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It's me. Hi. It's a new challenge and I'm ready to Begin Again. During the last challenge I focused more on weight loss: tracking macros, running, and drinking water - and long story short, it worked! I broke out of the 180s plateau and lost about 4-5lbs during the challenge. So Is It Over Now? Of course not, I still have a long way to go trying to reach my End Game of weight loss. But focusing so narrowly on weight loss was starting to feel like Death by a Thousand Cuts. It's time for a Change... so I'm going to Shake it Off. This challenge, I'm telling cardio and macros, "You're Losing Me," and concentrating more on strength training and simple calorie counting. Basically this is me trying to build a better relationship with strength training, to enjoy it instead of just tolerate it. I also want to Speak Now about working on my mental health this challenge. My State of Grace is to actively work on cultivating happiness. Part of that is being more productive at work (because fighting against executive dysfunction gets me Down Bad). The other part is nurturing activities that don't feed on cheap dopamine like facebook and fan fiction. I want more phone-free time: whether it's time spent creating, with my kids, or enjoying The Outside. 🫶🏻 GOALS 🫶🏻 Don't be Delicate Exercise 4x a week (M/T/T/F) Strength Training first, program details here Followed by a 20 min run or 40 min walk Intention: Build muscle and increase amount I can lift while maintaining some cardio for weight loss Mastermind my Food Intake Stay under calorie budget on LoseIt daily Aided by eating low-carb, high-protein but not required Intention: Keep focus on weight loss through simple CICO Water Hits Different Drink 8 cups of water a day Continued from last challenge Intention: Continue to build the habit of drinking enough water Work like a mad woman 6 Pomodoros every work day (work for 25 minutes with a 5 minute break) Light work like checking emails, slack, or Asana doesn't count toward goal Intention: Improve focus at work, get more actual work done, and feel rewarded by productivity flow You Need to Calm Down Chose an enjoyable, non-phone based activity for at least 30 minutes a day Bonus points for doing more than one activity Ideas: - Reading a book (not fan fiction) - Creating something or engaging with art or hobbies - Taking a walk or hike - Visiting with friends - Playing with the kids - Any pastime people enjoyed doing 50 years ago Intention: Kick the cheap dopamine habit (aka doomscrolling) and spend phone-free time pursuing pleasurable slow-paced activities 🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻 So Long Live the challenge we've made - and remember, it's a shiny new NF Challenge, so baby just say YES.

Firstly, I want to say thank you to each and every one of you that has supported me over the years ❤️ I truly appreciate it and you all offer me a different prospective. You are all a part of my journey and I am grateful. This challenge is going to be about building small consistent habits and maintaining the ones I worked on in the previous challenge. There is a lot I want to work on and writing it all out makes it seem huge. But I am feeling good about it right now. I will review it as the challenge progresses and modify as needed. I imagine it might take me a few challenges to shake the rust off and hit 80% of my goals. I am okay with this. Nutrition: Count calories and aim for 1900-2200 cal daily > This has been the most effective way for me personally to lose weight without being super restrictive with carbs. I believe I haven't successfully got back to counting calories since before April 2022. I feel 2200 cal is more than generous and should still put me on the path to lose 1lb per week. I am going to try and come up with a few options for breakfast and lunch that can be repeated for the majority of the week. This will make it easier to track and perhaps I won't get burnt out from tracking so quickly. Mobility: Do mobility or chair exercise video twice per week > I am noticing certain movements getting harder so I have saved some short videos on Youtube that I can follow. I am hoping to regain mobility but also practice at incorporating exercise into my routine. As a bonus, most of the videos I saved aren't dependent on how my feet are feeling. I am still getting over my plantar fasciitis. Job Search: Work towards finishing HoofLog > I am still working on finding a job. I need a stronger portfolio so I can stand out. I want to finish HoofLog so I can use it but also so I have something to show potential employers. I would also like to find a better way to host the project so it is faster load. My current set up takes awhile the first time you load it which isn't good if I want to add it to my resume. Happiness: Make time to paint once per week > I have missed painting but can't seem to make myself do it. I will aim to paint once per week even if it is just for 5 minutes. Other art, crafts or even reading is also acceptable. Balance: Aim to ride Daisy at least twice per week > Visiting with Daisy and riding have a huge impact on my mental wellbeing (and physical). Daisy makes my world okay; there is a reason why I used to say that Daisy is my therapist. I am still struggling with getting on by myself so I will try to be social and ask friends when they will be up or try to be around when I know my coach is finishing up her lessons. Managing Time: Create a rough schedule and day plan > I apparently have two modes... One is I feel I have so much time to do things that I end up wasting it and doing nothing. The second is I feel guilty about taking time to do fun things because I feel I should be working to find a job in my free time... I have enough time to work on my job search, ride my horse, play with the dogs and whatever else I want to do... I just need to plan accordingly. Accountability: Post exercises and food on my health journey instagram account (jess_levels_up) + update spreadsheet every day > In the past my instagram has helped make calorie counting more interactive and fun. I put more thought into my meals and try to make them look nicer which makes them tastier. Updating my spreadsheet will keep me aware of my goals because I am very much an out of sight out of mind person. If I am not reminded daily of my goals then I will forget some. Passives > Teeth routine > 2L water per day > More veggies Thank you for sharing this with me @Sepherina

As of today, I have 348 days to get down to 200lbs. Progress: 4/75lbs Quest: Lose 5lbs (268lbs) 1. Track calories 5 times per week 2. 90 additional minutes of movement per week 3. A productive thing per day 4. Work on painting once a week Specific productive tasks

Hey all, I am back to attempt a challenge. I didn't participate in the last challenge. I ended up bowling in my yearly USBC Open Tournament. This year (and next) is in Las Vegas. I totally was unprepared for it, but did much better then I expected I just didn't have it in me to get in on a challenge too. Life is a bit hectic. I've been struggling. 2018, keto was an absolute awesome thing for me. I've tried to get back to it. Sometimes it seems successful, but then it all comes crashing down. This challenge, I really want to see if I can just eat in a certain calorie range. Though, I still want to be healthier still of course. I just want to be able to eat whatever fruit I may want etc. So I really just want to focus on tracking again, with a set amount of calories. Of course, I really want to drop weight super fast. I think that really has not worked well though. I mean, I lost like 110 or 120 pounds in 2018. Struggled in 2019, then full blown gain everything back early 2020. Way back in 2013/2014 was a similar weight trip for me. Of course, it was a quick bounce back. So as much as I want to lose all the weight, I really thing I just need to focus more on a slower weight loss. Also working to just get myself better with exercise. All the things to work together will get me losing weight. So let's see if I can just get this started up. There will be a caveat here too. Like I said, life is a bit hectic. Wife might be losing her job (most likely). So she will be looking for work I assume during her transition out. Nothing confirmed yet, but there will be more Monday. With that, it is certainly time that need to get back out there, and get some work. I've been stay at home Dad since 2010, so no clue what I would even try for. This challenge could just totally implode, and I have to rethink the goals depending on what all happens. Goal#1 - Tracking, plus under 2500 calories. In the past I thought about 2300 calories was were I wanted to be at when I was eating keto. I'll have to monitor things to see if I need to adjust things up or down for calories. For now though, I want to target 2500. Preferable +/- 99ish. I don't want to under eat too. I'll track everything in Chronometer. 7 days a week. 10 points per day. 70 points total Goal#2 - Move more One thing for sure, I need to get out walking at the bare minimum. I felt that for sure when I was bowling. Day 2 I was bowling 6 games. I was running on fumes those last 3 games. Even less then fumes haha. To start, I am going to walk for 30 minutes each day. By the end of this challenge, I would like to be walking twice a day for 30 minutes, or an hour walk. Plus I want to be working out. Just body weight workouts, or all at homes style workouts. Week 1 I start with walking for 30 minutes (more is fine too). Week 2 I continue the walking. Week 3 I added in workouts with the walking. Week 4 is working out with more walking. Add in the second walk, or longer first walk. At least for a few of the days. Week 5, I get it all together. 7 days a week. Week 1/2 - 10 points a day. 70 points on the week. Week 3/4/5 - 70 points for walking each week. 40 points for workouts each week. (3 to 4 still need to figure it out) 110 points on the week. Goal#3 - Please go to bed! What do you know, I need to get myself in a sleep challenge again. Oddly enough, I've been staying up late reading. Before it was playing games, watching videos. I have been trying to work on getting to bed at a good time, but I haven't nailed it. I've gotten into a few books, and just would sit here reading for 3 to 4 hours. Suddenly, it's 3:30 in the morning haha. So no more "Just one more chapter" or "one last video" I want to get back to 10:30 PM to get off the computer or whatever, and get to reading. Then, head off to bed at 11:30 PM. 7 days a week, 10 points a day. 70 points for the week. Goal#4 - Chores and downsize Part of my move more is going to get into getting chores routine again, and clearing through things. Too many things in this apartment that we really just need to get rid of. We have a storage unit too that we should make our way through, and get rid of it. Less bills are good. Each day, I need to get cat boxes cleaned out, and dishes done. I need to spend at least one hour during the week on downsizing. I think it will be much more then that, but I just need a smaller time frame to just get started 10 points each day for the chores. 70 on the week. 50 points a week for the downsizing. (I really want to get though some things) 120 total points each week Total challenge points: Week 1 (6/20 - 6/26) - 0/330 Week 2 (6/27 - 7/03) - 0/330 Week 3 (7/04 - 7/10) - 0/370 Week 4 (7/11 - 7/17) - 0/370 Week 5 (7/18 - 7/24) - 0/370 Measurements - First day / Last day Chest - 55.98 in / Waist - 62.51 in / (L) Bicep - 17.83 in / (R) Bicep - 17.00 in / (L) Thigh - 30.78 in / (R) Thigh - 29.33 in / Weight (lbs) - 370.8 /

LIfe happens. It's how you deal with it that counts... On the downside, I've recently being diagnosed with a hiatus hernia and GERD. By the end of this challenge I will hopefully will have had the final tests to determine what kind of surgery - if any - will be right for me. For those of you who don't already know, I've been on the proton pump inhibitor omeprazole for about 7 months now. Long term effects of it are pretty nasty - the one bothering me in particular is that it inhibits calcium/magnesium absorption. This became apparent over the last challenge when my legs started to twitch all night, and I found myself pausing Strong Curves for a couple of weeks, only to find the twitching came back as soon as I resumed my workouts. As someone who was fine lifting way more on Strong Lifts I'm inclined to think it's the medication that's to blame, and not the intensity of my lifting. On the upside, since supplementing with calcium and magnesium this seems to have disappeared. If it comes back I'll start on the creatine. I can't bear the thought of putting all those hours in at the gym and having to do the same workouts with the same weights. I'm now on the home stretch (weeks 9-12) for this beginner's Strong Curves routine. I hope I'll be able to move into the advanced programme after, but if not I'm happy to repeat this last bit again. HERE WE GO! 1. Lose fat, get stronger Progress was depressingly slow last challenge, I lost a grand total of 1.1kg / 2.4lbs and 1" off the body. My calories seem to be somewhere between the low end of maintenance and the high end of deficit. I'll do my best to push comfortably into the deficit end of the spectrum by cutting calories to 1500 per day. I'm less hungry on 'active recovery' days, so I could cut more drastically on those days if I find I'm finding it hard to restrict on Strong Curves days. If I find my recovery suffers then I'll have to hang back from increasing weights, as losing fat is a higher priority right now. So, Strong Curves four times per week. 2. Climbmill HIIT routine It's 18 mins long, I'm doing it twice per week, and I've already modified the speed as it's a killer on the quads. I'll change up if it ever gets 'easy'. Due for another hiking holiday in October, which is why I chose that particular cardio machine. 3. Recover I don't know if this will be simple foam rolling or all-out yoga, but I think this would aid recovery. I still haven't worked out which days to do this - perhaps after workouts B and C, as they hammer the thighs way more. Obviously keep up with food supplements too. 4. Simple timetabling Tech on Mon-Wed; Creative on Thu-Sat. Brain doesn't like switching fast between the two disciplines and I find myself doing nothing instead. I've left this deliberately vague so I don't pressure myself too much, and then quit the first time after I fail.

