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STARPUCK STARTS A BRAND NEW ADVENTURE Sometimes it's just really motivating to start a brand new character. To have a fresh new character sheet, and shiny new pencils and new dice to get you rolling. I had originally started this thread out with comments about how my last year had gone, and how it had finished up, but then I stopped and said, "Wait... that doesn't matter now. What matters are the choices I make going forward and the effort I put in today and tomorrow and then tomorrow's tomorrow and so on." So just like you might learn a new thing about your favored class or character archetype every time you roll up a new one, I will take what I've learned playing through this game previously, and become even better at it this year! Declarations and overall goals listed behind spoiler. Food must be a focus, as it is probably my weakest point. The old adage of you can't outrun your fork is so true; and while I do active things - their purpose must no longer be 'to lose weight'. I do those things because of the other awesome benefits they provide. I also know what I can do to help make the food a smaller obstacle, but it takes planning ahead, and some substitution. In the words of our beloved Pike... Easy days/meals: Mon-Fri breakfasts and lunches at work. No problem. Moderately challenging meals/times: Homecooked meals on M/W. I can't control the ingredients/prep. T after dinner snacks while gaming. Dangerously challenging times: Th / Su gaming nights, weekends, especially ones with hockey games. Other Challenges: No room in the fridge for anything that would be 'mine' creates issues in keeping good options on hand. Solutions - Plan ahead, plan ahead, plan ahead. - Research and prepare healthier snack options. - Cook on Sundays, for dinners on Tue and Thur. Plan of Attack / Food Adventurers only carry so many rations, so track what you are carrying! (eating). - I am going to track calories loosely, not because I am aiming for a certain point (I am) but because if I focus only entirely on good foods, and try to be mindful of portions, I sometimes end up eating far too little! You have to know what your doing in order to make any future adjustments, but the calories are being watched in order to fuel ENOUGH - as opposed to eating LESS AND LESS to lose weight. Heroes Feasts are only for those big moments. - Sometimes you do need to go all out on feasting, but it's not every day, and not for every potential battle you might get into. Enjoy the feasts when it is appropriate, but otherwise save that gem-encrusted bowl worth at least 1,000 gp. Basically, allow indulgences when it is appropriate. Eating out with friends is NOT an indulgence moment, that's a routine thing that happens, so eat like a normal adventurer on those days. Plan of Attack / Exercise Adventurers are almost always on the move. - Either walking from one town to the next, or delving into a dungeon or worse, they're no slouches. I need to keep up the daily activity. I work in a small office, but I am going to slowly try to build up and see what is a feasible number of steps per hour. Well, without looking like a bear pacing in its enclosure at the zoo. That gets weird. Strength training to keep me strong, and sweat-inducing movement so that I am able to flee without passing out when the odds are not in my favor. Not everyone starts off as a real adventurer... - Confession time. I'm not sure how much I actually enjoy the act of -doing- exercise. Sure, I am always pleased with the results; and my mood is often better after having done it than if I hadn't. But it's hard to be motivated for rewards that aren't promised after every mission. So, I take a page out of Taryon Darrington's book. Fake it till I make it. He was a total poser when he met up with Vox Machina, but by the end of his time with them, he was an official member, and not just a real adventurer, but a proper hero too! So I need to go along with the motion, until it becomes something that I truly seek out time and time again. Plan of Attack / Other Stuff "Yes! The PLAN!" Art and D&D work and budget stuff. I have taken a break with art, but am anxious to get back to it. Must remember to be patient with myself, and to start focusing on learning some actual techniques and perhaps how to better use my program. D&D prep comes into this category now, because I am really enjoying being a DM and it does require creative thinking and story writing. So, I'd like to put about 5-6 hours in a week of "creativity". The budget is going to be simple: Figure out where I can save money, how much I can save, and save it. Stay strict with my allowances for eating out or buying snacks for gaming (which will also help the food goal) and don't get willy nilly with the money. I am going to keep a notepad or digital note on hand, and every time I get the urge I want or need something, I will write it down. At the end of each week, I'll re-evaluate my need or desire for it. Some things might be legit needs like: Man this toothpaste tastes so bad it makes me not want to brush my teeth, I need a new tube. Other things might be, "I could really use dry erase markers for my DM'ing, but do I NEEEED them right now." I'd like to put another $5000 into my savings account toward Puck's Manor. I also want to go on a couple of vacations because travel is important to my soul. So I need to figure out a budget that does both. Oookaaay, well this got longer than I had meant for it to! Let's break it down into simple terms. Track my Rations Daily (Total Lots) [MFP] Prepare for questing every Sunday. (Total 5) [Cook on Sundays] Limit Heroes Feast (Total 2) [Two or less indulgences] Chase dire wolves for sport. (Total 12) [Get my sweat on, run, dance, hockey] Train like Grog. (Total 10) [Strength Training] Brainstorm, plot, create. (Total 24) [Art, D&D, Reading, etc.]

Welcome to the Rowdy Raven! Pull up a chair, hear a tale or two... or maybe snag a bit of juicy gossip. If you're looking for a good meal or a stout ale, you're in the right place. If it's riches, fame or glory you're after, well in that case... There's a fella upstairs; black cloak, thick beard and eyes that can pierce steel. He might have a task or two for ya -if you've got the skill to handle it. Years ago, a friend once told me: Stop just admiring all these awesome women characters you get so into, and be one for yourself. As I am still riding quite high on the RPG/D&D creativity wave, I thought; what better way to do that, than to create my own real world adventure to go on. Here's the next catch though... what is a tabletop adventure without a party? So I am throwing out my Looking for Group /yell and offering this. Having a hard time with challenges lately? Know that you want to keep up on NF, but updating your own thread is being a bear? Need a little extra motivation to remember to log in and poke about? Then come to the Rowdy Raven and meet up with a few other young adventurers that want to change the world- starting with themselves! I will be putting together an adventure to help motivate myself into becoming the hero I so often admire in my games, books, movies, and anime. Using real world goals to theme a fantasy narrative! I've no idea how well this will come together, but I am excited to venture out and become! "The table upstairs huh? Alright... well, I guess I should go see this man... Right. Ok. Going now..." "and... ok, going now!" "For real this time, I am heading up to talk to the man!!"

