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Fresh off the boat here and excited to get started. So here's my level 1 challenge Diet: Swap out one soda per day with black tea. I've been rearranging things so that tea is always within easy reach at home and the office. Make at least 7 meals per week at home. Since I'm in the habit of eating out for every meal, that's more or less a 50% reduction. Fitness: Walk at lest five minutes per day. Level Up Your Life Five Minutes Daily Meditation For some reason the site seems to be refusing me (displaying as offline) whenever I try to post my intro on the correct board. Anyone know what' going on there?

Love to hear from others who need to gain weight. I'm naturally thin and look great when muscled, like a skinny old lady when not. I am 60 and feeling "not." Where do I go to check in with those like me? Female especially. Physical Goals: Gain 5 pounds Workout 6 days/week Keep balanced more Paleo like diet. Plan ahead. Other: More face to face time, less computer

Clouds. Everywhere. Clouded reason, clouded will, clouded strength, clouded judgement, clouded hope... clouded Faith. Oh, I know why. The last son of a family of Heroes. A cherished soul, kept safe and respected, just born at the right place at the right time. No need to rush, no need to sweat, no need to fight. But in a family of fighters, when you don't fight, you end up believing you are worth less than them, you lack something, you will never be that brave - and it's your own fault as they even have the strength to accept you the way you are. You are the only one who doesn't. That's how you pass alongside your own potential without even trying to reach for it. You just don't see it, and you don't even want to try as you know you are not worth much, and won't succeed. That's how you build selflessness over the fear of looking at yourself. Until you are tired of it. Or, to be more accurate, until time and life forces the fighters of your family to stop fighting. Then, in the name of their fights, you can only start looking at yourself and wonder what you can do to keep up the fight, to keep the flame burning, for them if not for you. And that's when you realize it. The clouds. The clouds that made you believe you were no fighter. They are your own doing. Nobody put them there. No hiding under circumstances nor inheritance when you know you are part of the luckiest people on this planet. You have to face it : you made the clouds. And here comes the scary thought... If you made them... Only you can blow them away... As a lvl 0 Adventurer, today I face the facts. I need to act. There is no more hiding. Today I start to fight. I fight against my own limits. I fight to remove the clouds over my self-judgement. I fight to explore a power I never acknowledged. Today, I'm a Rebel. *round of applause* (just in case nobody reads this ) So, to start on this path... Figured out I would join you guys for this 6WC ! I thought about it a bit, and if my goals are pretty clear, my geographic situation makes accountability a bit problematic... But thanks to the internet, I am not rebelling on my own ! So ! My Main Quest. As said in this dramatic introduction, but put more simply, I need to lvl up because I need to prove myself I can lvl up. That sounds dull but this quest is a quest for internal strength, a quest for willpower, a quest for faith in my own capacity to change. I'm not the Enemy : the clouds are. To have a more precise image : I need to find the Crystal of Internal Light, as once placed around my neck, it will dissipate the Clouds of Uncertainty that have been obscuring my mind since teenagehood. Let's say it is a Rite everyone from my People has to go through in order to reach the state of an Enlightened Soul, a necessary step to be considered wise enough to earn your Adult title (usually "Somethingwise"), and get social responsibilities (speaking your opinion, exploring your own ideas, reaching for more political positions...). So this is the Chapter One of my main Quest (I passed the Tutorial already). I'll earn my Adult Title once this 6WC completed, and will then continue on the Path towards Light. Once the clouds dissipated, i'll need to learn how to embrace the Light - but that will be the next Chapter, if I'm worthy of this one. My 3 SMART Goals. This is going to be a long journey... I'll encounter many temptations on my path, but for the Crystal of Internal Light to activate once around my neck, my body needs to be freed from excess, unbalance and unawareness. -> I'll follow a lvl 7 NerdFitness Diet for the entire 6 weeks, allowing only "social meals" to be (slightly) out of bounds. Today, i'm at the 6th level. It won't be too much effort, but it has to last. I'll register it in my food log. In the end, if I succeed, i'll reward myself with limitless bread and cheese and cakes. Just kidding. I'll give a lvl to every passed day (related to the NerdFitness Diet), calculate the average for each week, and get a global downgrade for each week lower than 6,6, so it goes from A to F. I'll fail if I get lower than B, or if any week is under 4. No shiny Crystal, i'll try again on another 6WC. Were I to prevail, I would earn 1/3 of a point of Wisdom for each week over or equal to 6.6, + 1/2 of this amount in Constitution and Stamina (for a maximum of 4 points total). On this journey, there will be many obstacles my body will have to face. Running, jumping, pulling, pushing, crouching... -> I'll Strength-train 3 times a week, following my Recruit Workout Plan. It is detailed, it is solid, and it suits me. For each successful week, one point. Less than 4 points (less than C), Fail ! Start again. If successful, for each point earned, 1/3 point in Strength, 1/6 in Dexterity, 1/6 in Stamina (for a maximum of 4 points total). Long the Journey will be. And my feet will play their part but, more than distance, it is regularity that matters. After all, this is just Chapter One... -> I'll walk at least 84 km, registered in my "Walk to Mordor" sheet. 1k/day (my morning walk for 6 days a week) + 8k on a week end hike. If I want an A, I go over 90k. B is 80's, C 70's, and if I get under 65, i'm done. I don't reach the Crystal. My reward : With an A, I earn 1,2 points in Stamina, 0,3 points in Dexterity, 0,3 points in Constitution. Extra 0.2 points in Wisdom if I stay over 14k every week of the Challenge. 2/3 of all these points if I get a B, 1/3 if I get a C. None if I get a D+... (2 points maximum in total, so 10 total if I succeed in my Challenge !) My Life Quest Charisma. Such a hard skill to rise, and to monitor. Along my journey, I need to work on opening myself to others, and not behind a professional mask. My thoughts will need to be shared, without fear of judgement. And without the barrier of my own judgement (that's actually what matters the most for this first chapter). But i'll go step by step. Speaking is a faster version of writing, right ? So before working on orally sharing my thoughts, I should train on sharing what I write. Which I don't. Except now. A lot. Oh well... So as you now know, I can write a lot... mostly unimportant things, as it is the less risky. So i'll begin to write about more tricky subjects. I'll share my thoughts over real-life questions. Not to enlighten people, no, but to train opening myself and my thoughts to the world. I'll start a blog. No one will have to read it, and nobody certainly will. But It's a step. It'll be there. I'll feed it. And actually learn how does wordpress work in the process, which can always be useful. And in case you are wondering (and still reading), don't worry, you won't need to pretend nor find excuses for not going on this blog, as it'll be written in French (*sigh of relief*). Oh, and i'm giving myself one point of Charisma if I do it. I know it won't really change my capacity to talk to people, but the effort is essential, and sharing my thoughts with the World (even if the World doesn't give a crap) is what matters here. My Motivation Really ? You want me to keep writing ? (If you said No I don't care, haha !) Well, it should be pretty obvious after all of this. Clear the clouds. Finally level up the way I look at myself, take care of myself and respect myself. It has clouded my actions all my life, and certainly has had some impacts on people I love (and have loved), and the efforts I put in my work. By succeeding in these Quests, i'll prove myself that I have my own destiny in hand, that my potential is real, and I just need to explore it. The Crystal will clear the clouds and allow me to look at myself with new eyes, therefore looking at the future with new eyes. And i'll earn my name. I'll be a Fighter from a family of Fighters. I'll be a Rebel in an active Rebellion. I'll be Depwise, which doesn't mean anything to you, but means so much to me. I'll finally earn this name. So that's it. Accountability. Like my (future) blog, I don't care if nobody reads it : it is out in the World, it exists, it is the Journal I write my quests in. My first one. And the fact that it is shared with other people facing the same kind of challenges gives it even more weight. Let's do it guys ! Let's level up for good ! Let's live the epic life we've always dreamed of ! For the sake of ourselves, for our place in this World, for our loved ones - For the Rebellion !!! -Skipoon-

