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Hi all! I just wanted to say hello and introduce myself! I'm 33 and Australian (Queenslander!). I actually grew up in gymnastics, from age 4 to age 22 when I dislocated my knee and partially tore 14 ligaments in and around my knee, which put a rather abrupt end to my competitive/training career. It's all fine now, but I never got back into the gym as an athlete. I did however spend around 16 years coaching, and coached kids from 2 years to 35 year old adults through to international competitions and World Championships. Unfortunately, I had a pretty severe bout of chronic fatigue syndrome, which left me bedridden for close to a year, and ended my coaching career (I battled and tried to stay in the game for a few years, before realising I wouldn't be able to do enough coaching to maintain a lifestyle). And so I started on a new path. I followed my long time interest in psychology, and am now finishing my honours dissertation year, before moving into PhD next year. I absolutely love it, and despite the pain of starting over and the annoyance of being a student again, I am so glad that I had the opportunity to pursue this. I'm also working as a Research Assistant and a Disability Support worker. Thankfully I am quite well recovered now from CFS (I would say probably 80-85% of my 'old self' most of the time), but I'm substantially heavier and a whole lot less fit. I still have to be careful, and I do have relapses occasionally, but for the most part I think I've learnt how to manage it and have been able to go back to a relatively normal life. For the last year I've been working on getting back into fitness. Naturally, I used to be VERY fit, but I've lost all of that. I need to lose a good dash of weight, and I want to stop being limited more than necessary because of fitness. I am doing A LOT now (uni, work, etc), but I feel I could do better and enjoy it more with better health. I'd also love to be more adventurous, be energetic enough to power through my work/study, and then do things like go for mountain climbs and bush walks on weekends, etc. I'd love to feel comfortable to get into swim gear again. I've chosen to try to be a Ranger, because I feel like this is what I really want from my life now. I don't want to be a gymnast again. But I want to live an energetic, vibrant and healthy life where I'm not limited by my health or fitness level and can jump at opportunities! I currently workout twice a week - once with a personal trainer (this is a temporary arrangement that I committed to in order to keep me accountable, but while I'm still a student, it's not financially viable for long term), and once by myself. Both sessions are currently weight-training. In a 'past life' I was heavily involved in body shaping (from around age 19-22), and I do enjoy doing weights. I'm currently also trying to incorporate a walk in as well - which I'd eventually like to turn into an interval run/run. I'd love to find support and encouragement here, to work towards my goals, and I'd especially love to hear from anyone who has CFS or another chronic illness! I'd also be happy to offer whatever advice I can in relation to gymnastics related elements or training. I know what I SHOULD do to reach my goals, but I lack the actual physical ability and energy to keep up with it since I had CFS. Especially when that energy is spread across so many life areas. It's not just a case of 'push through the hard and you'll get there', which is definitely the mode that I learnt as a gymnast and coach. Doing that can have disastrous results with CFS, and finding the balance is difficult sometimes. But balance is a crucial lesson I need to master, so that I can start winning on all levels of life! I hope this is the beginning of something awesome!!