Hunting the White Whale

[darth]

Hello everyone

I´ve been following Nerd Fitness for about a year now, and some things have happened that have been the final push I needed to complete my leveling up and working hard to enjoy a better life.

I´ve been stuck on 220 pounds since last December (I´m 25 years old and 6´ 2´´BTW), my diet has been an on and off affair since then, not gaining weight but also not losing any and I am fed up with that.

I had some problems with booze in the past which I thankfully have put behind, I am not completely sober but I no longer need alcohol to numb feelings or feel better about myself, I ended a destructive 4 year old relationship which was keeping me down and I said screw you to the rat race and started my own business, which is not thankfully on it´s course to something big.

However, in recent days my new girlfriend had to go to the hospital because of severe abdominal pain, resulting in a week long stay. Thank God she´s ok now but it made me put things in perspective and really take a look on what I want from life. I also finished reading Lance Armstrong´s "It´s not about the bike" book and I am completely sure this is the time for me to step it up and quit messing around.

So, I´ve decided to lose the last 30 pounds keeping me from the weight I want to reach and quit smoking for good. I am now swimming everyday and lost 5 pounds already in week and a half, planning on getting on some strength training in the next few days. I also cut down on the smoking, going from 12-14 cigs a day to just 8. Using the livestrong quitting app I plan to reduce to 0 on April 30.

I will enter the next 28 day challenge and I will succeed. I never want to see myself in some hospital bed suffering and I want to be the best damn men I can be.

And why Nerd Fitness, well, I have a Darth Vader hoodie that goes extremely well with my darth Vader sneakers.... and that´s just the tip of the iceberg, I´m sure the rest of my geekiness will come afloat eventually.

My mantra for this new life is Moby Dick, my perfect life is my White Whale. Which I will chase down relentlessly and obtain, or die trying.

Cheers everyone

[Brometheus]

Welcome to the board

I like the fact that you figured out exactly what you wanted to do...good job! Now break it into steps and figure out several goals for the upcoming challenge!

[Knightwatch]

Dude, helluva first post. Welcome! It's good to have you here.

[Alethea]

Darth man, pleasure to meet you! Sounds like you have the will to make some seriously awesome changes. Speaking as a former smoker, I approve! What kind of strength training are you planning to do? Weights are definitely a favorite of a lot of people here, but it's amazing what you can accomplish with bodyweight exercises. Do you want to be an acrobat or strongman?

[darth]

Thank you Knight & Bear, it´s good to be here for sure.

And Alethea (I love your nick BTW), I have he will to make the changes needed to live a better life and I believe the support of all you brothers and sisters will help quite a bit.

Now, for strenght training, I played football back in high school and college (I´m from Mexico BTW) and I know my way around the gym, however I have a real screwed up shoulder from a training injury, it keeps poping out whenever I try to seriously come back to lifting weight, so, I decided to give body weight a try. I have been doing push ups and crunches for the last 2 weeks, about 250 of each weekly, but I will get more serious about it and try my luck with different exercises. Any advice on what should I try first?

Cheers