My wife decided shortly after having our daughter that is 9 years old now, to get in shape. I had no idea what this meant at the time but what husband in his right mind wouldn't support this decission?
So one day she tells me that she will be a little later than usual getting home because she's going to a free intro class at a Crossfit gym. "OH the 300 (movie) workout," I replied, "sounds good." I had no idea that she would drink the Kool-aid and soon I went to check it out for myself.
I have lifted weights since high school and remained consistent over the years so I went to the class with no expectations. Sprawled on the ground gasping for air, I went to dark places after my very first WOD. I stayed with it for a few months before realizing that power building was my gig. I have a very physical job and I found that crossfit didn't suit my required energy reserves to perform on a day in and day out welding and I was constantly trashed for sometimes days following workouts. If I had a desk job (like my wife) I would be in a "Box" working out with my crossfit folks every chance I could.
My wife continued to progress. Her body started to change. Her diet started to change and as a result my diet started to change. We eat Paleo now. It really is better and I don't mind. Soon people within the crossfit community started asking her to compete with them on teams. She did, and did well. She made a lot of friends through crossfit and as a result I did too.
There are definitely some things about crossfit that are easy targets for criticism and its not for everyone. Hell, it's not for me although I allocate (out of loyalty to my lover) two months or so per year of my fitness regime to crossfit and then I move on. Now, I almost exclusively work out with kettle bells and my wife remains faithful to to the FRAN, Murph and Elizabeth regime. She has broke her ankle doing rope climbs, had several nagging injuries, and requires message therapy performed by me regularly. None of this stops her. It works for her so.....
I rag on crossfit and crossfit people all the time in front of her. I talk shit about the construction of their workouts, crossfit peoples propensity to do exercises with bad form, kipping pull ups and I make fun of the low weight "PR's" posted on her gyms web sight. If I don't talk shit to people it's because I don't like them. Aside from my well above average strength and just being a big guy, crossfit regulars make me look like a chump at running, rope climbs, rowing, box jumps, ring muscle ups and generally everything they do in a WOD. I am no WOD star but my wife has found her thing. The effects on our household have been profoundly positive and for that I thank the Crossfit Community.