As a fellow nerd and former athlete, I struggled my whole life with trying to be in my best physical shape while wanting nothing more than to binge books and video games for hours and hours straight. I went from one fitness extreme to the other nerd extreme, never really finding balance (I still haven't!). Trying to find that happy medium in a world of too much work, too many obligations, too many hobbies, too much good food, too much societal pressure, too much social media… we are living in excess all the time. 

Maybe I should tell you a little about myself? I have always been a reader and gamer, starting with PC free games of the 80s and 90s (raise your hand if you remember free shareware? Commander Keen, Duke Nukem, Cosmos Cosmic Adventure anyone?) and original Nintendo games, then progressed to more in depth games like Might and Magic, Baldur's gate, and epic book series from Anne McCaffery, Mercedes Lackey, and Tamora Pierce (and of course who can forget Harry Potter!).  With that came the awkward shyness, which led to bullying, eating disorders, and more. I discovered that I had a bit of natural strength and athletic ability, and started beating the boys in middle school physical fitness testing. I was like, "OMG! I'm actually GOOD at something!" That led to gymnastics, and later high school competitive cheerleading (laugh if you must, but those girls are BEASTS and don't ever forget it). 

Now don't get me wrong, I am LAZY. I love sitting and vegging, but I also loved beating people. I started to idolize strong, but underrated female book characters like Alanna of Trebond, Katniss Everdeen, Talia of Valdemar, and started playing female characters in video games with strong classes (hunter, warrior, ranger, etc).  In college, I started out as a History major because my dream job was, and still is, to be Indiana Jones, but that involved a LOT of sitting and reading.  I already did too much of that, so I changed my major to Kinesiology with an emphasis in clinical exercise physiology (basically how exercise can prevent and help SO SO MANY things). I went on to get my Master's in Sports Performance and Injury Prevention. 

Speaking of fitness extreme…I still massively struggled with body image issues, so I decided to compete in figure/bodybuilding as a way to keep myself in my best physical shape (i.e keep myself in check. If you too struggle with body image issues…..absolutely do NOT do this!) I trained ladies in figure/bodybuilding for a short while, but for me, I hated contributing to an ideology for women that your worth is based on your physical appearance. It is absolutely not, and fuck anyone who thinks so. 

In 2008 I started working for the Marine Corps as a fitness specialist, and that is where I am today, heading programs designed to help our active duty servicemembers be more tactically fit and keep them injury free. But my passion still lies with people like me, living in their geeky Fandoms, just wanting to be better and idolizing their heroes, but fighting that pressure to escape to their alternate reality and leave this one behind.

Oh also cosplay! I like cosplay.