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Busy day but I'm posting quickly before bed... I'm back for my third start. In the past I've gone strong for two weeks and then fallen off. I t's not even a conscious decision. I lose focus, stop paying attention, get distracted, and then get angry at myself and have difficulty getting back on track. So this challenge it's about staying on track and really paying attention. I'm sticking just to the basics, no frills. I feel like I really need a win under my belt to prove to myself that I can do this. And I can! I have before. Food - Track everything on MFP. This is my most inconsistent practice and this is the challenge where I clean it up. - Make smart choices, starting with cooking ahead. This always keeps me on track. Exercise I've been doing pretty great on this. I found a routine that works for me at the gym. It includes Stronglifts, running/walking, spin class, and swimming. I like the variety it provides. I have an accountability buddy now, too, and we report in every morning and night with our planned workout and to report in that we've finished our workout. Lifestyle - three things hanging over my head are getting done during this challenge, before school starts in September - Car insurance claim cleaned up - Renew AAA - Switch cable companies As a bit of an incentive for myself, I got a new gym bag (a backpack rather than a duffel - so much easier to carry with my work bag) and some shower gear since my gym has nice shower facilities and I like showering there. Something as simple as a nice soap is so enjoyable after a hard workout.

Hello Everyone - it's my 11th challenge: Last challenge was an improvement in terms of doing, but I was pretty lousy about posting. I'd like to both this time. The challenge itself is similar, but I'm adding Bodyweight exercises back in. It seems to work better if I organize my stuff by time of day: I'm also going to make this challenge more fun, but I have a few days to organize my fun

Valkyrie lay in the woods, comfortable in the familiarity of her surroundings. The leaves she lay on were soft as a feather down mattress, and she lay there for as long as she could remember. Now and then, she attempted to get up, but her limbs felt heavy, her head was muddled, and every time she settled again into her comfortable bed of leaves, unaware of the vines and roots of the darker things in the forest that had begun to wrap themselves around her body as she rested, utterly deaf to the sounds of the creatures which lay in wait for her. These creatures were Sloth, Complacency and Doubt. Suddenly, she opened her heavy eyelids and saw the snare for what it was, the creatures threatening only in their insidiousness. With a cry of alarm, she ripped her arms and legs free of the unkind foliage and staggered to her feet, weakened by her prolonged immobility. The creatures stood at bay, watching her with hungry eyes, but unwilling to advance upon her while she faced them. Determined, Valkyrie sized them up, then observed her surroundings with new eyes. Her previous bed of leaves was a moldy patch of mulch, where nothing could grow. To her left was the path she had wandered down to end up in this place, that she realized now was the creatures' den, a path that went in endless circles. The ground on this path was dappled with sunshine, clear of obstacles and debris - but full of deadly pitfalls, which led her every time back to this place, and a smell of decay permeated the air. To her right was a path that led...where? Surely away from this place! The ground was gnarled with roots, the sunlight strained to break through the old growth, but the air smelled fresher in that direction, somehow. As though, perhaps, a fresh water spring might be just beyond the thicket. Valkyrie knew one thing: she could not continue the way she had if she wanted to arrive someplace different. Valkyrie embarked upon a path unknown, a path less traveled, and that would make all the difference.

My fitness adventure has been an on again off again relationship, with spurts of consistent effort mixed with spans of total inactivity. So, here I am again, but over the last year, my spurts of activity have been a lot more frequent than my hiatuses, and the set up of NF inspires me, because I want to click that button and get my XP!! My goals are for functional fitness so that I can do cool stuff, not get hurt at work, and have energy for life at the end of the work day. I spent the last 1.5 years just outside of Seattle, where I cycled occasionally, and then I spent 3 months in Ireland where I ran/walked 5ks a couple times a week up until this last month, where I gave up again. Now, I'm back in my hometown, Utah, and I've learned something: I'm a lot fitter at sea level. I ran a mile mixed with some intervals of skipping, in about 15 minutes, with another 10 minutes of walking scattered throughout, and I was knackered! I was gasping and panting, my heart was racing and my lungs were burning. You'd think I had never run in my life. I know part of it is deconditioning from lack of exercise the past month (where I lazed and ate junk food with my boyfriend for our last few weeks together...it's very easy to be on a constant holiday when visiting your LDR significant other! I put on 10 pounds in those 3 months...), but I know from the ease with which I started run/walking my 5ks in Ireland after months of inactivity, that this time something is different and I gotta think it's the elevation! But! That's okay. It's gonna take consistent effort to get back to where I was a month ago. I'm ready! I know the 4 week challenge technically starts on the 17th, but I don't want to wait to get started on my goals! So, to help me track my adherence to my goals and track my leveling progress, I'm using my Bullet Journal as a Quest Log, integrating my Daily Log (where I track my daily tasks/events etc. and now also track the specifics of my daily exercise) with a monthly tracker so that I really see my progress, both in overview and in detail! Lists combined with what I'm basically seeing as "Achievement Points", are really ticking my nerdy boxes, and inspiring me to stay on track and make changes that last! Goals for 4 week challenge (I'm just gonna start it now and continue through the actual 4 week challenge starting on the 17th): Exercise >20 mins 5/7 days Bike Tune-up Drink 5x20 oz water daily Bullet Journal daily

I was eager to do the last challenge but I came in a bit late so I'm excited it reset and I can participate in this one. Goal #1 - Consistency My biggest problem in the past is not being able to stick to a program. I get easily distracted or something hurts and I end up wandering off the garden path. My primary aim for this challenge is to hit my program 90% or better consistency. This is to allow for unforeseeable circumstances should I not be able to get to the gym one day. 90% is still 85% better than what I have been getting in the past. I track this by having my program printed and in my training back and I cross out and comment things I get done or things I miss. Goal #2 - Diet Reserve any sweet treats I want to: 1. Days I train 2. 1 meal a day generally after dinner I follow this pretty much already but I'm always cracking on my off days, which is only twice a week, and I sometimes sneak cream biscuits at work. I'll make a note if I break away from this. Goal #3 - Programming Get the program done for when I finish my current program so that it is ready to go as soon as this one is done. I have bad habit in the past of leaving things to late and then I end up not getting anything done because I have nothing to follow. Needs to be done before the end of this challenge. Goal #4 - Life++ I've only recently completed my certification as a personal trainer and I'm now looking at what the next step is. I have a few different options including getting my home gym set up and possibly taking on some clients, enrolling for a sports science degree, change focus all together and working on my art for a little while and put my studies on the back burner. Needless to say I'm at the crossroads and my brain doesn't function well when it doesn't have something to focus on, I tend to get mood swings and all sorts of things. By the end of this challenge I want to have at least decided what to do with myself for the next 6 months in terms of my personal life and what I want to achieve and when. This will be done in the form of an action plan with clear steps and guidelines that I should be taking as well as milestones I need to hit. Let the Challenge Begin!

