Preliatornex

So, who makes the ruling? And could they tell me if this counts or not?

Is that true? I never knew that. In Steve's workouts I am sure I have seen him recommend knee push-ups if you can't do regular. Such as in the Legend of Zelda workout where he says: I know that is a special kind of push-up, but I am sure he has said that elsewhere with regular push-ups. I just couldn't find a reference quickly enough.

Yesterday I did my interval running. I haven't really been tracking distance, since I focus on timing and rhythm. But I found out my normal route is about .43 miles, and I run/walk 4 circuits. That is not as far as I had hoped... But, I learned from Steve recently that Growth happens at our limits so I am committed to running harder, farther, each week. And as I shed weight, I am sure the running will get easier. It is not easy running with a 60 lb chest weight on!

Oh, I actually thought you did this for fun (and accountability) didn't realize any 'ruling' would be necessary to participate. Well, whatever, I will re-do the level 1 challenge next time if I have to.

Thanks for the reply. What do you mean about the positioning of my challenge?

The dates of the posts are really spread out. I wonder how many Utah members are active still.

Newbie Challenge Level 2 I am going to adapt this a bit, since I joined the challenge late, but I joined it because of this issue. 1. Pinpoint the quest in your journey that is giving you the most uphill (or one that you're struggling to achieve) Before coming to NF I was already doing a family fitness challenge. However, I didn't feel like I was being as successful as I could be. Particularly, I felt my workouts needed a huge boost, but wasn't in a position to buy equipment or pay a gym membership. Then I found Steve's BBWW (Beginner's Body Weight Workout) and it instantly leveled up my workouts! I was hooked, and decided to get more involved in the NF community. 2. Search through NF (forums or articles) to find one that is able to offer some assistance Obviously this is what brought me here. But since this challenge is about gaining forum knowledge, I also did a search for other good beginner workouts. There are so many! I am excited to try some of the workouts mentioned in this post. 3. Apply it to your challenge (no collecting underpants here). Added the BBWW as soon as I found it. Going to try the Lara Croft workout on Saturday. Seems like a BBWW+ workout, so maybe I am not ready, but I will give it a try.

Newbie Challenge Level 2 I am going to adapt this a bit, since I joined the challenge late, but I joined it because of this issue. 1. Pinpoint the quest in your journey that is giving you the most uphill (or one that you're struggling to achieve) Before coming to NF I was already doing a family fitness challenge. However, I didn't feel like I was being as successful as I could be. Particularly, I felt my workouts needed a huge boost, but wasn't in a position to buy equipment or pay a gym membership. Then I found Steve's BBWW (Beginner's Body Weight Workout) and it instantly leveled up my workouts! I was hooked, and decided to get more involved in the NF community. 2. Search through NF (forums or articles) to find one that is able to offer some assistance Obviously this is what brought me here. But since this challenge is about gaining forum knowledge, I also did a search for other good beginner workouts. There are so many! I am excited to try some of the workouts mentioned in this post. 3. Apply it to your challenge (no collecting underpants here). Added the BBWW as soon as I found it. Going to try the Lara Croft workout on Saturday. Seems like a BBWW+ workout, so maybe I am not ready, but I will give it a try.

Created and updated my Daily Adventure diary. These forums are so awesome!

So, I did my first BBWW (Beginner's body weight workout - took me forever to figure out that acronym when I first saw it...) on Monday. It was a great workout! Much better than I had gotten doing the body weight strength training on the Wii Fit. I was a little sore on Tuesday, but not so much to interfere with my interval running. By Wednesday, I was really feeling it. So when it came time to workout after getting the kids down, I was doing anything possible to procrastinate it. However, I knew I needed the points for my family challenge, and that the rebels here would hold me accountable if I skipped my workout. So I did the BBWW again, 3 sets. This time I did 20 dumbbell rows instead of 10 (with a milk jug) and held the planks to failure rather than just 15 secs (30, 22, and 20 secs respectively). I struggled on the last set of lunges, but completed the whole routine. And today I feel better! I may feel worse tomorrow, but it was another good workout and it felt great. I love that this workout feels so much more effective in so much less time than I was spending before.

