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So this is my first challenge (& first post)! I was doing really well with fitness until August when I started teaching. I was crossfitting, but between the pay cut and lesson planning taking up all my time, I stopped. Currently, everything is going to squish. My main goal is to start preparing my body to go back to crossfit in June. That is really going to hurt. Goal 1 - 40 push ups. I'm currently down to only 8 without a rest. Goal 2 - 1 pull up. I was going to make this goal 5, but even after 2 years of crossfit, I still wasn't able to do one. Goal 3 - Run a 5K in under 35 minutes. Yeah, I'm slow. I will accomplish this by doing three body weight workouts a week focusing on goals 1 and 2. There's a weekly 5K near me that I will be running (and trying not to take part in the beer afterward.....). Other runs will be after my workouts, that will be shorter distances, but with intervals. Hopefully having this public will help motivate me. Best of luck everyone!

Introduction: Hello! My name is John. I am new to Nerd Fitness and am looking forward to this adventure. I have tried many different ways of getting in shape, and it is hard to stay motivated. I hope with the community here and fun "Quest Style" of fitness that I will achieve my goals and grow within the Rebellion. Support, advice, pointers, and tips are appreciated as I am COMPLETELY new here. (I left the Rewards as "?" because I do not know how to assign Stat Points to my goals yet. Any suggestions are welcome.) Main Quest: Hit 175lbs in a HEALTHY WAY Quest 1: Do the Beginner Body Weight Workout 3-4 times per week (every other day) AT LEAST 2x through the complete circuit Measurement: A = 3-4 per week, B = 2 per week, C = 1 per week (will take average/wk at end of challenge for grade) Reward: ? Quest 2: Bicycle 3 days a week for 10mins each time Measurement: A = 3 days/wk, B = 2 days/wk, C = 1 days/wk (I'll keep track of my bike rides and use the average at the end of my challenge for my grade.) Reward: ? Quest 3: Try to start a Paleo diet with NO SUGAR (I have a major sweet tooth) and NO JUNK/FAST FOOD. Measurement: A = 0-3 cheats/wk, B = 4-5 cheats/wk, C = 6-7 cheats/wk Reward: ? Life Quest: Be more patient with myself, cut myself some slack, don't take myself too seriously, DON'T GIVE UP ON THIS ADVENTURE. Measurement: A = 0-1 Desires to quit, B = 2-3 Desires to quit, C = 4-5 Desires to quit Reward: ? Motivation: Too look and feel better about myself, and be healthy.

I’ve followed NF off and on for almost a year but this is my first challenge commitment! So here it goes for 2015! Background: I am a 30 year old mom of 2, struggling to figure myself out enough to grow in a “healthy†way. I used to consider myself a “country/farm†girl but now that I have a decent job/career established, I find myself behind a desk for what seems like the majority of my time. When I am not working behind the desk it seems as though I’m frantically trying to figure out how to provide nutritious meals to the husband and little people (one (the 4 year old child, has extensive medical demands including a high salt, high calorie diet! ugh!) and keep everyone happy. With extra help in 2014 I was able to successfully get my weight down to a healthier range, while also getting the 4 year old to maintain a good weight with HEALTHY food and keeping the other 2 family members relatively content. Now it’s time to keep building on that. Long Term Lifestyle Goal: I would still like to eventually loss another 20-30 lbs assuming that’s what it would take to get rid of some more of my belly bulge and have more engery and feel “STRONG†but want to be smart about it and will be focusing more on non-scale victories/activies along the way so I’m not putting an immediate deadline on this goal as long as I’m not noticing additional flab to squeeze into the clothes and I’m maintaining overall happiness. I would also like to figure out some physically challenging activities that I can enjoy and grow old doing. Fall 2015 goal: I’ve committed to a 30 miles in 1 day rugged Hike in efforts to raise money to support medical research that could greatly benefit my family down the road. This hike is in September 2015 and scares me ALOT! But I think I can do and am starting to train NOW! So now we have arrived at my 3 measurable goals for this 6 week challenge, that will get me closer to the goals above… 1) Focus on Strength training three times a week. I have never really focused on “strength†before so will start with the body weight program for this challenge. 2) Continue to progress through the Coach to 5k Program I started before Christmas. (Strength training and C25K work will be on alternating days) By the end of this challenge, I should be able to jog for a continuous 30 minutes and should have a good foundation established to start working on time and/or mileage goals by the next challenge. 3) Eat clean, consistently. I will do this by committing to plan meals WEEKLY so they are ready to go, easier on me and the family and more likely to be excuse proof. If I know what’s on the “menu†ahead of time I’ll have better luck avoiding the temptations at the office, grandmas, etc. that are around me ALL THE TIME! That’s the plan, here we go! *I will try to report in with weekly progress updates but will be significantly limiting my “technology usage†in hopes of better time management and focusing on goals. oh and a note to self: be nice to ME...

