Search the Community

I’ve never done a daily battle log thread, and I’m not sure if I’m going to use it “properly” as I’ll most likely be doing the bulk of my updates in my four week challenges. But I wanted to start a thread I could refer back to regarding my big picture, year long goals of what I want to achieve by the end of 2019, and updates of how I’m moving forward towards them. If I’m not doing a challenge (missed the start date, felt like too much pressure, Ect) I’ll try to keep updating in here to keep momentum going. The title is a reference to the fact that due to my synesthesia (associating colors and numbers) 2019 is a very nice bright shade of yellow. So I’m going to make it a good year. My big goals: Atain a B1 level in French I have many reasons for this, practical and personal. I live in an area that’s bilingual French/English. More than Half of the customers at my job speak French. My coworkers first languages are all French. I am able to get by because my small town is pretty anglophone and almost everyone ALSO speaks at least a little English (and I have about a two year olds ability in French and we get by) But there’s definitely like 15% of our customers that don’t speak any English and I struggle. I want to be able to really serve our full customer base in a complete way. I’m sick of having to ask coworkers to help me translate things. Since I’ve started working there, job descriptions have come to say “bilingual French/English mandatory” I’m not going to LOSE my job over this, but it’s telling to know that if I was reapplying to my job now, I wouldn’t get hired. I have one coworker who hates me, and one of the things she complains about is my lack of French. I want to prove her wrong (petty reasons count!) I have a friend who is francophone and although her English is fantastic, I want to talk with her in her FIRST language. Also her family only speaks French and her mom just seems SO NICE and I want to talk to her SO BADLY??! My area is pretty anglophone but the town nearby where ALL the fun things are is super francophone. I want to go take art classes and parkour classes and all this super fun classes and workshops but they are all in French. I set B1 as my level goal because it will be a comfortable level for conversing and functioning, and also because a B1 score is usually a requirement for college studies and if I decide to go take some courses at the CÉGEP I’ll need that level of proficiency. On a bigger picture note, I’ve always wanted to be fluent in at minimum five languages. French was never on that list, but given where I’m living now, it seems only logical that it become one of my five languages. So working on this goal is working towards my big picture life long “who I want to be as a person” goals. Improve my mental health I wish I had a better SMART goal for this, but I’m kind of new to the idea of my mental health and I don’t really know what specific things I can work towards. This wasn’t really something I’d realized I needed to work on until recently. I had a really, really bad last summer. One of my friends has been saying for the last two years that I should really consider therapy (one late, sleep deprived night she got me talking about stuff I don’t usually discuss. I told her like 2% of my history and she was like “sweetheart that’s some pretty serious trauma” and I was thinking lol yikes that’s nothing.) I finally caved and went to a psychologist and I found out I really do have a lot of things to work on (apparently having suicidal thoughts multiple times every day is not something everyone does?) I’ve been diagnosed with C-PTSD which is a subtype of ptsd, and the treatment is very long but there IS treatment. For years I’ve oscillated between “there’s nothing wrong with me” and “I’m so fundamentally flawed there’s not point in trying to fix it” but I’ve finally come to “there’s definitely stuff wrong, but I can do something about it” I don’t really have any specific goals, but it’s important to me that I keep working and making steps toward improving in this area. This past summer was very bad and I barely survived it. I don’t want to slide back to that again. Loose set of ongoing goals: Continue going to therapy regirally Stick with/improve my meditation habit Have regular, ideally daily, physical activity that involves skill-building Pursue potential medication (this is nearly always an early part of treatment to go on meds temporarily until the skills to cope are developed in therapy- I’ve hated the idea of meds but as part of a bigger picture treatment, I’m trying to be more open) Get a pet or volunteer with animals Cultivate my friendships Increase my cardio to be able to run for one hour straight This one isn’t really