Well, I'm new here and this is awkward...

[appurka]

I've tried more personal support groups, so I thought I'd give an online circle a try. I mean how bad could it really get...maybe getting trolled?!

Anywho. The goal I have is to gain back the muscle I had while I was dancing, and then go beyond that and slim down to a teen body fat percentage. Right now my fat percentage is in it's twenties and my body is horribly weak. Who knew a leap required so much effort? I'm practically begging to get back to that point again.

Currently I'm probably a human, very average body type and body fat deposition, and I seek to become an assassin/monk hybrid. It is one of my goals to learn parkour (urban ninja ftw) and some form of martial arts, if not multiple. The Paleo diet is definitely something I want to transform my diet into, slowly but surely. I already tried the quickie transformation and learned just how little calories there are in vegetables! So, slowly but surely for me.

A few things about me outside of fitness. I love shooting and have a focus on pistols, but I would love to expand my skills to include rifle (ARs included). I'm currently an SSP marksman in IDPA. Currently, I kinda suck at shooting and am trying to balance accuracy with speed. Outside of pistols, I want to build my own AR-15 but am pretty ignorant with what I want to do right now. I am also in my third year of college, credit wise, but I don't have a solid grasp on what I want to have as my major. There are so many things to choose from, I kinda want to learn 'em all.

Admittedly, I am a perfectionist. I become very bummed if I see someone else do something and I can not replicate or surpass what they do on the first try. It doesn't matter how much more experience they have or how many years they have been perfecting their technique. Sure, it seems a bit arrogant of me, I'm basically expecting instant talent from myself despite how long other people had to work at it. However, most people that have seen how frustrated I get understand I'm frustrated with my lack of skill rather than their superb skill.

So, sorry for the rant and feel free to comment, message, or whatever. I want to get to know the people on here!

Oh, and my name is Devon.

[rtalencar]

Hello.

Couple quick questions for you:

1) You mention wanting to cut body fat and build muscle mass, do you have an order that you want to do that in? Do you have a diet and exercise routine planned to reach those goals? It can be very difficult to lose weight and build muscle mass simultaneously, and you would likely have better luck if you picked one first and then switched once you reached that goal. For most people that want to lose body fat, doing a cutting cycle first works best. In my somewhat limited experience, putting together a solid exercise program with an emphasis on resistance training (weight lifting) is the basis for both bulking and cutting. That way all you really have to modify is your diet. Take in more calories (than maintenance) and more carbs when bulking, and less calories and carbs when cutting.

2) In lines with perfectionism, I have a similar issue. Are you able to channel that frustration to put in the work needed to kick a$$ at what you were trying to do? My competitive nature and overwhelming jealousy of all people more skilled than I got me pretty far in collegiate rugby at Penn State. Hopefully you derive a similar benefit.

Good luck to you in reaching and exceeding all of your goals!

[appurka]

Ideally I would like to lose my fat first as that would give me the greater drive to continue. However, if I can do both at the same time that would be great! My biggest concern about losing my fat is that I would lose more muscle than I would like, especially since I've already lost some. Right now I'm really stuck at home and working with bodyweight since I can't afford a gym membership and I don't have free weights readily available. In a couple months I will have access to my school's gym and I plan to utilize it as much as possible. As far as diet is concerned, I need to eat healthier than what I already do. There are a lot of temptations in my family's pantry that I have no control over, but need to learn to avoid. That is going to be the harder part of what I'm trying to do, rather than exercising.

I tend to pout before I start to really get competitive. Most of the competition has been trying to get over my perfectionism rather than utilizing it, which was probably a mistake. However, there have been times where it has helped me, like you have benefitted.