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Hello, Nerdfitness! It's been a long time since I've been on, but I've been making some positive changes that I'd like to continue. Now that I've graduated, I am looking for a job and considering my future in academia. I've also spent some time traveling to visit family and have suffered under a steady diet of rich, fatty foods with minimal vegetables and very little exercise. (I've eaten more sausage in the last two weeks than I've had in the last three years. I'm starting to feel like a sausage.) The Goals: Find success in feeling healthy and making opportunities for my future. The Job Hunt: Bag a Job! 1. Track: Spend an hour tracking new jobs every day. (1 star) 2. Prepare Weapons: Write and edit cover letters and resumés for the jobs you find on the day you find them. (2 stars) 3. Shoot: Apply! (3 stars!) Reward: More applications means more opportunities! Food: Eat All the Veggies! Increase veggie intake to 5 portions a day (3 stars!) 1. Lunch: 2 portions (1 star) 2. Snack: 2 portions (1 star) 3. Dinner: 1 portion (1 star; extra credit of .5 star per extra portion) Reward: VEGETABLES. Exercise: Move every day: biking, kick boxing, dancing, yoga, weigh lifting. (1 star for each fifteen minutes of exercise each day!) Reward: More energy, strength, and stamina! Reward system: Three points for reaching "boss level"! Fewer points for partial success; no points for doing nothing. Total possible weekly points: 84 (not counting extra credit). Sunday Mon Tues Wed Thurs Fri Sat Find Jobs Write Cover Letters Apply to 1 Job 5 Veggies Per Day 45 Minutes of Exercise Let's get to it!

Right... So here goes nothing then. I've been lurking from behind the sand dunes of one of the better known countries in the Middle East for a while. I came across NF last summer when I tried to find a way out of various holes I had dug myself into and at first I was like "Woot, woot?" and then "Ah, alright..." and I started to try out a few things, many of which stuck. I was never overweight as such, although I did carry excess weight, but more than that I really didn't exercise at all. I was a skinny dude who'd turned fat(ish) over the years thanks to a combination of not exercising and eating a poor diet. I also worked a lot. Last summer I was engaged in a particularly mentally challenging assignment and, at the same time, faced several real life issues which severely drained my energy. I worked all hours and lived on a diet of junk food, fizzy drinks, coffee, and cigarettes until I collapsed at my desk one afternoon. I spent the next few days sleeping and, once I was able to think clearly again, decided it's time to make a few changes. I started working out, first in the privacy of my own home, but eventually "graduating" to a small gym near my work. I changed my diet completely and turned vegetarian with a tendency to go vegan more often than not. I took up meditation. Results started to show, my confidence grew and I lost about 15 kilos in the process. I'm now the same weight I was 15 years ago when I was a student, but unlike back then, I'm a lot leaner and fitter. So why stop lurking just now? So far, the memories of last summer and everything that went on powered my workouts. A lot of stuff happened then that made me very angry - anger is a great motivator at times, but not one that should be sustained forever. I decided that it's about time I let go of the past, which is overall a good thing, but also means I need to find new ways to motivate myself to keep going. So it's good-by anger and hello NF community, I suppose :-) Other than that, as the handle suggests, I write a lot. I role play, and I ride motorbikes (mainly because, like running, riding focuses the mind). I have lived in several countries and speak a few languages more or less fluently. I haven't yet decided on which guild should be my home away from home, although for various reasons I feel drawn to the druids. I'm sure I'll find out sooner or later. In the meantime: Hello! ;-)