a running goal, but the running aspect is more of a benchmark to test. I do enjoy running, but I wouldn’t call myself a “runner” as my main sport. However, cardio is my weak area in everything I do (parkour, staff spinning, hockey) I hate having to stop my skill practice because I’m wheezing. I want to improve my stamina both by doing these sports more intensely and also by running, to the point where I can run for one hour straight without having to stop for a walk break. I know I can accomplish this easily in this year if I don’t slack, as when I finished zombies run 5k, I was running 50 minutes straight, and that’s an 8 week program. I haven’t run in like....months so I’m starting from scratch, but I can do it. Since I’ve moved to the frozen north, my outdoor sport has been basically zero for 9 months of the year, and that’s not enough to build stamina. I’ve now bought myself some solid winter outdoor gear and I’m ready to start just going out there anyway. Restart and complete zombies run 5k Do lots of stamina skate drills Basically if it’s warmer than -16 and the wind isn’t blowing, I GO. Develop some plan for when it IS colder than -16 and still doing SOMETHING inside to keep the habit flowing. Finally get my splits Getting full front splits (striving towards middle splits too, but I’m farther away in that one) is my specific and measurable goal. I’m about six inches off with my left leg and four inches off with my right. I think this is realistic and attainable in a year. Big picture reasons for this is that I need to stretch every day for injury prevention. I’m super, super tight in my entire body but mostly hips and shoulders. Because of this my body is not very resilient to issues in my sports and the slightest mishap can cause injury and it’s super frustrating. (Also, I learned that this muscle tightness is a symptom of my C-PTSD and regular stretching is part of my treatment plan so it’s also working on goal number 2. Multitasking for the win!) Envoyé de mon iPhone en utilisant Tapatalk

*peeks in* oh dear... Ive really let this go to poop I'm a first year medical resident in my mid-twenties in WA, studying and seeing patients. I am also a big fan of Elder Scrolls, Star Wars, Game of Thrones/ASoIaF, Animorphs, Outlander, Star Trek (TNG), and various other scifi/fantasy themes. Ping me if you play ESO! I would love to adventure with you. I'm also now into DnD5e and currently play and DM. I've fallen off the bandwagon here at NF a few times, but always worth it to try again and try to be a physician who is doing their best to practice what I preach, in a way! [[[ May 28 - June 24th Challenge ]]] LEVEL 1 - Basic Instincts Diet (pick two) Drink 1 bottle/glass of water in the AM and PM Eat one full, prepared and cooked meal with protein and vegetables per day Fitness (pick one) Complete the NF bodyweight workout at least 3x a week Go to a yoga class Level Up Your Life 5 minutes meditation daily Go on a walk OUTSIDE 3x a week ================================================= My OG Character who I think I ought to retire given how much I'm back to Level 1: Level: 4 | Race: Khajiit | Ranger STR: 6 | DEX: 5 | STA: 5 | CON: 6 | WIS: 14 | CHA: 4 Challenge 1: Step one to Escaping Dragons Challenge 2 v2.0: Getting back in the saddle Challenge 3: Getting to the Core of the Matter Challenge 4: Climbing the Ranks Challenge 5: IN PROGRESS (current) =================================================

If you have followed me for some time, you know the origin of this challenge title. I have decided to reconnect with my wild self and reboot and modify one of my favorite past challenges. Expect lots of wildness and nature. True to My Nature: Wolfen Goes Wild Get Rest: Wind down at sunset (limited/no technology), moderate/light physical activity (yoga, stretches, etc.) In bed no later than 10:30 pm (unless impossible because of work, etc.). Nap in late afternoon if necessary/possible. Get Fit: Barefoot/shirtless walks and stretches in the morning Three options: MovNat inspired workout (see video above) Or: Follow the Primal Blueprint Exercise Plan; below is the simplified version: Monday – Sprint Tuesday – Lift Heavy Things/Bodyweight Exercises Wednesday – Move Slowly, Play or Rest Thursday – HIIT/WOW Friday – Move Slowly, Play or Rest Saturday – Lift Heavy Things/Bodyweight Exercises Sunday – Move Slowly, Play or Rest Or: Get back into Jonathan Mead's Uncaged Body routine 10,000-12,000 steps/day Cold showers daily Meditation/WHM daily Get Spiritual: Morning prayer Daily Scripture reading/devotional Integrate prayer throughout the day Get Fed: Eat as close to Paleo/Primal as possible at least one meal/day. Avoid processed foods. Listen to your body: eat when you're hungry rather than