Originally I was going for an 8 week challenge not really understanding the elements of the challenges, but after having some light shed onto the matter, I've been introduced to a new, creative way to still complete the challenge in the time frame, but also follow along with the challenge dates ( to an extent). So what I'm going to do is during this last week and off week of this months challenge, I'm going to do a two week pre challenge. To basically adjust my lifestyle to this new habit I'm forming, the at the start of the challenge next month, i'll do a 6 week challenge instead of the 4! I think this would be a completely more efficient way to transition into this new lifestyle. OYA! Main Goal: Gain strength, build upon mental toughness, Improve diet, Become Mandalorian. Epar Yai'yai [(Eat Richly nourishing) 30pts] prepare and cook healthy meals for b-fast, lunch and dinner. (Some Paleo meals. Meat, carb, Veggie. Bonus if carb is a veggie) Full night sleep. 7+ hours Shop healthier on the first shopping cycle( Which will last me two weeks). Limit/ no junk food. Eliminate fast food. (bonus for healthy alternatives) Atin'la baar [(Tough body) 30 pts] Complete the first two weeks of Arnold's Blueprint. Post progress & accountability logs Stretch, roll, and warm-up daily. Off saturdays light cardio/hike, stretch, yoga or tai-chi x2 Ramikadyc [(Warrior Mindset) 40 pts] Learn 40 words in the Mando language Do things that suck/ build mental toughness. Commit to workout. Volunteer for the jobs no one wants at work. Build finish upper armor sanding and forming save $100 for the month

I'm back! And I'm trying to be more regular on the boards again. I have a lot going on with my life at the moment: the move, Camp NaNo, finishing my re-write (or trying to), exercising, trying not to be overwhelmed, finishing financial aid, sisters wedding, blah blah blah So I'm keeping this as simple as possible. That means no theme, no frills, just 3 measurable goals I can do every day. I want to get more momentum behind me. Goal 1: Meditation Meditate for 1 minute every day That's it. Just take a minute to be mindfully aware. Who can't spare a minute? Goal 2: Post every day I want to be more active here again, so what better way than to make it a goal? Visit one friend's thread and my own every day Goal 3: Something for myself Do one thing to make myself happy every day. Can be a walk, painting my nails, making art, making music, writing, playing with a cat. Anything. As long as it's done mindfully, and with an awareness that it is for me. And then post it in the day's update. That's it! I'm still cleaning and going through my house, I'll be writing for all of April and updating those numbers here too, but short, simple, sweet, and attainable. That's what I want right now Now to find everyone's threads Goal 4: Mindful Eating Refer to this post when I'm feeling snacky

fearless is ready and willing to kick it up a notch during this challenge. she has a month of consistent cross fit training under her belt, has lost weight during the last 4 weeks and was feeling quite well mentally. now she will fight the bankruptcy dragon and concentrate on the diet as well. she loved stacy s article about prepping food and as soon as she gets paid, will get started on freezing food for the week. because she is almost 50 and not very fit she is in constant doms pain, which makes her feel pretty badass sometimes. but she sees the need to prepare her body for the high impact workouts and will work on her mobility as well. she hopes to get to know some fellow rangers by not only concentrating on her own success but actually being more social around here.... GOAL A1 ( FOOD): shop primal food for under 25 euro/week. GOAL A2 (FOOD): do food prep every weekend for the following week. freeze food. GOAL A3 (FOOD): eat primal for lunch and dinner every day during this challenge GOAL B1 (EXERCISE): go to cross fit and do wod 3 times a week - plus clean the box on thursdays. ( i do that because i can't pay for the membership) GOAL C1 ( MOBILITY): stretch before or after each wod. use foam roll and do mobility exercises. GOAL D1 ( CONCISTENCY): write daily on this site to keep yourself accountable. GOAL D2 (BE SOCIAL): read at least 3 other threads daily. comment and support. Adding one more goal before i start tomorrow with the beginning of april: i wrote a memoir/ self-help book last november during NANOWRIMO. And i feel like getting productive with writing again. when i saw that there is a working camp during april i signed in and will start writing tomorrow as well. GOAL E1 ( NANOWRIMO) write one hour everyday and start revising the first draft of my book. this is pretty challenging for me. i would be so proud and happy if i got all this done! " don't try, do!"

