I feel like I've found my people

[Brocc]

An entire group of individuals who are both nerdy/geeky AND into fitness?!?  Where have you been all my life?

 

Where to start?  My name is Luke.  I turned 32 years old last month.  I've been in the Air Force for just over 12 years.  I've been overweight for as long as I can remember and I've been a smoker since I was 13.

 

Basic stats:

Age:  32

Height:  6'6"

Weight:  251

 

Fitness has been an on again/off again thing for me for about 6 years now.  I just recently moved from Phoenix, AZ to a tiny little dump in New Mexico.  With the lack of anything else to do, this seems to be the time when fitness is able to hang on.  Unfortunately, I still seem to find a way to mess it up.

 

About 6 years ago, I was sent out to CA for the military for a couple of weeks.  I was working with all civilians and wow, were they all some big boys.  We went to an area one day that had a big industrial sized scale and two of them decided to just see how big they were.  Afterward, I thought it would be kind of funny to check on myself.  When that thing said that I was up to 292 lbs, it felt like a punch in the chest.  I had no idea that I had gotten that bad and knew that I needed to change it.  I worked off a lot of weight and got down to about 250 in just a few months.  I seemed to hover between 240 and 250 for years.  Of course, that wasn't a good 240-250.  My body fat % was probably in the high 20's to low 30's.

 

Well, in April of last year, I moved from Phoenix to Alamogordo.  Heard of it?  Didn't think so.  Social life, gone.  I made the decision that, if I was going to be stuck somewhere where there is nothing to do, I might as well take advantage of it.  By August, I had gotten into the best shape of my life.  And then my birthday, football season and the holidays came around.  By January, I had ballooned back up to an ugly 245.  I came back from a vacation in Phoenix (this is my kryptonite, btw) on January 3rd and mentioned something on Facebook that I wanted to spend the next 6 months blowing away what I had done the previous year.  A few of my friends saw this and we came up with an idea to make a kind of competition out of it.  I started a group on Facebook (a lot like NF) where we could hold each other accountable, post progress pictures without being "that guy/girl" to the general public, and just talk about general fitness/diet improving things.  By the end of March, I had gotten down to 219 lbs, my lightest since probably Jr. High, and 16% body fat.  I couldn't have been more proud of myself.  

 

Then, life stepped in.  In late April, I pulled something in my lower back while warming up.  I didn't think that was even possible.  The doctor told me to stay out of the gym for at least 6 weeks to let it heal.  With what I had done over 4 months and knowing how easily I can just fall back into bad habits, I decided that I knew better than the doc.  I went back in a week and a half later and tried just taking it really easy.  My back would get really tight and sore, but it seemed like it was going to be fine.  Then back day came around.  I avoided lower back, but, even just working upper back, I re aggravated it.  This is when I decided that maybe he was right and I needed to take some time off.  Here's the thing about me.  I'm either all in or I'm all out.  I know this about myself and I know it's something I need to work on.  When I stopped going to the gym, I started smoking again (which I had given up for about 3 months) and my diet went to hell.  I tried getting back into it in late June, but my back was still a bit tender and after 3 or 4 days, I decided it wasn't time yet.  Late July came around and I got about a week back into it, but then I left town for 6 weeks for work and a bit of a vacation.  Two weeks into this trip, I decided to do what I could to work out while I was there.  I went to the gym one day.  My back was a LITTLE tight, but it was hardly noticeable.  Everything seemed like it was going to be OK.  The next day, I sprained my ankle.  Why not, right?

 

This brings me to about 2 weeks ago.  I got back from this trip on September 14th.  I gave myself a few days to get used to being back at work and being back in town here and then decided it was time again.  I've been hitting the gym steady for about two weeks, following a plan from bodybuilding.com.  I've used this plan both times I got in shape, so I know it's effective.  My diet is back to where it needs to be, though it is quite boring.  I tend to eat the exact same foods at the exact same times 5 days a week.

 

8:30 am:  2 eggs, 2 egg whites, turkey sausage all scrambled with some cayenne and crushed red peppers for breakfast

11:30 am:  oatmeal with a spoonful of peanut butter for a "pre-workout"

1:30 pm:  post workout protein shake

3:00 pm:  1/2 cup of hummus with pretzels

5:00 pm:  2/3 of a baked chicken breast, 1/4 cup of rice or mashed sweet potatoes, 1/2 cup of broccoli or green beans

7:00 pm:  a Dannon Light and Fit fat free greek yogurt

9:00 pm:  salad comprising of spinach, arugula, the other 1/3 of my chicken breast, 1/4 of a bell pepper, sunflower seeds, craisens, a little bit of crumbled feta, and a little low fat low cal apple cider vinaigrette

11:30 pm:  a casein protein shake to keep me full until breakfast and keep my metabolism up throughout the night

 

Every.  Day.

 

So, what brings me to NF?  I don't know.  It just feels like this is where I belong.  I've been a nerd my entire life.  I'm pretty sure my addiction to WoW (which is gone now) was a big factor in my getting so badly out of shape in the first place.

 

What do I want from here?  My little group on Facebook really helped a lot.  Most of those people have gone the way I did for various reasons.  A few of them have kept it up and I'm going to be right there beside them, but I feel like joining The Rebellion will be another great tool for my change.  I'm really hoping to find a way to keep it up through my frequent trips back to Phoenix and not relapse.  Also, some new recipes couldn't hurt.  Maybe some new workout ideas.  Maybe a whole new group of friends.  Who knows what the future holds in store?

 

I just realized how much I wrote.  Let's do one of these.

 

TL:DR:  I feel like I'm good at getting in shape, but not staying in shape.  I need help keeping the motivation up and hell, a little competition can always fuel my spirit.

 

I look forward to being a part of this seemingly amazing community.

 

[TheRealBlackWidow]

hello!

good to have you here! pleeeeeaaaaaase tell me you're named after Luke Skywalker. if not, that's fine, i guess.

anyway, you're totally in the right place. I'm newish here too, and from what I've seen everyone is super helpful and are always willing to encourage you or yell at you to go kick some butt. I wish you luck in your journey!

[Mortahr]

Hi fellow newbie

 

Are you still on active duty @ USAF?

Your story sounds like how life likes to throws us around! But the future holds EVERYTHING you'd ever wish for. So keep up the good work, be proud and welcome at NF!

[Brocc]

Unfortunately no, I don't think I was named after Skywalker.  My parents aren't nearly the nerds I am.  I'm pretty sure I was named after a character on a soap opera, as was the trend in the early 80's.

 

Yes, I am still active duty.  I still have a couple years left on my current enlistment.  Still to be determined if I'm going to stick it out or get out and hit up the reserves to finish my time.

 

Thank you both for the welcome.  We newbies need to stick together.

[Sythez]

Welcome to the dysfunctional family. We have cookies and lightsabers. Paleo cookies, mind.

 

Been there with back issues... Was a competitive athlete in high school. Threw out my back doing wrestling, and took a year off on major pain meds and relaxants... wasnt a good time.

 

But I also know that it's possible to fix it! Taking it easy is so hard, so I really fell (back) in love with martial arts during that time. I had a chen-taichi teacher who showed me ways I could train myself without putting my back in any form of danger, and actually massively sped up the healing process. Today, I have issues, but a trip to the massage therapist and a day doing yoga and taiji put it back where it belongs.

 

Good luck man, kick ass and keep it up!