Fat Nerd Fit

With the holidays upon us, life for us all is getting hectic.   Whether you are hosting, traveling, or just existing in America right now there is a hustle to the world that is hard to shut out. At our house, for Thanksgiving, we caught a stomach bug.   My husband felt ill for one night, went to Thanksgiving dinner, ate all the pie and went about his life.   I made it through Black Friday at the bookstore (it’s even the busiest shopping day of the year for us at a little local bookstore) and CRASHED. I went to bed Friday night after work and proceeded to sleep through Saturday, getting up Sunday and going to work. I can’t remember the last time I got that kind of sick. I haven’t so much as gotten a cold in years, but I crashed hard.   This morning, Wednesday was the first morning I didn’t feel blah when I woke up.   I actually ate something more substantial than oatmeal or toast today.   I had originally planned on making mulled wine and doing Christmas...

#AbsforApril is coming to a close. I’ve been at it for three weeks.   There’s a new ab routine every week and its been amping up each and every Sunday. This is the start of the last full week in April and I’m surprisingly still going strong. I have been clean of all sweets, alcohol, and fast food. Of course, for April, Whataburger (best fast food place EVER) introduced a Dr. Pepper Shake and I’ve had to be without for the last three weeks, and I have to make it one week longer.   As a Texan, missing out on Whataburger AND Dr. Pepper is a travesty. But I’m doing it. I even made it through Easter without my favorite candy: Reeses Peanutbutter Eggs. The hardest part, which I knew would be the hardest, is no one-the-way-home-pizza pickups. I’ve managed, and I’m actually pretty damn proud of myself for it.   Pizza is a huge weakness for me and I’ve not stopped by Little Ceasars all month. When I have had to stop at the grocery store for something for...

Today is so much better than the last update. Yesterday, I originally planned to go to the gym before tackling my To-Do list.   I couldn’t get myself up.   I did get my list done, otherwise, including doing the taxes, so I’m not too stressed over skipping yesterday. Especially since today I got up and went.   I had to talk myself into it. I thought maybe instead of 9 am, I’d get myself to the 5:25 pm class (yeah, right!).   Maybe I’d go someday this week before work (I mean… it’s like I don’t know myself!) But, my next day off isn’t until Monday (today’s Tuesday) so I got up and went anyway. I’m proud of talking myself into it.   It’s so easy to convince myself that I’m too tired, that I “deserve” some extra sleep, or I’ll do it later.   Plus, I promised myself a shirt from the gym’s pro-shop if I made it every week in February.   I did miss one week due to an actual injury, so I’m letting that one slide.   A lower-back injury is a ...

A little over 23 days ago most people were making their New Years Resolutions.   I was knee deep in a small journey in self-realization that involved a lot of research and confusion. I have Seasonal Affective Disorder, a form of depression that is greatly affective by the seasons.   Because of this new news in my life, I decided not to make traditional resolutions this year.   I’m not setting firm, hard goals that will most likely be abandoned before February is over.   I’m not setting myself up to be disappointed next December when I don’t radically change my life in ways that I’ve been trying- and failing- to change for decades.   This year I’m going on a more spiritual path. 2019 will be my year of Self Care. I’m not going to hide behind helping others, putting myself third, fourth, or fifth in the line of priority. I’m putting myself first and, when needed, second but never less than second this year. Being supportive of the mental health...

Last night was my first kickboxing class at my local ilovekickboxing.com studio. My legs hurt today in all the best ways. I adored class and you better believe I signed up for a one-year membership before I left the studio. The one downside is the price of membership and how the company tends to keep it under wraps for the most part. When I sighed up for their internet special (5 Classes for $19.99 plus a pair of boxing gloves) I started scouting their website to check membership pricing. They are up front about the “After your first class we’ll show you how to save $100 on membership!”- so you know after class it’s time for the hard sell, but it’s not advertised on their website what you’re saving $100 on. I did some digging and googling and found the structure of membership. Being armed with that info when I went in and having time to discuss the membership costs with my husband beforehand, I was comfortable with the hard sell approach and there was no sticker shock. Here’...

Weight is a weird thing. Sure, scientifically, it’s all about gravity and mass and blah blah balh. It’s just a number. It’s not a measurement of your worth. Yadda. Yadda. Yadda. I know. But fat. Appearance. Confidence. So much is tied into that arbitrary number on the scale. The circumference of your waste. Psychology. I’m getting lost in the mire of all of it and it’s all tied to that number. As I struggle with the importance of the number and what it means to me I’m finding twists and turns I’m finding questions and concerns and confusion. Lots of confusion. Lots of… not sure what I’m finding. Me? Maybe? I’m okay with what I’m finding. And I wouldn’t say I’m UN-comfortable with it. But I’m not sure what’s going on. I’ve never read the self-help books or joined the group therapy, or one-on-one therapy, or done much more than surface based “lose weight.” I’m finding that it’s so much more than getting to the gym, eating carrots, skipping creamer in the cof...

