Well, hello friends! I have a familiar story... overweight most of my life, didn't play sports, wasn't very active (though, I could play the heck out of the playground!), battled self-image issues, tried a few things with no success, and was genuinely unhappy when it came to all things body-related. It's not all depressing though - I have learn to compensate in other areas of my life - a strong sense of self, a dark and twisted sense of humour, and a huge amount of creativity being the primary ones. A little bit more about my story... about three years ago, I discovered roller derby and fell IN LOVE. Coming from my background, it has been a huge physical and emotional challenge (still is most days). Now I am going into my second year on skates. I skate about four hours a week (mostly on the weekends). I haven't lost any weight - though, I know I have increased muscle mass - especially in my legs. I have started to morph into a T-Rex. I have this MASSIVE LEGS AND THIGHS... and itty-bitty arms. I am not well-rounded at all. Plus, add in the fact, that my energy is almost non-existent and I feel really slow compared to a lot of my team mates. After having a less than stellar rookie season, I have decided that this year will be different. After 38 years, I wanna drive my own evolution. My issue lays mostly with my diet. It's crap. I have portion control issues and emotional eating issues. I know that diet has been and will always be my biggest struggle. I am analyzing my plan of action. I was a terrible vegetarian for a number of years (substituted meat with pasta) and I don't have the fortitude (or inclination, frankly) to adopt the Paleo lifestyle (a number of my team mates have with great success though). I want to try an maintain a balanced diet (perhaps using the Canadian Food Guide - maybe?). But it will be tricky because I can talk myself out of anything. I'm a jerk sometimes. Battling the voices will be my toughest challenge! I have decided to focus on small steps and small goals instead of a magic number that comes off the scale. Small goals like maintaining a consistent food log and exercise log. And then creating a bigger goal for ever six month - the current one being participating in a Spartan race in August. It will help me to keep focused with something concrete and something that will happen instead of some obscure number. If I don't train or eat better, that Spartan race is going to kick my butt and I really don't want that to happen. And if a side effect is some weight-loss, feeling better when I play roller derby, and improving my game, then THUMBS UP! At any rate, I'm excited to be here. I dig the site and this forum seems to be a pretty fantastic place too!
Well, hello friends! I have a familiar story... overweight most of my life, didn't play sports, wasn't very active (though, I could play the heck out of the playground!), battled self-image issues, tried a few things with no success, and was genuinely unhappy when it came to all things body-related. It's not all depressing though - I have learn to compensate in other areas of my life - a strong sense of self, a dark and twisted sense of humour, and a huge amount of creativity being the primary ones. A little bit more about my story... about three years ago, I discovered roller derby and fell IN LOVE. Coming from my background, it has been a huge physical and emotional challenge (still is most days). Now I am going into my second year on skates. I skate about four hours a week (mostly on the weekends). I haven't lost any weight - though, I know I have increased muscle mass - especially in my legs. I have started to morph into a T-Rex. I have this MASSIVE LEGS AND THIGHS... and itty-bitty arms. I am not well-rounded at all. Plus, add in the fact, that my energy is almost non-existent and I feel really slow compared to a lot of my team mates. After having a less than stellar rookie season, I have decided that this year will be different. After 38 years, I wanna drive my own evolution. My issue lays mostly with my diet. It's crap. I have portion control issues and emotional eating issues. I know that diet has been and will always be my biggest struggle. I am analyzing my plan of action. I was a terrible vegetarian for a number of years (substituted meat with pasta) and I don't have the fortitude (or inclination, frankly) to adopt the Paleo lifestyle (a number of my team mates have with great success though). I want to try an maintain a balanced diet (perhaps using the Canadian Food Guide - maybe?). But it will be tricky because I can talk myself out of anything. I'm a jerk sometimes. Battling the voices will be my toughest challenge! I have decided to focus on small steps and small goals instead of a magic number that comes off the scale. Small goals like maintaining a consistent food log and exercise log. And then creating a bigger goal for ever six month - the current one being participating in a Spartan race in August. It will help me to keep focused with something concrete and something that will happen instead of some obscure number. If I don't train or eat better, that Spartan race is going to kick my butt and I really don't want that to happen. And if a side effect is some weight-loss, feeling better when I play roller derby, and improving my game, then THUMBS UP! At any rate, I'm excited to be here. I dig the site and this forum seems to be a pretty fantastic place too!