Unlurking, finally time to get into action!

[Vincent]

Hi everybody,

I've been reading Steve's blog for a few years now and absolutely love it. I've also been lurking on this board but never joined it until now.

The reason is I'm finally serious about getting in shape!

Why I'm finally serious

Just came back from 5 months backpacking and gained 5 kg because I didn't eat healthy and didn't work out at all (except for a lot of walking). I'm already down 1 kg, doing pushups, eating paleo and starting climbing again. I feel like I'm on the right track and I don't want to stop at my old weight I want to get in really good shape!

The whole story

I used to live very unhealthy because I didn't really cared about it. I smoked, drinked a lot was partying multiple days a week. I ate whatever I wanted but never really gained any weight so I didn't think there was a problem. I even worked at the burger king for 6 years and ate there a lot without any problems. For reference my weight was always around 68kg during that time and I'm 185cm (or 6 foot).

Three and a half year ago (jan 2009) I didn't like the way I was living anymore and decided to improve my health step by step. The first thing I did was quit smoking, because that was the most important thing for me. I've been smoke free for three and a half years now and never looked back.

(feb 2009) After that I also quit drinking coffee and any other caffinated drinks. This improved my sleep a lot, I used to have some insomnia but this cured it. I wake more easily in the morning and feel more refreshed and most important I fall asleep immediately.

(feb 2009-sep 2010) I also picked up running, and after a lot of training and some 5k's, 10k's and 1/2 marathons I was ready for a marathon. But then disaster truck, I got a knee injury. When this didn't go away I stopped running for a while but never got back into it, although I loved it and tried it for a while. I bought vibrams and love them, but didn't have the patience to start over from scratch.

(jul 2009-jul 2011) I've been vegetarian for 2 years as well but combined with running I lost 5kg of weight (remember I was 68kg so that left only 63kg) and ended up being very skinny and without any upper body strength at all. Then I learned about paleo and that resonated with me, the story about eating the way our ancestors is very simple but very true. I started eating meat again, but the paleo thing never really got off the ground.

(may 2010 - now) Because I had the knee injury I started looking for new sports, and with a friend I started climbing 2 times a week. Best thing I've ever done! I have a lot more upper body strength and improved in climbing a lot. I even ended up working there a lot better then the burger king where I used to work.

Because I ate meat again, stopped running and picked up climbing I gained 7kg and ended up weighting 70kg. I had more upper body muscles so that was probably where the extra weight was. I was happy with that although I secretly always wanted a six pack. My diet wasn't really paleo at all and I ate a lot of candy. But I didn't gain any weight so I didn't care.

In august 2011 I finished my bachelors degree in electronical engineering and in november 2011 I left and a five months backpacking trip. I traveled through Australia and New-Zealand and did a lot of epic things! I absolute loved it and would do it again but with a few changes:

Mistake number1: My food budget wasn't as high as it should be for healthy eating, so I ate a lot of pasta and rice.

Mistake number2: I didn't climb at all or do any other strength exercises.

I did a lot of walking but with al the carbs I ate I gained 5kg of fat! I always though I couldn't become fat because I'm naturally skinny, but with a crappy diet it was easy and the worst part, I didn't even notice it. I discovered it at home and compared the before and after pictures and then it was noticeable.

So I'm 75kg and super motivated to take action, I'm gradually switching to paleo eating and picked up climbing the second I got home. A few days ago I started doing pushups following the angry birds workout. I've already lost 1kg so I'm on the right track!

Goals

-Loose the fat and gain some muscles, I don't really have a weight goal but want to get rid of my belly fat and have a six-pack

-Switch to paleo eating most of the time

-25pushups in a row (current max is 14 on a good day)

-Add pull/chin ups to the angy birds workout

-Start the couch to 5k program on my vibram five fingers, after that I want to run twice a week, doing hill sprints/interval or a max of 5k running.

-Train on my slackline once a week, very good for your balance and leg muscles.

Thanks for reading everybody!

[Ghost]

Welcome to the Rebellion!

It's great to have you, your goals are very clear, with a community like this to back you up you can do anything.

Send me a message if you ever need anything.

And Good Luck.