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I have been reading on NF off and on for years. I even signed up for the forums a few years ago and then ghosted. But last week when the academy was 50% off I finally committed to starting the academy and went all in! I'm excited and I have already made it to level 3. Struggling with the gimmee loot challenge right now. But I'm also struggling with exercise. I am doing fine with cardio but every time I try to do the body weight work out all I can think is "I do not want to do this". But I know ideally I should combine resistance training and cardio to get the best results. Any idea how to make getting the motivation for the body weight workouts easier? I don't hate all body weight exercises. I do "stairs and squats" every Wednesday at work. And I used to do ok with resistance training when I last lost 60 lbs about 5 years ago. But now i just can't seem to work up to enjoying it at all. Oh also my forum name is different than my academy name...idk if that matters.

Hey! I'm Kerri. I joined the Academy today and wanted to start a new battle log for this purpose. Most of what is in my old log are outdated measurements and some remnants of black & white thinking. I'm excited to take this new step in my leveling up. I am currently 255 lbs. (Down 40lbs from my highest weight) I am eating three meals a day regularly, with only occasional snacks. I have binge-eating episodes less than once or twice a month? I no longer have tachycardic symptoms and my asthma is controlled without medication. My fasting sugars are out of prediabetic range, and my insulin is almost in the normal range. I'm doing pretty good so far. However, I've not started exercising. I have not "worked out" beyond the demands of my job (which is two days a week, 10hrs a day) and I want this to change. My fibromyalgia pain is getting worse in my shoulders and I know a part of this is due to them no longer being strong from doing PT exercises. I'm hoping the Academy will help me with this. I'm at a standstill with my eating as well - having a chronic illness (not to mention my ADHD) makes cooking, meal planning, and grocery shopping nutritiously difficult. More concrete education and small steps to do this are an exciting start. So here's to my next level up, my middle road journey to spy-hood!

Emrys here! Today, I joined the Academy and I’m here to fulfill my food logging quest. I’ve been logging my meals with FitBit for the past 7 months so only sharing my logs with others will be new. Per the rules, I’ll be posting daily for 2 weeks; each day, I’ll post the previous day’s log. Feel free to offer healthier alternatives to any meals I have, or drop your email address so we can be FitBit buddies ^.^

[Pre-Challenge: Complete Mindset Module of the Academy] “OMG Hi! Long time listener - first time caller” Yeeeah… not really. My last 4-week challenge was in April of 2016. A lil over 2 years ago. I’ve hit some snags.. A lot of snags. I’ll spare you all the TL;DR wall-o-text. Long story short, 2016 was a terrible year in a lot of ways… and I thought what I learned and endured through 2016 would lead me to a great 2017. It didn’t. I’m starting from square one now. Story time will happen throughout my journey, sorta like a narrator to put all the pieces together. I’m going to be using these 4 week challenges to catalog my progress through the NF Academy, and supplementing those quests with little extras here and there. Nothing crazy. No more jumping into everything with a mighty furor just to burn out in 6 weeks. No more assuming I obviously know all the answers I just need to “motivate” myself. I’ve got a basic start of ideas for how I’m going to literally ease back into these challenges - and that’ll come later. Right now, I’ve got the pre-challenge I’ve set for myself to go back through and complete my Mindset module of the NF Academy. I won’t apologize - I’m gonna probably spam the everloving s- out of this thread while I do. Thanks to the mindset module, I have a handful of quests lined up starting today (yep - today!) Quest: I am the type of person who will drink more water. I will limit myself to one 12oz soda per day at most for the next four weeks Quest: I am the type of person who cares about her health. I will take the dog for a walk every morning during the work week, and every evening on the weekends. Quest: I am the type of person who enjoys cooking for her family. I will stick to my meal plan 4-5 days a week. Quest: I am the type of person who takes pride in her appearance. I will be more diligent by brushing/flossing both morning and night, along with a morning/night face wash Quest: I am the type of person who is diligent in her commitment to herself. I will check in via the NF Rebellion (the 4 week challenge, or my personal battle log depending on the day) every. Day. to keep myself honest about my progress and my goals. I'll be adding in bits here and there, as well as updating my Mindset Module link (going to the Google Doc where I'll have my Before pictures/measurements/Big Why/etc) as I continue on and make my progress throughout the 4 weeks. ♥ -Annabelle

I have been on the level 3 gym workouts for a while and I thought things were going really well, so I decided to tackle the boss battle. Kneeling pushups? Psh… I did 20 real pushups. 30-pound goblet squats? C'mon, man, I did 20 at 45 pounds! Assisted chin-ups? OK, that's a little more challenging but I managed to hit 10. And then I got to the bar hang. I couldn't last more than 20 seconds and that was my downfall. At first, I thought it was because the bar I was on didn't have any cushioning and my gloves were kind of bunching up. So, I moved to a different bar where I could also see a clock. Nope… my grip simply wouldn't last. Lesson learned! So, now I'm focusing more on my pull-ups and farmer's carry for the next few weeks so when I do charge back in to challenge the boss again, I will kill the bar hang just like I did the rest of the exercises.