I'm so pumped right now! Yeah! I found the NF website through the Geek Fitness panel at a local Sci-Fi Convention here in Minnesota. I didn't realize until recently you can still participate even if you can't afford the academy! Count me in! My Main Quest: Obtain a BMI of 21 Goal 1: Go 86% Vegan I plan to eat completely vegan with one exception (ranch dressing) 6 of 7 days a week. The Day 7 (either saturday or sunday) I still plan to eat mostly healthy but I will allow myself to have some animal products. Goal 2: Exercise! I built a plan 5/7 days per week. 20-30 minutes per day. I want to still to Tabata/HIIT 2x and Zombies!Run 3x. But, as long as I'm "moving" 20-30 minutes (Yoga, etc.) I will count it. I can always get increasingly strict as my willpower levels up. Goal 3: Log it. I got a Jawbone Up!24 for christmas, between that and the forums I will log my progress. (Woo! Stats ^.^)

In my quest to Be The Awesome I need to start over after that mess that was 2014. As everyone should know, all good beginnings start with a training montage, right? Disclaimer: I've not actually watched either of those movies, I just YouTube'd training montages. /noshame I'll update the goals below as I go along with what I've achieved. With regards to scoring, I won't be rounding up. For example, with my first goal if I only have 24 Paleo meals, it's still counted as 0%. Harsh, but so is life. Goal 1: Eat 80/20 Paleo (CON - 3 points) What this means: Going by the three meals a day rule, there'll be 126 main meals during the challenge. Rounding up, to 100% achieve this goal 101 meals need to be Paleo. Scoring: 100% (101 meals) = 3 points 75% = (75 meals) = 2.25 points 50% (51 meals) - 1.5 points 25% (25 meals) = 0.75 points 0% (0 meals) = 0 points Meals acheived so far: 13/101 Score: 0% Comments: This is harder than I thought it was going to be. More planning required. Goal 2: Train with weights 2x a week (STR - 5 points) What this means: I thought about putting a time limit on this goal but that's not going to work well with how I'm braining right now. For me, this involves getting outside and lifting my dumbbell's or my barbell. I'll most likely combine this with my Quest for Life goals of reaching 60kg in my deadlift and squat and reaching 30kg on my bench press, clean & jerk and snatch. Scoring: 100% (12 sessions) = 5 points 75% (9 sessions) = 3.75 points 50% (6 sessions) = 2.5 points 25% ( 3 sessions) = 1.25 points 0% (0 sessions) = 0 points Sessions achieved so far: 1/12 Score: 0% Comments: Goal 3: Participate in an SCA training session each week (STR - 3 points, CHA - 2 points) What this means: For those not in the know, SCA stands for Society of Creative Anachronism. As I need a hobby now that I have time for a life, I've decided to rejoin things. Generally the two groups closest to me hold their training on a Sunday but in case that changes I've left it as each week. I've also just remembered that I could go to the College training sessions, which will be helpful for one of the Sunday's where there is a meeting on. I have a rapier blade and a bow (but no arrows, luckily there are loaners!) I'd prefer to start with archery but I'm not sure I can pull the bow I have now... *goes off to check* ... nope, I can't even string the sucker to check. Someone might be able to do that for me though, so I can still make attempts and grow stronger doing so! Scoring: 100% (6 sessions) = 3 points STR, 2 points CHA 75% (5 sessions) = 2.25 points STR, 2.5 points CHA 50% (3 sessions) = 1.5 points STR, 1 points CHA 25% (1 session) = .75 points STR, .5 points CHA 0% (0 sessions) = 0 points STR, 0 points CHA Sessions achieved so far: 1/6 Score: 25% Comments: Archery is fun ouchies. Sub Goal 1: Go to bed before 10pm (CON - 2 points) What this means: Pretty basically, be in my bed by 10pm. I'm not going to say be asleep, and I can even be watching a movie (to hopefully put me to sleep) but I will be in that bed by 10pm. Scoring: 100% (42 nights) = 2 points 75% (31 nights) = 1.5 points 50% (21 nights) = 1 points 25% (11 nights) = .5 points 0% (0 nights) = 0 points Sleepybye's achieved so far: 6/42 Score: 0% Comments: I'm doing it, but it's not working out how I planned. Motivation Antro asked me to update my post with motivation... so, why do I want this? I want to have energy/fitness to do things instead of being tired all the time. I want to look good naked. And have people wish they could see me naked =P I want my clothes to fit. I want to have to use less fabric to make my garb.

What a great site. My first challenge but I found the site 6 months ago and read some of the articles and even put the beginner body weight excercise routine on my BR mirror with a dry erase pen. A little about me. 35, married, 2 kids (7&8). I'm in real estate, which means I'm either driving or checking email, but does allow me a flexible schedule. I'm 5'8" and weigh 207. Ultimate goal: weigh a healthy 180. About 5 years ago I weighed 190 which is only 10 pounds heavier than I weighed when I graduated high school. But I had a completely different shape. While I know I can't reverse the clock, I want to tone my body as well as lose weight. It's not just the lbs. 6 week goal: Alternating weeks of 3 days running and 2 days beginner body weight excercise. (This week MWF run & T/Th body weight excercise - next week the reverse). 1. Running - by end of week 2 running 3 miles under 35 mins (in the fall I was averaging a 11:38 per mile). By end of week 6 average 11min/mi for 3 miles (once I average a 10 minute mile for 3 miles I want to explore HIIT workouts.) 2. Just forming the habit of strength training. I hope to feel confident enough to advance to the next workout, but for now I want to focus on actually doing it for six weeks. I'll reassess at week 3. 3. Tracking food intake. (Myfitnesspal I'm morrisdjon. Let's do this). I know I do well when I'm conscious about it and actually make a lunch to bring with me. Eating out is my weakness. My wife and I are better about eating out in the evenings, but usually I can stay under the caloric goal even if we do eat out at night. Life goal? I have a lot of goals planned this time of year. Business, saving, marriage, etc. I'll choose one and say I want to keep up the 5 marriage goals my wife and I planned out last week. I won't go into detail, but we have struggled.

