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[So, since there doesn't seem to be a Rising Heroes-specific daily battle log, I'm starting a thread for myself specific to that quest/membership, in a more narrative fiction form. If an RH sub-forum is created, I'll migrate this over that-a-way. <3] ================= Galina squared her shoulders as she strode into the local coffee shop. Immortals did not *limp*. Or slouch. Although, she had to concede that this particular immortal had made a singularly bad decision to canvass the neighborhood in what had started out as comfortable heeled boots. She was fairly certain the latest communique's insistence on altitude had not meant fashionable footwear. And while Steve's message had indicated Colorado as a base, that didn't stop operatives from being everywhere - she noted more than a few suspicious figures among the crowd inside. Especially the one in the corner, looking like a college student, studiously tapping away on a keyboard, a website open on the screen. Except that the nearest college was miles away. And the coffee shop wi-fi wasn't working. Their eyes met as she stepped into line, and he closed his laptop, scooping up his backpack and striding out, an untouched coffee left behind on the low table. Hm. "What can I get you?" ... Galina looked down at the "skinny" latte she'd bought. She'd intended to ask for hot tea, which was cheaper and healthier. A weekend of very poor food choices had caught up with her, and she suspected she'd inadvertently eaten one of the shadow group's tainted packaged foods... But the woman in front of her had asked for a skinny latte, and Galina had repeated the request without thinking as she stewed over the stranger who had left in such a hurry. "Immortals don't limp," she muttered sternly to herself, heading out of the shop and back toward the office. Immortals also needed to pay bills. Capitalism sucked, Galina mused, sinking into her chair. After a morning full of mind-numbing busywork, the rest of the floor had vanished to a meeting to leave her with a blissful quiet for a short while. She should have gone to the meeting as well, but it was unlikely to be anything especially important, and if something big were to be announced, it would also be sent out via email later. Time to analyze the speech patterns in her latest Japanese feeds; the shadow organization might be hiding a hacker in Colorado, but the amount of packaged foods in Japanese convenience stores would be far too large a target to ignore. Her mind wandered as she listened to the language, absently noting when the subtitles did not match the spoken lines; perhaps artistic license, perhaps cultural differences, perhaps coded messages. She made a note to analyze the lines later, pausing the feed to stretch. Immortal, perhaps, but sore, and years of too many false starts and bad economics had left her in a body she didn't recognize. Sure, she knew she could pick up heavy items, solve household challenges, and - time and energy permitting - whip up a damn fine meal, but her conditioning was non-existent. The daily recon mission to the coffee shop seemed like enough of a challenge that getting in much more movement left her joints aching - even in proper footwear. And she couldn't blame the shadow organization for all of it, no matter how tempting. It sucked, feeling more like a prisoner in her own body than an immortal ready for any challenge. The phone at her desk rang, and she made a face before forcing a smile and picking up the receiver. Back to work.

Hi All So I’ve been on NF since August 2013 and refrained from creating a Battle Log. Had the mindset that no one would want to hear me gloat, bitch, whine, have highs and lows. So I just kept track of all my info on my work computer…we update the operating system and I lose all my info and tracking. Not only will this be great to keep track of everything, but it’s less about who will read it and more about having something else to stay accountable to. Quick back story; I am a 25 (soon to be 26) year old male who just moved out to Chicago from Philadelphia/NY with my girlfriend. I started on my quest almost immediately when I moved, thinking new job, new place, new lifestyle. I was doing a version of the NF Barbell Battalion and SL5x5. Then I got hurt dum…dum…dum. And felt sorry for myself and completely stopped for almost 2 months. But now I’m back! Current stats: Weight - 174lbs Squat - 180lbs (5x5) Bench - 150lbs (5x5) OHP - 95lbs (5x5) Deadlift - 185lbs (1x5) Enough with this and onto the Daily Battle Log part.

I just completed my first challenge. This is where I will be tracking progress toward my long-term goals. I started out in pretty good shape. I do aikido twice a week and work out at lunch three or four days a week. I have about 15 extra pounds that I would really like to get rid of. That would get me back to my previous in-good-shape weight. I also want to get more flexible, stronger and have better aerobic capacity. Things I learned in my first challenge: Being in an accountability team really works for me. Go Elysian Knights! On days when I was wavering I made an extra effort so that I would not have to report that I slipped up.Doing anything every day for six weeks is not realistic. I need to plan in rest days and give myself a little slack.Keeping track of progress in small increments works really well for me. "Just one more rep" is my friend.Banning things does not work for me. I get contrary if I feel deprived. Positive requirements work much better. Character info: Level 2 Viking paladin STR 3 DEX 1 STA 3 CON 3 WIS 2 CHA 1 I am still trying to figure out what guild to join for the next challenge. My goals are for improving my eating habits, strength and flexibility. I do martial arts all the time. Getting better at aikido is part of my life, not a goal. I don't know if the Monks would be a good fit.