Alright, so I'm AdderTwist, known (for now) as Grunkle Morgue. Obviously I like Gravity Falls. My heath isn't so great at the moment, and while I've got some strength to me in an emergency, I'm not doing so great. To give you an idea, here's a candid shot of me: I'm severely mentally ill, but also have hyperelasticity, some iron and vitD issues, and am currently sitting at 115 kg (~255 lb) and am only about 160cm (5'2.5"). I'm not that concerned about weight loss, though the ass is fat, but I am concerned about the possibility of developing insulin resistance. It doesn't run in my family, but two of my three daily medications increase the risk of it, and all of them increase weight gain. I also have a mildly deformed pelvis, poor eyesight, and sideburns. I'm basically an old man even though I'm 23, go figure. (I even like black licorice!) Now, the plan in general is more swimming, more low-impact exercise in general, and cooking my own food, preferably with less processed carbs, as well as more fresh veg.Rather than bore you all with details... Summary: Main Quest 1: Water, aka, The Moist Tub Swim twice a week. Aqua aerobics is an option, free-swimming is just as much of an option. This is to improve joint strength. MQ1: [+3 CON] Main Quest 2: Food, aka, It's Apocalycious! Make my own damn food! At least twice a week, cook at least one meal. Multiple portions, to last throughout the week. We're aiming for lower carb intake, but most important is the fact that I'm cooking for myself instead of eating out of cans. MQ2: [+3 CON] Main Quest 3: Land, aka, Bodies Change, Honey! It's about time I started moving around more in general. I'll walk at least forty minutes, or walk to the park to climb the weird rope web thingy, or bicycle for forty minutes, at least twice a week. More if I'm feelin' it. MQ3: [+2 STR, +4 STA] Side Quest: Troothache! I don't brush my freaking dentures teeth. This has to stop. I have to brush my teeth. I HAVE to. It's ridiculous. I've had to have two teeth pulled and multiple root canals. I've purchased special flavourless, non-foaming toothpaste, and a really gentle toothbrush, to help myself actually do this task, because I hate the taste and sensation of toothpaste. (It burns, how do you all cope?) SQ: [+2 WIS, +1 CHA] ETA: If, for some reason, one of the main three tasks is not feasible within a week, I will replace it with one other task from the list. This is for weeks where my joints are particularly sore or I am traveling and do not have access to my normal facilities. Thank you to @BitterOyster for reminding me to check in before the challenge started. So, that's basically it! Starting out ... Week 1:The Moist Tub - [1/2] It's Apocalycious! - [2/2] Bodies Change, Honey! - [1/2] Troothache - [7/7] Week 2: The Moist Tub - [2/2] It's Apocalycious! - [2/2] Bodies Change, Honey! - [2/2] Troothache - [7/7] Overall: The Moist Tub - Swim twice per week, minimum. [3/12] It's Apocalycious! - Cook twice per week. [4/12] Bodies Change, Honey! - Walk, work out, or climb, twice a week. [3/12] Troothache - Brush teeth at least once daily [14/42]

Introduction: This is my second challenge, but I didn't finish the first time. My name is Michelle. 33 years old. 34 in November. Starting weight is 290 pounds. Currently 281.6. Main Quest: The Adventure Begins A dark force has invaded the world. Many cities have remained ignorant, continuing on with their daily lives. Strange rumors have been dismissed. One small orc village was no different. Placed deep in a rocky forest, it had little contact with the outside world. Things are changing. Villagers must venture further and further into the forest to bring back food. The forest itself has become more dangerous. Having known only peace for so long, most orcs no longer train for combat. Some would say they have become lazy. The village chief has called for volunteers. They will take on the more dangerous jobs to keep the village going, and they will need to learn to defend themselves. One volunteer is a woman called Michaela Barge. She's about to embark on an adventure greater than she expects. (Losing weight will be my adventure. My first goal is 50 pounds, which will take multiple challenges to get there. I have lost 8.4 so far in total. That leaves 41.6 left. I was originally going to give the character the same name as my screen name, but I thought that might get confusing.) Quest 1: Food is Limited Food has become limited, therefore it must be rationed per villager. (Keep track of food and stay under assigned calories at least 6 times a week. I'm using My Fitness Pal to keep track. A = Keep within calorie range at an average of 6+ times a week. Villagers are happy. B = Average 5+ times a week. Some villagers are giving Mikaela looks of disapproval. C = Average 4+ times a week. Some villagers have stopped talking to Michaela. D = Average 3+ time a week. Michaela is ignored in her own village. F = Average 2+ time a week. Michaela is banished to the forest.) Quest 2: Hunting and Gathering Michaela must do her part in gathering food, which means longer walks in the forest. (Average 5,000 steps per day using my iPhone to keep track. Still recovering with a broken ankle, so I am keeping the number low. A = Average 5,000 steps per day. Michaela is bringing in enough food to feed many. B = Average 4,500. Michaela is bringing in enough food to feed herself and some others. C = Average 4,000. Michaela is bringing in enough food to feed herself. D = Average 3,500. Michaela is borrowing some food from her neighbors. F = Average 3,000. Michaela is not bringing in any food. She is banished to the forest.) Quest 3: Old Traditions Traditions of battle have been forgotten by many, but thankfully a few orcs have kept up the tradition, even in peace. They will now train volunteers to become warriors. (Strength training an average of 3 times a week. Upper limit is 5 times a week to ensure rest days. A = Average 3x a week. (18 total.) Michaela impresses her teachers and fellow students. B = Average 2.5x. (15 total.) Michaela impresses some fellow students. C = Average 2x. (12 total.) Michaela is just an average student. D = Average 1.5x. (9 total.) Michaela is on the bottom of the class. F = Average 1x. (6 total.) Michaela is kicked out of class.) Real Motivation: To feel and look better. To prepare for a mud run. I was going to do one in October (signed up for it a year earlier), but I broke my ankle before the run.

​Hello! I'm so super excited to start this new journey with everyone! I have been stalking the forums for a few years now and always planned on completing a challenge... and this time I'm going to make it happen! This is my long expected party and I plan to make fireworks! Main Quest: ​ Although I currently stand at about 150 pounds, I am barely hobbit-sized at 4'11", which sets my BMI in the "obese" category at about 30.3. I know, I know, BMI isn't a super accurate way to determine my health, but when combining my BMI with my current body fat composition of almost 40%, I am in some serious trouble. Therefore my current main quest goal is to reach 145 pounds by the new year, which will put me firmly in the "overweight" category, which is a baby step in the direction that I want to go!​ From there, I hope to hit about 120 pounds by my next birthday which is in July, so that I can have a "normal" BMI. In addition to this, since I will hopefully be putting on some muscle as well, I will be tracking my body fat composition. I don't have a set date just yet, but my goal is to be at about 25% body fat sometime in the next year or so. The body fat goal will definitely take precedence over my BMI goal, especially if I start to gain muscle mass. Goals! ​​ 1. During the next 6 weeks, I will drink at least 2 liters of water each day, in order to help me in my journey to cut out liquid calories. I will give myself a percentage grade based on the number of days out of the 6 weeks that I successfully complete my water goal. (A = 90%+, B = 80%-89%, etc.) ​ 2. My second goal is to walk at least 5,000 steps per day. I will be using my fitbit to track the number of steps I take each day. Similarly to the way I will grade my water goal, I will base my grade for this goal on the percentage of days out of the 6 weeks that I successfully walk 5,000 steps. I will probably add a mini-goal for myself using the Eowyn challenge and attempt to reach Rivendell from Weathertop by the new year, but we will see 3. My final fitness goal will be to track my meals and snacks with the intent of eating a 250 calorie deficit from what I burn each day. This should allow me to lose about 0.5 pounds per week, which should help me reach my overall goal of 147 pounds by the end of this challenge and 145 pounds by the new year. Life Quest! ​It is my intention that, despite my attempts to change myself for health reasons, I must learn to love myself no matter what stage of life and health I am in. I have a habit of being really disgusted with myself and my lack of control around food, as well as my lack of luster for life at times. Therefore, beginning with this challenge and continuing on through each challenge hereafter, I will include a life quest goal that will teach me to take care of myself mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. For this challenge, I have chosen to take care of myself mentally and emotionally, by requiring that I read for at least 15 minutes​​ each day. Again, this will be tracked and graded based on the number of days that I successfully complete my goal. I am currently reading The Lord of the Rings, but if anyone has suggestions for the next set of books I should read I would love to hear them! I have not yet completed decided on how I will allocate attribute points for these goals upon completion, so I will post the specific allocations later when they have been determined I will be on later today or tomorrow to discuss motivation for my lifestyle change as well as attribute points!

