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Hi everyone, I first found the Nerd Fitness blog about two years ago. I have always carried a little extra weight, or body fat more accurately, and struggled to shed it. Freshman year of college I hit my unhealthiest at 6'3" and 240. I decided to make a change and started working out some and eating a little better. I dropped about 30 lbs and kept it off, but struggled to get further and became pretty apathetic about it until the year I finished undergrad. That's when I found this blog, and over about 10 months got my weight down to 175. I did not exercise like I should have, so I was definitely in the skinny-fat camp, but I still looked and felt a lot better. You probably came here to read about parasites though, am I right? The summer after I first got serious about living a healthier life, I went kayaking in a swamp with some friends. A few days later, I thought I had a bad stomach bug. I thought I would just ride it out, but it didn't go away. It took several doctors and specialists about a month to figure out what was going on. During that time I felt miserable, and lost about 20 lbs in a really unhealthy way. When I finally beat the parasites, I totally fell off the bandwagon. I went back to unhealthy eating habits, and over the next year and a half, I gained back most of what I lost. When I broke 200 again (in the wrong direction), I decided it was time to set things moving back the right way. Goals for my reboot: Get the weight back off -- 180 was my preliminary goal the first time around and will be again. Workout more this time -- at my best, I was doing something five days a week. That's going to be my goal again as well. Learn how gyms work -- last time I did it all at home. I recently started back for my master's, and have access for free to the facilities on campus, so I figure I should take advantage while I can. Part of the reason I think it was so easy to fall off the bandwagon last time is because I never really made myself accountable to anyone. I tend to be kind of uncomfortable talking about this stuff with friends because I am still pretty new (and probably a little afraid to fail or backslide again), so I seeing if this forum might be a bit of that for me. Advice, encouragement, and constructive criticisms are always welcome. Looking forward to virtually being on this journey with you all. -Bearaphim Post Script Bonus Goals: Read more for fun, not just for school. Reacquaint myself with my guitar so it's not just sitting in the corner collecting dust. Get outside more. I moved to the city for school, and I miss camping and hiking more often.