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Hi all So this is my first challenge. I really enjoyed (and was sometimes annoyed by) the process of creating my goals. I thought about the next year and came up with 8 major goals for the year. They are as follows: Lose 70 pounds Become fit and strong Really enjoy the outdoors Make more friends and grow the friendships I have Grow my artistic abilities and create new art Finish kitchen, living room and bathroom remodel (minus floors in kitchen and living room, that might be a next year goal!) Actually attempt two old craft ideas I've been kicking around Make enough money to support myself and spend less This challenge will feature tasks for 3 of those goals. Big goal: Lose 70 pounds digging deeper: eat smaller portions task for this challenge: research information and pictures to get a firm grasp on proper portions size Big goal: Become fit and stong digging deeper: strength training task for this challenge: Do Nerd Fitness body weight work out 2 times a week Big goal: Finish kitchen, living room and bathroom remodel digging deeper: a long list of small tasks tasks for this challenge: in bathroom move electrical and install new switches and outlet in bathroom paint walls and move sink to final position A part of me looked at my huge list for the year and thought this challenge I created looked kind of puny. But then I remember reading how if it feels too easy it's probably just right. So I'm gonna go with that and see how this month goes. I also am continuing some habits I chose to start with the new year before I joined NF. So in addition to the new tasks above, I will continue to do the following: No booze at home No sweets at home except sugar in coffee, maple syrup, honey, jam, and 86% dark chocolate Take a walk everyday Go outside everyday even if just to get the mail Meditate everyday These I've been doing for over a month now and they are well on their way to becoming my new normal. Good luck to everyone on their challenges!

You have such a great and inspiring attitude! Welcome to NF

You totally should be proud! Advice? You don't need no stinkin advice lol. Great job. Thanks for the inspiration.

Thanks for posting this. It's a good reminder that it's possible to make headway with this!

Hi and welcome. First of all you have already started by signing on with NF and reaching out for help. I totally know how you felt after putting in effort for a few weeks and not seeing the number on the scale change. I can't say what will work for you or tell you what to do. What I can say is that for myself I have realized that I have to be in this for the long haul. It took me a long time to pack on all the weight. It will take me a long time to take it off in a healthy way that I can sustain as part of my life. In the past when I tried to lose weight I weighed myself every week. This time around I will only be weighing myself once a month. I do want to lose weight (of course) but that can't be the main focus for me because then that number rules my life. This time around I am focusing on slowly changing my lifestyle to something that is healthy, that makes me feel good, and most importantly, that I can enjoy. I think it would be good since you are feeling overwhelmed, to start very very small. Follow the pace that NF sets. Do the mindset module, do the steps in the emails they send. I am finding it easy to do. The hard part is letting go of my anxiety of wanting to do everything all at once and just get there already. But that has always failed me eventually in the past. The only exercise I am doing right now is walking everyday. Only for about 15-20 minutes. What I have noticed is that after almost 4 weeks, I look forward to my walk most days. I walk faster. Don't plan it, just my pace is faster now as a default. I am not out of breath or tired at the end like I was when I first started. I will do body weight workouts as they come up in the NF progression. I want to keep it simple and have it be something I can do at home. The other thing I'm doing is part of my January resolution. I decided not to drink or eat sugar (except in my coffee, maple syrup, jam, and dark chocolate). It made it much easier to shop and navigate day to day. Should I have a donut(s)? Is it drinking too much if I buy another bottle of wine? None of those questions come up. Now it's just a no brainer because the answer is no. But i still am eating not enough vegetables, eating fast food occasionally and my portions are too large. But I'm tackling one thing at a time. February I will allow myself sweets or alcohol but only in a social setting away from home. That way I can enjoy life. Sometimes I think Oh my god, does that mean I will never know the joys of drinking wine till I'm really buzzed, eating half a large pizza and then 3-4 entemanns donuts? And my answer to myself is twofold. First the joy is very very shortlived. Second, I probably will do that again sometime. The difference will be when it happens, the next day I will not repeat it. Oh, also now I am just starting to try out batch cooking. That way I have a bunch of food to eat and some to freeze. I posted a successful recipe I tried called Butter Chicken in the recipe forum. (don't worry, it has no butter). Didn't mean to ramble at you. At the core I want to say to you: Congratulations on having a job you love and on choosing to try to work on yourself. Don't panic, you don't have to do it all once. You don't even have to do most if it all at once. Be kind to yourself, work with yourself instead of as your own enemy. You can get to where you want to go. You really can. But it's going to take one step after another after another. That's the good and bad news about it.

