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I know I'm a few days late to the party, but I am excited to say that I have entered my first competition. Its called "Strongest Mountaineer" and is on August 28. Its a small thing held by my school and the events are as many GOOD reps at the following body weight percentages. Squat: 115% (280) Bench: 100% (245) Deadlift: 135% (330) Farmers walk(timed): 75% (185) I am hoping to drop some extra weight by then, so maybe those numbers will change. Now I know y'all are thinking, "WVUengineer, you never told us how you finished up the last challenge". Well let me tell you how. I did keep a record of every workout I did (+1 WIS +2 STR) and I did get outside every day(+2 CON +1 STA, I did not check my body fat once a week, I did take a month progress picture though Front View progress pic (right is before, left is progress) Side View progress pic I did not complete every academy module, I did do a few of them though I did not study for grad school, I did do relevant work though This challenge is going to focus on preparing for this competition, even though I am going on a vacation with my family and may not have access to a gym, as well as preparing for the start of grad school. The specific challenge goals will follow in the next post once I leave my office

To start, I will say that I am happier with my body now than I have been my entire life. Long story short, I have always been a little over- weight (well not always, but you get the idea). Currently, I am around 5' 6" and I fluctuate between 135- 140 lbs- when I was 14 I had gotten up to almost 160, and I hated myself. One negative attitude led to another, and when I was 15, I stopped eating full meals and would only eat a little bit of this and that when I felt like I couldn't hold myself up. My anorexia got worse and I was teetering at about 110 lbs in 3 or 4 months; within 6 months I was hardly 100. Long story short, by the time I was in college, I had a full time job and took on a full class load. Eventually my eating habits were back to normal and I gained a decent amount of weight back. After years of struggling with my image, I am content, but I still want to improve, and I think that this is for the better now. I've adjusted my diet: mostly meats, veggies and fruits. I've been staying away from too many sugars and breads, but I indulge just a little here and there I love pasta. Early in 2012 I started attending a Crossfit gym, which made me fall in love with feeling better. I know Crossfit gets a lot of slack, but I learned how to do lifts that I never thought I would be able to do, and I learned how to do them right. Lost my job, so I stopped going to the gym to save money, and here I am. I have a new job, though, in a new city, but now I want to pay off my student loans before I drop too many dimes on a gym! I want to be driven to be active on my own, with the help of NerdFitness, of course! I think I read just about all of the blogs on this site before deciding to actually post, by the way... I'm not strong, but I'm physically just a little stronger. And my God, the difference a much healthier mind makes. I wouldn't be writing here if this was the ObeyGiraffe from two years ago. I was too busy looking at myself in the mirror and feeling insecure, rather than doing something about it. Also, my fitness goal right now is to run the Tough Mudder. Cannot do that now, but I will Thanks for reading.