when you "should." Intermittent fasting at least 3 days/week; this must be mindful rather than just "skipping breakfast." No soda for the entire challenge (none, zero, not even a tiny cup). Drink at least 64 ounces of water/day. Get Connected: Kiss wife and daughters every day before leaving for work Call mother daily; visit at least once a week Speak to a stranger at least once/day (irl, not online). Visit with a friend at least once/week (irl, not online). Spend evenings with wife and daughters, unless impossible because of work, etc. Get Smarter: Read everyday for at least 30 minutes Use a brain-training app such as Peak daily. Listen to a podcast at least once/week. Get Some Sun, Sand, and Surf: (No beach trip this year, but I really like the title). Spend at least 30 minutes/day outside. Get at least 15 minutes total/day of direct sunlight. Get near, in, on, or under water every day. At least one hike/week. Get in close contact with the earth: walk barefoot, dig in the dirt, rub against a tree. Again, I'll quote Frank Forencich here: "...get out of the house and into the world. Scratch your back up against a tree and bushwack your way up a hill. Climb some rough rocks and plunge your feet into the creek. Give your eyes a rest and massage your body with the biosphere. Your body will love it."

I sandbagged last quest, so I'm carrying stats over onto this one. Goal this quest: showing up to training and doing what my trainer wants me to do. Create solid habits, No over thinking. Q17.01 Combatives: 4 Q17.02 Cross Training: 2 Q17.03 Mixed Movement Arts: 3 Q17.04 Adulting: 5

So, got laid off for a couple of weeks last round, used the opportunity to build a movement park at my house. Also did a bunch of Adulting. back to work (at the same place), but my new work schedule means a little less time for cross training at work. But I still get to roll/spar on occasion. Combatives: MACP/BJJ/MMA Striking 3 times a week at work (hopefully), Sunday Fight Club (Gracie Combatives/Krav Maga Worldwide) at home once a week. KMW Daily Curriculum on any days missed. Front Site Post eye training 2-5 minutes with bed time routine (not graded). Cross Training: (Tactical Strength and Conditioning (TASC), MovNat Strength and Conditioning) Tactical Strength and Conditioning program at work will probably be only 2 days a week. MovNat Strength and Conditioning at home to make up the difference. Mixed Movement: (running, walking, hiking, balancing, jumping, crawling, climbing, swimming, Parkour, dancing, Capoeira, physical labor, informal training, throwing, catching) Environmental Movement (Parkour/MovNat) integrated into cross training as much as possible. Swimming, Hiking, Working, etc.. movements integrated. Also includes recovery. Adulting: Always struggled with being a grownup. Heroes should do grown up stuff. Q16.01 Combatives: 0 Q16.02 Cross Training: 0 Q16.03 Mixed Movement Arts: 0 Q16.04 Adulting: 0

Finally healed up. So it's time to ease back into awesome. I was watching Captain America: Civil War last week. I noticed that I could name or understand so many of the moves in the movie, it just ratified my quest. While some of my knowledge is from the academic study of things like professional wrestling, free running, or other demonstration/tricking arts, some of the other things are from real experiences or useful training I've had in my life. Clearly I'm not a real super hero/stuntman, etc. I can't do a dash vault or a cong, I can't do a muscle up. I turn 49 in October, here is what I can do that I couldn't do at 47: -I can get over a 10' brick wall quickly but medium efficiency (still requires effort) and down with minimum impact (drop to cat hang) -I can pass a 5' wall/elevation change efficiently with little effort, and minimum impact (drop to cat/gargoyle get down) -I can pass a 3' foot wall one handed in any direction (speed, lazy, turn, etc) with almost no effort. -I can survive a ground and pound from most untrained opponents: I haven't been manhandled by an untrained student in over a year (including ones that are significantly stronger/more athletic than I am). -I can do a cartwheel (standing or from squat). I can do basic Capoeira. -I can break fall or roll out on any surface in any direction with no significant injury. Roll on cement without a scratch, yes. Break fall in grass, yes. Break fall on Cement. Hope to never find out. -I can do a full squat comfortably with about a 1/2" heel raise. May take another year or two to get a$$ to grass flat footed. I can "sit in seiza" for a few minutes without extreme pain, (I can do all the beginning MOVNAT ground positions) -I can block about 80% of strikes from untrained/lightly trained strikers, or even moderately trained strikers at long