I've been hanging around the forums for about a month now and have an ongoing challenge thread. I will post the weekly updates so far below. I thought it would be good to have one ongoing thread for my efforts, though. I've already made some realizations and adjustments since spending more time on NF and the blog as well as the Academy. Fine-tuning my battle. PREVIOUS WEEKLY CHALLENGE UPDATES: Challenge #1 Intro I'm Jodie and this is my first challenge. I'm 46 and fighting the decline. I sit at a desk most of the day and my body is going to flabby bits. It's time to move more and eat better. I just found Nerd Fitness today and I'm jumping in, ready or not. I will learn as I go. I've tried many things before, but the simple fact is I need motivation to keep at it. I usually fizzle out after a week or two. Not setting grades or rewards at this point as I have no idea what they even mean yet. Maybe I can add those later. Main Quest: Lose 10lbs by end of 2015. Quest 1 My Precious: Walk for 30 minutes a day, 6 days a week. 30 minutes of elevated heard rate per Apple Watch. Fill that green ring! Measurement: 36 days = A, 30 days = B, 25 days = C Reward: A = +2 STA, B= +1 STA, C=0 STA Quest 2 Veggie Ninja: At least 3 servings of veggies per day. Measurement: 42 days = A, 32 = B, 21 = C Reward: A = +3 CON, B = +2 CON, C = +1 CON Quest 3 You Can: Beginners bodyweight workout 3x/week. It's just 3 times. Seriously girl! Don't be a slacker! Measurement: 18 = A, 15 = B, 12 = C Reward: A = +3 STR, B = +2 STR, C = +1 STR Life Quest: I need to be kind to myself. I am where I am and negative self-talk doesn't help me to a better place, it just becomes an excuse to ignore and emotionally eat. Don't go there! Reward: +2 WIS if you complete the challenge Motivation: I physically feel terrible right now. When my weight gets above a certain level, I get heartburn regularly, feel more bloated and tired. I feel so much better when I'm taking care of myself. Week 1 Recap: so far so good. The baby steps method is SO much more manageable for me. Definitely beats my previous overachiever fly, crash, burn loop.filling the activity ring is relatively easy for now. I really enjoy the walk. This is going to be harder once the weather gets bad (probably not for this challenge though)eating the veggies is totally do-able, but the key is preparation. Pre-cooking and having lunches ready to grab and go is the way to succeed for me.1.7 pounds lost is good. I was hoping for the newbie bonus pound or two, but if this is sustainable, I'm just fine with it.already noticing more energyhave decided to join the Rangers after this challengeenjoying using Habitica to track my progress with this and the rest of life. Who knew leveling up was so motivating?mostly just really hoping this all sticks...still haven't decided on a reward for my completion of the 6wc... hmmm... Week 2 RECAP: Going well except for the @#$$ veggies. New plan next week is jar salads for lunch. Still seeking a sustainable-for-me veggie method. My husband cooks dinners and has agreed to try and include more veggies, but really I need a plan to have them all in before dinner and treat dinner veggies as a bonus. Problem is I'm not much of a mid-day cook, so it's got to be easy peasy. I don't mind a green smoothie for breakfast and I even found a protein powder I can tolerate (bonus for extra protein) so that's the backup plan for next week if jar salads fail. Activity rings have not been a problem and I am enjoying the workouts (mostly anyway... I'm looking at you lunges). Forgot to weigh myself and frankly, I'm going to skip it this week. I can tell I'm holding on to some extra fluid right now and I don't think it would be accurate reflection of my effort anyway. Next week... Week 3 RECAP: I seriously can't believe we're halfway there! Woohoo! I've made a few changes this week that I feel pretty good about. I'm not so focused on my main goal of 10 pounds at this point. I'd like them to eventually come off, but I'm not focusing my energy there right now. I'm focusing on sustainable long term changes, i.e.. eating more veggies and whole foods and building a workout habit. Since I joined the Academy last week, I'm going to switch up my workouts and follow the Academy workouts from here on out. Monday, I will do the recruit workout then move on to the Bodyweight workouts.

Being vexed by his vain vegetative state and voluminous veneer, Vinoex has vowed vanquish the villain that is the vice of the virulent vermin sloth and the voracity of vile gluttony by starting a vendetta against these vicious vices. Vigilantly focusing on exercise to increase vim and vigor while setting a vigilant vanguard on vain victuals to . No longer content of the veracity being the villain and victim, verily, Vinoex shall set up this virtuous voyage as a vanguard of virility and viand, thus vanquishing vice and this woeful visage.

