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“Eating and lifting are the only things Warriors worry about.†~ Nerd Fitness So far I have succeeded in building a solid lifting routine. But exercise is only a part of the battle. My strength and stamina is improving but my belly is not getting any less wobbly! We nerds are often told “you cannot outrun your fork.†So, in order to achieve Level 6, I plan to switch my focus on to what goes in to my body and my mind. I will continue to progress with my exercise routine, but I will concentrate on building a healthier mind and healthier food habits. My main quest is to fit comfortably into size 14 trousers. To move towards achieving this, I have set the following goals for this challenge: 1. Protein CHA+2 CON+2 STR+1 According to my NF Academy homework, 136g of protein per day should be sufficient. This rises to 176g-264g when I am looking to build muscle. Currently I do not hit 100g of protein per day very often. So, I will track what I eat and work towards eating more protein than I currently do. I will gradually find new ways of adding protein into my diet. By the end of this challenge I will be getting at least 136g of protein per day regularly. A=5 consecutive days over 150g protein B=5 consecutive days over 130g protein C=5 consecutive days over 110g protein D=5 consecutive days over 100g protein 2. Food discipline CON+3 STA+1 No eating after 8pm. A=36+ days with nothing to eat after 8pm B=30-35 days with nothing to eat after 8pm C=24-29 days with nothing to eat after 8pm D= 20-23 days with nothing to eat after 8pm 3. Ban boredom CON+2 DEX+1 When I get a craving for an unhealthy food, it’s usually because I am bored. Mostly, I end up playing “Candy Crush†for an hour and mindlessly eat some kind of junk. I no longer buy the junk so there is no junk at home. I will introduce a little extra activity here and there in order to keep boredom away. The activity can be anything useful, and I use the term “useful†in its broadest sense. A=36+ days where I was active and not bored B=30-35 days where I was active and not bored C=24-29 days where I was active and not bored D= 20-23 days where I was active and not bored 4. Life Quest: Practice meditation WIS+3 I will follow some meditation instructions (a book, a CD, on the internet or whatever) and will spend at least 10 minutes per day either reading through the instructions and practicing the exercises or taking part in a guided meditation. A=36+ days of meditation practice B=30-35 days of meditation practice C=24-29 days of meditation practice D= 20-23 days of meditation practice MOTIVATION: Your body keeps an accurate journal regardless of what you write down. If you start now you’ll see results earlier than if you start tomorrow. When you feel like giving up, think about why you started.

The Ranger Guild Leader looked at GoodDoug. It had been rough, but he could see that the half-ogre was better off than he had found him weeks ago. It was a hard decision to keep the half-ogre back and focus on simple training, but it had been worth it. He now loked to have the strength and discipline needed to see this to the end, whatever end there was. The efforts of the guilds was showing, the influence of the corruptor was being pushed back here in the North, but reports were coming in of more insidious threats down south. The ranger guild leader would have to head down there to try and push that back as well. But he knew that GoodDoug was the key to ending the Corruptor. "Follow your instincts, trace the source of the corruption in you to find the Corruptor. Then, do what you have to do." "I intend to. And thank you for the time and training. I'll need all the discipline I can muster." GoodDoug shouldered his gear, then took out and inspected his shiny sword. It seemed so long ago that he had joined the Rangers, he hoped they would want him back after this mission was done. GoodDoug headed off, he knew what he had to do. == I took last challenge off, I needed a break and knew that it would have been folly to try and do a 6 week program at that time. I think the break did me well. I know what I want to focus on... and focus is the key word here. Rather than try and do too much, I am going to focus on a couple of things I need to get better at. Diet: My diet didn't completely go to hell, but I have been allowing myself too many cheats. The holidays are never helpful, and I'm glad I was able to enjoy some of the treats, but it is time to knuckle down and do the right thing. I'm going full primal, aiming for 90% compliance most days. That means no grains or legumes. I also need to stop drinking so much sweetened coffee. That will be the hardest part. I will limit myself to only one cup per day of sweetened coffee. I can drink unsweetened... but only one can have my customary teaspoon of honey in it. Along with that I will do IF on days that I workout in the morning. That means not eating until after my morning workout on days I work out. Compliance is 90% primal 6 days out of the week (80% allowed on the 7th day to account for going into work) and not eating breakfast until after workout on days I workout. I will also use the scale to measure this. I know, the scale is evil, yadda-yadda. But it works for me. I want to see a positive change on the scale, getting back under 200# and under 23% body fat consistently by the end. That is completely doable. Think of it as using a tool of the Corruptor to fight Corruption's influence. Sta +2 Con +1 Wis +1 Cha +1 Discipline: During my hiatus, I did the 28 day headstand challenge. Having one thing to focus on every day really helped. This challenge, I will do headstand practice every day as well as plank practice every day. That means every day, hardhat style. I will get a calendar and mark off every day I do both. I will never miss two days in a row and will do it whether I have time or not. (but really, it should take 5 minutes so there is no excuse) Con +1 Wis +4 Dex +1 Maintenance: Rather than focus on working out, I want to focus on habits and diet. So I will have a simple and doable workout goal for this challenge. I will run twice a week and lift once a week. If I do more, great! But I will not do less. Str +2 Sta +2 Life goal: Many of you may know that I am an avid gardener... well, I was and want to be again. Last year I let myself get distracted and my garden didn't happen they way I wanted it to. This year I am going to do it right. I will check my seedlings and garden daily. I will also get my old beds torn out and new ones in by the end of the challenge. Success will be determined by having new beds in and having the kale, lettuce, spinach and beets I started this past weekend in the ground and thriving by the end of the challenge. Finally, I want to make sure that I keep up with all of my friends here in the Rebellion. I've gotten so much form all of you, I want to make sure I am giving back.

