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Ok, here we go. So last March I fell down on a steep mountain and in the process tore my ACL. Complete proximal rupture. Grrr. I spent the last 8 months rehabbing my new/recycled/zombie knee. It's almost back to it's old self, unfortunately all that time of reduced activity didn't stop me from eating cheese and drinking beer. Result, I'm a lot bigger than I used to be. I want my mojo back and my pants to fit. Big Goal: I want to lose 16 pounds. I figure if I can lose 6 pounds during this challenge that would be a huge step in the right direction. I wish I knew how many inches I should lose since that seems to be a better measure, but I have no idea what that should be. I want to be stronger and faster and have a body that is up for any adventure. So to get there, here are the little goals. Walk everyday. At least 5 minutes. Preferably 45 minutes. Continue going to pilates 2 times a week and add a bodyweight workout to the mix. So 3 strength training sessions a week. Meditate at least 3 times a week. I'm totally new to this but my life has been a bit cray cray lately, and I'm up for anything to relieve a little stress. I don't/won't drink beer 5 days a week. The other two days.... I also want to do a chin up and the splits, but I have no idea if this is achievable in 6 weeks. Ok, let's do this. Ack.

Mainly I'm doing this because things have gotten pretty boring around the Anthyitis Household, yet I remember how content I was while I was training for my first half marathon in 2013. I had a goal and I did something every single day to work towards it. I pushed myself every day and I felt awesome on a daily basis, plus I got to take home a medal at the end of it. I'm not ready to run another half marathon, but I would like to feel like a kickass super heroine again. BTW, I've been a member of the Academy for a few months but I mainly just lurk. Nice to meet you! Main Goal: Lose 6 pounds 1. Prepare my own meals, with only one takeout meal a week. I'm am super addicted to fast food, mainly because I'd rather spend time the time that I would be cooking doing other things. Even though I'm a great cook and my food is way more delicious than anything that ever came out of a paper bag. I'm going to be doing a lot of roasted veggies for the next six weeks, because they're low effort. 2. Walk at least five minutes per day, preferably with my dog. Hellhound doesn't get enough exercise either. If he gets out more regularly, I bet I can find another nickname for him. 3. Weights at least three times a week. Maybe it'll just be bodyweight at home to start, cause I'm still gym shy. I'd eventually like to work myself up to attending a Body Pump class. Life Quests: Two, cause both are important to me. 1. Read an actual, real book for ten minutes a day. Not only do I feel like I'm way too addicted to technology in general, I keep buying books and not reading them in favor of ebooks and audiobooks. I miss having a dead tree in my hands! 2. Create and stick to a budget. Since I'm trying to both cut down on fast food spending and make a dent in my credit card debt, I need to do this! My computer is being silly and until I can get it fixed, I'll be using Every Dollar. Woot! Let's get started!

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.

First challenge & I'm a total noob. Main Quest: Do 10 proper push-ups. Q1 Eat a vegetable a day Con: +3 Q2 Exercise 3x per week Str. +3 Q3 Sub a protein shake for 1 meal Sta. +2 Q4 Read The Paleo Solution Wis. +2

Hello! This is my first challenge and I'm hoping to get this all correct. I'm usually tempted to write huge unwieldy novels in these situations, but I am going to be brief for now. My name is Angela. I am 27 and live in the midwest with my boyfriend and two adorable cats who's pictures will likely frequent this thread. By day I work for social security and by night I like to knit, cook, bake, play games (of board, video, and tabletop varieties), and occasionally exercise. I'm currently overweight and would like to make some lifestyle changes that will help me in losing the extra pounds I'm carrying around. My job involves me often reading stories of people who have become disabled secondary to their poor health choices, often including obesity. My family has a history of type II diabetes, and I am at higher risk having PCOS. It has been eye opening to the potential consequences if I don't adjust the trajectory I am on. Luckily I have total control over this, so things are looking up! As far as my roleplaying character goes, I will decide all that stuff at 3 weeks when I level up. Main Quest: Lose enough weight to fall in a normal BMI range. This is a long term goal, and I don't plan on having any of my challenge goals directly related to this. The idea is to have this be a side effect of better lifestyle choices. My brain doesn't do well with frequent weigh ins or excessive tracking. SMART Quests: 1. Do not eat out at lunchtime at work. This does include one free day a week without consequence for work socializing purposes, though healthy choices would be preferred. 2. Work out with Jason 3x/week at the gym. Right now just doing what feels good, a combo of cardio machines, bodyweight exercises, and yoga. Just getting in a habit is important. We usually go T/Th/Su but we are thinking of changing it up because Sunday doesn't happen as often as it should. 3. Cook dinner at home 5x week at home, including weekends. I've been trying new recipes and am trying to find a balance between tasty and easy. Life Quests: 1. Finish Jason's stocking!! Pics to follow. It is a gorgeous colorwork Christmas stocking that I would like to have finished by Christmas. I have a plain knit Christmas stocking that was knit forever ago by a great aunt that everyone in my family has. I'm hoping to create a similar tradition with our new little family. My motivation is general health. I want to be able to do things for many years without pain and that means making some changes that will help me do that. It's easier to lose weight as a simply overweight person vs morbid obesity. Nip it in the bud if you will. This post will be updated week 3 with character points and attributes. Until then I will try to post every other day in here at least and follow the mini challenges for recruits. ALRIGHT LET'S GO

Hello there. I'm fairly new to NF, but I already love it. http://rebellion.nerdfitness.com/index.php?/topic/73074-rikem-starts-a-new-game/#entry1677794 There is a bit more about me. Main Quest: If you read my Introduction topic you know that I Want to get in Parkour. I can start with it at March, 2016 due to some circumstances. Until then I want to build up my power and work towards the goal. So until the end of the year I want to start the 28 days handstand challenge and accomplish a 15 sec handstand and accomplish 10 consecutive pullups. For my first 6-week challenge I start with bodyweight workout level 2 + 21 pushups, 21 bodyweight lunges, 21 reverse crunches and repeat it with 3 less of each kind until 3 where I then try to hold it for 10-15 seconds. I will do this workout 3 times a week. I won't drink any alcohol during this 6-week challenge. I will eat Paleo with the exception of diary and 85 % chocolate occassionally. After the 6-week challenge I will do bodyweight level 3. No sugar drinks at all except for Smoothies. If I do as I state here I will get an A. Anything else is not acceptable and results in a F. Motivation: Every Jackie Chan or kind of movies or Parkour scenes and of course Ninja Warrior. If my motivations drops down I will watch these kind of things listed above to fill up my spirit power. I want to join the Assassins after my 6-week challenge. Some questions I already wrote in my introduction: Do I have to eat more calories to get more muscles, so I can complete my tasks?Is it ok to stick with bodyweight exercises or is there a point where it's just way more efficent to use extra weights?Any other hints you have for starters?I dont want in particular a big biceps or want to lift XY amount of weight. All I want is a flat belly and body control in terms of parkour and bouldering and of course be fit.

