that serious. We were in there to have fun and to be the best versions of ourselves, and we work hard on. We work hard together. So that's one video you'll see. I put some nutrition's. I think we've got five nutrition episodes, and that's my new focuses. I really want to get the nutrition part going. Um, it's something that I'm absolutely loving doing. I'm loving learning about. I'm living sharing with people, and then we also have mobility and stretching and things like that. So just things that people could be doing to improve their movement, their lifts, etcetera, and then I also have a strength section, so it's kind of all encompassing. We are headed out to Mount Hood this weekend. We'll do a little ski trip also just gonna show you guys some behind the scenes that it's not always all about CrossFit, but we're just trying to share literally our life with YouTube. Um, and I think a lot of people have really enjoyed that. So those air couple of the major things I've got going on in the YouTube channels Kristie a Ramo e

spk_0:   44:41
r a m o. Not thirsty. O'Connell. Yeah, well, link all that up in the show. Yeah, sure. What is something that you wish you would have known prior to starting your businesses?

spk_1:   44:52
Oh, that's such a good question. I think what I've learned is it's not about like, necessarily having like having a nice facility and having the best equipment like that's super important. But I think it's just relationship and word of mouth and getting to know people. And so I think, understanding that pieces sometimes not wearing necessarily about the business component, but just focusing on each individual person. I think in this start that would have been a little bit more helpful for me is like I was always trying to bring in the newest in the best equipment and, you know, make sure facility was the best. But in the end, I think it's more about personal bility and just being there for people and showing them how much you care and just understanding that piece, because if they're happy, they tell their friends and then you get to know their friends and he gets another family and and then it just becomes super rewarding and super fulfilling. How many people do you guys have working for you working as in coaches? So I have. So we have a really unique situation. We have about five or six volunteer coaches, people who have been at players longer than I've been there. They are kind of like the heart of the gym, so they just, you know, they've been there since it started, and they also have full time jobs. But they coach early morning before they go to work. So the coach or five or six AM classes and they're absolutely amazing. I can count on them if I'm gone.

spk_0:   46:10
I know they are taking good care of everything.

spk_1:   46:12
So the five first six of them and then we have about three paid coaches. So there's about and then pat myself. So there's that 11

spk_0:   46:19
of us, and then do you have a manager of the studio? Do you guys go there every single day to do like all the nitty gritty work? Yes.

spk_1:   46:27
Oh, that's a great question. I My mom does all the cleaning and my dad, he calls himself the janitor. Yeah, so it's It's he's, you know, mopping the floor. I'm off the floor, too, But when he is there something that he loves to do, it's like he says it's peaceful for him. I don't know, uh, my mom cleans all the showers, but yeah, patent. You're there every single day. I I'm basically the manager. We do. So if you're gonna email players, I'm gonna be the one that's responding to you. If you are getting started signing up, if you have members of questions, I'm gonna be the one that's responding to you. We do all of our own programming, so I know with CrossFit you can find online blog's. But what we have found is no online blanc. That's our community. So we know our people better than anybody else writing from, you know, a far away place. So we write all of our own programming. We clean the gym, we coach the classes, so we are

spk_0:   47:17
very, very hands on and very involved were there every day. I love that. What goals you have for your box

spk_1:   47:23
for my box. Oh, gosh. Um, I would like to continue growing. Uh, so I think for us, it's t keep growing to keep bringing in more athletes. I call anybody who comes an athlete. So most people would say, member, But to me there, you know, the throwing down there working hard and everybody's an athlete. So anybody who belongs to players to me is an athlete. So just to keep growing that membership number eventually, I love our facility. Now we've looked in the area. Uh, we would love to build our own and design our own, create more locker rooms and kind of expand on that, adding in maybe a yoga piece for people to have an add on to their membership and just kind of become like an all encompassing nutrition, health and wellness place that, yes, we started with CrossFit. But we can also offer other things. So down the road, that's the goal. Talking about your

spk_0:   48:16
training program, I love for you to share five exercises that you think everyone should be incorporating in their workout routine.

