papacoyote

Coyote the Bard furtively slunk into the Rebel encampment. New faces, new fortress, but it was the same old place. Had it really been two years since he had been here? Sighing, he stepped up to the fire, unslung his battered case, and accepted a hot cup of broth. His bones creaked as he flopped down, and with an embarrassed grunt, he looked around at the bright faces-recruits and veterans alike-all eager to hear his story, share their experience, and to pursue the Rebellion. "I'm back..." STORY I joined the Rebellion in Fall 2012 after having been paleo for 6 months and having dropped about 40 lbs. I did 4 challenges, some more successfully than others, lost another 15 pounds, and was close to my goal of 10 consecutive pull ups. In the Fall of 2013, I hurt my shoulder doing stupidparkour, started a high-pressure job that I quickly learned to hate, broke up my band, and fell off the wagon into the mud. I stayed mostly paleo, and only gained back 15 of those pounds, but lost a lot of muscle in the process. For this new challenge, I knocked down most of my signature stats a bunch, but upped my level to 5. 2015 - I have a new, cool job with a European view on work-life balance, am starting up a ( smaller, quieter, easier-to-manage) new band, am climbing back on the wagon, and am going to do this NF challenge! This time, I'm going to keep my goals really simple! How simple? REALLY simple! If I want, I can do more, but I'm just not going to push too hard this time around. GOALS SQUAT - At least 20 a day, some of which I'll stay down for as long as I comfortably can. PUSHUPS - At least 30 a day, 3x a week. PLAY MUSIC - At least once a week, with other people. That's it! See you around the Rebel camp fire!

Challenge 5: Stay on task, simple up on the goals, and track them more. Goal 1: Eat 90% paleo. Goal 2: Write down the body weight reps (on the piece of paper tacked to the wall behind me) for each time I do: SquatsPushupsPullupsPlanksThat's it! REBEL SUCCESS The good thing is that at 46yo, with nine months of 80-90% paleo eating, and even giving myself and average c-minus average for the last four challenges, I'm: Back at my college weight, except a lot more solid and with no wheat-bellyBody fat% and BMI are considered fit for the first time in a long timeDown 35lbs since last year (for a total of 80lbs from my all time high)Blood pressure normal (They were talking statens last year) LDL/HDL good (never dared check em before)Enjoying the (sometimes emphatic) attention from my fun and sexy friends FTW!!!I can do now reps of four pull ups, plank for three minutes, and squat comfortably despite old knee surgery., I spontaneously frolic, run, and play like I was seven years old. People often underestimate my age by more a decade! Here's how I did it so far: Throw the desk away. I have been at a standing workstation since Jan 2011. I lost ~25-30 lbs immediately. I have set up the treadmill thing for a couple months at a time, but it is just too complicated to keep up for very long. I've fallen off the wagon a couple times, but I really have taken a commitment to life-long standing. I have recently added a commitment to squatting as well. Throw the grains away. Eliminating grains, legumes, and vegetable oils has reduced the chronic inflammation I didn't even know I had. I've lost weight and developed tone almost effortlessly. (XL to L-slim fit tees... 42 waist to 34 waist!) At first it is hard to give up the grain, but soon after I did, my taste buds and appetite reset for the better. I get so much more nutrition and flavor out of the food I eat now. Throw the car away. Okay, I know this isn't practical for most folks, but I work from home and live in Portland, Oregon, which has great public transportation and car sharing choices. At least four or five times a week, I'll walk a hilly mile to the market for fresh veggies. It's also a good mile to walk to the pub as well, which beats driving there. All-in-all I get a good 5-15 miles a week that I would not otherwise get. Next up I'm back on track for work up towards handstand pushups! Latest geek: Convict Conditioning. Gonna see if I can get that book next week. Peace, Papa aka ~evan

@1Super_Human and Knightwatch... I'm originally from up upstate New York, but it didn't take long to get used to these Portland "winters." We complain if it drops below 40 in February. @leighanne1941, nice. I'm just now starting to look into it. I have a friend who raises pasture pigs and cows, but you have to come help her butcher them... I'm going to try to take her up on it.

