Help Me Survive the Zombie Apocalypse!

[hblyne]

Hi!

 

I'm Holly, I live in the UK, I'm an author and mum of two small mischief making boys as well as lifelong, committed geek (fantasy and sci-fi, roleplaying, computer games <3 ).

 

My weight has yo-yoed ever since I was a teenager. Now I'm in my thirties and am finally sick to death of feeling run down and tired all the time. I want to eat right and be fit. I have always enjoyed running, don't shoot me, on a treadmill lol! Running outside freezes my lungs, burns my throat and generally hurts like hell. But I like to plug in some earphones and play sweet rock music and just zone out while I run and work up a good sweat. I've been doing interval training for the last few weeks. It's been hard work at times but I'm generally enjoying it. I don't always have regular childcare, so I struggle to stick to programmes that require me to leave the house and I have decided that I want to add strength training that I can do at home.

 

I came across Nerd Fitness while researching parkour for my latest novel and decided I really wanted to give it a try myself but I definitely need to improve my strength in order to do that. So I'm trying Dakao's strength training for parkour programme that I found on the NF blog. I basically fancy being capable of escaping the zombies when they come.

 

As for food, I am a little too partial to cakes, chocolate and chicken burgers. I've dipped in and out of paleo light for the last year plus (I say light because I've never attempted to remove all grains, just gluten-containing ones) but really struggled to make the change from such a high carb "western" diet. I don't generally eat dairy as my youngest has a dairy intolerance and is breastfed, so I cut it for his benefit. I'm not sure why I'm unable to make similar changes for myself - that's some expensive months in therapy right there I suspect

 

So yeah, that's me in a nutshell.

[Valerius]

Welcome to the rebellion! I must say that We all do things for our children we would never do for ourselves. I've wanted to get fit for a long time, but it took my son saying he thought I was a super hero for me to try to become one. Children = best.motivation.ever.

[hblyne]

Hi, thanks for the welcome

 

Sounds like a strong motivator you have there. I reckon I need to focus on setting a good example to my kids and being able to keep up with them. ATM I find I lack the energy to run around with them much and I want to change that. They both refuse to eat any vegetables, having previously eaten a pretty varied diet, and I think I need to increase the amount and variety in my diet so that they have an example to follow in that.

 

I'm trying to decide on my first challenge and goals etc. There is an awful lot on this site to take in, so right now I'm reading a lot and thinking things over. I need genuinely attainable things as I don't cope well with setbacks, I think a run of successes will help motivate me on to make bigger changes in both diet and exercise.

 

I like the look of the Beginner Bodyweight Workout but will have to start slower on the push ups as my upper body strength leaves a lot to be desired right now! I did 2x10 3/4 push ups the other day and was still so sore this morning that I couldn't even do 1 must remember the tortoise and the hare, better to take the time to build strength and get form right etc than to push too hard on the first day and be crippled for a week!

 

If anyone has any tips for starting out on this journey, they would be most welcome.

[Valerius]

Every journey starts with the first step.  I have two rambunctious boys of my own. and my oldest doesn't like to eat his vegetables either. So what I do is eat my veggies first as an example to him, and slightly exaggerate how much I enjoy them. If you're having trouble with push ups start by doing knee down push ups. and work your way into full push ups. You're not alone when it comes to set-backs. and nothing beats the power of good momentum. I personally started changing with stopping my soda intake. I used to drink pepsi and mountain dew non-stop.  I cut those out of my diet first and with that alone I lost 5 lbs. Then I started to drink less tea and more water. then I cut snack cakes out and now I am eating like 80% paleo, and have lost an inch to my waist line nearly every week for the past 6 weeks. 

i do a lot of strength training at the gym, and HIIT on my off days from that. I'm hoping by october I can look like a spartan from 300. So every little bit helps, and everyone here is more than willing to help out and support each other.just keep at it and remember every little change is really a huge victory!!

[Guzzi]

Hey! *fellow Brit waves frantically*

Good to have you on board! In regards to your pushup pain, don't worry! It's only ever the first couple of times that you get that sore, it gets easier each time from here on in, I promise!

I'm just wasting time looking through the forum just now, and to tired to write out a proper reply (head injury, bleugh!) but if you start a battle log or a challenge thread send me a link and I'll follow along. Us Brits got to stick together you know.

What part of the UK are you in?

[hblyne]

Well done on the inch loss Valerius! Nice goal to have. Thanks for the tips. I love Pepsi too. I go through phases with it, years ago I decided to cut it and went months without a sip but it crept back in and I drink it most days now. So that's a really good place for me to start too.

Hi Guzzi! I wondered how many (few?) Brits would be on here. I'm in West Yorkshire. How about you? I'm going to start a challenge log as soon as I hammer out the details

[Guzzi]

I'm all the way up north in Bonnie Scotland, but I like to keep tabs on the other UK nerds. There's actually quite a lot of us! Check out the link below, there's some other nerds down your neck of the woods

http://rebellion.nerdfitness.com/index.php?/topic/5475-ok-you-brits-make-yourselves-known/page-15#entry1024073

Also we're organising a weekend long meet up (in the Scottish highlands) in October if you fancy an excuse for a few days away. I understand it's probably difficult for you with young children, but I wanted to extend the offer anyway.

It's posted in the International section of the Meet Ups forum - the Fort William Fall Festival of Ferocious.... and lots of other words beginning with F

[Jettica]

Welcome fellow writer, Brit and newbie.

I won't be one of the first to fall in the zombie apocalypse but I still need some improvement. With you on this!

[Robpocalypse]

Welcome! There is alot of info to soak up but people are extremely helpful. Plenty of time to absorp the info, it's not going anywhere!

[hblyne]

Thanks folks

 

I'll check out the meet Guzzi, thanks