'Down Under' Dan

That's great! You'll find it gets easier and easier, even to a point where you can just 'keep running', it's a pretty amazing feeling. Keep us updated.

Top job, best of luck with it all. Focus on the good days!

No worries, thanks for that. I think it's really important not to push the idea of children on absolutely everyone. Purely because it isn't for everyone, yet a lot of people don't get that.

I'm just here today to shamelessly plug my post on the Nerd Fitness blog like the hack I am. 'The Shit They Don't Tell You: 12 Things New Parents Need To Know' Feel free to have a read and let me know what you think, Rebels.

First week down, still going strong. Did more than an hour of social media yesterday though. Time just goes too quickly sometimes. Lots of time with each of the kids over the weekend. Got in some good reading time with my middle child. Anybody else down with Grug?

Spent some special one on one time with the middle child last night. Once he got in his pyjamas we went outside to look at the full moon and sing twinkle twinkle. Then we wrestled with each other for about 20 minutes. Then he was all worked up and wouldn't go to sleep.

Tell me about it. I've used up 38 minutes of my hour already and it's only 8:50 am.

That means something different here in Australia. Thanks though @Magistra Fay, regardless of whatever way you're rooting for me. The water intake is definitely much more of a challange than I expected, 1.5 litres is two of these during the work day: On the plus side, I'm doing much more walking to and from the toilet at work. Win, win.

Well done on implementing a points system, looks like you've put a lot of work into this, great job and best of luck.

Pretty great. Dave Wakeling and The English Beat were possibly the nicest bunch of people I've ever met. Chris Murray is also a great guy. I play guitar in a band called 'Son of Dad'. Check us out if you're keen:

Nice, same. Huge Specials, Beat and Selecter fan. I've been lucky enough to play in the support band for those and a few others when they've toured oz. I also dig third wave and the traditional stuff.

I think I cam across you in your challenge two years ago. Are you a ska fan? I'm guessing from the username.

Off to a great start (we're a day ahead of you here in Australia). Had a good hour of special one on one time with my eldest daughter on Sunday. (She loved it, and we walked over 3km, I had to piggyback her back to the car, here's her catching her first Pokemon (Poliwag)) In addition to that I'm on track for my water at work today (it's just gone lunchtime and I've downed 750mL) plus I plan on hitting the (non-Pokemon) gym tonight. How are you all starting off?

Nice goals. You're in the right place, best of luck to yourself too.

Hi, I'm Troy McLure Dan Schmidt, you may remember me from writing such Nerd Fitness articles as 'A Nerd's Introduction to Mental Health', 'How to Build an Active, Outdoor Lifestyle With Your Kids' and 'How to fight the Tired Parent Syndrome'. But today I'm here to talk to you about my "first" 4 week challenge. (I actually started a challenge in 2014, but couldn't complete it because I had to leave my house due to bushfires I am weak). But I'm damn set on completing this one (it's winter time here in Australia, so the risk of fire is much less). We've just had our third child in May, and since then I've noticed I've slacked a bit with my exercise and I'm not in as great shape as I was when she was born. This tends to happen with the continual waking throughout the night, having no time to cook dinner or make lunch for the next day and being a miserable Australian winter (which really isn't that bad). I spend a lot of time telling how to keep other rebel parents fit and active, so I better put my words into action myself. MAIN QUEST: To lose weight (3kg) I really don't want to be a fat dad, I was about 8 kilos heavier than I am now when my first child was born, and I don't want to get back to that. I'm not in terrible shape at the moment (I'm in what the BMI classifies as a 'healthy' weight, but I'm at the upper end of 'healthy'), but it's best to get on top of these things before it gets too big. My goal weight is 74kg. I figure if I can lose a few kilos this winter, summer will be a whole lot more fun with the kids on the beach. Goals for this challenge: Physical quests: Weights/Bodyweight exercises 3 times a week (my new workplace has a free gym which I have yet to use) Run 2 times a week (5km+) (Pokemon GO will surely help with this, Team Valor FTW) Diet quest: No more eating in bed. (I'm terrible for late night snacking when I'm doing midnight feeds with the baby) Drink more water at work (at least 1.5 Litres per day) Level up my life quests: Limit (non-work and non-NF) social media to an hour a day. Spend one-on-one 'special' time with each child at least once a week. Let's start simple and see how we go. Feel free to check in and say G'day any time fellow Rebels. Dan

Glad I could help. If you don't feel like carrying a towel or two around, you could even go out and get a "Sham-Wow" knockoff (I think I got mine from the Reject Shop) for a few bucks, they're great for wiping down slides. 3 year olds are definitely a handful, glad to hear the little one is a bit more relaxed though. Mine are 4.5, 2, and one due in May. Glad to hear you caught what seems like the last of the great weather we had in Radelaide, I was in Melbourne for work a few weeks ago and I was surprised at how wintery it was already. Good luck jumping in muddy puddles.

Hey, thanks for reading the blog post (I'm the one who wrote it) and bringing it up here to discuss. Also, I'm from South Australia, so I know how much it sucks when the weather turns and we can't get the kids to the playground. We've just bought a few pairs of gumboots from Kmart and like to go 'jump in muddy puddles' like Peppa and George Pig, which they love, gets us moving and tires them out. There is a bit of mess, but that's all part of the fun, so just put them in some 'trakkie dacks' (I love being able to use Aussie terms on this forum) and some warm gear and you're good to go. I keep a few towels in the boot of my car, just incase we do get the urge to go to the playground, we can wipe down the slides/swings/etc and they can have a bit of a play. If you have a flowing creek or river nearby, take them there after some rain and have some 'boat races', we make 'boats' out of gumleaves and sticks. Chuck them in the river and watch them go, that generally keeps them happy for a while. Just be careful if you have really little ones about falling in. If it's a darker day, just give them a torch and go for a walk, they love spotting things and seeing what they can find. It also breaks up the monotony of being 'just another walk' for them. If they're a bit older and it's a windy day, try flying a kite, be patient though, I find it really frustrating, but once it's up they're pretty fun. When it's really crappy weather (if you're from SA, VIC or TAS you'll know what I'm talking about), there are options like kindygyms or indoor playgrounds, you will generally have to pay, but it still gets them physically active and out of the house, so that's another option. Hope this helps, always feel free to give me a yell if you're looking for ideas. Also, how old are your kid(s)? Any particular topics you'd like to see covered in upcoming blog posts? Thanks for reading.

G'day all, I'm Dan, the new Nerd Fitness Rebel Family Correspondent, Steve has granted the very important (and very awesome) task of writing about all things family for Nerd Fitness (you can check out my first article here). I'm a father from Adelaide, South Australia with two (soon to be three) amazing kids. I work as a fatherhood specialist in a large non profit organization, where I help other dads become the best they can be. In my work I run prenatal classes, playgroups, fatherhood courses, provide counselling and opportunities for parents and their children to bond. I'm super excited to be writing for Nerd Fitness, but I really want to know what all you parents (or parents to be) would like to read, or learn more, about? Through my work, qualifications, and life experiences as a parent, I have a wide range of knowledge relating to parenting, sleeping, eating, child development, mental health, sensory issues, pregnancy, pre and postnatal health, relationships, and much more. So let me know what you Rebel Parents would really like to see on the Nerd Fitness blog. I promise I'll try to keep the dad jokes to a minimum ('Dead-lifts'? More like, 'Dad-lifts'! Amirite?!)...I'll show myself out. Also, feel free to get in touch, either just to say 'G'day!', or ask a question at any time. -'Down Under' Dan.