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)

Introduction: Hi, I am Shannon and this is my first challenge. I like to do Obstacle Course Races, but I weigh too much currently to fully compete in them or complete them. I need to increase my upper body strength, lose weight, and learn how to run. I have a job that doesn't require a lot of activity. I joined the rebellion because I would really like to change my lifestyle and one day be able to take part in Obstacle Course Racing again. Main Quest: Lose 20lbs by the end of the year, 100lbs to lose by Oct. 2016. Quest 1: Start a 5k run app, and commit to doing it 5 days a week over the course of the challenge. Measurement: Able to complete a 5K run Reward: Compete in Polar Hero Obstacle Race Quest 2: Drink 2L of water a day. I drink under a litre currently. This has been hard for me over many years. To make this easier I will ensure that I keep water with me at all times. Record the volume consumed. Complete water quest in the Academy. Measurement: Have to show record of water to spouse. Reward: New water bottle on January 1/16 Quest 3: Eat veggies with every meal. Photo document all meals on Instagram @mrscad_rn Measurement: Reward: Quest 4: Complete 6 days a week at the Obstacle Course Gym. You pay for it therefore use it!!!! I want to be stronger, lose weight and be bad ass this is how I can do that. Measurement: Mark it down. Reward: Spartan Season Pass for three months completed at this level. No summer obstacle races will be booked and gym membership will be canceled if not completed. Life Quest: Complete the Headspace meditation for 42 days. Purchase subscription. Measurement: Record in calendar. Reward: Life Quest: Spend 15 minutes a night cleaning, over the course of 42 days on my spare bedroom/aka room of doom. Measurement: Room will be useable. Reward: The ROOM will be useable. Life Quest: 40 minutes cleaning before mediation and bed. Less screen time before bed. Measurement: Record in calendar. Reward: Happy hubby. Life Quest: Book appointment with naturopath MD for fertility assistance by end of the challenge. Measurement: Reward: Baby within 1.5 years Motivation: I want to have kids, I want my husband to be proud that I am his wife and I want us to have a family. I want to stop restarting my life every couple of months, I want to live my real life. My health right now won't allow me to have children and I need to change my health for my family.

Challenge 1: Cop Conditioning INTRO: Hi, I’m Sythez. I used to be on quite a bit. This is not my first challenge, but it’s been over a year. I’m starting again from the ground up. For my year out of the loop, I had an emotional breakup which threw me off track of life for a few months. I’ve leveled up my mental life 3 fold since then. I have a tight group of friends, I track my food, I work out three times a week, and I prioritize university. I also have a part time job arresting people (Loss prevention). All in all, I’ve found quite a bit of success. It’s time to continue that trend with fitness. Wish me luck, it’s time to kill it. Dragon slaying time! SHORT SUMMARY: After 6 weeks 1: Run 10 minutes straight. 2: Do a pull up and chin up 3: Make my year progression plan with my physical trainer 4: Do 30 pushups, Plank 2 minutes, 5: Batch cook for at least one meal a day through the week DEBRIEFING: In about a year, I plan on tackling the physical test for the Edmonton Police Service. In Canada, the police are held to a very high standard. Many have degrees or diplomas, It is expected that you are in incredible physical shape, and have excellent control over your life. You also must have a high level of life experience prior to joining. Over this previous year, I’ve been working on my degree and gaining some experience in the security industry. I work with drug addicts, homeless people, and people suffering from mental illness every day. I’m usually the last person they want to see, as I’m usually either asking them to leave, arresting them, or providing emergency first aid assistance. This isn’t to say I don’t have positive interactions with these people. Respect is ironclad rule in this profession. What I need now is to increase my physical level to the point where I am hirable as an officer. I need to nerd out with heavy things and running tracks. I’ve listed some of the basic requirements below. Let’s look at the minimum requirements; I’m 25 seconds off from the plank, can’t do a pull up, and since I can’t sustain a run for longer than about 3 minutes, failing the beep test. Which is fine. I want to be in the Gold range in a year’s time. I think this is do-able. Further details of the requirements can be found here: http://www.joineps.ca/ApplicationProcess/NewApplicants/Stage3.aspx ACTION PLANS: Over the past month, I’ve slowly changed my habits to change a few key habits. I go to the gym 3 times a week I track and log all my food intake I count the calories I eat. I aim for 1800, but am flexible depending on needs. Current goal is lowering BF % I plan on continuing these habits. The progression towards achieving the goals for this week will be as follows: (may change depending on progress to Nov 2nd) Week 1: Batch cooked healthy food for week (One meal/day) 1 minute 10 seconds plank 22 pushups Week 2 of running program app Negatives Pull/Chin-up, back muscle training priority Week 2: Batch cooked healthy food for week (one meal/day) 1 minute 20 seconds plank 24 pushups Week 3 of running program app Negatives Pull/Chin-up, back muscle training priority Week 3: Batch cooked healthy food for week (one meal/day) 1 minute 30 seconds plank 26 pushups Week 4 of running program app Negatives Pull/Chin-up, back muscle training priority Body Fat percentage measurement Week 4: Batch cooked healthy food for week (one meal/day) 1 minute 40 seconds plank 28 pushups Week 5 of running program app Negatives - Assisted pullups, chinups You’re awesome award - One month celebration with friends Week 5: Batch cooked healthy food for week (one meal/day) 1 minute 50 seconds plank 30 pushups Week 6 of running program app Negatives/Pull up, chin up Week 6: Super challenge: Paleo food for week Batch cook paleo 2 minutes plank 32 pushups week 7 of running program app PULL UP/ CHIN UP Beep Test SCORING: Every week is marked out of 5. Ideally, 5 checkmarks a week. If I get above 25 marks for the challenge, I am rewarding myself with a new diesel watch. Regardless, I will be rewarding myself with new clothes. As my body composition changes, I’ll need to. FINAL NOTES: This is a heavy challenge. However, I have good friends to support me. One of my friends is a spin class instructor, and is incredibly supportive. The other is a salsa dancer who is also tackling problems with body fat composition. I know where I want to be in a year. I know getting the results I want will take time. But I’m going to kick some ass for a year from now. RAHHHH! Thanks for reading. Let’s kick some arse.

