Search the Community

Hiya, guys! So a few years ago in my late-teens I suffered with disordered eating, namely, eating 700-800kcal a day, purging, etc, being quite underweight. Its been a long time since then or at least, about 5-6 years, and I'm just a regular adult who has always been petite but who has the tiniest bit of squish/body-fat after lockdown that isn't normal for me and that I want to get rid of - its making me feel really unhappy in my own body. I've tried since making better choices by starting to have salad for lunches at work and still having whatever the S.O makes for dinner, normally healthy-ish anyways. But without a way to really track what I'm doing I'm losing motivation fast and am not sure I'll even see results. I know that calorie counting works. I spent a long time doing it. But I've also spent many years slowly trying to forget how many calories are in every food, to not associate my morning coffee with a probably quite high number, etc. I'd make sure to have a sustainable goal and nothing like I used to. The pro side is that I know calorie counting works and its been a few years. But I'm worried about the what if - what if I undo a few years of work and start to feel guilty/obsess over numbers again? Once you know them they take years to forget and that's only if you're so lucky,' yknow? How can I ensure I do it without opening up old wounds? Is there anybody here with a history of disordered eating who managed to diet in a healthy way later on? I'd love some insight here. Thanks guys

¸„.-•~¹°”ˆ˜¨ Health & Happiness Are Hard ¨˜ˆ”°¹~•-.„¸ Wherein the Cracked_Belle Un-Dies 𝔽𝕚𝕣𝕤𝕥 𝕒 𝕎𝕒𝕣𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘, 𝕐'𝕒𝕝𝕝 I am diagnosed with a lot crap that makes life hard — manic depression, C-PTSD, OSFED (eating disorder), OCD, anxiety, some chronic pain, and other crap. these aspects of me and my life are going to come up in my journey to getting back on track with my health and happiness. I'll try to be sensitive to triggers, include warnings such as this where needed, and use spoilers when necessary. but this is my "cover my butt" warning. thanks in advance for you understand. life is difficult; but I find obtaining Health and Happiness is even harder. as aforementioned, I have some mental and physical ailments that complicate the normal struggles of life even further. recently, my depression and my eating disorder have been soul-consuming. it's time to end that. I used to be a rather active member of Nerd Fitness in its early days. the life happened and I left for a while. well, I'm back; and hopefully for even longer this time. I'd like to get my life and health in order, lol. as follows are my current Goals for this upcoming Challenge. I, of course, reserve the right to adjust them as time progresses and I see what's going to work for me and what isn't. Get Down to 125 Pounds (ideally by 08/24/2020) Do a Daily Workout weightlifting on MTWRFA everyday: warm-ups and cool-downs MR: upper body — push-up, bicep curl, bent-over row TF: lower body — squat, strait-leg deadlift, calf raise AW: mix/misc — mountain climber, tensor curl, flexor curl, donkey kick cycling everyday AMWR: ~5 mi (2 circuits) URF: ~2.5 mi (1 circuit) Adhere to Caloric Schedule [TW — Eating Disorders] TO BE UPDATED to a point wherein I'm not slowly starving myself gets tweaked and Friday before depending on plans for the week Goal Average Kcal/Day: <700 Sat: 1,200 Sun: 1,200 Mon: 0 Tue: 1,200 Wed: 0 Thu: 1,200 Fri: 0 Log Monthly Body Measurements take body measurements at start of every month Log Daily Metrics continue to complete the daily Metrics spreadsheet, filling it in as completely as possible Make Next Week's Food Plan every Friday, make the caloric and cooking food plan for the following week (as starts on then ext day of Sat) Manage My Mental Health Do Daily AM Prep complete morning preparations for the day, every day Do Daily PM Review complete evening review of the day, every day Complete Mood Form Daily complete the mood tracking form at least once every day Track Meds track all medications and (certain) supplements consumed every day Become a Professional Writer [to be tweaked soon] Find a Career Counselor/Coach solidify a working relationship with a career counselor/career Resume Being Creative Write for One Hour per Week work on any writing project for a total of at least one hour a week Be Artsy for One Hour per Week do any artistic work for a total of at least one hour each week

Hi Nerds, I just found an *amazing* podcast that I thought I'd share with y'all. I have dealt with anorexia, bulemia, exercise bulemia, stress eating, body image issues... and each of these at times when I was running/training for marathons and doing CrossFit. In the past few months, I've re-framed my relationship with food - and part of it recently has come from a new podcast I found. Paige Smathers runs Positive Nutrition and the Nutrition Matters podcast. She takes an intuitive eating, weight neutral approach to nutrition. If you've dealt with any of these issues, check it out!

