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Good morning fellow Beginners, Rebooters and bewildered individuals. I am ValkyrieRising and have decided to dip my toe into the water and drink the Kool-Aid of Nerd Fitness. A little about me. I'm a history Nerd who had been working on being accepted to do her PhD overseas in Denmark when I got a rather unpleasant medical diagnosis. (No prizes for guessing my area of interest given my Nickname/BattleTag/Secret Identity/Hero Name etc) Im a 30 something years old and struggling with my health after that medical diagnosis and just the fact I'm not as young and sprightly as I used to be. I finally have the all clear from my doctor to begin the long road back to good health and good eating that was me 3-4 years ago before my diagnosis. Currently my focus is just on eating healthy again as during my fight with my body and the treatment I devolved into eating comfort foods when I was well enough to eat. I indulged in anything I wanted, telling myself I deserved it because I was going through tests/chemo/hospital stays/transfusion/whatever excuse I felt like using. So for my first challenge this is going to be my focus. Main Quest: To eat healthier and get my eating habits under better control by not gorging on whatever I feel like and sticking to a measurable goal of between 1650-1900 calories each day based on my activity. Smart Goals: 1. I will weigh and measure my food until I can re-orientate my brain as to what a proper serving size is. (A whole pan of brownies is not one serving.) 2. I will track my consumption and calories through an online Food Tracker. (I'm using My Fitness Pal since it seems easy enough.) 3. I will cut my sweet tea consumption out and focus on drinking water each day instead. I accept that this will be a struggle and I may slip but a small slip is no reason not to press forward in this challenge. 4. I will meal prep my food during the beginning of the week in order to ensure I do not eat mindlessly. I recognize this as a big pitfall of mine, sitting at home and being bored so grazing through the fridge for food. If I prep my snacks and food ahead of time I hope to graze on that and not overeat during the week. With all of this I am allowing myself 2 instances where I will divert from these plans. The first is on December 14th and the premiere of the next Star Wars movie. I've had tickets since October and intend to go and enjoy this occasion without worrying about myself and what I'm indulging in.The second is a Christmas party my friend throws that I am finally healthy enough to attend after missing it the last couple years. This is part of being mindful and accepting that constantly saying no to the things I enjoy will lead to me failing and binging. In my reading, here and other sources, I really grew to like the idea of the 80/20 approach. As long as I am doing well the larger majority of the time and don't let myself slip and keep on track then those small indulgences have less of an impact and value. I look forward to reading along and travelling with you all through this journey and hope to grow not only in my health, mind and body, but also in my challenges as I see how creative and all in many of you go. Its awing and inspiring! I leave you with the following words to consider in life.

Hi everyone! I'm the kind of person who spends free time scrolling through Kickstarter looking for cool new fitness related tech gadgets. I'm really curious about how people use technology to enhance the workouts, get more motivated and track their progress. I'm hoping to find cool things people have already found, as well as share some of my own! I'm a real sucker for cool toys Seems like the right kind of place! Sam

Hi all, I'm Bread, I'm 34 living in Wales and interested in starting weightlifting and weight training of sorts. I found this place after some googling and seemed right up my alley as a geek and all. I'm overweight. I weigh like 16 stone but it doesn't really bother me. I've been overweight since I was 16 and I've had a lot happen in my life, including serious depression and anxiety. Being fat isn't that big an issue considering. So I'm not here specifically to loose weight. What I want is to improve my health, my strength and my stamina. My wife just had a baby and I'm going to need to be fitter and stronger for my son. I don't like exercise, running, aerobics...I like swimming and I like weight lifting. That's it. But I'm a complete beginner when it comes to weights. Unless it involves cats and children. Geekwise I like Stargate, and cop shows and old films made before 1970. And MST3K. B-movies. Cartoons and video games. I write, blog and work in a pharmacy. I need advice and tips and support on this weird little journey I'm starting myself on. Take care - Bread

