Ready to level up

[WhiteVandal]

Hi everyone,

A friend on facebook linked this place today. I read about Staci and Saint. I saw the Paleo diet. I marveled at the Angry Birds workout. Let's do it.

I grew up lazy, playing video games, eating whatever I wanted and never gaining any weight. I'm a stick figure. I always knew I ate a lot of sugar and carbs. Soda, candy, so much milk and cereal and cheese and more candy.

I spent three years in the Army after giving up on college temporarily (I intended to go back from the start, I swear ) and was pretty motivated that whole time. My two mile time went from 19ish minutes to 13 minutes flat. I went from 10 pushups without stopping to 40 without stopping, and about 60 in two minutes was my max at one point. I've always destroyed the situps. I think I got to high 90's in two minutes at the end there. I was proud of these improvements, but saw no minimal strength gain. Minimal muscle growth. That was discouraging.

I always swore I'd stay fit after the Army. I ran a few times a week. I was active around the house. I had an appendectomy. Then I stayed lazy after my recovery. I've run maybe 4 times since July 2010. I still eat crap. in the back of my mind I always said "One day, I'll be fit again." But I've always had "too much on my plate" or thought "I'll start NEXT week." "Wait, no, NEXT week."

So after finding this place, I'm motivated to start. I bet my wife will jump on board, too. We did the Warrior Dash last year and immediately decided it would be a yearly tradition. She has been trying different diets and landed on being a vegetarian ("For the health reasons, not cause I care about animals. Meat is awesome and I'll eat it at special occasions, like Thanksgiving") Nothing wrong with that, imo. But if we can both be on the same page while being super healthy and fit: all the better!

Motivation, though. Motivation comes for me in huge, crashing waves. Like right now? I'm pumped about this. I'm ready to go. I'm easily discouraged though. Mentally weak, I guess. But I'm not incapable of maintaining motivation. Support helps. Lack of demotivators is obviously awesome. So I want to be an active part of this community. I want this motivation to stick. I want to find some FUN ways to be active and fit.

Last thing, I hate most basic veggies. Carrots, onions, peppers, tomatoes (I know), cabbage. But then I like plenty of other veggies. Corn, green beans, peas, asparagus, celery, cucumber, lettuce, (potato?) So I'll be trying to develop a taste for the least favorite ones.

Man, that was way longer than intended...

TLDNR: Always lazy and a poor eater, super skinny. Three years in the Army, motivated, and didn't see a lot of improvement. Discouraging. Civilian now. Found this site. let's do this. Want to stay motivated. P.S. I hate half of all veggies.

[theFrog]

Welcome WV!

Glad you've made it and are pumped and ready to go... That's the best start. As for veggies - don't worry about that right now. Eat the ones you like and taste the ones you don't occasionally to see if you may have changed your mind (tastes do change - I grew up HATING tomatoes and love them now). I'm not an expert at paleo dieting, so I don't know about the specifics of corn, peas and potatoes (ie, if they're on plan or not). But there's lots of food lists and stuff out there to help you with that.

And DEFINITELY get your wife in here - when you have someone by your side with the same goals and outlook, they can help keep you motivated. I'm working on getting my hubs here, myself.

[Ryan Sannar]

Glad to have you! Any pics from the last Warrior Dash? Also what are your goals specifically?

IE: I want to loose 10 lbs in 3 months

or

I want to deadlift 300 lbs.

[Hammlin]

Im with you on the veggies- then I read the article on here that said (pardon my paraphrase) You're an adult. Eat your vegetables. I've found that If you hold your nose while chewing and don't let go until you swallow, you don't taste them, because your taste buds are linked to that. Makes things more tolerable

Good luck to you!

[unicornassassin]

TLDNR: Always lazy and a poor eater, super skinny. Three years in the Army, motivated, and didn't see a lot of improvement. Discouraging. Civilian now. Found this site. let's do this. Want to stay motivated. P.S. I hate half of all veggies.

Ha!

[Loren Wade]

TLDNR: Always lazy and a poor eater, super skinny. Three years in the Army, motivated, and didn't see a lot of improvement. Discouraging. Civilian now. Found this site. let's do this. Want to stay motivated. P.S. I hate half of all veggies.

Aaaand... we're friends. WELCOME!