Finally a Rebel

[teddyschnitzel]

Hello everybody.

 

I'm not too sure what all to post here, but I figured I'd get my first post out of the way.

I've been looking for ways to get in shape - including diet and fitness tips - for a long time. Over the past couple years during this search I have come across Nerd Fitness several times, read a lot of the articles (some more than once), and even discussed with some friends some of the things I read.

 

Well, last week I finally decided to join the rebellion. I have been given my first three missions and believe I may have found a place to help out with my lack of motivation. Today I signed up for the forums. I hope that I can draw inspiration from all of you in order to meet my goals.

 

A little about me...I'm 32, married, have 3 kids (between 2-9) and work an 8-hour per day desk job. When I was younger and a few kids lighter I used to be a lot more active, but it seems like time flies with all my responsibilities (I know, an excuse already). I have been going to a local gym for the past 10 or so months, but it has been irregular attendance at best. I am about 5' 8.5" tall and weight about 196 pounds. That's not good. About 2 1/2 years ago (while deployed to Afghanistan) I had all the time in the world to spend in the gym. I was down to about 183 pounds and looking a lot better than I do now.

 

My short-term goals are to start eating a lot healthier; cut down on sodas, coffees, energy drinks, fast/unhealthy foods, and find some discipline to apply to portion control. I love to eat, and when it's good I tend to over-eat. I also want to improve my overall fitness. Ideally I would like to improve my strength and endurance while slimming down to somewhere in the 180-185 range.

 

I'll leave it at that for now.

[Sambalina]

Hi Teddysnitzel! Welcome to the rebellion!

Whew, three kids! No wonder you feel you have less time than you used to

 

In terms of your goals, you've come to the right place! Are you thinking of joining in the next 6-week challenge? It starts in about a week and can be a great source of advice and motivation.

As for eating healthily, do you have any particular eating plan (not diet, but way of eating) that you'd like to follow? A lot of rebels enjoy the paleo style of eating and tend to find that it is a way of eating that naturally leads to portion control and weight-loss. It might suit your love of eating However, it's not everyone's cup of tea, and there're plenty of rebels doing other things too.

 

Welcome!!

[redcat]

Welcome!

 

Cutting down on Soda/Energy drinks & Fast food is a GREAT way to get going on your goals! 

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

Welcome to the rebellion and thanks for your service.  If getting to the gym is hard, why not find ways to workout that don't involve a gym? Do bodyweight workouts or get your own freeweights.

[teddyschnitzel]

Hi Teddysnitzel! Welcome to the rebellion!

Whew, three kids! No wonder you feel you have less time than you used to

 

In terms of your goals, you've come to the right place! Are you thinking of joining in the next 6-week challenge? It starts in about a week and can be a great source of advice and motivation.

As for eating healthily, do you have any particular eating plan (not diet, but way of eating) that you'd like to follow? A lot of rebels enjoy the paleo style of eating and tend to find that it is a way of eating that naturally leads to portion control and weight-loss. It might suit your love of eating However, it's not everyone's cup of tea, and there're plenty of rebels doing other things too.

 

Welcome!!

Thanks Sambalina. I do plan on joining in the next 6-week challenge. Sounds like it is a good way to feed of others' success and keep yourself motivated. Any recommendations?

 

I did something similar to Paleo a few years ago. It didn't involve as much discipline since there was a cheat day built in ("controlled portions" but ANYTHING I felt like eating), but I liked the results. I'm thinking of using a transition to Paleo as one of my goals

[Sambalina]

Oh yeah? Kind of like Time Ferriss' 'slow-carb' diet? That has one really over the top cheat day a week, and the rest of the week is this 'slow-carb' style eating. Some people find it's just amazing, and others find it doesn't work for them at all (as with ALL ways of eating!).

 

If you wanna check it out - maybe it's your thang

[teddyschnitzel]

Oh yeah? Kind of like Time Ferriss' 'slow-carb' diet? That has one really over the top cheat day a week, and the rest of the week is this 'slow-carb' style eating. Some people find it's just amazing, and others find it doesn't work for them at all (as with ALL ways of eating!).

 

If you wanna check it out - maybe it's your thang

Something similar to that. I don't know what it was called, but I learned about it while I was in Afghanistan for a year a few years ago. A few guys I was working with read about this diet that was designed to reduce body fat and build muscle mass. Since I had nothing but time and knew I would be in the gym a lot, I figured I would give it a try. It worked. I had to limit myself to no more than 30g carbs per day for 5 1/2 days, then for the next day and a half eat whatever I wanted. The "insulin spike" I got during day six provided a lot of extra 'juice' in the gym. I saw results quickly, but it was a difficult diet to maintain. I knew I wouldn't be able to do it once I got back to real life so I only did it while I was gone.

 

I'll see if Paleo is for me. I plan to slowly transitiion over the course of my first 6-week challenge and hope to be at least 90% Paleo by the end. At than point I'll know if it is something I can maintain. I'm leaving that 10% wiggle room for now due to budgetary and current lifestyle reasons. In the end, if it's good, I hope to get to 95%, saving 5% in case I need some kind of quick energy source.

 

What about you Sambalina? Have you gone Paleo?