Third times a charm

[hmaitken]

This is the third time I am introducing myself to this forum. 

 

The first time I was fit and healthy. I was a dancer and had a great diet. I didn't really know my motivation for being here. 

The second time I was recovering from an eating disorder ("diabulimia" - it nearly killed me) and ptsd. I was scared of going in that direction again and ran away from the forums. 

So now here I am, about a year later. My state of mind is the best it's been in a decade.

 

I am currently working as an ESL Teacher in the South of South Korea. Before jumping ship to Korea, I had recently left a burgeoning career in Computational Chemistry. I am hoping that this opportunity will give me the chance to consider my options, live a little (or a lot), learn a new language, and even earn some savings. I'm doing great things here, starting an NPO, writing a text book, making children smile :-) It's a great life and I'm planning to stay at least another year. 

Unfortunately my body is not as healthy as my mind. When you count starvation mechanisms, getting used to a 1-9pm work schedule, and living in a new country, I've managed to become over weight. Not significantly I'm 80kg and 174cm but when your healthiest is closer to 63-67kg it's a fair amount. 

 

I think I'm finally starting to figure out what works. I had tried exercising in the mornings like I did back home but I was often too tired or busy getting things done that I used to do in the evenings, so now I exercise after work and I find that I sleep so much better! I was really surprised by this because exercise used to make me so wired at night. 

I've started running. I don't follow a specific plan. My natural fitness let's me run fairly far so I listen to my breathing and walk when I need to. At the moment I run/walk for a bout half an hour and then walk home. I've started doing crunches while I watch a movie or listen to podcasts at the end of the day and juggling (a surprising workout!). I'm thinking I'll get some free weights next time I'm at the mart to add some variety.

Any way, any words of encouragement would be super greatly appreciated. I'm looking forward to becoming a part of this great community :-) 

[Bearlee]

Wow, what great things your doing! I wanted to teach ESL in Japan when when I was younger, but never got selected by the company I applied to. Sorry to hear about your problems in the past, but you've learned from it and can now move on and try to do better. What really caught my attention in your intro is you talking about being a dancer. I have a niece that is into ballet. But I sometimes worry for her because she is only 11 years old and eating vegetarian. Thankfully her step-mom has been a vegetarian for many years and is helping her. And don't worry about finding your groove right away, it took me months to find what and when worked for me. Just don't obsess over the details move in the right direction and make tweeks along the way. Can't wait to see what more your going to do. Annyeong.

[Chris-Tien Jinn]

Welcome!!!  If you keep working at it, you will succeed!!  Let us know how we can help!

[hmaitken]

Thanks for the encouragement :-D 

 

Bearlee as long as your 11 year old is keeping her carbs up she should be fine :-) Dancing burns through your short term energy stores like crazy; especially if she is training seriously. I would have to do a mini carb load almost every night to keep from completely crashing!

[Arya Sapphire]

Welcome hmaitken! 

 

I'm so glad that you're in a great state of mind and ready to tackle any obstacles. Having gone through an ED, I know it takes a toll on every aspect of your life. 

 

I really hope I'll hear from you during the upcoming challenge! It will be my first and having a friend to cheer on would be great. 

[Silverwind]

Hello and welcome! This isn't the first time I've done the "new rebel introduction" either, so it's great to see someone else who isn't afraid to come back and get on track

 

Hope you're planning on joining us for the upcoming 6 week challenge!

[Bearlee]

I've recently been rewatching Steve's epic journey video and Where the Hell is Matt video and I started to think about your post. These videos show people traveling around the world and exercising/dancing. Have you ever thought about making a video of your exploits? It might be fun running around Korea and dancing in different areas or with your students. Or even just strapping a camera to yourself while your running to show your friends and family what it's like running in a foreign country. Just some thoughts. Hope I'm not being too forward with the suggestions.