Search the Community

Hey Rebels! (Love that moniker.) Philosophy post-grad (PhD) student, writer/author, pagan/witch/actual druid, fantasy fan, dancer/performer/storyteller, lover of elipses, and absolutely fascinated by the idea of travelling as I can't sit still, but earning money is a hassle so I tend to conjure travel opportunities by getting teaching work in random places! I've been occasionally reading NF for a couple years now, and only TODAY discovered the forums. *shakes head* But it's good timing, really... Fancy a story? I spent over a decade in a relationship with a lovely guy who was just toxic for me (long story, we loved each other but brought out the worst in each other... and it damn near destroyed me, when I broke, I left. We're still friends!) A back injury early on meant I could barely walk for 6 months, so put on 2 stone and couldn't shift it... or get fitter... until I found my belly dance class about 5 years ago. Unfortunately, my superpower was my undoing. See... It turns out I have ADHD. I can't keep something up unless it grabs me, but when it does I can hyperfocus and excel! Within 3 months I was helping the teacher, getting private tuition in return, and spending half my time dancing. Wheeee! I got stronger! I got fitter! (I didn't lose much *weight* but I didn't really care) And my knees HATED me. Too much dance with heavy impact on the knees... I almost ended up unable to walk again. Without the dance, my core strength waned and my back began to hurt. With the dance, my knees burned. When I left my ex, I moved somewhere where I had to walk more, and back into university halls with first year students. As post-grad... I couldn't stand the state of the kitchen. So I'd skip meals/forget to eat, and was moving more. And the weight began to melt away. I won't lie... the compliments were a definite ego boost. And feeling my knees improve with gentle exercise and less weight has been amazing. But I needed something else that inspired me to move. Just walking; not enough. Enter aerial skills! Which needs upper body strength. And core strength. And endurance. and... ok... I'm going to need strength training too then. Somewhere in my brain a memory lit up of an article on "How to do your first pull-up" on a site that made me chuckle when I read it (and click more links, and read interesting stuff for hours because NERD, obviously.) I was probably meant to be doing something else when the sparkle distracted me enough to find the page again, and tumble down that rabbit hole. Bodyweight training, you say? Okiday. Last week I started doing the Beginners Bodyweight training circuit. I've done it three times now and each time it has already gotten easier... *bouncebounce* I've been using five-ten minutes of dance as a warm-up, and a bag of flour as a dumbell... MY GUILD: Definitely an Adventurer, that's what motivates me. But I'm fascinated by so many things, practice meditation, learning aerial skills (think circus), looking to start Aikido soon... that I'll likely dip into other arenas too. MORE THAN ANYTHING: I want to be fit and strong and healthy enough to explore the world and try new things, to perform and entertain around the world, and to teach. SKILLS: Creating things. Starting things. Courage. WEAKNESSES: Completion. Distracta... OMG Squirrel! (Old jokes are good jokes.) ADHD superpowers - boundless energy and fascination, learning interesting skills comes easy, hyperfocus once focused... ADHD Kryptonite - Boredom. Routine. Overwhelm. Long-term things... STRATEGIES: Accountability (from my partner, currently). Bullet Journalling. Constant challenges (I did 15 seconds of planking easy enough, so next time I did 20, Next week... 25!) Momentum. Leaving reminders in visible places. Batch cooking. Make it easy! Ummm.... yeah... TL;DR? Hi! I'm a distractable person who wants to be strong/fit/healthy so I can go adventuring and perform. And I've started with bodyweight training. Great to meet you! ~Halo www.haloquin.net