I am an amateur ballroom dancer and my fitness is getting in the way of me being a better dancer. I joined the academy on February 1st and am feeling good about my progress but am ready to open up to more accountability. My goals in this four weeks: Stick to the Level 5 Nerdfitness diet and move up to Level 6 by the end of the challenge. Complete a gym work out three times a week. (Nerdfitness Gym 3 currently) Complete a Yoga Session at least one time a week. Go to Ballroom practice at least two times a week. Out of bed by 6:45 am 5 out of 7 days a week. So I'm about 60 pounds heavier than I'd like to be and I realize nutrition is key. That's why I want to put a strong focus on the diet. As is said all over the place nutrition is key. I feel like I have a tendency to get lazy in this realm, but as a college student it's easy for me to eat health options at the dining hall and the millions of uppity restauraunts around me plus I could make a few things myself if I'm reeling it. I have been rocking 2 or three gym workouts a week with my first six weeks of the academy I want to solidly make it a 3 workouts a week. Yoga has been encouraged for me to participate in for as long as I can remember at least since I was 13 years old. I never got into it and classes never really seemed accomodating of my body shape. So I got the Nerd fitness Yoga and have done maybe two sessions in the six weeks I've had it. I want to do at least one session a week if not more. As I mentioned I'm a ballroom dancer and I've been falling out of the loop with going to practice. Hell, I don't even have a partner picked out for competitions. To best help me with moving forward I need to go to practice at least twice a week. Since I've been on the team my amount of practice attendance has ranged from skipping weeks to 5 times a week. I have sleep issues and I think they're rooted in my inconsistent wake and sleep schedule. Out of bed by 6:45 most days seems like a good step in the right direction. Fortify! Week 1 Update: I attended my two Ballroom Practices this week woot woot. My friend finished a baking class so I tried some of the pie she made. Otherwise I've been true to the diet. I will just get back up and recover. I did do a yoga session in my apartment with the nerdfighter yoga, and it's getting easier than previous. I only did two of the three workouts a week. My sunday was much busier than I thought it would be which led to me not participating. My sleep has been a huge problem this week only two times was I out of bed by 6:45 but I was sick earlier in the week which did effect this but. I'm hoping week two will present much more productively for me. Week 2 Update: I had sweets. I work at a radio station and right behind my desk was some community candy and I ate a piece almost every time I walked by the bowl. However, I did recover. I also am starting to transition into cutting bread completely from my diet so, no tortillas, no sandwich bread, no buns on my burgers, no more pita. I have been successful for the last few weeks on avoiding just bread, that is dinner rolls, breadsticks, etc and pasta but I think this one will be a real challenge for me. I'm ready to step up.I'm still on gym level workout three. Which is good. I do feel myself getting much stronger and my form on the bodyweight exercises are much better than they have ever been. I'm thinking by the end of week 4 I will move up to gym level 4. As I continue to build strength and lose weight I am hoping to move into the bodyweight workouts instead of the gym workouts.I did two yoga sessions this week. I am really enjoying yoga as an off day activity. I am now almost able to perform a downward dog with my heels touching the ground. Which was much more exciting than I thought it would be.My sleep has peen real good for the most part. I have been out of bed 6 out of 7 days by 6:45 which is a personal best.I go the University of Michigan and due to March Madness and Easter all of my ballroom practices have been cancelled so no ballroom happened this week. But I did go to a Zouk class and made an intentional walk to just explore campus a little more.

