Ekalf33

For all beginning Rangers!!! This is a place that you can participate, ask questions and get help. Check it out! http://rebellion.nerdfitness.com/index.php?/topic/62951-level-1-recruits-ranger-training-grounds/

My Ranger Inspiration But more built. Not sure why my little dude under my avatar is different, anybody care to explain?

First mini quest completed, Man that feels good!

Ok onto the MiniQuest #1 Is your overall quest achievable (over a short or long period of time)? Is it reasonable? (drop 20 lbs and fit into a size 38) Now that I look at it, if I drop 3 lbs a week I will be right about there. I know that is VERY aggressive but what is a goal if it doesn't make you stretch right? I have the support of my wife and I want to get an accountability squad going so that I have some external people to answer to. Do your 3 quests all build towards your main quest in little ways, or are you taking on too much? Do your quests have sub-quests or is it just one thing to focus on?(Quit soda, Exercise 5 x a week, get to sleep by 9:30) I believe that my 3 quests all build toward my main quest. In the past I have tried to do everything right all at the same time and have burnt myself out after 3-4 weeks and it never got done. Now I am focusing on these three things and I slip up in the other areas a bit I won't get negative on my self because I know that I am doing what I committed myself to do. It seems like when I fail I get depressed and give up. BABY STEPS (what about Bob reference) I think that my Quitting sodas is actually quitting sodas and fast food. Are your main goals realistic? Can you scale them to smaller steps to fit your life better, even if it will make it take a little longer to achieve them? I think that my main goals are pretty simple, I picked them so that they were and that I could find any loop holes. Are your goals able to be measured and tracked? What will you use to track them? Yes I can track them and I will track them. I am thinking about doing a fitness journal, like a captain's log kinda thing. One that is on paper and I can recap the day's events and see what I can do better the next day. then about half way through I will do a spreadsheet kinda thing. Something that I can add data into and keep tracking and add more stuff the more quests that I do. My plan is to change my lifestyle, and thus change my life. How are you grading your goals? Are they pass/fail (“every dayâ€, “not even once over the six weeksâ€)? Is there a reward for the effort, or are you only grading yourself on whether or not you “lose the weight†or “run the distanceâ€?My goals are pass fail from day to day, but over the course of the challenge it will be a grading scale a-f and points based upon that. I will go back over my notes and compare the numbers and give myself a grade on that. Just so you all know that I am not cheating. What is your plan for continuing/altering/grading those goals if you become ill or injured? Well 2 of my plans don't involve exercise so that shouldn't be a problem. But as a contingency plan, cause that is what this is, if I get hurt I will focus on other areas to workout. If legs are hurt then workout upper body or vice verse. Did you take into consideration any special occasions (Labor Day, Independence Day, birthdays, anniversaries, etc) that may occur during the challenge? What modifications do you need to build into your goals for those? I on purpose did not include food in the goals. when it comes to food I have a hard time staying strong, if I fail I get depressed and then I crash hard. I choose things that when I accomplish them it will make a difference in my life and give me the confidence knowing that I did those other goals and I will make the right decisions in the future. My goal of quitting sodas actually includes quitting fast food. That is where I drink my sodas. Do any of your main goals conflict with each other? Will one goal make it hard to do another? No, they make it easier to do them. If I get to bed by 9:30 then I will have time in the morning to work out. If I work out in the morning I will be more motivated to make good choices through out the day and have energy so I will not want to have soda. Do you already have the time in your schedule to actually complete the goals you’ve set? If not, what are you planning to do to make time for them? If I follow my goals then I will have time to complete them. Kinda a catch 22 eh? Are you trying to build multiple habits, or is all your energy focused on your main quest? I am trying to build multiple habits that lead me to my main quest.

Dang, sounds like you got it taken care of, great job!

Thanks guys! the nice thing is they very in weight. 25, 35, and 40 lbs. So far I have found I can do bench, clean, tricep lifts, squat, and the classic leg lifts while seated on the coach. They sure do keep the pace up. Again, again Daddy!

Awesome! Glad to have ya! FOLLOWING!

Thanks! Glad to have ya aboard! I am excited too! I think I am going to lean toward the running side of stuff with a good mix of plyo that includes my kids. They love being tossed around! I will definatly post some pictures of the Fam, but I can't untill everything is finalized, which will be around Aug 5th.

Dude, we are in the same boat! I am glad that you did this. Thanks for your inspiration!

I can't believe after all that I forgot to do a life quest. I am going to get a new job! Hopefully!

Hello all! My name is Jordan aka ekalf33 aka Blackbeard. I stumbled upon nerd fitness about a year ago, but I never did anything about it because I thought, "wow that's good motivation, good for them. I will do it my own way." I was just fooling myself. I always told myself that I will get in shape when I have more time, after I get done with school, when I move. I was just kidding myself. Ok, enough about my procrastination. A short Bio on Blackbeard In high school I was never the "skinny" guy or even the "buff" guy, I was just Jordan. I did alot of sports, just cause that was want everyone else was doing, and it kept me out of trouble. I weighed about 220 when I graduated. I quickly found out that if I wasn't playing sports I gained weight, what can I say I like to eat! My friend and I started to work out together, he was trying to bulk up for the ladies and I was trying to lose weight for them. I ended up losing about 15 pounds pretty easily. Both my friend and I had planned to serve our church for a couple years and we ended up leaving on the same day as each other, he went to the Philippines and I went to Up-State NY. While I was training for my service I had to sit for hours on end and eat really good food (so I ended up eating a bit more than I should have 0_o ) So with no parents and a lot of newly acquired freedom I didn't make the best of choices, unless you think ice cream for breakfast is alright, in that case I made great choices! I quickly rose to 225 and realized that I need to get it under control. I stayed with a guy that had depression and had to work out to control it and so we ran, and ran, and ran! we would run 3 miles every morning. I quickly lost weight and I realized I could change what I had become. I dropped to 220, 215, 210....200........195..........and finally to 190. I hadn't weighed 190 since the Sophomore year of high school. It was amazing and I had a ton of energy. I ended up gaining a little bit of it back as I stayed with other individuals that didn't need that exercise to keep them sane. Anyway I came back to AZ and hovered around 200. I met my amazing wife and we got married. I was happy and was not concerned about watching what I ate and my weight quickly climbed up to 230. Though a series of unfortunate events I came to work at a fast food restaurant, named AAAARRRRRRRRby's.(sorry I had to!) I ended up gaining some more weight. I quit that job a year and a half later to go to school. I was able to complete school and because I did I was able to get a job as a Accounting technician where I count gold all day! I have a desk job and I sit on my butt all day. I currently weigh 280 lbs. about 4 years ago I noticed that I looked very fat in the mirror and so I decided to start growing a beard to cover up the fat face that was staring back at me. So blackbeard was born! My wife and I had tried for 8 years to have children, or adopt children through private agencies, but it was to no avail. Then we started to look at other ways, and we ended up fostering 3 kids from the foster care system, and we are trying to adopt them. In August we will be able to adopt them and we will be taking lots of pictures, I want to look good for them, and also if I so desire I want to be able to shave off my beard. I also really want my kids to know how important it is to me to be healthy, and I want to be around for them as long as I came. Sorry, that was a little longer then what I was expecting. Ok so for my Main Quest I want to Lose 20 lbs. and fit into a size 38 by the end of the challenge. I will do this by 1 quit drinking sodas 2 exercise 5x a week 3 get to sleep by 9:30 each night. My motivation is my kids, and my wife. Currently I am a level 0 Troll adventurer and would like to be an Elan Ranger. (not sure I did that right) Thank you all for your support, with your help I will make blackbeard a ghost!