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Wow this new format doesn't leave much time to do a new challenge. Anyway here we go... "What a piece of junk!" - Like the Millenium Falcon and Optimus, I plan to be more than meets the eye by the end of this challenge Goals: - Alcohol max 1 day a week - 1 hour a day of 'exercise' - 4 weeks of Paleo Bonus: - Each day I don't play video games is an extra drinking day. This one is about body transformation, would like to drop another 3kg this challenge. I was going to count calories but I know already that it will just piss me off so I will go full Paleo for 4 weeks. Other important things happening this challenge: - I will sit my Advanced Scuba Diver certificate - I'm getting back to squash - Planning to finally book my dive on the Yongala.

Now that we have prepared for the worst, I'm going to try to avoid it! Last month was my first challenge back and it was clear that I was out of the habit of...well basically everything. I'm stuck at home without a gym membership, which is a new situation for me, so I need to revamp my fitness (and life) habits. Quest 1: Workout 3 times a week. Easy to say, harder to accomplish. Doesn't matter what it is, I just have to get off my butt and do it. Hopefully this will be a MWF thing. Let's get serious [+2 STA] Quest 2: Complete the Bloglates 30 Days to Splits progression. It looks like this challenge is only 26 days, so I'll get started tonight and compress the first few days so hopefully I'm hitting Day 30 on the last day of the challenge. I'm also going to get starting measurements for all my splits this weekend. I'm so jealous whenever I see people do the splits, especially straddle! [+2 DEX] Quest 3: Pushups! I like the progress I saw in this last round, so I'm going to continue this challenge. Week 1 Monday I'm going to start off with 1 pushup, Tuesday I can choose to do 1 again or move up to 2. By Sunday I should be doing 5. Week 2 I'll do 6-10, week 3 11-15, week 4, 16-20. I get one day off a week. I think I'll just document this using a number of days tally and a current number of pushups counter. Gotta work on those pecs! [+2 STR] Quest 4: Alcohol restriction. Same as last time, 7 drinks per week. I need to work harder on building this habit. [+2 CON] Quest 5: Make myself feel pretty! I think I got makeup and dressing like an adult down, but I need to figure out something to do with my hair! Each week I will try a new simple hair style (probably from the freckled fox) and try it at minimum two different days, posting results here. [+1 CHA, +1 WIS] As long as I avoid any of this we should be fine. Bring it on challenge! Stat points added, and for grading I'll just do each week as a Y/N grading, each worth 25% within each quest, I need to get over 60% overall to level up.

“Without change something sleeps inside us, and seldom awakens. The sleeper must awaken.†- Duke Leto Atreides / Frank Herbert (Dune) On the arid world of Arrakis, the Fremen strike without warning and meld into the deserts. They use the environment and it's resources to survive and thrive yet it's harshness carves them into hardy survivors and fierce warriors. The world they live in shapes them. My world is very different and my environment is more forgiving (e.g. no giant sandworms) but it can be used to improve me just the same. My long term goal is to be more and more connected to my environment and let it shape and carve me into a fitter and healthier me. I'll be like the Fremen of Arrakis but in a much, much wetter environment. "Nathair uisce" is Irish for "water snake". I've chosen this moniker as snakes (which of course we don't have in Ireland) are often considered quite low on a scale of animal nobility... but they're still cool (especially with a Solid or Liquid prefix, for all us metalgear solid fans...). And it's water snake because, well, it's Ireland and it's usually raining. I also do a bit of kayaking and occasional camping on the islands of Lough Allen. (I did consider "bogpheist", an archaic Irish term meaning bog worm, but I thought it sounded just a bit too lowly...) I plan to move up the "animal scale" as 4 week challenges are completed So, I'm keeping the challenges simple and straightforward for now. 1: Get to bed before 1:30AM every weeknight. Weeknights are just nights when I have to get up for work/college in the morning. It is subject to change as, e.g. I often have fidays off so thursday night might not always count. 2: Eat some kind of breakfast every weekday morning. Preferably egg based for good healthy protein. 3: Exercise each Monday - full body workout. two sets of: 50 bodyweight Squats 20 incline push ups 20 bent over rows w/20kg kettlebell (each arm) 10 overhead presses w/20kg kettlebell (each arm) 60 second front plank 30 second side plank (each side) 4: Exercise 3 Fridays out of the 4 in the challenge (I'd usually be drinking on a Friday evening, so exercising will provide a dual benefit as the money I might spend on booze will be spent on the gym instead) Precise routine to be determined - will include barbell, sprints and swimming.

Hello all! I'm back! I missed not having my insane assassins around for December, and I kinda failed at keeping a battle log, partially due to moving stuff meaning less exercise happened and partially due to not having the full-on guild camaraderie. And I love me some mini challenges! So I'm getting back to basics with this challenge, and bringing back some quests from past challenges. Also going with a classic theme: Liz Lemon gifs. 1. Some form of exercise 3 days a week, plus 1 day of additional stretching: Ever since moving, I don't have a gym membership and it's cold outside, so I've had excuses to not get up and move. With not having a job, I have tons of time during the day, so I just need to use it well. The exercise sessions should be at least 25min+5min stretching, and the stretching should be 15min. This week I have a friend who I haven't seen in years visiting, so I'm allowing myself to lower it to 2 total sessions this week. 2. Only 7 servings of alcohol a week: Moving again got me into bad habits. Last time I made this goal it was a great reset, so I'm doing it again. I can't think of any exceptions for this month, so I'm being strict with myself. 3. Pushups: These are just so hard for me! I've been working on them for a while, but I lost a lot of gains in the move. But, I did gain a staircase, so I'm using it to get back into it. It will be super easy. Every day I'll do 5 pushups (1 day off a week allowed, just in case I forget). The first week I'll do the pushups with my hands on the 3rd stair, the second week will be the 2nd stair, until the end, when I'm hopefully doing them on the floor! (Subject to change depending on progress.) ^It's sad because it's true. My last push-up was last year. 4. Get a job: No real specific goals on this one, I just need to keep applying. I've had one interview and am working on scheduling another, but I need to not just sit around and wait for results on those. Tracking: Quest 1: 0/3, 0/3, 0/3, 0/3 Quest 1.5: 0/1, 0/1, 0/1, 0/1 Quest 2: 0/7, 0/7, 0/7, 0/7 Quest 3: 0/6, 0/6, 0/6, 0/6 Rewards and scoring to come later, I just wanted to get this up so I didn't miss the start of challenge, since my friend is arriving tomorrow. Happy 2016 everyone! Bring it on!

