'Roos SMASH

['Roos]

Greetings!

On the interwebs I am known as 'Roos, a 24 yr old (female) scientist in the midwest. I've been nosing around the board, and it seemed like time to post an introduction.

My story: Growing up I was the antithesis of an athelete. I ran when chased (still true), and was both uncoordinated and hilariously prone to injury. The times have changed and over the years I've been seriously into horse-back riding (great core work!), western martial arts(legs and arms!), Yoga, Tai Chi, Sailing, hiking and currently swing dancing. In spite of an active lifestyle (most weeks I'm out dancing at least two to three nights a week for several hours) I'm what I'd call a functional fatty - overweight but able to keep up with the fit kids for the most part. Like the great man said, you get fit to dance, you don't dance to get fit.

But I'd like to see how awesome I can be. If I can dance for 12 hours a day now, how much could I do if I lost the un-necessary fat that hangs around with me and got a bit more flexible/strong?

The diet is the first thing in the works for change - I've waffled over consuming and banning processed sugar from my life for YEARS, and I realize more and more that it needs to go completely and for good. This is one of my first goals. Additionally, I've been reading papers about interval training and resolved that I could do ANYTHING for 20 minutes a day, if it would improve my cardiovascular health, and sprints seem like the most relevant exercise method to my life anyway (running to the metro, running out the door, running after the cat, running after the boyfriend, running from muggers, etc). Finally, I would like to take up a core routine. I know, general lifting would do that for me, but in general I feel strong enough for my everyday activities - it's the core stuff that gets me. Additionally, I know it would help in dance, both in injury prevention and balance/poise above and beyond what I have now.

Nerdage: I'm a professional scientist, scifi nut, sometimes medieval recreationist, sometimes vintage fanatic, sometimes video game addict.

My superpowers include cooking under combat conditions. I've been on a variety of strange and restrictive diets over the years (largely due to allergies of people I was living with/attempting to discern if I myself had allergies) and I can come up with menus avoiding nearly any ingredients (except fats - that I just don't believe in) which are awesomely satisfying. If it's edible, I've probably tried to cook and eat it. Which may not be a good thing...

Short term goals:

Begin interval training 3x/wk increasing to 20 minutes as described in Trapp et al.

Cut out processed sugar from my diet an maintain for at least three weeks

Practice my 'old faithful' core routine 3x/wk

Long term goals:

Hook up with the local Parkour group

Decrease body fat content

Finish my PhD (three years in!)

Get fit enough to ride in cross-country horse treks

Sail around the world

Do a pullup (I have never in my life been able to even come close)

See how awesome I can be

[CapN_Tommy_Sunshine]

Hey, welcome to the Rebellion! With this intro, I am sure you will fit in great.

[Kristen]

Hey there! Welcome! Where are you studying?

Oh, and Midwestern girls ftw!

['Roos]

I am in a Computational and Systems Biology program, and my thesis research involves environmental influences in congenital heart defects.

Thanks for the Welcomes guys!