Being consistent is something I struggle with. In the last challenge, I found a bit of consistency, but the trouble was it was consistently mediocre. So I'll be doing more of the same, but hopefully with a little more consistent awesomeness. Also, progress bars. Goal #1 ~ Run 4k 3x/week* I've decided to dispense with the first half of my 4k route that I've been doing and just run my 2k hilly loop twice. I'm not pleased with this decision, but when I was first training for the PREP, doing that loop once 3x/week as hard as I could got me where I needed to be. I'm looking for a little more endurance overall, so it stands to reason that doing it twice 3x/week should be good. I'll be shooting for max-ish effort each time, with the realization that I'm not a robot so that won't always translate into the same performance each time, and I'm ok with that (accepting that idea can be hard for me). *Note: in the weeks in which I have a PREP practice, that will count as a run day, but I have to go all out on the shuttle run for it to count. I've been giving up on the shuttle because I don't wanna, but I gotta stop doing this, regardless of what I want. Goal #2 ~ Physio, and Extras 3x/week I'm nearly done with the actual physio appointments for my shoulder rehab. It's been feeling really great over the past couple weeks, I'm finally feeling like it's close to back to normal (I did have issues with some of that area pre-injury that are still nagging, and maybe a little more nagging than before, but that is what it is, and probably always will be). So at my next appointment I'm planning to ask what exercises I should keep and what ones I can drop, and discuss some progressions I can take on my own to continue with the strengthening, and how often I need to do them so I keep the gains I've achieved without feeling like all I do is physio, etc. Whatever we come up with will be my physio portion. The extras are one each of a push, pull, and legs, as well as 2 core exercises (one back, one front). I have been doing 2 one day, the others the next, but I'm hoping with shortened physio being the norm, and potentially not needing to do it every day, I can put them all together and do a 'strength' day one day and a 'run + physio' day the next. Or something, that'll probably get tweaked as I figure out what works. Regardless, I wish to do the following 3x/week: knee pushups - currently at 3x19, ultimate goal of 3x37 body weight rows - no current numbers on this, but I can probably do at least 3x10 with decent form, depending on how low I hang the rings. I'm going to try to find a height that gets me to about 8 with reasonable effort (ie. 10 is a challenge, if not un-doable at first), and then work my way up from there. Ultimate goal is one single pullup, but I'll have to take that slow because of various shoulder issues, and this seems like a good place to start (weighted) squats - currently doing 3x30 at 23+lbs, which I'm not sure I'm finding beneficial. I'll probably tweak as I go on this too, as I see what the 2x hilly route does to my leg endurance elbow plank - currently at 3x60s, ultimate goal of 3x180s, but I'm not sure I love it enough to ever actually make it there butt things + superman hold - currently at 3x10+60s, no ultimate goal except to keep improving the hold time hollow-ish body hold - currently at 3x30s with legs only, no ultimate goal other than to keep improving the hold time, at work at being able to extend my arms too. I would do this in place of a plank, because planks are boring, and I actually like this one better. I'm not good at keeping my lower back on the floor though, so it'll be a slow progression. Goal #3 ~ Stretch Daily This is always a goal for me, because I can never make myself do it regularly, as good as it makes me feel. Maybe with a progress bar for all the world to see, I'll do a little better... Goal #4 ~ Crow Practice 3x/week There's a long list of things I'd like to be able to do one day, and I've always thought that the crow pose would be a good place to start with hand balances. Trouble is, I have wrist issues such that I can't put any weight on my hands when they're flat on the floor without ridiculous amounts of pain. Enter: homemade paralettes. I feel like this increases the difficulty in learning the crow pose (?), but I'd like to play around with it for at least 5 minutes 3x/week. This is completely extra to all other things, and will take a back seat if life gets busy, but the way to start is to start, even if it's just a bit. Untracked But Still Kind Of Official Goal - Make good food choices I have extra pudge I could do without, but losing it is not high on the priority list, at least not right now. But that doesn't mean I can have a free-for-all at meal times. I'm generally pretty good at making good choices, but there are some rules I'd like to try to follow most of the time: - carby/starchy/grainy things at one meal/day - fruit at 2 meals/day - veggies at 2 meals/day - no pre-bed snacks (if I'm really THAT hungry, make it a good choice, and not cheese and crackers) - eat only when I'm hungry, stop when I'm not, regardless of what's left on the plate/in the container I also like to try to make a point of planning ahead on weekends to have healthy choices that are filling for my lunches during the week. This doesn't always work out, but I'll continue to try. General List of To-Dos That I'd Like to Get Done Over the Next Four Weeks - learning forum videos x4 (at least) - stuff for Special Olympic volunteering - read a book - $150 into my savings, $40 into my jar

Well..... I somehow had a button on my other thread where I was able to delete the whole thing....on accident. Maybe part of the upgrade? It said "moderater button" or something... lol. I thought I was deleting a post I was making.. ah well. Anyway. No cinnamon toast so far today. Grateful for....ummmm. Being able to start a new thread

Last Challenge, MEH! Most of it was a success, except the food tracking, so this next four weeks will be all about the bass.....NO! All about tracking food and staying on target. First thing to do is work out TDEE and other things, make a plan and stick to it! I am also into the last four weeks of Madcow, which has been going great, but I have reached the point where stalls are beginning to become a reality, so nutrition needs to be spot on. When Madcow is done I plan a week off, then start Cube training. Adulting is still a LUYL. Have got Son5 off to school tomorrow, Son2, Son3 and Son4 are still looking for work and schooling need to start for Son6 and Son7. Not to mention, the last two weeks of the Challenge I have work in the next town swimming teaching. So a couple of big weeks, so let's see how we go.

{Placeholder} I will phone it in later. Goal 1 measure Ok, this is more like size matters. I have to get back to measuring and logging caloric intake. I can get a little laissez faire during a bulk. I am not ready to cut and am fine with either maintaining or gaining... but I gotta get back to measuring. Goal 2: Consistency What had felt nearly automatic to get up and get to the gym 4x/week has become a struggle again. Lots of stuff getting in the way so back to basics. At least 15 workouts in 4 weeks. That gives me one screw up. Goal 3: Name change Sometime during the challenge I need a new handle. My username is pretty much my real name. I'm a professional working in the public sector and have posted a picture of Captain Kirk holding a rock dildo on this site... perhaps these worlds need not collide. So something nerdy and fitness related. Rhadavast the Bro? Nah, too small to pull that off. But something like that...

