Well, this should be interesting...

[riotgrly]

I am one of the least social people I know. (Of course, logic would dictate that being a fairly small group...)

I've never been a fan of social support forums, endless blog reading, and group efforts in general.

So I ended up here how? Well:

School aptitude tests indicated I should be a librarian or a nun. I ended up a program administrator in human services, which is closer to both of those than you'd think, especially the telling people "no" part. Note also that none of the occupations noted require the ability to move. Being fairly uncoordinated and raised by two pretty sedentary nerd parents, I didn't move much. Been lucky my whole life with a decent metabolism and a fairly healthy diet by instinct alone-I just don't enjoy eating a lot of the stuff that is really crappy for you. Now, in my 40s with 4 kids, several things collided. 

 

1. I remarried a man who had never smoked and hated smoking. I was in the process of trying to quit (with actually fairish success) when we got together, so this wasn't actually too bad. 
2. Said man also likes to eat and to see me eat. Combined with quitting smoking, I put on the stubbornest damn 15 fatass pounds right around my waist I've ever seen. In the past, I was able to move a little bit more, drink a little more coffee, eat a little less, and they'd come off. Not this time. I am the heaviest I've been in my life except when I was 9 months pregnant. And not a good muscular heavy. A fluffy heavy.
3. I began seriously trying to actually work out-joined a gym, did machines, elliptical machine at home, Tae-Bo, P90X, and actually started to run. Toning has occurred but no weight loss and negligible toning/tightening in the gut. However, I stuck with it and decided the weight is just taking a little while to move, and wound up running my first 5K ever, kind of on a dare from my kid (it was to benefit her school). I finished (goal 1) and didn't come in last (goal 2). I was amused that my time was precisely 42:00 minutes. 
4. I continued to be frustrated but stuck with reasonably regular workouts and actually flirted with the idea of completing a Tough Mudder. One of my two closest friends in the world, who is CONSIDERABLY more social than I, added me to a group on FB for Tough Mudders "in training."
5. I fussed good-naturedly with her about my general disdain for joining things, hatred of group supports and teams blahblahblah. She apologized good-naturedly, reminded me I need to get out more, and left me in the group, where I reluctantly started to talk to people.

Four days later, she died suddenly and unexpectedly at the age of 45. Massive stroke. I'm definitely not warm and fuzzy, and that whole situation broke my heart and my brain a bit.

 

I continued to work out with the goal, now, of absolutely completing the Tough Mudder coming here (to VA) in June, and blaming it, good-naturedly, on her. However, I still have the same problems with minimal changes occurring. Logically the solution is that I am doing it wrong. One of the members of the Tough Mudder group on FB sent me here.

The solutions and ideas posted here are logical and match a lot of what I instinctively did when I was younger that actually worked very well. It looks like a good place to be, with good people in it.

So hi. Glad to see you all. Strange where the universe will take you.

 

Tasha

[Laureleye]

I'm sorry for the loss of your friend.  My sister died at about the same age and that's too darned young.  As someone that got in trouble in school for not talking, I was a little surprised to find myself here too, but here I am.  You are not too late to join the challenge that started yesterday; click on the CHALLENGE tab and go to the FAQs.  I recommend you get the beginners guide to healthy eating; you'll find it if you look at the free resources on the NERD FITNESS tab.