If you like Indian food, you will probably really enjoy this. If you don't like spicy food, you will still really enjoy this because you can choose how spicy to make it. I like the flavor of spicy food but can't tolerate that much heat. Here is the link to the original recipe Butter Chicken And here it is with my slight variations. In the end it made enough for me to freeze two portions and have dinner for 3-4 nights. Hurray for bulk cooking! Ingredients canola or olive oil, for cooking 1 onion, halved and thinly sliced 8 boneless skinless chicken thighs 4-5 garlic cloves, minced 1 Tbsp. grated fresh ginger 1 28 oz. (796 mL) can diced tomatoes, undrained 2 Tbsp. tomato paste 1/2 Tbsp. chili powder 2 tsp. mild yellow curry powder 1 tsp. garam masala (best part of this recipe) pinch cinnamon salt to taste Directions In a large, heavy skillet, heat a drizzle of oil over medium-high heat. Add the onions, sprinkle with some salt and saute for about 8 minutes until they are somewhat soft, golden and fragrant. Push the onions to the sides of the pan and add the chicken thighs and sprinkle with some salt, and brown them a bit on all sides - don't worry about cooking them through. Add the garlic and ginger and cook for another minute or two. Add the can of tomatoes, the tomato paste, chili powder, curry powder, garam masala and cinnamon and bring to a simmer. Cover and cook for 20 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through. Remove the lid and cook until the mixture thickens and looks more saucy and uniform. Or you could choose to not let the mix thicken up and eat this as more of a soup. At the end you can add cream like they suggest (I didn't) or even coconut milk would be amazing I bet. They say serve over rice but you can eat it as is, over pasta, or even cauliflower "rice"

Good for you for knowing when to give your body a rest and for not letting that be an excuse for giving up. It made me think of the story I read on NF about the guy who couldn't do exercise for 6 months. But he kept walking at least and also ate well and still succeeded. Like they say, you can't outrun your fork! I posted this in TrubornJester's thread but thought I'd add it here too: If you like Indian food at all, I just tried a recipe for Butter Chicken (the surprise is there is no butter) yesterday and it turned out amazing. The only things I changed was I only used 1/2 tbsp of chili powder and didn't add the cream. I also used 1 tsp of garam masala instead of 2 tsp. It says the garam masala is optional, but in my opinion it makes the dish so I wouldn't skip it if you decide to try the recipe. Also I didn't feel like waiting for brown rice to cook so I put mine over some whole wheat linguine. You could use cauliflower "rice" if you do Paleo. It made enough for me to freeze two portions and have dinner for 3-4 nights. Ha, now that I've posted this info on two people's threads it occurs to me I should just start my own thread of recipes that turn out good! Off I go...

Oh my god, all the cake! I worked in an office that was like that too. It's funny you are encouraging the food log because it is also part of the first steps I'm supposed to take from the email I got from NF. Trusting the process, and now even more motivated by your recommendation, I've started doing that. My deviation is instead of writing it down (which is what seems like such a pain) the NF email suggested I could even just take photos of what I eat. It is so easy to just snap a pic with my phone. And of course that makes them date/time stamped too. And it actually shows the portions I eat, not just a guess I write down. A picture of a 8" slab of cake has more impact on me than writing "I ate a big piece of cake" and then remembering it as more of a 4" slab of cake lol. It's interesting to me how even that simple act makes me think more about what I am choosing to eat, why I am wanting to eat it, and how much of it I am eating. It has been really eye opening. What I have learned so far is: More vegetables! and Smaller portions! Thanks for the extra push to try food logging because it is already helpful

Yes! I like to think of failure as "course correction". Well, when I'm feeling mature and confident anyway. Other time I just think failure hurts and really sucks. But if I look at the ups and downs from a far enough perspective I think overall there is an upward trend so I'm glad for that at least.

