I'm in the middle of some calibrations

[Vaysh]

When I was in grade school, I was constantly active in one thing or another. I didn't eat terribly well, due mostly to not knowing how to cook and relying on what was bought by family. As I grew older, I went lacto-ovo vegetarian and started cooking for myself. My activity slowed, but I was eating a bit better which was probably the only thing keeping me from riding the train to Chunkville.

During and after college I became almost entirely sedentary, eventually swelling from a healthy 5'6" and 135 to over 160lbs. Holy bazookas what was happening? I reduced my food intake dramatically and started trying various exercises to lose weight. I could drop 5 or 10 lbs, but was exhausted and cold all the time and never able to find anything I enjoyed enough to keep up with. Fortunately, I found martial arts and fell in love, even if though I magically developed body tourettes every time I went to class.

That winter I switched doctors and found out I'd had an undiagnosed hypothyroid condition for at least 10 years. Suddenly - energy! Suddenly - able to gain muscle and lose fat! All the effort I had been putting in with my exercise was finally paying off with physical changes. I lost 10lbs of fat in the first month and then over the next several months lost 20lbs more and gained 5 to 10lbs of muscle. I started lifting weights in December and plan to continue with that in addition to the martial arts.

My overall goal is to keep finding healthier ways to eat, mostly to give me the fuel I need to throw people around and avoid getting punched in the face. My main goal for the year is to get down to 20% body fat by December 31, 2012.

[ebm1224]

welcome to the community! it's amazing how a simple piece of info can really change everything.

[ETFnerd]

Welcome to the nerd slugfest... duck!!!