Hi from London - looking for support

[Myrdinn]

Hi from London

 

I'm 34, and love fantasy, sci-fi, comics and tabletop wargaming (and thus qualify as a proper nerd, I think).

 

Having been a very unfit kid - super-scrawny, weak, severely asthmatic and absolutely the last guy to get picked for the team in football - and then a very lazy stoner in my teens and early 20s, I started to exercise in my late 20s when I met my wife. I ran a bit (but always hated it) and then got roped into playing a couple of seasons of rugby with friends. I was rubbish, but it got me outdoors and moving around. 

 

Sadly (and forgive the sob-story here) all the early good work I did was undone when my wife and I discovered we couldn't have kids. For a while after that I was the healthiest I've ever been to try and give the treatment the best possible chance of working - running 3x a week, eating spinach salads every day and even doing a bit of weight-training which I had never tried before. But recently I've really let that all slip and have been eating junk, not exercising at all and drinking too much, and I'm now really out of shape and overweight.

 

The other week I went hiking in the mountains in Northern England with a friend and it reminded me how much I love exercising and being outdoors, and how much I've let myself slip back into mindlessly watching netflix and not taking care of myself. This weekend my wife and I are going away for ten days to the countryside, and I'm determined to make that the start of levelling up.

 

I'm very much an elf - tall, thin, find it tough to build muscle - and class-wise I'm inclined towards a mix of the assassin and druid - lots of bodyweight exercise and yoga. So I'm going to start by taking the NF beginner's bodyweight exercise with me and making sure I do it every other day. We'll be climbing mountains every day anyway, so that should cover me off for a bit of cardio too.

 

When I get back I'm planning to take a beginner's climbing course and continue with the bodyweight exercise. Long-term I'd love to have enough upper-body strength to do a set of pull-ups, and to lose all the extra weight I'm carrying at the moment - I've always hated what I look like with my shirt off, and I'd love to feel more confident about my body one day. Also long-term I'd love to get out of my office-bound existence. If we don't have kids, we'll have a lot of extra freedom so I'd love to make the most of that and travel more, be outside more, and do more of the things that make me happy.

 

Forgive the long post, but I really want to make this work so having a community who know where I'm coming from. I'd be grateful for any support or advice! 

[Guzzi]

Hi @Myrdinn

 

I'm from the UK too, in fact there's quite a lot of Brits on here. We should start a group, and colonise the place!  

 

Im really sorry to hear about your troubles, that's really tough. I've had my fair share of... difficulties too in life so I (think) I can appreciate where you're coming from. 

 

Have you found your way around the forum ok? There are different ways that people use the forum, you can keep a battle log, take part in the 4 Week Challenges, and there's the chat function too.  

 

There's a good guide to how the challenges work Here and an explanation of the guilds Here. We are on week 3 of the current challenge so it's a good time to have a look through some of the threads and get a feel for how they work, maybe even get some ideas for a challenge of your own. 

 

If you enjoy bodyweight exercises then you should definitely check out Waldo's website Strength Unbound. He has a lot of information and advice on there as well as his transformation photos, which are very impressive. 

 

I hope you enjoy your trip and look forward to seeing you around the forum. If you need any help finding your way around the just ask.

[V for Vetinari]

Hi @Myrdinn. Sorry to hear about you and your wife's struggle. Good luck building strength and getting out of the office more. I share both of those goals. There's more to life than working, and I better be able to run up a 14 foot wall when I'm retired.

[Igaduma]

17 hours ago, RandMart said:

I am far from a "proper" nerd. I don't like fantasy, gaming, playing dressup or a lot of other nerdy things that folks do around here

you understand this means we will have to glare at you right?

[Igaduma]

On 6/9/2016 at 3:03 PM, Myrdinn said:

If we don't have kids, we'll have a lot of extra freedom so I'd love to make the most of that and travel more, be outside more, and do more of the things that make me happy.

not to mention the money 

from what I hear, kids are expensive

 

Apart from this wife and kids stuff, your post reads as if I could have written it

[Myrdinn]

Thanks so much for your comments guys. Great to have your support. I climbed a lot of mountains in the last couple of weeks, so I guess I've made a start. 

 

18 hours ago, Guzzi said:

There are different ways that people use the forum, you can keep a battle log, take part in the 4 Week Challenges, and there's the chat function too.  

 

There's a good guide to how the challenges work Here and an explanation of the guilds Here. We are on week 3 of the current challenge so it's a good time to have a look through some of the threads and get a feel for how they work, maybe even get some ideas for a challenge of your own. 

 

Thanks for that suggestion, I'll try and come up with a challenge for the next round.

[Guzzi]

1 hour ago, Myrdinn said:

Thanks so much for your comments guys. Great to have your support. I climbed a lot of mountains in the last couple of weeks, so I guess I've made a start. 

