Hello NF! It's time to get serious.

[eliz]

Hi guys! I'm eliz.

 

I've been reading this site for a while now and have joined in advance of the next 6 Week Challenge. I haven't decided on my exact goals yet, but hopefully the next week and a half will give me a chance to narrow them down and to get a better handle on my starting point.

 

I was recently re-reading the success story about Saint, and I relate to his situation a lot. I have been "getting in shape" for almost nine years now. I am 5'3" and started at 142 lbs and a size 10 during college - no working out, no concept of dieting, lots of drinking and terrible general health and body image.

 

Over time I have discovered a lot of exercise that I love, I have learned about nutrition, cleaned up my diet to a large extent, and have run two marathons. My weight now ranges from 115-125 (I weighed 103 at my smallest in 2006).

 

During the past year or two my age has started to catch up with me and I'm not seeing the results I used to from plain old calorie restriction and a more active lifestyle. I am less concerned with the number on the scale at this point, but I would like to reduce my body fat and start looking like I'm in great shape again. I am frustrated that even in spite of paying so much attention and energy to calories, my weight and body composition have barely changed.

 

I am also just now returning to running after a stress fracture this winter that kept me from exercising for nine weeks. Right now seems like a good time to set some goals and get focused. One problem I anticipate dealing with is just having too many goals at once and trying to change everything suddenly. It will be important for me to find a realistic balance between rebuilding my running fitness, making sure to strength-train enough, and tweaking my diet in small but important ways. That's a lot to juggle!

 

Leading up to the challenge I will be finally buying a full-length mirror (my old apartment had one built-in and I haven't bought a new one since last August) and learning how to use a skinfold caliper. I'm hoping these things will help me hop off the bathroom scale for a while.

 

I'm looking forward to getting to know you all and hopefully meeting some folks who have similar goals, backgrounds and lives. Here we go!