Helloooo there!! My third challenge as an Assassin begins Last challenge was slightly underwhelming, yet overwhelming. I was physically sick, then itsy bitsy depressed, and now I'm ready to start a new little chapter in my life. I created the Fox-Box during the last challenge: it's a box with journals, stickers, and all sorts of items that make me feel positive. I also found a base for my self-therapy: a combination of logotherapy and working on my life traps. As I'm writing this, I'm feeling very hopeful about the future, and leaving the past behind seems easier with all the possibilities that are ahead of me. This challenge is all about picking myself back up after feeling depressed, and of course, GETTING THEM PUSH-UP GAINZ!!! 1. Re-calibraining This goal is all about changing. Re-calibrating my brain, if you will. I have lived with pretty toxic thoughts, and now those thoughts have been making my life more difficult than it needs to be. I'm continuing with the self-therapy, and now I have a new tool: affirmations. I started using this technique last week, and it just works for me now. If there's something I can't change and I feel bad about it, I tell myself, "I'm fine with this". And then I start coping with it. That's to put it simply Look at all these lovely affirmations. After feeling lost and numb for a long time, I'm now creating myself anew. I love this feeling of change happening, and I am letting go of what no longer serves me. This goal is just the daily habit of using the tools I have, and journaling. I'm thinking of planning more Introvert Pampering days so that I have enough time to chill. 2. Food! Whenever wherever When I was depressed, I didn't have much energy to prep proper meals. I'm getting better now, and I want to start getting my veggies and healthy carbs back in. I'm using affirmations here, too: "I am not a person who eats chocolate". "I do meal prep, and enjoy as much healthy food as I need and want." I know that I don't need to count calories or be too cautious about what I eat. It's about balance: listening to my body, but also using my knowledge to pick the foods that make me feel good. 3. Push up! This is it! I'm back! I am going to train push ups three times a week, according to the program of startbodyweight.com. I am currently at the three quarters push-ups + 5 seconds eccentric part. Last workout, I did 5 - 5 - 5, so next one will be 6 - 5 - 5, and so forth, until I hit 8 - 8 - 8. With steady progression, I should get there by... let's see... by November the fifth? That's possible, but I am not stressing too much about it. I'd like to get to 8 - 8 - 8 by the end of this challenge REWARDS?? My challenges always lack rewards... I think the goals themselves are rewards, but hmmm. I need to think of something. Like a massage? ** That's it. Let's have ourselves a good challenge! I am happy to be here with you all

Where would you go, if you could go wherever you wanted? In the previous challenge, I decided to stop counting calories for some time, and trust my body's hunger signals. This changed everything: I understood how calorie counting was my way of coping with a trauma, and a way to measure my worth, deciding whether I was good or bad. When I stopped counting calories and listened to my body, I suddenly realized that all my life, I have been controlling my body instead of working with it. As if I've believed all my life that I am inherently bad and unworthy of making right decisions. Now I feel free and happy, perhaps happier than I've ever been. Nevertheless, I'm also scared: food causes me some anxiety, and I'm afraid of gaining weight. Now that there's no more calorie counting and obsessing over food, I find myself with a lot of mental energy, a lot of space to fill. I need to conquer that space, and find things to do with my life. Luckily, I'm not alone: I have NF, my friends, my family... And a connection between my mind and body. Finally! I don't know how to set goals, but I'm going to journal here to get my thoughts out from my head. I also want to finish my thesis during this challenge, which should be possible. The greatest challenge will be that I keep listening to my hunger signals, and learn how my body works. I would also like to make peace with food and understand that no food makes me better or worse as a human being - but eating different kinds of foods can have different consequences on my health. Buckle up, everyone! We're in for a lot of journaling: I need to figure out this "eat like a normal nerdy human being" thing, and find things to do now that I don't obsess over getting my diet right all the time. There will be animal gifs to keep things light, bad Finnish humour. Let's get this party started!

Hi everyone! I've been here before, but now I'm here as kind of a last ditch effort. I'm here because I've had a hard time with some disordered eating habits that have hit me again more recently. I'm weak, unfit, and my mind is suffering. My goal in coming here is to feed my body and inner nerd. I'm really really hoping to meet some people here. I have a really strong support system when it comes to my disordered eating and I am hoping to break all ties and fill the void with something healthier. I'm excited to be in a place that loves the nerdy. I'm less of an RPG nerd and more of like a reading/harry potter/cat loving/doll collecting nerd. I actually hope to learn a bit more about RPGs though. That's the best I've got as far as an introduction goes. Look forward to seeing some of you around and getting strong, fit, and well!