I am running a tad behind posting my challenge. To top it off it is outlined on another computer so I am going to modify it as soon as I am able. My main goals for 2016 are to continue to loose weight, build strength, run and bike longer, do a handstand, do a pull up, and just continue to have fun getting healthier as I set a good example for my family. Okay my family and extended family loves RWBY. We have a blast watching it so I am going to have fun and do some RWBY themed challenges (bascially making them fit my goals just because it is fun). Jaune Arc – Leader of team JNPR (pronounced Juniper) because of his leadership ability even if he does not realize it. He has trained much with Pyrrha and improved his skills. Building physical strength as I build mental strength. Stay smart with my goals and training. Yet be consistent and put in the effort to get physically stronger otherwise I will post a picture of me dancing in a dress and I doubt I will look as good as Jaune (hilarious scene). He did it to keep his word to a friend trying to make them smile. Believe me if I have to post such a clip you would not be smiling. LOL Stay consistent and strength train 3-4 days a week no excuses for a total of 12-14 times total during the challenge otherwise you might cry.NORA: This girl knows how to have fun! She is bubbly, slightly over the top intense, and well she can smile while wielding her hammer Magnhild. That is how I feel when I swing Giggles around. Rucking also leads to me feeling all badass. Cross train with sledgehammer and rucking. Do each once a week for a total of 8 (4 each) this challenge.Pyrrha – ...able to change quickly with her weapon (spear, riffle, short sword)...My legs are my weapon. Stay the course for biking and running training. You can not get that good at anything without the work. Keep to the plan for biking and running.Lie Ren – calm and studious I mean he is without his weapon and has the presence of mind to be able to break the fangs off of King Taijitu and stab it in the eye. They all have cool weapons. He is calm and cool even around Nora. Read/meditate daily

Hello, I'm Bluethunder.... I joined NF last month in between challenges and started a Battle Log, but was encouraged to join a challenge....so here I am. I'm using the template for level 1 Rebel Challenge sorta.... I have one major diet challenge and that is cinnamon toast which I have a bad habit of eating til I explode. So I need to stay away from that at all cost. My next goal is fitness and diet?... I'd like to lose 4 pounds by the end of this... Last goal is fitness related.... I just recently upped my treadmill speed to 7.5 which is slightly out of my comfort zone. So I'd like to make it all 4 weeks at that level My "level up my life" goal is to read one book in the next 4 weeks Below is a condensed version of my goals LEVEL 1 REBEL CHALLENGE: Diet Stay away from cinnamon toast! Baaaaaaaaaaaaad Fitness Run at 7.5 speed on treadmill (slightly out of my comfort) Lose 4 pounds Level Up Your Life Read one book in the next 4 weeks. Well....I hope that its ok if I crash the Rebel party with my lame goals..... I'm ready for the REBEL CHALLLLLLLLENGE!!!

Once again, I skipped a 6 week challenge, and I got a ton of stuff done. Lost a few pounds, got my crock pot rocking some recipes, got into a workout groove, saw a bunch of countries, met an assassin in another country, generally had fun. How is it that when I try to do stuff it doesn't get done, but when I'm just messing around stuff gets done. Hmmmm.... Okay, so this go around my goal 1 is to have fun. Yep - go do interesting things, hang out with people, just have fun. I have found a small group that works out Tuesday and Thursday mornings. This week is no good courtesy of a bug I picked up. Goal is to do the other 5 weeks. Nanowrimo. Screw it, I'm writing a novel! It may not be coherent, or even recognizable as English, but I am going to fill pages. 50,000 words - lets go! That is enough goals. Summits On The Air is going to take a short hiatus due to weather (or maybe not - who knows?), and for everything else - less talking, more doing. - Murphy's Roommate

The timing of this challenge means that Star Wars EpVII releases the Thursday after the challenge is complete. Do not think I am not quivering in my trail shoes while I wait, impatiently. Quivering. Occasionally quaking. Also, just in case anyone was wondering, this is a completely Episode VII Spoiler-free zone. I want to be amazed when I see it. Main Quest: I was watching American Ninja Warrior last summer when Jon Stewart became the oldest man to beat the Warped Wall. He was 52 at the time. I decided that instead of sitting around, growing old, doing the occasional 5k and settling for being a moderately-fit guy and watching other people be awesome on TV, I will become More Awesome myself and be fit enough that I will try out for the show no later than age 52. I am 48 now. I am on the clock. I really, really want to take a turn on this playground. I also have (diagnosed) Attention Deficit Disorder, which means that I lose track and interest in long-term goals really hey look, it's a monkey riding a dog. This means that I'm breaking down my Main Quest of Ninja Awesomeness into smaller chunks, and wow, six-week challenges really help with that, so here we are. To ramp up from "I work out more or less regularly" to "Awesome Ninja/Beast", I began looking for ways to stay inspired to work out. I started participating in NF 6-week challenges, which was a good start. And then Teros went and battled the Spartan Race at Amesbury last summer and I thought "Man, that sounds hard" and then decided that if he could do it - whether he considered it a success or not - then the least I could do was try. And that was all it took for me to get hooked on this whole Obstacle Course Racing thing. Last year at this time, my goal was to complete a Spartan Trifecta in 2016. I will complete my second in Dallas on Day -2 of this challenge and will bring home my third from South Carolina at the end of Week 2. I am capable of doing more than I sometimes think I can. Obligatory Episode VII trailer screen-cap. However, over the course of this year I also suffered one significant injury (moderate to severe sprained ankle) and have battled chronic shoulder tendinitis, and these and other excuses have contributed to a measurable loss in upper-body strength. Last winter I was laser-focused on the Las Vegas Spartan Super from this past April. I trained from Movember until April and was in the best shape I have been in since high school. It's time to get back to that. My goals are going to look really familiar to anyone who has followed my challenges, because I'm shooting for consistency and habit-building, and until I get there, I'm not budging from them; that's sort of the whole point. Quest 1: Be Consistently Clean. Obligatory awesomeness. I spent two years working with a personal trainer and learning how to eat to get the results I really want for my body, including sending the man food journals, daily at first, and then weekly after that. I know what I need to do. I am most successful when I eat clean and log my food. I know what my macros need to be to reach my immediate goals. Macros that work for me: 1800-2250 calories 180+ grams protein 100-140 grams carbohydrates 35-50 grams fiber Goal: Eat clean, log, stick to my macros. Quest 2: Be Consistently Moving. More Better Faster. Here is the ongoing running goal. I have not always been a runner, and in order to do the things I like to do, I need to be a runner. Four years ago, I could not run to the end of my driveway without doubling over, gasping for breath, and I wish I were exaggerating when I say this. It was a big deal for me when I committed to walking a couple times per week. Last year at this time I was still trying to run a 5k without stopping. Now I'm running - trudging, plodding, whatever - for miles. It's not where I want to be, but it's getting better. This has been frustrating since my ankle sprain, but I'm nearly ready to run without my ankle brace and it's time to start moving again. Goal: Run 3x/week, including one session with vertical climb of more than 1,000 feet and one day that goes for more than six miles. Quest 3: Be Consistently Lifting. We're trying to get under 12 parsecs, right? I was at my strongest back in April of this year and due to chronic shoulder tendinitis I have backed off from most heavy lifting. This has had the expected outcome. My shoulder has improved drastically and it's time to get back to a sensible lifting schedule. I didn't get back to that last challenge. It's time to stop making excuses. I have a PlanTM and it's time to get back to it. Body weight counts as strength training but I have to ramp up the intensity to make it count. It's okay to move days around, but there has to be at least one hour five times per week. Goal: Strength Train 5x/week - 3x lifting, 2x primarily body-weight. Life Quest: Be Certifiable. I'm pursuing certification as a Personal Trainer through NASM. I was asked to obtain this certification by the owner of my gym in order to lead a men's group that was put on hold when the previous owner sold his business, because Michelle thought the group would best be lead by a male. This may or may not be an accurate perception, but it's something I had kicked around for a while, and there's enough upside to this that it's now something I'm working on. My goal is to be done and certified before the end of the year. This coincides nicely with this challenge. Goal: Complete my NASM certification study and have my test scheduled before the end of this challenge. Grading: I abandoned stat points a couple challenges ago but will be grading each of these pass/fail during the week and each grade will be moderately subjective. For instance, if the goal is to run three times per week but I hit The Hill during my lunch hour on Thursday and go for one 10-mile trail run on Sunday, that's a "Pass" and I am not going to stress on it. I'll need to collect 4/6 passing grades in for each goal in order to level up. This makes THAT part, at least, not subjective, and it's an attainable goal. It's almost time. They're almost back. Gah. May the Force be with you.

