As with anything F3, if there is no Backblast, it didn’t happen, so I present to you the 2016 The Fort Fuel Challenge Backblast. Before I go further, a disclaimer is warranted:

I am not a professional… I don’t do nutrition for a living, but I do like to eat and try to eat healthy. Also, the title “Omnivore’s Dilemma” is from an excellent book by Michael Pollan. Like most things F3, we don’t create, we simply take what works, modify as needed, and throw away what doesn’t.

Omnivore’s Dilemma

Now that we have that out of the way, what is the Omnivore’s Dilemma? Let’s take it in reverse with an illustration. A Koala bear’s diet decisions are easy… He lives and breathes eucalyptus leaves. He knows his mission in life is to find a nice Koala babe and a lush field of eucalyptus trees to be set up for retirement. A Koala doesn’t have to make decisions on his diet, either the current tree has leaves or he moves on to the next.

Now, we humans are omnivores and we get to enjoy amazing variety of food. This is a great benefit to us, but at the same time a huge problem. What is good for you to eat? What will give you the fuel to make it throughout the day but not have adverse side effects?

What to eat? What is ok? What is not?

I personally believe that the base program is reasonably solid. No Fast Foods, No Fried Food, No Processed Snacks, No Dessert, No Soda/Sweet Tea, No Cheese (i actually have a problem with this one), and No Cream Based Dressings. All of these with the exception of the cheese, have at least one thing in common: Junk Calories. Cutting the junk means you have more room for the good. But the biggest problem people seem to have is with the “Definition of Processed Foods”. My initial response is “If it has ingredients you cannot confidently pronounce, then it is probable processed”. Someone else had an even better approach that was discussed over the span of the challenge: “Stay on the walls of the grocery store”. Meats, Veggies, Perishables. All these are typically on the outside wall of the Grocery Store…. sounds like a good habit to continue.

Sustainability

Buzz-word alert… but I think it is applicable here. Here is a quote from High Life:

“I admit to slacking every couple of days on the challenge (in small doses), but it’s part of my strategy to make this a sustainable change long-term. I was starting to feel too restricted on a day-to-day basis, so I allowed myself small amounts of banned substances. This has given me the ability to manage without feeling like I am going insane.”

I will second this, by even going so far as to feeling extremely guilty when I had a cheat (yes it did happen), to the point where I started to wonder if this is what people with Eating Disorders feel like.

This type of program is “fine” for 6 weeks but is not sustainable. It may be obvious, but I feel I still need to say it: “This is not a long term diet”. Professional Athletes and Actors going through grueling training to get a certain body type may be able to stick to this sort of diet, but they have incentive (7 figure salary?) that we don’t have and even for them it has to end at some point (the movie is over, or the offseason, etc).

The main point here is that you set yourself up for failure if you think this is a standard that can be kept in perpetuity. Again, read the disclaimer above.

I will comment that personally for me the last two weeks were the hardest. Not because of the things that were removed, but just that I could hardly force myself to eat more chicken. While I realize it is a “First world problem”, variety is necessary.

On the same note of sustainabily, there were a few bonus challenges that I threw out there that I know some of the PAX participated in. I will leave with one statement: Intermittent Fasting seems to make a difference, but it sure is hard.

NMM

So, I definitely feel there was impact, which I personally felt in two ways.

First, I did feel stronger and healthier. I could tell that my energy level increased. My mental clarity improved. Others reported similar findings and I think most everyone would agree that cutting out the junk is going to make a difference (again, read the disclaimer).  This is the “Queen” to the “King” S3T2.

Second, the last two weeks were incredibly tough. Personally I think the primary reason is that there was less chatter about the challenge, which made it a personal struggle instead of a group struggle. I supposed I could have marketed more, but I can only yell Food Challenge into the Twitter void with no answer so many times before I become a Fuel Nazi. Bottom line, this, like many things in life, is not easy when you do it alone.

Lastly, I want to thank all the PAX who showed up with Family for the last minute planned 2ndF at my place. It was a most excellent time and I hope we can have another one soon #glue.

If/When we do this again, I think we will overhaul the whole thing… but I am not ready for that yet.

Honor to serve.

When YHC was thinking of starting a running group Sunday mornings, before going to Church, I was thinking me and my close knit group of #HIMS would post and be a steady core group.

Little did I know my core group of #HIMS would be so large.