Edit: I have moved to the assassin's guild! As a third-timer, I have an excuse. Follow me here! Hello, friends! Fair warning: long post ahead. My very vague master quest is to survive a semester in Rome, which I hope to take in Fall 2014. I need the strength to haul heavy suitcases through airports and up hotel stairs, the stamina to spend entire days or weekends walking through Europe, the discipline to finish my final paper in history during the semester while making time to explore the world, and the skills/charisma to order meals in multiple languages and meet new people. The main focus of this challenge is discipline and habits. Fitness goals are based around establishing habits of exercise, establishing a habitual bedtime, and not eating food that makes me feel sick. (I may change the latter to keeping a food journal.) My “life goal†is to stick to a study schedule. This is to make sure I develop habits of working ahead, instead of surfing the web until 9PM and realizing I have twenty pages in Italian due the next day. Anyway. Habits are good. Habits are wonderful. Habits means that I have time, energy, and willpower to study Italian, write a book for my Italian prof (in Italian!), study music so I can serenade Stephen random people in Italy, and finally finish a paper without pulling all-nighters. In Italy. Yay, Italy! I continue with the nitty-gritty below: definitions, the grading scale, examining pitfalls and their solutions, and possible rewards/motivations for succeeding in goals. Grading scale (I may edit this to reflect NF "standards" of grading): Workouts: Do 3 NF Beginner Body Weight Workouts every week. A+: All 15 workouts! (Cool beans! I bet you could literally catch a bus by now!) A: 13-14 workouts! B: 11-12 workouts! C: 9-10 workouts! D: 7-8 workouts! F: less than 7! Sleep: Go to sleep between 10:30 and 11:30 every night. A+: Get to bed on schedule every night! (That’s 42 nights!) A: Miss 2 nights. (You were skyping Stephen random people, weren’t you?) B: Miss 4 nights. C: Miss 6 nights. D: Miss 8 nights. F: Miss more than 10 nights. Food: Eat no bad food or keep a food journal (while still eating no bad food). A+: No bad food during the entire challenge! Recorded every meal! A: Only 2 slip-ups! Only missed 2 meals! B: 4 slip-ups. Missed 4 meals. C: 6 slip-ups. Missed 6 meals. D: 8 slip-ups. Missed 8 meals. F: 10 or more slip-ups. Missed 10 or more meals. (I’ll get the stomach pump.) Life: Stick to a study schedule. (I’m still working on the schedule, but it essentially means doing homework before dinner and not fiddling on the internet before work is done.) A+: On schedule every day! A: Only off-schedule 2 days. B: Off-schedule 4 days. C: Off-schedule 6 days. D: Off-schedule 8 days. F: Off-schedule 10 days. (Just hold on! The police are on their way!) Definitions: 1. BWW—the NerdFitness beginner Body Weight Workout, linked here. 2. Bad food—things that make me feel sick. Right now, dairy is the major offender as I am lactose intolerant. I’m also avoiding super-sugary or processed foods (i.e. Cheerios, most cereals, and anything that might be classified as "candy"), rice milk, and most chocolate. (I get that you would add milk to milk chocolate, but why would you also add in milk protein, milk fat, whey, butter, AND lactose?!) Good food is healthy stuff that I can eat—most veggies, some meat, and most fruits. Grains (especially those with gluten) are currently questionable but probably okay. A food journal would help identify possible food allergies. 3. Habits—things or routines to which I become accustomed. Right now, my habits involve “surfing the internet after class†and “devouring the souls of the unborn.†Future habits may involve “studying for two hours after class†and “going to bed at 11.†4. Bedtime—for this challenge, between 10:30 and 11:30. End goal: get to bed around 11 every day to maximize sleep and productivity. 5. Stephen—shhh. 6. Study schedule: still working on this one, and it may become more/less specific as I need it to be. Essentially, I go to the library and study after class, try to do my homework on the day it is assigned, and work a little bit on big projects every day. Potential pitfalls: In the past, anxiety/depression due to major life shifts kept me from finishing. I also seem to recoil from words like “challenges.†Luckily, life moved on and the anxiety has mostly gone with its source. For this challenge, I expect the biggest issue to be my health; I quit yoga last year because I my carpal tunnel (which still plagues my wrists), and I seem to be developing new food allergies. Yay. Solutions: 1. Remember that fitness resolves a lot of health problems, like wrist/back pain. 2. Good form. I can do pushups on my fists because it keeps my wrists straight and happy. 3. Avoid bad food. This week, I’ve already had to cut out rice milk and chocolate. 4. Possibly keep a food journal to identify bad food. 5. Schedules. Schedules. Seriously. Schedules smash excuses. 6. Fitness gives you more energy, which means you can do more stuff. Join me in my quest! I am stoked to join yours.

