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Hello all, I'm Laura (Ellestar) and this is my third 4-week challenge. I decided to do this challenge in the Rebels guild as my goals are a bit mixed and I didn't want to choose one specific guild for this time round. Challenge 1: Jan 7th Start Weight - 96.3 kg BMI 34.9 Obese Challenge 2: Feb 11th Start Weight - 91.1kg BMI 33 Obese (loss 5.2kg) Challenge 3: Mar 18th Start Weight - Big Picture Goal (Main Quest) To be fit for Kilimanjaro (26th July 2019) To lose 30+ kilos (59kg goal) and have a healthy BMI (25 or less) Complete Half Marathon (26th May 2019) S.M.A.R.T goals Keep my diet healthy - limit chocolate/sweets etc Gym 2 times a week (early to bed, early to rise) Yoga every day Hill walk at least once a week Complete the necessary weeks for Half Marathon Training (26th May 2019) These goals haven't changed much as I've progressed through challenges and I'm really focusing on building consistency more than anything. This time round I really want to focus on building a morning route and getting to the gym before work. To do this I need to make sure I'm going to bed at a reasonable time and getting a good amount of sleep. Looking forward to continuing to make progress and build on habits.

Hello all, I'm Laura (Ellestar) and I've given this a go a few times before but always seem to relapse into unhealthy habits. I found NERD fitness a few years ago and have followed on and off since. My nerdy interests include Lord of the Rings, various YA fantasy and I'm a trained librarian. I'm turning 40 in April and have decided that it's now or never! I want to be fit in my 40s. Also I have booked a trip to hike Kilimanjaro in July/Aug this year and I need to be fit for that. I have OK residual fitness from general everyday activity and past years of exercise, however in the last 2 years my eating and exercising have suffered so I need to get back to a good routine and a good fitness level, as well as losing a fair bit of weight. Big Picture Goal (Main Quest) To be fit for Kilimanjaro To lose 30+ kilos and have a healthy BMI S.M.A.R.T goals Keep my diet healthy - no chocolates/sweets/alcohol Gym/Swim minimum 3 times a week Yoga with Adrienne - Dedicate - every day Hill walk at least once a week I am ready to do this!

"While Godric was out adventuring, and Salazar was busy scheming, and Rowena was lost in her books, Helga got shit done." - variation on what the Sorting Hat says in a fanfiction I read once upon a time I feel like I need to start with the disclaimer that I'm actually a Slytherin. And a Thunderbird. But this leaves me with a lot of dreaming and scheming and doing in bursts, but not so good with the slow and steady stuff. So this time around, my goals are the same as last challenge, but I'm focussing on consistency. I matters less that I do an equal or great number of minutes running or reps with weights, but more that I get to the fucking gym. Or upper deck. Or something. DAILY. So yes, I'm looking to get some points for Hufflepuff. Or Havik, if you're familiar with that part of the rebellion (I'm currently undercover, i.e. unsubscribed due to lack of internet). Not sure I have anything else to say. If I think of appropriate quest or mission titles I'll update. Otherwise, expect more or less the same as my last challenge, probably with the same number of updates, just larger quantities of information. Because while I may have started paying for internet slightly more efficiently, it still costs too much. >.<

