hotacidbath

Thanks for the words of support everybody. And you're absolutely right about how I see myself CraftingFish. After 10 years of living an unhealthy lifestyle and being unhappy with what I see in the mirror, it's going to take a lot of time to turn around that image of myself. I think that a few of the people making comments are ones that I can cut out of my life and be just as happy without while the other few I will sit down and talk with. I've just always been so sensitive about my weight that I refuse to refer to other people's weight in an insulting way like saying they're too fat or too skinny, so I just wish that friends would offer me the same courtesy. I guess it's just too much to expect for others to feel the same, but I'm very glad for my supportive friends and for the help I've gotten here.

This whole court is ridiculous!Awesome job andygates. That is definitely something to be admired and I am very impressed.

Since last November I've lost 60 pounds with most of that weight loss coming over this past summer. I was living out of state this summer so when I came home it was a big surprise to everyone how much weight I had lost. Most people were very supportive, but I've noticed a lot of underhanded comments coming from my overweight friends. I've always been overweight/obese and have had low self-esteem because of it. While I had hoped that the weight loss would be a magic self-esteem booster, I've realized that's not the case. Now I'm working on two fronts to continue to improve myself physically (with another 40-50 lbs being my goal) and beginning to improve my mental image of myself. So it really hurts when people still make comments about me being chubby or "you've lost weight, but not THAT much weight." I understand that I'm not skinny so I don't need people pointing it out all the time. Weight loss is not some magic button. I'm only half way through this process and I'm guessing it will take me at least another year to get to my final goals. None of these comments have come from my friends that work-out so I'm guessing it's a way for people to make themselves feel better that they're not losing weight, but that doesn't make it hurt any less. I'm just wondering how many others have noticed this sort of trend and how to you deal with this behavior from loved ones? I'm not looking for constant compliments on my weight loss, I would just like for the people I care about to stop trying to make me feel bad for wanting to improve myself.

Don't underestimate female related reasons. Earlier this week I gained about 5 pounds overnight and now just a couple of days later I'm back where I was. I was freaking out over the sudden upswing but I just had to calm down and stay off the scale for a few days. Water retention can do some crazy things to the scale. Don't sweat it too much and just focus more on the long-term.

I'm in central IL if that's where you're heading through. We're kind of a drive past on the way to Chicago or St. Louis area so it wouldn't surprise me if you pass through my town.

I'm trying to get more into running. I run/walk 3 or 4 miles a few times a week and I would like to be able to run a solid 5K by September. I used to hate it, but since moving to a city with a decent trail system nearby and plenty of parks around I find myself enjoying it more. I have also jumped on the Vibrams train and won't be going back, though I do get annoyed by the advice from complete strangers that I did not ask for. All I know is that I haven't gotten shin splints from Vibrams and that's good enough for me.

After starting my weight loss journey (it feels dramatic to write it like that) in September I had noticed small changes in how my clothes fit and at the beginning of June I had lost a total of 30 pounds, but these past couple of months it's felt like the small changes have gotten bigger and bigger. Today on a whim I decided to try on my goal clothes to check my progress. When I started trying to lose weight, large t-shirts were beginning to get a little tight and I was wearing between a size 22 and size 24 pants depending on the brand (I wish women's pants had one unifying size). Today I am comfortably wearing size 16 jeans, a belt that is 6 notches from where I started (roughly 7 inches lost around the waist) and a medium t-shirt. In high school I lost track of how much I weighed because I was embarrassed and this continued through college until I decided enough was enough. I was skinnier graduating college than I was graduating high school and, judging from my clothes, I am skinnier now than I was my sophomore or junior year of high school. I'm still not at my final goal and probably won't be for at least another year, but I never would've gotten to this point if it hadn't been for this community. I haven't been on much in the past several months, but when I was first getting started and I saw all sorts of people in all sorts of sizes with all sorts of fitness goals supporting and helping one another it really pushed me into finally taken things seriously. So thank you Steve for creating this site and thank you community members for being the catalyst to finally getting me to feel good about myself. This has also inspired my mom, who has been struggling with her weight for as long as I can remember, to begin working out regularly and she is now going through the Couch to 5K program. Seeing her work and knowing that I'm what got her there is the best part of all of this. So thank you everyone, for not only helping me, but also helping the most important person in my life.

Yeah, but I'll be sans car for the summer and I think biking to Baltimore probably isn't the best of plans. Thanks for the suggestions, I will definitely look up that gallery.

