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Hi, I’m Daule (so obviously not my real name, just a contraction of my username). I’m 28, and I have two daughters - one two and a half years, the other two and a half months (yes, I gave birth barely three months ago!). I found nerd fitness years ago but was happy to set my own path back then … now that I have way less time, and more motivation, I decided to join the forums to track my progress and set out my goals here. Main quest: To be fit enough to at least defend myself basically in a street fight/attack, and in doing so reduce my body fat to 22% (from around 32%). ETA: My current bodyfat is about 30%, so I think 8% is a reasonable reduction to a healthy and achievable number. I currently weigh about 62.5kg, and my pre-pregnancy weight was 54kg. However, while I weighed less, I'd lost weight without really moderating my diet or exercising, so my guess is that my bodyfat percentage was just as high, maybe a smidge lower. Not that I'd be upset to have that body back I'm also 5'3" so on the shorter side. As much as I want to lose weight, it's the fat which is more important, which is why I don't have a weight goal. Also, just to be clear, I am in no way looking to fight people - I just want to have the confidence to defend myself if I ever need to. As a petite woman, I'm likely to be a pretty good target for attackers, so I want to make sure that I'm not a victim if I can help it. I hope that in training in strength and speed I can also build functional, practical fitness that not only helps in an attack but improves my well-being overall. Sub-quests: For this six week challenge, I’m going to continue on my current path (I'll detail that in a later post) 1. cook three different veg protein-filled clean meals for the first time (0/3)2. krav maga kickboxing class once a week, or if not, an extra personalised workout (0/6)3. the baby wearing workout or dauntless workout three times a week. my personalised workout. Given time restrictions a workout can be split across days, as long as all exercises are done it counts as one workout. I'll detail this workouts in a later post too, when my baby isn't about to cry! (0/18) Motivation (warning - it’s quite detailed ): There are a few elements, two of which inform my username. First, my (step)father died (two months after my mum unexpectedly passed away) in August, after a long battle with cancer. He was a huge role model for nearly twenty years and I admired him a lot. He used to be a boxer and was in many many street fights. From when I knew him he never picked fights but could easily take care of himself and was never afraid of anyone. He had a brilliant, laid-back attitude to life, always made me laugh, and always made me feel safe. I really want to be more like him. He used to call me the evil little dwarf, which then became little evil (I called him big evil), and it was a moniker I wore with pride. This part of my life is about saying goodbye to him as a person, and living on and carrying his self with me. The second source of inspiration is that when I look back on my life, all my role models have been women who could kick arse. Gabrielle from Xena, Buffy Somers, River Tam, Lisbeth Salander, Arya Stark and most recent, Tris Prior (from Divergent). I love that they could take care of themselves, as much as any man, and it's something I admire and aspire to. The third inspiration is my two girls, Arya and Aemilia (yes, I named my firstborn after a Game of Thrones character). I want to be a strong role model for them, and teach them to be able to look after themselves, too. It's the most recent inspiration - Tris - who kind of powered up my desire to really follow this goal again. In and of herself she's not the best role model in a literary sense, but I found the Dauntless approach to life, the training regime of going from Abnegation to Dauntless and just the idea of a group of people with the same approach to life really enjoyable. I actually was more disappointed with the second and third books, and was then looking for another book with a similar drive but just couldn’t get anything, so needed to create something that worked for me. I suppose it doesn't hurt I love black clothes, and already have several tattoos (including an image on my wrist which is a hidden tribute to my stepdad). In addition to this, my husband is very overweight due to the medication he takes for his mental illness, and I want him to be fit, healthy and strong too. I convinced him to attend a private Krav Maga training class (it took a LOT of convincing), but he actually ended up loving it and eager to go again (note: my husband has NEVER been eager to do anything physical - neither of us are “sporty†types), so that’s both a great motivator and something we can do together. So that feeds into things. Race: Deep dwarf - short, slightly stout and prefers the darkness Desired class: Monk (krav maga, boxing and street fighting/defence)

Has anyone read this fantastic book? I LOVE it. I've loved it since it came out. It really spoke to me. I didn't like the second book, Insurgent, quite as much, but Divergent is one of my all time favorites. When I read it, I decided I wanted to be more Dauntless. Not 100% Dauntless because that's not my style. But I was a little Dauntless. I went bungee jumping and didn't scream or make any noise at all. It was awesome. I also love it because I have a son named Tobias (born before the book came out though - I'm not THAT much of a nerd.) What faction would you choose to be in? I'd choose Erudite.

