Rafael the Ranger

Yes, that is what I was looking for. I was wondering how I could come up with 13 different types of demon-devils.

I would love to have a summer camp 2017 in Antarctica! Let's get a group of nerds together, get the government clearances, book the flight, and make it happen! Maybe the temperature won't be completely frozen and we can go on a hike through the frozen wasteland...

I am Level 2! Yesterday I ran 3.2 miles, which was good. This morning, after an 18 hour fast, I weighed 249.8. According to my own requirements for level 2 I have achieved it and it feels good. Clearly for this week my goal is Level 3, which is to run 3 miles (did that), do 6 pushups, lose 9 pounds (weigh 247.6), do 12 squats, and then do 15 minutes of CrossFit activity. For my special ability, let's go for Favored Enemy and it has to be Cancer. I get bonuses to attack anything related to Cancer, because I hate that disease. Okay, the celebrating is done and now for more work to do.............. Level Run miles Pushups Weight - 3 lbs Squats Other Special 0 0 0 256.6 -0 lbs. 0 0 None 1 1 2 253.6 -3 lbs. 4 5 Animal Companion (my pet bird dog Roman) 2 2 4 250.6 -6 lbs. 8 10 Favored Enemy: Cancer 3 3 6 247.6 -9 lbs. 12 15 4 4 8 243.6 -12 lbs. 16 20 5 5 10 240.6 -15 lbs. 20 25

I guess I am doing the RPG on my own. In my version my character, Rafael the Ranger, has joined the Rebellion on a fantasy world that is fighting against a Dark King and his 13 Dark Lords. Each Dark Lord represents an evil that on this world causes us pain and prevents us from getting into shape.

I feel like I am going at it slowly. I am running very slowly. I use the term run loosely. Its one step up from walking. I should probably use the word jog, but run sounds better.

Actually in my mind there is a fantasy world where my character, Rafael the Ranger, is having his adventures. His quest mirrors my own quest to defeat cancer, lose weight and get into great shape. As a child of the 1980's (by the way I love the Netflix show Stranger Things) I played D&D with my friends and we had many adventures in an unnamed, fantasy world. I played many characters, but the one character I remember the most was a Ranger named Quester. As I recall he made it to 20th level. He died once, but was resurrected later. Finally the games ended because we grew up and drifted apart, and in that other world I imagine so did those characters. I see that Quester probably did what I did. He tried doing different things, discovered a lot of failure, he got married, had children, then got divorced (or whatever this world's version of that is) and he went to wandering again. He went back on a quest, but this time he had to do it alone. I am thinking that like I did, he contracted this world's version of cancer. It could actually be a disease, but I want it to be a person. This world was taken over by a Dark King, and under him are 13 Dark Lords. One of those Dark Lords is named Reknar, and his evil gift is the spreading of a disease that weakens the body and slowly kills it. In other words, he has given the people cancer. In Quester's case, the disease slowly robbed him of his levels and memories, until he was just a 0 level person at death's door. That was when he found the Rebellion, and they knew that he was once one a legendary Ranger, and he could be again. Over at my other thread, I have gone from a Level 0 Ranger Apprentice to 1st Level. The Quester of old is slowly returning and he has joined the Rebellion against the Dark Lords that represent the evils of our world. Making this an RPG is making getting into shape fun for me. I am actually enjoying meeting the requirements of each level. Soon I hope to be at 2nd level and on both worlds I hope I can help to defeat cancer. However, like Quester learned on his world, I can't do it alone.

Its interesting that today marks the first week of my first, 4 week challenge, but I have been doing this for a week. I decided to start at level 0 and at week 0. After a week I have made it to a level 1 Ranger (no longer a 0 level apprentice) and this morning I was able to run 3.2 miles. I am not 2nd or 3rd level yet, because my weight was 251.2 this morning. I have to reach each requirement of my level. Its simple: run 1 mile, do 2 push-ups, lose 3 pounds, do 4 squats, and complete 5 minutes of cross fit activities. I have found it incredibly difficult to do even 2 push-ups, but doing the squats was much easier. I am having fun doing intervals with my dumbbells in the garage and doing other types of interval exercises. My hope is that I reach 2nd level by tomorrow, but I will not rush this.

This morning I ran 2 miles and did 4 push-ups barely and did 4 squats and then for the 5 I did weightlifting & interval training. The weight was 251.2 just .6 off 250.6, but I will not cheat myself. The 16/8 Method of IF is working and I know I will get to 2nd level soon. I do not want to rush this.

Thanks! It is just the beginning, but I feel good. Setting small, short term goals in the form of levels really is revolutionary for me. I am confident that I will one day reach Level 20, but I need to add some combat training...lol

Yes, that above statement was true. Clearly, I have or had no control over how much I ate, because for many years I really wanted to eat less and lose weight. I thought fasting was simply not eating for extended amounts of time, but never before did I see the articles on Intermittent Fasting. After a few days I will like to see results and how I can adjust it.

Yes, Tyria, I am doing the 16/8 Method. I am amazed that it has worked so far. I am not super starving when I get to lunch time. For example, today my feed window is from 10:30 to 6:30. I noticed yesterday that I did not eat massive amounts of food during my feed window. I was able to completely stop when I got to my end time. I am looking forward to seeing how it works over the weekend.

I have no control over how much I eat. I have literally tried every conceivable diet, but over time it will fail because I will overeat and then stop dieting. So far IF has worked, because it isn't a diet; it is a different pattern of eating. I can completely stop eating, and then when my feeding window opens up it makes me feel more full. So far it has worked, but I need to see how it works as I gain in levels. I have been able to achieve Level 1, because I started at Level 0.

I am a first level Ranger! Using my criteria my start weight was 256.6, and this morning I was 253.6, so I have lost exactly 3 pounds. I also earlier in the week I ran 1 mile, this morning I did 2 real push-ups and I was able to do more than 4 squats. I credit the weight loss to Intermittent Fasting (the 16/8 Method) which is something I will continue doing. Now, the fun is that I am going to create my own, personal Ranger class with level requirements. Here it is and this is a work in progress more editing to come. The Other activities are things like weightlifting, interval training, over even meditation and I am not sure yet how a "5" works for that, maybe 5 minutes which I have done. For fun I added a Special category and for level 1 I made it animal companion. In my case it's my new pet dog Roman, who is a black and white bird dog. Level Run miles Push-ups Weight - 3 lbs Squats Other Special 0 0 0 256.6 -0 lbs. 0 0 None 1 1 2 253.6 -3 lbs. 4 5 Animal Companion 2 2 4 250.6 -6 lbs. 8 10 3 3 6 247.6 -9 lbs. 12 15 4 4 8 243.6 -12 lbs. 16 20 5 5 10 240.6 -15 lbs. 20 25

I was able to complete an 18 hour fast in order to start the 16/8 Method for IF. Now I will get into the eating pattern of fasting 16 hours and then allowing myself to eat for 8 hours. Its really easy while at work, I need to see how it is on weekends and off days. I think I am very close to level 1.