Posted April 12, 2013 Jammer: "I'm not really cut out for this, sir." Apollo: "Me neither. Sometimes you gotta roll the hard six." Jammer: "What does that mean, sir?" Apollo: "I don't know. It's something my dad says. Just don't shoot until I tell you to." BSG - Season 2, Episode 2 Pretty fitting title and saying for my 2nd 38th challenge. My first last challenge I approached sort of half-assed, quarter-assed so now I gotta RE roll the Hard 6. (See, I just mixed gaming with BSG.) Fitness Goals Strength Train: 3X / WEEK Sweat!!! 3X / WEEK Eating Healthy No honeybadger moments. Life Goal Budget Related: Keep track of ALL purchases in BuJo. Collect data, find trends. The above goals were what I did on my second challenge back in April 2013. Guess what weight I was when I started? Yup. Same as I am today. I guess in one sense, keeping within the same 5-8lb spread for 4 years isn't so bad in the long wrong, right? Anyway. By the end of that challenge? These were the results. So, I am going to go back to the beginning. While I am not currently doing C25K, or plan to, I will still utilize the 3x a week SWEAT as motivation. Also- those 'strength' days were largely play ground workouts, that lasted no more than 45m. I have a gym in my warehouse now- rings, pull up bars, and weights. I am set up for success on that front. The food? I opted for not tracking calories and just eating cleaner. I likely UNDER nourished that first time around, but I am smarter now, more experienced. My TDEE has not changed over the last four years. When I am strength active I burn about 2200 a day, when I run or bike, it hits about 2400, and when I hockey I can tip to 3000. I can easily adjust my intake based on those well established averages. I have a vacation starting on the 18th, and then a very crazy ten days. I will make the best choices I can, given the surroundings I am in. I will not stress and nitpick over every calorie into my mouth because that makes me macroniacal. Hockey season is starting up too, so that will also help. And, a big difference between then and now? My gif game is a lot stronger! ROLL A HARD 6 YOU SAY?

During the war between elves and dragons, the matriarch of House Vol sought to make peace between the two races by combining the blood of both. The result was her daughter Erandis Vol, whose father was a green dragon. House Vol achieved its objective of peace though at their own bloodline's expense as the dragons and elves allied with one another under the goal of killing Erandis Vol, the entire Vol bloodline, and the mark of death. Eventually every member of the House of Vol was destroyed along with Erandis, but the other Elven houses that had aligned themselves with House Vol were spared the same fate and were instead cast out of Aerenal. These banished elves kept their faith and spread the religion to Khorvaire. Week 1 of this challenge begins immediately after my push/pull meet and, as is fairly typical when peaking for PL, I'm dying for more volume and conditioning. Once the meet is out of the way, I'll go back to 531, but with the following volume-happy tweaks: Including BBB again - For time's sake and to ensure I keep the weight at a higher 75-85%, I'll be sticking with the 5x5 version, and starting back at 75% this month with DL and squat BBB sets performed on the opposite day so as to work heavy DL and squat twice a week. Bench days just be benchy. Including deload weeks again - My work capacity at +80% suffered without these over the past few months so the four weeks working sets will look like 1) none (just BBB); 2) 3x5 85%; 3) 3x3 90% 4) 1xAMRAP 95% Circuit Conditioning as last priority - between the high volume/light weight bodyweight work and front squats, I like these and my hips like these and my erector spinea like these and my shoulders like these and my heart like these. I'm not dropping them, not for love or money, but I'm moving them to last place in the priority list. They've been supplanting heavier volume work and that's not been good for my <10 rep endurance. A good training session will have time for 2-3 cycles of high rep work, but as the finishing touch, not so much the main focus. I'm not a xfit whoreface like @Br0din. Outside of the gym, I'm going to spend August focusing on puppy training, smoking, meditating, and writing.

"I look toward the goal, the destination of what began my journey here. It's often clouded; a fuzzy, intangible thing that I strive for... ever changing and always, seemingly, out of reach. I stopped to think about this today and realized that my constant focus on the pinnacle has distracted me from seeing just how far I've climbed. For over three years I have been championing a better lifestyle than I have in any of the years leading up to that point. It has not always been leaps and strides, but even the slips have been recovered, over and over again, for all this time. I will keep going! I am NOT going to stop. So I may not know what mountain peak I am even aiming for right now... but I do know I want to reach higher today than I did yesterday. Maybe... just maybe, I need to get to the top of this mountain, to see past the clouds at what my next target is!" It's no mystery I love anime, and one of my favorite archetypes is the hero that has to struggle past his own demons. I love watching them battle their own flaws and weaknesses, and slowly overcome everything with their never give up attitude. It inspires me so much! A friend once told me, 'Stop just looking up to these heroes and BECOME one.' And so, going forward, I am going to be facing my demons and faults with glaring openness and striving toward bold actions against them. I'm going to need the support of my teammates on this, because my determination falters when things don't go according to plan. TRAINING GOALS What I want: Invisible Stair Pull Ups How do I get it: Strength work! Summer means lots of hockey, outdoor desires and bike riding. I will also be taking a vacation with my bike this year, that includes biking the roads of Theodore Roosevelt N.P. I need to be in good biking shape for that. That means other things are going to shift off the board. Namely, running. Between bike riding and hockey, I have enough on the cardio list. I can take walks if I want, but JUST WALKS. Not even weighted walks. Plan: Be active 6 days a week, any combination, but, no less than 2 days of strength training! Pull Ups will not improve if approached halfheartedly. Challenge Length, 4 weeks || Activity 24 || Strength Specific 8-12 || NOURISHMENT GOALS What I want: To be in general good health. How do I get it: Choosing natural foods, and eating enough of it to fuel my lifestyle. I was doing really well with eating to appropriate caloric targets during the first two weeks of the last challenge. (Which meant eating way more than I typically had.) For the first time in 9 months, I dipped below the 150 mark!! When I got sick, all activity halted, and so I stopped tracking and just ate my usual stuff, but cut down portions or some of the extra snacks. I have, surprisingly, stayed below that 150 target despite the shift in everything. I want to maintain this better approach on food. Plan: Two options. 1 - Track food, aim for TDEE -15% on workout days, -25% on rest days and try to get at least 130g protein per day. 2 - Don't track food, choose cleaner, less processed items, eat until satisfied. Pros of 1, I will know if I am eating enough and I can target specific macros. Cons of 1, Ugh, not tracking has been sooo nice. Pros of 2, Less stress could equal more progress. Cons of 2, I could end up eating far LESS than I should be and screw up my already tortured metabolism. Haven't figured out which way to go on this yet. CREATIVITY GOALS What I want: Shadow clones, so I can do all these wonderful things without letting one or another falter! Ok, seriously though. My art. I am so proud of how far I've come, and how long I've stuck to it. It can only get better from here, even if right now I feel like it's slipping. I want to get better at art, because I really enjoy bringing characters to life visually. How do I get it: Stop coasting. Take the time to invest in things that will teach me actual techniques; get books, take online lessons, visit how-to sites and go through tutorials on the programs I have. What else do I want: D&D Work: I've taken on the mantle of DM'ing and I am loving it. There is so much more I can do and learn to become a better DM, so time to put the work in. How do I get that?: For starters, stop being a vehement anti-reader. Read the PHB and DMG. Just do it. A few pages a day and it will be no time before I've at least read through the whole thing. Spend some time each week prepping for your game so that it doesn't feel overwhelming right before game day. Plan: Continue to work on art endeavors, aiming for 4 days a week, 1 of which should be some kind of tutorial or lesson. || Prep for my D&D game at least 2 hours per week, begin reading the books in full, aiming for 5 pages a day. **Can adjust to accommodate weight of plates and intensity of spinning. Challenge Length, 4 weeks || Art 16 days; 4 Lessons/Tutorials || D&D Prep 18 hours; 150 pages read. || MENTAL GOALS What I want: To conquer my fears! How do I get it: By facing choices, making decisions, and sticking to them. Guys- I am thinking, again, about trying to move out. This whole thing terrifies me because of what it involves, what it means, and what could happen as a result of it. I will get into it more as the challenge progresses, but this will be the BIGGEST decision in my life thus far and it is terrifying!! I am terrified by decisions because I am a 'smooth pond' type person. I don't like ripples, I like things nice and calm and routine and happy. I don't like to shake the boat, even if that shaking comes from raising a sail to chase some dream or opportunity. I'm not sure, but I think that maybe, making decisions and learning how to be courageous, comes from ... making decisions and seeing that life goes on whether they were good or bad or in between. So. I need to challenge myself to try things. Regardless of whether or not I pull the rip cord on this jump, I need to start getting my bigger finances in order. I waste a lot of money right now because I can. I rent a room in my sister's house, so the monthly rent is dirt cheap. That allows me extra money to spend on crap just about whenever I want. I am not STUPID with money, I am just in a place where I don't have to think about it. Plan: Make a budget. Stick to the budget. Write down things I want and hold off a week before buying anything that is not a necessity. If after a week I still want it, see if I have saved enough allowance money for it. Practice 'fake mortgage' payment into savings account. So, there's a lot going on, but not a lot of very trackable goals here. There's a storm coming and I am terrified the power is going to fail before I post this and I'll lose all this work, so I will tidy up the thread later! Let me end this with some inspiration from two of my favorite guys! Edit, Monday 7/3 -- Forget that 5 week plan... I can't even tell what day it is right now!