Main Quest: Unfuck my relationship with food. I have food issues for all the boring suburban middle aged woman reasons. I'm working on them. 1. When I have a food craving for something that's not on the list of reasonable foods, try to put it off. 2 points for successfully putting it off, 1 for thinking about it and mindfully doing what I want. Not kicking into "holy shit! I'm not going to FEED me!" panic mode is the name of the game here. Again, I have issues. 2. Two points for tossing away the last few bites of anything. Points not posted here on the same day don't count 3. Continue the path I've been following for three weeks of doing the exercise that the Apple Watch tells me to do, raising the calorie goal tne percent every Monday. One point for every category where I meet my goals. Life Quest: Five minutes of cleaning. Just five. A point for doing five. Motivation: What you'll note about these goals is that they are tiny baby steps and shouldn't be that difficult to do. I'm hopinh to build habits and build them in a relaxed and happy way that will sneak past my anxiety monsters.

Hi fellow recruits. I am new to the forums so bear with me :-) I am a 51-year-old gal who is wanting to level up nutrition and fitness. I am still navigating through the Academy, and all the awesome information it has to offer. Main Quest– to lose 6 to 10 pounds during the course of this challenge; thereby increasing my health and wellness :-) Goal 1-MOVE-scheduling a walk;minimum of a mile, 3x-4x per week. Goal 2-LUNCH-plan ahead and pack/bring my lunch 4/5 workdays. Goal 3-SWEETS- to not eat any unplanned sweets/candy at work ( The location of my crappy eating ). I plan to use my fitness pal app to track my food along the way as well.

Hi I am Lacewood and this is my second challenge (I only got a few weeks into the first). I've just graduated university and taking a gap year before doing my Msc leaving me sitting around home all day everyday. I joined the rebellion because I would really like to change my lifestyle and give myself an energy boost. My main quest is to lose 10lbs by the end of the challenge (baby steps). Quest 1: Have a healthy breakfast every day ie not croissants and brioche. Cereal and fruit or something with eggs sound like good options. Measurement: A = 7 days a week, B = 6 days a week etc Quest 2: Carry out one of the sessions on my yoga DVD daily to improve flexibility. Measurement: A = 7 days a week, B = 6 days a week etc Quest 3: Eat at least 2 portions of fruit a day. I love fruit but never seem to eat it always finding something else to scoff. Measurement: A = 2 fruit, 7 days a week; B = 2 fruit, 6 days a week etc Life Quest: Read a book a week. I love reading especially anything with dragons, but I've got in the habit while at uni of putting everything else before it. Measurement: A = 6 books B = 5 books etc Motivation: I'd love to be able to go out and play sports with my friends but at the moment I just can't keep up and that needs to change.

So the last time I attempted a six week challenge it was a little over 2 years ago and I never completed it. Part of me was ok with that at the time as I was making a new friend, working out with them, joined crossfit, etc. none of which were part of my six week challenge. I deliberately chose not to follow through with my challenge even though I was making excellent progress for the above reasons. Two years later I am in a more stable place, my weight went back up again though probably around where I was two years ago +/- 5 lbs. I still have met my strength goals or anything else so for now I plan to follow through with my goals for now. The other difference this time around is I have been doing all of my six week challenge goals minus one for at least 2 weeks, some for at least 6 weeks so I feel they are very doable. Main goal: Lose weight. I would like to lose at least 5 lbs in the next 6 weeks. I have been averaging about 1 lb/week so this should be achievable. I have lost about 11 lbs since the middle of September (so maybe more around 2 lbs/week for a few weeks...) and another 5 lbs would get me closer to my goal. My overarching goal is probably another 20-30 lbs. I don't have a set goal weight, but in that range sounds good to me. I would love to have body fat percentage under 25%. Goal 1: Continue doing GMB's elements course. I am working on week 3 this week so will be starting week 4 next week. This is probably my 3rd or 4th time attempting this course and the only time I have made it to week 3. When I finish elements I will go straight into Integral Strength from GMB and should make it through week 2 by the end of the challenge. (Each program has 6 workouts per week so one day off a week.) Goal 2: Walk 10000 steps everyday (tracked by my fitbit.) I have been doing this for about 6 weeks now and I love my evening walks. It helps keep me accountable, reduces the amount of television I watch, and it is good for my mental health. Goal 3: Plan my meals weekly and track my food intake daily. This has been key for me over the past 6 weeks and I will continue to do this. Currently I am cooking 2 meals per day and buying my salads premade because that seemed like to big of a step to start with. To be honest I started by just making breakfast daily and tracking for four weeks. Now I am making dinner as well as breakfast. If everything is going well I may be making my lunches in another 2 weeks, but I have a tendency to do too much too soon and give up so I have been taking things slowly. Life Goal: I have been following the babysteps over at FlyLady to get my house under better order for the past 6-7 weeks? Not really sure now. Anyway, the steps should only take 4 weeks (31 days) but I tried that once as well and gave up too. So I have been taking them slowly adding a new task every week or so as I can handle it. My goal now is to go to bed by 11 pm every night. No excuses. This will be very challenging. I have attempted to do this for a week now and met my goal maybe twice. So those are my goals. I weigh myself daily as it helps me stay accountable. I don't care what the scale says, but I eat better when I know I will weigh myself daily. I'll take measurements in another 2 weeks (checked them 2 weeks ago and too soon to check now) so I will post any changes there. Otherwise that's it for now. As for motivation? I want my clothes to fit again and I want to feel healthier and obtain cool fitness goals like handstands and pull ups and other awesome stuff. These are my first steps. Tl;dr I am I terrible at follow through but have been doing these goals for several weeks now so hopefully I can keep them going. Goals are to lose weight, follow exercise program daily, walk 10k steps every day, track my food intake, and go to sleep by 11 pm every night.

Hi! My name is MrsFeistyPants (a loving nickname from my husband) and this is my first challenge! After being inspired by this amazing site, I bought a pull-up bar and had it installed in a doorway I use multiple times each day. I have been doing bodyweight workouts regularly since I became part of the NF team in July, so I figured a pull-up would be no big deal. Huge failure. I just hung on the bar and didn’t move at all, while trying my best. Since that “reality check†moment, my goal is to do ONE pull-up on the bar. I will even settle for a chin-up! It may not sound like much, but it would be a huge accomplishment for me. It would mean that my body has gotten stronger and would give me more confidence in myself. I would also love to hold a plank for 1 minute too. I want to be a strong, fit woman! MAIN QUEST: I want to be stronger: able to do 1 pull-up (or chin-up) and hold a 1-minute plank by the end of this 6-week challenge. QUEST 1: Do bodyweight workouts 3x each week, working to be a little stronger each day. I have been doing this for a few weeks but haven't seen much progress. QUEST 2: Watch what I eat. I started eating a modified paleo diet a few months ago and feel much better when I do. I struggle to keep my good eating habits on the weekends and when I am around sweets. For this quest, I will avoid sweets (especially chocolate!!) for 6 days a week, and allow myself one day a week to have a small sweet treat. QUEST 3: Do one fun fitness activity each week. Time to add new, fun things to my routine: yoga, dance fitness class at church, DVD workouts, hiking with the dog, etc. LIFE QUEST: Write daily. Writing has always been a stress reliever for me and I don’t do it nearly as often as I should. I want to write something each day to get the thoughts out of my head and on paper. MOTIVATION: I found out recently that I am pre-diabetic and that was a huge wake up call for me! I realized I was given a chance to turn it around and that’s what I am doing. I want to live a long, happy, healthy life. I also want to be a role model for my family and encourage their fitness. I want to feel confident in myself when I look in the mirror and love what I see. I also want to see what my body is capable of – to surprise myself. Let's do this!