I was so overwhelmed this morning with the turnout I that I forgot to record the COT  nameroma, which we do a little different in the hills-of-gloom #HOG  we do our praises and prayers and counting at the beginning of workout, because of different level of runners and milage pax prefer to run and will end at different times.

With a whopping 20 pax from all areas of the Fort region posting this morning and with time change making it a little easier to fartsack, they didn’t. They took the challenge of running of the hills of gloom

F1 

Half the pax ran the trails 6 plus miles the other half ran the roads of riverwalk and down the bridge and back. With 4 to 6 plus miles

And special rucksack by my brother Rocktrill. An always welcome smile at the end.

F2

The Grapevine has turned in to a great gathering point for the past 3 weeks. And the brothership is to die for. It’s well worth the pain, sweat, snot, and spit you had been producing the past hour running the hills-of-gloom.

F3

Leaving the AO with the feeling of satisfaction of accomplishment and camaraderie of your brothers. Heading home to shower, wake the M and head to Church to praise SkyQ for keeping us healthy happy and humbled

The announcement:

P200 this weekend if not participating please post to your local AO or travel to another region and meet new pax!!!

Don’t be hoarders of your religion spread the word of your passions.

April 9 Saint Ann’s nun run 5k Twister QIC

Look for up coming #Csaup events Hog and coyote, worlds fastest 5K, and still being sorted out, Suck it up buttercup at Old Towne AO site Q Posh QIC…

Thanks to all pax posting through the week and weekend. The numbers are strong, and don’t be hoarders of F3nation if you love it share it. Every man needs F3

Aye!!!  Apache!!!

This was Smiley Faces VQ, I am honored to be able to do a write up which will not serve justice to the word that he provided throughout today. I am also honored to have been one of the “Sad Clowns” that was personally “Turkey Punched” by Smiley to Join F3. It was very rewarding to be a part of one of my best mentor’s and my Best Man from my wedding VQ.

Disclaimer
Smiley started with a great disclaimer, he talked about what brings us out to this thing called F3. He spoke into what it means to be a #HIM, and what makes this group so special. He also spoke about working to make his family stronger physically and mentally while he has been gone from F3.

Time for a little Mosey to our favorite fountain.

The Thang
10x Derkins on the fountain
10x Dips on the fountain
10x Irkins on the fountain

Another Mosey this time down to the lower part of ManU. Side Story my first workout Smiley brought me out to was at ManU. There was a hill that broke me down and I felt like I was going to pass out. Well we returned to that infamous hill today. Months later Smiley gave me the opportunity to see how far I have come.

Partner Up
Partner one bear crawls up hill and performs 10 squats, then back down the hill
Partner two starts LBC’s
Rinse and Repeat until you reach 200 LBC’s

Mosey over to Wendy’s Parking lot

Wendy’s Pick up order
Partner’s run around Wendy’s, After they pickup their “Order”(Choose a workout) They bring it back for the group to perform. The next partner pairing goes while the other perform the “Pickup Order” continue until all pairs have gone.

Exercises Performed:
Squats
Merkins
Dry docks
Side straddle hop
Al Gore
Plank
Leg stretches

Smiley then had each set of partners face each other, and focus on the reason that we are here. The why and how we are #HIM all relates back to our relationship with Jesus. We are able to come as we are broken, and be led by a savior that takes us for who we are.

Smiley provided some powerful scripture for us to dwell on:
Colossians 2:6-7
So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

Mosey to Dick’s Sporting Good’s

At this point our arms we starting to feel the work out and our legs were happy just carrying us along. Well Smiley took that into consideration just in time.

10 Count Wall Sits
10 Squats
Rinse and Repeat Add 10 Squats each round for three rounds.

Smiley then encouraged us as #HIM with this:
Philippians 4:13
I can do all this through HIM(Christ) who gives me strength.

One thing that you will notice in the two scriptures that Smiley brought is the keyword “HIM”.

Mosey Back to COT
Time left on the clock, we went round robin among the Pax

Exercises:
Side straddle hops
Superman
Dry docks
Cherry Pickers
Merkins
Spanish Rosilitas
Protractors
American hammers

Announcements
Children’s attention home, this Saturday, Check the Newsletter
Maltz challenge – Tomorrow 5am at NAFO. Check Newsletter for details or tweet @F3RockHill

Prayers
Smiley – Small group member going through a rough patch
Van Damm – men’s retreat coming up with elevation, reach out to him and Bogey if you are interested. Many men have come to christ through this yearly retreat.
Choir Boy’s Family uncle passed
Italian Job – family friends working through medical complications
Catfish – family member passing
Men’s families – dealing with work problems
Tinker Toy – Dealing with Calf Strain
Praise – number of guys coming out, P200 team seems to be ready to go

Again it was an honor to be led by Smiley Face, there was so many nuggets of wisdom that I probably failed to write here. If you ever get a chance to spend time with Smiley Face know two things: The Lord is very present in his life, and be prepared to be encouraged by the word of our father.