I'm graduating college in May and all I want with my life is to be a zookeeper. It's what I've wanted since I was little and working in a zoo last summer (on my feet all day with a lot of heavy lifting) is even what kicked my ass into losing weight. I'm now down 35 pounds since September and still losing weight, but that's not my woot. These past few months have been filled with resumes, cover letters, and applications with only 2 calls for interviews. It's been kind of a spirit killer and I had resigned myself to move home and volunteer at my local zoo until something else came up. Then, out of the blue, a place in Pittsburgh called me about the application I filled out in February and offered me a summer internship which I took on the spot. Now, I am Midwest born and raised. Grew up in Illinois, college in Wisconsin and a goal to live in Minneapolis. So moving 3 states away to the east coast is a little out of my comfort zone. I'm nervous, but I'm also happier than I've been in a long time. After all the time spent volunteering, interning, and studying to be a zookeeper I finally feel like I'm doing it.

It's finally getting warmer in Central Wisconsin (meaning it's 27 degrees right now) and I've been pulling out my thin sweatshirts and putting away the heavy ones that I've been wearing all winter. It's an awesome feeling to put on a shirt that's was tight in September and is now ridiculously baggy in April. I'm thinking once summer comes I'll finally have to give in and buy new clothes.

So, a few minutes ago I had a sudden light headed spell that I have never experienced before. I freaked out for a second (which of course made it worse) and then quickly ate an apple. After eating the apple it went away and I feel much better. I usually have an apple or two a day, but haven't for the past few days. I also haven't eaten a lot in the past few days (not for diet reasons, just lack of food in my house). Fortunately I went shopping today so the lack of food isn't an issue anymore and I'm also chowing down on some yogurt right now. I'm guessing (hoping) that low sugar and calorie intake were the causes, and I'm wondering if anyone else has experienced anything like this. Again, this is the only time anything like this has ever happened and it quickly went away. And to be clear, if it happens again I will make an appointment with a doctor immediately. There's a history of brain aneurysms in my family (include a scare of my own when I was 12) so I do not mess around with things involving my beautiful brain.

I definitely recommend looking into The Name of the Wind by Pat Rothfuss, but I might be biased cause he goes to the same comic shop as me and is a pretty cool dude. He also wrote for my college paper before he hit it big, and his column was the best part of it each week. How was it joining after college? I really want to join the Army (medic), but am a bit concerned with being in boot at 23 or 24 with a bunch of 18-year-olds. Stay safe and I'm glad to hear that there are some nerds in the military.

but I'm chasing it and trying to jump back on. So, around the beginning of the year I got very busy and stopped posting here. I kept exercising and was sticking to a sort of Paleo diet, but I wasn't staying strict and hit a weight loss wall. Spring is coming and the lack of weight loss has gotten frustrating so I'm kicking my ass back into gear and returning to Nerd Fitness, the site that started it all. I'm back on the Paleo wagon and have started to closely track my food to make sure I'm sticking to it. I'm glad to be back and I hope I'll have the time to post more in the coming months.

Haha, I need to buy all new pants soon because mine are all falling off. Even the smallest pair I own that I just bought this summer are getting to be too big. It makes me smile, and then I look at how expensive jeans are and it makes me frown. Congrats!

So, I suck and didn't update this like I wanted to. I'm going to do a final weigh in tomorrow and an overview of my challenge, but I can already say that I didn't do nearly as well as I would've liked. Since around Thanksgiving, everything has just been piling on so my life goals got thrown out the window. I didn't make it to the gym at all this week to work on weights, but I did do pilates and body weight work and finished week 3 of the hundred push-ups program so I did stay active. I didn't think the push-up program would work, but I really am noticing a positive change . I also don't believe that I lost any weight, but I also didn't gain any weight and considering Thanksgiving and some of the stress eating that happened I'm happy for that. In other news, I have TKD testing this afternoon and will be testing for my red belt. This is just a hop, skip, and a jump away from black belt so I'm pretty excited and I'll post tomorrow with the results.

Sorry for the lack of updates from me, it's been pretty hectic with all the end of semester crap going on and this just keeps slipping my mind. I've been keeping up with the Paleo diet and exercise, but had plenty of beer on Saturday and a fall from my bike (totally not my fault though!) lead to taking a break from exercise on Sunday. I'm back to it though and tried out Pilates this afternoon. I'll try and keep better records of what I'm doing until the end of this challenge, but school is only going to get worse from here on out so no promises on updates. I am keeping mostly on track though despite of this, except for a large increase in coffee consumption. :/ And just to clarify on the bike fall, the beer came after the fall. I was riding my bike on a snowy sidewalk when a car shot out of a driveway and I had to lay the bike down to avoid getting hit since it was too icy to break. I'm okay, just ended up a little bruised and pretty sore the next day.

I'm not sure how much fun I'll be able to have this upcoming week with last minute school work before finals, but one of my favorite bands is coming to my school tomorrow so I'm going with my roommate and a few friends and we're also going on a couple of local brewery tours before hand. I've been looking forward to this all semester and it'll be a nice break from the end of semester grind.