Welcome to my very first post on the NF boards. Let me preface this entire thing by saying that I am a woman who loves comfort. Anything that makes me "feel" good and comfortable (usually the familiar) is what I am most likely to do. Eat, binge watch shows on Netflix, binge read a series of books, build Legos with my 5, almost 6 (she'd never let me hear the end of it if I didn't tell you all that she's almost 6) year old daughter... you know? All things that are sedentary and generally not complicated. Well, that lifestyle has officially gotten me to a point where I am uncomfortable. I have many reasons that led me to Nerd Fitness a little over a week ago, but the proverbial straw that broke this camel's back was a trip to a theme park where there were a few rides that I was nervous to get on because I wasn't sure my "trunk" was going to fit, and a disturbing situation in which the ride operator actually had to count the number of clicks on the safety bar to make sure that it was tight enough and I wouldn't fly off the ride. Kudos to the operator for making an awkward situation not feel completely humiliating, but it was enough of a wake up call to make me Google "fun ways to exercise" first thing on Monday morning. And wouldn't you know it... Nerd Fitness was the top result. Being the creature of habit I am (notice that "binge" was listed in two of my activities above, and should have probably been listed on the other two), I have been on Nerd Fitness daily soaking up as much information as I possibly can to motivate myself to break bad habits and form and solidify good ones. My first day, I did the Angry Birds Workout during lunch. It kicked my butt, and I was sore for a couple days, but I was excited. I've started to focus on my diet (reducing pasta and bread, another first for me), and have done 3 strength training workouts in the last week (you guessed it, another first). So when I entered the NF boards yesterday and saw that a new challenge was starting up next week, I decided to give it a go. I read through most of the other "Recruit" posts (Hi everyone!), and decided that if I was going to "challenge" myself, I might as well document it and join in with everyone else. This is another first for me. I am typically a very quiet, reserved person. I rarely speak around people I don't know, and not very talkative even when I do know you. I used to say that I'm anti-social, but I don't think that label really fits. I'm just quiet... usually. Enough back story... here is my main goal for this challenge: ** I want to fit comfortably into "that" pair of jeans in my closet. At some point they did fit me comfortably, I just can't remember when. I can get these suckers on, if I jump around the room while pulling them up and then lay down on the bed to zip them, but then I walk like the Mummy without joints. It's rather comical if you ask me, but I do value breathing, so I can't wear them for very long. So that's the main goal. Here is how I plan to attack it: 1. Walk to/from my car to work everyday. I work in a large metropolitan city, and parking is scarce. My car is parked one mile away from my jobsite, and my walk to work is mostly uphill. The day after squats, I must look ridiculous trying to motor up that hill. You're welcome drivers. I'm sure I made at least a few people start their day with a laugh. FYI: The walk back to the car (downhill) at the end of the day hasn't been a picnic either. 2. Breakfast will not contain any grains or other starchy foods. Bye-bye pancakes, bagels, hash browns, cereal, and all other things that had a starring role on my morning plate... 3. Strength train three times per week with gradual progression in difficulty. I'll be moving up from the Recruit workout and starting Bodyweight Workout 1 next week and progressing steadily from there. 4. No dessert until Thanksgiving, and then maybe one medium slice of pumpkin pie. Now this is a monster one for me. We have family dinners at my cousin's house every week, and it always includes dessert. Last night I turned down berry cobbler and mango sherbet. Everyone looked at me like I was crazy. And I typically don't limit dessert to family dinner night. Dessert is a regular visitor at my house. 5. No soda or fruit juice for the entire length of the challenge. This one shouldn't be too hard, but I still think it's important. Caffeine does weird things to my body, so I cut that out over a year ago, but I occasionally have a non-caffeinated soda, and I've been known to polish off a carton of juice or two. (Yes, I am that woman that drinks straight from the carton while standing in front of the fridge. Don't judge. You know you've at least thought about doing it before.) I think that should give me enough of a challenge for the next few weeks. Enough to keep it interesting so I won't get bored, and not so hard that I get discouraged. I've got a pretty good support system at home. The husband has lost over 100 lbs over the last couple years (WOOHOO!!), and the little one never runs out of energy or reasons for me to get off the couch. The dog is not much help, but she's 11, and sleeps most of the day, so she gets a pass. Anyway, that's me and my quest in a nutshell. Lots of firsts, which is very uncomfortable, but the kind that don't make my skin crawl. It's a good level of discomfort. The kind that has hope and promise. Haha... cheesy clichés over. Good luck to all my fellow recruits. We can do this!

My injuries have healed, but now I must regain my power, my speed and endurance. I have gained much weight over the course of my injury, I want to lose it. My diet must reflect that of a Rakasta, not a goat that will eat anything it comes across. I must be strong enough, cunning enough for my journey in the spring, so this winter I will prepare. I will train my body, sharpen my mind and learn the skills I will need for my travels. To improve my body I will work on: Physical Therapy Walking (5k) Brush/Floss/Rinse Practice Flogging Dance/Swim/Weights (nice mix of cardio and weight training) Eat 3 meals (must contain at least 3 food groups) Eat 2 snacks (1 must be healthy) To improve my mind I will focus on: 30 Minutes of French Study 30 Minutes of Crafting 1 Hour of Reading or Writing However, during my training I cannot neglect my daily duties such as: Making my Bed Cleaning Work Logging my daily food and activities For my first challenge, I will look for a 60% completion of these weekly. Each activity =1 point. There are a total of 98 points available each week; I must obtain 59 points to be successful. Each day I do not watch TV I will receive an extra bonus point.

An introduction is in order. Contrary to my name - I am not quite 50 yet! But I am closing in on that number. Over the last few years, the weight has added up (409 lbs) and I am looking at shedding 150+ pounds from my frame. I heard about this web site and it made sense to me as I work in I.T. and have been gaming since starting to play D&D back in the late '70's. I am starting to see the physical effects of carrying around this extra baggage and want to slow that process. MAIN QUEST: To get my weight down to 320 Quest 1 - Bring my lunch from home rather than eating out at least 3x per week A- 20 lunches B- 18 lunches C- 14 lunches D- 10 lunches F- 6 or fewer lunches Quest 2 - Do Bodyweight workout 3x per week A- 18 workouts B- 15 workouts C- 12 workouts D- 9 workouts F- 6 or fewer workouts Quest 3 - Walk at lunch for 30 minutes 2 x per week A- 12 days B- 10 days C- 8 days D- 6 days F- 5 or fewer days Life Quest - Read a book 15 minutes a day A- 40 days B- 35 days C- 30 days D- 25 days F- 20 or fewer days Motivation - I want to begin to get back in shape to walk either the Columbus half or full Marathon when I am 50 years old (completed the half marathon twice). I also want to be able to buy clothes in regular stores and not from the Big & Tall sections.