This morning 3/8/16 was a special morning. It was the soft start for a group of men that have taken the f3nation thing to the next level.

The York men started there first weekday workout on this great gloom morning with Royale doing the warm up and RealTree’s VQ was like a real pro…

The warm up was a series of all our favorites in cadence and 25 each

SSH

ITALIAN NIGHT CLUBS

MERKINS

MOUNTAIN CLIMBERS

And then Royale handed it off to RealTree. And let the fun begin

Mosey around the back side of the yorkU halls of pain. Received a 10 count from drifter and we were given the rules of engagement from realtree and this is how it went

A ladder series of LT. Dan’s!! Really don’t know how I have over looked this jewel of a beatdown in the exercises, but even Apache gets school every once in awhile!!!

20 merkins at one of the halls of pain and then perform 20 lbc at the other end after doing the LT. Dan’s down and sprinting back. Did 4 rounds until we reached the magic #5 for merkins and lbc.

Was asked to give a ten count while Royale gave us a run down of the five principles of and F3 workout.

Then balls to the wall. 10 merkins at 10 degrees, 10 merkins at 33 degrees, and 10 merkins at 90 degrees

Mosey back to AO for 4.38 mins of AP work royale style with the Drifter throwing some awesome ap work at the end. Awesomenessin the gloomness.

Thanks to the brothership  from Chappie, drydock, Drifter, Legoland, Royale, and the awesome beatdown from Realtree really impressed with his VQ and site Q soft start..

Closed in the COT with alot of praises and special prayers for love ones and friends dealing with death and sickness.

Aye!! Apache!!

The Boys of Summer are taking the field and F3 Dads will be there in force on Saturday May 14th. Load up the 2.0s and leave mom with a good book and a bottle of wine as we kick off the Summer of Sixteen at BB&T ballpark. We have a large block of tickets reserved for the game against our cross-state rivals the Durham Bulls.

Tickets are on sale now through April 28th! Don’t wait. This will sellout.

Who: F3 Dads from across the F3Nation and 2.0s of all ages.

What: Charlotte Knights vs. Duham Bulls

When: 6:05pm, Saturday May 14th

Where: BB&T Ballpark

Why: 2nd F – Making memories; Building character; Having Fun

How much: $12 per ticket; pre-game cookout in the park is free to every person with an F3 Dads Jersey

PURCHASE NOW:

1.Visit www.ticketreturn.com

2.Login at top left corner with Username: f3dads and Password: tickets

3.Select your seats by clicking the box next to the tickets you want

4.Scroll to bottom and click “Confirm Selected Single Tickets”

5.The next page provides confirmation, click “Proceed to Checkout”

Select your delivery method and enter your payment information

It was my humbling honor to lead 18 PAX this morning at #EaglesNest. It was great to see some old faces and new! The almost 50° weather this morning made for near perfect conditions as we gathered before the 5:15 blast off.

There was a little mumblechatter, some talk about the Q schedule (Apache was assisting the launch down in York this morning) and YHC stumbled through the disclaimer. At 0515 (according to my time, Italian Job’s iPhone had to be wrong!) we took off at a moderate pace to the fountain on campus. Along the way we convinced a runner that passed us by to join us, I don’t think he fully understood what he was getting into as he departed as quickly as he joined. Hopefully he’ll post with us next week, every man needs this group of #HIMS with him in the gloom!

After a COP that included some windmills, merkins, mountain climbers, Moroccan night clubs and imperial walkers we moseyed to the field. Each pax picked a rock and a partner for some Dora 1, 2, 3.

The first round was 100 merkins, 200 SSH’s & 300 LBC’s, the runner went up the hill – with his coupon! There was a quick 10 count by Reborn before we rinsed and started over.

The second round was 100 tricep ext (w/rock), partner went up the hill and back (sans rock), 200 curls (w/ rock), partner went up the hill & back (w/ rock), 300 squats (w/ rock), partner dropped the rock and ran a big loop up the stairs around and back down the other side.

We wrapped up in just enough time to return our coupons and make it back to COT.