Okay, so the last challenge was something of a wash, but it was doomed from the moment I knew we had a Mardi Gras gig in New Orleans. However, I came back happy to be back paleo, and ended the challenge with out with an inch off my belly. My body was wrecked, and not just from the bacchanalian excess. From past experience, I think most of it was the gluten. After two weeks of a conventional American diet (albeit with different types of exceptional regional Louisiana cooking styles... YUM!), my wheat belly baby was already coming back. My whole band came back to Portland,OR with an overwhelming desire to eat some vegetables and recycle. After immediately getting back to paleo eating, I was starting to get worried. I was ravenously eating many thousands of calories of good fats, seafood and meats, and my satiety was not really kicking in. I decided that while my body was repairing, the grains and alcohol were enough to worry about restricting. I hoped it would sort itself out. After a bit of conscious calorie restriction, it pretty much has. Goals My goals are much more straightforward this time around. Goal 1: Every day, I will rehab my shoulder, plank, squat, and garden barefoot for at least 2 minutes each. +2str +2 dex, +2con While working on my form for the NF Body weight exercises I started pausing in squat, lunge, and plank positions. It's turned into a sort of pseudo-yoga a la Primal movement. I figure if I can make these movements a part of my life now at 46, I can still make them at 86.I want to do some of this barefoot in my veggie garden in the sun. Goal 2: Move towards sourcing our meat at least 80% local, grass fed, etc.. +3con I have been eating paleo for about a year now, but almost none of it has been grass fed. This is bad considering I live in Portland, OR, though understandable with five teens, grandpa, and my wife in the house. We are going to start sourcing better, my wife for the humanitarian side, me for the health side of the movement. Goal 3: Run barefoot at least 6 times in the next 6 weeks. +1sta +1 str Nothing big. A run around the block and a couple sprints in the park around the corner. Goal 4: Spend at least 2 minutes in tarot meditations every day. +2wis It's time to get the magical me back.

Rebel ranger reporting for duty! Goal 1: Every day, I will rehab my shoulder, plank, squat, and garden barefoot for at least 2 minutes each. +2str +2 dex, +2con Goal 2: Move towards sourcing our meat at least 80% local, grass fed, etc.. +3con Goal 3: Run barefoot at least 6 times in the next 6 weeks. +1sta +1 str Goal 4: Spend at least 2 minutes in tarot meditations every day. +2wis Sept 2012 stats: Calves: 16: Thighs: 22: Hips 40: Belly 41: Chest: 43: Bicep 14: 199lbs Feb 2013 stats: Calves: 16: Thighs: 22, Hips: 38.5: Belly: 38 Chest: 43, Bicep 14: 189lbs

Ok rebs, Mixed results here. Goal 1: Continue grain free, high seafood diet. Eliminate alcohol cheats. Con: 2, Wis: 2 With the exception of my time in Louisisana, which was a bacchanalistic orgy of glutenous yum, I have been 100% paleo. This includes alcohol cheats, which is a huge step in the right direction for me as the alcohol had been getting away from me for some time. Con +2 Wis +2 Goal 2: Rehabilitate my shoulder so that I can resume pull-up and wall-up work Str: 4 I am almost there, I would say that I halfheartedly did my rehab, so will give a +1 to Str Goal 3: Continue to squat, lunge, walk and do light jogs. Do sprints once a week. Str 1,Sta 2, Con 1 I basically squatted and walked. I'm going to give a +1 to Dex. Goal 4: Publish three modules of my tentatively titled NerdMusic project. Wis 2, Cha 2 Waaa Waa Waaaah! That'd be a no. Epic life quest goal: Play zydeco in rural Louisana. Play fuink at Mardi Gras in NOLA. Cha 2 Holy crap! CRUSHED it in NOLA. They loved us, we loved them. Rest of the trip was eipc! They want us back and put us on the jukebox! +2 Cha New stats: Bardic Ranger - Level 4 Str: 5 | Dex: 3 | Sta: 5 | Con: 9 | Wis: 5 | Cha: 8 Walk the paths you need to tread. Sing when you can.

