Hey all!

[Acupunk]

This is an awesome site! I stumbled upon it looking for nutrition tips for an elimination diet that I decided to sign up for to help me tackle my allergies (and its a doozie: no eggs, no dairy, no wheat - and gliadin and gluten, no almonds and no peanuts) because I didn't know what to do! Taking on this elimination detox diet turned out to be a blessing in disguise because I found you guys! What an amazing, supportive community of geeks, seekers, dreamers and doers! Its turned on a spark of passion for me to challenge my existing running routine which seems to have fallen by the wayside in the last few months since I injured my ankle and foot (three times). I am so pumped because, after reading so many amazing stories of pure grit and determination here, I managed to push my awful slow 15-20 minute runs to 30 minutes straight in the last 2 weeks. I kept hitting walls with the 20 minute mark for 6 plus months and kept giving up by the time I hit 20. Since finding great tips (the paleo diet seems to be a perfect fit for me!!)  on how to eat better, my run times have improved. Just last week I found I ran almost 5K / 3.2 miles in 34 minutes! To my pleasant discovery, I am down to 3 miles (I don't know how many KM that is) in 25 minutes this week!!! So stoked! I just wished I had found you all earlier when I was really struggling last year but hey, I guess its never too late to start anything!  

[Guzzi]

12 hours ago, Acupunk said:

...I decided to sign up for to help me tackle my allergies (and its a doozie: no eggs, no dairy, no wheat - and gliadin and gluten, no almonds and no peanuts)....

 

Eeeeeeeeek!  That sucks!!!  

 

You’re right, it is a really great community on here, and there is sooooo much useful knowledge in articles on the main site too.  Are you planning on joining in the upcoming challenge?

[Acupunk]

Hey Guzzi!! Oh man, I can tell you I was crushed! I love eggs. I miss those the most on this diet. I am a lazy meat eater. That's why eggs and dairy made up most of my daily protein content (and what pairs well with cheese, cream cheese, fried eggs, fluffy scrambled eggs then....bread.....?). But I am finding really inventive ways to eat. And I'm discovering hemp, pumpkin, flax and sunflower seeds for my lazy days and learning to find fast ways of incorporating fish and chicken into my daily diet and its been awesome so far. Hahahaha.....let me see and check out the challenges! I just started with this site so far so it'll take me awhile to get a good feel for where to go in terms of fitness challenges. But I like what I see lots already (you guys are so encouraging on your posts!) I've already set some bars for myself because I love how I am doing with my stagnant running results since doing this new diet! I'm hoping to crush my 3.2 mile run time in under 25 minutes (its slow but I'm still re-learning the mechanics of running again) - I fell short 2 minutes and 0.2 miles yesterday making it only to 3 miles in 23 minutes (which I thought for the love of the gods I never thought I could do if you asked me a year ago). 

 

[Guzzi]

52 minutes ago, Acupunk said:

Hey Guzzi!! Oh man, I can tell you I was crushed! I love eggs. I miss those the most on this diet. I am a lazy meat eater. That's why eggs and dairy made up most of my daily protein content (and what pairs well with cheese, cream cheese, fried eggs, fluffy scrambled eggs then....bread.....?).

 

Ugh, yeah!  Poached eggs on toast is my vice (yeast is a killer for me so bread an beer  are luxuries) but I can’t help myself, it’s just soooo gooooood!

 

52 minutes ago, Acupunk said:

let me see and check out the challenges! I just started with this site so far so it'll take me awhile to get a good feel for where to go in terms of fitness challenges.

 

The great thing about the challenges is that you set your own goals and it can be anything that you want to work on.  The trick is to set really small, achievable goals because the point isn’t really to do something challenging but to create new habits that simply become your new baseline.  You think of your med/long term goals then think what small steps you can take to work towards them, so if you wanted to give up soda, for example, then you might make one of your goals to only drink water whilst at work, or that you have to alternate your drinks between soda and water, or to only have 1 soda a day (depending on how difficult this would be for you). 

