Bob the Bardbarian

One word: Pathfinder! Or is that two words...?

Welcome to the Rebellion!

I've liked the health and crafting articles, like making your own soap, and Altoids case kits. I've also really enjoyed the "Things We Can Learn from the Vikings" articles. Good stuff

Anyone here a fan of Art of Manliness? What are some of your favorite articles/podcasts? What have you gained from the works of Brett McKay? And yes, women can post here too

While I don't suffer from anxiety per se, I have found meditation to work wonders for relaxing the mind. It's like you're focusing on your mind, and sorting through all the thoughts and emotions that are in your head. And anyone can do it. ANYONE. Start by finding a comfortable place to sit. Some sit on the floor, but I use like to use a char (for now anyway). Sit upright with a straight spine, find a spot on the wall, stare at it, and relax. Focus on your breathing, and keep staring. For me, this forced me to deal with the thoughts in my head: my fears, my regrets, and eventually, I realized I shouldn't be worrying about things I don't have control over. I mean, REALLY realized it. I'm sure there are better meditation tutorials somewhere on this forum, but I hope this is a good starting point for you. You should be meditating for about 20 minutes a day. Unless you don't have time. Then you should be meditating for 60 minutes a day.

It does. Thank you so much.

I agree with Special. My training methods are more of an assassin (bodyweight calisthenics), but I am at heart a warrior. Whatever path you choose, the most important thing is to get out of your comfort zone (that where the magic happens ). Welcome to the Rebellion!

Damn, a lifting competition in Kuwait? That sounds so bad-ass. Happy to have you here. Welcome to the Rebellion!

No such thing. Welcome to the Rebellion!

Welcome to the Rebellion!

Arrow tag reminds me of my old LARP days. People don't think arming yourself with a padded sword provides for a good workout, but holy crap does it get the blood pumping. Welcome to the Rebellion!

Diet is usually the hardest part of everything we do here. There are a lot of great articles on the NF site for cooking paleo and eating better. I myself am not %100 paleo, but I am trying to eat cleaner. If I don't know what's in my food, I don't eat. Just remember you're not alone in this, and while you may not be big into forums, if there were one forum to get into, this would be it. Welcome to the Rebellion!

Welcome to the Rebellion!

Welcome to the Rebellion! If you don't want to fork out the $99 to join the academy just yet, I'd check out Steve's book, as it covers a lot of good information about improving your life. Now go forth, and kick some ass!

Welcome to the Rebellion! Go forth, and kick some ass!

Welcome to the Rebellion!

Honestly, the extra quests are nice for your "class", and it really makes you think about what you want to achieve in your goals. More than anything, I LOVE getting access to the FB group. Those guys are so supportive, but more than anything, it feels nice to support other people as well. Yeah, it's worth $99. While other sites have a monthly payment, you only have to pay ONCE. If not that, I'd also recommend getting Steve's book. I suck at reading books, and I love it. It's an easy read, with some kick-ass advice.

R.I.P. Wayne Static

Does anybody have any good advice/resources for conditioning your feet to run barefoot? I live in the city, and I'm mostly surrounded by concrete sidewalks. However, a few weird looks would be worth strengthening my feet, to be able to walk/run/play without having to worry about stepping on small rocks. Thanks!

Any other forum, I'd say Baileys

Good for you for being a strong woman who don't need no man. For me, being independent was always hardest when trying to figure out what to spend my little extra cash on. Normally food won, bad food. Now I've been trying to put it towards better things. I cannot emphasize how awesome Steve's quest/loot system is. Now my money goes towards things I earn and want, not a bag of chips that satisfy for about 45 seconds, and make me feel crappy for 4 hours.

I really like Steve's take on loot for completing quests, and making sure the loot benefits our health and goals. If you're into running, when you complete a certain quest (distance, time, route, etc), maybe reward yourself with new shoes, running headphones, or clothes. I'm not much of a runner, so I don't know what you'd use. But the quest/loot system has been helping me stay on track a lot. 50% of my quests end with a tattoo

Sometimes life isn't happy or cheerful. Sometimes it's hard, and not fun, and in those times, you just have to make a fist, clench your teeth, get mad, and push slowly and steadily. And yeah, I can understand the whole "voices in my head" thing. Let me tell you a little story. Once upon a time a man was taking his daily jog, when he decided to go a little further than usual. You see, he would jog on a city block, but only to the corner and back, which was a little less than a mile (or 1.6 KM), and relatively flat; nice and easy. This day however, he decided he'd run the full city block. With renewed vigor he jogged past the corner, and down the street. However, the man forgot that the next leg of his journey was tremendously difficult. You see, the road he was jogging on was incredibly steep; nearly 90 degrees. With each step he took on the sidewalk, he dropped a little further. His legs ached, his back in torment, his sides cramping from dehydration. When he finally made it to the bottom, he was tired, and sore. However, the worst part was when he looked up, as he realized the jog home would be another 1.5 miles (2.4 KM), all uphill. Defeated, he dropped his head, and began walking home. ... And that's when the little voice in his head chimed in. "Well Bob, you've done it now." the voice said. "You couldn't be happy with just going to the corner and back, could you? No, you had to go a little further. You just had to go the full block. Now look where you are. Slugging it up a hill, tired, sore, and in pain. I sure hope this is what you wanted, because you got it man. Well done. Bravo." Now, this man had taken crap from everyone throughout his life: His family, his teachers, his peers, his coworkers, his superiors, but he would be damned if he took any crap from himself. So, in that moment, he clenched his fists as tight as he could, and began jogging up the seemingly never-ending hill, with a pace slow, and sloppy. "Oh you're jogging again eh? Yeah, we'll see how long this lasts." the voice said. "You know you can't do it. Why are you even trying?" But the man didn't listen. He just clenched his fists harder, and kept moving. As he got closer to the top, the more in pain he was. But he also noticed, as he got closer, the voice got quieter. Half-way up the hill, nearly his entire body aching from dehydration, he clenched his fists even harder. Further and further, he kept going, until he finally made it to the top of the hill, to the driveway into his apartment complex, and with his fists thrown into the air, he screamed at the top of his lungs: "YEAH! YEEEEEAAAAAHHH!!! THAT'S RIGHT!!!! YOU AIN'T SAYING MOTHER FUCKING SHIT NOW, ARE YOU?!?!?!" ... ... And in that moment, he heard something. ... ... Nothing... Nothing but the wind, blowing through the trees, and the sound of a car driving in the distance. In case you haven't figured it out, the man is me, and that little bastard in my head, hasn't said anything to this very day. The morale of the story is that if you want to silence your inner demons, you can't tell them to shut up. You have to make them.

When I was lifting weights 3 times a week, I would make sure to work a major muscle, along with another muscle that assisted and supported it. Monday was chest and arms, Wednesday was legs and core, and Friday was back and shoulders. From there, I would slowly try working in new exercises to work those muscles in different ways, while slowly increasing the weight with basic exercises (chest press, squat, shoulder press, etc). However, starting a plan should be based on a goal. You want to get stronger? Good for you, but what for? Are you running a marathon? Do you want to get into more primal movements like climbing and crawling? Are you looking to build super huge muscles to impress your friends at how well you can lift IKEA furniture? Find your goals, then find your path. Now go forth, and kick some ass.

Pan fry is usually the way to go, and it goes great with mirepoix.