Too pleased to be here

[EvanDoes]

Sup rebels!

My name is Evan. I am a musician living in Philadelphia, PA.

I endured a harrowing health-scare this spring, and dropped thirty five pounds in three months thusly making me 195. I have since gained a lot of that back, which I reckon is a healthy thing for a body to do.

I found, though, that I really appreciated having a less cumbersome vessel. Not to mention the unprecedented attention I've gotten from prospective partners. Some of whom have become actualized partners!

So where to start...

I would LOVE to be a very capable, smaller person. I'm 28 years old. I've always been out of shape, but I've been very overweight since I was about eighteen years old. I topped out around 250 around the age of 21. I'm 5'11". I've been (very slowly) losing weight since. Five step forwards, four steps back, dontchyaknow.

I am a professional musician. I've found that by not having a balanced muscle system, I've developed some curious injuries. It seems the muscles in my back are all out of wack and asymetrically-developed from playing guitar and bass. I can feel things shifting in my back regularly, and I also have intermittent trouble with my shoulders, neck, elbows, and most commonly, wrists. I feel somewhat confident that developing the muscles around these joints will be beneficial to my playing.

I have a couple issues which cause me concern when working out. Firstly, my left arm comes about 30 degrees shy of straightening out due to having broken the elbow a couple times (I went through a klutzy few years). Secondly, my knees make an awful lot of crunching noises when I do squats. Sometimes they like to give way when I'm climbing steps. It used to be much worse. I'm hoping that squats will help, but I fear that they will worsen the situation.

I have a few erm... gastronomical hang-ups that I've been working on. I am historically a nervous eater. Being historically nervous doesn't help. I also enjoy alcohol an awful lot. I'm hoping that with guidance and support of the rebellion, I can really straighten out my eating/drinking behaviors.

I think that's everything! Am I supposed to post pictures of my me?

https://www.dropbox.com/s/byph3kf7ueakytn/2014-06-23%2016.20.08.jpg

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/x1icxuyib89h694/2014-06-23%2016.19.55.jpg

 

(I'll figure out how to post in-line images soon, it seems.)

 

Thanks for having me!

Evan

[EvanDoes]

Gotta admit. I was expecting a warmer welcome than this. Onward and upward.

 

I'm presently looking into macros to help me get a handle on what I'm supposed to be eating. I actually pulled an intercostal doing pushups last week and it got much worse recently so I haven't been working out, which is definitely the worst part of this as I was getting really into working out.

 

Anybody home?

 

<3,

e

[Killer]

Well as a fellow newcomer--welcome! I think everyone must be busy for the weekend. I've lost 45+ pounds (30 more to go) simply eating a diet with no sugar, grains or potatoes and keeping portion size under control. So things don't have to be complicated. I'm now embarking on an workout  journey so I don't end up thin but weak.

 

Injury's a bitch. Good luck.

[Korvida]

Hi there!  Welcome!  I'm new here too and haven't even posted a "Hello, my name is _____" yet myself so kudos to you there!  I am not experienced enough yet with strength training or knee problems to give you much advice on the crunching issue but that definitely sounds like something that needs to be carefully considered when planning a workout routine.  A larger friend of mine did some very serious damage to his knees by going too hard too soon with squatting exercises and now his injuries prevent him from working out that way (so he tells me).  Definitely don't want to go down that road!!  I have dabbled a fair bit in pilates and based on that experience I wonder if perhaps it would be best for you to start off with bodyweight exercises and focus on strengthening your leg muscles and your balance so that you will have a good base to work from in order to perform any squat-related exercises with ultra-careful, good form.  Just a thought!  Check in with the assassins for bodyweight training and the warriors for strength training advice.  If you can afford it, a trip to a chiropractor might be very beneficial to help you sort out your alignment and uneven muscle issues.  I also recommend rolfing, which is kind of like massage therapy but also focuses on posture and alignment.  Best of luck on your journey to health

[virtualmonkey]

Welcome aboard! You're knees will get better, as well everything else hopefully. My knees were terrible until I started training again. It's amazing how your whole body responds to bettering itself. I have some gastro issues as well (ruptured appendix, never pretty) and they seem to calm down the cleaner I eat and the more I work out. Oddly enough its bread that does the worst to my stomach. Looking forward to your progress.

[EvanDoes]

YES!

