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This Challenge cycle came up rather quickly because Zero Week features CNF. The first thing I do is look over the next six weeks to determine what is going on. And here they are: Week 0: September 19 to September 25 - CAAAAMMMMPPPP!!!!!! Featuring many things, including the CNF PL Competition on Thursday, September 22. Week 1: September 26 to October 2 - Obtain new programming and start Week 1. Week 2: October 3 to October 9 - New programming Week 2. Week 3: October 10 to October 16 - New Programming Week 3. Week 4: October 17 to October 23 - Taper week. Minnesota Open October 23. Week 0: October 24 to October 30 - Post Battle Week. What are the chances I end up doing NOTHING this week? As mentioned at the end of the previous Challenge cycle, I was presented with good news and bad news. Good News: Miss Broki is rising in the ranks of Darkside Fitness and is moving to a new location in a galaxy far, far away. Bad News: She is still training me. Good News and Bad News are relative terms anyway. Unless, of course, we are referring to the Good News, which is often capitalized and presented with the word, "The." So starting in October, I will be going to a completely different location and exploring a completely new part of MinniBulgaria. So yup. Still Dark Side. Mission 1 - Embrace the Power of the Dark Side - at CAAAAMMMMPPPPP!!!!!!!!! Day 1, Wednesday: Spirit Night - Wear the colors of Dark Side Tyrus Day 2, Thursday: CNF PL Competition - Lift big and bring honor to another House with the same colors. Day 2, Thursday: Costume Night - The last time I checked a picture of my costume.... DAMN! I'm lookin' good! Day 3, Friday: Time Travel Night - The Dark Side is also cold! Day 4, Saturday: Glow Party - And the Dark Side is..... well, dark! Day 5, Sunday: Get back home. And take more pictures and tell more stories this time! We're going to have a good time! Mission 2 - Obtain new Programming! The PL competition out of the way calls for new programming for the month of October leading up to a WL meet on October 23. So we need a three-week program and a one-week taper. Based on the recent patterns, I see: Five days per week. (She might have decided that is what I can work with.) Bench Press disappears from the programming. Push Press returns. Deadlifts disappear for one month. She did pop a question, asking if I enjoyed PL or WL more. It seems like a pretty loaded question, but it is possible that she was going to use that information to decide on what to include in the next round of programming. I did say it would be nice to have a WL total equal to my DL. However, my shoulder is not too friendly towards BP and that kind of makes the choice for me. So not much of a goal - but I always discuss the programming at the beginning of the cycle and I really have no idea what the programming is going to look like. Mission 3 - Tracking Last cycle I was talking about cleaning up my diet with the mention of one outing per week and batch cooking and making the grocery list more closely match what I have been given. Not much of that really happened. So I will recycle this: My daily and weekly tracking systems are working very well. I also keep handwritten notes of my macros. So the simplest way to track this would be to circle the days with outings and square the days done by batch cooking. The goal leaves four days where I limp through with boxed meals. Regarding weight, there is no weight class for the CNF PL competition, but weight is taken for the purpose of scoring Wilks points. My goal is 300 Wilks and I will attempt to do this at 205 pounds or less and by making all of the second lifts. For the WL meet on October 23, I will be at the 94 kg class. So if I keep my weight under 207 pounds, I will be good. Otherwise, I am driving to Rochester, MN with the heat on full blast. Mission 4 - Do Battle and bring Honor and Glory to the Dark Side! PL Meet on Thursday, September 22: Squat: 335 / 355 / 365 pounds Bench Press: 185 / 205 / 215 pounds Deadlift: 475 / 495 / 505 pounds The second lifts total 1055 pounds, which will put me over 300 Wilks at 205 pounds body weight. WL Meet on Sunday, October 23: Snatch: 65?? / 70?? / 75?? kg Clean and Jerk: 90?? / 95?? / 100?? kg I honestly have no idea where these lifts are at. Mission 5 - Other Missions as they arrive And that's about it! Still Dark Side. But there is always hope! In the mean time....