Hey everyone! This will be my second challenge, but my first was a bit of a wash unfortunately so hopefully this one goes better! My goals this challenge will be more based around keeping habits than actually getting to a specific place in my health/fitness journey so all I have to do is keep doing what I'm doing. I couldn't wait for the challenge to start forming new habits so this will be an accountability exercise more than anything else. I'm so glad I've got you guys to cheer me on! I was with the Scouts my first time around but I want to focus on a more rounded fitness journey so I thought I'd poke around here with the Rangers and see what this is all about. Thanks for being around. GOAL ONE: The Vegan Challenge I've been vegetarian for eight years now and I really feel like it's time to up the challenge, diet wise. This is mainly a moral/ethical choice for me but I'm also interested to see how it will affect my health. It took me a while when I first became vegetarian to be healthy and disciplined and so I've decided to step it up. So, my goal: to be vegan for six weeks and see how it affects my health/weight/wellbeing. GOAL TWO: The Documentation Challenge Because I'm working out quite a bit, I feel it may be a challenge to get enough (healthy) calories being vegan so this is my challenge to write down everything I eat and figure out if I'm eating enough and what I need to eat more of. I'll also be writing down my workouts. GOAL THREE: The Running Challenge I've just purchased the Rebel Running and Strength Guides and I'd like to sign up for a 15 km charity run in March. I've been running on and off for the past few years so this is me stepping it up (once again) and getting back into the swing of running regularly. The last time I was training for a fun run I mostly neglected strength work and I fell off the wagon pretty soon after the race so hopefully this time I'll stick to my guns and be more disciplined. I'll be following the Rebel Running guide, using the bodyweight workouts from the Strength guide for my gym days. GOAL FOUR: [LIFE] The Guitar Challenge I like knowing how to do things, but I'm often too impatient to learn how to do them. I just started getting guitar lessons from a friend of mine and I want to challenge myself to practise every day, even if it's just for five minutes. Apparently it takes just 20 hours of dedicated work to learn how to do something on a basic, just-for-fun level, and that's where I want to get with guitar.

6 weeks 42 days 10 minute abs every sunrise 1min- plank 1-side plank left 1-side plank right 1- situps 1- side sit ups right 1-side sit ups left 1-push ups 1-triangle push ups 1-leg lifts 1-bicycle Every day 10 back bends 3 sets of 12 pull ups 3 sets of 12 dips Monday - Back - hyper extension 3 sets of 12,bouncy ball, 1 min swimming Tuesday- Legs lunges, 3 sets of 12 leg presses, 3 sets of 1 min bounces Wednesday - Butt 3 sets of 10 squats Thursday- voyage to land of Teef, yoga 7:30 Friday- Run Saturday- Pilates Sunday- yoga

First and foremost, thank you in advance for all your help and support. I look forward to repaying you all with a little entertainment in the future (see Life Quest). Disclaimer: This may be a tad depressing, but it has a happy ending : ) Background Story: (The Beginning) When I was in high school I was a nationally competitive gymnast. Needless to say I was in fantastic shape. However, I lived in a home that had a healthy food regiment and didn't really eat out. Leaving for college, however, did a number on me. Junk food, soft drinks, and alcohol. It was a hard time balancing a small budget, having no car, and eating healthy, but I generally was physically active enough to retain most of my fitness. I had a great time, but towards the end things got very dark. (The Fall) Junior year my girlfriend at the time cheated on me with my best friend. To add insult to injury it was while I was in the same house, after I had bought them both dinner, when I had gone to bed early to get back to work early the next morning. Treason once I could handle, but twice? I was in a dark place for senior year of college. (Rock Bottom) My drinking became a problem as I numbed myself to the world around me. The numbness caused me to hurt others who did nothing but care for me. Then when I was sober enough to realize that, I felt even worse; I drank even more. I had met the woman I am currently with and, while I did not know at the time, plan to be with for as long as life allows. I nearly lost her to all my idiot actions that year. I knew that if I was ever going to be worthy of such an incredible person, I needed to change. (Hope) I decided on a sort of reinvention of myself. My first priority was academics and peace of mind. I decided to go to law school far away (in Michigan) from my college (in Florida), to eliminate anyone that could draw me back into that darkness. In short, it was a success: I got the grades; I got the girl (she's ended up coming to another [better] law school in Michigan); and I got the new life I wanted. (If you want to know more about what it takes to succeed in law school, feel free to PM me). (Start Loop) Yet, because fitness and health was not a priority, I was gaining weight and my shape was worsening. I didn't change my diet, nor did I stop drinking. Like a typical New Years resolutioner I bought an exercise system (Rip60) last year and finished it with pretty good results, but I was still The Fork Outrunner. Having run out of workout DVDs I fell off the workout boat and my bad eating/drinking habits caught up to me yet again. (Repeat) I've started and stopped 1) P90X, 2) Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and 3) Running since then... Main Quest: I want to break this cycle: Get fit, keep eating/drinking. Stop working out, keep eating/drinking. Get out of shape again/gain weight. Repeat. In short, I need discipline. I suppose this is my initiation into the Ranger's guild. 