Here we go again!

[athousandwords]

I've been avoiding this post for almost a year.

 

Let's be honest - respawning is embarrassing, right? It's hard to admit that after months of things going well, completing successful challenges, you dropped off the face of the NF planet and all the good habits and momentum just plummeted. So I've been putting this post off since January 2023 and convincing myself that I could make changes just fine without NF, thankyouverymuch. I started my own 5-week challenge in Evernote and kept my own journal and tracked my own goals by myself with no accountability and it went... okay. I kept it up for a bit. But I missed the cheerleading I got here, and being surrounded by people working on their own goals and their own improvement stories. And eventually I stopped using my own tracker and then had to respawn there too, and if you think it's weird respawning on a public forum, let me tell you that it's even weirder respawning in your own private journal.

 

And all of that led to this week, where I was so desperate for accountability that I found myself searching "weight loss communities" ... "best weight loss forums" ... "online journaling for fitness" ... "forums exactly like Nerd Fitness that somehow are not Nerd Fitness because surely I can't respawn for a sixth time" ... you get the point.

 

The fact of the matter is that NF just works for me - I've made my best progress while participating in these challenges. And even though it's embarrassing to come back and admit that I fell off track yet again (just look at all these people on the forums who have been here for 50/60/100 challenges!) it gives me hope to read my past challenges and feel like I am a person who can do hard things. I've been in and out of NF for over 10 years now and I've participated in dozens of challenges. I even managed to hit my goal weight. And this probably won't be the last time I respawn, but I think I need to accept the fact that I won't ever really "graduate" either. There is no "You're Done! ?✅ " waiting at the end of a challenge. It's a lifelong journey and the people on this forum are the people I choose to make this journey with, over and over.

 

So sometimes I feel like I fail you all (or myself). But I don't think it's really failure to come back. I think failure would be burying my head in the sand, blinded by hubris that says: I don't need this community, or I don't need to improve. Neither of those things are true and, for me, improvement can't really happen, in a meaningful way, without this community. And I might fail again this time, and I might be making a seventh respawn post two years from now -  But that's not going to stop me from trying again today.

[The Most Loathed]

Welcome Back!

I'm glad you made the choice to respawn rather than sit out. I've respawned at least twice myself and have the same experience, NF works for me. I've tried other formats and approaches and they haven't done what I needed them to do.

The one additional point I'd add to someone who is reading your post and really feeling the same, we don't check to see if you've formally respawned. You can totally just slip into the community and people will be glad to see you. So if needing to announce yourself is a barrier to entry, don't do it. We're glad you're here regardless. 

[athousandwords]

3 minutes ago, The Most Loathed said:

The one additional point I'd add to someone who is reading your post and really feeling the same, we don't check to see if you've formally respawned. You can totally just slip into the community and people will be glad to see you. So if needing to announce yourself is a barrier to entry, don't do it. We're glad you're here regardless. 

 

Yes, this is very true. I'm just a drama queen, I suppose. ?

 

Thanks for the warm welcome back!

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

7 hours ago, athousandwords said:

just look at all these people on the forums who have been here for 50/60/100 challenges!)

Pfft. I have respawned just as often, I just kept posting here. You are in good company and I'm glad you came back.