My introduction, or: How I became a fitness nut

[lostintranslatn]

Hello, fellow rebels! I'm Charlotte. New to the forum, but I've been an avid NF reader for a couple months now. Thought I'd introduce myself and give a little history about how I became a fitness nut. (Warning: It's somewhat long-winded!)

When I was a kid, I was never interested in sports. My dad puts a lot of stock in them, though, and he enrolled me in soccer and basketball at the Y at a young age, determined that I would learn to think like a team player and pick myself up when I fell down. I think I did learn those things, maybe, but more so I learned that I do not like sports. Competition does nothing for me. Exercise and physical exertion do even less--or so I thought.

I was always a relatively slim girl, despite becoming a Y dropout so early on. This is thanks in part to being what I used to think of as "freakishly tall" (six feet), and thanks even more to inheriting my mom's pretty awesome taste in food. We both love vegetables (our favorite food group) and lean meats and healthier traditions of cooking, like Japanese and Indian food.

I coasted on these good fortunes until adulthood, when I packed on a few at college (hello, beer) and a few more in grad school (hello, Ramen noodles) and a few more at my desk job (hello, sedentary lifestyle) until I found myself suddenly out of shape. By 2009, at age 23, I was 195 pounds, eating virtually all carbs and sugar and no protein, never exercising, staying up too late reading graphic novels, often drinking a bottle of wine a night, smoking a pack of cigarettes per day. Around this time, probably from the weight gain, I developed excruciatingly severe knee pain that pretty much guaranteed my butt's indentation on the couch.

It sounds crazy, but it honestly never hit me until just this very moment how appallingly out of shape I was. At the time, I just felt like shit and was used to it. I deluded myself into thinking this was fun. I shudder to think where I might have wound up, had I continued down that path. Luckily, I didn't. I began a two-year journey that, little did I know, was chugging straight toward fitness-ville.

The first important change in my life was getting a dog. Suddenly, I was on more of a routine schedule; I was getting a little (not nearly enough) exercise each day walking her; I had a reason to get out of bed each morning. Soon after, I met the man who is now my husband. While falling in love and feeling totally comfortable and happy didn't do much for my weight loss, it did inspire me to quit some other bad habits. We decided to commit to life before committing to life together, and we quit smoking cold turkey. (If any of you out there are still struggling to quit, I HIGHLY recommend this book. It did wonders for helping us beat the addict mentality.)

Around that time I started jogging on the elliptical for about an hour a day. I never saw any benefits from this on the scale (I still had a fork that couldn't be outrun), but I did notice something else wonderful: without the cigs, with the new workouts, I was starting to feel...good! Working out gave me something to look forward to each day, and the excitement of bettering myself was seductive.

Unfortunately, one skipped day at the gym turned into another turned into another, and soon I stopped going entirely. My knee pain kept on with a vengeance and my fiance and I continued to drink too much and eat too little...of the healthy stuff, that is. My weight stagnated at 195 pounds, which still wasn't as heavy as my feeling of total frustration.

Then, just before our wedding, I managed to eke out a ten-pound weight loss that I achieved miserably through Weight Watchers (after failed attempts at Atkins and Slim Fast). The processed, sucralose-y foods this plan perpetuated tasted awful, and I felt even worse. Of course, the weight came right back after the honeymoon.

And then, enter Nerd Fitness. My brother, an über-nerd to whom my own nerdiness pays homage, introduced me. It was love at first click. The take on health and fitness and diet that I found here totally revolutionized my perceptions. The excitement I felt in my previous failed attempts at exercising came flooding back, and I began having huge revelations. I got back to the gym, still just to do my jogs on the elliptical at first, and started learning about diet. My husband and I gave up drinking, except for a couple (two max.) on very rare occasions. I started physical therapy for my knee pain. I was excited.

One of my nerdy passions are super heros (an appreciation I've gained largely from my husband). My favorite part of a superhero movie is the inevitable training montage--you know the one. Getting fit, acquiring a costume, testing new equipment, music thumping, just generally becoming a badass. I suddenly realized my life could be one giant training montage and the notion made me dizzy. (In a good way!)