Hello all, especially all adventurers! I just joined you all. It was time. And because I did, I guess I should talk a little about myself. A more comprehensive introduction is in my intro thread (surprise! surprise!) found in my signature. I'm 27, Swede (yes, I'm blond, but not THAT blond), fiction writer, and general lover of interesting sentence structure. I started my nerdiness by gaming on SNES, Nintendo 64, Game Boy and Game Boy Color (yes, I got a pink one). I choose my nick because of FFIX which I've only played until the princess (right?) gets the nickname Dagger. Well, I played a little more after that, but I can't remember. I'm much more of a Super Mario fan. I also read a lot, mainly fantasy (no, not GoT, if I want to read about misery I read the news (aka I read neither)) and mystery. These are also the genres I most often write in or plan to write in. I started my fitness/NF/LUYL/everything journey in May this year. I haven't really tried to get fit before that. Well, one attempt of doing Zumba three times a week which had to end when my knees started shrieking at me and they took probably around two months to stop aching. Basically jumping around a lot when you are overweight is apparently not that helpful. I did start the journey with Zumba again, but I skipped the jumping and my knees were/are fine. ~*~*~*~*~*~ I'm sorry I'm not a picture or gif person. So you'll have to live with "boring" text. (Text can never be boring, just want to be clear. ) I'm very much someone who tries to do ALL THE THINGS and get discouraged. So this first set of goals you see? Expect them to change during the first week. Still, there will be a lot, but some of them are just adjustments and/or I'm still working at integrating them fully. ~*~*~*~*~*~ Why I decided now was a good time to join the Adventurers was because I'm going on a hiking/walking trip August 25 to September 3. I'll be going to Austria. It is arranged by a local health retreat and I won't have a complete schedule until some time during August 25, so I don't know how much challenge things I can do. Basically I will suspend the challenge during those 10 days. There are certain things I'll still try to get done, like my steps (hiking, hello!) and probably a few other things. But I also just want to enjoy myself. My writing goal, which is for fiction, will change to non-fiction during the trip because I want to write about it and later publish it on my blog (probably). ~*~*~*~*~*~ If you wonder anything more about me, I have a lot of links in my footer (intro, battle log (pretty dead, only monthly reviews right now), previous challenges). ~*~*~*~*~*~ Lets start this trip! I have ordered these in importance. That means that the goals most liable to disappear are those with a higher number. Fitness 7'500 steps per day until August 4. 8'000 steps per day for the rest of the challenge. (28 + 7 (zero week) = 35 days) Morning walk will by the end of challenge start before 8:00 every day. 1-2 skipped walks per week is alright. (5*4 + 5*1 = 25 walks - 8 during trip = 17 walks; not counting the timing except by Pass/Fail.) Yoga 2x per week and/or 1 hour total per week. (2*4 + 2*1 and/or 1*4 + 1*1 = 10 sessions and/or 5 hours - 3 and/or 1.5 = 7 sessions and/or 3.5 hours) I did yoga until part way through my last challenge, so the last two weeks I haven't done it. But I've started to get restless and I think my body wants me to start back with it. It is very provisional though and won't count for my score I think. Not that I score much beyond counting. Nutrition No sweets from 18:00. No food from 22:00. (28 (no requirement during zero week) = 28 days - 10 = 18 days) Food journal every day. (28 + 7 = 35 days - 10 = 25 days) Cook one slow cooker meal per week. (1*4 + 1*1 = 5 meals - 2 = 3 meals) I might switch my food journal to a public one partway through the challenge (after my trip?), but I haven't decided yet. I've noticed it doesn't benefit me as much as it did the first two weeks (just started my fourth). But I'm not willing to start using some app. I'm not counting calories and only writing measures when it is easy. I like cooking food and I'm not ready to try and quantify that if I ever will be. Level Up Your Life Write 1'000 words per week and/or 5 days per week. (1000*4 + 600*1 and/or 5*4 = 4600 words and/or 20 sessions - 1.5*1000 and/or 8 = 3100 words and/or 12 sessions (not counting possible non-fiction words)) Writing should start close to 