Jessikuh

The past two weeks have been alright. Training has been great- but my diet has been pretty mediocre. :/ New muscles are sore pretty much every day. I think that in itself is an accomplishment. It means I'm doing something right. I'm really really close to doing a full pushup. I haven't stayed great with Paleo. It was my best friend's 21st birthday last weekend, and for the first time ever I went out bar hopping. And what I think people call 'clubbing'? I think I did some of that. All I know is it was loud and crowded and there were so many flashing lights and I couldn't hear anything and people kept touching me and I felt like my brain was going to implode. But I'm keeping on keeping on. It's starting to get really nice outside. I haven't weighed myself yet since the challenge started, which I think may be a record for me or something. I might just try and keep it until the end of the six weeks, because I know I tend to get more discouraged when my weight fluctuates. GUYS THERE'S ONLY 155 DAYS LEFT UNTIL CAMP. Agh! I just had to put that out there. I'm so excited. Hope everyone's doing well. And I hope I get to post a little more often... but finals are coming up. Happy Tuesday!

So this weekend was off to a fantastic start. This is normally around the time of year that I get sick. This time last year I caught strep and then was diagnosed with asthma. Good times were had by all. This past week I've been feeling just kind of... off. A little dizzy, kind of nauseous. I was pretty sick in the middle of last week, but I thought it had went away. Wellllll on Saturday night I was just like doing stuff around my house and I got really dizzy and got these crazy heart palpitation and my chest was all tight and I had a hard time catching my breath. So what do I do? Check WebMd. Smart right? WebMd tells me I'm either one of ten thousand things, but I'm most likely having a stroke or a heart attack, because that's definitely what happens to all 22-year olds who get kind of dizzy and short of breath. I kind of flipped out and went to Urgent Care, for them to tell me 'you're totally fine, you're just stressed as shit.' So they diagnosed me with anxiety, gave me some Xanax and sent me on my merry way. I didn't think that stress could affect a person so badly. In more exciting news, I cooked fish for the very first time this weekend. It turned out AMAZING. I'm excited for the first day of this challenge to start officially! I'm trying to bug a friend into doing it with me. I think this is something she'd be into. (Yay for nerd friends.) I wrote up my level 4 training too. ADVICE NERDS: I take a body sculpting class on Mon/Wed (Cross-fit kind of stuff) and Zumba on Tues/Thur. What would be the best days for me to do my bodyweight workout? Is it better to double up on M/W/F so my muscles can rest in between, or space it in between so I get cardio and strength on T/Th/Sat? Agh decisions decisions. Also: Stats. Before Pictures for this six weeks. (ugh kill me now) That was painful to write out, but it's okay. I'll get back to where I once was, and smaller than that even.

Sorry, didn't mean to double post. I offer a Dobby cat as form of apology.

Oh my gosh don't get me started on quest bars. I freaking love quest bars. Also, net carbs are simply the amount total carbs minus the fiber. Fiber is a form of carbohydrate that isn't broken down by the body, so it isn't utilized as glucose (because it isn't digested), and therefore doesn't impact your blood sugar. So when you quest bar has 25g of carbs and 22g of fiber, it only leaves 3 grams of digestible carbs (sugar/starches). Makes sense? (Sorry I'm a total nerd about this kind of stuff )

Oh my gosh this is a cool challenge. ' This is what I love about this community. Someone says 'I'm going to take some inspiration from Harry Potter and become a lifting beast.' and nobody bats an eye. You're very brave to post progress photos. Good luck to you on your challenge. I'll be following you!

Yeaahhhh pushups! Also, being an adult, I find is incredibly overrated. Great job sticking to you challenges. That's something that I struggle with too. Good luck to you!

Happy birthday! Sounds like your 30s are going to kick ass. (It should be worth noting that a woman reaches her physical prime as far as strength goes at around 31 on average. ) Great goals! I hope the pull-up thing goes well for you. It's one of those way-off one-of-these-days goals for me. Good luck!