Who is Van? Well, I am. I'm 29 and inching ever so close to 30. I'm in a bit of a crisis about that fact. Sure, 30 isn't old. I probably wouldn't have too much of a problem with coming up to 30. Except, I've done nothing with the other 29 years of my life. I've done some things in the past. Lived in many different places. Met some amazing people. Changed my religion a few times. But for the most part, I've drifted. Allowed life to take me where it would without putting much effort into it. Or even experiencing it that much. I've been a big guy most of my life, and I don't mean tall. I've not been huge. But chunky. Now, I'm pretty big. I'm 5'8" and 237lbs. Having always been a chunk, I've not thought very highly of myself. Which means I've not pushed myself to be anything, or thought I deserved much of anything. So, I slept through life. But I'm ready to wake up. I'm ready to be a man and take control of my one and only life. Only, the things I want to do, I can't. Yet. That's where this challenge comes in. And the ones after that. I'm going to make myself healthy. And in the process, I want to get hot. I want to buy a nice tailored Italian suit. And I want to rock it. But I'm not completely vain. I also want to go on hiking/canoe trips with friends (and my dogs). I love to canoe, but I'm awkward and I don't have the stamina for anything more than a couple hours on a calm river. Forget about carrying my own canoe. And hiking for a few hours in the morning? I have to take it super easy for the rest of the day. I want to be able to free run like all those guys I watch on youtube. I want to run a 5k for charity. I want to do Tough Mudder! Basically, I want to have more to talk about than what happened on Doctor Who. Especially since I really dislike what Moffat is doing. Sorry. And I want to make sure that when the big 4-0 comes along, I can look back at my years with pride. Here's how I'm going to do that. Bum, bum, buuuuummmm! Main Quest: Currently, my main quest is to get under 200lbs. I've never been a healthy weight, and I don't really know what that would be. I mean, I have a vague clue based on my height, but it's only an estimate. So I'm just going to start with these first 38lbs and see what happens after that. Goal 1: Walk at least 5 times a week. I just paid a whopping $3.99 for The Walk app, and I'm going to make it worth every penny. I've started using it already, and I really like it. I live in Florida, so a week of rain is not out of the question. I don't have a treadmill, so my contingency plan is to play till I drop on my kinect if I have to on some days. Standard percentage grading. Goal 2: I have zero upper body strength. I can't even do a real push-up. So I will. I'll be starting with incline push-ups and slowly lower the incline. Every level lower will be a grade up. Being able to do a real push-up will earn an A. Goal 3: Again, I've already started this one. But just barely. But I want to be off soda. I drink a lot. I carry my water bottle with me and I've been doing good. Now, I'm just cutting out soda, at least for now. I don't drink enough beer for it to matter much. I do drink coffee with sugar and cream. And I'll deal with that in a future challenge. Soda is the dragon I'll slay this time. Any soda I drink will cost me half a grade. Life Quest: Except for when drinking with my friend on New Year's, I haven't smoked since the 26th. I've been using a vapor. I want to be down a level in nicotine by the end of this challenge. I know that is not huge, but as someone who has tried and failed to quit many times, I'm taking it slow. Pass/Fail Reward: I love geeky knick-knacks. I spend more than I should. The next thing that I want is an Adipose stress ball... thing. So, a B average (some leeway on the first challenge) means I can buy that little mofo. Otherwise, no geeky shopping. My goals may seem small and easy. But I have a tendency to burn myself out when I try to take on too much. So I'm stopping that trend. Small changes, big results. Right? Let's do this!

Ok, so I'm a 44 year old, fat dude. Been doing crossfit on and off for a bit, but keep giving up on myself, so time for a change. I'm 123kg (270 lb), and I want that to change. So goal one Get to crossfit a minimum of 3 times a week for the next 6 weeks Goal two Paleo means at least 2/3 meals a day for the whole 6 weeks Life quest thingy (not too sure if I'm doing this right) but to read one of my "self improvement" type books every two weeks (so 3 of them in the next 6 weeks). Don't know how to do my "character" and "level up" so I guess that will have to wait until next challenge. The up side is I got to class this morning, so that's a start! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Introduction: Hi I am Cha1n-L1nk and this is my first challenge. I've been lurking on nerdfitness for about a year and am finally participating in a 6-week challenge. I like sports especially volleyball, soccer, and ping pong. I am a skinny guy weighing in at 131 lbs and I'm 6'8â€. I'm a student who is living with his family. I have been exercising on and off for about a year now and want to stay working out. I joined the rebellion because I want to become a beast, not slack off working out, and stop being the skinny kid. Main Quest: Workout 3 times a week and not miss a single day. Measurement: A = 18 workouts, B = 16 workouts, C = 14 workouts Quest 1: Gain 12 lbs before the challenge is over. Measurement: A = 12 lbs gained, B = 9 lbs gained, C = 6 lbs gained Quest 2: Drink no soda for the whole challenge. Measurement: A = 0 soda, B = 2 soda, C = 4 sodas Life Quest: Read 6 books during this challenge. Measurement: A = 6 books read, B = 5 books read, C = 4 books read Motivation: Short and to the point: I'm tired of being small and skinny.