BlackTezca's BATTLE LOG Hola folks! BlackTezca is making a battle thread and just like my first challenge thread, it'll be filled with gifs and images and all sorts of silly crap as well as the continuation of my journey towards greatness. So some background behind my username. BlackTezca is essentially short for Black Tezcatlipoca (usually just known as Tezcatlipoca since White Tezcatlipoca is actually Quetzalcoatl...god damn these names sometimes). If you have the faintest knowledge of Aztec religion, then you know Tezcatlipoca as the Jaguar god, who also really likes it when the best warriors are sacrificed in his name. Hearts are yummy apparently. And that would be a badass tattoo...So in any case, my favorite animal would be to be the jaguar, a feline so powerful, so awesome that the most famous of the many, many Aztec God's chooses it as it's form/mascot/etc. I wouldn't mind being a little more similar to this awesome feline. The jaguar is one of the most successful of the predatory felines, perhaps second to only the Leopard (and third to the most successful feline of all, the common domestic house cat). It has a bite force strong enough to crush skulls and tortoise shells, it is an apex predator, it has all the grace shared by big cats while look particular buff and muscular ( the largest feline in the New World) and it purrs like a Harley Davidson. It also sleeps about 12 to 24 hours a day. I definitely won't be able to get that much sleep during the work week, but during my challenge I had to push myself every hard to get to bed by a certain time so I can just get seven hours of sleep before my work out. It wasn't easy, but I can just drop off now. I need that sleep so I can get battle ready in the morning. I want to be strong enough to crush skulls, skilled enough to hunt (I don't hunt but I love me some martial arts), flexible enough to not hurt my back, and rested enough to keep going on with my day. So here am I ready to hold myself accountable for this year in order to be more like this amazing feline of the Amazon jungle (which matches the theme of my challenges ^~). Wish me luck!

Ok guys, you can read or ask about me in the Introduction topic. First a few thing simportant for this log. - I started SL 5x5 two weeks ago, except for my second day - I had to move a lot of things at school that day - I went to every workout. - I have a handicap. Some form of Spina Bifida. Due to this: my left legmuscles are shorter than normal: so my right muscles are under a lot of stress, Also I have a very sensitive back. This is why I changed the Overhead Press, to SHoulder press, to stress my back less. - From time to time certain weights in my gym go missing (probably some wizard experiment) so this is why I'll add 5k instead of 2.5k. 19/09 SQUAT5x5x20kBENCH PRESS5x5x20kBARBELL ROW5x5x30k 23/09 SQUAT5x5x22.5kSHOULDER PRESS5x5x20kDEADLIFT1x5x40k 26/09 SQUAT5x5x25kBENCH PRESS5x5x25kBARBELL ROW5x5x32.5k 28/09 SQUAT5x5x30kSHOULDER PRESS5x5x25kDEADLIFT1x5x45k 30/09 SQUAT 2x5x20k 1x3x30k 5x5x32.5k BENCH PRESS 5x5x30k BARBELL ROW 5x5x35k

