csltrainer

Thanks for the encouragement Witterquick! I'm not doing much running actually. Just a few kilometers on the treadmill after my lifting sessions at the moment. Once I started the lifting plan, I realized that by trying to add in both running AND yoga at the same time, along with adding back in lifting, I was putting wayyyy to much on my plate and too much pressure on myself. Baby steps ...like you said, easing into things that you want to make a habit of again. So I use a quick run on the treadmill as a cool down, since lifting is my priority for sure. Woah a half marathon! Good for you! Someday I'd like to make this a goal of mine, but I think that'll come after I'm more solid on my lifts .

Phew! I've finally made it to my Airbnb in Rawai (near Phuket) in Thailand! It's amazing and I'm surrounded by books EVERYWHERE! Much nerd love here. The first day I was here I joined a gym! Easing back into weight lifting again, and boy are my muscles hurting. I didn't even push all that hard! Well, apparently I did. Good thing Thailand has ridiculously cheap massages! That too was painful, but soo necessary. Diet has been great, as I've gotten back into more of a low carb/high fat Primal diet. And since breakfast is included in my airbnb cost, that means I get bacon, eggs, veggies, and coffee every morning!! Only 'problem' I've found getting back into the high fat/low carb lifestyle, is that I'm NEVER HUNGRY. I also think I overdid it a bit on the fat for breakfast this morning, so I'm guessing I won't be hungry until this evening. Trial and error. Still keeping up with that meditation! I've been doing it for something like 35 days now, so it's definitely become a habit for me. Running to and from the gym is going to be a bit tricky, since the weather here so SO DAMN HOT, and the roads not great i.e. no sidewalks, but running while at the gym is a definite go. Haven't done any yoga yet, but now that I'm more settled into the airbnb, here it comes! How's everyone else doing so far?

Love your goals! I bow down to your 9.5 miles...hot damn! And man I feel ya about the coffee thing. It's a tough nut to crack for sure!

Long story: read their website here for in depth info! http://www.public.navy.mil/spawar/Pacific/71500/Pages/default.aspx Short story: You've got the deep sea object recovery sea lion team, the unauthorized swimmer and scuba diver dolphin and sea lion team, and you've got the underwater mine hunting dolphin team. Pretty awesome stuff!

Ravenclaw all the way! LOVE this challenge Charms: Since I don't have my own home or things at the moment, I'm going to use the organization aspect of this as organizing my blog schedule! I have a lot of things I need to get done with it, and it ALL needs some serious organizing.Herbology: EAT ALL THE VEGGIES! Adding 1-2 veggies types to every meal is my goal here.History of Magic: Read 3 books to further my education at bettering myself - including Steve's new book!Potions: I need to up the H2O factor and decrease the coffee factor. Also, once I get to my airbnb in Thailand, I can buy some vitamins and add those in too!

