Hello from sunny *cough* Beijing!

[alexifer]

Hello fellow nerds and fitness warriors!

I'm always terrible at introductions, so let me get straight into my fitness story and where I've come from in the last six months.

I've lived in Beijing for the last three years, and had some pretty terrible eating and drinking habits. It's part of being a young expat in Asia, I think, and I didn't really see any consequences until I went home this January and realized that I wasn't even fitting into jeans in Australia. So I decided to go for the quick fix, and started sporadically jogging and then tried out the C25K and didn't bother changing my diet. Obviously, it didn't work, and a bigger kick in the pants was that I developed plantar fasciitis in my right foot (just after I bought brand new Nikes, too), which put me right off of running. I didn't get insoles, just left it for a while (I fixed it a couple of months ago with an electroacupuncture session). So that threw me off the fitness wagon big time. Running was convenient and I was getting better at it after a couple of weeks, but without my foot I thought everything was ruined.

Luckily, I have a buddy here in Beijing and she pointed me to Nerd Fitness. We joined a gym to compel us to get out of our houses and do things, and we've been going to spin classes 2-3 times a week since mid-July. I started doing the Angry Birds workout as a circuit in the mornings from the beginning of August, again 2-3 times a week (usually on opposite days from spin classes). For the last three weeks, I've been sticking to a low-carb diet which has sort of accidentally turned out to be Paleo (I don't know how to cook beans/lentils haha). Though, as I work as the nightlife editor at a magazine here, I have had the occasional big night on the drink, and on my birthday I had a LOT of brownies and tiramisu....

So far, I've lost almost all the weight I put on since being here, and I have another 8 to lose before I'm 100% happy. As for strength goals, at the moment I want to be able to do regular push-ups (I'm still on inclines) and at least one full pull-up. My buddy and I do flex-arm hangs on the monkey bars 3+ times a week 3x10sec, and we did a few negative pull-ups (pull-downs?) just today. So we're getting stronger!

But I fear the plateau. The last couple of weeks I have been totally unable to get out of bed in the morning to do my Angry Birds circuit, though I think it's because it's become a little boring to me lately. Tomorrow morning I'm going to lay out the Convict Conditioning first steps and place myself in the levels there, and I'm going to do more random incline push-ups, etc, to grease the wheels when I'm not doing full workouts. I do wonder if part of my unwillingness to get out of bed is part of the low-carb slump but, as mentioned, I still have alcohol, so it's not really that strict....

The biggest roadblock I've had is my work. It's strange for a nightlife editor not to drink (I cover bars, clubs and live music), and my being in the gym two weeknights/week and my low-carb diet means I'm home a lot of the time, but I really do love it. I'm having a hard time reconciling the two: my healthier lifestyle and professional expectations. Mostly, I've been avoiding them, and it's worked, but I know that avoidance isn't going to work long term.

So, now you know my entire fitness and health story! My buddy here is amazing, and I love her to pieces, but she doesn't have any weight to lose and she progresses much quicker through types of training. But I'd like to get some outside perspectives. I know I'm on a good path, I just want to stay there and not plateau and keep challenging myself... but not, perhaps, to keep up with my svelter, fitness-focused buddy. Except maybe when it comes to our pull-up training.

[Loren Wade]

Well, then. Welcome to the Rebellion! Sounds like an awesome journey! Who's your friend? Are they on the forum?

Let me know if I can help with anything!

[soleil]

Hello! Welcome! I'm a newbie, too.

I've been working in the arts for the last three years, so I feel I have a good understanding on the night life expectations you're going through. Especially working in marketing... Gosh they do love to drink. I've always found I've had to have a drink in my hand otherwise every minute someone will be asking if I want one or why I not drinking (it's like some awkward unnecessary small talk). I started just drinking diet coke - not my preference but it's normally the lowest sugar drink available, and it still looks as though I'm drinking. It's a bit stupid really, and I completely acknowledge that, but it's made me still be able to mingle and do all the networking etc that I've needed too.

