Step One: Introduce Myself

[SplendidPJs]

Hi, everybody!

I’m Natalie *waves* - I’m 29 and I’m excited about this forum, guys. I stumbled onto Nerd Fitness almost by accident by seeing it listed as someone’s “likes†on the Facebooks and was intrigued. Since then, every one of Steve’s blog posts really *spoke* to me! You ever have those amazing moments where everything clicks into place and is suddenly so clear and makes SENSE and you get mega stoked about things to come - suddenly you have this urge to DO and SEE? Yeah, you have. I’ve never really had this sort of drive for fitness until very recently. I know I was always supposed to work out and eat smart, but it never really stuck before I was able to relate it to things I love.

I’m already part of the way on my path to a healthier me – last year I up and decided to join a gym and signed up for a trainer for the first time and everything - it really opened up my eyes to what I am capable of accomplishing. It was a pretty great feeling, I tell you what. I quickly learned, though, that I prefer to exercise on my own at home with the use of free weights and body resistance/balance to do my strength training than to wait for equipment/machines to free up at my always-crowded gym. However, I also fell in love with the elliptical machines there – so gym time is now reserved for rockstar sessions on an elliptical until I can find a different form of cardio that makes me just as happy. I feel AWESOME after an hour on one of those things – I liken it to what Mario must feel like when he gets the star, so I get out to do that 2-3 days a week. The last two months of 2011, I seemed to have caught whatever illness anyone I came in contact with had – co-workers, friends, family - it just felt like it would never end. My momentum slowed, BUT! Now I’m looking to get back into it and discovering NF couldn’t have happened at a better time.

Let me tell you a little about where I'm headed: My goals aren’t really hammered out yet, to be honest, so I suppose one of those first goals is to get mad specific about what I want to do and then….well, give it a shot, right? At the moment though, here is a quick list of the things I wish to focus on:

*strengthening my upper arms/torso -- I am starting small with 10-lbs dumbbells and seeing where I can go from there. A year ago, when I had that trainer I mentioned, I was doing bent over rows on one foot with a 25-lbs weight. I want to get back to the way that made me feel (like a freakin’ goddess) and go from there. Push-ups are grueling for me, even on my knees – so I want to get to where doing 5 doesn’t wipe me out, you know?

*losing weight -- I am currently at 180 lbs. and don’t have a specific weight in my sights, I simply want to be in a “healthy†range. I feel like I’ve always been overweight: at my worst, I weighed 226 lbs in 2010 (I’m about 5’6â€.) While it’s true that I don’t yet have a goal weight in mind, I still feel like I’m on a good track and pointed in the correct direction. Part of continuing in that correct direction is eating better. I don’t have a sweet tooth, I’m more of a can-eat-a-box-of-pita-crackers-in-one-sitting-if-I’m-not-careful kinda girl. Growing up, I’ve also developed a fondness for diet soda (yes, you read that correctly. Who on earth actually loves diet soda?? Me.) But I'm looking to kick my aspartame addiction forevs. With some tweaks to my current diet and staying amped about working out – I believe I can succeed.

*beginning to run -- this bit weirds me out – In the past, I have always hated running so much: I have weak ankles, I have *TMI alert* “huge…tracks of land†and I’ve often been too out of shape/out of breath in seconds to continue. However, with my new-found passion for kicking ass on an elliptical endurance-wise – I want to condition my body for IRL running motions mostly in part to see if I can actually make it fun for me (wouldn’t that be wild?)

Natalie Trivia: For years and years, I’ve had these vivid, post-apocalyptic dreams and I always had it in the back of my mind that it’s because I am simply destined to survive such a thing - be it nuke, zombie or robot-induced. I think this is why I totally geek out about things like Fallout 3/New Vegas and Six-String Samurai and Zombieland – I want to be part of the pack that makes it. Reading a few posts here, I already know there are a lot of you that feel the same!

Oh, also – I am totally fascinated by free-running (Levi Meeuwenberg in American Ninja Warrior is the closest I have to being amped about “sports.â€) All you free-running awesomes out there make me think that superheroes can exist.

Anyway, I think it’s important for my sanity’s sake to find the perfect balance between fitness and movies/gaming/comics in my life and I think you guys can really get behind that, too. I wondered why I haven’t become more involved in this community…then found no reasonable answer and decided to join and post right away. I’m one of those crazies that has a tendency to post words for days and tire out your scrolly finger, so this is a good place to stop, I think.

Thanks for reading! I enjoy how inspiring you all are - keep up the good work, everyone!

['Roos]

Welcome to the rebellion! It looks like you have your exercise goals worked out - what is your diet plan like?

[SplendidPJs]

My diet is mainly what I feel needs the most work. I am currently logging all foods (I actually enjoy doing this because it allows me to see what I consume in a scientific way) and it seems that 1400-1500 calories a day is pretty normal for me to function on. That doesn't seem bad, but I understand that not all calories are created equal and so I want to be better at choosing the right things to eat. For example, I can eat 3 Cups (cooked) of white rice for dinner and be set (for real, am I strange?) So I really want to add more veggies to my diet and switch to quinoa and spend more time in my kitchen - fine tune it that way. I'm lactose intolerant (but oddly CAN have mozzarella cheese - my body is like a dairy snob) - so would like to find other ways to get calcium. These are pretty general plans but I think I can keep improving on it.

Difficulties I face outside of home: going out to eat with friends (happens once every two weeks.) I almost always overdo it with the starches and the carbs - pastas, breads, fries, etc. I have got to get the hang of ordering better things.

[actionheroine]

Hi Natalie! YES to the apocalypse fantasies and I love the elliptical too. When I do it with Girl Talk's album All Day on my iPod it's like my own private dance party...endorphins galore.

I like what you said about everything clicking into place; that's how I felt about Nerd Fitness, too. Let the adventures in badassery begin!

[Sco]

Welcome Natalie! I got really excited when reading your story - I so hear you about the upper body strength, freerunning, apocalyptic survival, etc etc etc. And we're totally going to be part of the pack who makes it!

Really glad you joined, and I look forward to hearing about your progress! Good luck!

[Kegzilla]

Aloha!

Welcome to the fray

[SplendidPJs]

Thanks so much for the welcome, everyone! I get hooked reading all of the member posts here, so it looks like you guys will see me here and there lurking and commenting.

I love the elliptical too. When I do it with Girl Talk's album All Day on my iPod it's like my own private dance party...endorphins galore.

Hey, good idea! I hadn't thought of breaking out Girl Talk during my workouts - I just got "All Day" so I will have to try that tomorrow.

I've been checking out the Battle Logs - I think this will have to be my next step. I have a lot of workout videos for ideas on what kind of sets to do and I'm excited to log my progress with the upper body training.

You're all wonderful!