Tate

Hey Alanna, thanks for stopping by my challenge I love the Tamora Pierce books too, so of course I had to come check out yours! Looks like you've got a lot on, I know I can barely manage school and not much else, and I'm only an undergrad! But I'm sure you'll be able to do it, good luck, I'll be checking in

I'm going to reveal myself to be a complete newbie, but if you don't mind me asking, what do you mean by LP? Your challenge looks good, keeping ones inner fat boy in check is a struggle I have everyday!

Awesome motivation and good looking challenge! Eating simply is something I've been striving to do, yet it's harder than it seems! Good luck to you!

Hey man, your challenge looks good. I've been curious about intermittent fasting, clearly it's been working for you? And you don't feel like you're lacking energy or anything like that? I'm keen to see how it goes, so I'll be checking back in, good luck!

I really like your mentality, and your challenge seems awesome! I'll be checking back in to see how you're doing

Looks awesome! I'm still a rookie when it comes to lifting, so I'm curious as to how much extra weight you lift per workout/week? Are you consistently lifting more weight or does it vary?

I just completed my first NF challenge, I've signed right on up for the next because it seems to be working with helping me get fit again and level up my life.I set up a few good habits in my first challenge and now I'm looking to build on them, and work on a few more specific things. I've recently returned to the gym after about 5 years away from it, and I've rediscovered my love of picking up very heavy things, hence I'm signing up for the warriors. I'm a uni student, and as such my life gets pretty hectic during semester. My last challenge was done over my winter break so I was able to focus on it completely, but I'm hoping I'll still be able to reach my goals, even when I get busy. I'm still somewhat of a rookie, both here at NF and in the gym, so any tips, hints and support is very much welcome! Main Quest: Continue to build on the good habits I've started - eating better and exercising more. To do this I am going to: Hit the gym 3 times per week, minimum. No excuses. Graduate to the barbell. (I know, I'm a weakling, but hopefully not for long) I've got a workout routine based around the three big compound lifts - squat, deadlift and bench press. At the moment the deadlift is the only one for which I can complete all my sets with a barbell, but I'm hoping I'll able to do up my weight for the squat and bench to using the bar. My upper body has always been weaker than my lower to getting my bench press there will be difficult, but I think it's achievable. My current squat is just pitiful, but I know I can improve on it very rapidly. Eat a healthy breakfast. In the past I've been lazy and just grabbed a piece of white bread slathered in peanut butter as I ran out the door, but now I'm trying to make sure I get time to make a proper breakfast. I'm not paleo (yet), just trying to eat clean, so for me right now that means, a smoothie with greek yogurt and fruit or oatmeal with fruit or eggs and some veg. As they say, breakfast is the most important meal of the day!Life Quest: Have a routine, and treat uni like a full time job. Study hard and get assignments done on weekdays, during the days, so that I have can relax in the evenings and weekends. I'm a person who likes structure and routine, but I've never really applied it to my studies. As a result, I'm constantly stressed and end up doing school work at the weirdest times. I'm hoping that having a consistent structure will help me, knowing that as long as I work hard in the day, I can forgot about school work and enjoy my evenings. Starting Measurements: As I'm measuring my weight progress for my Bench Press and Squat, here's where I'm staring at (note that since I'm an Aussie, everything is in kg and a barbell here weighs 20 kg): Bench Press - 14 kg Squat - 12 kg Thanks for reading!

Here's my final summary: Final Update! Eat 2+ meals of non-processed foods a day – I’m not going full Paleo (yet) but I want to stick to real, whole foods. Grade: B+, missed the first week, but from then on I hit this goal almost everyday, feeling good about continuing this habit going forward. Mild Exercise - do a mild bodyweight workout 3 times a week and do something active (a walk, swim or bike ride) on other days. From everything I’ve read about recovering from glandular fever, doing mild activity is better than doing nothing, the key is monitoring it to make sure I don’t over-exhaust myself.Grade B-, again, I missed the first week, but since then I've been doing strength workouts very regularly. I didn't always quite do something active on other days, but I've definitely been improving over the course of the course of the challenge so I'm calling it positive.Get 8+ Hours of Sleep a night. Grade A++, got my sleep every night of the challenge but one in the last week, because I went out to a late gig, and had to be up early the next day. Side Quest: Up Skill: Take time multiple days a week to watch a CAD software tutorial and practice using it on modelling, rendering and illustration techniques, using correct workflows. In order to grade this, I’m going to design, and prepare fabrication documents for a cabinet my mum wants me to build for her. If I haven’t by the end of the 6 weeks, I’ve failed.Grade: F, didn't do anything towards this quest during the challenge. Overall Grade: B- I feel like I've started a few good habits with eating healthier and getting back into doing strength workouts which I really enjoy. I'm pretty confident I'll be able to carry these into the new uni semester that starts next week, so overall I'm very happy with the challenge. Wish I had got more on top of the side quest, as it would've given me a bit of a head start for uni this semester, but such is life. With the benefit of hindsight, I wish I'd made my goals even more specific, I feel like I chose very broad goals, but I'll know for next time! Also I was very much a lone wolf this challenge, but if/when I sign up for the next one, I'm going to make a point of getting more involved with the NF community and finding an accountability buddy. Thanks for reading guys!