Never has this graphic been more true to me. I’ve been all lost and turned around somewhere in that clusterfuck of squiggles. I’m sure the vast majority of people here, and in the world in general can relate to the frustrations of plateaus and setbacks. I’ve let them get me down for far too long, and have fallen back into the old habits of trying to crash diet to get back to my lowest weight so I can go from there. The results have been exactly as you would expect. I’ve gained 14 pounds in 4 months from my lowest weight. However frustrating it is, it’s a good reminder not to let myself slip back into old habits. So what if my shorts are fitting a bit tighter. So if I haven’t run a ten minute mile in months. So what I’m the only person in my Exercise Science club at school who can’t do a pushup or a proper box jump. I’ll get there. It’s not going to happen today. I am where I am now, and I’m not going to be able to snap my fingers and put myself back where I used to be. It’s going to take some time. It’s a journey, an adventure. Not a race. I’m a freaking superhero when I let myself be. My name is Jess. I'm 22, and I'm on a quest to lose 100 pounds and get strong, fast, agile and healthy. As of this morning, I am 22.5 pounds down from my highest weight. And for this challenge (and for the rest of my life), I want to focus on my health first and weight second. Goals Eat Paleo (+3 CON, +1 WIS) I have a problem with sugar. I’d actually call it an abusive relationship with carbs. When I’m stressed, I can’t be bothered to cook, and end up eating terribly most nights of the week. I don’t particularly want to delve into it, but these last few months have been stressful. Now that things are starting to take a small, but noticeable upturn, I need to get my diet back under control. I’m going to go back to eating paleo, specifically minimizing my grain and refined sugar intake. I'm applying the two in a row rule to this one. Never miss two good meals, never miss two workouts in a row. So... Don't miss two Paleo meals in a row to earn an A in this category. Bodyweight Training (+3 DEX, +2 STR) I’ve been doing group fitness at my school Monday-Thursday before my classes, (Zumba twice a week and Body Sculpting twice a week) and I’ve come to learn a few things about my body. My balance is embarrassingly abhorrent. My legs are a powerhouse. My triceps have been horribly neglected my entire life. My coordination actually isn’t as bad as I thought it was. I have no upper body strength. My cardio stamina is rather impressive given the approximate extra 50-70 pounds of body fat I’m carrying. My spirit is far stronger than my body. I did a Spartan Sprint in February and absolutely fell in love with obstacle course racing. I’ve decided that in 2016 I want to try for the trifecta, and to do that, I need to train and train consistently. So here is my Level 4 Training: 1 Sun Salutation 30 ft Bear Crawl 4-10 Pyramid Pushups 20 Kettlebell Swings 20 Russian Twists 10 Burpees MAX Plank MAX Pull-Up Hang Do this three times per week to earn an A in this category. Increase Flexibility (+2 STA, +1 CHA) One of the things I mentioned is that my core stability, balance and flexibility are all terrible. I am so bad about not stretching after working out, and I pay the price for it every single time. The morning after is always hell. I want to make it a good point to stretch after every workout, and do some deep meditative stretching before I go to sleep. Hopefully this will alleviate the problem. Take some time out of everyday, even if it's only 5 minutes, to stretch, practice basic yoga, or meditate to earn an A in this category. Spend some more time outside (+1 WIS +2 CHA) I like being outside. Actually, I love being outside. And somewhere between being stuck between school and work and the gym and the library, I forgot how much I love it. I sat out on the lawn under a tree to do my homework yesterday instead of sitting in the library and it put me in such a great mood. I don’t want to forget how therapeutic the clean air and sunshine is. It’s good for my soul to be outside. Spend a cumulative hour outdoors every day to earn an A in this category. Motivation- (Same list from my very first challenge. I'm crossing things off as I complete them, and adding new ones as I come up with them) I'm tired of being fat. I've been obese since childhood and it sucks. I really love doing sports and outdoor activities, but my weight makes it really friggin hard. I want to be strong, energetic and healthy and active.I no longer want to be the obese chick in the Exercise Science department at my school.I want to be able to do recreational sports Complete Aug 8, 2014I want to be able to shop at normal clothing stores, wear shirts without sleeves and dresses without tights. Complete September 29, 2014I want to buy a swimsuit for the first time since the 8th grade. Complete July 5, 2014I want to learn how to dance without running out of breath halfway through a song. Complete April 9, 2015I want to be strong enough to do a cartwheel. It's a little silly, but when I was a kid, I got made fun of for not being able to do one. I want to run an entire 5k without stopping, and run a marathon one day.Join the ranks of the Spartan Trifecta Warriors I’m really excited that I got to cross off ‘learning to dance’ off my checklist this month. I’ve been taking a zumba class twice a week since mid-January. I wanted to quit after the first class I was so embarrassed of how bad my dancing was. But I paid $84 for it and was too stubborn to not get my money’s worth, so I stuck with it. Now, three months later, I can make it through the entire one hour class with only the 15 second breaks between songs for a breather. I can’t believe how naturally it comes to me now in comparison to three months ago. I look forward to it, and want to look into taking another Zumba class over the summer at another establishment since they don’t offer it at the college. Wow this was a lot to type. I want to note too that this is my one year anniversary from my very first six week challenge. It seemed like a great day to respawn. Go get 'em rebels.

