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Hi all! I've been meaning to do this for a while, but seeing as I suffer from social anxiety even online, I avoided it. I also tend to ramble. That said, I found Nerd Fitness earlier this year - around April - and lurked around the site and forums for quite a while. I've struggled with my health and weight for most of my 20s, and while I'd started running semi-regularly around 3 years ago, I wasn't making any progress. Working a desk job and commuting by train every day hardly helps, as I'm sitting 8+ hours a day, not including the time I spend at home vegging. It took some time to realize that no matter how hard I worked physically, my motivation (to lose weight) and methods were all wrong. Until I found Nerd Fitness and started writing down everything I ate, I had no clue that I had no clue how to eat. It took a bit to accept that not all calories are created equal. Also, I found that I absolutely loathed running. While my cardiovascular health improved - somewhat - I was unable to shed any weight and I was just damn bored when I ran. Adding insult to injury, I was diagnosed with asthma right around the time I started running. I'd run, then get a nasty case of bronchitis plus the added bonus of a sinus infection each November that would knock me out of commission for 2-3 months. I think you can see where this is going...the cycle continued. During the summer of 2013, I knew running wasn't a sustainable plan - seeing as I both mentally and physically hated it - so I joined my husband (1st kyu brown) and began karate (Shotokan) training. I had a surprisingly difficult time catching onto karate, to the point that I nearly quit after the summer session had ended. It also didn't help that we train in a group, high and low belts together, going through all the same kata, kihon (basics) and kumite (sparring). I felt like everyone was watching me and judging me for sucking so bad at karate. It took a while for me to realize that no one cared how bad I was, and instead offered tips and my sensei broke down the purpose of each movement (bunkai). I'd hate to say that after my first belt test I had more confidence, but it's the truth. Also, knowing that I survived a belt test while sick with my annual bronchitis/sinus infection, I realized I'm not as weak as I think I am. From the moment I ditched my white belt, I wanted to be stronger for karate. Around May, I decided to start making small changes after stumbling upon Nerd Fitness. I audited my diet (holy crap, that was difficult) and made small changes week by week. That was an uphill battle on its own. I always left at least one day for myself to go out with the husband and enjoy something like a cheeseburger, but maybe not eat the whole thing and skip the top bun. Then, I found the beautiful joy that is lifting. Like karate, I sucked at first. I was impatient and overloaded myself with weight too fast and found myself feeling like I was literally going to fall apart, limb by limb. I read articles written by Staci Ardison on Nerd Fitness and actually applied her tips, and lo and behold, I shed 25 lbs by doing little more than karate one night a week, lifting 3 times a week and filling myself with cleaner foods. Consequently, I started kicking major ass in karate (not literally). My stances got lower and much stronger, and I found a deep love of kata...something that I hated more than anything else in karate. Sorry, for my long-winded intro. I'm also a musician. I play guitar (funk and blues mostly) and trumpet. I've played WoW since vanilla and I've started to get into tabletop games. So far, I think Pandemic might be my favorite, followed by Munchkin.