getfitdri

Well, so far so good! Except for the small fact that I realized just after posting this that I should be in the Adventurers group? I'm a beginner, but in the past the description of Ranger has always fit me and it's my goal for the future, too. Does anyone know if the mods can move people into different groups after the Challenge has begun?

Yay! I'm excited to participate in this challenge. Goals: 1. Do the Starting Strength workout 3x/week. This will likely take place on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays, since those are the days I'm pretty much guaranteed to be near my gym (i.e. not out of town). If I do end up going out of town for a few days when I'm supposed do one of these workouts, I will sub in a bodyweight workout. Otherwise, I have to do SS for it to count. 2. Ride my bike at least 3x/week (or do a C25K workout). My goal is to ride my bike a minimum of 40 miles each week (probably 12 miles on Mondays, 15 on Wednesdays, and 20+ on Fridays or Saturdays), but for the days when it is too warm to ride or I simply don't have time, I'll sub in a C25K workout at my gym. 3. Eat at least 5 salads a week (each on a different day). Grading for each goal will be as follows: 100% = A+ 95-99% = A 90-94% = A- 87-89% = B+ 83-86% = B 80-82% = B- 77-79% = C+ (so on and so forth)

An apple with almond butter is a great snack! I can have that and I won't be hungry again for 3+ hours. I have a bunch of tiny containers that I keep the right amount of almond butter in (~3TBSP/per apple for me) stored in my fridge and I wash all my apples in advance so that when I need a snack or something to take with me in the morning, I can just grab the apple, grab the container of almond butter, and go.

Two fonts walked into a bar and the bartender told them, "Sorry, we don't serve your type here." One of them immediately replied, "Yeah? Well we don't like your face!" Then a fight broke out and they had to call the serif.

My copy of Starting Strength just arrived in the mail today! I was planning to borrow it from the library, but all the ones in my area had 2+ holds on their copies, and I didn't want to wait that long! I plan to start the program this Monday. My main question is, is it OK to train with just the bar until I'm sure my form is good? My squats are almost parallel, but not quite there yet, so I was planning to just use the bar or even just bodyweight for the first few workouts without adding any weight. Is that OK? What would you guys recommend? Also, I've never done bench presses and I'm worried that even a 45-lb bar will be too heavy for me or may need to be my initial work set. In which case, what do I do to warm up for that? And, if it's too heavy for a work set, what exercise should I sub? I pretty much have the same worries for the press and powerclean. I'm looking forward to doing deadlifts and will probably start those around 60 lbs. Another question I have is if it's a good or bad idea to do light yoga after the weight lifting? There is a yoga studio near me that offers free yoga on Mondays and Fridays so I was thinking about doing the SS program right before the class and then using the yoga class as my stretching routine on those days, and doing something on own for Wednesdays. Stats & other info: Female, age 25, 5'9", 215 lbs (I think 185 would be a healthy "muscular" weight for me) The only weightlifting experience I have is from doing Crossfit inconsistently for 3 months last summer. My current goals are to gain strength and lose weight/inches, My diet is fairly normal right now, I'm working on cleaning it up, trying to make gradual changes since huge changes have never worked for me in the past. I have a gym membership but haven't been to the weight training side of it, so I'm not sure if they have the 35 lb training bars. My guess is that they don't. My schedule this summer is really flexible since I'm just doing freelance tutoring and prepping for teaching in the fall. In addition to SS, I ride my bike about 3 times a week - trying to work up to at least 60 miles/week total. If I don't ride my bike, then I work in some other cardio - C25K or a long, brisk walk.

Thanks so much for the responses and information, everyone! I found this link in another thread in this forum: http://startingstrength.wikia.com/wiki/FAQ:The_Program#Three_Flavors_of_Starting_Strength So I think I'll start with Starting Strength . I like the idea of doing power cleans more than doing rows. I'll be looking for the book at a library and if I can't find it there then I'll purchase it. Thanks again!

(I've been away for a while...hello again, NF community!) I want to start a weight lifting program but I'm at a loss as to which one would be a good fit for me. I initially thought I would simply do the Strong Lifts 5x5 program, but as I did more digging and reading I just got more confused about whether or not it's a good program. I've heard/read good things about Starting Strength and New Rules of Lifting for Women, but I haven't had a chance to look at any of their programming (I have to buy/borrow the books) so I don't know if the programming would work for me. Has anyone used those? What are the workouts like/how are they formatted? Do you guys have any suggestions for weight lifting programs? Here's what appeals to me about the SL program and why it was, originally, the only contender: 1. The workouts are simple - and by that, I mean that I don't need to remember 10 different exercises to do in a single exercise session. 2. The lifts are (somewhat) familiar to me 3. It's 3x/week, which is really doable for me as far as getting into a gym goes 4. The whole layout and everything about it just seems really simple and easy to follow along with. It seems like something I could follow through with and not have to think about it a ton As far as what my goals are - mainly I want to get stronger and be healthier. Part of the "be healthier" includes losing body fat, which means a cleaner diet, too (working on making gradual-ish changes). I'm currently 30 pounds heavier than I'd like to be. If I could lose 30 pounds and be muscular at that new weight, then I'd be pretty healthy. Not sure how strength training will play into the weight loss, but I do some form of cardio (mostly bicycling with the occasional "run") 2-3 times/week as well. Anyways, some guidance on a good weight training program would be much appreciated I was planning on doing SL but then read some things that said it wasn't effective/was poorly designed...so now I'm doubting and would like info on other options, or assurance that it's an OK program, haha!

