Bright-eyed, bushy-tailed, ready to rumble

[theatreghostie]

Hi folks! I'm excited to be here, after lurking intermittently for months. I'm on my very first actual fitness journey and trying to make the most of the motivation I feel right now.

 

A little about me: I'm 28, a theatre nerd and full-time arts school administrator, and big city girl living in Canada. I love my two cats, seeing new theatre, and reading on trains. 

 

I've been overweight my entire life and have never been on a single diet or fitness plan. (I actually prefer the term "fat" as a body-positive/body-neutral reclaiming of the word, but I know it's sensitive for others.) I'm capable of making healthy choices in the short term, but I've never actually wanted to lose weight. At 240lbs I felt healthy, happy, and comfortable in my body. I've never been a terribly active person, but I didn't feel limited by my size, and could walk for hours. I felt more empowered by feeling free to eat whatever I wanted than by conforming to arbitrary rules about dieting that seemed to change by the minute. I never felt like I needed or wanted to lose weight.

 

In the last year or year and a half, I gained an additional twenty pounds and felt myself slowing down. I was eating take-out almost out of obligation, and found myself eating mindlessly with no enjoyment. I didn't even crave these foods, I just ate them. Worse, after a big meal, I would feel almost hung over the next day - sluggish, achy, and ill. I began to feel more and more out of shape - long walks seemed intimidating, and even gentle yoga hurt. 

 

Last week - I don't know, something just snapped and I decided to do something about it. I started logging my meals and tracking calories, and it actually seemed fun rather than onerous. Seeing how it all adds up inspired me. I've stocked up on healthy foods, made a smoothie for the first time in my life, bought a scale and been weighing myself daily, started looking up free Youtube workouts, and I'm actually looking forward to eating a salad later. 

 

Ultimately, I think my motivator is wanting to know if I CAN change my body and my habits. For most of my life, I've felt like my body just is the way that it is and I can't do anything about it, for better or for worse. Especially in the last little while, I've actually felt totally helpless while eating junk foods I don't even like anymore, just buy and consume on auto-pilot. This sudden enthusiasm for fitness has been SHOCKING  to me - literally, I have never in my life felt an actual zeal for going to the gym or eating salad - so I'm trying to roll with it for as long as I can. Even if I don't lose a ton of weight, I want to take this energy I'm feeling right now and try to make a long-lasting lifestyle change, to incorporate more healthy food choices and more movement into my life. For the first time in possibly forever, I'm betting on myself to get it done and I feel good about it.

 

I think that about sums me up and where I'm at! I'm excited to do my first 4-week challenge starting soon. If you ever want to talk musical theatre, I'm your gal - the hunt for the perfect Original Cast Recording for bodyweight workouts starts now!

[Elastigirl]

Welcome! You sound like you have a great attitude about why and how you want to lose weight.

[Defining]

Love it! Pursuing movement and health for movement & health's sake. Awesome.

 

RE: junk food - I find that it helps me to drink a glass of ice water every time I find myself absently reaching for junk food when I don't actually want it. More of a behaviour reminder/reset rather than for any kind of fat loss reasons; by the time I'm finished the water, I've remembered that I don't want the junk food.

 

Another fun strategy is to drink a protein shake before every meal - not only does it help fill you up so you eat less, but it helps increase your protein intake to the point that it will help spare muscle during fat loss. It's also another good reminder before every meal about what kind of foods you want to put in your body. I prefer unsweetened/unflavoured whey or casein powders, and then just add 1/2c of berries (and some greens powder if I'm having a lazy day) to make it easy to drink down - artificial sweeteners make me gag, and they've unavoidable in flavoured powders.

 

Looking forward to seeing you around the 'board!

[theatreghostie]

Thank you for the warm welcome, elastigirl and Defining! I'm really looking forward to finding my way around the boards, and loving the positive energy.

 

RE: protein shakes - this feels a little silly to admit but I'm a bit intimidated by protein shakes? I guess in my head I associate them with body builder dudes and haven't figured out how to incorporate them into my routine. I'm going to do a little research into that; thanks for the tip! 

[therovingreader]

You sound like you're really in tune with your body - that's great!  Welcome from one newcomer to another, and I look forward to seeing how your experiment plays out.

 

I love musical theater, too - I actually started a podcast with my boyfriend and a friend where we turn short stories from the internet into mini-musicals haha.  There's just something magical about matching music to story, which is why finding the perfect song to match a workout can make all the difference.  You'll have to let me know what you find with OCRs, most of my workout soundtracks are video game music. 

 

(Also, why aren't there more fitness musicals?  The only song that comes to mind is "Whipped Into Shape" from Legally Blonde.)

[theatreghostie]

Thanks for the welcome, therovingreader! 

 

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There's just something magical about matching music to story, which is why finding the perfect song to match a workout can make all the difference.  You'll have to let me know what you find with OCRs, most of my workout soundtracks are video game music. 

Definitely OCRs are my go-to workout jam; I mostly stick to the treadmill, so the rise and fall of a musical makes for a great interval soundtrack. I had a KILLER workout today to the first act of Legally Blonde - "What You Want", "Chip On My Shoulder", and "So Much Better" are such great anthems for fighting for yourself. I also just got the Mean Girls album which is so much fun. In general I would probably go with 00s pop-ish shows like Newsies, Hairspray, Mamma Mia or Kinky Boots. 

ALSO if you're a Spotify user try searching "broadway workout" - I use a great playlist curated by Playbill when I'm doing my bodyweight circuit.

#toomanyopinionsaboutmusicals