The Hate Train

Why must there be so much negativity and hate surrounding Crossfit? There are memes and articles and nasty posts on YouTube videos by people who don’t agree with the teachings of Crossfit. I understand that we are ALL entitled to our own opinion but why is it when you do something “out of the norm” that you get chastised for it? Why don’t we focus on praising those around us?

This isn’t my first experience on the “hate train”. I’ve always liked being different, not following the masses, not conforming to what is hip or new. I am just ME. I like what I like and I do what I like and most importantly, I am passionate about the things that inspire me. I think this is a way of living we should all embrace because at the end of the day, what really matters is our own happiness, not those we tried to impress.

Chris and I spent a few years being vegan because we felt that was the healthiest option for us at the time. I invested a lot of hours researching and educating myself so that we could be successful in our endeavor and to ensure we supplemented properly. I don’t know anyone who eats the traditional American diet that has the knowledge that I have on nutrition and yet, we were met with negativity, mocking, ignorance and disrespect from family, friends and acquaintances.

That experience left me angry. I felt that if people were mocking us, they should at least allow us to explain our choices but no, they didn't want to hear it. They just wanted to bully us because of their own short comings. The only person I tried to help was my brother and he told me to go eat twigs and leaves and leave him alone, so I did. We never tried to change people, we only wanted to share our knowledge and explain our choices.

So now, my biggest passion is Crossfit and guess what? Same thing, all over again but now I get it from social media as well, at least being vegan I was only attacked from those I knew! I can find humor in things, don’t get me wrong. The whole, “If a vegan Crossfits, which one do they talk about first?” and I know the answer to that is “Crossfit” because I lived that scenario.

From my experiences I feel that I have an educated opinion on: being vegan, Crossfit, going to culinary school and moving to a new state, sight unseen. Why? Because I have DONE IT. I can have an opinion on it because I have been through these experiences. As previously stated, I think Zumba and running are great but I don’t have the ability to do either of those. I lack coordination, aerobic capacity and rhythm.

I think anything can be taken out of context and I think that’s where Crossfit gets a bad rap. Yes there are bad boxes just like there are bad gyms, bad personal trainers, bad body builders, bad athletes etc. If we want to talk about dangerous athletics, think about how dangerous football is. You physically ram your body into another human being on a daily occurrence but American’s love football. People sign their kids up for Pee-Wee football and send their babies out on a field in some foam and plastic padding and say “get the ball”.

Although I may feel football is dangerous, I’m not making memes and posting nasty comments because I think any investment in your health is a good one. I don’t have to do it myself, or even like it but I can see the value in doing something positive for yourself (think team sports). I don’t seek out videos on YouTube of sports I can’t do or don’t care for so I can leave a nasty comment. Who has that kind of time and energy? Let’s try to aim for “if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all”.

#crossfitisntbad