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I'm bad at this, but I'm back again. I'm 9 months post baby, and still struggling with muscle issues. PT has helped tremendously, but I thought I'd be done with it by now. I'm struggling with being gentle with myself and not getting frustrated that I can't do more. I try to remember how much better I am, but my brain isn't being particularly cooperative. My anxiety hasn't been great for a while, and this ::gestures broadly:: doesn't help either. But I'm determined to end the year on a high point. So its time for Edited for kindness to self and clarity: 1: Check in here daily. Even if it's just yes/no about my tasks. I have a Google Keep copy+pasteable list for facilitating this. 2: Minimum activity: PT basics and treadmill walk. I have a Google Keep PT list made. Planned out incremental treadmill plan - hope to get from 5 minute slow walk to 20 minute normal speed walk by the end of the month. Will not be discouraged if this doesn’t happen. Most important thing is to stay within a pain free range. 3: Additional activity: PT strengthening and/or yoga. Have Google Keep PT list made. Yoga is live Tuesday/Thursday. I also have recordings and could do my own flows. 4: Respect bedtime. Have a written routine. Have alarm set for routine to start. Goal is to be in bed with lights out by 10. Other things: Try to eat only when I’m hungry, and slow down when I do eat. Keep my brain in check, and treat myself with compassion regarding my activity level. Participate in the mini challenge. I think that's it. Let the festivities begin!

Hello Rangers! I have a new side kick! Q was born 5 weeks early, surprising the heck out of us, and spent 1 week in the NICU. Today's his actual due date. Pregnancy was absolutely miserable, and got worse as time passed, and I'm SO DAMN GLAD to not be pregnant anymore. Baby's been pretty darn good so far, and not nearly as troublesome as other Q's out there... And he's much cuter (obvi) Plan-- Body: Shower daily, plus Exercise, at least one of the following PT exercises at home, and at the office once weekly Yoga via the studio's zoom classes, and possibly on my own Dance via the studio's zoom classes, as long as I scale it and don't hurt myself Barn - groundwork just to start Yardwork - lots of leaves to rake, sticks to pick up, and need to prep the raised beds for vegetables Walk outside when the weather is decent (+/- stroller and Q) Mind: Meditate - Headspace or general mindfulness Gratitude Read (currently The Calculating Stars and An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth) House chores Soul: Connect with friends and family Do something creative Play with my oracle cards This is all just variations/extensions of my routine for the January and February, so it should be doable. Mr Vibrant went "back to work" today - but he's working from home for at least the next two weeks, probably more. I'm on maternity leave until June, and am giving myself through the summer to determine if I'm for real going back to work or if I'm going to stay at home with my side kick. Also plan: check in here at least twice a week, don't just skip out like I've done with most challenges. Report on good food choices. Share arts and cute baby photos if requested. Also also plan: keep mental health in check during social distancing and all this shit, by doing the above. Edited to change out exercises

The last time I fell off the fitness wagon, I respawned, started a challenge, and promptly found out I was pregnant. The goals from that challenge did not line up with expecting, so I abandoned it to focus on my pregnancy. My daughter is approaching her sixth month, and I finally feel ready to get back on the sleigh! I’ve been doing sporadic core work with her, and a post partum exercise class now and then, but it’s time to get organized and commit! Quest 1: Go to the dentist. I have a mortal fear of the dentist, and most visits are torturous enough that I never want to return. I went while pregnant because it was required, but chickened out after my daughter was born, and have been postponing using a flimsy excuse of not having child care at the time. I want to set a good example for my daughter, and take care of my teeth, so this MUST BE DONE. Quest 2: Consistent Core Work Complete at least core workouts for a minimum of 10 minutes 3 times a week. Quest 3: Reduce Sweet Consumption I feel this one ought to be food related. I usually eat fairly healthy, but I enjoy sweets and tend to overindulge, so I feel that this is where I could use some improvement. So - only one sweet each weekday at ‘goute’ time (like the French version of afternoon tea). As it IS the holidays, weekends are a bit more relaxed - up to three sweets. Bonus Quest: Hit PrePregnancy Weight by my 6th Month Post Partum I am three kilos away from PrePregnancy weight. It's a long stretch to lose 3 kilos this challenge, but it would be awesome. Level Up: French Language Acquisition Complete the French course I started. I’ve switched from Assassin to Druid, as it will take a while to get back into parkour shape, and I feel the path of the yogi is a better fit for now, and the paths are not mutually exclusive. It’s a different form of fun for me, but easier to take my daughter along, and include her in my workouts.

