Well Hello There

[PhoenixRisen]

Hello Rebels, 

 

My name is Josh and I'm a 24 year old microbiologist residing in Annapolis, MD (but born and raised in Pittsburgh, Go Pens!).  I stumbled on to NF from the lifehacker chat yesterday and have been reading it pretty non-stop since.  I'm a hair under 6' and sitting at about 220 lbs. I would love to drop about 40 pounds and maintain that weight.  I got down to about 190 my freshman year in college, but not the healthy way (cigarettes, stress, and skipping meals).  

 

I already have a gym membership and have been going about 3 times a week since last summer, save a sickly December.  I've worked on changing my diet for the past year, with some success.  My girlfriend and I began the "17 Day" diet which includes three 17 day cycles of no carbs, some carbs, and then a very low carb maintenance cycle.  The maintenance cycle is supposed to supplant whatever diet you had before the start of the diet.  In reading the intro to the Paleo diet yesterday, I found that it is similar to the first cycle of the diet.  I think I could manage a mostly Paleo diet save for milk and beer/alcohol; cause who wants to be the wet towel who wont go drinking with friends because of a diet?  After the first two cycles of my current diet, which I've lost 8 pounds with previously, I'd like to move towards the mostly Paleo diet.  
 

As far as my exercise goes, I played football in high school, which at least gives me a good base to start with, especially with form.  I had gotten away from using free weights in college because all of the small space my college weight room had dedicated to free weights was filled with meat heads doing curls and looking in the mirror.  Because of this I switched from free weights to machines, which I know, are the devil.  After the Rage Against the Machine article as well as an article on deadspin earlier in the week, I'm in the process of shifting my workout back to free weights and I'm going to try some body weight exercises as well.  

 

Lastly, I really would love to quit smoking.  I smoke around half a pack a day and just can't quit the damn cancer sticks.  The patches and gum don't work for me; it's more the habit of going outside, taking a break from whatever I'm doing, driving, walking, etc.  If anyone can help me out with advice it would be awesome.  

 

Otherwise, I hope to carry the motivation I've gotten from reading the site for months and even years to come.  Just a question:  When I level up in life, do I get that satisfying "DING"?

[Laureleye]

You betcha. If you haven't got any equipment, you can do the angry birds, hotel, or beginner's body weight in your room; you'll find all three in the free resources, just click the NERD FITNESS tab above.<br /><br />As I've never smoked, I can't offer anything from personal experience. But if you're mostly using it as a mental break, maybe you can go for a walk on your "smoke break" instead. In 10 minutes, you can walk 1/2 at an easy pace. I do this at lunch and come back feeling 100% better.<br /><br />Welecome to our fitness rebellion.