Salutations from NF's newest Canadian Druid

[yogiyogiyogi]

Hello!

I am joining Nerd Fitness so I can find some support in my quest of weight loss and strength building - with a vegan twist!

I was once into lifting weights and gym life in general, but my interests dramatically switched in late 2010 to meditation and yoga. I experienced the expected muscle loss over the next year - no big deal as I no longer saw the point of spending my time in fitness center. It was during this time that my diet switched to vegetarian, and more recently, to vegan.

Talk to any experienced meditator and they'll often tell you - contrary to popular opinion - that meditation does not make us "happier" at first. It often forces the practitioner to confront their inner demons that had been previously repressed. I am experiencing this right now in a major way. It's even more intense due to my current work becoming a counsellor at my local university - every day in class we are encouraged to be raw, authentic and vulnerable so as to transcend the ego and become more self aware. (Yep, it's a hardcore program ) Unfortunately, I haven't been dealing with my issues very well, and have found myself falling in and out of depression and dealing with a binge eating disorder for two years now. My body is unhappy.

I meditate 1-2 times daily - this is my passion. I love to rock climb, and I am a yoga instructor - those are my two main forms of exercise. I climb around 3 times per week, and do yoga 5-6 times per week (I have a medium-intensity practice). I also walk about 5km, five days/wk, to attend school. I feel like this is a healthy level of activity, but I want to kick things up a notch so I can lose the belly that has sneakily appeared, and hopefully fight off the depression. Most importantly, I want to stop binge eating by paying a lot of attention to my diet.

My goals:

- Get defined abs by this summer!

- Stop eating refined sugars!

The steps I'm going to take:

- Regular body weight workout regiment, 4-5 days per week.

- Going to bed and waking up earlier. (Shooting for 10pm and 6am)

- Make sure I'm eating enough calories (vegan); whole foods only.

- Keep climbing; yoga-ing, and meditating!

- Honour these rules, even if it means avoiding certain social activities or going home early.

I am hopeful that this site can aid me in my transformation and be witness to my progress. Thanks for reading.

[Skip66]

Hi yogi,

Welcome, what part of Canada are you from? I'm from sunny California, but visited a Vancouver and Toronto recently. Granted that's only one tiny sliver of what the Canadian experience is all about, but I really enjoyed it and look forward to visiting again.

Steve

[yogiyogiyogi]

Hey Steve,

Thanks for the welcome. I'm from Southern Alberta. Much closer to Vancouver than Toronto, but still a 20-hour drive or so. I love Northern Cali, I've spent some time in Santa Rosa/Sebastapool/Berkeley and totally loved in. West coast for the win -- it's the same in Canada, stick to BC for good times!

[Skip66]

Nice. Yeah, I enjoyed Vancouver a lot more. More vibrant. Looking forward to visiting again

[Erick the Red]

The moderator for the druid group in the six week challenge boards is also a yoga instructor. There are lots of yoga enthusiasts and dabblers here.

I hope that you get involved and find the support that you can use.