9:30 by end of challenge. (Pass/Fail) Shower after morning walk every day or soon after getting up on days with no morning walk. (28 days - 10 = 18 days) Lol, I am showering. I'm just putting a lot of focus on structuring my days and having the same routine every morning and evening is part of that. Extra Credit This I want to get done, none of them actually mandatory. I won't have any targets for these. I'll just note if/when I do them. Study Japanese every day. Personal goal before camp: "NFA quest - Cool Down" and "NFA quest - First workout". Camp stuff: ESTA (mandatory!), travel insurance (mandatory!), maybe costume, and maybe glow in the dark clothes. Read a section of The Buddhist Bootcamp book before morning walk every day and meditate/think on the section while walking. Learn more about local martial art dojo (Jujutsu Kai). Visit booth during culture night September 3 (same day I come back from trip... >___<) or go to a training to watch/participate. Learn more about local yoga studio (Ashtanga). Go to first session, September 6. House/Life chores, one per week except weeks I'm traveling. So trying for 3 things (counting zero week) beside normal day-to-day chores. ~*~*~*~*~*~ Geez! Did I tell you I have a problem with ALL THE THINGS? Good thing (unintended pun!) I put most of it in the extra credit section, which means those tasks should not happen before the actually challenge goals... except if I have motivation to get that stuff done. I'm not above adjusting; I listened to my mind, body, and emotions. I don't slack, but I don't push myself very hard because then I break rather than get more done. See this for more information about how it works, and for laughs and/or tears (of recognition). ~*~*~*~*~*~ Yes, my updates tend to be novels. Deal with it. :3 And no, I don't often provide TL;DR (I provide it so seldom my fingers where sure it was DL;RT or DR;LT or some other combination of letters.) TTFN!

We are into August and the battle continues! What the next five weeks look like: Week 0: August 15 to August 21 - Week 8 of current programming, featuring 5x5 + 3x8 Week 1: August 22 to August 28 - Week 9 of current programming, featuring 5x5 + 3x8 Week 2: August 29 to September 4 - Week 1 of new programming Week 3: September 5 to September 11 - Week 2 of new programming Week 4: September 12 to September 18 - Week 3 of new programming The next Week 0 is September 19 to September 25 and coincides with CNF 2016. So there will be a taper week and an informal PL meet. So the goals will be pretty much the same as before, but keeping CNF and the PL competition in mind. Goal 1 - Programming Current mission is nearing completion. Acquire new mission. We are finally done with the 10x10 cycle and got to 10x10x225 pound squats and 10x10x325 pound deadlifts. Now we are on three weeks of 5x5. The most recent round was (almost) 5x5x275 pound squats and 5x5x405 pound deadlifts. Two more weeks I am planning a quick little bit of linear progression to get to 5x5x295 pound squats and 5x5x425 pound deadlifts. Similar linear progression for the 3x8 that follows 5x5. Sometime during Week 1, I should get some programming to get us to the CNF PL Meet. I think it will be a six-day hybrid program, but time will tell. Goal 2 - Tracking We still have a good bit more of the Parental Visit Bulking Program going and then it is back to normal life. The general goals are: Maintain weight around 205 pounds / 93 kg. This leaves an option open for a PL competition sometime next year. Keep "outings" to one time per week. Batch cook one time per week - even if the batch cook only lasts two days. Compare shopping list to what I have been given. (Vague - but I will know exactly what this is when I read it at the end of the Challenge cycle.) Goal 3 - Battle Yup. There is another battle coming up right after this Challenge Cycle! That would be the CNF PL Meet! No idea just how much stronger I have become since the April 23 PL meet, but we will be finding out soon. We were discussing openers a couple of weeks ago - and who knows? Maybe the idea was to throw some numbers out there for us to laugh at when I actually try openers. Squats should see some big gains because there was a lot of squat work in all of that Olympic programming. Bench Press will look about the same. Deadlift is looking a lot stronger. Goal 4 - Other Goals as they come up No real Challenge theme this cycle because too much stuff going on around the house. So....

