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First NF Sydney meetup of 2015: Venue: Burger Project, World Square, 644 George St, Sydney Date: 19th Feb 2015 Time: 6.30pm Everyone welcome, especially those who haven't been to a meetup before. Expect laid back chat and a welcoming atmosphere Confirmed so far: @barefootdawsy @yuen @endor

Hey. Are there any aussies doing the anytime fitness challenge beginning next week or the week after? I am doing it and just wondered if there was anyone else out there doing it?? Be good to follow each others progress.

G'day! A West-Aussie here, and massive metal-head (I endeavour to name each of my challenges after a metal band) and most certainly a nerd. I recently finished my Bachelor of Games Design and am looking forward to paving a career in video game development. I do love my movies (every sort) and my books (I will admit I haven't and don't read alot, but it is one of the things that I really wish I did) and table-top gaming is a big favourite of mine. I have lost about 20kg(~45lbs) over the last year, and am ultimately looking to lose that amount again over the next year, which is certainly negotiable as I would like to put some more muscle on, which would offset some of that weight. I discovered this wonderful community a couple of years ago, thanks to my sister Rachy87. Last year I was rather absent from the community, but I still pushed myself ahead and lost that 20kg. This year I want to be more involved, more focused and go that extra distance. At the age of 25 now, I have weight to lose and muscle to gain. These are my current goals and aim at getting my health in check. Later down the road I will look to strength, speed and aesthetic goals, but health is more important at the moment. I am still in Act I right now! Current Stats: H: 182cm (6"0') W: 90kg (200lbs) (I always do my best to include conversions, because I know that there are many fellow Rebels that are used to different units, but always keep in mind that these are rough conversions I do mentally) I bought a FitBit last year, and it's tracking certainly held me accountable for what I was doing, and as a gamer I was determined to keep getting better and earning those badges! I will incorporate my FitBit and it's tracking into my goals where appropriate and possible. Right now I have back issues, this is related to my pelvis tilt/spine curvature, and am fixing this with regular visits to the physio. I have mostly sorted this now, but I am still in pain everyday. The reason I mention this is because it will effect my goals and how I go about achieving them. Health is the priority, so goals will be down-tuned as necessitated. Main Quest: A Funeral Mist It feels as though years ago I cast off on a journey to escape Sodom, pass through the badlands and descend into the caverns of hell and further onwards to the cesspools of the deepest corners of Hell. A hard earned and tiresome journey it felt. And yet it was just my mind casting off and dreaming about it. As of late I have been doing some real travelling, been truly trying hard and have been looking to escape these walls. A funeral mist now lays upon those thoughts of escape, as I now realise the true journey ahead of me. My mind reborn into the present, I seek to pave the way out of here, and truly pass over the badlands, this time not some fantasy or dream. My pained back being the most likely source of contention out of here, an injury too easily sustained in this madhouse we call Sodom. But still taking the reigns for myself and trying my hand at a better existence is a true testament to my will and conviction. I think back to those dreams of the caverns and what felt like a dragon's force pushing me forward, this is what keeps me going and looking for a way out of here. This place is mayhem and I seek to escape it soon. I just need to get my footing and I will be out of here... Main Quest Objective Alpha: A Brick in the Wall I must journey through this city and find any gap in the walls, any lapse in the guard, any possible way out of here. Something I can aim for to escape. I will walk up and down these walls until I find it. Walking is the main focus of this goal. Keeping my fitness up while my back is injured is hard, but walking is good for it, and it helped me lose 20kg already. I can't walk for long periods of time, but if I aim to lots of shorter periods each day I can get there. I feel it might become complicated trying to track this intricately as I need to start and stop walking and sitting so much at the moment. So I think aiming for a step count on the FitBit is appropriate here. A: 9,000+ Average steps a day over the challenge period - the recommendation is 10,000 but I don't want to be needlessly pushing