Amber Paige

I’ve never been good with consistency. Growing up, I did a bunch of different sports: gymnastics for a few years, Tae Kwon Do after that, some soccer and softball, basketball and football through middle school, and then track in high school (the team didn’t have cuts) – but nothing really stuck.

In college, I would go through periods of running at 6am every day for weeks and then be a couch potato for months. I would buy a workout program by a popular fitness blogger/influencer, do it for a few weeks, and then stop because I was overwhelmed trying to figure out how to use all the different gym equipment. If I’m being honest, I gave up whenever things became difficult or inconvenient because I didn’t want to look like I was trying. I always thought people who were fit did it effortlessly because they enjoyed it and had more time to do work out than the average person.

I found Ballston CrossFit after graduating and starting a job in the DC area. I thought that as a real adult, it was time to start showing up for myself – and if I was going to pay a premium rate for something, I was definitely going to show up for it. It only took one class for me to know that I enjoyed CrossFit. However, I continued to struggle with consistency. My goal was to go to 3 classes a week, and I didn’t achieve that for 2 years.

At the time, it was even an accomplishment for me to be inconsistent at the same thing for so long. When I went to the gym, I thought I had to put in 100% to be perfect every single time, and I would beat myself up mentally whenever I didn’t feel like I was perfect – which is a lot when you’re learning to do something for the first time! And it’s not fun to go back to a place where you usually leave feeling like you’re not good enough.

The thing that did keep me coming back was the community. Through BCF, I met so many kind, thoughtful, funny, and hardworking people who have really helped me to be a better me. It was through conversations with my fellow gym-goers that I realized going to the gym was an opportunity to learn rather than perform.

The greatest success I’ve had in the last 3 years of doing CrossFit has been changing my mindset. I went from someone who thought they were supposed to be perfect without trying to someone who is proud of themself for trying at all. I know I can’t put in 100% every day, most days I’m rocking 60-80% and sometimes it’s only 10%. Regardless, I’m here and I’m consistent.