Lurker from Australia, finally coming forward :)

Hi all,

So, I joined here over four months ago and have been coming to the site just about every day since then. I've been eating well and exercising every day and finding a reasonably consistent change on the scales - I've lost 11 kilograms since Christmas, which is pretty great in my books! I'm at the lowest weight I've been for about 4 or 5 years and intending to keep going a little more yet.

I haven't been able to get myself to really get involved in the community yet, and I'm not sure why because I really value this place and the information I have learned here from all of you. Maybe it's partly because I'm not a gym rat in the slightest, though I do walk and jog about 10 kilometres every day and love nothing more than getting out with some great music and watching the world. I do some strength training, but it's incredibly basic as I do it at home with my limited knowledge of what the hell I'm doing :P I worry that I'm not "hard core" enough!

My weight really got out of control for me when I finally finished post-grad studies and started my career. I had zero work-life balance. I was working crazy hours, not taking lunch breaks, and travelling all the time. It left food and exercise at the bottom of the priority list when it should have been at the top. I gained around 20 kilograms at this stage. Since January 2011 I've tried various attempts to lose weight, but I've always been thwarted by one thing or another - things which of course, originated from my own brain and thought processes.

Since January this year I have been consistently working to eat well and exercise. I've learned SO much about diet and exercise in this time, it's crazy! I'd love to have some friends who are active and can be a motivation and an inspiration for me Particularly as I'm a bit of a stick in the mud and can be resistant to new things (like going to the gym) - but once I'm in, I'm in for real :P

Quick about me: I am obsessed with Game of Thrones, can't wait for Eurovision on May 17/18/19 this year and am planning my Eurovision party as we speak, am dying for the new season of Arrested Development to start, live for nachos, the Sims 3, and I can't get enough of my two cichlid aquariums. I'm a metal music lover, more of the melancholy stuff but am easily sucked in by a bit of cheesy power-metal. I have a collection of Moomin things - and if you don't know what that means, you really should :P

Oh and I'm going back to Germany in July/August and I want to be able to eat all the delicious things and drink all the delicious wheat beers without feeling as guilty as I did last time!

Thanks, I look forward to getting to know some of you