Chrissy

I used to spend so many hours on Heroes of Might and Magic! I had actually almost forgot about it. My top 5 are (series, and not individual games): 1) Tomb Raider - arguably the first game I ever played, and still play to this day 2) Assassin's Creed - I've only played 1 and 2 so far, but I loved them both so much 3) Spyro - nothing beats the simplicity of charging or flaming those enemies and looking for treasure 4) Legend of Zelda - admittedly I've only played Twilight Princess, but I plan to go back through them when I have more time 5) Final Fantasy - self explanatory, I believe Honorable Mention: Dance Dance Revolution - stepping on arrows = dancing? Yes, please.

One of my favorite new recipes is stuffed peppers. They are so easy to make and incredibly delicious. Just brown some ground beef with onions, parsley, salt and pepper. Stuff the mix into bell peppers that have the seeds cleaned out. Stuff in the oven for a half hour or more and enjoy!

Ah. I was one of the confused ones. But this is probably better. I'm moving on Friday so I can get that out of the way before the new challenge. And now I have more time to really think and plan my goals out. I'm excited!

Maybe it's time for a Berlin/Germany NF meetup? Berlin is really an awesome city though. There is something for everyone to love here.

That's awesome!! Congrats on so many levels! I'm currently living in Berlin until early August, and I love it! I'd like to hear what you think about the country =) What kind of classes will you be taking and do you know yet which city? Congrats again!!

That sleep alarm sounds fantastic. I don't have a smart phone right now, but that app has just become a good reason to strive for one. I've already been much better about my bed being only for sleep, though I'm still on the computer until I go to bed. Oh well, take it slow, right? Thanks everyone so much for all of the advice! I'm happier and more active when I get proper sleep, I'm just not sure why I find it so hard to do sometimes.

I have the same problem. I can curb everything else I eat, but give me some nuts (cashews, pecans, almonds, oh my) and I can just devour a bag. What's been helping me is to really look at the price of the nuts. For the first time in my life, I'm responsible for buying all of my food and making sure I stay in budget. When I buy a small bag of nuts that costs 3 Euros, I remind myself of that every time I eat them. Consequently I try to make sure I eat less at one time so that they last longer and I don't have to spend more. Also, when I'm craving nuts I'll take a small handful out of a bag and put the rest back. Then I'll go into another room to eat them. This way I'm not tempted to just stick my hand back in the bag. This way, I have to work if I want to eat more. It also just brings it to the front of the mind, so it's not bored snacking.

I starting getting fit for Parkour. So I suppose the day I can do a vault (and eventually a muscle-up) will be the day I know this is really happening. As for looks, I'd like to be able to show off my hip bones. That, and wearing a bikini couldn't hurt

Unfortunately, I have no control over the light in my room. There is a huge window that goes into the kitchen, and when my host family has a light on (which they leave on a small light every night) it goes right into my room. I'm moving out in a few weeks, so I can try that then. Or just get an eye mask, I suppose. The weekend hasn't been a good way to start with trying to keep a schedule. Though oddly enough when I slept a bit drunk, I woke up around 9, but last night I went to bed sober and couldn't get up until noon. Hmm. I love the idea of no electronics an hour before bed. Instead, I'm reading until I get sleepy enough. Last night it was Harry Potter fairy tales. Tonight? Who knows.

Hey, thanks everyone for the replies. I finally got to sleep last night with the help of benadryl (I really hate relying on pills). This morning I forced myself up with my alarm and was surprised that I wasn't that tired. I woke up at 10, so I still got about 8 hours of sleep. I think part of the problem might actually be oversleeping. If I get 10 to 12 hours of sleep, I feel like I hadn't really slept at all. I'll definitely start taking all of your advice! Especially about keeping electronics away from my bed. I've already changed my laptops position to it's desk, and not the chair by my bed.

I took the adrenal fatigue quiz and it said I have it "moderate", but it also said it's brought on by stress, which could be the finals I just finished. So maybe things can start getting better now? I'm glad I'm not the only fitness night owl out there! I agree with the scheduling bit, and that's why I want to start at a self imposed 10 am, because left to my own devices I don't wake up until 3 pm and by then the day is almost gone! Thanks for the tips ebm. Especially about the electronics. I'm usually on my computer in bed, until I go to bed. That should be the first to go. My brother is into psychology and he told me that I should use my bed ONLY to sleep in, and never to work on it, but it's just so much more comfy than my desk (and less cluttered). It's already 1:30 am where I'm at, so I'm going to try and read a bit and then see if I can't finally find some rest.