Just found the Battle Logs section, so I'm moving the few posts I've made to here and will keep adding as I go. -------------------- Intro New guy here (joined Tuesday Nov-29-16) and still reading through most of the site. Spent most of my life growing up as severely underweight. People used to say I'd snap in half if I sneezed. Yeah, well, nobody says that anymore. 5'6 and 200 pounds (I'm having my bodyfat done this afternoon at DEXA). I still have a very thin frame so all that extra weight certainly isn't helping. I know this is possible 'cause I lost 40 pounds via Medifast and kept it off for a year or so. Most of it came back slowly, over the last 2 years. Blah blah depression, blah blah meds, and so on - I'm sure it's not an uncommon situation. About a week ago, I decided I was going to EDC in Vegas next June. My first festival of any kind. I'm 51 and am quite aware of how out of place I'd be: physically, energetically, socially (social anxiety and all), and so on. But I went ahead and got the tickets/hotel. Even talked some friends into going. So that gave me a target date - June 17, 2017. My first level target goal is a little more difficult. I'd like to be able to take my shirt off and not be embarrassed, but I know that's not specific enough. I wanted to have a 30 inch waist (or smaller!), as that's where I was before I started putting on weight back in the early 90s, but I don't know if that's feasible/possible. So I set a target weight of 150 pounds, as that's what I got down to last time and gives me an 8lb loss per month. I'd like to go lower, but I don't want to set a target I can't hit. Anyway, that's me. Hope everyone is having a great day and making good choices! ------------------------ 29-NOV-16 1 serving of jerky, Jack’s Links 120 Calories 1 Macadamia Nut, 20 small almonds, 5 Cashews 1 bottle Slimfast High Protein Caramel Latte 1 Medifast Beef/Vegetable Soup with Chipotle Tabasco Salad: 50/50 Spring/Spinach mix, baked chicken breast, baby carrots, celery, balsamic/oil Shaved & baked brussel sprouts with onion and Balsamic 2 caffeine-free diet sodas (down from 6-8 caffeinated ones per day) Added 10+ minute continuous walk around 8:00pm to my normal movement. this is an extra walk as the ones I take my dog on are all "Hey, let me stop for 3 minutes so I can smell this thing here. Oh look! There's another thing to smell 8 inches away!" ------------------------ 30-NOV-16 1 package of Jack’s Bacon Jerky 300 calories 1 hard boiled egg Iced Chai+Black tea with Stevia (no cream/sugar, etc) throughout the day Lunch: Herb roasted chicken Lean Cuisine (has potatoes) 21 Almonds Good quality fontina cheese & salami Bacon Slice of Pumpkin Bread Lemon Pepper Fried chicken wings & celery (very little sauce) As of 10:33am, about ¾ of a can of caffeine free Coke Zero. Threw the rest away. Didn't have another one all day. Took my 16 minute continuous walk at 11:00AM ------------------------ 1-DEC-16 ½ a can of caffeine free Coke Zero (threw rest away) Iced black tea and stevia through the morning, water from lunch on 1 strip of bacon & unsalted mixed nuts (throughout the morning, instagram for quantity) 1 hard boiled egg 14 minute walk at 11AM Didn’t bring anything for lunch…so got a Southwest Chicken Salad from vending machine I wanted to make Stuffed Cabbage Rolls for dinner, but was pretty hungry and didn’t want to wait. So I just did the basic recipe but chopped up the cabbage. I also added a few more veggies to the beef, tomato, garlic, and onion mix: mushrooms, celery, carrots, and grated cauliflower. Turned out really good. Finished eating by 5:35PM Didn't eat anything else. Had my DEXA body composition today via a company called BodyComp. They have a truck that brings the scan to various business parks. Turns out things are a little worse than I thought. Bodyfat is 38.9% or 78.7 lbs out of my 202.4 pounds. My bone density is actually pretty good at a T-Score of 1.6 There's a ton of information in the report: Composition Analysis by body part (Arms, Legs, Trunk...), Fat Mass, Lean Mass, Bone Mass, Distribution Analysis, Mass Ratios, and so on. The company doesn't publish their schedule too far in advance, so I set an alarm for mid February so I can schedule another one in about 90 days.

I figure I should probably make one of these for accountability. I know myself well enough to know that I will at some point - likely sometime soon - get hit with the usual feeling of apathy about the whole 'bettering my life' thing, so this might help offset that. I don't have any big lists or anything of the sort yet, but I'm going to be adding those - likely sometime soon, with my endgame goals outlined in something of a tree breaking down each endgame in to individual steps. But that can be for later, since I just finished my last workout of the week! And what a workout it was: 20 body weight squats 10 push ups 20 walking lunges 10 dumbbell rows 15 second plank 30 Jumping Jacks All in rapid succession, like the beginner bodyweight routine recommended, plus the warm-up and static stretching routine from Startbodyweight.com! For foodbits, I had: A golden delicious apple A golden delicious banana A golden delicious Red Robin burger, macaroni & cheese, and some brownies. Creatine in water! Not really the healthiest day, but today's my cheat day and my ex's birthday, so I wanted to stick it to her by actually enjoying the day. Tomorrow, after work, handstand practice! I was also trying to find more ways to gamify my life, so if anyone has suggestions I'm all ears. Also I could use more books.

Hey! So this will probably be a little different from everyone else's Battle Plan, because it works best for me if I tell you what I'm going to do and then check in later to see if I actually did it. I also go in early (and get off early), so my post won't be until later, when I have had time to accomplish everything (hopefully) on my daily Battle Plan. And let me just say, too, that it won't be strictly fitness and food tracking, either. I like general accountability, so there will be other things in here as well. With that said, let's go!

