Becks, Introducing herself

[IslandGirl_Becks]

Hi Rebels!

I'm brand new to Nerd Fitness, and finally joined because this challenge just happened to fit perfectly with a personal challenge I started last week.

I was never in either good or bad shape growing up- I hiked, rode horses, sailed, climbed trees, and started jogging a little my senior year of high school. Evening trips to the gym kept me sane between AP classes and (academic) extracurriculars, but also discovered stress/binge eating and put on a significant amount of weight by graduation (#140+). At the beginning of the summer after high school, I went to the library to get a book on running because I wanted to boost my range a little. As I checked out, my librarian told me "you could run a marathon. I used to run marathons, even won one in Hawai'i. You could do it!" I put myself on a 16 week training  plan, managed to blow out my IT band a few months into my first semester, but got back on track and finished the marathon the next summer. I lost my senior year fat during the first year in college, but throughout the summer was also dealing with a combination of eating disorders. 

The next school year I was climbing, eating well, running, and took a weightlifting PE class. It was great! I transferred schools my junior year and helped a buddy train for a marathon in addition to continuing to climb. I also managed to trim every ounce of fat off my body. At Thanksgiving my junior year, I measured myself at a scarily-thin 116 lbs. Senior year the stress piled on again, as did the pounds, but they came back off when I moved to Austria for 6 months. Joy! Weight when I moved back to the States: #122, walking-fit from backpacking around Europe!

Enter the downhill phase of my life. I got a desk job almost immediately after I moved back, but was rather lost. After falling in love with the Austrian lifestyle, nothing really seemed to matter... which was expressed in months of putting any and all edible substances in my body. It was all downhill (less a few weak attempts at change) until 4 months ago, when I joined Crossfit (#140+). My eating has cleaned up, and I would love to think that most of what I have put on is muscle, but I am also at the heaviest I have ever been: #150.

 

My long-term goals are:

return to my ideal weight of #135 (my healthy low weight #120+#15 muscle!)

eliminate sugar and processed foods from my diet

make it through the entire crossfit warm-up without using assistance bands for dips or chin-ups

finish basic (101-level) courses in Dutch and French

Execute the plan for the Next Adventure, beginning with TESOL certification

 

I'm looking forward to sharing life's Grand Adventure with you all!

 

Keep bucking the tide,

Becks

[porqueno]

Crossfit looks crazy!  A friend of mine just showed me a video this evening (then again he's hitting the gym big time, different level to me right now)

 

Where you thinking to teach English?

 

I did my TEFL  many moons ago and volunteered teaching in Ecuador for a bit, great experience

 

I hope you get back to Austria soon!

[IslandGirl_Becks]

I have had so many people tell me that Crossfit is crazy, but the secret is that it's infinitely scalable. I work out with one couple who are in their 80's, and take it all at their own pace. Then there's the lady who's 2.5x my age and absolutely whips me... Wherever you're at, crossfit will meet you there and challenge you to reach the top. You should give it a try! Most gyms will let you come visit/check it out for free!

I would teach english anywhere, but my first love is always going to be the places I lived (Bremen and Graz). I would also love to teach in the Czech Rep, the Basque Country, South America, Korea... Ecuador sounds like a blast! Were you at a university or private school?