Meet an Ice Age Meals Athlete: This is Kelley Jackson

There are so many cool people doing so many cool things, and Ice Age Meals loves supporting all that coolness.

Sometime we do it with athlete sponsorships.

Today, we’re turning the spotlight on one of our athletes – none other than CrossFitter Kelley Jackson.

Between working with her husband to run CrossFit Gambit, their St. Louis affiliate, and killing it in the Open, Kelley found a few minutes to answer some questions for us. We love this girl!

CrossFit Kelley: Stats

Kelley's CrossFit career began in 2010, when she finally caved to her boyfriend's suggestions to give it a go. He was onto something, for sure, because since then, Kelley has been a:

• Six-time CrossFit Open athlete (2017 is lucky number seven)
• Five-time Regionals athlete
• Two-time individual Games athlete

Plus, last year, she competed at the Games as part of a team in a strategic move. After a year of non-CrossFit stuff - marriage, relocating, all that jazz - she felt that she wasn't in the right mental place to compete as an individual.

It was a good call.

“Competing on a team last year was motivating as hell to get back on the individual floor,” Kelley says, “and I want it now more than ever. So it's been a year of hard work fueled by my desire to be back on the Games stage.”

So far, so good.

Eyes on the (Regionals) Prize

After 17.2 just a few weeks ago, Kelley was ranking tenth – in the world.

“If I’m honest, the first two events [were] pretty favorable for me,” she says. “And in the Open, you need to take advantage of the workouts/movements that play in your favor because you don't know what you are going to see next. But regardless of what comes my way, I'm prepared.”

We believe her.

Hard work plus commitment plus pure grit tends to prepare you for anything.

What Does This Girl Eat?

As you may have guessed, Kelley also has the nutrition side dialed in.

“Nutrition is one of the most important components to my success as an athlete,” she says.

Case in point – this season, she hired a nutritionist, snagged a great supplement sponsorship and, ahem, has a never-ending supply of frozen Paleo meals with a conveniently perfect macro breakdown.

“With the help of Ice Age Meals, I've been able to sustain my training volume and work load without stressing about grocery shopping or meal prepping,” Kelley says. “… having [that] support has relieved a little bit of stress from my already stressful life. I always have something to eat, so there is no excuse to not put in the work.”

That’s a big deal, because Kelley will tell you her biggest nutrition challenge is just finding the time to prep and eat.

“Between training, working and getting eight hours of sleep a night, eating isn't always a priority,” she explains. “But I make it a priority each day and it's been easier since the addition of Ice Age.”

Makes sense to us. How else is a girl going to support a body doing all those pull-ups, thrusters and snatches? Those are a few of Kelley’s favorite exercises, by the way, and we’re impressed just writing that.

Be Like Kelley

Kelley’s advice to folks watching the Open - and just wishing - is simple.

"Most importantly, have fun!” she says. “All too often I see people, myself included, put so much pressure on themselves to succeed that we lose sight of why we started. Love what you do and who you do it with and you'll enjoy the results.”

Good advice, right?

And it looks like she’s walking that walk. Kelley’s got her eyes on earning her third trip to the CrossFit Games, and she says she’s fighting like hell to stay on the top of that leaderboard.

When we asked her what she did for fun, her answer was true to form.

“Ummmm… I CrossFit,” she laughed.

That, and we hear she likes a good bottle of red too.

We'll be cheering Kelley on as the season continues - and keeping her freezer stocked. Keep an eye on this one. She's for real.