Wow. That is so true and completely resonates with me. Yes, of course. Not only am I hiding from the big bad world, but from my own dark self and secrets. Double hiding! Thanks for the words of encouragement and keen insight.

Thanks for the kind words! My plan is slowly coming together. Before I joined NF I had already decided no booze or sugar for January just to see if I could do it. However in the spirit of actually also enjoying my life I allowed myself sugar in my coffee, (i mostly drink tea anyway) maple syrup, jam and 86% dark chocolate. I also decided to walk everyday (even if just to the mailbox), meditate everyday (even if just for a minute or two) and go outside everyday (even if just to step onto my porch to take a breath) Because I knew I only had to do tiny increments of these activities, it was easy to stick with. And often I walk outside so two birds one stone. I meditate sitting up in bed as soon as I wake up so it's done. I try to walk soon after that if possible but sometimes I end up walking later, even at night. My ultimate goal is to build a life I can maintain and enjoy. I don't want to count calories, track food, or really give food too much over all thought. But I also want to enjoy what I eat, fuel my body with good stuff, and still enjoy fun things like pizza and wine now and then. To that end February I am continuing to not have booze or sugar at home. (except the exceptions noted above) I am going to allow sugar and booze in a social setting if I want. I have to say, grocery shopping was so much easier this month when I didn't have to fight with myself about how many hostess treats or candy bars I should buy and whether another bottle of wine was a good idea. It was easy because I just didn't buy them so I didn't have to think about it. I am working through the NF quests slowly but surely and this week will create my plan for my first challenge. I'm super excited about that. In the future I also want to add more vegetables and definitely can't wait to start strength training. I am following the NF path for those things. I know from past experience that taking on too much at once isn't sustainable for me so I'm happy to let NF guide my pace. I want to build a new lifestyle here, not just lose some weight. As for activities I enjoy I really like walking outdoors. I also love bike riding, hiking, dancing!, swimming, volleyball. Some of those things I haven't done in a long time. Some of them I'm not able to do now. But I hope to include them all by the end of the year as well as adding things like martial arts, soccer, yoga and maybe even some parkour. Thanks again for the encouragement : )

Ha, I know those songs! You may tend to focus on all of the times you have fallen down or "failed". When I read what you wrote, I see all of the times you keep getting back up and keep trying again. I see someone who can laugh at themselves, dust themselves off, and give it another go. Whether you know it or not, each time you have learned something more. Dig for that knowledge, dig deep. Also maybe trying a slightly different approach now and then just for kicks and giggles to see what happens. Thanks for posting because it reminded me that I am not alone in the madness of making plans and proclamations and then not following through or failing (same thing?). And also it reminded me that I too am trying again and again. And that takes persistence, a desire for change, and quite frankly, balls. So, good on you friend. I believe we can get there.

Thanks for the inspiration and the reminder that like everything else in life being healthy is an ongoing cyclical kind of thing that we always have to put our attention to if we want it be the way we would like. And good for you to recognize things were shifting back to a place you didn't want and actually doing something about it. Remember, you've already succeeded at this before, so of course, you can succeed again : )

First I'd like to say thank goodness for Nerd Fitness. It is the right thing at the right time for me. Second I'd like to say to everyone here, congratulations on taking steps and choosing to do something good for yourself. I just signed up two days ago and am choosing slow and steady for the win. And now here is My BIG Why as I wrote it just now: Being overweight is a side effect of hiding from myself, my feelings, my life. When I over eat I am numbing myself and trying to comfort myself. I feel safe surrounded by fat, like a moat against the world. But more and more I realize I am trapped by this moat, by these habits. I am afraid but I want to live. I want to shine and be involved in the world. I don't want to hide behind the fat anymore. I don't want to use unhealthy habits to comfort myself. I want to engage, challenge myself, live life. I want to shine. In this way my life will include love, friendship, partnerships, joy, adventure, fun. I will try to manifest my business ideas. I will be open to love. I will dance, swim, bike, hike, play. I will be comfortable in my body.