The CoyBat Flies

[coybat]

I'm a 25-year old actor, clown, gender warrior, pagan, cyclist and dabbler in the circus arts. I'm here because I want to develop a more positive relationship with my body and food.

 

I've dealt with disordered eating for the past decade, including periods of anorexia/overexercising (i.e. too much damn time on the eliptical machine) in high school and college, followed by binge eating disorder, which is where I'm at right now. I'm not overweight, and as a daily cyclist and physical theater performer, I have solid endurance, but my cycles of binge eating and depression have taken a toll on my ability to make progress and on my self-esteem. After a binge, I can feel sick and bloated for days.

I'm here because I want to learn how to look at exercise as something that's fun and functional instead of something I use to compensate for uncontrollable eating. I also want to get out of my binge eating and depression cycles so that I can get my head out of my selfish asshole prioritize helping others. Considering my passion for circus arts, training to be an Assassin is definitely for me.

 

My name is coybat because I live in a city where I'm fascinated by the physical and mental adaptability of urban animals, particularly coyotes and bats. I have a coyote tattoo that reminds me that the small ones (I'm 5'2") are often the fiercest. I'm hoping to get a bat tattoo next.

 

This year I had three main goals, and I'm on my way to accomplishing them all. I'll start by sharing those:

1. Perform in a full-length musical (accomplished June 2015)
2. Write and produce a full-length play (accomplished October 2015)
3. Do 15 chin-ups (not yet accomplished! My best so far is 11).

 

Here are some additional goals I'd like to work on while I'm here:

 

Fitness Goals
-hold a handstand for 30 seconds
-do 15 chin-ups

-do 5 pull-ups

-do 15 push-ups

-do a handstand pushup

-take another trapeze class

-get a skateboard and learn how to ollie

-25 lb dumbell bicep curl

-25 lb dumbell military press

 

Food Goals
-go binge-free for one week (and eventually for good)
-quit chewing gum (I'm a serious sugar-free gum addict, and I'm pretty sure that fucks with my cravings and blood sugar)

Other Health Goals
-quit taking sleeping aids

-finally get a pelvic exam

 

Mental Fitness Goals
-complete all of the exercises on my DuoLingo app (I'm learning Spanish)

-write daily

 

Social Goals
-finally tell someone other than my grrrlfriend about my eating disorder
-host the first meeting the Deviant Skillshare

-meet other witches and pagans

 

Urban Skill Goals

-learn how to change a tube on a bike
-drive a car in the city

 

Work Goals

-develop and teach an 8 week theater class with my own curriculum
-perform burlesque

-perform a circus act

-write a zine or develop a program to help people recovering from eating disorders

 

Looking forward to getting involved in this community! Progress to follow.

[Hyperion]

Welcome to the rebellion. Reading your post being on the shorter side too. Do you know a gentle giant dilemma? Meaning that throughout the history big men have gotten status and women with barely looking big. As a large man looks safe in the eyes of a woman and intimidating in the eyes of other men, big guys hardly ever have to put it all out to get anything. On the other hand small guys are pushed around and they end up developing bad temper to cope with their physical size. And for that reason we are bound to become bigger than our bodies.

[aquacogi]

Nice to see another theater person on here! Not a performer though, I'm a stage manager and sometimes stagehand. Congrats on producing a full-length play! That is quite an achievement and it must've felt fantastic when you accomplished it.

 

Also really impressed by all the different goals you have and how organized it seems. Do you ever find it overwhelming to have so many things going on or do you stick to working on one thing at a time? Good luck with your fitness goals, I have many of the same, like improving my chin ups and handstand.

 

Disordered eating is tough to beat, but you can do it! It's gotta be especially tough in the entertainment business when you're getting home from shows late and it messes with your sleeping and eating cycles. But I'm sure you'll find lots of support here on Nerd Fitness!