3 Specific Goals: 1) Eat better, drink less. My plan is to go paleo and booze-free weeks with weekends limited to a finite number of drinks/cheat meals. In order to accomplish this I will post proposed weekly food regiments and hold myself to them. Success or failure in this is going to be pretty dependent on accountability. Please help me construct reasonable meal plans and devise punishments for failure to adhere to them. 2) Improve Cardio. I'm constantly moving from one place to another so I never have a gym membership. Winter in Michigan is a runner's nightmare with black ice and below zero temperatures. I cannot afford to buy a treadmill and then proceed to move it everywhere I end up going. Therefore, jump rope. I'm doing the workouts in the Rebel Fitness Guide with jump rope as my cardio, and as my supplemental exercise on off days. I can barely do it for a minute straight, so my goal will be ten minutes of coninuous jump rope by the end of this challenge. I will post weekly bests along with my meal plan. 3) Improve Flexibility. While I'm quite happy with the warm up and cool down of the Rebel Workouts, I used to be a competitive gymnast. I'm frankly ashame of how inflexible I have become in relation to my past. Therefore, I will add my old gymnastics/martial arts flexibility regiment to my workout and off days. I will also post weekly bests on my splits in order to be held accountable. My belief is that each of these can be done regardless of my access to workout equipment, and will ensure that I can not fall off the boat. I will set alarms on my phone so that I can never forget. Side Quests: 1) Become a better cook with Paleo recipes. Try at least one new recipe each week. Report the results. 2) Game while standing. When I game I will try and remain standing to avoid sitting all day when I'm not exercising. Life Quest : I want to finally finish developing my magic routine and perform it from start to finish for an audience. I've been casually practicing magic, putting hundreds of dollars into it as a hobby, and never having more than a few isolated tricks to do. My goal is to develop, perfect, and perform a full 10 minute routine. I want to finish this by the end of this challenge and post a video for all of you to enjoy/critique. Motivation: I've always had a fascination with the jack of all trades (aka Batman). Being the best I can be at a variety of things has always brought me pride and pleasure. It is a point of pride then to be not just a Computer Engineer/Patent Lawyer/Archer/Magician but a fit Computer Engineer/Patent Lawyer/Archer/Magician. Being the best I can be, is being the happiest I can be.

Hello! I am new to the Assassins Guild and am SO happy to have found you!! Over the last few years, I have gained about 40 pounds. I have lost some then gained it back, lost and gained, lost and gained.... I have had trouble focusing on being healthy and instead have been focusing on being skinny. Though my last challenge (which was my first) helped me to start developing good habits, I was not working or trying as hard as I could/should have been. I have been hating on my body a lot lately, but enough is enough. I am taking charge of my body and my life. There will be no more negative self-talk. I have started treating my body with the respect every goddess deserves. I am going to push myself this challenge. Hard. I want to have a strong, lean, healthy, flexible body…and I am finally ready to do what it takes to get it! I will be doing some prep this weekend and will be getting started on Monday!! For this challenge, I will be focusing on gaining strength, flexibility, and discipline. STRENGTH STR +3, STA +1 **Edited November 12th** To build my strength this challenge, I will be doing BUTI the Beginner Body Weight Circuit in the mornings three times a week (Mo/We/Fr). BUTI is a fusion of yoga, tribal dance and plyometrics (http://www.butiyoga.com/). I have done a couple of BUTI workouts in the past and I always felt good and sexy afterwards, but I was always drenched in sweat. My knee is still tweaked from a previous injury and did NOT like the plyometrics in the BUTI workout yesterday, it is very unhappy today. So now the body weight circuit. I will start with a five minute warm up on my elliptical and then do three circuits of the exercises below, followed by cool down stretches. 