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I've been following this blog for along time and this wil be my 3rd attempt at a challenge. I love Doctor Who and I like the idea of pretendeing to be a time lord so I aspire to join a class similar to that. What class that is, I'm not sure but I'll figure it out later. :-{) Main Quest: Stick with this challenge Run 3-4 times a week (alternating days)Modified Beginner Bodyweight Circuit 2-3 times a week (on off days from running)Track my foodI will consider this challenge a success if I make it to the end and can either run a mile straight or do 3 sets of 10 modified push ups. This won't be too hard since this just little additions to my current lifestyle.By the way, is it just me or do other people think that a Doctor Who themed 5k would be awesome considering the amount of running in the show?

Hello, my name is Nory. This is my first challenge, my sister finally convinced me to do it. In 2012 I lost about 12kg, so I'm no stranger to a healty lifestyle. In the past two years I gained about 20kg (44lbs). I went from being fit to couchpotato. While I ate my sandwiches and pasta, surfing the interwebs, I learned more about nutrition and working out (ah, irony). That means I'm not at my heaviest, but also most educated. I'm also trying to graduate highschool and get into the art school of my choice. Main Goal My main goal is becoming a better version of my old self (does that make sense?). That means getting back to my old weight and maintianing a fit and healthy life style in a smarter way than before. Goal 1: eat healthy I'm trying to do as much mealprepping as I can. Luckily, my sister is 100% on board with me. I really want to stay sane as possible about my eating, if I want a cookie, I'll have a cookie. I just won't have ten cookies. Goal 2: work out Go to the gym 2 times a week and go for a run once a week. Goal 3: get enough sleep I'm a zombie when I get less than eight hours of sleep, so the goal is to sleep 8+ hours. Life goal: draw Since my sister bought a scanner, I'll make one drawing on paper and one digital drawing each week. I'll post them here!

Hello Everyone, I am 32 years old. Over the last 6 years I have had some changes and I know I haven't handled them all to well. Food is my feel better quick item and now that I am over 30 the weight is harder to lose. Some of the changes have been learning to be a mother of two teenage boys, a new husband, moving countries, 3 different jobs, and a depression diagnosis as well as multiple family losses. I have let those changes and challenges be my excuse for why I am to busy to exercise and to tired to leave my house after I come home at night from an office job. No more excuses, it is time for me not to be ashamed to look in the mirror or try on clothes at the store. I tend to over reach and then get frustrated when i cannot meet impossible goals, so for my first challenge I am going to start small and work up. Goals ​Main Goal: My main goal is to lose weight, I have a number in my head that I want to meet in 6 weeks.Side Goals:​​Get at 7 hours of sleep a night on average. I often find myself to tired to workout and move. Getting this little bit of extra sleep should help.Go on a Bike Ride or walk 3 times a week with my Husband and/or Dog. It is always easier to get moving with company.Keep track of what I eat at least 5 days a week. Use LoseIt online to track my food to make sure I am managing my caloriesLife Goal: Walk/Bike the entire Centennial Trail. This has been a goal of mine for years. I am going to do it this time.I will *gulp* add my measurements within the next week. Time to face down the beast and just do it. If I don't know where I am starting from I won't know how far I have gone. I could use any help and I think I am going to try and join some of the groups I have seen on here.

Hi, newbie here starting my first challenge. Main Goal: Ultimately lose 44.6 kg (so far lost 5) This challenge I want to start out simple while I get the hang of all this so: 6 week goal: Lose 3kg Mini goal 1: To walk a minimum of 15kms every week Mini goal 2: To remain within my calorie limit (1600) 5 days out of 7 every week (2 'free' days because socialising and GoT godsdamnit!) Mini goal 3: To drink between 2 and 3 litres of water every day Ultimately I think Im leaning towards the Scout class. Since we started on the 14th - 14th Apr: GoT night, went over my calories but that's allowed as its one of my 2 'free' days Didn't exercise Drank 2.5L water 15th Apr: 1530 calories - yay me! 4.4km walked 3L water 16th Apr: Day isn't over yet, but looking on track in all areas so far.

I've been around the forums for about a month now, getting here just after the last challenge started. This is the first one that I am signing up for. Overall, I am trying to lose weight, feel better, and look better (hey, my 20th high school reunion is coming up this summer and I will admit to being a bit vain.) I decided to narrow things down to what I want to get done in the next six weeks. Quest Lose 10 pounds and 4% body fat (per home scale) Goals Exercise - Complete the BBWW workout three times per week, run three times per week (weeks 5-9 of C25K and then one week with 33 minute runs), and one pilates video per week. Walk to all work meetings, weather permitting.Sleep - Get at least 7 hours of sleep per night.Eat - Journal all of my food and exercise on a daily basis. Continue to eat mainly grain and sugar free.Life QuestUpdate our personal finance records and teach my husband how to balance the checkbook. After 15+ years of being the person in charge of our personal finances, I'm going to make like Elsa and let it go so that he can take it over for awhile. (This might be the hardest part of this whole challenge for me.) Starting Stats 173.9 lbs 5'6" 31.9% body fat

