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‘Cause we’re not jingling all the way anywhere this year. Is it Deep Holiday Season again, already? This year has seemed interminable - and yet quick; but like it’s barely happened? Let’s get an early review in: Jan - Feb: “Normal” life; a fair bit of travel, too many nights and weekends spent eating and drinking allthethings in preparation for my local bestie skipping off to a different desert. Mar - July: Fortress of Solitude life - yoga where I had the band with for it, kicked creative projects into high gear sparked off by Animal Crossing and coloring on the iPad. Ate like a college student for the most part. August: Lockdown lite and kicked yoga into high gear with walks to and from despite it being surface of the sun hot - I was just happy to be outside and moving my body in a way that felt nourishing. A return to not eating like garbage. September: Quarantine for reals and a wrist (re-re-re) injury; back to doing what I could as far as yoga was concerned. Kept up the healthy eating and was 100% tired of French fries at this point. October - November: A great groove was found with my Zoom yoga classes; most week I was able to fit 5 in. I had a bad week or two with anxiety and body freak outs, but overall some solid progress to be had. December: Hoping for the same. This year, I’m actually looking forward to staying the course as it were. The Holiday Season is always kind of wonky for us - if we’re Stateside and we travel, it’s either for Thanksgiving or early December and that’s always stressful. If we’re left to our own devices, it’s either travel for pleasure around my birthday and Chinese food + a movie on Christmas; or it’s lots of little get-togethers with friends and possibly a big blowout brunch on Christmas itself. This year, we aren’t able to travel anywhere so we are doing a birthday staycation (hence the dunes part of the challenge title), and we don’t feel like joining the masses for a big brunch blowout. If we congregate, it will be with 1 other couple. And that’s okay. Every year, this time is a whirlwind and it’s Really Frickin Easy to absolutely go off the rails when it comes to my own fitness and nutrition goals. Some years I manage to keep my proverbial shit together, but not the past few. This year will be spent focusing on other things. I’ll be spending this holiday season keeping the habits going that will fuel future-me, instead of creating a situation 2021 me will have to dig herself out of. If we choose to celebrate with back home family via Zoom, great. If not, that’s fine too. We have games for our NYE game night right here to mark the end of the year in our own style. Holiday Bash NF-Style Goals Betcha didn’t think I’d say nutrition. 🤣 I’m going to continue to build on my last couple challenges here - continue to MFP track daily and report weekly without judgement, continue to post a daily log, continue to post daily pics, and continue to do what a can re: portion sizes, meat consumption, garbage consumption, and veggies. Movement. This month is going to be kinda wonky with Zoom classes - Hopefully by Week 1, schedules will have settled out and I’ll have figured out what I’m doing and who I’m paying for the privilege. Feed Your Mind. Continue on with 1 Skillshare course a week + ongoing crafting project(s). Feed Your Family. Continue on with doggie enrichment and training. Feed Your (potential) Future. Continue learning how to grow readership with the blog and figuring out if monetization is something I want to pursue. Mini Challenges. I know there will be mini challenges. I have the bandwidth to participate this year, whatever this may bring - Be it internal or external, Bring It! Come on Squatmas!

(A little late posting this challenge thing, procrastination is one of my more developed skills...) So this is my first official challenge! I did one in secret before this, as a kind of test, and since I didn't explode (or implode) I'm going to risk another one, publicly. Also I decided I really want to do a hike I've had my eye on for years so I need to amp up my fitness level a bit... New Zealand mountains are no joke! My hiking buddy runs marathons for fun, whereas I go for short, red-faced jogs at lunchtime to escape my desk and my co-workers, so there's a certain motivation to up my game, if only to save face! Plus, the fitter I am, the more energy I'll have to admire the beautiful scenery So, here's my game plan... pretty similar to the last challenge I did but increasing the amount of walking I do and gradually making my bodyweight workouts more difficult. Also trying to be more disciplined with food, ugh. Diet Eat at least 3 carb-free meals a weekEat at least 2 vegetarian meals a weekOnly eat dark chocolate for dessert, if anything (dessert is my weakness, especially ice cream, so this will be the hard part) Fitness Walk to and from work (2.2 km each way) 2x a weekComplete the NF bodyweight workout 2x a weekGo for 3 lunchtime runs/walks per week Level Up Your Life Complete at least 1 painting during this challengeLights out before 11:45pm ( literally the thing I struggle with most)2x meditation daily, 30 minutes morning and evening (I'm a Buddhist so I'm pretty good at this but usually skip morning because I went to sleep too late and then slept in haha)So there you have it... now I just have to hope that winter doesn't settle in too early and make the hike impossible, and that I can get time off work!

