Coming out from underneath my stone

[nixe]

Hi guys, My name is Veronica and I finally decided to unlurk. I have been around for a while now , mostly reading the blog and found it's finally time to join the rebellion properly.

 

Last year I decided to get a grip on my health and from last june to now I have shed 25 kilos bringing me from severe obesity to 6 kilos over normal weight. Fitnesswise I started it out with cycling and swimming. I have to admit that I don't enjoy most sports. I don't like crowds and I like it much less to do sports in crowds. The only sports I enjoy are swimming, martial arts and fencing. Unfortunately I felt too unfit to join any fencing club after I had gained so much weight (also I have knee injury that would require me to be extremly careful,which cuts the fun). So last summer I decided to cycle half an hour to a nearby lake after work almost every day and go swimming for an hour whenever it was possible.

 

This worked very well until the weather became colder. I tried to go to a swimming hall but I hated the crowds there so much that I started to skip workouts and cut them short. This was when I started looking for alternatives and found strenght training and nerd fitness. This site as well as some books about bodyweight exercises really helped me. Suddenly there was a short concise workout that did not require nice weather or much time. And I loved the way I was building muscle suddlenly.

 

Naturally I also changed a lot about my eating habits. Again I learned a lot from this site and the paleo diet (even though I am ultimately a bit of a sceptic). I managed to avoid some big mistakes like eating to many carbs and too little protein and once I kept that in check and tried to aim for a slight caloric deficit the kilos started to melt.

Ultimately counting calories helps me a lot. I know it's not the point, but I really tend to overeat if I keep it unchecked. Somehow I always manage to cheat myself about how it doesn't matter how much I eat once I start. Counting with an app like myFitnesspal helps me to retain a realistic view on what I am eating and it motivates me to go for an afternoon walk after I have eaten more than is necessary.

Dietwise I try to eat healthy but not to get too fanatical about it. I don't want to quit chocolate, but I can do eating only small amounts once in a while instead of a bar every day. I eat mainly vegetables and fruit and try to avoid noodles, bread and other easily available carbs (again I don't completely exclude them, but bread twice a week is better than every day).

I have the most trouble with keeping up the protein level. I disagree with the Paleo idea that meat is the answer to everything. I'm not vegetarian, but I care where my meat comes from and I don't want to eat hormon or antibiotics fed animals. Finding trustworthy organic meat and fish is often difficult and expensive, so I also don't eat meat every day. I try to make it up with legumes, organic dairy products and so on, but somehow every protein source has a health drawback it seems (see soy and phytoestrogens and so on).

Still losing weight and building muscle works out very well for me with this diet at the moment.

I would like to take it to the next level this summer, when I can get back to swimming and combine it with strenght training. I would really love to manage that chin up and also to get officially into the normal weight range. It's only six more kilos and after that I would like to mainly focus on fitness goals and just look at the scale once in a while to see where it leads me.

 

So much for fitness, now lets move on to nerd:

I am a massive nerd, always have been. I am a research scientist and my favorite hobby are roleplaying games. I especially love a german game called "Das schwarze Auge" and Call of Cthulhu. I also love Fantasy and Sci-fi tv-shows a lot (my all time favorite being Babylon 5). I also really enjoy comic books though I'm not that much into the traditional super hero genre, I more enjoy series like "The Unwritten" or manga like "20th century boys".

 

So, uhm yeah, that's me at the moment.

[Tanuki]

Welcome!

I've done a similar path - treating diet as more of a lifestyle change (ie: stop eating a whole box of scones just because I'm stressed/bored) and an educational project (learning how many calories is, approximately, in food X or Y, or good sources of protein etc) rather than a strict regime, learning that there's still a place for pizza and enchilladas, just within the budget and sensible portions. And bodyweight workouts as I'm a stay-at-home-parent with no babysitters

Some protein suggestions : I boost the protein with Greek yoghurt, houmous, side dishes like a chickpea/feta salad, and eggs. I'll have a glass of semi-skimmed milk if I'm still under. I agree that meat can end up expensive, and personally I hate the resulting washing up, but I do roast chicken breasts at the beginning of the week for salads and snacking.

Have you thought about doing the 6 week challenge? It's a fun way to track your goals. I know I tend to stick with things a bit better if I'm wittering about them on the internet (sign of a true nerd, there.)

[nixe]

Thank you for the welcome!

 

Yes, learning about food is really a big part of getting on. I used to think I knew what was healthy and what wasn't but ultimately I really had to read up to actually make sensible joices that also don't suck the joy out of life.

Greek yoghurt sounds very delicious and I love chick peas!

 

The six week chalenges look very interesting. I have not fully comprehended how it works yet, but I think it could be just the thing to keep me motivated by sharing my experiences with others (which is why I decided to delurk).

 

ETA: Ah, now I found the instructions and got it! Yes, the six week challenge sounds just like something for me.

[StillWaters]

*Notices your avatar* We should talk sometime.

[Truetopath]

Welcome and best of luck!!

[nixe]

@StillWaters: Absolutely! I thought Korra would be the perfect avatar here (first because she IS THE Avatar and also because she is one of the few female characters who has some descent muscles on her)

[Silverwitch]

Hi there! Welcome to the rebellion, and congratulations on having lost incredible 25kg! *thumbs up*

 

By the way: Paleo isn't all about meat, and meat is not the answer to everything (I agree!). Being Paleo for at least two years already, I eat more vegetables than ever before. If you need something to replace noodles, get a spiralizer and turn some zucchini into awesome noodles! There's a lot of options out there besides meat!

[nixe]

Hi there! Welcome to the rebellion, and congratulations on having lost incredible 25kg! *thumbs up*

 

By the way: Paleo isn't all about meat, and meat is not the answer to everything (I agree!). Being Paleo for at least two years already, I eat more vegetables than ever before. If you need something to replace noodles, get a spiralizer and turn some zucchini into awesome noodles! There's a lot of options out there besides meat!

 

Thank you! I'm glad that this big bulk is off already. I wonder how I was able to carry so much around for so long and everything seems a lot easier now, even stuff that has nothing to do with moving my body around.

 

And yay about the veggies! I also started to eat way more veggies when I changed my diet. I started to by my stuff at the local farmer's market and it really helped to live a bit more with the seasons instead of just going to the supermarket and eating the same imported veggies and fruit all the time. I discovered that I like stuff, I had never even considered before. This Zuchini noodle thing sound very interesting. I absolutely have to try it.

 

At the moment I try to get my protein from different sources. A bit from meat, a bit from dairy and eggs, a bit from legumes and such. I'm really grateful, that you pointed towards the fructose-hyeruricemia link in the other thread. I started to research it and now I am way less worried about overdoing it with the protein.