• "Better Than Yesterday" - Break your resolution down into small manageable chunks. Instead of focusing on your ultimate goal of wanting to lose 20 pounds, becoming the best Crossfit competitor ever, or deadlifting 3 times your body weight, divide your total resolution into a grouping of small successes. Haven't tried Crossfit but want to get fit? Your first goal should be to just show up! Bam! Easy success! Want to lose 20 pounds? Aim for 1-2 pounds a month through clean eating. Want to be the best Crossfit competitor ever? First shoot for making it to the gym at least 4 times a week and hitting a few small competitions. We all want big changes quickly, but often give up when we don't see those changes immediately. As they say, "Nothing good comes easy". Focus on being a little bit better every single day, rather than trying to be amazing in less than an hour.
• "Shout it from the Rooftops!" - Tell your coach, tell your friends, or even tell a stranger at CrossFit what you're hoping to achieve! We want you to be awesome, but we can't help you get there unless we know what you're trying to accomplish. Write it on the white board, put it on your blog, post it on facebook, stick a picture on your fridge. You're less likely to quit on your goal if you know you have other people in your corner supporting your endeavors.
• "Just Show Up OR Dead Last Finish > Did Not Finish > Did Not Show Up" - It can be hard and scary being a new comer to a gym. It can be hard and scary trying workouts that you've never done before, or doing a workout for the first time 'prescribed'. Some days, it's just plain hard to get your butt off the couch! Whether you're starting out lifting 5 pounds, or a longtime member lifting 245 pounds, the beauty of Crossfit is that EVERYONE, no matter their fitness level, thinks it's hard and that the workouts can be scary! You're not alone! The awesome and fun part - by showing up, you're conquering your fear (or your laziness) and you're proving to youweight and work on form? Great - you're still doing work! Maybe you did the workout, but you came in dead last. YOU SHOWED UP, YOU DID THE WORK, AND THAT IS AWESOME! Remember, taking even the smallest baby step toward being a better you accomplishes more than giving up and standing still.
• "You Effed Up. So What?" - You fell off the Paleo wagon, you ate too many slices of pizza, or you didn't come into the gym for a week and watched tv instead. So what? Your mistakes do not define you - it's how you proceed afterward that does. A few slip-ups do not destroy a resolution or a goal. Reflect. Note what you could do so you don't eff up again. Dust off your gym shoes, fill the fridge with veggies, and keep making those baby steps forward dang it.
• "Surround yourself with awesome, and you will be!" - Empower yourself by hanging out with positive people who support your goals and lifestyle changes. Remember, everyone at Crossfit Iota is there to be 'better', but no one goes it alone. You put in the work, and we'll support you every single step of the way. rself that you're capable of achieving more than you imagined. Plus you get to do it surrounded by others who feel the same! Everyone gets cheered, and all get respect and support for being brave enough to show up and try their best. Instead of focusing on how scared you are, or how you don't want to do a workout, focus on JUST SHOWING UP. Walking into the gym is a success. Next hurdle - try the workout. Make modifications if needed. The workout is too rough and you have to stop? At least you showed up and tried. Success. 

This is an article worth passing on

 (...this is not edited so I apologize ahead of time)

Outside the Games Bubble

By Emily Beers on 08.04.11

Some people don’t do CrossFit, and Emily Beers discovers what they think of us and our antics.