As some of you are aware, in 2017 I began to pursue my dream job. As said in-the-know people know, I also got the job. I know, incredibly exciting. Except... Update: Dream job? Not actually challenging enough for me. I blame NerdFitness. Why? ...Storytime! (Feel free to skip to post 2 for information on my actual challenge. This is a [hi]story and justification post.) Setting: 2015. An idyllic city-town. Dramatis Personae: A 26 year old, unemployed person of indeterminate gender. Out of shape, living a life of internet browsing, role-playing games, and video games. Not necessarily in that order. - Stop me if you've heard this one. ... Oh wait, this is NF. We've not only all heard this one, most of us have lived it. Well, here's my variation: When I signed up for the Academy, I was in a relationship that had turned toxic. We were both starting to realize that it was not only reaching the point of no return, but had in fact passed said point behind months - possibly years - before. Worst of all, however, was that I had changed myself - my goals and ambitions, my life plan, my habits and attitudes to accommodate his - There's a little voice in my head that still whimpers what more could you have wanted? But more importantly, he never asked for any of that. Those changes? All entirely completely my choice. - and I didn't realize the full extent of those changes until we broke up. As I'm sure many of you are familiar with, post-breakup me was briefly in denial. After the denial, I became angry. But one of the things that I will forever thank my parents for is that I was raised not just to get angry but take that anger and think. Now if only they'd taught me to do that while in a relationship, I might have avoided that whole emotional mess >.< So in my post-breakup anger, I realized that while I was angry at him for effective breaking promises - There may not have been literal rings, but the same promises were made. - I was much more angry with myself. Because I while I rarely compromised in arguments or decisions, I compromised on opinions, and attitudes, and lifestyle. It took a little while, but eventually I got over the self-berating phase and started focussing on getting my life and myself back to something that I could at least be somewhat proud of. Enter Respawn #1. And why I blame NerdFitness for my dream job not living up to expectations. During this respawn, I rebooted my Academy account. Erased quests, deleted character stories, erased quotes, and started again from the beginning. Everyone remembers the first step right? If not here's a reminder: FIND YOU BIG WHY. And here's the one I formed then: I closed my eyes and forgot who I was. I looked at others and compromised myself. I stopped learning. I stopped doing. I refuse to let this happen again. When I change, it will be growth, not recession. I want to be aware of who and what I am becoming. We all change over time of course, and my Big Why has evolved along with my emotional state, my mental acuity, and my physical fitness. This is now my Big Why, and also why my formerly dream job just isn't cutting it anymore. Never again settle for the status quo. Know what I want, and go for it. Gain strength, endurance, and mental focus. Increase self-awareness. Practice appreciation. Broaden cultural horizons. Expand spiritual experiences. SO! I first got onto the ship, and it was great for the first month and a half or so. And while my workout routine has greatly improved (there's only so much to do on a ship after all, and hitting the gym is never the worst choice) very little else in my current position actually aligns with my Big Why. Honestly, I can do this job 10 or 20 years from now. Which leads me to this challenge. Working cruise ships was turning left. The Other Left, as it were, is the armed forces. Ambitious maybe, especially considering how out of shape I used to be, but here's something else I took and internalized post- breakup: Ambition is not a crime. Know what you want. And go for it. So. Here we go.

Hello fellow rebels! I'm a bit new around here, been lurking for a little bit, and wanted to go ahead and make a place for my first 4 week Challenge. I recently had a bit of a wake-up call in my life, and am ready to lose weight and get fit. I want to get There (healthy), and never come back to the way I have been living my life. I have always been kinda overweight, but I am currently the heaviest I've ever been (well within obese) and I'm ready to change. I've made some half-assed attempts at weight loss in the past, but I intend to stick with this. This is for the rest of my life, not just til I lose some weight. I am still doing a little underpants collecting before the actual challenge starts, but this is what I am thinking for my challenges, they may change a little until it actually begins. I am thinking of having 1 diet challenge, 1 exercise challenge, 1 mental challenge, and 1 wild card. Quit Fast Food and Soda: I've been eating absolute garbage for the last couple years and I'm going back to eating good food, not just something greasy and salty that I put in my mouth because I'm bored. That said if a Jimmy Johns unwich is my lunch I'm not going to throw a fit. I'm just going to my every effort to eat the healthiest thing on the menu. As far as soda, I've been drinking way too many. It was not uncommon to drink 3-5 sodas a day. I am currently on 1 a day until I finish off this 2-Liter of Mtn Dew. I get migraines occasionally and I have had caffeine headaches trigger migraines in the past so the 2-liter is at attempt to ween myself off caffeine a little more gently. That is the only reason I'm not cold turkey quitting pop. OK so I'm cheating a little with 2 parts but here they are anyway Go for a 15 minute walk, at least 4 times a week: I recently moved to MT from AR but have been unable to enjoy it much because of my weight. The altitude has taken some getting used to as well. By walking more often (I also live on a mountain so my usual walk if 1/2 mile down, 1/2 mile back up) I'm hoping to better acclimate and just get in the habit of moving more. For most of the last 5 years or so I have led a very sedentary lifestyle. I want to break the inertia and become a body in motion, and I'm sure that my dog won't mind the extra walks either lol. Exercise minimum 3x a week (in addition to walks) and track results: This is just another case of hijacking the accountability of the challenge to help build a new habit. I am going to be doing the beginner body weight workout and I'll see how that goes. Meditate daily, minimum 3 minutes: I want to expand my knowledge and practice when it comes to meditation. I have only done a small amount of meditation in the past but have recently rediscovered it and found it to be a very helpful and powerful tool. I will also research better meditation techniques and attempt to implement them. I am focusing mostly on mindfulness meditation right now, but I plan to expand in the coming weeks, months and beyond. Brushing/Flossing Etc: I have had some problems with my dental hygiene in the past and I want to improve that. I am ashamed to say that I only brush my teeth about once a day right now. I want to make it a habit to brush 2x a day and to floss at least every other day, so i thought that this would be a good means of enforcing the habit until it becomes routine. Here is the slightly modified list for the official 4 week challenge: I welcome any feedback and am looking forward to the official challenge starting. I've already started all the above and have been including them for a few days now. I am eager to start my journey to a healthier me and I don't want to wait another day. There is a part of me that says to wait until the challenge starts, but the way I see it that is one week healthier I can be. I think I will start my data collection 7/1/2017 so I have a nice and easy 6-month time frame for measurement comparisons. Wish me luck and I wish all the other rebels out there good luck with their challenge! Thanks Bilbo, but I think I do need to get going out my door. Staying here hasn't been good for me. I Need to step out on that road, lose my feet, and just see where I might be swept off too. It's time to start MY adventure.

