So here's the thing...

[The Ginger Ninja]

Okay first of all...I love this site and I can't believe I didn't find it sooner! I'm a geek girl and as one of the youngest people who works where I do, I don't get a lot of geek bonding in during the day. This is gradually changing as my influence grows, but when I stumbled across this site yesterday I felt a little flutter in my heart and thought "these are my people!" and it couldn't have come at a more opportune time. And that segues into my story...

I was always on the slender side and was a little active in high school and college, but nothing major. I'm 5' 7" and i weighed about 105 lbs when i got out of college. Then I started working for the government and, as a desk jockey in a high stress environment (I work in emergency management), I noticed my shape started changing. At first it was not much but I woke up one day recently and discovered that I hardly recognized myself anymore. I had gained about 50 lbs and rather than buy new clothes (I'm kinda cheap like that) I decided I needed to start working out. Enter my dilemma...I hate going to the gym and I really hate running. I figure I would be okay with running as a regimen if I could pay a zombie (or rather, pay the zombie's keeper) to chase me because then at least there would be motivation (I'd actually like to keep my brains). But I gave the gym a try and just found it kind of boring and for some reason I felt really self conscious. This could be from the fact that all my strength and flexibility had snuck out the window when I wasn't paying attention. So I got discouraged and then I talked myself into being okay with my bigger self...I mean there were some perks as parts of my anatomy that were unnoticeable before suddenly blossomed and garnered me some attention ;-p but I realized that wasn't enough to keep me this way. I've spent the last month or so trying to come up with a game plan; something to make re-shaping myself enjoyable, or at least bearable, and that's when I discovered Nerd Fitness. Must have been my life's dungeon master tossing me a break. I love that it's like minded people and everyone seems so supportive...and I love the idea of life as an RPG and I can't wait to level up!

So as for picking a guild, I guess right now I'm an Adventurer in the tutorial phase of my journey. I think I'm leaning toward being a Druid with some Assassin tendencies. I haven't figured out my whole "Epic Quest" yet, but I do have a goal in mind for right now. I want to get back to my pre-desk job size. I say size not weight because I really don't care how much I weigh as long as I'm not squishy anymore (and I can fit into my college clothes). Ultimately I want to be toned up enough so that my friend who is a fight promoter will be able to use me as a ring girl (cage side seats at the fight FTW!) I gave up soda over a year ago, but I replaced it with the the bane of my southern existence - sweet tea! Its so good but there so much sugar in it they should probably rename it to syrup tea...so it looks like that is going to have to go :,-(. I'm also a carb and starch fanatic...and not good carbs either. I eat so much pasta I should probably have Alfredo sauce pumping through my veins right now. I'm going to try this paleo lifestyle I've been reading about in here to see if it helps me shed this unwanted baggage.

So that's it for now...sorry such a long post but trust me, it could have been worse ;-p I look forward to leveling up with you all!

[The Tin Man]

Welcome! It sounds like you're in a good place where you want to get back to that size, not weight. Hate going to the gym and hate running, it does sound like Druid/Assassin would be a good fit!

I'm looking forward to your questions, contributions and following your journey!

[BadWolf]

Welcome! It's funny how weight creeps onto us when we're busy with other things. That's the great thing about being here though, it keeps your health in the front of your mind and helps you keep going!

[Lizifer]

Yay for geeky Southern gingers (some of my best friends are geeky Southern gingers ;P)

Whhoooo howdy, I feel you on the gym - I actively hated the idea of the gym, going to the gym, the people at the gym... And sports. And exercise.

Mostly 'cos, really, when I get right down to brass tacks, it showed me there was something I'd have to work for. EW. WHO WANTS THAT?

... Well, turns out, me. Find a sidekick - it's made ALL the difference for me! (And my partner kept wanting to work out w/ me, but I can't stand working out w/ zie. AT ALL. Smirky McCondescendingpants is NOT my ideal workout partner - but one of my chick friends has embarked on the Quest to Become a Kickin' Broad. Try different stuff. Get a guest pass. Find a pal. You can doooo eeeeeet! *high five*

[Ryan Sannar]

Welcome!

Glad to have you here. Deciding to change your life is an inspiring and powerful thing to do. Couple of quick things.

We are here for you 100%.

Keep on pushing.

When it gets hard, get online (the forums).

Lets get to work.

And... As a leader of the Assassin's guild you're more than welcome to join. I would suggest trying out parkour. Tutorial videos up soon.

[bryson]

Welcome! I just joined myself -- I'm actually in a pretty similar situation with respect to work: younger than everyone else, gov't contract work, etc.

I really like everything that I've seen here so far -- it seems like you will have tons of support regardless of road you decide to take! Good luck!

[The Ginger Ninja]

Thanks everyone! I had my farewell pasta dinner last night before I embark on the Paleo way...moms homemade spaghetti and meatballs with garlic bread, oh how I will miss thee!

[Mike Pants]

Thanks everyone! I had my farewell pasta dinner last night before I embark on the Paleo way...moms homemade spaghetti and meatballs with garlic bread, oh how I will miss thee!

On the first floor of our office building, we have this Super-Mega-Deli-Buffet thing that basically has every type of food possible -- sushi bar, sandwiches, hot buffet, salad bar, et cetera. I've gotten very, very good at walking briskly past anything containing a simple carb (99% of everything on offer), but good lord, that little bread station where sits the garlic bread? Four months into Paleo and than smell still turns my knees to puddin'.

Pasta you won't miss much, I can almost promise. It'll take a couple of weeks, then you'll look back and realize that since giving it up, you haven't had that "carb crash" feeling after a single meal. Having food constantly make me feel energized and not woozy is still exciting enough to keep me going.

Welcome aboard. We're glad you found us.