myself if it will make my back worse B: 7,000-8,999 Average steps a day - 7k is my current daily goal for my fit bit, so if I get it to go off every day, I know I will get a B on this one for sure C: 5,000-6,999 Average steps a day D: 3,500-4,999 Average steps a day - my current daily average is just below 3.5k, and I consider a D a less than average grade, so I feel this suits for making at least a small improvement F: <3,500 Average steps a day - this means I am actively doing less than I am now, which is the opposite of progress! Main Quest Objective Beta: Not the Rack My back causes me great pain throughout the days of searching for a way out, but I quarrel not, for it is not as though I had to suffer the rack, like many that live here. Although part of me wonders if a short time on it might just fix the issue, without going too extreme of course. As has been, and will continue to be, said, my back is causing me problems at the moment, and caused stagnation in my weight loss and fitness gain. It is under control and I have plenty of exercises to help with the pain, and to also help the problem. I am rather particular about making sure I get them done, but I am still a bit lax, and with going for a job interview today, there is a greater chance of me being distracted from doing them. So I want to spend this time focusing on getting all the exercises done every day. A: Don't miss a single day for my exercises AND do at least 2x the reps for each exercise - doing extra reps has been encouraged, and I generally do try to at least twice as much, so I feel confident about this one B: Don't miss more than 1 day over the whole challenge C: Don't miss any days during 3 or more weeks of the challenge (i.e. if I miss a single day, once a week for 3 of the weeks, it will count as a C) D: At least one full week, and no more than a total of 7 days missed over the whole challenge F: Anything outside of the D requirements Main Quest Objective Gamma: The Oncoming Thirst If there is one thing I know of the badlands, especially from my dreams before the funeral mist of my dream-self, is that it is hot and dry, and little water can be found out there. I must stock up if I am to travel to the obsidian gates. Dying of dehydration is a real threat, and a feeble way to go when I am trying so hard to escape this place. I have been getting lax in my water consumption, and in this Aussie heat you really notice it. I need to get back to a proper daily routine of drinking water, I won't lie you do feel better when you keep your fluids up (and when they aren't sugary fluids!). A: Average of 2.5L a day over this challenge - it is January and this is WA and I am expecting to get back into a fitness routine... ...if anything this may even be a bit low, but I think it foolish to consume too much B: Average of 2.1L a day C: Average of 1.8L a day - not quite to daily recommended average of 8 glasses, but a massive improvement and undoubtedly a great benchmark D: Average of 1.5L a day F: 3 or more days with less than 0.5L of water - this can fail me from an A. The point of this quest is consistency and habit, not just drinking big to make up the average Life Quest Objective: Knowledge is Power, Talk is Cheap If I am ever to get out of this place I am going to need the eyes and ears of others. But I will also need to ensure I know who I can talk to and when I can talk to them. I need everyone's knowledge, and to get that, conspicuously or not, I must talk to them. The more I chat, the more I will learn, and the better my chance at making it out of here. The more I learn about outside will be important too. I need to know what is really out there, and how to overcome what I find. Confidence is something I have always struggled with, and the desire to entire a career such as game development, especially as an indie developer, means I need to network. To network I need to talk. So I think for this challenge this will be my life goal. Communication, especially with people I don't know, don't know well, or haven't communicated with in a long time. Even it is a small amount, or even an un-reciprocated attempt on my behalf, it is something and it will work towards my confidence and ability to network. A: Small talk with someone I normally wouldn't 4+ times a week, every week B: Small talk with someone I normally wouldn't on average 2+ times a week C: Small talk with someone I normally wouldn't on average once a week D: Small talk with someone I normally wouldn't at least twice over the whole challenge F: One person over the whole challenge might be one person that I choose because I know they won't engage or some other excuse, 2 or more (for a D) means I am at least trying Time to start the real journey! The last 4 chapters were just a dream, not comes the real deal. Thanks for reading, thanks for any replies you leave, and good luck to all of you taking on challenges yourself! Cheers, -Radact

Hi guys, Time for our 3rd meetup (this year) in beautiful Sydney, Australia, home of many more meetups than Melbourne ever manage Everyone is welcome to attend. Date: Tuesday 12th August Time: 6:30pm Venue: Hurricane's Grill, Darling Harbor Confirmed so far: Endor, Yuen, BarefootDawsy Witness the marvel of our very own HufflePuff Warrior @Yuen eating a whole cow and 2 sets of pork ribs! Witness the majesty of the fabled scout leader @BarefootDawsy running away from a plate of prawns in sheer terror But most of all come and enjoy some good food and the company of fellow Nerds for an evening. Hope to see you there. @suguru

Howdy! Big metalhead here (which is where I get the inspiration for my challenge titles from \m/ ), hailing from West-'straya I am currently studying games design and looking for a career in the video game industry. Having gone from an extremely active childhood, to an extremely chillaxed adulthood, it would be a lie if I didn't say I have some weight to lose. I carry most of it in my rum-belly, which as far as I know, is one of the unhealthiest ways to carry weight. I used to play footy (AFL) and spent a little bit of time in the gym focusing on general strength. Having reached the ripe age of 24 exactly one week ago, my focus is on getting my health back in check, rather than purely cosmetic goals. With a good 20 odd kilos to lose, this is really the prime focus for me. Drop the weight and get fit, as these are two very different things, and I understand that, but they are both important to be as healthy as possible. I would like to focus on my strength at the same time, as it is something I would like to get back, after years of pushing keys rather than weights. Current Stats: H: 6'00" W: 105kg BF: ~33% MAIN QUEST: RISE SON OF SODOM Chapter 4: Mayhem within the Trinity I know very little of the time I have spent here of late. Hellspawn overwhelmed me again, and left me here to rot. I still remember travelling from Sodom, through the outlands and battling my way down the tunnels into the outer cesspools of Hell. The large obsidian gates were a sight to see and that memory certainly has not faded from my mind. But the long string of battles and skirmishes I had as I descended those tunnels has blurred into one blurred, sprawling mess. I let the rabble of this shadowed halls get the best of me, but I have pulled a second wind and must dust myself off, find some food, something to drink, a way to traverse this unlit tunnels and ultimately reach those cesspools. My journey was staggered and pulled to a halt, but it has not come to an end. Their voices linger against these barren walls, and their stories lay locked within the brimstone itself. From what I have gathered there is a trio of Hellspawn rabble that call themselves the Trinity. They keep the weaker beasts of these tunnels in line. It sounds as though they control them with an iron fist and an image of strength, inciting fear within those scattered out here. However there is another story that seems to line these walls. It sounds as though the three of them have gotten into squabbles over who should look after what artifacts, loot, food and who gets first go at unsuspecting wanderers of this place. These stories are old and newer stories seem to layer on slower and slower. When they do they tell a tale of increased decay and hate between the Trinity, and although they still reign over this place, some of the other rabble are whispering rumours of a desire to try and over-throw them. I see no need to get involved with the politics of the bottom feeders, but maybe taking out the trio will give me a better chance at escaping this place and reaching those outer cesspools. Maps, artifacts, tools and less resistance would all be beneficial to me now, weak and on the back foot. I fell off the trail with the last challenge and I didn't participate in 3 challenges since then (I think it was 3...). I do want to change my lifestyle and get my health in check. I want to continue to be involved in the NF community. I apologise for my absence from NF, and I hope to get back into the rhythm of things again with this challenge. I have really put myself on the back foot since I stopped my participation with the NF community and I am looking forward to getting back on the road to a healthier future. I haven't been focusing on or maintaining my fitness, so this challenge I will go back to basics and really try to get into real, hard-set habits. Food and water consumption, cardio workouts, weights workouts and trying to reduce my weight will be the main focus here and now. The reason behind including the word trinity in the title for this quest is because I want to focus on setting up the foundations to getting healthy and maintaining habits, and I want to represent this by being successful and even just partaking in 3 consecutive 6 week challenges and building them on top of one another. A want to focus on a more long term attempt, and I think 3 is a good number to do this. MAIN QUEST OBJECTIVE KAPPA: FEAST ON THE CADAVERS OF THE WEAK I am weak, disoriented and running off the back foot. I need to eat and drink, and the only way to do that in these desolate halls of barren brimstone is kill the Hellspawn and to feed off them. Their blood will restore the power I have lost over these passed... However long it has been. I must find and defeat at least a couple of these rabble in order to restore myself to health and carry on with my journey. If I am to take on any of the Trinity, I will need my strength and power at full force. Watching what I eat and drink is, I think, one of the most integral things in getting healthy. I have been good ever since I first started here on NF, and have almost completely foregone with the large consumption of energy drinks I once used to consume. However I could wrangle in my consumption a bit more. Food is the most important aspect here, and it is definitely something I could improve on. I don't frequently eat excessive amounts of food, or unnecessarily unhealthy foods, but I do every now and again, and if I can get this in line I should be able to make things easier in the losing of weight department. I also feel that observing, monitoring and reflecting on everything I intake is good way to understand myself, my body, my habits and my health. -Every day I will give myself a grade out of 5 for how healthy and appropriately portioned the meals are that I have. -Every day I will give myself a grade out of 5 for how much water I have consumed, offset by any unhealthy beverages I have during the day -Every week I will give myself a grade out of 15 for how appropriately timed my meals were. This is to do with the fact that I often (97-99% of the time) skip breakfast altogether and/or sometimes have a late lunch. This gives me a score out of 500 (510 to be exact), which is a good way to gauge, monitor and reflect on how I am eating and drinking every day. A: 425+ (4.2/5 every day for both water and meals and 12.0/15 every week for meal timing as a minimum to get this grade) B: 385+ C: 350+ (3.4/5 every day and 10.8 weekly as a minimum) D: 290+ F: <290 (2.8/5 every day and 9.2 weekly or less is a fail) Water Scoring: 1.0L = 0; 2.0L = 5; :. Every 1/5 is equal to 200ml over 1 litre. Probably the simplest scoring for my water intake I have done so far, and I like it Soft drinks will deduct from my score of water by 50% of the amount I consume, i.e. a 375ml can of coke would reduce that days score by ~200ml. This is because I personally feel that these sorts of drinks are quite dehydrating and I should have a least 1 glass of water just to counteract them. Energy drinks will deduct at a rate of 100%. So a 500ml can would reduce the daily score by 500ml, as the caffeine in this is much more dehydrating. Alcoholic beverages will be the same as energy drinks. I don't have a lot of these beverages so it isn't going to be a hard thing to monitor and score and everything like that. I have gotten into the habit when I am at gigs, where I have 2 rums then 2 waters, 2 rums then 2 waters, etc etc, throughout the night. So, as long as I stay with that (which I should now, it is a habit I have been building for probably a year now), I can just disregard the alcohol and water from any gig night. This may sound like it will complicate things, but as I said, softies and energy drinks aren't things that I have often, and given that I will just ignore what I drink at gigs, there will be very little adjustments I will have to make along the way. MAIN QUEST OBJECTIVE LAMBDA: RACING THE SHADOWS These tunnels are blacker than I remember. Being disoriented certainly doesn't help either. The blast of fire through the tunnels cast strange shadows and create illusions on every turn. The stories that have filtered into these walls can only lead me so far, and describe where I might find one of the trinity, however to get out of here and bridge the gaps I will have to follow the light of the burning wreaths and race the shadows that follow them. Cardio. It is important and I don't partake in this sort of exercise anywhere near enough. I am about to go back to uni, however I maybe changing to a different campus soon, so I have to develop habits outside of the walks I would take to and from the train station. My previous challenge saw me try and get out and go jogging. Ultimately I didn't, and so I think I will try and really focus on this one again, but with a bit more emphasis. This is all an effort to focus on health, not about how I feel about jogging. A: 3+ hours of jogging AND 6+ hours of walking AND 1+ hours of other cardio exercising (e.g. exercise bike) AND 2+ dedicated exercises every week B: 2+ hours of jogging AND 4.75+ hours of walking AND 30+ minutes of other cardio exercising AND at least 1 dedicated exercise every week C: 1+ minutes of jogging AND 3.25+ hours of walking AND 10+ minutes of other cardio exercising every week D: 15+ minutes of jogging AND 2+ hours of walking every week F: Anything less than D. Any workouts that I do with Nim or Rachy will boost my grade up for that week. The aim is to drop down the grades as I fail rather than build them up and cut them off the second I fail. I feel that that would be conducive to a less motivating environment and restrict overall success. MAIN QUEST OBJECTIVE MU: MINI-BOSS BATTLE 1: FIGHT THE FIRST OF THE TRINITY If I am to escape these wretched tunnels I must find the Trinity, defeat them and use whatever benefits I can get from doing so to get out of here. Those outer cesspools are within reach, but I need the strength to get out of here. Fighting and defeating the first of the Trinity will take all my strength, hopefully I have enough, but it will also allow me to build it up too. This is going to be one tough battle. Strength is something that will help me on my way to get healthy, and I want to build it up again anyway. I feel that if I can get into a routine with both cardio and weight exercies then I can form a synergy and help myself out in that respect. A: 9+ weights workouts every fortnight (+/- 1) B: 7+ weights workouts every fortnight (+/- 1) C: 6+ weights workouts every fortnight (+/- 2) D: 4+ weights workouts every fortnight (+/- 2) F: Failing a D once and gaining a D once or worse. Much like the cardio, this will be a matter of downgrading my grades for each fortnight I don't do as well, rather than cutting off all better grades as a result of an early failure, which won't motivate me to get out there and push harder. LIFE QUEST OBJECTIVE: SHED THE NEEDLESS DEBRIS Ancient halls of brimstone and blackened stone decays and crumbles over time. The debris litters the ground in the tunnels down here and slowly the dust lifts and falls on me, as I rub against a wall it crumbles a little bit on to me and it ultimately collects up a decent amount of mass. This added baggage drags me down and makes progression slower. I need to clean my self, dust away the debris, traverse more efficiently and try and reduce the weight I am carrying around with me. I want to keep this challenge simple and I want to focus on trying to lose weight. So this life quest is about a personal health milestone. For a few months now I have been hovering around 104-106kgs while I have sort of trying to watch what I consume. Which is a decrease since I started here on NF (109 was where I was at the start). So my goal here is to get out of the triple digits and into the doubles. Realistic and healthy weight loss is considered to be between about 0.5 and 1.5 kilos a week. So 6 weeks at 5 kilos means about 0.85kgs a week, which is within that range. So I think it is doable! The challenges are all about having a go, so I shall! A: <99kgs B: <=100kgs C: <101.5 kgs D: <103.5 kgs F: 103.5+ kgs Reasonable, possible and a good foundation, let's hope I can do it! Thank you so much for taking the time and reading this, it means that you are supporting me and it really means alot, thankyou

Time for another NF meetup in sunny Sydney! Date: Tuesday 4th March 2014 Time: 6pm drinks for 7pm dinner Venue: Belgian Bier Cafe, 135 Harrington St, The Rocks NSW 2000...looks like it rebranded, anyway this is the one: http://www.heritageb...taurant.com.au/ Attending: Dominic BarefootDawsy Yuen viciousred Suguru

Hey guys, I'm 26 years old from Australia (a big shout out to all fellow Aussies on NF!) I am an avid listener of Jonathan Bailor's 'Smarter Science of Slim' podcast and heard Steve Kamb on one of the many bonus podcasts on the show and thought that I should check out NF and see what it's all about - and I like what I see, so here I am! Over the course of last year, as you could probably tell from me listening to Smarter Science of Slim, I ate (and am continuing to eat) paleo whenever I can - lost 5-8kgs just from eating right, went down 1-2 dress sizes and I feel quite good with myself - so much so, I went to the US over my Dec-January holiday break and splashed out on a new wardobe! (And so good value too!) This year, I am focusing on going to the gym, building some muscle and reduce my body fat percentage. I will need some advice on the best exercises/routines to do so I hope that I have come to the right place! I also do soccer refereeing during the winter season and want to get much fitter for it (imagine doing 3-4 games, literally non-stop on a Saturday morning!) so I am looking forward to getting some tips on both endurance running AND sprinting. That's all from me. Cheers

