Search the Community

Hey there Adventures! Ken the Brave here with my next quest. A little about me, I live in Colorado with my new wife and I'm very happy to be in a state with so much to do and see! That said, I haven't always taken advantage of that… I'm turning 30 this year and I want my twenties to go out with a roar! My favorite movie as a kid was Indiana Jones so I've decided to model my Last Crusade after his adventures. I hope it's worth following and I look forward to reading your quest as well! My Main Quest: The Philosopher's Stone I want to enjoy the rest of the year and find adventure, knowledge, and happiness. And get ready for more adventures to come! Quest #1: Choose Wisely My wife and I decided to go vegan last year. It's not always easy, but we both feel so much better! My first goal is to keep eating well and track every day! Pass/Fail: For every complete entry, I earn 5 minutes of video game time. Each incomplete entry results in -5 minutes. Doesn't seem like much, but like most things, it adds up over time. Quest #2: Old Friends, New Stories A lot of my good friends from “the old days†have moved away and I've been neglecting my few remaining friends. Every month, I want to go out and do something social and new! Pass/Fail: Every month I go a whole month without any human contact, I will buy the friends I should have been hanging out with a six pack so we have no excuse next month! Quest #3: Three Trials Adventuring demands a lot! I need to be ready to answer the call when it comes. Twice a week, I will either run, bike, or lift. I started doing the 5 x 5 workout last year before getting married and lost all my progress. I want to get that back! My wife and I also signed up to run a 5k later this year and I don't want to be the one panting while I stumble across the finish line. I also enjoyed biking to work and would like to do more of that this year. Pass/Fail: Every week I can't make this happen, I'll clean my bike top to bottom and buy something to fix it up. It's been outside all winter waiting for the spring! Quest #4: Get Lost In My Own Library When you experience new things, you don't so much learn about the world, you learn about yourself. A great way to learn is to read what others have already learned! Every day, I will read at least one page from one of the many books I have but haven't read yet. I am also learning French using DuoLingo and want to keep completing at least two lessons per day! Pass/Fail: Every day I don't read and practice, I’ll make up for it by doubling the lessons the next day. And I'll post an interesting fact about France on that day’s entry (which I may just do anyway. We want to see Paris this year for our anniversary! ^.^)

I need a 30 day workout program that will get me in the best of shape possible without killing me, lol. I started today with Steve's Beginner Body Weight Workout and was thinking I would alternate days with 20 minutes of interval walking, I cannot run or jog. I just don't know if that will be enough to whip this body into shape and I'm fairly out of shape. I am a beginner and I have physical limitations. I have a herniated disc in my back so anything like jumping jacks, jogging etc is out of the question. I also have to be careful how many and what types of squats I do, although I can do certain types. Deadlifts are a big no-no for me. I tried the Jillian Michael's Ripped in 30 days and there are several things in there I just cannot safely do. I can do everything that is in the Beginner Body Weight workout but had to modify the jumping jacks. I'm 54 years old and 20 lbs overweight. My heart is in good condition. I have 30 days until a vacation that I would really like to be in the best shape possible so don't have time to mess around with all the fitness crazes out there. Help!!

