Our November Spotlight Athlete of the Month goes to Jamie Dize! A veteran, physical therapy assistant, and mother to three beautiful girls, Jamie is no stranger to waking up very early. She kick starts her mornings at the 0530 class and is one our most consistent attendees. Jamie comes to every class with the mindset of growth and improvement. She is supportive of her fellow athletes and inspires others with her hard work, grit, determination, and love for team competition! Congratulations Jamie!

First off I want to start off by saying how truly thankful I am. I am very shocked and humbled. I have never in my life been called and athlete, so that itself is a shock. I am just a mother of three girls; Madison 19, a sophomore at East Carolina, Allanah 14, and Dakota who is 3. I am not the best writer so bear with me.

My CrossfFit journey started 5 years ago. I was attending PTA school and started at Hybrid CF. Wasn’t able to fully commit secondary to finishing my clinical internships. Fast forward to 3 years later I was finally ready to commit and change my lifestyle. Before that, I was on the fitness roller coaster, could never stick to any program for more than 6 months. I have always struggled with some type of body dysmorphia/eating disorder and rode the cardio train for a long time. I thought the best way to get fit was to eat barely nothing and run my ass off. I was always tired and hungry. I didn’t know any better. When I joined Drop Box, Dakota was about a year, really wanting to lose my baby weight. The first person I met was Coach Stephanie. I observed a class and I knew I belonged there. Stephanie offered me a trial class and I refused. I didn’t need a trial, I needed to be a member. The rest is history, I found a home. Within my first month I was approached by G... “Hey wanna do a comp”, everyone was about to head to Gangs, I was not ready. A few weeks later Stephanie introduced me to Kelly and I did my first in house competition. I will never forget that, I felt so bad for Kelly. I was so not ready and struggled but I still had fun. Kelly is the reason I am now a morning person, she convinced me that I should start going to the 0530 class. Never in my life have I been a morning person and now I have all 5-6 of my alarms set to get my workout in early. CrossFit has changed me in so many ways. I have lived in Virginia Beach for 14 years and I have not made a whole lot of friends, but since joining DBCF I have made some life long friends (Love you Anna you are forever my sister). Shout out to my gym husband Gil for participating in many races, including Spartan with me. Even when I am on the struggle bus, he always motivated me. I want to also thank all the coaches who have helped me along my journey.

I have been a member of Drop Box for over 2 years now, so you can say I am finally committed. The 0530 class always sets the tone for my day. If I am not there call the police!!! I am hoping to continue to be a good role model for my girls. I asked what sport Allanah wanted to play and she said CrossFit! Hopefully soon we will be able to workout together. I am proud that Strong is the new Skinny!! I have no plans on slowing down and look forward to many more competitions. I am hoping I can only get better and stronger, with the support of the coaches and members. I am confident that will happen! Again, thank you to the coaching staff for always believing in me and making me the “athlete” I am today!

with coach stephanie and fellow teammate: Compete for a cure 2018, Team grit 2017

Spartan super 2018,, w/ DBCF co-owner and frIEND, ANNA CHEVALIER, Gangs of the mid-atlantic 2017 (kelly, stephanie, anna)

Crossfit stimulus, KILO CRUSHFEST 2018, w/ teammate marie

Crossfit chesapeake 2018, Kipping for K9’s

Jamie Dize- November Athlete of the Month