Feels a bit abrupt to drop back into the NF forums after being away so long, like :poof: I’m baaaack! I’m hanging out with the Adventurers for awhile (my previous couple years’ worth of challenges were done as a Ranger). It has been so long since I’ve been active, and my entire life/routine/body has changed so much in the past two years, that I have no idea what type of activity/lifestyle I’m into now. So, for now, I walk, I hike, I eat a mostly healthy diet that doesn’t fit into any particular category (mostly working on dialing down my sugar consumption without reawakening my disordered eating dragon who has been kept meekly at bay for 4 years now), and I work on my mental health (a host of other dragons). I’m a bit late in posting, but I started my challenge right on time on May 28. I’m easing back into the NF challenge arena with a simple challenge based on streaks. My challenge is intentionally gentle at this early stage. I am 6 months postpartum with my first (and only!) little, and it's been quite a ride so far. I am struggling with postpartum depression and anxiety as well as new variations of old body image issues. I am also pursuing a promotion (with a big increase in responsibility) at work, so I’m stretched to the point where it’s still manageable but I know I can’t add too much more to my plate. While I do have long-term goals for my weight and health markers, I am also working on being gentle with myself at this early stage as I ease back into the mechanisms of a NF challenge in my new postpartum reality. The Streaks: @=completed, X=missed, =gold star day [Nutrition] Eat a vegetable with two meals every day. Gold Star if I manage to find a way to make vegetables palatable for breakfast. Week 1 - @@@@@@ Week 2 - @@@X@@@ Week 3 -@@@@@@X Week 4 - @@@X@@@ [Health] Drink two of my big stainless water bottles full of water every day. Gold Star if I manage three full bottles in a day. Week 1 - XX@X@@X Week 2 - @@@XX@ Week 3 -XX@X@@@ Week 4 - XX@X@@X [Fitness] Walk for 15 minutes every day. Gold Star if I walk for 30 minutes in a day (can be broken into multiple walks). Week 1 - XX@XXX Week 2 - XXXXXXX Week 3 - XXXXXXX Week 4 - XXXXXXX [Life] Write something, anything, for 15 minutes every day. Gold Star if I write for 30 minutes in a day (can be broken into multiple sessions). Week 1 - XXX@@X Week 2 - XX@@XXX Week 3 - XXXXX@X Week 4 - XX@XX@X One-off PowerUps: =complete Call new therapist and make an appointment. Go to first therapy appointment and make a decision about whether or not to continue. Set up auto-pay for my June bills BEFORE the late notifications appear (a new problem for me due to new-mom fatigue and forgetfulness). Get the new plants put into the garden before they all die of dehydration in their little pots. Go to my local Pride festival in June. (happy day! Last minute schedule change meant we could go!) Spend legit hang-out time with a friend. My challenge retrospective post will tally number and length of streaks, and number of Gold Stars and PowerUps obtained. Will update the streaks in this post, and will share progress reports in the thread below.

- Recent words of wisdom from a good friend. Introduction: Last month, a nuclear bomb went off in my life—I gave birth to my son. We’ve survived the first four weeks, but I’m struggling with creating new balance in my life especially after my husband has returned to work. So for this challenge, I’ve left my adventuring pack behind, and wandered into the druid’s grove, to focus on being, (un)becoming, and the transition into fallout. Around the time I gave birth, a blog post appeared that really spoke to me—it’s about Being—being who you are rather than always chasing for Becoming Someone. It sounds unaspiring, but I actually found it quite the opposite. I feel like I have been given permission to be right where I’m at. (And, when I asked myself the Hard Question of “what if this is all that there is”? I mean, I have to admit a pretty amazing life. Stupid hedonic adaption.) I still aspire. I still aim to inspire. But for the moment, I need to focus on being right where I am. I need to learn how to balance this huge, new responsibility in my life without it consuming all of who I am. Background: I’m an Adventurer at heart. I’m a traveler, a hiker, a storyteller, a diarist, a fiber artist, a gamer. I’m madly in love with my husband (Mr of Vries), and of course my new son (Rowan of Vries). I hail originally from Seattle, WA, but I followed Mr of Vries and immigrated to the UK (London) about two and a half years ago to marry him and start a new life in a new city, a new land. This has opened up whole new adventures and travel opportunities in my personal universe, and also added myriad new challenges—including having a new baby with a near non-existent support network. This has been… difficult. My son is wonderful and very loved, but the situation comes with a high emotional/physical toll. The Challenge: Note: I don’t do hardcore metrics. My way is to have spheres of priorities, and keep focus on fulfilling actions within those priorities. So what you will see are categories and example/target actions in which I aspire to. Balancing the Books of Vries: I used to have a daily spread/layout in which I kept track of my desired and needful tasks for each day, but baby blew that system apart. I want experiment with and design a new record-keeping system for my day that incorporates mum-care, baby-care, and everything else. Try different spreads/layouts Make sure to add self-care and the space to actually do it (taking care of the baby is a given) Relaxing I have not done much purposeful relaxing over the last four weeks, and it’s wearing me down. I need to be better at centering myself. Recognize when I tense up, relax my muscles Stretch! Breathe Recognize and dispel anxious or other damaging thoughts Reading and journaling Movement There was the obvious recovery from childbirth, but then learning how to be out and about with a tiny baby. I’m getting better at this. Get walking regularly, or whatever else gentle movement I can do (with and without baby) Figure out good pram routes for local and city travel (not all stations--including our local one--have step-free access) Sort out a good baby carrier so I can move around more easily when I don't need the amenities of the pram Creativity/Psychic Space I am a creative being. I need to find the space in my self again to contemplate, to write, and to Make. One could argue that I’m Making a person, and that’s true, but it can’t be everything I do. Writing (journal or novel) Reading Knitting and other fiber crafts Here we go....