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.

Hello! So this is my first challenge, so tell me if I'm doing it wrong... _______________________________________________________ From my Intro Post: A bit about me: My name is Beth; I am 33 in November; I am an American living in Australia, and I am a SAHM with a soon to be 4 yo and triplets that just turned two. I am currently 87.9 kg on Day 1, with some fused vertebrae from a car accident ages ago and some military service, and a deep seated need to do this right this time, despite the fact that I have been a 'bare minimum' type of person my whole life. Why I'm doing this: I'm doing this because I'm tired of using my current life (a billion kids and no sleep) as a reason not to like myself. I want to feel attractive, be proud of what my body can do, and when my kids say they want to be like me, I want that to be a good thing. _______________________________________________________ I joined right in the middle of the last 6-week Challenge, so I am super excited to finally start this one! My Main Quest: I know that wieght is not the be-all, end-all, but I need to drop a few kg to make my knees and joints less prone to injury. So my quest is to lose 6 kg in the 6-week Challenge. However, I want to do it in a way that improves my life in the long run... more activity, better nutrition! Part 1 - I want to consume NO LIQUID CALORIES for 5 days out of every week. I've already cut soda, and cut milk out of my coffees, but no alchohol, no juice... I really need to focus on water intake. Part 2 - I want to start running... so 3 times a week, I'm going to run... it doesn't really matter how long, as long as I give it an honest go, but I have downloaded Zombies, Run! so that will be fun. Part 3 - I want to branch out and try one new class every week. I am trying Zumba next week, and rock wall climbing the one after... I'm also thinking a martial arts, a yoga, and a sword fighting... I have to see what's available and plan ahead. My Side Quest: I have so many things hanging out around the place that need to be put together or built. So, that is my side goal. I am going to build the trampoline for the kids, the new bike for my son, the brand new kitchen that is going in, and the new garden beds out back. IF i finish those too early in the challenge, I will move on to all the crafting projects I have half started and dying slow, stifled deaths. Wish me luck! I'm a recruit because this is my first challenge, but once I'm seeing some results I am looking at the Assassins Guild

This is my third attempt at my first challenge, so you could say I'm a seasoned veteran (of not finishing). I have already proven to myself I can exercise for 6 weeks in a row, so this should be no problem. In a couple months, I want to be stronger, more agile and leaner. More specifically, I'd like to drop 4% of my body fat (eventually) and I will be using this calculator here. Right now it has me at 26.1%, which seems pretty accurate for me and what I've seen on the internet. For me to "pass" the challenge, I am going to say that if I drop 2% in these 6 weeks it is 100% completion with minimum of 70% completion (1.4%). I also want to be stronger and more agile, so I will be continuing my body weight and other activities regimen (as accounted in my daily log ). To pass, I will be tracking that I do at least 30 min of moderate exercise every training day (some days might be tougher than others; tis the life of a student). I will track this on my personal calendar with star stickers. (I like the gold stars). To aid my weight loss/recomp, I will continue eating the way I normally do without binge eating snacks. I did some calorie tracking last week and I realized I might not be eating enough, which leads to the binge icecream/chocolate fest I have far too often. So I want to get out of this with no binge sessions with 1 being allowable for passing, but definitely not encouraged. So the theme is "fuel the body." What I will be tracking here: weekly updates on bfp. Everything else will be in the daily log so I do not spam the challenge forum. Thank you for reading and good luck!

Fellow Assassins, I’m back to training and self improvement after suffering a head injury during sports play. I'm thankful for a slow, but full, recovery. My goal for these next six weeks is to become more efficient, so in that spirit, I’m going with a short, no-nonsense kickoff post. Daily Pushups and Situps Routine – 200 pushups and 300 situps every morning (it’s going to be tough, mornings are my weakness) Shorter Showers – this sounds banal but after getting hurt, my respite was long showers. Got in a really bad habit here and want to limit showers to three minutes. Bed Time – Go to bed by 11:30 every night (other than Saturdays) Eat three meals a day – I have gotten in the habit of skipping breakfast.Looking forward to doing these. My life is really good, but a couple of these things have been bad habits that make me get unnecessarily down on myself. Appreciate your support as I try to break some bad habits and build some good ones. TCK

1. Main Quest! Regain My Healthy life back by: Losing approx 40lbs (+/- 10lbs)Eating Healthier2. SMART goals Meal Preps (Every Sunday - 5 lunches/week)A-30 lunches prepped B - 20-25 Lunches Prepped C - 10-15 Lunches Prepped D - 5-10 Lunches Prepped FAIL-0 lunches prepped Get through 3 (Or all 6) weeks of workouts (3/week for a total of 18 workouts)A - 18 workouts B - 12 workouts C - 9 workouts D - 6 Workouts Fail - <6 Workouts Practice safe parkour rolls three times a week (20 minutes min time).A - 6 hours or more practiced. B - 4.5-6 Hours practiced. C - 3-4 Hours Practiced. D - 2-3 Hours Practiced. Fail <2 Hours Practiced. 3. Life Goal Build a "Jumping Box" to... jump on.4. Motivation! (My "Big Why" in the Academy) To me, it's very personal (Nobody but me knows it!) and I keep it folded up and in my shirt pocket every day. Now for the fun(er) stuff. My Character! I'm going to flesh this part out. I feel like it's hard for me to say that I'm anything but an overweight human. Granted, I'm known for being manipulative and people don't trust me, so I was thinking a Tiefling. Hopefully, to tie in with my Academy goals, I will join in with the Assassins. You guys want a Tiefling assassin, right?! It'll be fine, I promise. Nothing bad will come of this.... Trust me.

