Matt116

Yes, still getting notifications for new replies. Things are going well, but due to sickness and travel I won't make my goal for workouts.

Thanks for the tip. I guess I should have mentioned that checking the forums intermittently, mostly only when I get notifications, is an intentional choice. It's not that the forums aren't good, but that I'm committed to other things and also need some healthy margin in my life. Right now the forums don't fit into that.

I thought I would sit this one out and just see how I did with the momentum I've built over the past year of Nerd Fitness... but then decided not to. I'm already making goals for life and already checking them daily, so why not post some of those goals? Here they are: Fitness - Strength: Do 11 workouts of 3 exercises each (3 sets*8/max reps for each exercise, increasing reps or weight slowly). Each workout has one exercise each of legs/ whole body, push, and pull. Fitness - Endurance: Finish each of above workouts with 6-8 minutes of walking/ running, at a level that is challenging but not dangerous. Nutrition: Make one meal a day at least half veggies (with a bit of fruit allowed in that half too). Won't be tracking this meticulously but will keep it in mind as a guiding principle. LUYL: Write letters to my wife for her to read while I'm travelling for work. That's all! As some of you probably know, I don't monitor this thread/ the forums too closely, but I'll probably see replies within a few days.

I'm liking my progress. I'm reading don't waste your life by John Piper.

I'm mostly reading nonfiction. Varied topics.

1. Fitness - Endurance: Go for one 30+ minute walk 14 of the 28 days. 2. Fitness - Strength: Do the warmup and workout in the Total Body Blitz chapter of my book (with some variation) at least 11 times. 3. Nutrition: record number of grams of protein consumed in one day each week 4. LUYL: finish two books

As much as I have anything under control, yes. Only hiccups were a minor injury and more difficulty making time for walking. It's looking good now though.

@SkyGirl it's going well, thanks. A big change to my work routine this week will make it more challenging, but I'm planning ahead and will make stuff happen!

I took out a strength training book from the library and am using a total body routine from it for the core of this challenge. Here are the goals: 1. Fitness - Endurance: Go for one 30+ minute walk 14 of the 28 days. 2. Fitness - Strength: Do the warmup and workout in the Total Body Blitz chapter of my book at least 11 times. 3. Nutrition: Cook one healthy, low-budget, large-batch recipe a week. Suggestions welcome! 4. LUYL: Actually finish reading the highlights of Kindle books, and also look at returned assignments from the summer; extract tips for writing. That's all for now!

Not much to update. Things are going very well, though I'm a bit behind on my steps.

Thanks for the cooking thoughts, though I don't like celery... Cucumber slices maybe? The books are a variety of types, but many would fall into the broad "life improvement" category. Some are more explicitly idea-oriented. So the re-reading highlights has a twofold purpose: so I can actually remember what the book said (ideas) and actually take steps to doing something about those ideas (practice). I hate the idea and feeling of having read a really good book, then not being able to answer what it's about or how I'm applying its ideas.

The last challenge went so well, I'm gonna keep doing similar stuff, with just enough change to keep it interesting: Fitness - Endurance: Average 8000 steps/ day across all 28 days. Fitness - Strength: Keep up with the twice weekly Get Strong workouts, and the once weekly gym times Nutrition: Cook one healthy, low-budget, large-batch recipe a week. Suggestions welcome! LUYL: Read the highlights from all books I've read on Kindle by October 31; prayerfully consider connections and actions for each one. That's all for now. Will likely change it up more in the following challenge, when the weather gets colder and I maybe have a membership to a different gym... (I really don't like that my current one doesn't have simple bars for chinups/ pullups. Anyone else bothered by that?)

I did indeed finish strong! Scored 100% on the whole challenge. Next one will be similar; I'm open to suggestions on what to do for the Nutrition goal, though. Overall, I want to eat a bit more like the Nerd Fitness ideal and/or paleo-ish... but on a pretty tight budget. Thoughts?

@Xena thanks! I got 5 days this past week and 1 yesterday, so now it's just 3 more!

I'm behind on the walking goal. Halfway through, I have 5/14 days over the goal level. Otherwise I'm good. I've been doing the lifting program for a couple of months now, and I'm really enjoying it.