I've had a bit of trouble starting my thread for this challenge. The thing is: I have a long-term plan in place, but I couldn't think of a clever/interesting/pop-culture-referencing theme to use for this particular 6 week span. Then it hit me. Just stick with the plan! My overall goal is to add muscle to my skinny frame. My long-term goal is to put on about 10 pounds of muscle by my 40th birthday (Dec 2016). I have been working for the last 5 months to lose a bit of belly fat and achieve a "lean base". I have a new intermediate goal, which is to have a beach-ready body by the end of March 2016 when I am planning to head to Jamaica for a few days with several friends who are all celebrating our 10th wedding anniversaries. So, having lost about 12 pounds and 2 inches from my belly since May, my plan is to eat at maintenance for a month to let things stabilize and then start eating at a surplus in December and January to try and bulk up. I'll then probably go back to eating at maintenance or below for a few weeks before the Jamaica trip to burn any fat I pick up. Having laid that out, here are my goals for this challenge: Goal 1: Consistent strength gains on my "marriage" lifts I re-started the 242 Method of working out back in July, where I dedicate 2 workouts a week to 6 "marriage" lifts that I never stray from: Deadlift, Overhead Press, Dips, Squat, Floor Press, and Pull-ups. I split these over Monday and Friday and then have Wednesday to "flirt" with other exercises. It's been 4 months now and I've seen consistent progress in those key lifts without the program hopping that I used to do every 6 weeks. I want to keep making consistent gains by bumping up the reps or weight on each lift each week. Goal 2: Consistent progress on my bodyweight skills There are a few bodyweight skills that I've wanted to achieve for a long time. Pistol Squats, Handstand Push-ups, One-Arm Push-ups, and L-sits. I've worked on each of these at various points over the last 3 years to varying degrees of success. This time around, I'm going to dedicate my Wednesday workouts to progressing on each of these bodyweight skills. I've got a different progression for each skill: Pistol Squats - Neat StrengthHandstand Push-ups - Kinobody Bodyweight Mastery ProgramOne-arm Push-ups - KinobodyLeg Raises (as a precursor to L-sits) - Gold Medal BodiesGoal 3: Maintain (or decrease) my weight and midsection measurement As I said above, I've been working on losing some belly fat since the end of May and I'm happy with the level of success I've had. Even though I've still got another inch or two I could stand to lose, I'm at a weight that I consider about as low as I'd like to go. So, instead of just jumping right back into a traditional bulk (where I traditionally add an few inches to my waist) I'm going to take it slow and just hang out at maintenance for a month. As I look back at my last 3 and half years on Nerd Fitness, I've bounced around a lot - eating a ton in an attempt to gain weight, but then reversing course because I gained too much in my midsection. I've never really spent time at a consistent weight. I plan to accomplish this by bumping my daily calorie intake up to about 2000 per day, but I'll rely on my Jawbone UP tracker to keep a count of my steps and how many calories I've really burned. If I'm successful in maintaining my weight and waistline for a month, I'll shift into a calorie surplus. My grading will be a variation of a method I'm stealing from Raptron's challenge: Hitting my daily protein goal will be good for 1/2 a point.Hitting my daily calorie range will be good for 1/2 a point.Alternatively, I'll be weighing myself daily and taking a midsection measurement on Monday mornings.If my seven-day average weight is at or below my starting weight or if my midsection measurement is at or below my starting measurement, I'll get all 7 points for the week.Total of 28 possible points for November Goal 4: Average 7 hours of sleep a night One thing I'm told over and over again is that you need rest to recover and build muscle, so I'm making sleep a priority once again. I will aim for drinking a cup of Natural Calm and getting to bed by 10:30 on weeknights and getting up by 5 for my workouts 3 days a week. My Jawbone UP also tracks my sleep, so I'll just take an average for the week rather than grade based on number of days I hit 7 hours. Okay, so typing this all out has taken longer than I thought it would, so I'm going to spare you all my proof that these goals have been vetted against Steve's 9 Mistakes Skinny People Make Trying To Get Bigger. Let the challenge begin!

