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I made a status yesterday that I was going to try starting morning yoga with my almost 3 year old and her 3 year old friend that I've started babysitting 3 days a week. Today marked the first day my daughter has even seen yoga. (She's mimicked my squats and lunges around the house and even has her own toy kettlebell, but this is new territory for us!) So, I Googled. I YouTubed. I came across the video below and figured it was worth a shot! Bright colors, friendly presenter, easy poses... Yep. I did the whole 20 minute video myself. I pretended to be a lion that couldn't roar, stand tall like a giraffe and bend back like a camel. And the kids moaned for fruit snacks and 'Pocoyo' and I had to suck up all of that sadness that this would be a great way for all of us to do something together. I'M A PROUD LION, DAMN IT. Everyone starts somewhere. I guess I start with kids yoga. Let's see if it gets any better tomorrow.

Hey, guys! So, I've really come to appreciate you guys. All the encouragement and the pick me ups, the good jobs and what the hells. I just joined the Academy today (been on the forums for about 3 months), and I got to a part where they ask you to find "the big why" of why you want to get fit. Steve said to take a pen and paper. Well, this IS the rebel army, so, I started typing instead. The weird thing was, as I started typing, I just kept going. I couldn't stop. Before I knew it, I had dug deep and found out for the first time why I want to get fit. At first, a few months ago, it was "I want to look good" or "I think I'm fat." But this time it was much deeper than that. The Rebel Army is almost all about accountability. To me, accountability means letting someone you trust know something intimate about yourself so they can steer you in the right direction when you falter. That being said, I wanted to share my Big Why with you. This is why I want to get fit: I hate who I see in the mirror. The blubber hanging and rippling from the side, the back that melts with the ass to form one wobbly entity, the sack hanging from my chin, the bags covering my chest and stomach and limbs hiding the muscle I know I have. Every girl I see, I feel like I can read their minds as they think to themselves, “He’s a really nice guy, but I would never find him physically attractive.†The body in the mirror stares back with eyes that preach sermons on how I’m a pathetic loser, doomed to being insecure and scared but forcing myself to act differently so nobody will notice. The eyes, they scream from the reflection at me and they say, “You will never be happy! You will never find your second half! You will never be both nice and attractive, just nice, and that is a turn off!†What is the big why of my fitness goals? I want the man I become to kick the ass of the man I am. I want the man I become to inspire those who are like the man I am. I want the reflection in the mirror to be one whose eyes still scream at me, but they do so with pride and glory and triumph! I want to be seen as attractive as well as super nice. I want to be more than just someone I can imagine. I want to be imagination incarnate. And there you have it. Guys, you rock. If there is any way I can help or if you just want to talk or joke around or watch a movie or something, please let me know! And remember: if you don't find me handsome, at least you'll find me handy!

A little background. I work for the government and teach CrossFit for them. I also teach at a local box. I sometimes train 2-3 times a day. So my lovely and talented fiancé decides we are getting a bit thick (her words, not mine.) So I say "We work out and eat right, what do you think we should do?" She says we have to cut down on the beer. WHAT?!?!? Ok, no problem. Then she says "And I challenge you to cardio EVERYDAY!" Cardio? ME? Rrrriiiiiighttttt. I do CrossFit. I lift weights. And for cardio I lift weights fast. So I say "YOU'RE ON WOMAN, BRING IT!!!! (on the inside.) In reality I say "Well sweetheart if you want to, ok." So now my dumb ass is working out twice a day PLUS doing cardio everyday. And to add insult to injury, she throws one of my worst cardio workouts BACK AT ME. Every night, for the next 3 weeks, she wants to do 4 rounds of 300 meter rowing on the Concept 2 rower while the other person does double unders during that time. Shoot me now please. My starting weight right now is 222lbs. I will check in periodically to update you. If I don't check in, it probably means I'm dead. Wish me luck.

After the amazing feedback I have gotten from my first post on "What Motivates you to start a healthy Life?" I wanted to dig further into the bodyweight fanatic's mind and ask why, out of all the fitness routines out there, have you chosen bodyweight/calisthenics fitness??? Share your experiences, thoughts, and motivations and maybe your words can resonate with someone else, and enlighten them on the beauty of this lifestyle. I'll start by simple saying I love being outside and experiencing the world as I workout. Being cooped up in a tight packed, people overloaded weight room really messes with my mental psyche.