Hi there! Newbie here. So. Here is a LONG story shortened. 36 female Mother of 2 Work from Home Thyroid Cancer @ 20 Thyroid (and all the goes with it) suppressed for medical reasons (to avoid more cancer) so my metabolism sucks but I try not to use that as an excuse... I play the cancer card ALLLL the time though ;-) High weight 250 (probably a bit more but around there I stopped weighing myself) Last year cleaned up my eating a bit, moved a little more and lost about 40lbs Current weight 220 (it was 210 but I got a little depressed and lost all will to move and eat things that weren't greasy and cheesy) Trying to get back on track, getting WAY overwhelmed on the interwebs. Eat this not that, muscle confusion, DOMS, rest days, intermittent fasting, keto, paleo, walking, running, go barefoot, get a yoga mat, buy a Fitbit (that one I did)... my brain is fried. I came across this program/site/community a while ago and am back to see if it can help... I've lurked on this site for a little while. Never committing, never joining. The time has come. I have finally had too much. Too much information, to much trial and error, too many tacos... I digress. I'd like some input from people, ladies or gents, that are similar. Anyone with thyroid issues? I've searched the boards and haven't come up with many posts. Also, I want to know if anyone has done the private coaching. Likes? Dislikes? Worth the $? And how it's different from the Academy. Also, thoughts on the Academy in general. I am about 99% sure I am going to get Academy and really looking hard at the private coaching (depending on cost). I know, I know... it's an investment in me, and my health and all that. If I say I don't have the money I am saying it's not a priority...that being said, my kids like to wear shoes and eat lunch, so it would be a credit card charge and a long time paying it off I imagine (although I don't know the cost yet)... So yeah. In a nutshell; tell me all the things that you think about all the things I've thought and I will read them all! Looking forward to learning and making progress, big and small, with all of you.

The last few challenges I've been getting back into the NF academy by going through the mindset challenges. I still have a couple left to do, but I'm ready now to move on to the nutrition and workouts again. I figure it's about time I finally get with the program and see what happens. I've been finding fairly good success with keeping things simple, but still haven't seen the results I would hope for. My schedule has also been difficult recently, with lots of call, but now that's over for a while which is good timing. So it's time to dedicate myself a bit more to the process. Diet - NF level 4, No added sugar I've been doing IIFYM the last few months, and have been alright at sticking to my goals, but could do a bit better. I've found the times I overeat it's usually due to eating too much sugar earlier in the day or being hungry later, or else getting into binge in the evening. In looking through the nutrition module, I'd say I'm at a bout NF diet level 4, so I'm going to try to keep there and improve at having more vegetables and less bread/pasta. I'm also going to stay away from added sugar this challenge. I've done it before, but then I slipped back into old habits. As part of the "Face Your Demons" mindset challenge, I determined that sugar is definitely one of them, so this is my "stay away from it" phase where I can study my enemy and make a plan for when I face it again. Exercise - Bodyweight Workout 3 I'm at the Bodyweight Level 3 workouts, which I'll be doing on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. I haven't focused on exercise recently, mostly because my back has been hurting and I've been feeling stiff. However, stretching on it's own hasn't been helping, and I think I need to build strength if I'm finally going to get over my pain/stiffness. Other I'll keep going through the mindset challenges. I'm not going to weigh myself again until the end of the challenge as part of a mindset challenge. I think it'll also be beneficial as I'm getting back into workouts and a more solid diet to judge how I'm feeling, and see how it all works at the end. I'll also continue tracking my APD score and trying to beat the previous month's average. I'm going to try to update here daily. Here we go!

Another challenge, another chance to conquer. Let's do this! I'm super stoked for this challenge! I'll be doing a five-week challenge this time around, but I will be evaluating me quests on a week by week basis and edit, change, swap, or remove any quests as necessary MAIN QUEST Land a new job and get fit doing it WEEK 0 QUESTS QUEST ONE: badland training (WEEK 0) alternate between strength training and running in the mornings and do x4 per week (I'll be using the superhero app from six to start for strength and a C25K app for running) QUEST TWO: saving food rations (WEEK 0) meal prep breakfast, snacks, and dinners (lunch will be dinner leftovers) find out the family's schedule so meal portions are enough find recipes for meal prepping hunt down the food cook the food QUEST THREE: bunkering down (WEEK 0) read a book +30 minutes before bed/ go to bed before 11 pm and wake up early/ get+7 hrs of sleep LEVEL UP YOUR LIFE QUEST: badland bounty hunting (WEEK 0) sit down after morning routine and send out at least 3 applications WEEK 1 QUESTS QUEST ONE: badland training (WEEK 1) alternate between strength training and yoga in the mornings and do x4 per week superhero app from six to start for strength and a youtube yoga videos) QUEST TWO: saving food rations (WEEK 1) Count calories and input water into MFP at least x5 per week QUEST THREE: bunkering down (WEEK 1) Shut off all electronics before 10:30 pm, read a book +30 minutes before bed/ go to bed before 11 pm and wake up early/ get+7 hrs of sleep LEVEL UP YOUR LIFE QUEST: badland bounty hunting (WEEK 1) sit down after morning routine and send out at least 3 applications

