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Welcome! I’m the married parent of 4 kids aged 0-7. I’m ultimately an adventurer at heart, though I train similar to a lot of Rangers (and I’m something of a Druid Paladin which is also something of an equivalent to a Ranger). I love hiking, exploring, traveling, and other fun things with the family. Since shortly before joining Nerdfitness, my physical training is typically built around injury rehabilitation (which happens a bit more often due to autoimmune arthritis) and training to be able to travel, explore, and play with my family. I have a pretty effective Disney World training system, and try to ensure that at any point I’m strong enough to carry my whole family somewhere. That has become more difficult as the years go on but I can still do it for the most part. I am also an enthusiastic suburban homesteader bent on establishing an orchard and vegetable garden, so things can get pretty out-doorsy depending on my goals. My needs mean I do a variety of types of training, and my earliest two physical training goals were “run fast” and “be able to competitively play any sport I come across.” I prefer to avoid gyms and do a lot of body weight training. At the beginning of the year, we welcomed baby 4 into the family, my cat was diagnosed with feline dementia a couple months ago, and I am still on parental leave though I return to work next week. I’m not particularly looking forward to it, but C’est la vie. A couple of months ago, we discovered some nearby bakeries for sale, a way to give a physical location to our small cottage bakery, and are intensely investigating those. Timing has taken longer than we hoped but we’ve also figured out what we’re definitely not doing. That’s the whole point of due diligence though. We have several new fruit trees, including a kumquat tree. I look forward to getting those planted and to finishing my fence, whose remaining pieces are currently being shipped. Healthwise, we’ve been living the keto lifestyle for a little over 2 months, and we’ve found it to be incredibly easy to stick to 99% of the time, meaning we’re seeing more success and I’m burning less willpower on food-related stuff. I am a pound away from my arbitrary goal weight, though I’m still far off of my goal composition. The last time I was this weight was before I met Jessie and when I was a middle and high school wrestling coach. That is, one of the best shapes of my life. I want to be lean and strong, not skinny and weak. (Tried that and hated it). I have not been as dedicated to my calisthenics the last couple of months, so I’ve gone a little backwards but a lot less than I was fearing. But I’m not doing too bad for a guy who is just starting to sleep through most of the night due to infant care and who hasn’t really had the opportunity to run alone. Goals: 1. Sleep. As best as possible. I’m a nonfunctional mess without sleep and can sacrifice it for a few days ok but then I have to make it a super high priority to regain it. With le bébé getting older this is easier but with work starting back up next week, that adds a complication. 2. My basic calisthenics routine with Woody and Rex and Bo Peep. I need to get back into this as a regular practice, which I think will be easier with a workday and the associated schedule. Currently I’m back down to 4 pull ups and 28 push ups but I’m not as concerned about being able to build back up since I’ve been off, and I hear keto can reduce general performance as well. 3. Take one concrete step forward per day- at least one tangible, visible thing to make life better. This ranges from things as small as “dig out the replacement toaster” to as big as “reorganize the playroom.” I don’t have to complete the bigger ones as long as I make progress. 4. Take one concrete step forward per day career-wise. I need my job but I’m not satisfied in it and otherwise need a change. I need to hone/adapt skills and look for other opportunities. -> Currently, this involves working towards dramatically expanding a part-time business into a full-time business, which would have Jessie running that business full-time and likely have me also working it full time within the next few years. 5. It’s planting time. I have a raised vegetable bed to dig in, (and the veggies are protected on the porch), drainage to install, and permanent cinderblock sides to install. I have anti-deer fences to put in around my fruit trees as well, and I started a bunch of seeds last challenge. Also, one of my experimental seed fruit trees actually survived but I’m growing it larger before installing it in the back yard. I also have my grandma’s Japanese yellow rose to place, and I am building a small, raised pot in the front next to the garage for it. I also want to finish off the fencing (connecting neighbor fences to our house and installing a gate) so I can let the dogs out/delegate that job to someone else. Half of this job is done. An error in parts ordering meant I had to return and replace several parts to enable the usage of two gates. In addition, the beds and yard all need to be weeded to keep said weeds from totally taking over. 6. Therapy. I have a new diagnoses and new medication that have been, it feels, pretty life changing. I finished intensive therapy that was also insanely helpful prior to that and I am continuing with less frequent sessions. My goal is to better learn how to manage ADHD and how to be a more connected, present, and supportive husband and father. I had some big conversations with other family members that I think have been really helpful with our relationships, too. There’s a lot going on. I’ve started a lot more regular D&D sessions with the kids. We had a few false starts and some practice sessions but they’re finally getting into the Lost Mine of Phandelver. I’m seriously considering a TikTok channel detailing their exploits because they’re a lot of fun- a regular human fighter (who will likely become a Paladin) played by Woody,, a Dragonborn Barbarian who will 100% be multiclassing Druid played by Rex, and a higher level Tibbit multiclassing Druid and Rogue played by Bo Peep, who is a volatile sometime-companion and sometime-ally who can also wild shape into a dog.