20 body weight squats10 push ups20 walking lunges10 kettlebell rows15 second plank30 jumping jacks A = BUTI Body weight circuit 3x per week B = Miss 2-3 circuits C = Miss 4-5 circuits D = Miss 6-7 circuits F = Miss 8+ circuits FLEXIBILITY DEX +4 To build my flexibility this challenge, I will be working on my splits. It has been quite some times since I have been able to do the splits, and I miss it. I will be following the six-week plan outlined at http://www.unique-bodyweight-exercises.com/splits.html and will be practicing daily. A = Practice split exercises every day B = Miss 2-3 days of practice C = Miss 4-5 days of practice D = Miss 6-7 days of practice F = Miss 8+ days of practice DISCIPLINE CON +3, WIS +1 **Edited November 13th** To build my discipline this challenge, I will be eating 1800 calories a day. I did this last challenge, but I did not put any boundaries on it. This time I am giving myself some structure: Protein = 75 grams/300 calories, Carbs = 150 grams/600 calories, Fat = 100 grams/900 calories. This is going to be a tough one. I have a bad habit of late night snacking and I really enjoy cookies and cereal. I will be making an exception for the Thanksgiving holiday weekend (11/28-12/1). I know I will be eating more (and probably more carbs than anything) and do not want to get discouraged by counting those days against myself. I will still be trying to make good decisions though. I will grade this goal daily and average for my final grade. Over the last few days, I have realized that at this point in my life, trying to track/limit my food intake has unhealthy "side effects" for me. Instead of it helping me to control my eating (which I have been doing fairly well with over the last few months) it causes me to not eat. I don't feel that it will be healthy for me to continue this goal at this time, so I am switching to a goal that will definitely be more helpful and healthy for me. To build my discipline this challenge, I will be getting up at 6:00 am every workday morning. I want to develop the habit of getting up early so that I will have time to prepare for my day in the morning. I do not want to be stressed, like I usually am. I want to be able to enjoy the sunrise and the quite that only comes with waking up early. I will grade this goal daily and total for my final grade. A = Wake up at 6:00 B = Wake up at 6:15 C = Wake up at 6:30 D = Wake up at 6:45 F = Wake up at 7:00 GUITAR CHA +3 I have a lovely guitar that my boyfriend bought me for Christmas last year. I have probably spent a grand total of five hours playing it. That changes now. I will spend 30 minutes (at least) playing my guitar every day. A = Play my guitar for 30 minutes every day B = Miss 2-3 days of playing my guitar C = Miss 4-5 days of playing my guitar D = Miss 6-7 days of playing my guitar F = Miss 8+ days of playing my guitar *** Stats and measurements will be posted Sunday night/Monday morning ***

EMS 5.0. MAINTAIN AND IMPROVE. MAIN QUEST: DROP MORE FAT. KEEP MUSCLE. Hey sexy fit nerd peeps! If you caught any of my last challenge, you may already notice some similarities in this thread. That's because last challenge was awesome for me; despite being away on various holidays for half the time, my body fat dropped by 3.1% while keeping and building more muscle (+1.7%). This was due to a combination of maintaining my current fitness programme and following the Paleo inspired meal plan my PT put together for me. NF and my PT, as well as the changes in my own body, have really shown me the power of body composition over body weight. I'm currently at 26.6% body fat and would like to get down to 20%, but only as long as my athletic performance doesn't suffer as a result. I don't know how my body will be at 20%, so rather than have that as a goal number, I just want to keep dropping it bit by bit and track how my body feels and performs. I don't seem to have any difficulty putting on and maintaining muscle (sorry boys!) but I'm going to track this as well as my weight to make sure the right stuff is being lost. Get your butt on that ergo. Now. You have half an hour before bed time. Go. You guys remember Ryan right? Well he is back for another challenge, to be a (sometimes stern) motivator and thread theme #1. Hey girl, keep following the food plan. This is a simple goal - follow the plan my PT designed. It's worked for me so far, and I'm interested to see how a longer period of clean eating will affect my body. I have sadly been banned from stir frying at home due to cooking smells so am going to have to have oven cooked proteins and steamed veggies instead, but I can deal with that (plus, I have no choice). I will do what I did last challenge and log all my food on here so there's no where to hide. I'm also going to do another star chart as that was a great visual aid last time. 42 days in the challenge... A = 42-38, B = 37 - 33, C = 32-28, D = 27-24, F = 20 or fewer. 5 CON #2. Hey girl, put the hours in... in the bedroom. (Bed by 11pm.) Sleep! I have now started working full time as a dance teacher, which is awesome, but it doesn't half kick my butt. In order to be able to do my best at work, get to the gym, follow the food plan, keep up with my own dance class schedule and work on my rowing I need some serious shut eye. I've joined an accountability group for this, and my goal is to be physically in my bed by 11pm every work night (Sun, Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs). I always read before bed, so even if I'm in bed by 11:30pm, I won't be going to actual sleep until at least 12am. This will not do! So I have to be actually in my bed, ready to read by 11pm, so I'm on my way to unconsciousness by 11:30pm. REM cycles FTW! 30 work nights in the challenge, so A = 30-26, B = 25-21, C = 20-16, F = 12 or fewer. 