I'm back, and ready to start fresh in a new year! My last (almost) year on Nerd Fitness definitely had some ups and downs, some successes and failures, but the one thing that lasted all year was that I was actually, consciously thinking about my health, even if I wasn't doing much about it. I consider that a success, and something I've never been able to sustain for that long. This year it's time to turn some more of that thought into action. I'm going to restart in the Academy and actually do all of the mindset quests (I skipped a few last time). I am also going to make living by the "never miss 2 in a row" mantra a theme for this year to help prevent me from giving up completely when I inevitably make a poor choice. Now for my goals for this challenge: Move Daily Ensure that each day I take some devoted time for exercise/movement. Ideally this would include 3 BWW each week, but can include anything from going for a walk or a few sets of push-ups. Right now the focus is on the daily habit. Never miss 2 in a row!! Eat Healthy For this challenge, I'm going to make it really simple - I know what's healthy and what's not. Rather than trying to avoid specific foods all together, I'm going to use a traffic-light system: Strive for Green foods (ex. vegetables, fruit, lean meat, whole foods), supplement with Yellow foods (ex. grains, dairy, protein bars) if necessary, and avoid Red foods (ex. fast food, processed food, added sugars) as much as possible. For this challenge I won't have specific goals/limits, but will focus on being mindful of what I'm consuming and trying to make better choices in general. Focus on Mindset Complete at least 1 mindset challenge per week, without moving on to the next until the previous is completed. When going through the Academy the first time I skipped around a bit, and I think this was detrimental to establishing the proper external supports needed to accomplish my goals. Not this time!! I love the support from this group, and I hope I can provide some good support too!! For the rebellion!!!

Hey folks. I'm having a hell of a time coming up with Bat Cave changes, and the improvements in particular. I keep my derby gear in my car, I have what are probably good snacks at my desk. (I'm meeting with a dietician soon to go over that stuff and will remove any bad choices accordingly.) I make sure to pack a change of clothes and bring it with me to work if I need to go from work to the gym/practice. I get my weekday breakfast and lunch foods on the way to work once a week so there's no risk of forgetting them at home. After that, I'm not really sure where to go from here. Those are all things I've been doing for years. My spouse picks up snacks for himself sometimes, but I'm good at avoiding them as long as it's not chips. I asked that there be no more surprise chips, and he's agreed to that. Once I have an idea of what snacks I can actually eat, I'll make sure those are around at home as well as at work. What changes have you folks made for the Bat Cave missions? I'm sure you all have some brilliant ideas that I'm just missing right now. Thank you!

After completing her studies, it was time for Neila to adventure out on her own, with just her partner for guidance and companionship. Miles away from the only home she has ever known, she has become lonely, and bored, without enough activity to occupy her days. She overeats to fill the time, but soon her meager wardrobe will no longer fit, and she cannot afford replacements. With her boredom and loneliness she has come to find that the only solution is to dedicate her free time to bettering herself. The world is a dangerous place, and she cannot rely solely on her partner for protection. These four weeks are the beginning of her journey towards bettering herself. She has five goals to complete for the duration of the challenge: 1) She will not drink Liquid Calories; she has a weakness for ale, and it makes her vulnerable. This is counterproductive to her goals. 2) She will consume a high-protein breakfast 5 days a week; reprogramming her body to process protein, kick-start the morning, and work towards getting stronger. 3) She will not consume snacks after the day's work is completed; it is expensive, and unproductive caloric intake. Eating a healthy supper will be more productive. 4) She will eat a homemade dinner 6 times a week; the local tavern, while tasty, is both expensive and unhealthy. Eating at home, while time-consuming, will help her towards her goal of losing weight. 5) She will complete 3 workouts a week; On Mondays she will go to Rogue Fitness to complete a workout with Sweaty John, her trainer, then Wednesday and Friday she will complete the NFA Bodyweight Workout 2A (Wednesdays) and 2B (Fridays) with the appropriate NF Handstands exercises added each day. Neila has an extended journey ahead of her. This is just the beginning.

Phoenix is probably my favorite character, so Imma channel her this round. Strength 2 NFA workouts + warmup/cooldown per week. I am still level 1, but I am going to bump up the difficulty of a few of the exercises as I can for this challenge. At 2 weeks, I'm going to try to beat General DOMS again. Total 8pts Cardio/Toning 2 classes per week - preferably 1 Zumba and 1 Pound, however that will depend on babysitter availability. I love having an excuse to get out of the house and get moving doing someting *other* than go for a walk. Total 8pts PT 3 PT leg exercises per week - not on class days. The knee I injured and ultimately needed surgery is not happy with my newfound movement. I need to get back into the habit of doing my band exercises to strengthen the small muscles around my knees so I don't reinjure myself. That would be bad. Total 12pts Food I am adding a goal of 1 serving of fruit per day with a minimum of 5 per week. Total 20-28pts Random Bonuses Since the Cardio and PT aspects focus so much on my lower body, I'm going to give myself bonus points for any upper body workouts I do that aren't a part of the NFA ones. This may include a random set of doorway rows, stair push-ups, baby presses or curls, or anything else that's just a standalone arm exercise. Not more than 1pt per day None of the at-home exercises (NFA, PT) take a super long period of time, so I just need to willpower myself to take care of it when baby naps those days. Everything will be logged in my journal (new journal coming soon because I wanted to give the dot-layouts a try for ease with design and trackers and whatnot, so pictures forthcoming!)

Doing my second Whole30 because I’ve been eating like a major asshole this year and that needs to stop. I also want to help my head live a migraine free life. I’ve not had a steady workout in a while so I want to start doing that again as well. This challenge will be based on points and if I pass I’m going to treat myself to new workout pants and socks or a new pair of running shoes. Which I’ll be able to afford since the whole30 limits eating out. Points Points - 30+12+4+280 = 326 Max Points w/Bonus - 30+8+12+16+4+8+280= 358 Points to pass= 250 Whole30 : START 9/24 - END 10/24 0 week will be for Meal Planning 30/30 points w/Bonus points for Meal Prep on weekends & trying a NF recipe each week (8 extra possible) Soda Free since 8/30 Complete 1 NF Academy Quest a week : 4/4 points w/Bonus points for added completed Quests (Up to 8 bonus points no more) NF Bodyweight Workout (+ warmup & cooldown) 2A & 2B & 1 day of Cardio (+ 10 mins after stretch & work cardio doesn’t count) : 12/12 points w/Bonus points for added workouts (16 extra possible) Dailies : 10/10 points a day : 280/280 points Overall PM: Get to Sleep - In bed by 10pm Sun - Thursday - In bed by 12pm Fri & Saturday AM: Make Bed & 20 mins Yoga AM: Weigh in and Measure AM: Go over To Do list AM: 10 mins Meditation Break Read 30 pages Take 30 mins to be creative or create Prep Lunch for next day Prep Outfit for next day 5 mins walk

Well, this will be a fun one. I’ve got my handy hunter’s checklist and added a few more items to it. After all there are a few items other than salt and a sawed-off shotgun needed. Exercise NFA represent! I’m still level 1 and I’m ok with that. Baby steps. Some of the exercises are easy, some I’m doing modified versions, and a few I can totally tell that I need to do more of - not because they’re hard to do, necessarily, but because it’s more that they work muscles that I have issues with due to my work of choice (damn you, computers and poor posture!). NFA Workouts, starting with lvl 1. I may level up during the challenge, but this quest item will stay for the duration Walks 5x/wk. The weather is turning from hot to cool so now all I need to do is get up off my butt, strap the baby in the stroller, and get out there. Walks should be at least 20 minutes. Front plank. This is my epic quest for this challenge. One of the exercises for my NFA L1 is to do 3 20 second front planks. Well, since I had a c-section back in March, my abs are all lolnope. My goal for this one is to reach one 30 sec. full elbow-toes front plank by the end of the challenge. I will start at 5 sec knee planks once or twice a day and slowly work my way up. Food Diet is important. I am not scaling back on anything specific because accounting for breastfeeding makes numbers awkward, but I am food-logging everything. Sugar Beast I want to defeat the Sugar Beast. Whenever I crave chocolate or candy or any other sweet crap, I will grab a bite of fruit or a glass of water. The Sugar Beast for this round is more mental recognition than numbers tracking. Here is the actual NFA quest: The quest says to defeat 5 cravings, I am going to do this for the entire challenge. My goal is to become more mindful about what I'm grabbing to eat. I have a horrible sweet tooth and love candy. I don't drink sugary soda that often, so I'm ok on that one, but the candy (and lately, chocolate) has become a mindless snack for me. How I'm going to track this is that if I walk into the kitchen to grab crap food and deliberately and mindfully decide to grab some fruit, healthy snack, or glass of water (since a lot of hunger symptoms can be hydration related), I will mark off a win for the day. If I mindlessly grab some junk food but catch myself eating it mindlessly and put it away, I will mark half a square. This is a "I did it" once during a day thing as far as the tracker is concerned, but in my daily logs, I'll make sure to note each good decision so that at the end of the week, I can see my good decisions. Water Water. Consuming you is my bane and I wish I could just drop this challenge, but I really need to keep it in mind and log how much I drink and increase my intake. Household Cleaning sucks. Luckily, for the past 6 months my husband has picked up the slack while I’ve focused on the new baby. But now that he’s old enough to entertain himself for a bit (the baby, not the husband, though I suppose the husband is also old enough to entertain himself...), I need to start stepping it up. Anything from dishes to laundry to deep cleaning a room falls into this category. As for how often I'm cleaning, my goal is one cleaning per day. I'd love it if that line of my tracker was full for the entire challenge, though being realistic, I'll be happy with 5/7 cleanings per week. Tracking Things Tracking everything in my fancy fitness zibaldone with a tracker checklist as well as daily logging. Bonus is that I get to be super creative a bunch with the journal and coloring and practicing fun ways to handletter.

After last challenge where I tried to respawn in a more unstructured manner and didn't quite get it, I realized that I need some more structure to help guide me. For this reason I am going to more fully take advantage of the NF Academy, with a Star Trek overlay, because it's the 50th anniversary! As I join Starfleet Academy I'll explore all the major divisions, with a mentor from each to help me learn the ropes: Command - Kirk A Starship captain has to be physically fit in order to take on whatever challenges come his way. I will be working on the Nerd Fitness Academy level 3 workouts, working up to doing them 3x per week. Science - Spock The science division is all about making observations and testing hypotheses. This will be a key part of my challenge. I am going to try to identify triggers for my bad habits, and try implementing good habits to replace them. Medical - McCoy I'm doing a lot of my training as a ship surgeon (starting my surgery rotation in a couple weeks), so Dr. McCoy is here to help me keep some balance. Although the medical training can be quite intense, it's important to make time for my own health too. So I'm going to give myself permission to take some time to relax in between my school responsibilities and my health goals. Engineering - Scotty The engineering division takes care of starship maintenance and fuel supply. You need good fuel to keep the ship going warp speed. I'm going back to square 1 on nutrition and slowly building new habits into my diet. I'll be following the NFA diet levels, and trying to progress through them as I succeed. Helmsman - Sulu As a ship's pilot, you need to be flexible enough to get out of some sticky situations. To work on my flexibility I will stretch for 10 min at least 3 times/week. Communications - Uhura Communication is key to receiving help when you're in trouble and for staying accountable. I haven't used the Academy facebook page since I signed up, but I think the extra level of accountability will help. I don't know for sure what's holding me back, but by the end of the challenge I'm going to join it and make at least one post. Navigation - Chekov A navigator's job is to plan where we're going and how we're going to get there. For this part of the challenge I will re-read at least 2 topics from the academy each week, and plan which Academy challenges to try to tackle. The mini-challenge will also fall under this category. This challenge does have a lot of parts, but I think the structure will really help me get back on track. Also most of the goals are designed to build slowly, so that I can make small, manageable changes. Here we "boldly go"!

Steve and friends: I am loving the academy and do not have a problem with leveling up via the honor system but it would also be fun to link to my garmin heart rate monitor and upload workouts as another way to level up. Just a thought on how to take the academy to the next level. Glenn

Hi my name is warhorseman, for a while I've been thinking about joining the academy as soon as I've given it enough thought, and have enough money to afford it. When I first started looking at the price, it was $99, personally I didn't think it was that bad of a price, I was more wondering if I could commit to it or not; now that I'm more sure about joining, I saw that the price jumped up to $149, sending doubts into my plan, so now I'm contemplating if the program is really worth the price. A little help please?

