New to the Rebellion and new to fitness.

[Fiddler]

Hey, folks. I'm a complete newbie to all of this; I've never worked out a day in my life outside of a few activities and jobs. Coming from a background in construction, I was always in pretty good shape until I started truck driving. That endeavour saw me transition from 190-200lbs and toned to ~260lbs and well...

Last April, I quit driving truck and took on a job running a campground for Forestry. Lots of long days hiking, carrying trash and debris, and splitting firewood, I dropped 70lbs and felt healthy again. That is, until I drove a vehicle off a bank and herniated a disc in my lumbar. For the last six months, I've been inactive while healing which has caused me to not only gain weight but lose whatever physical fitness I had developed over the course of the spring/summer. I'm feeling pretty good again, in regards to the injury, but the rest of my body has shouldered the burden and it's time to get back to it.
 

My primary goals are:

• Reduce body fat.
• Strengthen my core/back to ensure the herniation doesn't reoccur.
• Learn to maintain my weight, as I have a tendency to fluxuate considerably.
• Achieve a reasonable level of stamina, as I can't jog even a single block.

My supporting goals are:

• Quit smoking. I smoke the equivalent of a pack to a pack-and-a-half of unfiltered, rolled tobacco a day.
• Give up pop, chocolate bars, chips, etc. I don't even go near them often but find myself binging when I do.

So, that all being said, I'm glad to have found a like-minded community to help me get started and, with not a modest amount of determination on my end, hopefully see me through to the end. I've never done anything with the specific intention of getting exercise so this is an entirely new world to me and I'm appreciative of the existence of this place.

It'll be nice to meet you all in the coming days/months/years.

[Nedwin]

How are you doing?