I would say I began my journey into geekdom perhaps around the early 80′s when I first got my hands on an Atari 2600. Later things progressed to an Apple IIc, Apple IIgs, NES, Sega Master System, and Genesis. During this time I also began my journey into being somewhat of a yo-yo when it came to my weight, which at times I would blame Walgreens for opening up a mere 1/3 mile from my house, with 3 for $1 candy.
Getting into skateboarding and Tae Kwon Do helped me get back into shape and I soon became a bit of a drama geek in high school. Although there were many a rehearsal day that included large amounts of fast food, I preferred to save my lunch money in favor of buying CDs, which I had to walk almost 4 miles for. So my weight held up pretty well despite trading in the skateboard and dojo for the stage.
Although I gained a bit of weight after high school, it hadn’t been a real issue for years. I always stayed within a few pounds of my BMI despite letting in some less than healthy foods. That was until 1996 when the geekdom returned in the form of a job in Information Technology which earned me enough money to buy a computer of my own for at home. Sitting in front of a computer all day and partaking in more cafeteria/vending foods didn’t do my body good. That situation, along with a cross country move to California and back and partaking in many new foods and lifestyle changes along the way, caused my weight over the years to climb up until I was about 55lbs over weight.
After moving back home and resuming my I.T. career, gaming continued, anime marathons were added into the mix, and my body remained pretty heavy. Finally I got access to a gym and started figuring out how to work out.
Not much steady dieting was done during this time, so the workouts only got me so far (losing about 25-35lbs). But I was well on my way to just dipping back into a healthy weight range…then came marriage. During my wife’s pregnancy I gained a bit of “sympathy weight” and at one point gained all but 10lbs of the weight back that I tried so hard to lose.
My wife not being happy with her weight either, we decided to trade in WoW for DDR, traded in our soda and pretzels for a low carb diet, and our Barrens run for a jog around the park, all with a newborn tagging along in the jogger stroller.
Eventually people such as Mike and Rob nudged my wife and I toward WeightWatchers.com® , which my wife had done a few years earlier. Using old materials and “winging it” I finally saw some real positive results and not only got back to my “Pre-I.T. Weight”, but got within 5lbs of my high school weight.
Eventually I was less strict with the dieting and some of the weight came back. I am still around my healthy weight range but would like to trim up a bit more. I have gotten back into the gym and have also gone veg. Although still making time for hobbies such as gaming, movies, and computers I consider dieting, nutrition, and exercise to be important hobbies/lifestyles as well.
That being said, I was approached by Michael about contributing to ShrinkGeek after reading several posts of mine over the years concerning my transition into a strict vegetarian lifestyle. Not only that, but I have also tried other diets: Subway, Low-Carb, SlimFast, and Raw-Vegan (which is how I met my VegHead friend Tonya).
Well, that’s it. That’s me…more or less. I hope you enjoy my contributions as well as the contributions of the rest of the ShrinkGeek staff.
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