4 WIS 1 CHA I'm teaching 20 classes a week, plus I have a regular schedule of dance classes for my own development as well as PT sessions and the Learn to Row course (which I love!) at the moment. All these are things I love and require little to no motivation at all to do, so the fitness side of my main quest is solid. This brings me to my side quest... Thanks Ry, but they could be better... SIDE QUEST: CUT DOWN THE 2K Hey girl, 8:13? We can do better than that. As some of you may know, over the last few months I have fallen in love with rowing. It all started on the ergo (the rowing machine) and now has progressed onto actual boats on the water. I've been doing a Learn to Row course over the past few weeks and I absolutely adore it. As well as on water rowing the venue also do a lot of indoor rowing, and run a competition every year in December. Now I've never done a competition before, and to be honest I still haven't made up my mind whether I want to do this or not, but competition or no competition, it has got me thinking about my 2k time. I talked to my coach, and he said a good goal for me would be to try to get sub 8:00 for a 2k. Now this is no mean feat, 14 seconds off is no joke. Rather than go insane and try for this, all I want is to shave a few seconds off, baby steps, through a structured programme of varying distances and intervals, based on this plan. My schedule and physical activity is already very high, so I'm just going to start with completing 6 rowing sessions during the challenge. No weekly target. A = 6, B = 5, C = 4, D = 3, F = 2 or fewer. 3 STA 2 DEX MOTIVATION Simple. To maintain and improve. To go forwards, not back. I've been thinking about my future a lot lately, and I know that I want health and fitness to be a part of that, not just in my personal life but also in my career. To give myself the best shot, and the largest number of options, I need to be in damn good shape. I'm thinking of myself as an athlete and acting accordingly. Eat, sleep, train, repeat. There it is folks, here's to a cracking six weeks with you wonderful people! Emily x

Current Main Quest Discover a Capable Me AKA Get to the point where I can do a pull-up This set of missions is basically a continuation of last challenge, but with being sick for two weeks last time, I need to keep pressing on. Don't fix what works. Also, at the encouragement of your illustrious guild leader, I've come to spend time with the monks. Mission Log Mission 1: Calorie Counting Track all fuel consumed using MyFitnessPalStay within allotted daily ranges 6 of 7 days per weekMission 2: Conditioning Use Kettlebells and body weight exercises to get in shape, but be flexible as life demandsExtending rest for the first week due to injury recovery (right arm/shoulder)Weeks 2-6: Workout 3x weekSave up for one-on-one session with a KB instructor to asses form and functionMission 3: Cardio Walking 3x WeekWith Missions 2 & 3, continue making it a point to invite family to join in on the fun. Encourage them along the way as I go through my own journey. Life Quest Career Change Continue looking for job opportunities and following-up with previously submitted applicationsI can't really be specific on measuring this goal, considering "apply for x jobs per week" isn't viable, but I am shooting for 5 a week as a mindset for the proper jobs.Continue to update NF rebels on progress to stay motivated.Motivation Howdy y'all, it's BC again. It’s difficult to sum up my motivation in a few words, but I’ll do my best. Why do I do what I do? To be a positive godly influence on my family and friends in all areas of life.Physically - To become healthy, so I can be around for my family.Mentally - To encourage and talk with my friends and family about why we should make healthy informed choices.Spiritually - To be the spiritual leader and house-band that God has called me to be. It is a blessing to serve and protect my family.

This is my first challenge and post on nerd fitness. I have resolved to correct some of my personal issues with fitness by creating some accountability in my quest to be better. My only real goal is to exemplify the definition of leaning, which is a change in behavior based on experience. In my case, I have lead a life of ample opportunity, but have yet to seek out or accept any true "behavioral change" in my life. I have learned to admit that I am a true product of newtonian physics. I am a body that is most comfortable and whose state is normally at rest. I require motivation (an outside force) to achieve motion and only the strictest of disciplined environments to maintain it. This challenge will help me create the kind of behavioral change that is required for that discipline to take hold over a lifetime. My motivation is a post from a Facebook webpage of all things. Its from SealofHonor, which endeavors to remember our fallen brothers and sisters on a day to day basis. They posted the photo you see below with the caption, "Your Excuse is Invalid" https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151829989229769&set=pb.182249954768.-2207520000.1379944460.&type=3&theater As you can see, it made an impact on me. I am a soldier and an aviator. I owe the person to the right,left, and in front of me a life with out excuses. My name is Dallas Knox and this is my Challenge.