Sounds good! My left shoulder needs some work but I promise to do what I can. Feel free to do however many you want, and I can catch up it just might take me a little longer.

Sweet, elinox! Let's rock this!

I need to practice my roll anyway. Who wants to punch with me?

I know I haven't updated this a whole lot, but this challenge is going great for me. I completed my first spartan sprint yesterday. IT WAS SO INTENSE. I did things that I didn't think I could at my current fitness level. There were some obstacles that I couldn't do (the rope climb, the slippery wall, all that upper-body stuff). But I'm proud that I attempted every single obstacle, even the ones that I knew I couldn't do. I picked up a travel companion on the trail, and we completed it as a team. I didn't know how much of a team sport a Spartan race is. There are a lot of obstacles I NEVER would have been able to do myself (monkey bars for example). But having a partner really made it doable. She was also super prepared, had everything that I neglected to bring, like sunscreen, gels, salts and a freakin' camelbak. (February in AZ is still 85-degree heat). At about mile 4-ish (out of 4.8), I got up and over the 6 foot wall with help of other racers, but I messed up my hand pretty good on the way down, so the rest of the race was a challenge. I got super muddy and disgusting, and I am so bruised that I look like I was savagely beat, but it was so fun. Ta-da! I'm looking forward to next year. I will be in much better shape, and will be WAY more prepared!

It's been a great week everyone! I started back to school for the first time in a year. I'm working on my Associates in Applied Science with a concentration in Exercise Science. My last major was Elementary Education. I dropped out in my third year because I knew it wasn't what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. But I've found something that I'm really passionate about. I don't know exactly what I want to do in the field yet, but there's so many possibilities and it's a great start. I know that I want to work in the Health and Wellness field. My classes are amazing. I had my first Physiology lab on Friday. It was really cool. We were in the exercise lab gathering data, which consisted of everyone in class taking turns on an exercise bike that was hooked up to a computer for a 2 minute test. First minute warm up, second minute max effort, last 30 seconds 10% of your bodyweight is added in resistance to the bike. It measures aerobic something or other. (Don't have my notes next to me.) Anyway, three people did their tests and in the middle of the fourth test, the guy on the bike is hauling ass during his max exertion. He's pedaling FAST, and all of a sudden there's a loud snap, and a giant bolt flies off the bottom of the bike and shoot across the floor. The instructor just goes 'Huh. That hasn't happened before. Class dismissed." I have some badass people in my class. It was hilarious. I've been going to school early on Tuesdays and Thursdays to take a Zumba class at the campus gym. I am not graceful, nor coordinated, but I love to dance. Zumba just puts me in a great mood! I love it. I hit my goals this week. All except my Whole30. I know they says on the website 'Whole 30 is not hard' but let me tell you, WHOLE 30 IS FUCKING HARD. I may make some adjustments, but I'm just going to keep trying for now.