Hello everyone, I am pretty new to NF only been around for about 2 weeks so far but I have been going throught the steps slowly. Already I have cut out soda and started walking on my breaks at work. I am a little worried to start a challenge so soon but I don't want to wait around until next year to get into the action. I am level 0 so I grabbed my stick and I am ready to squish some rats and get my first level up. I am pretty out of shape. I was in the military when I was younger and that is what pushed me away from working out. I guess being forced to workout is why I have not done any fittness really since I was discharged. I slowly balloned up to about 270 after the military and 2 years ago decided I had to make a change. I switched from drinking beer to Whiskey, after sticking to that for a year I had lost almost 40 Lbs. (yea I was drinking that much beer!) Its been another year and at the begining I had lost even more, but in the second half of the year my oven has broken pushing me to eat out pretty much every meal, and I have shot up to 245. I am ok with having a beer belly, I really dont care that much how I look. Now I am getting pain when I do simple tasks. I have pressure on my chest anytime I do anything too physical. I am NOT okay with that, time for a change. I have decided to get on track and start on a path to keep myself in good condition. I really care how this is going to make me feel and don't really care about how I look as much. I am looking forward to showing that I can keep track of what I do workout wise and keep going even if I mess up here and there. I have added a side quest to Meditate 3 times a week so that I can build focus in my life. So far I have only tried this a couple of times but already I have noticed it helping me elsewhere in my life. My plan is to get used to making good choices about what I eat, sticking to a workout schedule, and taking 30 minutes for myself each week to meditate. I am going to be tracking each of my goals here in this thread weekly and using coach.me for the daily reminders. I am going to do the following in this challenge:Stick to my chosen diet NF level 4 no soda (23 days so far!) 2/3 vegies per meal 1/3 protein bread/pasta 2 times a week start trying to eat fruit (I don't like most fruits) track everything I eat on evernote Mindful eating eat breakfast every weekday Strength train 3 days a week using the NF Bodyweight brigade workout plan get better every workout dont skip cooldowns PT extra on shoulder (injury from motorcycle accident) Walk 2 days a week at the park near my house (1 laps) Stretch afterwords Meditate 3 days a week in the backyard after work 10 min per session I am posting my begining mesurments and weight and will update much better mesurments after the challenge. Biceps: R - 13.5 L - 14 Chest: 46 Stomach: 50 Thighs: R- 26 L- 25 Calves: R- 17 L- 17 Neck: 16.5Weight: 232 (Pre NF weight 244.4) Edit: today is the start of the challenge so I wanted to get a starting point. I weighed myself and was very surprised that even before starting the challenge I have lost some. (Must have been all that soda I was drinking)

Background I am a lazy coward. I wish there was a nicer way of saying it, but there isn’t. My heart is (usually) in the right place, but I will make excuses, shirk my duties, and hide (not run, since that might include some form of effort), whenever I can. I have my reasons, just like everyone else, but I’m sick of them, and I want to be more, better. I’ve always been more brain than brawn, but that has long since turned into an excuse as well, which is why there will be no Life Side Quest, only blood, sweat and tears. That is not to say that there will be no brain activity, but for 6 weeks the body takes precedence. Now, the cunning among you might here interject that neither ‘laziness’ nor ‘cowardice’ are attributes of the body, but rather of the mind, and you would be correct, of course. But that is also why the mind will have no say during these 6 weeks; it has already proven itself a treacherous little beast that will do almost anything to get out of, again, almost anything. So, there is no grand plan which to contemplate, no scheme to blow out of proportion, no contract in which to look for loopholes. There is only the here and now. The island, the squirrel and me. One game at a time. Main Quest I want my body to be more than just the thing that lugs my brain around. I want it to be a tool, and I want to be able to use it. 6-week subgoals 1. Be strong: Get through some form of workout every three days during week 1 and 2, and every other day during weeks 3 through 6. It doesn’t have to be structured, but it has to get done. Workouts are to be performed until failure, but not until stupidity. (Picking the specific workouts beforehand opens up to overreaching and giving up, or underreaching and getting out easy, neither of which will be tolerated. Find your limit in the doing.) 2. Be useful: Do something every day, something that requires either effort or guts. Mind, this doesn't have to be for someone else. It could just as well be for me, although the effort/guts rule still applies. The pile of 'shit, why do i keep putting this off' isn't going to handle itself, sadly. Can be anything from doing the dishes, or applying for a new job, to helping someone move. Basically get into the habit of being the one who says 'I’ll do it' and then goes through with it. (Fuck the extra mile. Just go the mile, and then we'll talk.) 3. Build routines: - Go for a walk every day, long or short. (This doesn’t count as a workout, so don’t even try.) - Eat when hungry, not when hungry to the point of nausea. (Yes, there will be people in the kitchen. Cook anyway, or you’re a coward. You want to be a coward? Didn’t think so. Brooding and silent is fine.) - Update thread every day with progress, and be specific. (Summing it up once a week would make it easier to be vague. Do not be vague. Traitor Brain lives in the vague.) (Subject to change until start of challenge. After that it's all in.)

Introduction: Day 0 There's nothing out here but a wasteland of misery and destruction- and a shit-tonne of dust. I am weak, and ill-prepared. If I am to survive, I will need to find shelter- recover my health, and build my strength. I shield my bleary eyes and look up to where the sun lays, giant and aggressive at the crest of a cliff, it's unending shower of painful rays strangling out the last shreds of moisture from the choking landscape. I gaze so long I begin to see dots- dark smudges against the backdrop of fierce, fiery orange. Strangely still for a trick of the eyes. that is when I notice it is not a trick of my vision at all, but an actual, physical object. A shack, standing strong in the nothingness that surrounds it. It is ramshackle, it will surely need a great many repairs to fortify it, but it is there, and it is real. Shelter at last. Ashtree's 6 Week Challenge! My name is Tree, and this is my first 6 Week Challenge, and my theme is Post-Apocalyptic Shelter Repair! i.e- I'm gonna clean my garage and turn it into a dance studio/gym! My long-term goals are fitness and recreation based- in my youth I was a member of a scout-like club called "Pathfinders" and I did so much outdoorsy-fitnessy-healthy stuff, but I have since gone way off the rail. The past 10 years have been a struggle of fighting mental illness and fixing myself emotionally- now that I have it under control (not cured, but controlled) I want to rebuild myself into a greater version of who I was before. Nerd Fitness is how I hope to attain that! So, without further adieu, my 6 Week Challenge Goals: Main Goal 1: Clean the garage, turn it into a great studio for fitness. A good survivalist has priorities: Shelter is one of the highest. This is something I HAD to do anyway (the cleaning part) so why not make it a goal, amirite? To achieve this, I need to do the following things: Sort and organise camping equipment.Find containers or storage for gardening stuff- especially the fuel.Sweep the entire garage.Debug. Despider (move them outside nicely)Purchase and lay-down foam flooring.Purchase and set up new "studio mirror" (it's an old dresser with a giant mirror...)Set up curtain dividing storage space from studio space.Attach power source (no power at the moment)Purchase and set up punching bag and frame.Set up lighting. This goal will be graded based on how many of the items I complete- 10% per item. Main Goal 2: Swimming, at least Once a Week! A good survivalist makes use of accessible resources! Both of my housemates go to aqua-aerobics, and also just plain old swimming, twice a week. I'm not in the financial-space to pay for sessions, but there's no reason I can't go to the pool with them and just swim. I also live near beautiful beaches, with ocean baths- that are free. It's hitting summer here, so I should really make use of those. Grading wise, I'll assign 10% to each session, which means I *won't* be able to make 100% just by attending. The extra points can only be made by swimming laps while there (I tend to just...float and splash). 5% per lap. Main Goal 3: See Doctor, Create Weightloss Plan: A good survivalist takes care of their health: I am a fats. I have always been a fats. What I have not always been is unfit. As a child, I was involved in everything- camping, hiking, sports, orienteering, canoeing, band camp- if it was an optional activity on a sign-up sheet, I was there. Since mental illness took over in my late teens, I have neglected myself in a big way. I am no longer able to hike 25km in 2 days with a 15kg pack like I could when I was a teenager. That was something I loved doing and something I miss greatly- as you can see in my "goal bars" below, I want to- however long it takes- get back into the rough scrambler mode I once was, and hike a cumulative 100km with a pack. To get there, I need to get myself in shape- my pack belt doesn't even clip around my waist anymore. I don't know how much I weigh but it's more than conventional scales can display, so my only step for this goal so far is to see a doctor about my weight, make some plans, find out what I actually weigh and go from there. 100% just for seeing the doc on this one, because I have been putting it off a long long time. And now- just for fun- Side-goal: Just be a little bit tidier in general, geez Tree... A good survivalist is neat, tidy- with a solid working knowledge of their inventory. This one is easy- over the next few weeks of this challenge, I just need to progressively tidy up, get rid of stuff I don't need and organise what I do need. I'm about to start a course online, so I need to make sure my work-space is workable. I have to share that room with my housemates, and it's also where I feed my cat- so it *really* needs to be organised. As well as my room. And the bathroom- the sinks have standing water in them that need to be fixed too- I basically need to make this a livable environment. Grading? 50% for initial clean of whole house next week, 5% per "upkeep" job thereafter. I think that's everything covered now- WOO! LET THE APOCALYPSE BEGIN! -Tree