Hola! Former Lurker, now official noobie rebel here! It's been pretty interesting and exciting to read up on the challenges and the fitness tips here that I finally decided to take the plunge and come out of the shadows! I'm Puerto Rican, but raised a military brat, so I can't say I was raised on the island. I'm used to moving around a bit during my childhood, teenagehood,, and beginning of adulthood, before settling down in beautiful, high altitude, low oxygen, Colorado. I'm pretty short with a quick temper (prone to rages at things I read on tumblr), and while I never been heavy, I'm definitely not thin either, so I (and my husband...and my friends...and ALL my family members) consider me a dwarf. I'm a geek by interests and a geek by profession (programming FTW). I love anime, cinema (especially the superhero genre or animated films), and while I'm not a hardcore gamer, I love RPGs (Dragon Age, MMORPGs like SWTOR), action adventure games (Diablo franchise) and playing god (Sims). I'm also very curious and I like to learn about...random topics; if I hear a term or concept that is interesting, I end up reading as much as I can about it on the net (Like Warhammer 40k. No idea what it was until the hubs mentioned it, spent hours reading about). So that's all cool and all, but I haven't gotten into why I am here. I'm here cause while I've never been large, just average, I never been really fit, or seem strong. I weigh more than I am comfortable, I carry more fat than I'd like, and if I don't watch my diet, I can end up diabetic (though my nuclear family is fit, the older generation are not and it's in the genes). Sure it's not a big deal, I guess, but I want to feel strong physically and mentally. I want to feel like I can protect myself and the people I care about, and I don't really feel like that (Jesus I sound like a shounen protagonist). Towards the end of the summer I decided to work out regularly, doing a variety of HIIT, bodyweight strength training, some yoga for flexibility and to help with back pain (being a programmer does that to ya...), and finding kickboxing workouts to de-stress. Most of these work outs I do at home and have progressed from doing 30 minutes to 45 - 55 minute work outs 5 to 6 days a week. Since I get sluggish after work, I've taken to waking up early on weekdays to make time for my workouts. I've always been drawn to kickboxing and martial arts because of the stress/rage relief it provides, and from watching boxing growing up. I like punching, kicking, etc, and what I would like to do, hopefully this coming year, is find a gym to train (my face is too pretty for sparring , but I love the moves and the increase in coordination). Working out has been easy for me to pick up (it's always easy for me to go back to working out, even though I'm a code monkey), but the biggest change I'm doing, the hardest change, is my diet. I thought I could just eat less, but still what I'm used to eating (chocolate, sugar, processed bread, lattes, cocktails, fried things, the usual). However, that didn't help me LOOK fitter. I thought I could out-fight or out-HIIT the food I ate. Nope. When Nerdfitness finally spelled out what I've been so desperate to ignore, that you CAN'T out-run your food, it sunk in. Not only that, but the kind of calories I put in really did matter. So...*deep breath* I'm cleaning out my diet, cutting the carbs (especially processed ones), no more diet ginger-ale, and the hardest one, my weakness...cutting out as much sweets can I can. Ain't gonna lie, it's tough but has to be done. My goal is to, like I said, feel strong, and eating those kinds of food won't give me power or make me fit. I added a progress bar, aiming less for the numbers on the scale, and more for how much muscle I have over my body fat. I'm pretty damn late for the challenge, but I have plans for the next one coming up and I will be ready. Due to the kind of training that helps me relax the most and is the most fun, I consider myself a monk, though I wouldn't mind getting in some muscle building either . If I be more like Chun Li, or Lucia Rijker: I'll be pretty darn happy. I mean I have the hair at least. Oof that was long. Excited to be here and to work with yas. Peace!

Allright folks! Challenge #3 start tomorrow and that'll be awesome . I was reading other challenge around here to find what I could do for this one. My main quest hasn't changed, I still want to be around 10-12% bodyfat someday. There's a long way to go but I've done a long way in the last 3 months too! So, same quest this challenge, lose at least 1% body fat. The difference though, I want to be more consistent. The first 2 months were really good and awesome. But since it's now an habit, it's less interesting and such... I'll need to focus on the good things! GOALS - Workout everyday (+4 STR and +4 STA) (Miss 1 day = B, 2 days = C, 3 days = D, 4 days = F like FAIL) - Refocus on Paleo and have only ONE cheat meal per week (+4 WIS) (Have 1 extra cheat meal = B, 2 = C, 3 = D, 4 = FAIL) Not really related to fitness: - Don't play video games 2 days in a row (+3 WIS) (THIS ONE WILL BE HARD) (Play 2 days in a row one = B, twice = C, etc) SIDE QUESTS - Move to my new home - Go outside more - Be a better lead at work I'm a Lead Level Design (for Ubisoft), that's my day to day job. I'm pretty "new" at it and it's not easy! I really want to be the best lead ever and make my people grow! Also, summer is coming, I'm SO looking forward to it. I'll be able to use my bike again and do 1h of footbag per fay soon, that'll be so great Ha, peaceful days incoming.