Hello! I am a gym owner and have been in and around CrossFit since 2008. Over the last 9 years, I have helped empower individuals to redefine their definition of health and fitness. One of my favorite moments is watching women find confidence, beauty and liberation in discovering themselves to be strong and capable in ways they had never before imagined. Over time, something started to happen: a lot of these empowered women began to get pregnant. In the beginning I was happy to refer them to CrossFit MOM and work with the information provided their to create a program that worked for our ladies. It seemed to do a decent job to give our ladies more fitness support and guidance than what they were otherwise getting (which is slim to none!). When I got pregnant the first time March of 2015, I was mortified to discover the site had been discontinued. As I searched around for other resources, it hit me how incredibly scarce information around the training and fitness needs for prenatal and postpartum is. I find this to be unacceptable and something requiring immediate attention from the entire fitness community. I believe the best way to go about this is to first become a solid resource myself. I have done a lot of online research as to which certifications I should pursue. The research pointed me to BIRTHFIT and I have spent the last year immersing myself in all things prenatal/postpartum. I am now the SF Regional Director for BIRTHFIT ..... My intention for this thread is to create an ongoing thread for questions/rants/sharing for mommas, mommas to be, and women TTC (that's me!). Anyone want in?

Alrighty, so I am back once again, trying to get any kind of momemtum going. #1 Food: Paleo, no added sugar #2 Lifting: 2x Week, Continue NRoLfW plan #3 Walking/Hiking: 2x Week minimum Starting Stats Weight: 163.3 lbs Body Fat % (per scale): 42% Waist: 35/40 Hips 42 Thighs 37 Neck 13 Calf 14 Bicep 10 Bust 40/36

About me: Hokay… so I have been a part of Nerdfitness for almost 5 years (!!!). I have mostly been a lifter and paleo person, but since my move to Alaska and pregnancy and new motherhood all really threw off my routines and habits. I haven’t been around as much this past year, but I’m determined to change that. I’ve been in Alaska for 3 years, my husband is military. But we are fortunate enough to be staying here for another 5 years! I love to hike year round, so this place is perfect for me. My kiddo is almost 11 months old, and a little hellion! I also have a german shepherd who I do obedience competitions with. My overarching goals are to get stronger and lose the baby flab. If I lose weight, awesome, but I know better than to think just seeing a certain number on a scale is going to make me happy. I want to look and feel fit, and gain back the strength I lost while life has been so crazy and hectic. I also want to be developing good routines, because in July, Mr. Princess will be deploying overseas so I will be taking care of things at home solo. Current stats: Weight 163.8 BMI 29 Body fat % Waist at Belly Button 38" Natural Waist 35" Hips 42" Calves 15" Arms 11.5" Neck 13" Goals #1 Lifting with NROLW and Core Program #2Whole 30, No exceptions https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/5ztkZUPLqzJddYbi38QTKfObn3jcT3ATUg753sYjFc0YLX51M6-uzrecHoLRIptE04iSPTIXS7ilfbwGQalVSzRhs1yIeQfD7sLfQycUCUNyG-uzXQfNSGDzMuUjvu6-EmSIWXr3 #3 Home Routines Meal Planning Dishes Laundry Bathrooms Here's to a beautiful, whirlwind of a 2017!