Before I found the rebellion I had already known real battle, put a few notches on my axe and dented my armor almost beyond recognition. Cleaning out on the home front had been tough on this dwarf. The halls under the mountain where I made my home had had its share off monsters, traps and pitfalls but I had plowed through a lot off that. Sure, the halls are not pristine yet, but they are habitable enough. The time has come for a new adventure, for finding other monsters to encounter, other tunnels to explore and new cool skills and feats to use. I have slayed a Hydra and faced the emptiness that comes after such an accomplishment. I have cleared all the arrow traps only to start getting caught in the snares instead. It is time for me to find the next big hitter and to steadily progress on the hard road to that encounter. The Illithid Archmage Confidence(Main quest): In tunnels very close to where I rest and feel relaxed, laugh with friends and practice to hone my skills there lives a very powerful foe. A mind flayer stronger than any I have ever come across in my adventures so far. It calls itself Confidence and it must be conquered at any costs. As any off its kind, it prods, pries and peels at the mind to find its victims biggest fears, biggest faults and worst nightmares to prepare devastating attacks until it can devour the mind entirely. With every trick in the book at its arsenal, it is indeed a devious foe and one that is not easily dispatched. During the course off many moons we have circled each other in the halls but the time to go to war has finally come. I do not face this challenge eagerly but still I crave it more than I have craved any battle in the past. Many skirmishes might be fought before this foe is felled but I can no longer ignore Confidence trespassing on my territory. The game face is on, the gear is on, the war is on! How life in the halls will be when Confidence has fallen(Main quest goals): I want to be able to stand tall(figuratively speaking) with my chin up and feel great about myself. Regardless off my history or my ambitions I must take pride in my self and feel confident! I want a sound self esteem based on me being true to myself and living up to my own ambition instead of one based on what, I believe or know that, others think off me. I want to know, truly know, that even though there are many paths from where I am right now that lead to bigger and better things I am still totally acceptable as is! And also, I deserve to go down those roads and find adventures and treasures I can barley imagine. War against Confidence for two consecutive tough challenges, when this is done I will use this as a basis for my straight back and proud chest. I did that, I deserve this, I am more than good enough, I am actually pretty awesome! Use goals in these two challenges that reflect the changes I want to make in how I view myself and that also leads me to a stronger, leaner and even more awesome version off myself How the war will start(goals for this challenge): #1: Dwarven physique 1: Hammering away on my master piece body(training and training goals) Keep on to my regular schedule of two days in the gym and two days climbing at the bouldering gym. Go trail running at least 5k at least three times during the challenge(I would say once a week, but I have a lot of things occupying my week ends as I am getting married on June 7th) Weigh myself at least once each week and report the result to keep track on how I am doing. I want my weight to stay basically the same during this challenge though a small drop is acceptable. #2: Path of the Explorer 1: Clear a path to Confidence(skills to practice, things to accomplish) Set a new PR in the three big lifts, also set a PR in concurrent pull ups in one set and concurrent dips in one set. Set a time to beat on the “mountain bike trailâ€, a trail close to where I live where I usually go trail running, about 5.5 km long and very hilly. Get the food status “Hey, I did good today†5/7 days a week. This will be graded based on my gut feeling, pun intended. I am also in a agreement with a friend stating that until June we are off all kinds off candy, snacks, ice cream and cookies. We are allowed three cheat days and so far I have had one. Keeping on this plan is also part of my goal. #3: Dwarven attitude 1: witty title Mediation/reflection on my views on what it is to be confident, how to get there and what, if anything, blocks my path. Ideally I would do this for at least 15 minutes, at least 3 times each week and write down any and all thoughts and ideas that come up. Do a mindless head rush at least three times a week.This can and include anything from taking an ice cold shower to parachuting. Step outside of the comfort zone and find shiny new toys. Have a “push through it†attitude during the entire challenge, I guess the only way to measure this is to ask my self after each work out: did I do everything I could do today? Grading my self on the percentage off times the answer is: “Aye lad, you sure did!â€. Life Quest: Finish all preparations for my upcoming wedding in June and manage this without stealing (too much) time from working out and without going insane. Find and buy a kick ass suit. Why should I keep swinging my axe(My motivation): I do this for me, I owe myself the best version of me! I do this for my loved ones, my future wife and my family. I want to be good example for my future children and a fun and exiting person to hangout with for my friends. I also want to be really hot for the misses! =) Being fitter is being a lot more fun to be! Give yourself the best opportunity for an awesome today and an even better tomorrow! And oh, I do like to work out, so there's that for motivation as well. Character sheet(Measurements) 2014-04-10 Cm/KGs Inches/pounds Height 174cm 5 ft 8.5 inches Weight 81.4 179.5 lbs Waist 99 cm 39 in Upper legs, flexed 61 cm 24 in Upper arms, flexed 35 cm 14 in I am unsure about the waist measurement since I wear 33-34 size jeans comfortably, at least if I measure the same time I will see the trend. Way before picture(2007): Challenge start pictures: Grading chart: Dwarven physique 1: Grading here will be split into two parts and my end grade will be the mean between those two grades. Part 1: training, I have comited to 27 work out sessions( 6x4 + 3 ) And will award myself grades according to: 27 or more = A, 24 = B, 21 = C, 18 = D, 15 = E. Part 2: weigh ins, This is just A for every week or F for anything else. Path of the Explorer 1: The same split grading as above for totals over six weeks. Part 1: PRs, I comit to 6 PRs and grade according to: 6 = A, 5 = B, 4 = C, 3 = D, 2 = E. Part 2: food, I have committed to 30 good day and grade according to: 30 or more = A, 27 = B, 24 = C, 21 = D, 18 = E. Dwarven attitude 1: I will split this one into three parts and use the mean grade. part 1: meditaion. I have comitted to 18 sessions and grade according to: 18 = A, 16 =B, 14 = C, 12 = D 10 = E. part 2: Head rush. 18 of those as well and grade according to: 18 = A, 16 =B, 14 = C, 12 = D 10 = E. Part 3: This goes back to the same number as my number off workouts and will be graded the same: 27 or more = A, 24 = B, 21 = C, 18 = D, 15 = E. Life Quest: Is all about the suit and simple pass fail =) The iron is ready, the fires are stoked, the working gloves are on and it is time to get the job done! Keep listening, and you will hear the hammer ring against the steel!

