Shiny!

[Kiaise]

Hello, all!

 

I'm Sarah. I'm 37 and make my living as a project manager for an IT consultancy company in the Midwest. I've been poking around the NF site for about two weeks now and decided it's time to jump in.

 

I'm not new to fitness. I played organized sports in high school and ran triathlons and half-marathons in my twenties. Over the past eight years, I've been training in Okinawan karate and now hold a third-degree black belt.

 

I recently graduated with my MBA. The stress of working full time and attending business school led to extra weight. Karate kept me sane, but I wasn't able to train with the energy or focus I'd like. Life's up and downs (getting a new job, going through a break up) since graduation have taken mental and emotional priority.

 

I've been able to get back a bit of my fitness. I graduated school a bit over 200 pounds and now am at about 193. My diet hasn't been bad, but hasn't been great. I've been training at the dojo and running with a wonderful app called Zombies, Run! which is fun and motivating, but I feel I've plateaued.

 

I also developed hypothyroidism a few years ago. It's controlled now by daily meds, but I've noticed it absolutely makes losing weight more difficult as does age. From what I understand, losing weight is much more difficult after 40, so I want to move towards getting in shape now in preparation. It's time to get my body back.

 

The nerdy part: I grew up a huge ST:TNG fan and recorded every episode onto VHS for later viewing. These days when I do have a chance to play video games, they're often co-op with friends or FPS. Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask on my N64 is the best game I've ever played and probably ever will. Joss Whedon is my master and I can recite Buffy, Firefly, and Dr. Horrible from memory.

 

Goals:

 

1. To lower my body fat %. I'm tall and of German descent, so "petite" is not a word anyone has used to describe me, but I would like "lean" to be. Long-term goal would be about 20%.

 

2. Strengthen my core. Core is crucial in martial arts and I know mine is not up to snuff. I cannot do a single proper push-up and I know it's not because of my arms or shoulders.   

 

3. Clean up my eating. I need to learn to cook healthier meals and actually DO it. I'd also like to explore the Paleo idea a bit.

 

 

I look forward to getting to know you along the way and long live the Rebellion!

[Beanalicious1]

Gorrammit, that is a shiny intro.  Always awesome to see a browncoat among the ranks, eh?

[Kiaise]

My coat is kind of a brownish color. It was on sale.

[Beanalicious1]

*Fist bump*  Awesome.  In the popular vernacular, I'm jelly

[PleasureGELF]

Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!!

 

I'm new here and living in the midwest as well! And I totally feel you on the work/school situation, it's so hard to focus on your personal health/fitness when everything else is screaming for your attention. But congrats on the MBA, well done! It also majorly sucks working at a desk, that's how I gained 40 lbs in 5 months when I had a corporate job.

 

Props on setting specific goals, I'm kinda dragging ass on that and being way to vague with my own. 

 

Also, how is that Zombie app? I seriously hate running, but zombies seem like a bitchin' motivator.

[Kiaise]

Thank you! The MBA was so much work and time, but completely worth every minute.

 

I adore Zombies, Run! If you haven't, give it a Google. It's an immersive audio game with a great storyline and narration. You play as Runner 5 and your job is to run outside the safe zone (yes, run, gasoline is harder to come by in the post-apocalyptic world) on various missions, collecting supplies and evading zombies along the way. Those supplies are then used to build your base and make life better for you and your fellow survivors. The app incorporates GPS as well, so you have the option of turning on random zombie chases for some impromptu interval training. If the zombies catch you, you drop supplies or fail the mission. It's great fun.

 

Specific goals are tough for me to set too, but without them, I don't know if I'm succeeding or need to change things up. Maybe start with some small but measurable goals to get things rolling.