Err, HEY

[Mica]

Right, so I discovered Nerd Fitness thanks to one of the paleo people I follow on Twitter - posted a link to one guy's success story, which contained a link to the ever-amazing Staci (my new powerlifting superhero), and holy golly goodness me that is inspirational.

I am a 28-year-old female university student from Canada, and paranoia prevents me from being more specific than that I'm studying theoretical physics, hopefully that is a decent nerd qualifier. I'm fairly into science and a little bit of math too (I actually find my math homework fun).

Always been fascinated by bodybuilders and transformationists, but been unsuccessful sticking to any program/diet for longer than a few weeks. THIS SUMMER THOUGH, I have stuck to exercise 3-6x/week for 14 weeks now (yes I am counting!) and I started tracking calories everyday for the last 2 weeks. Why am I tracking calories? Because I've been following a paleo/primal diet for the better part of the last 4-5 years and had ZERO weight loss.

So, right, GOAL ONE: fat loss. I'm 5'6'' (168cm), 140lbs. (about 64kg?). I don't know what my body fat % is for real, only what my at-home self-testing calipers tell me, and that's 32.25%. I'm going to get down to 18% body fat, it might take me 6 months but damn I am doing it.

I've been averaging between 1400-1600 calories per day (some days btwn 1200-1300 and one day I did an intentional "splurge" and amassed 2600). For the first 8 days of my new "diet", I shed 3.5lbs! But in the 7 days since that time, I have shed ZERO lbs! Sigh. I really don't want to cut my calories below 1400 for most days, because at 1400 I feel like I'm just managing to be satisfied all day. (Prior to tracking I was eating a lot more fat and less carbs, and maintaining/slowly gaining.)

I lift weights 3x/week, aim for cardio 6x/week (20 minutes on weight days following weights, 35 minutes on its own days; longer durations leave me feeling really wasted). I work out as hard/long as possible without leaving myself feel really crummy after (which sometimes I do - it can feel so good to push myself during the workout but I don't realize how hard I went until after when I feel really unwell lol).

My own unique challenges: Crohn's disease (remission), endometriosis, Meniere's or something like it (seriously that one is mysterious but always there), and GAD. I also have battled binge eating/food addiction (if you subscribe to that) and then during 2006-2007 I was semi-anorexic (getting dx'd with Crohn's apparently made me afraid to eat - but I am DEFINITELY NOT AFRAID OF EATING ANYMORE). I mostly keep things in check but you can bet I feel pretty tired nearly all of the time.

So, as long as that may seem, it's a bit of a snap shot of who I am and where I'm at now. I'm hoping to check out a lot more around the site and the forums, and maybe even NOT LURKING quite so darn much. I'm very introverted (even on the interwebs) so watching from the shadows is a hard habit to break.

*waves*

[bamfitude]

congrats to you for being so consistent for FOURTEEN WEEKS! That is so rad. I'm just starting out too and I hope I'll be able to say the same thing soon!

[Mica]

congrats to you for being so consistent for FOURTEEN WEEKS! That is so rad. I'm just starting out too and I hope I'll be able to say the same thing soon!

Yeah, this is a BIG DEAL for me!! I'm never consistent! Well, I guess now I am lol. I am SURE you are capable of anything you set yourself to doing