Alright, time to make an impression, but heads up this might become a sob-story. I'm nearly 22 years old, I train about 3-5 days a week, have lost weight and gained muscle, my fat percentage dropped from nearly 27 to 23 in three months through distance training and I ran half a marathon completely by myself indoors on a treadmill less than six weeks ago. I am awesome. But I don't believe that. 3-5 times a week isn't nearly enough, it's not hard enough, it's not intense enough. So what if my fat percentage is lower now than it has ever been? It's not low enough. And half a marathon doesn't really count when you complete it in 2 hours and 30 min on an average speed of 9 km/h. I want to join kick boxing at a martial arts center near me. I've joined it 3 times. And quit 3 times. Today I've had 2 slices of apple pie and probably 4 glasses of fruit juice and you have no idea how tempting it is to make myself throw it all up. I have never actually made myself throw up, but I've been thinking about it on and off since I was 14. I don't know why I wanted to get fit, I saw a picture of myself and thought I looked like someone had tried to wrap mashed potatoes in seran wrap. I don't even know how fit I want to get. I want to get slimmer and stronger- whatever the hell that means. How do you measure that? Where's the progress? I put all this time into gym and boxing but never feel I'm getting closer to my goals because I don't have any. Just a perfectionist with mild depression, social anxiety who's crippled by fear of making any mistakes at all trying to get in shape. And the voices in my head are determined to convince me that no matter how hard I try it is just never going to happen. I was and forever will be the chubby, shy and stressed little 11 year old who stuffed her face with doughnuts to deal with the bullying. I know this is all very corny and sad and way too dramatic but bear with me, we all need to vent sometimes. I'm so tired of having no direction, of hating my body, of being constantly stressed, of never feeling like I can be proud of myself, of never feeling like I did enough. How do you create a lasting habit? How do you find goals? How do you stick to something you don't actually think you are capable of?

About Lita: I'm almost 26 (just a little over a month left) and currently living in the hipster central of Milwaukee, WI. That said, I've also lived in Austin, TX and just outside Orlando, FL, so I can suggest awesome places in both of those areas. Hit me up for sushi or taco or hiking recommendations! I was a dance major in college, taking everything from ballet to African dance to Pilates. Since leaving school, my disordered eating has gotten better but my fitness has gotten worse. I used to work out at the gym a lot, but my anxiety issues have made me switch to at-home bodyweight workouts, which are what I first learned anyways. I'm dating an awesome man named Erik who is chronically underweight, so while I work hard to eat healthier, I also work hard to shove calories down his throat. I do some meal prep for his early-morning work days and his late-night classes, making breakfast burritos and banana waffles and storing them in the freezer to be thawed and heated. But I'd really like to do more meal prep in the future to make it easier for me (and him) to eat healthy, delicious, filing meals without having to make a ton of dishes every day. I work as a stripper (and I will Ignore anyone who sends me angry or judgy messages about it), so I am active for long stretches of time a few days every week. It also means that my grip strength is pretty good and I'm constantly covered in bruises. A lot of my goals have my job in mind. I love weird animals, and while my roommate has two cats, Erik and I have a conure (a type of small parrot), a tortoise, and a small freshwater fish tank. My dream is to some day have a corgi (because I miss my old one every day), two goats, and a caique (another type of parrot). I worked in the exotic animals department of PetSmart for four years, so I know a lot of stupid stuff about weird animals, and I have a soft spot in my heart for baby fish. My Goals: Short TermDo 20+ minutes of yoga 4+ times a week Practice my handstand prep every day Do 20 regular push-ups, not on my knees Make more frezer meals so I have good food available without cooking every dayLong TermLearn Dutch (I am half Dutch and grew up in mostly-Dutch communities) Get my front splits Save $5+ a week towards my personal trainer certification Do a pull-up Lose 3 inches off my waist (starting at ~33 inches) What I'll Post Here: Probably all sorts of stuff. Recipes I want to try or really like, what workouts I'm doing, preparing for 6-week challenges, ramblings about life in general, silly pictures of my animals.

