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Overweight Underdog looking to do small hkes

PostPosted: Sun Jan 19, 2014 2:28 am
by BearQueen
:geek: :geek:

Hello! I am looking for other positive women as hiking partners. However, my situation is unique, so here it is.
My name is Rebekah (BearQueen) and I have fibromyalgia and chronic pain from Sciatica, which is manifesting as pain in my leg and shoots down from my back. I fell down on concrete about a month ago and the pain has been excrutiating. I also have very little money from sporadic temp job and chronic unemployment and have a beater car, and desperately want to get away and go out into hiking, but the car really cannot go out to these areas. However, I am interested in looking beyond that and challenging myself with small hikes. I am 40 and have 100 pounds to lose. I am more interested in hiking for the beauty and love of nature, and the spiritual connection to it. I have numerous challenges physically, so I need to find someone who is extremely supportive, compassionate, and is not interested in bounding up the mountain for speed or to show off physical prowess. I really need a hiking partner who may be significantly overweight like myself as well as have some other challenge that makes them be able to relate to me, and find someone who wants to make a difference in someone else's life (mine) by going out in nature and helping me gradually build on each experience so I can stronger in every way (Emotionally, physically and spiritually.)

I hope to get to know you online as an acquaintance first. My husband, EastKing, is significantly fit and is a huge presence on SummitPost and NWHikers. He is supportive, but he ends up doing really big hikes that I am not able to do and thus I end up not going with people that he does have rides with.
I have been unemployed for a long time and my self esteem has taken some hard hits since I moved here in 2007, with wanting to get a really amazing start in Seattle and that did not happen due to my mother dying, chronic unemployment, not being able to get a full time writing job (I am a journalist and small town reporter) and it just got worse and worse. However, I am wanting to CREATE MY REALITY AND CREATE A NEW ERA FOR MYSELF. I am a lover of the outdoors and as much as I do want to advance into bigger hikes, I am not a climber, and although I have completely confidence that I could progress into that once I lose 100 or even 80 pounds, that is not why I want to hike. I want to find a spiritual connection again to the Northwest and get out to meet new people. The requirements are: Positive people only, who go hiking not just for sport, but also to take pictures and appreciate the outdoors and are not these uberly annoying peak baggers who are interested in comparing themselves to other people.

I had been active on this site as recently as 2011, and from the years of 207 to 2011, but I significantly dropped off due to circumstantial stuff that took me over and weighed me down. I guess I had been known as an underdog back then too b/c I still had my weight problem then (though it was less then, and i do not plan ion having it for much longer, meaning I want to lose 100 pounds this year) and I had been ill for two years with kidney and bladder stuff. It was horrific, so then I feel off the site, and felt so bad, because i had wanted to make EastKing proud by doing more hikes again. Now in may ways, I have more physical challenges, but I am more motivated, and I should say inspired to have a better life. That is because I think willpower only gets one so far when they have as many challenges as me. One has to have the soul burning desire deep within to have a better life. It has also been difficult, extremely difficult, to meet nice people in Seattle or who are Seattleites. I find them to be people who put up walls and can be hard to get to know. I tend to relate more to other areas around Seattle and like those better, like Puyallup or Enumclaw, so my goal is to move out there next year. I am a very social person, so I figure if I am this friendly and outgoing, I am not sure what it takes sometimes to make friends here in Seattle.

I had hiked Mt. Lassen as recently as 2011 and it was an amazing experience, and I believe that is the most recently one I did: "Healing and passion on Mt. Lassen". Most notably, I am going to be posting a few trip reports coming up including Mt. Cavanaugh, which may be known by certain sectors, but not widely known, and is a beautiful hike. I know that the only way I am going to get outdoors is to broaden my horizons, but I truly need to do it with the right people, who, again, are compassionate and empathetic and who understand my situations. Also, my rules on the trail are: Never go ahead unless it is agreed upon for some REALLY GOOD reason, but I generally like to stick together on the trail, be respectful in every way and be positive.

If you are understand the vibration/jist/general point of what I am putting forth, I would love to hear from you.

Re: Overweight Underdog looking to do small hkes

PostPosted: Fri Mar 21, 2014 11:47 pm
by LuminousAphid
although i do not fit all the criteria because i am a man, i would be more than willing to go with you on some mellow hikes around the seattle area. i need to start getting in shape because i really let myself go the last year and a half, so starting in the spring with low, easy hikes is what i am planning on. pm me if you want to get in touch.

- ryan

p.s. my shift key is unresponsive, sorry about no caps

Re: Overweight Underdog looking to do small hkes

PostPosted: Sat Mar 22, 2014 11:31 am
by mvs
Best of luck, and if you feel temporarily defeated by circumstances, maybe this is a nice quote:

"When you are totally defeated you begin again to enjoy the small things around you.' Voytek later explained. 'Just going again to the mountains, not for victory or glory, but to enjoy nature or to enjoy fine people. If you always succeed you enjoy the admiration of many people. Being defeated means being limited to the basic existential choices of life. If you can enjoy the quiet evening hours it is beautiful; a hero who always succeeds may not have time to enjoy such things."

-- Wojtek Kurtyka, Polish high-altitude climber
from Climbing magazine, 8-9/89,
"Between the Hammer and the Anvil"

Re: Overweight Underdog looking to do small hkes

PostPosted: Sat Mar 22, 2014 3:43 pm
by MoapaPk
Maybe this isn't the one, but...
http://www.meetup.com/seattlehiking/

We have local meetups with hikes specially catered toward people trying to get in shape.

I can relate to kidney and bladder issues. I had 3 operations "in that area" in the last 6 months. I found there were some exercises -- e.g. chair squats, walking up-and-down stairs -- that let me get back in shape in the privacy of my own home, without taking a long time or ripping anything internal. ;) I'm recovering from an unrelated 4th operation right now, and believe me, necessity is the mother of invention!

I remember your older posts, and know you can do it. For me, the key is to find ANYTHING outdoors that I can do -- even a local walk to a park, high school playing fields -- to give a hint, a hope, a breath of fresh(er) air, sunshine.

Good luck.

Re: Overweight Underdog looking to do small hkes

PostPosted: Tue Sep 08, 2015 8:03 pm
by EastKing
It should be noted that both BearQueen and I have of every Wednesday and Thursday now. SO if anyone wants to join us PM us.

Re: Overweight Underdog looking to do small hkes

PostPosted: Fri Oct 16, 2015 2:28 am
by Ben Beckerich
Get myfitnesspal on your phone, and marry yourself to it... GREAT app for controlling weight.

I lost 20lbs in 2 months using it, prepping for race season last year. Love it.