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Soooo my first plan was way too complication. This is going to be basic. I'm going to lose 10 lbs in 4 weeks. This comes out to be a reasonable 2.5 lbs per week. It will take me from 297 lbs to 287 lbs. I'll post before and after pictures for my own edification. Goal: Lose 10 lbs Intermediate goals: Week 1: Weigh in at 294.5 or lower Week 2: Weigh in at 291.0 or lower Week 3: Weigh in at 288.5 or lower Week 4: Weigh in at 287.0 or lower (Saturday weigh in, no clothes, before breakfast. I wont take pics I promise haha) Daily goals: Sunday 9/17: Active Rest TBD - First day went well. I played in the park with my niece and nephew for a couple hours and it was surprisingly good exercise. - Unfortunately I did less well on eating. We ordered pizza for lunch, and I only had two pieces with salad, but its not exactly in my diet plan. I'll do better on Monday. Monday 9/18: Back and Bicep - Today went well. The gym was not as crowded as I thought it would be (I couldn't go until 4:00) and I got through my workout without any major obstacles. I had a little trouble motivating myself to go, but I pushed myself over the hump and enjoyed the workout afterwards. Lat Pull 3x10 at 85 lbs Row 3x10 at 45 lbs each arm Low row 3x10 at 85 lbs EZ curl 3x10 at 55 lbs Hammer Curl 3x10 AT 17.5 lbs - Eating went better today than yesterday. I still didn't quite follow the plan. There was a memorial for a family friend today and a meal was provided. I decided to eat the food but make good choices. They had lean chicken, salad, and pan fried vegetables. The only thing I ate outside of my plan was ravioli and a brownie, so on the whole it wasn't too bad. Tuesday 9/19: Cardio - I stuck to the plan today and did my cardio. I'm proud of myself. However, the real test will come on Tuesday or Wednesday next week, that seems to be when I fall off track with new workout commitments. I decided to extend it to 20 minutes instead of 15 because I can do 20 and if I can, then I should. Babying myself accomplishes nothing. - I didn't do as well with eating today. As expected, I was much hungrier today than I was yesterday. I was also very sore, so I expect my body was looking for calories to help my muscles repair. The way I feel hunger is strange, and maybe I need to address it. Many times I get hungry just after I've finished a meal and it doesn't start in my stomach, the feeling starts across my back and then moves into my head. I don't mean mentally, I mean the physical muscles that surround my skull, especially those that clench my jaw and pull my eyebrows back (occipitofrontalis and temporalis if you want to get technical). It feels similar to my fight or flight response, and It requires that I eat something immediately. It's an extraordinarily hard feeling to ignore. I can power through it, but it really knocks the wind out of me. I'm going to try to confront it directly tomorrow, if that doesn't work I'll try to figure out another strategy. Wednesday 9/20: Chest and Triceps Thursday 9/21: Birthday Cardio Friday 9/22: Legs and Core Saturday 9/23: Active rest TBD (weigh in) Sunday 9/24: Active rest TBD Monday 9/25: Back and Bicep Tuesday 9/26: Cardio Wednesday 9/27: Chest and Triceps Thursday 9/28: Cardio Friday 9/29: Legs and Core Saturday 9/30: Active rest TBD (weigh in) Sunday 10/1: Active rest TBD Monday 10/2: Back and Bicep Tuesday 10/3: Cardio Wednesday 10/4: Chest and Triceps Thursday 10/5: Cardio Friday 10/6: Legs and Core Saturday 10/7: Active rest TBD (weigh in) Sunday 10/8: Active rest TBD Monday 10/9: Back and Bicep Tuesday 10/10: Cardio Wednesday 10/11: Chest and Triceps Thursday 10/12: Cardio Friday 10/13: Legs and Core Saturday 10/14: Active rest TBD (weigh in) Definitions: Cardio: Week 1: 20 mins elliptical Week 2: 25 mins elliptical Week 3: 30 mins elliptical Week 4: 35 mins elliptical Weight Training: Too long to specify, but I'll be adding 10 lbs to every set each time I cycle back to a muscle group. Active rest: Hiking, yard work, Frisbee, swimming, adventuring in general, etc.

Hi, Been looking at NF for a couple of years (I know!), finally decided to take the plunge and see what its all about. Basically, never had much success or staying power with exercise, have been going to the gym on and off for a couple of months and want to try and focus now. I'm really interested in trying out lifting, rather than my normal (unsuccessful) attempts at running etc. Just completed my benchmarking and started looking at the workouts, but am a bit confused. I'm starting at Bodyweight Workout 2A, which is great - I'm not quite at the bottom! I don't really know how to plan these workouts, how often I should be doing them before levelling up, how to mark them as completed etc. Any help would be appreciated. In the past, I've always tried to have very rigid workout regimes as I'm rubbish if left to my own devices, but these inevitably fail when I miss one as it breaks my routine. I know I need to look at this far more flexibly but not really sure how/where to start, so am just copying my wife's workout at the moment. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks all!