OH YEAH! Time for a second challenge my friends! The theme of this challenge is focus, what I am trying to do with this challenge is build some habits for some of the worst things I've been procrastinating with and really need to work on. To kick it off here is some challenge music! Challenge 1! Eat a calorie intake of 3000 on workout days and 2500 on rest days. Challenge 2! 28 day handstand challenge! Practice every day on handstand form! Challenge 3! Continue Reading "Level Up Your Life" and doing assigned chapter tasks! Challenge 4! Honor to the Rangers! Complete one Ranger quest from The Academy per week! Challenge 5! Finish modeling second 3d character model within challenge's time! Challenge 6! In relation with the following challenge 7 work on my cartography project for my story! Challenge 7! The hardest challenge off all! My goal of this challenge is to write the equivalent to 3 hand written pages of the story I've been writing for a long time. Its been one of the huge things I have been procrastinating on and I've had enough of it! Grading system (added points scale for a weekly average ) 1. Weekly caloric intake A= 19500 (100 points) B= 17000 (86 points) C= 14000 (72 points) F= less than a C 2. Handstand challenge A= 100 points (no days missed) B= 86 points (1 days missed) C= 72 points (2 days missed) F= less than a C 3. Reading and assigned tasks A= Reading and tasks done (100 points) F= failure to do so 4. Honor to the Rangers! A= Quest completed! (100 points) F= failure to do so 5. 3d modeling A= progress made each week F= failure to do so 6. Cartography in relation in story A= progress each made each week F= failure to do so 7. Writing A= 3 handwritten pages F= failure to do so

Looks like my last battle log got archived. That's okay! Now I have this fun new place to log my workouts and post moar ridiculousness! Anywho... 2/19/13 Squats: bwx3 55x3 65x2 75x1 85x5 85x5 85x5 Walking Lunges: 15lb dbs 2x12 Bench: 55x4 70x3 85x1 90x5 90x5 90x5 Hip Thrusts (on leh ball): 3x12 Before the thrusts I attemped to do barbell thrusts with my bench weight on my bench. Not so much. Soooo, thrust folks (men, in particular) where exactly is the barbell resting? I feel like it's a little ehrm weirdly placed.. Stretching and mobility, before, after, during. Things I learned this lift: Erotica by Madonna makes a great squat song My hair looks exactly like my FB cartoon avatar's Deload week's are awesome. Came back and all my lifts felt pretty strong. Eating more might be playing a happy roll already. Yays.

Starting the Danger Method! w00t. Also, NF, it's been a while. Good to be back. Week 1/Day 1 sets reps rx actual Day 1: Monday, May 2nd, 2016 Bench 2 5 50% 45 to 10RM then 95% 1x10, 1 5 60% 50 90% 2x10 1 3 70% 60 1 10 AHAP 75 1 10 -5% 70 2 10 -10% 65 Squat 2 5 50% 75 to 10RM then 95% 1x10, 1 5 60% 90 90% 2x10 1 3 70% 100 1 10 AHAP 125 1 10 -5% 120 2 10 -10% 105 Good morning 3 5 45 Skipped ham raise and abs. Got hangry. Need to plan preworkout meals better. Pre and post-workout mobility: IYTs, banded face pulls, band pull-aparts, shoulder dislocations, X-band walks, terminal knee extensions, jump squats, goblet squats, kettlebell swings, squat stretch, general stretching, foam rolling.

Character sheet Character name: VARELSE | Level: 4 | Class: RANGER | XP: 10 Race: HOBBIT | Size: MEDIUM | Age: 30 | Gender: F | Height: 5' 55'' | Weight: 181 lb | BF: 38%

As one of my challenges for this cycle is to post daily on NF, I think it’s about time for me to start my battle log! I was taking a shower two days ago (all good ideas come to me in the shower) and something hit me: I tend to see my goals in terms of their end point, and I’m starting tomorrow. I brace myself, enjoy that last sugar binge (may as well have another bowl of cereal, since tomorrow I’m going cold turkey), dink around at the gym (hey, I have a long run tomorrow). Looking at my goals that way is holding me back! I don’t need to worry about those “long haul†goals. They’re there, they’re defined, they are somewhere I want to get to. But I can’t master them today! I’ve been listening to one of my heros say it for months: We’re going to go 1-0 every week. http://blog.thenewstribune.com/seahawks/2013/11/17/wilson-that-1-0-mentality-is-alive-for-us/ That applies to me, too. I don’t have to win it all tomorrow or in a week. I just have to go 1-0 today. Past losses don’t matter (you gotta put your behind in the past). I’m not worried about tomorrow. I have confidence in my dreams, so all I have to think about is going 1-0 today. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzs0oUUFWmM a big part of my personal battle is with managing my mind. When my mind is not at rest, my body is often its victim. I have dealt with different eating disorders in the past, but since college binge eating has been my issue. In an effort to cultivate awareness, I’m keeping a food log in addition to the usual workout record. The other portion of the log is how I feel, especially in response to food. I’ll try a couple ways of formatting and figure out what I like.

