Kyrian

Blegh. Kudos to all you ladies with IUDs. The idea of putting something up there permanently nearly makes me break out into hives. I have nexplanon (The subdermal in your arm) and I love it. I have more spotting than I think is usual, but it's still my favourite BC by far.

+1 for the Tamora Pierce books (pretty much any of them) +1 for Mulan (I have a huge Mulan back tattoo!) Has anyone read the Bloody Jack series? It's by LA Meyer. There's a great range of girls in that book that are badass in various ways. The main character isn't perfect but I think she's pretty realistic as well. I'll add Ada Lovelace to the real women section. She was the first computer programmer!

Hey all, So I'm thinking about entering my first powerlifting competition and I'm looking for some advice. It's in two weeks. Here's my max lifts as of this week: Squat: 225 - 5 reps Bench: 135 - 5 reps Deadlift: 225 - 5 reps once, 3 reps once What should I try for my one rep max? And what should I expect going into this thing? My buddies are all telling me that I can add 40+ pounds for a one rep max, but I'm thinking closer to 10-20.

Awesome pictures, awesome goals! I get really upset when I see people killing spiders. We have a lot of black widows around here, and I've scooped them up in cups and taken them outside to keep from killing them (most spiders, you literally have to back into a corner and poke repeatedly in the face to get them to bite you...). So to help your goal, here's a spider with a really awesome hat:

I'm in the military, so I always get asked 'What's your ASVAB score?' (the ASVAB is the entry test that determines what jobs you can take - like SAT or ACT). I hate answering this question, because I got a pretty high score, so when I answer honestly, they start thinking I'm a jerk and that they have to prove something to me. I think the ASVAB is dumb and not a good test at all, but I'm not gonna lie about my score. I've tried 'good enough to get into my job', which works sometimes, but not all the time... :/ I can also do pull-ups, which even in the Marines for girls is pretty rare... so all these girls keep asking me how come I can do pull-ups, and I saw, well, I go to the gym every other day and work out. Then they wanna know how they can do pull ups without going to the gym. Well, you can't.

I don't know about you guys, but when I start playing an MMO, my friends always want me to get on right when I'm about to start doing something - usually when I'm going to the gym or going on a run. Then I feel bad if I blow them off, but I also feel bad if I skip the workout! So now I just solo all the time

Thanks Dawsy! The dips have helped a lot, and I don't really do much up a warm up before I start running, so you are probably right on that one. I'll try that out and see if it helps!

Well, I'm going to amend this a bit. Since I have been having a lot of achilles tendon pain in my running, I think I need to cut back and focus on my form. So my new running goal: go back down to 1-2 laps around the track and work on form. Then, SLOWLY increase distance, and by the last week, run that 3 mile with perfect form. (+2 CON)

Hey runners, So I've been running for about 3 years now, 1 1/2 of them in my Merrill barefoot shoes (but I've always run on my forefoot). Recently, I've been getting really bad pain in my achilles tendon, which has never happened to me before. I think it may be from overstriding and not keeping my feet under my hips, and have therefore cut my runs to work on my form, but I was wondering if anyone else had experienced this and had some good advice.

I'm a native English speaker, and I speak Russian pretty well. Other than that, I took 3 years of German in high school and forgot all of it, and my next project is Japanese (it's progressing slowly). Language is so hard because it's really a use-it-or-lose-it skill.

LGBT and all others, and my support are belong to you. As for questioning potential love prospects, anytime I get nervous, I just think about how I would feel if someone was asking me the same question. If someone asked me if I had a significant other, or was I single, or would I like to go to the movies, I wouldn't be unsettled. And even if I knew they were asking with romantic intention, it wouldn't bother me too much. So why should it bother me to ask someone else? If you're worried about being too forward, just make some conversation first. Ask what they do, where they live, do they have siblings, etc. etc. Then it just seems like a normal question, instead of an out-of-the-blue one.

So I've lurked on NF for quite a while now, I've just never actively participated. Then Steve made that beautiful post about the next 6-week challenge, and I thought, 'Hey, why not?' So here I am! Physical Fitness Goals - Lose 5 pounds. One a week, with a grace week if I fall off the wagon, that seems reasonable. (+2 CHA, +2 CON) - Go from 8 pullups to 11 pull-ups. My eventual goal is 20! (+2 STR) - Run a 3 mile every week. I just ran one for my fitness test today, and it hurt a lot more than it should have, because I hate running. So, I'm going to run them every week. Not fast. Not timed. Just run them. Then I'll worry about getting a bit faster. (+2 STA, +1 CON) Level Up Goal - Finish my Russian copy of 'Alice in Wonderland'. I need to get that studying in! (+3 WIS) I'm thinking the hardest for me will be the weight loss. My body likes its marshmallow-ey shape and has refused to budge for a while. But I think the running in conjunction will be good for that!

I'm a Marine, which probably sounds really exciting, and really isn't very exciting at all. It has its ups and downs like everything else, I guess. Most of what we do is deployment training, so if we're not deploying... we're not really doing anything. And then occasionally (like our field exercise last month), we do 2 weeks - 6 months of straight training or working, with limited amenities (hot water/showers, real food, regular clothing). After a while, you start missing things you take for granted: your own kitchen, stocking more than 1 six pack of beer in the fridge, making plans without worrying you'll have to cancel them, etc. On top of that, you get treated like a child a lot and sometimes your world gets flipped upside down and puts your free time or your career in jeapordy. But the work is satisfying, and if you're single and living in the barracks, the pay is actually pretty good.