launching the battle log I recently completed my second challenge which went pretty well, I think. But I'm not up to jumping in to this next challenge. I'm starting a new job in a couple of weeks (yay!) and frankly have a lot of things to get done between now and then, now that all my time is not spent on the job hunt. Still, one of the things I enjoy about the six-week challenges is posting updates to my challenge thread. In order to keep that aspect of my fitness in place I've decided to start this battle log. I keep my nutrition logged in My Fitness Pal (nearly 390 days straight, thankyouverymuch), but I may use this thread to occasionally post about my nutritional input as well. Speaking of nutrition, I've spent the last two days engaging in what I call "nutritional debauchery." Maybe it had to do with Halloween, or the extreme relief at getting a job offer. Whatever the cause, I unapologetically indulged every whim and craving I had. At the moment I can't look another Twix in the face. I did still manage to put some healthy stuff in (yesterday was my fave breakfast of eggs over spinach and sweet potatoes), but there was more than my share of treats. One fascinating thing about doing that occassionally is realizing how my definition of comfort food has shifted. Those things I once considered "comfort food" now actually induce a level of stress in me, the exact opposite of comfort. Maybe it's because I know such things can potentially undo a year's worth of effort. I know I won't undo it all in a day or even two, but I've been doing this fitness stuff for long enough that it never is far from my mind. I consider that a good thing. It's morning here, and the dog and I have already been for a run. I don't know that I'll get a strength session in today, but there are a couple hours' worth of leaf-cleaning to do this afternoon, then I'm hoping to watch some football before the day's done. Coffee beckons.

Make Like a Gecko and Stick to It!! Thanks to some perspective from KB Girl, I realized that the last challenge actually went ok, even though it wasn't perfect. This one will be more of the same ol', same ol', but for now that's what I need to focus on. 1 ~ The Plan Monday, Wednesday, Friday - strengthy stuff Tuesday, Thursday, one weekend day - cardio Strengthy stuff is as follows: Fire Hydrants - no real goal here, but I'd like to try it with resistance again Elbow Planks - ultimate goal of 3 minutes, my best is 2 minutes, but not consistently Superman Squats - no real goal here either, though I'd like to eventually be able to do a shrimp squat. I don't really seem to be progressing though, mainly due to balance, I think Pushups - ultimate goal is 37 or more knee pushups all in one go (a requirement for a police test), but for now I'm working on them by doing 3 sets of max real(max knee) Body Weight Rows - as a progression towards a pullup some day Hip Thrusts - related to another police test requirement, but some weird injury is making these painful. If the injury continues to not get better I may just grin and bear it Cardio consists of running on Tuesdays and a weekend day, and hockey on Thursdays. I've sort of signed up for 1/2 time ringette too, but I'm already thinking this may be a mistake (just doing too much). I haven't paid yet so I can back out any time, but I dunno.... 2 ~ Bedtime Go to bed when I should, get up when I should. This means TV off by midnight and up by 9am Sunday-Thursday, and 1am/10am Friday-Satruday. If I'm not sleepy, the TV still goes off and I can read a magazine or Sherlock Holmes story instead. By 'up by 9am' I mean actually get up when the alarm goes off, rather than laying in bed for 30 minutes like I have been... 3 ~ Sempre Gumby Stretch daily. Follow the Focused Flexibility for hamstrings and shoulders (I'll stick with the hamstring ones I've been doing, but will probably change up at least one of the shoulder ones). Instead of changing things up every two weeks like the program says, stick with it for the full six weeks of the challenge, then reassess and change if I can/if I want to. 4 ~ Pudge-B-Gone Still eat healthy, more or less according to the IIFYM idea. Try to track a bit more, with a daily goal of ~1600kcal. 5 ~ Take Note I'm good about posting here to keep myself honest, but I've gotten away from the weekly Sum-Ups and grading. I think doing these things would help me be a little more, I dunno the word but, like, pay attention more. You get the idea. And that is all.