I just finished my first Ranger challenge and have been putting this off for awhile now but I decided it is time............FOR AN ULTIMATE CHALLENGE! I've had trouble with procrastination a lot and staying on track with my goals so I got sick of my crap and declared MAK'GORA upon myself! The 4 challenges of the Mak'gora are as follows below........... (this song goes perfectly to the challenge) 4 week challenge 1. Do intermittent fasting for one by skipping breakfast (never was a breakfast eater anyways) 2. Eat 2000 calories a day 3. Read 1 chapter of "Level Up Your Life" and "The Slight Edge" per week and DO what the chapter says! 4. Slay a great evil! (Pass college algebra with an A) These 4 challenges of Mak'gora start on July 17 (alright started on calories and fasting to ease into it :D) and I'll post regular updates at least once a week. Till my personal challenge starts i'll be researching more paleo and high calorie recipes (already found a great protein bar recipe from my bros at the NF academy on facebook) and tweaking my diet in preparation. This is my first challenge so I hope I got the formatting alright :D! Grading System 1. Intermittent fasting -A = 7x a week -B = 5x a week -C = 3x a week -F = Less than 3 times a week 2. Eat 2000 calories per day -A = 14000 calories -B = 10000 calories -C = 6000 calories -F = Less than 6000 calories 3. Reading and tasks alongside reading -A = Reading done and task complete -F= Reading and task incomplete 4. Pass College Algebra with an A -A = an A -F = Less than an A Link to my epic quest (still working on it!) https://www.nerdfitness.com/level-up/my-character/

Patient File Name: MaddieHatter Age: Older Race: Strigoi Vui (living vampire) Height: 5'1-ish" Start Weight: 142lbs Measurements: To Be Posted Ailments: Mental: I am called the Hatter for a reason... Physical: The Joints (sometimes the left knee, sometimes the right... unless the knee is bored, Then it is the ankles or wrists.) The Toes (born with the cursed in-grown toes) Fitness & Health Goals (to pick and chose) Primary Goal: Drop the weight to 125lbs Motivation for Ultimate Goal: "For the Mini-Madness (& the blood tests)" Pick an ideal weight to be within this year Steps to achieve goal Workout at Home Darbee Workout, NF Beginner Bodyweight, Yoga Remove soda as much as possible Eat lean meats, fish Meditate (With or Without White Noise/Binaural Beats) 6WC: #1, #2 / 4WC: #3, #4 Recording Assistants: Samsung Health & Product, Fitbit Scale Other Materials: Critical Role Fitness Game, Z!Run, Pokemon Go