 

 

Thanks for that suggestion, I'll try and come up with a challenge for the next round.

 

Good to hear you got out and about in the hills. I used to be a very outdoors person, lots of hillwalking, camping etc but I was in a road accident 5 years ago and I can't do any of that stuff these days. I'm hoping that I might be able to get back to it in another year or so. I'm from the West Coast of Scotland so I literally had hills and mountains on my doorstep. 

 

If you struggle to come up with some goals then there is a list of suggested goals. I think there's a link to it in Spezzy's post explaining the challenges. Taking part is a great way to meet other members, stay motivated and get some accountability. 

 

It can be difficult to keep your motivation up when you have a long road infront of you, but breaking it down into small, manageable steps can keep you focused, and it feels a lot better when you are celebrating a series of small victories rather than just slugging away endlessly.

 

Just shout if you need any help, there's always someone around who can help.

[Myrdinn]

2 hours ago, Guzzi said:

 

Good to hear you got out and about in the hills. I used to be a very outdoors person, lots of hillwalking, camping etc but I was in a road accident 5 years ago and I can't do any of that stuff these days.

 

Just shout if you need any help, there's always someone around who can help.

Sorry to hear about your accident. What do you get up to these days instead?

 

On the second point - what would you recommend to get the most out of the site? I am a little daunted by the number of options - guilds, logs, challenges etc. What has worked for you?

[Guzzi]

4 hours ago, Myrdinn said:

Sorry to hear about your accident. What do you get up to these days instead?

 

On the second point - what would you recommend to get the most out of the site? I am a little daunted by the number of options - guilds, logs, challenges etc. What has worked for you?

 

I started lifting as part of my rehabilitation and found that I loved it! I was working with a personal trainer and there was a big focus on rebuilding the muscle that I'd lost as well as improving my general fitness. After 2 years I was taking part in the general classes (it was a Crossfit gym) although there was a lot of scaling. I loved it all! I'd never been as strong in my life!!!

 

Right now I can't do very at all as I'm recovering from an operation. My health took a nose-dive for a couple of years  so I'm hoping that this op will get me back on my feet.  

 

I would suggest joining in with the challenges, that's what I found really worked at cementing my short term goals and keeping me on track. You set your goals and come back as often as you like to post updates. I'd recommend posting a mid week mini-update and an end of week breakdown of how you did. I find that posting regularly keeps me on track. It makes me pull my finger out if I know I have to write an update and I haven't done my tasks yet.

 

Everyone does their first challenge as a Rebel (and posts their challenge in the Rebel section). Once you have completed your first challenge you are free to join any of the Guilds that you feel fits you and your goals best, or just stay with the Rebels if you like. Although the "rules" say you should have 3 fitness goals and one lifestyle goal, there's no hard and fast and no one is going to criticise you (unless it's to offer constructive criticism) for doing your own thing. 

 

There's a general ettiquette that if you cheer someone on in their challenge thread then they return the favour so it's a great way to make friends. People have all sorts of goals and looking through other people's threads can be a great source of inspiration if you are struggling to pin down what you want to do yourself. 

 

The Guilds are really just a way of bringing people together who have shared interests. It's mostly for grouping the challenge threads together but there is a general chat thread for each Guild too. You can join a guild without taking part in the challenges, you just need to click and join, and you can change Guilds at any time too. There's also no need for you to join a guild at all so don't feel you have to. 

 

Most people do either the challenges or a Battle Log. It can be a bit much to do both, depending on how much you post I suppose.   The Battle Logs are particularly useful for recording your progress if you are working through a program, like weight lifters recording their weights and sets, or keeping tabs on progress, like runners recording their distances and times, though obviously people use them for a wide variety of reasons. 

 

There's also the "chat" feature on the forum which a lot of people use. I've never done that, mostly because I type so bloody slowly that by the time I've written my answer the whole conversation has moved on, lol! 

[Igaduma]

12 hours ago, Myrdinn said:

Sorry to hear about your accident. What do you get up to these days instead?

 

On the second point - what would you recommend to get the most out of the site? I am a little daunted by the number of options - guilds, logs, challenges etc. What has worked for you?

 

I like the daily battle logs.  Even though you may or may not get a lot of reaction, people are reading them and they'll know if you skip leg day or whatever!  It's a bit like having an accountability buddy.  I'm doing a challenge for the first time...  I don't think it's "my thing".  But there are other people on here who think they are absolutely fantastic.

 

I read a lot.  Even in some parts of the forum that don't directly interest me.  Sometimes stuff comes up that is applicable to what interests me as well.

 

Don't be afraid to ask.  If you want to know something, chances are someone else wants to know that too.  If you have a problem, chances are someone else has (had) that problem too.  And chances are someone has the/an answer.