This year's Tough Mudder event in Edinburgh was in June. So, it being early July, I have just shy of a year until the next one, and I want to sign up. Reason: I want to get the hell out of this office job and become a field ecologist. I will settle for general adventurer. If I can complete a Tough Mudder, I can handle pretty much anything field ecology can throw at me. Except perhaps angry squirrels, I don't think they have them at events. You can be a great field ecologist without crawling about under live wires and scrambling up greased halfpipes, but I hate doing things half-arsed. Problems: I can't run for shit. Can just about catch buses. 10-12km? NO. Don't think I've even hiked that before.I'm not that weak, but I can't do pull ups, let alone swing across monkey bars.I am fat as fuck. I am perfectly fine with being fat as fuck as long as I also get healthy, but I do not plan on getting stuck in any underwater pipes, and it would be so much easier to lift my bodyweight if my bodyweight was less than 229lbs. So, sorting that out, but the priority is strength and endurance, not deflating. That said, if I incidentally get small enough to fit into clothes from Primark, score.I have a broken handbone at the moment. Technically a problem. Practically, as long as I don't go around punching things and crawling about on my knuckles until it's healed, should be fine. Training Plan: This'll be broken down across several six-week challenges, and will consist of following the prescribed workouts available on the Tough Mudder website, from Mudderling to Tough Mudder, as well as getting my running endurance up - from Running At All to 12km and beyond. Will throw in some hiking as well. Meanwhile, I'll be following the diet that's served me well whenever I've stuck to it - put in all the protein and vegetables, watch portion sizes (keep intake around 1500-1800kcal), try to avoid nutritionally crap food. I won't include processed food in general in "nutritionally crap" because my main source of protein is Quorn and I NEED MY SAUSAGES. Sod those veggie sausages that are basically just cheese and potato. That is not proper sausages. Not proper sausages at all. Draft Timeline: Now: Stop procrastinating, get back to work. Weeks until next 6-week challenge: Start Couch to 5k. Work on the strength training program you've been working on this challenge. Do not re-break hand. Try out new exercises from Mudderling program so you can start it with good form. Eat clean. Hike on weekends. 1st 6 week TM-related challenge: Mudderling training program. Continue running program; aim to do 5km by end of challenge. Eat clean, hike on weekends. 2nd 6 week TM-related challenge: See above. (Aim to run 7.5km by end of challenge.) 3rd 6 week TM-related challenge: See above; move on to Maybe Mudder; aim to run 10km by end of challenge. 4th 6 week TM-related challenge: Same as above, but aim for 12.5km. 5th 6 week TM-related challenge: Blah blah, Tough Mudder program, 15km 6th blahblahblah: Blah. As far as you possibly can. Blah. Odd object training to toughen up skin on hands. Between challenge breaks - focus on maintenance and troubleshooting. So let's say that's 36 challenge weeks, 1.5 weeks between each one, and about three weeks till next challenge. That's 46.5 weeks. Beyond 6th Challenge: See 6th challenge. I am expecting things will not go completely smoothly, but there are a couple of weeks' leeway between the end of the 6th challenge and when the event might roughly be, so there will be catch-up time. On the other hand, if by some miracle I progress really rapidly, then there are always ways to make it harder. Overaiming regarding running, but if I aim high I might just scrape a pass for what I probably should be aiming for. This is going to be shit, isn't it? Yay.

What's going on fitness fanatics! I am always fascinated by what motivates people or caused them to change and start living a healthier lifestyle (i.e. working out and eating right). Share your experience here and maybe your story can resonate with someone else and help them take the leap of faith! I'll start: My twin brother, who was a Division 1 athlete, was diagnosed with Crohn's Disease and had a severe event that left him in the hospital for a week. When he returned home he was 30 lbs lighter, weak, and scared for how this disease was going to change his life. Instead of dwelling in this state he chose to control it, and I was there to support him throughout. Together, my brother and I changed our diet to support his disease and rebuilt ourselves physically so that we were in control of our lives, not some disease. As an identical twin, I realize Crohn's disease may or may not be a part of my future, but that doesn't limit me. It makes me stronger.

Bonjour I'm a bit nervous and excited about posting, as ideally this is the start to something that could be an extraodinary part of my life/future. Currently I'm 165cm and 56kg~ and looking for a huge change in my life. I've always loved running and the outdoors- but being so inclined towards videogames, computer learnings, and other such indoor activities, paired with a sort of growing anxiousness towards strangers - it's stopped me from pursuing those activities. Because of that I've lost a lot of my athletic ability, and I've gained a bit of weight as well (having been 52kg previously). When I was a little kid, I used to be quite fat, and I remember how much it sucked - luckily when I went into my teens I changed naturally into average size. However the recent weight I've gained makes me scared that I could revert back into that stage of my life, which would not be preferrable. So I want to stop before I get too sucked in, and make myself better than I ever was! My main quest is to be able to run 10km, and so will be taking up long distance running 2x a week at first, and then progress from there. Human - 165cm 56kg. Desired class - Scout.