this is also a repost of my respawn, but I plan on posting the updates daily here too. So I'm starting a respawn, but trying something entirely new, so as not to go insane (you know, insanity is trying the same thing over and over again and expecting different results, right?) So I'm starting this respawn by 1 actually posting my plans, for some accountability, 2 following the academy plan after 3 starting wih an elimination diet to really find out what will work for me, what has been sabotaging me, and also to push myself to be more creative, and resourceful in my cooking and prep. So as a first step, here are my before pics: Here are my starting measurements: Weight: 268 lbs Neck: 16.5" Chest: 47.25" biceps: 15.5" waist: 48" Hips: 51.25" Thigh: 27" Calf: 19.5" Here is my big why (in two parts, one is my big why overall, and the other is my big why on why I am doing the elimination diet. ) The Big Why My big why for this journey to being healthier, happier and stronger is to feel comfortable in my body. I want to be confident that I am not a hindrance to my dreams. I also want to pass my confidence with my body to any children I have and may have in the future. I do not want to see them have the same unhealthy relationship with food that I did, or same self-consciousness that led me to not follow my passions and dreams as fully as I should have because I did not think I could because I was “fat” I also just want to feel in control of my eating. When I give in to my eating habits I feel out of control and feel like a failure. I am tired of feeling like a failure. I want this confidence back: The big Elimination Diet Why: I am doing this elimination diet for several reasons. I want to get to the bottom of what causes me illness, or pain. This way I can tailor a nutritional plan just for myself and give myself the biggest chance for success. I also want to reset my eating habits, start clean, and build a sustainable basis. I also want to experiment with several new combinations of food. I want to discover more about myself during this journey. This is not a weight loss diet, this is not a fad diet. This is merely a science experiment to really teach me the consequences of not sticking to the lifestyles I will have chosen. I also want to prove to myself I am stronger than my struggle, I CAN DO THIS. I can stick with something. I can.

Hi folks, I'm another lapsed NF participant jumping back into the fray! Last time I struggled to stay on top of things, but now I'm feeling confident with a good set of achievable goals and a decent battle plan for overcoming expected obstacles. Diet: No more than one proper cuppa (that is, extra strong with milk and three sugars) per day. The ultimate goal here is to reduce my overall love/need for sugar by learning to enjoy less sugary drinks until my go-to cuppa seems just unpleasantly sweet. Track meals every day. Something I've struggled with in the past due to forgetfulness. The plan is to keep my tracking book in the car so I have to update it before I can go anywhere. Fitness: Don't skip a day! I alternate doing academy workouts with missions on Zombies Run. I've have failed this in the past due to my irregular work schedule and just plain forgetfulness, so I will overcome by planning ahead the best time to do my fitness for the day and then ACTUALLY doing it at that time. Complete at least one academy quest every week. I just love ticking off those quests! I've got a lot of minor ones I could easily cross off if I just concentrated on them properly rather than trying to do half a dozen at a time. Life: Daily tidy-up of my side of the bedroom. I tend to just let things get messy and do a big tidy-up when it got out of hand. It was fine when I had a whole bedroom to myself, but since moving in with my darling boyfriend I have less space to make a mess in, so even a small mess is very annoying! Good luck everyone

Last time on the Rebellion I'm back! My last couple challenges were a struggle to get through. I was tired, depressed, and fighting to find a way to come home. My spouse and I were living 3000 miles from home, and desperately trying to figure out work/jobs to make it happen. A miracle dropped out of the sky in March and I moved back home in April. We did it guys! My spouse and I are living in a gorgeous city in Northern Ontario close to our families (3 hours drive) and both have great jobs. I can't begin to express how lucky I feel or how grateful I am that we were able to make the move. The darkness lurking around inside the last couple years from being so fucking homesick all the time is gone. I can see my family and best friends whenever I want, go family camping, canoe with my best friends, and do all the things I desperately missed doing. I still wake up in our apartment thinking that this is all a dream and that its not real. So we made it there and back again! This quest is about coming back again, and finding out what to do next. I have been so focused on getting home the last couple years I was kind of at a loss for what to do next. How to actually make plans and settle down and building a forever home. Main Quest Health, wholeness and healing in body, mind, and spirit. Motivation I will face each day with an open heart, be adventurous in all the ways that piqued my curiosity, have specific long-term goals, and practice kindness and compassion towards myself. I will meet myself where I am with love, compassion, and without judgement. I will celebrate the smallest of successes and be gentle with myself if I fail, focusing instead on learning what works for me. I am a unstoppable, untamed and wild force of nature when I go through life with all of my mind, body and soul. Challenge Aim: Taking some inspiration from Biblo Baggins, who made it there and back again from the Misty Mountains as we ponder the future and what's next for me in the shire! I find it ironic that we know much about Biblo's life during his adventure to Erebor and back, but what happened to him in the time after until Frodo arrives in the LOTR? Now I am not a hobbit (I'm 6'0!!!) and have always related more to the elves in LOTR, but re-read the Hobbit this summer and related to alot of what Biblo was feeling. Feeling inspired for a hobbit challenge! Quest 1: Go Forward? The only thing to do! My fitness level wasn't were it was 6 months ago. I lost my consistency and habit of working out and miss it! My first quest is to complete 3 level 2 bodyweight workouts from the academy a week, for a total of 12 workouts. Quest 2: Party Like Hobbits! My spouse and I are in the midst of a 30 day challenge to fix our eating habits. I got out of control on sugar and junk food this summer and partied like hobbits with too much alcohol! Our challenge is to not eat sugar, chips, chocolate, or alchohol or pop for 30 days. 10 days in, things are going well and I'm working it into my challenge to keep motivated. Quest 3: A Morning to be Good on I have a never ending battle with sleeping in too late and not getting out of bed on time. It's been a struggle for as long as I remember. So this challenge, I'm going to try a tiny habit! On thursdays, I'm not going to sleep in past my alarm or reset it to a later time. Period. Any other day it doesn't matter (yet, will tackle it one day at a time).