Thanks fultonator. And I don't know to be honest, but I will try. I'd like something passable at least. Week one went well. Everything except for Whole30. I ate on protocol from Tuesday until this morning, and then today happened. Let me tell you about my adventure today. Today I ran the PF Chang's Rock & Roll half marathon! It certainly was an adventure. Not everything went as planned. The biggest problem being: I forgot my inhaler. I haven't needed it since camp. It didn't even cross my mind to bring it. The first 6 miles went great! But, around mile 6.5, I needed my inhaler. I thought maybe a medical tent would have albuterol, so I stopped and asked if they carried any and they said 'We don't have any left, but the stand at mile 9 has some.' So I decided to walk it to 9. Got to mile 9 and asked the med tent, and they said 'We don't have those... we've never had those.' So... that sucked a little bit. I walked until mile 11. They I got some encouraging/ass-kicking text messages from my friends waiting for me at the finish. I finished the race 30 minutes past my predicted time, but I still finished it dangit! It's now 9 hours later, and I am so sore I can barely walk. I broke my whole30 today with a GU gel pack, some gatorade and a powerbar. It's fine though, tomorrow is another day!

Awwwe yeaaahh. I love this! Here's a tip for everyone: doing your own sound effects for this one makes it like a hundred times cooler. Adding 100 to the team goal for tonight!

That's become my new mantra. I can keep going. I can keep growing as a person as long as I follow that one simple rule. Be a little braver today than I was yesterday. That's exactly what I'm going to do. My name is Jess. I'm 22 years old, class 1 obese and training to be an assassin. I did well in 2014. I made a great foundation with my health and fitness. I'm ready to graduate to an intermediate level. I know what to do now, I just have to do it, and stick with it. Train for Spartan Sprint The next two months are a little nuts for me. Next Sunday I am running my first ever half marathon. It’s a week away, there’s not really a whole lot more I can do about it, except finish the damn thing! I’m ready! However, when that’s done, on February 8th I am running my first spartan sprint. Yup. All 220 pounds of me. I’m ready to train like a spartan warrior! I have a list of things to work on: Specifically BURPEES. God I suck at burpees. I’ve tailored my level 4 training for my spartan race. Level 4 Training 30 Squats 15 Push-Ups 3 Assisted Pullups or 15 sec Hang 20 Burpees 20ft Army Crawl 20ft Bear Crawl 30+ sec Wall sit 30+ sec Plank Repeat. Do this 3x per week for an A in this category. + 2 DEX, + 2 STA Whole 30 I started my first Whole 30 on the first of the month, and I’ve already screwed up and had to start over twice. But you know what they say: third time’s the charm right? So I’m going to be finishing like a week or two later than the rest of my friends in my support group. It’s not a race. I’m just going to keep trying until I get 30 days in a row of clean eating, even if it takes me all year. Complete a Whole 30 in this challenge to earn an A in this category. + 2 CON, + 2 WIS Improve Flexibility There’s two aims to this goal, improve my flexibility, and just generally calm the fuck down. When I got back from camp, I was in a really good habit of stretching and meditating before bed and it made my sleep much better. I want to make this a permanent habit. Take some time each day, even if it’s only a few minutes, to stretch and meditate to earn an A in this category. +2 DEX, + 1 WIS Girl it up I’ve never had a ton of self confidence in my appearance. It makes me comfortable in jeans and a t-shirt, with a ponytail and no makeup. I really want to start putting more effort into my appearance because I think it’ll help my self confidence. I’m going back to school a week from tomorrow and I want to make a good impression. I also have a list of girly things I want to do/learn how to do: Wear makeup every day Coordinate a nice outfit for school everyday Accessorize things Start wearing earrings again Lean to french braid my hair Master liquid eyeliner Learn to do a smokey eye Be okay with buying clothes. It’s important. Walk out of the house feeling gorgeous and presentable every day for an A in this category. + 4 CHA How I’m going to do it: Identifying personal triggers I’ve been doing a lot of self reflection in the last two weeks. I’ve been trying to identify what makes me fall into this endless pendulum swing between being on fire and wanting to hide in my bedroom and ignore the outside world. It’s not something I’ve really wanted to confront, but now that I have I can make a conscious effort to fix things. Peer pressure I’m a total sucker when it comes to peer pressure. Somewhere there is a happy medium between hanging out with my friends, or completely skipping an outing because *gasp* they might want to go to a restaurant or go to the bar. I’ve gotten completely college-girl plastered these past two weekends. I ruined my whole 30 challenge twice because of alcohol and peer pressure. I’m getting too old for this shit. I don’t want to drink anymore. I went almost a year without it and didn’t really miss it. I don’t like it. I don’t like the empty calories. I don’t like having a hangover. I don’t like spending roughly a half day’s income on booze. I just don’t want to do it anymore. Work is not my life I repeat. I am not my job. Work is not my life. My job is a job and nothing more. I am more important than my work. I like going for a short run on my lunch break, but I’ve gotten into the habit of skipping it in order to do my daily paperwork during that time. I work through my only break in my 9 hour shift. Kind of bullshit when you think about it. I’m only full time at my job for one more week until I go back to school, but I need to stop letting work run my life. Be okay with screwing up I gained some weight since thanksgiving. About 10 pounds to be specific. And I’ve been pissed off at myself for it. But when I think about it... this year, I didn’t gain ten pounds. I’ve lost 30. That’s awesome. I can’t let 10 stupid pounds ruin the other 30. Hopefully this time next year, I’ll have lost another 30. I have a great network of people supporting me, but I get into the mindset of every time I screw up, that I’m disappointing the people who are supporting me. I feel like I’m letting myself and everyone down, and rather than face that I shut out my support system, be it NF, my friends, my parents, whoever. I’m human. I’m allowed to make mistakes. It’s always going to be a struggle. Nothing in this world that is worth having ever comes easy. I’ve just gotta keep reminding myself that. And that's that. Bring it on, 2015!