HELLO! =D The big main goal: Lose weight. My current weight is in the 280-290 ball park range. The over all goal is to drop down to 180lbs. I know 100lbs are not going to go away in six weeks though. To start on the journey of weight loss I will need to do the following. Change my eating habits. 1. Reduce sugar. 2. More protein and fiber 3. Remember to eat 4. Apply what I learned in nutrition class to my life 5. Most meals need to be homemade. Less pizza, burgers and what not. I'm currently keeping a food diary for the week leading up to the challenge. From there I will review it and seek advice on the forums and across the internet for ways to add healthier diet options to my life. This includes, but is not limited to learning what veggies supply which vitamins and minerals. Ways to cook or add those veggies to my meals so my taste buds don't die. Packing my meals for work the night before so I have no excuse to order a pizza because "Oh no, I'm working a 12hr shift and forgot to bring food". >.< Set a schedule: 1. Go to bed at a certain time 2. Wake up at a certain time 3. Have my meals and snacks at certain times 4. Make room for exercise. As it stands right now, winter is coming (pun intended) and this marks the beginning of what has habitually been the start of some of my deeper depressive episodes. I want to change this. With my depression comes long hours of sleeping, not eating properly by either not having an appetite or binge eating a few big meals that have no nutritional value what so ever. To fight this I'm going to keep myself on a schedule. No matter how shitty I feel I know that this schedule must be kept. Sleeping long hours and not eating or over eating is not going to make me feel better so it makes sense to do something that will help me feel better in the long run. Exercise: 1. Learn how to spell exercise and not need spell check to edit it for me. 2. Practice Yoga for an hour four-five days a week. 3. Find a place to go swimming. I've never learned how to spell exercise properly I always spell excersize or exersice so... that needs to change lol. I am currently 280ish pounds, running, jogging and high impact workouts are not going to be my friend at this stage of the game. I know the moment my knees or my hips start to ache from running I will immediately lose all interest in working out because I can do some amazing mental gymnastics to avoid anything I don't really want to do. So, yoga is the option I have chosen to start me on my journey of weight loss. I will also start looking for a place to go swimming. I LOVE SWIMMING and since I live in the Pacific North West outdoor swimming is not recommendable. So, AQUATIC CENTER HERE I COME! =D This is where my progress bars will be. Each week the progress bars will be updated.

Intro: Teacher by day, Jedi in training by night. I live in Japan. I love my job and the opportunities afforded me by living where I do. I am not in the worst shape in the world (can run a slow 10k and have some beginner experience in weight training), but I have never been an athlete. Over the years I have worked primarily on my INT with less attention to the physical side of things, and am finally at a point where I feel I am ready to change my focus. I have also had 3 knee surgeries and numerous lower body injuries over the years, so I really want to work towards improving my strength in order to prevent further injury. One of my biggest obstacles to reaching my goal of finally becoming an "athlete" is my lack of consistency which becomes increasingly difficult the colder it gets. Originally hailing from warmer climes, my body shuts down in the cold and I have a hard time staying consistent. Winter is coming, yo. Which is why I'm here. Main Quest: Establish and maintain a consistent health and wellness regimen with a focus on losing fat and gaining muscle. Quest #1: Intentional physical activity 6 days/week for at least one hour. Three of these days should be weight training at the gym. A=6 weeks (+2 STR, +2 STA) B=5 weeks (+2 STR, +1 STA) C=4 weeks (+1 STR, +1 STA) I need to set the bar high for this because of winter. This is the hardest time of year for me and I absolutely have to stay consistent somehow. Insurance - In case of sickness or injury, time reduces to 30 minutes and weight training is optional. Quest #2: Sleep at least 7 hours/night. A=42 nights (+2 CON, +2 STA) B=36 nights (+2 CON, +1 STA) C=30 nights (+1 WIS, +1 STA) I have realized recently that I am a completely different person even with one night a week at less than 7 hours. Quest #3: No more than 3 alcoholic drinks/week. A= 6 weeks (+2 STA, +1 CON, +1 CHA) B= 5 weeks (+1 STA, +1 CON, +1 CHA) C= 4 weeks (+1 WIS, +1 STA) D= 3 weeks (+1 WIS) F= 2 weeks Alcohol is ubiquitous in most aspects of life in Japan, so this is going to be particularly difficult. But, everything else falls apart when I drink too much so it has to happen. Life Quest: Create and stick to a sustainable budget. Reward: WIS +3. Failure to stick to the budget results in no stats awarded. What can I do to make all of this happen? Shit tons of planning. I love planning. I would be lost without my planner. Planning. God, planning! (P.S. I curse a lot).

Hi folks, since I've had a bit of a lull over the last week I thought there's no better time than to start planning to revitalise the next six! So I'm joining the 6WC for the first time. My first set of goals are a bit pedestrian and mostly focused on habit forming, but that means they are achievable as well as challenging. I'll worry about stats etc later, but I just wanted to get these down so I can't back out. Main quest: Lose 12kg (26lb). I haven't given myself a deadline for this; it's more just an indicator of ideal general fitness. Side quests: Achieve steps goal every day. The goal is set for me by my nifty Garmin Vivofit II, based on my previous performance. Every day I reach the goal it increases by a little bit, so every day I get pushed a little further.Don't skip a workout. I've only done this the once in my NF career (Supernatural was on and I am weak) and of course something came up the next day so I couldn't make it up and everything was thrown out of whack. I need that extra incentive to remain faithful to the schedule, even if it means a few late bedtimes.Eat breakfast every day. I'm terrible at breakfast; I usually swap it for a few extra minutes in bed. But lately I've had some very long days of work and I've been totally knackered by lunchtime, which has given me a really good reason to start having breakfasts again. Life quest: Save AU$5,000. I'm getting ready to start house hunting, so every bit I can scrape together now is going to be needed very soon. This is going to be awesome!!

Allie's Journey Begins: Kiya & The Hourglass There is only an hour left until the clocks are turned back. While I will get the chance to repeat every minute of the next hour, repeating other things in life is a fleeting concept. While 1:08 AM will change an hour from now, there is no changing the candy corns that I ate during that minute (Halloween candy is a blessing and a curse). These poor choices have slowly piled up for me like sand trickling in an hourglass. I'm ready to flip that hourglass over. Now if only I was strong enough to do that... *A light autumn breeze flows through the bedroom window. As you sit in bed watching the curtains flutter, you notice a flicker of green peek through. Before you can get up to investigate, a small creature flies through the window and lands at the foot of your bed. Oddly enough, this creature is now sitting cross-legged with a broad smile on her face, looking at you expectantly.* "Umm... Hello?" "Pleasure to meet you, Allie! I'm Kiya. Are you ready to begin?" "Begin what, exactly?" "Your journey! We have quite the path set out for us." Kiya spent the next half hour or so explaining to me what her purpose was for showing up in my bedroom. At about six inches tall and varying shades of a glowing blue and green, Kiya is a fairy with quite the expressive personality. During the impermanent hour at the end of daylight savings time, fairies such as herself sense those who want to reach a goal, but have gotten lost in the past while trying to achieve it. This makes sense for me, as I want to lead a healthier lifestyle, but have fallen off the wagon many times in the past. She will stay with me while I strive to reach this goal, pointing me in the right direction and helping to cultivate the thing that I lack the most on this journey - discipline. "So, are you ready, Allie?" "Let's do it!" We then worked together on a list of goals that I can work towards over the next few weeks: Allie's Journey Begins Starting Weight: 150lbs Goal Weight: 120lbs 1. Exercise at least 25 times over the next 6 weeks 2. Minimize liquid calories to less than 300 a week 3. Keep a food and exercise journal 4. Don't go overboard during the Thanksgiving holiday Once we had finished our planning session it was time to rest up. While not a primary goal, keeping a normal sleep schedule will be important on the path to reaching my goals and living a healthy lifestyle. Kiya curled up on my over-sized stuffed panda while I lay down in bed and drifted off, hopeful about starting my journey and tackling the challenge ahead of me, one grain of sand at a time.