Thanks for the reply! I am excited to be a part of this community. Newbie mini-quest 1: Is your overall quest achievable (over a short or long period of time)? Is it reasonable?​ ​ Yes, and yes. If I weren't obese, 2.5 lbs a week would be a lot. But in my current state, it is definitely doable. I picked a main quest that fit in the current challenge time frame. After this challenge I will broaden my main quest. 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? Nutrition and exercise; the keys of weight loss and healthy living. 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? ​ Yes; I could scale them down, but don't think I need to. Are your goals able to be measured and tracked? What will you use to track them? ​ Yes; I use a spreadsheet that was developed for everyone in my family doing the healthy living challenge. 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€? ​ Scaled rewards for workouts and nutrition. The nutrition part is where I have had problems in the past, so I made sure to set reasonable goals, but I don't want to give myself room to rationalize if I accomplish 80% of my goal. I really want to make this change in my life. My scoring system is 3 pts/day for keeping a food journal and 3 and 5 pts/day, respectively, for meeting my fruit/veggie goals. What is your plan for continuing/altering/grading those goals if you become ill or injured? ​ My plan is to make reasonable adjustments as necessary. I usually have a high energy level even when I am sick so would still do moderate workouts. Injury, well, I guess it would depend on what is injured. Did you take into consideration any special occasions (Labour Day, Independence Day, birthdays, anniversaries, etc) that may occur during the challenge? What modifications do you need to build into your goals for those? No major events to plan for during this challenge. Do any of your main goals conflict with each other? Will one goal make it hard to do another? ​ Nope. 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? ​ Already have time. Are you trying to build multiple habits, or is all your energy focused on your main quest? ​ Definitely trying to build multiple habits. I am lucky to have an extremely supportive family that is helping me make these changes.

Baby steps on day 1. Step 1: Join the NF forums Step 2: Join the current challenge Step 3: Complete the first newb mini-quest Step 4: Make a diary thread So far so good. I prefer to have an adventure diary rather than a battle log. Because really, life is the greatest adventure. My family started a healthy living challenge on August 8th. After reading Steve's posts for months, and having started a new routine thanks to my family challenge, I decided to dive in the NF community and figure out how to level up my fitness and my life.

Nice checklist. I used it while formulating my goals. If I started late, can I still do this, or do I need to wait for the next challenge? Edit: Created an Adventure diary, and added my response there.

Good job getting started! I joined up today too, though I am piggy backing on a family challenge that started a week after the NF challenge.

Week 2 update (as of 8/10/14): Lost 4 lbs this week! And that was with 2 company dinners, a catered lunch, and a golf outing. Scored 270/270 points in the family healthy living challenge. This week went really well. Food journal is getting better. Found some really useful sites to help out, and bought a food scale. Planning, planning, planning... I tried a slightly modified calorie bomb shake from Steve's intermittent fasting post. That thing is gross... but I felt much better the next morning. Worked out 6x this week, did 3 strength days, but did other cardio for the 3 off days. Not nearly as good a workout as running. Ate all my fruit and veggies. I find that I feel better when I eat more raw foods. Didn't really expect that. I am mostly not an acolyte of the paleo thing, and prefer to follow scientifically sound nutritional guidelines instead. Went with my family to a family reunion (my side of the family; ALWAYS an adventure!). Had a lot of fun. Found good food to eat mixed in among all the junk.

Week 1 update (as of 8/11/14): Only lost 1 lb this week. Scored 193 points out of a possible 220, so off to a bit of a rocky start. But next week is double points for the workout, so I plan to really dig in then. Been keeping my food journal regularly but having a hard time estimating the calorie content and macro distribution of some meals (Like the Ahi salad at Squatters; highly recommended!) Worked out 4 times this week. Gotta' step that up. Did well on the fruits and vegetables overall (5 of 7 days) surprising had a hard time eating enough fruits. Went to a new water park with my family. Had a blast!

Hello, 33 year old accountant. Too much time sitting at a computer (work + gaming; there are never enough hours for both; amirite?) has made me fat. 10 years ago I ran (and walked) a marathon. Today, I struggle to jog 2 miles. My family recently started a healthly living challenge on August 4th, and as part of that I decided to level up my NF participation. Hope you don't mind if I join this challenge late. I have been reading Steve's posts for months, dreaming of the day I could be cool like him. Well, apparently today is that day! (No, I am not going to the Hotel Monaco in a tux... man, will I ever be that cool?) Anyway... Main Quest (with my family it is to lose 20 lbs. in 8 weeks, which is 2.5 lbs a week. Since I am effectively participating in 5 weeks of this challenge, I will adapt it): Lose 12.5 lbs by 9/7/14 - starting weight 223 lbs Goal 1: Keep a food journal, eat about 2,000 calories a day with a 20/50/30 ratio (F/C(10% fiber)/P) Goal 2: Work out 6 times a week, 3x interval running, 3x strength training Goal 3: Eat at least 2 fruit servings and 3 vegetable servings every day Life Goal: Go on an adventurous activity every week with my wife and 3 kids Life Goal 2: While I will always be a nerd/gamer at heart, I want to transition to more life skill oriented 'gaming'. So, NF is my trial run at lifestyle gaming. (I know, that is not really trackable, yet.) Motivation: I want to be happier, have a better relationship with my wife and kids, and teach them by example better life skills than I had.