Main Quest: Stave off the cold embrace of death. Or at least get strong enough to put up a good fight. Goals: 1) Strength: Three days a week, the Start Bodyweight basic routine. To start with, I'm using the following routine: Deep squats: 3x8 Negative pull-ups: 3x4 Decline pike push-ups: 3x6 Flat straight leg raises: 3x6 Diamond push-ups: 3x8 alternating with Elevated leg bench dips: 3x6 Inverted rows: 3x6 Planks: 45s 2) Endurance: Three days a week, run no less than two miles. This one's going to be tough, for two reasons. It's still winter where I live, to be followed shortly by mud season (if you don't know what mud season is, you're lucky) (and it's pretty self-explanatory). So I'm still not sure where I'm going to do my running. Also, I hate running and have worries about my motivation to do it regularly for six weeks, but I really want to stick with it so I'm putting it in the challenge. 3) Adventure: At least once every week, go hiking/camping/climbing/skiing/kayaking/gold panning/something. The details are entirely flexible, but it has to involve at least three hours of moving around outdoors. Why three? It's a magic number. The astute reader will notice that the three goals add up to seven days of activity every week. That doesn't leave much room for error, so I'm reserving the right to double up if I need to, so long as it comes out right for the week. The plan is to be active every day, but I'm claiming full credit as long as the workouts get done every week. Life Quest: It's personal and private. I'm taking this opportunity to do a thing, and I'll own up to success/failure after six weeks, but it's not something I want to talk about. Apologies if that violates the spirit of these challenges. Motivation: I feel old, and I don't like it.

As I looked back at my life, I realized that I had never really put in effort. Not just toward fitness, but toward anything. I had spent 24 years coasting through life on my cleverness. But not anymore. Not after what happened yesterday. I was sitting in my comfortable home in the village when I saw smoke rising in the distance. There was way too much smoke to be just a campfire. I started running. Forest fires are terrible things if they get out of hand, and it was up to everyone to do their part to prevent them. Unfortunately, I was terribly out of shape and was panting and had to slow down to a walk before long. I swore at myself. "If this is bad, it's your fault. If you could run further you might have been able to stop it." I hadn't even seen what was going on yet and already I was blaming myself. So I forced myself on as fast as I could, jogging when possible and walking when I was too tired. Once I covered the ground I saw that there seemed to be some kind of fight going on. A group of all kinds were fighting against a dragon. Despite their numbers, they kept being driven back. But no matter how many times they fell down they kept getting up. Some of them had grievous wounds and I was amazed at their perseverance. After I stood and stared for a while one of them noticed me. "We could use a little help, you know," the stranger said, with the slightest smile on his face, as if this were just another day. At this point I realized that I knew nothing that could help them. Faced with a life or death situation, I realized that my quick wit had absolutely no value. Filled with embarrassment that I was of no use whatsoever, I hung my head. I think the stranger knew what that meant, because he went back to fighting the dragon. Shortly after this, the beast was slain. Knowing basic first aid I tried to help tend to the wounded. I was amazed that despite the fact that I had done nothing to help these people seemed to accept and encourage me. After a short time the stranger approached me. "I'm so--" I started, but the stranger cut me off. "There's no need to apologize. Everyone starts somewhere. Just promise me one thing." "What's that?" "The next time you find us, come prepared." I nodded, and he walked away. The people were all leaving, most of their own accord. The ones who were having trouble were being supported by others. I was a truly inspiring site. When I got back to my village I learned that those were the fabled guilds. I had always thought that they were separate and that there was great competition between them but I learned that when it was necessary they would work together flawlessly, putting any and all animosity aside for the greater good. So today when I woke up, I started to develop a plan. A plan to get into shape. A plan to be able to both cover distance quickly and have the strength to fight afterward. Eventually I would pick which guild I wanted to join, but for now I just had to get started. But I had learned from others' mistakes: I knew I had to start slowly. So here, written down, is my plan. MAIN GOAL: Run a Tough Mudder A friend of mine is trying to convince me to sign up for one in September. I'll decide at the end of this challenge if I want to sign up for that one or wait a while before trying one. I'd also like to lose fat and gain muscle, but that will come with the training. The first thing to do is to stop poisoning myself. Diet Goal: Drink Less Soda Week 1,2: <=4 sodas/week Week 3,4: <= 3 sodas/week Week 5,6: <= 2 sodas/week The second thing I need to do is learn how to cover any distance. Fitness Goal: Ride My Bike Week 1: Ride my bike one-way (to or from work) once Week 2: Ride round-trip once Week 3,4: Ride round-trip once, and one-way once Week 5,6: Ride round-trip twice The third thing I need to do is gain speed, so I can cover the distance quicker. Fitness Goal: Sprint Week 1: Beep test Week 2,3: Sprint workout once Week 4,5: Sprint workout twice Week 6: Sprint workout twice + beep test Grading for all goals is the same: A for all 6 weeks on target B for 5 weeks on target C for 4 weeks on target Starting Stats (as of 4/16/14) Height: 5'7" Weight: 156.6 lbs. Neck: 15.125" Chest: 39.875" Waist: 34.5" Bicep: 12" Thigh: 21.5" As I looked over my plan, it seemed like it could work. Next time, I'll be ready.