How Do You Want to do This? One of the greatest things about roleplaying games, is that the end goal can be accomplished in a variety of ways. More so, the true joy of the game, comes not from the just succeeding in meeting that goal, but in the journey and adventure along the way. As I've spent the last year struggling and fussing and fighting with frustration, and not knowing what's working or not working, I've become so focused on the final result (or lack thereof) that I've forgotten to focus on and enjoy the path that leads me there. So, we're going to be largely focused on mindset this go around. A successful adventurer needs to be capable of traveling - a lot of traveling - and they also need to be hardy enough to carry the gear necessary for a variety of quests. Along with that, they need to be strong of mind, and have a good support team in their party. They must be clever, and hone their skills so that they bring their own unique talents to the party! So, with that said, here are the goals for Starpuck, and ... how she wants to do this. Goal #1 An adventurer must be combat ready! Training Tasks: Running, Walking, Lifting, Hockey, Boxing This goal is going to be simplified to allow for variety, flexibility and most importantly, the ability to enjoy nice weather whenever it makes an appearance! Activity, 6x Weekly - If my heart rate goes over 100, or I sweat, or get out of breath in any fashion, it's activity! Goal #2 An adventurer must hone their skills! Training Tasks: Art, BuJo, D&D prep work, Cosplay This goal is going to be more focused as I need to make sure I don't let anything slip or fade too much, in lieu of other things I also want to do. Art, 4x Weekly - Can be software, sketches, or doodles. D&D Prep, 1x Weekly - (or as needed) BuJo, Daily - Use the BuJo to keep myself sane with tracking and things on the to do list. Cosplay - Acen is coming up in a month, I'd like to put together something simple (Baccano / DRRR maybe.) Goal #3 An adventurer must be confident! Training Tasks: Shared affirmations, action pics, self care, mindset training. This goal is going to be sort of nebulous in nature. This is about changing how I think, and how I see myself. There will be a few things I mark as 'must do' each week, but it's largely going to be about seeing myself as GOOD the way I am NOW. Affirmations, written, Daily - Keep this up, Write MOAR nice things. Night Routine, Daily - I am hard on my body, and I should give it some better daily care. (wash face before bed, lotions, floss more <.<, etc.) Action Pic, 1x Weekly - Share one pic with my party members, of me being active, or bold, or confident, and OWN IT. Random Quests and Tasks - Get Acen Cosplay sorted out, plan the weekend. - Plan a long weekend bike ride with friends. - Clean up home computer files. - Participate in Ranger mini. - Start planning big August trip. - Work on Jedi uniform. - Find Con to take brother/nephew to this year. And with that ... I think we're good to get this going. I'm pretty excited about this challenge- at least right now I am, though I'm also a little wigged out that it's so loosey goosey in a lot of ways. I left out any of my food goals, and I am not sure if I will be adding them in, or just tracking/planning without having it as a goal. So there may be an adjustment coming. But for now...

Ryuu1011 plays D&D 400/400hp Inventory: 0 Healing Potions (+50hp), 0g 0s Gold and Silver (Dollars and Cents), 0 Mana This challenge will be a direct continuation of my last challenge in both layout and for most of my goals. I have big obstacle course race coming up at the very end of this challenge on May 20, 2017 and since its called the Dragon OCR I figured there isn't a better time to do a D&D themed challenge. Goal 1: Train my Body for Adventure Continuing to use my Gymnastic Bodies Foundations classes as I continue to build strength, flexibility, balance, and movement. Using the money that I earned durring my last challenge I purchased GB's movement series and will be incorporating it into my weekly workout not too. Since my writs and elbows were getting a little sore by the end of the last challenge I've decided to scale down my handstand work for this challenge and have decided to double up on the movement classes to replace it. GB Foundations (UB, LB, C) x3 per Week ___/ 3 = ___/12 Stretch Series (FS, MS, TB) x3 per Week ___/3 = ___/12 Handstand Series x1 per Week ___/1 = ___/4 Movement Series x2 per Week ___/2 = ___/8 Workout Schedule- Mon- Walk, Upper body Tues- Movement, Middle Split Wed- Lower Body, Front Split Th- Thoracic Bridge, Handstand Fri- Movement, Core Sat-Rest, Play, or Run/Walk Sun-Rest, Play, or Run/Walk Training Mishap: -10hp, Failed to do a set workout on the set day, that was not pre-planned Battle Wounds: -25hp, any workouts left uncompleted at the end of the week Goal 2: Craft Health Potions to Survive Since I've been dieting for so long for the rest week and the 1st week of the challenge I will be eating at "maintenance" for 160lbs ~2300 calories then for the last three weeks I will start back on my deficit of ~1700 calories to ideally be at about 158 by the end of the challenge. Record my Nutrition in MFP x 7 per week ____/7 = ___/28 Be within +/- 200 cal of 1700 (+ exercise cals) x6 per week ___/6 = ___/24 Starting Metrics (4/13/2017): 159.8lbs, 14.7%bf Waist: 31.75" Hips: 32.75" Craft Healing Potion: +50hp 6 days at +/- 200 cals of my goal Cure Light Wounds Spell: +10hp Chose the healthy option Scratched by a Goblin: -10hp Bad Choice Gashed by a Skeleton: -25hp Bad Meal Smacked by a Troll: -100hp Bad Day Goal 3: Mend my Wounds This goal is all about rehab and prehab to help with my long term health and wellness, especially for my feet and my sleep. The last time I made a sleep goal it was really tough on my relationship with my GF so hopefully it willn't be as bad this time around. Walk 2x per week ~30 min 1+ mile __/2 = ___/8 Ice Roll my feet 2x per week __/2 = ___/8 Get into bed by 10:30 5x per week ___/5 = ___/ 20 Attacked by Bandits: -25hp per any walks or ice rolls left uncompleted at the end of the week Fatigue: -10hp per day over 2 stayed up past 10:30 Fancy Room at the Inn: +5hp per day going to bed by 10:00pm Goal 4: Record my Adventures & Help others on their Quests I account this goal for one of the reasons that I did so well in the last challenge so I would be silly of me to not include it again in this challenge. Check in here 5x per Week ___/5 = ___/20 Touch base on at least 1 other person’s thread 5x per week ____/5 = ___/20 Consumed by Battle: -10hp per day missed on my log or others. Detailed Notes: +10hp per day over 5 Monsters to Kill To weaken the dragon before the fight I must first take down some of his massive evil army. These are some other daily habits and tasks that I would like to continue to do over the course of the challenge, as I complete them I will earn gold and silver (dollars and cents) towards fun fitness related purchases, and mana towards video game time.