Okay so, I've been struggling so hard with losing weight like, ever since I was 10 years old (and my mum kept on saying that i was too fat and i had to lose weight even though i was only 2 or 3 kg above average)? Now, 8 years, 2 eating disorders, loads of therapy and a few food intolerances later, I feel determined (actually more like desperate) to lose 7 kg. I am still incredibly struggling with the way I see myself and find it hard to respect my own body. I still have bruises on my legs, arms, hips, etc from times I just couldn't bear feeling my body move and when I see myself in the mirror in underwear/a bathing suit I still start crying or go to the toilet only to throw up out of disgust. It is time to change something about this, not just the weight, but mostly the self-esteem. It's outright shit to live like this, nobody deserves it. So, in order not to crash diet or develop another disorder, I made a plan. Rather than dieting, I will make one lifestyle change every week and stick to it. I'm slowly working up to a practically plant-based diet (although I will eat a little meat or fish once every while), but I feel most at ease with fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds and gluten-free grains only. As I do have some sort of protein goal for the day, I'm thinking about getting a plant-based protein powder like soy or pea. Next to that, I will keep a food log. This is a way of checking up on myself, why I ate barely anything one day or binged the next and find a way to prevent this behaviour. I won't set a calorie limit, cause it'll make me feel too distressed. So, my starting point is basically a gluten and sugar free diet, which is quite something already, and every week I will make one change. Here's a list: Week 1: No more peanut butter Week 2: Go for a walk every morning for 5-10 minutes before breakfast Week 3: Minimise dairy intake to 1 portion/day (ie 1 pot of yoghurt or 1/2 cup cottage cheese) Week 4: Incorporate short meditation sessions before every meal (except when at school, where it's quite impossible) Week 5: Make sure to be in bed by 10:30 PM every night except for fridays and saturdays Week 6: No dried fruits anymore except for all kinds of berries What happens after that, I'm not sure. I just want to make sure I'm slowly progressing towards a lifestyle that suits me, while gradually trying to love myselft or at least accept my own body. It will be hard, but then again, nothing great has ever been accomplished that was easy. If you have any suggestions or tips, would really appreciate it. We can do this, rebels!

Hello, lovely people! I feel honored that you have taken the time to read my daily battle log. Well, at least, the very first post on it! I have been on Nerd Fitness for over a year now, and have been on NF chat for..... probably a year and a half. The past year, I've been doing challenges, and have not been very successful overall. I have, however, learned a great deal about myself during that time. Some of those lessons are: 1. I am terrible at setting realistic goals for myself. 2. I am easily frustrated and disappointed in myself. 3. Those negative feelings about the poor start of a challenge or a rough patch in the middle of a change sabotages the rest of the challenge. 4. I am extreme in my passion, enthusiasm and optimism, but am not as skilled in perseverance and problem solving, nor focus and consistency. 5. I have some serious issues I need to straighten out, namely my eating disorder. The solution? Trying my best every single day, day in and day out, to accomplish as much good and to take care of myself as well as possible EVERY day. I have been trying to think more in terms of every single day, rather than a week or 2 weeks or 6 weeks, and it seems to be helping a bit. My overall objectives are to: 1. Lose weight and gain muscle, strength, tone 2. Become strong and healthy in the physical, emotional and mental sense 3. Pursue my dreams and career aspirations 4. Strengthen my spiritual life and finances Some of the ways I will achieve that is to: 1. Eat paleo (mostly Whole30-approved foods) 2. Eat as close to my BMR as possible and not deprive myself 3. Work out 5x a week (hopefully running 3x a week) 4. Hopefully start lifting soon 5. Drink 100 oz water per day and take my vitamins 6. Find ways to manage my stress, prioritize and become efficient and effective 7. Focus and meet school and career goals 8. Take time to pray 9. Reduce spending and become more organized with my record-keeping I'm hoping to treat this as more of my online confessional than anything else. My posts may have just about anything going on in my life in them, so I hope you don't mind. It's going to be a whole lot of Snow being honest about where I'm at in life Right now, I am exhausted and pulling the billionth all-nighter this semester. I'm just ready for it to all be over. I am putting off working on a paper that is already late, and I have the longest to-do list in the world. I want to crawl under a rock and ignore everything, and sleep for about a week, but that's not possible. In order to get a little accountability, here is my schedule for today. I will be reporting to let you know how much I got done: 5am: 1. Do laundry 2. Pick up the house 3. Do reading assignment for Anarchy 4. Do paper slips 5. E-mail Professor Zeff, Will, Ryan and Rod 6. Write Media Paper #4 9am: Shower, eat breakfast, take vitamins, get dressed, print and fill out transcript request form 10:15: Work on Media Paper #1 11:45: Leave home, mail request, go to school 12:30: Political Research Methods class, 2: Sovereignty and Anarchy 3:15: Meeting with professor 3:45: Graduation dress and heels shopping with Mom! Dinner, homework, sleep by 1am. I expect people asking how much I got done! Hahaha help me out! I need some accountability. I have: 2 more days of regular classes! 8 more days of school! 10 days until my grad party! 11 days until commencement! 14 days until my last concert in Iowa! 15 days until I fly to NYC! Roughly a month before I need to start my new job, whatever it may be! Thanks for reading! I love you for who you are