Hey Rangers, My name is Tim. This is my first 6-week challenge ever. It seems like a pretty cool thing. I have quite a few goals, so this will be smaller versions of those. A little about me: I am an I.T. guy for a call center and as of this month I am also a college student again. I am taking a programming class and will slowly but surely be getting my degree while working full time and getting healthy. I have a lot of leveling up to do. Back at the beginning of December, I decided to change my lifestyle and lose weight. I have gout and during a flare-up in June, tipped the scales at 347.0 lbs. This didn't motivate me to begin exercising, although I did slightly alter my eating habits. Around Thanksgiving, I decided that weight loss would be my New Years Resolution. I decided that if this was the case, I needed to begin researching it so I'd be ready when the time came. I began to read about workouts and nutrition daily. After a week, I decided that I couldn't wait until January to start. I was way too excited about it, so I started on December 1st. I didn't weigh myself on December 1st to find out what my starting weight was (I didn't have a scale at the time), so my first weigh-in since June was on December 6th. My nerves were jello as I stepped onto the scale for the first time in 6 months. Did I weigh more? Less? Was I even doing anything useful? My nerves were put to rest when the scale showed 329.1 lbs. Since then, I have gotten my weight down to 315.6 lbs. I work out 6 days a week (unless something comes up). I try to do 3 days of lifting and 3 days of cardio, although lately I've been doing more lifting than cardio. When I lift, I am doing circuits, so in between sets, i'm doing seated crunches on the bench. My heart rate gets just as high as it does when I do cardio. I really don't like running, but I think a lot of that has more to do with how out of shape I am and how much I suck at breathing while doing it. Nutrition has also become very important to me. Most days, I eat 200-250g of protein, 150g of carbs, and 50-75g of fat. This adds up to 2500-2700 calories a day. My RDI is something like 3500 calories/day. I keep track of all of my food using MyFitnessPal. My name is tgsmith489 on there if you'd like to follow me. Now for my goals: + Increase Bench Press by 25 lbs (+4 STR, +1 CHA) + Be able to jog 0.5 mile at speed of 5mph. (+3 STA, +2 DEX) + Drink 64 oz of water at least 6 days of the week. (+3 CON) ++ Side quest++ - Get up to $300 in savings. (+2 WIS)

Hello fellow challengers!I have been lurking around Nerd Fitness for a while now, but I always had a fresh stack of excuses as to why I couldn't do a challenge. No more! This past year, I found my new passion in flat track roller derby. My Big Ass Meta Goal is to make it through my local roller derby league's Fresh Meat program and pass my black assessment (if you pass the black assessment you are eligible to be drafted to a team). The first part of the goal, and the focus of this challenge, is getting my butt in shape for fresh meat tryouts, which are happening sometime in February. The goals:Increase my muscle endurance, specifically my legs, and my core strength. Nail down my transitions and improve my footwork. Increase flexibility and stability with yoga, in order to minimize injury. The plan: Get my butt to every Rec league practice, open gym, and scrimmage (3+ days a week) (A-3+ B-2 C-1 F-0) Shoot for 3 more workouts/week. One should be yoga, the other two can be strength/endurance or skating. (A-3 (1 yoga) B 2(1 yoga) C- 1 F-0 ) I'm using Booty Quake's Standardized Roller Derby Fitness Test (http://rollerderbyathletics.com/fitness-test/) to measure my improvement over the course of the challenge. I will be keeping track of my workouts using my bullet journal and a public "shame calendar". My reward for hitting all 3 extra workouts is I get to drink (responsibly and only over the weekend)!!! My side quests include writing for 10 minutes ever morning and make one post to my blog.( A-6+days a week, 1 post. B- 5+ days a week, 1 post. C - 4 days a week, 1 post. F no post.) The second is sticking to my spending fast (Eliminating non-essential spending from January 1st-April 20th), with the goal of eliminating my debt faster. I did not come up with the idea, it was brazenly stolen from andthenwesaved.com. (A- 7 days no spending. Anything else is fail)