I'm so excited about my first 6 week challenge! I joined NFR midway through the last one, so was a little too late to jump in and I've been waiting very patiently ever since. (Ok, I admit it, I may have been screaming "just hurry up will ya" on the odd occasion). Introduction: My name is Ducki or Ducky or Amanda. You can call me Ducki, or Ducky or Amanda, or Manda or Mand, but not Mandy please cos that makes me feel like I'm 6 again. I'm currently 155 lbs after having lost about 50-60lbs since the beginning of the year. I've been dabbling with running and body weight training for a few months now, but I fell off the wagon 3 weeks ago after a few days away from home. I haven't done a full belly flop into the mud though - it's more like I'm kinda hopping along behind the wagon, with one hand and one foot stuck between the spokes of the back wheel. I have a suspicion that if I put as much effort into exercising as I do about thinking which parts of my body are still touching the wagon then things may improve. I have a job that requires me to be out at work Mon-Fri during the usual work hours, but I also have to do a lot of hours of work at home most evenings and part of the weekend. However, no excuses, I DO have time to exercise, it's just a matter of changing my priorities. I find time to potter around the internet, therefore I can find time to drag that second leg back on the wagon! Main Quest: To lose 14lbs by the end of the year, become fitter and stronger, and able to run 5K (without slowing to a walk every 5 bleedin' minutes). Quest 1: To complete a bodyweight workout 3 times a week. To move up from body weight workout level 1 to level 2. (And I want to do a proper push up. Is that achievable in 6 weeks? I dunno. I'll leave it inside these brackets so it's less scary). Quest 2: To run/walk for 30 minutes, 3 times a week, following a C25K programme. Quest 3. To drink at least 1 litre (of water) per day. (I feel like I need to defend this one. Only a litre? Honestly, that will probably be doubling the amount of fluids I consume in a normal day. I'm just really really rubbish at being thirsty and even more rubbish at forcing it down just because I know it's good for me). Life Quest: To complete at least 30XP on Duolingo (French) every day. I'm going to France for two weeks next summer. I'm hiring a car and exploring to my hearts content, so I need to be able to at least attempt communication without resorting to sign language. Motivation: When I'm eating well and feeling healthy, I feel happy, content and more confident. I am far more motivated to work hard, socialise and try new things. I want to be able to wear swimwear on the beach next summer! If I so choose.

Hi, I'm Ellis! and I'm a 32 year old woman (but a big Dylan Dog-fan ), working as a translator and general text person in an office with some very nice people and a lot of chocolate stashes. About me (I apologize in advance if this comes out a bit jumbled, long and/or grammatically incorrect. I didn't know where to start, so decided to write down a few general points) I like reading, writing, translating, language stuff and movies = all about sitting in front of a computer or on the couch. Preferrably alone. It's not that I dislike going outside, or exercising, or socialising. I do all those things because I know they make me feel good and because I enjoy them. If it comes down to a decision based on what I WANT to be doing, though, the choice will almost always fall on some version of "staying in with a good book". This is fine. I'm not looking to change that. What I want to do, is rather to build good habits for food and exercise, so that I can be strong, healthy and good-looking, while also being able to do the things I like. I played a lot of sports as a kid. Then, between the ages of 18 and 28, I didn't really exercise at all. I've always been a few kilos bigger than I want to be, but usually a few kilos short of overweight. I always walked a lot, and usually kept a fairly decent diet without thinking too much about it. Then, when I was 28, I started doing kickboxing. For the first time since I was a kid, I trained regularly (three times a week) and started feeling like I was in good shape. I liked that feeling. I lost a few kilos and liked the way I looked more than I could remember. I liked that, too. After a year or two of kickboxing, I started running. I ran regularly for a few years, and finished a few long races. I like the meditative feeling of a long run, and the satisfaction of getting faster and better, but I also realized that it was not as effective as boxing when it came to weight loss. This spring, my weight started going up. I wasn't exercising the way I should, I was losing muscle and packing on quite a bit of fat around my gut, my jeans didn't fit anymore and I was eating a lot more sugar than I knew was good for me. I'd gotten out of my running routine, and getting back in was difficult since I felt so heavy and tired. A few weeks ago, I found Nerd Fitness and started making some slow changes to my diet. I've started regularly going for walks, doing a few bodyweight exercises and drinking a lot more water. I'm trying to take it pretty easy, building good habits and not be too hard on myself. One of my problems in the past has been that I tend to take an all-or-nothing approach to lifestyle changes. It usually goes something like this: I decide to start eating healthier ==> I read about the paleo diet ==> I decide to do a whole 30 month, starting immediately ==> I start thinking of myself as a person who is super healthy, since I am doing a whole 30 ==> I do one day of good paleo eating ==> Already the next day, when someone offers me a sandwich, I think "what's the harm? I'm a super healthy person - one sandwich isn't going to change that" ==> After eating the sandwich, I regret it and decide to give up the whole attempt, since I've obviously already failed. I mentioned my lovely colleagues and their (our) chocolate stashes. I also have a wonderfully kind mother who insists on making cakes and desserts when I come over. I find it unreasonably difficult to turn down sweets when offered to me. Not because I really want the stuff, but because I feel rude, unfriendly and unsocial saying no. I want to try to work on that. ... so. This is all a pretty long way to get to my main quest and challenge goals. Main quest Weigh under 70 kilos, be able to do five pull-ups, fit into this cool dress I have that I've never been able to fit into. These are long-term goals meant to concretise (is that even a word?) the general quest to be stronger, slimmer and happier with how I look. Six-week challenge goals Bodyweight strength training three times a week. Basic routines to begin with, pretty short sessions. Go for a walk every day, for 15-20 minutes. Most days, I do this on my way to work, and then a longer walk home from work. That is fine, to start with. Level up my food game. This one is a bit more complicated. I've started tracking my food, and gone back to eating a semi-paleo diet. For the first three weeks, I'll continue where I am now:no bread, pasta, cakes or sweets veggies and good protein with every meal some dairy and grains like bulgur/oats are fine For the three weeks after that, I'll cut out all dairy and grains as well. Legumes are okay, and I won't try to restrict nuts, carbs or fruit at this stage. Wine is also fine, now and then. If I manage to stick to the plan for six out of seven days, that means I've passed that week. Side quests Do the dishes. Every day, after work. Just do them. Tell colleagues I am currently not eating chocolate/say no thanks when people offer sweets. I also want to try some new activity this fall, make some new friends. Not sure what that will entail, yet, so I'll have to come back to this. Maybe it's something for the next challenge. so ... I guess that's it. Oh, I should probably also mention that I'm kind of new to the whole forum-nerd-thing, so might be terribly slow on the uptake with regards to anything technical. :/ I'll take on trying to navigate the stats and signatures and stuff eventually. I look forward to doing this thing with you guys and wish everyone the best of luck!