Hello fellow Rebels! I'm very excited to find a group of people who share my affinity for nerd culture! A friend of mine told me about Nerd Fitness last Wednesday and I've been reading articles and Steve's book and working through the angry bird challenge and doing my best at paleo. I'm super excited about being the best me I can be and it's been rough because I've got no accountability, so in the past everything I've started I just gruadually stopped doing and I didn't have anyone to be like "hey, did you get this done?" I'm 22 with a beautiful 6 month old daughter and beautiful wife who is carrying baby number two. Three years ago I went through open heart surgery to replace a bad pulmonary valve and I've done little to no work to keep my body healthy. I've decided this time will be different. I've been reading about bodyweight excersises I can do at home(something I knew literally nothing about prior to this week) and buying my groceries to fit the paleo mindset. I'm really excited about this fitness journey and can't wait to see where it goes, to push myself to health so I can watch my children get old and grow old with my beautiful wife. so that's me, a 22 year old father and husband who wants to survive to be present for my family! Excited to Assemble, Captain Fantastic

So lets take a second here. I seriously have to go back and find whoever suggested Darebee for the combat portion for this weeks challenge!!!! So I'm scrolling through and I see the word challenges and because... you know... I can't help myself, I go into that tab and low and behold there it is. The Pandora Fitness Quest. So now I'm reading through and looking at it all and I'm thinking, "Oh sweet Jebus... I'm going on a freaking adventure!!!!" So there it is folks. I'm now on an adventure pending whether or not my gallbladder is really trying to attack me or not, it hurts guys.

Introduction: Hi I am LilLionLamb (also Lil'Lion or Lion) and this is my first challenge! Yay! I'm trying to get myself to love running a little more, but otherwise I enjoy swimming, playing soccer and generally feeling stronger. I weigh 155 lbs and I'm in college so I'm trying to figure out time-managing class, studying and exercise. I like writing, and love reading. Main Quest: Lose 20 lbs by end of February and Deadlift 1x bodyweight Quest 1: Jog and Walk for 30 minutes a day (at least 10 min must be jog), 3 days a week. I haven't been going to the gym consistently, and I want to build the habit. Measurement: A = 30 min x3 for 6 weeks, B = 30 min x3 for 4 weeks , C = 30 min x3 for 3 weeks Quest 2: Drink no sugared beverages! No juice, yummy lattes or sugared tea. Measurement: A = 0 sugared drinks, B = 4 sugared drinks, C = 8 sugared drinks Quest 3: 3L of water a day. I do a really poor job of hydrating myself so I want to make sure my body is well Measurement: A = 3L, 42 days; B = 3L , 35 days, C = 3L, 25 days Life Quest: Finish knitting a 5ft scarf. Amateur knitter here, I figured it's fall and I need a hobby. So, I'm gonna finish a scarf. Measurement: A = 100% done B = 65% done , C = <50% done

What's up guys, Hey, my name is swolecaesar. I'm currently a high school student. I've always been a skinny kid and wanted to be ripped because of health benefits, confidence, and overall increased attraction. I found nerdfitness.com 2 days ago and after reading pretty much most of Steve's bulking and Gym advice, I set out on a journey to gain 20 pounds of muscle (from 120 to 140) by the end of September. Today was my first day in the gym and it was awesome( also the first day I ate 2656 calories, the amount I need to gain 1 lbs a week!) I loved it! My goals for fitness: 1. Bench 150 lbs (I can do about 50 pounds) 2. Squat 175 lbs (today I did 55 pounds) 3. Gain weight and go from 120 lbs (current) to 140 lbs Some interesting stuff about me: 1. I'm vegetarian (by religion) 2. I love to play soccer 3. I also love programming and anything involved with computers I hope to use this forum to help me gain weight and overtime, I also hope to become a positive contributor to other newcomers as I gain more knowledge of fitness! Nice meeting you guys, swolecaesar