Hey, I'm jennifer or jengetsit. I'm 39 years old. I started a battle log about a week ago: Lift, Lose, Love. It has a bit of history, if you are interested, but here are the cliffs: I stopped working out and gained 30lb. I also have issues with chronic back and neck pain. Currently, I weigh about 181. At least that is what I weighed when I started my journal. I weigh in again on Saturday, so hopefully that number will have gone down a bit after the first week. Main Quest: Lose 30 lb. Fit back into my old clothes! Feel better about my body. Get fit again. Have more energy. Make the physical part of my job easier. Goal 1: Track Diet and meet calorie goals: 1500 calories Sunday-Friday. 2200 calories Saturday. I am using MyPlate to track. A = 42 days B = 35+ days C = 28+ days D = 21+ days F = 20 days or less Goal 2: Walking 3 Days Per Week, increasing distance each week. Right now, I'm doing 2.5 miles, so my goal here is to increase the distance just a little bit each week, even if it's only a tenth of a mile it needs to be a longer distance than the previous week. A = 18+ walks B = 15+ walks C = 12+ walks D = 9+ walks F = 8 or less Goal 3: Strength Training. I'm doing the 5x5 program. I'm going to be a little more flexible with this because I do have back and neck issues that can prevent me from working out. The goal is 3 days a week, but I'm going to give myself a lot of cushion here, just in case. A = 12+ B = 10+ C = 8+ D = 6+ F = 5 or less Personal/Life Goal: Get into Physical Therapy to help manage pain. I have an appointment Monday morning for a referral. Hopefully, I can start PT within the next few weeks. Art Goal: Continue to take photographs on walks and scout locations for project on reflection and distortion of reality. Reward: If I get all A's, I will buy myself a new lens -- the 16mm fisheye. I'm super excited to start. I've read it takes 3 weeks to make something into a habit, so after 6 weeks it ought to start feeling like a lifestyle change.

Hi everyone, 2nd lvl 1 challenge attempt! My name is Melanie. You can call me Mel. I’m 24, from Buenos Aires, Argentina. Big geek here! I’m a manga, anime, some comics and video games (RPG <3) fan. I'm finishing university, almost Industrial Engineer here! ... don't like it unfortunately, but I found it out when I had 1 year and a half to go. So here we are… finishing what I started. All my life I’ve been chubby. When I was 15, I had 95 kg! I started doing Tae-bo and lost a lot of weight I had 73 kg when I was 18 (the lowest weight I ever had). When I started university I stopped exercising and I gain my kilos again :’( This year, when I found out I was 90 kg again I freak out! Started T-Shun’s Focus T-25, excellent! Love it!.... unfortunately I been having some issues with my wrist and with my neighbor from downstairs…I couldn’t continue. On November, I started swimming (which has helped A LOT all my joints) and got in the gym again. Weight training for me! I was focusing con HIIT for warm up and Weight training circuit (1 hs all). Since the 2nd week of December, holydays and final exams made my life chaotic… gain weight I had lost. :’( Although, the sport center I attend is close during January, I will give all to accomplish the challenge this time! Long term Objective: Build/get an athletic body (20% fat aprox) Main Quest: (Short term) Lose 5 cm or more on my waist Goals: Quest 1: Paleo diet (with some harmless cheats… ex: have a tiny bite of an apple cake kindly made by a college at work. But just tiny, in order to just taste it and not every day). Have a journal on MFP of everything I eat in order to consume: 1700-2000 kCal, 90-110 g fat, 125-150 g protein, 80-100 g carbs Measurement: A= 7 days a week; B= 6 days a week; C= 5 days a week; D= 4 days a week or less Week 3: A= +3 WIS, +1 CON; B= +1 WIS, +1 CON; C= +1 WIS; D= none Week 6: A= +1 WIS; B= none; C= none; D= none Quest 2: 1 hour Weight Lifting Training Circuit + cardio warm up + stretching cool down (keep a journal of my workouts) 3 times a week. Measurement: A= 3 days a week; B= 2 days a week; C= 1 day a week; D= None Week 3: A= +3 STR, +1 STA; B= +1 STR, +1 STA; C= +1 STR; D= none Week 6: A=+1 STR; B= none; C= none; D= none Quest 3: Go to work by bike every day, except when it is raining. Measurement: A= 5 days a week; B= 4 days a week; C= 3 days a week; D= 2 days a week or less Week 3: A= +1 STA, +1 DEX; B= +1 STA; C= none; D= none Week 6: A= +1 STA; B= none; C= none; D= none Life Quest: Grow my own cherry tomatoes and some herbs at home. Measurement: Have 1 successful plant with 4 real leafs ready to transplant. Week 6: +1 WIS Fitness Side Quest: Try Wednesday and/or Saturday Skating Newbie Group. Measurement: Go to “Rinconcito Newbie†5 times during these 6 weeks. Week 6: +1 CHA Motivation: - I want to love myself and my skin. I’m sick of feeling disgust by my body. - I want to let my lovy-dovy pick me up on arms without a broken back. >> Nothing taste as good as looking good feels << (don’t remember whose fraise this is but it has been helping me A LOT!) Motivation at work: Challenge Calendar: Starting Measurements:

Introduction: This is my first challenge, and I'm pretty pumped to get 2015 going with a bang. I've put on approximately 25 pounds over 2 years, and have been battling weight issues my whole life. I have a desk job, and it's been challenging getting the motivation to work out regularly. Currently I weigh 220 lbs and am 5'10" mid-thirties male. In terms of interests, I like it all. I am keen on both weight lifting, running, swimming. In the summer I like golf, hiking and mountain biking. In the winter I like downhill skiing and want to get back into hockey. I also participated in Kendo for several years in my early/mid 20's. I may be a guild hopper in the future Main Quest: Lose 35 lbs by the end of the year (2015) Quest 1: Eat Paleo for 6 weeks. Measurement A = 1 cheat/meal/week B = 2 cheat/meal/week C = 3 cheat/meal/week F = 3+ Quest 2: Physical activity for at least 1 hour, 3 times a week. Measurement A = 3+ times/week B = 2 times/week C = 1 time/week Quest 3: Sleep at least 7.5 hours a night Measurement A = 7 times/week B = 6 times/week C = 5 times/week Life Quest: Obtain and start a new job at a different company. Motivation: I love my family and want to live a long healthy happy life with an emphasis on quality of life well into old age. I also have back issues which have been flaring up since putting on the weight recently, I want to get down to a healthy weight with a good body composition to manage all the potential health related issues sooner rather than later. Rewards: New jeans (I'll likely need them) if I hit my Main Quest. Future Quests: -Intermittent Fasting -Bench Press body weight -Squat 1.5 body weight -50 consecutive pushups -Run 5k in under 30 min -Register for local shinny hockey league -Register for masters swim program

Joining the fight today. I'm currently a hobbit who would like to gain some courage and become a ranger/assassin. Main Quest is to wear a size 6 in jeans. Smart Quest 1: Drink at least 64 oz of water a day. Smart Quest 2: Go to the gym at least 3 times a week. Smart Quest 3: Eat more greens. (at least 7 meals a week have to be primarily greens) Life Quest: Spending at least 30 minutes of non-tech a day time with my partner.

2015 is going to be a busy year and if I'm going to have any success in it, I'm gonna need to feel confident and healthy - that comes from taking good care of myself and setting and achieving goals. I've never done anything quite so "documented" before - so I'll keep the goals within reason. I have to admit that my main goal is yet to be defined and it would probably have little to do with fitness - but I will certainly refine my broad concepts of what such a goal may be and share them here. Quest 1: Lose 10 pounds by the end of this challenge. I am going to weigh in tomorrow morning and post here. Quest 2: Weight train 3X a week (MWF probably) Quest 3: Drink no more than 3 drinks on any night out. Quest 3 may not sound like a worthy cause (3 drinks is still a lot to some people) - but I have been drinking entirely too much recently and it has affected my health and perception of things. It is odd - I will not drink during the week and then once a week I will drink myself absolutely sick and sustain a 36 hour hangover. I hate it- and I'm sure anyone I'm around at that time hates it too. Looking forward to giving and receiving support from the NF community as we work to improve ourselves. Little bit about me: I'm a software developer in my mid 20s and my main hobbies are guitar (studying jazz currently) and tennis (when weather allows). I like reading about European history and I like to look at things. Let's do this!

My main quest is to drop 3-5% body fat. I need to do this for my job but more than anything I want to be a fit parent. I don't want my kids growing up fat and hating themselves like I did. I want to inspire my boys. To do that I am going to do 3 voluntary runs a week, 3 heavy strength days a week and light yoga every morning before work to stretch out. Nothing to strenuous so I don't injure myself. I'm also cutting out junk food (sodas candy and pastries). That last one will be the most difficult. The running: A. 3 runs. B. 2 runs. C. 1 run. F. none The lifting is the same as running. Yoga A. 5-6 times. B. 3-4 times. C. 2 times. D. 1 time. F. none Junk food is based everyday on how I feel I did based on the day. Wish me luck!

Ravanwood's Level 0-1 Challenge : Getting back into fighting shape I'm so glad I found this site. I actually found it searching for Ranger workout plans (Lord of the Rings Ranger not Army) and it's exactly what I'm looking for. I used to run some, nothing more than 5k's normally but I would usually run 5 to 6 days a week. I also did a lot of total-gym workouts which is using incline and body weight. I had been obese and the running/weights helped me drop about 70 lbs. I was also in the woods every chance I had, hunting, hiking, shooting around with my longbow and such. I even started learning different plants and edibles/ wilderness survival especially after taking some dendrology and botany classes in college. After getting into nursing school I worked out less and less frequently, eventually gaining back all of my weight through poor food choices and inactivity. So here I am, ready to get back into running, weights and the general outdoors ranger lifestyle. Long term goal: weight < or = 200 lbs Challenge goal : Lose 24 lbs in six weeks (4 lbs a week) As this is my first challenge, if I am working on my goals properly my points will mostly be distributed at the halfway point only leaving me with four points left for the end of the challenge. After this challenge my point distribution will be using the normal point allotment. Goal 1: Jog 4x a week (24 days) : 1 point Stamina A: 24 days = 1 pt B: 18 days = .75 pts C: 12 days = .5 pts D: 6 days = .25 pts F: <6 days = 0 pts Goal 2: Strength Training 3x a week (18 days) : 1 point Strength A: 18 days = 1 pt B: 14 days = .75 pts C: 9 days = .5 pts D: 5 days .25 pts F: <5days = 0 pts Goal 3: Stretches 5x a week (30 days): 1 point Dexterity A: 30 days = 1 pt B: 18 days = .75 pts C: 12 days = .5 pts D: 6 days = .25 pts F: <6days = 0pts Life improvement Goal Dog Training 4x a week (24 days) : 1 point Wisdom A: 24 days 1 pt B: 18 days = .75 pts C: 12 days = .5 pts D: 6 days = .25 pts F: <6 days = 0 pts