Okay Rebels! I've been away from the community, but walking with you guys in spirit. Here is a check in: Goal 1 Update: Day 31 of my no-alcohol cheats... It has been going wonderful.As of Monday, I also gave up my sugar-with-my-tea cheat, which surprisingly has been harder than giving up the grains, beans, and alcohol combined. I can completely tell the difference in my metabolism. It is taking me a few days to adjust, and I have been ravenously hungry. HONGRY I SAY!!!!!Since the new year, I had been eating a LOT, and with my shoulder injured, hadn't worked out much, which was causing my belly to start gaining back some inches. Gave up the Cane, and have been MyFitnessPal-ing, and immediately noticed a difference.Goal 2: Four Chiro visits later, and I am much better. I have been doing the PT she assigned, and it is making a huge difference. Another month, and I hope to be back on the pullup parade.Goal 3: I have been doing my squats, but other than my PT, I have not been doing much. :-/Goal 4: uh oh! Epic life goal: Leaving for Louisiana tomorrow!!! Gig on next Saturday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rebels! Aaaawwoooooo!!!!!!! Good to be back. Last challenge was mixed for me, not the least because I posted my updates to the previous challenge's archives. Doh! I redistributed my stats a little for this round, but have been honest about them matching my meat-body to the NF RLRPG. Goals: Goal 1: Continue grain free, high seafood diet. Eliminate alcohol cheats. Con: 2, Wis: 2 Goal 2: Rehabilitate my shoulder so that I can resume pull-up and wall-up work Str: 4 Goal 3: Continue to squat, lunge, walk and do light jogs. Do sprints once a week. Str 1,Sta 2, Con 1 Goal 4: Publish three modules of my tentatively titled NerdMusic project. Wis 2, Cha 2 Epic life quest goal: Play zydeco in rural Louisana. Play fuink at Mardi Gras in NOLA. Cha 2

Such a dork am I! Posted my challenge crap in the archives of last season's challenge and wondered why nobody visited!?!? Well shucks Minus one to wisdom. I'm a web programmer and should know how to post in a forum. Goal 1: Continue grain free diet. Limit sugar and alcohol cheats. Con: 4 Grain-free is for life for me , except when life gets in the way. Limited the sugar cheats; alcohol, not so much. +2 Con Goal 2: Address high blood pressure through natural diet and conventional medical practices if needed. Con 2 Sta 2 130/66 down from 148. My big thing was actually going to the doc and getting the blood work. Told me what I already knew, but had I been on the grains and not moving and drinking hibiscus tea and eating massive amounts of celery... don't know +1 Con +2Sta Goal 3: Complete at least 3 bodyweight circuit sets a week. Perform at least one wall handstand pushup by the end of challenge. Str 4 Utter failure. First from laziness, then from avoidable injury. Now I have to wait patiently to do the pull ups I am craving. I'll give myself a couple points for wanting to move... and moving as much as I could for at least half the time. +2 str Goal 4: Sell the NYS property Wis 3. I hope they can schedule the closing by the 24th, but papers are signed and sent! Thank all the Gods, they closed on the 19th... despite NY lawyers! Minus one for screwing up my shoulder so spectacularly, but the albatross is off my monkey. Plus one for lessons learned being dumb enough to minus one for messing up my shoulder. Hey! I'm GM for my RLRPG so I get to say! <3 <3 Confidence boosts from many peoples saying 'holy shit, you look so young! What's up?'To which I said, 'Well I gave up the grain... and...' Bonus +1 to Cha Really, 20 or more people have commented on 'I look so young', I'm kinda like, what? I looked that old before?!?!

Ow! I was not ready for the diving Parkour roll with the kids. Crunched my shoulder! Ow! I think a minus one to Wisdom is in order! :-(

Hey yo. I've been getting my mojo back. Have been doing my bodyweight circuits ~2x a week, which is not ideal, but is still getting done. I did not, after all, go back on the grains. Someone posted a pic from my wedding 4 years ago where there was 80 more lbs of Papa. The big news is that right now, I'M WEARING A MEDIUM Teeshirt! Holy crap! It's snug around my shoulders but loose around my gut.