I literally just discovered this app. Its for tracking your eating and your feeling about said meals in order to assist with recovery. I also suspect that it could help emotional eaters as well. I'm so happy a thing like this exists that I could cry. Here's the thing: http://agent-hardass.tumblr.com/post/74572671447/recovery-record-is-the-smart-companion-for

I am coming off a semi-planned binge, and hating it. I was going to allow myself cake on my birthday, and then my aunt gave me a package of Jan Hagel (kinda like dutch shortbread)... and it snowballed from there. Okay, deep breath, back to normal tomorrow. (what follows is a food log, skip feel free to skip) But “Tomorrow†went downhill with a nibble of a chocolate bar I had left unfinished the day before. Another piece of cake, more chocolate, cookies, half a loaf of honey-smothered banana bread, and several bowls of caramel corn later, I was back in an uncontrollable sugar coma. Enter day 3. Again, started okay as far as eating, but felt like crap. Went to crossfit before work, made it through the warm up, and left. My hands were sensitive and swollen, having trouble holding on to the bar during pull-ups. After work, went to dinner with my sister and her bf, followed by ice cream. Went to the place I was housesitting that evening and got into the freezer cookie dough, ice cream, 2 bowls cereal, chocolate… Day 4. I left and went to work. Where I downed a significant portion of chocolate chip banana bread (brought in by my co-worker), the remaining Jan Hagel. Dinner was good, made better by the addition of iced GF cake from my sister and followed by a late evening snack of two large bowls of sugary cereal. My question is this: when you find yourself in the middle of a food binge, with the downward spiral of unhappy thoughts, reason getting shoved in the closet (“I know it’s unhealthy and I don’t careâ€), and need for sugar, how do you get out? It’s especially difficult at work, where I don’t have the freedom of a change in location to snap myself out of it. How do you calm your mind down and re-center yourself?

Hello Rebellion! My name is Heather, 24, and I am finally feeling motivated to get me life on track. After falling into a depression at the start of the year, I decided to take a leave of absence from my PhD to let it pass. However I became fairly sedentary lacking the motivation to do anything AND the medication I was taking also caused me to gain weight. Furthermore, I had a serious eating disorder for a long time that peaked last year, when I completely stopped taking my insulin and ended up in hospital. This started again recently but since changing the drugs I am on, my anxiety has decreased 95% and this is no longer a big issue. However getting my metabolism back up to it's former speed is going to be a nightmare! In fact, not taking my old meds has done wonders for me. I am suddenly ready to get fit and healthy, although I feel like I can't do it alone. I have also taken a step towards starting again by quitting my PhD after realising that being a world expert in such an obscure field with little interpersonal interaction was not for me. I am currently unemployed, but I am actively looking for work, and I've never been so excited to start something new! I am very lucky to have some very fit friends that are encouraging me all the time and helping me get my food and exercise going. However, going through the journey with others who are also starting a fresh would really help me. I am currently 10kg heavier than my previous heaviest and on the cuff of overweight. I feel my healthiest about 15-20kg lighter than what I am now. I've a attached a couple of photos of myself at the moment. Which hopefully will only ever be "before" photos from this day forward. Until recently I was definitely elvish and very strong. My fight with destiny has certainly decreased both of these traits and I'm ready to get them back! I've joined my gym, which is about a 2 minute walk from my house. I wanted to join because I get follow up sessions with a trainer and the real life accountability is very encouraging. They also have some AMAZING yoga classes and an awesome 25m pool. Having danced for twenty years previously having a class that helps my flexibility is incredibly important - yay yoga! I did my first gym workout two days ago and it was soooo much fun! I haven't been back since because I was home for my dad's 70th birthday, but I am heading back straight after finishing this post. I'm already dressed and ready to go! I am unsure what to do diet wise. Having Type 1 diabetes complicates things. My main goals are to intensively exercise daily, to work out a healthy eating plan, and to become disciplined and constant with my diabetes management. Looking forward to getting to know you all! And thanks for existing!