Hello everyone! Woo! Glad to be going on a full challenge! I did the last couple of weeks of this past challenge, but the goals I listed weren't really accomplished, though I did have unlisted goals I achieved instead. I'm really excited to be getting stronger and eating well. I've spent the past couple of weeks eating better and a lot less sugar. Had some off meals due to roommate's birthday dinners and some baking-frenzies that we all seem to be getting into (I think its our way of procrastinating ). In terms of exercise, I found darebee.com and today was Day 17 of the Hero's Journey workout program, which I am loving! Doing all body-weight, as that's most practical right now and I'm more likely to do it. In the future I hope to continue bodyweight things, but also have some weightlifting, though I do not know when that will be. The goals for this challenge (as of right now) are: 1) Eat veggies (other than sweet potatoes) with at least 1 meal 2 days a week. (I struggle so much with this, I think I have to start small) 2) No more than 1 sugary snack a day and 1 sugary drink (though ideally these are the same thing, and that's what I've been doing for the most part the past couple of weeks). 3) Pass each challenge the Hero's Journey throws at me (beat a dragon Friday, that was pretty awesome). --A bonus here would be to review 1 form or 10 hands/feet/escapes from my martial arts, that ways I stay familiar with it and keep my muscles engaged in those moves 4) Put 1$ in a jar everyday; want to buy a coffee/snack? Pull it from the jar. 5) Meditate for 5+ minutes a day AND/OR Go for an intentional 10-minute walk to relax and, basically, meditate outside. I'm sticking with the Rebels for now, because this is my first challenge, but I'm also not sure if I'm more assassin or ranger. I feel like my fitness goals fall very much in both categories. For this challenge I am hoping to work towards bodyweight and even more gymnastic-type feats, and keep going for walk/jogs. Eventually: I want to try parkour, aerial silks, adding in weights, and some other things. My current life goal... I guess that's to feel good about my college graduation this spring and whatever I decide to do for grad school next year. Sorry for being so verbose! I just can't seem to stop 20 Seconds of Beast Mode x 4 weeks: Activated!

I have been reading nerd fitness for a while now and decided to join the forums. I could be a complainer about my life the last several years but screw that. I am done with that. The only reason I am over weight and out of shape is because of me. I have never signed up for any kind of health / fitness forum before so we'll see how this goes. It seems there is a new challenge coming tomorrow so I guess there is no time to prepare. It's just time to get down to business. (war-face)... Right now I don't work out one bit. I do spend a good amount of time at work on me feet and I move heavy things from time to time but that's my entire "workout" right now. So I think some things need to change. There is a gym next to where I work on my way home so I should make that step one. I am going to follow the suggested guidelines for this and see where it takes me. For the diet I am going to change my lunches at work. Most of the time I have some sort of processed microwave thing. I am from now on going to make my own lunches out of real food, I will also try to stop going to the vending machine... its so good but so bad for me... Exercise... This is something I should do but don't... I will sign up for the gym and work out 2x a week. Level up your life... I think I'll take the meditation for 5 minutes and turn it into 10. I'll also try to go to bed earlier... I do not get enough sleep so that really needs to change. PS: I feel like there should be some sort of motivational picture here but I'm not sure what it should be.