Finally got good on track with my bike riding. Rode to work 4 times this week. I'm going to give myself a bit of leeway on this goal and lessen it to 4x per week instead of 5. Stuff comes up, and 4/5 is pretty good after all. I only did 3 of my runs during the week. My training plan is to take Wednesday and Sunday off, and me being the ancy type that I am said Nope. I'm going to run on Wednesday too because fuck the sanctity and importance of rest day. Immediately regretted it. Came back from my run with pain in my calves and knees and it hurt to squat and get up and down off the floor for the rest of the day, which is something I have to do a lot. Decided to take the next day as a rest day. It went well. Friday I packed up my running clothes and prepared myself to go running on my lunch break again. I was super excited. Walked into work. Picked up a kid who was crying, and she immediately peed on me. Soaked straight through her diaper and all over my clean shirt. I already stole the one spare Large work shirt that we had floating last week because I got puked on (and didn't return it... my bad. ). I didn't have any other clothes except for my running shirt, so I put that on, and then didn't have a shirt to go running in. Lesson learned- bring back loaner shirts. Keep a spare for work in my adventure pack at all times. Saturday, however, was a glorious day. It was quite an adventure. I ran (Well... ran/walked) 8.5 miles in just a little over two hours. Farther than I ever have before. I ran all the way to Tempe Marketplace, which is definitely a place that I would normally drive to in any other circumstance. It was so weird. I didn't even have a clue where I was until I saw it. I just kept running along the south bank at the lake. I didn't know that the lake extended that far. My target pace was 13:30. My actual pace was something like 14:45 by the end of my run. Around mile 6-7 I just couldn't keep my pace. I tried so hard, but I just couldn't do it. I was running for intervals of 6min run and 2 min walk for the first 4 miles. The more I run, the more I realize that it's my mind that's stopping me more than my body. If I can do 8.5, I can do 13. Psh. It's only another 4.6 miles. That's nothing. Doing it in 3 hours though... there's another story. Around mile 5, I started getting not tired or fatigued... just like bored or something. Hit a little slump. About a half mile later, I found this little piece of motivation left over from the Iron Man competition last week. Thank you, whoever put this sign up. I hope it stays up forever. I was in an exercise coma when I got home yesterday. Full zombie mode. I drank my powerade, ate my chicken and walnuts and then passed out for 2 hours. When I woke up I was so stiff I thought for sure I would never bend my joints again. And I was like SUPER bloated. Looked like I was pregnant. It was super weird! The only other time that's happened was after I ran 5.4 mile race almost a year ago. Does anyone else get bloated after they run? I read on the internet that it sometimes has to do with a sodium/electrolyte imbalance, but I drank a powerade so I figured that would kick it, but it didn't. I'm feeling pretty great today, though!

