The Gothlete

Hello and thank you! Yes, I have been known throw on eyeliner and a dramatic lip to go to a concert right after Crossfit, hahaha

Thank you! Hello! Also your avatar handle is fantastic (pun intended obvi)

It kinda happens with the seasons. When I start craving fruit in the summer, I switch to Paleo. When I start craving Ghee in the Fall, I switch to Keto/IF. I also love the IF eating window because I can basically eat a giant breakfast and skip dinner, which gives me one less thing to worry about.

This is my second challenge. The first went pretty well and I want to continue my successes and level up. NUMBERS Current NF Level: 23 Back Squat PR: 205lbs RDL PR: 235lbs Bench Press PR: 100lbs I cut my teeth on classical mythology, Xena, and Star Trek. I gravitate more toward film/TV nerdery, and have a soft spot for David Mack’s Kabuki comic series. I also started LARPing a year ago. (I’ll be at Armistice Arcane II in January, in case anyone else is as well!) Fitness-wise, I’ve been around the block. Fencing, weight lifting, Muay Thai, MMA, pole dancing, aerial, Crossfit, etc. I love them all, but alas consistency is my lifelong Boss Battle. I know that positive peer pressure works well for me, so here I am! I’m going to focus my goals on pivot points - I know that if I get these in line, my other good habits stack into place. I have clinical doctorates in Naturopathic and classical Chinese medicine (doing 2 doctorates at once was not great for exercise consistency, hah) and am a Certified Nutrition Specialist. It is important to me that I walk the walk and maintain the same good habits that I ask of my patients. CHALLENGE GOALS I. Maintain the skills from my previous goal: Wake up at 6:20 everyday, no snooze button. Go to my Warrior classes and avoid canceling anything I have scheduled: Crossfit on M,Th, F; Personal training Tu; Barbell Club on M, Tu, F. I rest on Wed and Sat, and occasionally do a fun physical activity like aerial on Sundays. II. Personal Development: Every evening, I will spend 20-30 minutes reading a book in my field as opposed to mindless scrolling the internet. III. Keto cut! I do cycle on and off of Keto. I typically do modified Paleo in the summer, moderate Keto and IF in the Fall/Winter. I generally use Keto to cut and Paleo to maintain. It's been working really well for me this year, so I'm going to continue.

Week 4! I killed it the final week! Made it to Crossfit twice, barbell twice, and training once. Woke up naturally most days, and went to the box even when I didn’t feel like it. Ready to level up next challenge!

Week Three update: Successes: Still going strong waking up early. Even on weekends my body seems happy with it. I’ve also improved my reading habits in the evening- much more fulfilling than scrolling Facebook. I did hit a workout lull toward the end of last week. I wasn’t as careful with my diet as I should have been, and I ran out of the supplements I use to mitigate damage. My GI has not been happy for the past 5 days, though I’m recovering now. Got to training this morning despite feeling blerg, which is a big deal. AND I’m joining my box’s barbell club tonight!

Log: Thursday August 30th, 2018  I: Woke at 6:25. II: Morning mile, home workout. III. Continued books, and streamlined kindle app. NF Level: 23!!! UPDATE: I've decided to transition my Log style to reflect how I'm going through the challenges, which is with weekly reviews instead of daily. I keep a written log and don't feel the need to keep doing both, especially given how quickly this thread grows! So I'm going to do daily journal logs, and post weekly updates here.

Log: Wednesday August 29th, 2018  I: Woke at 6:25... and went back to sleep. II: Rest day. III. Continued books.

Log: Tuesday August 28th, 2018  I: Woke at 6:25! II: Training! Sumo squats, pull-up conditioning, etc. III. Continued books.

Yeah pole and aerial tend to be pricey because they can only fit so many people in a class and teaching labor is fairly high. I actually go to Pinnacle Parkour Philadelphia, oddly enough. They do a punchcard that equates to 20 bucks per class, and the first one was free. Aerial is not their specialty the way it would be from most gyms, but I am able to make their class time and it’s near my work in East Falls. Definitely check Groupon- sometimes pole studios will have good starter pack deals.

Week 2 Check-In I was very successful this week, especially with waking on time and going to Crossfit/doing mobility on rest days. Today I killed it: Crossfit in the morning, aerial in the afternoon, and walked over 8000 steps! Oddly enough reading at night has been the most difficult to maintain, in part because I’m sufficiently tired at night. Instead, I’ve been reading at 15 minute intervals rather than robotically browsing through Facebook. I call that a win. Onward to Week 3!

Log: Sunday August 26th 2018  I: Woke at 6:25! II: Crossfit, Aerial, AND walked over 8000 steps! III. Continued books.

Log: Saturday August 25th 2018  I: Woke at 6:25! II: Rest day. Morning mile. III. Continued book. Now jumping between “The Body Keeps Score” and “The Wizard of Us”.

Log: Friday August 24th 2018  I: Woke at 6:25! II: Crossfit! MOAR shoulders, overhead squats, etc. Oyvey. III. Continued book at night. 

Thank you! I typically break it down to sets of 10-20. Working my way toward 100 unbroken.

Log: Thursday August 23rd 2018  I: Woke at 6:25! II: Recovery day for my shoulders. Whew! Morning mile. III. Continued book at night. 

Log: Wednesday August 22nd 2018  I: Woke at 6:25! II: Workout with trainer! We did pull-up form refinement and such at my request. I can already feel my shoulders yelling at me. III. Continued book at night.

Log: Tuesday August 21st, 2018  I: Woke at 6:25! II: Crossfit! Lots of push presses and overhead jerks.  III. Continued book at night.

4-Week Challenge Update: One week down! So far so good. I managed to keep my goals going strong on Saturday. Sunday... ehhhh. Going to sleep at 5:30 am after a night of revelry did not lead to a 6:25 wakeup, haha. Otherwise, last week was pretty successful. AND! I took my one month measurements/photos. This season is more about strength/composition change and maintaining my previous 20lb weight loss than it is about continued weight loss. I think I'm on the right track. My weight has only gone down 1-2 lbs, but I've lost 4.5" total around my body and improved some muscle tone. V happy!

Update: One week down! So far so good. I managed to keep my goals going strong on Saturday. Sunday... ehhhh. Going to sleep at 5:30 am after a night of revelry did not lead to a 6:25 wakeup, haha. Otherwise, last week was pretty successful. AND! I took my one month measurements/photos. This season is more about strength/composition change and maintaining my previous 20lb weight loss than it is about continued weight loss. I think I'm on the right track. My weight has only gone down 1-2 lbs, but I've lost 4.5" total around my body and improved some muscle tone. V happy!

Log: Monday August 20th, 2018  I: Woke at 6:25 despite residual weekend fatigue. II: 100 strict pushups, broken down PRN.  III. Continued book at night.

Log: Sunday August 19th, 2018  I: Went to sleep after a ridiculous night out (Sat) around 5:30 am. Somehow I just woke around 9. II: Rest day. Morning Mile. III: Collapsed in bed at like 7:30 pm.

Log: Saturday August 18th 2018  I: Woke at 6:25.  II: Rest day. Mobility amd 20000 steps III: Continued book in the evening. 

Log: Friday August 17th, 2018 I: Woke at 6:25.  II: Crossfit! Filthy Fifty. Dear lord. If you don’t know what this is, go look it up. Just reading it will make you cry. My score was 410/500, with a few small mods. Not bad for my first run. III: Continued book in the evening. 

Congratulations on your munchkin! I’ve spent a year working part-time with a Chinese doc who specializes in fertility. There are many baby pictures on the wall from happy patients. 6:25 is going great! My body’s been adjusting well and waking naturally around 6:15.