Rosalin

The last week went okay. Not as good as I had hoped for, but better than the last one! I went on a hike, did a BW workout,handstarnd practice, and did a physical therapy session. I ate pretty well. I am doing better at eating at normal meal times and have noticed that it helps me control my eating. I have exactly six weeks until my trip home and I wanna look really good for it! So I am gonna crack down and continue to get better each week. I give this last week a C-, but this week is gonna be awesome!

I have started my next 6-week challenge, and will be checking in here daily to report!

Here begins my report of the last week. There's not much to it. It did not go well. I am giving myself a D- for the first week. I worked out one time, and ate sort of healthy. But, that's not even close to where I want to be, hence the bad grade!! This week has started off a bit better! I went on a hike yesterday, and am working on getting consistent eating patterns. Another report for this week will be posted later on!

I love your goal description! Haha! That is exactly what I want to achieve also. I really like what you said about learning about yourself also. The keeping track of nutrition and not calories is a good idea too! ......I should get some clothes to bring out my inner assassin......

Rosalin woke up in a panic. She twisted to sit up and felt a stabbing needlelike pain in her back. What had happened? She thought. What is going on? I was competing, she remembered. I was about to win and then…..pain. She had been sliced across the back by her challenger. She couldn’t even sit up by herself. How dare she cheat and stab me in the back. Literally. I will get my revenge. Rosalin slowly healed, but after a few months she was still not the same. She had no motivation to continue her training, and her body was showing its unuse. After being defeated and beat down she had almost given up. The weather didn’t help her much either. Rosalin ran on sunshine, and the dark winter months were draining her energy. Then one day she came across a rebel, older and wiser than herself. She was sitting in the dark in her assigned quarters, thinking about how she was soon to be disowned and kicked out by her comrades. She was not herself. He appeared in the doorway and she jumped with a start. “What are you doing?!†she yelped. “What am I doing? What are you doing?†he says in a quiet voice. “Why are you sitting here doing nothing? Why are you not out training with the others? Are you not the best there is here in this camp?†Rosalin had known this day was going to come, she had accepted the fact that she would never make it back to her former self. She was going to be asked to leave. She slumped in her chair and her eyes stayed on the floor. “I can’t do anything.†She says quietly. “You can’t do anything?†He repeats. “You can walk. You can run. You CAN train. Maybe not in the way that is familiar to you, but there are other ways. There is nothing wrong with your body, it can be easily fixed if you try. It is your heart that is broken. Where is your fire, your spark? The world needs you.†And he left her with those words. She found out later that the rebel who had told her to find her fire was the rebel commander. And with the thought of failing the rebellion, she slowly began to train again. Slowly, she began to heal. The dark winter was over, and she began to regain her fire for life. Her back began to heal and strengthen, and with help from the new rebels the commander had brought into camp, she was inspired once again. This is my second challenge and I am excited to be back in it again! With my first challenge I had so much support and finally fixed my back, something I had been trying to accomplish for months! Now I will be working on getting back into the shape I was in less than a year ago. My main goal is to not have to squeeze into all my jeans! And not be on the last belt hole in my belt. Main Goal: Get Healthy/Look Better/Abs by August First Mission: Eat Paleo except for Friday nights Second Mission: Do sprints at least twice a week. May increase later on in the challenge. Third Mission: Do physical therapy, 5 min handstand practice, and BW workout 3 times a week. My motivation for this challenge is a three day concert I am going to in two weeks, and then a country swing dance challenge a week and a half after the challenge ends. I want to be in good shape for both of the events!

Hi there! Your story is creepy similar to mine....people awkwardness haha! I understand that perfectly! I am also looking to fit back into my clothes (refuse to buy new ones as well). I am taking summer classes and for the next challenge I am looking at handstands and assassin status! I would love to be your ally!

Sunday, June 1st, 2014 I have come to the conclusion that it isn't sustainable for me to put everything I eat on here. But I will be posting everything I shouldn't have eaten. Like food that wasn't a planned treat.So to begin, last night I had cake and ice cream, a roll, chips and dip for my buddy's birthday. And I woke up feeling AWFUL after eating so well the last couple days. Food really does make a difference!!!

I have learned a lot from this challenge. One of the biggest lessons I've learned it take even smaller baby steps towards my goals, and make them as easy as possible. Everyone always says start small, but I have found it really hits home when you think you are doing something small and realize it should be even smaller steps. One of my biggest goals this challenge was to do a bodyweight workout a couple times a week, and then I realized I had to start even smaller and just work on strengthening my back and not push it. That was probably the biggest lesson I can take away from this challenge. Start small, and then break those goals down even more. I have succeeded in strengthening my back, something I have been trying to accomplish for three months. This challenge really motivated me to get it done and taken care of so I can move on to bigger goals. I didn't get in as much hiking, walking, etc. as I had hoped, but I am thinking maybe that was too much for one challenge. I am going to stick with the assassin's guild. I am thinking for my next challenge I want to work on handstands, and focus on balance and strength. Now that I have taken care of my injury I want to keep up with my training there and work on losing the weight I have gained with handstands as motivation. Something along those lines anyway

Monday, the 26th of May, 2014 This last weekend did not go well for my diet goals, but today is a new day and I will post what I eat on here for a few days for motivation to eat well! Today I had: almonds and blueberries almond butter broccoli and beef

Thursday, May 22nd, 2014 I am on my way to recovery from an injured lower back. I can see encouraging progress at my physical therapy sessions. Since injuring my back I have been struggling with weight gain, something that has never been a problem for me before. As a student athlete I had always been active and moving. But, lifestyle changes of living on my own in college and bad food choices under the influence of those friends who can eat whatever and never gain a pound have caused me to gain the dreaded freshman 15. Except I'm not a freshman! I had thought I had escaped that problem but it caught up to me! I am now following the paleo approach to eating and it works very well for me. I feel a lot better. I am lactose intolerant and when I eat strict paleo without dairy or grains I can definitely notice a difference in my mood and how I feel. I am hoping to begin cutting caffeine and soy from my diet as well. One of my biggest goals is to be able to do acrobatics. My diet hasn't been the greatest in the last few weeks, so my change is to make sure I have a large serving of veggies with every meal!