I challenged the PAX to carve out 10-15 mins a day for quiet time, for reflection in the Word, on His Word and prayer. If nothing else find a few moments for quiet, for reflection. Guide your ship before the winds of the world blow you off of your course.

I, also, challenged them to bring out an FNG – they all need it, they just don’t know it yet!

As always, it was an honor to Q – especially with a group this large! wow!

Catfish … out!

9 PAX from across the region joined YHC for a 2^nd F Lunch today at Jason’s Deli. We represented AOs from Rock Hill, Fort Mill, Metro, and Davis Lake. As a reminder, we’ll meet the first Friday of every month at 11:30 (same bat time, same bat channel). Join us!

Fusion arrived early and posted up a table for the rest of us. He and Trucker bonded over talk of craft brews. I see a brewmance in the making. The Riddler made an appearance before a lunch meeting called him back to work. This guy lives the dream – jeans, untucked shirt, and some Chuck Taylors. Lucky joker…er, Riddler. Good to see The Farm cross Tryon to join the PAX in Center City. Farm leads some Davis Lakes workouts and posts 6 days a week. He and I are working on getting together at WEP one Saturday and bringing some FNGs with us. True #HIM. What Did made connections with the RH guys. Apparently he and Riddler ran The Yeti together. Dark Helmet rolled in late (that’s what happens when you’re a big shot CEO), but that didn’t stop the manager from comping his meal and bringing him a little chocolate pudding on the side. Not sure what DH did to warrant that, but he looked awful happy about a free meal. If we get the manager to post, I say we name him Cosby because of the pudding cups, not because of the roofies. I didn’t get a chance to talk to Nuke, but he was in good company with DH and What Did. Egypt from Metro joined us late into lunch. He apparently came in, didn’t recognize us, sat on the periph, and introduced himself as some of us left. I’m thinking there should be a term added to the lexicon for sneaking into an event, lurking in the shadows, sitting in BFE, then making his presence known once the crowd dies down. Let’s call that “pulling an Egypt” or just “BFE.” This also led to a good conversation about the need for a mini shovel flag to mark the tables so Egypt and his Metro bros aren’t left out of the F2 fun. Keep your eyes out for a small potted plant with an even smaller shovel. Make it so, Dark Helmet.

I think that is all. We’ll do it again April 1. Join in if you can.

Thirteen of Rock Hill and the Fort’s finest gathered Thursday morning for a workout that ended up embodying what F3 is all about. Its commonly said that:

• The First F (Fitness) is the Magnet
• The Second F (Fellowship) is the Glue
• The Third F (Faith) is the Dynamite

I stepped up to lead this morning because Mailman has a ton on his plate. We’ve had a ton of growth in the last two months in Rock Hill, averaging at least 1 FNG a week since January 1. I wanted to give a few of those FNGs a chance to lead–and Waterboy stepped up to lead the warmup.

Warmup (Waterboy) (All In Cadence)

• Windmill x 20
• Moroccan Night Club x 20
• Merkin x 10
• SSH x 20
• LBC x 20

Tclaps to Waterboy for stepping up with everything going on. I have a feeling he’s going to lead some tough Q’s down the road.

Handoff to Schrute

Mosey over to the Hill behind TJ Maxx

Bear Crawl up the Hill, Crawl Bear down the Hill, Crawl Bear up the hill, Bear Crawl down the Hill.

Mosey over to Events at Manchester Building for some four corners.

At each corner, complete 10 of the exercise, then move to the next corner and repeat. Plank for the 6.

Exercises:

• Lap 1: 10 merkins at each corner
• Lap 2: 10 burpees at each corner
• Lap 3: 10 squats at each corner
• Lap 4: 10 bombjacks at each corner
• Lap 5: 10 calf raises at each corner

Plank up after each lap and wait on the 6.

Mosey over to the side of the Books-a-Million building.

People’s Chair with all 13 Pax counting down from 10. (YHC thought everyone would count fast–but some counted at a Tinker Toy pace)

Mosey back to COT for one bit of final goodness. We had 3 minutes remaining–so we did 3 minutes of Tabata Jump Squats. (30 seconds of jump squats, as many as you can do, followed by 30 seconds rest, Rinse and Repeat until time is up).

Throughout the workout–we had lots of 1st and 2nd F. Especially when Apache made sure to find out each Pax’s home town and talk about how we were going to start a workout there. That was clearly a glue moment.