2016 has been a crazy year for me. Not only did I manage to do a lot of prenatal workouts during my second trimester (which I loved), I also went past my due date and wound up having a c-section. But I have semi-completed 2 postpartum challenges. I say "semi" because I forgot to update them or complete the last week. At the beginning of 2016, I had plans to workout to keep myself healthy and to buy new gear to help accomplish that goal. Then I went over 38 weeks and was too exhausted to workout anymore. By the time I had my daughter at 42 weeks, I found myself unable to workout. I had a c-section and had to stay off my feet AND rest for 2 months. Then I could start easing myself in to exercising and normal life again. But life doesn't wait. And I am impatient. It took me 3 months to be able to start working out without feeling pain. And "normal" still hasn't came back to me. I wound up getting hit with postpartum depression that comes from feeling broken and overwhelmed. My body will never be the same. I've lost a lot of flexibility, but during my 4th month postpartum I was able to hold my arms over my head without feeling soreness in my belly. I have a long way to go to get back to my definition of "normal," but I want to finish 2016 off strong (and did I mention I'm too stubborn to believe I'll never be able to do the things I used to do?) . So I'm going to write out my goals by the week and then spruce them up a bit. Done. Just kidding. However, I would like to state in spruce green that The main goal of this challenge is to workout 3x a week and get out of the house 1x (groceries not included). Oh yeah, I'm also bringing back the grading system I used to use last year! The better I do, the better the reward. ...This train of thought is why I got the 2nd most expensive reward from my orthodontist's wooden nickle rewards. Let's see how good I do! Week 1: Warming Up Complete Week 5 of Breaking Muscle's C-Section Recovery Workout Walk for 1 hour. Shop the local thrift stores for an active winter coat. I need one that won't rip when I'm putting the baby in her car seat (goodbye, cheap jacket). Gather groceries for the week Week 2: Half-Way There Complete Week 6 of Breaking Muscle's C-Section Recovery Workout Walk for 1 hour. Gather groceries for the week Go to a store I've never visited Week 3: Keeping My Momentum Going Complete Week 7 of Breaking Muscle's C-Section Recovery Workout Walk for 1 hour. Gather groceries for the week Go window shopping for new gear Week 4: At The Finish Line Complete Week 8 of Breaking Muscle's C-Section Recovery Workout Walk for 1 hour. Gather groceries for the week Go out and have FUN! 2016's over! Time for a glass of sparking grape juice! (or a whole bottle.) Grade Scale: A - I completed four weeks and get my daith pierced. (I cannot believe I put this here. I am terrified of pain and keep putting off getting it done. If I get an A, I will be waaaaaaaaaay out of my comfort zone.) B - I completed three weeks and get a fleece balaclava. C - I completed two weeks and get a new workout outfit from Goodwill. D - I completed one week and get 1 mp3 album (or 10 songs) from Amazon. F - I did nothing and get nothing.

Phoenix is probably my favorite character, so Imma channel her this round. Strength 2 NFA workouts + warmup/cooldown per week. I am still level 1, but I am going to bump up the difficulty of a few of the exercises as I can for this challenge. At 2 weeks, I'm going to try to beat General DOMS again. Total 8pts Cardio/Toning 2 classes per week - preferably 1 Zumba and 1 Pound, however that will depend on babysitter availability. I love having an excuse to get out of the house and get moving doing someting *other* than go for a walk. Total 8pts PT 3 PT leg exercises per week - not on class days. The knee I injured and ultimately needed surgery is not happy with my newfound movement. I need to get back into the habit of doing my band exercises to strengthen the small muscles around my knees so I don't reinjure myself. That would be bad. Total 12pts Food I am adding a goal of 1 serving of fruit per day with a minimum of 5 per week. Total 20-28pts Random Bonuses Since the Cardio and PT aspects focus so much on my lower body, I'm going to give myself bonus points for any upper body workouts I do that aren't a part of the NFA ones. This may include a random set of doorway rows, stair push-ups, baby presses or curls, or anything else that's just a standalone arm exercise. Not more than 1pt per day None of the at-home exercises (NFA, PT) take a super long period of time, so I just need to willpower myself to take care of it when baby naps those days. Everything will be logged in my journal (new journal coming soon because I wanted to give the dot-layouts a try for ease with design and trackers and whatnot, so pictures forthcoming!)

Time for postpartum challenge #2! I'm still getting used to working out after having a c-section, but I'm able to do more with each month... just as long as I don't try to do a crazy core workout like I did last month. I'm also currently battling postpartum depression. I feel my best when I've exercised and been outside. So here's to starting another challenge with the awesome community here to keep me accountable! Move, Keep Walkin' (This is one of my favorite songs. I love the lyrics and they constantly get stuck in my head. Lol.) I need to exercise 2-3 times a week. Walking has been very beneficial for me. I want to walk twice a week and do yoga once a week. Log Those Calories Log my food and water intake daily. Discover My Inner Cook Eat Paleo 2x a day and eat out only 1x a week.

I haven't been on the forums here in over 5 months. And I'm going to be honest: posting a new thread on here is terrifying. I'm not sure why, but it just is. I had a baby 3 months ago and used NF to help keep me in shape during my pregnancy. I gave birth to a healthy baby via c-section. I had to wait until my body healed enough for me to work out again. I was given the ok to exercise 6 weeks postpartum but I haven't felt like I was capable of completing a workout until recently. I'm out of shape and have to take things slow. So here's to getting back into the swing of things! 1. Get into the habit of exercising 2-3 times a week. I honestly don't care how long I can exercise. I may not be able to complete a workout for a long time. The goal is to get up and MOVE. I will either be walking or doing mom & baby yoga. I can try adding more difficult exercises later. 2. Log my water intake. I simply need to log how much water I drink. I'm supposed to drink plenty of water while I'm breastfeeding and I honestly don't know how much I'm drinking. So I'm going to start using my Fitbit app to track my water consumption. 3. Eat Paleo 2x a day. This one is going to be difficult. My husband recently made a decision to go Paleo after going to Camp Nerd Fitness this year. I'm proud of him and I'm trying to be supportive by keeping grains out of the house. But I currently need the extra carbs to keep my blood sugar up while I'm breastfeeding the baby. So the goal is for me to eat carbs once a day until I can wean myself off of them. But I can't buy any carbs that my husband would want (unless I eat out... which doesn't help our finances).

