Hello from Scotland

[DavidH]

Hi all,

 

I'm David and I'm 30 years old from Glasgow, Scotland. I'm 5'10 and about 183lbs.

 

While I am not obese I am definitely carrying some extra weight especially around my gut and my face/chin area.

 

I am getting married on August 5th in Spain and I would love to be able to change my body as much as I can before the big day. Some research online brought me here so today I am laying it all out in my first post and hope to keep everyone updated with my progress in the lead up to the wedding. 

 

I would love some help, support and encouragement along the way. Scary few months ahead but here goes nothing.

 

David.

[Guzzi]

1 hour ago, DavidH said:

Hi all,

 

I'm David and I'm 30 years old from Glasgow, Scotland. I'm 5'10 and about 183lbs.

 

183lbs??  What shite is this?  Awa an boil yer heid, big yin.  Pounds is for spending, aye?  

 

Or "Hi back, from Scotland".    I'm from 100 miles up the coast in Fort William, thought I live in Shetland these days.  There's quite a few of us on here and we've had a fair few meet-ups, check out the meet-ups page to see if there's anything happening.  Or just to say "hi".

[DavidH]

@Guzzi hahaha hello fellow Scot! The only reason I use pounds is it motivates me more as there are more increments than stone or kilos so when I lose weight it feels like I am losing a lot (and I need the motivation haha). 5 lbs lost sounds a bit better to my ear than 2 kilos.

 

Thanks for the heads up. I'll give that a check. Super noob at the moment, a bit overwhelmed where to even start!

 

 

[Guzzi]

Yeah, it's quite a big forum with so many different fitness specialities, then there's all the challenges, the character creator and Epic Quest stuff... Take a few days to look around and if you're still feeling lost then give me a shout and I'll help you find your feet.  

 

Oh, I do a similar thing to you except I use kgs.  I don't want to get hung up on how much I actually weigh, I'd rather go by how I look in the mirror/progress pics so I use kilos, because I haven't a Scooby what 66kgs is in real money, lol!

 

The big thing on the forum is the 4 Week Challenges, which start again on Sunday if you're interested in joining in?  There's a page with all the info here.  It's a really good way of getting involved with the community and it helps to break your goals down into small, manageable pieces that you can easily keep up for the whole challenge.  

 

You simply set yourself 3 goals, they can be whatever you want them to be but keep them small (there's even some suggestions here) and don't try to change too much at a time.  The idea is to build small, lasting change that will eventually become habit.  That way you're no longer trying to lose weight or even keep it off, it just happens because your whole approach to diet and fitness has changed.  

 

Are you into all the RPG stuff?  Want to create an alter ego?  Some people are really motivated by all that, but don't feel like you have to do any of it.  I certainly don't.  

 

I'll paste a reply that I keep handy (to save me typing it out every single time) but be warned, the site doesn't like iPhones and the font size will go all haywire and I can't correct it from my phone, lol!

 

 

How you use the forum is up to you, you can start a Battle log and use it to track your progress, you can take part in 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 and let's you meet other members, form friendships and get some accountability on your progress. 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. 

 

The "Guilds" are really just a way of grouping people together who share interests. People post their challenge threads under whichever Guild they want to belong to or feel matches their goals. You can read all about the Guilds HERE

 

Your first challenge should be posted in the Rebel section and then once you've completed that you can go on to post your challenges in whichever section you want though there's nothing stopping you from reading and posting in ANY section at any time.  And you can switch between guilds depending on what you're doing as part of your challenge. 

 

You can also take part in (or suggest a new) PVP (person vs person) challenge or a PVE (person vs environment) with other members.

 

Let me know if you want any more info on any of that stuff above.  

[DavidH]

Thanks so much for the comprehensive reply @Guzzi I like the sound of the 4 week challenge and will look into maybe doing this. 

 

Yeah I think it's going to be a few days of reading through all the info you've linked me to and generally getting to know the forums. Excited though and already glad I joined.  

[Laghail]

Hey and welcome to NF. Any specific type of fitness activity you're looking to get into for your countdown to august?