Total Respawn

[bc0833]

I originally joined the rebellion back in April '16.  I had just been accepted to law school and wanted to get back in shape before taking on the grueling task of working full time and going to law school at night (I had been out of college for several years when I applied).  NF was immensely helpful to me.  I went from nearly 260 lbs down to around 220, which was great.  I was shamefully wearing XL shirts that were unflattering, and my waist size was the biggest it had ever been in my life when I joined; by the time I started school I was wearing medium and slim fit shirts and had lost three inches off my waist.  The diet tips and exercise philosophy here at NF truly changed my life for the better.  Then law school happened.

 

It's not a big secret that law school is hard.  I knew that much going in.  What nobody can possibly prepare you for is how it dominates your time and saps your energy and motivation.  I still remember my first law school exam.  Before that night, I had never exerted myself mentally to the point that I was starving--just like after a hard physical workout.  It's a crazy feeling.  Anyway, it's now been three years.  Because of the stress and time schedule, I have been stress eating garbage food, working out sporadically (mostly not at all), and consider five hours a really good night's sleep.  I have a closet full of shirts that don't fit (or worse, look terrible over my gut) and have gained back nearly all the weight I lost.  I've decided that enough is enough.  It is time to respawn.

 

I've joined a gym, and I have started on a similar path to the one I started three years ago.  It's going to be harder this time.  The first time around I worked for a fitness company, which meant my office had two gyms, there was healthy food available on campus, and there were a lot of very fit people walking around the office--I'm talking an office packed full of former college and pro athletes with Adonis bodies. There were also plenty of regular Joes and Janes in the legal department to help motivate me when I didn't feel like working out.  None of that is true this time around, so I am going to have to dig deep to stick to it.  I'm hoping I can fall back on my fellow nerds for support.

 

The good news, as I see it, is that it took less than six months for me to start seeing real results, and nearly three years to undo them.  That means that it will take a lot less time for me to get back into fighting shape than it did to re-destroy my body, which is comforting if nothing else.  I also had a huge obstacle the last time around that doesn't exist this time: I don't have to quit smoking again.  That was one bad habit that I am proud to say I never fell back into. 

 

This weekend I started the same weight training program that I was using back in 2016, and have incorporated high intensity cardio.  I hate running, but I can do a half hour on the treadmill.  I still have a year of school left, and figure that if I can keep with this program through my final year of school, it will feel like easy street once I am done and only have to worry about work.  Wish me luck, and good luck to all of you, comrades.