 

It’s really effective, and kinda fun too!  

[Acupunk]

Awww you’re telling me!! Eggs are such a lux thing that I reward myself with when I “done good” with something in my life. Plus it lives in delicious items like cake and cookies. (& don't get me started with talking about beer because I have a soft spot for the new fruity - ok the really fruit frivolous kind! - stuff like radlers!) 

 

ok i I see how this could work with a challenge...intrigued now...I do have a goal which is the try and do the 5k / 3.2mi in under 30 minutes. 

 

I also have a mini checklist of stuff which is doing proper pushups (I am aiming for a mere 5 a week). I have chicken wrist arms so I’m not that confident but if I can do five in a week it’s a step forward. 

 

Drinking more more water is definitely something I do need to get a jump on. I’m already good with not drinking juice or root beer (that’s kryptonite for me) unless it’s a treat. I just love tea and coffee on my everyday days and would probably forego water for a tea mid afternoon. 

 

Where do i I put this in the challenge if I may ask? Now you got my curiosity going Guzzi! 

[Guzzi]

 

The main forum for the challenges is Here.  You will see sub-forums for all the Guilds but for your first challenge you should post in the Level 1 forum so that the Guild leaders know who you are and can offer help/support if you need it.  The Guilds are just ways of grouping people together with similar goals/exercise types, so you have the Warriors for weightlifters and powerlifters, Adventures for those who like to hike/climb/camp/kayak etc, Scouts for runners, and so on. 

 

There’s a really good article Here about the challenges, although it’s from the days when challenges were 6 weeks long, rather than the 4 weeks they are now. And there’s a good article on how to do push-ups properly Here if you’re interested.  

 

Before you start your challenge, I would give you one piece of advice.  If you set up your challenge as a pass/fail sorta thing then you run the risk of feeling like you have failed if things don’t go 100% right (and they never do btw) but if you set out from the start your margin of error, or a grading system (A= 5x per week, B= 4x per week, etc) then things can go wrong without it derailing your whole attempt. 

[Acupunk]

Hey Guzzi! I'm so sorry that my last reply to you never loaded! If I have been absent with no reply for this long, its because I'm a total ding dong when it comes to hitting reply properly and I hope you didn't think I got lost in space! 

 

I just wanted to thank you for being so helpful with the links and with the advice and wanted to write back to say that since I had a look through the suggestions on the guilds, pushups and challenges, I have started my first challenge and yes!! I'm excited to say that I have been doing my pushups  - yes I have found a modified version but I am aiming to get good form like the one in the instructional video (that was very helpful - thank you!)....

 

I still haven't picked a guild yet (starting to get worried if I should yet?)....I feel like a bit of a patchwork of all of them actually but I don't think I got the skills in any really to say I have a solid calling yet. Choosing a camp to call home sounds like a quest on it's own hahaha! 
 

I am taking your advice on not falling into the pass/fail category when it comes to approaching challenges. So far, I have done a modified grading system based off your awesome suggestion of grading a challenge. I now include a bonus round - such as if I do an extra set of pushups or extra plank or hold it longer, I award myself with a nice hot cup of barista coffee after the workout (something I have stopped doing to see how much I can save weekly now and which I reserve for the bonus round!). That's been very helpful actually in keeping me motivated! 

 

I wanted to say thank you for taking me by the hand when I first got started here - still here and actually contemplating (though no commitment yet), doing a Mudgirl Run in September this year. Its just 5K plus obstacles and I have a friend who is very enthusiastic about it......I just haven't hit the "yes! sign me up" button yet!   

[Guzzi]

8 hours ago, Acupunk said:

Hey Guzzi! I'm so sorry that my last reply to you never loaded! If I have been absent with no reply for this long, its because I'm a total ding dong when it comes to hitting reply properly and I hope you didn't think I got lost in space! 

