Search the Community

I'm a final semester M.A. student living in the DC area, studying International Affairs (democracy issues in sub-Saharan Africa, specifically), working my way through the tail-end of my academic career and simultaneously planning my wedding to the love of my life. Two weeks after graduation. While I'd be lying if I said that "looking good in my dress" isn't an underlying factor in what finally kicked me in the pants to do something, I would say that it's not the only one. I'm more concerned with starting the habits that will sustain me for a lifetime, get fit (not necessarily "skinny" or the Mean Girls mentality of "I have to lose x number of pounds" to feel pretty), and generally regain my confidence about myself. I'd consider myself to have always been naturally a slightly-smaller-than-average person (at 5'5", I was consistently around 120-125 in high school, around 130 in undergrad, I'm now 142), but anyone who knows me would laugh hysterically at the suggestion that I was anything resembling "athletic" or "in shape." I've never been the type of person to work out, go to the gym, or do anything for a sustained period of time (except Netflix marathons, crafting, and reading). The longest fitness habit I had was about 5 weeks of going to Bikram yoga last summer (which I loved) and walking about 25 minutes a day as part of my internship commute last semester (which has ended, hence the "no more walking"). I'm amazing at sticking to and developing bad habits, and even worse at developing and sustaining good ones. I want to change that - nay - I'm going to change that. As Master Yoda said: "do or do not. There is no try." On the fun side, the things that make me fangirlsquee are all things Whedon, Doctor Who, Star Wars, True Blood, Vampire Diaries, board games (Catan, Pandemic, Scrabble, and Monopoly, anyone?), crafts, all things musical theatre, movies (I consider myself a bit of a cinema buff), and anything written by George R.R. Martin, Tolkien, Rowling, Douglas Preston and/or Lincoln Child, Maggie Stiefvater, to name a few. Soooo, my battle plan, as it were, for the next week (as much as I like to plan, I'm going to try and take things in smaller, more manageable bits, for my own sanity): Transition towards paleo by cutting out bread and pasta. My goal for this week is to only have one serving of whole grain carbs (oatmeal, brown rice, etc.) a day. Only drink one cup of coffee a day, if at all (I'm a coffee nut), and drink at least 6 glasses of water (going back to Bikram will probably help with this one).Do at least three days of the body weight strength routine at home and go to Bikram three days (ideally, alternating, but I know I'm going out of town this weekend, so I may have to stack the Bikram early on).Track my food intake - I'm not aiming for something in particular, but I think it will help me realize what all I'm actually putting in my mouth on a daily basis.And, my "life goal," track and stick to my monthly budget (I have a really bad habit of making one and just ignoring it; since my finances are generally based on a semester, I usually get that "oh sh**, I have no money" moment right around finals, which is never helpful).As far as class/profession, I think I'm probably a Vengeance Demon (I have a mean/stubborn streak, and mostly humanoid lol) but also a Druid for the time being. Also, twitter handle is @nerdmal if anyone wants to connect that way.