Last challenge I signed up for a GoRuck at the end of July, and I'll be hanging with the Rangers until then. Besides that, I also want to drop to 232 lb (256ish now) and increase strength by Camp NF 2016. Last challenge I sucked at the weight loss, so a lot of my goals will be focused in on that this time around. Goal 1: Ruck twice per week- Last challenge I built up to 3 miles with 25 lb on flat terrain. This challenge I want to get that up to 35-40 lb on flat terrain. Putting down miles is the best way to do this, so I'll be rucking twice per week. Goal 2: Stop eating like an asshole- I got loose with snacking last challenge. I was making progress at a strict 1 dessert a day rule before slipping up. Think I'm gonna "detox" for a few weeks and have no desserts. Need to stop having silly meals on the weekends as well. Goal 3: Sleep 7 hours per night- I do best when I sleep this much. I feel more energized during the day and do better during workouts. Life goal: Rank 11 9 Hearthstone constructed- My current video game obsession. My best season rank so far is 12 10, want to improve on that. (edit: march season has 3 more days and I'm finishing hella strong).

Alas, I am back as an Adventurer after a failed series of missions as an Assassin. My cache of lives have been consumed and I am seeking a respawn point on this journey of life. So this I am going to mix things up and try to pick up the pieces and start over. My current motivation is to be in shape and capable of doing a 5K in September, marching a halftime with the Longhorn Alumni Band on September 19, and survive the hills (and Amy's bootcamp) at Camp NF 2015. This time I need to kick butt and take names. My current stats? I've gained weight, but I've lost body fat, but I'm not happy with either. = 46% body fat. It's better than 52% like I was before, but I have gained back 30 pounds over last year even though I have been active. My diet is still kinda screwed up. My diet primarily consists of meat with little else. I've started making stew more often to increase my vegetable amounts and eating fresh local fruit. I can make a change. I want to be around 350 at the time of camp, which is a makeable goal if I keep up with things. My strength training baseline? I went to the gym tonight and did a series of squats, presses, and benches and then cursed myself out for how I have let myself fall. Squat: 145 pounds. (I was at 205 earlier this year) Bench: 115 pounds (I was at 145) Press: 95 pounds (I was at 125) Deadlift: 140 pounds (I was at 180 earlier) Hack Squat: 175 pounds (I was at 240 earlier) So my goal in this cycle is to at least be back to where I was before I became a slacker. So this means at least three nights in the gym. As for walking/jogging/running, I've had a goal to do at least 70K steps a week. The problem that I have is that I need to increase the intensity of my walking because I generally don't raise my pulse rate significantly while walking. However, increasing the intensity may come at the cost of maintaining my step count (see more about this below). I do not get a significant amount of steps in at work (usually 1500~2000 steps at the most), so most of these steps occur in evening walks alone at the skate park or when I walk my dog. However, this doesn't leave me much free time for the gym or swimming (to get my step count up, I have to do 2~3 miles usually, which will take close to a hour considering the drive and the speed of my walk). Since it is Summer and Texas is oppressively hot, I've gone to the gym to do water aerobics at the expense of stopping my strength training. I need to balance this better. Things get a lot easier in the fall when it gets to be cool again, but that is still months away. So for this challenge: Quest 1: Use Starting Strength to get my strength training back in shape. Also, within 15 minutes of me waking up the second time in the morning (there is a story in this, but you have to ask me about it in person), do a regimen of bodyweight activities to loosen me up and keep me limber. Quest 2: Walk/Jog/Run as I can, but don't make 10K steps a must every day if it comes at the expense of other activities. Increase the intensity by increasing my stride or speed, or actually start interspersing a jog or run into my walks. I tend to do these after dark around 10:30~12:00 to avoid the heat. Quest 3: Stop eating out and eating crap (I meant to use a different more stronger word, but want to keep this PG). Increase the vegetable and fruit count and decrease snacks. Increase water consumption. I need an accountability partner. I need someone who can proverbially kick my butt when I'm slacking. Positive reinforcement doesn't seem to work for me and I need bluntness for motivation. I hope this challenge goes better than the last two.