Everybody wanna be a nerd until it's time to do nerd shiet. So how about it? I know a bunch of us play Dungeons & Dragons. Who would be interested in getting a game together? We can run it on Roll 20 or something. We'd probably also have to decide on which edition to go with. I've personally only played 4E and 5E.

Episode IV: A New Hope Role This isn't Star Wars?? I have this thing that I call floon. I learned the term during my MUSH'ing days. (Online, text based, story heavy rp games.) It basically refers to this intangible thing that doesn't just support your current interests, but seems to elevate them to near all encompassing levels. My floon (blame Ranger brain here) shifts from time to time, and as one thing quietly fades to a lower level on my floon radar, something else will skyrocket to unimaginable levels. And so as I have started stepping away from SW things (rest assured, I shall always be a Jedi, but I think that guild burnt me out a bit), I have found a new inspiration that has jolted floon levels with a sharp swing back into Fantasy things. Goal #1 - Be Combat Ready! 1A. Strong like Grog! 1B. Move like Vex! 1C. Center like Keyleth Grog may only have an Int of 6, but as Vax once said to him, "Grog, know your strengths. It is your strength." Sometimes the party needs to rely on the strength of the heavy to get through the encounter- and sometimes the heavy drops in the first round! I need to be strong enough to shoulder through even when my Grog does down. Vex is a Ranger, so she spends a lot of time on the move; exploring the woods, hanging out with her bear Trinket, doing those sort of ranger things we all know so well. As a druid, Keyleth is quite capable of fighting, but she also knows when she must be centered and focused on the calm. Reflection and rest are just as important as everything else. Stronglifts 3x / Week **Trust the program. **No quitting until after week 12. Yeah. We're going all in here. Run, walk, move 2x / Week **Runs, walks and hockey count as move. I'll be back to skating 2x a week soon. No reason for it NOT to count. Active Rest 1-2x / Week **In short, don't be a slouch. Yoga, light walks of 20m, stretching, ... basically, make sure I do not have a day where I sit gaming the entire time. Even if it's just a 20 minute walk or yoga video. Do something that moves the body. These three areas will account for the physical activity side of the challenge. It's not overzealous, it focuses on the thing that requires the most attention (Stronglifts needing 3x to follow program correctly) and allows a lot of wiggle room and variety on the remaining points. Goal #2 - GM's Gotta Number! In order to run a good game, you have to know the system, and you gotta be ready to crunch numbers. This is what I need to do with my activity and food. Need to know what I am eating and fueling with, and the numbers on what's going in and out. I won't know if I've hit the enemies AC, unless I've added up all my to hit bonuses! Food Tracking M-F 100% 5x/week ** My M-F have been very good for a while. Keep at this. Including the new habit of taking left overs to Thursday D&D night so I don't tank on eating out mid week. ** Saturday and Sunday's have been historically... well, akin to a full party wipe. Has to stop. Now, weekends almost ALWAYS include a meal out with family or friends, so we're going AMTAP on this. (As many tracks as possible) Saturday/Sunday Variances 2 MEALS/week ** In order to not be so strict that I hate myself and throw an ancient dragon at the party... two meals per week can go untracked. NOT 2 days... 2 meals. ** The rest of Sat/Sun must be tracked! So food stuff here. Pretty simple and straight forward. Will also be trying to incorporate more veggies per day on this and I'll add that as a side collection quest sort of thing. Goal #3 - Bard's do it all! Bard's get the jack of all trades tag in D&D. A little of this, a little of that... what they have in spades though, is creativity. Ok, and charisma. And probably a good chunk of all sorts of little doodads and gimmicks that will come in handy for the party. Here's where the rest of my stuff goes. From art, to BuJo-ing, to reading the things and affirmations. It's also where a new project is going to go. I've been stalling on this "running a game" for my friends for years. Every time I say I will do it, I get a bit further than the last time, but ... I never go all the way through. I am going to use this new floon and on-going inspiration, to finally get it done! BuJo - Every day I'm BuJoing. 7x/week Read 1 Chapter of Bible. 7x/week Write affirmation. 7x/week. SHARE an affirmation. 1x/week. Art Stuff. 3/x week D&D planning. 2 hours/week. Well, for not having any idea what my theme would be, or what I wanted to do this time around... as of um, let's see... 2 hours ago. This came together pretty fast. Now to see it through. ALL THE WAY THROUGH! Let's get this flaming sphere rolling shall we?

I've had this idea knocking around in my skull for a while, and I figured I'd test the waters & see if anybody would be interested. The idea: Skype or chat-based D&D group for NF members with weekly 'meetings'. The plot twist: Your adventurer's class/race is based on the class/race you picked for yourself for 'gamifying your life', and can only gain experience/level up through your performance in the 4 week challenges. I had the idea after seeing all the fitness challenges that were based on nerdy situations (kill the boss by doing pushups, travel to mordor by running/swimming/biking actual miles, etc). I thought they were fun, but I kind of wanted to take my character on an actual adventure, where she fought with a sword, collected loot, and had a real storyline, but where her power came from my own abilities. It would be pretty motivating to know I really needed to work hard (train hard!) on doing as well as possible on my challenges (which I have a history of losing motivation for ) if I wanted to stand a chance of defeating a big, bad monster/rescuing some personage/getting that loot. Plus talk about accountabilibuddies - the group would be personally invested in each other's fitness success! I'm hoping I'm not the only one that thinks this would be fun/motivating, and I'm also hoping there's some saint out there that would DM for this, because 1) I have no idea how to do so and 2) I kinda want to be a player, cus I'm not a saint. Ideally, the group would consist of a DM, and 3-5 players (including myself of course) of a few different classes. If you'd like to play, but don't really want to be your own class (or if the group has a strong need for a different class), that's fine - I just personally would find it more motivating for my own class to match. So... Anybody interested?

