matty.lou

thank you, @Sahaja the past several weeks i've been fighting my desire to do yoga and tried to push myself to do circuit training, but honestly it just doesn't feel right to me. honestly, I'm just somewhat afraid yoga won't give me my desired, toned, slim physique but its the only thing i can see myself enjoying and doing for the rest of my life. yoga helps me relax whenever i'm stressed, whereas i just feel even more stressed doing circuit workouts. i think it may be time to listen to my body on this one, don't you think? Have you personally seen yoga change your physique for the better?

hey everyone! i have a question regarding yoga. Yoga is the only form of exercise i absolutely adore and can see myself doing for the longterm, (i also enjoy walking in the mornings and i'm hoping to eventually build up the endurance to start running). I've tried my hand at bodyweight circuits but i'm just personally not a fan of them. I've tried them countless times, but each and every time I feel exhausted both physically and mentally. Yoga, on the other hand, especially when doing vinyasa flows, keeps me calm yet invigorated. I do both vinyasa, hatha and sometimes relaxation. Most of my classes range between 30 to an hour and a half, but on average I usually go for about an hour. My general workout schedule is: vinyasa yoga - mondays, wednesdays, fridays hatha yoga - tuesdays, thursdays, saturdays relaxation yoga - sundays so this brings me to my question: is yoga enough? does it provide a sustainable amount of proper fitness? will yoga, along with a proper/clean diet give me the aesthetic i desire (slim, toned)?

I've done the paleo diet before a couple of years ago (but i drank whole milk and ate 'grass-fed' cheese every now and then; so you could say i ate primal) and although that gave me the best results (helped me lose weight effortlessly, flat stomach good percentage of the time, etc...) and left me really confused (there would be nights were i would eat a huge steak and the next morning wake up flatter and 'slimmer', that still confuses me to this day) i'm not 100% sure i can go back to eating 'primal'/paleo because i love bread, pasta, etc... but does bread/pasta really make you fat?? also, do you have any idea what could possibly explain that crazy phenomenon (to me at least), when i would eat a huge steak with vegetables for dinner and be incredibly full only to wake up the next morning with a flatter stomach?? i've always wondered if anyone could explain that because i know for a fact i was eating more calories than usual back when i was paleo/primal yet i lost weight effortlessly. I'm still struggling to find a diet that i can do for the rest of my life and thats honestly my main problem. I have exercise down (i'm going to start using the Nike Training Club App, and following their plans, they're basically bodyweight circuits, with some yoga and walking thrown in throughout the week because i enjoy both) its just the i diet that i struggle with the most. I honestly believe eating primal/paleo will get me to where I want to be without having to obsess about calories; i just need to shift my mindset to being "okay" with eating cake/pasta on special occasions every once in awhile without freaking out about getting fat from 'one meal'. I struggle with diets because I want to eat the foods i enjoy, without counting calories and obsessing over every morsel, while achieving my ideal body (slim/fit), you know? I want to live life comfortably but also confidently. One of the things I loved about paleo/primal was how simple it was to eat out at restaurants. Ultimately, my goal, is to eat foods that taste delicious and make my body feel and look great without obsessing over it and having it control my life so I can live my life the way i want to, confidently, comfortably and to the fullest. but, I would absolutely love to exchange ideas with you and hear your "keys to success"! should I PM you, or you PM me? thank you so much @pyrotech0001. you've been a huge help!

@Guzzi, thank you so much! The 4 week challenges sound like a great idea; and probably changing my mindset is what I need to do the most. The difficult thing is I have such a hard time grasping "small changes" and being "patient". I've always desired a quick fix, but what I need to realize and what I need to understand is that life is a marathon, not a sprint. As much as I want to change everything all at once, I know I probably shouldn't because it always inevitably leads to a binge one way or another. I've been considering starting a Whole30 this coming Monday (June 27th), and implementing small yet enjoyable and invigorating exercise every now and then to start getting the ball rolling onto the right path. I read through the article and I absolutely loved it! Thank you so much for the information, its definitely worth reading, and thanks to you, i've saved it to my "bookmarks" for future reference - so thank you! And thank you so much! I'm sure I will find what I'm looking for here. The community here seems honest, supportive, and hopeful, and I'm glad to have found a community of people I can connect with and grow into. Thank you so much.