Whoa! Well well well, Rebels, I have been looking forward to this challenge for a LONG time. This marks the challenge where I start my life, yet again, in a new spot! (Well, we’re always in new spots). But seriously now, I’ve just graduated college, just been discharged from ED treatment, just started a new job and this week I’m moving to a new city. Whew! This is going to be a fun challenge with a LOT of discovering involved, so let’s get crackin’! Main Quest: Reconnect with my Authentic Self Yes, I was going to put ‘Recover from my Eating Disorder’ as my main quest, but that struck a bad chord with me. It just seems too… negatively focused. It’s just not a positive-sounding goal; to me it’s like saying ‘To Lose all this Fat’ versus ‘To get Leaner and Stronger’. The second one sound so much more self-affirming, you know? That’s not to say that recovering from anorexia would be a bad thing, not at all! But will I ever 100% recover from my ED? Who knows. What I CAN do is make a quest to recover my true, authentic self who I’ve been stifling for years… That’s a positive change I can really commit to. So without further ado, the goals! Goal 1: Endeavor to Continue Support Since being discharged from the large hospital/treatment center, I’ve started a five-month-long intensive outpatient program at a local treatment center. It’s three hours a night, three nights a week, plus my additional primary and doctor’s appointments. They still control my meal plan and fitness, so of course, I comply with their rules. I go there straight after work, and my brain is basically porridge afterwards… but I am committed to myself, so slog on I shall! The goal is to attend all IOP sessions. Scale: A= 0 missed, B= 1-3, C= 4-6, D= 7-9 Goal 2: Endeavor to Train my Body Okay maybe not Waterbending, but close. While I was on exercise restriction for a very long time, recently I’ve finally made it to a healthy BMI! This means I have a little more flexibility with fitness. I was medically cleared for restorative yoga, and recently I’ve been cleared for Tai Chi as well! I want to start practicing that. It may take a bit (I haven’t found a place yet), but that’s part of the challenge. Scoring will be up when I figure out the schedule! Since my ultimate goal is to explore Kung Fu, I think Tai Chi would be a wonderful place to start. So my goal is to sign up for and attend Tai Chi classes (at LEAST 1 per week). Scale: A = 6 weeks, B= 5 weeks, C= 4 weeks, etc. Goal 3: Endeavor to Train my Mind Mindfulness is a huge part of recovery… and one that I could really use some practice with. I try to be mindful at random parts of the day, but formally, I have no routine, and sometimes it falls by the wayside. I can meditate for five minutes, I know I can, but doing it regularly will be the hard part! So my goal is to practice meditation, morning and night, for 5 min. Scale: Percentage out of a 100% scale Life Side Quest: I want to continue with my sketches, but not as intense as before. I know I’m insanely busy with work and my other mandatory activities, but let’s be real here; I spend nine hours a day hunched over a Cintiq tablet, I should be able to squeeze in a tiny sketch here and there during a lunch break, or something! I mean, honestly. It’ll probably help me not burn out at work, either. Goal: Two sketches per week Diet goal: Endeavor to Eat More Compassionately Ha, okay, guilty. So for years I based my diet on a steady stream of cheap meat to keep my high protein levels and low-carb lifestyle. Something I always wrestled with was a large amount of guilt, because I’m not passionate about a lot of causes, but I hate factory farming. I feel like the fact that I relied on such suffering to sustain myself was selfish, and I want to change! I did try doing a completely vegetarian diet for about a week, and… ah, well, I’ve never felt worse. I seem to run well on meat, what can I say? I’m extremely fortunate to live in a place where I have a LOT of access to farmers who I personally know. I don’t think I’ll need much more than having meat a few times per week; but I do plan on buying small amounts of quality meat, which on my budget, means I’ll have to slash my intake by a lot. So in order to do that, I need to experiment munching on some plants! Yes… even the grains. Goal: Explore/cook and eat two new vegetarian dishes per week So that's the game plan for this challenge, folks. I'm extremely happy to be joining the Druids during this transformative time, and I look forward to keeping up with everyone's (and I mean all the Guilds!) progress! Keep on keeping on, everyone!

Just had to ask if anyone else on the forums has seen this show? I was wandering around on YouTube and *WOW* some of the individuals on the show.... I never imagined people could have such extreme diets practically on accident! The super-skinnies are the most eye-opening for me. Anyone else have any thoughts on it? For those who haven't seen it and are interested, here's a random episode: