DocKBar

In my experience, as long as you're not too sore and don't strain yourself to the point of spraining something, you can do multiple body weight workouts one day after another. The best part about body weight is that, unlike power lifting with weights, you're less likely to put yourself in a state that'll need multiple days of rest between works :-) (Also, yes, there's a Flash show now and if you like The Arrow, you'll love the crossover episodes)

2015 Edition: And here's me now:

2013 Edition: Sorry for the terrible quality photos .. apparently NF got some new rules making upload maximums tiny so I needed to gif these up. But yeah, that was me right before residency in 2013. Next post is of me now (those weak of heart, you've been forewarned).

For those of you who know me (or vaguely recall seeing my username around the forums a couple of years ago), you're probably thinking "jeez! whatever happened to this kid?" And that's as you should be because I basically fell off the face of the planet in July of 2013. Well .. that's not entirely accurate either. What I fell into was the black abyss known as Residency. Long, grueling hours. Constant stress and endless work with no downtime. Required tests and lectures that cut into your already meager daylight hours. Some people handle it better than others. I, sadly, wasn't one of them. When I last left NerdFitness' forums before residency, I had been through three (I believe) challenges and kept to a nice strict workout and diet regimen. I ended looking like I do in the next post (see 2013 edition). Since then, the rigors and irregularly irregular (medical professionals, yes, that was a cardiology joke) schedule led to significant muscle loss and replacement of said muscle mass with fat. The 2015 edition pictures show you where I am now. But this challenge isn't about what I've lost but about what I'm going to get back. NerdFitness was instrumental in my staying on track last time and I'm hoping that it'll do so again this time. Back At It: Challenge #1 I'm going to start off slow and with goals that'll help me get back towards a lifestyle which balances exercise, work, and studying. Hopefully there'll be some socializing thrown in or I'm not going to be able to stick to it. Here are the goals this time around (without any point values or whatnot since I have no clue how the new leveling up system works yet): 1. Be More Active (in NF) I've not been active in the NF forums for nearly two years and doing this without accountability is difficult. Thus, my first goal this challenge is going to be to try and post at least three times a week over the course of the challenge. Granted .. the posts may not be all that long. Ideally I meet this every week and consider that a passing week; otherwise, that week will have been a failure for this goal. 2. Be More Active (physically) Okay .. so here's the meat of it. I need to get my ass to the gym. That's the long and short of it. I don't think it's a SMART goal trying to throw myself right back into the intense, four to five times a week gym routine I had when I was really in shape but I do want to at least get to the gym. Thus, my goal is to make it to the gym at least twice a week and work out a total of four times a week (the other two can be at home, quick body-weight workouts). 3. Be More Discerning By which I mean that I need to stop eating crap. This is a fairly vague goal but what I want to do is opt for the healthier choice when it comes to food. What I also need to do is carry with me a bunch of protein bars to eat in the stead of meals when healthy alternatives aren't available. I'll allow myself two slide meals a week, but any more and I'll consider that week a failed one in the terms of this goal. 4. Be More Academic In addition to my getting back into an exercise mindset, I also need to be more active in terms of my studying. For too long I've let the difficulty of Residency keep me from putting my nose to the grindstone as I should be. Therefore, for this goal, I'm going to aim to study / do questions for at least 30 minutes a day, seven days a week. If, on one day or another, I'm particularly busy and am unable to do so, I have until the end of the week to make up that lost time. If it's already the end of the week, then I really hope that I've preemptively studied for that time because if I don't, that'll be a failed week for this goal. So that's the whole of it. I'll likely be tweaking my goals as I go through the challenge. I'd love any feedback or suggestion or general comments / concerns. Here's to a more active lifestyle and hopefully moving back in the direction of being, once more, fit. Cheers and a Happy New Year.

That's weird that the hip pain disappeared .. but I'm glad it did! (better than getting worse in that weight range, right?). Hope you're feeling better soon and great progress on your weighted squats!