That's my next major goal! The fastest 5k I've ever run was in 38:33. I think by this time next year I can get t that speed. Oooh... hopefully by Camp Nerdfitness next year I can run the 5k in 30 minutes. That would be cool. You guys are totally right. 6 Seconds is nothing to be disappointed over. I'm sure I'll be under the 10 minute mark very soon. Friday wasn't that day, though. But that's okay. I still did well. I also did something I've never done before. I ran a little over a half mile continuously without stopping to walk. That's a first for me. When I began I couldn't run for more than 10-15 seconds without feeling like I was going to die. I ran for almost 5 minutes and I was totally fine. So that was cool. My co-workers have started to notice me coming back from my lunch break all pink and sweaty and disgusting. Since the center I work at is very small (Like 15 employees or so depending on the day) word spread quickly. My supervisor and a few co-workers have actually started to come to me for fitness advice, and advice on how to start running. It's incredible. I'm probably one of the biggest and least fit people at my job. Every few months or so we do a company activity. It's usually like bowling or a potluck or something lame like that. I suggested to my boss 'Hey... the Tempe color run is on January 25th. Can we do that for our next activity?' and she said that it was a great idea and to get a team together. My boss, two co-teachers, and a few of the infant teachers are already on board and I'm really excited! I think this will actually be something fun and active that we can do together. The only problem is the tickets are $40 a piece and I don't think everyone is going to want to pay that much. But whatever. I'm doing it regardless of what others are doing.

That is such a cool story, Jenn. I think I'm going to be adopting your motto into my quest. I tend to get lazy and frustrated and say 'screw it' when I'm running out and don't have the motivation to run back. Good luck on your Spartan! I know you're going to kick some serious butt. I can't wait to see your results!

You know that rage you get when you're so close to something you've wanted for so long and you miss it by just a teeny tiny bit? That thing for me today was the elusive sub-10-minute-mile that I missed by six seconds. On the bright side, new one mile PR. I done good today! I actually almost made it to 3 miles on my lunch run, which was my original goal. I guess my next goal is 3.5!

WOOHOO BEARLEE!!! Sorry, now that that's out of the way, I am so excited to see you taking scuba diving lessons! Way to step out of your comfort zone. I don't want to tell you to not be nervous, because I know exactly how that is. Honestly, it's probably going to be super nerve wracking the first time you go, but I promise by your second class you're going to be wondering 'Huh. I don't know what I was so worried about, this is awesome.' You and I got a lot in common. My goal was originally to get to 150lbs by summer of 2015, and I had the same problem in the last challenge, as in I didn't lose a single freaking pound. My weight is sitting at 212 right now. Race you to 199/299! I bet you'll be out of the 300s by the end of this challenge, plus some. (Wait... minus some..?) Good luck! Keep us updated.

You scouts are so supportive! Damnit Rob, stop going out of town so I can complete a race with you! It's cool. Next year. It's a really fun race if you've never done it. I did the mini marathon last year (5.4 miles) Lots of good music. I'm sure there's even better bands on the half and full route. I highly recommend it. I'm glad things worked out for you. Did you end up switching or going back to school for something different? What did you get your degree in. You're so supportive of me, Bearlee. What switch from/to in college? I had a time where I thought I was just being too indecisive... so I'm glad that more people have gone through this. I actually got to meet both Stacy and Amy at camp, and they're just about the coolest people you could imagine. If even a fraction of their awesomeness rubbed off on me I think I'd be set. I'll definitely check out your challenge. I hope it has something to do with scuba diving! Even the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry. Or in other words, plan all you want, sometimes shit just don't work out the way you want it to. I'm learning a hard lesson this week so far, kids. Monday: Made a conscious decision to drive to work. Little back story; I work with little kids. I teach a class of one year olds, and every morning we sit down and have circle time and I read them books and sing songs together and I play my ukulele for them. It's the only way I can get them to sit for a half hour. Had to take my uke home over the weekend to retune it, and I wasn't comfortable putting it in my bike basket all the way to work, so I drove. Whatever. Not exactly ideal, but what can you do. Still going running at lunch. Three teachers called out sick. We were understaffed so everyone got short lunch breaks. Didn't have time to go running. So Monday was a bust. Last night my boss asked me to open this morning. Which means being at work at 6:45. Which means leaving my house at 6-6:15-ish and biking in the dark. Since I don't have headlights, this was a no for me. So I drove this morning. I know what you're thinking. 'But Jess, surely you're going to bike to work tomorrow, aren't you? Surely you wouldn't miss three days in a row!' Well that's a huge fucking no also. We have a staff meeting tomorrow after work from 6:30-8:30. Once again, dark. Even if I decided to suck it up and ride in the dark I couldn't, because I have an appointment to meet with a family I'm housesitting for in between the time I get off of work and the staff meeting. So, here's to Thursday. I'm looking forward to it. I DID, however go on my run today! They're setting up the AZ Ironman competition at the lake, so that was kind of fun to see. I didn't set any PRs or anything this morning, but I have a fairly good starting point. Get used to seeing these RunKeeper summaries, I'm going to be posting them everyday. But that's all for now. Happy scouting, rebels!