Final Update! Eat 2+ meals of non-processed foods a day – I’m not going full Paleo (yet) but I want to stick to real, whole foods. Grade: B+, missed the first week, but from then on I hit this goal almost everyday, feeling good about continuing this habit going forward. Mild Exercise - do a mild bodyweight workout 3 times a week and do something active (a walk, swim or bike ride) on other days. From everything I’ve read about recovering from glandular fever, doing mild activity is better than doing nothing, the key is monitoring it to make sure I don’t over-exhaust myself.Grade B-, again, I missed the first week, but since then I've been doing strength workouts very regularly. I didn't always quite do something active on other days, but I've definitely been improving over the course of the course of the challenge so I'm calling it positive.Get 8+ Hours of Sleep a night. Grade A++, got my sleep every night of the challenge but one in the last week, because I went out to a late gig, and had to be up early the next day. Side Quest: Up Skill: Take time multiple days a week to watch a CAD software tutorial and practice using it on modelling, rendering and illustration techniques, using correct workflows. In order to grade this, I’m going to design, and prepare fabrication documents for a cabinet my mum wants me to build for her. If I haven’t by the end of the 6 weeks, I’ve failed.Grade: F, didn't do anything towards this quest during the challenge. Overall Grade: B- I feel like I've started a few good habit with eating healthier and getting back into doing strength workouts which I really enjoy. I'm pretty confident I'll be able to carry these into the new uni semester that starts next week, so overall I'm very happy with the challenge. Wish I had got more on top of the side quest, as it would've given me a bit of a head start for uni this semester, but such is life. With the benefit of hindsight, I wish I'd made my goals even more specific and little bit smaller, I feel like I choose very broad goals that helped me get my life back on track, but didn't really let me lock in a few very important specific habits, but I'll know for next time! Also I was very much a lone wolf this challenge, but if I sign up for the next one, I'm going to make a point of getting more involved with the NF community and finding an accountability buddy. Thanks for reading guys!

A little bit late on my update for Week 5! But still keeping up with my challenge. Been hitting the gym, still feeling great, I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed strength workouts. Still getting my 8+ hours sleep. Haven't been quite as good with my eating, had a few too many meals out with friends eating bad food. But only a few days, so I'm still pretty happy with that. I realised I've forgotten to mention how I'm going with my side quest before - because it's completely skipped my mind. I had pretty rough last semester at uni, so looking at anything related to my studies, as my side quest is, has been the last thing I've want to do so I've definitely failed that quest! I'm not too upset though, getting my food and exercise in order was my main priority, and I've (mostly) completed my goal for these. Looking forward to the last week!

So, an update for the last two weeks, I've gotten into a real habit of going to the gym every second day, lifting some weights, which is feeling great! Been eating well too, sticking to whole foods and cooking for myself, with the exception of a couple of meals with friends. And still getting my sleep. If there is anything I'm good at, it's sleeping Overall I'm feeling good, really rested and like I'm getting my energy back. And maybe it's my imagination but I think I've even lost a little bit of weight. I'm really glad I've taken to the time to get into a routine of eating well and exercising, I'm just hoping I'll be able to keep it up when my life gets a bit more hectic. Thanks for checking in guys!

Sorry, I always forget that there's people out there on the internet waiting for an update! Second week was much better, I've met my goals for eating non-processed food, only had a couple of meals out with friends and other than that I've been cooking for myself, and eating lots of vegetables and good things. Still been getting my good 8 hours of sleeps. I haven't been exercising quite as much as I set out to, but I have been doing more than I did before the challenge. Baby steps, right?! I did return to the gym for two workouts last week to lift free weights for the first time in almost 5 years, and it felt fantastic. So all up I'm feeling a lot more positive about the second week Thanks for checking in!

First week didn't go so great. I got 8 hours sleep every night, but that's about all I accomplished. This week was the very end of my exam period, so I've been very stressed and have resorted to eating out because I haven't had time to shop or cook. But my last exam is tomorrow so the next will be better I'm sure! Thanks for checking in

Hey Arya, thanks for stopping by my challenge. I really like the look of your challenge, especially eating less take-out bit, definitely something I need to work on the future! Good luck to you!

Hey, I’m Tate and I’m a 22 year old student from Melbourne, Australia. I've been lurking around NF and reading articles for over a year now, but it’s time to finally take the plunge and hold myself accountable via the internet! Since I got Glandular Fever (or Mono for the Americans) in September last year I haven’t been the same since – constantly under the weather and fatigued. If anyone has any experience recovering from Mono, please give me a shout. My long term goal is to start building muscle – hopefully lots of it – but first up I need to get healthy again. Part of doing this is kicking my bad habits – reaching for the junk food when I get stressed, and being too lazy to exercise. Main Quest: Regain my health and build good habits for my next semester at university. To do this I am going to: Eat 2+ meals of non-processed foods a day – I’m not going full Paleo (yet) but I want to stick to real, whole foods.Mild Exercise - do a mild bodyweight workout 3 times a week and do something active (a walk, swim or bike ride) on other days. From everything I’ve read about recovering from glandular fever, doing mild activity is better than doing nothing, the key is monitoring it to make sure I don’t over-exhaust myself.Get 8+ Hours of Sleep a nightSide Quest: Up Skill: Take time multiple days a week to watch a CAD software tutorial and practice using it on modelling, rendering and illustration techniques, using correct workflows. In order to grade this, I’m going to design, and prepare fabrication documents for a cabinet my mum wants me to build for her. If I haven’t by the end of the 6 weeks, I’ve failed. Motivation: I want to get healthy. I want to wake up and feel energised and ready for the day not fatigued. I want to eat food that fuels me, not makes me feel sluggish. I’m not going to be posting any photos or measurements for this challenge, as for me it’s not about how I look or how much I weigh – for now it’s just about feeling better.