G'day folks, time for our second Sydney meetup, a time of celebration as it's the holiday season and we've only a few challenge weeks of the year left. Sadly also a time of commiseration as we will be saying a fond farewell to our very own Swedish darling, The Mad Hatter! Now Dawsey and I never drink beer but Hatter insisted so we're doing a mini pub crawl cultural tour of the oldest area of Sydney, "The Rocks". Date: Tuesday 26th November Time: 6pm Venue: The Lord Nelson pub We'll stay in here for about 45 mins then head to: Venue 2: The Argyle We'll stay here another 45 mins then head to: 7:30pm Dinner at: The Lowenbrau I'll book a table at the Lowenbrau for 6 people, I think at this stage there's 4 of us but we'll have a couple extra spots if anyone else wants to join last minute. Attending so far: Dawsey Mad Hatter Yuen Dominic

My first Battlelog entry: I have signed up for the Challenge starting Jan 6 - very exciting. This morning I finished Week One of the C25K - though I am hoping to persuade my husband to start soon too and if need be will repeat week one with him. I have registered for the Colour Run in Melbourne on March 2, and roped in a half dozen friends too, which is exciting but nerve wracking. At the moment I am around 118kg, 5'5", 36 my blood pressure is good but the last time I went to the doctor my LDLs were a little high and my blood sugar was resting in the 'pre-diabetic' zone. I want to change that by the time I have done the Colour Run. I aspire to be a Ranger in the short to medium term, maybe learn me some fancy pants Assassin ways too as I improve in fitness and skill.

G'day all! Brentos here. I have just recently joined NF in order to support my partner and housemates in their quests to improve their lives/health/fitness, so this is my first six-week-challenge. A 22 year old Perthonality from the far west of the lucky country, I keep busy conquering the retail world, discovering all of the heavy metal, and generally being outright hilarious. My issue is not that I have weight to lose, but weight to gain. I've been out of high school for 5 years and currently weigh less than what I did then. I consume a lot of empty calories, be it fast food or soft drinks, and am looking to eat more wholesome foods and simply to get fit and be able to feel like I'm in a healthy state. I get plenty of exercise - running around a supermarket for 45+ hours a week - but I do not eat well at all. I consume at least one energy drink most days, approx. 1L of caffeinated soft drinks and seem to gravitate towards fast food options. So I'm here to change that! Here's the facts: Height: 190cm (little more than 6') Weight: 64kgs Body Fat: ???* *I was too thin for my girlfriend's fancy scales to register me So! My Quest: North from Pallet Town Begin my journey to healthier a life Objective Nobre Uno: No more energy drinks. My first step towards cutting out caffeine from my diet will start with the removal of energy drinks. I know they are incredibly bad for me, but dammit, they just make so many delicious flavours these days! My grading: A: No energy drinks within six weeks. B: One or two during the six weeks C: Once a fortnight. D: Once a week Fail: More than one per week. Goal Numero Duo: Walk/Run more during the week Need more physical exercise in my life. Whilst I do a lot at work, I do bugger-all in my down time. A: Six days a week B: Five days C: Three days D: Two days Fail: One or none Tre quête: Brush my teeth! I only brush my teeth before going to work, and I am adamant on changing this. A: Twice a day for at seven days a week B: Twice a day for at least five days, but still once for the others C: Twice a day for at least three days, but still once for the others D: Once a day for six days Fail: As infrequent as I currently do Målsetning Fire: Write an instrumental song I am absolutely rubbish at playing any instrument. I will admit this straight out. However, for those of you who don't know, there is an amazing program called GuitarPro, where you can create music with hundreds of instruments, which a lot of bands use to tests and tab-out their original songs. I want to have written an instrumental song in GP5 of decent length. A: Completed song B: Three quarter completed C: Half done D: Started Fail: Barely started or not at all. So that's my challenge set! Stay strong with me, rebellion! -Brentos