What are you working for?

[thescrawnycaveman]

Are you working out and eating better just for the sake of being healthy and avoiding illness in the future? Are you trying to look better for the ladies/men? Are you doing it all to be more useful in everyday life? etc.

I personally am trying to eat paleo and workout for overall fitness to eventually live in the woods (sort of like Thoreau, but more like Grizzly Adams. But of course without the murder charges). Eating what is in wilderness and training to be effective in finding those foods and surviving is what I am working for.

So what about you?

[Saggy Z]

To touch the sky.

Or at least as close as I can get. One of the main reasons I am doing is so that I can get fit enough to do parkour. Parkour to me looks like it is the closest thing to flying under your own power that man will be able to accomplish. As a child I would have dreams of leaping from the ground and soar through the air for miles before landing. I know I won't jump for miles but maybe I'll be able to jump twelve feet gaps and for a while at least I'll be flying.

[thescrawnycaveman]

Thats a really neat goal! Parkour is pretty sweet. Do you practice parkour at all right now or are you in the process of building the base fitness first? From what I know (which probably isn't much) as long as you are starting with the basics, its never too early to start practicing since quite a lot of it is body awareness and core.

[Saggy Z]

Mainly I've been focusing on building but the base first but I have been practicing the rolls. I'm familiar with the rolls mainly because of some martial arts training I had when I was younger. It will be a while I think before I can do the more advanced stuff but I will get there.

[Knightwatch]

To be a solid place for people to feel safe, something to hold onto when everythign else is shifting. Physicality is only one element of this, but it's definately a factor.

[Saggy Z]

To be a solid place for people to feel safe, something to hold onto when everythign else is shifting. Physicality is only one element of this, but it's definately a factor.

That is an admirable goal.

[Crooked]

I'm working to feel powerful. I've spent the past year sitting in front of a computer at my new desk job, spreading out and losing strength. I've also been having a ton of weird medical issues (PCOS, IBS, hypoglycemia) that I've never had before, and I'm tired of feeling like my body is out of my control. Doing Crossfit and eating paleo make me feel strong and capable; when I'm done with a workout, I feel like I have taken charge of my fitness and my health.

[Saggy Z]

I'm working to feel powerful...and I'm tired of feeling like my body is out of my control...when I'm done with a workout, I feel like I have taken charge of my fitness and my health.

I understand completely! I've felt like this most of my life but I had a paradigm shift and now I want complete control of my body and health.

Take charge and excel!

[theanne]

I'm with Saggy, including the childhood dreaming. I originally got inspired to be healthy and fit so that I can practice parkour. I'm still working on base fitness though, so no real parkour practice for me! I did try to start with rolls (practiced for a couple of weeks) but at my level of non-fitness and no previous rolling experience I think I'm just not flexible/strong enough to do one accurately yet.

I do focus on things that I know will be useful come the right time so that when I go to try it, the movements themselves won't be so new - I'll just be applying them actively instead of in reps through a workout. Like pushups, leg-ups, pull-ups (ha) and such things.

Now that I've started I've really gotten into the whole thing as a lifestyle and being beneficial in all ways. I want to feel capable and competitive with my more athletic friends (something I've never felt). I want people to look at me and go "Damn, she did something right" after years of them probably thinking about how I let myself go and don't take care of myself. And I'd like to feel confident during the more, uh, intimate moments of life instead of feeling self conscious - which is kind of a mood killer.

But when it really comes down to it I want to ACTUALLY BE badass like I always wanted to be.

[Saggy Z]

@theanne To quote a wise man "You can do it!" Well maybe not wise.

[Wolfman]

To be a solid place for people to feel safe, something to hold onto when everythign else is shifting. Physicality is only one element of this, but it's definately a factor.

I love this answer.

My wife and I are trying to have a kid. When I think about being a father, I think about being someone's hero (as my dad was to me) and being worthy of that role in someone's life. As Knight watch said, the physical element is just a part of this goal but it's definitely a big part.

[Raincloak]

I am secretly dreaming of a particular, physically demanding job which I will probably never get. (Being a girl, I am physically smaller than most of the competition, which is good because my desired employer practices "equal rights" hiring, but it's bad because I have to lift the same weight as guys who are much bigger.) But there is just enough chance of getting it to keep following the stick in hopes of finding a carrot. Also, because I was hoping that working out would take my mind off how much I hate the rest of my life. So far, it hasn't, but at least I'm getting a little stronger meanwhile. (My life doesn't really suck that bad, all things considered, but let's just say I'm digging my way out of a place I don't want to be in.) I'm also keeping my fingers crossed for these pledged good looks and increased confidence to turn up. I want heads to turn when I wear a sleeveless top or a short dress.

I'm a bit disappointed that all my current fitness role models are male, but I'm keeping an eye out for a suitable female idol.

[theanne]

Raincloak, no chance you will share your secret dream job? My curiosity is peaked

[Crooked]

Rainclock, may I recommend Neghar Fonooni? Her blog is here: http://www.negharfonooni.com/ - she is a personal trainer and a veteran, and she is a rockstar.

Also, she looks like this:

[thescrawnycaveman]

@knightwatch, Fantastic goal! Keep it up and stay strong!