Hi there everyone! I've done a few challenges here and there over the last few years, but never in the Ranger category. How could I have not been here before?! This group screams awesome and it is right up my alley (I mean, a challenge that's Harry Potter themed??) Quick intro: I'm 27, used to train dolphins for the US Navy (and sea lions at an aquarium before that), and I've been traveling the world solo since September 2014. Yes, don't worry, you read that right. I've been on the road for almost a year and a half now! I love it, but damn does it take a toll on your fitness (I seriously don't know how Steve kept it up for so long while he was traveling...honestly blows my mind). It's not that I don't work out - some places I can easily run, others allow for hiking opportunities (i.e. Everest Base Camp), and always there's the option of LOTS of walking. Seriously so much walking. Sometimes I'll get back to my hostel in the afternoon after a day of exploring a new city, wonder why I'm tired and hungry, then look at my iPhone step counter and OH! Apparently I walked 14 miles today. Right. Explains it. But for the first time in my travels, I'M STAYING IN ONE PLACE FOR AT LEAST A MONTH! Whaaaaaaat? And where exactly? Rawai, Thailand to be exact. I've rented out a room on Airbnb for a month. It's in a BOOK CAFE (nerd alert), and it's also a juice/smoothie/heath cafe too! It's like my dream place. Best part though? It's only 1 km from a gym! I haven't been to a gym in like 2 years because of traveling and I CAN'T FREAKING WAIT. I won't be able to start my gym related challenges until the 9th of Feb when I arrive, but c'est la vie. SO HERE WE GO! GOAL 1: WEIGHTS I can't wait to get back into lifting heavy. I loved it SO MUCH when I did it before, but it's been quite some time (unfortunately lifting my backpack doesn't exactly count as much). So obviously I need to get back into the swing of things. Therefore I'm going to keep it simple, and stick to a 3x/week full body lifting routine using Nia Shanks's routines. She's an amazing female lifting inspiration and I can't wait to start her stuff. GOAL 2: YOGA I've been a huge fan of Tara Stiles for quite some time now. Her yoga, her ideology on fitness and health, and just generally everything about her. So I'm aiming for 3 yoga sessions per week with her as well. And since I'll have my own room at this cafe place, it'll be easy! GOAL 3: RUNNNING I've recently found that I love to run. I'm not crazy good or anything, I've just found it to be a bit meditative. And as someone who has previously always hated running, I'm gonna roll with the motivation while it's still there! My goal is to run the 1 km to the gym each time I go as a warm up, and get in 2x 3-5 km runs each week. LIFE GOAL: MEDITATION I've been using the Headspace app for about a month now and LOVE IT. I'm really making it a goal to do this every single day, so keeping this as a goal from my last challenge is necessary. AT LEAST 5 minutes with the app every day, and since I'll be living on the beach in Thailand for a month, this should be an issue So there you have it! My goals for the month of February. I won't be able to start most of the exercise related ones until the 9th when I'm settled into my airbnb, but I'll be doing lots of walking, some pushups in my dorm rooms when no one is looking, and meditation sessions on flights. Hey, gotta make do with what you've got!

I think I've found my crew You guys are AWESOME. Heading on over to make my challenge thread! Lovely to meet you all! *waves emphatically*

FINAL ROUND UP! I completed all of my goals except for the 90% clean eating, which was morel like 70%, but hey, I think I did ok with what I was given in Morocco . Looking forward to the next challenge, especially since I'll be setting up shop in Thailand for a while, only 1 km away from an awesome gym! I GET TO GO BACK TO A GYM FOR A WHILE YOU GUYS!! :D

Got to 8 pushups last night! I'll definitely hit the 10 mark by next Friday Eating has been a bit of a challenge with all the moving around I've been doing, that and the fact that bread is such a huge part of the culture here in Morocco! I'd say I'm at around 70% healthy/whole eating at the moment, so not where I want to be, but I'm doing the best with what I've got! Still hitting my meditation goals every day which is great. Does anyone else use Headspace? I'm loving it, but man does my mind dislike being still! On a totally different note, I recently booked a room in a house/cafe in Thailand for a month! It's a book cafe so there will be lots of reading to be had, I have free range of the kitchen which had a juicer and a blender in the picture on Airbnb, and there's a kick ass looking gym right around the corner! I'm super pumped to be able to stay in one place for a little while and get my fitness on!

Right now I don't have too many plans. I'm just sort of winging it. I have a trip to the Sahara in a few days, and a friend I made in Spain is meeting up with me when I get back so we can travel to Essaouira together. Past that, we'll see! Safety is always something you have to think about as a solo female traveler, but here in Morocco there's definitely a fair bit of harassment. Fortunately it's all rather benign - more annoying and uncomfortable than anything. My friend and I did have a guy follow us for like a half an hour and wouldn't leave, so we finally ducked into a shop. The two male shop owners chased him down the street for us . Just have to be smart and prepared!

