Vieve

I already do, I just don't have any new goals right now for my lower body at this moment. I do squats, lunges and sprints a few times a week, and I run 3 days a week. My lower body is great at doing what I want it to do. My upper body strength is severely lacking. So my goal is to get my upper body caught up with my lower body and then I will start making goals involving both.

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Hi Everyone. This is my very first challenge. As you can guess I'm focusing on upper body for my challenge. I know it seems like an easy challenge, but I failed at getting to my goal on my own in the last two months, but I am much closer. So I'm keeping it easy and concentrating on something very specific. End Goal: 1 Pull-Up, 1 Chin-Up, 50 Strict Pushups Sub Goals: 1.) Do Assisted Pull-Ups and Chin ups 3 times a week. 2.) Do Push ups 3 times a week, starting with 5 sets of five (currently I can do a set of 10, but barely) 3.) Keep eating clean Life Goal: Be more organized and productive at work 1.) Leave phone in car until lunch. Because that is where I lose most of my productivity. 2.) Start every Work Day with writing a list of the three most important things I need to accomplish that day. EDIT: Okay I guess I should talk a little about myself. In the past 6 months I decided to get my health and fitness back on track. I changed my diet dramatically, I've lost about 9 pounds, I've learned to run 3 miles without stopping. I tend to get overwhelmed very easy so I don't have any giant wide sweeping long term goals because I need to be focused. I should say one of my goals is to continue my lower body work outs. I just am seriously concentrating on upper body because my strength is severely lacking. Long term I would like to have body weight strength and a lot of endurance. I like mud runs and things like that. My motivation is to be able to keep up with my daughter and to be a good example. I want her to know that adults can play too. I want her to know that movement is joyous. I also want to be able to easily swing her around and carry her on my shoulders. I want to be fit for as long as I live, and I want to be healthy so I can have more fit years.

Transitioning is hard for people who have relied on orthotics and have very stiff feet. Those who go a significant portion of their day will have little problem. When running a person wants to gradually work up to their normal mileage because the tendons and ligaments will need time to adjust and you will want to get used to a forfoot strike.

Hey everyone I thought I'd chime in. I'm a die-hard minimal shoe fan, but for people who have worn normal shoes or have worn shoes with a lift the adjustment should be slow. First do calf stretches daily and do Achilles tendon stretches. Start walking in in the barefoot shoes before running. Switch over to running with the minimal shoes slowly and work your way up to your normal miles. The tendons and ligaments won't be used to the strain your putting on them so give them time to toughen up. It takes far longer for connective tissue to adapt than it does muscles. Also try picking things up with your toes and so forth. Good luck with switching. I love minimal shoes. I wear Merrills barefoot shoes for work and other completely true flats if I can find them cheaper. For running I switch between vibrams trail shoes and a pair of Merrills with a little bit of cush.

Dayton Here!, I did the Mud Ninja this year and it was 23 obstacles and a 5k. It was really teamwork driven and just all around fun. It was out in East Ohio somewhere. I can't remember the exact location. There was a living social deal for it that made it really reasonable. I think I'm going to do the Color Me Rad in Columbus October 5th. I can't afford too many events but I do enjoy them.

I think juggling is a really cool way to be active.

I did read read Year of the Flood, and I will read the next book, but it might not get to it right away. I liked Year of the Flood, but I like Oryx and Crake better. Thank you for complementing me on my job. I really love it. It is challanging at times, but totally worth it.

Some basic stats Female: 28yrs: 5'4": 130 Lbs: approx 25% body fat using sight and a scale that estimates body fat. Accomplishment: I can run 5k on a wooded trail in 35 minutes Goals: 1 pull up and 1 chin up by Sept 16, reduce body fat from 25% to 20% at some point. I'm not really worried how long this takes because I'm more concerned with achieving strength gains while avoiding fat gains right now. How? 3 intensive upper body workouts on monkey bars and a pull up bar a week. I run 4 to 5 days a week and if I don't run I try to get long walks in. I also try to do sprint intervals at least one day a week. I do body weight workouts for my lower body, but it is just for maintenance. Cool thing I've done in the past month: I ran (walked) my first 5k obstacle course. What I learned: I need to work on upper body strength! Diet: I am on a low grain diet, but I'm not paleo. I eat and drink cultured dairy, and I have not attempted to limit beans and legumes from my diet. It's hard enough getting enough calories without sugar or grains. I don't like to eat more than 4oz of meat (always pastured) a day for environmental/animal welfare reasons. I try to do at least a day a week without meat. I drink a smoothie every morning, usually it is just fruit and greens and kefir. Family: I am married and have a 20 month old daughter. Our household consists of my little family, my mother, my sister, and my niece. The 4 adult to 2 child ratio is fabulous for being able to work out and meal planning. Work: I'm a comprehensive sexual health and violence prevention educator. I travel around from school to school. I really love my work. Nerd? I might be a nerd. I'm a nerd in that I enthusiastically read about all sorts of things that interest me. I'm not afraid of my interests or to be excited about new information. I'm in that place where I've watched every episode of Star Trek TNG but I haven't seen Star Wars since I was a child. I have never been an avid video game player, but love the RPG concept of the site. I love bored games. Settlers of Catan, Munchkin, Twilight Imperium, and Nexus Ops right off the top of my head are what have been played most often. We don't get to play as much since having our daughter. My three favorite books are "Guns, Germs and Steel" by Jarod Diamond, "Stranger in a Strange Land" by Robert Heinline, and "Oryx and Crake" by Margaret Atwood. I don't know how to underline on my tablet, so quotes will have to do. Other: I started running about 10 weeks ago in a serious way to systematically get better. I use a standing desk. I believe in injury prevention, and am a little obsessed with natural alignment and movement in the way that some people are obsessed with the paleo diet. I believe movement is a key nutrient most people are missing in their lives. I use standing desks, but cheat a lot and type on my tablet in bed, or sit down to read articles. I knit. I like to cook, but I hate cleaning. I believe I should be walking at least 5 miles a day in addition to other workouts, but don't think I achieve this often. I only wear neutral heeled shoes, and I prefer shoes allow for as much movement as possible. I wish I could wear vibram five fingers all the time. Thank you for reading my introduction. I'm excited to be part of this community.

Hi there, first congrats on the gains you've already made. Foot pain isn't fun. I would recommend the book "Every Woman's Guide to Foot Pain Relief" by Katy Bowman. It may give you some insight to healing. Beingp a nurse is such a tough job and I admire you for it. I can be hard on the body especially if your working weird hours. I should probably go do my introductions now. Thanks for being here.

Hi, My BA is in geography and I'm a health educator. I originally wanted to go into epidemiology, but decided I liked working for the nonprofit I work for. I'm so excited that someone with a similar interest is on here. I haven't posted an intro yet, but will soon. Good luck on your goals. It looks like they are totally achievable and you know what to do.