Greetings from sunny London

[Omega v1.1]

Hi, my name is Andy and I kindly request your permission to talk about myself for probably longer than necessary!

 

About five years ago I went from working in retail, where I was on my feet for about 8 hours a day, to working in an office where my time is spent mainly sitting on my arse. Over the years the nefarious combination of inactivity and easily available office snacks has contributes to me becoming, how to best describe it, portly.

 

 A little over a year ago my daughter was born seven weeks premature and a large portion of the next few months was spent eating microwave meals and going to bed late after visiting my wife and daughter at the hospital (in case you’re wondering, my little 3lb 10 girl is now a healthy one year old and kicking arse. She’s currently learning to stand by grabbing hold of on our TV stand and dragging herself upright- I can’t believe she’s doing better at pull-ups than me!)

 

Approaching December 2012, I realised that I was no longer even vaguely close to the underweight teenager I used to be (in both age and waist line) and I could no longer lie to myself that I could still squeeze into my old clothes; the real sting was when I couldn’t even pull one particular pair of trousers up past my thighs let only start the farce of trying to button them up. Something had to be done.

 

The first step was receiving a Fitbit One from my parents for Christmas which has inspired me to not only strive for achieving my 10,000 steps a day but also resulted in me taking the initially foolhardy but ultimately hugely worthwhile decision of taking the stairs at my office every day rather than using the lift.

 

7 floors!

 

142 steps!

 

At least twice a day as I now try to go for a half hour walk every lunch time!

 

I’m now doing an average of 22 floors a day and I’ve really noticed the difference it has done to my waistline and overall endurance. I recently had to run up the stairs to the station (another 78 stairs!) to catch my train and I was barely breathing heavily at the top.

 

Since then I’ve started running three times a week using the Get Running app on my phone (although I’ve had to go on hiatus after very recently developing Plantar Fasciitis, boo hiss!), am slowly but surely making changes to my diet, and have created a body weight workout routine based on Convict Conditioning that i can manage in around 20 minutes every moring that I’m thinking of adapting further to include bits from Nerd Fitness workouts.

 

As of this point in time (12^th June 2013) I’ve lost 23.2 lbs and my body fat has gone down 6.5% since the end of December 2012. My current goal is 168lbs (just 7.4lbs to go) with a body fat of 18% however that’s really just the start. My longer goals are to be able to run non-stop for half an hour (my daughter is weeks if not days away from walking and I really want to be able to keep up with her once she’s learnt how to run around like a maniac), successfully achieve one and then progressively more pull-ups, and maybe one day be able to do handstand push-ups.

 

I also desperately need to get a new job, preferably doing something that I really enjoy as I’d like to come home every evening and tell my wife and daughter about what a great day it was rather than moaning about it. Nerd Fitness has really inspired me to start levelling up my life and I know that I’m the only person who can do that so I’m now off to update my CV and look into how a can make my breakfasts and lunches healthier.

 

I have a twitter account chronicling my exercising that I promise I will actually start updating with more interesting tweets than just the automatic ones that come from the various exercise apps that I'm currently using and abusing ( @Andys168goal ), and I've started an album which I'll link to once I've figured out how to do that.

 

Thank you for your valuable time

 

Andy

 

 

[level250geek]

I assume that "sunny London" is supposed to be a joke, but to me it's funny for a different reason. When I was in college, my Honors class took a trip there. It was October, and we were expecting classic gray skies, light to heavy rain, and chilly wind. Instead, it was actually quite nice all week. Sunny, mild to warm temperatures, not a cloud in the sky; my classmates and I joked that nobody was going to believe we actually went to London, because all of our pictures showed us in short sleeves, looking very refreshed, with clear skies in the background.

 

I loved my time there, and I've desperately been wanting to get back to your city for a very long time. Maybe I'll manage it soon.

 

Welcome to Nerd Fitness! 

[Omega v1.1]

It's kind of grey outside at the moment but we actually had some sunshine a couple of weeks ago but that's probably it for the summer now!

Visiting London seems to have had quite an impact on you as discussing the terrible weather with strangers is a very London thing to do!

Thanks for your welcome.

[level250geek]

It's kind of grey outside at the moment but we actually had some sunshine a couple of weeks ago but that's probably it for the summer now!

Visiting London seems to have had quite an impact on you as discussing the terrible weather with strangers is a very London thing to do!

Thanks for your welcome.