Baby Steps! I’m going to reiterate a bit of what I wrote in my wrap up from last challenge to start this off. I am finally starting to (physically) feel like a human being again. I can easily squat down, I can get back off the ground with minimal issues (wrists are still a little temperamental), and I can walk at a reasonable pace. When I remind myself of this, I feel relieved. (It sucks feeling like a weak mushmellow.) I am finding that I struggle with the whole “you need to exercise, so do this boring stuff! It’s good for you!” The stuff that I find enjoyable, I’m not really at the point to do yet (like running while listening to Zombies), and I really end up fighting myself when it’s hot to even go out for a walk. >.< So, I’m going to do some simple exercises that, while I don’t specifically enjoy, are easy to fit into my new routine of full-time baby. Baby Overhead Presses My little baby monster is big enough now that I can use him as an excited, squirmy weight. Seeing his little grin as I lift and lower him is just amazing. At least one set of 5 per day. This will progress as he gains weight through the challenge. Baby Grin Squats I am really proud of my squat participation in the last mini, so I’m going to continue to squat and make my baby grin. At least two sets of 10 per day. Right now, I’m just doing regular shoulder-width squats, but as the challenge progresses, I may try some variations - so long as I can do them and still earn my baby grins. Home Focus To steal from, I think it was @raptron last challenge, I will do one thing I don’t like (or don’t want) to do, though for my challenge, it will relate to household care. Between the pregnancy and post-partum, my husband has been wonderfully taking care of just about everything around the house - dishes, laundry, cooking. I will pick something each day that I’m not all that thrilled about doing and take care of it - step up to caring for the house. One complete task per day to be decided in the morning. *** I am also continuing with PT. My hands and wrist have been feeling better, but with the relaxin and hypermobility, I have now tweaked my left elbow. >.< Lots of focus on proper joint position when picking up my cutie now. In addition to that, I’ve been struggling with some serious tooth pain (on the right side) that’s not actual tooth problems. Muscles in my right shoulder/neck are my tension containers and hold in everything that they can - and probably more. This has been messing with my occipital nerve (causing headaches) and my jaw and cheek muscles (causing tooth pain). So, I have PT appointments to deal with both of these issues since they cause me complications when trying to care for my little one. (Even though the baby cost a lot to arrive, I am super grateful for having met my deductible for insurance because I’m pretty sure that I’d literally figuratively die without PT these past few months…..)

FROLICKING IS ABOUT TO COMMENCE! I need to frolic. Dance. Move. Become strong. To that end, I will continue with “moving” in my challenge. I am leaving it open - telling myself to walk 5 times a week when I do something like gardening and then not counting that workout kind of makes me feel unmotivated. So, this round, moving is pretty much anything that I can do that gets me off my butt and isn’t typical day-to-day stuff. Some examples, going out and walking, yoga (if I can get my wrists to allow it), Just Dance, serious deep cleaning of the house, or gardening. If it involves serious movement and uses all the muscles, it counts. I will get up and move at least 5x per week. Muscles are needed for frolicking. I mean, you can’t frolic if you’re just a puddle of goo... My second goal is to add some strength training. This is a step up, so I’m adding some flexibility. I am going to attempt to stick with one strength training exercise per week, but if I need to switch it up, that will be allowed. My initial plan is: Squats/wall sits Wall pushups Side planks Tricep extensions/kick backs As a bonus, I’m gonna give this one a shot at least once a week: http://darebee.com/workouts/active-stroll-workout.html

Brief Background 3 Years and two pregnancies can do a lot to breakdown a persons fitness level. So I've gone from being able to do 100 consecutive push ups to barely being able to do 3. I want to come back stronger and fitter than ever. I've currently got about an extra 10 pounds of fat, that I want to be rid of, but I know if I just focus on building strength and stamina, it'll go away without me focusing too much on it. I am currently exclusively breastfeeding, so while I'll be trying to make the best food choices I can, my diet for the most part won't change. Game Plan -To rebuild a solid foundation - I will be doing the Darebee Foundation Program - It's light, quick and hits all those foundational points I'll be focusing on for the next four weeks, easing back into fitness. - Daily Dares & Weekly Quests - This is like an injection of fun into my days -Mon, Wed, Fri Push ups- Week 1 - 5x5 (x) Week 2 - 10x5 () Week 3 - 15x5 () Week4 - 20x5 () I've really tried to keep my plan challenging but still easy and quick, with a baby and a toddler, I'll be pressed for time. Life Quest Genesis (x) Exodus () Leviticus () Numbers () Matthew (x) Mark (x) Luke () John () I'm not expecting this to be too difficult. We will see. That's all for now.