Hey all! This isn't my first challenge ever, but it's my first challenge in years so rather than trying to pick up where I was I'm starting from basically level 1 and working my way back. I'm a med student who got pretty depressed first year of med school and is now trying to get healthy so that 1. I don't feel like a hypocrite and 2. I can encourage healthy behavior change in patients when necessary. When I got depressed I gained about 40 pounds, of which I have lost 10 so far. I also stopped cooking, stopped working out and stopped talking to people. I've started fighting back, and am hoping the challenge will help make healthy behaviors routine. I know the challenge doesn't start until Monday, but I'm starting now given my focus. STARTING PLACE: 5' 6", 213 pounds. Will be posting pics and measurements by the official start of the challenge, I take measurements/pics on the 14th/15th of every month. All added below. MAIN QUEST (by 8/30/2016): lose 50-60 pounds, get stronger, become a general badass. Female Role model is Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter. "7"-WEEK FOCUS: redevelop health-promoting habits These all fell off when I got depressed two years ago. They're slowly coming back but they aren't very consistent. Goal for the challenge is to Implement good habits over 6 weeks. Goal #1: Do Crossfit/another workout 3 times per week. - Scheduled days are Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday. - 21 chances over the course of 7 weeks. I've already signed up for all of the classes and my goal is just to show up to all of them. - The only acceptable cancellations will be for illness/injury. If school responsibilities run late, I have to find an alternate workout if I miss class. Goal #2: Go to Mobility and Yoga once per week each. - Mobility Tuesdays, Yoga Fridays - 14 chances over 7 weeks, 7 for mobility, 7 for yoga. Goal #3: EAT ENOUGH FOOD. I noticed over the past few weeks that I tend to forget to eat, or just unintentionally not eat enough food to meet my BMR requirements. I'm tracking calories in MyFitnessPal to make sure I'm eating enough. Based on calculations my BMR is 1875, and my TDEE is somewhere around 2800 calories. Goal is to just try to eat 2300 calories daily. I'm mostly vegan, so it'll mostly be on a vegan diet, although really, the goal is to eat enough more so than stick to any specific diet. I'm meal planning/prepping on the weekend, and trying to make a daily menu that meets calorie requirements on a weekly basis. My MFP username is ramaraj1649 if anyone wants to link to me there. 48 chances over 7 weeks, starting today. LIFE QUEST: Start adulting. "7"-week focus: dishes. Get all dishes out of the sink by the end of the day, every day. Looking forward to this challenge, hoping it'll pay off for me! EDITED TO ADD: 9/13/15 Measurements/Pics Weight: 212.5 Waist: 32.5 Hips: 45.5 Thighs: 25.25 Calves: 14.5 pics under the spoiler Week 1 Summary Crossfit 3/3 Mobility 0/1, Yoga 1/1 Food 5/6 Dishes 3/6 Mini Challenge #1: 2. When I was younger I wanted to be an astronaut, and have been to space camp where I was the scientist on our simulation flight. I have been to Space Camp. I was the pilot/Mission Commander on our sim flight, not the scientist. Week 2 Summary Crossfit 2/3 Mobility 1/1, Yoga 0/1 Food 2/7 Working on this. Dishes 5/7 WHEEEEE! Week 3 Summary Crossfit 2/3 Mobility/Yoga 1/2 Food 4/7 (improving!) Dishes 4/7 Weight 211

Reading a few challenge threads, I have determined I am nowhere near as inventive and witty as most of you. So forgive me for not entertaining the same way you have me. For my whole life (it seems) I have struggled with weight. I've always been athletic, I've always been able to move well in spite of my size and/or density. (As an aside, I was told by my supervisor, the one reason I passed the required physical fitness test was because I was athletic. She said it like an insult and then proceeded to tell me I needed to lose weight. I left confused. Being athletic was a bad thing?) I know my performance improves when I have less weight and surface area to lug around. I'd like my performance to improve. 5 years ago, I was in the best shape of my life (including that far off time before children). I was almost 50 pounds lighter than I am now. What's so depressing about it, is that I didn't eat terribly or work out any less. Just enough small bad behaviors that slowly over 5 years I put on 45-50 pounds. I don't like having a goal to lose weight. I hate focusing on the scale. It's easily measurable so whether I admit it or not, I'd feel better if the scale would move in the opposite direction. I started in my first challenge as a recruit, my long term goal was to run a 5K in under 30 minutes. Yes, that's still a goal of mine, one I imagine more easily obtained than losing 50 pounds. I'd be thrilled if I could lose 50 pounds. I will lose 50 pounds. That 50 pounds would put me in a healthy weight range. Right now I'm not. I'd be happy, if a year from now, I was 10 pounds lighter because I'm 10 pounds heavier than last year, 20 pounds from 2 years- You see where I'm going. As for this six week challenge, I'm (continuing) to focus on running and diet. I do CrossFit 4-5 days a week. I've been doing it for over a year and a half, so I know CrossFit alone will not slim me down. I do like the weight training and conditioning, so I'd never give it up. I want one of my goals to gain speed in my running, to improve my mile time and then 3 mile time. Goal 1- Do some form a running (even if it's just as little as .5 mile) 2x's a week. (1 day/week speedwork) [STA/DEX] Working out has never been an issue for me, so clearly not my issue with weight. As we've seen one thousand times over, you can't out-train a bad diet. I always think to myself, I don't eat that badly. I don't eat perfectly either. Last challenge, I drank 100oz of water a day and ate a vegetable with every meal. I'd say with 80% success rate during the course of the challenge. That wasn't enough to make the scale move (both good and bad). So, it's time to find out just how I eat and be honest. I'll say this, I lie by omission when it comes to my diet. I did weight watchers for years with success. I've been using my fitness pal for the past year on and off. You see the problem there? On and off. I stop logging when I eat things I don't want to cop to. It's why I stopped paying for weight watchers. I wasn't logging. Goal 2- Log every single thing I consume, even coffee and pre-workout (0 calorie items), every. single. day. [WIS] Goal 2a- Follow the Paleo/Whole Foods Diet, one cheat 1/2 day per week. [CON] Flexibility/mobility is important for more than just working out. I have been a huge fan of yoga DVDs since college (fine, VHS). At one point, I was doing yoga on an almost daily basis. A few weeks ago, I did one of those DVDs and was sore for two days. Clearly using (and stretching) muscles that neither running or CrossFit did. I also love the mind-body connect of yoga. When I did said yoga a few weeks ago, I told myself that I will do this once a week. I haven't. Soooo.... Goal 3- Yoga once a week. [sTR/CHA] Stealing from my friend, jskuzmick... Side Quest- Clean counters every night. [WIS] I love this side quest. I have when my counters are cluttered and when they're clean I feel compelled to be more productive. I'm just, in general, happier to be home. Not sure how I'm going to assign points yet, so if anyone has suggestions, I'm open to it. This is my second challenge, so any and all criticism is welcome. As another aside, I'm trying to figure out how to incorporate role playing into my challenges. I like Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, and Spartacus, if that helps anyone's ability to help me.