Goodness gracious, guys. It has been almost exactly a year since I joined the NF forums and participated in my first 6WC. I really haven't felt great about my fitness regime since 2012, though. I haven't been sticking to the routines I create, and I have really been struggling with both professional and personal aspects of my life. Starting in March, it seemed like everything in my life went wrong. Shitty job, which I quit, followed by a stretch of unemployment that drained all my savings. On top of that, my depression, which I've talked about before (recently watched this video, which I highly recommend), kicked in, and kicked in hard. I was nonfunctional. It was really bad. But I got some help, and I'm better. But this year has not been going according to plan. So where does that leave me now? Well, it's hard to say. I have great days, and I have shitty days. My job situation is still weird (working part-time at two bars, and looking for other work) But I'm still here. I'm still creating. I read over my first 6WC, and remembered how important it was at that time to feel in control of my life, to assert mastery over my domain. Which I was very successful in doing, in some ways. What I have realized since then is that in order to really have control, you also have to know when to let go. In order to expand, you have to contract a bit. I can't control everything in my life. And I cannot control myself, all the time, to the degree that I expect of myself. And that's okay. This Challenge: I want my body to look and most importantly, FEEL, as tough as I know I am. For some reason I have been thinking a lot about Lara Croft recently. The reboot game was apparently awesome, I have not gamed in years though, so I can't speak to that. But I remember how when I was a kid, I would play Tomb-Raider....but only the intro levels. The game terrified me. So I would run around the intro and demo level, exploring and jumping off things, but never really putting myself at risk. I was afraid. That I would fail. Well, that approach does not cut it anymore. If I want to be capable of the things I want to do both personally as an athlete and professionally as an actor(and stunt-person? Thinking about it...), I need to be stronger and faster, but most importantly, I need discipline, so that I can work through the fear. I need routine. I bet she has some pretty mean spreadsheets. So, my Main Goal for this challenge, is to create a long-term fitness plan that will push me and challenge me, that I will stick to, and that will help me finally build the muscle and the endurance that I have always desired. It needs to be flexible and well-rounded; so that I can adjust it depending on my smaller goals. My currently workout schedule looks like this, and I've been doing it for about two weeks. I'm going to keep this really simple. CURRENT WORKOUT SCHEDULE: This is roughly what I've been doing; sometimes switching which days I do what on, depending on my mood/soreness. I want to switch the order that I do things every week or so, so I don't get bored. Monday: Run Tuesday: Bodyweight Circuit (upper body focus) Wednesday: Climb Thorsday: Bodyweight (lower body focus) Circuit Friday: Climb Saturday: Run Sunday: Climb/Full Body Bodyweight Circuit There's no rest day on there; will probably alternate running and rest days, or sometimes combine run and climb days. GOALS: MISSION GOAL: Create sustainable and flexible fitness routine with a focus on upper-body strength building. 1)Do every workout. Simple. Schedule workouts on Sunday or Monday. Do them. The only ones I have flexibility on are climbing; because I can't always get to the gym. If I miss a climbing trip though, I still do the bodyweight workout or run. RECORD EVERY WORKOUT in spreadsheet / challenge thread. This is crucial. Sub-goal: Reduce 5k time to 33 minutes; I have to figure out what my current time is on flat surface(I've been running in the park which is a lot of up hill and un-even terrain); if I beat this time inside the 6 weeks, reduce to 31 mins. Sub-goal: Continue to work on v1/v2 problems, attempt some v3s. 2) Do 1 Glorious Shiny Pull Up I've done some really sloppy half assed ones. Work on form; if I accomplish this inside the 6 weeks, I will increase my goal to 2. 3) EAT EAT EAT Make sure I get my caloric intake for muscle building; rough Paleo (exceptions: rice, potatos, some dairy). Trying to find consistency in my diet; recently I upped my caloric intake and I can feel the difference. Basically, eat when I'm hungry and eat frequently. Prepare snacks for work.Going to edit this goal this week once I figure out a more structured eating plan. STATS: I'm also going to update this thread later with points; realized I tracked points in my first challenge, but not since. I think it will help me stay on track. It's funny, at the start of past challenges, I have felt all fired up, filled with optimism and motivation that is usually short-lived. I burn out. This time around I am less wide-eyed idealism and more grim determination, but I have a few things helping me out. -My roommate! Check out his first ever challenge thread and show him some love. Great dude, great athlete, and is super positive and gives me tons of support. -The fact that it's been a year since I committed to living healthier. I owe it to myself to make these changes stick. -My life goals demand that I do this. If I can't commit to these habits, I might as well throw in the towel and be content with mediocrity. Screw that. I've also flaked on so many challenges that I feel embarrassed starting another, so much so that if I don't finish this one it will make it that much harder to start the next. Not gonna do that to myself. -My progress. I'm bouldering v2s now. What I love about bouldering is that it is so easy to track your progress. Feeling the difference when you climb week to week is exhilarating. -And my challenge theme song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HX74UhgMFA Good to be back. -Starbuck