Well, now that baby’s almost 2 months, it’s time for me to get cracking. Recovering from a c-section is a pain (ha!), but I’m past the recovery stuff and need to get moving. My main, overarching goal for this round is to work on being able to sit on the ground with my new babe without falling over or backwards or landing with a thump. Some of this is related to my current lack of flexibility and stability and some (a lot) of it is related to my physical shape after baby. My second main goal is to prepare for the Insane Inflatable 5k coming up in June. It’s probably unreasonable, but it would be awesome if I could do better this year than I did last year. (Last year, we walked most of it… but most of it was the heat… 5k over inflatable obstacles at 11:30am in July in 90 degree Midwest heat… yeah… >.>) To head to that goal, I’m going to continue my previous challenge activities of walking and hydration. But I’m going to change it a little. Move I need to get moving. Period. Full stop. I will move 5x each week. This will involve some combination of walking and yoga. For example, 3x walk-2x yoga, or 2x walk-3x yoga, or something similar. Bonus: Integrate short jogs during walks. DO NOT JOG WITH STROLLER ON CRAPPY SIDEWALKS. +1 for each movement, additional +2 for any jogging I integrate Hydrate Water is so important but I am so horrible with drinking enough. I need to keep working on this one because I’m baby’s food source, plus, with all the moving, I need to stay hydrated and replenish. Aiming for 8 glasses per day in addition to anything else I drink. This goal is not to wean me off of soda, it is only to increase my water intake. +1 for each 8 oz Balance In order to not fall on my butt or continue the roll backwards when I sit on the floor with my baby’sassin, I need to get my balance back. Using my balance board and foam pad and the exercises I learned last year, this is one I can definitely do 5x a week. +1 for each 20 minutes of balance work (balance board mini squats, foam pad single leg stands, and toe jacks pick up) Prehab (formally PT) I will keep working on my hand and wrist stretches, but my points will come from my previously-learned exercises that help strengthen my legs in preparation for jogging and in getting ready for the Insane Inflatable 5k (plus, running in general). Since I have a variety of exercises to choose from, I will choose 1-2 exercises 5x a week. +1 for each day

It's been almost a year since I've been on nerdfitness. So where have I been? Incubating a baby. And then birthing a baby. And then keeping said baby alive while going slowly insane. (FYI - the term "Baby Blues" really doesn't do it justice). Now I've come out of the fog and am ready to shed some of this baby weight and start feeling a bit more like myself again. I want to get back into dance and start repairing my body. I've been swing dancing for a number of years and continued to do so until a couple weeks before I gave birth, which kept me in decent shape. However, recovering from birth is much harder than I expected. I will spare everyone the TMI details, but let's just say the postpartum period has been difficult on my body (and mind). Now that I've gotten into a bit of a groove with this whole motherhood thing, I want to focus on my wellbeing again. I am the heaviest I've ever been and not feeling like myself. I've always enjoyed these challenges so I'm hopping aboard. Stats Starting stats: Weight: 230 lbs (I don't currently own a scale, so I'll get back to you on that. The last time I was weighed, I was 230 lbs, but that was before I pushed out at least 8 pounds of baby, fluid, and other... "stuff"). Chest: 44" Waist: 40.5" Hips: 47.5 1/4" Main Goal To focus on my wellbeing, physically and mentally, and return to hobbies that made me feel good. Quests 1) Dance! I used to do 3+ hours of swing dance per week, whether taking class, teaching class, or going to social dances. Now with a baby, that's not possible, but I'd like to commit to 1 hour per week, either in class or just practicing solo moves at home. Goal: 1 hour/week Grading: 15 points per hour +2 STA +1 DEX 2) Get out of the house! I'm house-bound a lot with the baby, so a priority for my mental health will be to leave the house with baby 3 times per week - this could be a quick walk with the stroller, or a visit to the movies (our local cinema has a "Stars and Strollers" program once a week). I'm already registered for baby massage on Mondays, so we're on our way to this goal! Goal: 3 outings/week Grading: 5 points per outing +1 CHA 3) Log my food Food is where I falter. I will be logging my meals in My Fitness Pal every weekday. Goal: Log food every week day Grading: 3 points per log +1 WIS Grading Scheme A = 160+ points B = 140+ points C = 125+ points D = 100+ points F = less than 90 points --- "I want her to be a flapper, because flappers are brave and gay and beautiful." - Zelda Fitzgerald

