The Year of Change

Inspired by her nephew, Tammy Mendenhall made a promise that 2011 would be the year she got in shape.

On Dec. 1, 2010, I made a promise to myself that next year was my year to get into shape and lose weight. I was 48 years old, and I needed to change something.

On Jan. 3, 2011, my friend Emily Shumway told me what time the newbie class started at Bear River CrossFit in Preston, Idaho. She said she would be there for my first time to help me out. I was so out of shape that I had no upper-body muscles—or any kind of muscles. I felt like a beached whale. I could not even do a knee push-up, so they modified my push-ups for me.

I was so sore that when I woke up the next morning I could hardly move. I told myself I would rather be fat and unhappy than feel so sore. I said I wasn’t going to go back.

I went back the next night. And the next. I kept going, and I am still going four to five times a week to this day.