Hello Nerds! Been lurking for a while and want to jump in for a challenge. My main quest for this challenge is to just get into the habit of working out. Things about me: Female, 29, 5’7†167 lbs. I wouldn’t be upset if my weight went down but it’s not my main focus at the moment. I know most of weight change is due to diet, but I have started actually grocery shopping again, which helps a lot. Before I would just not eat until I was starving and then, like, order Jimmy John’s (could be worse) or eat a box of Girl Scout cookies (worse). Buying actual food and eating it is a habit I want to maintain before worrying about tracking or changing anything with my diet. At the moment, this is my set-up for goals: Main Quest: work out 6x/week for 6 weeks. This isn’t the most exciting main quest, but I’d rather get in the habit with free activities (running and swimming, since I have access to the university pool) before spending money to pursue other goals. This’ll change by the next challenge. 1: finish Zombies Run C25K (currently just finished Week 2 Day 2, so may have to squeeze an extra day in one week to finish before the end of the challenge). 2 points per finished run (possible +38 points) 2: swim one mile using the Swimfit Activate+ plan. This begins at 10 lengths and builds from there. You reach 32 lengths (which is about a mile, from my understanding; I’ll be swimming in an Olympic-sized pool) after 12 sessions. If I swim laps 2x/week, I’ll reach a mile by the end of the challenge. 2 points per lap session (possible +24 points) 3: take advanced swimming lessons 1x/week. I’ve signed up and the class begins Wednesday, which is perfect timing. Advanced means working on endurance, refining front crawl/backstroke/breast stroke technique, and beginning butterfly, which is exactly what I need. I have some swimming experience from middle school and was a springboard diver in high school, but I know that swimming a mile is going to be much easier with improved technique. When I took the intermediate class last spring I began to feel I wasn’t getting anything out of it after a month and it was too crowded in the lane, so I quit going; if that happens again, I need to add a lap swimming session instead. 2 points per lesson (possible +12 points) Life Quest: restrict personal internet use to 1 hr/day (or, ideally, less). Earlier this year I tried to cut out personal internet for six weeks for a class project, which was (somewhat) successful and made me feel more productive and grounded. I define personal internet as anything not needed for school/work, so checking email is okay, checking Facebook is not. Also I don’t count Netflix because I use it instead of cable, whatever, my rules. +1 point per day under an hour, -1 point for every hour over (possible +42, possible -1 million points) Yes, I do see the irony in posting in an internet forum about restricting internet use. So, that leaves me with a possible 116 points, I’ll be grading myself: 100-116 A+ (overachiever!) 90-99 A 80-89 B (challenge conquered!) 70-79 C 60-69 D 0-59 F Which hopefully leaves me a lot of wiggle room, which I’m fine with because I want to pass this first challenge and also trying to make the points add up to 100 irritated me. Looking forward to beginning the challenge and joining the NF community!

First challenge. And the challenge is... to complete the challenge. I've actually been doing pretty well Down from 270 in October to 250. (Or 250.1. Can't quite cross that line, darn it.) But I have a habit of doing something for a couple months then wandering onto a different path. Getting distracted with some other project or topic. So here is hoping posting in public will help that. Another thing I've been doing is group exercise classes that my job offers. They have helped, but I was getting tired of high reps and cardio, but I want to up my strength and even the "weightlifting" classes don't do that. (I can't lift something heavy continuously for a minute.) So new plan, I bought some weights from Craigslist and am not going to pay for the classes next session (after this week). Main Quest: Get more fit.Ideally somewhere around 15% bodyfat is my goal. I'm 250 with 27% (according to the unreliable meter I use) now. So 15% would be 215-ish. Which sounds right to me. (And incidentally puts me above the BMI healthy range. ) But wanting to feel healthy is more the point. I've been ecstatic that climbing stairs and such as gotten easier from just losing 20 pounds. Can't wait to find out what happens as I lose more. Six week goals: Stronglifts 5x5I just finished week 2 of the lifts, done M,W,F. This is the first time I have done weightlifting and I'm liking it. I've always thought of myself as a big and strong guy (under the fat). I am looking forward to seeing how strong I can get. (And I really hate the idea of losing stength as I lose weight.) C25KI've started this program Tu,Th,Sa. I'm not really into running but I hate having no endurance. Oh, and I want to do some of the mud runs around here (sounds like fun!) so I'm going to see if I can get in shape for it. Besides, my furry companion (aka the Beast Puppy) loves to run and it keeps her from bugging me so much when I'm in front of the computer. Stretch!This goes along with the above. I found out this week what happens when you don't stretch after a run. Bad Things. I could barely walk! So I need to figure out a stretching program and do it. Eat lessLowest priority, other then getting in about 180g of protein. But I've been trying to eat a deficit of about 500 calories for a bit and it seems to be working. Life Quest: Stay on track!My main goal, not to be distracted so often. Whether at work, at home, or on this quest. Too often have I seen something else interesting on the horizon and set off for it, forgetting my main quest. Then I find myself lost and eventually back where I started. Now, how to measure this?