Hi everyone, I first joined NF last year, but then pretty quickly fell off the wagon and disappeared for the longest time. I have some ridiculous perfectionist tendencies that kept me from coming back, but I'm here now and excited to be joining the next challenge, so let's get right to it: Main Quest: Look fan-f*cking-tastic in my wedding dress (My boyfriend and I are getting married in Sept 2016, and I'd like to look pretty damn smashing for our wedding! (what can I say, I'm shallow like that) I'm planning on sewing the wedding dress myself, and in order for that not to be a stressful nightmare I should probably start in Jan/Feb sometime so I'll need to have a pretty good idea of my measurements by then. In other words if I want to do any body recomp before the wedding, it's crunch time!) Quest 1: Consistency consistency consistency Probably my least constructive personality trait is that I'm the queen supreme galactic overlord of making perfect the enemy of good. If I can't do something 100% perfectly, pretty soon I just won't do it at all and will shift my attention to some new project (which I can then obsess over for about a week before - being human and all - I'll take a stumble at that too and have to start the cycle over). For my main quest, I'm battling my destructive (exercise-)perfectionism and resolving to consistently do some form physical activity (I can't even call it workouts or my perfectionist brain will shut down anything less than a triathlon as not worth counting). Tl;dr: I'm aiming to not let more than two days in a row go by without (i) some form of physical activity for physical activity's sake; and (ii) a check-in in this journal. Quest 2: Fitness first aid Right now I'd say my biggest fitness weaknesses are I'm ridiculously inflexible and have a weak core (like "my doctor said I need to work on that nowish or I'll get serious back problems"-weak). I love rock climbing and considered having a climbing-related main quest, so since these are both things that will help tremendously with climbing, I'm really motivated to do some stretching (anything from 10 minutes before bed to a full yoga class counts) and some core exercises at least twice a week. Quest 3: Unplugged meals My main problem eating wise is mindless eating, so for my third quest I will eat all my meals sitting down at a table, and I will attempt never to eat in front of a screen. I will make an effort to eat slowly and pay attention while I am eating, and try to stop whenever I'm no longer hungry or enjoying the food (or notice if I don't stop and try to figure out why). Life Quest As the junior European Champion of procrastination, I have about a million and one unfinished DIY/crafting projects lying around the apartment. After a few nudges from saturnreturn and Yraen of the Engwar I decided my life quest for this challenge will be to finish six of the unfinished projects I have lying around by the end of the challenge. Some of the projects are aaaalmost finished and others have quite a bit still left to do, but an average of one project finished per week should be doable if I focus! I don't like to take measurements in the evening (too dependent on what you ate that day to be useful for comparisons) I'll take starting measurements tomorrow. Can't wait to get started and to get to know you all! [Edited to add a life quest]

Introduction: Greeting's all, I am Gelderich and as you can see from the caption above I ran into some issues on my first 6 week challenge and ended up not completing it. That will not be the case this time. I have a plan and my Wife has told me that she will be keeping me on track this time. So a little about me, I am in the U.S. Navy and am currently stationed at NAF Atsugi Japan, I am heavy into D&D and can sit down and play on a video game for 24 hours and not notice the time of day, I have been known to pass out on the couch only to wake up the next morning with controller still in hand. Well for this challenge I will be working towards this upcoming Navy PRT that will be conducted on 23OCT15 with the BCA weighins on 13-14 OCT 15. Main Quest: Pass PRT with overall Score of Excellent and body weight of 190 Average scores required for Excellent: 1.5 mile run 11:15 minutes 2 min Curl ups 81 2 min push ups 64 The grading system is to be determined pending a Mock PRT I will be giving myself with a little help from my wife tomorrow. So all you following look for that update then!!!! (Update) Grading: Curl ups= 1 pt per 1 additional curl up => bonus pt per 3 additional (per week) (Updated) Reached goal in first week, 1 pt per week = maintain 100 curl ups Push ups= 1 pt per 4 additional push ups => bonus pt per 6 additional (per week) Run = 1 pt per 30 second less in run time => bonus pt per 1 minute less (per week) Weight loss= 1 pt per 2lbs lost per week=> bonus pt per 1lb over 2lbs lost (per week) Quest 1: 1.5 mile Run in 11:15 min Well I have always told everyone that my body was not build for running....at my peak speed in boot camp I only ran the PRT in 10:20ish. so this is one of my concern. Grading: 1 Point per Run completed = 5+ possible per Week Bonus Point = 6 miles completed per Day on my pedometer Run 2 miles around the Base 3 times per week Timed Run of 1.5 miles to monitor my progress 2 times per week Quest 2: Core and Upper Body Workout My main focus for this will be to burn the fat off my middle, however, I do also need to work on my upper body as well. So I have a workout program to increase my upper and core body strength. Grading: 1 Point per workout session = 6 possible per week Bonus pt = 3500 cal/Day Burned according to my pedometer Core body workout = 3 sessions per week Upper body workout = 3 sessions per week Quest 3: Diet Target 190 My goal here is to loose 2 lbs per week till I reach 190. For my height according to the Navy I should only weigh 191 or be under 21% body fat....well the Navy still uses the method of measuring your neck circumference and subtracting that from your belly circumference at the belly button for males. Not accurate but also a real bother. Me I do want to try and reduce my gut and fit back into my kilt. tehehe. So here is the plan since right now I bounce between 202 and 203. Grading: 1 point per successful day of dieting = 15 possible per week Portion Control/No Seconds = 1 pt per day => 5 points per week No Soda/Desert/ Limited Alcohol (No More Than 1 serving per Day) = 1 pt per day => 5 points per week No Snacking = 1 pt per day => 5 points per week Life Quest: Command Fitness Leader; This is a position that if I can meet all the requirements from my Quest I will be eligible for in my Command. If selected I will be sent to a two week training school where they teach exercises, health, and fitness. Reward: +1WIS Alright This Time We are Getting it done!!!

