Let's get down to business!

[TerraNik]

I stumbled across the NF website this morning somehow and have been devouring its nerdy goodness for the majority of the day!

My fitness journey has been a fairly long one, with many ups and downs. I had always been active as a kid/teen and played numerous sports at various representative levels. Once I finished high school things changed and I got lazy. I decided to make a change about 6 years ago and started running to get fit. During my first session, I remember doing the beep test out of curiosity and could only get to 3-point-something before feeling like my lungs were melting inside my chest! After lots of cardio-training, I got relatively fit and was pretty happy with things until the end of 2010.

Some huge changes happened in my life at that point and 6kg (12lbs) in a really short amount of time (a nasty breakup will do that!). I of course gained some of that weight back but then I decided to seriously look at my health/weight. I joined one of those 12 week body challenge programs and eventually got down to roughly 21% body fat by cutting calories and exercising like a boss. I would eat 1200 calories, but burn over 1000 calories a day. I was starving myself and over-training. I ended up with an overuse injury and am now unable to run without significant pain. That, coupled with stress/emotional eating lead to another weight gain!!! 5 weeks ago I decided to get down to business!

So where am I at now?

I've almost transitioned to 100% Paleo, but still eat some dairy (milk) and grains (cruskits!). The scales haven't really changed much, but my measurements have dropped significantly in the past month. The scales are so deceiving... I am the same size as I was back in 2011, but weight 5kg (10lbs) heavier! I am SO close to throwing out them out!

Meanwhile, I am trying to decide where to go with my fitness goals. I was previously training for a half-marathon, but now that running is out of the picture, I have had to re-evaluate things. So I have ditched (most) cardio and will only do the occasional spin or cardio class at the gym. I've started lifting heavy things and am even toying with the idea of starting CrossFit (though I'm a little too intimidated at the moment!). Ultimately I want to get down to under 20% body fat by April 2013 and be able to do (at least) one chin-up, among other things!!!!!

So that's me... I'm really looking forward to getting involved!

[Laureleye]

Glad you found us. Look around and find a workout that interests you. Theres a new challenge starting soon so you joined up at the right time

[Hiraedd]

Hey TerraNik, welcome! I always have a chuckle when people talk about throwing out their scales...it's only doing what you told it to do -- measure your mass. It has no idea how to tell if your body composition has changed (which it obviously has), so don't be too hard on it! Instead, take some pictures and measurements so you have other things to compare! Good luck on your journey, and here's hoping you can find some other things to be passionate about other than running -- there are so many options out there just waiting to be discovered.

[TerraNik]

Thanks for the warm welcome, guys

Hey TerraNik, welcome! I always have a chuckle when people talk about throwing out their scales...it's only doing what you told it to do -- measure your mass. It has no idea how to tell if your body composition has changed (which it obviously has), so don't be too hard on it! Instead, take some pictures and measurements so you have other things to compare!

Thankfully I have been doing that! The scales will probably stay around, but they will definitely now only be used in moderation.