Megan Hodder | Learning Something New
What has been your biggest achievement to date, and what is your ultimate goal in crossfit?
I am really new to the sport of crossfit so I am learning something new every week.
Who has been your biggest role model outside the gym, and who is your biggest in?
Probably one of my past supervisors life guarding. Without meeting this person, I don't think I would be where I am. Ever since I started life guarding, I was always a smaller girl. At that point I was in grade nine, and she brought it up. I thought that it would be fun and the supervisor told me "You can do it Megan", and I said "Wow, I think I can". That person was a huge reason I got into firefighting and am where I am. In the gym, all my coaches and another guy who is really good my age. He has always pushed me to be better. People in my gym have always gone above and beyond to make me feel like I can do it. They always give me little tips to help me be able to meet goals.
What is your favorite lift and why?
Back squats are my favorite. Not squats in general, just back squats!
Crossfit is known to have long term effects on growth/ your body, what is something you’d tell parents of kids interested in the sport about this?
I had someone tell me last week while I was working tell me that Crossfit was really bad on your body because you basically kill yourself in every workout. I have basically only been to one gym, my gym. I know that at my gym the coaches are very careful with everything you do. When I first started, my coaches wouldn't let me push too hard especially with lifting. They watch everything you do and we never sacrifice technique for weight. They are very cautious because they don't want you to hurt yourself. As long as you have someone to make sure you aren't going to break your back I think you're good.
What is your favorite cheat meal, and what does your diet consist of?
I'm not sure if it counts as a meal, but ice cream. I love ice cream. I am kind of figuring out my diet right now. I am waiting to hear back from my insurance company because I want to meet with a nutritionist. My diet mainly consists of fruits and vegetables. I have the same thing for breakfast every day. Honestly I just try to stay away from packaged food. A lot of vegetables and a lot of fruits are in my diet. For meat, I usually eat chicken or beef. I like to eat more red meat than most people would. I like carbs a lot so I have brown rice probably every day. Even though I work at Starbucks I don't drink coffee which is shocking to a lot of people. I don't know much about caffeine but I know it's not very good for you. I don't take protein supplements or anything like that either.
For people starting out in the sport, what are some tips you would give?
I would tell them to go try it, and not to be afraid.It can be very intimidating at first but if you just go for it, you'll feel very accomplished. It is very rewarding. One of the coaches tell me to trust myself and to have trust in my body's capabilities.
What was an obstacle you faced and how did you overcome it?
One of my biggest obstacles is finding time to go to the gym. When I first started I would go every day, I didn't even take rest days for the first couple months. I went to the gym every day. It is important to schedule it, and planning my day ahead of time before I go. I am taking a paramedic course which is crazy busy, so I would need to schedule the gym, school and work all at once.