Welcome to my first-ever NF-Challenge! As you can read in my DailyBattleLog the last months have already been quite a leveling-marathon for my life and I´d like to take this to the next level by commiting to some awesome quests! I´ll credit my progress by giving percentage on how good I´ve mastered the quests and every Quest itself will benefit my NF-character, 25XP each. Quest 1) No more Soda! My name is Torsten and I´m addicted. Working in shift duty and hating coffee and tea is the story I keep telling myself for "needing" Cola and energy drinks to survive the day. No more excuses! No more Soda! It may be a heavy quest for me, but the mindset is the key. I´ll keep this at 25XP though it may be a hard one. Quest 2) Main meal with veggies and without processed food! Easy one, but it´s a healthy habit I´m not following quite long at the moment. So it needs to be a healthy habit and is worth a quest. Quest 3) Lifting heavy 3 times a week! Actually I´m following Stronglifts 5x5 and it´s the reason I found NF in the wide wide internet. Stacys Strength Training 101 made me a NF-addict and big fan. In my youth I had a real great progress at strength training, but with time came excuses: apprenticeship ("No time for working out and shift duty is exhausting too"), keeping on working in shift duty and my belly grew in addition to my back pain. Over the last years I started working out again but without the knowledge I have today and with bad, real bad diet. My progress has been staying small through the years, so has been my motivation. By doing this quest I´ll keep up the good work, establish my routine and upgrade my life permanent! Quest 4) Meditate at least 10minutes a day! I´m into this stuff since my youth and I love the effects of a positive mindset. It´s a great way of leveling up my life and has been a great part of my progress the last months, if not years. But the last days I recognised that I don´t work every day with this amazing tools, so why don´t I?! That´s why I made this a daily quest for even more progress!

Reading level up your life made me realise had given up on getting better of my health problems and was letting life pass me by. Motivation Taking before pics made me realise how fat I am. Want to get to a more healthy weight along with building up strength. As struggle with opening jars at the moment. But mostly want to take back control of my life and have more good health days than bad. So can do things like going out for meal with family. Diet Cook 3 times a week. Fitness Walk every day for 5 mins. Complete the NF bodyweight workout at least 1x a week Levelling up my life 5 mins meditation daily

Hi! I have read this site for several months and recently decided to jump in and participate with all of you inspiring, nerdy people. I'm looking forward to posting updates as I hope that will aid in the accountability I sometimes lack when it comes to being healthy. This is my first challenge and I plan to check in a couple of times a week so feel free to say hi! I've been climbing for a couple of years and got really serious about it last year. We had a new bouldering specific gym open and it got me hooked again. Unfortunately I had a major reconstructive ahoulder surgery (not climbing related) in July which I'm still recovering from. I am starting to add strenghth training back in to my plan as I would love to correct my muscular imbalance as well as put on 10-15 punds of lean muscle over the next several months. Here is the schedule I'm planning for the next 4 weeks. Monday: easy bouldering routes, 2 hours Tuesday: liffting weights Wednesday: high mileage bouldering, 2 hours Thursday: lifting weights Friday: project routes, 2 hours I plan on doing yoga and foam rolling throughout the week as well. I danced for 12+ years and sorely miss the flexibility that came with it. There are several free community yoga classes around so if I can make to one of those at least once a week and practice at home, I'll be well on my way. I recently took a couple of acroyoga classes and I would love to explore that further! Are there any other (slightly obseesed) Game of Thrones fans? I've read the books multiple times and can't decide if I should continue watching the show or wait for Winds of Winter to come out. Specific goals for this week: -take pictures and record measurements -book flights and car for Iceland! (Has anyone been before? I'd love to hear suggestions) -Sort through clothes and take donations in (part of bigger goal for capsule wardrobe) -Download duolingo and get through level 1

Hey everybody. I'm getting in on this month's challenge so here's what I have planned. My overall goal is to optimize my physical & mental health and break the cycle of boredom & monotony in life. Diet Replace rice/grain with vegetables 1 meal everyday Eat one fruit everyday Fitness Hundred Pushup Program 1 Academy Quest Per Week (Any Class) [side Quest] 20 Minute Walk Daily Level Up Your Life 10 Minute Daily Meditation Small Talk with Strangers (Day off and When Outside) Read 15 Minutes a Day I'm also doing a Gold Star and Demerit system to track my progress for both the ups and downs. Any tweaks & suggestions are welcome.