After last challenge I clearly need to get back to basics. Soon I will be revealing that plan but now I need to do terrible things to asphalt. Okay: Goal 1) 3 work outs per week. Days to be declared at the beginning of the week Goal 2) Track food, meet the calorie goal my trainer set out for me Goal 3) Keep up with YNAB.

I took the last challenge off, and am sliding back into bad habits. This challenge I'm going to track adherence to the No S Diet, and get back into stretching. I will not track how often I ride my bicycle, since it's a given at this point because I'll need the encouragement and will enjoy the visibility of how active I'm being! Fair warning: I am queer, agender, poly, and kinky. I will warn you if any content or links I share is NSFW, and put questionable stuff behind a cut.

Alright so I was tossing around the idea of doing another Challenge, in the past I have crashed and burned, sometimes in great burning gusto, more often than not wee little whimper. This Challenge has me going back to working on consistency. Consistently lifting, consistently eating clean or in my case Paleo, consistently having a little bit of time put aside for me, as selfish as it sounds, but I find that right now I am getting lost in my life. Consistently asking "who am I?" Anyway let's see how we go, with no promising photos, videos and other what not. Eat, Lift, Sleep, Repeat, Consistantly.

I wasn't sure I was going to participate this time, but then an email inspired a theme and a purpose for the next 6 weeks ..... fixing a bunch of bad habits that have stalled my weight loss efforts!!!! As I skimmed this article from Fitocracy, I realized that I'm guilty on 5 of the 6 counts. If I want to succeed, I need to fix a bunch of mistakes and stop setting myself up for failure!!! Thankfully, I am usually a good shopper with only a weakness for the deli counter, but the others ..... I have my work cut out for me. So, this challenge will be a bit different for me. And newbies be warned - I'm breaking a number of the guidelines for RP challenges. So don't use me as an example. I'll be setting goals that primarily will increase wisdom and constitution. But, since 80% of success happens in the kitchen (and the grocery store), I think this challenge will set me up for success in the future. So, watch this space for details ..... I'll be editing it through the weekend to make measurable goals that help me fix my mistakes and use lots of exclamation marks!!! Mistake #1 - Eating out/Take out The good news is that I have historical data on how frequently I eat out or grab take out. The bad news is that ...... out of 42 days in the challenge, I ate out or grabbed "healthy" foods from the deli ....... get ready for it ..... 37 days!!! 88% of my challenge days involved buying prepared foods, most of which I can prepare easily at home. FIX #1: Stop eating out so much, DUH!! (2 WIS, 1 CON) To be reasonable and yet make progress, I'm going to reduce the number of days in which I eat out or grab something from the deli .... Scoring based on days that I mess up: 4 days: A 8 days: B 12 days: C 16 days: D 20+ days: F Mistake #2 - Snacking This isn't SUCH a big problem for me as eating out is ... or so I thought, until I went back through my data. YIKES!!!! 34 days out of 42 had a snack, and often NOT something light. FIX #2 - Reduce unplanned snacking (2 WIS, 1 CON) I am going to plan for truly healthy snacks, especially for after hard workouts. And I will aim at reducing the number of days when I give up and eat something just because I am bored, because hubby is having a snack, or because I didn't plan ahead and eat properly at the prior meal. Scoring based on days that I mess up: 4 days: A 8 days: B 12 days: C 16 days: D 20+ days: F Mistake #3 - Not planning for splurges In fact, I have not been planning meals at all!! Breakfast (eggs) is on autolock, but the rest of the day has been done by last-minute inspiration. At the end of the day, when I enter in what I've eaten, I might be pleasantly surprised ..... or completely shocked. Logging is a good first step, but planning needs to be a close second. FIX #3 - PLAN!!!! (3 WIS) I'm usually a big planner, but a lot of things have been up in the air for the past two years, and I just stopped planning meals. In part, because when I'm home alone, it doesn't seem like I NEED to plan meals. Not like when I had a family, and we needed to know what we were eating so it could be accomplished before dashing off to the evening activities. So, time to stop moping about the empty nest and a hubby who lives a couple hours away. I'm going to sit down this weekend and create interchangeable menus on index cards. That way, I can have some variety within limits. And I'll be better about cooking (see fix #1) and freezing the extras. I have the big freezer plugged in downstairs and can just call this "cooking ahead". To keep accountable, I'm entering the weekly plan into LoseIt. And I'll post pics here!!! So, watch for food porn. I AM a pretty good cook. Scoring based on SUCCESS days: A: 38 B: 34 C: 29 D: 25 F: 21 or fewer Mistake #4 - Food as medicine As an athlete, I was just interested in food to support my activity level and provide the needed macros. I've fallen a long way from that stance since 2005 and now routinely use food and wine to make me feel better, to reduce boredom, as part of socialization, and as celebration. The problem is that .... it doesn't work. And often, I not only feel worse physically but also then beat myself up emotionally. But I keep falling back into those patterns, in part because hubby encourages them. Fix #4 - Food as fuel (2 WIS, 1 CON) Measuring the mental shift might be a bit of a challenge, but I'm going to try this strategy: Identify 20 triggers or situations where food becomes more than food Construct 20 alternatives - one per trigger - that can be played to combat the problem situationScoring: A: 20 B: 18 C:16 D: 14 F: 12 or fewer Mistake #5 - Inconsistency in exercise Looking back over my logs, I see that I have episodes of high activity, burning 400+ calories in exercise. And then, I have days when I don't really do much other than a gentle 30 minute walk. To some extent, that's fine, and I am exercising most days. But it also means that it is hard to plan meals when I don't know how much I'll be burning, and I've often eating as if I were going to have a big workout day ..... but then end up on the couch and stockpiling that extra calorie intake as fat. Fix #5 - Plan workouts and even out calorie expenditures (1 WIS, 2 STA) Well, the theme of the challenge is planning and consistency, I think. It's OK if I don't workout every day, but it is essential that I PLAN for rest days instead of letting them just happen. So, the aim is to plan my work and work my plan. At the beginning of the week, I'll sketch out planned activities as well as meals. That means that I ADJUST meal plan for the planned rest day(s), if necessary. I've been fighting a bit of a sore hip and knee, which means that I may end up adjusting workouts to prevent injury. Scoring based on days that I mess up: 4 days: A 8 days: B 12 days: C 16 days: D 20+ days: F Attribute points ..... A 100% B 90% C 80% D 70% F 50% for trying ..... PLUS MINIs!!!! Week 1: +1 STA Week 2: Week 3: Nada Week 4:

Well, that last challenge started off so well but ended up spiraling into a disaster. Oh well. We re-spawn and life goes on. I think that the pressure of the challenge got too much for me, and it was bad timing with a vacation and moving and so on... Eh. I've decided to take a more serious approach. I need to work on my habits and build them up over time. I need to work on sustaining things for more than three weeks at a time. And I need to stop bingeing on junk and giving in to my food addiction. 1. Dealing with the food addiction I'm putting myself into food-rehab. I've gotten hold of anything I could find that lets me do weight watchers for free. I used to use Spark People, which was wonderful, but I like how WW recognizes that nutritional value is more important than calorie counting. So I'm going to try sticking to WW for at least a month, and hopefully longer. Unfortunately I can't get a 'real' (paid) membership because I live outside of any of the countries they operate in. It would be nice if they expanded to an online basis, with google hangouts as meetings, or something... This is the future, after all... But that's why I love Nerd Fitness: I can do their plan but get the amazing support of this community, and even fit the weight watchers plan into the Nerd Fitness structure. I did a little point allowance calculation online and it spat out this, so I'll try to stick to it as a plan. + 35 bonus points to use throughout the week. 2. Building better habits - cleaning my house. I'm moving in with the Bearded One in just over two weeks and it would be nice if we can keep our new place looking nice. It's also good for all the entertaining we'll be doing. So I'm going to aim to stick to my HabitRPG cleaning to-do lists and get that shit in order. - cooking meals more often than eating out. I'm surpremely lazy and keep choosing convenience over health. I'm going to delete my food ordering apps, go grocery shopping, and cook some damn meals. It also means I'll have more satisfying meals that are within the Weight Watchers points. - daily activity Walking to work or riding my bike aren't enough. It's starting to get warmer, so I need to walk for at least half an hour each day, in the first week. I'll also try to aim for two bodyweight workouts a week (initially) and fit in some yoga along with that. It's a little tough right now because I'm moving, so for now I'll just focus on going for walks and then consider packing to be my bodyweight workout (if I do it at high speed with music blasting). This could be more specific but I feel like if I get more specific then I'll be setting myself up for failure if I miss something. -accountability I will post to this battle log every day. Or else... To make sure I do this, I'm going to 'anchor' this habit to dinner time. I must post my battle log after dinner each day. If I'm out/busy/away from my computer then I need to at least check in via tapatalk. Weigh-ins at 7am on Monday mornings. 3. Being a better human I need to stop being so self-centered, and work on listening to other people more and focusing on them. I will make the effort to talk to my friends and ask them how their lives are going on. It seems like basic social skills, but for some reason it's difficult for me to do that. I also need to accept failure and be more honest with myself and other people. I can't keep shifting the blame away from myself because I don't like being the cause of the failure. Well, here it goes: I failed that last challenge because I was lazy, I let myself get away with too much, and I have a problem with self-control and over-eating. It was no one's fault but my own and I need to accept that, own it, and overcome it.

Greetings All! I'm back for seconds! And this time, I'm joining with my fellow men and women Assassins. Extremely excited to be continuing the journey here for my health and well-being. If the way I'm posting my challenges seems weird, it's because I'm using the method of naming used for the episodes of the series Chuck. I really loved this show and think that they way they had the episodes named made me smile (i.e. Chuck vs. The Wookie, Chuck vs. The Nacho Sampler). So, in my own little way, I'm trying to go from Super Nerd to Super Spy Nerd. Goal #1: To keep up on the progress of changing my keg to a 24-pack (and hopefully less) I'm going to increase my exercise game in two parts. This time I'm taking advantage of a lot more than just the bodyweight circuits but I'm also going to up the days. 4 days a week for the bodyweight workouts. How hard could that be, especially if I'm going to be dedicated to trimming down? (+2 STR, +1 DEX, +2 STA) Goal #2: Goal two will focus on the home cooking. I know that cooking bug is in me, I just need to bring it to the surface. This time around we are going to go for 2 dinners per week. Maybe I'll throw in something special (Paleo, low carb) but haven't ironed that one out yet. It's better than ending up with donuts all the time! (+1 WIS, +1 CHA) Goal #3: I've decided to make goal 3 one that will also help both body and spirit. Along with the bodyweight workouts, I'm going to be adding yoga and cardio (mostly walking/running) into the mix. Theoretically I can do these also on some of my bodyweight days. My goal will be to get two 30 minutes sessions in a week, so I'll be a good yoga routine or about a 2 mile walk at this point. (+1 STR, +2 STA, +2 CON) Goal #4: My Life Quest is going to focus on my financial health. My credit and finances aren't awesome so they could use some improvement. I'm going to be looking into a minimum of 1 personal finance methodology per week during the challenge. (+2 WIS) Basically, I want to be able to get my entire life looking and feeling AMAZING!!! Here's to the Second Challenge!! Me dancing, more or less