I'm a 34G, so I can relate. I don't have any suggestions for other ways to warm up (although I always like doing leg swings and "around the worlds" for arms - not intense at all, but loosens everything up pretty good), but I just thought I'd pop in to say that I've had good success with the bras from Title Nine. They have a "barbell" rating for how supportive the bras are - 5 bars is the most support. Anywho, the last bra I bought from them was when I was a 36DD (pretty sure I was wearing the wrong size) but it still gets the job done. I bought this one: http://www.titlenine.com/product/310184.do?sortby=ourPicks&from=fn#.UZ2RMoeThnE

So far I am not doing great in this challenge. Other than some walking, I haven't exercised. The diet has, however, been going well. And part of the reason (here comes an excuse! :/ ) I haven't done more exercising is that I have a HUGE assignment due tomorrow that has been taking up the majority of my time. Once this assignment is over, my life will be a lot less stressful.

@theroberthogan, thanks! It's my first time doing something like that - I'm looking forward to, but am also a little nervous.

I was also home schooled from Kindergarten through 12th grade. I definitely plan to home school my future children. I agree with VolFan that there are some pitfalls - there are always the home school families whose children are too sheltered or where academics aren't emphasized enough. That said, for me and my siblings (I'm one of 6 children), home schooling has been amazing. It allows the students to really excel at the subjects they're gifted in and get additional help in the subjects they struggle in. And there are SO many opportunities home schooled students can take advantage of because of their flexible schedules. For example, I was able to participate in youth symphony, high school speech & debate, horseback riding, swim team, and various other activities without feeling stressed out. My brothers have been able to devote hours to training on their bicycles (they race competitively) without sacrificing their studies. My little sister is currently training horses with a professional trainer every day of the week for at least 2 hours and still has plenty of time for her other pursuits. I think one of the greatest things about home schooling is that students don't have to waste time in class. The time they spend in "math class" is time they're actually doing what would otherwise be "homework." There are some things I will be doing differently with my own children, but overall I think my parents did (and continue to do) home schooling "right." I think it's important to join a community of other home schoolers and trade classes or pay someone else to teach your kids. In my case, there was a home school mom who had graduate degrees in French and English and she taught high school English and French. She also coached the local home school speech and debate team. I, along with other students, would go to her house once a week and we would have classes all day. She assigned us homework that we would complete and then turn in the following week. My parents didn't start home schooling us for religious reasons (though my family is religious). The reason they started home schooling related to time. When my older sister was supposed to be starting Kindergarten, my mom realized that she would be spending 4 hours on the bus each day. Since my mom knew she could teach my sister everything she needed to learn in that amount of time, my parents started home schooling and haven't stopped since! They have 3.5 more years to go before they'll be done! There is a lot more I could say, so feel free to message me if you have any questions

I'm in your squad and I also hate running, but it's one of my goals. Hopefully we can cheer each other on! Congrats on starting your novel! I'm currently working toward my MA in English Composition so if you'd like for me to take a look at what you write, just let me know! I'd be happy to give you some feedback .

Wooo! I am so excited and ready for my first challenge! The most difficult thing for me will be staying committed to preparing healthy meals for myself...I'm in grad school and it's all too easy to let reading & writing consume my life! Anyways, here are my goals: Diet/Fitness: 1. Eat 90% paleo 5 days/week - For me, this means lots of chicken, salad, eggs, almonds, carrots, and apples with almond butter. I said 90% instead of 100% because I don't want to give up the occasional alcoholic drink and it's nice to have some popcorn every now and then. 2. Complete 10 real push ups - Right now, I can do one, maybe two depending on the day. I can do more than 10 knee push ups, but it's a struggle. 3. Run a mile without stopping - I've never been a runner, it's not something I'm good at or particularly enjoy, but I feel that I should be able to run a mile without stopping. Also I'd like to compete in some sprint triathlons next year, so this will be a good first step. The first goal will be accomplished by cooking and packaging food on weekends and on Wednesday nights. I will accomplish the second goal by completing a body weight routine at least twice a week. The third goal will be accomplished by walking/running at least twice a week. On other days, I will try to stay active by participating in zumba, horseback riding, cycling, pilates, etc. Life: Get an A- or above on all grad school assignments. Go to bed before 11PM and wake up no later than 7AM every day (except weekends). Failure: Well, I'm definitely not going to fail grad school if I can help it, haha! I'll be presenting a paper at a scholarly conference next month...I suppose that will be my potential failure for this challenge. If it goes well, I'll come up with a new failure challenge.

I am IN! I actually started this on my own today, then lo and behold, I read Steve's post and it turns out I won't be going it alone! Woohoo!

Awesome list! This might help get you started with wine. And when you travel the United States, be sure to hit up Northern California (both Napa and Lodi) for some excellent wines!