Welcome do Dungeons and Dragons, the Doodlie version. Everyone is welcome to participate By participating you DON'T become a Doodlie, it's just that this game in this form has been invented by the doodlies. We still need a DM, who wants to be our master? You are qualified if you have played at least one challenge with us. A short recap of how we play You start by copying the character sheet and fill it in (see rule book for details on this). After this you put a link to it in your signature, and put the link on the sign in sheet. The name of your character is the same as your name on the forums! This makes it so much easier for the DM's You've got 4 primary abilities. You can level these up infinitive by doing stuff in real life like doing cardio, strength training, meditate or learn stuff. Besides that you've got extra ability's you can choose to your liking, to shape your character. By choosing a specific race or class you gain bonuses for certain abilities, but you're not limited to them. The DM (doodlie master) tells a story. You tell the DM how you wish to react to the circumstances the DM described. He or she will determine, by rolling a dice and comparing the result with the ability that's applicable in that situation, if you're successful or not. For example: You wish to talk to a cute guy in a bar. Since you're a beautiful elf, the DM decides this shouldn't be too hard for you, so she uses a D4 (a dice with 4 sides). (Or the DM decides that this is very hard since you're an ugly ogre and she uses a D100 (a dice with 100 sides)). She looks at your psyche level, say you're level 3. With the D4 you'll succeed by a roll of 2, 3 or 4. (With the D100 by 98, 99 or 100.) The DM rolls the D4 and you get a 3. The cute guy is willing to talk to you. Say you roll a 4, since that is the highest role the cute guy comes to you and tells you everything you wan to know. Or you get a 1, and the cute guy slaps you in the face and leaves. We play from February 13 until March 10 If you want you can post a short introduction in this thread. If you have any questions, let me know. Previous adventurers beware: there have been a few changes in the rulebook. The most important one is that you have health points now. Everyone starts with 6 HP, basic armor will add 2 HP to that. The magic skill has changed a lot The Psyche skill has changed Links Rule book Character Sheet (copy it and fill it out, don't forget to alter the share settings so everyone can see it) Sign in sheet

Welcome do Dungeons and Dragons, the Doodlie version. Everyone is welcome to participate By participating you DON'T become a Doodlie, it's just that this game in this form has been invented by the doodlies. A short recap of how we play You start by copying the character sheet and fill it in (see rule book for details on this). After this you put a link to it in your signature, and put the link on the sign in sheet. The name of your character is the same as your name on the forums! This makes it so much easier for the DM's You've got 4 primary abilities. You can level these up infinitive by doing stuff in real life like doing cardio, strength training, meditate or learn stuff. Besides that you've got extra ability's you can choose to your liking, to shape your character. By choosing a specific race or class you gain bonuses for certain abilities, but you're not limited to them. The DM (doodlie master) tells a story. You tell the DM how you wish to react to the circumstances the DM described. He or she will determine, by rolling a dice and comparing the result with the ability that's applicable in that situation, if you're successful or not. For example: You wish to talk to a cute guy in a bar. Since you're a beautiful elf, the DM decides this shouldn't be too hard for you, so she uses a D4 (a dice with 4 sides). (Or the DM decides that this is very hard since you're an ugly ogre and she uses a D100 (a dice with 100 sides)). She looks at your psyche level, say you're level 3. With the D4 you'll succeed by a roll of 2, 3 or 4. (With the D100 by 98, 99 or 100.) The DM rolls the D4 and you get a 3. The cute guy is willing to talk to you. Say you roll a 4, since that is the highest role the cute guy comes to you and tells you everything you wan to know. Or you get a 1, and the cute guy slaps you in the face and leaves. We play from January 8th until February 4th If you want you can post a short introduction in this thread. If you have any questions, let me know. Links Rule book Character Sheet (copy it and fill it out, don't forget to alter the share settings so everyone can see it) Sign in sheet

Welcome do Dungeons and Dragons, the Doodlie version. Everyone is welcome to participate By participating you DON'T become a Doodlie, it's just that this game in this form has been invented by the doodlies. A short recap of how we play You start by copying the character sheet and fill it in (see rule book for details on this). After this you put a link to it in your signature, and put the link on the sign in sheet. The name of your character is the same as your name on the forums! This makes it so much easier for the DM's You've got 4 primary abilities. You can level these up infinitive by doing stuff in real life like doing cardio, strength training, meditate or learn stuff. Besides that you've got extra ability's you can choose to your liking, to shape your character. By choosing a specific race or class you gain bonuses for certain abilities, but you're not limited to them. The DM (doodlie master) tells a story. You tell the DM how you wish to react to the circumstances the DM described. He or she will determine, by rolling a dice and comparing the result with the ability that's applicable in that situation, if you're successful or not. For example: You wish to talk to a cute guy in a bar. Since you're a beautiful elf, the DM decides this shouldn't be too hard for you, so she uses a D4 (a dice with 4 sides). (Or the DM decides that this is very hard since you're an ugly ogre and she uses a D100 (a dice with 100 sides)). She looks at your psyche level, say you're level 3. With the D4 you'll succeed by a roll of 2, 3 or 4. (With the D100 by 98, 99 or 100.) The DM rolls the D4 and you get a 3. The cute guy is willing to talk to you. Say you roll a 4, since that is the highest role the cute guy comes to you and tells you everything you wan to know. Or you get a 1, and the cute guy slaps you in the face and leaves. We play from December 5th until December 31st If you want you can post a short introduction in this thread. If you have any questions, let me know. Links Rule book Character Sheet (copy it and fill it out, don't forget to alter the share settings so everyone can see it) Sign in sheet