Day 18 Breakfast: 2 pancakes with a little honey and coffee. The pancakes were a little dry so next time I make them I think I'll add a little coconut milk. Lunch: Spinach salad with tuna and tomato Dinner: Mushrooms and chicken Fitness: Squats up to 155, bench press up to 90, assisted pull-ups, assisted dips, 10 minute rowing machine cool-down Life: More research project work. Classes all morning, workout, and then in the lab from 2-6 Day 19 Breakfast: same as above Lunch: Didn't eat Dinner: #9 unwich with extra peppers from Jimmy John's Fitness: Day 3 of the 100 push-ups program Life: Got caught up in the lab again and completely forgot to eat. I went over at 1 and just got home at 7. Now I'm going to kick back and watch the Twin Peaks episode of Psych and hope to not pass out from lab chemicals. I just can't get the smell of methyl salicylate out of my nose.

I did one today. Myself and three other people created a lesson plan and taught fellow students for 45 minutes.

Day 16 Breakfast: Coffee and an apple Lunch: Spinach salad with steak and tomato Dinner: Chicken and mushrooms with feta Fitness: An hour of TKD and some body weight exercises Life: Worked all afternoon on a research project Day 17 Breakfast: Same Lunch: 2 eggs and turkey Dinner: Turkey unwich from Jimmy John's Fitness: Off day Life: Made almond flour pancakes for breakfast for the next couple of days and continued on my research project

Well, I went home for Thanksgiving and didn't have access to a computer so yay lack of updates. Also didn't eat as well as I could have, but I did get a couple of workouts in so there's that. Day 15 Breakfast: Apple and coffee Lunch: Spinach salad with tomato and cucumber Dinner: Steak with mushrooms and a little feta cheese and a glass of almond milk Fitness: Jogged/walked for 20 minutes and then worked on the rowing machine for 10 minutes Life: Group project work and read for 20 minutes. Gonna try and read more later tonight.

I love how my thread has become the tattoo/book thread. I feel like I'm doing something right. Day 7 B: Apple and coffee L: Turkey burger and tomato D: Grilled chicken Fitness: Play basketball for an hour Life: Practiced mandolin and worked on a group project Day 8 Lost 3 pounds this week. Down to 232 as of this morning. B: Quiche, sausage, coffee L: 2 eggs and come sliced turkey D: Grilled chicken and carrots Fitness: 30 minutes of elliptical Life: Did some reading

I'm guessing that there are at least a few gamers here (duh) and I figured you guys might be interested in this. The comedy group Loading Ready Run does a charity drive every year called Desert Bus for Hope where they play the game Desert Bus for as long as donations keep coming in. Desert Bus is basically a bus driving simulator and is pure tedious torture to the person playing. I know what you're thinking. Why do these people put themselves through such pain? For the children! All donations go directly to Child's Play which purchases games (both video and board) and toys for children's hospitals. In fact, they give to over 60 hospitals worldwide to raise the spirits of kid's that are too sick to be home for the holidays. Like I said, for the children! Along with donations going towards keeping LRR driving the bus, there are also auctions, giveaways, and challenges where you can give money to make the LRR crew do ridiculous things for your amusement. The fun started yesterday evening at 8 PM central time and they're already up to almost $25,000. They also get to look forward to 110 hours of bussing with each person taking a 24 hour shift. Here's where my pleading comes in. I know that times are tough, but even a $5 donation is a welcome amount. Or just shoot over to the live feed to check them out and give some moral support. I don't want to get too much into a personal sob story, but when I was little I had to be in the hospital during the holidays. It was just for a broken elbow, but it required surgery and I had to be in the hospital for several days because of it. This was very scary for a four-year-old, but the hospital had plenty of toys which made the experience better for both myself and my family. I can't even begin to imagine what it would be like for a child with a serious illness. So there you go. A fun charity drive for a great cause that I just thought I would share with my fellow nerds. LRR is a bunch of nerds that are donating to a charity run by a bunch of nerds (the crew from Penny Arcade run Child's Play) that are trying to brighten the day for some future nerds.

You should look up some other stuff by Mumford and Sons, they're quite good.Day 6 Breakfast: 2 eggs, turkey sausage, coffee Lunch: Turkey burger with tomato and ketchup Snack: Sweet potato with walnut oil Dinner: Grilled chicken with broccoli and an apple for dessert Fitness: Rode my bike for an hour and a half and went somewhere between 11 and 12 miles. It wasn't the 15 that I was shooting for, but I wanted to turn around and start heading back before I got too far from home and too hopelessly lost. Life: Practiced mandolin and lazed about for most of the day.

His channel has a lot of great exercises. I live near an area that's been forested and has plenty of stumps so I'll have to try his jump track idea.