Oh, it had a HUGE impact on me. On the bus ride back to the airport, our professor gave out some "awards." I won the "I Became British Overnight" award. :-)

 

He later explained that it was because out of all the students, I really threw myself into the culture the most. 

 

That trip has always been my favorite part of college, and London has always been my favorite place to which I've ever traveled. I still remember where I had the best fish and chips: Devonshire Arms. I saw Les Miserables while I was there. We went to Stonehenge, and on the way back stopped at a pub called the Harvester to eat. I ordered a bacon cheeseburger, forgetting for a moment in the difference in language and...let's just say it's still the best burger I ever ate.

[Omega v1.1]

He later explained that it was because out of all the students, I really threw myself into the culture the most. 

So you drank 15 pints of lager and hit somebody over the head with the empty glass whilst singing obscene songs?

 

That's the British way.

 

If you're in the UK but outside of England, you can always tell where you are by the specific words that the locals use to insult the English in their folk songs.

 

If you're in England but outside of London, the same applies but switch 'English' for Londoners.

[Guzzi]

Hi Andy

 

Just wanted to say hi to a fellow Brit. I'm from Scotland (and it's never sunny here) but I won't hold your Englishness against you

 

Sounds like you've already made massive improvements, way to go you!  Good to hear your wee girl's happy and healthy.

 

My brother's getting married in Epping in 3 months and I'm hoping to reach a major goal weight by then, but it's really my fitness that I'm focusing on long term as I suck at the moment.  Hope you keep going in the right direction.  

 

Leanne

[Omega v1.1]

Hi Leanne!

Good to know that there are other Brits around and I should let you know that I'm half Scotch on my fathers side (it's my English half who enjoys winding up Scots by calling them 'Scotch'!) but I've been told that my ancestors were all traitors and cattle thieves so maybe I should keep it quiet!

Good luck with the weight loss for the wedding, 3 months doesn't seem like long but you'd be surprised by what a change you can make if you keep focused and do yourself proud. The trick I found was to not go completely mental and try to many things at once but to just try to do some sort of activity everyday even if its just walking to the shops and back when you'd usually get the bus. I found going out for a stroll for half an hour during my lunch did wonders for my stamina and it would really help to clear my head and relax too!

Also, making changes to what you eat too so no deep-fried Mars bars and heroin anymore! (I've only managed to get up to Scotland twice before so most of my information comes from films and tv- but I'm pretty sure skank and fried food are the traditional dishes or has television lied to me again?)

If you need any encouragement or advice, these boards are brilliant for it and everyone is lovely. I've only been around for a week or so, but I'm feeling more motivated than ever and I've gotten some great hints and tips.

[Guzzi]

HaHa! I take it your ancesters were MacDonads then??? We live near Glencoe and I was a MacDonald before I defected and married a Campbell. :-0

 

And yes, it's true, some people really do munch on deep fried Mars bars (and don't forget the more traditional Deep Fried Pizza).  But not me, I promise! And I hardly ever do skank ;-)  

 

I'm really glad you've found it supportive and motivating.  I guess what I'm really looking for from the forum is some solidarity.  Although all my friends and family are encouraging about what I'm trying to do, nobody really gets it, you know?  I joined a crossfit gym last Feb, and that's been amazing.  I've made so much progress and I really want to tell everyone about it, but outside of the gym I can't really share my accomplishments.  After more than a year my husband still asks "which one is deadlift again?" It's a good job I love him so much or seriously, I'd have killed him by now. 

 

Anyway, keep up the good work.  

[Omega v1.1]

I've been members of other non-fitness forums in the past and in my experience you get back what you put in and that's very true of Nerd Fitness- everyone seems eager to encourage and help each other and therefore they receive the same back when they need it. Even just reading the posts in the Woot Room, especially the 20 second bezerker mode success stories helps me feel encouraged and determined.

 

In the spirit of that, thanks for posting nice things on my intro so I shall try to send some encouraging words your way too. I've noticed you've joined the 6 week challenge- my life is a bit hectic at the moment and I've signed up to late to do it myself but next time... Good luck with it, it looks like you've set yourself some attainable but challenging goals which I'm sure you'll easily manage if you keep focused and motivated.

 

Remember, you owe it to yourself to be the best you can be.

[WonderNatarella]

Hi Andy!

 

London has been sunny lately (maybe not today though )

[Omega v1.1]

Hi Andy!

 

London has been sunny lately (maybe not today though )

 

I've just been out for a quick walk and I can confirm that London is still very much sunny and hot!