I've been on a bit of a D&D obsession lately (which @Oramac can attest to). I wasn't planning on doing a thread, but I thought hey, what's the harm. Not sure how frequently I'll update since my life is still a bit scattered, but y'know. It'll do. So, let's build this adventuring party, and delve the depths of the Dungeon of Life. Front Line: The Monk STR: 13 / DEX: 14 / CON: 12 / WIS: 15 / INT: 12 / CHA: 8 Okay, not your traditional front-line for a dungeon-delving group, I admit. But still, my martial arts is at the forefront of everything I do. The monk neatly covers both my Hung style (3 days/week) and the lightsaber class (because, let's face it, a Jedi is a monk with a light-up sword. Unarmored Defense, Ki Points for force powers, etc etc. It's obvious.) So the Monk will take care of our primary activities: fighting and observing everything around him. He doesn't talk much, though. He prefers to bash things with fist and staff. Support: The Cleric ST: 14 / DEX: 8 / CON: 13 / WIS: 15 / INT: 10 / CHA: 11 This, on the other hand, is about as traditional as it gets. Everybody needs a cleric now and then. My major physical goal for the year is to attempt to rehab my damaged knees. Sifu has given me some ideas on how to do that, and so I'm going to be spending time each day basically doing PT on my stupid broken knees. I'm hoping that by next Christmas I will be able to actually drop into a low-bow stance without being in screaming agony. That's the goal, and I'm going to need the Cleric's healing powers to get there. He's strong enough to help out on the front line with the Monk, but his Life Domain powers will keep us going when things get rough. Control: The Wizard STR: 8 / DEX: 14 / CON: 12 / INT: 15 / WIS: 10 / CHA: 11 The third member of my D&D adventuring party has to be the traditional wizard. Mechanically speaking, I actually prefer the Warlock and Sorcerer, but there's no match for the wizard in my life right now. I'll need his Intelligence to continue working on scribing my magnum opus, to continue improving at my work (I am, after all, a Wizard in real life: I am a Datamancer and nobody can tell me otherwise!) and also to help me figure out what to do with this incredible home automation kit that I got from my father-in-law for Christmas, including a SmartThings hub, several sensors, and a Google Home. Definitely going to need the wizard on board for figuring all that stuff out, 'cuz he's the smarts. The Life of the Party: The Bard STR: 10 / DEX: 14 / CON: 12 / INT: 13 / WIS: 8 / CHA: 15 Because you can't go wrong with a bard in the party. Somebody's got to do the talking, the singing, and just basically handle everything else not covered by the other three.

My wife, @otterbyte mentioned to me that the local NF Facebook group was having a conversation about people interested in playing some tabletop RPGs/D&D. I am not on FB, but I thought I'd post a thread here and have her link it. I am a longtime grognard gamer. I've been playing for about 35 years and have even published a few gaming products. I am happy to run or play a game if people are interested. I tend to favor fantasy games (as opposed to Sci-Fi or modern, but those can be fun too). I've a strong "old-school" background, so I favor systems and editions that trend that way. We can talk more about that if this thread goes anywhere. We are located in the MoCo area (Silver Spring) area, but some commuting is not a deal-breaker for me. I have a recommendation in fact. There is an excellent gaming store in Glen Burnie, MD called Games & Stuff . They have a big playing area in the back for all sorts of gaming (miniatures, cards, RPGs). If there is enough interest, we could set a date some weekend to meet there are try out a simple adventure as a test run. If people have fun, we can see about expanding things into a regular meetup or even a campaign.

Let's play D&D! We doodlies played this version of D&D for the last two challenges. But now we've decided to share the fun. Anyone can participate in this pvp You are free to join in at any time. Just send me a PM and I'll write you into the story. Recap of the story until november 18th A short recap of how we play You start by copying the character sheet and fill it in (see rule book for details on this). After this you put a link to it in your signature, and put the link on the sign in sheet. The name of your character is the same as your name on the forums! This makes it so much easier for the DM's You've got 4 primary abilities. You can level these up infinitive by doing stuff in real life like doing cardio, strength training, meditate or learn stuff. Besides that you've got extra ability's you can choose to your liking, to shape your character. By choosing a specific race or class you gain bonuses for certain abilities, but you're not limited to them. The DM (doodlie master) tells a story. You tell the DM how you wish to react to the circumstances the DM described. He or she will determine, by rolling a dice and comparing the result with the ability that's applicable in that situation, if you're successful or not. For example: You wish to talk to a cute guy in a bar. Since you're a beautiful elf, the DM decides this shouldn't be too hard for you, so she uses a D4 (a dice with 4 sides). (Or the DM decides that this is very hard since you're an ugly ogre and she uses a D100 (a dice with 100 sides)). She looks at your psyche level, say you're level 3. With the D4 you'll succeed by a roll of 2, 3 or 4. (With the D100 by 98, 99 or 100.) The DM rolls the D4 and you get a 3. The cute guy is willing to talk to you. Say you roll a 4, since that is the highest role the cute guy comes to you and tells you everything you wan to know. Or you get a 1, and the cute guy slaps you in the face and leaves. We play from October 31st until November 25th If you want you can post a short introduction in this thread. If you have any questions, let me know. Links Rule book Character Sheet (copy it and fill it out, don't forget to alter the share settings so everyone can see it) Sign in sheet Map

WOW GUYS. I somehow missed that last challenge was my THIRD FREAKIN’ NERDVERSARY!!!! I can’t believe what a wild ride it’s been, particularly the last year and a half. Obligatory pre-challenge Raxie brainings & a bit of background under the spoiler. AND NOW THE MOST EXCITING THING!!! I also have decided to integrate D&D concepts into this whole character thing a bit more. Big Show finding his true hybrid class really inspired me to find mine, and I realized I have already been secretly telling myself what it is via my D&D game! I’ve been after the Dragon Disciple prestige class for a while now, and am finally pretty close to attaining it in the game. And it is pretty much how I see my level 50 self translated into real life. Essentially, this class has magical powers and can cast arcane spells (WIS based – aka completing my PhD) but studies dragons so intensely that they also grow dragon scales, can fly short distances and have claws, so can also tank (power lifting/mobility) and melee (body weight work) pretty darn well. Essentially my D&D goal is to cast buffing auras to my friends (meditation/yoga) while fighting and using my claws to touch spell debuff the enemy (boxing). I can’t believe I never noticed how much this aligns with what I want to be in real life!!! This gives me so much excite I can’t even put it into words. Here's what a dragon disciple looks like in their fully leveled up glory (I can't find any women versions UGH so you will have to use your imagination): For those who don't know, Prestige Classes in D&D are basically secondary classes that have extraordinary abilities associated with them that can only be leveled upon once you have met certain requirements in a basic class. I think I have met my basic requirements in my NF journey to start leveling up on a new path that builds upon my old one, but will get me to new places. It’s time. TL;DR This challenge will be focused on my foray into Rings and Headstands, thanks to a well-timed NF course release, while maintaining my focus on competing sometime next year (to be more solidified after the new year) in PL, and keep on cardioing for funsies and heart health. I have also realized I am a Dragon Disciple. While this definitely is not a respawn, it is certainly a new start. I am going after my prestige class, so I am starting at level 1 Dragon Disciple – but I am already at a high level of my base class (Timelady Siren) and will maintain that level, but it is where I want it and it’s time to move on to bigger better things. I will be tracking this path over the course of many challenges, so things I earn here will continue to carry over to future challenges! The rules below will show the things I'll be working towards. Also, as I say nearly every challenge cycle but it bears repeating, you guys seriously rock my socks <3