The path to becoming a CrossFitter looks similar to most of us. We rapidly get fitter, stronger, faster. We cut out gluten and sugar (although I’m still working on eliminating Skittles from my diet). We suddenly have more energy. We become addicted to personal bests.
Soon, we find that most of our friends are CrossFitters.
We start dating a CrossFitter. We even develop a sort of CrossFit humor and jokes that make only CrossFitters laugh.
And sometimes we forget that our CrossFit bubble is just that: a world in a bubble. With $1,000,000 up for grabs this weekend and ESPN broadcasters on site, it often feels like CrossFit is officially mainstream. But there’s still a big world out there, and it’s full of people who haven’t heard of a thruster.
Never does this become more obvious than when you saturate one city with hundreds of CrossFit athletes, like this weekend in L.A.
From cab drivers, to waitresses, to bystanders on the street, people have noticed our group of tanned, ripped, spandex-wearing athletes, and they want to know more about us.
“What sport are y’all here for? Cross what? What’s that?” I’ve been asked countless times.
I’d like to share a few moments I’ve had this week with regular people, people who, when surrounded by CrossFitters, become confused and bewildered by our behavior.
The Heavy Whipping Cream Confusion
Setting: A coffee shop near my hotel, which is currently flooded with Reebok-wearing athletes.
I order an Americano and ask for heavy cream to top it off.
The barista, a plump woman who was just as wide as she was tall, says, “OK, that’s enough. I have to ask. What is with all you fit-looking people drinking this high-fat, heavy whipping cream in your coffee? There have been so many of you here this week asking for this high-fat cream. I would think you would ask for skim milk or soy milk. How y’all remain so fit?”
I didn’t want to get into a nutrition talk with this woman. There was a line, I was in a rush, and I am in no way a poster girl for the 100 percent Paleo lifestyle, so I came up with a quick answer.
“Fat doesn’t make you fat. I ate bacon for breakfast this morning, too,” I said.
“So you’re telling me I should start eating bacon and I can look like you?” asked the woman, an excited sparkle in her eye, clearly visualizing the bacon she was going to fry up as soon as her shift was over.
I got the distinct feeling I may have set this woman off on the wrong track and immediately regretted my careless bacon promotion.
The Leftover Bagel Mystery
The hotel I’m staying at serves a continental breakfast in the morning. When they were told a group of athletes was coming, they upped their bagel quota.
“Usually when we know sports teams are coming, we know athletes like their bagels. We always seem to run out when the football teams stay here,” said one of the hotel employees.
Oddly enough, this weekend bagels are going stale.
“Y’all are more into the sausages,” laughed the same hotel employee, shaking her head in what looked like confused disgust. “We’ll remember that for next year — CrossFitters like sausages.”
Shoes With No Support
Setting: Albertson’s grocery store. I was wearing a pair of barefoot shoes when a fellow shopper stopped me to ask about them.
“I keep seeing people in here with those CrossFit shirts with the numbers on them and those shoes ... what kind of shoes are those?” asked the intrigued shopper.
“They’re a barefoot shoe,” I said.
“Are they more supportive than regular sneakers?” he asked.
“No, there isn’t any support in them,” I tried to explain. “It allows you to feel your feet a little better when you move, so it sort of forces you to walk and run more correctly,” I said.
“No support? So you don’t put no orthotics in those?” he asked. “You CrossFit people have some different ideas.”
Pitching a Tent
Setting: Just outside the Stadium
While it seems like 90 percent of the spectators at the Home Depot Center are CrossFit athletes themselves, I came across at least a pair of local males watching the event who were obviously new to the sport.
One young man says to his friend, “I can’t believe how hot those girls are out there. I didn’t even know which one to look at.”
His friend replies, “Seriously. I’ve been pitching a tent in the stands all day. I couldn’t even get up to go to the bathroom.”
Friend replies, “No shit, dude. I’ve never seen hotter asses in my life. We should start this CrossFit shit.”
Ladies and gentlemen, it looks like we have two new recruits to our sport.
This is the third in a four-part series. Emily Beers competed on CrossFit Vancouver’s Affiliate Cup team and wrote from ground level throughout the competition.

1. Make blocks in advance - Buy cheese, chicken, etc. and measure into 1, 2, 3 or 4 block servings to put in the fridge - this makes putting meals and snacks together on the fly much easier
2. The freezer is your friend - Buy steak, chicken and fish in bulk and keep them on hand
3. Cook enough for leftovers - Can you say BIG pot of my Turkey Chili? The meal that keeps on giving!
4. Feeling Dazed and Hungry? Too much carbo at the last meal - readjust and try it again
5. Feeling Alert and Hungry? Too much protein at your last meal - readjust and try it again
6. Drink lots of Water - You'll find this one in a few of the Top Ten lists because if you don't stay hydrated you'll have headaches and constipation - yuck!
7. Take soda and juice out of your diet - These are two of the biggest culprits in the "lowfat" (get-fat) world we live in, but cut these out and you're on your way
8. "Pseudo-Count" P&C and let the Fat measure itself - If you're not comfortable counting blocks right away, ease into it by having roughly equal blocks of P&C with a few nuts or a little olive oil; this worked wonders for alot of people
9. Keep a Zone Bar with You - For emergencies I recommend Balance Bars, but there are also PR Bars, ZonePerfect Bars and a few others
10. Don't Sweat the Small Stuff - Stress is NOT one of the goals of zoning, so don't go crazy stressing over everything