Thants ok, I just assumed you were off being awesome elsewhere on the forum  

 

8 hours ago, Acupunk said:

I just wanted to thank you for being so helpful with the links and with the advice and wanted to write back to say that since I had a look through the suggestions on the guilds, pushups and challenges, I have started my first challenge and yes!! I'm excited to say that I have been doing my pushups  - yes I have found a modified version but I am aiming to get good form like the one in the instructional video (that was very helpful - thank you!)....

 

I still haven't picked a guild yet (starting to get worried if I should yet?)....I feel like a bit of a patchwork of all of them actually but I don't think I got the skills in any really to say I have a solid calling yet. Choosing a camp to call home sounds like a quest on it's own hahaha! 
 

Awesome!  I will check that out.

 

I think that the idea behind the guilds was originally that you would look at your goals at the start of each challenge post your thread in the guild that best matched up with those goals, so you would change guilds to suit your current goals.  There’s a lot of people who just aren’t into the guilds at all so they created the Rebels class for those who just don’t want to pick a guild.  It’s totally up to you whether you want to pick one class, hop around as your goals change, or just ignore the whole thing and just post in the Rebels forum. 

 

8 hours ago, Acupunk said:

I am taking your advice on not falling into the pass/fail category when it comes to approaching challenges. So far, I have done a modified grading system based off your awesome suggestion of grading a challenge. I now include a bonus round - such as if I do an extra set of pushups or extra plank or hold it longer, I award myself with a nice hot cup of barista coffee after the workout (something I have stopped doing to see how much I can save weekly now and which I reserve for the bonus round!). That's been very helpful actually in keeping me motivated! 

Nice motivation!  That kind of thing works for me (but then again so do completely made up, imaginary, not related to anything in real life, only exist on the internet points, lol!). 

 

8 hours ago, Acupunk said:

I wanted to say thank you for taking me by the hand when I first got started here - still here and actually contemplating (though no commitment yet), doing a Mudgirl Run in September this year. Its just 5K plus obstacles and I have a friend who is very enthusiastic about it......I just haven't hit the "yes! sign me up" button yet!   

Do iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!  

 

They look so much fun!  In a really painful, I-think-I’m-going-to-die kinda way.   

[Acupunk]

Haha, yeah I was doing quite a bit of reading on forums like diets / nutrition, running and of course - guilds! Found a lot of useful info (including a wonderful site that was bounced around called Strength Running). There's an awesome forum for vegans and vegetarians so this is good too! I feel like I've stumbled onto the wikipedia of smart fitness people and that's been a real treat 

 

Oh - I get it now! So guilds can be used to match up what your current health goals are (that makes total sense to me!). That's a whole lot easier than just choosing a guild to be...if I was a guild of my own, I'd probably be a Chameleon guild because I've always been a bit of everything but not always 100% of the one thing! Cool.....I guess my fitness goals are pretty small so I'm happy for now being in the newbie section but I'll work my way up to Scouts for running goals (unless a sorting hat pops up and tells me which house to belong to!) 

 

Oh man....I work well with being rewarded!! I did an extra set of 35 second planks twice yesterday (pushing myself to 40 seconds for two bonus rounds) and thoroughly intended to have a barista coffee afterwards...ironically the shop was closed   and I had to settle with a self given high five hahahaha! I'm starting pushups already (not glam looking or amazon strong) but they're half pushups on the knee and I managed ten! And because I was so stoked, I did another ten (almost saw the pearly gates of heaven by then but man was I pumped!)

 

Oh man - this Mudgirl run looks like fun. I think I managed to get to a 5K / 3.2 mile goal of mine but my goal would be to run it faster...under 30 mins instead of over it. I made it to 3.1 (just squeaked under 5K) in 30 minutes last night. I need a good playlist and that's what's going to be crucial. They do look like painful in a dear God, Jesus and Mary, why did I do this sorta way....but that's probably the reason to sign up and do it eh??  This chick is feeling stoked at the thought! 

