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Good morning fellow Beginners, Rebooters and bewildered individuals. I am ValkyrieRising and have decided to dip my toe into the water and drink the Kool-Aid of Nerd Fitness. A little about me. I'm a history Nerd who had been working on being accepted to do her PhD overseas in Denmark when I got a rather unpleasant medical diagnosis. (No prizes for guessing my area of interest given my Nickname/BattleTag/Secret Identity/Hero Name etc) Im a 30 something years old and struggling with my health after that medical diagnosis and just the fact I'm not as young and sprightly as I used to be. I finally have the all clear from my doctor to begin the long road back to good health and good eating that was me 3-4 years ago before my diagnosis. Currently my focus is just on eating healthy again as during my fight with my body and the treatment I devolved into eating comfort foods when I was well enough to eat. I indulged in anything I wanted, telling myself I deserved it because I was going through tests/chemo/hospital stays/transfusion/whatever excuse I felt like using. So for my first challenge this is going to be my focus. Main Quest: To eat healthier and get my eating habits under better control by not gorging on whatever I feel like and sticking to a measurable goal of between 1650-1900 calories each day based on my activity. Smart Goals: 1. I will weigh and measure my food until I can re-orientate my brain as to what a proper serving size is. (A whole pan of brownies is not one serving.) 2. I will track my consumption and calories through an online Food Tracker. (I'm using My Fitness Pal since it seems easy enough.) 3. I will cut my sweet tea consumption out and focus on drinking water each day instead. I accept that this will be a struggle and I may slip but a small slip is no reason not to press forward in this challenge. 4. I will meal prep my food during the beginning of the week in order to ensure I do not eat mindlessly. I recognize this as a big pitfall of mine, sitting at home and being bored so grazing through the fridge for food. If I prep my snacks and food ahead of time I hope to graze on that and not overeat during the week. With all of this I am allowing myself 2 instances where I will divert from these plans. The first is on December 14th and the premiere of the next Star Wars movie. I've had tickets since October and intend to go and enjoy this occasion without worrying about myself and what I'm indulging in.The second is a Christmas party my friend throws that I am finally healthy enough to attend after missing it the last couple years. This is part of being mindful and accepting that constantly saying no to the things I enjoy will lead to me failing and binging. In my reading, here and other sources, I really grew to like the idea of the 80/20 approach. As long as I am doing well the larger majority of the time and don't let myself slip and keep on track then those small indulgences have less of an impact and value. I look forward to reading along and travelling with you all through this journey and hope to grow not only in my health, mind and body, but also in my challenges as I see how creative and all in many of you go. Its awing and inspiring! I leave you with the following words to consider in life.

Hiya, I'm currently laying on my couch with a hot laptop spread out over my stomach. Five years ago, I may have been able to see above the screen while horizontal - but now there is a lovely rise in elevation due to the girth I have bestowed upon myself. I've done this before. This whole lose weight thing. It was easy. Now I am 35 and it's a feat of resolve and dedication. Effort beyond books and nerdistry was not something I likened to, but now... now I must. Luckily I have caught myself in the act of gaining weight early(ish). I have 35 pounds that I might like to donate to the ether, but then again - reading what NF has given us - I am less concerned with the weight in as much the way I feel, or the way my clothes choose to not commit mutiny against my ever expanding skin. I am unhappy, tired, puffy, and feel older than I should. I have never been active. I've been accustomed to frequent viewings of bad movies, Kids in the Hall, MST3k, and numerous books. Sitting has grown my imagination and decayed my bones. However, my life - what I have in front of me - governs that I should be much more. I am becoming my own boot camp. I will need cheering on from you, my fellow NF folk. I feel weak and downtrodden, but there is a spark - I can feel it burn (and I don't believe it's indigestion). Rally with me? Let me cheer you on? Scream along with me? Help me take whatever it is we want back? Are you pickin' up what I am puttin' down? Good then. Let's go.