@theanne, I understand what you mean. Being a lanky skinny boy, I wasn't exactly first pick for many sports. So I definitely get what you mean with keeping up with the friends in sports. Also I really hope that you succeed in your goals and raise your self esteem some. I had a conversation with a friend of mine who played football for Notre Dame. He invited me to play a pickup game of football with him and a few more highly athletic people. I asked him how he thought a skinny unfit wimp like myself could even begin to compete with them? He said it didn't really matter how fit I was, "its all about your confidence in yourself. If you think you can do it, you will do it". Its a little corny but I find the more confident I am, the better I do at anything.

@Wolfman, that is exactly why I do not want a kid. I can't imagine living up to how I saw my father to my kid. Best of luck making a kid! And don't forget to enjoy the process too >.>

Raincloak, put that job at the top of your bucket list and do everything within your power (that isn't unethical) to succeed and get that job, whatever it is. Since when has being a woman been an excuse to not get something you want? (other than girls in love with gay dudes. That is pretty much hopeless). Good luck with your progress, good luck with getting your body, and I hope you find your way out of your hole as well. Keep your head up and keep trudging on.

[Timmy M]

when i was younger i properly despised how my body was i wasn't even that fat tbh i was just massively out of shape, i always ran up the stairs but was breathing really heavily after that and growing up with goku as you're hero you get a certain impression of what you should be aiming for, right now i'm not training to be big, just really really strong and be able to throw myself around with ease as well as, as knightwatch said, to have a physicality, a strong place for people to be around, all my family who still live in my town are ectomorphy sort of build and as the oldest (now that my brothers moved away but he's still tiny and thin) i feel the need to be there for my cousins, i look fairly big compared to them but i know i'm not i just want the ability to stand up and be accounted for, to live a long strong and fun life with those i love don't we all?

also @raincloak my cousin who's a few months younger than me (female) weighs about 46kg is 5 foot somats tiny and without training and being a vegetarian used to casually carry around the 18kg cases of cans of coke when she used to work at kfc, suffice to say she's a little brute

[Knightwatch]

I'm a bit disappointed that all my current fitness role models are male, but I'm keeping an eye out for a suitable female idol.

There are a number of Crossfit "celebrities" that might fit the bill. This video is filled to the brim with certified badasses.

http-~~-//www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTTP8gsJPd0

Check out ladies like...

Miranda Oldroyd:

Camille Leblanc-Bazinet (aka: my Crossfit celeb crush/future wife?? ):

Annie Thorisdottir:

And countless others. Don't worry, the role models are out there. I'm thrilled with the whole "strong is the new skinny" movement. Amen.

[Brometheus]

@Knightwatch -- the only scary thing about watching that video is realizing that all of them can kick my butt...

[CapN_Tommy_Sunshine]

@Knightwatch -- the only scary thing about watching that video is realizing that all of them can kick my butt...

I have thought that about some of these videos too (their ability to kick MY butt, I don't think I have ever thought of women kicking YOUR butt (but I guess I just did -- damn you for putting that thought in my head!)).

[Brometheus]

I have thought that about some of these videos too (their ability to kick MY butt, I don't think I have ever thought of women kicking YOUR butt (but I guess I just did -- damn you for putting that thought in my head!)).

Someone had to say it!

But yes, I love that strong is the new skinny. Because you know what? strong is hot. Oh, and the t-shirt isn't bad either!

[thescrawnycaveman]

I can't say I'm a huge fan of ripped women. At a certain point they begin to look more manly than feminine. Not to say women shouldn't be strong, but I don't want to date a woman whose pumped up with more testosterone than me. It's just weird to me.

[Saggy Z]

I'd have to agree with thescrawnycaveman. I love a woman that is fit and in shape. Generally they have a confidence and a glow about them. But something about a woman that has abs that you could grate nutmeg on turns me off. I guess I like a little bit of extra cushion when I'm squeezing. That's to be taken literally I give really tight hugs.

[injex]

For me it's multiple reasons.

I guess the first and foremost reason is, business.

I want to keep on successfully withstanding any kind of stress, I want to keep on being as productive as possible.

Another big reason is my social anxiety.

I know I'm apparently quite a great guy, ever since I left my homecountry to pursue a games industry career, I hardly met anyone who didn't like me. Yet thanks to all the mobbing I had to withstand during childhood, I can't open myself up enough to anyone, to consider them friends. With working out and getting some sort of shape, I sort of want to "erase" the "old me", who used to get mobbed.

And of course, women.

So far I only had relationships that went deeper than friendships, only with women who were, to put it in american slang, kokoo bananas.

With a better me, that's something that also should change to a more normal route. Hopefully.

[Alethea]

I want to live a fantasy novel. Seriously, fantasy characters are so self-sufficient, capable, and master their world instead of just moving through it - they lead my ideal life. I want to build a life that is simple, and satisfying, and physical. I want to be self-sufficient, gather and cook my own food, do daily forms to keep my body and mind strong (I am part of a 5000 year old spiritual order that gathers in groups to master our bodies and recognize the light of creation in ourselves and eachother), explore my world, and pull my own weight, regardless of the circumstance.