UPDATE TIME! This is my first update, only because the wifi here at my riad leaves much to be desired. Oh the joys of shared hostel wifi in another country . I didn't get sponsored for a Sahara Desert trip like I originally pitched for, but I did receive a 60% discount so I'll take that as a win right now! It's going to be fantastic (at least I hope so!) and I just have to write a post about it, do some social media things, and link back to their website. Easy peasy! Eating is going relatively well, though I have found an addictive Arabic cookie that is only 10 cents on the street so that could be a bit of a problem lol Hey I said 90% right?? I did 3 push ups today relatively easily, so I'm going to shoot for 4 tomorrow. And I've kept up with Headspace every day so far! Some days I cut it a bit close (like 1130pm type of close), but I got it done.

Hey there! I'm a bit late to the party here, but I fly to Morocco on Sunday morning, and will be there through the 29th (conveniently the length of this challenge), so I figured it would be a great time to join in! GOALS 1. Meditate every day using the Headspace app for at least 5 minutes. I just bought a year subscription to Headspace using money that was given to me as a Christmas present. I love the app, and really want to make meditation and mindfullness a habit, so I need to meditate every day, even if it's just for 5 minutes. 2. Be able to complete 10 pushups in a row by January 29. Morocco isn't exactly known for it's gyms, and, as a woman traveling by herself in a Muslim country, going for a run through the souks is probably not the best of ideas safety-wise. But increasing my push up game is something I can do even in a hostel, riad, or hell, even the Sahara. Right now I'm at about 2 push ups in a row, 3 on a good day. Reaching 10 should be doable. 3. Eat 90% whole, non-processed foods. Traveling non-stop can sometimes mean reaching for the unhealthy foods because they're the quickest and simplest. I've been doing ok in this area, but I know I can do better. And I say 90% because things happen. Travel can get crazy and sometimes you're stuck. And then there's also the fact that you're in another country, and you need to try the local delicacies. Might not be healthy, but its part of the culture and the travel experience. This challenge is more about making the right choices, of reaching for a banana as a snack over a pack of crisps/chips. 4. LEVEL UP YOUR LIFE QUEST - Successfully land a sponsored 'something' I've had my travel blog for almost 2 years now, and it has an ok following. I've been working on increasing my social media presence, and I've been beta testing a course on pitching to companies for sponsored activities or hotel stays. Doing it scares me shitless, because I'm never convinced what I can bring to the table would be worth it for them, so this quest is about getting over that, pitching more companies, and finally getting a yes for something. Anything. And then provide them with a kickass service, and prove to myself that I CAN DO IT. That's all folks! Looking forward to the next month of leveling up our awesome and nerdy lives

I'm a bit late to the party, but better late than never right?! My name is Emily, I'm originally from the Boston area, but it's been quite some time since I've lived there. I've been traveling the world solo going on 16 months now. I've hiked to Mt Everest Base Camp, been SCUBA diving between tectonic plates in Iceland, spent 2 weeks as a beach bum on an island in Thailand, pet/house sat for 2 months in London, and so much more. It's been one hell of an adventure, and it's still going! And there's really no indication of it stopping anytime soon (though, after all this time, I've honestly stopped trying to plan my travels. They never go as planned anyway lol). Before traveling I was a dolphin trainer for the US Navy, and a sea lion trainer at an aquarium for 2 years prior to that. I've been able to throw in a few nerdy things into my travels so far, like attending a Sherlock convention in London, visiting the Harry Potter Studios (also in London), going on a Harry Potter walking tour in Scotland, and visiting the Doctor Who Experience in Cardiff!

Not that I like dealing with the aftermath, but shoveling 3 feet of snow in both your and your neighbor's driveways is one heck of a work out. Sore for like 3 days. Also trying to do more yoga as I've found holding some of those poses is pointing out my strength weaknesses.

I've been getting a bit slack over the last few days *smacks the back of my own hand*. Steve's recent article about 'why you should be selfish about your health' came at the right moment for me. Right now I don't have a job, I'm traveling, and I HAVE the time to put myself and my health and fitness first. So why aren't I?? I need to stop making excuses. I've always wondered what I could accomplish with my fitness and health if I had all the time in the world. Now I do so it's time to find out.