Hey Everyone, Thrilled to be here and take the leap into particpation after reading the NF blog since August. My Main Quest: - Climb Mount Fuji in July 2016 1. Stick to paleo eating as started on Jan 1st. 2. Establish a sensible sleep pattern. Currently entirely free-ranging and stay up all night doing not much or gaming at least twice a week. 3. Do the Beginners Bodyweight Workout three times a week. Life Quest: 1. Finish the fanfic whose conclusion I've been putting off and off. 2. Stop clicking on timewasting links e.g buzzfeed lists, what type of sandwich are you quizes and the like Motivation: Dreadlock Hill. At the end of the quest it'll be time for my sixth monthly dreadlock maintanence appointment (getting them professionally washed and tidied up feels so good, you guys). The dread place is at the top of the steepest hill in my city and at the last appointment to my utter shame I simply couldn't climb it in one go and had to stop twice and when I got to the top I was sweaty and out of breath. In six weeks' time I'm walking up it at a decent pace in one go and at the top I will have a huge smile on my face. Good luck to each and every one of you. Looking forward to us all getting this done

What's up, NF? I'm very new to this website. I had never even heard of it until I stumbled onto it this morning while doing some online shopping (for socks of all things, haha). As soon as I started reading about NF and its community I was instantly hooked. Even though I had never heard of NF, I'd been looking for the idea of it for a long time. Since finishing up college a couple years ago I've tried to get into better shape and improve my health and energy levels by eating better. I went at it with an "army of one" mentality and while I was able to make it to the gym I failed horribly on eating well. After doing this a couple times I realized that I might need some people to help keep me accountable and remind me of my goals. All of my friends have worse eating habits than me and so that's why I think this place is great! I'm hoping to transition to a Paleo diet over the next couple weeks. Another thing that interests me here is that I feel like a lot of the people here will have shared interests and we can talk about stuff other than workout routines and protein powders. I'm not a huge comic book fan, but I really enjoy the marvel movies that have been coming out - stoked for Avengers 2! I'm a pretty big gamer. Despite playing a ton of Destiny lately, my heart goes to JRPGs. Lastly, I love a good anime! I'm going to try to log on once a day to keep myself motivated and accountable. If anyone wants to help out or even just talk about a shared interest feel free to hit me up. I'm always up for making new friends. Here's to starting over for the last time!

So, I didn't discover this forum until this past weekend, so I'm starting this challenge late. I've already been working out with my husband for over a year now, and I've been really getting into the strength training, but I haven't had a lot of success sticking to the nutrition I know I need so I'm hoping I can push myself more through these challenges. So, here goes nothing! (*NOTE* Editing Quest on 12/5/14, as I was able to take the time to work out some more specifics. This may also be due to the fact that I actually just read the Level 1 Guidebook in detail only yesterday... Oh well, I'm glad I posted my initial, though incomplete, challenge notes when I did as I knew if I didn't do it I would eventually convince myself to wait until the next challenge started in January.) Main Quest Improve myself - and my body - physically. I didn't want to make too specific goals here, like weight or clothes size because I don't want to obsess over details like that. But I know I want to be strong - I know I want to get my body fat percentage down to a healthy level, and I know I want to believe that I look good when I look in the mirror. Ultimately, I don't want to set a "goal weight" because eventually I hope to become happy with my body and then just build muscle beyond that and continue to get stronger. I know, at the very least though, that I need to lose at least 50 pounds. I'm only 5'3", and I currently weigh 200 lbs. I think starting with a goal of 50 lbs is a good, healthy goal to start with; once I'm there, we'll see after that! To be perfectly honest....one of the main reasons I'm unsure of the weight I should aim for at first is because I am Latina, and my bust, hips and butt have always been bigger no matter my overall weight. I don't want to get too specific here or weird anybody out, but this is the reality of my conundrum and frankly it's something I worry about a lot - worrying about my bust size especially, as it has never fluctuated in size with my weight. (At least not since my sophomore year of high school when I hit the size I am now....let's just say "the girls" were bigger than average, especially for a 16 year-old girl, and they've stayed pretty much the same size ever since.) I've never worked out and strength trained the way I am now though, either, so I'm nervously anticipating what changes might happen all over my body. I'm mostly just not sure whether I should be worried about the size of "the girls", and how their size may or may not affect my overall health. I'll just take things as they come, I guess, no matter what changes in my body may occur. My goal is to be strong and healthy anyway, and I want that more than anything else. Steps to take for reaching the Goal (For the remainder of this challenge) Workout, both strength training and cardio, at least 5 times a week. This will involve: Strength Training at least 3 times a week Cardio at least 2 times a week Individual goals within this step: run for 3 miles straight without stopping at least 3 times by the end of December; learn to squat and bench press with the free-weight barbell (rather than the Smith machine) by the end of December; be able to complete at least 3 full pushups by the end of December. Continue to wear my Fitbit daily (taking one night off a week to charge it) and track all exercise, food intake, and sleep each day. I have a food plan on my Fitbit account aimed for a 750 calorie deficit every day - I will be flexible with that though on the days that I do intense strength training (in other words, Leg day). The best way to measure whether I’m tracking accurately and being honest will be by my weight; my hope is to lose 1.5-2.5 pounds per week (weighing on Sunday mornings). Limit my eating out to three times a week, and avoid eating out at lunch as much as possible. It’s harder to find good food for lunch that meets my current dietary needs, while if I eat out for dinner with my husband we tend to eat healthier and be more careful. (This will also help financially.) Life Quest I am very much an introvert, and I don’t want these goals to keep me from developing and growing emotionally as well. My goal is to spend some time at least once each week hanging out or talking to a friend outside of work - either going out dancing, having someone over, or going over to a friends house for a visit. (And my husband doesn't count - he sees enough of me, and I know he wants me to be more social, too.) Motivation I want to improve my health so I can start a family, sometime later next year is the goal. I want to build good habits before then so I can be the best person I can be for my kids and give them a good example. No Attribute points at this time for me, but I do want to outline how I want to measure each of my Quest steps at the end of the challenge. Workouts A = 10-12 Strength Training Sessions, and 7-8 Cardio Sessions completed by the end of December B = 8-9 Strength Training Sessions, and 6 Cardio Sessions completed by the end of December C = 7 Strength Training Sessions, and 5 Cardio Sessions completed by the end of December D = 6 Strength Training Sessions, and 4 Cardio Sessions completed by the end of December F = 5 or less Strength Training Sessions, and 3 or less Cardio Sessions completed by the end of December Fitbit and Weight A = 26-31 days tracked on my Fitbit, and 7 or more pounds lost by the end of December B = 21-25 days tracked on my Fitbit, and 6 pounds lost by the end of December C = 16-20 days tracked on my Fitbit, and 5 pounds lost by the end of December D = 12-15 days tracked on my Fitbit, and 4 pounds lost by the end of December F = 11 days or less tracked on my Fitbit, and 3 pounds or less lost by the end of December Eating Out A = Eating out 12 or less times during the month B = Eating out 13-14 times during the month C = Eating out 15 times during the month D = Eating out 16 times during the month F = Eating out 17 or more times during the month Alright - let's see how this goes!

Hi I'm Sarah and I'm new to Nerd Fitness. I started following the blog December 4th and the first step is admitting you have a problem. The problem is I love this site! I can't get enough of it so today I decided that I would become a real life member. Geeee!!!

Hi all, I'm Beki, I'm new & I'm flabby. I've managed to start the beginner strength training workout - keeping it realistic at 1 cycle this week so as to not overdo it. Baby steps onto the bus, Bob... I'm researching the Paleo, as I think it would be very good for me (my body doesn't seem to like sugar anyway), but that's going to be step 2, as I'm no cook & need to get my head around it. But soon... Anyway, looking forward to the journey - cuz those "before" pics I took yesterday aren't pretty! , Beki

Ok, So here goes. This is my first challenge, I'm semi fit but in a transition, will be graduating in May and looking to a big boy job, relocating etc ... and I'm a procrastinator to the max, so my goals will reflect an effort to assist and curb that. My goals for this challenge: 1) Maintain the paleo diet - I started this two weeks ago and have gave exception to somethings such as birthday parties, friends going away, but I'm sticking to it completely. - How? I have purchased a paleo cookbook wich had the resource of an 8 week meal plan. Additionally I will be tracking my intake with the help of a google docs spreadsheet, to include ANY deviations. 2) Maintain my workout plan - currently a mix of iron wt/body wt following steve's exercises - How? Stick with it daily! Inspiration from you folks! Will also be tracking exercise reps, wt etc, on google docs. 3) Become a leaner, stronger me - fat caliper and tape are in the mail! - How? Through proper application of #'s 2 & 3 of course! Both Mentally, and physically fighting this fight with myself will make me stronger. I've taken a picture two weeks ago, and will be posting that and todays soon with other fitness stats. At the end, if it trends towards more reps, longer hold times etc, then I'm happy. 4) Find a post degree job/ or School - This is a tuffy, but it's time How? - I attended a career fair last month, and have a couple leads, following through with these job opportunities will provide me a safety net, in case I don't get into the nursing school I want. * Additionally - ( I don't give up easily) ... To apply for grad school & additional nursing schools as well. All will again be tracked on ... Google docs spreadsheet! 5) Clean out the car (weekly) Why? - Because my jeep is always a mess! Wouldn't believe the crap that piles up. Really!. I still have gear in there from our spring break climbing trip. (Whispers) ... also gonna be on google docs! Thanks for any support.