New to everything, nervous, but willing to give it my best!

[jsunderland]

That was a cheesy title. But whatever-- Hello! My name is Juno and for the first time in my life I want to make some serious changes and get fit.

(Hopefully I can reign this in so it doesn't go on forever!)

So, a bit of backstory. I've always been overweight. It never particularly bothered me as it didn't hinder me. I used to do a five mile bike ride a day, walk everywhere (usually 4-5 miles each day. I was job hunting on foot), and I worked in my parents commercial cleaning business, wearing a backpack vacuum cleaner and lifting trash bags that were probably heavier than I was.

In the last 2-3 years though, I haven't been doing any of that. I worked very hard to get into a good art school-- I was successful in that I was accepted, but ultimately I couldn't go because I couldn't afford it. So since then I've been entirely self taught. I've been doing pretty awesome with my work, but my body hit a rock bottom around October 2011. In the months leading up to that, I had been feeling increasingly weak, and headachey, and doing something as minor as grocery shopping was taking my breath away. The tipping point was a morning in mid October when I got up, took a shower, and had to sit down halfway through because I felt like my heart was going to burst. I'm only 24 years old by the way. So yeah, yikes. My roomate took me to a clinic, and, while I couldn't afford the testing to tell me what exactly was wrong, they did tell me that I weighed nearly 300 pounds, and my blood pressure was awful.

Obviously I made some major changes-- I immediately changed my diet, and while it was hard as hell, I pushed through what gentle exercises I could stand. Months later, I'm doing SO much better, I'm glad to say! I feel about the same as I did before my health scare, I've dropped a tiny bit of weight (not sure how much, but probably about 15 pounds or so). A small part of me thought 'Hey, I did it! I'm as active as I used to be! Time to relax!'. But an even bigger part of me thought 'Why stop here?'.

So that's where I am now. After my health scare, I don't ever want anything like that to happen again, and I'm determined to do everything in my power to make sure it doesn't. As I mentioned earlier, I'm really not much of a stickler about being fat-- but I DO really want to be healthy, and to be strong (and okay-- weight loss wouldn't be bad either, haha). I stumbled across NF just last night, and I really like what you guys seem to be about. Building strength, motivation, getting out of your body what you put in, and probably the best part (for me anyways) is that all of this is accomplished without a gym. I can't afford a membership, and I'm basically limited to the apartment I share with a friend.

So there's the health side of things-- I'm a total beginner, but damn, I want to do my best and kick my own ass! As for the nerd side-- I enjoy some gaming (the Triforce I have tattooed on back should suffice to tell you what my favorite game is!), but mostly I'm a geek for comics and animated movies. I'm a Batman fan through and through, I love Green Lantern, and I'm a huge dork for Disney, Pixar, and Dreamworks. My dream is to eventually work for Dreamworks Animation doing visual development.

Anyways, this morning I did my best to get through the beginner body weight circuit workout-- I wasn't able to get through all of it, but what I did do I am damn proud of, and I can't wait to push myself even harder tomorrow. My legs feel like jelly, and I feel great!

Thanks for hearing me out, and I hope to make the most of my time here and get to know everyone! I'm not afraid to say how nervous I am, being so new to this, but this place sounds really supportive, and I think I'll do really well here

[Book]

Hey, welcome, Juno! I was in a similar situation just a couple of months ago. Dead tired all the time. If you're looking for a little extra motivation, then you should know that as you get older, that kind of thing happens more and more frequently if you don't take care of yourself.

You're an artist? That's awesome! You should post some of your work. I've been thinking about commissioning an artist for some stuff, recently.

[jsunderland]

Tell me about it, the fatigue is driving me up the wall. I'm anemic as well, augh. And yeah, that's certainly some good motivation! I'd definitely rather start now, when I'm young, than end up like some of my friends in their 30s who are about in the same position I am.

And thank you! When I find the appropriate off-topic thread, I'd be delighted to share some of my work

[BadWolf]

Welcome!

[DaveSix]

Welcome fellow Batman fan!

[jsunderland]

Thanks for the welcome, guys!

[ebm1224]

welcome - glad you're here!

[Book]

Is your avatar some of your work?

