Hi Strong Figure Community!
I’m Vanessa and I’m from Houston, TX! Growing up, I was an active child (after all, when you’re from a small town in South Texas, you always rode your bike to your friends to play outside). I remember when I was about 3, I saw a music video for Michael Jackson and that’s where my love for dance began. In high school, I was very active with sports! I participated in Basketball, Track, and Powerlifting and danced during my free time.
College came around and I wasn’t as active as I used to be I would work out here and there but not as consistent as I used to. Dance was still in the picture but again not as often. There would be times where I would play some intermural sports with a couple of friends but it wasn’t as often as it should’ve been. Things took a turn for the worse when I had experienced a death in the family.
After college, I moved to Houston to start out my professional career. At that time, my I was in a depressed state from not being able to grieve properly and moving to a new place with very little friends that I was not able to see as often as I would like. At this point in my life, I wasn’t working out nor was I dancing. I was to the point in my life where I used food as a coping mechanism. I ended up gaining 30 pounds which for a 5’2 female, this was the worst state I’ve ever been in my entire life.
I remember the day when I decided to change my life for the better. I was actually watching a re-run for the Crossfit Games. I remember just sitting there in awe with how amazing these men and women were such great things and how strong they are. I told myself I wanted to try that one day. Ironically, that night I had a conversation with my mother about family health history. I remember that night telling myself something has got to change because I didn’t wanted to live a very long life and not have my life cut so short because of my lifestyle I was living in.
Two weeks later, I 
decided to try Crossfit for the first time. Now if you are a fellow Crossfitter, I’m sure you probably remember your first WOD (workout of the day). Well I remember the WOD consisted of rowing, pushups, pull ups, squats, and sit ups. You know reading this now, it doesn’t sound much but boy do I remember leaving and asking myself, “What did I sign up for?!” I decided to try it one more time and well needless to say 2 years later I’m still doing Crossfit and loving it! In fact, I’ve competed in a couple of Crossfit Competitions and am planning on doing more!
As for dance, well my passion came back and I even tried out for an NFL Cheerleading team! Who would’ve thought right?! Best part of all, to date, I’ve lost a total of 40 pounds! My advice to all of you who want to start their fitness journey or maintain it: Don’t quit. EVER. For me to tell you that this is easy is me setting you up for failure and also I would be lying. Yes, there have been so many times where I wanted to quit and yes it was tough so many times but in the end it is all worth it!