This pvp is part of the Doodlie accountability group You can only participate if you're a Doodlie! A short recap of how we play You start by copying the character sheet and fill it in (see rule book for details on this). You've got 4 primary abilities. You can level these up infinitive by doing stuff in real life like doing cardio, strength training, meditate or learn stuff. Besides that you've got extra ability's you can choose to your liking, to shape your character. By choosing a specific race or class you gain bonuses for certain abilities, but you're not limited to them. The DM (doodlie master) tells a story. You tell the DM how you wish to react to the circumstances the DM described. He or she will determine, by rolling a dice and comparing the result with the ability that's applicable in that situation, if you're successful or not. For example: You wish to talk to a cute guy in a bar. Since you're a beautiful elf, the DM decides this shouldn't be too hard for you, so she uses a D4 (a dice with 4 sides). (Or the DM decides that this is very hard since you're an ugly ogre and she uses a D100 (a dice with 100 sides)). She looks at your psyche level, say you're level 3. With the D4 you'll succeed by a roll of 2, 3 or 4. (With the D100 by 98, 99 or 100.) The DM rolls the D4 and you get a 3. The cute guy is willing to talk to you. Say you roll a 4, since that is the highest role the cute guy comes to you and tells you everything you wan to know. Or you get a 1, and the cute guy slaps you in the face and leaves. I'll be your DM in week 1 and 2. Ryuu will be your DM in week 3 and 4. Links to the story's: Week 1and 2 - Introduction - Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Final battle - Conclusion Links Rule book Character Sheet

Welcome back to yet an other Doodlie challenge! Link to the sign in sheet You are not on the list, but you want to be? You are ready to face the smut? Contact @Terah (Yes, this used to be Def, but she has life stuff happening right now) We are not accepting any new recruits at the moment. But you'll be placed on the waiting list and I'll contact you when we're ready to have you. Link to the pvp We are going to continue the d&d pvp. The DM can still work on increasing his/her skills of their own character, but they can't add any new skills. DM's this challenge: Week 1 and 2 (26 September - 9 October): Terah Week 3 and 4 (10 October - 21 October): Liam

Hey everyone. I have been obsessed with an idea of a while, and I wanted to see if there was any interest here on the community; basically I am a huge lover of D&D and MMO's, but honestly I can't play much, if any, anymore. I have been stuck on the idea of playing some fitness D&D. My goal is to try and bring together a group of five adventurers (including myself), and play through some campaigns. It would work something like this, each person in the party would be allotted a certain number of actions per day (though they must work for the class they are playing) and the actions bust me completed IRL to take affect in our story. So, for example I play a Druid and say we get attacked by a mob, so I transform into a bear and fight back-to do this i must do strength/warrior work out session, or I could turn into a stag and run (walk so many miles). The enemies would be use standard D20 attacks (maybe we could implement dice rolls for us and bonus to rolls based on workouts). So, that is my idea. I will DM, but honestly would love it if someone else would be willing or would help out. So, if you are interested please post and follow this thread (with your class, race, role, and maybe a few abilities-I will post some for myself below), and in turn we will would get a group, put our class and system into place, and then we will start fighting some bad guys. Any/all ideas are welcome and appreciated! Slot 1: Brutal Bears - Human Druid (Tank and back up heals) Bear From -Strength workouts (tanking)| Fox Form -geocaching(finding treasure and minor DPS) | Stag Form -(walking)Travel|Owl Form- Meditation and Yoga(Healing) Slot 2: Slot 3: Slot 4: Slot 5:

Morning all, I know I'm a little late to the party but better late than never right? I've let things spiral downwards for the past few years. From leaving university and getting a sedentary job I have moved less and less and eaten more and more. I'm getting married in just over a year so it's time to redress the balance, to eat less and move more and to get in shape for the big day, for myself and for my future. My current aim is to lose fat, it's that simple. any and all advice is welcome I am 27 years old, 5ft11, 290lbs and built like a brick shit house. I've done the whole Nerd Fitness thing before and just kinda spun my wheels for a year, making gains and then losing them because I wasn't mentally dedicated enough to the process and wanted all the results immediately. So the plan is going to be simple because I have learned that simple works best, the more weird and wonderful things get the more likely they are to go wrong when one of lifes little curve balls comes along. Goal One - Move a little more Ok so it is a little more complicated than that, but I have devised a workout that I find fun and interesting and that I can complete in the morning in an hour before work. 5 minutes warm up on the bike 3 sets of 5 reps of leg press, leg curl leg extension 3 sets of 5 reps of DB shoulder press and chest press 3 sets of 5 reps wide grip lat pull and reverse narrow grip lat pull 15 minutes (work up to 15 minutes) of sprints 10 minutes or so of kettlebell work at the end to tire me out. The plan is to do this M, W, F. Grading things A-F doesn't work for me, it makes it too easy for me to bitch and make excuses so I will either be successful or I won't. Goal Two - Eat a little less A little less calorie wise that is. My group are big on occassions and getting together socially and food is invariably involved. Whether it's beer, dinner snacks and dessert for football on Sunday or it's snacks at d&d there is frequently something going on. Trying to make healthier versions when everyone is eating the full fat doesn't work for me and I crash out. So what will work better for me is eating as healthy as I can whilst I can. Realistically this ten meals a week (the breakfasts and lunches of my working week). Ten healthy meals a week is going to be a good start for me, if I can manage ten healthy meals a week for six weeks then I am on to a winner. I will put a quick daily food log on here so please do call me out on my bullshit if you think I am being too easy on myself, i work best when challenged. Goal Three - Kill Sugar Here in the UK we have a chef called Jamie Oliver, he went over stateside for a bit to try and spread a healthier eating message, but his produces picked some of the worst places for him to try and give that message so he pretty much got chased out of the country. That's by the by, a little while ago he did a special on sugar consumption and how it's killing us all and whilst I knew sugar was bad (as we all do) this was a real eye opener. I encourage you to go and watch it if you can find it. So I am killing the sugar. So I am only allowed one glass of fizzy pop (what we call soda in the UK, we use the word soda for fizzy/sparkling water) a week and no more than two hot drinks (tea, coffee etc) a day. This is down from seven hot drinks a day and one or two glasses of pop a day. Goal Four - Positive Influence I am super lucky to have an awesome partner, awesome family and awesome friends. I think the slow spiral of weight gain has made me a less nice person to be around, perhaps unwittingly because I was down I was trying to bring others down with me? Anyway the plan is to be more positive and to be a positive and supporting influence for those around me. There is no metric for this I will just know whether I have done it or not

Just hit level 7 and I think it is time to incorporate some Titansgrave and Critical Role into a challenge so let's do this! Titansgrave is Wil Wheaton's RPG show on Geek & Sundry, and Critical Role is a D&D game run and played by voice actors (also on Geek &Sundry). I enjoy them both as they tell cool stories and entertain me ... plus make me want to play/run more games! Quest 1 - Umm ... I just rolled a 1. Seems I've still got some hip/knee issues going on ... to fight this I'm going to incorporate more stretching into my daily activities. So 3 time a week I'm going to spend 15+ minutes stretching 3 / week = A 2 / week = B 1 / week = C 0 / week = F Quest 2 - I am the storm's fury! This is all about speed work. Once a week I'm going to do do a fartlek - aka speed work. A sample of a fartlek is something like this sprint all out from one light pole to the next, jog to the corner, give a medium effort for a couple blocks, jog between four light poles and sprint to a stop sign, and so on, for a set total time or distance. For me I'll try to add these sort of variables into a 4-5 mile run on Monday I'm looking to do 6 (aka 1 per week) so scoring is easy enough 6 = A 5 = B 4 = C 3-0 = F Quest 3 - I Encourage Violence No literally! Geez guys! Feels like I'm losing some of my muscle gains so I'm going to incorporate a work day workout. Whenever I go to the bathroom I'll do 1 set of 10 of a body weight exercise. Exercises will rotate between bathroom visits so muscles not to get overly fatigued and allow for variety. Thinking Pushup / Squat / Dips / 30 second plank Life Quest - Five Gold and a party I've been itching to write a RPG adventure so I'm going to use this challenge to do just that! Not sure what the setting or system will be but that'll be part of the process and what I have to figure out! This is all or nothing ... so yeah good times! I'll be doing this in a google doc which I'll link once I've started and occasionally post snippets here for those who don't want to look at the doc.