range (close range boxing range with no takedowns still screws me up). -I'm about as functionally strong as I have ever been: I can safely deadlift/squat/bench my body weight (250) and could probably get 300+ in an emergency. -My practical shooting is maintaining: While better than two years ago, it's no where near my peak. Point shooting is OK (10 yard reflex shoot is still on target). It can still takes me up to two seconds to get a well aimed shot off at 25 yards with conventional iron sites. This Challenge: Combatives: MACP/BJJ/MMA Striking 3 times a week at work (hopefully), Sunday Fight Club (Gracie Combatives/Krav Maga Worldwide) at home once a week. KMW Daily Curriculum on any days missed. Front Site Post eye training 2-5 minutes with bed time routine (not graded). Cross Training: (Tactical Strength and Conditioning (TASC), MovNat Strength and Conditioning) Tactical Strength and Conditioning program at work 4 days a week. MovNat Strength and Conditioning if I miss one at work. Mixed Movement: (running, walking, hiking, balancing, jumping, crawling, climbing, swimming, Parkour, dancing, Capoeira, physical labor, informal training, throwing, catching) Environmental Movement (Parkour/MovNat) integrated into cross training as much as possible. Swimming, Hiking, Working, etc.. movements integrated. Also includes recovery. Adulting: Always struggled with being a grownup. Heroes should do grown up stuff. So, Starting Quest 15.. Q15.01 Combatives: 0 Q15.02 Cross Training: 0 Q15.03 Mixed Movement Arts: 0 Q15.04 Adulting: 0

I have gone from 26% bodyfat to 22% bodyfat since starting nerd fitness. Meh, I don't care. Because, to me, it's a side effect. So many people are trying to look like LOOK a superhero, so few people are training to BE like a superhero. Everyone should be specialized, no one should be overspecialized... Crossfit got us closer... but I think MOVNAT actually has the baseline answer... If we are specializing too much, we are still deconditioning our general fitness and overspecializing Still recovering from injury. So wisdom/prudence tells me I shouldn't do something, Optimism tells me what's left is what I should do. Combatives: -Shouldn't: Spar (no BJJ rolling or kickboxing, no strikes to the body, no ballistic kicking) -Should: Work on form, shadow box, test for MACP Level II (in fact, test is tomorrow) Cross Training: -Shouldn't: Sprint, work abs, split squats, planks, rows. -Should: Jump Rope, Jinga Mixed Movement -Shouldn't: Climb using legs, swim using legs, sprint, high line vaults. -Should: Roll, Break fall, most floor work (Acrobatics, Handstands), balance beam work, isolated pulling, short precision jumps. So, Starting Quest 14.. Q14.01 Combatives: 0 Q14.02 Cross Training: 0 Q14.03 Mixed Movement Arts: 0 Q14.04 Regeneration: 0

I have been fascinated with MovNat for some time now. It is a system of training in "natural movement", establishing the strength and mobility to explore our full physical potential for interacting with our varied environments. So for instance rather than training pullups, they train a variety of methods of pulling yourself up onto an overhead bar/surface. Rather than deadlifting weights, they teach how to effectively lift and carry a wide variety of heavy objects. They like training in the woods, in an improvisational way, but they teach fundamental drills that are generally practiced indoors in a safe and controlled environment. The goal is to change how you move OUTSIDE of training. They very much embody the Assassin's Guild motto of "The world is our playground". Many of the techniques seem very basic, but they set a pretty high standard for grace and "efficiency" of movement. No flailing and grunting your way through. Everything is smooth and controlled, and the progressions are very gradual. They seem to put a lot of thought into keeping things safe. They don't include anything without some plausible purpose in real-world movement. (Why do we train inverted crawling? Because it is a safe way to make it down a steep, technically challenging slope.) They include the more practical obstacle traversal aspects of parkour, as well as fundamental movements of throwing and catching, lifting and carrying, combat, and other things, but the beginner drills focus on climbing, jumping, balancing, carrying, and assorted maneuvering on the ground. (SPOILER: Lots of kneeling and deep squatting. ) Unfortunately, I've never taken any classes in it, largely due to money and distance. Classes would be a serious investment for me, so I'd like to get solid on some basics and improve my overall strength and conditioning before I do that. (I don't need to pay someone $$ to supervise my crawling or falling off a 2x4 on the ground. I just need