I guess I'll start here, hello everyone, my name is Knichtus. Do not let the masculine name fool you as it always does I am female (however I feel more comfortable with a male persona so he or she is fine though i really prefer he ) *cough* Anyhow. I am right now a student at University of Texas at Dallas (just turned 18 actually), my goal is to become a Design Engineer, double majoring in Engineering and Arts and Technology (yes i know, this is gonna take me like 8 years, I know.) However I strong with the one thing that every Monster Hunter needs: self-esteem. Monster hunter is my favorite game, I love the though of running around, gathering materials and beating up epic beasts on a daily basis, which is why it landed a spot as my favorite game. I love drawing, and placing ideas on papers. Sci-fi is my favorite genre and i hope to be able to create things for and from that. However for me to accomplish my goal I need confidence, I wanted to start getting healthier but just the thought of doing exercises fills me with anxiety to the point of panic attacking, judged for eating healthy makes me stop breathing from the stress, like the constant feeling of piercing glares watching my every decision. This effects me with everything, art, homework, trying to make a comment in class. I've been getting therapy for it but still its hard, I can only function minimally without feeling like I'm being watching doing anything. The only way to work out is for me to make it like a game, something like...I'm fighting or in a battle. (wielding weapons, I used to do Brazillian Jui Jitsu) I am right now 5'2" (shortie) at 163 lbs, instead of ogre I like to say I'm a were-american badger or bear (i love animals and have the temper and tenacity of both), my goal isn't necessarily to lose weight but I'd like to become stronger, I have uncontrollable strength already so I want to get more of handle on it and increase it. I hope to base my workout off play and monster hunter things, my body has to be completely involved to get interested and entirely focused. I asked as my christmas gift to get me a shot loadable sledgehammer and a tire. My goal is eventually to get a medicine ball or rope. I love biking, especially with my dog, however he's too small and lazy to keep up with me constantly so I'm hoping a larger dog I hope to be adopting will be ready to join me on my adventure. (Typically bikejoring and mountain biking) I hope while I'm here that I can build a good base and reach my goals, it is nice to meet everyone!

LiveWriteGrow here, laying out the plan for this challenge round. I kind of failed epically on the last challenge, for reasons that were mostly silly, but I've been talked into trying again by Stooshie, so here we go again, yeah? I'm supposed to be doing a 5K with Stooshie in December, so I need to up my running and generally improve my health. I'm not aiming for anything drastic....slow and steady is the name of the game this time. Challenge One: Make good use of the running programs I have. I have both Zombies,Run! and Get Running, and I intend to work on that at least three days a week. (3 days largely because I CANNOT night run where I live. As it is, I have to hike up a dirt road and climb over a gate to hike into a massive hunk of empty land to borrow old dirt roads in the desert. Not doing that at night and don't always have the time in the morning to make it every day. Challenge Two: General fitness. I have a program I've dabbled in for body-weight exercise and flexibility, and I really love how it works and makes me feel. Every day I don't get a running session in, my goal is to get one session from this program completed. If I can't access it, 30 minutes of some kind of strength or flexibility training will do. Challenge Three: My diet is kind of...whatever I can eat. For this challenge, I'm going to cut soda from my diet and do what I can to limit carby foods. I can't cut them due to family meals and my lack of ability to change what's served, but I CAN cut breads, poatoes, and such things from my everyday food choices. Life Level Up: I've been severely neglecting my writing everywhere except roleplaying with a few friends. Rather than aiming to finish any specific project, which was a road to epic fail before, I'm aiming for a 7000 words a week goal. Written on any project that doesn't deal with roleplaying. So there you have it! Here we go!

I was just looking up some new music to have on my runs/workouts and I thought it would be good to have some songs that reflects the true nerdy nature of the Rebellion! So far I think my favourites are: I was wondering if you guys had any other geeky tunes to rock/work out to?

Hola fellow nerds, Long time lurker, first time poster. I really dig this community and all the awesome people involved and I'm super excited to finally be an active participant. Currently, I'm the creative services director at the NBC station here in Midland. I make commercials, promos, graphic art, and shoot video to name a few of my tasks. I'm also the director and one of the writers for the internet comedy team GCTV. We shoot comedy sketches and such and are getting a pretty good following on Facebook and YouTube (if you're interested, link is in my sig). The comedy is definitely for those who find shows like Always Sunny funny. I'm also beginning a new web venture called Nerd Force 5 that features videos celebrating all things nerd and geek. So a few facts about me: I was a former junior high fat kid who was bullied almost daily. I lost weight late into high school (though no one ever forgets you were the chubby kid) but I gradually gained it back in college. It wasn't until my mom was diagnosed with cancer in late 2006 did I truly turn things around. My family made her a photo scrapbook to take with her into chemo and I saw that I had gained A LOT of weight. From that day forward, I changed my diet. I cut out all carbs and sugar and started walking and I lost over 5o lbs and thus far have kept it off. My greatest accomplishment to date has been completing the Austin Half-Marathon last February and completing the Texas Spartan Sprint Race a few weeks back. Fun Facts about Me: I'm a Star Wars and Star Trek nerd with an ever-growing nerd t-shirt collectionMy prized nerd collectible is my Obi-Wan Kenobi Lightsaber from Episode 3 (Master Replicas)Favorite nerd movie that isn't Star Wars would have to be RushmoreFavorite video game is a toss-up between Ocarina of Time and Final Fantasy XFavorite anime: Movie "Voices of a Distant Star." Series "Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad."I'm a musician (guitar and bass) Currently, my workouts consist of modified cross-fit I do at our local football stadium, yoga, and running. My diet started slipping but right now I'm back up to about an 80% paleo diet and I've almost completely cut out the diet soda (that is a hard monkey to get off my back). Well, enough about me. I can't wait to get involved on here and I really look forward to getting to know each and every one of you. You all seem like such an awesome group. The Avengers have nothing on this community. Nerd on, everyone.