There's a six week challenge starting up today/ tomorrow (the 24th) so maybe that will help motivate and keep you away from a plateau?*

All the best!*Also, how do you find loving in Bejing? I can't wait to travel there!

[alexifer]

@Loren - Thanks! My friend might be here, lurking on the boards, but she's not a super social fitness junkie. She devours a lot of reading material and is addicted to reddit's xxfitness, but I'm more the sort who likes to get on boards and post things to Fitocracy. Getting props from random strangers motivates me, somehow!

@soleil - I just signed up for the challenge! I've made some realistic goals, though they'll be tough to keep, I think. One of them was five alcoholic drinks per week, and while it sort of sounds like a lot on the healthy scale, it's going to be tough with work - every two weeks I have to find a cocktail to write up, and it's usually for a client so I tend to feel awful when I leave five sipped-at glasses on the counter. Anyway, it'll all be a good challenge. I really want to just drink soda water, but the markup here is nuts! I can get a can for ¥4.5 at the corner store, but at a gig it'll be ¥25, and they don't even put it in a glass with lemon in it.

Beijing is great! And while it's relatively easy to eat healthy (though some people just do not understand that you don't want a staple with your meal), the expat community is big into drinking, and beer is just so cheap in comparison to everything else. But on the whole, I love it! Ask me again when the long, cold, dry winter sets in and I might have something else to say, but really, it's a great city and if I hated it, I would have left long ago.

[Aqweei]

Sounds pretty awesome! I would love to be able to see some of asia. Congrats on losing a good bit of weight already and keep up the good work!

[alexifer]

All it takes is a plane ticket! Asia's a great place, though I've only been to the north-east of it. Haven't even done Bali.

[MuayTyson]

Hi Alexifer, I'm in Seoul at the moment nice to see expats representing!

[alexifer]

Hi Alexifer, I'm in Seoul at the moment nice to see expats representing!

Expats in Asia FTW!

[soleil]

@soleil - I just signed up for the challenge! I've made some realistic goals, though they'll be tough to keep, I think. One of them was five alcoholic drinks per week, and while it sort of sounds like a lot on the healthy scale, it's going to be tough with work - every two weeks I have to find a cocktail to write up, and it's usually for a client so I tend to feel awful when I leave five sipped-at glasses on the counter. Anyway, it'll all be a good challenge. I really want to just drink soda water, but the markup here is nuts! I can get a can for ¥4.5 at the corner store, but at a gig it'll be ¥25, and they don't even put it in a glass with lemon in it.

Whoa! Gipped!

Beijing is great! And while it's relatively easy to eat healthy (though some people just do not understand that you don't want a staple with your meal), the expat community is big into drinking, and beer is just so cheap in comparison to everything else. But on the whole, I love it! Ask me again when the long, cold, dry winter sets in and I might have something else to say, but really, it's a great city and if I hated it, I would have left long ago.

I really admire anyone who moves overseas. I'm not sure why the travel bug hasn't bit me... There are a lot of places I want to go, but I just can't get my finances in order and don't want to get myself into further debt... Anyway! I saw your goals - looks ambitious! Good luck.

[alexifer]

I really admire anyone who moves overseas. I'm not sure why the travel bug hasn't bit me... There are a lot of places I want to go, but I just can't get my finances in order and don't want to get myself into further debt... Anyway! I saw your goals - looks ambitious! Good luck.

Travel has always been important to my family. It's the one expense my parents always made sure we had room for, even if it was a drive to Ballarat to stay in my cousins' caravan. Plus, my parents moved me and my sister to the states when I was 12, so I caught not only the travel bug but the "live abroad" bug.

Don't be down about your finances. It's like everything on Nerd Fitness - make some goals, stick to them, get shit done! My sister got herself out of $6,000 debt by going day to day, little by little. You can do it too!