Today, is a day of Choosing. Well, all days allow for choices. You could chose to eat candy. You could chose to eat salad. You could chose to watch TV. You could chose to read. You could even chose to sleep away your days, to waste your life, if that’s what you’d like. For a long time, my choice was to serve others. I chose to spend all my time helping friends. Family. Complete strangers. Myself? I didn’t care much about myself. Everything I did, was for others. As a teenager, you could describe me in one word - volunteer. I helped everyone. All the time. I spent many late nights at the hospital. I had many early mornings searching for lost hikers. Once I had kids, my life revolved around them - I existed for them. I spent all day in service - to my family. When friends asked me for help, I’d drop everything else. My own interests, my own body, my own mind - they were not a priority. Today, though, is a very important day for me, because I’m making a choice that will change my life, forever. I am choosing to become Dauntless. To be brave. To be tough. To be free. Sub-Quest 1: Workout 5 days a week, alternating between HIIT/Stroller Strides and body weight exercises. +2 STR +1 DEX +2 STA I want to have a good, comprehensive workout routine for this challenge. The three body weight workouts will be lower body, upper body, and total body. HIIT will be on off days. Once I get a jogging stroller (shopping now), HIIT will be replaced with Stroller Strides. These workouts will be in the afternoon or evening, before dinner. Sub-Quest 2: Do a stretching, flexibility, or yoga session daily. +2 CON +1 DEX I am inflexible and stiff all the time. I will change this. I want to be able to move, and move quickly, without having to worry about my knees or back. This is my focus this challenge - to be fighting fit, I must be flexible. Sub-Quest 3: Eat Paleo 6 days a week. +2 CON +1 CHA Once again, I have a Paleo goal for this challenge. After taking the last challenge off, I’ve let my diet become worse and worse, to the point of being absolutely terrible for both my physical and mental state. So, for this challenge, I will eat strict Paleo on average 6 days a week. The remaining day, I will allow myself anything I would like - however, I’m saving these days for special occasions - during this challenge, there is Easter, Father’s Day, my anniversary, and my daughter’s birthday, so that’ll take up most of them, with a few ‘oops’ days thrown in for good measure. Life Quest: Captivate others and get them to buy anything by studying COPYWRITING. +2 WIS +1 CHA I have been studying copywriting for a while, but it’s time to focus on this some more. I am doing the Gary Halbert Challenge, which is supposed to be a 30 day challenge. It has taking me 30 days just to read the first two books. I would like to finish the challenge during this challenge, but if that doesn’t happen, I’m okay with that. I just have to keep trucking along and do a little more every day. Fitness/Diet Side Quest: Practice escaping by practicing Parkour for at least 5 minutes a day. +1 DEX I used to do Parkour, and I used to be good at it. So, I’m going to be working at getting my skills back. I will begin with the basics - rolls, precision jumps, and vaults. I will move to more advanced techniques as I progress. Schedule: MONDAY: Stroller Strides/HIIT AM Flexibility/Stretching/Yoga PM TUESDAY: Flexibility/Stretching/Yoga AM Convict Conditioning PM WEDNESDAY: Stroller Strides/HIIT AM Flexibility/Stretching/Yoga PM THURSDAY: Flexibility/Stretching/Yoga AM Convict Conditioning PM FRIDAY: Stroller Strides/HIIT AM Flexibility/Stretching/Yoga PM SATURDAY: Flexibility/Stretching/Yoga AM Convict Conditioning PM SUNDAY: Flexibility/Stretching/Yoga AM