GoodDoug the Half Ogre stood before the guild leader. He was dirty from weeks in the cave and even smellier than usual. His last assignment had almost been a failure. The Ranger Guild Leader looked up at the Half Ogre, despite his initial misgivings, he liked this guy and felt he had a lot of potential. Not all of his fellow Guild Leaders in the Rangers agreed. "We don't quite know what to do with you," the Guild Leader started, "you've got potential, but we really need you performing at a higher standard." GoodDoug nodded, this was not news to him. The real test for him hadn't been finishing his last assignment, which was hard enough, but coming back for the next one. "I'm thinking boot camp for you. Back to basics of discipline and clean living. We'll put you on a running and bodyweight program along with some time studying with others." The Guild Leader then laid out a list of goals: Basic Running: 9 miles per week, every week. Also, try and better my speed and stamina. So side goals for distance and time 1 run at 6+ miles and 1 run at <9min/mile +1Dex +1 Sta (side goals: +1 Sta for running 6+ miles and +1 Dex for running better than 9min/mile) Eat Clean: I will eat Primal 80% of the time, side goal of >100g protein 5 days per week +2 Con (side goal +1 Con if I make my protein goal) Exercise: 2 parts Body weight exercises 6 days a week (10 push-ups, 5 pull-ups and 10 squats per day) Join a new gym +2 Con for bodyweight, +1 Con for getting a new gym and using it by the end of the challenge Disciplined life: I need to engineer solutions to make working from home work out well for me. I'm starting a new job and want to make sure that I'm doing a good job working remotely, while maintaining quality of life. Here are some things I want to do (1 week for each of these): - study new concepts for work spend a week reading my new programming book and watching NSScreencast videos - assume 1 hour each night for 5 nights - connect with people at work in a real way while I'm in the City, make plans for one get together with new coworkers - gardening at home Buy plants, plant them, put row covers up, and make sure to water them in. Then keep up with watering and maintenance or the rest of the challenge. - meditate regularly Spend 10 minutes meditating for 5 days in one week. Spend 10 minutes one day every other week. - cook good food more often Do 3 good dinners and 3 good lunches in one week - keep up with my fellow rebels on NF Probably save this for the third week, when everyone is hitting that week 3 wall. Spend half an hour commenting on everyone's threads every day for that one week. - rule the world Spend one week practicing as much of these as possible. Save this for the final week. +2 Cha and +3 Wis for this one. Background: I've done okay on previous challenges, this last one had some real ups and downs and so I want to get back to basics. Also, I'm starting a new job right in the middle of the challenge and so all of my routines that I've been relying on for working out are going to get reset. I need to use this to start thinking about what I really want to do around new routines and habits. There is a bit of a hard reset here, and I want to keep fitness as a priority, while also making my new job a priority. Juggling!

Hi there! My user name is lolarue, I'm 26 years old, in grad school full time and working as a nanny during the day. I've been reading Nerd Fitness articles over the last year but only just got serious about my health in January after a bit of a wake-up call. So I decided to change and made a goal to lose 40lbs over the next year and run both a 5k and 10k. I bought the Nerd Fitness Running Guide and finished my first 5k in March. I didn't expect it but I totally fell in love with running and am currently training for a local 10k in November! I've been stagnating lately and would really like to take my fitness to the next level and thought this challenge was the perfect push! I know I'm a couple days late (and only a few hours from the deadline, yikes!) This is my first NF Challenge - not sure if I'm doing this right but here are my challenge goals: (1) Run 60 minutes at 5mph (3x a week) - right now I'm struggling to run 40 minutes, 3x a week, at that tempo but I have a 10k on tap for November and would like to be running at that pace way before then! (2) Do yoga two times a week - when I DO it I feel great but lately between the practice and instant Netflix...Netflix has been winning, lol! But I'm determined to change this over the next 6 weeks! (3) The Squats Challenge - I keep looking at it and wanting to try it so...why not?! My goal is to be able to do 250 squats at one time by the end of the challenge. (4) Lose 5-10lbs - I'm currently weighing in at 155lbs with a goal of 130lbs. I've lost 17lbs since January but it's been a struggle. I recently met with a nutritionist (who's also my bootcamp instructor) who helped me reformat my diet. I'm hoping these changes combined with my current workout schedule will help. So happy to (finally) be an active part of NF and a part of the Scouts! Good luck everyone! -lr Forgot to put my current stats! As of 5/23/13: 5'7 155lbs Waist: 29.5 in Hips: 39.5 in Arm: 11.75 in

So, I feel like as far as food, sleep, weightloss, I'm far from perfect but I'm on the right path and headed toward some pretty good results. For this 6 weeks I feel like I need to focus on really getting serious about practicing yoga. I've watch some videos, I've been to a studio to learn a couple things, I've bought a couple books. ...for the most part with ashtanga I've done 99% learning about it and 1% doing it, and that's the exact opposite of what it's supposed to be. So for the next 6 weeks I want to challenge myself to flip that and just dig in and do it. Challenge goals:Attend at least four Mysore classes during the course of the 6 weeks. Build the habit of practicing ashtanga for at least three days, every week (during, "off days" between running). Drop some more weight: lose at least 10 more lbs during the 6 weeks. Current weight is 260. Complete the ashtanga primary series (not just the warm-ups), in one go without stopping by the end of the challenge.

So, it was suggested on my challenge thread that a thread be created completely devoted to discipline! How to have it, how to expand it, how to get better at it, etc. From Merriam-Webster.com (I only used the definitions that applied... I don't think we are trying to get better at punishment. Although I see how that could work....) A few people made good suggestions already, which I would just like to quote here: For me, discipline is about making myself do things I don't want to, like go to class, eat properly, clean up my house, do homework, work out, etc. It is also about completing these things in a timely manner, as procrastination is a big problem for me. I will put off getting ready for work until 10 minutes before I have to leave then rush getting ready. Lastly, it's about not making excuses. I am an emotional rationalizer, and I make excuses for everything. How about you? What does discipline mean to you? Any helpful tips/tricks/advice you could share on becoming more disciplined? Any great resources you've come across? Let the discussion begin!