Hey, all! I’m Ash, a Nerd Fitness newbie. This is the start of me working towards healthy, which is something that’s been pretty illusive, to date. I’ve done a lot of different things for exercise in the past, and tried a few diets, but none of them have resulted in long-lasting habits. Excuses were mostly my mantra, especially when chocolate and Starbucks were involved, and I have the energy and lifestyle to show for it. For my first challenge, to accomplish that cray-crazy main quest, I wanted to focus on just getting back into exercising, and building general muscle tone and endurance. Main Quest: Hike the Appalachian Trail, start to finish. Quest 1: Attend CrossFit on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. I’ve been going for a week now, and I’ve already noticed an attitude shift (wanting to go, not dragging my feet). I can’t even imagine what six weeks from now would be like! Going and giving my all, all three days = A Going all three days, but cheating on the workouts = B Skipping a day = C Skipping two days = D Not showing up at all = F Quest 2: Gradually wake up earlier and earlier until I can consistently wake up at 5am every morning. Since college started, my sleep cycle has been all kinds of messed up. Naturally early riser, who woke up at 5am for most of her childhood, waking up at 9am? Not exactly ideal! Waking up at the alarm, and gradually getting earlier = A Not waking up earlier the next day = B Hitting the snooze button = C No alarm set = D Sleeping through the alarm = F (I deserve the F for that one!) Quest 3: Cut out fast-food and Starbucks to once a week, each. One meal and one coffee a week = A 2 at one, 1 at the other = B 2 at both = C 2+ meals at either = F Life Quest: Log both my spending and eating habits during the challenge. The eating habits will show me how good (or bad) I'm being, and the spending is just recovery from a huge big purchase. Motivation: A quote from Staci - "My overall goal...is to be able to do whatever I want to do whenever I want to, without warning, without my body holding me back." A friend asked me to do the Beast Spartan Obstacle Course with him a while ago, and I had to say no... I'm tired of doing that! Edit: added Quest 3 and changed Motivation wording.

Main quest - To have a healthy BMI by the end of 2015 (30kg required to lose). Goal 1 Follow Whole 30 program for duration of this challenge - turning it into a Whole 45 Goal 2 Attend Crossfit 4 times per week Goal 3 Get at least 7 hours sleep per night Bonus / life goal: Marry my fiance and fall pregnant this year My motivation to stick with my goals is so people aren't singing "Here comes the bride, all fat and wide!" as I walk down the aisle. Also, being a healthy weight will help with falling pregnant and having a healthy pregnancy.

Fitness related: Goals for challenge: ~ Crossfit MTWF ~ Walk/jog/run 7 days ~ 1500 calories Life Quest: ~ Save money (as much as possible) ~ Downsize Apt of stuff I don't use by marking everything with the last time I used it

INTRODUCTION: Hello! My name is Sherri and this is my very first challenge. I’m married with three cats, enjoy reading and writing and video games and anime. During the day, I work as an escalations manager, putting out fires and making people happy. The rest of the time, I like to hermit at home and do a whole lot of nothing. Fitness-wise, I’m actually starting silks next week, and am checking out a tae kwan do studio to see about taking some classes. (I think they also have kickboxing, which is a major plus.) I started running a few months ago and have done two 5Ks since then, with my next one this weekend. Other than that, I go to zumba once a week and lift weights and do circuit training. MAIN QUEST: Learn to Wield the Keyblade and Defeat Ansem! To do this, I’m going to need to be able to travel the worlds quickly to lock the keyholes, actually lift my keyblade, have energy to spare, and fill in every page of Jiminy’s journal so I don’t miss anything. And earplugs to drown out Ansem’s droning on and on about hearts and darkness. “Darkness, darkness, hearts, hearts, darkness, hearts, darkness!!!†QUEST 1: Lock the Keyholes (+4 STA, +1 DEX) Man, there are a lot of worlds out there, and I’m going to have to explore them all, and fast, otherwise Ansem is just going to keep preaching about hearts and darkness. Can’t shut him up until all the worlds are locked up tight. Run, Sherri, run! And make sure to stretch it out so I’m not stiff if Riku tries to ambush me! CHALLENGE 1: Run 2 days a week outside (weather permitting) - one short run, one long run. On race weeks (weeks 2, 4, and 6), the race will count as my long run. I have a 10K that I am training for on December 20th (week 6), and running on the treadmill before my strength training isn’t going to cut it. A: 100% completion/short and long run completed, B: 50% completed/short or long 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: Lift the Keyblade (+4 STR, +1 CHA) What kind of keyblade master would I be if I couldn’t lift my keyblade? And to lift my weapon, that means I need to work on my strength. CHALLENGE: Lift three days a week following the Stronglifts program. A: 100% completion/lifted three days, B: 67% completion/lifted two days, C: 33% completion/lifted one day QUEST 3: Trade in the Chocolate for an Ether (+4 CON) With all of the running and keyblade wielding, I’m going to need a lot of energy - energy that is going to last. And right now I have a horribly abusive relationship with sugar (like, an average over 30 grams/day abusive). This means I need to rein in that horrible habit and kick its butt. CHALLENGE: Cut back on sugar. This will be an incremental challenge because sugar is addictive and I get horrible withdrawal if I try to cut it out cold turkey. In order to make sure this is feasible, my goals will be the following: Week 1 stay under macros one day Week 2 stay under macros two days Week 3 stay under macros three days Week 4 stay under macros four days Week 5 stay under macros five days Week 6 stay under macros six days A: Met weekly goal, B: Went over 1 or 2 days, C: Went over 3 or 4 days LIFE QUEST: Fill in Jiminy’s Journal. (+1 WIS) A KH journey isn’t complete without Jiminy’s Journal, and the completionist in me means that I have to fill it in completely. Leave nothing out, not even The Hundred Acre Wood (even though I’d like to throw that book into a vat of honey and forget it exists). So, what does this mean? Explore all the things! And by explore, I mean read since I’ve been woefully neglecting this favored pastime of mine. CHALLENGE: Read one book in each of the following genres: Adventure Fairy Tales Travel Read one book with each of the overall themes: Friendship Sympathetic Villain Searching for Someone/Something CAVEAT: It cannot be something I have read in the last two years. If I read it over two years ago, it’s fair game. A: All genres and themes met, B: Two genres and themes met or four books read, C: One genre and theme met or two books read Point breakdown: LEVEL 1: STR : 2.67 (A=2.67, B=2, C=1.33) DEX : .67 (A=.67, B=.33, C=.17) STA : 2.67 (A=2.67, B=2) CON : 2.67 (A=2.67, B=2, C=1.33) WIS : .67 (A=.67, B=.33, C=.17) CHA : .67 (A=.67, B=.33, C=.17) 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) REWARDS: A overall: Winter running gear from RoadRunner Sports B overall: Delicious, delicious steak C overall: New, warm pajamas MOTIVATION: To get my wife to stop making sad puppy eyes at me! To get down into a 10! To not die during my 10K! Before pictures: Measurements: Neck: 14.2 Chest: 40 Waist: 36 Hips: 45 Thigh: R: 27 L: 26.2 Calf: R: 17.2 L: 16. Bicep: R: 12.2 L: 12.5 Weight: 188.6 Dress/pants size: 12

