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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.

JEZARAEN - FINAL COUNTDOWN Hello again! I actually made it through my first challenge as a Ranger. I'm SO excited!! Clearly Rangers is where I was always suppose to be ha ha. This will be my last challenge for a few months as in early March I will bringing my baby girl into the world. And pretty much for at least the first 6 months my NF challenge will be KEEP THE BABY ALIVE - FOR THE LOVE OF GOD This Feb challenge will all be based around getting myself ready for giving birth and being as fit and healthy as possible to give my little girl the best start in life. I will be taking things very slowly but want to remain as active as possible during these next 4 weeks. My goals will be pretty similar to last challenge as they worked quite well and helped me through the pregnancy. LET'S DO THIS! MY MAIN QUEST I want to be a role-model for my future kids. I want to be fit, happy and healthy. For me the way to get there is by getting down to a healthy weight (between 68kgs-72kgs approx based on my height) and being generally fit for all sorts of situations that may crop up in life. Running, strength training and mobility will be my main focus. I want to have a base level of fitness that sets me up for any challenge. FEBRUARY 1ST-26TH CHALLENGE FINAL COUNTDOWN (Do-do do do....do-do do do do) GOAL 1 - Swimming Last challenge swimming was an absolute Godsend so I want to keep it going. I am going to scale it back to 3 days a week though only because I am finding that I get tired very easily and I don't want to put my body through too much stress. Rating at completion of challenge: A] 12+ classes (25XP) B] >10 (20XP) C] >8 (15XP) D] <5 (10XP) E] <3 (5XP) F] 2-0 (0xp) GOAL 2 - Mobility Purchasing NF Yoga has been such a great decision. I never know when I will need a nap or when I will have energy so being able to do classes at my own time and pace has been AMAZING. I want to keep up the momentum. Rating at completion of challenge: A] 12+ classes (25XP) B] >10 (20XP) C] >8 (15XP) D] <5 (10XP) E] <3 (5XP) F] 2-0 (0xp) GOAL 3 - Knowledge I have been a bit slack with my reading. I have all these great pregnancy resources so now that I am on maternity leave I want to make sure I actually read the stuff! I am thinking if I can do at least an hour of reading a week that will definitely get me through most of it (I am an extremely fast reader, just lazy) Rating at completion of challenge: A] 4 hours of reading (25XP) B] >3 (20XP) C] >2 (15XP) D] <1.5 (10XP) E] <1 (5XP) F] 0 (0xp) GOAL 4 - Sleep zzzzz I have been finding that my energy levels are slowly getting less and less. Having a giant watermelon squishing your organs might have something to do with it ha ha. So I really want to make sure I'm resting as much as possible. Sleep is crucial at this time. I want to get at least 8-9 hours of sleep a night as regularly as possible. Rating at completion of challenge: A] 20+ days of over 8 hours sleep (25XP) B] >17 (20XP) C] >15 (15XP) D] <12 (10XP) E] <8 (5XP) F] 7-0 (0xp) GOAL SUMMARY ​I will be trying to post as regularly as possible in my thread. Can't promise it will be every day but I will definitely try to make it at least every second or third day. I am excited about setting myself up for a strong & healthy birth! FINAL COUNTDOWN!!

Hi everyone! My human wife is expecting. Expecting what? Identical twins! How does that happen? The only thing I can think of is that I have some fairy blood, and the Fey side is expressing itself. Obviously! Anyway, that means it's time to: 1) Prepare for having a child. This is my first, so... How? What? huh? 2) Prepare for having another child. Simultaneously!!? And so, I set out on my journey, spear in hand, to baby-proof the apartment. Main quest: TWINS!? zOMG. Form healthy and flexible (but firmly established) patterns of living that I can maintain even while twins newborns are in the house and I am exhausted and my wife is exhausted and everyone is frustrated. Deadline: I've got like three months MAX to prepare. As an extra challenge, twins are likely to be premature (and underweight too!) so I probably have less time than that. IT'S GO TIME! Health goal #1: Establish exercise routines that (1) I do regularly and (2) which are baby safe and are (3) time-flexible and (4) fatigue- and frustration-friendly. Health goal #2: Alter my diet in ways that make food preparation faster and easier without increasing my weight or sacrificing nutrition. Losing weight is fine (I'm above my ideal), but my goal here is to prepare to maintain. Baby prep goals: Prepare for baybehs! #1: De-clutter my home like a madman, because more clutter is coming. #2: Learn! SO MUCH TO LEARN. #3: Do the things that people normally do later on, because I would rather do them now when there are not babies in the way. Like electrical safety precautions and stuff. #4: Etc!? AAAAAAAAAAAAAGH! #5: Freak out. #6: Breath. Okay, breath. It's okay. Other life goals: Make time for myself! Draw or paint regularly, and figure out a way to make that happen once the babies come.

Is anyone keeping their wee ones on a paleo diet? I'm looking for meal and snack ideas. My 1-year-old will eat pretty much any pureed fruit and vegetable if I had the ones he doesn't like by mixing them with the ones he does. I can't get him to eat much meat. Besides, he only has 8 teeth. The jarred meats smell like cat food and I hate them but sometimes I sneak them in with a fruit/veggie puree so I know he's getting some protein. He'll eat a few bites of baked chicken and thats about it. He'll also take a hard boiled egg thats all mashed up. Also, what do you do for snacks? The docs all suggest crackers and cheese and the like but I don't really want to feed him that. I'm leary on giving him cow's milk too because of how dirty it is. He's had some, but a super organic pastured cow's milk. Any suggestions will be much appreciated.