"Husky" Grappler

[Bokni]

I am recovering MMO gamer. World of Warcraft has been a persistent distraction in my life since the game was released. I have more playtime logged in Azeroth than I will ever admit publicly. Several years ago I was able to break free and started getting more physically active and a friend of mine introduced me to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ). I absolutely loved it! I wrestled in high school and many of the core concepts and movements came very easy to me. BJJ became the over-arching motivation to eat healthy and exercise. I dropped a significant amount of weight (70+) in a short period of time, started competing and placed first in several local BJJ tournaments.

Then I got a new job, and moved away from my gym.

I started looking for BJJ gyms in my area as soon as soon as I settled into the new house. But, since it was around the holiday season, looking for a gym turned into “I will start after the holidays”, then I said, “I will start after I get lasik”, from there it was excuse after excuse for the next three years. My sheer number of excuses for not eating healthy or exercising is pretty impressive at this point. I slipped right back into my old habits, staying up late playing WOW (and all the other MMOs that have been released), eating fast food (sometimes multiple times a day), and just refusing to exercise. I gained all the weight back plus some extra for good measure.

A month ago I finally got off my butt and found a local BJJ gym and signed up. The first day was absolutely brutal; I was gassed out just doing the warm-up and couldn’t finish a single sparring session. Since then I have cleaned up my diet and classes are getting less painful. I am down 15 pounds and already feeling much better.

I really like the goal orientated way Nerd Fitness is organized. Using the “leveling up” terminology is simply brilliant. My overall fitness goals for the next year include finishing a Tough Mudder with my brothers in May and start competing in BJJ again in the fall of 2013!

[Laureleye]

Glad you finally got to the end of your excuses and joined up. This is such a great forum. I see you're all set with a guild so you'll be ready to go when the next challenge starts. Welcome to the rebellion.

[MamaMis]

I started looking for BJJ gyms in my area as soon as soon as I settled into the new house. But, since it was around the holiday season, looking for a gym turned into “I will start after the holidays”, then I said, “I will start after I get lasik”, from there it was excuse after excuse for the next three years. My sheer number of excuses for not eating healthy or exercising is pretty impressive at this point. I slipped right back into my old habits, staying up late playing WOW (and all the other MMOs that have been released), eating fast food (sometimes multiple times a day), and just refusing to exercise. I gained all the weight back plus some extra for good measure.

I am right there with you...congratulations on finally getting up and just doing it!! I start my adventure tonight (after re-convincing myself that there was no logical reason to wait until January 1). Can't wait to see your advancements. Good luck!!

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

Welcome to the rebellion! Glad to have you aboard. What are some of your goals for the next challenge?

[rtalencar]

I always like rolling against folks who are lighter than me. I just lay on their head and choke them out.

[TheRedWriter]

I am recovering MMO gamer. World of Warcraft has been a persistent distraction in my life since the game was released. I have more playtime logged in Azeroth than I will ever admit publicly. Several years ago I was able to break free and started getting more physically active and a friend of mine introduced me to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ). I absolutely loved it! I wrestled in high school and many of the core concepts and movements came very easy to me. BJJ became the over-arching motivation to eat healthy and exercise. I dropped a significant amount of weight (70+) in a short period of time, started competing and placed first in several local BJJ tournaments.

I really like the goal orientated way Nerd Fitness is organized. Using the “leveling up” terminology is simply brilliant. My overall fitness goals for the next year include finishing a Tough Mudder with my brothers in May and start competing in BJJ again in the fall of 2013!

Welcome to the Nerd Fitness Rebellion! Reading your story reminds me an awful lot of my own; years ago I joined a Tae Kwon Do Studio during a very rough time in my life. I lost a lot of weight, and after a few months I was there for an average of 20 hours a week, like a machine. Then I hurt my leg, couldn't walk for almost two months, gained the weight back, and ultimately moved away from my practice studio. Now I'm on the look out for a quality Aikido practice in the Sacramento, CA area, but in the mean time I'm focusing on general fitness with an emphasis on body weight exercises and heavy lifting.

Nerd Fitness has a ton of resources that can improve the quality and benefits of your workouts, and support to help you when your willpower is flagging. I wish you the best of luck in your journey, and hope to see you around!

[Bokni]

Thank you for the warm welcome!

The goals I was looking at doing for the next 6 week challenge were:

Goal 1) Attend 18 BJJ classes over the 6 weeks. (+2 DEX +2 STA +1 STR)

Goal 2) Do yoga 12 times during the 6 weeks. My flexibility and core strength are currently atrocious, and I think doing some time on the yoga mat will help. (+2 DEX +1 STR)

Goal 3) Continue eating “cleanâ€. IE: Whole foods- veggies, lean meats and fish, fruits, and no refined carbs/sugar (+2 CON, +2 CHA)

Goal 4) Turn in all my course work on time for my 2 college classes. (+3 WIS)

I would like to eventually get in some other exercises as well. Metcon stuff, swimming, running, and strength training, are the types of activities I would like to add in the long run. However, since I am so terribly out of shape adding all that stuff right away will either burn me out, or get me injured.

I think these are ambitious enough to be a challenge, but measured enough to be achievable. What do you guys/gals think?

I just need to come up with a scale for each to assign my points. How do people usually score goals revolving around diet?

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

You have some very good goals for your first challenge. As an option, you can gauge goals 1,2, and 4 as percentages, eg. 16/18 BJJ classes is 89% of your goal so B+ if that's how many you do. Goal 3 you still need to find a way to gauge how well you are doing at eating clean, that is, how much of a hit do you take if you eat pizza one night? You may also want to program in some non-paleo days like Steve's 80-20 suggestion. All in all, I'd say you're ready for your first challenge.