A little background on myself and why I've chosen to embark on this new journey.
Hey!
Welcome to my very first blog post EVER. Expect it to be mildly mediocre, but jam packed with sarcasm and transparency.
First things first, who tf am I?
My name is Shannon Scheel and I’m a 26 year old Executive Assistant by day and hardcore fitness enthusiast by night (and could you say… weekend warrior?). I’m just going to dive right in and give you a little background on myself. I’m going to use bullet points because I like the organization and it keeps me from rambling on and on about things that don’t necessarily matter. OK? OK!
I grew up living back and forth between Texas and New Mexico. I call them both home.
I played basketball and ran track in high school. I was never the best or the most athletic on the team, but I always gave the best effort.
After graduating high school in NM, I moved back to TX to live with my brother and go to school.
I had already developed poor eating habits and was in awe of the endless supply of fast food available to me (I lived in a tiny little mountain town in NM and was 30 minutes away from the closest McDonald’s)
Before long, the Taco Bell down the street knew me by name and knew my order before I even spoke (1 bean burrito, 1 shredded chicken burrito, 1 order of chips & nacho cheese with an extra side of cheese, and 1 large Mt. Dew Baja blast with light ice… in case you were wondering).
I would also make frequent visits to the Little Caesar’s Pizza and grab a $5 pizza to go. And then proceed to eat the entire thing by myself. YOLO.
But I would run 1-2 miles every few days so I was good, right??
WRONG.
Freshman 20 is no joke.
Within a year, I’d packed on roughly 20-25lbs.
I had no sense of healthy eating and simply ate whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted, and just “ate less” on days that I wanted to try and look “skinny.”
Fast forward a couple years, I became engaged and decided I needed to drop some weight for my big day.
For a solid 4 months, I woke up before the sun, worked out at my nearest globo gym for approximately an hour a day, 5 days a week and kind of cleaned up my eating.
During those 4 months, I began taking a supplement called OxyElite Pro. I won’t bore you with details, but basically, it was a thermogenic appetite suppressant that was eventually pulled from production for being linked to acute hepatitis including several instances of fatal, acute liver failure. Basically, I was popping a daily dose of poison.
I managed to drop 20-ish pounds and look hella good on my wedding day.
I gained it all back AND some within a year. SHOCKER! Old habits die hard.
I’d attempt to work out and eat somewhat healthy about 35% of the time. But I was a glutton for sugar and greasy foods.
Fast forward a couple more years of eating like poop and feeling like poop.
In January 2016 I packed all my things up and moved halfway across the country to live with my now ex-husband in Maryland.
It was the middle of a cold, snowy winter.
I was completely out of my comfort zone.
I experienced a whole new level of culture shock.
I was bored out of my mind and had no friends.
I was the heaviest I’d ever been in my life.
I needed a change.
So I joined my closest Planet Fitness.
I became a cardio queen.
I cleaned up my eating habits a little bit. Mostly eating a lot of pre-packaged foods with labels like “fat free” or “zero sugar.” (aka: Chemical S*** Storm)
However, in my first year of living in Maryland, I dropped 45lbs. That’s right…FORTY-FIVE POUNDS.
I was running upwards to 20+ miles a week.
The free weight section of the gym became my favorite place. Yay bicep curls!
I was wearing a size 0 pant. A number I’d never fit into before.
Despite my personal success, my marriage was falling apart and we headed to Splitsville (aka: Divorce).
I was a little shaken up, but didn’t let that stop me from my fitness goals.
I gained a newfound confidence and really began to take my health seriously.
March of 2017 I decided to put my fitness to the test and sign up for a Tough Mudder obstacle race.
I knew that Planet Fitness would not be able to provide the same type of training I was looking for, so I began looking for a personal trainer.
During my search, I came across CrossFit.
At the time, I viewed CrossFit as a cult.
I made fun of it and thought I was better than it.
But the nearest CrossFit gym offered personal training so I figured, what the heck?
I reached out to the owner and he invited me to an introductory class.
Not sure what to expect, I showed up ready to show off my fitness.
I got my ass handed to me.
And I loved every minute of it.
I signed up for a 3 month membership that night.
For the first few months, I rocked all the cardio stuff. I was super-fast and moved quickly.
But I noticed my strength was lacking.
So I began joining the barbell classes.
HALLELUJAH.
I’d found my niche.
I’d also found my Dave.
Dave is the Olympic Weightlifting coach and is currently my fiancé. Holla!
For those who are not familiar with Dave – Dave is a foodie. Dave likes to eat. Dave likes to eat pizza. And tacos. And donuts. And drink margaritas. And stash Oreos in my lunch bag. Dave is fun. We love Dave.
For the first several months of our relationship, I ate ERRRYTHING. But I was lifting and CrossFitting 5-6 days a week, so I figured I was good. Right?