Excited to get started on my first challenge!! Can't wait to get more information, anything else I need to do to be a recruit?

So this is my second time doing the 6 week challenge. I was doing pretty well the first time until real life got in the way with some serious drama. But, now that I am happier and subsequently gained 10 pounds, I'm getting unhappy again. So to sum me up: Suffer from Churgg-Straus syndrome, on a daily dose of Prednisone for the rest of my life, high anxiety and bipolar depression, just went from working a job where I ran around roughly 5 miles a day to a desk job where I'm lucky I get a mile of walking done a day, and I'm pretty broke so "eating healthy" is ridiculously difficult from a financial stand point. My stress levels affect my health and exercising reduces stress (so my therapist says ), so here we go. Main Quest: Waist Size: 32 Inches Weight: 140 Pounds Current Stats: Waist Size: 41 Inches Weight: 186 Pounds Side Quests: Protein Shakes: 5 per week 15 Minute Workouts: 5 per week Home-cooked Meals: 3 per week Grading: Protein Shakes / Workouts: A = 5 per week / 28+ total B = 4 per week / 25+ total C = 3 per week / 19+ total D = 4 per week / 13+ total F = 5 per week / 12- total Home-cooked Meals: 1 = Freshly cooked / .5 = Left overs A = 3 per week / 16+ total B = 2.5 per week / 13+ total C = 2 per week / 10+ total D = 1.5 per week / 7+ total F = 1 per week / 6- total Current Grade: Protein Shakes: - A 30 Minute Workouts: - A Home-cooked Meals: - A *For anyone wondering why I've chosen "home cooked meals" as a quest: I live alone, I have a super long commute to and from work, I'm tired and cranky, so I come home and eat a can of soup or a hot pocket. Even if I'm making baked macaroni and cheese or spaghetti, it's still better than preservative, additive and chemical laden pre-made foods. I can't commit to "eating healthy" right now (finances) so I'd rather keep it broad but still better than what I'm doing.

Back Story: The biggest change I'm pushing for is no change at all. Sounds a little odd, I agree, but let me explain. For most of my life, I've been overweight. I grew up a tad on the larger side, and lost a ton of weight in highschool. I managed to maintain that for about two years before I went through some bad times and gained it all back with good 'ol stress eating. For all the years following, my life has been a struggle to get to a healthy weight and stay there. Time after time, I'd pour months and months of effort into getting healthy, only to gain it all back again, and then some. Finally, a year and a half ago, I realized I was at my heaviest – 224 lbs. I had enough. I partnered up with a professional who was focused mostly on my nutrition. We worked through figuring some surprising food sensitivities (nuts and dairy are the big ones) and, through strict eating, I made my way down to 137 lbs. I am coming off the strict food plan and now jumping onto the challenge of maintaining this loss on my own – which is the part I've failed at repeatedly. Truly, I feel that I've got a long way to go still, and my biggest success will be to see no change right now. Main Quest: I need to discover a new balance with food and fitness so I can maintain my new weight. To do this, I need to form new, healthy habits. I don't want to jump into an intense workout regime with equally intense food demands like I have in the past. I want a gentler path that I can turn into constant habits. So... Goal 1: Use my new nutrition knowledge to forge a healthy relationship with my food. I don't want eating a candy bar to make me feel like a failure – I must move beyond the all-or-nothing mentality. I will weigh in each week, with the goal being to stay within a 5lbs range of 137lbs. Point System – I will have 6 possible points in total, and for each week I'm out of range, I will lose a point. Goal 2: Do a physical activity at least 3x a week. It will be primarily aquafit or a 30+ min walk. Point System – I will have 18 points total, and each week I come in under 3 workouts, I will lose a point for each workout I'm short. Goal 3: Eat supper at home at least 4x a week. One of my downfalls is stopping and grabbing food on my way home from work. If I can keep it to 3x or less, it's better for my waistline and wallet! Point System – I will have 6 points in total, and each week I eat out more than 3x, I lose a point. Life Goal: Sit and write at least 2x a week. I claim to be a writer, but haven't sat down with any of my stories for a couple months now. Granted, summer was busy and I had other priorities, but I desperately want to get back to making this a priority in my life. Point System – I will have 12 points total, and each week I come in under two sessions, I will lose a point for each writing session I'm short. Motivation: I want the chance to get comfortable with the new me. I enjoy how I feel and look right now, and it bothers me to think of losing this/gaining back all my weight. It's very important to me to get off the yo-yo routine and move forward with a new, healthy lifestyle. So folks, there you have it – Kilyra's Strive for Stability. I haven't assigned attribute points just yet, but I do want to participate in that side of it too, so that will come shortly! Looking forward to doing this and getting to know my fellow challengers!