SaffronTurtle’s First Challenge [14 September 2015 - 26 October 2015] Introduction: Hi everyone, SaffronTurtle here! I am looking to sort out my diet and exercise first and foremost before I move onto other habits I have lined up. I’ve decided to set aside some time in the mornings for doing my quests because my days are pretty hectic between uni and work. I am here because I am not where I want to be in life and this is the place I feel I can change that. I haven't decided yet what guild I am planning on joining after my 'initiation' challenge, but I'm leaning towards the Assassin's . This is my first official challenge on NF, so here goes nothing! Main Quest: Master my body and mind. Measurement of Success: A: >90% progress B: >80% progress C: >70% progress Sub-Quest 1: Exercise. One of my absolute all time favourite of Steve’s articles is this one here called ‘Simplify The **** Out of Everything’ so in true fashion my exercise routine will consist of four ‘basic movements’ I guess you could call them. LEGS / PUSH / PULL / CORE Breaking these down: LEGS - Squats, Lunges, etc PUSH - Pushups, Dips, etc PULL - Pullups/Negatives, Rows, etc CORE - Planks, Leg Raises, etc The aim of the game is building the habit of sustainable progression so I’ve decided to make painfully slow progress and forget about the result for now. Starting with 5 reps of an exercise in each category I’ll increase this by 1 or 2 rep each week. Once I reach 12 reps I’ll split them into 2 sets of 6. Same deal when I can do 24. Measurement: Each workout represents 1/21th progress in this sub-quest. Reward: A: + 3 STR, +2 STA B: +2 STR, +1 STA C: +1 STR, +0.5 STA Sub-Quest 2: Eat a healthy breakfast. This will most likely be a smoothie, eggs or porridge. Not quite paleo but getting there. I love dairy and grains too much. This one is vague, but as long as it didn’t come from a box or had sugar added to it, that is acceptable to me. This one will be easier to achieve because living in a (kind-of) health conscious household there is literally squat all when it comes to oh so tasty forbidden unhealthy foods. Measurement: A healthy breakfast earns me 1/42nd of my goal. Reward: A: + 2 CON B: +1 CON C: +0.5 CON Sub-Quest 3: Track everything! Well, mostly exercise and food at the moment and also my skin care. In the past tracking my workouts have been instrumental to my success, and food tracking has been a real eye opener. I have a journal around somewhere I plan to use. Measurement: Log of each day’s exercise and food is 1/42nd of this sub-quest. Reward: A: + 2 WIS B: +1 WIS C: 0.5 WIS Life Quest: Care for your skin. Stick with skin care regime for at least until November. I suck at keeping to one for any period of time. Time to fix that. Measurement: Daily routine completed is worth 1/42nd of life quest. Reward: A: + 1 CHA B: +0.5 CHA C: +0 CHA Motivation: TO BE THE PERSONIFICATION OF AWESOME!!! Looking forward to getting to know my fellow rebels in the coming months and supporting you in your own challenges!!

Hey guys. I'm Grayspeed I joined NF a couple of weeks ago and this will be my first full length challenge. I started working out properly in May/June 2014 so I have a reasonable grasp on things, but still consider myself a newcomer to fitness. As you can see from my challenges, I mainly train bodyweight and kettlebell, but I also love me some good old fashioned cardio. Main Quest: Be healthier, happier, and more alert. Quest 1: Commit to working out 6 days a week. This will be alternating days of bodyweight/kettlebell circuits and cardio, with one day off each week. A standard week will look something like this: Monday - Cardio (stationary bike) Tuesday - Bodyweight/Kettlebell circuit Wednesday - Cardio (stationary bike) Thursday - Bodyweight/Kettlebell circuit Friday - REST DAY Saturday - Bodyweight/Kettlebell Circuit Sunday - Cardio (stationary bike) Quest 2: Be able to do 4 pull-ups and 5 sets of at least 10 full push-ups. I'll measure this in a once weekly test (probably after cardio at the weekend). I will get 3 attempts at doing 4 pull-ups and will do 5 sets of as many push-ups as I can do, with 60-90 seconds rest between sets. Quest 3: No skipping breakfast on work days. I have a bad habit of missing breakfast in the morning rush, this usually leads to me snacking like a maniac at work. For the full 6 weeks I will make sure I eat breakfast each day. Days off from work are no problem as I usually have plenty of time to relax and eat breakfast. When I am at work I will try to eat before I leave OR take something healthy to work to eat during the morning - this will probably to some sort of (healthy) snack bar. Or I'll just eat the fruit we have at work. Life Quest: Read The 7 Habbits of Highly Effective People. Time to get to work levelling up my life, this book seems like a good place to get some great tips and develop some good habits.

