My Nerdy Recovery

[Mawnstroe]

Hello Fellow Nerds,

 

I'm Mawnstroe and I started with the NF Academy last month but didn't realize there were boards here as well!  I've been posting on the Academy FB page (that got me to rejoin FB and start interacting with friends there, too) and started a blog of my journey but I want to be as much a part of this community as I can be so I will be on the board here to get plenty of motivation, inspiration, and accountability.

 

I'm a single dad of four kids (one's in the Army so he's better at taking care of himself than I am!) and live in Chicago, USA.  I'm overweight and hadn't been very active before NFA.  I had heard about NF last year as I was looking around for something healthy to do with myself because a doctor told me if I didn't do change direction with my health I would burst or melt or shrivel up and die of something I can't pronounce.  So I started eating better and walking and I lost 40 pounds (going from 305 to 265) in eight months.  Then I was told by the same doctor that while I was making progress, I needed to do more.  So, I joined the academy and have started to eat even better and started down the Warrior's Path.  RAWR!  I like the idea of being able to pick up a small car and move it.  I can do pianos but cars would be cooler.  :-)

 

So here I am, becoming a Warrior.  I've lost an additional 20 pounds in the last month and am down to 241 pounds...but at 6'2" I still have another 50-60 pounds to go (assuming I gain a lot of muscle in there as well) before I'm in a healthy range.  I worked on my "Big Why" and as part of the Quest I was told to share it, which I did on the Academy FB page and to some close friends, and since I'm working on a mini-quest to add more real friends by taking some risks, I figure I'll post it here for good measure. 

 

This is Mawnstroe the Warrior's Big Why behind my doing NFA and getting healthy:

 

Quote

 

For as long as I could remember I had believed that I would never change the bad habits in my life and that I was a bad person.  I believed that I was incapable of positive change, destined to a life of failure, disappointment, and an early death.  In my pride and arrogance I believed that I was so uniquely messed up that what worked for others wouldn’t work for me.  I had become “terminally unique”, because believing that lie prevented me from doing what others have done to have happy, healthy, wholesome lives.  My false pride became self-pity, which got me to where I am now:  fat, sick, and miserable.

Therefore, I will let go of that pride and arrogance and in its place I will take up humility and hope.  A big part of that process is getting healthy and fit.  This is me believing the truth that says, “If I want what healthy people have, I have to do what healthy people do!”

This is me proving that I am a good person who will have good things in my life.  I will prove that those who believe I am a bad person who will never change are wrong.  

This is me passing on a great legacy to my kids and any grandkids I may one day have.  This is me being a good role model for my kids of what a good man living a good life looks like.  This is me believing and proving that I can make positive changes in my life.  This is me proving to myself that I am not a failure, I am not a slob, and I am not a fat, sick and miserable man who is destined to die early.

This is me letting go of the false pride that is self-pity.  This is me becoming the man I have always wanted to be.

 

 

This is me living and leveling up one day at a time, enjoying one moment at a time, accepting hardship as a pathway to peace and health.  Rawr.

- Mawnstroe

[Bookish Badger]

Welcome to the boards! It looks like you've already picked your guild, but remember, you're welcome in any of the others if you want to change it up. Some folks do a challenge with the Assassins, then one with the Monks, then one with....well, you get the picture.

 

Good luck on your journey!

[Guzzi]

Hi and welcome!

 

Can I just say, you've done amazing already. I sincerely hope that what you've achieved so far has had an effect on your mental state and that you're starting to see yourself in a different light. 

 

Im not a member of the academy so I don't know how things work on there, but I can help you find your way around the forum

 

I hope you don't mind, but I'm going to copy and paste something I wrote earlier (coz I'm too lazy to write it out again ). I'm not sure how much of this you know already. If there's anything that you want to know about then just say. I hope you enjoy being a member of the community and look forward to seeing you around. 

 

How you use the forum is up to you. You'll find that you gravitate towards certain section and almost ignore others.  You can start a Battle log and use it to track your progress, you can take part in the 4 Week Challenges, or you can simply soak up information and use it to improve your workouts/eating etc, or just hang out in the Chat Room. It's totally up to you.  

 

I like to recommend the 4 Week Challenges to people because it makes you an active participant in the forum...

 

You will meet other members, form friendships and get some accountability. They're also a really good tool to help you reach your long term goals by breaking them down into smaller, short term goals which I think is important in keeping you motivated.

 

It's a tough slog to just keep working away toward losing 50lbs (for example) and trying to change everything all at once - eating better, exercising more, cutting soda, stop smoking..... Arrrrrgh! 

 

But if you have a challenge to, say, cut out soda over 4 weeks. Then go on to do another challenge to eat vegetables with one meal every day for 4 weeks and to use the stairs at work instead of the lift. You can focus on making small changes at a time, and make them lasting changes! And all the while you're getting support and advice from your fellow nerds  Coz we're like that.  

 

[V for Vetinari]

Wow, you've made amazing changes already! Good luck going the rest of the way and becoming an even more badass Warrior. You got this.

[Happytin]

You're doing so well! I feel inspired by what you've achieved so far.

 

I had a similar mindset a while ago, that things were set in stone and I was cast in a mould and that was that. It took me ages, so so long, to realise that a decision isn't a stone tablet and doesn't make me committed to the end of time, and that we are constantly changing things full of contradictions and development. Since then, much as you are, I've pushed out of my comfort zone and am slowly changing who I am.

 

Good luck. I look forward to seeing you around and hearing about your journey.

[Mawnstroe]

Hey howdy!

 

Thanks, everyone, for the encouraging words!  I am so happy to find a group of nerds who have similar goals and nerdiness as me!  I will definitely be checking in more, and I've set up a "Battle Log", which I am going to post at now.  Thanks again and I look forward to getting to know you guys!