Hello from a grad student!

[LSavage]

Hello everyone!  I've been reading Nerd Fitness for several years and joined Rising Heroes back in February, but for some reason I never actually joined the forums until now.  Anyway, here's my (very long, sorry) story:

 

I had an active but un-athletic childhood, and only participated in sports in high school because they were required.  I was never heavy, but never thin either - average, really.  When I got to college, I really didn't know how to exercise on my own, so I did what everyone else did: get on the elliptical or treadmill for half an hour, feel morally superior to those around me, and eat a doughnut.  Needless to say, it wasn't the most effective exercise plan, but I was relatively healthy overall anyway.  Then, the summer before my senior year, I got Bells Palsy and the left half of my face was paralyzed.  The normal treatment for that is prednisone, which sent my hormones into crazy-mode and caused me to gain 50 lbs in about six months (some of that while running 4-5 miles a day and eating ~1700 calories).  It took about two years for me to be diagnosed with PCOS and another year after that for a doctor to tell me about the insulin/blood sugar problems that usually go with it.  I immediately tried Atkins, lost a bunch of weight, felt great, and mostly kept it off for about three years (somewhere in there I also transitioned to a more paleo-ish plan).  I took up belly dance and got some exercise that way, but didn't do much outside of that.  I occasionally tried running, but eventually realized I would never stick to a running plan because I really hate it.

 

Then came the pressure, financial stress, and sleeplessness of grad school.  I made a LOT of bad food choices and gained back all the weight I'd lost plus a bit, going from about 160 to 220 (I'm 5'7") in about 3.5 years.  I hired a personal trainer at the campus gym and learned to use the free weights, but didn't stick with that for long after my sessions with her ended (I enjoyed the workouts, but didn't like the gym).  I kept belly dancing, but that couldn't counteract my bad diet.  About once per semester, I'd try to get my food in order.  Every time I said, "This is the last restart.  This time I'll stick with it."  And every time I made it a few weeks before falling off the wagon, or, sometimes, torching the wagon and watching it burn.

 

This past January I restarted healthy eating again, this time with two changes: my husband joined me (so no temptations in the house) and we're planning our meals for the whole week on Sundays.  This seems to have been the key, because I've stuck to it for 3 months now and lost almost 30 lbs (my husband's lost about 20).  In February I joined Rising Heroes, which has really given me the push I need to start exercising again.  I've found that I enjoy bodyweight training, so that's what I'm focusing on.  I also tried pole dancing for the first time (after years of saying, "I don't have the upper body strength for that") and loved it, so that's given me an incentive to work on my arms and core and to lose more weight (less to lift up the pole).  All-in-all, I feel stronger and more capable than I have in a long time, and I'm really enjoying the feeling.  My goal was to be healthier and happier on my 31st birthday than I was on my 30th.  I'm about 4 months away and so far it looks like I'll crush that goal!

[Lovejoy444]

Welcome, and WTG! It sounds like you're well on your way to being happier at the coming birthday. Just remember that one bad meal or one bad day doesn't mean you have to torch the wagon. I always tell myself that every bite, every meal, every day is a new opportunity to make a good choice. If I screw it up, there's always the next bite/meal/day.

 

Keep up the good work!

 

=)

Laurie

[Guzzi]

Awesome! (to the good bits, Boo! to the health problems).  I'm so pleased that you've finally found something that works for you, and 30lbs is a HELL of a lot to lose, way to go!  I am so envious of you being able to try pole dance!  I would SO love to give that a go!  Have you heard of Roz the Diva?  She's a plus size pole dance instructor and she's brilliant.  She makes me feel like even I could do pole, lol!

 

I don't know anything about how Rising Heros works but if you need any help with finding your way around the forum...?  That I can do! 

[LSavage]

Lovejoy, thanks!  It took me a LONG time (and some therapy) to get to the point where I could stop treating every unhealthy meal as a "failure" and go off the rails completely.  Whenever I caught myself thinking things like, "Well, I screwed up, might as well go all out and eat like crap.  I'll do better tomorrow," I started saying to myself (out loud), "That wasn't the healthiest choice.  My next choice will be healthier."  Saying something about the food, not me, really helped me get rid of the blame and guilt I'd attached to food.

 

Guzzi, I read an article about Roz the Diva a couple weeks ago.  She's wonderful!  I'd love to be able to do half of what she does.

You should give it a try!  It's so much fun, even though I can barely do anything.  Seriously, I can't even climb the pole yet, much less do any of the crazy poses people do.  I'm getting stronger every time I try it, though.  This past weekend I was able to stand on the pole for the first time (the precursor to climbing).

As for the forums, I'm considering doing the next 4-week challenge, and I have no idea what that entails.  Any advice?  Thanks!

[Guzzi]

Here is the info all about the challenges, though tbh it makes it sound a little more complicated than it really is.  Basically you set yourself 3 diet/fitness goals and an optional Life goal (read a new book, clear X amount off your debt, take your wife out for dinner, ask your boss for a raise etc) that you want to complete over the course of the 4 weeks.  You don't even need to find new goals, you can just use things you're already doing and keep working on them. 

 

If you have done the Create Your Own Character thingy then these will probably be goals that help you towards your Epic Quest, and you assign yourself XP for each goal you successfully complete.  

 

If you're not into all that role play stuff and you just want to do it as normal then you simply decide how you're going to score your progress at the end of each week/the challenge.  For example, if you were going to try and do something every day (like drink Xpts of water) then you would score yourself out of 7 at the end of the week.  You might have 6+/7 = A,  5/7 = B,  4/7 = C etc.  This is a really important bit that most newbies skip but it can make the difference between you thinking "Bugger it, I've already failed so I might as well just quit now!" and "Crap, I only got a C this week, I'd better try harder next week."  Especially if you're prone to feeling like that. 

 

I always tell people to update their thread as often as they can, it helps to keep up the momentum and stop you from slacking.   Plus it gets you interacting with other members and builds your support network. 

 

The forum is already up for people to start writing their threads so you can have a snoop around to see what other people have done to give you ideas/pointers.