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Yep I was always overweight, even as a little baby. Which is strange, because my brother has always been skinny or normal weight. We ate the same things, played the same amount of backyard sports, were raised by the same parents (who were somewhat overweight), but I turned out the heavy kid in the neighborhood and he was one of the skinny ones. I dunno how that happens sometimes.

So my park has some exercise equipment along the path, like pull-up bars and parallel bars and such. I've never seen anyone over the age of 10 actually use them (what a shame) except for me of course. One of them is a set of monkey bars. 9 months ago (when I started this whole "being healthy" thing) I could barely even hang from the bars for a couple seconds without feeling like my arms were going to rip out of their sockets. So I made it a goal that "someday, I'll be able to cross these." Today was that day. I made it all the way across I don't remember EVER being able to do that, even when I was a kid - I'd usually fall off after a couple rungs. So this signifies that now, officially, I am in the best shape of my life. Woot! Next, to do a pull-up.

Day 3 - so far so good.

I use a closed pair of moustache scissors and just kind of... twist them in there like a drill. It's probably not the best method. Keep it up dude

As I left work tonight, I noticed my car felt kind of... rough. It sounded like it was coming from the back. So I pulled over into the gas station nearby and sure enough, the back right tire was flat. I had changed a tire once before, but the first time was a learning experience - it took me almost an hour. THIS time, though, I was prepared. I knew exactly where the tools were, how to operate them, and what steps to take in what order. I changed that thing like I knew what I was doing. And soon enough, I was back on my way home. So to sum it up: I paid attention to my surroundings, noticed something unusual, diagnosed it (correctly!), came prepared with a plan, then executed said plan flawlessly. And it worked! UH! Felt like a BADASS! For a fitness-related woot (feels weird not having anything), I said no to dessert yesterday.

Barefoot preferably, vibrams for extreme temperatures I'd never ran a mile before in my life, but earlier this year (late winter/early spring) something inspired me to take up running. I didn't know if I would like it or not, so I didn't want to spend any money on shoes. Thus, I started barefoot. I figured it would work nicely, since you're supposed to start slow (I had no choice in the matter - I couldn't run far even if I wanted to) and "relearn" how to run barefoot - I was just learning for the first time. Well I liked it Eventually I bought some vibrams for when the pavement gets too hot, but now that it's starting to cool down again, it's back to good ol' barefoot.

While I was at the grocery store today, I thought about this article. I then felt an urge to push the cart at fast as I could and hop on the back. So I did. I don't regret it. bonus woot, now that I'm actually not-obese enough to do that without tipping the cart over. I don't remember the last time I could.

Wow! Awesome!

YES! That's been a goal of mine for a long time, since back when I finished couch to 5k at the end of April. I was running about 15-16 minute miles back then. Then I took a hiatus, ran off and on, made excuses (it's too HOT!), etc etc. I might not make my goal of 10 minutes by the end of the challenge, but hey. I feel like I definitely run faster and have more endurance at night. I don't know whether it's the heat during the day, or I have more energy, or if it's just an illusion, or what. Too bad the parks close at night so I can't run through them. I just figured this out. Anyone else run at night? But anyway, Woot! Of course I did it for the fitocracy quest. ALSO, another woot, 2 weeks ago I could do about 2 and a half real pushups. So I started doing incline pushups on a low incline (so I could do only about 5 good ones. I wanted to try the 3x5 method) every other day for the past 2 weeks. Last night, just for kicks I decided to see if I've progressed at all. Got down on the ground to crank out a set of real push ups. I did 5! I waited a few minutes, got down and did another set, paying extra attention to form to make sure it wasn't a fluke. Nope, I did 5 again! WOW I got strong fast. Also, this is not a fitness-related woot, but since I've started using a different brand of deodorant (Irish Spring Legendary Classic) I've gotten three comments that I smell good. Two from girls, one from a guy (I am a guy). I'd never gotten that before. woot? O.o

What program did you use to make that chart? It's... beautiful Major props for your progress so far, keep it up

Love your goals, especially the last two; those are a problem for me as well. I'll be following you /illinois high five

I want to read your short story!

I like your life goal (I'm also guilty of that), I'm interested to hear how your new job goes! Hope you meet some cool people.

My Illinois brethren! You can do it

Good luck with the job search. I work at a fast food place (and love it, it's a good job), but I really wish we would have something that's at least a little healthy. We don't. If you can get a job that goes in line with your lifestyle that'd be GREAT. I'll be cheering for ya