Okay. Reboot. After a ridiculous string of $hit catching up to me, I had to cry uncle for a week or so. I'm back and am picking up the pieces... Finances are not going to let me stay grain-free... I am throwing rice in the mix to help stretch things. However, I am still ~100% eating non-processed whole foods. I retooled my body weight workout a bit as well. I am going to take a break from rushing between my sets to cool down more between them. I worked on s-s-s-s-slow pushups, pull ups, and squats to build muscle mass, and really tried to hold a kegle throughout. Unexpected Win!!! So my youngest boy (11y) surprised me by saying he wanted to do Parkour because it is 'awesome sauce.' He's a monkey, so jumping around isn't the surprise, but for him to want to participate in a formal lesson was huge. I showed him some of the plyo stair jump exercises I've seen in parkour sites. From there we did some negative pullups, and then he and his brother broke out the Capoeira moves they had studied last year. Next thing you know we are doing back bridges (my first ever), wall walks and I even did some inclined handstand pushups. We had so much fun. It made me realize that I'm actually going to be in shape enough to start playing in the roda (Capoeira circle) myself, instead of just watching or singing... So... whew... Challenge 4 is the most important goal in my life right now. My life is a house of cards right now and the NY Law Leeches are shaking my table. Send good thoughts my way and to the sweet, patient, couple who have been trying to buy this property since August. If this goes though in time, I think I'll give myself a bonus point in Stamina!

Okay challenge two on deck, ready to roll! My last challenge was great and very effective - I lost 14lbs and 4" off my belly. However, I lost momentum and petered out at the end, which I'm hoping not to do this time. Note though, that if my results are as good as the last time, I will still consider it a success.. Goal 1: Continue grain free diet. Limit sugar and alcohol cheats. Con: 4 Goal 2: Address high blood pressure through natural diet and conventional medical practices if needed.Con 2 Sta 2 130/66 down from 148 Goal 3: Complete at least 3 bodyweight circuit sets a week. Perform at least one wall handstand pushup by the end of challenge. Str 4 Goal 4: Sell the NYS property Wis 3 I hope they can schedule the closing by the 24th, but papers are signed and sent! I also plan to stay more consistent at posting to the forum by following fewer folks and interacting more with the ones I do follow...

Thank you Steve, Spezzy, Rangers, and Rebels everywhere! The knowledge and support you folks have shared is the reason for the success I have had. This weekend I am having a sexy rockstar weekend and I am proud to again feel comfortable in my skin. I lost 14lbs effortlessly! 4" off my belly! Holy Crap! 1" off or most everywhere else. One area of big concern, though, is that my blood pressure has gone up. Big scare, which I have researched how to combat, but I am going to def work with my doc on this one... Most immediate remedy is lots of celery and hibiscus tea. Anyway, results: Strength As a part of body weight circuit training, I will be able to do three pullups with good form in all three sets of my workout. Grade: A! From zero to three sets of good ones! Str: 3 possible 3 awarded Sta: 2 possible 2 awarded Posture As a result of good diet and exercise, I will hold myself upright without slouching with my core naturally engaged. Contrasting before and after profile shots will determine results. Grade: C+. My posture improved, but not as much as I had hoped. Bone broth seems to be helping a lot with my joints and flexibility. My stretching went from non existent to merely terrible FTW! Worked on some techniques to improve my posture, but is still not feeling natural. I am going to continue to make this a focus. Dex: 1 possible .5 awarded Str: 1 possible 1 awarded Diet Continue to eat a low grain, high plant diet for all non-social meals. No more than one barbarian booze bender a week. Grade: B. I love eating Paleo! Life changing! Considering a Whole 30 in January. My wife is onboard too now, we're taking her measurements now and are going to do the next challenge together! I have cheated far less in social situations than I allowed myself. - a letter point off for still hanging out with Conan too much. Con: 3 possible 3 awarded Wis: 2 possible 0 awarded Fame Send out at least 25 promotional copies of the Papa Coyote CD: Talking Dog to radio stations, podcasters, and music writers. Start booking spring festivals. Grade: D Got some cool gigs lined up, (including a potential set of Mardi Gras gigs in NOLA, which rescued the D from an F,) but did no active promo. Boo! Cha: 2 possible -.5 awarded [ATTACH=CONFIG]6182[/ATTACH]