[msuroo]

Pasta you won't miss much, I can almost promise.

Isn't this ever the truth. There's lots of stuff I still miss (and occasionally indulge in), but pasta sure isn't one of them.

[PrincessHeather]

Welcome! I totally get the waking up and realizing "Oh, that's me now?" thing... I gained over 20 pounds in the course of 1 year after college. I'm 5'2, so how I managed to not really notice is sort of scary! Good luck finding out what works for you, whether its the gym or yoga or martial arts or anything else awesome

[The Ginger Ninja]

I dunno...pasta is pretty much one of my staple foods. I was a vegetarian for 15 years and pasta kept me alive (also Ramen noodles, I love Ramen noodles)! I started eating meat about 5 years ago (OMG I love bacon now!) but I still don't eat seafood, I just can't get it past my nose. This makes my Paleo diet even more limited. My first week was pretty tough because pretty much everything I used to get at my normal lunch haunts was either some kind of sub sandwich or some kind of pasta dish...but I made it through week one. I think I'm having withdrawal symptoms or something because a couple of days ago I was really shaky and weak feeling...

[EightDigit]

Hey EMS geek. I probably monitor your wireless and VoIP ALI connections and servers.

I noticed the same thing when I went paleo, in regards to the shaking. I found that it usually meant that I needed veg... broccoli, cauliflower, kale- these usually do the trick for me.

Welcome to the site!

[Mike Pants]

I cook a lot, and a big go-to was always rustic Italian fare. Carbonara, lamb tagliatelle, seafood linguini, cannelloni bruchetta -- (swoon) So when I was first considering Paleo, giving up what was essentially everything I ever ate -- bread, pasta, beans, so forth -- was daunting. It was like someone saying, "I can get you in shape, but I'm going to burn all your clothes and you can never watch any of your favorite movies again." Food is more than just fuel; it's a huge part of how we define ourselves as individuals. Listen to how protective people get when they say things like, "I could never give up bagels. I LOVE bagels."

Redefining yourself doesn't have to be a bad thing, though. Sure, I used to be Tuscan cooking guy, and now I'm dark-meat chicken guy or Indian curry guy or roasted cauliflower guy or some such. Who knows? But the change is exciting, from how I look, how I feel, and how I think about food.

[The Ginger Ninja]

Hehe...awesome EightDigit...part of my job is maintaining our MSAG and ALI info! I do the GIS work for emergency management and maintain all the 911 address data.

[The Ginger Ninja]

Mike - your post is making me drool...

I knew it was going to be hard, I just didn't realize that it was pretty much my main dietary ingredient. :-p So there's one good thing so far about the switch...it's making me pay attention to what I eat. I'm giving myself as set amount of time without it to kick start the fat loss and then I'll reintroduce it slowly, for like special occasions and such, because I just don't know that I want to go through life without pasta Alfredo...no matter how ripped I get ;-p

[gymell]

Hello and welcome! I'm glad to hear you're not trying to get back to 105lb, because at 5'7", that is not just slender, but seriously underweight. I was 115lb and 5'6" when I finished graduate school, and that was underweight too. Fast forward 4 years after that, being a computer programmer in the corporate world, sitting on my butt all day, with money to eat out a lot, and I got to about 140lb. Once I decide to put a stop to that, I've spent the last 10 years evolving toward better nutrition and workout habits. Now I'm at 130lb, but with much lower body fat, and I can deadlift 250lb, do 10 chinups, and more. I don't eat strict paleo (I do cheese and whey protein, etc), but eat very little processed foods.

It's good to get comfortable at a more realistic, healthy size, of course it's much better if it's a stronger and leaner composition rather than just flab (which you can easily tell by the fit of your clothes.) If you are bored at the gym (which is easy to do), you might consider following a more structured program like The New Rules of Lifting for Women, join a group fitness class like a boot camp, or CrossFit, etc. Something with variety, where you will be more motivated and have fun. I joined a boot camp class at my Globo gym several years ago, and it was really fun. Like a fun, adult PE class. Then I got into lifting more and got into CrossFit. Anyway, you don't have to slave away on the treadmill and be bored at the gym. Short, high intensity metabolic conditioning, along with strength training, is more fun and effective in my opinion.

And it sounds like you're off to a good start on the nutrition. Just make sure you're eating enough. Sure, there will be a transition while you wean your body off the processed carbs that you've been living on for a long time. But make sure you don't starve yourself. That will stall your weight loss and also negatively impact your workouts.

If you can't stand fish, you should probably be taking fish oil.

[The Ginger Ninja]

Thanks for the tips, gymell...wow, you can do 10 chin ups?!? I definitely can't do even one. I certainly don't think I'm going to starve, that's one thing I could never do...I get horrible headaches if I go too long without eating.

[gymell]

That's good - some people who go Paleo unintentionally drastically cut calories when they stop eating so much processed foods.

I'm a southerner too, and liked sweet tea as a kid, but started drinking unsweetened tea when I was in high school. So you don't have to give up your tea, just cut the sugar out. Consider yourself lucky... now that I live in the Midwest, I can't find a decent glass of iced tea anywhere!

Yes, I'm decent at chinups. I even got a video - this was from the Warrior Dash last year. While I was waiting around for the race to start, I saw that the Marines had a booth set up with a pullup bar. All the guys I saw were doing half range of motion, and the women were doing bar hangs. So I went over to show them what a 42 year old (at the time) woman can do! (The video started after the first rep.) Keep working on it and you'll get there, it's just a matter of practice and working towards it.

[The Ginger Ninja]

So cool!

I can't stand unsweetened tea...it tastes like dirt water! It's funny that I like it at all because I'm not really a southerner, I'm a transplant, and everyone in my family is like "how can you drink that stuff?!?"