What are the haps?

[tepidreception]

Hey y'all,

Occasional lurker and new member checking in! The name's Jamie, I hail from Boston (big ups to the other Bostonians here!). I spent the past two+ years traveling and working abroad, living the dream as it were in some beautiful places (the fact that Steve's travel workout video's still shot is from Wanaka makes my heart cry; I want to be back there NOW). Now I'm back and piecing my life and finances back together. Yup, that means living with the parents, going back to the old part time retail job. Currently, I'm even using their car. Buying a car is apparently the Mt. Everest of mental challenges for me right now. I know, real adult-like.

I don't have clearly defined fitness goals yet, per se. When I was living in NZ I started getting into Primal living and Mark's Daily Apple, and did pretty well cutting out the carbs and sugars (never was a big sugar fiend and NEVER liked soda, thankfully). I've seen lots of the benefits, including dropping the padding I gained from living in Thailand for a year (read: 6 beer/day diet), not feeling hungry all the time and having more level energy. So I plan to keep up with that. Bonus: just discovered a girlfriend of mine who is also parental-home-bound a few blocks away is also on the primal path, so we can compare notes! Mostly, I need some routine in my life. I'm pretty undisciplined, have never been much of a gym-goer. I feel like given my place in life right now, what with living at home, unchallenging job, not sure of my plans for the future, I need some distractions. So why not gain some strength and energy?!

Once I get the basics in order, like getting a damn car, going back to work, and kicking this awful cold I've caught this week, I'd like to establish some more concrete exercise goals as well as maintain my eating habits. Once I get a clearer picture of what my finances will be like I'd like to look into Crossfit if that's manageable within my budget and schedule. Probably CFNewton - I think there's a few of y'all out there, hmm?! Until then, I plan to push myself to get a bodyweight routine going and do some hiking, maybe even sprinting a bit (I HATE regular running!) To give myself a starting goal, I've signed up for the local Spartan Sprint on August 12th. Very excited to get muddy!

Welp, that's all for me. I'll work on upping my nerd factor with some stats soon, but bear with me: I was more of a "Let's take a year of organic chemistry BECAUSE IT'S FUN" nerd than an RPG nerd (unless Sim City or The Sims count; I banned myself from The Sims long ago)!

Rock on!

Jamie

[Red1263]

Hey hey! Welcome to the Rebellion! *shudders* ooohhh.. don't mention OChem to me, I hates it! I'm a biology nerd through and through. Ahem! So anyways, you can look through the articles of NF and find ways to manage and maintain your goals (as well as your plans for them) and then you'll get started on your way, not to mention that you'll get support from all of us! And don't feel too bad about limited income, some of us nerds are unemployed, still living with parents, in situations like yours

[tepidreception]

Well, just an update for kicks! Been trying to do the basic bodyweight workout, finding it great and a bit challenging (I don't think I have my lunge form quite right) but I dig it, I just need to keep up with it. I'm just about the worst for building routines! The WOD emails I keep getting from the Spartan folk are super intimidating. I've actually taken to deleting them at this point because "Do 30 pull-ups then go for a leisurely 10 mile run" is not a part of my reality quite yet. I've also just signed up for 20 sessions at a boxing gym less than a mile away (yay groupon!) that looks really promising. You get to figure out how much you want to focus on boxing skills or on strength training. I'm excited to see how that goes, maybe I'll find a new passion! I've always wanted to punch someone in the face

In other news, I started back up at the old job last week. It's a breeze because I used to be a manager at another location, but now I'm happy just being a regular drone, so I'm very comfortable with the work and am sort of left to put my head down and kick ass. Also there's plenty of heavy lifting (ok, not 100+ pounds but whatever), so I hope to get my toned arms back, as long as I don't hurt myself first. Unfortunately being food retail I'm surrounded by temptations, but I'm still avoiding sugar and grains and doing a pretty good job! The ultimate test will be when I get my bridesmaid's dress back from the tailor's sometime this week; we'll see how the slightly snug fit she pinned me into will be doable or if I'll be busting out all over next Saturday night at my friend's wedding!

Thanks to anyone for reading, keep kicking ass!

[Blondie]

Hi, I haven't even done an intro post yet, but I read yours and wanted to shout out and say hey. Used to live in S. NH (near Manchester). If you're living in Boston, why get a car? Plenty of people are going without cars, and I don't blame you for being intimidated about such a big purchase. I am moving soon and looking forward to living somewhere with bike lanes and transit so I can sell my car and use my legs, bike, or bus for transportation. F U Car! I grew up suburban and have been under the mistaken notion that cars are mandatory for life. I am looking forward to a new life without it, and I have plenty of my own fuel to burn.

Also, I saw that you're back with the parents. I went through that too and had a heck of a time getting into and sticking to a routine. Hang in there!

Perhaps now I should go an introduce myself....

Blondie

[tepidreception]

Well welcome to you! I'd love to skip the car but unfortunately "Boston" is a bit generous, I'm out in the (close) suburbs so I do need a car to get to work and visit friends. Oh well! I finally found a great used Jetta with low miles that I'm hopefully buying today. Now I get to learn to drive a manual and I'm excited!

[Gainsdalf the Whey]

Welcome! just wanted to pop in and say thre are definitely a bunch of NFers in Boston. Spezzy is at CF Newton and we have a few at CF Boston as well. There are a few meetups coming up in that area, why not stop by and join us?

[Blondie]

Awesome! I've been driving my Jetta for the past 5 years and have to say that its been a good car. Manual is easy once you get the hang of it!!