practice.) So I've been gathering up the various bits of information they have scattered around online, freely available, and condensing it into a form more useful to me in my training. They have a book in the works, but it remains to be seen how much of it is practical systematic instruction - intended to guide the reader in developing a home practice - and how much of it is glossy inspirational photos of extremely fit people vaulting through lush forests interspersed with laments about the sorry state of the modern world and how it devastatingly restricts our movement patterns. I've read some stuff that strongly suggests they intend to eventually make a good deal of training material freely available online, but want to have a certain level of infrastructure established first. They seem very much to be a work in progress at this point. Primary Resources: The MovNat website: Lots about their philosophy, and how to get in-person training. Also, the From The Ground Up, beginner instructional videos. 4-Week Primer on Breaking Muscle: Lots of simple ground movement and balancing drills. I've laid these out in charts below. Short demo videos of techniques: No verbal instruction, but over 100 short clips demonstrating different techniques. Beginner Workouts on Youtube: Five circuit training "combos" for beginners. My plan on where to start... Sign up for their newsletter, to get their free ebook. There is a place to sign up at the bottom of their website. The newsletter has been very infrequent, but has included actual training info, not just promotional stuff. In case that doesn't work, I've got a copy of the free ebook here. Flip through the ebook. Practice any techniques that catch your eye, but these are somewhat randomly chosen techniques, not a beginners practice. (The deep squat getup is damn hard.) The tone of the book seems kind of judgy to me in places, but whatever, it is intended as motivational. Watch the "From the Ground Up" videos, and practice the movements until you feel like you've basically got the hang of it. These are fairly detailed, high-quality instruction. Skip anything too hard. Make a note of anything you think you should work on. You can look at the notes I made for those videos. Some of these can be used as short workouts, but most are just instruction on one or two techniques. Read through the 4-Week Primer on Breaking Muscle. Look at the videos. Try the techniques. They aren't especially exciting - lots of maneuvering around on the ground - but they are safe and require little equipment. If they seem super boring, go to the Beginner Combos. If a quick run-through of the Week 1 techniques is easy, skip ahead to try some from week 2, especially the once balancing on a board. Week 3 is many of the same movements, this time carrying a heavy sandbag or other load. Week 4 changes the format entirely, and strings the movements together in longer sequences. If you want to practice the 4-Week primer, here are some practice sheets I put together for myself. (NOTE: For these workouts, x4 = right, left, right, left. Four times total. Not four each side.) Try techniques you are confident about in more complex environments. Balance on all sorts of things. Crawl up and down hill, etc. Use the Progression tools described in "From the Ground Up" to increase complexity and intensity. If you want more, seriously consider getting professional instruction, especially if you have significantly limited mobility, or are not confident in your ability to self-assess your movement quality. They don't have a ton of trainers around, but they do have quite a few, listed on their website. Check out the Beginner Workouts on Youtube. These are somewhat random circuits, including techniques that aren't taught in the other videos. They include basic instruction on the techniques, but I'd find them a little hard to follow in parts. I'd probably focus on one at a time, until I got the hang of it, before attempting a circuit of five new movements. The first two videos require a bar high enough for a good dead hang, and the others need space for running/crawling. I've made notes about them and what props they require. (There are also intermediate and advanced MovNat Combo videos on Youtube, as well as BreakingMuscle.) For more examples of MovNat workouts, look at their "Movement of the Day" workouts. They show up in the monthly newsletter.They are not beginner workouts, and many require an discouragingly wide assortment of equipment. Here are the five July MODs, with required equipment listed for each. There are also seven random MODs from the old MovNat blog, which they took down when they redid their website. I've also found a variety of good articles, which I'll post as I dig them up.

