A Monk-Aspiring Adventurer

[SchtickFighter]

Hey there! This community seems really fun and supportive so I thought introductions were in order! : )

 

I'm a 25 year old social work student and human services professional. I grew up in a family of gamers but am not much of one myself aside from occasional whiskey and Halo nights, and I kind of wish I owned an original Nintendo for some serious Tetris and Mario showdowns. I'm a nerd for music of all sorts, social politics, horror and science fiction, working with plants, wilderness adventures, and whiskey, and I appreciate all breeds of other nerds. : )

 

I'm a hard femme with a lifetime love for acquiring scraped knees and grass stains while laughing and having a good time. I see physical fitness as an incredible mode of self-challenge and growth, but I don't like competition when it comes to others. If I'd define a race for myself, I'd be a half-orc who has learned how to balance and transform a lot of past anger and destruction through years of yoga and meditation and self-reflection, and now I'm ready to start channeling myself into more 'aggressive' powerhouse activities that my body feels naturally inclined to as another positive mode for change.

 

In my family, I come from a long line of obesity, Type-2 diabetes, strokes, and heart disease and it's been my life's work to avoid those avenues. Thanks to the Standard American Diet, my weight rollercoastered throughout most of my life on the side of medically "overweight" up until recent years when I started learning about food intolerances as they related to my individual health and vitality. Choosing to support my digestion and immune system and over a time adopting a mostly Paleo/SCD diet changed so much within my body and sense of well-being, as did starting to bike-commute to campus twice a week. For once I have consistent energy for regular challenging workouts and am building muscle at a rate that astounds myself (and my pants)! I'd like to 

 

While my body builds muscle quite easily, it does not take easily to cardiovascular challenges. I'm a well-controlled asthmatic and I also live at 5300 ft and do a lot of recreational activity above 7000 ft, so maybe those things are bigger factors than I know. In a year and a half of consistent jogging, I've been unable to jog a mile without stopping to walk. Maybe running just isn't my thing, but I'd like to challenge my lung capacity and cardiovascular fitness through high interval training. Bike-commuting at least a couple of days a week has already started in this direction. More hills! More sprints! I need to stop my smoking and sedentary boyfriend from being able to out-hike me.

 

I also just started taking a once a week Muay Thai class and I'm loving the hell out of it but am also totally a bit intimidated. I've been wanting to do this for a while but the dedication and commitment it takes to improve and be a "fighter" is a bit out of my league of experience, and I'm not totally sure if I want to train to fight or not, though this isn't a requirement with the gym. But I've tended to "do what I feel" when it comes to my fitness goals and physical activities, and although this has brought positive things like slow but long-lasting results, it also has downsides, like making excuses to stay in the comfortable zone. I just don't want to burn out nor do I want to let intimidation get the best of me, so I think it's important to keep my workouts full of variety and to continue approaching Muay Thai as something I'm doing to enhance the rest of my physical life instead of seeing it as something I'm training for. Staying up on yoga, bodyweight muscle training, getting out rock climbing, trying new sports like snowboarding, skateboarding, or even parkour, trying CrossFit- those are all important parts of my current outlook. But goals. I have to pick some. 

 

TLDR; Goals:

Be more goal-oriented.

Join a 6 week challenge as soon as I can articulate some of these short term goals.

Minute and a half long handstands, staying grain-free, and attending weekly Muay Thai classes, and giving more weekly time for friends might be part of those goals... 

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

Welcome to the rebellion. I'm athsmatic myself and working to control it. Your TLDR has good goals for a 6 week challenge, work on handstands, eat grain free, attend _ Muay Thai classes over six weeks, and spend X amount of time with friends. Go ye therefore, start a thread on the monk board, and challenge thyself.

[JessOfAllTrades]

Welcome! It sounds like you've already gone through quite a health journey. I also love you motivation and enthusiasm. Definitely go start a six week challenge thread - Major help in becoming more goal-oriented.