Over the break I've realised that I lost my balance and focused too much on work the last few months of the year. It's been to the detriment of my health so the first quarter of this year will be a re-focus on the things that are important to me. I'll be re-establishing routines (a highly underrated tool) and putting myself first. Every January I stop drinking for a month and this year is no exception. It might seem a hardship but it's actually a relief to not have to make the decision, it's no thanks for the next 28 days. I have a massive 5 week holiday lined up in July/August, at the moment I'm looking at getting one of those weeks away on a luxury live-abord surf boat in Portugal. I want to be in unbelievable shape for that and will be using it as my motivation over the next 6 months. But 6 months will be done one day at a time starting with this 4 week challenge.... Goals: 1. No alcohol 2. No processed food 3. 1 hour a day of 'exercise' Bonus: Every minute of exercise buys 2 minutes of video game time. Finding an hour a day to do some sort of physical activity will be harder than it sounds but I'll be training twice a week with my coach over the next 4 weeks and have committed to walking the dog at least 4 days a week, that'll be a good start. I'm also hoping to get back to squash but we'll see, I still have a whiplash injury hanging around. Inspiration: What are you waiting for? Are you boring?

Hi everyone! Feel free to read my intro here! I'm Sam and I'm already a year or two into my journey of getting healthy, fit and strong. I've just started ballet classes (done 4 x 45 min classes so far) as an absolute beginner (age 25) and want to use this challenge mainly to get as good as I can as soon as I can, which will make the classes more enjoyable (I'm the only beginner), too. My long term goal is basically to be a stronger, bendier, fitter, healthier version of myself who practises sport because I love it rather than just to stay healthy. I'm also still very much learning how to maintain weight and a good food/drink routine, so I need to keep an eye on that too. As such, my quests are: Quest 1: Do 3 hours of ballet a week, including the 45 minute weekly class. This will allow me to work a lot of stuff out in my own time, and should fit right into my routine. Measurement: A: 3 hours of ballet every week B: 2-3 hours of ballet every week C: 1-2 hours of ballet every week. (+3DEX, +2STR) Quest 2: Keep a battle log. I've never kept one before, so I figure properly tracking my food/drink/exercise will let me know if I need to do anything I'm not doing Measurement: A: Record all food, drink and exercise every day B: Record 6 days a week C: Record 5 days a week (+3 WIS, +1 STA) Quest 3: Stick to my recommended weekly units of alcohol. I love beer and wine and it's a big part of the socialising I do, so I'm reluctant to cut it out entirely now I'm at a healthy weight. As I'm tracking things in my battle log, it should be easy to keep within my limits. Hopefully this'll teach me to abstain in advance if I know I've got a big event, which I will have at least a couple of times during the challenge. Measurement: A: <14 units 6/6 weeks B: <14 units 5/6 weeks C: <14 units 4/6 weeks (+3 CON) Life Quest: Get house looking its best for Xmas I'm a huge procrastinator and my husband is something of a hoarder. We've been living in this house for a year and a half and we still have loads of tasks yet to do to feel properly settled. I'm gonna identify twelve of them I'd like to get through before Xmas. This will all mean I spend less time tidying/cleaning/wondering where on earth everything is: 1) paint bedside cabinets 2) paint chest of drawers 3) clear out all old clothes including underwear 4) scan wanted contents of old notebooks and recycle 5) clean, empty, organise, list items belonging in cupboard under sink 6) clean, empty, organise, list items in cupboard next to the fridge 7) organise wardrobe 8) clean, empty, organise, list items under the bed 9) scan photos from lounge bookcase 10) organise and list living room cupboard contents 11) scan and recycle the contents of a folder 12) scan and recycle the contents of a second folder. Measurement: A: 11 or 12 tasks comple B: 9 or 10 tasks complete C: 7 or 8 tasks complete (+1 WIS +1CHA +1CON)

Obligatory Pre-Challenge Brain-Stuffs: I've had a lot of success over my past few challenges, my last one was a bit of a let down because life threw stuff at me but I still managed to overall improve myself I think. However, while I've seen vast improvements with my health, strength and flexibility, I feel like I haven't been seeing much progress looks wise. And while most of my brain is like who cares you're stronger and awesomer, there's that part of me that is like... but summer is coming (here?) and I'd really like to rock out a bathing suit and not feel super self conscious. I know this is due to my eating. I know I can't outrun my plate. This has been the hugest struggle for me since I started my fitness journey, what I don't do well at more often than not during challenges, and what sets off a domino effect of not hitting my goals. One bad meal can easily turn into skipping a work out in my world, and as many awesome habits I've set through this challenge format eating well is just not one of them. I've tried counting calories, counting macros, counting nothing but eating things that are obviously healthy, I just haven't had the motivation. I think it's because in the past I focus on other habits at the same time. But now I've got my workout habits set basically in stone and I can nix all those other goals that I'll do anyway and this challenge I am going to be 100% focused on what I put into my body. And it's going to be boring. How boring you ask? Let's see. tldr: Raxie needs to eat moar better. Mission 1: Home Cooking I will prepare 6 dinners a week for myself. Only one night of ordering out allowed. Each of these dinners will be made of up of: -1 or more protein -1 or more whole grain or potato -1 or more green veggie side (avocado does not count here, but is a welcome addition to any meal) -NO DAIRY. Dairy makes the tummy have the owies. Grading: +4 CON max. % of weeks met awarded. Mission 2: Salad I will eat a salad every day. EVERY. FREAKIN'. DAY. This can be a side salad if neccessary. Grading: +4 CON max. % of weeks met awarded. Mission 3: Alcohol That's right, kids. Raxie is not going to drink alcohol AT ALL this entire challenge. I have a feeling this actually going to be way easier than putting limits on what I actually drink which has been super difficult for me in social situations in the past. This way I can just hang out with friends and tell them I'm not drinking straight up, instead of having a couple and then trying to convince myself to not or explain why I've switched to water "so early". As a note, this isn't meant to be me giving up alcohol forever, just kind of a detox to my system in this area. Grading: +4 WIS max. % of weeks met awarded. Diet Quest: Snacks So all my missions are diet related anyway, but here's another. Try a new snack each week that will help curb my cheese craving. I think this is a huge problem in my prior attempts, I just told myself I'd have to suck it up during my cravings. This time I will be prepared! Each week I will buy or create a snack that has cheese-like properties to help pre-emptively curb my cheese addiction. Will most likely be mostly nut-type-things. I will post here each week on how well the snack helped (or didn't) in curbing my cravings. If I find something I like I still want to try something new each week so I can have an arsenal of snacks that work by the end of this challenge. Grading: +2 WIS max. % of weeks met awarded. Life Side Quest: Water I've been slacking on the water intake since I rocked out a water challenge 2 challenges ago. Time to start tracking this again and get a handle on it once more. Goal: 100oz/day. Grading: +1 CON max. % of weeks met awarded. Mini Quests: Bye-Weeks Challenge: Quest One: I have been working on crow for the past challenge and a half and I got it at the end of the last one, and now I'm interested in headstands. I know I can do a tripod for a millisecond but I want to work on it some more! I've never really worked on it before though and it hasn't gone along with any of my goals, so I'm gonna try to see what I can do tripod-wise 2 or 3 times before the next challenge. Quest Two: I fell behind on my Zombies, Run! 5K training last challenge and I was hoping to be ~halfway through it by now. I'm going to start over with it, but instead of waiting for the beginning of the next challenge I am going to get week 1 out of the way and do 3 runs next week. Quest Three: Go see a movie! The boyfriend and I LOVE see movies in theatres and we only do it about twice a year, there are a few things playing right now I know we both want to see. So I should make this happen. Oh and also give myself a bath day with a face and hair mask. I try to do this every 4-6 weeks and it's been like 3 months. So two things for quest three. Because yay happies! Ranger Optional Mini Challenge Feats: Endurance Feat - Run/walk drills from Zombies, Run 5K training 2x/weekStrength Feat - OHP 1x50+ lb (right now I'm at 47.5lb) Speed Feat - Hold tripod stand for 10 seconds Combat Feat - Go on a *good* hike with some significant elevation gains. Healing Feat - Meditate 6x/week Rescue Zombie: And I'll also be following along with AlienJenn's Zombie mini challenge too, because why not? Alibi: The last week of this challenge I will be going on vacation with the bf to Alaska, so this challenge will only be 5 weeks long for me. I think I am actually going to start tomorrow (Tuesday) for this so I've still got 6 weeks to form a good habit of need eating like poop.

Alrighty. The Fuckits are absent, time to take advantage of that fact and get some real work done. Focused Study Man in Black: [intrigued] You've done nothing but study swordplay? Inigo Montoya: More pursue than study lately. You see, I cannot find him... it's been twenty years now and I'm starting to lose confidence. I just work for Vizzini to pay the bills. There's not a lot of money in revenge. [after a moments' silence, the Man in Black stands up and prepares to battle] Man in Black: Well I certainly hope you find him someday. Inigo Montoya: You are ready then? Man in Black: Whether I am or not, you've been more than fair. Inigo Montoya: [drawing his sword] You seem a decent fellow... I hate to kill you. Man in Black: You seem a decent fellow... I hate to die. Inigo Montoya: [confidently] Begin. I'm working on a silks routine. Like, REALLY working. As in, this is the routine and I'm not going to change the main skill set/order of skills for two months. Work the routine every week at open gym. Playing with movement and adjusting transitions is allowed required. Assess Progress Vizzini: A word, my lady. We are but poor, lost circus performers. Is there a village nearby? Buttercup: There is nothing nearby... Not for miles. Vizzini: Then there will be no one to hear you scream. Video. At least three over the course of the challenge to show myself how things have progressed. I'll compare these to my last "sequence" video for assessment purposes. I may or may not post them along the way, depending on how I feel progress is going. Hopefully, I'll feel good enough about them to at least post the final one. Straddle Man in Black: Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something. Yep. Still working on these. Trying to get that middle split. Still. Flexy work each week at open gym and at least one other session/week. Careful on the Beverages Man in Black: Really? In that case, I challenge you to a battle of wits. Vizzini: For the princess? [The Man in Black nods] To the death? [He nods] I accept. Man in Black: Good. Then pour the wine. [Vizzini pours the wine, and the Man in Black pulls out a small packet] Inhale this, but do not touch. Vizzini: [sniffs] I smell nothing. Man in Black: What you do not smell is called iocane powder. It is odorless, tasteless, dissolves instantly in liquid, and is among the more deadlier poisons known to man. [He puts the goblets behind his back and, presumably, adds the poison to one of them, then sets them down in front of him] Man in Black: All right. Where is the poison? The battle of wits has begun. It ends when you decide and we both drink, and find out who is right... and who is dead. I have to toss this one in here once in awhile when I start to slide. Alcohol only when it's not a school night.

OK, so last challenge I tracked the heck out of everything, made some tweaks, and had great success. Time to build on that! There are a couple more tweaks I want to make to diet and general health, and then two specific workout moves I want to be able to do for real. So here we go: 1) Don't purchase alcohol to bring home. Last challenge it turned out that it's way easier to not bring alcohol home than it is to not drink it once it's in the house. So I can still have wine with a dinner out, but not at home. Not even on weekends (!) (0 times = A, 1 time = B, 2 times = C, 3 times = D, 4 times = F) [Wis +2, CHA +1] 2) In bed by 10pm (+/5 minutes) In my end-of-challenge summary, I said that sleep wasn't really under my control, since it depends on which kids wake me up in the middle of the night. But there is something I control: when I get into bed. I don't have to be asleep by 10 (that would not really be possible), but I should be in my PJs and in bed at that point--whenever I stay up later it's never to do anything productive, it's usually just playing games and snacking. Both things I could do less of. This won't apply to the two weekends where I'll be at conventions with friends, which will happen twice during the challenge period. Full points if I go over less than 6 times (avg once a week), half points if I'm up too late less than 12 times (twice a week), no points for more than that. [Con +1 STA +1] 3) Prisoner Get-up Yeah, I want to be able to do those, five in a row. The only part of the move I can't do is the full sit-up--if I try, I end up having to kick my legs out to get leverage. Suck. So I'm going to be working hard on sit-up progressions this challenge. I can do crunches and flutter kicks, but not even a single un-assisted sit-up. So every time I have a workout, I'm going to work on moving from crunches to sit-ups. I know I used to be able to do them in college, so I can get back to them. I get full points if I can do 5 of these at the end of the challenge, one less point for each less rep. [sTR +3, DEX +2] 4) Full burpee http://darebee.com/exercises/burpees-exercise.html And I want to be able to do these, at least 5, maybe 10. The issue here is doing the full push-up. Right now I can kinda do four, but they're really shaky. So time to level up! Each workout day, I'll do as many full push-ups as I can, then switch to knee pushups until I can't do those, then inclines. I'll also do incline pushups during my breaks at work. I get full points if I can do 5 of these at the end of the challenge, one less point for each fewer rep. [sTR +3, STA +2] So every day that I get to do a workout, my RipDeck will be loaded this way: Sit-ups (start by trying situps, then move back to crunches) Squats (to help with the squat-jump portion of the burpee) Pushups (start with full pushups, then knees, then inclines) Four-count burpees (without the push-up or jump) All that, combined with maintaining a food log and continuing meditation practice should make some really good progress, both on feeling like a functionally fit person and getting back to my 120lb target weight (currently weighing in at 127). I also picked squats, push-ups, and sit-ups as part of my mini-challenge exercises, so we'll see what my progress gets to be! Looking forward to seeing what everyone does and what the mini-challenge has to offer!

After a successful first 6 week challenge life took hold and now I'm back for round 2! Last time I focused on getting habits started, but now I want to clean up my act. I know I'm not an adventurer but truth is I don't know where I want to be yet so here I am. Main Quest: Diet overhaul At the moment I kind of sorta watch what I eat. I need to buckle down and really focus if I want to get stronger and lose weight. Quest 1: 8:16 Intermittent Fasting. I have pretty much been doing this already, but I can be sloppy. I want to stick with eating for 8 hours, fasting for 16. A= Fast for a total of 672 hours. 112 hours a week. B= 648 total hours. 108 hours a week C= 600 total hours. 100 hours a week Quest 2: Veggies Too often I'll count green beans in tator tot casserole as a veggie. If you know what this is then you will know this is a horrible idea. I'm going to include my old Quest again as eating one bag of frozen veggies everyday. A= 42 bags of veggies. 7 bags a week. B= 36 bags of veggies. 6 bags a week. C= 30 bags of veggies. 5 bags a week. Quest 3: Reduce alcoholic intake This one could go up or down for me. I'm not saying I want to quit drinking, but that for calories, I'd like to reduce it. It seems that when we do have alcohol in the fridge I tend to drink it quite quickly but if we don't I don't miss it. For the pocket book and my own waist's sake it's best to keep it out of the home, I'd still like to know that I can resist over indulging when I don't need to. New Years will probably be the only exception to this Quest. A= 0-1 beers or drinks a week B= 2-3 beers or drinks a week C= 4-5 beers or drinks a week Life Quest: Work towards waking up at 6am every day. I always seem to sleep in and be running late. No More!! I plan to start out by waking up by 7am everyday for one week, then 6:45am the next week and so forth. If I stick to one time for an additional week I feel this is fine as long as I don't go back to how I was the week before. LET'S DO THIS!!!

So I actually made it through my first challenge and it feels great! I learned a lot and am ready to step it up a notch for my second challenge. My overall, long term goal is to avoid putting on weight now that I'm a student again. Being in school is such an easy excuse to fall back on when it comes to getting take out, eating convenient junk foods and skipping workouts because the only thing on my mind when I get out of class is that I have so much studying and homework to do that I couldn't possibly find time to dice up some carrots or go for a jog. Assignments, midterms and finals become overwhelming so quickly, but staying healthy (via clean eating and exercise) is a tried and true way of staying healthy, energized and powering through some of life's biggest obstacles (ex. writing a complete environmental audit report, or studying for water quality, chemistry and hydrology midterms that all happen to fall on the same week). Not to mention (even though so many of us have) the dark and cold weather that has crept up on us up in the North (another excuse already, I know). I must say, I was lucky enough that a lot of my larger due dates were during the 2 week break. I feel a touch guilty taking most of that time off to get ahead in school. This in the long run will give me more time this upcoming challenge to focus on my goals even more and it will help to prevent stress when more due dates and finals start to happen. #1 Fitness goal: 20 push ups in a row. This will be a PR for me, over the years of my on again off again fitness I think I've made it to 16 or 17 solid push ups, at the moment I would have to say (after my 2 weeks off) I'm probably around a solid 6 - 8. In the next 6 weeks I hope to work on building my upper body strength to easily pump out 20 solid pushups in row, no sweat...... well maybe/definitely some sweat. #2 Fitness goal: Get my 5km (treadmill) speed back to 30 minutes. This might be the hardest of my 3 goals, and you haven't even read my 3rd one yet which is also going to be tough, but I'm labeling this one to be my most difficult. I have access to a gym, but it's not the most convenient and I must say, I'm not a fan of the cold icy snowy weather. Getting my speed and endurance back will mean either making time to actually go to the gym or pull out my long-johns and double up my mittens to do some winter jogging. My last jog was approximately 3 to 4 weeks ago. My time was 34 minutes and it was outdoors with a few shallow hills. In 6 weeks while working on my upper body strength, I will also do my best to not skip leg day, this should make this goal difficult but still very attainable. #3 Life goal: Cutting back on alcohol!! Last challenge I cut back on caffeine, only two mugs maximum per day. Very few days I was over, most of the time I was under at only 1 mug. That habit has stuck and I'm proud of myself for cutting back. One thing that tends to increase as a student (for myself at least) is the drinking, there are a lot of times when the class gets together to socialize and have drinks and play board games or go out after exams or after big assignments get completed. My goal will be to consume alcohol only once a week. This means that I can either have a glass of two of wine during a movie before bed on a Tuesday, OR I can go out and get a little crazy on a Saturday, NOT both! and DEFINITELY NOT Friday's and Saturday's. This is going to be tough since the semester will finish just before the end of this challenge, and my friends and family are all very social drinkers. I'm looking forward to this goal because I know it will help to keep my head clear and my energy levels up. It will also make it soo much easier to avoid hangover foods and larger then planned volumes of coffee. I feel that these goals will be challenging and mentally difficult at times, but they are also scaled so that they are still attainable when school starts to get tough. If I make these goals as important as my school work (I mean school is still very important but so are extracurricular life improving goals), there's no way that I wont be able to blow this challenge out of the water..... or, well, out of the snowbank? considering the weather out. May you all be successful in the goals that you've set for yourselves, Cheers...(with my bottle of water)

A couple of months ago I set a weight goal to get under 170 (I was at 185) and for a little over 6 weeks I did strict Paleo, didn't drink and worked out 5 days a week. I got so excited when I stepped on the scale at 169.8 just before Thanksgiving. Then t-day happened (Thanksgiving is a big one for my family) plus my husband's family came to visit and basically LIQUOR. Lots of it... I'm still working out but healthy eating and not drinking went out the window. I think the biggest challenge I've been struggling with lately is liquor. Maybe it's my Irish bloodline but I have a REALLY hard time saying no to a drink. Also, as far as my brain is concerned, alcohol comes in two quantities: none or way too much. There's no such thing as one or two drinks. And while I can't say no to liquor I also don't enjoy it anymore. It wrecks my stomach, makes me feel stupid, and enables bad behavior (like eating shitty food). I'm setting a new weight goal of 165 (I'm back up to 172 right now) and doing the same thing I did before: strict paleo and no drinking. I know I can do it in the short term because I've done it before, however, I'm a little worried about what comes after that. Any suggestions on sustaining a long-term approach to becoming a non-drinker?

I know zombies are really fashionable these days, but the thing is, I want to KILL zombies, not be one. And I've been a zombie lately. So the theme of this challenge is going to be mindfulness. Awareness. Intentionality. Whatever you want to call it, my goal is to pay attention to what I am doing. For you see, the level of backsliding and self-sabotage I have achieved in the last couple months is only possible if you really try to ignore what you're doing. Sure, you'll come out of the fog occasionally - just long enough for a little self-loathing; enough to remind you why you're ignoring yourself and start the cycle anew. Well, ENOUGH! The fog ain't a fun place to hang out in (it's cold, damp, and the view sucks) and beating yourself up is neither effective nor pleasant. So I shall force myself to be aware of the choices I am making, and with that awareness will come the incentive I need to improve said choices. And I'm choosing a theme that makes me happy, no deeper meaning Goal One: PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT YOU'RE PUTTING IN YOUR MOUTH! +3CON +2CHA This one is two-fold. Part A: Track all food in MFP. Pretty straightforward. 7 possible points per week Part B: Mindful Eating. Stop what you're doing (No TV, internet, books or phone). Conversation is acceptable. Experience the food I'm eating. Savour it. Consider the nourishment. I'm going to aim for one meal per day of this, because I know it's going to be effing hard (I've tried before) and I will hate it a little bit. But I'm positive it will be good for me, so there. 7 possible points per week. Subject to re-eval. Goal Two: PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR BODY! 2STR +2STA +1DEX And the easiest way to do that is to use it. Appreciate it. Let it get stronger. 2 Kettlebell workouts per week 1 additional form of movement per week, min 1/2 hour. This doesn't need to be an all-out effort, but something that gets me active and appreciating the things my body can do. Yoga and walking are coming to mind, but anything active is fine. Even a third KB workout, if I want to. 3 possible points per week. Goal Three: PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR MENTAL STATE! +3WIS There are no physical impediments to me accomplishing all of the above. All obstacles are mental. So I need to take care of my mind in order to be successful. I'll be honest, I'm not 100% certain how I want to approach this, so I think I'm going to leave it a little unstructured. My intention is to pick a strategy/activity/approach at the beginning of each week, and try it out. I will report back at each weekly wrap up to say how it went, whether it helped with stress/to build calmness etc. and decide whether to keep it in my arsenal or try something else. 2 possible points per week - one point for technically trying something, and another for giving it a full effort. Life Goal: EMBRACE YOUR SOBER SELF! +1CON +1CHA Well, it's kind of a diet goal too, and a mental goal, and about my body. All-encompassing. I am going to do a 30 day no-alcohol challenge. Not that I have a drinking problem, per se. But based on past experience, I know that I actually do feel better when I am totally sober. Over the course of the summer, beer has become a bit of a fixture, and an after-work drink has snuck back into the routine. But it's calories I don't need, it's expensive, and it's not a very good stress management technique in the long run. So the challenge will start Sept 15th. We'll see how I feel 30 days after that - it may get extended for the whole challenge. 7 possible points per week. Well. here goes! Let's do this thing, my nerdly friends!

I was just wondering if anyone knew anything about the effects of alcohol on weight and muscle building? Will it cause weight gain (fat) or affect my muscle building if I drink? To what degree? Say, how about a glass of wine 4x a week?

jtggodqos - detox Main Quest ultimately, I will achieve a body weight of 130lbs and a body fat percentage under 25. Goals Exercise: I vow to adhere to the following workout plan every day, with the rare exception.Mon, Wed, Fri: upper body (bench press, military press, seated row, bicep curl, tricep curl, lat pulldown)Tue, Thu, Sat/Sun: lower body (calf raises, squats, lunges)Diet: I vow to refrain from consuming more than 1700 clean kcal every day, with the rare exception.Alcohol: I vow to refrain from purchasing any alcohol, with the rare exception.Positivity: I vow to post one positive thing every day. My Motivation I vow to adhere to the above requirements, because I'm fucking sick of how I look, and I'm tired of this Depression.healthy eating and regular exercise are good for the body, alcohol is not; and positivity is good for the soul. Notes the "with the rare exception" clause must be validated by Brian -- if he deems it acceptable, then I can invoke it. this ensures I don't let myself "cheat" too much.I must input every day's progress on both my spreadsheet AND my NerdFitness thread. this ensures accountability. Alcohol Notes I'm going to look into going to weekly AA meetings.I am already permitted to purchase alcohol on the following days:Friday, August 1 - Monday, August 9 (MechaCon in New Orleans)Friday, August 8 (for the next day's TMNT party)Saturday, August 16 (long-planned Gurlz Nite Out)if Brian and I go out to dinner Links spreadsheetMyFitnessPalFitbitFitocracymy blog

So, random question to the peanut gallery, about the uncomfortable question of drinking. I'm not an alcoholic, but I do have an obsession with craft beer. I am way overweight and I know I need to cut it down. Right now, I only drink on the weekends (and that is a significant reduction from my habits of even a year ago). I never get drunk anymore as, at 31, it's no fun and I know that was a struggle in the past. Have any of you gone from being a regular drinker to cutting out completely? I did it for Lent but, as I said, I adore craft beer and thus went right back to it. My untappd account is like a British Writer's diet book. If you cut out beer specifically, did you find switching to organic wine or whiskey worked? And please, be blunt. Again, I'm not an alcoholic, but am familiar enough with that condition that I know I probably sound like one from time to time. I feel like I also need to admit, for full disclosure, that I do have a pretty severe case of unipolar depression and, in the past, my drinking was one way to cope and so was overeating. I do have a feeling that I still use beer to cope, even if I drink far less. Cheers, Zod, aka Michael

G'day folks, it's almost July again, that time of year when I go alcohol free for a month to raise funds for Cancer Care units in hospitals. This is a pretty straight forward PVP, but not as easy as it looks The PVP challenge: No alcohol for the whole of July. Entry conditions: There's no official entry fee but I'd encourage a minimum $2 donation to the Dry July charity, I've registered here: https://au.dryjuly.com/profile/nfdryjuly you can even start your own page or we can make a team on mine Exceptions: Got a special occassion on in July? You can buy a golden ticket for $25 to get a pass to have alcohol for a day. Who's with me?

jtggodqos - go bigger Main Quest ultimately, I will achieve a body weight of 130lbs and a body fat percentage under 25.Goals Exercise: I vow to adhere to the following workout plan every day, with the rare exception.Mon, Wed, Fri: upper body (bench press, military press, seated row, bicep curl, sometimes tricep curl, lat pulldown)Tue, Thu, Sat/Sun: lower body (calf raise, squat, sometimes lunge)Diet: I vow to consume no more than 1700 kcal every day, with the rare exception.Alcohol: I vow to drink only socially; no more solo drinking, with the rare exception.Writing: I vow to work on either of my novels at least 30 minutes every weekday, with the rare exception.My Motivation I vow to adhere to the above requirements, because I'm fucking sick of how I look, and I'm tired of this Depression.healthy eating and regular exercise are good for the body, alcohol is not; and writing is good for the soul.Notes the "with the rare exception" clause must be validated by Brian -- if he deems it acceptable, then I can evoke it. this ensures I don't let myself "cheat" too much.I must input every day's progress on both my spreadsheet AND my NerdFitness thread. this ensures accountability.Links spreadsheetMyFitnessPalFitbitFitocracy Numbers Date: 06-05-14Weight: 167.0 lbsBody Fat: 38.4%BMI: 27.0Lean: 102.9 lbsFat: 64.1 lbs (my goal is lose 40 of these)Neck: 34.0 cmBicep: 30.5 cmForearm: 26.5 cmChest: 93.5 cmWaist: 95.5 cm (ew...)Hips: 105.0 cm ("Shamu hips", as my dad always called them)Thigh: 63.0 cmCalf: 38.5 cm Total Scores Week Zero: 1/26Week One:Week Two:Week Three:Week Four:Week Five:Week Six:Total:

So I went out on Saturday night and I'm actually quite proud of myself. We'd gone to the pub for dinner. I wasn't too concerned about what to eat as I'd done pretty well throughout the week but I knew that I had to watch what I drank. I'd gone for 'one' drink after work on Thursday and 5 or 6 large glasses of wine later I was stumbling home. Not good. I think I had an epiphany and realised that I don't like being drunk. I hate not being able to see straight or be in control of my own body. So Saturday night I drank 2 single amaretto and lemonades in the pub. One before dinner and one with dinner. Then we moved onto another bar while we waited for a friend and I ordered a lemonade. Possibly the first time I have ever ordered a non-alcoholic drink in a bar. We did move on to another place after that where I had a pint of cider but then the rest of the night I drank water. I'm pretty damn pleased, especially as my boyfriend definitely had more than just 4 drinks. I was also pleased that it meant I could wake up early and head to the gym while he was sleeping off his hangover. Woot!

so. yeah. um. I guess it's like, what, week five or so? and I still haven't made a Challenge Thread? ugh. Brian said I needed to come back here. he said that the support and motivation I got from my fellow Rebels made a difference. trying to do this on my own isn't working. so here I am. I'm back. it's just going to be really hard to balance keeping up with y'all's posts, do a 40hr week job, attend grad school, volunteer with Frontier Girls, workout every day, eat healthy everday, role play, and still have a social life. :/ but I'm gonna try. jtggodqos - hopeless Main Quest I vow to return to a healthy lifestyle, incorporating good eating habits and exercise into most every day. Goals Exercise: I vow play adhere to the following workout plan every day, with the rare exception.Mon, Wed, Fri (after work): DDR, 3 setsTue (before work), Thu (after work), Sun (after church): weights, 2 sets of 10 (bench press, military press, seated row, bicep curl, tricep curl)Sat: rest (extra sleep is encouraged)Diet: I vow to follow an altered paleo every day, with the rare exception.Alcohol: I vow to not drink on the following days, with the rare exception: Monday, Wednesday, and Sunday. Side Quests Minis: I vow to at least consider the Mini Quests each time, though I am not required to participate. My Motivation I vow to adhere to the above requirements, because I'm fucking sick of how I look, and I'm tired of this Depression.healthy eating and regular exercise are good for the body, and my alcoholism is good for nothing. Notes the "with the rare exception" clause must be validated by Brian -- if he deems it acceptable, then I can evoke it. this ensures I don't let myself "cheat" too much.I must input every day's progress on both my spreadsheet AND my NerdFitness thread. this ensures accountability. Links spreadsheetMyFitnessPalFitbitFitocracy

here.we.go. Main Quest: Decrease Body Fat % from 24% to 18%. Challenge Numero Uno: Drink at least 64oz of water a day and only consume alcohol 2 days a week. Challenge Numero Dos: Eat strictly Paleo 5 days a week. Challenge Numero Tres: Only 3 cheat items (non-paleo, alcohol) a week. Life Quest: Pay off car credit card. Motivation: To be comfortable in a bathing suit. To see my friends faces when they see how fit I am at the wedding this summer. To stay fit post collegiate soccer. To prove to myself that I am more than a soccer player. To be able to beat the guys in co-ed sports.

Hello everyone This is my second challenge, and I'm ready to kick my butt into gear again. My goal last time was to lose weight, however I weighed exactly the same at the end of the challenge as at the beginning. I'm not overweight, but I have a stubborn 10 lbs. I would like to get rid of. I tend to gain a few lbs, and lose a few lbs, but my body has decided that it likes being at 142 and I'd like to shift that number downward. Last challenge, I made amazing strides in consistency and gaining a sense of groundedness through cultivating a regular meditation practice and exercising regularly. Since the holidays, I have gained a few pounds and would like to start this year off with laser-sharp focus and clear intentions, while also being compassionate and patient with myself throughout the journey. My goal weight is 134 lbs. 1. Become a Paleo Princess - CON + 3 I want to be hardcore about the Paleo lifestyle, and that means eating 80% Paleo 5 days/week. Last challenge, I would totally give myself credit if I was closer to 65% Paleo that day. This time, I want to be extremely honest with myself in order to encourage myself to make the best possible choices throughout the day. Last challenge, I was hoping that the Paleo diet alone would gently shift my weight, but in order to have a better chance of success I've decided to count calories this time, with a net calorie goal of 1300/day. 2. Regular Workouts - DEX +1, STR + 1, STA + 1 My goal is to work out 6 days/week for 1 hr+ each day. I have tons and tons of options as far as workouts go, including Brazil Butt Lift, Zumba, yogaglo.com, fitnessblender.com, etc. I just have to be sure to do it! I will also be using a heart rate monitor to see how many calories I burn during the workouts so I have an accurate sense of my net calories. 3. Regular Meditation - WIS +2, CHA +1 My goal is to meditate 10 minutes/day, 5 days/week. I've been using yogaglo.com for short guided meditations, and I've also been really into these Middle Earth meditations on youtube. I gradually worked my way up to 5 days/week last challenge, and by the end I was able to sit for much longer than 10 minutes, and it felt amazing. I'm really looking forward to continuing to connect with myself in this way and help me manage my stress and anxiety proactively. 4. Alcohol Moderation - CON +2, WIS +2 This one is so crucial. All of my goals end up being intertwined and inevitably affecting one another, but none so obviously as this one. When I overindulge, it often means that my workout, diet, and meditation goals for the next day or two are totally blown. I suspect that drinking is throwing a giant monkey wrench in my weight loss goals. Last challenge, I was only keeping track of Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, but I noticed that I was drinking more throughout the week than I had been in the past year. This challenge, I am going to keep track of every day. My goal is to have no more than 2 drinks from Monday through Thursday, no more than 4 drinks Friday, no more than 5 on Saturday, and no more than 3 on Sunday. Ideally, I would like to drink less than this, extra credit points if I do lol. 5. Chocolate Moderation - WIS +1 I am a chocolate monster! If left unchecked, I will eat whole boxes at a time! Trying to quit chocolate has not worked though, and only made the inner beast more ferocious! Because of this, I'm going to eat no more than 2 squares/pieces of chocolate (totaling no more than roughly 100 calories) each day, and be really mindful and grateful of it instead of wolfing it down greedily. 6. Wake Up Early - WIS +1 During the last challenge, I did a boot camp Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays from 6:30-7:30am for 6 weeks. And it was freaking COLD!!! To get there at 6:30am I was waking up at 5:45am, so I shouldn't have too much of a problem waking up by 6:15am Monday-Friday. That's my goal! That'll give me about an hour to work out or meditate in the morning, and then I can squeeze in whatever is left over in the evening. Through this challenge and always, I'm hoping to cultivate a stronger mind-body-spirit connection. In the past, trying to "control" my diet and fitness has turned me into a mean-spirited drill sergeant with myself (which has often led to rebelling against myself). This time, I want to create an internal shift in which I am doing these things because I choose to, because I want to, because it makes me happier and healthier and stronger. And I know there are going to be times that I want to skip a workout or eat a quesadilla and it will be hard. But I'm going to hold firm because I know that there is another part of me, a part I am trying to align with more fully, that's on the path to becoming a bad-ass, magical druid that doesn't back down from challenges when things get tough! Best of luck to all of you in your challenges!!!