Introduction: Hi, I'm phosphorus and this is my first NF post (though I've been receiving the emails for a while). I'm 40/F, a mother of five, and I've never quite gotten back to where I was before my last pregnancy. Baby is 15m old now, so it's high time I admitted that it's not happening all by itself. I like to run and swim, but it's been tough getting to the Y regularly (oh, for about the last 15 months I'd say). I need a kick in the pants because I don't really have that far to go, and yet I've been stuck for a while! Main quest: Get back to my pre-pregnancy weight, solidly, by the end of the year. The first 20 postpartum pounds are gone already -- I still have 10 to go. Quest 1: Weigh myself daily and plot it on a chart. I used to do this religiously, it's always helped before, and I'm out of the habit. I just printed out the chart, yo.Quest 2: Limit myself to no more than 1 sweet per day. A sweet is defined as a two-thumbs-sized piece of pastry, or 2 Oreo-sized cookies, or 2 pieces of candy, or 8 oz of soda. Quest 3: Experiment with Intermittent Fasting. On days when I'm not going anywhere in the morning, and it feels like I can, I'm going to try putting off breakfast (not coffee though!) until I've fasted 16 hours. Then I'll see how I feel and compare it to days when I don't do a 16-hour fast. Motivation: It's driving me CRAZY that I can't fit into my pre-pregnancy clothes! I only have one size to go and they're hanging in the spare room, silently judging me. I don't want to spend the money to buy a whole new wardrobe one size larger, and I'm living in a few pairs of old pants. Argh! OKAY. Evaluating for smartness, as per the mini quest: Yes, it's totally reasonable to lose 10 pounds in 8 months (the rest of the year). Yes, weight-plotting has always helped me in the past, as has sweet-limiting and experimenting with different eating habits. Yes, these are totally realistic goals. No sweets would be unrealistic. 1 sweet per day might be tough some days, but it's realistic. I'll track all three on my Quest 1 weight chart. On a day when I succeed at Q2, I'll put a check mark on the chart. Days that I choose to try IF (Q3), I'll circle the date and make notes about how I feel. I'm just going to let the challenge rewards (leveling up at 3 weeks, etc.) be my reward -- it's new and will feel good! If I'm ill or injured, I probably won't choose to fast -- but that doesn't change Q3. I can keep up the other things. Yes, I took special occasions into consideration -- that's why Q3 is so flexible. If I expect a birthday cake or something, I can have SOME -- Q2 allows for that. Nope, no conflicts. Yes, these don't take extra time. Admittedly I'm always trying to do lots of different things. We'll see if I can spare enough focus for this!Nice to meet you all! Good luck to everyone!

In May of last year, I was feeling good. I had run a marathon, increased my deadlift to 145, and had a handle on my depression. My husband and I decided to level up our lives: time to reproduce! Nine months later on an extremely snowy February morning, our son was born. He's lovely and sweet and all, but what I spent the last month of pregnancy anticipating was my return to exercise. Weightlifting was the first to go - I was off balance and dizzy, and I stopped in July. I haven't run since September (the Beat the Blerch 10K, which was awesome in spite of being four months pregnant). I managed to stick with karate until January, at which point my giant belly was just making my kata partners very nervous. This last Monday, I received the all-clear from my doctor. "Listen to your body, ease into it, and have fun," was her advice. I had to buy some new workout wear to fit my larger postpartum body, but losing weight isn't my main objective. I've really missed being active, and I want to be a good example for my son. I've done my first run-walk, and am talking to a personal trainer about working with him to get back in my lifting groove. I'm also focusing on a few healthy eating habits, and am rediscovering my love of cooking. I'm thinking of doing the upcoming six-week challenge, which will conveniently fill the last six weeks of my maternity leave. This is the perfect time to craft some healthy habits to carry over into my return to work. Does anyone have any advice for exercising as a new parent?

As posted in my last challenge, I am getting ready to do my first CrossFit competition!!! Also, the weekend after that, I'm running a 5k leg of the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon with my family! And then, 3 weeks, later, I'm doing my first Spartan! And it's a Super!!! Gulp. I, um, may have bitten off a lot here. Good thing I've already registered so I can't back out. So! This challenge is going to have to be about the training!!! The competition and the Spartan are going to really push me to the limits of my ability. My goal for both of them is completion and to not be last (although I'd be okay with being last in the Spartan, if I can just finish). My Main Quest: Survival!!! Goal 1: Consistency The best way to prepare myself is to go to CrossFit. I would love to hit it 5-6 days a week, but I have a day job and kids (mostly kids). My goal is to be at CrossFit at least 3x per week, including once on the weekend to work through a WOD or two from the competition. Grading: 16+ days = A; 14-15 days = B; 13 or fewer days = C Goal 2: Training weaknesses The competition WODs include: rowing, cleans, kettlebell swings, situps, box overs, wall balls, single unders, and burpees. None of these are exactly a weakness (except maybe burpees) but they could all be stronger. I need to work on one of these skills every day. And where possible, I need to train harder than I will compete (heavier weight on kbs and wall balls, for example). Obviously some of these things I can only do at the box, but several are bodyweight movements, or I can use my jump rope at home. Grading: 37+ days = A; 31-36 days = B; 30 or fewer days = C Goal 3: Run! Like a herd of turtles stampeding through peanut butter! I am seriously going to start a collection of these shirts. In the meantime, I will have one pure running session at least once a week. If there are days when I don't have time for CrossFit but do have a shorter period of time, I will run. The goal is to run on Sundays for at least 30 minutes, preferably interval training, maybe with some other exercises thrown in as training for the Spartan. I need to build up my running endurance for the relay and the Spartan. Grading: 6 runs =A; 5 runs = B; 4 or fewer runs = C Diet side quest: Food is fuel! I've been working on following the Eat to Perform program for fat loss and performance gains. So far it's been going pretty well. I need to continue to try and hit my macros daily. I was worried that having specific numbers to hit might throw me into anxiety and disordered eating habits, but so far so good. I will keep an eye on this in case it becomes a problem. This will be an ungraded goal Life side quest: The @!*#@$ laundry I am tired of the piles of clean laundry overflowing their baskets and getting spread all over the laundry room floor. Washing and drying happen just fine, it's the putting away that gets me every time. I am going to conquer Mt. Washmore!!! The goal is to put away at least 10 pieces of laundry a day. My problem is that I get fixated on doing a whole basket, and that takes time I often don't have. I will get the girls involved in putting their stuff away, too. Also an ungraded goal, but if I hit at least 35 days this challenge I get to order two pairs of socks from The Sox Box.

