Introduction Dagger's Quest for Adventure

[Dagger]

Here’s my introduction. Be warned. It is long.

 

Who Am I?

I go by Dagger (FFVII) here and will for a while longer. When I tell people my goals (especially fitness and nutrition goals), I get the sensation of having done the thing I talked about. That means I lose all momentum and have trouble getting on the horse (or back on the horse if I actually started). So while public commitment works for many, it has so far always worked against me, which is why I’m more than two weeks into my first Nerd Fitness/Level Up Your Life habits before I posted here. I also wanted to avoid being an Eager Beaver and jump in before I was ready.

 

So right now you may only know my alter-ego name. (Not sure if it is the one I will stick with yet.)

 

Here is a link to my character that I created due to reading Level Up Your Life (Excellent book! Thank you, Steve!): https://www.nerdfitness.com/character/94072

 

I’m Swedish, currently living in Dalarna County in Sweden. I recently moved (December 2015) from Stockholm (the capital) to go live in the country where I enjoy life much better. I’m not a city girl. Visiting one is fine, but I don’t want to live in one. I moved from an apartment to my first house — it has a yard! I’m exactly 27 years old. (My first post as a celebration of my birthday, yay!)

 

I’m a fiction writer and indie-publisher. When I feel comfortable adding my name to this (aka when I don’t think I’ll sabotage my progress), I’ll add my author name and publishing company. I write mostly fantasy and mystery. Currently, it is mostly short stories, although I’m moving into novella and novel territory very soon. My short stories have a tendency to be all over the map when it comes to genre.

 

I have a few short stories published, and I will have more published over the next year or so. I’ll also appear in a few anthologies at the end of this year (2016) and all of next year.

 

With three brothers growing up, I lived with Game Boy Color (pink), SNES, and Nintendo 64. Later I moved on to computer games (Sims and World of Warcraft mainly with a few others sprinkled in at times). I also started role-playing, first online on a text forum, and then pen and paper (both English and Swedish ones).

 

I’ve since mostly quit gaming so I could focus on writing. Yay for writing… except I still don’t do much of it; learn more under the “Starting Area” heading.

 

As a teenager I also read a lot, but it tapered off as I got older.

 

My Gaming Over the Years (not in order and mostly my favorites)

Super Mario, Golden Eye, Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Tetris, Pokemon Red, Super Smash Bros, Mario Party, Sims, World of Warcraft, Baldur’s Gate, Mirror’s Edge, Civilization V, Left 4 Dead 2, Portal, Portal 2, Harvest Moon, Age of Wonders (especially Shadow Magic!), Theme Hospital, Elder Scrolls: Skyrim, Mass Effect (still only on the second one), and more I can’t remember at the moment but that I still liked/loved a lot.

 

Favorite Authors (although I might only read them in one of their genres)

Tamora Pierce, Patricia Briggs, J.D. Robb, Dean Wesley Smith, Holly Lisle, and M.L. Buchman. (I also have a lot of books that I like from specific authors, but that list is too long to get into right now.)

 

Starting Measures

Weight: 114-115 kg (my digital scale has low battery, so I didn’t have time to see exactly)

Steps per day: ave 1500-2000 (at the start of May; now the 7-day average IS OVER 9000!!!!)

 

I have not measured myself, nor have I taken before pictures. I mean to do that soon. (It will probably happen before June or early June.)

 

Starting Area

Fitness: More or less zero. Go back ca three weeks and I walked an average of 2000 steps or less per day. The only times I walked more was when I traveled. I sightsee by foot and public transport when I can. I do enjoy walking, but before May didn’t go out for spontaneous walks.

 

I’ve never been fit. The closest I got to doing any kind of sports or exercise was two years of once a week dancing when I was 10-12. Sports and exercise were almost dirty words in my family while growing up.

 

This is part of my life will be played on extreme difficulty.

 

Nutrition: The one thing in nutrition area going for me is that I mostly quit soda almost ten years ago. I still drink it from time to time, but back then soda slaked my thirst, never water. Back then water didn’t taste good; now nothing but water can slake thirst. But otherwise… I have sugar addiction or cravings. Since I haven’t tried to quit I don’t know if I’m addicted or just very close to it. (Probably addicted… ;_;)

 

This part of my life will be played on high difficulty (slightly easier since I’ve done SOMETHING in the past, but still super difficult).

 

Discipline: Might seem a strange heading to some, but not for me. I never learned discipline in school because it was too easy. It isn’t often you want to curse yourself for something coming easily. Of course, I probably could have done more most of the time, but I was also lazy.

 

So I’ve been trying to get more disciplined for years. And I am much better now than I was then. But it is still abysmal. The over two week long streak of taking daily walks is helping surprisingly much (although I shouldn’t be surprised).

 

This is a skill I need to be self-employed, so I work hard on it but hard is a very relative term. Basically I do not work many hours in a day (especially not right now since upping my fitness and nutrition and house stuff is taking all my disciplined time).

 

This part of my life is played on difficult.

 

Current Goals

I keep my goals small because every other time I’ve tried to get fit and loose weight I’ve tried to do a 180 and I’ve always failed, usually on the first day. Just the other day I read an old blog post on the Nerd Fitness blog that suggest I might have to build habits instead of making goals, which seems to be working so far.

 

Exercise: So I’m building the habit of walking. For more than two weeks I’ve taken at least one walk every day. Usually at least 15 minutes, but could be as long as 40-60 minutes. For the last week, I’ve even taken two walks most days. But only the evening walk of 15-45 mins is the required walk. The extra energy I’ve gotten from moving around daily have made me want to take more walks.

 

Exercise: I also have steps per day goal of 4000 steps. Yes, it is a lot lower than my current average (9000+), but considering my average was less than 2000 steps three weeks ago I’m going to continue upping it every 14 days and not a day sooner. (I don’t want to suddenly fail because I had a bad day and ignored that I might have one in favor of upping the goal more quickly.)

 

Nutrition: As my nutritional habit, I’m making sure I’m cooking more or less every day. I’m basically cutting TV-dinners/frozen dinners out of my food intake. I don’t have take out anywhere close to me, so I’ve been eating far too many frozen meals from the grocery store. I haven’t eaten one now in maybe 7–8 days, I don’t remember exactly when I ate my last one. (This does not mean I’m suddenly cooking all healthy meals. One step at a time.)

 

Exercise: As an additional exercise habit, I’ve started doing Zumba at home (I have DVDs) once a week. I know cardio won’t make me loose weight fast, but I’m doing it because it is fun and it makes me move more.

 

Level Up: I’m getting back to reading every day, and about a week ago I started reading fiction for at least 15 minutes every night right before bed. I read like the most dedicated WoW raider in my teenager years, but then it tapered off for some reason. Now I want to get back to that regular reading.

 

Level Up: I’m also doing a lot around my new house. I moved to my first house in December 2015 and I have so much to learn: upkeep, building, gardening, etc. I’m also still getting furniture (it is finally warm enough outside for outdoor furniture!) and unpacking boxes as I find space for stuff.

 

Yes, this means that this month is not actually seeing any writing or publishing. But I’d rather manage to do a few things well than none of them or some of them half-assed. As I gain more energy from moving (and perhaps eating a little better), I hope that maybe I can start doing some writing/publishing in the last few days of the month.

 

Current Motivation

A 10-day hiking trip to Austria, to an alpine village, in late August. I’m going with a local health/exercise retreat that arranges the trip. We’ll stay in the same village every day and just make daily hikes from there.

 

Level 50

My aspiration is Lara Croft (aka Tomb Raider). Not because I want to find lost treasure but because she can do so many things competently: climbing, hiking, sailing/boating, archery, camping and more. I want to do all that and do it well.

 

I also want kids and preferably someone to have them with.

 

I want to travel the world, but also have homes in places I especially like (yes, multiple). Basically I want several home bases that I can launch adventures from. I’m both a homebody and a traveler.

