My next 30 years...

[Nighner]

Ello rebels,

I've been following Steve's blog for a few (couple?) months now on my iPhone, as well as reading/researching other sites and sources. The reason I mention my phone is that it wasn't until I looked up the site on my iPad with a regular browser that I discovered these forums and the community here.

So now here I am. Female, 31, 5'6", 198 lbs.

I have been 40-80 lbs overweight for most of my life. Every day that I have been overweight I have wished that I wasn't. Every SINGLE day. I feel incredibly guilty about it, because I know that I could do something about it, but haven't, and that makes me feel like a miserable failure. As you can imagine all these years of negative self talk and loathing have taken their toll. I'm so ashamed of my failure to take care of myself that I feel like my very presence is a detriment to the people around me. Thus, I live in self imposed exile. No friends, no family. Just me, and my cats.

Now that is the extreme version of me that I try to keep hidden from others. My solitude, while being my shield has also been my strength. I can pull it out and achieve when I have to, in spite of my (often debilitating, but not always) social phobia.

Namely, I have managed to become self sufficient. I have a great job, I live alone, my own car, I bought a motorcycle when I turned 30, and other various materialistic items that make me happy. I pay taxes. =) I'm a functioning adult in outward appearance, but I'm not really living.

At various times in my life I have tried to change my attitude and behavior toward fitness. I'm at a point now where I feel like I've accumulated enough knowledge on the subject that I really have no excuse to not achieve that which I've pined for, for so long.

Last fall I bought a Concept 2 rower off of Craigslist and, while I haven't been as faithful to it as I initially envisioned, it was definitely the first concrete step in my battle plan (before I knew what a battle plan was). When I look back through my rowing logbook and see how many hours of my life I have spent on it, I am so grateful that I have it. (Permanently stationed right in front of the tv). Otherwise those hours would have been lost in more sedentary activities.

Fast forward to the relatively present day when I found NF. Now weight training (about two weeks in now) in combination with rowing and calorie counting have brought me from 207 lbs on Feb 1st 2013 to 198 lbs as of this morning. Whew, it's working. =)

I am eating between 1200-1300 cal per day, high protein, high fat, low cal. (I lost about a week when I went off diet, but I got it back together).

I bought a weight bench off Craigslist, some bars, weights, a 20 lbs kettle ball, and that about sums up my home gym. When I reach 160-170 lbs I will buy a dip station.

My current routine is this (every other day):

5 minute warm up on rower

Standing calf raises

Overhead press

Barbell squats

Planks

Seated calf raises

Bench press

Dead lifts

Wrist curls

Reverse calf raises

Bicep curls

Shrugs

Hip raises

Stretching

I'm still playing around with the order a bit, and the weight. I want to add some more body weight exercises like push-ups, dips and inverted rows. But I'm not quite set up for the last two. I figure I have plenty to keep me going for now, and after I reach some goals the added reward of a new piece of equipment (dip station, power rack) will be sweeter.

I know that being healthy and fit will change my life. There is so much I want to do. These next 30 years have just got to be better than the last.

::Steps down::

Carry on.

[Laureleye]

Wow, that's quite a start you've made.  Glad you found the community and joined. 

[Nighner]

Thanks, it was a long time in development.