I've been doing Crossfit for a little over 2 years. I started at a morbidly obese 310 (42YO F). If I had any idea how much work it was going to be, I never would have started, but I am so glad I did. For the first 4 months, I didn't change my diet, which was pretty clean, but not limited enough portion wise. I would think nothing of downing a 16 oz rib eye because "I do Crossfit and this is Paleo". I should mention I was a chronic and extreme roller coaster dieter, bad enough that Dr Oz shamed me for my crazy diets on national TV in 2013. Anyhow, after 4 months, not only had the scale not moved, but the tape measure wasn't either. The old me would have gone on a binge and quit Crossfit, but my life had improved in so many ways that had nothing to do with weight loss. I could breathe walking upstairs, I could strap myself onto the rower and tie my own shoes. I was becoming less of a clutz. I was mentally alert for longer and longer each day. I'm pretty sure I was on my way to some sort of mobility device by the time I was 50. I started logging my food and realized I was eating the calories of a linebacker and burning, at best, half of them off every day. I love food, but over the last 18 months, I've come to accept that I can't diet my way down to where I want to be. If I think of it that way, when I reach goal I will be "done" and go back to my old way of eating. I had to change what I associated what I now know is overeating with.
Once I got my calories down to about 1600-1800 a day, I started losing pretty steady 1-3 lbs a week. When I had lost 70, I still had that "diet" mentality and spend then next year regaining 30 of it, all the while doing Crossfit 5 days per week. At first it felt like I'd never be able to go to a restaurant or enjoy myself at a party if I wanted to get this weight off. Then one of the superfit women at my box mentioned that she was seeing a nutritionist. She said she sends her diet to him every week and he tweaks it. NOw this chick is STRONG and LEAN. She competes locally and wins, and she is about my age. I asked her how many calories she tries to get, expecting to hear something about how she doesn't count calories. She said 17-1800 My world deflated for a moment, because I finally KNEW I was never going to be able to eat "what I want" if I wanted to be lean and fit. Somehow the knowledge that THAT was a fantasy helped me get back on track. I took control again in February of this year; logging foods, limiting portions and recording everything. I'm back down below where I was before, net loss since starting Crossfit is 80lbs. It’s the lowest number I’ve seen on a scale in 10 years, and I still need to lose about 80 more. For me, its 95% or more what I put in my mouth and 5% exercise. I’m so grateful to Crossfit for giving me something I love to do, and always a new PR to strive for. Crossfit makes me want to be better, and every single day-I’m a little better.