Calves - 15" Thighs - 22" Hips - 38" Belly- 37" Chest - 42" Biceps - 13"

Work-from-home programmer and technical writer here, I've been rocking a standing desk for about a year and a half after reading about the trolly vs. bus operator studies. It was my first rebel fitness move, though I hadn't met your branch of the alliance. I lost 20 pounds in a couple months without otherwise changing my diet or exercise patterns in the slightest bit. I have the second monitor very high and use the laptop mostly for the keyboard and touchpad in order to try to improve my posture. My touch-typing still sucks after all these years, so this is only so effective (do I hear a future life challenge?) Anyway, a cheapo keyboard stand (~$30 new) and a battered World of Warcraft boardgame (I know, it seemed a good idea a couple xmas' ago...) works great with my monitor towering somewhere else. I also have used my two-tier keyboard stand to great success... except I had to tear down my office couple times a week for rehearsals or a gig :-( [ATTACH=CONFIG]6073[/ATTACH]

Wanted to give you some encouragement from my story. I've had my meniscus removed from both knees. (15 and 20 years ago respectively. [Excessive Teenaged Hackysack - evil game, but I could sure do some tricks.]) Despite quick recoveries, I had knee pain for years until I lost weight and started running. Since then, and despite having fears about 'my knees giving out,' a sensible but rigorous body weight routine with squats and (I was really worried about this one) lunges has been beneficial. I'm now 46 and my knees feel better than when they were 17.

Quit 1/2 way though my workout yesterday. Just wasn't mentally prepared. Killed it today. Okay, so my form is the GREATEST on my pullups, but I am lingering at the top, slowly releasing and stopping several times on the way down. Glad to see the finish line of this 6-week challenge. Can I get 4 more workouts by by my birthday on the 9th? BTW, Saw a family member for the first time in a month or so. He did a double take and said "Holy Crap! What happened to you!" Sure felt good since he'd just lost a bunch of weight too.

Oooo..... My wife said she'd join me next time I exercise. She's been slowly eating more and more paleo. I have been trying hard not to push, or preach, but have been doing the 'Did you know...s?' I hope I get her as a workout buddy!

Got 11 hours sleep. Woke up feeling... kind of train wrecky. I had bags under my eyes (when did those go away?) and felt stiff as a board. Drank a lot of bone marrow soup (worked out great, excited to do it again) and went to the store for emergency steak and greens. I've been mostly chicken and fish for weight loss, and my body shouted at me that it needed something that used to go Moo. Then I did my work out all out. 20x3 squats holding 25lb sack of flour in front 3x3 pullups 20x3 lunges 60x3 sec planks 20x3 45 degree declined pushups 30x3 jumping jacks Feel great now. Thanks Steve.

That sounds like a fantastic diet that you and your wife can stick to. I admire your determination and appreciate your comments. Rangers FTW!

Wow! You're a monster! Your costume does our order proud. Running in cloaks is very dramatic!

Great job on the food! Sounds familiar. I've allowed my self more food cheats than I have actually taken. I'm amazed, it seems like when you clean out the grains, your body knows what to do. Keep up the great work!

Right? Bring on the RHCP not the DP! Great job on the running.

Two epic fails this week. Well, not epic. Just annoying and avoidable. I got about 3 hours continuous sleep total in the last two days. Monday nite I tossed and turned until 4am - up at 7. Yesterday I blew off my work until late and ended up pulling an all-nighter to make my deliverable. Got to bed at 6am...and my daughter promptly woke me to say that she needed a ride to school at 7am. Sigh..... Other fail was dumb-a$$ery of running too hard barefoot in the cold. My soles are beat up and telling me what they think of it. I replied that they better buck up and be ready for the dance floor by the weekend! With my progress on pull ups, I was really looking forward to my work out today, and really love my momentum, but am thinking that between my body being stressed and my feet hurting, I better add another rest day before my next bodyweight circuit.!!! Funny how quickly perspectives can change, Monday I was dreading working out, and now I'm regretting having to wait.