I've always been somewhat of a nightowl and that's never really been a problem until I decided to take control of my life - fitness, diet, as well as sleep. But I guess the habit is harder to break than I thought. I've made the goal that I want to be out of bed by 10 am at the latest on days I don't have anything to do. Since I just started my semester break, this is especially important because if I don't have any structure as to sleeping times, I turn nocturnal/freakishly polyphasic (has actually happened to me a few times). Getting out of bed is rough, but I can tough it out with enough will power. Unfortunately the will power isn't quite there yet, and I've been a snooze monster lately. The biggest problem is getting to sleep. I can be tired all day, but as soon as I tell myself it's time for bed, I suddenly get a huge energy boost. I can't stop thinking, my body gets restless, and I just can't fall asleep. I've been listening to movies to help myself fall asleep sometimes, but not even that is working anymore and the last few nights I've been relying on benadryl to knock me out. I don't like taking pills, and I'd like to be able to fall asleep naturally so that I can actually wake up when the sun is shining. Anyone have any advice? I'm mostly paleo, and I heard that that would help out with it, but I'm not seeing anything and it's starting to really frustrate me.

I find it ironic that the breads they pictured are German breads (I am tempted by them every time I walk past a bakery. Mmm, Sonnenkornbrot!) which I think are quite a bit healthier than American breads, simply because they don't use as much processed anything. I do agree with a lot of the other comments though, anything can kill you if you eat too much of it. Which actually seems to be the point of the article, the reason bread accounts for so much of the daily sodium intake is because we eat so much of it. I do think there is a "bread-dependence" in our culture, so any unhealthy aspects of bread are multiplied because of the quantity.

I found this cute picture that helps me remember which vegetables are full of fiber when I'm not feeling regular. Not everything in the picture is paleo, but it's easy enough to avoid those. I think I mostly just like it because they're all smiling. I definitely agree about just standing in the produce section not knowing what to get. I also cook for myself, so I worry about buying too much and having it all rot on me. My current plan is to buy a lot of one veggie a week and just deal with eating the same thing. Then, when I go shopping again, I'll buy a different vegetable. Last week it was cucumbers, and this week carrots. I'm thinking next week is broccoli. [ATTACH=CONFIG]1772[/ATTACH]

If you're looking for something different for breakfast (and don't have a problem with dairy) I recommend yogurt. I recently switched from my ridiculously carb filled cereal to yogurt and I find it's surprisingly filling. If I'm looking for a bit extra, I'll add in some fruit or nuts. I hate spending a lot of time on breakfast, and I find this is the perfect mix of easy and tasty. You can also mix it with some cereal for a super breakfast.

I've always been bad at introductions. Like that new kid that has to stand before the class and say something about themself, but can't find anything to say and says that they don't have hobbies. Yea, I'm that awkward kid. I'm currently 20 years old (21 coming soon!) and have been overweight my whole life. I come from a family of other overweight people, which is probably why I've not really made a full attempt at weight loss before now. After finding NerdFitness, I skyped my dad and challenged him to a contest. Whoever can lose more weight (percentage wise) the other has to buy them something. If I win, I get an iPhone, but if my dad wins I have to buy him a nice camera. The contest ends when I come home (August 4th, tentatively). This might be a good time to mention that I'm currently living in Berlin, Germany for study abroad. I've already lost some weight just living the European lifestyle (in general, I find there is more daily exercise and less nasty, preservative stuffed food here), but I'm ready to really take on the challenge. I want this year to be something I look back on proudly as a life changing experience. Right now I'm working on doing some simple bodyweight circuits, since I don't have access to a gym. I feel that bodyweight exercises also fit in better with my end-end goal of being a traceur. That goal is still a few years and 70 lbs away, but I'm going to be working toward it. I'll also try doing more walking (evolving into jogging and running), but my reasoning at the moment is that it's too cold to go outside. With winter just now hitting Berlin like a brick, it takes incredible self-motivation just to walk out my door each day for class. I'm going to be battling an old battle wound for my fitness: my knee. Right before I turned 18 I dislocated my patella playing Dance Dance Revolution (could there be a nerdier injury?) and had to have surgery six months later. It never fully healed and my quad is weak because of it. I don't want this to be an excuse, however, I want to triumph over it! My starting weight is about 92 kg and I'm going to attempt to lose weight without access to a scale, so I won't know how I'm doing until I go home. I will, however, be taking pictures once a month to track my progress. I may or may not post them, depending on if I see a lot of progress. So, my fellow classmates, may I take my seat now?