Oh oh oh this is cool, I like this a lot. http://rebellion.nerdfitness.com/index.php?/topic/56249-jess-get-ready-to-run/

Ciao, Scouts! My name is Jess. I'm 22, and I'm on a quest to lose 100 pounds and get strong, fast, agile and healthy. I’ll be honest. I haven’t weighed myself in awhile. I have no idea how much I weigh, but if I had to guess I’m somewhere close to 210-215 maybe? I’m around around 35-40 pounds down from my highest weight. I’m moving out of the adventurer portion of my journey. I’m an assassin at heart, but I thought it was more appropriate to train with the scouts for this challenge. I’m completing a half marathon in January, and I need to learn from the finest endurance athletes the rebellion has to offer. So here are my goals. Half Marathon Training (+4 STA) I’ve taken to running on my lunch breaks at work. So I’m going to keep at it. I’m going to run 40 minutes per day on my break and work on increasing my speed. I’m averaging out at about 12:30 per mile right now. I want to get at the very least under 12 minutes per mile. Preferably 11:00. My ultimate goal is to finish the half marathon in 3 hours. I’m also doing an endurance run every weekend. My last one was 5 miles. I’m going to increase one mile each week until two weeks before the race, so I’ll have at least three 10m+ plus runs under my belt when the time comes. Run at least 5 days per week for 100% in this category. Bike to Work Every Day (+2 DEX, +2 WIS) I only work 4 miles away from where I live and I drive. Seems kind of silly to me. I bought a bike after I returned from Camp NF with the intention of biking to work every day, and I’ve been averaging out only like 2 times per week. I’m also doing it to save gas money. Bike to work 5 days a week for 100% in this category. Keep at 80% Paleo (+3 CON, +2 WIS) I’ve adapted a paleo diet for the most part. With the exception of 1 TBS of organic grass-fed butter in my coffee in the morning and the occasional serving of full-fat cheese. But grains are out. Spaghetti squash is now my staple. I’ve given up hummus and made the switch from peanut butter to cashew butter. Not a whole lot to say here, other than keep it up. Don’t miss two in a row to earn 100% in this category. Say NO to holiday junk food! (+2 CHA) It’s that time of year, guys. For the last few weeks, the staff lounge at work has been packed with all kinds of crazy sugar coma inducing treats. I’m not going to lie, I’ve slipped up on more than one occasion. Thanksgiving is in just a few weeks. Christmas shortly after that. Every year I say fuck it and let myself eat whatever I want for pretty much all of december. This is the year I say NO. Avoid junk holiday junk food like the plague, and make good choices at Thanksgiving and Christmas for 100% in this category. Motivational: My story I’m excited to be a Scout for 6 weeks. This is where it all started with me: With running. My first run came from a dark time in my life. A sort of quarter-life crisis, if you can imagine. Here’s my story. I was 20 years old. I was 250 pounds and living on a diet of mac and cheese and monster energy drinks. I was in college, a year away from completing my teaching degree and slowly realizing that it wasn’t what I wanted to do with my life. I was afraid to switch majors. I thought I was in too deep to throw it all away now. I was afraid to tell my parents that I wasted their money for my tuition. I remember one night, after a particularly stressful day, I was lying in bed at 2:30 in the morning, knowing I needed to be awake and ready to handle the day only 3 hours later. I was trying to resign myself to a lifetime of teaching. I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t handle it. I didn’t know what else to do. And for some reason, to this day I still can’t put my finger on why or how, a really strange voice kept persisting in my head. It said: Go to sleep, wake up a half hour early tomorrow and go for a run. Go for ‘a run’? How do I even do that? WHY would I do that? But this idea kept persisting, saying that if I did, I would feel less stressed. If I did I could have time to clear my mind and refocus. I was uneasy, but I trusted that voice. I woke up two hours later, laced up my converse, put on my oversized university t-shirt and walked out my door. I jogged down my street in short, huffy 10 second intervals. I found out that I lived really close to the lake, so I thought, hey, let’s go to the lake. It started raining. I shuffled for 30 minutes in the rain that morning. I didn’t go to school that day. Decisions were made. Hard conversations were had. And dis-enrollment papers were drafted. I’m going back to school to study Kinesiology in January. Running, or biking, swimming, lifting, dancing, or whatever your fitness calling is, is exactly what I needed. I needed a little dose of selfishness. I needed time, every day, to be just for me. When I’m working out, I don’t care what is going on around me. That is time for me to reward my body for the awesome stuff it does every day, by making an active choice to make it stronger. We all are given one lifetime to live. To not make the most of it is completely disgraceful. Go get ‘em , rebels