2013 was a pretty good year for me in a lot of ways. It was my first full year of CrossFit, I managed to have a wonderfully fit pregnancy, to have a VBA2C, and to get back to working out fairly quickly after having a baby. But due to having a stress fracture in March and having a baby in October, 2013 was not terribly consistent in terms of fitness. I can do better! My Main Quest: I want to be in good enough shape to enter at least one local CrossFit competition this year. It may just end up being one put on by my box, depending on finances and how packed the local comps are (there are usually waiting lists; one competition's registration page crashed because too many people were trying to register). But I am using this movement checklist as a goal to shoot for. In order to do everything for the Amateur Division, I need to work on the following: Ball Slams (I'm pretty sure I can do these, but they've never come up in a WOD I've done) Box Jumps (Again, pretty sure I can do 20", but I have a little bit of a psychological block regarding box jumps. Need to work on it) Burpees - I am slow. Need to work on speed Double-Unders - Have yet to get one Overhead Squat - The most I've managed before has been about 30 lbs. Pull-ups - Yeah. Not so much yet. Push-ups - Can do them on the knees. Need to do full ones Knees to elbows - Again, not so much (yet!) Walking lunch front rack weight - Last time we did these I used the girl's bar with no weights. But my balance was wonky because I was extremely pregnant. This is a pretty long list. I may not get there this year, but I'm sure going to try. If I can make my workouts happen consistently, I know I'll see progress. Goals for this challenge in the next post!!!

This is my first challenge and I plan to crush it( always easy to say the first day lol)! Background: I have always been active and competed at some level in sports but after high school I had more trouble staying fit because I didn't have any competitions I could really compete in now that I'm an adult(see the thread running quandary for why). On top of that I was diagnosed with a neurological problem that essentially means anything my body regulates on is own has the potential to be out of whack(for me it's been blood pressure, and heart rate along with other things) . My symptoms have become much better recently and that has allowed me to start exercising more regularly. Also, a little over two months ago my husband and I were blessed with a beautiful little boy who keeps me on my toes. I don't want having a baby be an excuse to not be fit so here I am ready to be the exception to the rule. Let's do this, Leeeeerrooooy Jennkins!!! Challenge: To start training for a spartan race in April by doing high intensity body weight and weight training( when I can get to the gym) for a minimum of 30 minutes three times a week and running once a week. GOALS: Run three miles with a minimum of six miles an hour 90 second plank 5 pull ups and chin ups unassisted Life hack: Create a budget using a cash system

Hello Rebels! I'm a long-timer lurker and I'm about to pull out all these damn (awesome) underpants I've been gathering from Steve and start wearing them. My name is Erin and I'm 28. I live in Indianapolis, IN (originally from Muncie). About me: I had lap-band surgery in May 2011. I lost 97 lbs in 18 months and then got knocked up (on purpose). I just had my baby boy (Xander) this past May. I am now 4 months postpartum and only 20 lbs down from the 60 I gained during pregnancy. (I had some of the restriction removed from my band in order to increase my calories for pregnancy. I haven't gone back to get it re-filled, but I intend to in the next few months.) I am miserable and dying to get back under 200 lbs like I was just 13 months ago. I gave into my cravings during pregnancy and still haven't been able to say 'no' again like I could before. (Yes, I'm very upset with myself for this.) I have a blog that I have kept since before my lap-band surgery and throughout my pregnancy. I intend to use this during my Nerd Fitness-induced lifestyle change as well. Oh, and my username is inspired by The Boondock Saints. Goals: Transition to Paleo, start strength training, get healthy (with my husband), and set a better example for my baby so he doesn't grow up with the same food issues as I have. Why I'm Nerdy: I feel I'm not as (awesomely) nerdy as some people here. I do, however, enjoy Joss Whedon anything (my son's name is Xander, after all), bad puns, science fiction, Harry Potter, doing massive amounts of research on things I find interesting (hence my underpants collection), making lists, stand-up comedy, the Daily Show. How I'm getting started: The Husband and I are going grocery shopping on Friday (payday) and I am armed with multiple Paleo shopping lists that I will be picking and choosing from to best suit our household. I'm doing one goal at a time. Add more veg, weed out carbs, sweets, junk in general, and pop...wish me luck! Once I get into the groove of the paleo lifestyle, I will start my strength training. I also signed up for the Nerd Fitness Academy for Women and hope to get in on that! So that's me... I can't wait to get started!