This battle log will not be daily. But I would like to leave something of my progress behind, just in case someone like me comes along and needs that extra push or second wind. Starsapart was that person for me, and I'd like to be there for someone else! First things first...or perhaps second things second, I am not at my goal. Not by a long shot. At this point in time, I am a novice, just beginning to count the fruits of her labor. I am into my second real 6 week challenge--not including my novice training. And I have told myself, I will give nerdfitness 7 challenges to astound me. But at this point in my journey, I feel like I can offer some words of encouragement to the me from four months ago and her compatriots. 1) Scales are the Devil's work. Abandon hope all yee who approach. The End of Overeating by Dr. David Kessler is worth it's weight in gold. It helped develop my distaste for junk food in a way that spoke to the intellectual in me. Not that I ate badly at all, mind you. Perhaps at my worst, as a child. But if I learned anything in college it was how to eat and eat well. Still, Dr. Kessler's work ended any lingering temptation fast food represented (now a freshly made burger and properly made chips? Nothing wrong with real food my dears). He also revealed to me my triggers. We all have them, even if we are not aware. Triggers that sabotage our efforts, induce us to eat or feel or stress. I had a few I could point out immediately, but the most important one is the scale. The scale was a trigger for me. Even when the number made me happy! I immediately switched to body measurements with a tape. 2) Captain Steve is right, cardio is pointless This isn't to disparage those who are dedicated to it. Cardio does have a time and place. But the benefit you get from cardio, can easily be matched and over come by an intense bodyweight workout with a cardio element. Now I'm not saying HIIT--that word scares me and might scare you--but I have had much more sustainable (not to mention quicker) results swinging a kettlebell or doing jump squats as part of my routine. For those of you in the middle of C25K or Zombies Run!, don't stop. That's building a habit of discipline in you. And showing you how to do something you thought impossible just a few weeks ago. Finish it out. 3) My Fitness Pal will save your life It took me a while to get over my hangups about measuring my food on myfitnesspal. But if I can attribute anything to my success, it is my adoption of this. Using my fitness pal has made the process of weight/inches loss a science, rather than magic. Science is predictable. You can anticipate it. I promise you: If you use this tool, this FREE tool and take up an exercise regimen, you will lose fat, weight, inches etc. Give it one 6 week challenge and if you haven't budged a pound or an inch/cm, you can come find me and punch me in the face. Secondly, buy a food scale--this will make tracking on myfitnesspal literally a child's errand. And finally, my fitness pal has a recipie import feature. If you have a smartphone and you are browsing a lovely website with lovely food, you can share that recipe to myfitnesspal and it will tell you how many calories per serving that lovely food has. If you switch through recipes that you have saved on myfitnesspal and keep under the calorie limit? Fat will flee. 4) Don't forget to stretch and walk I barely have time to stretch. In my first 6WC with the Assassins, I stretched maybe twice. But those two times, especially when I went out for a walk afterwards, I felt amazing. Now, in this challenge, I am working out everyday. I have EVEN LESS time and I am still stretching everyday (I'm working on the walking part). Give yourself 5 minutes. While watching TV. You can time yourself. And if you want to stop after 5, you can. If you don't--which is more likely--then you've just made time to stretch. See how that works? 5) "Don't hate your body. It's just trying to keep you alive" Maaya, or starsapart--a very wise woman--told me these words in my proverbial darkest before dawn moment. If you are healthy, and that is a relative term, if your body is not actively and seriously unwell. If like me, being overweight is the one thing it seems to be doing wrong, then don't hate you body. The difficulty your body is having shedding weight and inches comes from a survival instinct. It's not your body's fault. Your body isn't a malicious being trying to make your life a misery. So be kind to yourself. And then teach your body to thrive. So why Sabriel? Why the Abhorsen saga as the inspiration for my battle log? Well the newly leased warrior in me would say it is because I put the dead down. The dead being dead weight. That I have taken up the fishscale armour, silver key dusted halberd and bell bandolier of my office to hide the tears fat sheds as it wrung from my body (anyone see what I did there?). But in all honesty, and we can be honest here can we not my dears? In all honesty, this is not just a journey to put down fat. I'm putting to rest everything that ever went bump in the nights of my tearful youth, any silly insecurity I ever had, any belief that I can't. I may be the most ignorant Abhorsen in centuries (and pretty old to be starting at 25), but blood is blood and the Charter is the charter. And this Book of the Dead? I hope it will serve as a woot guide for the like minded. If I can do it, anyone can. And that's just me being honest. Does the walker chose the path or the path chose the walker?

Aaaahhhh battle log. A nice respite from the challenge madness. Welcome to COSTA DEL SOL y'all!!!! A lovely beach zone to chill and relax and recharge and train! (Yaha I made those gifs~) So I've been a little quiet on the forums lately and have been REALLY enjoying the lesser computer time, especially now that spring has surely sprung here and being outdoors takes my first priority. ALSO this month my S/O turns 40 and I am planning a BIG ol' party at a huge log cabin in the mountains - that will also complete a job quest for my ongoing challenge - but the date is getting close and it's about to take a LOT of my time and resources getting ready for everythiinnnggg!!! We are traveling this coming weekend for a soccer match and then will be gone from the 11th to the 15th in the mountains!!! WE ARE GONNA CLIMB A MOUNTAIN AND SEE A WATERFALL AND HIKE AND YAHAHAAAAA I cannot wait!!! Will keep chunking up the miles for [LNC], that's going to be a tough one to complete overall. I've also unlocked the following jobs that I need to craft quests for over the next month: - Bard - Monk - Warrior - Ninja So stuff will still be happening, just at a slower and less intense pace. Happy May all!!!

There's a war going on. Torik can be seen trying to keep up with the back of the line. She has tackled lowering blood pressure, which wasn't even a goal in the first place. Things can change. People are moving forward, she must keep up! Oh hi guys. I'm a writer, and I felt like being dramatic. So there's that little blurb there. I felt that I really needed something I can post to daily to show what I'm doing what I'm thinking about, and I felt I needed a community to talk to people with. So my own little journals are not going to work for that. There are many battles in the war, and my war is to get healthy. My current starting point, I'm going to pick back up my C25K stuff. I got to week 9, and I can do week 9 for the most part. But I want to work on my speed and actually getting to a "running" speed. So I'm going to start back over at week 1. I've been eating relatively healthy since about June of last year, but now that I'm mentally able to cope with life because of my meds, I should be able to discipline myself better with eating. So, I'll post random thoughts, maybe images that have inspired me that day, so I can do my best to live up to who I know I can be.