http://youtu.be/yPq_NVi-TC4 -What will it take to save what remains? Hello Everyone! Wolfie here! It’s time for another challenge and I couldn’t be more excited for my 2nd take over here with the Rangers. Bred as an Assassin, I have become the Ultimate Hybrid now after having defeated the Indomnius Rex and all her glory! I have taken my skills with bodyweight and parkour and decided to finally work towards being good at ALL THE THINGS and Ranger Up for good. I want to extend a HUGE thanks to everyone whom supported me last challenge, it was one helluva “welcome party†to the guild! A little bio about me- I joined NF back in September of 2012 and have loved every minute of being here. The people here are amazing and it’s become a second home for me-something you couldn’t ask more from a community of likeminded nerdtastic badasses. I left NF and came back two separate times. The first time was rough because my wife and I had separated for a year and was on the verge of divorce. Thankfully we were able to work things out and become a better couple for it all. Plus, we ended up having a reunion baby-my 3rd son, Orin (named after Aquaman). I have 3 handsome boys whom I have dubbed “the wolf pupsâ€. They are the loves of my life and I’m thankful every day for them! Then there’s my beautiful wife-where I would be without her, I would NEVER want to find out again. She is a terrific support and wonderful wife/mother. After Heather and I got back together I joined NF again-but this was short lived because we had a new baby on the way and just tons of stuff to work on in order to get our lives back on track. I left again..then came back, with more fire, more knowledge and more NF rebel in me than ever before. And then I joined you guys-the Rangers. What a move I made. I love it over here. Back when I first joined NF, I REALLY contemplated Ranger or Assassin…and ended up going with the latter, but realized mid-way through the last challenge that this is where I was supposed to be! I want to be an OCR athlete. I want to get sponsored one day and be able to provide for my family doing what I love. This will happen soon, very soon. This may seem crazy considering I haven’t even ran my 1st OCR race, but it’s coming up...on ALL HALLOW’S EVE! October 31st I’ll pit my will and grit against the Spartan Beast! I’ve been training extensively for it since the beginning of June and have turned myself into quite the trail running monster. I’ve even dropped a little weight in that time frame. I’m just as strong-but now I’m faster. I still have a lot of work to do, but the challenge is there for the taking! Being this is the last leg of my training before I take on the Beast, I will also be entering the world of The Division. The Division is a next gen game coming out sometime in the middle of next year. It looks absolutely AMAZING. In the game, you will play as an agent of the Security Homeland Division aka “The Divisionâ€, when a deadly outbreak hits on Black Friday, shutting the government down within 5-days! It is up to you and the other SHD agents to save New York City and stop this deadly pandemic. Here’s a little description I pulled from the source: We live in a complex world. The more complex it gets the more vulnerable it becomes. We’ve created a house of cards: remove just one, and everything falls apart. Black Friday-a devastating pandemic sweeps through New York City, and one by one, basic services fail in only days. Without food or water, society collapses into chaos. The Division, an autonomous unit of sleeper agents, is activated. Leading seemingly ordinary lives among us, these agents are trained to operate independently in order to save society. When society falls, we rise. As a solo operative able to work off the grid, I will need to be prepared for the unknown. My mind and body must be stronger than steel. I need to be as flexible and nimble as a cat and my endurance will need to match that of my namesake, the Wolf. A SHD agent does not fear what is ahead, but instead, runs towards the danger. They are willing to risk their lives to save someone at a moment’s notice. However, they do not throw their lives away recklessly-they are intelligent, cunning, and relentless. I will start out as a Recruit and will work my way through the grinder, ultimately preparing me for my first mission-taking on the Glen Rose Beast. A ruthless, 13+ mile course with over 30 obstacles. I have prepared multiple trophies I can earn during this challenge and reaching each milestone will bring me closer and closer to the Beast. With a steady aim and unbreakable spirit, I KNOW I CAN DO THIS. Wolf "Let the Boomstick do the talking."