spk_1:   48:26
Five exercises. Oh my goodness. OK, so I would say midline. So let's start with our midline. So whether that's hollow body holds or so when I say hollow body hold, where were laying on the floor and you can push your belly button toward your spine so there's no space between your back in the floor. From there, we can start with Ernie's at a 90 degree angle and then slowly straighten out our legs, holding their 2030 seconds. So holds are gonna be so so important to supporting your spine. Um, from there, I would say, Post your chain so essentially squatting. Um, think about everything that you have to bend down and pick up. Or you have to sit down into a chair and be able to stand back up, so that's gonna be your leg strength. So midline leg strength and post here chain then from there, carries. So whether that's holding groceries and just kind of standing there and standing tight are carrying them or await dumbbells being able to carry those dumbbells across a distance. I think it's super super important because think about how we carry. We carry our banks every day we carry our groceries into the house we carry. We might carry our kids, so just being able to hold that weight as we're moving and holding our mid line nice and tight. Um, from there I would say single leg work, so we have our squatting, but then our single egg work is gonna transfer over to our walking toe, are running to going up and down steps. So that would be lunges. Things like that, um in place, body weight, movement. And then finally, I would say, actually think of two more. So gosh, carries midline, squats, Lunges. Yeah, one more. There's so many good exercise is, um I would say I'm trying to think I only got one left making you a bonus. I do think upper body strength. So I think push ups things along those lines that's still gonna strengthen army line. It's gonna strengthen our shoulders, keep our full body strong. So really, we want to be as well rounded as possible and we want our bones to be strong. We want our shoulders to be stable. We want our hips be mobile, so I think just kind of hitting that full body it would be really good. How do you squat? How do I squat? So when you squat, we actually squat below parallel in CrossFit, which is not something that we require people to do. But it's something that we strive for overtime. Because if you're standing and you pull your knee, your knee should be able to go above your hip. That is unloaded. And that's gonna be the full range of motion. If you've ever seen a two year old or one year old sitting playing with their toys, a lot of times they could have their but almost of the ground, their chest completely up. And they're in a beautiful, squat position, just playing with their toys. We all started that way.

spk_0:   51:00
Really? Don't.

spk_1:   51:01
We're not all still that way just because we sit all day. We, you know, hip flexors get tight, thing shortened. So how I squat would be I'd coach someone by just saying, like take your feet shoulder width apart. Toes could be slightly pointed out. Uh, not completely pointed out from there. You're gonna just think about a soft man and your knees you're gonna push your hips initiate by pushing your hips back and down, letting your knees stay out over your second toe. Um, goal would be to keep your trust to stall. It's possible. So that would be just like a general Q. And then from there I would keep people on their knees. Your knees, We never want them inside of your big toe. We always want your knee over your big tower over your second dough. So think about knees out essentially, and you wanna keep

spk_0:   51:41
your chest tall and you have a preference with back front or like a goblin.

spk_1:   51:48
Yeah, so all of my great, uh, they're all used for different things. A lot of times peoples hold up on the front squad is gonna be their shoulder mobility because of the position of the front rack that you have to get in so you could cross your arms or you could use the goblets plot, and it will mimic the exact same thing because you're holding a kettlebell and a goblet squats right at your chest, which is gonna wanna pull your chest forward. So you have to use your midline to stabilize and support your back and your chest to keep it from falling forward. So I think for me, I personally love the back squat. It's just it's my favorite lift. I think it's fun. I've done it for a while. I can go the heaviest on it, which I enjoy. But I think as faras for functional fitness, I think of goblets quite is great. You don't have to have a barbell. Sometimes barbells intimidate people. You can achieve the same stimulus just by holding accountable

spk_0:   52:36
right at your chest. Mmm. The last topic that I wanted to dive into really quickly. Before we do some rapid fire, personal questions. I love you to share your list ship with your mom. That's something that Kara was like. You

spk_1:   52:50
have to bring up because her

spk_0:   52:51
mom is also an awesome cross. The athlete, too. So I'm like, Okay, I want to hear more about this.