I've dabbled in NerdFitness for the past year, and have made some changes stick in the short term (e.g. doing challenges like no refined sugar for a month), but have always struggled maintaining goals in the long term. My hope is that posting here will help with accountability and support! Main Quests I have always carried some extra body fat. I'm getting older and want to finally do something about it by building strength and eating well. My goal is to lose 1" off my hips and thighs (we'll see where else it comes off - I know you can't spot reduce). In addition, I know my mental health and self-image improve when I exercise and eat well. I've never followed through on an exercise plan and I want to prove that I can. To that end, my second goal is to complete a meditation program. Diet Quests 1. Maintain a 500 caloric deficit daily (through diet and exercise). 2. Eat a high-quality protein source at each meal (ie 3x daily). I'll keep track of this goal using the myfitnesspalapp, and help ensure success by planning meals in advance. Fitness Quests 1. Do a bodyweight strength workout at least 2x a week. Bonus: do some other form of exercise an additional 2x a week (not graded). Life Quests 1. Meditate 6x/week. Grading: All challenges will use the following grading scale. 90-100%: A (e.g. missing only 2-3 days total in diet quest, missing 0 bodyweight workouts over 4 weeks, missing only 2 meditation days total) 80-89%: B (e.g. missing diet goals 1 day/week, missing 1 bodyweight workouts over 4 weeks, missing 1 day meditation/week) 70-79%: C (e.g. missing 1-2 days meditation/diet per week, missing 2 bodyweight workouts) 60-69%: D (e.g. missing 8-10 meditation/diet days total, missing 3-4 bodyweight workouts) < 60% : F (e.g. missing more than 10 days of meditation/diet, missing more than 2 weeks of bodyweight workouts) I have a tendency to set unreachable goals so that when I fail them, I am upset so please let me know if this is too much!

So I have recently joined this forum and website and am looking forward to continuing getting into shape. Here are my challenge goals!! Diet Swap out one soda per day with waterEat a vegetable with one meal every day Fitness Do at least 10 minutes of yoga everydayBodyweight Circuit at least 2x per week Level Up Your Life 5 minutes meditation dailyKeep a clean house for the monthGrading: All challenges will use the following grading scale. 90% - 100% - A 80% - 89% - B 70% - 79% - C 60% - 69% - D 0% - 59% - F End of challenge goals 25 pushups,1 minute plankDrinking up to 3 bottles of water a day20 minute meditation

Hello, my friends, There's quite a lot going on here. I've gotten on and off the crossfit wagon, and have done all of the below before successfully but inconsistently. I've many times set out to get a strict muscle up but never have made it. The meditation is new, too. Long-term fitness goal: One year from now (March 1, 2017) strict muscle up Four months from now (June 1, 2016) eleven strict pullups For the next six weeks, I will: Diet Eat only food food: basically primal diet, but there may be some hummus involved http://www.marksdailyapple.com/primal-blueprint-shopping-list/#axzz41WimNttS Fitness Stretch 5 minutes per day: Focus on addressing anterior pelvic tilt https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZu7YOfVhQc Core strength daily: Plank: start 30 seconds, add five seconds/week Hip raises: Start 5, add 5 per week Life Pray Meditate 5 minutes per day Thanks to all who help make this community. You can do great things! CH

Hello, friends, Hopefully you are making progress on your goals. I've quit lots of things in my life: drinking, smoking, brushing, flossing...and I have an observation to share: day two is the hardest. The bright and shiny of day one enthusiasm has worn off. The fmomentum that lies ahead in a successful endeavor has not yet built up. Day two is neither a fresh start or a familiar friend. So buck up! You can do great things. This is the first forum I've participated in...for anything other than some online grad school stuff. Pardon me if I misspost, misspell and generally sh*t the bed a bit til I get saavy. Currently: working on addressing a tweaky back. For the last six months I've not attended to physical fitness or diet in any concerted way, and like anything it adds up. Intervention: Stretches to address anterior pelvic tilt, core strength building. Cheers! CH Long-term fitness goal: One year from now (March 1, 2017) strict muscle up Four months from now (June 1, 2016) eleven strict pullups For the next six weeks, I will: Diet Eat only food food: basically primal diet, but there may be some hummus involved http://www.marksdail.../#axzz41WimNttS Fitness Stretch 5 minutes per day: Focus on addressing anterior pelvic tilt https://www.youtube....h?v=oZu7YOfVhQc Core strength daily: Plank: start 30 seconds, add five seconds/week Hip raises: Start 5, add 5 per week Life Pray Meditate 5 minutes per day Thanks to all who help make this community. You can do great things! CH

