Something Like an Introduction

[PshawRaven]

Greetings, everyone! P'shaw here. (Obviously not my real name, but one I've gone by online for so many years that it might as well be.) Since I'm not going at writing intro posts, I'll just jump in.

 

I'm a 40yo female currently living in north central Florida. I grew up in east Tennessee where I was never particularly active in sports or things, mostly because I'm not very social and not very competitive. (I'm highly competitive with myself, but not with other people.) Since where I lived was suburban/rural I did do a lot of walking. By the time I was in college I walked everywhere. Long-distance walking was my thing. And since I studied Medieval history, I sometimes like to pretend I was walking one of the old pilgrimage trails in Europe instead of walking to the grocery store for ramen and coffee. I got married straight out of college and wound up in an intensely stressful job managing a public low-income housing development. The site had been neglected for years and the agency was grossly understaffed, so everything felt like an uphill battle. I started going to the gym in the evenings to try to work off the stress and lose weight, but I was mainly doing it because my first husband wanted me to. See that? No internal motivation. In fact, I was more motivated to just change into my comfy workout clothes and go spend an hour at the library.

 

I left that situation over five years ago and while I wasn't totally sedentary, I do have a tendency to flop on the couch and read for hours on end while snacking on delicious cheese. I'm also a highly accomplished home cook, but while I can easily whip up delicious veggie dishes, I'm also proficient at deep fried, cream gravy, battered, cheese-filled, bacon-wrapped, cardiologist's worst nightmare type things. So early last year I started making more healthful meals, not consistently, but more of them. I also started doing free weights and aerobics with YouTube videos until a massive infection landed me in the hospital for a run of antibiotics and eventually, abdominal surgery. So it was back to the couch for a while for me.

 

I'm just tired of myself. I'm tired of avoiding mirrors, buying baggy clothes, having no energy, high blood pressure, and sitting around thinking I should do something. On July 3 I went out for a walk. I live on a highly highly rural, like, paddle faster I hear banjos rural, sugar sand road. No one ever comes out here unless they live here or they're lost, which I why I love it. Peace, quiet, and hundreds of acres of pine forest. So I walked an entire 5k the first day. Then I did it again the next day. And I kept doing it. I'm making continuing to do it one of my challenge goals so it really becomes a habit.

 

I got myself a Fitbit and started tracking my food, sleep, and activity. The food log is helping a lot, but I am still doing "sneaky chef" stuff like loading my pasta sauces with other pureed vegetables, and hiding bananas (I hate bananas) in strongly-flavored smoothies. Since I'm a good cook already, I mainly try to find healthy recipes and stick to a weekly menu. After finding NF earlier this week, all this went from being a nebulous, "look how healthy I'm getting yay...." to some definite goals and ideas about what I want to do with myself.

 

I've always enjoyed yoga, meditation, and I've been interested in Tai Chi for a long time. (A girlfriend even bought me a Tai Chi sword one Christmas, I should use it!) I love nature and the outdoors. My life is out of whack and needs balance. So the Druids sounded like a natural fit.

 

In December I'm traveling to Iceland (I love cold weather!) and I hope to get some hiking in at some of the historic sites. Not mountain hiking - not in the dead of winter. But since I'm not renting a car the whole time I'm there, I'll also be doing a lot of walking, so I'm aiming to get my long-distance endurance back up. And in October there's a 5k run/walk in the nearby town, which I'm hoping to at least try to jog. And for someone who is bad at intros this one ran pretty long. Oh my.

[Sphierce]

Hi P'shaw totally feel what you're saying. It sounds like you DO have that great internal tug that won't let you be satisfied with less than what you think you ought to have! That's great that you're interested in a 5k walk/run I'm actually doing the official Color Run 5k tomorrow!! It'll be my very first time and I too will be aiming for a nice steady jog lol Well, I'm new myself but I'm glad to see you here

[PshawRaven]

Enjoy the Color Run, those look like a lot of fun!
The other thing I thought sounded good was a Zombie Chase that happens in November in Tampa, but it's a running obstacle course and I don't think I'll be up for that so soon.

 

Hello other newbie Nice to meet you!

[lala541]

I love cold weather, too!

 

Let's do this one step at a time!

[PshawRaven]

Yes, Lala! Good to see you!

[SassieCass17]

Hey Pshaw, it sounds like you have excellent scenery at home and coming up on vacation. I'm jealous! It's very nice to "meet" you, and I'm looking forward to getting to know some of the online supporters. I feel you about both cheese and cold, even though I'm melting in Alabama. Personally,I think I should have an "I'd rather be at the library" tattoo. Maybe we can start a newbie audiobook walking club or something!  Cheers!