Announcements:

• Check the newsletter for everything going on
• Turbine has a team for Spartan Race
• Popeye’s 40th birthday celebration on Saturday
• F3 5 year celebration

Prayers:

I heard a sermon this week challenging us to “not be afraid of the dark.” The sermon was relating Jesus’ walk to Calvary to us walking through the dark. One of the points that was made that our children are so full of life because they are constantly trying new things. We, on the other hand; get caught in our day to day routine and stop growing. My challenge was for the Pax to try something new, whether it be a CSAUP, Whetstone, or other thing.

Apache asked for prayers for some situations he is going through.

Waterboy spoke about several things going on in his life:

• His MIL’s house flooding a few weeks ago due to a busted Water Heather
• His wife’s uncle missing (edit: he was found later Thursday morning)
• The anniversary coming up of his father’s death (who was a #HIM in all definitions of the phrase)

We ended with laying hands on Waterboy and praying for him and all the Pax as we finished this morning.

Kudos to all the men for posting this morning. Great to see Van Wilder back this morning, Blueprint, Reborn, and Choir Boy may be some of the fastest FNG’s (Fairly New Guys) that we’ve had, York continues to crush it, Water Boy and Bull keep getting stronger and stronger, Catfish, Turbine, and Popeye are ridiculously fast (#youarerunners), Apache is the king of mumble chatter, and its always a pleasure to see Deacon cross the river (#HIM). You all made me better this morning, and I’m grateful.

We started the morning with the 1st F (the magnet), got plenty of the 2nd F (the glue), and finished with the 3rd F (the dynamite) this morning. What an amazing morning it was! Thanks to all the Pax for the privilege of leading!

The Thang

12 hardcore Pax showed up to take on the Gauge led beat down at PHOP.

Warm up : Mosey around the church and then circle up for 20 seal jacks, 20 Moroccan Night Clubs, and 20 Imperial Walkers.

Mosey to the front of the church and the real fun starts.

Alternating ladder:  1 burpee and 1 V situp then 2 burpees and 2 V situps…3…4…5.  Then back down 4…3…2..1.

Short mosey to back of church for 2 rounds of power skips and broad jumps.

5 burpees then a bear crawl to other end of field followed by 5 squats and a reverse bear crawl back. 1 lap mosey around the church.

5 double burpees then lunge walk to other end of field followed by 5 squats an a lunge walk back.  1 lap mosey around the church.

5 triple burpees then crab walk to other end of field followed by 5 squats and a crab walk back.  Mosey to front of church.

Another round of the burpee and V sit up ladders to finish the workout.

The mumble chatter was in full force with Apache and CSPAN leading that charge.  Awesome group of Pax that provided the push and the pull all the way.  Great to have brothers from Fortmill, Rock Hill, and York all working together to make each other better.

Lots of prayers and praises and great words from Tinker Toy to take us out.

Welcome to the brotherhood Hot Sauce.

It was an honor to lead this group of High Impact Men.

@F3theFort Annual Maltz Challenge Friday 3/11/16 @Varsity

Event Info:     A memorial workout event/salute to those who have been KIA

Because @F3TheFort our common belief is that all US KIA deserve our gratitude and tribute.

2016 Heroes:    MSGT Michael Meltz USAF – KIA 3/23/03 (Long Island, NY)

Cpl. Christopher Ebert USMC – KIA 9/17/07 (Mooresboro, NC)

Lance Cpl. Travis A. Fox – KIA 10/30/04 (Cowpens, SC)

When:            The 2016 Maltz Challenge will be conducted on Friday, March 11th.

0500 BOM, warm-up and course review

0515 Maltz Challenge

NAFO HS USMCJROTC

1400 A O Jones Blvd

Fort Mill, SC 29715

@F3theFort Maltz exercises are (self timed):

1.        400 meter run (1 lap around track)
2.        50 pull-ups (consecutive = don’t leave station until complete)
3.        200 yard Farmer’s Walk with 50 lbs. around bus loop in front of ROTC building
4.        50 dips in table stance w/ one leg up
5.        100 push-ups
6.        400 meter run (1 lap around track)
7.        50 heels to heaven (leg lifts 10 degrees to 90 degrees)
8.        100 Squats
9.        100 Sit-ups
10.        400 meter run (1 lap around track)

Encourage your brothers as they finish, and all fitness levels are encouraged to participate, modify as needed.

COT & BOM

0610 Dismissal

More info at www.maltzchallenge.com

If you are interested in a memorial tribute t-shirt please contact CSPAN DM @CSPANF3