I began the workouts in the Rebel Fitness Guide and continued using the elliptical (can't explain why...I just like it). Observable improvements in my strength, speed, and endurance presented themselves for literally the first time in my life and I was hooked. I had never worked out with real, actual goals in mind (run three miles, do a pull-up, do 20 real push-ups...) instead of the one, overarching, totally depressing, incredibly vague notion of just plain "losing weight."

Meanwhile, my diet completely changed. I found myself returning to the healthy roots my mother had instilled and getting away from the disgusting, cheap food I'd migrated toward. The simple Nerd Fitness philosophy of eating lean meats, fruits, vegetables, and nuts resonated in me like I was a bell that had been rung. Seriously, all of my confusion (which was massive) about healthy eating dissipated with that sentence. Before, I didn't know who to trust--were vegetarians right that meat was bad? Were low-carbers right that you could eat all the cheese you want? Were vegans on to something by shunning dairy? Were other girls right to virtually starve themselves all day? Finally, I knew who to trust--my gut. I wasn't ready to go full Paleo and I'm still not sure I want to, but these foods (lean meats, fruits, veggies, nuts) are the foods that make me feel good. Eating them makes perfect sense. I had been limiting my daily calories to about 1400, but when I switched out the low quality cals for these much better ones I discovered I was struggling to even eat that much. I had found rich, healthful foods that were delicious and satisfying. Jackpot! I still have dairy and grain in moderation, but I know to rely on the good stuff for most of my nutrients.

Between the revolutionized diet and the obsession with working out, the weight is finally, reluctantly coming off of me. I’m amazed; it’s like magic, except better, because it’s science. All of my attempts at weight loss in the past, which so obstinately failed, had seemed like the end of the world--and they were the end. But this is a whole new world. (Cue the Aladdin scene!) I'm currently down 18 pounds from my peak weight, which was in March.

I'm still facing fitness struggles. My knees aren't cured, but they're improving daily thanks to strengthening my legs. I still have a lot of weight to lose. I still have a lot to tone, and a *lot* of strength to gain.

And I can’t wait!

Nice to meet y'all!

[Siha]

Welcome (officially) to the Rebellion! Looks like you have a good idea what you're doing and where you want to go! Can't wait to see you get there!

[Damy]

The take on health and fitness and diet that I found here totally revolutionized my perceptions.

It's funny how everything changes with the right kind of knowledge, isn't it? Welcome to the rebellion

[bigm141414]

My knees aren't cured, but they're improving daily thanks to strengthening my legs

Man I remember my knee pains when I first started out. They kept me from doing a lot of stuff and I kept thinking "Bigm, it's just genetics, everyone in your family has bad knees and you have them too." Then I dropped weight and started lifting weights, and my knees don't really crackle anymore. The biggest turn around I saw was when I started doing body weight squats (then eventually weighted squats). Just flexing them and getting them used to the motions of bending with load made them really happy, which in turn made me happy because my knees didn't hurt. It is a great feeling let me tell ya.

So with that, welcome fellow nerd!

[Lucía]

Observable improvements in my strength, speed, and endurance presented themselves for literally the first time in my life and I was hooked. I had never worked out with real, actual goals in mind (run three miles, do a pull-up, do 20 real push-ups...) instead of the one, overarching, totally depressing, incredibly vague notion of just plain "losing weight."

I totally get this. I never lost any weight when I was trying to lose weight. I lost it when I was trying to become a better runner. Eat a donut, suffer through the run. Eat a chicken salad, have a great run. Suddenly healthy food was the only thing I wanted to eat. I guess for me weight loss wasn't a convincing enough goal on its own.

Welcome to the Rebellion! Good to have you on our side!

[lostintranslatn]

Thanks for the welcome, everybody! It's awesome to be here.

[Mama T]

welcome! loved reading your story, and can't wait to read updates on how life is now that you're a [health] nut.