[jsunderland]

Is your avatar some of your work?

It is! Bit old, haha, but mine all the same

[Book]

It is! Bit old, haha, but mine all the same

I like it! Very cool style.

[jsunderland]

I like it! Very cool style.

Thank you! I ended up changing the icon, haha, decided to use something much more recent and much nicer. But I'm glad you like it!

[Book]

Wow. Yeah, I see what you mean. Is the difference because of your progression add an artist? I love the expressions you give them.

[jsunderland]

Thank you! Ah, it's a bit progression, but mostly difference in medium, the new icon being painted, the old one a colored sketch

[JoeBlade]

welcome

"I've dropped a tiny bit of weight (not sure how much, but probably about 15 pounds or so)."

[envy]hehe you dropped a tiny bit which is about 4 months of hard work for me to lose so unfair.. [/envy]

don't forget that you develop muscle not on the days you work out, but the day of rest afterwards. Mind you this is me parroting other sources but from what I heard, doing the same muscles 7 days a week gets you less progress than doing them every other day. (but I think cardio exercises can be helpful every day if you can stand them).

as for being anemic, I recommend red meat, and lotsa beans (chili twice a week ) .. there were a few other things that are supposed to be pretty good. Women need much more than men in this respect as well, definitely something to look into. Also don't eat the above together with zinc or calcium I think it said on account of that blocking iron absorption.

Anyways cool that you've taken the step. Becoming fit can be quite an addiction but it's one that you'll reap the benefits of for the rest of your life.

[Rosie]

Hi Welcome! I'd love to see some of your art too, do you have a link to a deviant page?

Also I love your name, its what I named my cat too :high five:

[Book]

That's painted? As in with a brush and everything? I thought it was computer generated, it's so clean. Wow. Do you do commissions?

[LRB]

Welcome to the Rebellion! Love your work - do you have a link to some of it up online somewhere?

[Guest guest4729]

We were all new once, and now it's your turn. Being the "new kid" freakin' sucks, but it'll pass with time. As you said, you don't need a gym to do a lot of this stuff so just use the resources that you have available to you! If you've come this far and joined right away, then you're already on the right track. You've got the motivation so you've got what it takes to get the results.

I wish you the best of luck with your journey to lose weight and get in better shape! Best of luck!

[Strickland5]

Greetings! A Girls with Slingshots fan too!

[jsunderland]

Oh wow, so many people since I last checked! Thanks to all of you! I can say, I already really like this community, everyone has been so warm and welcoming. It's nice too, I can blather on about my weight goals and etc and I know you guys won't get tired of it ;D My poor friends, I know they're happy for me, but I can already see the fixed look of 'cool story bro' on their faces hahaha

@Book - Digitally painted! The mere sight of a traditional paintbrush makes me cringe ;D And yes, I do, if you're ever interested feel free to PM me.

I have a number of online galleries - Blogspot, Tumblr, DeviantART, and last but not least, a seperate DA account for my intensely dorky fangirl things (you have been warned, haha).

@JoeBlade - Ooh, thank you for the advice! Eventually I'd love to hit a point where I can do some form of working out every single day (alternating, of course, so I'm not just beating the same muscles into the ground each day). For now though, yeah, I'm definitely content to do a Mon/Wed/Fri thing, and do as much walking as I can in between.

@Strickland - The highest of fives, my friend! GWS fan since 2005

[Strickland5]

@Strickland - The highest of fives, my friend! GWS fan since 2005

WOOT! I stumbled upon GWS when I was still reading Wapsi Square. I see you are a Tumblr'er too - ah the fun!

[Book]

I haven't even looked at your galleries yet, but I already grabbed my kids to take a pic to illustrate what I'm looking for. Expect a pm later this afternoon

[Sydnie]

A little off-topic as to what the thread turned into but...

Welcome! & where in Orlando are you? I lived there for 5 years. I'm just a little south of there now, but I go up all of the time. =D

[Book]

No, you've got the right topic. I'm the one who went off-topic with my nerdy fascination with graphic artists. Let the welcomes continue!

[Bumblebee4]

Yay another Florida nerd! I'm in Tampa. I can't seem to put a marker on the NF map.

Welcome to the Rebellion!