I just bought the Lou Ann coconut oil and I like it a lot. It's really mild, so you can use it for any type of cooking, and I've used it once instead of olive oil for baking and it worked out well. Usually I just mix it with peanut butter and eat on crackers - very tasty and you can definitely feel the extra energy.

I would say, try to make PT mando for anyone that's failing or barely passing their PT test. That's just silly to have people failing something that simple. My two favorite PT games are combat soccer (play in utilities, just no blouse or cover) and medicine ball ultimate frisbee (same rules, just play with a heavy medicine ball instead of a frisbee). Playing with 2 balls helps make sure everyone gets a chance to play, instead of just the pros stealing the ball every time. Also, you can try Spartan tag (make a few people it, and every time someone gets tagged, they have to do a set number of an exercise and then they become it - the person that tagged them gets to be a regular player again). These are pretty good workouts but still fun. Maybe that will help?

There was a group of guys in the squat rack next to me that were trying to help a girl do squats, but she kept falling backwards, so they put plates under her heels. So that she was leaning forward. On her toes. Ironically enough, at the same time they were making fun of the guys using the smith machines.

The experience I've always had with this is that while it's acceptable for a woman to like 'manly' things, that's only true until she becomes 'equal' to a man in a manly area. It's attractive for a woman to know a little bit about cars... not attractive to fix a part that a man can't figure out. It's attractive to see a woman do a pull-up - not attractive to see a woman do more pull-ups than you, as a man, can do. Whereas for men, it's a very tough road to choose to do something feminine, like fashion, cooking, or beauty, but once he's committed to his choice it's much easier for him to be accepted and excel. So I think it's still very sexist on both sides of the board.

Try introducing different back exercises into your routine. Do you have a milk jug you can fill and use for rows? Or you can try inverted body weight rows on a table. That may help.

I normally get myself with 'I'll just do five minutes, and if I still don't feel like it, I'll stop.' Then, once I'm up and moving, I feel fine and I'm able to finish my workout! It's just getting the motivation to start that's hard.

I count calories only because it helps me eat healthier - if I'm hungry, and I'm trying to keep a meal to 500-600 calories, I'm more likely to go for the grilled chicken and rice than a handful of french fries or piece of cake. As for losing fat, I've noticed that I've lost a little since I started weight training, and the heavier I lift, the more I lose. I also think it's more gratifying to be strong than skinny, so I would say just start picking up heavy things and let the weight worry about itself for a little while

For self-study, the best thing is to find a good website or book with exercises and basic vocabulary. That will help you with the basic grammar and survival vocab. Once you've got that, you just have to add to your vocabulary until you have a really good foundation. When you get to a level where you can read or listen in the language and understand the majority of it, it becomes a lot easier because you have so many different ways to practice. I find that watching Disney movies or reading children's books that were originally English is easiest, because the vocabulary is a little simpler and the language isn't quite as foreign as it is in media from your target language (for example - I'm reading 'The Hobbit' in Russian right now, but if I try to pick up a book originally written in Russian, I get really lost and have no idea what's going on...) The hardest part is speaking. Don't be scared to go up to native speakers and try to strike up a conversation. You'll get things wrong, but that's natural. And often times they'll try to switch to English (especially if they speak better English than you do Spanish), but if you're persistent they'll usually speak to you in their native language. There are a lot of good phone flash card apps out there now. Those are a good way to get study in when you're waiting somewhere or just have an extra five minutes to kill.

I lost a bunch of weight when I was a teenager, and my stepsister (who is overweight, lazy, and has no intention of changing either of those) immediately blamed it on anorexia. Our idea of what is 'normal' nowadays is incredibly flawed. It's not 'normal' to refuse dessert, to work out regularly and break a sweat, to care about what you eat and want to be fit and strong. And I think a lot of people chalk it up to 'you're either skinny or you're not', as if skinny people don't have to work for their figure and overweight people can't lose weight. I guess it's natural to be jealous. Whether it's a good job, a nice body, an awesome significant other, or anything else, people are going to be jealous of what you have, and doubly so when it's something they could achieve, but don't have the willpower to do so.

I enjoy trail running more than traditional running - it keeps you on your toes and gives you a little more to look at. If I get on the treadmill, I do intervals or slow steady pace and watch a show or movie - that keeps me more entertained. Cardio with a friend makes it easier too. That little bit of competition makes it way more fun

I used the pull-up machine during my back workout days and just focused on decreasing the weight I used every time. But I think the bent over rows, lat pull downs, and seated rows helped more than the assisted pull ups did. Plus, the machines we have at our gym don't allow me to put my hands as close together as I do when I do my pull ups and chin ups. You could also try negative pyramids, starting at 1 and going as high as you can and then back down. That may help.

Congratulations! It's a big step to decide to join the military. My advice is to do a lot of research before you decide what branch to join - every branch is different and suits different types of people. I'm a Marine, so I'm a little biased, but I know plenty of soldiers, sailors, and air men that enjoy their jobs too. Whichever one you choose, don't settle - you won't be happy if you wanted to be a Marine, but chose Army, or wanted Air Force, but chose Navy. Being in the Marines is all about motivation, so if you really want it, you'll have no problem! (Also, little known fact - the Corps is overrun with nerds. They level on WOW and cosplay at Comic Con on their rest days)