Yo!~

[Kashizzle]

'sup NF? 

 

I'm Kas, a 26-year-old mobile device technician/artist/wannabe game designer from Melbourne, Australia. I have a passion for all things electronic and love the colour red! I'm into video games, animation, digital art, toys, and just creating things in general.

 

My Story

During my school life, I was always 'the chubby kid'. This was mainly because my mother heavily restricted the amount of physical activity I did in order to minimize any risk of injuring my arms or fingers as I was learning the violin, piano and later on picked up the trombone. If I wasn't studying or playing video games, I was attending music lessons and practising. 

 

Instead of pursuing a career in classical music, I decided to chase my dream to be a part of the video games industry, either as an artist, a designer, or both. I did three tertiary courses: Multimedia at Swinburne TAFE, Game Design at Swinburne Uni, and Games/Animation at QANTM college, which I finished last year. During my time at uni, I would consume mass amounts of energy drinks and other unhealthy foods, which quickly saw my weight increase even further. Any serious attempts at weight loss were squashed for the 'need' to pull all nighters and generally abuse my body by staying up  into the wee hours of the morning staring at a way-too-bright computer screen while stressing myself out way more than I should have. A bunch of messy relationship breakups also did not help matters.

 

Early this year, my father passed away, one year from being able to retire. he had developed no less than four primary cancers over the past couple of years, and the last one coupled with a bunch of secondary cancers meant a decline over the course of six months. It was at that point where I decided that if something in my life wasn't the way I wanted it, I would change it. If there was something I want to do, I'll do it. If I can't do it, I'll push myself until I am able to do it. This means that the weight I've piled on over the years has to go- being overweight is something that's holding me back from doing things I want to do!

 

When I was a kid, I never wanted to be the princess like the other girls- I wanted to be the hero, the one who'd get to do all the cool stuff like find treasure and save the world. I grew up with SNES games like Zelda: A Link to the Past, Illusion of Gaia, Secret of Evermore, Chrono Trigger, Terranigma and Secret of Mana. I wanted to be like those heroes. Somewhere along the line, reality got in the way and I forgot how I much I wanted it.

 

I stumbled across Nerd Fitness recently when looking up information on this diet one of my managers was doing: the Paleo diet. I was intrigued so I figured I'd check it out. I've always been open to different diet lifestyles, especially if they flip the bird at companies who think they can charge more money for something just because it's meant to be good for you. I read the success stories and marvelled at the amazing transformations nerds just like me have been able to accomplish. 

 

At first, I wanted to lose weight. Then, I wanted to get fit.

 

Now? I just want to be able to move without any physical or mental restriction. I want to be free.

 

Battle Plans

A friend of mine has invited me to join a League of Legends cosplay group for next year's PAX AU (to be in July 2014). I've set myself a goal: To be confident enough with my body to cosplay my favourite champion and skin, Arcade Sona. I have other dream cosplays which would also benefit from this, but if I am a part of a group who is also working towards the same goal for a major international convention, I'll be less likely to quit. 

 

In order to do this, I plan on:

• Incorporating the paleo diet into my lifestyle and eat more fresh foods
• Save money by not buying takeout
• Learn as much as I can about strength training
• Overcome my fear of the weights section of the gym
• Build a huge support network which will not let me quit
• Increase my fitness levels so I can get into Parkour and Capoiera, two activities I have wished I could do for years.

 

What I'm bringing

• Competition: Ever since I was little, I've been ridiculously competitive. Even if the competition is one-sided, competing against people has always been a huge motivator for me.
• Thirst for knowledge: I love learning, and will often spend days reading up on a particular subject. As far as fitness goes, I know a bit about nutrition, but absolutely nothing about strength training. Oh how this will change.
• Positivity: I know how to encourage and give positive feedback, and I love helping other people out.
• Terrible Puns: But don't worry, I'm sure I'll still FIT in, nyaf nyaf nyaf.

So yeah, that's me. Was a bit longer han I expected, but hey, I made the first step- joining new communities can sometimes be a bit hard for me, but I'm confident that I'm going to love it here!

[kdickin3]

Welcome, and its ok longer is probably better. You know where you want to be, and how you'll get there.

[JessFit]

Welcome to NF! You sound super fun, and your puns made me smile. I hope to see the cosplay pics when you get there, because I'm sure that you will. What kind of strength training program are you looking at?

[Kashizzle]

Welcome to NF! You sound super fun, and your puns made me smile. I hope to see the cosplay pics when you get there, because I'm sure that you will. What kind of strength training program are you looking at?

 

I honestly haven't thought too much about it just yet! I've started with the beginner body weight workout, although I've only been able to get two circuits out of three done so far in a session. I figure I'll do that go get my body used to working out and then go from there! I have the Rebel Fitness Guide and Starting Strength too, so I think I've got plenty of material to work with to get me started! ;D

 

Welcome, and its ok longer is probably better. You know where you want to be, and how you'll get there.

 

 

Well, I the exact specifics of the 'how' side of things are a little vague at the moment, but I'm going to take it one step at a time and not worry about failing or trying to do too much at once.

 

Thanks for the welcomes!

[JessFit]

I do starting strength too, it gets results, I will say that. Although I get bored and take random weeks off to do other (not strength training) stuff all the time which I'm sure hurts my progress

[pro§pect]

You really thought things through, welcome