Strigine Oak

Thank you. Congrats to you on the weight loss! It's good to hear about the accountability because it's the one thing I've never really had for myself but I'm excited.

All of the feedback I received was positive at first but then I overheard some co-workers one day asking each other "how much spend on meth a week." I laughed, he realized I heard him, got intimidated and walked off. "Oderint dum metuant" right?. From that point on I just ignore the praise or the criticism from almost everyone, I only really care about the opinions of a few people that are close to me anyway.

I grew up the chubby kid and then became the fattest kid in my high school and this continued into college. I had seen friends lose weight before but never believed I could do it (self-confidence was never a main attribute). But then a little over 2 years ago I started a weight loss/fitness regimen with the help of my physician. I walked into the doctors office in November of '10 and weighed in at a whopping 347 pounds and I broke down. I saw my own mortality that day along with the extremely realistic fear that I wouldn't see the age of 30 (I was 24) and over those next 12 months, through some of the roughest times of my life and depression, I lost 107 lbs. I was able to manage my weight/fitness with minimal fluctuation and most of it was positive. Then I found out my gf and I had lost our child and I spiraled down. I stopped worrying about my diet and without that discipline so disappeared the want to exercise, I gained major weight and became almost continually sick and tired throughout the summer. In October I walked back into my doctors office for a check up but when I realized I was at 270, that check up turned into "Doc help me turn this back around." I went back the basics, back to my beginning, each month is one large habit change fueled by small ones throughout the month. Around Christmas I was feeling good, lost a few pounds, diet was back on track, easing back into weight lifting, then I found out an old friend was pregnant and it opened my eyes to my life at this point (which I am not proud of) and I decided to change everything. I have always wanted to enlist in the military as many of the men in my family have, to serve my country, and to know that I have something to be proud of when I look back on my life. I know I can do it, I have accomplished so much before, but I need the accountability (Hello Rebels!) to follow through because I've never lost weight or gotten in shape for myself or my own dreams before, it has always been for someone else. So I'm here to hold my self accountable to finish what I started long ago. I'll be following the Rebel Strength Guide to maximize my drop in BF% and increase in overall strength along with interval training on cardio days to hit my PFT marks for enlistment

This is my first challenge so I figured I'd give a bit of a background on me first. I was 347 lbs. in November 2010 when I started my diet/fitness routine and in the next 12 months I lost 107 lbs. and reshaped my body. About 6 months in I found Nerd Fitness and absolutely loved it, though I never joined the community, the blog was a constant source of motivation. I continued to fluctuate weight/strength through the first part of '12 when I received some devastating news and I started tumbling down the rabbit hole. By October I was back up to 267 and felt horrible, I was struggling to do routines that, 7 months earlier, I would have thought of as an "advanced" warm up. So I got back to what I knew, dialed the diet in and slowly started working out then I realized I needed accountability to keep me on track for my goal of enlistment in the U.S.M.C. so I came back here last week, decided to join up, and behold I'm able to participate in my first challenge! So here we go, I've decided to refer to this challenge as my own personal "curing" stage where I fix the ailments I've not been able to shake over the last 2 months. Increase Stamina: 16 minute mile I will need to run 3 miles in a minimum 29 minutes to pass the USMC PFT later this year and I can barely get through a half mile at a jog at this point so i will: Practice interval sprinting 1x a week (off/cardio day) Walk 5 miles a week (gauged with pedometer)Hike 1x a week (Pics or it didn't happen)Pass = +2 STA Increase Strength: 5 B.W. Pull Ups (From a dead-hang) I was able to do 2 sets of 4 body weight pull ups before this last summer and I want to hit that mark again before this summer so I'll: Work with modified grips Practice whenever I see the opportunity (stair case outside apartment, park)Sign up for a proper gymPass = +2 STR Reduce Body Fat I want to drop my body fat by 2% but I will have to wait until Wed/Thu to take this measurement as I'm still waiting for my caliper to come in the mail Continue my diet and track everything I put into my bodyPush hard on Squats, Dead LiftHiking, WalkingPass: +1 DEX +2 WIS +1 CHA Be Ready For Any Opportunity: Submit all paperwork for passport I had a college professor tell me "You need to be prepared for anything at any time. If I offered you a trip abroad at no cost to you would you be able to leave tomorrow?" This has always stuck with me but for some reason I've never submitted all of my passport paperwork. But that's about to change. Pass: +1 WIS +1 CHA This challenge will be pass/fail for me as I know that's what pushes me hardest and brings the best out in me.