Warning: this is long. Sorry about that. It is my first post after all! :-) A little bit of background: I was chubby as a child and chunky as a teen, but lots of activity kept me from really ballooning out. In high school, I was probably around 185. At times in college, I got up around 220, but I'd usually lose whatever weight I gained by working a summer landscaping job. The last year of college, I slimmed down significantly. In October 2001, at age 22, I was the leanest I had ever been in my life. Down to an average of 160, I was sick for a while and down to an all-time low 145 on my wedding day, 10/6/01. Over the next twelve years, I slowly returned to bad childhood habits without the counterbalance of that childhood activity. The weight kept creeping up. Part of this was struggling with quitting cigarettes over years and gaining weight each time I'd quit again. And part of it was (not) adapting to new work and life situations that did not *require* much movement so I just stopped moving as much while continuing to eat too much junk. In January of 2013, I was the fattest I'd ever been in my life. About 275-280 at 5'7". A lot of body fat. Very little muscle. I was tired all of the time. I was cranky. I was weak. Mostly, I had fallen into a lot of very bad habits over a long period of time and they kept kept getting worse. It was the beginning of a new year. I decided to get serious about losing weight. Just like I had tried and failed to do every other year. For the first time ever, though, I started seriously reading fitness articles instead of pretending that I knew what I was doing (which I obviously didn't!). Everything about the fitness culture was strange to me. I didn't know the names of anything. I couldn't tell the difference between a set and a rep. I couldn't do any of the exercises I saw recommended. It was all rather overwhelming and discouraging. In February 2013, I discovered Nerd Fitness. I can't remember exactly how, but it was the result of a search query like "how does a fat idiot like me do a single pullup?" Sure enough, Steve's article showed up somewhere in those results. The time he took to explain the exercise and lay out a logical progression was so extremely helpful to me that I spent the next few weeks devouring the NF site. On February 19th, I bought one of Steve's fitness guides and started moving more and eating better. That led to a C25K and further running (truly amazing getting from "I can't run longer than 10 seconds without getting winded" to "I can run for 30 minutes without stopping!" to "I can run for 10 miles" and "I can run such-and-such time Mile/5k/10k") to StrongLifts to just being more mindful in general. But I still can't do a pullup. Some day! Anyhow, long story short, I've been working on living a healthier life since that point. BUT. In the Fall of 2014, I was at my lowest weight in a long time, 213. More importantly, physically and emotionally, I felt better than I had in years. Through the winter of 2014/2015, I let things slide and by Spring, I was around 223. But this was partially okay because I had been focusing on strength training through the winter and had been hitting PRs. By Spring, I knew I had to focus on losing weight again, but cutting calories made me miserable and I wasn't feeling the running bug even though I had enjoyed it last summer. Bad decisions over vacations led to gaining weight instead followed by a couple of weeks of rigorous losing only to have another vacation time or big party and on and on. I'm back up to 227-230. And I'm miserable, stuck back in old cycles of depression and disgust that aren't any good for me. I've kept doing some exercises, but haven't done any program consistently and have suffered in progress all around because of my uncertainty about what I really want to be doing. That's why I'm here. More than anything else, I just need to focus on weight loss. I can focus on skills and guilds later. Right now, I'm just focused on the Adventure and probably headed to the Adventurers Guild for the next challenge. Right now, I'm happy to reset to noob and join for my first ever rookie six week challenge. I'm hoping that posting regularly to a thread here will keep me honest and keep me focused. I'm hoping that reading the threads of other first-timers here will be an encouragement to me. I hope to be a positive spur to others and I hope that others will also spur me on. ------------------------------------------ So, here goes: The Main Quest "And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.â€" -Luke 10:27 That's the present goal and the end goal. That repeated "all your" are sticky words. I figure I'll never be done working on this one. Anyhow, the overall lifetime goal is: Love (of God) with: Heart Soul Strength Mind (and love my neighbor as myself) Specifically right now, I think that I need to focus on the heart and soul, the appetitive will. Further strength of the body or at least maintenance of my current strength ought to also be a result of sticking to a plan of dietary self-control. A poor diet and lack of self-control have been ongoing hindrances to me. I have a disordered and damaging relationship with food and drink. These are good gifts and I abuse them. I have made strides in this area in the past two years, but there is still much work to be done. As much as I hate it, I've realize that I need to be ever vigilant in this area. It is not something that I can coast in. My longish short-term goal is to lose 50 pounds over the course of five of these challenges. After I've focused solely on weight loss for that time period and achieved a healthy weight, I'll consider my options and see what kind of fitness "class" I'd really like to specialize in. I'm not sure of the future challenge dates, but I'm guessing that will take me into next summer. Below are the short term "quests" for the present challenge. ------------------------------------------ Six Week Goal - Focused Challenge *For this six week challenge, I'd like to lose 10 pounds.* That's a number that I think that I can realistically achieve without going crazy. So, three concrete steps toward that goal. 1) Eat better (or at least less). Count Calories. This is what worked for me in the beginning. I know it works. I just got lax and thought that I could do without it. Well, I can't. It's a helpful crutch. I do hope to someday be so inclined to the best choices that I no longer need to do this. Right now, I know I need it. *The goal for these six weeks is to end each day at no more than a modified 1500 caloric intake* (meaning that I can eat 2000 calories or so on certain days without feeling guilty IF FitBit activity mods the number.) A caloric deficit is the main thing, I know, that will make the weight loss happen. 2) Move more. Use my FitBit One. This is another crutch that I had dropped too soon. I will wear the danged thing clipped to my waist all day long. And I will not put it through the wash again. *The goal for these six weeks is a minimum of 10,000 steps a day and 20 floors a day.* Lately, I've hit this on many workout days but not on "off" days. I need to start just walking more and hit this goal every day. I still plan on working out, squats, deadlift, oh press, bench, (and I usually walk laps in between sets at the gym) and probably at least some running/hiking (which will also obviously contribute to steps). The steps guideline is the bare minimum that I should be aiming for even when I'm not doing something more intense. It's there to keep me mindful of moving more throughout the day at work especially when I'm usually doing a lot of sitting. Moving more will mean burning more calories will mean losing the weight. 3) Spend appropriately. During and after the work day, I can waste a lot of money on food choices that are not good for me. A $2 coffee here. A bad $8 drive-thru choice there. $5 at the gas station on junk items that I really don't need. It all adds up, subtracting from my bank balance and adding to the waistline. *The goal for these six weeks is to spend $0 on myself.* Exceptions are the three Gs: gasoline, groceries and giving. Besides those necessities, I hope to cut out all wasteful spending on myself. Spending less will mean eating less will mean losing the weight. ------------------------------------------ Side Quests - Mind I love to read both for pleasure and for growth in knowledge and wisdom. It's not too hard to keep up with the pleasure reading. I'll be doing that. That pleasure reading is often also mind-stretching, but I have more focused goals in mind. I'd like to begin to learn Latin and I'd like to have a firm handle on Luke-Acts. So... 1) Language - Latin I'm going to start Visual Latin and take it slow. There's no hurry here. Just like this fitness thing, this language goal is going to be a lifelong struggle. *The goal for these six weeks is to finish and master the content of the first six weeks of the Visual Latin program.* http://www.compassclassroom.com/latin.html 2) Bible - Luke-Acts I made my own print edition of Luke-Acts formatted for easy reading: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0615745067/ *The goal of these six weeks is to read through Luke-Acts twice a week, twelve times total.* I'd like to have a good handle on the general outlines of the books. I'll probably also read secondary material that I have on the two books. Most important, though, is just the repeated exposure to the text itself. 3) No Morning Internet I don't usually have a problem getting up early. Most days, I wake up around 5-5:30. It usually takes me an hour of puttering around to drink my coffee and fully wake up. What I usually do with this time is fritter it away on the internet, checking email or Boardgamegeek.com or Facebook or Feedly feeds or whatever. Rarely is this internet time spent in a productive way that will make me a better person. Mostly, it is wasted time. *The goal of these six weeks is to cut out this morning internet usage and use this morning pre-workout pre-work time to engage in the previous two items.* ------------------------------------------ Motivation - Family I am married to a beautiful woman. She's smoking hot. I am the father of seven amazing children with an eighth on the way; the oldest is 13 while the youngest is living the good life in the womb. I'd like to stick around quite a while longer and enjoy these children and some day maybe their children. My wife is a positive and stable influence. The children are all active, slim, and not obsessed with weight. I get home cooked meals all of the time. My weight issues are my own, rooted in unhealthy childhood patterns that have persisted and resurfaced in my adult life. Anyhow, I'd like to be the good role model in this area that I should already be. I'd like to be active with my children. And I'd like to be doing this for a long time to come. ------------------------------------------ *IMPORTANT NOTE* I will be pretending that September 18th and 19th exist in a different space and time than this six week challenge. They are sanctioned "cheat days." I will be spending the weekend in a cabin at Letchworth State Park with childhood friends. There will be hiking, but I'm pretty sure that no matter how much hiking we do, it will not fully counterbalance the amount of feasting that will be happening. Besides these two days, the plan is sticking to the challenge every day! For six weeks! ------------------------------------------ I've got to re-read all of the "real life rpg" stuff here, but I'm pretty sure that I've got this right and right now I am... Trawlerman, the Level 0 Halfling Adventurer. STR 0 DEX 0 STA 0 CON 0 WIS 0 CHA 0 Gotta love those newbie stats! I haven't figured out grading for any of the above, but it should be pretty obvious if I'm staying the course or going off course. I'll keep a tally and post here daily and reckon with stats after three weeks when it's leveling up time. Anyhow, if you got through all of that, well, thanks. I've blogged in the past but always about things outside of myself, movies, books, other stuff. I'm not nearly as comfortable with straight autobiography like this. Which is probably why I've avoided posting to these boards for years now even though I've used some of the sub forums as resources and been comfortable reading posts. Just not writing any myself! Again, just glad to be here and starting fresh. I'll start journaling here starting Monday when the challenge officially begins. AD VICTORIAM! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk