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Since getting my Master's last August, I have found a solid routine. I lift weights three days a week, do cardio/PT three days a week, and do 10 minutes of Kenpo Karate practice in the morning. My food intake is reasonably consistent and balanced, and I can see slow but steady changes in my body. Naturally, I'm going to throw a wrench in all that. Setup: I've stayed in touch with my school, and one of the electives I wanted to take is being offered this summer, so I enrolled in it, just for funsies. While it's not quite as serious, being not for a degree, the final grade will still be on my transcript, so I can't just blow it off. Keeping in mind that one graduate class is considered equivalent to part-time work, my free time (and possibly energy) will be heavily affected. Problem: I have a tendency to get caught up in "what will be" and "what I want to be" and forget to pay attention to "what is," inevitably resulting in feelings of disappointment that reality doesn't match my dreams. Worse, it usually takes a while of growing, vague frustration before I recognize what's happening and work to fix it. That time has decreased lately, but the last one still took me 2-3 weeks to realize and correct. Since I've chosen to burden myself with another class (which I'll be paying for myself, so don't want to arbitrarily drop it), I expect my opportunities to reflect on my internal state will be limited; on the other hand, I don't want to spend 10 weeks being grumpy and growly at those around me for reasons that are entirely my fault. Challenge: Pay attention. To right now. To my mental state. To my expectations. To reality. To my reactions to reality. Stressful doesn't have to mean stressed out. I've got this, and I can do it, calmly.

Don't you just love that movie? It is so relatable: we all have different voices arguing inside our head. This challenge I'm going to change from the inside out, listen to the voices and find my own voice. This challenge I'm not going to change on the outside: no strict food rules, no changing my environment to fit my goals. Because that stuff doesn't change my relationship with food, it doesn't change my brain. So, what am I going to do this time? I've talked about Life on Tellus before here. And I still love this approach. The theory is that you've got a lower brain, she calls it a dinosaur, but I'm picturing mine more like a dragon And you've got a higher brain. Your true self. She pictures it as Hermione (from harry potter), more because that toy was the closest thing resembling a human being in her house I guess So here is my Hermione: The short version is: your lower brain (dinosaur, dragon, lizard, monkey brain or whatever you want to call it) is instinct, habit, it does what you have taught it to do. If you taught it food makes you feel better when you are sad, it will direct you to food every time you get sad. It is stupid, it doesn't think things trough, it only cares about survival right now. Your higher brain is your intelligent self: the one that knows that the chocolate will make you feel better for a few minutes, but isn't the right thing for you to eat right now. It isn't healthy or you aren't hungry. The trick is to actually face your dragon. And realize that you are an all powerfull wizard/witch that will have no trouble taming it. Your dragon can trow all the tantrums in the world, but in the end you are the boss. You say what goes. You take care of yourself, you look at the long term. So my goals for this challenge: And I'm copying this directly from the Life on Tellus blog And for the practical part: Knowing I have a dragon, and learning to face it opens the way to really take care of myself, love myself. I'm going to do that by creating discipline: choose healthy, don't eat too much, move around. I recently got a fitbit that is going to help me do just that I love new toys

GREETINGS REBELLION!!I am Wraiven but those whom know me well call me Mitch Jnr. I have been working on leveling up my life and developed my quest log in a way to grow, not only for me but for the benefit of those all over the world. Since I can remember I have always been a very giving person and gathered joy from tasks that not only helped me be a better man, but also to help others grow too. Since my Father (Mitch Snr) passed away started really struggling with depression and anxiety in recent years and it's truly effected my growth and attitude towards what I always believed of myself. It could be chemical or it could just be my mind trying to avoid the pain of failing... But that's not gonna happen! Since joining the Rebellion I decided to dedicate a whole year to trying to change some lives and it's really had an Impact on me too.17 has always been my favourite number soooo I decided in 2017 I was going to do a Charity Challenge called 'Songs and Smiles' to help raise funds for Kids with Cancer, Mental Illness and Poverty/Famine. This requires me to do a song a day to bring smiles and provoke thought/nostalgia every single day and then people could share and possibly donate if they could. A simple premise but alot of people seem to like it. So far we have raised over $5000 and had 250,000 views on Youtube.My Dad always wanted to help kids with cancer because when he had it he always beleived he had lived and they deserved a chance to aswell, so I am doing this all in his memory and I hope all of the rebellion can join me too and become a SMILE SAVIOUR!DONATE: http://bit.ly/2iRw2vO GOFUNDME: http://bit.ly/2jXoQ5f FACEBOOK: http://bit.ly/2hFp6UY TWITTER: @MitchJnrMass <3 Mitch Jnr

Greetings and Salutations! Try one was fail, as I put it in a past challenge. Sigh. You'd think I'd have this interneting thing figured out, but no, away I went! Unafraid, necroposting like a champ! Mea Culpa! Back on topic. I have decided to wander over here from the Assassins area to try some change. Now, I am very, very adverse to change overall. Lots of good reasons, personal and even more so professional, but I need to get more comfortable with change again. In the bigger picture, I need to get more comfortable being uncomfortable. My goals are modest. Start Tai-Chi. I've done it before, and at a certain point it made me uncomfortable. Time to do it again. I found a local group and will embrace the change. In specific, attend sessions 2 to 3 times a week. Practice 2 to 3 times a week. This is where I go for deliberate mental discomfort. Wim Hof - breathing and embracing the cold. In specific, end every shower on cold, breath once a day, one cold bath a week. Once the weather turns out here, talking walks in the cold with the fluffy death machine (aka Benny, my dog, who might manage to sniff someone to death). This will be my gateway to physical discomfort again. Being the kind of person who has a hard time doing the minimum, I expect to exceed the minimums, but I will be facing my own internal resistance to change. If anyone knows of a good or better Tai Chi location in Colorado Springs, I am interested. For now, I am headed to Shorin as they are proximal. This is wildly out of my lane, please provide any and all input. I'll be here asking ignorant questions, don't hesitate to provide input to get me headed in a better direction. Oh, and memes. We like memes. - Murphy's Roommate

I'm fairly certain that I ended up here at this respawn point, because I stumbled into a PVP area and was shanked in the back by an Imperial Operative. So while I sit here and let the medical droid tend to my wounds, let me consider how I got in this mess in the first place. I think it's important to acknowledge what went wrong without fear of being told you're just making excuses or complaining. The fact is, the situation is what it is and now that we're here it's time to dust off and get ready to move forward. So let's start where it all started getting derailed... In June I was doing well. In all honesty, I had gotten in a good routine, making sure to stop at the gym on the half-way point on my daily drive home from work. And after every workout I was logging it via IG to keep myself accountable. I was doing well, even with the impending move on the horizon. Once July hit, we had to hunker down and finish packing without knowing where we were going to go before August. In truth, the housing market is tough right now for renters. Prices are super high and places are getting snatched up in the blink of an eye. A huge truckload of stress came slamming down on me and my family (and extended family) during this time. My wife and I, by the grace of God, managed to find a place through a friend, and began moving. The majority of the move was my wife and my parents moving over the course of the course of the last two weeks of July. In addition my wife and I ended up with strep throat during this time. We eventually got everything moved and no one got injured during the process. Now, aside from the expected un-boxing, things were looking good. It took us about two weeks to recover from the sickness. My drive to work also shifted and lengthened by about 15-30 min each way, since we moved to a different city. That also put the gym out of the way rather than en route. Since the move I've been out of sorts and been struggling to get into a routine again. In short, it's been hard. Now, I feel like I'm back to my old higher weight again (can't find our scales amidst the myriad of boxes left), but regardless what my weight IS, I certainly feel it. It's time to dig my heels in and stop losing ground. I'm certainly not getting any younger. (Had a birthday in August, yay!) TL;DR 1. Was doing good, logging workouts via IG. 2. Stress of finding a place and moving hit. 3. Moved to a new city further away from work. 4. Got sick and recovered. 5. Had a Birthday. 6. Lost old routine. 7. Need to get back on track. I haven't decided how I'm going to go about really getting back on track yet. I just know that I need to take that first step mentally, and this is it. Funny how it seems when you fall off the wagon, you forget all the things you got situated and settled in with in the past run. I do know that I really want to avoid counting calories/carbs if I can help it, but that won't be a deal breaker if I have to do some sort of number crunching along the way. Anyway, it's good to be back...

Sleeping got much better with my last challenge, and now I want to work on things that bring focus to my life. I have a terrible tendency to flail around, wondering what I should do. I've been working on taking care of the basics, and doing so has made me more centered. I've also recently had a breakthrough on some things I am the most indecisive about, and I want to work to encourage myself to stick to this path (yes, I'm being terribly vague. I'm not quite ready to discuss it yet). So this challenge, I'm working on turning off all the noise and getting focused. So for this challenge, I will focus on the following four things: Nutrition: Food journal daily. Track emotions, make note of what I eat depending on how I feel. This is to ultimately disconnect emotional eating. Body: Yoga at least 3 days a week. Mind: Meditate daily. Wealth: 5 job applications per week. Challenge met instantly if a job is found.

All right, all right, new year, fresh start! I actually don't need a fresh start from the perspective of "I've fallen off the wagon and need to start again", but more like "Time to look back at what I've done and where I can make improvements." But I don't believe a 'fresh continuation' is a thing, so... To catch everyone up, I'm a skinny guy who wants to build muscle. I was inspired by one of Steve's articles last summer to pick a routine and stick with it - for months, not weeks! I modified Anthony Mychal's 242 Method to include 6 "marriage" lifts that are performed on 2 days a week and then use a 3rd workout day to "flirt" with other routines I've seen. I stuck with it pretty well, doing Deadlifts, OHP, and Dips on Mondays and Squats, Floor Press, and Pull-ups on Fridays. A couple of months ago, I started doing a modified version of Kinobody's Bodyweight Mastery Program for my Wednesday workout, focusing on progressions for Pistol Squats, Handstand Push-ups, One-armed Push-ups, and L-sits. I'm still enjoying the routines, but I'm taking an opportunity with the new 4 week format to try and change up some rep/set patterns and see if it has any positive impacts on my muscle-building efforts. Oh, also, my previous attempts at trying to bulk up left me with a bigger midsection than I wanted, so I tried leaning down 2 challenges ago, stuck to maintenance last challenge, and now I'm planning to bulk for a couple of months. Now on to the goals! Diet/Fitness Quest 1 - Add 10# to my sandbag floor press I lifted 120# for 10 reps on 1/1, but I'm going to try and stick with a 5-rep range from this point forward, so I'll shoot for 5x130# this week and go from there. Quest 2 - Hit 3 sets of 6 reps of seated pistol squats for each leg Currently at about 4 reps per leg for 2-3 sets. I'm going to train these twice a week because I really want to master the pistol squat this year. The sooner the better! Quest 3 - Bulk responsibly - eat at a 250 calorie surplus each day This should be a relatively easy surplus to do and will work out to about 2 pound weight gain for the month. The hard part will be tracking my calories consistently. I hate counting calories. Starting weight = 154.66 lbs (7-day average) Starting midsection = 34.5" Starting chest = 37.5" Level Up Your Life Quest 4 - Less focus on my phone, more focus on my family Goal is no social media or games from 6-9 PM each night and no phone after 10 PM, except for reading my Kindle app. I'd like to spend the after-work/before-kids-bedtime hours focused on my family and the after 10 PM time reading actual books. I have 4 books I'd like to read over the next few months, including Steve's book when it comes out. I'm excited to get back into the challenges after a 3 week break and I'm excited to see what everyone else comes up with!