Janus (Latin: Ianus. Pronounced: 'ja:.nus]) is the god of beginnings, gates, transitions, time, doorways, passages, and endings. There are respawns, and there are respawns. I do a lot of the first one - every month, every week, sometimes even every day. Things like 'I'll stop this now' or 'This time I'll do it this way.' These are normal. These are for those times when you fall off the wagon, but you only need jog a bit to climb back on, or maybe you lay on the ground for a little while and then grab ahold again when the wagon laps you. Sometimes, however, a respawn is equatable with a personality transplant. I picked my username, my character name (and my RH agent/code name) to remind myself that it is now time to change. My goals, my methods, my approach - everything. Who and what I used to be is no longer functional or, more importantly, acceptable. I have named this 4 week challenge - my first one - as the First Gate because right now, there are no doors. There is an infinite list of choices and destinations, and all that I have to do is choose a path and walk it. Later on I'm sure there will be challenges that involve more obvious barriers to overcome, but right now there are no barred entries, no fixed map. So having said all that, thank you for taking the time to read along on my not-so-little journey. Please feel free to leave comments - kudos, critiques, suggestions, and opinions are equally welcome. I'm planning to operate on a slightly different schedule - rather than a planning week, I'm going to have a reflection/planning week at the end of the challenge. This is due to how my work/holiday/life schedule is currently set up, and the fact that I've been planning already for two weeks. Which means my four week challenge starts.... Now. Somewhere, there stands a person. This person is not special. Like the many hundreds and thousands (and millions and billions) that have come before them, they stand not at a crossroads, but at a point of origin. They inhale, and acknowledge those that came before; Exhale, and know that there are those that will come after. Inhale. Eyes open, acknowledging the myriad of paths that lay before them. Exhale. Step forward.

For my second 4-week challenge, I'm going to expand on what did during the last one. Last challenge: Replace one sugary coffee drink per day with black coffee or tea. Replace beer/wine at mealtime with sparkling water. Get off the train one stop early and walk the rest of the way to work/home. (5x times/week) Remove one piece of clutter from my home each day. This challenge: No sugary coffee drinks No alcohol Purge one category of clutter each week (books, clothes, paper, miscellany) Keep a food diary Continue getting off train one stop early (This one is easy, so I'm not really counting it. But thought it was important to note that I am continuing to do it.) This is going to be a much tougher challenge than the last one.

For my first 4-week challenge, I got some ideas from the posted suggestions, and added a couple of my own. Diet Replace one sugary coffee drink per day with black coffee or tea. Replace beer/wine at mealtime with sparkling water. Exercise Get off the train one stop early and walk the rest of the way to work/home. (5x times/week) Level up Remove one piece of clutter from my home each day.

