Like Water off a Duck's Back

[Merganser]

I encountered Nerd Fitness about a year ago, while I was in the midst of some of my sporadic, recurring, usually-only-temporarily-successful attempts self-improvement.

 

I signed up for the blog updates, absorbed (and sometimes even applied!) some of the suggestions, and eventually, occasionally delved anonymously into the forums in search of particular bits if wisdom.

 

But since the last time I actively participated in and kind of online forums was back when the Internet was still just green text on a black screen -- and dodos still roamed the earth -- I was a little too overwhelmed to dive into the community, as appealing as the idea of a community was starting to sound.

 

So when the beta version of the Nerd Fitness Academy launched, it seemed like -- and was! -- a good opportunity to join a community that I could potentially actually wrap my mind around. Particularly since, after many years of fits and starts -- and hissy fits and false starts and backsliding and setbacks -- I was finally at a point in my life when I felt like I was nearing the point where a sustainably physically healthy lifestyle was within sight. (And I’m a pretty nearsighted person!) And in the past couple of months, with the support of the NFA community -- sometimes just by its presence -- and developing the unexpectedly extremely helpful habit of maintaining a “battle log†there, and occasionally even feeling like I’ve been able to offer some support or encouragement to others, I’ve actually started to feel like I’ve finally made it to “Goâ€.

 

Which means it’s time to start levelling up, right?

 

I’m not a game-nerd -- I just made a Monopoly reference, for god’s sake! -- and the last game I actually played regularly/obsessively was “Civilization†(on a PC). I eventually stopped playing it because I realized that I always used the same strategy (or “strategyâ€): build my settlements close together, bulk up my defenses and attempt to appease (or at least not irritate) my neighbors (or “enemiesâ€).

 

This was about as successful as you might imagine

 

When I think about games and life, and the game of life (not to be confused with The Game of Life™), I realize that my “Civilization†strategy is pretty much the same strategy I’ve employed in most of my actual life.

 

But now that I feel like I’m firmly at  Square One in life, I want to develop a more promising set of tactics….just in case Douglas Adams was not 100% correct about 42 (a.k.a my next birthday) being the Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything.

 

Since I have a well-documented tendency to while away lots of time in “idle†mode, I thought a 6-Week Challenge was a good way to build on the positive changes I’ve made in my life by making specific, incremental changes that will eventually accumulate up to some significant improvements and accomplishments.

 

And hopefully I will have opportunities to share any wisdom (or “wisdomâ€) from my previous, current and future learning experiences with other folks in the community, since I think it would be terrible to waste the lessons I’ve undoubtedly learned from things like my journey from 220 lbs to 110 lbs (back to 220 lbs...back to 110 lbs...up to 160 lbs...down to 120 lbs...up to 140 lbs...down to 130 lbs...etc., etc.), my exodus out of the barren food desert of my “beige diet†years, and so on

 

Anyway, I’m currently at a healthy enough weight with relatively healthy eating habits (give or take some questionable drinking habits...which are, in fact, in the process of being rigorously interrogated) that I no longer feel wholly (and unhealthily) preoccupied by a war of attrition against adipose tissue, so for the past couple of years I’ve been trying to put energy into becoming stronger and faster.

 

“Trying†because I haven’t necessarily been doing so by setting particular goals and making specific plans, so any muscles and speed I’ve developed have been mainly the result of me paying experts to run me through running programs or kettlebell bootcamps.

 

About a year ago I was putting together and pursuing an actual plan to improve my running on my own -- I was specifically trying to dramatically improve my half-marathon time -- but that ended with 6 weeks in a surgical shoe letting some of my metatarsals recuperate from stress injuries and a “no running!†command from my doctor

 

But since I was at least partly on my way to being less discourageable, instead of giving up, I transferred my energy to activities I could do: instead of running, I took up swimming, and instead of walking, I took up bicycling (which I could do since I had -- fortuitously -- actually fulfilled a Resolution to learn how to ride a bicycle the previous fall , and when I went to kettlebell bootcamp, I substituted squats, squats and more squats for lunges and other toe-unfriendly activities.

 

And now that I’ve adjusted to new activities (and actually embraced them: distance running was hell on my hamstrings!) I’m eager to start improving at them and applying changes to other, non-physical areas of my life.

(The. Beginning.)

[Lady Eleventy]

First off, hi! Second my husband just recently bought my Civ 5 and my inner historian loves it but being Attila the Hun's neighbor is a nightmare! It's great that you kept going even in the face of injury. It really shows what kind of grit you have, even if you've failed before (which, believe me, we all have) now is the time for true change and you've already started! Welcome to Nerd Fitness (Monopoly totally counts as nerd by the way, hehe) Look forward to seeing how you do on your challenge, it's my first official one as well

[Basement Cat]

Hello, Merganser!

 

Wow, you've been on quite the journey, haven't you? It's amazing the kind of power a community can give you, isn't it? You are pure, grade-A awesome!

 

Good luck on the next leg of your journey! Keep us posted!

[Merganser]

First off, hi! Second my husband just recently bought my Civ 5 and my inner historian loves it but being Attila the Hun's neighbor is a nightmare! It's great that you kept going even in the face of injury. It really shows what kind of grit you have, even if you've failed before (which, believe me, we all have) now is the time for true change and you've already started! Welcome to Nerd Fitness (Monopoly totally counts as nerd by the way, hehe) Look forward to seeing how you do on your challenge, it's my first official one as well

 

Thanks 

 

(And I should probably state that all the time I spent playing Civilization was while I was spinning my wheels during a long, non-degree-yielding detour -- well, maybe I should call it "a scenic route" -- through history graduate school  ) 

[Lara]

Hi!!

 

it seems you've done a lot of work already. Welcome (officialy active!) to NF! Wish you the best of luck for your journey!

[Mangostrike]

 

A war of attrition against adipose tissue

As a Whovian, this really spoke to me.

 

Whether you meant it that way or not, your journey is inspiring and I'm sure you'll have lots of advice for the rest of us newbies.

 

Welcome!