Just found NF and this is the first full challenge that I can participate in. I can't wait to say hi to all of you and share experiences! I think it will help me a lot by keeping me accountable. Main Quest – Lose 12 pounds (that's healthy I think - 2 pounds a week) Steps on how to get me to level 1. Restart my C25K program (includes running 3+ days week) I have not stuck with this program yet. I have been up to week 4, but keep feeling that I am unable to run the amount of time the program says I should so I stay on the same week I was without increasing my running time. 2. Get 6 hours of sleep on raid nights, but 7+ hours on non-raid nights Raid nights still get me wound up so this makes it harder to go to bed as well as raid nights I am up later than usual because I am at my computer. I will help myself go to bed early by making sure that I have my clothes step up for the next day before raid begins. 3. Do not eat more than what I take to work for lunch. At work we have a cafeteria as well as company store, both have good/bad food available. The company store is open for more than half of my shift. I will help myself by not walking past this location and if I do walk passed it, then not have money to use on me. My Motivation -Brother's wedding in 9 weeks which I am standing up as a bridesmaid -Losing weight will help my health, specifically my knees

Righto! So, I've been passively using NerdFitness for awhile now, in conjuncture with HabitRPG. I decided it was time to step up my game. I'm a 24 year old YA librarian who just needs to get fit. I used to do theatre and marching band, and ride my bike everyday to my classes! Those were great ways to keep trim and toned! But now, the most I do is pick up a few boxes of books or push around a cart and hours or grueling practice just aren't there. Since leaving the university setting, I've gotten more into crafting, table top gaming, and reading. All very sedentary. I've also gotten into cosplaying! I want to be able to crossplay and when you're a (now) curvy gal, creating the male mirage is hard! And I've got a super big, super important cosplay coming up in September! My friends, all fabulous cosplayers, and I are going down to Atlanta for AWA. We'll be doing the entire Survey Corp from the super popular Attack on Titan and I'm set to play the dashing Jean Kirschtein. Now, there's no way I can be in the Survey Corp (those guys spend three years training in fighting, acrobatics, strength and cardio), but I at least want to look closer to the part. So, I figure I'll use the Jedi work out as my strength and acrobatics, and use my cycling as the 3D Maneuver Gear! So, my goal is to get trimmed and toned the way I used to be so I can make suave cut figure at AWA. From November to present, I was doing the beginning Jedi Work out three times a week, plus some cardio on my off days. I started cutting sugar, but not so much the grains (i'm also a vegetarian, which makes the paleo diet hard, but not impossible!) Now it's time to up the game and make an official challenge here for all of you to see! MAIN QUEST: GET FIT FOR SURVEY CORP 1. Do Intermediate Jedi Work Out 3 times a week! 2. Cut back my grains to one meal with grains a week. Weeks 1-2: One meal with grains a day. Weeks 3-4: Three meals with grains a week. Weeks 5-6: One meal with grains a week. 3. Start cycling everyday! I love cycling and now that the winter months are over and my bike is ready to go, I want to ride for a minimum of an hour a day. Weeks 1-2: Ride to and from work whenever I have work. Weeks 3-4: Ride for 45 minutes a day, even non-work days. Weeks 5-6: Ride an hour a day, everyday! Side Quests: Life Quest Take the GRE. (I live in Idaho, so you can be a librarian here without a masters. I just want to have a masters!) -Get the money to take it. -Schedule a date. -Study 20-30 minutes a day once date is set! Fitness Quest: Cut high fructose corn syrup out all together! I'm just gonna stop eating it! I'm sure this will really help me lose my girlish figure. XD Current Weight: 168lbs. 5'10" 40-30-42 measurements! Welp, that's it! I'm gonna do it!

Hello to all! I have been struggling with writing my goals for a bit, but after reading some of the great posts here I am inspired to get started with my first challenge Overall goal: to be the fittest I can be. This includes dropping fat and gaining muscle to drop one full dress size. Life goal: more organization in my home. I have a few baby steps I am working on to this end. Measured steps: by the end of the challenge I will have done or be doing the following-- 1. continue my paleo transition -- shift to only one cheat meal a week 2. increase body weight workout from one (current level) to three complete circuits twice weekly 3. sprint two times a week, (3- one minute sprints each session) 4. Do a set of three chin ups (can't do one now) My motivation is my family. I want to be my healthiest so I can enjoy every minute with them and set a good example for my children. Hopefully this makes sense to someone other than me. Best wishes and luck to all starting a new challenge!

I found this website yesterday and I kind of love it, it's really making me want to get fitter. I have a terrible track record with this stuff, I just do stuff for a little while and then get bored/tired/forget about it but not this time! Main Quest: Get toned up Missions: Do the beginner bodyweight workout every other day.Run at least once a week (bonus points for going more than once)Reduce chocolate intake. I think I'm about a week late to this but I went running yesterday and spent the last week walking up hills everyday so I figure I'm still on track to make progress here.