The Sailor Senshi are coming to CNF 2015! That's right, we intend to descend en masse upon camp and spread love and joy (and possibly glitter) everywhere! But before we don our iconic uniforms, we're going to spend the next few months working on being sailor fit and sailor awesome! How, you ask? By sharing our successes and failures, participating in a mini or two, and probably having gif parties. Because what would a Nerd Fitness challenge be without gif parties? This is a closed group for those of us going to camp who are planning on Sailor Senshi costumes. If you're interested in an unclaimed slot, please contact me! Roster: MOON: chloehawker CHIBI-MOON: UNCLAIMED MERCURY: imadork MARS: shaarawy JUPITER: crocargyle VENUS: Amdhiel PLUTO: TC URANUS: stillskies NEPTUNE: starsapart SATURN: Datchiana

ok, so maybe I don't want to be THIS big... but I DO want to be strong enough to do this easily. Short story: There is NOTHING like doing a few Kino MacGregor videos when you are 259lbs to make you realize just how weak and out of shape you are. Over the last 10 years, I have addressed and dealt with a lifetime of trauma and abuse, and changed dramatically, but also gained 100 lbs. The last 2 years have been about coming to grips with the fat me and loving myself despite what my body looks like...and just recently I turned a HUGE corner with that, and it's time to move on to the next phase of becoming who I want to be (and she isn't a princess...weird!) and that person is not 260 lbs and someone who plays video games all day long to cope with life. She is an active, fun, happy person who can do anything she wants with her body and loves her life. So it's time to get un-weak and un-out of shape and un-fat. So it's time to get strong, because getting strong will build muscle, increase my metabolism and help me lose fat and be able to do the things I want to do, but I am also going to be addressing cardio and flexibility, because you don't get to be a super yogi who can run whenever she wants, without doing those things. I am planning to keep the same 4 year-long goals I started last challenge, but the exercise portion will be a mix of yoga, cardio and strength and I am going to cold turkey sugar and dairy, seriously! I realized I am not capable of small steps with stuff like that and it happening, and it's not about my emotional health, so it's not going to screw up my head. I didn't quit drinking or smoking or drugs a little at a time, I said "no more" and walked away and never looked back. This has to be the same. TL;DR-- Goal Summary 1. Consistent Wake Up/Bedtime 2. Consistent Exercise Routine 3. Consistent Cooking Dinner 4. Consistent Morning/Evening Routine 5. Cold Turkey Sugar & Dairy

For my last few challenges, I have been hanging my hat in the Assassins guild. While checking out the new Women's Academy, I decided that a Warrior class was a better choice for me quest-wise, so I figured I'd try this challenge in your area for something different. I'm having a hard time deciding what I'd like to do with this challenge. I know that it ends two weeks before Camp Nerd Fitness, so I'd really like to buckle down and focus between now and then. I've been having a great time with more fun challenges with the Assassins, focusing on hula hooping and decluttering. It's been wonderful, but in the process I kind of lost focus on my gym stuff, and my diet has slipped a little bit. I have 5 lbs to lose in the next 8 weeks to meet my goal before Camp, and if I lose just 2 more pounds than that, I'll be at 75 pounds lost total. THAT would be amazing. WARRIOR WOMAN My main goal for the last 3 years has been to become strong. Strong enough to handle life. Strong enough to overcome chronic pain. Strong enough to be confident. I need to refocus on my strong, lifting 3x a week. If I have to miss a day at my work gym, I have to do a comparable bodyweight workout at home that night. No more excessive rest periods. I have to have the last 13 workouts of my new superset routine done before camp.Track food every day. Only exception will be any days without cell range when camping. My life is not a free for all. Keep carbs <50g a day, except for one meal for glycogen refill. I can be a little looser when camping for after dinner treats, but the rest of my food must be on point.Continue to focus on general decluttering, reorganization, and redecorating. One thing a day at least.SIDE QUESTSDiet Side Quest: W A T E R. Drink more of it! Seriously been bad in this area lately. I bring two jugs of water to work every day. I MUST drink them! Every day! DO IT!Fitness Side Quest: Cardio. Oh how I hate thee. I've been slacking. I want to up my daily step average to 8,000 a day, with bonus points for any 10,000 step days, or days I actively do cardio on purpose.MOTIVATION PROGRESS 3 Points a week for Lifting. 13 points total for superset routine workouts 7 points a week for decluttering 7 points a week for eating (either tracking, or eating appropriately when I can't track) Bonus Points for water and cardio 17 Points a week Total + specific workouts + side quest (1 for getting all my water, 1ea for cardio). Week 1: 22/17 Points Week 2: 23/17 Points Week 3: 22/17 Points Week 4: 22/17 Points - all 13 superset points achieved Week 5: 18/17 Points Week 6: 19/17 Points TOTAL: 126/127 WOOT