The Long Haul

[monsterhunter]

Hi all! A bit late to join this challenge, being that it’s Monday night and all, but I’m feeling good! To get started, I’m Kellye and 23 years old. I was on Nerd Fitness years and years ago. And like all of life, I fell out of it. 

Well, I’m back again and getting serious. By day, I’m a freelance writer/editor. Also by day, I’m a major non-mover. I don’t move hardly at all, and that’s part of the problem. I’ve gained 50 pounds since graduating college and it’s not a good look.

 

So that brings us to my main goal: lose weight. I’ve got some other goals in mind, but my main one for the next few months/year is to lose weight and get to a better body fat percentage so I can start tackling more in fitness and in life.

 

Goal 1: Movement

My main focus for this challenge will be moving. I want to go on walks and use my stationary bike most of the week. I’ll start small, challenging myself to walk/ride 2-3 times this week for at least 20 minutes. During the second week, I’d like to ride 3-4 times. Week three? You guessed it: 4-5 times. And by week four, I’d really love to be going 5-6 times a week for at least 20 minutes. It’s not the amount of time that matters right now, though, just getting up and moving.

 

Goal 2: Nutrition

My secondary fitness challenge will be going paleo/primal. I’m a decently good eater every day but Sunday, but I’d like to cut non-primal things out and eat more veggies. A salad every other day (then every day) is my goal. As far as cutting things, no stuff that has extra sugars/bad oils/etc. I know how the diet goes, and I’m ready to sit down for meat and veggies for the next few weeks.

 

Goal 3: Take a break!

My life goal will be to take a break from writing. It’s my hobby and my livelihood, but it’s killing my hand. Once a week, I want to step back from the creative process and have a day off. I think Sunday will be the best day since I have d&d and don’t need to take many notes, so that’s already a few hours dedicated to not writing. As much as I love it, I have some major nerve pain in my primary hand, and it’s really debilitating a lot of the time.

 

So these are my goals! They’re trackable, and I’ll make up a spreadsheet tomorrow to get started. I’m really excited to be here! Good luck to everyone!

[monsterhunter]

Day 1

I've been semi successful today. Didn't do paleo fully, but I did go for a walk. So that's nice! Going to keep chugging away at it. I can do this!

[Exylem]

Wish i knew how to play DnD without taking notes, haha. I forget everything!

 

Good luck with your challenge!

[Lady Amezan]

These sound like great goals, Monsterhunter! I love that you're aiming to do a little better each week, but you know "it's not the amount of time that matters," just doing something. Even if you just stick to your week one schedule (2-3x/week) for a month, you'll feel healthier at the end of it.

 

I had some really bad repetitive strain injury problems (acute hand, wrist and arm pain) when I was in grad school. Are you doing any therapeutic stretches for your hands? Also, I remember walking around the block (while letting my arms swing loosely by my sides) used to help some. Let me know if I can give you any advice. Hand health is important. When your hands hurt, it's hard to think about much else. I'm rooting for your quest!

[Harriet]

Good luck! I also put on weight at university, but the biggest problem was sitting in front of screens all day. It totally saps my energy and makes my life worse. Getting moving has been really hard for me, starting from a very sedentary point.

 

 

But it's been so worth it. I've learned to love walking and I feel down if I don't get to walk for a few days. I still hate cycling, though. 

Looking forward to hearing about your progress! 

[RES]

What about recording or 'speech to text' app for writing? 

Good luck with your challenge!

[monsterhunter]

Update - Long Time No Post

Hi all! Sorry about the week and a half (almost two weeks, yikes) of silence. Work got busy and I just didn't have the energy to post. Good news, though! I went to the gym and did a workout that made me sore, rode my bike 20-30 minutes a few times, walked 1-2 miles a few times, and have been eating okay. And I took a day off from the computer! It's not perfect, and I haven't really lost weight, but I'm feeling decent.

 

At this point, I honestly think I need to suck it up and start running. As long as I stretch and keep building strength for my knee (which has been aching), I think I should be fine. I've run a 5k a couple times! I used to run regularly! It hurts my pride more than it hurts my body not to be able to run that much, but I'll never get where I was if I don't give it a go.

 

So once again, I'm starting Couch to 5k. It works well for my body, and I'll be lenient for the weekly goals. I'm probably not going to be able to move on week-by-week. It will probably take my body 2-3 weeks just to accomplish one week, but that's okay! It's where I'm starting! As much as I love strength training (and will continue to do it), cardio is great for losing weight. I just have to accept that I need it and detach myself from my pride. It's not easy, but it's what I have to do.

 

That being said, thank you all for your encouragement in the early days! I'm sorry I haven't been able to visit other threads because I so want to be more in the community, but that just isn't an option right now with everything I've been doing. It's hard enough to long on and update my own thread.

 

I also have testing for ADD this week. I've suspected it for a few months and my therapist agrees it's a strong possibility, so I'm hoping to have a positive diagnosis and start medication. I really do think it will help with my anxiety and my inability to work more than part time, which will then help me get my schedule better. So wish me luck! Hopefully I'll be able to update again soon.