The Bell Family
______________________________
Ambitious Individuals
Generous Family
10.22.2023
Our next member spotlight goes to the BELL FAMILY!!! We are so excited to shine the light on a family this time around and the Bell Family is perfect for it! Many of you know at least one of them since they all come at different times of the day. Beth and John are one of the kindest people in our community and always have such warm and welcoming smiles when you see them. Philip and Lauren are just like their parents with the smile and warm welcoming. Both these kids have improved so much over the past year or so. It has been rewarding for all of us to watch them both push themselves at such a young age.
Bell Family Testimony:
Myself (Beth) has always enjoyed exercise, and getting regular cardio has been important to me for as long as I can remember. One of the first things I did when I moved to Seattle in my 20s was to join the YMCA. John and I used to live very close to the YMCA, and it was very convenient for us to go after work and on Saturday mornings. Over time, as our kids grew up, the YMCA was great for the daycare, and I continued to do a lot of cardio. However, I was always hesitant to do weight training. I think it was mostly because I had no idea how to start.
Eventually, we moved to Gold’s Gym because it was closer to our new home. But neither of us really LOVED going there. Things changed in 2016/2017 when John had two surgeries for thyroid cancer. John started lifting on his own to get back in shape after the surgeries, and after around two years, he started looking for help training. He decided to stop by CrossFit Chateau and see what it was like. John connected well with Alex and did the onboarding sessions. John was immediately impressed by the classes because they efficiently used his time to get both strength and cardio in one hour. As he spent more time there, John appreciated CrossFit Chateau’s great combination of programming, accountability, encouragement, and camaraderie in its community. Four years later, he still loves it and wishes he had started years earlier
John kept trying to convince me to try it, but I was still not ready to leave my daily spin class at Golds. In March 2020, I decided to give it a try. I went through the onboarding sessions with Alex. One of the best aspects of CrossFit is seeing progression over time. For me, it’s been a very slow progression. But progress is really important to me at this stage of my life. I’m still intimidated by many of the movements, but I show up and keep trying!
I only did one or two classes before the gym shut down for COVID. I was impressed with how Alex and Keri let us borrow equipment and set up classes online. During those months and watching how hard Alex & Keri worked to figure out how to run a business in such uncertain times I became committed to the gym. The first few in-person classes after the shutdown were difficult for me. But, in many ways, everyone was figuring out a new system.
Another challenge that impacted our family from the COVID shutdown was the end of organized sports for our son Philip and online school. Over time, we saw that our kids had developed some difficult habits, and we asked Philip to choose an activity he would like. He had watched John and I go to CrossFit and decided that he would like to try it out. Alex was willing to train him, and he started going one time per week. That became two times a week for a year or so. Alex also helped Philip think about his nutrition and how that should change to be healthy. After the gym moved to the current location, Keri started a ‘middle-school boys group’ on Wednesdays at the 3:30 pm class. A few of Philip’s friends from school were in it, and Alex asked if Philip would be interested in trying the class with them. As Philip did more of the classes, he became more confident in his abilities and was willing to try more gymnastics movements, etc. He’s there almost every day and is the most careful eater in our family. He has worked hard these past few years and shows how much change is possible when we’re consistent and willing to keep working on the things we struggle with.
Our daughter, Lauren, has always been very active. In 6th grade, the winter season doesn’t offer girls’ sports, and Lauren wanted to try CrossFit. She also started working with Alex once a week to learn the movements. She loves pushing herself and is always willing to try things. She continues to do her personal training sessions with Alex but also does classes when she can. In many ways, I would have loved to have started doing CrossFit at her age. I’m excited to see how far she goes with it.
CrossFit and the CrossFit Chateau community have been awesome for our family. Our friends in the CrossFit community are encouraging far beyond the workouts themselves. We’re visited a few other CrossFit communities while traveling for work and vacation, but we’re always glad to be back at CrossFit Chateau!