Um .. wait .. what? Newark, NJ? Why are you stranded?

=/ It's definitely hard when you want to do things but are unable -- I wouldn't beat yourself up about it so much though .. it happens and I'm just glad you're getting through it alright and will be up and at it again soon =) Plus, still pulled an A- for your goals, right? =D

First off, LOVE the sketch! It sounds like you too had a rough week -- as many said to me, don't let one week throw you off -- there's plenty of the challenge left and plenty of time to make up for a not-so-stellar few days. This is where we get to witness your mettle and how quickly you recover =) Excited to hear about what you cook and good luck this week!

eek! Hope you feel better soon and are able to get more food into your system .. as far as the gluten in the diet .. maybe there's something in what you normally eat that's been processed in the same place? Good luck with getting back on track -- hoping to read good news soon!

Sounds like an awesome week Tankgrrl! And rock on for random acts of kindness (especially when it involves GoT!) =D Also, I wouldn't feel too bad about the small slice of cake .. it's a good thing you kept yourself from grabbing more (like I've done in the past, to my dismay) and indulged in a controlled fashion =D I think certain allowances are important in maintaining sanity =P (and you mentioned that you don't feel like you're emotionally depriving yourself of food you like so that's good). Glad everything is going well and looking forward to hearing more soon!

=/ Sucks that the school you really wanted to be with didn't offer you an interview .. here's hoping you hear back from one of the other places though!

Well, your meals look well balanced and I don't think you're really going to have any trouble with vitamins or minerals so, realistically, protein is all you should be looking for =) Good luck in getting more of the help protein soon!

Ain't that the truth! It's always hard for me too (whether I'm the one visiting or someone's visiting me) and I wish you the best of luck managing your budget while they're in town =) Other than that, looks like your goals are going really well (especially the walking one!) so keep up the great work! =D

That sucks that the protein powder that you like isn't readily available =/ Here's hoping that the temporary stuff isn't needed for very long! Your meals sound awesome and looks like you're doing great! Keep up the good work rogaecia! =)

Sounds like good progress Laces! (and that always helps, having a family member who can help with homework =D ). Keep up the great work and I'm glad Paleo/Primal is really working for ya! =)

Sounds like a great week GoF! Keep up the great work and Ballroom Dancing sounds awesome! My gf and I want to try that too at some point so rock on for doing that =)

Congrats Ems!! You totally deserve the win and I'm glad you got it! =D Keep on rocking on Ems! =)

Way to kick ass on your goals Choronodon! And here's hoping that your hip feels better soon .. maybe stretch it out a bit followed by a hot shower?

Ugh! Yeah .. I totally hear ya on the "loving mom to bits but she's not helping in terms of your fitness" thing -- same thing happened to me when I came back home and it's incredibly hard to deal with when they seem to equate our eating healthy with no longer loving them or their cooking =/ Good luck and hopefully you can reach a halfway point that works for the both of you! And way to stick with your goals .. hope your ankle feels better!

Interesting .. I haven't thought of that (I don't track drinks either because they don't make an impact on caloric or carb intake for me [i usually drink water or coffee, black]) but it might be good to see if I'm getting enough hydration over the course of a day .. I'm interested to see how that turns out for you =) And good luck with the protein goal! Once you get used to it, it's really easy to hit the 85 gram mark (I hit 120 daily now and barely have to think about it). =)

As someone who's had travel totally destroy their goals, ROCK ON for sticking to everything! And woohoo! 50+ second planks! =D Stay awesome =)

=) You're awesome Leonine! You got this =D

I second hearthsinger on finishing week one and being determined to continue with the challenge -- a lot of people drop the goals and decide to try again in six weeks by the end of the first couple of weeks; I'm glad you're set on sticking with us and, as was said, that puts you way ahead of the game =) Keep up the awesome attitude and good luck with this upcoming week!

Great job on week 1 Zaci!! =D And especially on the getting up goal .. that's always a toughie. Rock on and keep up the amazing work =)