I fucking rocked this challenge. I did. I totally did. My best one yet. Mini Quests: Practice Parkour! (+4 DEX, +2 STR) Do this at least three times a week for an A in this category. I can bear crawl the length of my apartment (like 30 feet?) without needing a break. My roll is passable. I'm still working on that full vault, but I'm so close I can taste it. My level 3 training has been going well. It's been a challenge, I'll admit. (Floor pushups are hard. ) But I'm feeling good about my parkour training! +4 DEX +2 STR Go Paleo! (+3 CON, +1 WIS) Don't miss two Paleo meals in a row to earn an A in this category. I can count only a few times this whole challenge that I've missed two paleo meals in a row. I've learned how to cook. Grains are gone from my diet. I made the (very expensive ) switch from peanut butter to cashew butter. I still do a little dairy in the form of full fat cheese, but nowhere near as much as I used to. Whole30 was a no go for me. I'll try again someday. But this goal was hit with an A! +3 CON +1 WIS Increase Flexibility (+2 STA, +1 CHA) Take some time out of everyday, even if it's only 5 minutes, to stretch, practice basic yoga, or meditate to earn an A in this category. I'll be honest, I missed a day here and there. But the important thing is I've started putting meditation practice into my life. When I get overwhelmed at work, I've started taking like ten seconds to walk away, breathe, and come back refocused. It's been doing wonders. I've established a bedtime ritual (Which sounds kind of silly to me, but it's great). Same thing every night. TV/Video games/Computer off by 9:00. Read a book for 15-20 minutes, brush teeth, wash face, stretch, and do bedtime yoga. In bed, ready for sleep by 9:30. Wake up at 5. Same routine every day. I've even been wanting to go to sleep by like 10 at the latest on the weekends. I slept in until 6:15 this morning and I woke up feeling really good. This is the best my sleep has been in a long time. +2 STA +1 CHA Save Money (+2 WIS) Put $10 away for savings every week to earn an A in this category This is the only one I'm a little iffy about. I put away my $10 a week every week, but I ended up spending some an not replenishing it. So I have $45 in my savings right now. I'm only giving myself one point for right now. If I can get myself caught back up to $80 (the $15 I missed, plus two weeks of savings) by the beginning of next challenge, I'll give myself the other point. +1 WIS Level Up Jessikuh has reached level 4. + 2 STR + 4 DEX + 2 STA + 3 CON + 2 WIS + 1 CHA My stat bottles are looking pretty good. And I'm looking pretty damn good too.