 

There's the community that I was so eagerly expecting! I'm presently typing with my foot in my mouth.

 

Killer! Thanks for the dietary inspiration! While I am dedicated to losing weight, I'm too much of a goddamn foodie to cut out things that I love entirely, so I suppose I'm going a more complicated route in hopes of really understanding what will set me back and how. Maybe I'm an ailing perfectionist, but I hope to follow through healthily with this endeavor without it impinging too much on my preexisting aspirations. ::fingers crossed and mind focused::

 

Korvida! I just did my morning bodyweight routine (the nerdfitness beginner bodyweight circuit! ) and I followed your advice and made sure that my body was moving in ways that were as natural as I can muster. I didn't push myself beyond where I thought my form would suffer. Y'know, I think that, for the first time in my memory, my knee began to gave way earlier this week, and righted itself! Here's to hoping and to careful form!

 

virtulamonkey! Thanks for having me! I feel that I have had a similar experience with the body seeming to all get on board once I make the effort. It's pretty frigging neat!!! Bread can mess me up, too. Especially heavily processed bread products. Can't wait to figure all this out!

 

e

[Noname123]

I also have knee issues- my kneecaps unfortunately have this bad habit of popping out of place at times, especially when I'm not working out making it painful to start running if I haven't been for a while. The pilates suggestion was great and what I did to start was pick up spinning (cycling). That help build up my leg muscles without stressing my knees out too much at first and after a few weeks I was able to do more intense cycle exercises (jumps, out of saddle hill climbing in class) and my knees don't bother me at all when jogging now since my legs can help pick up the shock rather than placing it all on my poor knees. 

 

As for food, I was the same way but slowly replacing a few things here and there changed my tastes- if given the option I'd go for the spinach dish at the tapas place rather than a pizza or burger at this point (I would not in a million years thought I'd ever think this way a few months back!)

[thebigPH]

Hello from a fellow newbie!

 

I am also a bit of a foodie, or at least I hang out with foodies, which is one of the reasons I am at the weight I am right now. However, I don't think being a foodie and eating a healthier diet are mutually exclusive, you've just got to be willing to try cooking dishes for yourself! Look up tastey recipes and give them a shot! Look up restaurants to try that specialize in healthier fare. And when you're trying a restaurant that may not have the healthier fair, then everything in moderation. Try having a salad and drinking a full glass of water before eating that pizza. ;-)

 

I'm also looking for a community that will help keep me accountable and will be fun to talk to since we are all nerds about one thing or another.

 

Phaedra

[EvanDoes]

oh boy oh boy. It's so good to be here. Thanks for all the support, y'all!

 

Thanks for the inspiration, Slates!

 

Phaedra, I do cook for myself usually. I just have to figure out what I should be making. I think I'll make some posts in the food areas.

[thebigPH]

I did this one last night and it was super yummy: http://fitbottomedeats.com/2014/05/pork-tenderloin-recipe/

[Korvida]

Welcome aboard! You're knees will get better, as well everything else hopefully. My knees were terrible until I started training again. It's amazing how your whole body responds to bettering itself. I have some gastro issues as well (ruptured appendix, never pretty) and they seem to calm down the cleaner I eat and the more I work out. Oddly enough its bread that does the worst to my stomach. Looking forward to your progress.

 

You are the second person I have met who has issues with bread/gluten after having a ruptured appendix.  Curious!  Is that a typical response, do you know?

 

 

Evan - glad to hear my suggestions were valuable  I also think Slates' ideas about cycling/spinning are very good.  Perhaps you could even look at using an elliptical trainer for cardio instead of full on running as a cardio option while you are getting stronger.  I do think they are right that with increased strength and stabilization your knees will get better!  Good job on getting that bodyweight workout done!

[Haikoo]

You are the second person I have met who has issues with bread/gluten after having a ruptured appendix. Curious! Is that a typical response, do you know?

Chiming in as another ruptured appendix. I don't seem to have major issues with bread and gluten. Granted, I don't feel my best when I eat them, but that doesn't seem to be an unusual phenomena with normal appendixed people either.

[Haikoo]

Hi, Even, welcome! Yes definitely give people time to respond. The community has grown hugely the past couple of years so it's easy for threads to get pushed back a few pages-especially in certain sections of the forum. Hope things are still going well!