 

I have some more specific quests which you can find on my character. (Here is the link again: https://www.nerdfitness.com/character/94072)

 

How I Found Nerd Fitness

Last fall (2015), a good friend in Seattle mentioned that Nerd Fitness was the reason she took a mile long (or longer) walk every morning. We didn’t really talk about it then. Although she might have mentioned the book Level Up Your Life.

 

Then this spring (2016), I visited her and I walked with her most mornings and really enjoyed that kind of start to the day. But I got home and stopped before I even begun on my own.

 

Then late April I started reading Level Up Your Life and realized I had found my tribe. People who enjoy being nerdy (although I do too little of it nowadays) and who want to improve themselves. Yes, they want to get fit, but they also want to improve in other areas. This is what I have been hoping to find.

 

So basically due to the book I went to NerdFitness.com, I read loads of blog posts, I peeked at the forum, and then finished reading the book. And now I’m dipping my toes into the forum to start get to know this awesome tribe.

 

Questions for the Community

1) What to do about exercise clothes? Three (or more) sets and wash once a week? Wash between each workout? Rinse and dry between workouts and wash once a week? How do you guys do it?

 

2) I have weak knees as I call it. I know you shouldn’t sit for more than an hour, but I can barely sit in a normal (kitchen) chair that long if it naturally makes my knees be around 90 degrees; I need to constantly shift my feet so the knee angle is obtuse, and even then my knees start hurting after a while and it just gets worse the longer I sit. When my knees hurt bad, the only way I’ve found to get it to go away is to curl up in an armchair/sofa and/or have my legs horizontal for probably an hour or more. Do you guys know some good exercises to strengthen my knees? Squats might be one of them, but right now I can’t do them correctly so I really hurt my knees if I try to do them (I need more mobility).

 

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And one little random section!

 

While it may seem that my goals are small, I am making more progress than I ever have before. It might not show in weight/cm lost, but I can already notice it in my energy and in how much “Do It Now” (https://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2013/02/14/three-words-that-you-need-to-tell-yourself-daily/) I just do.

 

Each day I get more done than I am used to without getting as tired. I’m also managing my lows better. After a really good/productive day, I usually have two low emotional and low energy days; I manage those days better and get more done on them than usual. (A few years back, I’d lose a week or two after having a really good day (/high energy expense day).)

 

The reason I am succeeding is because Steve didn’t just tell me “take small steps”, he told me how and kept telling me to take small steps. So many other fitness experts/gurus I’ve listened to have said “take small steps” and then suggested doing 1 hour long workouts every other day and preferably some interval training on my off-days… Excuse me?… You said smaaaaaaaaall…

 

Steve instead told me to take a 5-minute walk, so I took a 15-minute one. Then he told me to walk again and to make a small nutrition change and on. And I just mainly kept with the walking, a small nutrition change (cooking instead of TV-dinners), and doing Zumba because it is fun once a week. Small changes that doesn’t ruin my will power but instead slowly builds it.

 

I am pushing, but not hard because then I will fail (I’ve tried that before). I hope and believe that when June comes I’ll be able to set more goals around my fitness (I’m thinking of Nerd Fitness Yoga, because I want to learn yoga and because of the mini-sessions to help mobility!) and perhaps figure out a new small step for my nutrition.

[Grymm]

Welcome!  First thing I read this morning.  There is a thread somewhere about people on the forum who write or want to write.  Maybe you could pop in there as someone who seems to have a fair amount of experience in the field.

[Dagger]

58 minutes ago, Grymm said:

Welcome!  First thing I read this morning.  There is a thread somewhere about people on the forum who write or want to write.  Maybe you could pop in there as someone who seems to have a fair amount of experience in the field.

Thanks!

 

I think I've found a couple of those threads. I've been exploring the forums in bits and pieces for a couple of days. I mean to join in those threads too.

[Dagger]

My first small milestone is met.

 

I have walked at least once every day for 21 days. A habit is formed. 

