Hey, I heard there was a rebellion going on around here? Am I in the right place?

[Twinkie]

Living in the Witch City, MA. Just your friendly, neighborhood tattooed, Ginger kid who's getting hitched to her partner-in-crime in September. Our wedding hashtag? #thebeardandthebun. Go ahead. Ask me about it.

 

I've been fighting the "I know I should work out and eat right, but being a couch potato and eating this pizza to my face is just so much easier" battle for awhile now. I hate going to the gym because I feel like an outsider who doesn't have a clue but I'm a former runner, so there's that.

 

So happy that I found Nerd Fitness and all you awesome Rebels! Finally I think I found a place where I fit in and where I can get the support and motivational help I need to be the best badass I can be! Let's do this!

[Mazarine]

I'm new, too! And I totally feel you on the "this is so much easier" front. But we can do this!

[Wobbegong]

Welcome Twinkie AND Estral! You both belong here. 

 

On 5/6/2017 at 9:51 AM, Twinkie said:

I've been fighting the "I know I should work out and eat right, but being a couch potato and eating this pizza to my face is just so much easier" battle for awhile now. I hate going to the gym because I feel like an outsider who doesn't have a clue but I'm a former runner, so there's that.

 

If you hate going to the gym....... don't. Unless you're one of those people who can get away with saying "I hate x but I have to so I'll just deal" and you can channel that gym-hate into an awesome workout I would seriously suggest investigating other fitness options. Ones you'll actually stick with. 

 

Do you like rock climbing? Skiing? Kayaking? Are you more a HIIT type? What about bodyweight exercises (you can do them at home!)? There are far more ways to exercise away from a gym than in one. You mentioned running; do you prefer a treadmill or the outdoors? (I'd shoot myself if I had to run on a treadmill, give me a trail any day!) Massachusetts probably has some weather that makes outdoors exercise impractical at times, but there are ways around that, too. 

 

On the other hand, if the only thing holding you back at the gym is feeling like an outsider, ask around at local gyms and find one that offers gym tours. Probably more do than don't. The tour will show you where everything is but is also an opportunity for you to point at things and be like "Wtf is that and how do you work it?" You can get a more in-depth version of this with a trainer or by signing up for a college PE course, too. If you and your partner-in-crime are ok with it, men at the gym are also great... especially if you're female-presenting, just walk up to any swole dude in the weight room, put on your damsel face, and ask for help. They'll be happy to explain anything you want. 

[Guzzi]

Hey @Twinkie, how have you found the forums so far?  It's a big site and it can be a little intimidating but it's an amazing community and I'm sure you'll love it here.  Do you want/need any help figuring this place out?  

[Twinkie]

Hey @Guzzi! You nailed it. Completely overwhelmed and honestly, no clue where to start. I've been working through the first quests in the Academy but I find the boards to be super overwhelming. Advice? 

 

Thanks lady!

[Guzzi]

6 hours ago, Twinkie said:

Hey @Guzzi! You nailed it. Completely overwhelmed and honestly, no clue where to start. I've been working through the first quests in the Academy but I find the boards to be super overwhelming. Advice? 

 

Thanks lady!

 

Yeah, I remember what it was like when I first joined, lol!  

 

The first thing to say is that there are different parts to the forum, the bit that gets the most traffic is the 4 Week Challenge (that's an old article, they're 4 weeks now) section.  Every 5 weeks (four for the challenge and one week off) we start a new challenge.  It's completely personal, you write your own challenge but they all follow the same format: you pick 2-3 diet/fitness goals and an optional life goal.  The goals should be small, it's almost a case of the smaller the better, the aim of the game is to create new habits so the smaller the change the more effective it is in the long run.  You can be as creative as you want with how you write your challenge thread, it's your thread, your rules.

 

You post your challenge thread in which ever Guild you want, though your first challenge should be in the Rebels section.  The guilds are mainly used to keep people's threads together with other people's with similar interests.  The Scouts is for runners, cyclists, swimmers, the Druids is for meditation, yoga, tai chi, etc.

 

Some people post almost exclusively in the challenge section and don't bother with the rest of the site purely because there is so much going on in that section.  It's worth reading through some peoples challenge threads to get a feel for what it's like, and it can be very entertaining! 

 

The other thing that people do (usually if they don't take part in the challenges, but some do both) is to keep a Battle Log.  That's your own thread where you can do whatever you want, if you want to keep a food diary, a workout diary, a journal, post your progress pics, babble about wedding preparations, whatever, that's the place.  A lot of people use it as a mix of all those things (barring the wedding prep, for most people)  again, it's worth reading through to see what other people do.  

 

The Rebellion Headquarters section hosts a mix of topics, that's where you'll find the Battle Logs, The Pub (social forum), and the Woot Room (where you can brag about your achievements.  The rest of the forum is just kinda keeping things separate so that people can ask questions in the right places, some of them really aren't very active at all.

 

Something that isn't obvious to most people is the Character Creator, where you can, well, create your own character funnily enough.   You can write out your Epic Quest and award yourself points sorry XP, to "level up" your character.  If you're into RPG or writing even then this might appeal to you.

 

Sorry if \i've just muddied the waters further instead of clearing things up...  I can have that effect.  Let me know if you have any questions still unanswered.   

[aishah hope]

Welcome! The forums are pretty intimidating at first but it's a lot of fun once you jump in. I'm so glad you are here! I totally feel you on the "pizza is easier and yummier" front but I have faith that we can do this.