Gimeniux's: How do you mend a broken heart? Why am i here? I feel lost, once more, totally lost. I'm starting once more. I did great two challenges ago, last one not so great, actually a total failure. But here i am, because i promised i would not give up. I am here, because i need to take care of me. I'm battling depression, i just broke up with my boyfriend. I need to love myself, i come to realize this is the only way i'll be truly happy. So here i am, trying once more. Thank you in advance to those who decide to come along with me in this journey. My heart is broken you see, not just because i broke up with my boyfriend, i did that just to focuss on me, being in a relationship can drain energy from you, it's exhausting. I'm broken heart because i have let myself down, i need to be at peace with myself. GOAL 1 - No more Facebook I keep losing so much time and energy watching everyone else's lifes, but i neglect my own. I watch happy pictures from my friends and i feel a total failure, even i know that no one facebook truly reflects the happiness or sadness of their lifes. I need to concentrate in me, just me, nothing else matters now. GOAL 2 - Make a healthy choice everyday I don't want to make to many rules his time. Every time i do and fail i stop trying. I need to begin again, babysteps, each little step has to be taken as a win. GOAL 3 - Smile and love myself I'll set up a personal dairy. Everyday i'll write how i feel and one reason why i love myself. Also i'll smile to me everytime i see a mirror. Side Quest - How about some origami So i'm an origami lover. I made plans long time ago to develop my passion into a bussiness. It's not easy, specially with the depression kicking everytime, it's terribly hard to finish anything i try to start. So i'll go slowly, i want to make a goal to invest everyday at least 15 minutes to develop this passion. I wanted to say an hour, but that's a lot for the moment, 15 min will do get my motivation back. Thank you all out there who stop to read this, i've been overwhelmed with all your stories, i guess there is always a reason to keep going. I'll update regularly, promise. So i've been told

Aside from work in the gym, when was the last time you guys invested in yourselves? Like, when did you last buy a tool or a course to learn a skill? When was the last time you took somebody farther ahead on your career path out for coffee and some advice? I try to ask myself this question a lot - if it's been too long since I really invested in myself, I start to kind of slide a little bit. Thoughts?

Thought I'd post something in here by means of introduction (duh). Just spent ages writing the first post of my Daily Battle Log thread, so I'm just going to recycle it here as an intro. Sorry if that's too annoyingly lazy. Bises x The Situation Two years ago I started a Daily Battle Log and didn't follow it up with a single update. Not one. Obviously, that didn't go quite as planned. No point dwelling on the past though, because two years ago is not today, and today I'm ready to commit to change. The past two years have been full of positive change: I finished school, got a job, discovered tumblr (rather belatedly), moved into my own apartment, fell in love. I've also been accepted for the final selection process for an amazing IT school in Paris. It's called 42 and it's nerd heaven and I'm going there for a month-long entrance exam in September. I feel like everything's finally come together and I'm ready to embark on real life. The only thing holding me back is my lump of lard excuse for a body --- in two years, I've gained 15kg. As of today, the situation is as follows: Weight: 78.4kg (173 lbs) Height: 170cm (5 foot 6ish) Belly: 102cm (40 inches) Thigh: 68cm (27 inches) Very out of breath walking up two flights of stairs to my apartment. While I do go to a weekly dance class, I am embarrassingly incompetent and feel like death before the warm up is even over. Poor skin due to poor diet, poor adherence to doctor's orders, and never getting any sun because I'm always inside. Goals While my physical appearance is certainly less than ideal (in society's terms at least), I don't want to focus on working towards an aesthetic goal. My main concern is the things that my body can't do in its current state. Therefore, my general long-term goal is to have a stronger, healthier, faster body, that can sing, dance and run up stairs without gasping for breath like a dying whale. I am young, and I want to feel young and do young person things. With all this in mind, I've come up with a list of fairly simpe things that I want to be able to do by September. My month at 42 marks the start of a whole new adventure, and I want to go into it healthy and capable in mind and body. By 1st September 2015 (99 days from now) I will be able to do the following without feeling like I'm dying: Run 5km Hold a 30 second hand stand Do 30 push ups Hold a 120 second plank Cycle to my nearest train station (12km of hills) Swim a length of a local swimming lake The Plan Every week for the next 14 weeks I will: Run for 30 minutes twice a week Swim for 30 minutes once a week Cycle for 30 minutes once a week Do a basic body weight workout three times a week Have one rest day a week Every day for the next 99 days I will: Practice handstand training for 10 minutes Eat 2 portions of lean protein and 3 portions of healthy veggies Drink at least 8 glasses of plain water Take all my medications Spend at least 30 minutes outside Go to sleep by 11pm I will gradually increase the nature and intensity of each workout, but I will keep the frequency and duration constant to keep a routine I can stick to. When I am away from home and cannot swim or cycle I will replace it wth a run. I will track my commitment with a chart on which I will mark off each completed daily and weekly requirement as they are completed. I will write a short daily log by 10.30pm every evening, and post weekly summaries to reflect on my progress every Sunday morning by 10am. I will take photos and measurements every Sunday morning to keep track of my progress. For every week successfully completed without missing any of the daily or weekly requirements, I will reward myself with a healthy lunch out with a friend. For every month successfully completed I will reward myself with a weekend camping trip with a friend. If I don't miss a single requirement over the whole 99 days I will reward myself with a weekend in Paris. If I successfully fulfill each of the 6 goals by September, I will reward myself with a new haircut. I guess all that's left is for me to go and be healthy for the rest of the day, and check in this evening with my daily log. À bientôt, Mimi

Hello everyone!! Well here I am, to tell you guys I went to a Nutritionist She was very well recommended. Based on what we talked, health history from my family (not many problems, thankfully), and all, she ended up making this routine for me. I would like you guys to see it and tell what you thinks about it. At the end of the post I will write more about myself (physical description, old habits...), maybe it will help. I have already started this diet (I learn from many errors in the past that I shouldn't wait forever to make some changes ^^ ). So... here we go! : Breakfast: Option 1:Soy milk (original, Soymilk or SupraSoy brands), 2 tablespoons (about 200ml) OR natural yoghurt (200ml)Fruit (1 share/quota)Oats (preference for oatflour), 1 tablespoon.Option 2:Nutritional Powder (natural, protein + vitamins, I was already using it before, it's very good, I did not want to give it up because it helped me on several issues before)Water and/or natural yoghurt (200ml)Fruit (1 share/quota)Oats (preference for oatflour), 1 tablespoon.I prefer option two, normally. Collation:Fruit, 2 shares/quotas Lunch:Rice (brown, preferably), 3 tablespoons well filled upLean meat (fish, chicken, red meat), 200gVegetable A, at ease, eat before the mealVegetable B, 5 tablespoonsExtra/option: Black beans (Feijão, really known in Brazil, it's cooked), maximum of 100g/1 medium scoup per dayEat slowly Snacks:Snack 1:Brazil Nut (Castanha-do-Pará), 2 unitsOilseeds, 5 units (walnuts, almonds, pistachios, etc.).Snack 2:Fruit, 2 shares/quotasIn emergency cases ( ), chocolate 70% cocoa or more, 20g.She put 2 snacks because my dinner is generally when I get home from university at 10pm. So, she inverted the order of meals: instead of snack>dinner>snack, she put this way. In university I don't really have time to eat properly or it's just too expensive. Dinner:Lean meat, 100gVegetable A, at easeVegetable B, 5 tablespoons Supper: nothing (as my dinner is very late, as 10pm). ---- Diet Update ---- Lunch: Brown Rice from now on, no more white rice. Snack: Instead of 2 quotas of Fruits and all the nuts I put before, now I'll have these, divided between Lunch and my really late Dinner: Fruit - 1 quota/shareSandwich - Brown bread (integral), lean cheese (cottage, etc...) (1 medium slice/30g), Vegetable A (no limit) (tomato, cabbage, rocket, cabbage, lettuce, ...)Extra: Oilseeds - 2 units of Castanha-do-Pará Options for 1 share/quota of Fruits:Acerola (185g), 16 unitsPineapple (115g), 1 large sliceCoconut water (300ml), 1 common cupFresh plum (110g), 1 very largeBanana (60g), 1 mediumCaju/Cashew (165g), 2 mediumCaqui/Persimmon (95g), half of a large wellCherry (60g), 7 largeKiwi (90g), 1 largeOranges (125g), 1 mediumApple (95g), half of 1 largePapaya (90g) 1 small sliceMango (95g), 1 mediumWatermelon (195g), 1 medium sliceMelon (200g), 1 medium sliceStrawberry (150g), 10 mediumPear (90g), half of a largePeach (115g), 2 smallTangerine (125g), 1 smallGrape (75g), 13 small units Options for Vegetable A: Water PumpkinChardWatercressCeleryLettuceAsparagusBroccoliChicoryCauliflowerSpinachGherkin/maxixeMustard leafPalmettoRadishCabbageRucola/arugula/rocketTomato Options for Vegetable B: PumpkinGreen squashEggplant/aubergineBeetOnionCarrotChayote/ChuchuSprouts/kaleGreen PeaTurnipPetit-poisBell PepperOkra/gumboHaricot Vert/pod My current physical activies: I exercise 2x/week in the gym, alternating bodyweight, running/HIIT, weight/machine training, cardio, functional training, circuits.... I have access to a very good trainer that sticks with me and builds my gym routines I do kung fu hung gar 2x to 3x/week (1hour/class)I do parkour on weekends, so 1x to 2x/week (1h to 3h of training)It may seem much, but I'm kind of a beginner in all of them. My day-to-day life, simplified: Work - 10am to 4pmUniversity - 4pm or 6pm (depending on which day of the week) to 10pmPhysical activities - everyday between 7am and 8amThere are other minor things My old/changing eating habits: Basically, just wrong, horrible. Not because I didn't like good, healthy, food. But because I couldn't build a nice routine for me to actually eat well during the week and fit it between my activities, so I ended up eating garbage (fast food and so on). Plus, eating nicely is expensive. On weekends it got a bit worse as I went out with friends and all. Probably I just haven't gained that much weight because I'm really a non-stop person generally (yes, I have anxiety (which I'm trying to surpass), so lots of energy, and some times, without any reason, none, zero, vanished (this is why I have difficulty sticking with things). However I have been overweight (thankfully, not that much, considering my eating habits). Physical appearance, general description: Height - 1m63Weight - 65kgs (now, 64kgs YEY) - I was REALLY underweight before, so I made a big effort to gain weight (in a wrong way -.-) and ended up being overwheight >.<22 years old girl Now... why am I here if I already do parkour, kung fu and gym w/personal trainer, and went to a nutritionist, you ask? My BIGGEST problem is to focus on things on the long run (thanks Anxiety), and also to build something for myself, like a routine and to stick to it. I feel I can do better than what I do now. I'm talking about useful time, nice conditioning and preparing mainly for the parkour part for now. So, OBJECTIVES for now: Lose fat, weight (between 8kg and 6kg, I think), and gain muscle (I even gained a belly y.y)Gain strenght (arms, core, well, everything xD)Jump's height/impulsion (mine is LAME)Endurance (for parkour; I get tired really fast)Be a good fighter (kung fu style; I know this will require time) So, hope you guys can analyse it all. Sorry for the big post y.y I tried. Thanks everybody!

