Really serious this time

[Evan C]

Hey everyone, just thought I’d stop by and say hello. My name’s Evan, I’m 30 years old, and I’m a music teacher and shameless nerd (in particular, I’m a Trekkie and an Animorphs nut) living in New York. I just joined the Academy a few days ago and I’m really excited.

 

I’ve been overweight since I was nine or so, and most of my preferred hobbies and activities are pretty sedentary. I’ve always hated sports in particular and physical activity in general. The only exercise I’ve done in my life that I liked enough to outweigh my hatred of getting sweaty and out of breath has been dancing and high school marching band. (Don’t laugh, marching band is an intense workout.) 

 

I’ve tried to lose weight repeatedly since high school, but I’ve always fallen victim to that thing where I throw myself really intensely into it and then quit after a month or two because I’m hungry, tired, burned out, or injured. I finally looked up Nerd Fitness last week after hearing about it a few times before and filing it away in the “that sounds interesting” part of my brain, and I’m hooked already. Besides just loving the idea of a fitness community full of people who also like nerdy things, I feel like this program specifically addresses the parts about getting healthy that I typically fail the most at—changing habits gradually over time without getting impatient/bored and overdoing it, having a specific plan/structure to follow instead of just doing things impulsively that don’t last, etc.

 

I’m transgender (FTM/female-to-male) and I’ve been taking testosterone for about 4 and a half years, but have not had any surgery yet. I mention this because one of my goals is to get in better shape before I have top surgery. I also mention it because my journey with my transition is one of the main factors that has driven me to finally decide that I’m really serious this time and that I’m going to do this the right way. I decided that if I wasn’t willing to accept a body I was unhappy with with respect to gender, why should I accept it with respect to health/fitness/looking good? I imagined that transition was going to finally make me happy with my body, and I’m certainly happier than I was, but being a chubby balding guy at 30 was definitely not the endpoint I had in mind when I started my transition. (Disclaimer: I’m aware that Nerd Fitness will do nothing for my hairline.) 

 

I also just don’t like to fail at things. I’m very driven to improve myself and I could probably stand to dial it down sometimes, but the fact is that it really annoys me that I keep failing so hard at this one thing. Most of my family is overweight and sometimes I think I should give in, stop bashing my head against the wall, and accept the inevitable, but I’m too stubborn for that.

 

Anyway, that’s me. I don’t usually bring other people into my fitness efforts, but that’s another thing I decided I should probably do differently this time, so here I am! Looking forward to getting to know everyone!

 

[JPrev]

Good luck!  Definitely focus on the marathon, not the sprint.  Too many people burn out because their ambition wrecks them over imperfections.  Takes time for the body to change, as you're well aware.  So long as you're on target 80% of the time, you'll get the fitness you want.  Besides, gotta let loose sometimes!

[Colossus In Progress]

An Animorphs nerd?!? God I haven't read those books in years. I may have to see if I can get my hands on some, would love to read them again after all this time.

 

Oh, and hi and welcome and all that. Sorry, found it hard to get over that blast from the past you hit me with 

[SpecialSundae]

Hello and welcome to the rebellion!

 

We're very, very happy to have you here.

 

Which musical instruments do you play? I was an orchestra/musical theatre nerd in school and people totally underestimate how much harder it is to just walk (let alone dance) whilst singing or playing a wind instrument!

 

Anyway, hope you enjoy it here and do give me a shout if there's anything I can do to help. I'm usually flying the flag for the Warriors but happy to help however I can.

 

Hope to see you around soon!

 

Sundae

[shaar]

Wow, Animorphs.  Bringing it back!

 

WELCOME!  You definitely owe it to yourself to be the best you that you can be, especially with your transition!!  The NF forums are full of other uber-nerds that will without a doubt become a great support system.  These forums have been extremely integral to my success, I've been able to work slowly and implement small lifestyle changes over time that are now habits that work for me and my goals.

 

Hope to see you around here, kicking butt and leveling up!

[harmlessgirl]

MUUUSIC NEEERD!!!!  I worship you already.  Also, Star Trek?  Yes, please!  So, are you a Shatner-er, a Stewart-ite, a Mulgrew-ian...?

I'm excited for your journey to blazingly epic awesomeness - hopefully I'll be tearing it up with ya from the left coast!

[Evan C]

Ahhhhhhhh, I need to figure out how to get notifications when people reply to my posts because I didn't see any of these until now! Thanks for all the welcomes! Also, fellow music nerds AND Star Trek nerds AND Animorphs nerds all in one place? I am excite.

 

I am mostly a choir nerd...formerly a soprano, tenor since going on testosterone, have dabbled on and off in choral conducting/arranging and hope to teach choir in a school after all this certification business is done. I also played the clarinet all through middle and high school (and dabbled non-seriously in some other instruments during marching band season, because why not) and I am currently working on bringing my piano skills from "suck" to "respectable sounding." 

 

Re: Trek things - I grew up on TOS and decided last year that it was time I expanded my Trek knowledge, so I've been on a watch-through of ALL THE TREK (thank you Netflix) that is currently on pause until my semester is over. But I watched through both TNG and DS9 and loved them both a lot. I've got to say, DS9 is my favorite so far. Sisko/Kira are my favorite captain/first officer duo, and I have never before been sucked into a show so hard that I tore through seven seasons in two months *while working and in school*, which is definitely what I did with DS9.

 

I've gotta run, but quick question: I got a notification that I have a follower! How do I follow people? I want to follow people!

 

-Evan