LSavage

Lovejoy, thanks! It took me a LONG time (and some therapy) to get to the point where I could stop treating every unhealthy meal as a "failure" and go off the rails completely. Whenever I caught myself thinking things like, "Well, I screwed up, might as well go all out and eat like crap. I'll do better tomorrow," I started saying to myself (out loud), "That wasn't the healthiest choice. My next choice will be healthier." Saying something about the food, not me, really helped me get rid of the blame and guilt I'd attached to food. Guzzi, I read an article about Roz the Diva a couple weeks ago. She's wonderful! I'd love to be able to do half of what she does. You should give it a try! It's so much fun, even though I can barely do anything. Seriously, I can't even climb the pole yet, much less do any of the crazy poses people do. I'm getting stronger every time I try it, though. This past weekend I was able to stand on the pole for the first time (the precursor to climbing). As for the forums, I'm considering doing the next 4-week challenge, and I have no idea what that entails. Any advice? Thanks!

Hello everyone! I've been reading Nerd Fitness for several years and joined Rising Heroes back in February, but for some reason I never actually joined the forums until now. Anyway, here's my (very long, sorry) story: I had an active but un-athletic childhood, and only participated in sports in high school because they were required. I was never heavy, but never thin either - average, really. When I got to college, I really didn't know how to exercise on my own, so I did what everyone else did: get on the elliptical or treadmill for half an hour, feel morally superior to those around me, and eat a doughnut. Needless to say, it wasn't the most effective exercise plan, but I was relatively healthy overall anyway. Then, the summer before my senior year, I got Bells Palsy and the left half of my face was paralyzed. The normal treatment for that is prednisone, which sent my hormones into crazy-mode and caused me to gain 50 lbs in about six months (some of that while running 4-5 miles a day and eating ~1700 calories). It took about two years for me to be diagnosed with PCOS and another year after that for a doctor to tell me about the insulin/blood sugar problems that usually go with it. I immediately tried Atkins, lost a bunch of weight, felt great, and mostly kept it off for about three years (somewhere in there I also transitioned to a more paleo-ish plan). I took up belly dance and got some exercise that way, but didn't do much outside of that. I occasionally tried running, but eventually realized I would never stick to a running plan because I really hate it. Then came the pressure, financial stress, and sleeplessness of grad school. I made a LOT of bad food choices and gained back all the weight I'd lost plus a bit, going from about 160 to 220 (I'm 5'7") in about 3.5 years. I hired a personal trainer at the campus gym and learned to use the free weights, but didn't stick with that for long after my sessions with her ended (I enjoyed the workouts, but didn't like the gym). I kept belly dancing, but that couldn't counteract my bad diet. About once per semester, I'd try to get my food in order. Every time I said, "This is the last restart. This time I'll stick with it." And every time I made it a few weeks before falling off the wagon, or, sometimes, torching the wagon and watching it burn. This past January I restarted healthy eating again, this time with two changes: my husband joined me (so no temptations in the house) and we're planning our meals for the whole week on Sundays. This seems to have been the key, because I've stuck to it for 3 months now and lost almost 30 lbs (my husband's lost about 20). In February I joined Rising Heroes, which has really given me the push I need to start exercising again. I've found that I enjoy bodyweight training, so that's what I'm focusing on. I also tried pole dancing for the first time (after years of saying, "I don't have the upper body strength for that") and loved it, so that's given me an incentive to work on my arms and core and to lose more weight (less to lift up the pole). All-in-all, I feel stronger and more capable than I have in a long time, and I'm really enjoying the feeling. My goal was to be healthier and happier on my 31st birthday than I was on my 30th. I'm about 4 months away and so far it looks like I'll crush that goal!