Well, I've read Nerd Fitness before and used some of the recipe's when I tried unsuccessfully to lose weight. However, I am a newbie and have been reading over the info and now I just need to get some things in my life back on track. I've been reading over the blogs and success stories and finally had to say, "If you're not happy with your life now, why wait? What can we do to start fixing it now?" As with any quest I will start with where I am at the beginning. My real name is Michael, I just turned 30 last week and life has been kicking me in the proverbial groin for the last couple of years. I was at a job I hated until I got fired, am the fattest I've ever been (363lbs, 50 waist) and as a result I don't fit my old clothes at all, and I'm having money troubles that make me thankful we don't have debtors prisons. I suffer from depression, but I'm at a very low point to a degree that I don't even bother with the one thing that has always brought me joy: writing. However, nothing good has come from my crying and worry and thus the first step begins today. Now, I have set some goals for where I want to be on my 31st birthday. I'm writing them all down here so I can reflect on them and give myself the motivation. As I move closer, I can look back on this and say, "Yes, we made some fine progress! But, the journey isn't over." To that end, I have three quests: Fit into my old, swanky clothes...buy nicer, skinny guy clothes. I used to be a fashionable fellow, the type who was Mad Men before the show. I know how to tie everything from a double windsor to a bow tie. I know how to fold a pocket square. However, I can't fit into any of my suits and the one that barely fit me ripped at a wedding this last weekend. I'm setting this as a goal rather than the generic "lose weight" because I know that's not enough. However, if I'm able to put on my old Tommy french-cuffed shirt and back into the stone grey suit, I know I'm back. Other reasons why I'm making this goal: 1) So I feel good when I wake up in the morning and because 2) I want to walk the streets of Rome on my next visit without being in pain and panting. Be financially Stable. Not rich, per se, but not having great anxiety about checking my mail as there is another overdue bill or constantly having overdraft charges because I really need food and to pay my rent. If I'm still making the same at 31, then I want to sell enough of my stuff and cut my expenses so that I don't do stupid things. Become a word smith extraordinaire. While this post is poorly-written, I'm actually quite the word smith when I work at it. I used to write all the time and it brought me so much joy. I can read a book, review it, and publish it in a respectable place. I used to dream and plan my own novel while writing short stories. I can do it again, and this time even better!I know that these goals are hard and I'm not going to be the Eager Beaver I was in the past who gets tired by trying everything at once. So, here's how I'm starting my quest: Cutting out all fast food. If I eat out, it's for a social reason not to shove carbs down my gullet. This will save money and help me drop the inches.Starting the Paleo diet, one step at a time. I've gotten rid of all sugar and I'm going to slowly eliminate all carbs from my eating that isn't from fruit or veggies. Soda, hard cider, and beer will be the hardest to go without, as I consume them every night. I'm mostly there now, but I can accomplish this.Start an exercise program. Right now, I'm committing myself to walking briskly for 15 minutes a day. Next week, I'll start the nerd fitness program in the mornings and slowly up the ante, asking myself each week, "Can I do more? If I do, won't I feel like Rocky at the Art Museum?"Start writing on the weekends. Write what I enjoy, as much as I can. My initial goal is to do just 100 words on Friday and another on Sunday. If I'm really enjoying it, I'll write more. Look for work in a more fulfilling place. Hear that, Chicago, I'm coming back!Visit this post, and the forum in general every Tuesday to see where I've come along and to encourage others. We will do this, boys and girls. I'm taking a picture of myself today, as soon as this post is done. I'll take a shirtless picture on the second of each month and check over my other goals. I can do this, and this will be the mind candy that gets me to the end. No more excuses, no more, "But I'm tired, but I'm poor, but I'm stressed and depressed and splurging money on junk when I should be exercising or writing makes me feel good." I know what self-indulgence does, and it doesn't lead to joy. Just more pain. So, to end this long post, I am hopeful! Writing this actually makes me feel better already and I think this time it will be different. I've failed, but I'm picking myself up and getting ready for round 3. If anyone else in the NF community is full of advice, let it come. I'm okay with harsh criticism if you need to tell me what's what. Also, if you want to message me here and be my accountability buddy and fitness pal, that would be great! Especially if you happen to be in New England and love comics, philosophy, HP Lovecraft, and old black and white flicks. Here we go, once more into the breach! Rah!

The theme here is to be a consistency monster. I've realized that Consistency>Intensity so my goals this time is to create a cycle that I don't want to break. 1) Whole 30+ Always one of my goals because of how much it helps me. Eating right consistently means I'll lose weight. I didn't lose 45 pounds by cheating myself. I need to stay consistent with it; no matter how boring it might get. How I felt on the whole 30 was way better than if I wasn't and I need to remember that. +4 Con 2) Walking If I'm going to do a Spartan Race, I need to be able to handle walking long distances. I'm starting off with walking 2.2 miles a day. Once that feels easy for me, I want to steadily increase it. Again- consistency>intensity. No need trying to hike 10 miles and burn myself out. +3 Dex 3) PLP - Pushup + Lunges + Pullup Program. I can't do pullups yet, but that's why I'm going to do heavy rows until I can do inclined rows with my bar + cement blocks. I'll try 10 of each when the challenge starts and do that a couple days and then continue with increasing the reps. Sledgehammer workouts when I feel like I have extra energy worked out great last time, so don't worry- I'll be hammering away yet again (Sub-goal here: do 500+ Pushups over the course of the challenge) +4 Strength 4) Staying Positive. I haven't ironed out the details of this yet, but there is a lot of heavy stuff I'm dealing with right now and I need some mental clarity. If I'm depressed and stressed out- I won't be able to handle the other things. So this has to be a priority. Maybe a positive affirmation a day or something? Not 100% sure, but I'm thinking something along those lines. +4 (Determined Later)