Deux

It's true. Now we gotta burn the book and write a new one. Damn. Thursday Bench - Strength Calories = 103 under; Protein = 16 over LATE

Damn, dude. That blows! Sounds like you've got the right attitude for the start of a new adventure. Sending most excellent thoughts your way!

Wednesday Had dinner with my cousin planned at a local microbrewery. They specialize in beer (obviously) and pizza. Saved calories all day in preparation and then... my dinner got canceled. Through an unfortunate series of events, I didn't get home until after 9 PM, still not having had dinner. I crammed in a protein bar before bed, but was way low in calories and a bit low in protein. New low on the scale this morning (gee, I wonder why??) but nervous about how I'm going to feel in the gym today! Squat - Strength Calories = 438 under; Protein = 9 under 10:57 PM - oops!

Heh. True story, bro. True story. Lucky to be that way, though. We get a handbook on our wedding day. There's a club, secret handshake and everything...

MFP is da bomb diggity. When I go out I try and plan what I'm eating ahead of time and enter it before the meal. I'm less likely to go off-plan and I'm also able to put aside "fun" calories so that I know how much I can splurge*. *How much beer I can drink. Speaking of going out and planning ahead... Last night I had dinner with my cousin planned at a local microbrewery. They specialize in beer (obviously) and pizza. Saved calories all day in preparation and then... my dinner got canceled. Through an unfortunate series of events, I didn't get home until after 9 PM, still not having had dinner. I crammed in a protein bar before bed, but was way low in both calories and protein today. New low on the scale this morning (gee, I wonder why??) but nervous about how I'm going to feel in the gym today!

Bummer, but it sounds like you've thought this through and are doing what's best for you. Good on you for that. Remember that you can participate in the forums without joining the challenge, in a totally non-accountability fashion. If you so desire!

I wish I had some popcorn. Watching you two go back and forth is fun.

Week 1 Mini-Challenge Is your overall quest achievable (over a short or long period of time)? Is it reasonable? Yup, I believe so. 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? The build toward my main quest in small ways. I am not taking on too much. No sub-quests, just one thing to focus on per goal. 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? Yup. Nope. I think they're scaled just right for my current level. Are your goals able to be measured and tracked? What will you use to track them? Yup. I'll be using a spreadsheet, my thread, and MyFitnessPal to track them. 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€? I am grading by percentage. Number of successful goals / number of possible goals. I get a reward (attribute points) for each achieved goal. What is your plan for continuing/altering/grading those goals if you become ill or injured? Doesn't apply for two out of three goals. I'll forgive the other for true sickness/injury. 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? Taken into account and goals will be achieved on those days as well. 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? Yup. Are you trying to build multiple habits, or is all your energy focused on your main quest? I'm building multiple habits, all which help get me closer to my main quest.Week 2 Mini-Challenge Signature is updated. Following 2 other guildies.

Thanks! Will do. Wahoo!

I came for the frittata, I'm staying for the inspiration. That's a hell of a realization, and something I'll need to remind myself of occasionally!

This made me LOL. I have yet to master that skill. Following along for weasely adventures!

I'm very interested in your challenge and seeing what works and doesn't work for you... especially re: binge eating. I'm very good at not eating enough for several days in a row and then going insanely overboard for a day or two and then starving myself again. I've actually gotten quite lean this way but it was definitely not optimal for training performance. I'm currently in the process of trying to figure out how "normal" people eat. Using IIFYM as a way to moderate myself. Trying to get within a specific range of calories/macros and not allowing myself to go under or over that range. It's been... difficult. Old habits die hard. For me, routine is very helpful. I try and eat the same thing for breakfast and lunch every day. I'm married and have a kid, so dinners are a lot more varied, but we eat pretty reasonably so as long as I allow a bit of wiggle room, I have no problem fitting dinner into my allotment for the day. So, yes, I box stuff ahead of time. What about having a snack on hand while boxing up your food for later? You find yourself tempted by what you're preparing, but instead of going for that meal... you grab a celery stick instead. Veggies are really hard to overeat, so they're always my go-to if I'm feeling tempted. I'd also suggest NOT skipping meals in response to a slip-up. If you mess up, forgive yourself, and move on as if it didn't happen. The goal should be to slip up less as time goes on. That's a lot easier to do when you're not busy punishing yourself. Just my two cents! Congrats on your (about to be) full week of binge-free eating. No small feat!