spk_1:   52:58
Yeah. So my mom, somebody I've looked up to my whole life, I remember going to watch her run the Boston Marathon. Um, and then I got to run the Boston Marathon for my 21st birthday, and she was there. So she was always encouraging us to play sports. She never made us. It was always just like, Hey, you should try this or used to try this. If you like it, awesome will do it. If not, you don't have to do it. So she let me and she spent all of her time and my dad, Of course, they spent all of their weekends at my volleyball tournaments at my basketball at my swim meets, um, at my soccer. Whatever it was, they were there. I do remember a couples for meets. I'd look up and I always knew right where she sat and she wouldn't be there because she'd be walking out around the track because it means we're forever. So she might have missed a race or two on accident. But you always knew what happened, and she'd get filled in from the parents. But I was used to give her a hard time about, but I'd swim like six races that weekend. So she may be C five of six, which is great, but somebody I looked up to she was in her day. Considered a professional triathlete, she ran a sub three hour marathon, just a super hard worker and a phenomenal athlete. She's a phenomenal cyclist. Like I go out on the bike with her right now. She is turning 60 in October and she will kick my butt like yes. Oh, it's just for me. It's really inspiring to see her at almost 60 with the amount of energy she has and to realize like, Hey, I still have Hopefully if you know we don't know. Time is something that we don't know, But it would be awesome if I can stay fit. And, you know, at 60 I'm still out riding my bike for 60 plus miles and I'm still doing CrossFit and I have this energy and I'm not letting age kind of determine how I live my life. So I think that's really cool. We did. We are. We're very special. I qualified for my first cross the games in 2016. She qualified for her first in 2016 so we got to go compete together, which is something that most people don't get that that experience. Um, then we both qualified in 17 and 18 together, so we got three years of that, which was just incredible. Um, and then she's just so happy. Like, I guess it's just somebody I look up to and that I wanted to be just like the amount of energy and positivity. She's never having a bad day. And I think that's just something that we can all learn from is she's a glass half full kind of person, and that's a big takeaway for me. Wow. What's her secret? What is her secret? You know, I want to know that exact same thing. I think she she just appreciates life and the opportunity he's been given. And she just exercise makes her happy. Having the gym makes her happy. She's a people person getting to talk to people. But she eats super well. She gets good breast, she takes care of herself, and I think she feels good. And that in the end, you know, helped you up to feel better in see things with a glass half full.

spk_0:   55:43
Wow, that's amazing. All right. Are you ready for some rapid fire guys?

spk_1:   55:49
No question. I'm not a quick thing.

spk_0:   55:51
They don't have todo. All right. One word to describe you. Goal oriented workout that you want to try

spk_1:   56:03
actually want to do an iron man. Oh, so that's not really a

spk_0:   56:08
workout, But it is workouts. Oh, absolutely. So

spk_1:   56:11
I'd liketo brought in my range into an iron man.

spk_0:   56:13
When do you think you want to do that?

spk_1:   56:15
Ah, before I'm 40. Okay, You got something in the

spk_0:   56:18
next 10 years? Yeah. What is your favorite wellness obsession right now? Oh,

spk_1:   56:26
well, in this obsession, honestly, Im for me. I'm gonna say my go wild mobility app where I'm stretching It's

spk_0:   56:31
like yoga CrossFit. I'm honestly going to get that even though I don't do crossfit I'm like that sounds amazing. I want ankle flexibility. The

spk_1:   56:38
way it works is it'll just test. You'll go through mobility test, and then it gives you a specific protocol to you. And so for me, that's definitely my obsession right now. I love it. How much is it? It's 99 a month. So for me and bad. Oh, yeah. So it seems completely worth it when

spk_0:   56:52
I do it every night. Favorite Russia in Columbus.

spk_1:   56:57
Oh, so we have a couple. Um, local cantina is we're big Mexican taco people.

spk_0:   57:05
So that was gonna have to be if Right now, three staples in your pantry

spk_1:   57:11
roasted red and orange bell peppers so they're not in my pantry. but they're in my fridge. Um, almond butter and then sweet potatoes. What brand of almond butter I used. Simple truth. So it's just drivers and almonds. That's all that's

spk_0:   57:25
in it. Oh, God, yeah. Favorite morning beverage.

spk_1:   57:30
I actually make a red and green kind of shake. So I put vitamin C and and then I do two scoops of my reds, two scoops of my greens from first form. And then I drink that and I literally first thing every single morning. And I think it makes me feel great for the day. At first, the taste was a little bit to say. What does it taste like? Um, if you do the Reds with the greens, it's a little bit sweeter. Okay, Uh, not sweet, but it has. It's less bland. I guess the

spk_0:   57:54
greens are a little bit

spk_1:   57:55
land, but I don't I don't even know how to explain. It doesn't really have a whole lot of taste. It's just I know it makes me feel good, and I actually think my body, like craves it and looks forward to drinking every single morning.

spk_0:   58:05
What are your top three interests other than CrossFit?

spk_1:   58:09
One is baking So I love finding just healthy recipes. Pat Knight. So I use it Well, my mom used make wedding cake smells a little, so I think it stems from that I'd sit and watch her make these amazing cakes and I love debate. But then I stopped loving this flower in the sugar and how it kind of made us feel so finding healthy recipes where I can pronounce all of the ingredients on a ton of process stuff and just trying those outs. That's one of my absolute favorite things to do. Two would be rock climbing, so Patrick and I absolutely love to rock climb in camp. So it's kind of like peaceful time with nature that I think it's super super important. It re centers you. It grounds you s Oh, that's a big one. And then three is my dog, Milo. So walking him, playing with him, whatever it is, training him, spending time with him.