Ok, so, I drink either wine or beer (never liquor, as it makes me violent) and the two beverages of choice are always either Franzia's (boxed wine) Chillable Red/White Zinfandel or Coors Light (12oz). When I'm looking to free up calories for my diet but still get drunk (as my angry days very often make me wont to do) I go for the wine. I've had to justify this choice to a few people in my shop, and since I went through the effort of actually doing math calculations for them I thought I'd share it on NF. Just so the other angry people who are watching their caloric intakes while still drinking know that they're not, in any sense, alone. FCR/WZ (Franzia's Chillable Red, as well as their White Zinfandel) both = 105 calories per 5oz serving. I am not fancy, and have no wine glasses, so I have a tendency to just use the same 12oz glass I pour my Coors Light in. So: 12oz of FCR/WZ = 2 x 105 c + (105 / [12 / 5]) 12oz of FCR/WZ = 2 x 105 c + (105 / [2.4]) 12oz of FCR/WZ = 2 x 105 c + (43.75) 12oz of FCR/WZ = 210 c + (43.75) 12oz of FCR/WZ = 253.75 c Now: CL (Coors Light) = 102 calories per 12oz serving. This automatically appears to indicate that CL < FCR/WZ calorie-wise. But that's only accounting for one 12oz alcoholic beverage, and after an ANGRY day at the office, just one ain't gonna cut it - no, no, my friend: I am out to get nice and drunk! This is where the ABV (alcohol by volume) factor comes into play. Anything from a 6-pack and a half, to a 12-pack of CL will get me to the perfect point of inebriation (a bit wobbly and very sleepy, but not stupid or sick). FCR/WZ, on the other hand, only requires 3 of those 12oz glasses to see me to bed. That's because the CL ABV = 4.2%, while the FCR/WZ ABV = 9-13%. So: FCR/WZ 235.75 c x 3 = 707.25 c versus CL 102 c x 9 = 918 c CL 102 c x 12 = 1224 c Both beverages mean I have to skip a meal (usually by lunch I have determined whether I'll be drinking to excess come the evening, so lunch is the meal to be skipped), but while I can have the wine and not go over 1500 c for the day's total.... yeah, there's no way I can reconcile the beer. Of course, on a normal day that doesn't drive me to the brink of homicide, one or two glasses of beer is calorically acceptable, whereas the same could not be said of the wine. And THIS is how I know I'm a nerd.

it had been several months that James was in the bunker with the other zombie outbreak survivalists. by this point, she had acquired a set of duties and shifts. she was just another one of the workers, holding a normal work week. I'm going to try looking at things a week at a time, instead of day-to-day. as such, my goals are all designed for a week-set. FITNESS: bike 5 times a week ideally, I'll bike in the mornings before work. GRADING: A= 5x B= 4x C= 3x D= 2x F= 1x, 0x DIET: 11,200 cal a week that's an last Challenge's average of 1600 calories a day. GRADING: A= 11,200 cal B= 11,900 cal C= 12,600 cal D= 13,300 cal F= 14,000 cal LIFE: alcohol 3 a week drink only thrice a week. no half points for drinking the correct amount this time around, as that fucked up scoring. GRADING: A= 4x B= 3x C= 2x D= 1x F= 0x LIFE: reading 5 hours a week I can read all in one day, or spread it out over several days. only novels and such count. no cheating and using websites, blogs, etc. GRADING: A= 5x B= 4x C= 3x D= 2x F= 1x; 0x BONUS: no snooze alarming I don't want to be hitting the snooze alarm at all. this is just an easy bonus point I can pick up. hopefully it won't be all that difficult. and hopefully it'll make biking in the mornings easier. GRADING: A= 7x B= 6x, 5x C= 4x, 3x D= 2x, 1x F= 0x NUMBERS: I want to do a weekly check-in Weight: 156.6 lbs Body Fat: 27.2% Neck: 32.5 cm Bicep: 29.0 cm Forearm: 25.5 cm Waist: 89.0 cm Hips: 106.0 cm Thigh: 63.0 cm Calf: 38.5 cm

Hi folks, this is a simple 2 week PVP. No alcohol for 14 days, that's the last 2 weeks of this challenge. Starting 1 July (tomorrow) I typically do this between 1 and 3 months of the year. January, then Dry July then Sober October. I find it helps with weight management, which I need to keep my eye on at the moment. Likely I will go the whole of July but the PVP is only for 14 days. Anybody willing to take it on?