Yep. This is partly why I work US PST/PDT hours despite living three time zones eastward. If I couldn’t get to sleep until 2:00 am my time, I can still get eight hours of sleep and be up an hour before work. And because West Coast folks tend to be less anal about such things (they just care that work is getting done and communication is happening), if necessary I can start an hour or two late on days when there are no morning meetings.

I also only take my first Dexedrine dose unless it’s a very bad day for focusing and I don’t have any morning obligations the following day.

I can swing a 15 lb mace pretty easily and do multiple reps on both sides. I can handle a 20 lb mace on both sides if I’m not fatigued or too distractible to mind my form. I can do one-handed swings with a 10 lb mace.

For comparison, in July I could barely swing a 10 pounder with two hands and I nearly fucked myself up in August trying to swing a 15. It took a while to work up to swinging with my left hand (the weaker one) on the bottom because of the strength disparity between the sides.

My next goal is to earn the L1 Tacfit certification next month.

I completely agree with this. Getting my ADHD under control with Dexedrine and Wellbutrin along with guanfacine to take the edge off of the irritability has been a life changer. I’m still very much AuDHD, but at a manageable level.

Working from home means no longer having to battle sensory sensitivity. I created and set up my own custom lighting setup (read: a couple of motor controllers and AliExpress LED strips). I normally work under very low lighting, but it’s trivial to adjust it when I have to be on camera. That’s rare because I luckily work on a team in which it’s socially acceptable not to have it on. At work, ADHD drives the flashes of insight and willingness to try ridiculous ideas; autism keeps track of the todo list and forces me to think about edge cases.

It’s the autism that drives me to clean up things that I spill and isolate and regularly get rid of trash, for example. It’s also why I am generally well prepared while traveling. I have dedicated cases for electronics, toiletries, cutlery and condiments, even bookmarks and writing utensils, and I always have a little cash, some of it in quarters, just in case I have to do laundry. Incidentally, those are some of the things that drive me batty about my boyfriend, who’s allistic and inattentive ADHD. But I know he can’t help it, plus he has to deal with my rigidity and hyperactivity.

Anyway…my analytical and hyperactive nature are what drive me to exercise regularly and to see it as a lifelong habit; given the vast body of data about its benefits and the dangers of being sedentary, it would be illogical if I didn’t do it.

The advice about not looking for love is good but incomplete. I think that some people (myself included) have to put some thoughtful effort into dating if they want a partner. For others, it comes more naturally for one or two simple reason(s): they have a wide social circle and/or they have lives that consistently put them in contact with a lot of other people. In a lot of ways, it truly is a numbers game.

Since I’m not one of those people, I took a systematic approach to dating and sought to replicate that network effect while still staying true to myself. I upgraded to the paid version of Scruff (I’m a gay man) after realizing that it was far easier for me to make friends than date where I was. The immediate goal was not to find a boyfriend, it was to practice chatting with men in a platonic manner. The secondary goal was to make a friend or two. I made a goal of chatting with 4-5 people each week.

In the meantime, I started delving more into my hobbies by taking classes and going to meetups because they exposed me to more people. Also, hobbies are a good source of conversational topics.

After 3-4 months of doing this, I received a message on Scruff at 2:00 one morning. My sleep schedule at that time was messed up, so I was actually awake then. I looked at his profile and saw that he was interested in maps (one of my special interests). So I responded and we just hit it off. If you’ve ever met someone and just clicked with them, you’ll understand what I mean by that. We became good friends within a month or two, then things got a little more serious. The downside was that he was literally on the other side of the continent and we both had careers that were dependent on our locations, so we agreed to keep things platonic. We met in person the following month and found that the attraction was still there, only stronger.

We’ve been together for over four years now and have lived together for 3.5 of them. He also has ADHD, which is probably part of why we get along so well. Perhaps I just got lucky, but if I hadn’t pushed myself to socialize with others (I consider text-based conversations to be a form of socializing), we would never have met.

tl;dr: The closest thing there is to a magic formula is to be kind, interesting, and interested in other people. And “interesting” means different things to everyone, but in my experience, hobbies and special interests tend to be a bit of an advantage. Also, a good first step is to widen your social circle (use your favorite search engine to learn more about the weak ties theory, if you want to nerd out about how that works…this is also a good start: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interpersonal_ties).

I’ve not had a gym membership since before COVID. Despite being vaxxed, boosted, and having had it once before, I don’t see myself ever becoming comfortable with the idea of joining an indoor gym. I also hate (American) fitness culture, a view that COVID solidified, so there’s zero desire to be around anyone else anyway. I just want to be able to age well and maintain my independence.

What got me to start working out: Almost 10 years ago, I went from doing manual labor (warehouse, construction, etc) to writing code for a living. It has its perks, like no longer being near the poverty line and having a consistent work schedule. But I knew that a desk job is the fastest way to end up sick and out of shape, a suspicion that was 10000% confirmed when I met my first boss. Dude was 5’10” and easily 400 lbs. After my first day at that job, I joined a cheap gym and bought a pair of running shoes. A few months later, I’d completed my first 5K. After couple of years and a few injuries and stern lectures from my chiro, I started strength training.

Why I do it now: Admittedly, I’ve not been 100% consistent over the years because of injury/illness (outside of my control) and work (something I need to get better about, as the company is only concerned with money, not my well-being). I couldn’t run or lift much for two years because I had a suprapubic catheter and I was one of those unlucky people who pees blood if I run or even walk too fast. But I got lucky and learned about adaptive fitness and that my employer would reimburse some fitness-related expenses, so I was able to work with a trainer until the catheter came out. Then last year I got a high-paying but high-pressure job, which made it too easy to skip workouts due to deadlines or emergencies. So I’ve been playing catch-up and I’ve had to learn to be patient but not complacent. I’ve also had to learn to be nice to myself when I slip up, otherwise what’s the point? While I haven’t always been consistent, I have been persistent. Ultimately, I just want to be able to haul my own groceries into the house even when I’m 80.

This is me. It sometimes feels like my autism and ADHD are at odds. For a very long time, I refused to make any lists or do any kind of planning because if anything disrupted the process of executing them, I’d have a meltdown or come close to it.

Even now, I have to loosely plan, which comes across to allistics and NTs as being overly negative, when in reality it’s proactive ADHD management and meltdown prevention.

In the States, the same choads that drive tankmobiles tend to complain about fuel prices and how it’s all big gubmint’s fault for stealing their fun (fun being defined as the ability to do 95 mph on the interstate and still pay under $50 for a tank of gas).

It could be anything as long as it’s intense enough to leave me wiped out. Ideally, it’s at least three times a week, but must be twice at a minimum, or the brain demons will get me

I work with a trainer for the majority of my workouts, but he’s currently out of town. I’ve wanted to become more autonomous and I want to address the strength imbalance between my left and right sides, so I’ve been doing some of Onnit’s steel mace workouts. Several weeks ago, I started doing one day a week of mace work and have increased it to 2-3 while he’s out of town. Hopefully it’ll get me out of this plateau by the time he’s back.

I have an Assault fan bike. Its screen can’t be used to watch TV (if I want to do that, I put my iPad on top of the screen), but in my layman’s opinion it’s versatile enough for LISS and HIIT workouts. I used it to help rehab my elbow and shoulder last year and I use it for cardio on days that running outdoors isn’t a good idea. I’ve had a rower, but I could never get into rowing like I can with running.