Couple days late for the official post - but I have been tracking offline. Going to drop into the Druid guild for this forum, was a Rebel for my first go at the 4-Week challenge. I’m going to continue some of my goals from the first challenge, but make them a little more specific for what I’m looking to achieve this time around. Q1: Daily Meditation: Trying to find 5+ minutes a day to meditate; if I can incorporate Ki breathing into this weekly meditation that would be a bonus. Q2: Workout 3x/Week: I do martial arts (Ki Aikido) twice a week, but it’s not as active as a regular workout. I’d like to do yoga/bodyweight workouts on my non-Aikido days. This prevents me from making excuses for why I couldn’t get to the gym to workout. Q3: Meal Prep: I definitely need to continue to meal prep during the week. We have a large cafeteria at work with plenty of choices, but it’s easy to make the wrong one. Prepping lunch and breakfast at least Monday thru Thursday will make a big difference. Q4: Boss Battle: Berserxes the Squat King: Back on the bodyweight exercise path – again so that I cannot create an excuse for why I can’t workout. I’ll be using “the Path” to level up. Following a plan should help.

Kalista Fauner has been awakened. She is on her way to fulfilling her purpose as the Masked Artsassin, but to start out, she decides to join the Rebel Force. Ease her way in, because she is notorious for taking on too many tasks at once, and over burdening herself. MIDWEEK 1: Update 4 Week Challenge FITNESS Attend 12 kickboxing classes in this time frame Getting to the Arena has been a constant struggle. Brain gremlins attack, or I make excuses. Not today Satan! The Arena Gurus are waiting to help me continue my training. ***If I succeed in this mission, I will LEVEL UP as a Kickboxer by the end of the challenge*** Walk one-third of the way to Rivendell (from Hobbiton) [Total: 153 mi] While one does not simply walk into Mordor, I think I'll try my hand at it. On the average, I walk about 5 miles a day, due to living in a city and my various jobs. But, there are days where I don't move at all. As it is winter season in New England, I will not start training for the 5K until spring. Until then, it's all about walking -- especially since the 4000 footers are happening this summer. Walking is a great way to prep my body both for the 5K and the hiking that I will begin when the weather warms up again. DIET Drink 94 OZ of water daily I've been attempting this for the last couple of weeks, and have felt great. This is the amount of water recommended to drink daily to help facilitate weight loss for my weight. So, I just want to continue this. Some days, I don't do as well, or I try to guzzle it all at night. Also, with the added exercise, I think this will be key to helping my muscles not get as sore, and to keeping myself hydrated. LEVEL UP YOUR LIFE DEFEAT THE SNOOZE MONSTER! Do not hit the snooze button. Getting out of bed in the morning has always been a struggle as I tend towards night owling, and always have. The Snooze Button is the favorite ally of the Brain Gremlins. I always think the Snooze Button is my friend, but she is not. She is a tease, really working for those Gremlins. Of all of the aspects of this 4-week challenge, this will be the true test. So... THE BATTLE PLAN FOR DEFEATING THE SNOOZE MONSTER WEEK 1 **Try to go to bed at a reasonable hour. **Don't set your alarm for some silly early hour, like 5:30. Give yourself enough time to sleep. **As soon as that alarm goes off, open the curtains! Let the sun shine in! **Wash your face and make coffee/tea WEEK 2 **Try to go to bed around the same time each night. **Try to wake up around the same time each morning, even if you don't have to. ***Reassess and regroup at Week 3***

So this is my first post on this site after being a passive reader for a few months now. I know the current 4 week cycle is almost up, so let's just say I'm starting next 4 weeks a bit early. Alright, so here we go: AlienSeaRust's First Steps to a New Him! Diet: Drink coffee black, no more sugar (also only smalls, no more larges)Try to eat paleo (probably starting at three days a week and go from there)Fitness Do something athletic at least once a week (gym, driving range, batting cages, just something)Life Spend at least 3 hours a week practicing video game design (what I want to do out of college) Cool, with these goals set I now have something physical staring me in the face that I can't ignore. Let's do this.

(Edit: I know I accidentally posted this in an old challenge thread and will copy it to the current one. There is no delete button at the moment so yeah, this is gonna be here until I find it) So this is my first post on this site after being a passive reader for a few months now. I know the current 4 week cycle is almost up, so let's just say I'm starting next 4 weeks a bit early. Alright, so here we go: AlienSeaRust's First Steps to a New Him! Diet: Drink coffee black, no more sugar (also only smalls, no more larges)Try to eat paleoFitness Do something athletic at least once a week (gym, driving range, batting cages, just something)Life Spend at least 3 hours a week practicing video game design (what I want to do out of college) Cool, with these goals set I now have something physical staring me in the face that I can't ignore. Let's do this.