Wow, I just found this site today and already love it! So my overarching goal is to lose 15 - 20 pounds and to get lean by increasing my muscle mass. What I have working in my favor is that I have done it before and I know I can do it again, even with age working against me! About 15 years ago I went from 267 lbs to 172. It took a long time, but was worth it. I have slid back a bit, I am at about 195 now. My plan is to do what I did last time, eat decent food and get active. I love activities, in the winter I officiate ice hockey and in the summer I play Ultimate Frisbee as my main activities but I rarely turn down a chance to do something outside. So here are my goals: Diet Add vegetables to at least one meal a dayEat at least 2 servings of fruitExerciseWeight training 3 times a weekCardio 2 - 3 times a weekLUL - This one is tough!Meditate 10 minutes a dayMake my bed every dayMy motivation is simple, I don't want to go back to where I was!Here I go!

Fitness quests: Walk at least 5 minutes outside every day.Complete the 7 Days of Calm meditation program in the Calm app before the end of the challenge.Do an additional fitness activity at least twice a week.Sample additional fitness activity options: JoggingInteveral trainingYogaBikingLife quest: Earn 20 xp in Duolingo every weekday.

My origin story begins just under 4 months ago with the birth of our first child. While wonderful, our lives and routines are in complete disarray and unrecognizable from what they once was. I hear a lot of new parents refer to the first 3-4 months as survival mode. I'm going to liken this to how Spider-Man first discovered his powers and had to spend time just getting used to not accidentally setting off his web-shooters or accidentally crushing household objects as he adjusted to his newfound strength and abilities. Now that we're (hopefully) getting over that hump, it's time to go from living purely reactively to adding some intentionality into my days. My "Uncle Ben" I suppose was sleep. Whenever I needed that extra push or time, I would stay up late into the night and steal from sleep. "Uncle Ben" is gone, as I can no longer rely on getting a full sleep any night, let alone bank on going to that well when I need it most. No, I need to focus on getting done what I must during my regular waking hours. That means new habits, a new approach, and a new mindset. I consider this the beginning of my super hero training. Join me on my journey, won't you? ****** I'm new to NF and starting small. I'll flesh out more details over time. For now, let's get started! Diet/Fitness Quests Lvl 1 Angry Birds Workout 2x/week 1 fruit 5x/week 1 veggie 5x/week Life Quest 5 minutes of meditation 2x/week