Towards the end of the last challenge, I had some Vocational Testing done, to see what my personality and aptitudes and interests would make a good career fit for me and the results were...well...not what I expected entirely. I started out 3 weeks ago, admitted to Grad school for Social Work, starting 3 weeks from now, but now that's entirely off the table and I am going in a whole new direction, because while I may LOVE Social Work in theory, I am not a very socially intelligent person, which is a death knell in a position like that, and I realized that I would be doing every one of my clients a disservice by choosing that career, and there are many other choices out there that fit better with my strengths rather than my weaknesses. The testing told me several things: 1. I am smart (IQ >125) 2. I am unique (INTJ using the MBTI Personality Testing) 3. I enjoy physical activities that involve an element of risk while being non-gender typical 4. I am capable of learning higher level math (possibly the most important point) Many of these I was already aware of (I have known I was an INTJ since high school) and that INTJs are very interesting folks (Sherlock, Moriarty, Gandalf, Augustus Caesar, Hannibal, Thomas Jefferson are examples of this personality type) and make up a very small percentage of the population ( < 2%) and that I am smart enough to do pretty much anything I want. So why am I 36 and have about zero confidence in my ability to do/be anything of value? Well...because life has tried to kick my ass, and it has pretty much succeeded in this area. Self Esteem and Self Confidence and Self Value are serious issues I need to overcome (I know that's news to everyone ) So during the course of all this testing, many different career paths were thrown around, and the two top contenders were: Massage Therapist and Accountant. Talk about mind boggling! Me...the girl who has cheated her way through every math course since 6th grade except Logic (including college math) doing Accounting?!?!?!?! What?!?!?! But seriously, we also realized that my issue with math is not one of ability (I can figure out lower level math in my head faster than just about anyone...someone I didnt know even asked if I was a mathematician once because of that) but it was because I didn't ever actually learn some of the very basic things I should have in middle school, and never could catch up because the later stuff builds on those. So the solution is: Teach myself lower level math, and work my way up and doing that will give me some self confidence and success and some good feels (Which by the way is something I was told a year or so ago by someone else, and it's just very daunting and I dont want to fail). I am also planning in the meantime, to do some job shadowing and work experience and some other things with Accountants in the area to see how I do and what I think, and then it looks like maybe a Masters in Accounting or an MBA in my future (not sure which route is best yet, anyone have a clue???) and if/when this works...I will also have the ability to support myself (my biggest fear, eliminated) and then yay! So now...about challenge goals: 1. Do my Math Workbook: One lesson per day 2. Modified Before Bed Routine: daily 3. Eat GFCF and do the Potatoes not Prozac Plan Step One: breakfast daily with protein 4. Yoga: 3x a week 15 minutes minimum (Savasana counts right now) 5. 8 hours of sleep TL;DR: I am an INTJ (like Sherlock) and don't suck at Math and am going to work towards a career in Accounting and my challenge goals are all repeats of basic life shit (Bedtime Routine, Eating Breakfast and Gluten/Dairy Free, Yoga, Sleep and Math bookwork) Bottom Line: I was selling myself short at just settling for being a Princess

I sat out the last challenge. It seemed like one more thing to do and I was at my limit. I needed the down time. But I also realized that all my goals were about big things, or aspects of big things. I am not saying I don't need to focus on those, there are lots of big things an Ogre needs to focus on. However, there are little things that can make an important difference. Here is what is going on in the Ogre land of Brute Squad for those who may have just joined us. Our hero, an Ogre of grand scale, works full time with regular over time repairing and maintaining medical imaging equipment (x-ray, CT, Nuclear Medicine cameras), is attending an accelerated BS college program full time, is trying to complete repairs on a house that was built in 1917 (he has already rewired the entire house, had roof repaired, re-plumbed all water lines, replaced all missing glass, and patched most of the walls. Painting has started.) that is nearing completion. The house project has taken over a year already. Meanwhile trying to fit in work outs, (basically strong lifts 5x5 just started again) some boxing, and foam rolling. I would say there is a full plate if we were sure there is a plate under there somewhere...... Goals. 1. Sleep. I am not sure if I should set this as a time to get up or a time to go to bed. One directly affects the other, and the eventual goal is to be getting up around 5 am or 5:30 am. I am currently getting up at 6 am and it is a scramble to get everything going in the morning. So I am not sure if I need 5 am, but I am going to try Start to get up at 5:30 and adjust from there. 2. Food. No, not going to set out some diet. I am simply going to start eating consciously at every meal. The hardest meal for that is lunch. I am usually eating while reading or searching something on the computer. I need to sit and eat. I am not concerned about planned snacks so much. But meals need to be sit down and eat. 3.Recovery time. I am very busy. I need to set aside time that is obligated to not being obligated. I will set aside 2 hours a weekend. It doesn't seem like much, but it is a huge deal as I don't even seem to get that right now. 4. Writing. I need writing time. Outside of school work, I need to work on a specific writing project. That will get time every weekend. I will decide how much time during the first week of the challenge as I will be putting it together. That is it. Those are the goals. Things I will make habits to reach bigger goals. Much love from the Ogre.

First of all, Hello! I can't wait to get started working with the Rebellion! I have been slowly making changes to my life over the past few years (meeting goals!)! I finished college (at 34 years old!), changed career paths, and had my second son! All great things, but I thought that my life was becoming chaotic; no time for myself...then I realized I was the problem. After having 3 back surgeries (all before age 30), I was at my highest weight (300 lbs). I used that as an excuse to not get off the sofa, not move around, and that caused more damage. I lost flexibility, lost muscle, and gained fat. This year, I decided that I was going to quit blaming the clock, and start planning better. TV will NOT be my priority! I started by joining the corporate gym, going to group exercise classes and incorporating the Paleo Diet (that is how I found the Rebellion...Google searching)! I want to get off my cholesterol medication, I want to reduce my risk of Diabetes, and I want to be able to get out and play with my two boys! I have tried a lot of different "plans", but decided that they were too hard (sounds like I needed a waaaa-ambulance). In reality I didn't have the motivation...now I do! I am putting it out there, right now I am 6'4", 270 lbs. and when I hit my goal of 220 lbs. I will be rewarding myself with the best looking Seersucker Suit, complete with saddle shoes and kick-ass bow tie. I will post pics when (not if) I get there, I PROMISE! So thanks in advance for the support, help, and friendships! I look forward to meeting you!

In the words of Obama, I want change. All my life I've been waaaaayy overweight, but now it's time to take a stand. I'm tired of feeling clumsy because of my bodyweight (im 15 and 20kgs over) and I'm tired of finding myself regretting eating a bag of crisps. So, after finding nerd fitness, I've decide that 2014 will be the year that I achieve my (hopefully easy to achieve) goals. But as I've found from numerous amount of times in the past, I can't do this alone, and i am weak in the face of cake and pizza. So I've joined the forums for help and support from local rebels. 2014 should be a good one. (I'm Jay by the way)

Hi NF'ers I have just started actively following a fitness plan and tonight is my first evening shift at work this week; I was wondering if there were others out there like me who have a varied schedule, and I was curious as to what you do / eat / drink to keep yourself energised and feeling well without succumbing to copious amounts of caffiene and sugar (two of my biggest downfalls!) What kind of meals should I eat to keep myself energized, or is a quick afternoon nap more the way to go? Or do I just continue my daily routine (breakfast, lunch, workout, dinner) as per usual and just "suck it up" whilst at work?

How's it going people? Im an 18 (150 pound) year old high school senior, who is ready to change his life. For the past few months, i've been going through the same routine: Get up, go to school, come home. get on the computer, go to sleep. The funny thing is, that I have been doing weghttraining since last month, but I haven't been puting max effort, in both the gym and my diet. I could push for one last rep, but I never do, or I could eat another meal, but I say it doesn't matter. Since i've been skinny all my life, I always make excuses like, "Oh I just have bad genetics" or "I'm just not made to build muscle". It's pathetic I know, but I'm ready to change that. I'm so glad that I found Nerd Fitness, because I really like the energy of the community; everyone seems to want to cheer each other on and grow together.I want to be like you guys a improve my life too( while I still have the health and time to do it). I don't wan't to be 70 years old lving a miserable life, going through the same motions I was at 18, still wishing that I could get up and do something with myself. I'm gonna make a change in all aspects of my life (socially, phyiscally, emotionally, mentally). I'll look back on my life, old as shit and say, "I love the life i've been able to live". My Main Quest I want to build overall size strength, and flexibilty. I don't desire to be ridicuosly huge, but I would like to have a nice body to compliment and represent the hard work I put in the gym.In addition to that, I'd love to increase my flexibilty, because honestly, I just think being flexible is cool haha. To Achieve these Goals: I will take part in a full body resistance training routines(Mon,Wed,Fri) that consist of mostly compound movements .I will make it my best effort to eat at least 2500 calories a day, or atleast as many calories I can eat each day.I will take part in yoga at home to increase my felxibility and range of motion. Life Side Quests For basically all of my life, i've always been that quiet shy guy. It has never been a ridicously detrimental thing to my life, but inmany situations, it's kept me from speaking to people, voicing my opinions, asking questions, and showing my true self. Sometimes I fear what people will think of me, so i'll hold certain aspects of myself back. I want to break away from that shyness, and show more of who I am to the world! I want to be able to carry on a great conversation with someone, or ask a quesiton in class and not feel stupid. I don't know how i'm going to exactly change thay, but I will take some type of step to improve.Motivation My motivation is simple. I want to be proud of something that no one can take away from me, my body. i want to be proud of myself and what i've avvomplished. I want to inspire others, and show them that if a guy like me can improve, you can too! If you actually take the time to read this, thank you. I hope that I can make you proud.

Hey Nerds! Read mah intro here: http://rebellion.nerdfitness.com/index.php?/topic/38293-cmon-people-were-making-now-my-design-4-life-os/#entry734388 Here's my insanely geeky way to represent my fitness level in a way that I find amusing! Starting Spec: (07/10/2013, inR Level 0) Weight: 264.5lbs Psych Level: 1.5/10 Power Input: Vegetarian, OS: IronGlider's Design for Life (inR D4L) First week since installation Programs Installed: Nerd Fitness Rebel Guide Yourshape Fitness Evolved Current Kit: Weights Tasks Running: Cardio Sessions Cardio Boxing Weight Lifting Bugs, Malware, and Infections: Asthma: Initially bad, Improving. Bypassed Neutral BMI Levels Cannot Overclock for long Poor Attention span, Short term memory Lack of Natural Sources of Energy GPS tracker faulty Navigation driver fault Decreased cognition functions High Stress Output Recent Changelog: 03-07/10/2013 Changed to Natural Sources of Energy Increased Protein Sources: Quorn/Meatfree, Quinoa Increased Physical Output (every 48hrs) (90mins) Increased Tea Consumption Decreased Food Consumption Increased Stamina +1 Increased Confidence +1 Picture log will be recorded every month. More updates pending.

