Now this is a place I can call home!

[Wil]

Hey all. I just found NF a couple weeks ago and have enjoyed all the articles and threads here on the forums. I'll start with an introduction and brief backstory.

My name is Wil, and I'm a happily married 33 year old father of 4. (2 bio, 2 adopted). And I am a nerd! I'm a web programmer for government contracts. I have a small fan base doing Let's Play videos for Minecraft, and I enjoy outdoorsy type stuff like hiking, camping, fishing, boating, etc..

Now for the long part

In high school, I was scrawny. Barely able to do 3 pullups. After I graduated, I decided to join the Marines as I figured they would be able to whip me into shape and I would have a career. I was actually on my way to to be bussed off to Boot Camp. Before that though, I got to go through the physical at the MEPS center. I passed all the health stuff easy, but then they tested our physical abilities. I failed. I could only do a couple pullups, a dozen or so situps and half a dozen pushups. So they sent me home to train more. That was pretty demoralizing. I got a job doing construction work, and promptly injured my knee. (A cart loaded with drywall tipped over and landed on my leg).

It was during this time I was truly introduced to computers. When I was able to start being mobile again, I started doing office work, and sit down jobs and started packing on the pounds. Slowly at first, and more quickly after I got married. I've dieted off and on with some success, but I always gained it back and then some. 14 years later, on Jan. 22nd 2011, I weighed myself and found the scale at 270 lbs. The heaviest I've ever been. I decided that day I needed to change. I started a low carb diet, and cut out sodas all together and on March 6th, 2011 I weighed in at 249 lbs. (21 lbs lost). Not having done a lick of real exercise.

I announced my success on Facebook to my friends and family and they cheered me on. One friend sent me a message offering to lend me his Insanity workout DVDs. And I lost 12 more lbs. I gave up on Insanity after the first month because the next month looked so hard. I did some research (not finding Nerd Fitness yet). I ordered p90x and started the program on April 18th, 2011 (Starting weight 227 lbs).

I ended up making my goal of 190 lbs by July 1st, 2011 (A full 6 months earlier than I had planned. I was so proud of myself and I never felt better. I went on vacation and had a great ol' time, running on the beach and surfing for the first time in 20 years). The problem was, I left the healthy me back on the beach. Over the next 6 months I gained 35 lbs back.

So in January this year, I decided to start up again and focus on losing the weight I gained, plus an additional 15lbs. So again I started an Insanity/p90x hybrid and have lost 21 lbs to date. (So for those trying to keep count, I'm weighing in at 204 now).

I signed up for a Spartan Sprint in PA (July) as a goal to work towards. And am super excited about it!

I've been actually eating a mostly Primal Diet since January without knowing what Primal/Paleo was. I've cut most grains, no junkfood or sodas and have been eating mostly Veggies, Fruit, Nuts and Lean proteins. Since finding Nerd Fitness I've purchased the Primal Blueprint(kindle) and am currently reading it cover to cover (so to speak). I'm interested in heavy lifting but don't have the time with work/family/sleep (pesky thing that) to go to a gym and get properly trained and lift heavy. So for the time being at least, I'll be sticking with P90X.

I'm looking forward to hanging with all the great people here!

Thanks,

Wil

[Book]

Hey Wil, welcome!

Hmmm... P90X. Something I know almost nothing about, other than a neighbor down the street is some kind of rep. It will be interesting to add your experiences to the discussion around here.

[Wil]

Hey Wil, welcome!

Hmmm... P90X. Something I know almost nothing about, other than a neighbor down the street is some kind of rep. It will be interesting to add your experiences to the discussion around here.

Haha, I was actually curious to know if anyone else works with P90X. I haven't seen much talk about it here on the forums, except a post or two about the YogaX. Thanks for the welcome!

[unicornassassin]

Welcome!

[Wicked Pixie]

Welcome home sir!

I'm totally with you on the time crunch!

I have 4 kids- all mine!

The only time I can have to myself is while they're all asleep- Read "I drag my ass out of bed at 3:30 in the morning so I can train."

It sucks some days, but the days I don't do it, I'm moody and blah!

I've only been around here for a bit, but I love it already and it really does feel like HOME!!!

[NotBadForAHuman]

Welcome! I bet my kids (11yo boy, 9yo girl) watch your Let's Play videos - they're huge into Minecraft. We don't have cable so I've come home from work many times to find them watching Let's Plays on YouTube streamed over the 360. You wouldn't happen to be Captain Sparklez would you?

And I'm totally with you on the time crunch - besides the two kids I have two small dogs who can't be unsupervised in the backyard (coyotes abound...) so the mornings are completely nuts... dogs taken out to pee, kids getting ready, dogs taken out again to poop because they didn't the first time, kids getting ready, kids off to school, me getting ready (I'm female, so that's fairly involved), dogs eating, me off to work, etc. etc. I work at a game developer and we're kind of an industry aberration in that we work fairly normal hours, but I get home by 6:30 and have 90 minutes to make dinner and spend with the kids before they're in bed. So any working out has to be done post-bedtime; trips to the gym don't get me home until around 10. It SUCKS.

Wicked Pixie, your 3:30AM dedication is commendable.

Anyway, welcome, Wil!

[Wil]

Thank you everyone!

@NotBadForAHuman - lol no, not CaptainSparkelz, he's got a HUGE fan base. Mine is JeetTol, I do modded playthrough. I've got about 1100 subscribers right now, though I haven't been posting of late because of time and workouts being my #1 priority.

@~*~Wicked Pixie~*~ - I get up at 3:30am to go straight to work with a 2 hour commute. I decided this morning to at least to some warm ups before I get ready for work and I think I felt pretty good all day until about 2pm. Going to start slow and see if I can get my workouts done in the early am in order to have more time with the family at night.

[Morrigainz]

Welcome!

Last year a friend gave me his P90X DVDs...I must confess that I haven't done many of the workouts. I had trouble getting into the weighted ones...no equipment at home and even when I bought resistance bands, well, there wasn't anything I could hook them to in the living room BUT I very much enjoyed the Kenpo X in particular, and the Yoga X is brutal...who knew yoga could be brutal??

Anyway I've since turned away from the DVDs and am into heavy lifting.

If you have any questions, just ask! This place is awesome.