I'b back for my second challenge! As I was celebrating New Year's with the family I saw a commercial come on for some health apps to start the new year. But one stuck out to me the most; the couch to 5k app. I thought to myself "why not?" what do I have to lose? Nothing, but weight. I already use most of the other health apps the commercial mentioned since they were free and could sync with the health fit app the iphone already has. In my last challenge I learned to build new and better habits. I work out more, make healthier eating choices, track my calorie intake and sleep schedule, and keep up with a daily to do list. I've been gaining weight because of the stress of college, recently changing majors, and taking care of the family after my grandmother passed. I'd love to lose that weight by summer. So 40 pounds by June or 20 weeks. That's about 2 pounds per week which is completely doable. (Shout out to rebel stillskies for her lovely last challenge. It was completely awesome, extremely nerdy, and very inspirational. And I think I'll follow suit with hers.) Main quest Learn to master Earth bending! To do this, I’m going to need to be able to travel around to find a earthbender teacher, actually train with said teacher and bend some earth, and have energy to spare. (and after that maybe find a hidden spirit library in the desert for vacation) Quest 1 Find an Earth Bender Teacher(+4 STA, +1 DEX) It's gonna take some exploring to find an earth bender teacher. I've got a lot of ground air to cover. CHALLENGE 1: run three days a week outside (weather permitting) and follow the couch to 5k apps regimen. A: 100% 3 day run completed, B: 67% 2 day run completed; C: 33% 1 day run completed CHALLENGE 2: Take time to stretch out for at least 5 minutes after my runs. I’m really bad at this if all I’m doing is running. A: 100% complete/stretched for 5+ minutes after both runs, B: 50% completed/stretched for 5+ minutes after one run Quest 2 Earth Bending Training (+4 STR, +1 CHA) Earth bending is tough. CHALLENGE: Lift three days a week following the Stronglifts program. [Edit: I'm changing workouts since I don't have the proper equipment for the program] CHALLENGE: Complete the Beginner Body Weight Workout three times a week 20 body weight squats10 push ups20 walking lunges10 dumbbell rows (using a gallon milk jug)15 second plank20 reverse crunches (or) ab roller 30 Jumping JacksA: 100% completion three days, B: 67% completion two days, C: 33% completion one day Quest 3 Eating healthy (+4 CON) Food is so tasty. It's hard not to overdo it. Stay within my calorie limit. I've been very bad and going over my daily limit on MyFitnessPal. I'd like to stay within the limit recommended A: Met weekly goal, B: Went over 1 or 2 days, C: Went over 3 or 4 days Life Quest Secret Spirit Library(+1 WIS) CHALLENGE: read. I just started reading again over the Christmas break and I haven't stopped since. I started reading Harry Potter and half way through the third book. I plan to read at least three books over this challenge and keep this momentum going. A: three or more books read, B: two books read, C: One book read Point breakdown LEVEL 2: STR : 4 (A=4, B=3, C=2) DEX : 1 (A=1, B=.5, C=.25) STA : 4 (A=4, B=3) CON : 4 (A=4, B=3, C=2) WIS : 1 (A=1, B=.5, C=.25) CHA : 1 (A=1, B=.5, C=.25) Measurements: Neck: 16 Chest: 40 Waist: 35 Hips: 45 Thigh: R: 23.5 L: 23.5 Calf: R: 16 L: 16 Bicep: R: 13.7 L: 13.7 Weight: 194.6 Dress/pants size: 16

Your world... is strange. Time and space bound on an axis relative to speed. This one does not understand how it arrived here-- it concludes something must have gone wrong. This one must go back. This one must understand how the rules of this place operate -- how to move, bounded by time, bounded by space. Tedious. But how else can this one return home? First: move. Other solutions will be calculated in due course, but first an interface must be created with this place. Forms similar to this one use a measure of a dimension in this place called 'time.' This 'time' is discretized into a thing called a 'second.' A second is defined as 9,192,631,770 oscillations of a certain isotope of cesium that these ones are fond of utilizing for measuring 'time.' For the purposes of record-keeping, this one shall use the 'second.' It is useful to note that these ones use further sexagesimal ordinals of time known as 'minutes' which are 60 seconds, and 'hours' which are 60 minutes. This one does not understand ssuch an arbitrary number system, nor the need for units beyond seconds. Discover limits of this form: stretch the limbs of this one for no less than 1800 the limbs shall be stretched in two sets -- once upon entering active state from rest, and once before entering sleep state from active state. Each set shall be 900 in duration and shall cover full articulation of limbs and trunk of this form.Discover base power versus base forces of this environment: exert force against the environment in a simple set of movementsA simple 'bodyweight' routine shall be performed every other complete-axial rotation of the planet this one finds itself upon.Discover base efficiency of this form: remain in highly active, exertion state for no less than 1200 each day.This form seems to be electrochemically powered -- thus measurements need to be taken at an elevated metabolic state, these forms refer to such a state as 'aerobic' -- which is a reference to oxygen consumption. More research is required.This form must refuel at regular intervals by chemically decomposing inputs. An effort must be made to optimize the fuel ingested by this form. More research is required -- for now the 'diet' shall be simplified to complex hydrogen-carbon chains as well as other chains containing nitrogen and oxygen -- this one has already determined that other forms refer to these as 'complex carbohydrates' and 'proteins' and that the most efficient carbohydrates come from organisms referred to as 'plants.' Summary: Determine the flexibility of this form. Determine the strength of this form. Determine the endurance of this form Improve the diet of this form.Await this one's next transmission.