Any fitness aspies?

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I've been into health & fitness for the last couple years after being overweight for a lot of my life. Not only do I feel amazing and strong but I find it helps make up for my lack of social skills as well as people are genuinely interested in you before even speaking. Plus it provides a conversation topic right off the bat.

Any other shared experiences or fellow fitness advocates?

I think this topic belongs in "sports, health and fitness".

You're right, I apologize. I didn't even know that category existed!

When I discovered in my more recent years I had depression I was told I should eat healthy and exercise. Of course I knew it would help, but I didn't know quite how much and it's much easier said than done, especially for someone in that position.

A few months ago I has doing very badly and as had happened to me many times before, I had an extended period of suicidal ideation... I just couldn't shake those thoughts from my mind, they creeped their way in and took over no matter what I was doing... eventually I had a realisation that steeled my resolve - if I was willing to follow through with THAT, then I should be willing to do damn near everything short of it to fix or otherwise manage the problem... and that really lit a fire under my ass.

This began my research into modern diets and the common deficiencies and intolerances/allergies and their causes. I decided to make a diet plan which would get me 100% of my recommended intake of all the micronutrients I needed every day as well as macronutrients in the proportions of my choosing... which eventually led me to research the infamous soylent, and write my own recipe for a home-made version. Food and cooking had always been a chore for me, and now I could make a days worth of incredibly nutrient dense food in minutes... and it tasted delicious too! I began to notice problems all around my body clear up including many I did not know I had until they were gone... my depression, anxiety and even Asperger's became much more manageable all at once along with my depersonalisation and derealisation... I could feel and smell and taste properly again, and live in the moment (to some degree at least). My mood dramatically improved, as did my "brain fog" and I made many small but to me hugely positive changes in my life... but something was still missing.

Exercise... I hate cardio and my previous bike riding and running efforts were always cut short when I lost motivation after dropping to my knees and vomiting in public from the effort (I would not see it coming or feel I had overexerted myself terribly, I would just get very dizzy all of a sudden and then very ill), not to mention never liking doing either one very much to begin with. This time I decided to lift weights in the hopes the aesthetic and practical improvements would keep me motivated.

I tell you, what I have found in lifting weights leads me to want to recommend it to everyone! It has helped a lot with my mood and physical health but these are not the main advantages for me. There is a huge element of mind over matter in lifting a heavy weight, especially with a squat or a deadlift and sticking to an intense workout program. I have always been big on putting things off, studying things and not actually doing them, or generally sitting around with my thumb up my ass feeling sorry for myself. You simply can not be this way and lift weights effectively, it does not work. To stick to your routine you absolutely have to learn to believe in your own ability, psych yourself up, have a mind over matter attitude and be a do-er first and foremost... there was a big learning curve of course, many times I told myself I couldn't do a lift because it was too heavy or too technical or I wasn't in the mood and I wanted to give up. I am thankful for those times spent thinking negatively about it though because pushing through them taught me many invaluable life lessons.

It taught me I can accomplish more than I think I can, it grounded me and made me feel empowered as a human that I could achieve the weights I have (even though I'm only one month into the process and am lifting tiny weights), it taught me correct posture, to not shy away from confrontation or from hard work, the value of being proactive and much more! Some people say lifting weights is pointless, the weight goes up and down and I go nowhere, that I should get a physical job where working out becomes a part of it and is useful... I say in reply that I am not lifting the weight, the weight stays still and I am lifting myself - I don't need to be stronger or more attractive and I definitely don't need money for my efforts, just happier with who I am as a person.

In short, my interest in being healthy is my most recent of and certainly one of my most important attempts to become a better version of myself, and the benefits I have found have been enormous and I sincerely hope I manage to keep up and perhaps convince others to start on their own version of this kind of journey... it really is worth it, I promise! Don't give up because it is hard, if it wasn't then it wouldn't be nearly as rewarding. Be thankful for the struggles it may bring you!

Good thread

I am NT. My friend has aspergers. This is really eye opening. I did not think people with aspergers could exercise based on what i saw from my friend. When i would invite him to gym, he would go into discussions of how worthless an endeavor this was. It has been a sore point because i could not share my successes in the gym with him due to the negative response.

His attempts to demotivate me failed because i know from my life journey that the more i work out the more people and women want to get to know me. When i was an ugly 120 pound weakling frankly I couldnt get laid. Now after lifting weights for several years i have no problem getting women to play with my wienerscnitzel. One of the best decisions of my entire life. I share my story because if it motivates even one person to get off the computer and tv its worth it.

I used to love fitness but for the past year I have had some mysterious stomach illness that no doctor knows what's wrong with me and I have stopped working out.

I was always into sports, and had many periods in my life when I was super-fit... like I ran cross country 3 years in high school and my first year of college, I played basketball, in my 30s I got good at racket ball, I jogged, I got into lifting weights and got muscles. But in my mid30s I got into cycling... this was 1980, and I kept buying new bikes, and I told myself if I could ride 20 miles in an hour that I would buy an Italian racing bike with all Campanola grupo. I did it. I got into racing after that, and met a couple of guys near me that were into training and were just a little younger than me. I stayed fit, and only stopped riding a couple of years ago. You have to be able to take a hard fall when you ride a bike all the time.

I was terrible at sports in school due to coordination issues but the Sports Masters persisted in their quest and eventually we discovered that I was quite good at long distance running. Later on in life I decided that my running days were over and I'm now a gym nut, you can normally find me there three days a week.

Lifting weights helped me with coordination and being less awkward.

I'm an undiagnosed Aspie.

I ran 3 marathons in the 1990s, with my best time 3:47:03.

I'm in a bit of a lull as far as exercise is concerned at this point.

However, I will start to walk about 20 miles a week starting next week.

Why would Aspies not exercise?

I recently started fitness training and healthy eating. It makes me feel much better about myself.

I've been getting fitter via exercise, diet, and manual labour. I'm stronger, healthier, happier etc for it. Besides doing some work, I haven't really had a workout or a run for a couple weeks as I was sick. Feeling better and better and will be back to regular workouts/stretching/running again soon. It's just an all around better way to Be - healthy & fit. Brain functions better, look better, perform better mentally and physically etc. I can't imagine ever slipping back to unhealthy habits.

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No for supporting trump. Because doing so is deplorable.

i am into fitness