Hey There

[AgentTrinity]

Hello!  *waves*

 

I'm a 25 year-old girl from Southern California.  I was a high school social studies/English teacher at a small private high school until I got laid off in November.  Now I'm substitute teaching and hoping to get hired on in a public school district soon (pleeeeease let it be soon).  I love to read and collect books.  I also enjoy writing science fiction/fantasy/whatever when the inspiration strikes.      

 

 I've been getting the Nerd Fitness emails for a few months now, but I'm new to the forums.   I've joined because I don't personally know a lot of women who focus on strength training and I'm starting to feel a little lonely.  I've been strength training for almost a year.  Before I started strength training, I was stuck in the low weight/high reps/lots of cardio trap.  I wasn't over-weight by any means (130 lbs. at 5 feet eight inches), but I was soft and not very strong.  Now I'm about 140 pounds and I feel a lot more solid.  I actually have biceps now!  I focus on big muscles group exercises, like squats, deadlifts, pull-ups, and others.  I mainly work with barbells, dumbbells, and my own body weight.  The only machine I use is the Gravitron (which, let's be honest, sounds like the name of a Transformer) for pull-ups because I can't lift myself.  I can hang, for sure, but I can't lift.  I love strength training.  A lot.  I try to fit a day of yoga in each week because I've found it helps with random muscle cramps.  For cardio I like to walk/run/row.  Sometimes I do a spin class once a week.  

 

I'm a picky eater, and I'm not into inhaling a bunch of junk food, so I eat a lot of clean, simple meals.  My stomach can't handle massive amounts of grease or alcohol, so I avoid those.  I also try to avoid bread because I've found that, weirdly, my sinuses feel better when I'm not eating it a lot.  Sugar is my downfall and chocolate is my personal food demon.  

 

There it is and here I am!  Working out has become a hobby for me, which I hope will never go away.  I want to focus on eating better and actually being able to do some for-real pull ups by the time my birthday rolls around in October.  And upping what I can lift in general without hurting myself.    

 

So hi!

[JeffreyJames]

Hi *waves back*

 

Welcome to the community. Congrats for the improvement you got so far. You really did a great job by throwing out junk foods and alcohol. I can see you win your food demon. You are at the right place

[Guzzi]

Hey Warrior woman. Great to see girls who lift weights. *thumbs up* I think you'll find exactly what you're looking for here. Have fun!