I feel like this is a confession. I, allegedly, started this blog to share a journey to physical fitness and overall health. So far, that’s been a total fair. In 2018. I have a goal of losing 50 pounds. So far, I’ve lost 1. In six months, ONE POUND. That’s no even really losing, that’s maintaining. A while ago I’d be sitting here waxing poetic about how maintaining, is still a victory because it’s not a gain. I’d be making excuses to try to stay positive. I’d do what I could to stay up beat about all this. Part of me still wants to. I haven’t failed I just haven’t succeeded, either. Stay positive. Be positive. No negative. Don’t be a downer…. I can’t keep doing that. At least not right now. The last few months I’ve been putting myself on the backburner. With house-hunting, -buying- and -moving I’ve allowed myself to say, “now’s not a good time” and “we’re too busy” and “other things are more important.” I know I’m not alone in constantly putting everything else...

The new year is fast approaching and I, like most of the world, am looking for what is to come and looking back one what has been accomplished. When I look back at 2017 all in all I am happy with what was accomplished. -- I went from a job that I really liked that didn't pay the bills to a job that I love that does pay the bills. WIN -- I've lost 22.4 pounds while just half assing my efforts. WIN -- I've helped my husband get off his pre-diabetes medication and lose over 40 pounds. WIN -- I won NaNoWriMo 2017 and wrote over 50,000 words in November. WIN -- I am truly happy with where I see my future going. WIN I did not lose the 50 pounds I wanted to. I did not finish my novel. I did not make my 1000 purposeful miles. I did not get close to any of these goals that I shared on December 31, 2016. But I feel like I did achieve goal number 1 on that list. Goal number 1 was Happiness. I feel like I did that. I am happy. I feel at ease. I feel content. I feel a...

So, um, yeah, November has come and gone. Hope you had a good Thanksgiving! Things have been busy in my neck of the woods. I’m still adjusting to working full time again after nearly a year of part time employment, of course, the holidays have arrived, and last month was also NaNoWriMo! National Novel Writing Month is an international annual challenge to write 50,000 original words (the average length of a novel) in the month of November. I did the challenge last year and failed miserably, not even making it half way to my goal. This year, however, at 9:00 pm on November 30 (the deadline is midnight) I submitted 50,075 words written in November! I was super stoked to be able to meet the challenge! I was that crazy person in the breakroom at work with my laptop, I tippy-tapped away on the keys while at home watching TV with the hubby, and on one particularly productive day off I wrote over 7,000 words while doing laundry and meal prep. I ended up with two short stories and th...

Blogtober #1 I’m going to give this Blogtober thing a chance. I’ve never done anything like this, but- as I stated in my last post- I’m trying to get a new routine going. Part of what I want to do is write more consistently, so Blogtober is a great place to start! This is a challenge issued by Mandi Morrison over at hexmumblog.com . She has compiled a list of topics, one for each day of October, and the point is to blog every day using the topic as a prompt. Day One: All About Me I always feel like there’s not a whole lot to say on this topic. I don’t really know why, but I always get uncomfortable when people want me to talk about me. I know that sounds counter-intuitive when I’m here writing a blog about myself, but the anonymity of the internet helps. I can think of two people in my real life that even know this blog exists. One I know for sure doesn’t read it and one I’m not sure. For some reason knowing that people I know may read this makes it harder for me to write ...

This week has been a whirlwhind of the good kind of busy. It was a 50 hour work week, plus my side hustle. Then there's a house to run and oh, yeah! I have a husband that I didn't see for five days straight even though we live in a tiny one bedroom apartment. My alarm went off this morning and I jumped out of bed ready to go... only to realize that it's my day off! My new job is at an amazing and HUGE bookstore. This was week two and I got assigned my sections. Apparently I have already cemented my reputation as the nerd among nerds. I am in charge of the Manga, Graphic Novels, and RPG Guides. My knowledge from ThinkGeek has already come in handy. I found some back-stocked mangas and put them out on the floor and the set sold in less than four hours. I would have never known about Death Note if I hadn't worked at ThinkGeek. Now I know about the anime and that the live action version is about to come out. Every copy of Naturo that we had in the back I put on the f...