Breaking from my DragonAge Challenges to refocus and find a little of what I’ve lost. I used to have a nice foundation and starting point but those have scurried away from me. I also want to find some way to incorporate some of the NF Academy quests into a challenge. I’m sure I can add in some of the mindful stuff in. I contemplated joining the druids this go around but I love the assassins. Going back to basics with quests revolving around the 5 senses. Using some of the information from www.chopra.com/. Plan is to focus on the 5 senses and use them to help me refocus. I have no real idea what I’m doing, so this will be a whole new experience for me. I will make a list of the things I want to accomplish and throughout the challenge I want to complete at least 3 from each sense category. I’ll most likely add more items to the list as the challenge goes on. Wish me Luck! Sight - Remodel HQ Touch - Body Hearing - Music Taste - Balanced Nutrition Smell - Aromatherapy

Off Week Goals: Lost in the Woods Inara: You’re lost in the woods. We all are. Even the captain. The only difference is, he likes it that way. Mal: The only difference is, the woods are the only place I can see a clear path. What’s your business here? - Firefly, Eposide "Serenity" I'm back. Again. And where I am right now is the dead center of the woods. I just finished my EMT-Basic certification class (still waiting to register nationally), and got back from the anime convention I was going to. Since I was focusing on surviving 15 hour days during July and getting my costumes ready for the past two weeks, my life's been left to its own devices. Entropy did its work so I'm mostly at loose ends. Welcome to Respawn number I-stopped-counting-a-long-time-ago-but-here-we-go-again. I'm planning on focusing my challenge on tackling some of the Academy quests, so my off week goals are to get through the housekeeping bits of the Academy and into the meat of the nutrition and fitness quests. But, like I said, this is the woods. I'd been pretty familiar with the Academy, but the recent overhaul added a bunch of new quests (Exciting! Loud noises!) so I have no idea what I'm getting myself into anymore. So I'll be making up my off-week as I go. Day 1 (8/15/16): Mindset Snap those Before Photos - Done! Sent to my accountabilibuddy. Take Your Measurements - I'm taking these first thing in the morning because that seems to be best practice. Find your Big Why - Complete! This got me a Level Up on the Academy. Share your Big Why - Complete! See below. Square away the Galley (not Academy related)- Not today. Had to deal with medication withdrawal so cleaning wasn't a good option. Day 2 (8/16/16): Mindset Take Your Measurements - Complete! Results below. The Art of Goal Setting - Complete! Goals listed below. Start your Epic Quest - Complete! Share your Epic Quest - Complete! <-- Click it!! Day 3 (8/17/16): Mindset I heard about the 12 Week Quest emails for the Academy (which you can get here if you want them) that let you know which quests to do in what order if you'd rather move around between the different modules. It starts with a welcome email so I'll be getting my first mission tomorrow. Gimme The Loot! - Complete! When I square away my apartment by this weekend, I'm going to buy myself a PS3 so I can have friends over for movies and games. Customize Your Batcave - Join the NF Academy Facebook Group - I've been a member for a while, so I just ticked this quest off. Hail the Triceratocracy! Love you, Tricerasisters! [[Ok, I know I disappeared on this one. Super-legit excuse: my Academy account(s, actually, which was the problem) was in flux and I got panicked over whether or not I'd be attending camp. After emailing back and forth with Staci and Noel (the best!!!), my accounts are consolidated and I have access to all the things again. However, my accounts are consolidated under my new email address, which is tied to the account I wasn't using. So I've been rebuilding my Academy presence over the past few days.]]

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