MAIN QUEST Get in shape by June 1., 2016. On a nice sunny day, go for a pride-infused longboarding session in the special tank top already waiting in the drawer! During that session think about where you want to go from there. MAIN QUEST BREAKDOWN For the target session to happen with infused pride, at the bare minimum I need to A.) Lose the beer gut and B.) Acquire at least SOME muscular definition. I guess A.), and B.) mainly break down into diet and excercise. The timeline for this quest is the ~37 weeks available. For now it seems that the way to go at this is in min. 2 phases. First is a general weight loss phase to lose the old beer belly, after which a muscle building phase follows. I dunno. I’ll start with this basic premise and try to figure it out as I go. Maybe it’ll take more phases. I'll work it out. Not to be forgotten/ignored: I'll also need to keep steady watch over my stress levels /mood in general and take note of any signs of depression relapse. The goal calls for major life habit changes. Some instability is to be expected. I will try to deal with it graciously. MOTIVATION I want to do something I can look back and be proud of. While looking better naked. And for the 40 year old me reading this in July: you're welcome. I thought you'd enjoy this. THREE GOAL BREAKDOWN FOR CURRENT SWC 1) Maintain a caloric deficit. Count calories and maintain A daily deficit until at 65kg (my suggested “ideal weightâ€, meaning 12kg loss from starting weight 77kg. Currently at 72kg). Re-estimate dieting goals using photos/measurements when challenge ends OR when you’re at 65. Continue weekly photos and weighing. Measured by: daily caloric deficit averaged over a week. Goal is an average deficit of -500kcal. For measuring and adding up etc. I’ll use numbers from the webservice I’ve signed onto. Weeks are either “pass†or “failâ€. 6 passed weeks: A 5 passed weeks: B 4 passed weeks: C 3 passed weeks: D 2 passed weeks: E 1 passed week: F 2) Form an exercising habit. I will go jogging 2 times a week and do a bodyweight routine 3 times a week (Mon, Wed, Fri). Measured by: jogging and bodyweight workouts as “Did thisâ€/â€Did not do thisâ€. “Did this†includes a jog of any length and a bodyweight workout of any intensity. For now I’m just gaining the momentum and building into habits I will reap upon later. Weekly “pass†or “fail†grading. 6 passed weeks: A 5 passed weeks: B 4 passed weeks: C 3 passed weeks: D 2 passed weeks: E 1 passed week: F 3) Level boss Hahaha! This is the thing I’ve been avoiding. And actually this is the REAL dragon of my first challenge. This is the ball I really must not drop when juggling with my other goals and life in general. This one should fall last. I won’t smoke. If I smoke, I can’t run. If I can’t run, I can’t gain endurance, and won’t lose weight that fast. Also I’ll never, ever have a good enough reason to tell when my kids ask me why I smoke. So as a bonus on top of all the health, willpower and pride-related benefits of this quest, accomplishing this opens a convenient warp around that question. Measured by: number of cigarettes smoked daily. Goal is zero. Graded daily with “pass†or “failâ€. Graded weekly with “pass†or “failâ€. A passed week means zero fail days. 6 passed weeks: A 5 passed weeks: B 4 passed weeks: C 3 passed weeks: D 2 passed weeks: E 1 passed week: F Mandatory extra stuff: Take good care of kids. Work adequately. Try not to go alone. Be compassionate. Sleep enough. Have fun. Learn. Bonus points: Try and hang on the programming online course. Keep calm and don't suck! ​Probably going to work out something related to attributes etc. still. Maybe during the first week, by the time which I hope I've surfed over the worst waves of this crazy withdrawal. Whew! Hahahah yeah! Come at me! A little Meshuggah oughta tame you!

Hi, I’m Daule (so obviously not my real name, just a contraction of my username). I’m 28, and I have two daughters - one two and a half years, the other two and a half months (yes, I gave birth barely three months ago!). I found nerd fitness years ago but was happy to set my own path back then … now that I have way less time, and more motivation, I decided to join the forums to track my progress and set out my goals here. Main quest: To be fit enough to at least defend myself basically in a street fight/attack, and in doing so reduce my body fat to 22% (from around 32%). ETA: My current bodyfat is about 30%, so I think 8% is a reasonable reduction to a healthy and achievable number. I currently weigh about 62.5kg, and my pre-pregnancy weight was 54kg. However, while I weighed less, I'd lost weight without really moderating my diet or exercising, so my guess is that my bodyfat percentage was just as high, maybe a smidge lower. Not that I'd be upset to have that body back I'm also 5'3" so on the shorter side. As much as I want to lose weight, it's the fat which is more important, which is why I don't have a weight goal. Also, just to be clear, I am in no way looking to fight people - I just want to have the confidence to defend myself if I ever need to. As a petite woman, I'm likely to be a pretty good target for attackers, so I want to make sure that I'm not a victim if I can help it. I hope that in training in strength and speed I can also build functional, practical fitness that not only helps in an attack but improves my well-being overall. Sub-quests: For this six week challenge, I’m going to continue on my current path (I'll detail that in a later post) 1. cook three different veg protein-filled clean meals for the first time (0/3)2. krav maga kickboxing class once a week, or if not, an extra personalised workout (0/6)3. the baby wearing workout or dauntless workout three times a week. my personalised workout. Given time restrictions a workout can be split across days, as long as all exercises are done it counts as one workout. I'll detail this workouts in a later post too, when my baby isn't about to cry! (0/18) Motivation (warning - it’s quite detailed ): There are a few elements, two of which inform my username. First, my (step)father died (two months after my mum unexpectedly passed away) in August, after a long battle with cancer. He was a huge role model for nearly twenty years and I admired him a lot. He used to be a boxer and was in many many street fights. From when I knew him he never picked fights but could easily take care of himself and was never afraid of anyone. He had a brilliant, laid-back attitude to life, always made me laugh, and always made me feel safe. I really want to be more like him. He used to call me the evil little dwarf, which then became little evil (I called him big evil), and it was a moniker I wore with pride. This part of my life is about saying goodbye to him as a person, and living on and carrying his self with me. The second source of inspiration is that when I look back on my life, all my role models have been women who could kick arse. Gabrielle from Xena, Buffy Somers, River Tam, Lisbeth Salander, Arya Stark and most recent, Tris Prior (from Divergent). I love that they could take care of themselves, as much as any man, and it's something I admire and aspire to. The third inspiration is my two girls, Arya and Aemilia (yes, I named my firstborn after a Game of Thrones character). I want to be a strong role model for them, and teach them to be able to look after themselves, too. It's the most recent inspiration - Tris - who kind of powered up my desire to really follow this goal again. In and of herself she's not the best role model in a literary sense, but I found the Dauntless approach to life, the training regime of going from Abnegation to Dauntless and just the idea of a group of people with the same approach to life really enjoyable. I actually was more disappointed with the second and third books, and was then looking for another book with a similar drive but just couldn’t get anything, so needed to create something that worked for me. I suppose it doesn't hurt I love black clothes, and already have several tattoos (including an image on my wrist which is a hidden tribute to my stepdad). In addition to this, my husband is very overweight due to the medication he takes for his mental illness, and I want him to be fit, healthy and strong too. I convinced him to attend a private Krav Maga training class (it took a LOT of convincing), but he actually ended up loving it and eager to go again (note: my husband has NEVER been eager to do anything physical - neither of us are “sporty†types), so that’s both a great motivator and something we can do together. So that feeds into things. Race: Deep dwarf - short, slightly stout and prefers the darkness Desired class: Monk (krav maga, boxing and street fighting/defence)