"Failure is not falling down, but refusing to get up." - Chinese Proverb Ciao everyone! My name is Jessica. I'm 21 years old, about 100 pounds overweight, and have a terrible relationship with the term "perseverance." I wrote up my NF training challenge about a three weeks ago, and followed it for two, and then gave up. Why? Looking back on it, I'm not entirely sure. So here I am, standing up and trying again. I want this. Main Quest Lose 100 pounds and get strong! I weighed myself at the beginning of the year. I was... well... a lot. The most I've ever weighed. Since then I've managed to lose 13 pounds since the beginning of the year, so I'm 13% to this goal. (Woo-hoo!) Mini quests Strength training 3x per week (+STR/DEX) Do this: I wrote this up weeks ago, and did it a few times. It's a combination of the NFBBWW, and some kettlebell stuff. It's hard, but doable. Finish the Zombies Run! 5k training (+STA) I have been trying to finish this training since the beginning of the year. I've been stuck on week 5 for a month now. I haven't been running consistently enough to build up the endurance I need to finish the program. So I want to run 3x per week. Stop eating out. (+CON) Period. I have a terrible relationship with fast food. Where I work is a street away from my city's downtown district, so there's a dozen restaurants and fast food places available for me to go to lunch. I will give myself credit for the last three weeks. I have cut down my eating out from 4-5 times per week to about 1-2 times per week. I don't want to do it anymore. Period. No fast food. Side quest Save up $100 (+WIS) I work full time and am a part time student, and I'm living paycheck to paycheck. If I have any extra money left over at the end of the month, I waste it on stupid things. I don't want to do that. I want to save up some money to build an emergency fund.Motivation Honestly, I'm just tired of being fat. I've been fat since childhood and it sucks. I really love doing sports and outdoor activities, but my weight makes it really friggin hard.I want to be strong, energetic and healthy and active, not stick thin and starving myself.I want to be able to shop at normal clothing stores, wear shirts without sleeves and dresses without tights.I want to buy a swimsuit for the first time since the 8th grade.I want to learn how to dance without running out of breath halfway through a song.I want to be strong enough to do a cartwheel. It's a little silly, but when I was a kid, I got made fun of for not being able to do one. I want to run an entire 5k without stopping, and run a marathon one day.I want to be able to chase the kids at work around the playground without getting winded, and I don't want anymore 3 year olds asking me if I have a baby in my tummy. I want to learn how to surf and go rock climbing and skydiving and free running and do all of this other crazy stuff that I wouldn't be able to do as a fatty. That's about it. I've been doing this whole dieting->weight loss->binging->weight gain song and dance for so many years now. I have a really good feeling about this time though. 2014 is going to be my last year being obese, period. Good luck to all of my fellow nerds! I can't wait to get healthy with all of you!

Hello All Well, a few years back I managed to lose 20Kg (from 105Kg to 85Kg), and got very fit. I started backsliding a while back, and now I am close to where I started. My main quest is to get to 85 Kg again. Obviously not in 6 weeks, but by summer (I'm southern hemisphere, so heading into Winter now). My side quests are 1: Do Cardio 3 x Week (Exercycle + Running) 2: Take Lunch to work at least 3 x per week (healthy food!) 3: Do Bodyweight workouts 3 x Week My life quest is to complete the electronics project I have been ignoring for the past several months.

My Race: Elf (at least that's what every RPG quiz tells me I am) My Profession: Assassin/Ranger Main Quest: Lose the belly fat and get into butt kicking shape, for image, health and personal reasons. 1. Run a 5k in July - 14 weeks to go: each week increase jogging by 0.5 km. 2. Clean up my eating - Add more fruits and veggies to my diet - Gluten free (I can't do Paleo cold turkey so wheat is probably the best thing to eliminate first) - Develop a 3 month healthy eating rotation 3. Run/walk every other day and do the beginner body weight workout 2-3 x a week 4. Take a course on self defense to give me confidence and knowledge 5. Learn wilderness survival and skills- food to forage, archery, shooting, tracking, climbing, etc. Life Quest: Save $4500 for tuition and books for September - Reduce the mortgage - Get a part time job - Walk or bike to work - Learn thrifty living - Sell more artwork I also have another life quest, but I won't be sharing that here. What motivates me? I want to be generally fitter and leaner, for my confidence sake. Also for general overall health and ease of life I feel it is a good idea to be in shape. For survival sake, especially as a woman, I feel it is best to learn self defense and outdoor survival, as I do spend time in the bush. I want to be able to take care of myself and hold my own.

Background info : Into long distances jogging , love to be outdoors , Theater , Games, D&D ! but all with JUNK FOOD Was very active before having a child . I found this site after months of failure and decided to try it out. I was gaining momentum until having a second child (check out my fisrt album before 2014). During my second pregnancy I lost all control over food which was bad because half way through pregnancy I was put on high blood pressure pills =[ Still having a borderline blood pressure now scares me. I've never been in a hospital for anything bad. At this moment I am disappointed in how badly I treated my body. It didn't help that certain family members made fun of the fact that I am obese. Sometimes I make fun of myself to get comfortable with it. But that is not what I want. Not me. I have come back for support in my journey to improve my health and to conquer my bad habits. I feel more encouraged this time around since I'm more active in the forums which I greatly appreciate. My main goal : Lose a pant size by April (size 17 right now) Side quests: Quit coffee and Switch to tea Get better at "Robot mode" in the mornings / getting up straight away from my first alarm. I usually have two which are 10 mins apart,.I love to sleep in if the baby isn't up yet. Life goal: Prep the house/garage for upcoming BBQ celebrating my child's baptism for now I shall forget the Negatives and focus on all the positives. Got to just keep Swimming!

So, there's a challenge going on, huh? And it's half over? ...I can still join right? *crickets* I'm going to take that for a yes. Alrighty then. Greetings folks. My journey to fitness has been like a dog chasing it's own tail for the past couple of years. I'm expending a whole ton of energy but I'm really not getting anywhere productive. I'm obese, probably not quite morbidly, but pretty close. I've been Paleo since the end of December last year. That switch got me out of the morbidly obese category. I want more...or is it less? I've been lurking in MarksDailyApple, NerdFitness, GoldMedalBodies, MobilityWod and others for years. I figure it is time to finally put all the information to work. So what am I working toward? Well, let me tell ya. I love! the Assassin's Creed series of games. The sheer freedom of parkour. I want that. This 1/2 challenge that's going now will be focused on starting the habits which will get me building toward that end goal. There are a lot of things which have to go right for parkour to even appear on the horizon. These are the three I'm most worried about at the moment. Goals 1. Arm strength - nonexistant. It's time to work on that. I acquired a set of gymnastic rings a few weeks ago. They've been hanging from my pull up bar and seeing intermittent use since set up. My aim is to be able to do the Top Position without maintaining a connection to the floor with my foot by the time this challenge ends. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I'm adding GMB's Basic Rings Workout (which was featured in Art of Manliness a few weeks ago). to my existing workout. (MWF: Squats, MF: Deadlift) 2. Be still my beating heart...actually, no, the opposite. HIIT. It's time to bring back the intensity. One day a week, I'm thinking Tuesdays, I'm going to commit to one Tabata drill of running in place. 3.I I thought the hot springs were around here somewhere... I need to spend less time cooped up in the relative safeness of my condo and more time exploring the local parks. It's time for some nature baths. My goal is to walk for at least one hour, three days a week in one of the local parks. Pavement optional. I can scout for locations to start practicing the basics of parkour while I look for a localish group to join. I suspect that as I get more active and actively build strength, more and more of these lovely adipose deposits will start seeing that they aren't welcome here any more. Only time will tell!

