The Simple Robot reporting for duty

[thesimplerobot]

Morning everyone, so today Sunday 24th November, its also known as stir up Sunday because this is the day people start making Christmas cake. the significance being that i love Christmas and all things that go with it. So obviously today would be the day that i start my quest to get healthy thus denying myself of most of the things i love about this time of year 

 

I have come here for a couple of reasons, first and foremost i am fat, not a nice thing to accept but i am so i may as well deal with that so i can move on from it. i weigh around 16 stone or 224 pounds or 101.605 kilos or 3584 ounces whichever may be your preference.

 

How did i get to be where i am now? well, i used to be a fairly athletic kid, i used to be a pretty decent swimmer, a fairly fast runner, and at one point i was in an elite gymnastics squad with vague whisperings of olympic tryouts, when i was 14 i had fairly major spinal surgery which i fully recovered from but one of the major side effects of this was i gained an incredibly affective excuse to do nothing, i stayed pretty healthy until i was about 24-ish but when around then i started to get the odd twinge in my lower back in cold weather i went to see a doctor, who (not THE Doctor Who) told me that i had arthritis as a result of the operation - this later turned out to not be true and was actually just a generic way os saying general wear and tear as a result of surgery - this is when the excuse really kicked in and i stopped.... everything, i stopped running, swimming, rock climbing, moving at any pace above a slow amble, i may as well have been cast on the walking dead! So, a decade has passed i am 34, i don't have kids yet but would love to have them, and i am afraid, i am down right scared that a) i might not be able to have them and   i won't be fit enough to play with them if i do and c) more morbidly i will die before they grow up (i want to have grandkids one day!)

 

In the summer my wife and i took up hiking and it was great, but as with most things, we just stopped. it could've been because of the weather changing or the house needed tidying or the moons ascension in relation to mars was a bit iffy at the time. Anyway, yesterday we took the dog up a fairly harmless hill that three months ago i could have sprinted up (well walked rather swiftly up at least) yet half way up i was out of breath. NOT. GOOD. ENOUGH!

 

so, fellow rebellions, opposition to the empire and any Jedi that may be out there, i am here to make a difference. i want to change my relationship with food - i have that oh so common "i am miserable and fat because i eat, i eat because i am miserable because i am fat" problem - i also want to change the way i work, i don't want to be out of breath taking my dog for a walk, i want to start my own rebel alliance and have kids and i want to fit into clothes better, Sheldon off The Big Bang Theory looks so much better than Comic Book Guy off The Simpsons!

 

I have a sneaking suspicion that my own dark side will torment me and tempt me to give up, so my fellow rebel scum i am going to need your help, i will do my best, but i may need help to make sure my best is good enough. i will do what i need to do and i will follow your guidance. Let's do this thing!

 

 

[Kytty]

Some of those excuses sound rather familiar. Here's to poking fun the dark side by kicking is arse Good luck on your journey

[thesimplerobot]

Some of those excuses sound rather familiar. Here's to poking fun the dark side by kicking is arse Good luck on your journey

good luck to you too fellow n00b

[Liberator]

I have a sneaking suspicion that my own dark side will torment me and tempt me to give up, so my fellow rebel scum i am going to need your help, i will do my best, but i may need help to make sure my best is good enough. i will do what i need to do and i will follow your guidance. Let's do this thing!

Hello fellow newbie!

 

I am not from England but spent a summer in York for a college internship and fell in love with the city and the dales and had an amazing time in the Lakes District. 

 

It sounds like you have the motivation but you need goals and a plan to deal with "your dark side". Personally I think creating small goals that you can reasonably accomplish is way more effective than big ambitious goals.

 

For example, I eliminated high calorie drinks like soda, fancy coffee drinks, sports drinks, etc... I only drink hot and cold tea and an occasional cocktail or wine. I was drinking a lot of calories replacing those drinks with a lower calorie option was fairly easy and helped me drop pounds. Sometimes just replacing one food (like pizza) for a healthier option can help to revamp your diet by building on each success and encourage you to try other changes.

 

Exercise can be developed this way too. Create a goal that is so easy you have no excuse not to do it, something that only takes 15 minutes to accomplish.  I am working on squats and pushups. My goal is to do 25 squats and pushups 3x week. It is so easy it takes me under 10 minutes to do it. I am getting really consistent with it and end up doing a lot more other exercises because the starting is the hardest part.

 

Slow and steady progress and you will be sprinting up those hills and climbing mountain tops. You can do this!