"Remain married" is a constant side goal, after all. Nope. Just moves like a sloth an amazingly beautiful and frighteningly charming woman who should take all the time she needs before bed.

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA I'm shamelessly hoping that someone asks you for further explanation... ... Great job, Koaladle! I've really enjoyed catching up on your thread. It only took me the last two days to read it all.

Started the NF Challenge a bit late and found this PvP a bit late. Okay if I join in anyway? I have a weight loss goal (disguised as a calorie/protein goal) and am trying to lose about 20 lb. (not in the next six weeks).

Tuesday Overhead Press - StrengthCalories = 17 under; Protein = 8 under9:53 PM bedtime, but I'm giving myself this one. No iPad in bed, no reading, etc. Waiting for my wife to turn out the lights shouldn't get me in trouble. So far so good!

Heh. An allthethingsbeforebed detox, huh? Sounds good! I think that's basically what I'm doing with the percentages. 100% = all the attribute point awards, 90% = 90% of the points awarded, and so on... I'll figure all that out come grading time! Stoopid cardio. Thanks.

Monday Cardio Calories = 26 under; Protein = 4 over 10:30 PM bedtime

Thanks for the welcome and the links and the stalking!

Damn, baby got back! Errrr... I mean... nice gainz, bro. Seriously, though, great progress. And thanks for the welcome in my thread.

Deux is never late, nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to. It just so happens that sometimes that's one week into a six-week challenge... totally on purpose! Introduction I'm new to Nerd Fitness, but not to nerding or fitness. I'm a 30-ish, married, father of one, who likes to lift heavy things (relatively speaking) and put them back down again. Obsessions include graphic novels, tattoos, beer, sci-fi/fantasy, and Magic the Gathering. My goals are currently physique (#1) and strength (#2) based. Main Quest I'd guess that I'm at the low end of the 20-25% bodyfat range. My goal is to be 10% by tomorrow, but as that is probably not S.M.A.R.T., I'll settle for 15% or less by spring. Goal 1: Cardio 2x per Week Current strength routine is 4x per week, rotating strength and hypertrophy. Right now it's going really well and I'm completing everything on schedule. My conditioning work, however, could use some... work, so it'll be the focus of my first goal. Nothing crazy here, just do it, twice per week, as scheduled. Note: Whining about cardio does not count as cardio. 100% = 10 Workouts Reward = +1 STR, +2 DEX, +2 STA Goal 2: Hit Calorie and Protein Goals Every Day I should be aiming to hit my calorie, protein, carb, and fat goals, but... baby steps. I need to get within 200 calories of my calorie target and within 10 grams of my protein target every day. Note: This is gonna be freakishly hard for me. 100% = 35 Days Reward = +2 CON, +2 CHA Goal 3: Lights Out at 9:45 PM 5x per Week My current bedtime routine currently consists of the following: It's bedtime and I'm tired, I think I'll... watch just one more episode, check email/Facebook/Instagram, do nightly bathroom stuff, get into bed, play games on my iPad, and then turn out the lights and go to sleep. This is a horrible way to end the day when one begins the day with a 4:45 AM workout. I don't get enough sleep, it's even harder to get up in the dark and cold, my training isn't as productive as it should be, and I'm exhausted by 1 PM. Not cool, bro. I need to be in bed with lights off at 9:45 PM five nights per week. This gives me some leeway on the weekends, but gets me a lot more recovery and sleep than I'm currently allowing myself. 100% = 25 Nights Reward = +1 STR, +1 DEX, +1 STA, +1 CON, +1 WIS, +1 CHA Grading I don't do well with pass/fail grading (I tend to fall jump off the wagon when minor mistakes are made), so I'll be awarding attribute points based on percentage of goal completed. I'll probably round up/down based on performance just so I don't have weird fractional points hanging around (which will drive me crazy). Week 2 Progress Goal 1: Cardio - X Goal 2: Calorie and Protein - X X O X Goal 3: Lights Out - O X O O