Hello! . Greetings from the Last Frontier - I'm Jill from Alaska. I'm a 33 year old accountant and actor (one is my passion, one is my profession - give ya one guess which is which!) and I have felt myself slipping farther and farther from where I want to be in the last year. I used to do long distance running, completing several marathons, but I never got very fast, and became very frustrated about a lack of perceived progress and basically gave it up. No more running + late night pizzas = finding myself up 20 lbs from my usual weight. It seems so silly to be concerned about 20 pounds when so many here have so much farther to go. But since I've quit running, my body doesn't feel powerful and useful like it used to. I say NO MORE - Tired of feeling tired and sluggish and soft. Main Quest: Like Steve tells us, "appearance is the consequence of fitness" - so I want to get fit and drop these excess pounds Side Quests: - I will strength train at least 3x a week - I will walk at an agressive pace for at least a mile every day - I will have at least one vegetable with every meal Life Quest: I will make it a priority to take care of myself - that means brushing and flossing every night and washing my face (no falling asleep reading with a glass of wine!) I've tried the challenges in the past, but got burned out too quickly. This feels very approachable for me as far as a sustainable challenge. I look forward to going through this with you guys!

Alright this challenge is going to be fairly simple. I know the point is to push ourselves, so I’ll explain why the simplicity. Starting from 11/2/2014 I will be working 6 days a week logging in a minimum of 55 hours each week until 12/23/2014. Because of this my goals will essentially be to not lose the progress I’ve made so far this year. So, with that being said, I welcome you to my challenge. The Rational Gaze Goal 1: In the end, everybody bleeds the same Train twice a week (mma class) – if circumstances/schedule prevent this, do bodyweight routine and shadowbox (minimum of 5 mins) for every class missed. BONUS: 1 additional day of class or bodyweight routine day. Goal 2: It ain’t the fall that gets you; it’s the sudden stop at the bottom This is the absolute worst time of year to try and do a cut. “but I still need to lose this last ten pounds to be where I wanna be.†Shut your damn mouth KZacher, we’re doing this my way… wait a minute, I am KZacher… Damn it. So, the goal is to eat decently. I can eat some junk, just don’t overindulge in it. This will help me stay sane throughout the remainder of the year. Goal 3: Get that ass moving I need to get back into college. I’m a year and a half away from a bachelor’s degree I’ve been putting off for far too long. So this is simple, re-apply, and enroll for the Spring semester. seems simple enough right?

Hey everyone! Life Quest: To lose weight, gain muscle and to become fit and fast so I can learn to skateboard Main quest: #1 Complete the BBWW workout 2-3 times a week. #2 Go for a walk on rest days. #3 Get eight hour's sleep and set up a proper sleep routine (same time, no electronics before sleep etc). Life quest: #1 Complete three driving lessons #2 Practise drawing and guitar every day Motivation: I want to become a strong, powerful Ranger, capable of handling anything. I want to look forward to a long and happy life filled with adventure. I saw The Maze Runner today and totally want to be a Runner now!