I've had enough of starting out too hard then failing, falling back into bad habits. I am looking forward to the next 6 weeks! :-) Long-term goal Get fit enough to run 10km with 25kg backpack 6-week goal: Get used to moving and be able to complete the beginner body workout Sub-goals for this challenge: - Walk 5 times a week (with or without the dog), 30 minutes + 5 minutes per week (adding up to 1h the last week) - Do the http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2009/12/09/beginner-body-weight-workout-burn-fat-build-muscle/ 2 times per week (After the 6 weeks, 3 circuits of all the exercises) Life goal - Cut the soda completely (Already started on this 1 week ago) Motivation - I want to look better for my girlfriend and get more self-esteem by not being ashamed of how I look.- - I hate hate hate not being able to keep running for more than 500m (Without any equipment) - I can currently only walk slowly for 2-3km with 25kg backpack, but I need to be able to do more! - I would really like to have my teeth in 10 years. (Life goal) plus drinking light soda makes me eat more junkfood. - I want more mental energy Updates I will make a reply every time i make progress with my sub-goals.

Prologue: Escape from the Underdark! (Main Quest) “A massive craggy labyrinth sprawls out in all directions, flooded my darkness. Fatigue grips me. It’s called the graveyard shift, and it makes me feel like the walking dead. For one year I’ve toiled away in the darkness (working 23:00 to 11:00), lifting rocks (heavy lifting) and navigating chasms (rock climbing). Despite this, I’ve felt trapped (running mileage dropped off and I rarely made it out kayaking). But there is a ray of light piercing this infernal umbra (now working 15:00 – 03:00). I must escape!†This last year I let circumstance rule my life. Working overnights really ground my morale down. I let healthy habits fall by the wayside, including letting my running endurance slip, and picked up unhealthy habits. (Hello, lunch room vending machine, you nasty purveyor of tasty treats!) Now that I have a new schedule, I want to reboot my life to improve its quality. I want to change patterns in my daily life and create new behaviours and habits that will better facilitate the kind of life I want to lead. Mind (Goal 1): Practice mediation, beginning with 5 minute sessions during week 1 and working up to 15 minute sessions by week 6. Body (Goal 2): Yoga! I have terrible range of motion outside of back squats, and this sets me up for injuries from long distance running and prevents me executing high steps when rock climbing. Before I can tackle a goal of completing a 5.6 or 5.7 (challenge 2?) I need to become bendier! By week 6 I want to be performing 20 minute yoga sequences daily as a part of my morning routine (now that I have a morning). Spirit (Goal 3): I don’t run to lose weight (though I did when I started). I don’t run to win races. I don’t run for money, glory, fame, fortune, or even the free shirt! I run because it makes me feel free. Trails are my preferred venue. I like to hike, but once I get on the trail I cannot help but run. I want to run longer only so I can spend more time enjoying it! Right now my distance PR is about 12.86km. I want that up to 18km by the end of week 6! Life Quest: This is the hard one. I am picking something that scares me. I am going to try to be more of a people person. I recently read an article on NF about how not to suck at talking to people. During these 6 weeks I am going to practice the “drive by compliments†during the first three weeks and then try engaging in small talk by week 6. Motivation: I began running to lose weight and I fell in love with running itself. I started lifting weights to lose weight and to look better, and I began to enjoy the honest toil of lifting the iron. The motivation for those activities were spurred by specific symptoms, single aspects of my life. The more I think about things, the more I want to address the basics of my life and what I need to do to lead a richer, more fulfilling existence. Here, yoga and meditation are medicine for what ails me. The increased running mileage just lets me feel freer. I attached a screen shot of my spreadsheet outlining my weekly targets.

My race: Human My profession: Assassin Main Quest: Get into butt kicking shape, for image, health and personal reasons. 1. Run a 5k in July (With my sister!) - 14 weeks to go: each week increase jogging by 0.5 km. 2. Clean up my eating - Add more fruits and veggies and meat to my diet - Make my own meals -Eat minimum 3 meals a day, rather than my normal 1 a day. 3. Run/walk every other day and do the beginner body weight workout 2-3 x a week 4. Walk home from work 3x a week 5. Take up aerial dance again, as it's a workout that I love, while being easier on my joints. Life Quest: Determine a life quest, direction of my life - Finish off my 6 months of probation at work - Look into additional training and/or outside o=courses to expand my knowledge - Complete all work books/started lessons I have on the go right now. -Take the time to do things I like & want to do, not being dictated by boredom What motivates me? I want to be generally fitter and leaner, for my confidence sake, as well as for general overall health and ease of life. For survival sake, especially as a woman, I feel it is best to learn self defense. I want to be able to take care of myself and hold my own. I've always been told that I am smart, I want to feel smart again!