Hello Nerds! Welcome! Thank you for reading my post (apologies for any stupid autocorrelation touch type errors!) I'm from the UK, 23 and currently at a turning point towards the end of Uni. Obviously, I'm a nerd too, Huge fan of Indiana Jones and love adventure and some science-fiction movies (blade runner, minority report, star wars, the usual). Like a lot of Nerds, I like videogames too (classic SEGA, fighting games, adventure games like monkey island). Very much into educational/documentary stuff too, and enjoy design, industry, manufacturing and society, cultures and history. I have a lot of flaws in my lifestyle. Be default, I'm usually okay. Whenever I'm sunken into project work, stressed or frightened, lifestyle goes down the gutter. With a lot of career based stress coming my way after the following year, I'm usually always on uptight or worried about something. You can say that I'm generally reactive towards things once my wellbeing is low. This is what most of the last few months has been like for me. Recently, I've been going to a really rough patch in my life, linked to my health and with difficult life descisions and a recent passing of a relative who was obese. This will be the third attempt of me ever loosing weight, at 264lbs, almost at the biggest I've ever been. This is also the first time I've ever made an online journal, I'm finding it incredibly helpful and engaging and helpful with getting answers to certain things e.g. asthma. I'm vegetarian, so no fish or meat here :-/, and have cod liver oil supplement. When I'm home I'm usually great with healthy living. At uni, it fluctuates, deadline time won't be so great or if I'm anxious on grades or just generally blue etc. I heard about this awesome sites on the artofmanliness recent podcast and fell in love with the concept. I felt as if it was exactly what I needed right now, especially with the 6 week journey and considering how effective the journal route has been for me. I'll be starting today. This is it! Adventurers Assemble! Just to note, I once attempted to start back in May, but life got in the way and I wasn't in a good and positive mindset. I've been preparing for this moment. I've read up on everything I needed to know and hear and have been officially going for 4 days with healthy eating and full on exercise every 48hrs. At my weight, it's gonna make one hell-of-a journal, showing a range of emotions and difficult times I'm sure, but this is it. I can feel it. I'm gonna make this THIRD STRIKE COUNT! Looking forward to updating and reading other peoples journeys, apologies for the long post! Update: Posting a picture of me timestamped. At first I felt a little uncomfortable posting a picture, but I agree with what Master Kamb said, it needs to be done, and right now, I'm glad I did it. I blurred my face for now, but a year from now, when I'm ready to become the next guy on the transformation column (lol!), I might go for it! P.S. Thanks for reading, looking forward to reading the stories of others, lets go! Daily Battle Logs: http://rebellion.nerdfitness.com/index.php?/topic/38294-upgrading-my-bodyware-os-journal-to-a-modern-me/

I was tossed as to if I wanted to start another challenge. My last one fell apart in the last week, and the efforts I made towards the goals seemed non-committal. I'm trying to change too much at the same time and I'm failing. And I hate failing in front of others. I'm perfectly cool failing on my own, learning from my own secret mistakes and determining to do it right/get better/learn... but all under the cover of secrecy. Having the world see my struggle is very difficult for me. I want to be strong. I need to be strong... and when I end up showing weakness and failure, I feel vulnerable and exposed. I understand this community is the single most supportive group of people I've ever encountered, but it's still unnerving... and uncomfortable and scary. So here's to taking the advice that I asked for. Time to get uncomfortable. Metal_Weaver's Quest to do a Pull-Up, take 2 1st Mission: Breaking Free from the Barista - No more coffee drinks. I feel hyper but sick after them, and it's not worth it. Stop beating up my innards and quit the coffee drinks. - If I'm going to consume coffee, it will henceforth be black (*shudder* yuck). 2nd Mission: Back to Basic (Training, that is!) - 2-3 body weight workouts per week. I'm aiming for 3, but I will accept 2 as a success. - I will be following the Playground workout, as I will be doing my two mid-week trainings at the playground by the soccer field while my kids are at practice. (clever, I know and it makes for no excuses) 3rd Mission: In the Light - I will only eat around other people, where they can see me. This includes my kids (who are GREAT for reminding me "Mommy, I thought you weren't supposed to eat that?"), my co-workers, etc. I will NOT hide when and what I eat. - I will keep a log of what I eat: every thing that goes into my mouth (with the exception of the occasional pen cap or fingernail). Life Mission #1: Get Your Weave On - I will complete several projects that have been sitting unfinished. -- Sue's chainmail bra -- Sue's chainmail dance belt (that goes with said bra) -- the dis-assembly of the refuse jewelry I purchased for parts -- the un-owned chain vest (this one may not be complete by the end of the challenge: I accept this, but I still need to make progress on it!) Motivation: I want to be feel as awesome as people seem to think I am. (edited)

1. Main quest: To be quick and strong like an assassin 1.1 Specific quests: - Do the beginner bodyweight workout at least 3 times a week. - Run in intervals for at least 20 min. at least 2 times a week - Get 8 hours of sleep every night 2. Life quest: Save money, at least 200 per week would be great 3. Motivation: Before this challenge, I ran for a month, did yoga for a week, did bodyweight training for two weeks all at the same time before moving to another place and taking a week of rest. After that, I had a difficult time trying to go back to what I was doing for mainly two reasons: I can't find a place to train and laziness, I didn't really had any motivation for doing all of those. Simply it was like for the LOLs but after finding this page, I decided to go back one step at a time with a two new motivations. a. You know that thing that people normally always do about finding partners in life, they always look for that perfect one with the things that they want them to have. Yes, I am one of those people. The thing is that how dare I wish for someone like that when I am not perfect myself so I decided to started at myself. b. Well who doesn't like assassins... How about the feeling that you could be one? That would be great. Being that can think straight while moving fast doing strong actions. Help me be one of you guys! Thanks for reading...

