Hey everyone

[TheRavenLady]

Greetings from Sweden 

I'm sorry about this super long introduction. 

 

I'm a woman of 26 years and 158 cm I stumbled across Nerd Fitness a few days ago while looking for some work out ideas. Instantly loved it! 

I'm a huge Harry Potter nerd and I also like firefly, Dr who, sherlock, and more. 

 

Some background 

About a year and a half ago - beginning of November 2017 - I had to go home from work due to intense pain in my lower back. That was the start of a long and painful journey of doctors, medications, insurance troubles, and everything else that comes with being injured. Also includes some financisl issues that has left me no choice but to move back to my mother's basement. 

 

My motivation to workout started in September. When I suddenly couldn't fit in any of my pants or skirts, and worse, my favourite dress, anymore. 

Of course, back then the only thing I could exercise was my arms, since my back made everything else impossible.

 

Now my back is getting better, my doctors say that there's no danger in moving, and I can finally start working out. 

 

Measurements

During this sedentary time, I've gained about:

10 kgs (47-57)

2 cm Neck (30-32)

6 cm Chest (83-89) 

9 cm Waist (64-73)

17 cm Hips (81-98)

3 cm Arms (23-26)

7 cm Thighs (50-57)

Its also an increase of about 8%of body fat. From around 22% to 30%

That was all in around one months time.

Of course not surprising due to to barely being able to walk. I also believe part of it is a side effect from meds. 

Regardless the reason, I can either do something about it, or sit and complain about it, and I've never been much for complaining! 

 

Current exercise and plans 

I do yoga twice daily, and take daily walks. 

I'm looking to add some strength training to this while still taking it easy for the back. 

So starting with bodyweight exercises and low reps and working upwards. 

Current plan is:

Strenght on Monday, Wednesday, Friday

Week 1/2/3

6/7/8 Lunges

6/7/8 Dips

6/7/8 Step-Ups 

6/7/8 Inverted Rows 

30/45/60 sec Plank 

 

Longer walks on Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday using a 5k training app. I'm not allowed to run yet, so I walk regular pace on the walking parts and walk a lot faster in the running parts. 

 

Food 

I've been paleo off and on for a few years. At the moment I'm as strict as I can be when not cooking all my meals myself. My mom cooks some of them and she has deemed it "to troublesome" to keep them full paleo. 

 

Goals 

My current main goal is:

20-24% body fat 

While I would love to fit into my dress and other clothes again, my main goal is simply to be comfortable in my body again. If my clothes don't fit because I've built an awesome amount of muscles, then it's time to buy new clothes. 

 

Some other goals are 

10 toe push ups 

2 min Plank 

5 horizontal inverted Rows 

1 pull up 

 

The Plank I'm hoping to manage at the end of May. The others I'm not quite sure about. It'll be easier to set times on them once I've done a few more work outs and see how I progress. 

 

Some issues 

 

Back pain 

Of course, the back might be an issue. But I'll work around that as much as possible without injuring myself further. But the doctors have assured me several times that it won't get worse from moving or lifting. 

 

Food intake 

I know paleo is good for people who don't like counting calories. Eat when hungry and as much as you want from certain foods.

I eat a lot, but when I check and log calories I'm seldom over 1000 calories. I usually land between 700-800, and I can't help but feel that's incredibly low and might hinder me from progressing, even though I'm eating good foods and to satiety. I'm trying to up my calories, but it's hard to eat when not hungry. 

 

I'm hoping that Nerd Fitness will help me stay motivated and find others to talk to about food and working out since frankly, my family and friends are getting sick of me lol 

 

[Guzzi]

Hey!  Welcome to NF!

 

It sounds like you’ve been through a really tough time.  I can sympathise because I’ve  had something similar, where I was injured and couldn’t do anything, and I ended up putting on a fair bit of weight too.  It’s very frustrating to be in that situation where you want to do something about it, but can’t because of things outside your control. 

 

We we are just finishing up the last week of the current 4 week challenge so a new one will be starting very soon.  The challenges are a great tool for Woking on your goals and getting support. 

 

I have to to ask about your username... please tell me you have a pet raven or something!  I am fascinated with corvids, they are so intelligent, I’d love to have one as a pet.   

[TheRavenLady]

I will definitely look in to future challenges. It's so wonderful to have a supportive community to be a part of! 

 

I saw a doctor a few days ago and she cleared me to start looking for jobs again when May starts. She also thought I had done smart exercise choices to start out with. So do far so good! 

 

The name is sadly not because I have a pet raven - I wish! 

It's because five years ago I got a square foot of land at a Scottish castle (Dunans Castle) and because of that I can use the title Lady (of chaol ghleann). So my friends have been jokingly calling me lady since then. The raven part is from my Harry Potter house being Ravenclaw. So from that combination I've used TheRavenLady for a lot of nicks, my blog and such. 

[squeakyvalkyrie]

Welcome to the Rebellion! Challenges are starting up next week and it looks like you've already got some goals set!

[Guzzi]

 

On 4/15/2019 at 11:08 AM, TheRavenLady said:

The name is sadly not because I have a pet raven - I wish! 

It's because five years ago I got a square foot of land at a Scottish castle (Dunans Castle) and because of that I can use the title Lady (of chaol ghleann).

 

Ah, on the west coast! It’s about 2hrs drive from my home town of Fort William.  Nice to have a Lady as a neighbour!