Hi, guys. I'm so sorry I've been MIA for so long. We got hacked and both of our computers (mine and husband's) ended up dying. It took a while to get the funds and whatnot together to get a new computer. But, we're back and we're good to go! The good news is, without a computer I've actually gotten my fat ass out the door for exercise more than ever! July I set a record for getting out and getting some miles in. I even had one week where I got out the door five times! That is huge for me. Usually I'm pushing it for three times a week and I did five without even thinking about it. The real corner I turned was on a day I'd usually be very likely to NOT go out for a couple miles... I did! Over a very busy weekend I had a lot of demands on my schedule. I had work, I had two birthday parties for my niece (we were told that we were not expected to go to both, but were welcome at both), a social engagement with my sister AND I was starting a new j...

I know it's been over a month since my last post. I have been running around like crazy... and I have nothing to show for it. I've gone through the interview process at two new companies, made it to the final round, and not gotten the job. I have another interview at a third company on Thursday. This new place is somewhere I've wanted to work since my college days. I'm not holding my breath, I've been burned too many times, but I am hopeful. The location is a bit far from where I live now, but it's not bad. I leave an hour before shift at ThinkGeek and always end up early, and I think my hour early routine would serve me well at this place, too. But, we'll have to see. There's no point in getting my hopes up any more. I feel really defeated when it comes to employment. I've always sort of fallen into jobs. ThinkGeek is the first job I got by going after it on my own. I have nearly 10 years office experience (in only two companies, I...

This week, I meal-prepped. I have a fridge full of healthy, ready to heat and eat food. There are prepped veggies. There are prepped fruits. There are ready to assemble salad fixin's. Yesterday I ate said prepped meals. I had pasta and veggies for lunch and an egg and veggie burrito for dinner. I felt pretty dang good about myself. Today as hubby left for work, I put the leash on the dog and went for a walk. Poor Scout-The-Dog is part Corgi and has tiny little legs. He made it .8 miles before this happened. He is zonked! I dropped him off at home and set out for another round of walking for 1.5 miles today. It's not a lot, I'm not as zonked as Scout-The-Dog, but I feel it in my legs. I've been majorly slacking on any and all things "Get Your Ass In Gear" but damned if I realized I was this out of shape... AGAIN. I'm proud that I got my ass off the couch and went for it. I'm a little ashamed that so little actually makes me feel like I...

One of the terms that comes up over and over again in the From Fat to Finish Line Facebook group is "NSV" or Non Scale Victory. I hadn't really taken this side of the journey into consideration until I starting seeing other people's victories. When working on weight-loss and health it is so easy to just look at the scale as the only tool of measurement. When I confessed my weight to the group at the New Year one of the first comments I got was to only weigh once a month and not focus solely on the number as there is so much more to take into consideration. Yes, we celebrate everyone's weight loss numbers but there is also just as much support and excitement for the NSVs in the group. Yesterday I posted that it was my fourth day with no cream or sugar in my coffee. Over 120 people as of this writing have showed their support for my achievement. From a huge group of people who have either been there, done that, or are struggling themselves, or just starting...

I was very hopeful that my plantar fasciitis was going to clear up by now. It continues to noticeably improve, but it's still not healed to a place where I can get out and actively exercise. It's easy to sit here and swear that I'd totally be hitting the gym and/or the road if only I could be out there, but I feel like I'd at least would have made two or three workouts in the last two weeks if I'd be able to. That's still not the every other day I've got my eyes set on and it's certainly not the every day my subconscious ego swears it would be, but two or three times in two weeks is a true estimation of what I've lost out on. It's still a win for me, though. Not very long ago I would be quite happy sitting on the couch for two weeks with my feet up. I'd have a six pack of beer, a pizza delivery on its way and be planning on wine and Chinese take away tomorrow. I'm actually kind of proud of myself that I am anxious to get out there. ...

Sorry I've been MIA for the last week. I got the flu right after Thanksgiving and promptly went down for the count. I've talked before about several of the Facebook groups I'm part of and am a member of a couple others as well. I really like all the positive attitudes and inspirational stories that I see every time I log in. There is also another weird side effect of those stories. I don't feel like I'm good enough, or something enough when I think about how awesome everyone else is doing. This member runs at a 9 minute mile and thinks they're slow. This member has lost 70 pounds so far this year. This member has been taken off their diabetes medication due to their hard work. I know that it's all about hard work and these people were all once someone who thought "Dude, I need to fix this." I can't help comparing myself to what people have already done and not allowing myself the time to get there. No one did it overnight, and whi...