Marianne

Yes! In the end I became an academic rather than a knight

Thanks for mentioning these - very interesting resources. Your Horsemanship Challenge sounds so great! What a wonderful idea to turn a miserable time of year into a season to relish, and an opportunity to bond with your animals! I need to come up with a way to make winter fun... Looking forward to your updates!

It's very cool that you're so agile with your obstacles - that seems like a crucial prerequisite for these challenges, since the interface between the plan and the practice is bound to break down at certain points along the way, and you'll have to quickly improvise a plan B... also, I suppose visits and bad weather are quite likely to recur throughout the month, so you're already a bit prepared for the type of setback that might come up again. It's like the β-testing stage of your challenge. Kayla Itsines was actually the plan that got me consistently into exercise, and it's the reason I mentioned finding a programme, because I found it really confusing\overwhelming trying to figure out what type of exercise to do, how much, how often, which equipment, what increments etc etc, and BBG took away the stress of knowing I had no clue. I also had all the anxieties you mention about working out at the gym, and a home programme was basically essential for me because I couldn't deal with the social and body anxiety at the same time as doing exercise in public! The only thing I purchased was a set of dumbbells for £30, and just used home furniture for the bench etc. * I solemnly declare that I am not remunerated by the Kayla Itsines Organisation! * It was just the first step on the ladder for me. Good going - keep it up!

Nice goals, Richard! Setting overly onerous targets is just a fast route to disappointment IME, and one of the best ways to pursuade yourself not to bother. Going for the low-hanging fruit gives you the confidence to push forward with your ambitions in future. And SkyGirl is so right - it really is a big deal mentally to be constantly aware of the thing you're trying to change. As for the flossing... well, you're a better man than I! Best of luck with your quest!

I like the way your goals are so specific Lenore! That's so important for actually knowing what you need to do each day to move towards your end-target. Have you considered trying to add your vegetables into your existing recipes? Eg spaghetti sauce can hide a multitude of sins veg. Might be one route if the weather lets you down on the smoothies. Keep it up!

Great goals Lexiguy! It's exciting to read about someone who's experienced in fitness taking on a new challenge as a beginner - I'd love to know about how your running knowledge informs the other triathlon activities, and vice versa, and any new insights you acquire along the way. Have you tried decaffeinated coffee? I made the switch a few years ago and it turned out far easier than if I'd tried to quit coffee altogether. Looking forward to the next installment!

May I say Aonghus, you sound cool! When I was around 11-12 I was very (very, very) into a fantasy adventure book series with a female knight, and I was determined to be a female knight too, so I took up martial arts, gymnastics and archery. It was incredible for my confidence as well as my fitness. Maybe your Viking activities will give you the same push? Motivation like that, which captures your imagination, your intellect and your passion, is so powerful. I'll be following along with you!

Shy, when I first started working out I had The Hunger too It actually stopped within a few weeks - I think it's just a matter of the body adapting. One thing I realised with time is that certain types of exercise make me way hungrier than others, even if they supposedly use similar calories. Maybe you'll notice the same thing as you go. I wonder if you've heard of the Fitness Blender website? I would recommend taking a look - they have hundreds of workout videos at different levels, including stretching, bodyweight and light cardio sessions, demonstrated by normal non-peppy people with no music. They show a preview before each new move, so you could turn the sound off if you didn't want the chat. Good luck to you!

Hi MissLex! I enjoyed reading your intro here - what great goals! Not easy but still achievable, with big potential to make a difference and form the basis for further progress later on. I'm new to Nerd Fitness - this is actually my first post here - but very much relate to your situation of wanting to be fit but not yet having found my trajectory. That was my position a few years ago, and now I can say that fitness is a huge interest and passion for me and something I look forward to every day. I wanted to tell you a couple of ideas that helped me a lot, and that might help you too. The first one, which I consider the 'goal before all goals', is to find an activity that you enjoy doing. I feel this is essential, because a basic pleasure in movement is the foundation of a positive experience with exercise. If your workout is a miserable chore, you won't be motivated to progress, and you will simply be inviting stress and frustration into your life, which is never good! I'd say that when you're first starting out, getting into a fun physical activity should even come before considerations of maximising fitness, because once you find that enthusiasm it will push your progress so much faster. If you enjoy going to the gym, then keep going, but if you're just there because you think you ought to go, consider trying something else - bootcamp classes, swimming, ballet, soccer, karate, shot-put... The second is to find some guidance. It won't be safe or effective to use gym equipment without at least some knowledgeable instruction on how it works and on your form (you don't want to get injured), and you won't be confident if you have the feeling that you don't know what you're doing or how to improve. It's so much more satisfying to know you're doing the right things to go forward. I'd really recommend finding some sort of programme to follow, whether from the internet, one of the PTs at your gym or just an informed friend - having the right information will definitely smooth the path into fitness. (This does not have to be a heavy-duty plan at all - just a series of steps that build on each other and are known to be effective). Good luck - I look forward to reading about your challenge!