Caitlin Stevenson: From 350 Pounds Bodyweight and Bariatric Surgery to the CrossFit Open

Being overweight is all Caitlin Stevenson ever knew. It had been that way her whole life.

Then, in 2015, at 350 pounds, Stevenson went to her doctor for a solution to back pain, and her doctor recommended weight loss surgery, Stevenson told the Morning Chalk Up.

“I went to this meeting at the hospital, and they convinced me it was the only thing that was going to work for me,” she said.

Feeling she had no other choice, Stevenson, 32, underwent bariatric surgery that year.

[Related: Get to Know the 2024 PRVN Fitness Athlete Roster]

• The surgery worked to some degree. Stevenson lost a bunch of weight, but when COVID-19 hit, she promptly gained most of it back.

Enter CrossFit

Last April, Stevenson’s friend convinced her to try CrossFit.

• “OK, I’ll try it once,” agreed Stevenson, who weighed 276 pounds then.

Stevenson walked into CrossFit Ground Up in Hastings, NE. What happened next surprised her.

• “I had never enjoyed working out before. I never felt good working out because it wasn’t a good atmosphere…The gym always felt so judgy,” she said.

This wasn’t the case at CrossFit Ground Up, which was immediately apparent. Everyone was supportive, and Stevenson enjoyed being in a gym, saying, “[the support] is one of the main reasons I have continued to come back, basically every day.”

Eight months later, the 5-foot-7 Stevenson has been consistently going to the gym six days a week and has participated in the gym’s nutrition program. As a result, she’s down 85 pounds since April 2023 and competes in the gym’s Friday Night Lights CrossFit Open event. 

• “I was really nervous about having someone watch me do the workout, but it didn’t feel like people were watching me at all. It was so fun,” Stevenson said of Workout 24.1.

The workout was a huge physical milestone for Stevenson, who completed the workout with 90 burpees at 13:48. She would never have dreamed of being capable of that when she arrived at the gym eight months ago and could barely do a single burpee. 

• “I probably would have laughed at you,” Stevenson said had she been told eight months ago that she’d compete in the Open and do 90 burpees.

Stevenson then did what she never thought she could do one year before CrossFit: a 10-kilometer Spartan Race.

The big picture: To anyone in the position Stevenson was in 10 years ago, weight loss surgery is not your only option, Stevenson urged.

• “I wouldn’t recommend it, and I wouldn’t do it again. I almost feel like it’s harder on you, and it’s really unhealthy,” Stevenson said.

Instead, find yourself a CrossFit community—“the right CrossFit community”—for a healthier way to get bigger results.

• “This is so much better. It makes you feel so much better, and it’s more fun. Trust me, it’s a lot more fun,” Stevenson said. She added: “I wake up and I go, ‘What time am I going to the gym today?’ I can’t imagine my life without it.”

Featured image courtesy of Tiffani Arndt