spk_0:   58:53
What is your favorite place online to get good baking recipes?

spk_1:   59:00
Um, I actually use instagram lot for that. I'll just type in like a hash tag, the latest when I have this healthy fitness meals dot com and I got a supposed to be protein donut, but I made little heart muffins literally. The best first form also offers a lot of really good ones because I have a couple of their proteins and

spk_0:   59:19
they offer some really great ones, too. When you say hashtag what hashtags are, you type

spk_1:   59:23
in healthy treats, healthy baking, healthy lifestyle. I'll just go through and just kind of scroll. And a lot of times it'll leave me. Either I'll click one post. I'll click another and then I'll take me

spk_0:   59:34
up places. My gosh, I think I don't utilize hashtags. I need to do that. Who is a female that you'd like to meet? Do you

spk_1:   59:41
actually think Lynn Hill, who was a rock climber and ultimately actually one of the best rock climbers in the world, let alone female rock climbers? So she did like the first free of sight, I believe of El Cap in Yosemite. Wow! And so I just feel like for women in sport, it's another way. It's not necessarily CrossFit, but she paved the way, and I think that's just super super cool. So, um yeah, Lynn Hill.

spk_0:   1:0:08
What frustrates you in the CrossFit space?

spk_1:   1:0:11
I think what frustrates me in the CrossFit space is Sometimes you may only see the same person over and over. Um, like as the face it's it's hard to say. So I do think they have their favorites, Um, as faras CrossFit sport goes. And then I think the other thing would be is like the intimidation factor, I think for most gyms understanding that it's not necessarily just a sport. Like to get people to understand that it can be a long term fitness and health regimen, and people can get stronger and stay healthier from it. And it's not all of the crazy stuff that maybe you see on TV year and competitions and helping people understand that that it could be. My mom and dad went to a gym where they had an 82 year old doing. Jeez, she set up a CrossFit workouts, and it's like it can be for people above 60 above 70 and it could be really great for them and give them a really great quality of life. And I think that CrossFit doesn't focus enough on that.

spk_0:   1:1:08
Mmm. What is your greatest lesson on wellness?

spk_1:   1:1:16
I don't know if this necessarily goes under wellness. But I feel like my greatest lesson is to focus on you until listen to like what your body is telling you. Um, because you can get so caught up with focusing on other people on trying to keep up with the Joneses and whatever it may be like trying to do things just because other people are doing it. And I think in the end that makes you mental health maybe not feel great. And so it can all be linked to wellness. So just focusing on you and being the best version of yourself possible, I think we'll ultimately lead you towards wellness.

spk_0:   1:1:50
Last question. What does being hash tag in charge me nto

spk_1:   1:1:55
hash again? Charged me is again kind of leading on what I just said. But just focusing on you, asking yourself, Is it a yes or is it a no and not doing it because other people want you to do it? Or that you feel like you should do it or what? That may be? Eso. Sometimes when I'm presented with decisions, I'll be like, Okay, is it a yes for me, or is it a no for me and I'll know in my gut what the right decision is and just making sure I'm staying true to myself. And I'm following through on whatever that answer. Maybe I love that. Thank you so much.

spk_0:   1:2:24
Where can girls learn more about you?

spk_1:   1:2:26
So you guys could follow me on Instagram? It's actually Christie Eramo. So k r I s c I e r a m o. My name will say Christie O'Connell because

spk_0:   1:2:35
I recently was married, so it's a little

spk_1:   1:2:37
confusing. You can also follow me on YouTube, so that's really, really like to share things. That's my favorite. Um, and then across the players, you're in Columbus and you wanna drop by and visit. You can follow me there. Um and yeah, I think that's really it. Amazing. Well, we will be sure to link all of those

spk_0:   1:2:53
things in the show notes, but it was so good getting to know you and

spk_1:   1:2:57
learning more about cross that you're hearing me. Oh, maybe

spk_0:   1:3:02
I should give it a It's

spk_1:   1:3:03
not so scary. Just find the right Jim. Find the right community. You could make some

spk_0:   1:3:06
of your best friend. Well, thank you so much. And thank you. guys for listening. I will talk to you guys next week. Bye, Charged girls. Good morning. Yes, I'm talking to you. Was time to get charged up Because these days you knew this guy says hi Hands blew it And blue with the sun shining and all the birds chirping to two day is the best day to be alive The miracles appear once you open up your eyes Surprise time to keep living the dream So get up Enjoy the rest of your charge. Tain Yeah.