Wrong.
Again.
I should know this by now.
Anyway…
I packed on 20lbs in 2 months.
Yep. You read that correctly.
TWO
FREAKING
MONTHS
That’s 10lbs per month in case you were wondering.
Am I rambling?
Sorry, just got a lot of stuff to spit out!
Anyway…
If you’ve ever been in a CrossFit gym, you know how intimidating it can be.
People are constantly half naked, walking around on their hands, swinging from ropes, deadlifting 400lbs for reps, grunting, cursing, slamming protein shakes, and snorting pre-workout like it’s the Godfather.
It’s a godd*** zoo!
Long story short, it was hard going from super-fast and skinny to Chunky McButterbutt who couldn’t squat her body weight in a matter of 2-3 months.
Being surrounded by super fit and super strong people made it 10x harder.
So I began making small changes.
Nothing major.
Just changed a habit or two here and there until I started noticing a visible difference.
My eating habits hadn’t completely evolved, but I was certainly making better food choices.
I’d lost around 10lbs of the 20 I’d gained.
But I still wasn’t satisfied.
Sure, I’d made significant progress inside and outside of the gym. But it just wasn’t enough.
I wanted muscles.
I wanted not only to look strong, but to actually BE strong.
I began taking my nutrition much more seriously.
I wanted to eat for performance, not just to look good.
I knew what it took to lose weight. I’d done it a handful of times before. (I.e. Calorie Deficit)
I wanted to turn my body into a finely tuned machine.
I wanted to kick ass during workouts.
I wanted to snatch body weight.
I wanted to hang with the heavy hitters.
And it finally clicked for me.
It starts in the mf’ing kitchen!
Duh.
For nearly a year, I was pretty dedicated to fueling my body for performance.
And it worked out in my favor pretty well.
Until I hit a wall.
Around March of this year (2019), I began to compulsively eat.
There would literally be days that I would sit at my desk eating Dove dark chocolate, making myself sick to my stomach, completely aware of what I was doing, yet would continue until I’d consumed about 30 pieces.
It’s like I couldn’t stop. I knew what I was doing was bad, but I would literally be unwrapping another piece while I was still chewing the one before.
I’d finally get so sick to my stomach that I’d stop.
I’d make some green tea, drink some water, and ride the guilt train out until I was ready for more in an hour.
I’d try to out train my bad habits in the gym.
I’d try intermittent fasting.
I’d try Miralax – yep, I’d try to s*** it out.
I’d try supplements that claimed to stop sugar cravings.
I’d literally try just about anything other than actually addressing the behavior and making a change.
It took me a while to realize, but it finally dawned on me that I’d been so restrictive with my nutrition for so long and had literally force fed myself the same foods for so long that my body was rejecting it and psychologically messing with me.
I’m one of those “stuck in their ways” type of people.
It took me stepping outside of my comfort zone and realizing that there is not one set way to eat.
I didn’t HAVE to eat egg whites every morning for breakfast.
I didn’t HAVE to eat crock-pot chicken and handfuls of spinach for every other meal.
I didn’t HAVE to count every single macro I was consuming.
I didn’t HAVE to wait until a specific time to eat.
Once I realized this, the game changed.
I just kept one simple rule: Keep it real.
What that means is 75% of my food intake is to be real, wholesome, nutrient dense foods like chicken, broccoli, sweet potatoes, blueberries, etc.
The other 25% is made up of protein powder, rice cakes, oatmeal, honey, yogurt, etc.
I eat what I want, when I want - as long as it’s within those guidelines 75/25.
If I’m hungry, I’m not waiting till noon to eat. I’m peeling open a banana and chowing down.
And guess what…
My performance in the gym has increased significantly.
I’m lifting weights I’d only dreamed about.
My body composition has completely changed.
I’m recovering better.
My quality of sleep has gone up drastically.
I have more energy.
I’ve established a healthy relationship with food again.
And I couldn’t be happier.
No secret sauce. No voodoo magic. Just smart, wholesome food choices.
The best part?
It's super simple!
Phewwww! That was longer than expected (sadly, I could’ve gone on forever). If you stuck through to the end, you da real MVP (insert fist bump).
Anyway, there’s a little background on me. I hope it was somewhat entertaining and even more insightful. My main point I wanted to get across is this: I understand the struggle. I’ve been on both sides of the spectrum – from overweight and feeling hopeless, to high-level athlete performing at their best, and EVERYTHING in between. I know what it’s like to try and fail. I know what it’s like to feel like you’re so far behind in life that you just want to speed up the process by downing weight loss pills and shakes and detox teas and so on. I hope you find comfort in knowing that you are not alone. I got you! I may not have all the answers, but I certainly have an unlimited supply of support and encouragement and I will do everything in my power to guide you in the direction of a healthier way of life. Are you ready to take the first step? It just takes 1% each day.
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