Prologue

[Choto]

I just found Nerd Fitness recently, and I'm posting this as a way to try and prod myself into getting involved.

The basics:
Almost 31, 5'10", a bit over 350lbs.  Single dad (they live with me) of two great kids.  Grad student.  New recruit (or whatever term you give to the n00bs around here).

My story:
I was the kinda chubby kid growing up.  Discovered a very active college life and Kung Fu during my freshman year and got into decent shape for the first time in my life.  Made a couple major bad life choices my sophomore year, and a long series of terrible choices multiple times a day to try to cope, and wound up like this.  Recently a friend of the family lost her husband -- dude showed up to work one morning, had a heart attack, and died right there on the office floor.  You can probably guess the cause.  Hearing about this scared the crap out of my kids.  It also bothered me. 

 

Why I'm Here:
I'm here because if I don't do something, I'm going to wind up like this guy I know.  And if I die, my kids will have to go someplace...let's call it "unstable."  

I'm here because I suffer from depression, and I've reached the limit of what I can do with meds and therapy.  I recognize the sick, twisted feedback loop that I have running between my body and my mind, and I'm desperate to do something to break it.

I'm here because thanks to the above mentioned meds and therapy, I actually want to live after several years of not caring one way or the other.  There are things I want to do and experience, but I can't do any of them with the body I currently have.

 

Short-term Goals:

1.  Familiarize myself with the site, its various terms (guild leaders, assassins, warriors, etc), and do the research now while my boys and I recover from being sick all spring break (flu for me and the younger kid, asthma for the elder).
2.  Put the nutrition/food info to use immediately while I concentrate on walking 30 minutes for 5 days each week.  Probably seems small, but to quote Po from King Fu Panda, "I'm at level zero."

3.  Once I can handle that, I'm going to start working through the beginner bodyweight workout.  I've checked it out already and I know that I can't do it right now, so it'll probably take a few weeks to work up to the point where I can get through that once.  To quote Chucky from Sons of Anarchy: "I accept that."

 

Long-term goals:

1.  Make it to my first check-in goal of 210lbs (my weight the last time I felt healthy) and re-evaluate from there.
2.  Be able to chase my kids around.

3.  Buy/ride the hell out of a motorcycle.

4.  Have a good sparring session again (was training to participate in local, amateur MMA scene when my life went off the rails).

5.  Go skydiving after my youngest turns 18.
6.  Try Parkour (if I'm not too old and brittle by then).  It looks like a lot of fun.

Epic Destiny goals:

1.  Visit Norway and Ireland.
2.  Fail to come home from either Norway or Ireland for at least three years.

3. Coast to coast motorcycle trip.

4. Dive off a cliff (preferebly into a large body of water).

 

[Laureleye]

You have got a great plan and a wonderful motivation for getting fit.  You'll also be setting a great example for your kids.  When I joined up about 8 months ago I was pretty depressed and the activity and better diet has really helped; we've cut my meds down to nearly zero and I'm going to start tapering off them entirely.  You've got the right attitude; anything you do will be better than what you were doing before.  If you can't do 12 reps of something, you'll build up until you can. 

 

We just began week 3 of a challenge, and you're welcome to join mid-stream.  Click on the CHALLENGE FAQs for more info.  Feel free to send me a message if you need some help; just hover over my name and you'll see the option.  Good luck with your goals.