[Cynforgiven]

Did you ever sign up for the mud run so I can commence being jealous of you? Have you already done it so I can REALLY be jealous?


~~~~~~~
Whether you decide you can or you decide you can’t, you’re right.

In a world of princesses, dare to be Batman.

[Acupunk]

@Cynforgiven no (sheepish face trying to smile while looking at her feet) not yet but I’m swriously teetering on the thought......hahahaha omg I wouldn’t be jealous of me! I’m such a super geek and nervous Nellie when it comes to serious life stuff! Seriously I’m like Amy Farrah Fowler on BBT trying to get ripped as I run (bwaaahahahahahaha!) - but it’s a cool thought to imagine her doing the Mudgirl Run! You certainly would be the first to know when I sign up ! I think submissions for race spaces in Toronto will commence soon (they’re doing cities outside of mine now)...oh yeah...forgot to mention, I’m in Canada - eh?! 

[Cynforgiven]

 

If you're anything like me , you'll nervous yourself out of participating and wish you had or you'll have 20 seconds of courage, sign up , and enjoy the hell out of it! If i was anywhere near Canada I would sign up with you :-) However, I'm probably as far as you can get and still be on the same continent. (Louisiana).  And of course I'm not anywhere near a city that would have something cool like that. The only ones I can think of that have held anything close are Houston and New Orleans and they're both around 3 hours away. 

So... please please please go sign up if for no other reason than so i an live vicariously through your adventures. :-D j/k  In the end it's your decision, but I really think you'll love it if you go. 

Keep us posted!

[Acupunk]

@Cynforgiven, haha!! You are indeed the battle cry for me! OK, when the sign ups start, I'll let you know when I sign my name and soul on the dotted line....you get cool gear for it too so I'll show you the loot when I get it (bandanas, badges and t - shirts - mostly PINK stuff which I love!!). Its all for a good cause so it'll be awesome (it raises money for cancer - I think breast cancer awareness) for everyone involved! Oh man....don't they organize cool stuff in Louisiana? I guess yeah maybe in the cities....its all good! I guess you can always construct your own obstacle course. I don't have one but sometimes I do what I call "People dodging" in the subway. Toronto's subways are always crowded and full of impatient people in suits and they walk in odd ways so I "dodge" them when they stop in the middle of a walkway or walk too slow but there are like a "zombie-horde-full" of them and I'm walking against stream. Gauntlet thrown down and challenge accepted!!!!!!!!   

[Cynforgiven]

@Acupunk In a totally unrelated side note... I have my phone set up to automatically sync and turn on Spotify when I start my car. The day after my previous post I got in the car to leave for work and Spotify starts playing "I Am Cow" by the Arrogant Worms (yes, I know I'm weird. Don't judge ) and I had to laugh at the coincidence. I kept laughing when just about every third song the whole way to work was the Arrogant Worms : The Last Saskatchewan Pirate, Carrot Juice Is Murder, Proud to be Canadian, History is Made by Stupid People, When Canada Rules The World, and lastly (the one that introduced me to the band) Canada's Really Big.  Just thought I'd share my weird coincidence with you 

[Acupunk]

@Cynforgiven !!!!! I’m dying bwwaaaahahahahahahahaha!!! I haven’t heard these songs but NOW I MUST HEAR THEM!! I am Cow! Oh dudette you kill me!!! Hahahahaha! I had such a crappy week this week and your post just put this bigass goofy smile on my face again! Thank you!!! . Hey I use Spotify for my workouts too! I sometimes (ok don’t judge) play old school stuff like “Peaches” by the Presidents of the United States of America! It’s such a riot (if you ever see the video there’s a scene in it with ninjas in a peach field!! It’s nuts!!). Ok now you know I’m am THE super geek! I need to add some of these songs to that goofy playlist now! On a woot woot note however, I must congratulate myself for getting my self out of bed early at 6am to do a 25 minute run and planks - even though I’m seriously PMS-Ing and dying for a cupcake! I ended up getting an oat milk misto instead for my treat and now am feeling pumped!! Aww man thanks for that laugh!! Hugs from sunny (it is sunny today here) Toronto!!!!