Because Saxophones The Search for the Non Creaky Body -- Chapter 16 -- Back in Time Just Keep Swimming and Seek Natural Movement for Alignment, Flexibility, and Strength Eat Cleaner -- Caffeine, you only think you need it Get Caught Up -- Anxiety Strikes When Procrastinating Week 0: Timecircuits on! -- Start the new schedule Week 1: Get up to Speed Week 2: All of the Power! Week 3: Cross the Genres -- Er, Crosstraining Week 4: Seriously Week 5: Rock On Week 6: Last Chance

If anyone familiar with MovNat and the idea of natural movement workouts? I'm trying to find out more about it but as far as I can tell there isn't much going on related to it in Boston and the web resources tend to be rather vague because they're trying to get you to come to their workshops.

Some basic stats Female: 28yrs: 5'4": 130 Lbs: approx 25% body fat using sight and a scale that estimates body fat. Accomplishment: I can run 5k on a wooded trail in 35 minutes Goals: 1 pull up and 1 chin up by Sept 16, reduce body fat from 25% to 20% at some point. I'm not really worried how long this takes because I'm more concerned with achieving strength gains while avoiding fat gains right now. How? 3 intensive upper body workouts on monkey bars and a pull up bar a week. I run 4 to 5 days a week and if I don't run I try to get long walks in. I also try to do sprint intervals at least one day a week. I do body weight workouts for my lower body, but it is just for maintenance. Cool thing I've done in the past month: I ran (walked) my first 5k obstacle course. What I learned: I need to work on upper body strength! Diet: I am on a low grain diet, but I'm not paleo. I eat and drink cultured dairy, and I have not attempted to limit beans and legumes from my diet. It's hard enough getting enough calories without sugar or grains. I don't like to eat more than 4oz of meat (always pastured) a day for environmental/animal welfare reasons. I try to do at least a day a week without meat. I drink a smoothie every morning, usually it is just fruit and greens and kefir. Family: I am married and have a 20 month old daughter. Our household consists of my little family, my mother, my sister, and my niece. The 4 adult to 2 child ratio is fabulous for being able to work out and meal planning. Work: I'm a comprehensive sexual health and violence prevention educator. I travel around from school to school. I really love my work. Nerd? I might be a nerd. I'm a nerd in that I enthusiastically read about all sorts of things that interest me. I'm not afraid of my interests or to be excited about new information. I'm in that place where I've watched every episode of Star Trek TNG but I haven't seen Star Wars since I was a child. I have never been an avid video game player, but love the RPG concept of the site. I love bored games. Settlers of Catan, Munchkin, Twilight Imperium, and Nexus Ops right off the top of my head are what have been played most often. We don't get to play as much since having our daughter. My three favorite books are "Guns, Germs and Steel" by Jarod Diamond, "Stranger in a Strange Land" by Robert Heinline, and "Oryx and Crake" by Margaret Atwood. I don't know how to underline on my tablet, so quotes will have to do. Other: I started running about 10 weeks ago in a serious way to systematically get better. I use a standing desk. I believe in injury prevention, and am a little obsessed with natural alignment and movement in the way that some people are obsessed with the paleo diet. I believe movement is a key nutrient most people are missing in their lives. I use standing desks, but cheat a lot and type on my tablet in bed, or sit down to read articles. I knit. I like to cook, but I hate cleaning. I believe I should be walking at least 5 miles a day in addition to other workouts, but don't think I achieve this often. I only wear neutral heeled shoes, and I prefer shoes allow for as much movement as possible. I wish I could wear vibram five fingers all the time. Thank you for reading my introduction. I'm excited to be part of this community.