I've always had issues with my upper body strength and although my younger sister can do a series of pull-ups, I've never even come close to doing one! I'd like to change that. I started doing the Basic Body Weight circuit this week, and am hoping with enough dedication I might make this happen. Even if I don't get all the way there in 6 weeks I think I can make some good progress Quest: Be able to do one pull-up, unassisted. (+3 STR) Mission: - Do appropriate back and arm exercises every other day (Bent Over Dumbell Rows then Body Weight Rows) - Basic Body Weight Circuit every other day - Eat more protein (from fish and meat) (+1 CON) Side Quest: - Do small yoga routine each night before bed (5-15 min) (+1 WIS) *edit: 4/23: added stats to this to fill in when challenge is complete!

Hi, my name is Mark. I've only been here a day, but I like that this Challenge thing is something I'd like to do. I was told on the IRC channel not to collect underpants, so I'm starting now instead of my normal procrastination. You can see my intro here: http://rebellion.nerdfitness.com/index.php?/topic/47686-new-rebel-girmann-v10/ This is my latest attempt to try and get fit. The last time I was even close to fit was back in 2008 when I was running 10ks and half marathons. I injured myself a lot since then. Since I seem to be prone to overuse injuries, my goals are modest and they are an attempt to rectify all the issues I've had in the past. Main Quest: Afer doing a lot of thinking, I think that I want to keep it simple for my first challenge and just say "Get more fit without getting injured". There's plenty of time for the other things on my list (like PRing a 5k, for instance.) If I can start working out in earnest and not hurt myself over the next 6 weeks, I'll be in a good spot. Specific Missions: 1. Complete C25k in <10 weeks. This, of course, runs past the challenge window - but it gets me doing the exercise I love the most. 2. Do Beginner Dody Weight Workout 1x/wk. Reading it over - it's goingt o be a challenge, since I've never really done any kind of lifting. We'll see how it goes. Originally I wanted to do 2x/wk, but I don't think that gives me enough recovery time. 3. Do Wii Fit Yoga 1x/wk. I hate flexibility training. I've never been flexible - ever. Life Quest: Start sailing classes and purchase a sailboat. This is a family goal - as everyone wants to do this. Motivation: Being alive to see my kids full grown. The last few months I've gotten heavier and I've felt worse - healthwise. It's really got me worried. Starting Stats: Age: 40 Gender: Male Height: 5'10 Weight: 228 Body Fat %: ~31% (BMI calculation, anyway) Neck: 18 inches Waist (belly button): 44 inches I'd be interested to what you think about the challenge? Am I letting myself off the hook too easily? Apologies to TheStephil - I borowed your format. Hope you don't mind.

I know… “Let’s Get Moving†is such a corny title. But I do have a reason! Starting on Monday, I am going to be packing to move to a town about half an hour away. We are finally closing our house on the 28th! I am super excited! We are finally moving to the country! YAY!! Anyways… This is my err.. secondish challenge… I had a very wimpy challenge before that started out alright. I had great plans... great motivation… but I had a problem with this whole passing out and dizziness thing. My chiropractor said no more running and no more lifting. I got depressed, down on myself.. yada yada yada. To make a long story short I went from a highly motivated fit person to a pathetic blob of a person. I pretty much stopped the challenge and instead ate (a lot) until I had an epiphany—stuffing my face with cheesecake is not going to make me healthier. Who would have thought? I got my diet under control and a funny thing happened. I started to lose a little weight! It was a wonder among wonders! My chiropractor finally allowed me to start walking a little and yesterday I ran for the first time in about a month. It was glorious. I only ran 2 miles, but I was so happy you would have thought I just finished a marathon. Thankfully I did not have as much pain. Tonight I plan to run with my husband… outside.. all in the sunshine and stuff. I cannot wait! So enough jibber-jabber. Let’s get down to a challenge. I am going to focus this challenge on easing my way back into fitness… getting moving again. My first goal is running. This was on my last challenge, but unfortunately I had to discontinue it. Since I am pretty much starting from scratch again, I am going to do a beginner’s half marathon training. I am signed up for a half in the beginning of October and I am planning on doing one in November. I am signed up for a Tough Mudder in June and I was also thinking about doing a Spartan Race in August. Run 4 days a week.My next goal will be lifting related. I am not going to be uber strict with this. I think bad form had a huge factor in messing my neck up this time around. I will focus mainly on body weight exercises for upper body. I would like to go to the gym about twice a week to do lower body. I want to start front squats and do some easy dead lifts. I want to ease back into it, not break any records. Lift 3 days a week.My third goal will be diet oriented. I am using the old Weight Watchers to fill that need. I have a hard time with the whole counting calories and macronutrients. It is aggravating trying to make sure I have enough to lose weight but keep my fitness going. I am going to focus on losing weight and when I get to my target weight I will whip out the calorie and macronutrient counting then. I have my reasons. The goal is keeping within my needed points 7 days a week for maximum results. I will allow a “cheat†day when needed, but those will be very few and far between. So those are my goals, now how am I going to come up with a grading scale. Coming back from a health related stall in my fitness regimen I do not want to push myself an awful lot. It would do me no good getting back in the state I was in before. I am going to make most of my grading based on my diet. It will be worth 75% of my grade. Fitness will be the other 25%. For diet I have 42 days so 42 possible points. Running has 24 possible days, 24 points. Lifting has 18 days, 18 possible points. I will need an 80% in order to pass this challenge. At the end of the challenge I will do my crazy calculations to come up with my final grade. Well, that’s all folks!