Hello world! I found this site a couple years ago before the Nerd Fitness Academy existed in its current form, and made "plans" to join some day. We all know how "plans" go sometimes... well fast-forward to now and the weight that I had just started to gain above a not-great-but-manageable baseline has only added up more. Time to stop the planning and start the doing! Okay, I'm kinda talk about myself a lot now, because what's better than telling your life story to strangers on the Internet? Feel free to ignore me. Stats I'm about a month short of my 1/3 of a century birthday (which I fully plan on celebrating more than my normal birthday), just shy of 5'11", and as of last time I braved the scale, about 215 pounds. I have a build where I wear weight pretty well, such that the first 20 pounds I put on a few years ago was barely noticeable; I went up an inch or two in waistline but I didn't really look different, you know? That let me get complacent and I put on 25 more. Damn. Even in my current state I can do at least 20 pushups, tread water for minutes at a time, and can run jump and climb when I need to... just not nearly as well as I used to. And I get way more tired doing it. Life I grew up in NJ, currently live in Austin, TX with my partner (who I may try to get involved on this site, we'll see how he feels about it--he's skinny but eats terribly and is bordering on "skinny fat"). Also sharing our apartment: an 8-year-old dog Basset/terrier mix who still acts like a puppy, a pushover of a black cat who could use some fitness help himself, and two sugar gliders. By day I work for a software company as a QA engineer. I like my work a lot but I occasionally get some serious impostor syndrome. I've had varying degrees of depression over the years, doing okay right now despite being un-medicated. Yet another thing regular exercise and a better body image would help! Fitness/Nutrition background I generally understand nutrition pretty well--when I eat poorly I know I'm doing it, I just love food and don't have as much willpower as I'd like. I know that good-for-you food can taste good--I've had it, I've even made it occasionally. But bad-for-you food that tastes good is quick and easy, and that's the part that's hard to get over. Fitness... I'm kinda a noob. I've done very little beyond some running around my neighborhood/apartment complex, some pushups/situps, and some very simple weight training--always using machines. Free weights kinda scare me, but I have both an apartment gym and a work gym freely available to me and I know I ought to put them to use. Short-term goals Lose some weight, not be tired getting to my third floor apartment. Do it while living my way-too-busy life. Long-term goals Lose lots of weight, get fit. I'd really like a six-pack one day, but I know that's a long way off and there's plenty of milestones to be happy about before then. Nerd cred I call myself a gamer, though it's kinda gamer-lite. Mostly WoW (Guardian Druid main, Alliance on US-Alleria), occasionally a console game here or there. I like them but other things eat my time and the TV is often occupied. I love board games too, I'll go whenever a friend hosts a session. Dominion and Roll for the Galaxy are a couple of my favorites. I play D&D 4e (Zeitgeist--really cool campaign!) about once a month, as a level 11 Razorclaw Shifter Gunsmith Seeker. I love movies, especially Action and Sci-fi. I love fantasy novels; Brandon Sanderson is my absolute favorite. I like TV but prefer it when I can treat it as a movie and binge-watch. Back in the day I would encourage Heroes and Lost marathons (interested to see how the Heroes reboot turns out, but not getting my hopes up). Nowadays it's usually Food Network. Race to Escape is fun too. The other big part of my life is a local community show choir (it's like Glee for adults) and weekly karaoke. Singing is fun; it makes me actually willing to get in front of a crowd, unlike any sort of public speaking, from which I will run screaming. If you just read all that... Why? I mean, I'm flattered, but wow. That's dedication. You're my new best friend.

So, I think this is the best place to post this- I have an idea, and I am looking for some help. It is based off my time playing WOW, MMO's, and D&D. I was thinking about trying to get together a PVE challenge. We have PVP where we can compete, but I think it would be fun to do a 5-man PVE challenge with a few people. Here is my general idea: We take 5 of us and each week we come up with some challenges above and beyond out normal goals, these would include both a positive goal and a negative anti-goal: From there the week would be dedicated to collectively fighting a weekly raid boss, that would do heavy damage to us for each time we commit the anti-goal. Each person in the group would have a separate role in the party, such as: Tank: Damage mitigation for the Party 3x DPS: Damage to Boss (in different ways based on role) Healer: Goal heal the party I feel like this should be somewhat based off the guild one is in. Since I am a warrior I think I should play a tank, and perhaps Druid=Healer or DPS, Warrior=Tank, Scout=DPS, Assassin=DPS, Monk=Tank/Healer, Ranger=Tank/DPS, etc. This is just a general idea, but I think it could be really cool. Does anyone have any ideas or want to be a part of this? It would be awesome, so I please post on this forum and we will see if we can put something together!

So I have been gone from actively participating in the Nerd Fitness Forums for about a year. Things got tricky with tennis elbow and life in general. Now things are on the mend and it is time to get back into the swing of things, and time to move from Adventurers to Monk. In late 2014 my wife, my son and I started doing taekwondo. So monk makes the most sense. Main Quest: Defeat the Villain Within: Loose weight and be Be healthy Following the trend of SevenFootGeek I will theme around Dungeons and Dragons, but more the 5th edition. In that version you have proficiencies that can be acquired and an overall proficiency bonus. By nature I would have to call myself a chubby human wizard, but it is time to be more of a monk. I seek the following Proficiencies: 1. Proficiency in Dexterity Saves:I need more flexibility and to be more anti-fragile. This should be obvious given my brief sciatic pain, tennis elbow and recent back pain. So it is time to do stretches, maintenance therapy, or yoga type exercising 3 times a week. 2. Cooking Proficiency:To get back to my setup when I lost a bunch of weight, eat 4-5 cups of vegetables a day. To do that I need to find new ways to cook veggies. Try a new vegetable focused recipe each week. 3. Proficiency in Unarmed combat: Go to Taekwondo class twice a week and practice at other times. 3a. Bonus goal, make it to green belt in the challenge. There is only one testing day in the challenge so it may or may not happen by the end. 4. Proficiency in Organization: We moved in October and things are still horrendously disorganized. Pick a new room/area each week and spend time to organize it. (Likely in this order; Pantry, Kitchen, Master bedroom, Kids playroom, Bonus room, Garage) Images from Morguefile.com