Thank you so much @pyrotech0001! You don't understand how deeply i resonate with what you said, and i recently read your "introduction" or "Insert Rebel Yell Here"; and i felt as if i was reading an autobiography about myself. I too, struggle with depression, which honestly leads to a lot of my overeating and struggles with that. I sincerely appreciate those links you've posted and I've read them thoroughly. I've been considering starting a Whole30 this coming Monday (June 27th) to really kick things into gear. As I said, I'm an "All or Nothing" kind of person, and ultimately for me, if I want it enough I'll do anything I can to get there; and this time, i've finally had enough. I've tried implementing small changes throughout my life, such as exercising a bit every day, eating a bit healthier, etc... but for me, even then, this ends up in a "oh, i had a bite of this cake, might as well eat everything else". For me, temptation can lie even in the simplest of things, and I've learned that for me, it's best to avoid them all together, and leave them for only special occasions. I hope you're journey is going well, and if you ever need a helping hand or someone to confide in, i'll be more than happy to lend an ear. Because life isn't meant to be conquered alone, to me, its better with "family". And I'm sure everyone here at Nerd Fitness feels that way too. "We're all in this together". I'm rooting for you! Keep up the good work.

hello nerd fitness rebels! my name is Mattie, but just call me "Lou" please! i have quite a long story, but i'm here to share and finally make a change in my life. hopefully there will be ears to listen and a community to support me because i've heard nothing but good things about "Nerd Fitness'" community. I'm at my wits end, and I need a change, and Nerd Fitness seems like a honest, comfortable, supportive bunch; and i need that in my life. but, first, here's my story: tomorrow is going to be the first day of my life and the last day of my past. i've struggled with "self-esteem" for almost 90% of my life. although i've never been overweight, i've always been a bit "pudgier" than all of my friends, "curvier" than all of my friends, and i've always been the one to hold the most insecurities. most of these thoughts have really clouded a majority of my life, and have almost become my "full-time job". i have so many dreams and goals i want to pursue. my life-long goal is to become a full-time artist, and make art, but i feel that all of these weight/eating problems have taken all of my energy away from these endeavors. now, all i can focus on is making myself better, because once i do, i can put my full-focus on other things in life. my first stint in trying to lose weight started with calorie counting. at first, it was great and i was seeing some pretty good results from it. but soon enough, it started becoming obsessive. i wanted to see how low i could go, and i started being even more restrictive. the more 'restricted' i felt, the more i craved more food and ultimately it ended up in constant, guilt-ridden binges with food. and the treacherous restrict-binge cycle began... after spending months in and out of different diets, returning back to calorie counting only to feel restricted, obsessive, and unhappy which ultimately led to binging, i strongly ended up believing i was cursed to be uncomfortable with who i was for the rest of my life. after searching for a more comfortable way of living, i found "intuitive eating" and finally thought that this 'may be it', i finally may be free and be what i'm meant to be. "intuitive eating" believes in eating what you want/crave, listening to your hunger signals, and trying not to be overtly full all the time. unfortunately, the "intuitive eating" phase only lead to the majority of my intake being junk food, and just anything and everything that's seen as unhealthy. although i don't bash "intuitive eating"; i've come to the conclusion that i don't believe its for me. intuitive eating ultimately only lead to more and more restrictive and binging cycles because i still felt extremely uncomfortable. i'm an "all or nothing" girl, and i've definitely realized this; another thing i've realized about myself in this process is that i'm an extremely visual person (probably because i'm an artist), and because of being so visually inclined, i'm even more critical with how i look. how i look determines how i feel each day, and right now, i don't feel like myself at all. and now we bring us to today... today, i'm going to confess, has probably been the worst binge of my life. but as they say, once you hit rock bottom, the only way you can continue going is up; and i've finally realized that enough is enough, and i'm finally tired. i'm so tired of feeling uncomfortable with myself. i'm so tired of waking up and being so critical of my weight, of my looks. i'm so tired of my life being filled 100% with diets, calories, losing weight. i'm so tired of trying and trying again only to end up even more insecure. i want to make a change, i want to make a lifestyle change. i want to finally be happy when i look in the mirror, and feel confident with how i feel about myself. i don't want to feel insecure in a bathing suit, or jeans, or in a dress anymore. i want to be healthy and feel active. i don't want to be the stereotyped artist who just smokes all day and drinks coffee for meals, i want to be the best version of myself. the healthiest version of myself. i just don't know how or where to start, and i need your help because i know i can't calorie count anymore because first, its not sustainable for me long-term. i know i want to lose weight/fat and become fitter, toned, tighter, and smaller, i just don't know how. so to the community of nerd fitness, i'm reaching out to you. if anyone has any advice, tips, help; anything to guide me to, please do, because it would be a life changer. all i want in life is to be happy, and to be happy with my life and myself. and the way i can do that is to be confident in myself. i just need your help.