My prior attempt at a 6 week challenge was an unmitigated disaster. And since then my health and fitness has fluctuated, but followed a general downward trend. I'm eating pretty well, but not great. I'm exercising a little, sometimes, but not regularly with purpose or intensity. I started smoking again after quitting 8 years ago. So it's time for a respawn. MAIN QUEST: Get healthy(ier)! My major goal is to lose this weight i carry in my belly and that makes me look and feel old and fat and gross. In order to do that, I need to get all the other things in line. So, my main quest is to lose some tummy. GOAL 1 - All Paleo, All Day, All Week, All the time -I will eat a 100% paleo diet 12 days out of every 14. Every second weekend I will give myself license to eat whatever I want, but the rest of the time, it's PALEOPALEOPALEO. -I'll track this day by day. There's the work day and the evening. I'll give myself a point for each (2 per day) that I remain committed to my diet goal. Weekends I'll also give myself two points for. So a total of 24 points every two weeks, 72 points altogether for the whole six weeks. GOAL 2 - I like to move it (move it) -Exercise! I am going to commit to doing a full body weight workout twice per week (Monday and Friday). I'd like to get it to three per week, but adding Wednesday is complicated, so I'll start with two, and make Wednesday optional/bonus. -My workout will consist of the standard Nerd fitness warm-up, followed by 3 sets of 8 (2 minute rest) each of: upper-body push (push-ups), upper-body pull (pull-ups, or at least working toward one), lower-body (squats) and then planking (starting at 30 seconds and moving up in 15 second intervals from there. -Once I can perform 3 sets of 8 with a 2 minute rest for any given exercise, I'll move to the next more difficult iteration. -So, two strength workouts per week, 1 point for each, 12 points total for the whole challenge. GOAL 3 - Run 5K in 25 minutes -On my 'off days' I'll be running. On the treadmill for the most part. I'm going to start with running a 5k in 30 minutes (on my treadmill, that means setting the MPH to 6.2 and running for 30 minutes/till 3.1 miles) and then move forward in increments of .2 MPH per week until my final run of the challenge is at 7.5 MPH. -I'm going to give myself a point for every successful run. I'm thinking two per week for this challenge, so again, 12 points for the challenge. Side-quest: I've pretty much got it licked by this point, but I want to continue not smoking. I've transferred to an e-cigaratte, but I'm using less and less, and which is less unhealthy, but I'd like to rid of that by the end of the challenge as well. If I don't I'll make it a SMART goal for my next challenge. Okay. I'm nervous and unsure and petrified of failure. Game on.

So... after lurking for a while, it's time to do a challenge. Since this is my first challenge, my main goal is fairly simple. Being about 5'5" in height and a relatively slim person, most people would expect me to be quite fit and agile. Which is something I was... during my teenage years. Not anymore. So, let's get back to being in shape. Quest 1 - strength and flexibility Already having a basic workout plan for beginners like me, I've decided to keep it for this challenge. Doing some yoga/stretching and body weight excercises every morning before school isn't much... but it's better than nothing and a good start. Quest 2 - endurance and stamina What is all strength for if one feels exhausted quickly? Nothing... unless you change that. My bicycle needs to be repaired and winter is coming (okay... not yet, but way too soon), which only leaves one option for someone who doesn't really like walking. I'll try to visit the local swimming pool at least once every week and swim 42 rows - not at once, but during the 2 hour period I'm staying there. Quest 3 - nutrition and relaxation Yes, those two are also a part of getting fit and healthy. My schedule during the week forces me to get up very early... and to make up for that, my intention is to go to bed early as well. My goal is to get at least 6 hours of sleep. Sure... it sounds like getting less sleep than usual for most people. But for me, this is a big change. In order to calm down before going to bed, I'll turn of the computer one hour before sleep time and spend the time reading a book or taking a steaming hot bath. The other part of this quest involves only one thing. Having breakfast. That includes some beverage (preferably tea, diluted juice or or otherwise flavoured water), a source of protein, a good amount fat and few carbs. Milk and grains are okay, but I'm trying to avoid those as much as possible. Anything else? Yes... my little side quest of being a better student. Even as a smart guy, I have to admit that there's no way around learning and things like that sometimes. My goal is to be on time for every course, have everything with me and prepared in advance, never skip a course unless suffering from a contagious illness and getting 10 points or more (of 15) in every exam. Good luck to everyone Regards Platzhalter

Hey guys, I hope I understood everything about this challenges correctly. I'm aiming for the Ranger class (probably with little bits of every other class mixed in). But as I'm new in the Rebellion, I start here. Right? Some background on me: I'm 1.84 m tall and weighing up to 104 kg (and as a proper nerd I use the metric system). About half a year ago I started to eat better. I was on a Paleo-inspired low-carb diet and I got from 112 kg to 106 kg pretty fast. I also started to walk every day for at least 30 min, preferably 60min+. Now I'm back on the Fast-5 diet (which I tried two years ago). For those who don't want to google: It's intermittent fasting with a window of 5 hours in which you eat every day. Mine's from 15 to 20 o'clock, but my evening glass of milk may be drank later. In the last week I started to incorporate bodyweight and light dumbell training into my daily routine. But last Sunday I tore some muscle fibres in my back and so I'm home resting this week. Therefore my quest goals below are rather humble. Main Quest: Get down to 90kg. 85 kg. Self-explanatory. Corresponds to 20% body fat, if I gain no muscle. Quest 1: Walk 20 min every day in the first week, no matter how slow. Walk 30 min every day from the second week on. The day before I tore my muscle I started the Walk to Mordor. I aimed for 5 km every day. But since I can't stand and walk properly at the moment, this must suffice. Quest 2: Meditate 5x every week for at least 10 min. I really loved meditating about half a year ago, but for the last three month I couldn't compose myself enough. Quest 3: See a physical therapist. I want my back to work properly again. Quest 4: Eat fish at least once every week. I focus mainly on vegetables, meat and dairy. I want to have fish three times a week, but it's hard to get high-quality fish in my neighbourhood. Bonus: Doing daily stretching and easy bodyweight exercises by the end of the challenge. Well, let's see what the therapist says. So, is this worthy as a nerd fitness challenge?