Hey guys! I'm new to Nerd Fitness Rebellion. I immediately joined this community after weeks of scanning the web for weight loss communities and dieting sites. I wanted to know about diets that ACTUALLY work because i have tried so many!!! I am overweight but not by alot. Height: 5'7 Weight: 165 lbs Goal: 145 lbs Current BMI: 25.8 Should weigh: Between 138-160 pounds I want to lose between 10-25 pounds in the next three months. I plan on trying the Paleo diet and also a no carbs diet after hearing so many good things about them. I hope it works along with daily exercise and (this time!) STICKING TO IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am one of those kinds of people who give into temptation SO easily that it's pathetic. I you are reading this right now, please somment and pray for me! P.s I might have to take days of this diet due to celebrations such as Aunt's wedding in 2 weeks time and Barbeques on sunday ect..ect... *PlusSized101*

Hey everybody. I'm Chad. I've been a reader of NerdFitness for a long time, and today I decided it was time to join the community. I'm at a point in my life where I need to make a lot of changes. Here are some stats: 29. 6'1". Floating right around 300lbs, with a constant +5 -5 thing happening. Getting healthier and fitter and having a better purpose when it comes to my health and fitness are things that have never meant anything to me, but now they are something that I find myself thinking more and more about, and they are something that I am changing. I'm also at a turning point in that I've realized that I am learning a lot about myself and I am making changes in many other places as well. I've recently realized that I am not content to sit on the sidelines in my career when I know I am capable of creating and being apart of something special. Nerd Fitness has been an extremely inspiring source of my desire to run my own company and community, and we recently launched Follow Networks, an entertainment network that is rooted in the world of TV and Film, comic books, all the things us nerd folk love. I'm excited to start sharing my journey with y'all. Can't wait to get to know some of you as well.

I like many have been reading this blog for the last couple months without participating and then I saw this challenge this morning starting on a day where I once again vow to start eating right and stay eating right. Lucky for me I started today and hopefully this challenge will give me exactly the pull through I need. So I am a REBEL, currently an Adventurer hoping to be a handstanding Druid before to long but I think I better start smaller. GOALS: 1. Start running for at least 15 minutes at a time without wanting to puke. (and going running at least 6x's a week) - I can currently run 1 minute at a time and I am dying at the end. Here's to endurance. A - Get it done and more B - Ten minutes C - Five minutes D - No change but went out at least 3x's a week F - Complete Failure 2. Eating mainly unprocessed food. NO CHIPS - It used to be when someone asked I'd say my favorite food was chips. Really. I've definitely broadened my horizons but they are my achilles heal. A - unprocessed with one cheat day B - a few snacks inbetween C - weekends full of garbage D - more than two days of garbage F - Complete Failure 3. Do a split. - Seems ridiculous but since high school I have always wanted to be able to do a serious ridiculous split. A - Just call me cheerleader Barbie B - Just a hair off the ground C - More than six inches off the ground D - Forget about it F - Not even trying Life Goal 4. Make at least one new friend that I would actually hang out with. - My husband and I just moved to Toledo from Maryland. We moved to Maryland from Pittsburgh, where were both from. For the two years we lived in Maryland I had no friends and I absolutely hated it. I need some friends. Get out there, try new things. Make a freaking friend. A - Make a friend or five. B - At least start the process C - decently make an effort D - might as well be F F - Complete Failure 5. I know, I know I should stick with four but Bonus Goal. Get my son and myself outside for at least an hour everyday, rain or shine. And do not watch more than an hour of TV everyday (unless it's a playoff hockey game) Here we go. I wish you all luck. If there's anyone out there in the Toledo area that wants to workout get in touch I would love to hit two birds with one stone! GOOD LUCK!!

Know that feeling when you realise that you've strayed so very far from the 'real you' that you almost give up and just accept where you're at? When you just stop looking in the mirror, buy clothes without trying them on, wear black and generally just stop trying. With a whole bunch of seemingly plausible excuses for how you got to this point? Well i've felt it, it absolutely sucks and it's got to stop. Despite a very active past and a background in elite sport, I have founded two companies in the past year and taken on a whole lot of projects which keep me computer-bound and as well as the professional awesomeness I now have, I also have an extra 30lb of fat on this warrior ass-kicking body. So it looks less than ass-kicking... and I work in health, and it's hurting the brand! I have a lot of personal and professional input I can offer others here (im a Physical Therapist, Pilates instructor, former elite mountain biker and adventure racer) but I'm actually scared and apprehensive about this journey this time. I don’t have time to do the training I used to do in the past- I’m going to have to be a bit more ninja to strip this fat, and rather than be the lone wolf, I’d love some support because my self belief here is a little shaky. I can rock the world in lots of ways, but this fat and this body… it’s a weird and foreign concept and im not sure how to get rid of it for good! My goals for the next six weeks: 1. Be active everyday (move for at least 30 minutes EVERY DAY of that six weeks, no excuses) 2. Drink 2L of water daily 3. Track my food intake with an app on my ipad and be truthful! 4. Find a business partner/ employee to share the professional journey I have started I'll put some photos up here tomorrow as much as I hate the idea- I cannot fail at this again and I cannot stay stuck in this!