Here I will be posting my overall goals, failures and successes, and the daily challenges that I face. I hope my battle log can someday serve as an inspiration to others. My Bucket List: Fitness: Be able to do 10 full pullupsBe able to do a 60 sec freestanding handstandBe able to walk on my handsBe able to do 5 one arm push ups on each armDo the splitsBe able to do a front handspringSquat 400 lbsBe able to run 5 miles easilyTake a pole dancing classRun to the top of Drinking Horse Trail at sunrise!Win Ninja Warrior Personal:Be able to play the guitarBe able to speak conversational SpanishBe able to speak conversational RussianBe able to speak conversational HungarianBe good at math!Fly a planeLearn ballroom dancingLearn to salsaParticipate in a swing dancing competitionWin a swing dancing competitionTake a permaculture design coursePlay messy twisterLearn to bartendGive a great speech you are confident about!Successfully grow lemons/tangerines on a treeTake a picture everyday for 365 days!Win the Montana Rodeo queen competitionTake voice and piano lessons

My appointment went very well! It turns out I have a slight defect in my lower back that puts pressure on the other joints. But it is nothing that PT can't fix, and as long as I keep my core muscles strong I should be able to get back into working out!((More motivation to do core workouts)) I was recommended to a new physical therapist and he has helped me so much the last few weeks. My main goal for this challenge, fixing my back, is almost complete and I couldn't be happier! I haven't been walking as much as I would have liked to, but I think this is acceptable because of the enormous progress I have made in strengthening my back. I have gone on at least three long hikes a week I was feeling really good after my PT yesterday and I did some sprints without hurting myself! I am excited for the next challenge because hopefully I will be able to start a bodyweight workout routine in a week or two!

Thank you! That means a lot to me. I know it is very frustrating for me. I used to be in very good shape and want to get back to where I was. I will try to work out and then tweak my back and it makes me want to give up. But, I only let myself be upset about it for a few hours and then I force myself to go on a walk or something easy. I have an appt this week, and I am determined to get some answers so I can get it fixed for good! Good luck to you!

UPDATE (4/25/14) Revisions: I tweaked my back again over Easter weekend so my challenge will have to be changed some. After a week of rest I am ready to keep going! Main Quest: Strengthen my back and improve my cardio. Three Missions: 1. Do physical therapy every morning 2. Go on a 45 min walk/run every day. 3. Cool down and spend 15 minutes stretching after each walk/run. Progress: 4/28/14-- Went on an hour long walk/run, stretched, and did some PT (A-)

I ran into an issue with my back on Easter weekend. But I was doing decent (not as well as I had hoped but okay) on my challenge. Tweaked it again playing basketball. Errrgh! Ha! So I haven't been able to do what I had planned. I am going to change my challenge and focus more on cardio and physical therapy for the time being. My new goal is to get my back fixed once and for all! Thank you both so much for your support I will be writing a revised challenge up and posting it here!

'We are few, but mighty!' I love it haha Shout out from Bozeman here!!

I would love to hear about those 3 stretches! Thanks for the link too!

I would love to join!

Hello all! I am very excited to start my first challenge. I discovered Nerd Fitness a few weeks ago and it has been such an inspiration to me! I partially dislocated my back in December (weird I know, especially considering I was 19 at the time) playing basketball, and this really inhibited my ability to work out. I ended up gaining weight because I thought I couldn't work out ( I was just making excuses), and then I found NF which motivated me to stop being angry about getting hurt and to do something to fix it! I have always been pretty athletic and enjoy lifting weights, but since I hurt my back I am not allowed to lift. UPDATE (4/25/14) Revisions: I tweaked my back again over Easter weekend so my challenge will have to be changed some. After a week of rest I am ready to keep going! Main Quest: Strengthen my back and improve my cardio. Three Missions: 1. Do physical therapy every morning 2. Go on a 45 min walk/run every day. 3. Cool down and spend 15 minutes stretching after each walk/run. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ POSTPONED: (until next time!) So, my Main Quest for the next six weeks is to lose the weight I have gained and see a visible difference in my body (Fit into my one pair of jeans that fit four months ago and be more flexible) WITHOUT hurting my back. I have a tendency to push it too much. My Three Missions: 1. Do an intermediate bodyweight workout 3x/wk with proper warm-up and cool down. 2. Do 30 minutes of yoga every night before bed and 5 minutes of handstand practice. 3. Walk/Hike twice a week for an hour. Intermediate Bodyweight Workout 2x: Warm-Up: 5 min jump rope10 Body Weight Squats10 Walking Lunges15 Jump Ups3 Pull Ups 8 dips 3 Chin ups 10 push ups30 second plankCool down: 5 min jump rope and stretch for 5 minutes I tend to be a shy person...so.Life Quest: Be more independent and brave. Speak up when I don't like something someone says or if I disagree with them. I would love to hear what you think of my first challenge, and if anyone has any suggestions I am always open to them! Update: 4/14/14Went through my workout in 16:45 not counting my warm-up and cooldown. I am working on my pullups and chinups. At this point I can only do about 3 pullups and barely 1.5 chinups. So I've just been doing holds for that part. Next time I will time them so I can report if I've been improving. When I can complete this circuit with full pullups and chinups in under 10 minutes I will add another round! I will be improving my time and posting it each workout.