New Month and New Me

[Zariana]

Hello!

I am a pretty long term NF reader and I actually joined the forums back in July of 2011, but I've never posted before now. I'm an extremely introverted person, I am an awkward conversationalist, and any time I have to be social I have extreme anxiety. I wasn't always this way, and it's something I'd like to change, starting by posting here and joining the community. I recently re-read Steve's post about Support Teams and it really struck a bell with me.

I'm 27 years old, a little over 5'8" tall, and I live in Texas. I was pretty active in middle school and junior high (softball, volleyball, cross-country), became less active in high school, completely lost any activity in college, and now I work at a desk job. Over all those years of inactivity I managed to get up to an all time high weight of 237. Let's just say, stepping on that scale was a huge shocker.

Unfortunately not enough of a shock to actually do something about it. I started reading healthy living blogs and eventually stumbled into Nerd Fitness. Everything Steve wrote made sense and I actually felt like it applied to my life, but I just kept reading and reading but not actually DOING anything. In September of last year I did join a local gym and attempt the C25k program. I was only half-hearted in my effort though so of course nothing really came from it. I've been doing treadmill "intervals" like that on and off since then.

Over the last couple of months, I really feel like things are starting to click and I'm willing to make the changes I need to. I've started recording everything I eat to track my calories. I've been cooking more at home and packing lunches to take to work. I've been trying to practice intuitive eating (which has been hard since I have a hard time telling when my body is actually hungry versus stressed). I've been using GymPact to get me to the gym. However, last week I feel like I finally had my breakthrough moment.

I got on the treadmill to do another in a long string of miserable low effort walk/run intervals, and just got fed up. Instead of leaving the gym or having a nervous breakdown, I decided to just jog until I was ready to stop. I ran a full 1/2 of a mile. To some people that may not seem like anything, but I literally had tears in my eyes when I was finished. I finally found my runner's high.

Since then I have jogged 1/2 of a mile 2 more times and each of those times the high was there. I'm done with slacking off, I'm done with making excuses, and I'm done trying to hide from myself and others. I want that feeling every single time I go to the gym. I want it to carry over into my life. So here I am, making my post, and ready AND eager to level up my life. I can't wait until the next challenge starts and I'm going to be ready.

Between now and the next challenge I will:

1. Continue to log every single thing that goes in my mouth.
   
2. Continue to push hard at the gym (1 walking workout to improve my walking speed, one 'distance' workout, and 1 'just run' workout. If I'm not improving, I'm not working out correctly.
   
3. Buy a tape measure so I can take baseline measurements and Track My Progress.
   
4. Read the forums and POST encouragement to others.
   

Sorry for writing a novel, but thanks for taking the time to read it!

[VorJoshigan]

Hi - do you have any other plans for getting past your introversion? This is a pretty good community, but RL people make a huge difference. There's nothing wrong with being introverted, but if you don't like it, that's enough reason to come out of your shell. Also, I think some people see intro/extro version as black & white when it's really a spectrum. You can be social without being Mr/Ms personality.

Here's a pretty good thread for an introverted conversation.

Only other thing I'd say is try adding weights into the mix. Cardio will help you lose weight, but strength will do that AND make you feel better.

[weirdquark]

Yay for finding your runners high! Finding something that you enjoy doing makes working out so much easier.

[Zariana]

Thanks for the link VorJoshigan! I'm still trying to decide how to go about getting over my extreme introversion. I think a lot of it has to do with self-image and just wanting to avoid people because I'm ashamed of myself. I know I'll always be happier at home with my dog just reading a book, but I also want to have the ability to go out and have fun with people as well. I will work on getting some defined goals for over-coming my inhibitions. Maybe that's something I can work on as my life goal for the next challenge! Also, I did the Beginner's Body Weight Workout a couple times this week on the days that I didn't walk/run. The body weight squats definitely make my legs feel like jelly, but my real week spot is the pushups/plank. I did the pushups against the wall and I'm hoping to progress to on my knees.

Thanks weirdquark! It has definitely motivated me and encouraged me to push beyond my limits instead of just going through the motions half-heartedly. I'm finding it amazing that something that simple can be such a defining moment for me.

[Elastigirl]

Welcome! I love your goals, they are very specific and a great way to get started.