Hey everyone, So before when I was trying to lose weight, I was barely ever home and only needed to feed myself. I went after quick, pre-made things like frozen dinners (I know, healthy as anything, but at least they were the Weight Watchers brand?) Now, I'm taking care of my mother and have more of an opportunity to cook at home. I love it, and I've gotten to the point of calculating how many calories are in a total dish, but I was wondering how to figure out what a portion size would be when there's multiple different ingredients with differing portion sizes, and confirmation that I've gotten the calories per serving correct. For example (aka Free Recipe for helping me out if it sounds good to you ) Chunky Meatless Chili: 1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes: serving size-1/4 cup; calories per serving- 25; total servings per container-about 7 1 can Goya black beans: serving size-1/2 cup; calories per serving-110; total servings per container-about 3.5 1 can Goya dark red kidney beans: serving size-1/2 cup; calories per serving-90; total servings per container-about 3.5 1/2 of a large red bell pepper, chopped: calories-about 25? I know a whole is around 50 so I guesstimated a little... 1/2 of a large white onion, chopped: calories-about 30. Again, guesstimating. I'm not too strict with calorie counting when it comes to veggies. So I've come to the conclusion that since there's 7 servings of the tomatoes and 7 servings total with beans, the resulting chili would be about 7 servings total? (If I'm wrong, please let me know!) The total to sit and eat the whole pot (very tempting, but I do try to spread it out) would be 930 calories total. So would a serving be half a cup, a whole cup, a barrel...? Thanks in advance! And for anyone interested in making it for themselves, I seasoned with cumin, black pepper, garlic salt, and onion powder (I didn't add any extra salt because it was already present in garlic salt, so I'd add a bit if you just use garlic powder), then topped with 1/4 c of fat-free mozzarella cheese.

Respawn again... (I wonder just how often this will happen.) I first thought I'll join for the next challenge, but then worried I might lose all momentum again. So I came up with 3 ridiculously easy goals for the remainder of this challenge to hopefully bridge the gap to the next. 1. Count calories every day. 2. Post something every day. (Anything, not specifically to this thread.) 3. Move for 30 minutes every day. Now I'm off to stalk some of your threads. Awful pun to start this off: " A friend of mine tried to annoy me with bird puns, but I soon realized that toucan play at that game."

So I'm out of the chrysalis and getting ready to fly! GOAL Lose 5lbs, since that's approximately 4% of my current weight. That should take me down to 122lbs by the end of the challenge. Keep myself sane while being mostly unemployed.QUESTS Eat 1200-1400 calories per day. I'm sad to report that I will not be following the mid-70s Bowie diet of milk, cocaine and peppers. Mainly because I'm intolerant to peppers.Substitute juice/soda with water. And drink more water generally.Complete Darebee's 30-Day HIIT Challenge Complete Men's Health 3 Week Home Dumbbell Workout, and don't eat estimated calories back!!!Read something that isn't on a screen for at least 30 minutes a day, because my life's turning into this:Finish Berklee's songwriting MOOC. Alright! No need to take the piss!Engage with art once a week - movie/literature if poor; art gallery or theatre if already in town or if I suddenly have enough money to travel into town especiallyAnd just for lols, complete Cassy Ho's Journey to Splits STATS Weight: 127lbs Waist: 28" Hips: 36.6" Abdomen: 31" Bust: 34" Overbust: 32" Underbust: 28.5" Thigh: 20.5" Calf: 13.5" Neck: 13.5" * I am neither thin, white, nor a member of the British aristocracy, but I am missing David Bowie something rotten.

♫ I wanna be the greatest master of them all! ♫ So you wanna be the Master of Pokémon! Do you have the skills to be Number one!? Quest 1: "Snorlax is fast asleep" Sleep like Snorlax. Last challenge, there were a few times when I got behind on sleep, and I found out how hard it is to stick to other goals when you're tired. So, priority #1 should be sleep. However, I know that life happens and I can't always control how much sleep I get in a specific night or what time I get to bed. Thus, my goal for the challenge is to average 8 hours/night, thereby accumulating 392 hours over the course of the 7 weeks. Points possible: CON - 4 CHA - 2 (because a well-rested me is a more pleasant me to be around) "Snorlax used leftovers!" No! You've had enough leftovers for one day, Snorlax! Which brings me to my next quest... Quest 2: "Ninetails used flamethrower!" Burn more calories than you consume like slim and graceful Ninetails. I should be getting my replacement Fitbit in the mail near the end of week 1 or the beginning of week 2. Until then, I'll have to continue guesstimating my calories burned. While I enjoy and want to continue a lot of summertime activities (tennis, biking, walking), I need to make other things a priority sometimes. That's okay, because I have control over the other side of the equation - how much I eat. Goal is an average deficit of 500 calories a day, so 24,500 for the 7 week challenge. Points possible: CON - 2 STA - 2 DEX - 1 Quest 3: "Its brain can outperform a supercomputer. Its intelligence quotient is said to be 5,000." Concentrate like Alakazam. Finish that darn FSA module! Goal will be to studay an average of 15 min/day, so 735 minutes for the challenge. Points possible: WIS - 4