[Endor]

On 23/05/2016 at 7:25 PM, Dagger said:

1) What to do about exercise clothes? Three (or more) sets and wash once a week? Wash between each workout? Rinse and dry between workouts and wash once a week? How do you guys do it?

I have 3 sets (I lift 3 times a week) but I try to wash them the same day as I workout, doesn't always happen but better if it does cos they tend to stink even after I wash them

 

For your knees I'm no expert but I do get sore knees too sometimes (old man  ) I find knee sleeves help a lot, I wear them to workout if it's cold or if I'm doing something knee intensive like squats. These are the ones I have: http://thewodlife.com.au/products/rehband-7751-knee-band?utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=googlepla&variant=943878765&gclid=CjwKEAjwm8-6BRDgnb-Dk96UmRASJADbMycYJQt46kP3I2q9yRoJVOmGkSIQwmSxu03S06659pNI3xoC50Hw_wcB

 

 

[Dagger]

7 hours ago, Endor said:

I have 3 sets (I lift 3 times a week) but I try to wash them the same day as I workout, doesn't always happen but better if it does cos they tend to stink even after I wash them

That makes sense. Thanks for answering! That gives me some idea of where to begin for me.  I could currently put together two outfits. I guess I need to go get some more soon.

 

7 hours ago, Endor said:

For your knees I'm no expert but I do get sore knees too sometimes (old man  ) I find knee sleeves help a lot, I wear them to workout if it's cold or if I'm doing something knee intensive like squats. These are the ones I have: http://thewodlife.com.au/products/rehband-7751-knee-band?utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=googlepla&variant=943878765&gclid=CjwKEAjwm8-6BRDgnb-Dk96UmRASJADbMycYJQt46kP3I2q9yRoJVOmGkSIQwmSxu03S06659pNI3xoC50Hw_wcB

I'll look into that. I hope if I'm careful and slowly build up the muscles around my knees (thighs, butt and such) that their weakness is the problem or that bad technique has been the problem because that is also something I fix.

[Endor]

15 minutes ago, Dagger said:

bad technique

Your technique will definitely play a part, I'm very quad dominant and if I get lazy or tired I end up on my toes when I'm squatting which is easier for me to complete the movements but is not good practice and gives me sore knees. Once you decide you like squats and are going to do more with a barbell I would HIGHLY recommend a pair of weightlifting shoes. I have Nike Romaleos II, they are the best shoes of any type that I have ever owned and they make squatting a lot easier. When it gets heavy a belt really helps too, I have the Valeo one, cheap and does the job. . 

 

[Dagger]

Thanks, @Endor!

 

I actually tried proper squatting technique after seeing Stacci's video on it. First I couldn't get low enough, and then I just tried to get low and suddenly I was on my toes. She talked about pushing your hips back instead of bending your knees and I could notice the difference in my muscles and the pressure on my knees. It makes me hopeful I might be able to do squats eventually. I also hope doing yoga will help with my mobility so it will be easier to do correct technique.

 

Yes, I'm slowly tackling these things on multiple fronts.

[Endor]

I haven't seen that vid but it sounds like good advice. What clicked for me was a paragraph in Starting Strength which said imagine you have 2 chains going from your hips to the ceiling when you rise from the squat imagine the chains are pulling your hips up. 

 

Pretty exciting to be starting out, it will be hard work but you have a heap of progress and gains to look forward to  

[Dagger]

19 minutes ago, Endor said:

I haven't seen that vid but it sounds like good advice. What clicked for me was a paragraph in Starting Strength which said imagine you have 2 chains going from your hips to the ceiling when you rise from the squat imagine the chains are pulling your hips up. 

 

Pretty exciting to be starting out, it will be hard work but you have a heap of progress and gains to look forward to  

Seems like the second part of the squat equation. So push hips back/down for going down, and then imagine chains are pulling them up when going up.  I haz the full instruction now!

 

I'm just so excited that it is working this time around. Except for once I've always quit within a week.