"It took me traveling to the other side of the world to start working on myself. It was destiny."
Photos courtesy of Nelson Loaiza
Born in Ecuador, South America, I came to Indonesia in January of 2012, already 35 years old and more than 40 pounds overweight.
Consumed by work, I didn’t do any type of exercise for more than five years, but one of the goals I gave myself when I moved to this country was, “Live, Nelson. Balance your life.”
Since I had a background of martial arts in my young years, and as a fan of MMA — Mixed Martial Arts — CrossFit wasn’t strange for me. So, the first thing I did was Google “CrossFit Gyms” (I didn’t know they were called boxes), with a clear focus on losing weight.
As cliché as it sounds, the community aspect of CrossFit was what really drove me in, and it really changed my life. As a newbie in Asia, with no friends or family, CrossFit Equator’s community became my family, my ground, my support, making the transition easier to a totally different culture far away from everything I knew. To be honest, I don’t know if I could have made the transition if it wasn’t for CrossFit.
With all this, my priorities also changed, from having a V-type body to getting a PR on my snatch; from losing weight to have my double-unders; from have a six pack to cutting my Fran time.
The CrossFit Games Open is a perfect opportunity for me to test myself against myself, to see where I’m at, to have a “second chance” to rebuild my fitness after five years of doing nothing and eating badly. And the first step is to be and elite Masters Division athlete.
As of now, my first goal when I got into this beautiful country has been achieved. CrossFit has given me the balance in my life I was looking for. And as I told my coach Brian (Pandji): From Ecuador to CrossFit Equator, that is just destiny.
-Nelson Loaiza (aka Blue Gila, CrossFit Equator, Jakarta, Indonesia)
Note on the athlete:
Loaiza was 757th in Asia at the end of week four. His Open workout scores are as follows: 13.1 – 953 (100); 13.2 – 914 (172); 13.3 – 815 (135); 646 (47)
Loaiza is 35 years old, weighs 185 pounds and trains at CrossFit Equator with coach Brian Pandji. He has been CrossFitting for less than a year.