launching the battle log I recently completed my second challenge which went pretty well, I think. But I'm not up to jumping in to this next challenge. I'm starting a new job in a couple of weeks (yay!) and frankly have a lot of things to get done between now and then, now that all my time is not spent on the job hunt. Still, one of the things I enjoy about the six-week challenges is posting updates to my challenge thread. In order to keep that aspect of my fitness in place I've decided to start this battle log. I keep my nutrition logged in My Fitness Pal (nearly 390 days straight, thankyouverymuch), but I may use this thread to occasionally post about my nutritional input as well. Speaking of nutrition, I've spent the last two days engaging in what I call "nutritional debauchery." Maybe it had to do with Halloween, or the extreme relief at getting a job offer. Whatever the cause, I unapologetically indulged every whim and craving I had. At the moment I can't look another Twix in the face. I did still manage to put some healthy stuff in (yesterday was my fave breakfast of eggs over spinach and sweet potatoes), but there was more than my share of treats. One fascinating thing about doing that occassionally is realizing how my definition of comfort food has shifted. Those things I once considered "comfort food" now actually induce a level of stress in me, the exact opposite of comfort. Maybe it's because I know such things can potentially undo a year's worth of effort. I know I won't undo it all in a day or even two, but I've been doing this fitness stuff for long enough that it never is far from my mind. I consider that a good thing. It's morning here, and the dog and I have already been for a run. I don't know that I'll get a strength session in today, but there are a couple hours' worth of leaf-cleaning to do this afternoon, then I'm hoping to watch some football before the day's done. Coffee beckons.

Well... Time to get started Battle Log: March 3rd 2016 Workout 7AM Started with basic warm up (provided by Staci in NF videos) 10 Knee Pushups 10 Body weight squats 10 One Arm Dumbbell Rows 10 Bodyweight Lunges :15 Plank Completed circuit 3x 1 bottle water Basic Cooldown (Provided by Staci and Steve in NF Videos) Breakfast 830-900AM 2 Fried eggs (Extra Virgin Coconut Oil) 2 Pieces of Bacon (No Nitrates) Sweet Potato Hash with Green Peppers and Onions (Cooked in bacon fat) 1 Bottle Water Snacks! Handful organic mixed nuts (pecans, cashews, almonds, walnuts) organic delicious apple 1 Bottle Water Dinner Lemon pepper chicken Roasted butternut squash cooked in extra virgin olive oil 1 Bottle Water The workouts this morning were extremely difficult for me. I couldn't do as many reps as requested in the recruit workout. But I will try again saturday! Maybe I can do a couple more reps next time. I just hope my form was correct. I'm more sore in certain places (OMG LEGS) than others (Waist/abs).

So I have a few active goals I'm working towards: 1) Bodyweight exercises or go for a run before breakfast 2) journal every week day with breakfast 3) do more social things with friends and make new connections 4) further my gardening and photography skills Battle log day 1. - Bodyweight routine? Check! - Journaling? Check! - Social goal? Rejoining my martial arts school next month to reconnect with friends (and hey, cross training) and writing this post, so check! - Gardening? Starting seeds this weekend, so also check! - Photography? Daily snap taken, check! Today is a good day and is off to a good start. I have a lot of things I want to achieve this year (yes it's March, I'm just now getting around to posting, gah!) and I feel my momentum is good. Not sure how often I want to update here, but probably a few times a week. I'll also likely jump in on the next 4 week challenge at the end of the month. Go team, and such!

Hi Everyone, Behold the battle log. First, a list of the goals I want to achieve (cribbed from my old account and edited) Background: ex-ballet dancer-fencer, current violinist, ballroom dancer, wants to get into kick-butt shape Goals: Running: Run 10 miles. Run a half-marathon Run a marathon Run a sub-nine minute mile. (Sun, Sept 7, 2014, Mile 3 of 5, 8:57!) Run a sub-eight minute mile (Mar. 1, av. pace 6:31/mi) Run a sub-seven minute mile (See above) Run a sub-six minute mile Run the Leadville 100 (at some point before I die...) Strength training: Do one real pushup (Mon, Sept. 29, 2014) Do 10 real pushups Do a pull-up Salmon ladder Skill-related: Enroll in a martial arts class and obtain a belt, if said martial art does those things Try a different martial art Become a better ballroom dancer Try archery Try parkour I'm sure I'll add things as I go, but that's the list for now. For the rebellion, Petra

I've transitioned my log to a website to help me do it throughout the day. @ http://fitgame.online Measurement Log Food Log Exercise Log