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Dear Nerd Fitness, I've gotten out of the habit of making daily 6-Week Challenge (6WC) updates. For several challenges - most of 2015 really - I haven't updated as regularly as I'd like to. I learned almost from my beginning on NF, from my own challenges and from reading pretty much everyone else's challenges, that people who update daily (or at least, almost daily) have a greater rate of success in achieving their goals. I used to be really, really good and consistent with it. It's past time I rebuild that habit. One of the reasons I think I've gotten out of the habit is that with my current job I'm not around a computer all the time anymore like I used to be. And I bought a tablet a while back and have been using it more and more instead of my desktop. Sometimes a full week might go by without me turning the desktop on. My tablet doesn't have easy ways for me to post gifs and change font colors, and make bold text, etc. I have to type in all the coding manually on the tablet to do that stuff. And typing on a tablet is slow enough that I don't want to bother typing in all the coding too. My posts and responses also tend to be much much shorter when typing on the tablet for that same reason - takes too long to type. This challenge, I'm saying screw it. Screw the gifs. Screw the colors. Unless I happen to be on my desktop like I am now. <--- I don't care if she's a cartoon; this is pretty hot. If I happen to be at my desktop and feel like posting gifs and making pretty colors, I'll do it. But I'm guessing most of my updates will be from my tablet. The portability of that thing is just too darn convenient to pass up. And this way, I can feel the freedom to post any update I want, at any time, from any device, without feeling any pressure to turn my updates into a visual feast. That's my habit to (re)build for this 6WC. Also, please don't hesitate to jump in and reply to anything I type. If I wanted to keep my thoughts private, I'd never type them online in the first place. If you read something on my 6WC and want to chat about, go right ahead and reply. Also also, I do like gifs. And I can see them from my tablet. So don't let any lack of gifs in my updates from my tablet stop you from posting gifs in my 6WC. Gif it to me baby, uh-huh, uh-huh uh-huh Also x 3 - My lovely readers, if you see a full 24 hours go by without me posting any "Dear Nerd Fitness" updates in here, give me a virtual smack please and tell me to post an update. I'm recruiting all of you to be my accountabilibuddies. --

- You opened it anyway?? I guess I'll write stuff then. My main goal right now is getting thin. Like, really thin. Like, the kind of thin I haven't been in .... ...... .............. 19? years. Not that thin Christian Bale! Anyway, that goal, and how I'm progressing, has been in my forum signature for several weeks now. I know not everyone can see signatures -- because some lucky ducks have super-phones to surf the 'Net on, but without the full functionality of most browsers -- so, I'm pasting my current signature here for reference: Date Bodyweight Goal: 165 lbs (75 kg) 15 May: 201 lbs (91 kg) 3 Jul: 21 Aug: 22 May: 199 lbs (90 kg) 10 Jul: 28 Aug: 29 May: 196 lbs (89 kg) 17 Jul: 4 Sep: 5 Jun: 194 lbs (88 kg) 24 Jul: 11 Sep: 12 Jun: 31 Jul: 18 Sep: 19 Jun: 7 Aug: 25 Sep: 26 Jun: 14 Aug: 2 Oct: As you can see, I'm not expecting this cut to be over quickly. I've dropped fat very fast in the past, but that requires a caloric deficit so large that some very unpleasant side-effects come with it. Last November, an emergency in the family taught me the valuable lesson that being able to function every day is more important than things like losing weight As Fast As Possible. So this time I'm trying to lose weight at a more reasonable pace. Thankfully, I started a job a few months ago that reinforces that. I spend about 5 hours a day, 5 days a week, piloting a light freighter (I'm Han Solo!) around town and doing deliveries/pickups. What this means is that about half the time, I'm driving, and the other half the time, I'm lifting decently heavy crates into and out of the back of the frieght truck & pulling/pushing stacks of those crates on a dolly. Basically, I spend my mornings weightlifting and pushing/pulling a prowler, I just happen to be using crates instead of a barbell. In other words: my job forces me to eat enough that I can recover from it; so that I can do it again the next day, and the next, and the next. I do an official weigh-in test every Friday morning. Standard Hazard style. In the morning, after using the facilities, naked, before eating or drinking anything. This gives the most accurate results. I'm actually weighing myself every day and writing it with a dry-erase marker on my bathroom mirror. But only the Friday weight is "official" to me. The other days are fail-safes, in case I forget on Friday, and also so I can watch for trends. But the Friday weigh in is what counts in my brain. Because as long as I see some weight-loss from week to week, then I'm succeeding at my goal. A little goal I want to work on is my grip strength. My grip is often the point of failure for many of the exercises/skills that I've worked on. So, figured now's a good challenge to build some grip-work habits. I've had Captain's of Crush grippers, of various levels, for a while. Just never put them to much use. Last challenge I successfully developed the habit of eating fish oil every day, for its potential to help joints. This challenge, I'm going to try to develop grip-work habit, by using my job to my advantage. This week I started bringing a gripper along with me in the truck. Along with some rubber bands. Whenever I'm stuck at a stoplight, I grab the gripper and do some work with it, or I grab rubber bands and do finger extensions (to balance the gripper work). Play at Nerdwarts. Historically, I've kept an eye on the minichallenges and helped moderate them. But this is the first minichallenge I've taken a direct hand in building from the ground up, and I want to fully play in it. Working together with Starsapart, we've developed and implemented the most complex (and, apparently, the most popular!) minichallenge that Nerd Fitness has ever seen. I'm very proud of what we've accomplished with it, and hope that everyone will have a great time playing in it. Combined, we've put in over 200 hours of work into this minichallenge so far. For once, I'm going to actually participate fully in one of these things. I owe it to myself. What I'll be doing in this thread. I don't know. Like I wrote in the title, this is my Boring Challenge. I'd post my weight weekly, but that info will already be updated in my forum signature anyway. I'd tell you how my grip training is going, but I can't imagine anybody would want to see daily posts that read, "Today I squeezed the grippers more, and did more of the rubber band extensions. Plan for tomorrow: more of the same." Plus, this minichallenge has been keeping me extreeemely busy. So..... I'll use this thread to.. ... something. Chat with people? Post gifs? Funny youtube videos? Talk about how disappointed I was with Kacy's Ninja Warrior run this year? Tell you that my rescue dog tried to cut my leg off with her leash? Tell you that my rescue dog ate my sock? Tell you that my rescue dog tried to catch geese and jumped into a lake after them? Or we can talk about donuts. I like donuts. And pizza. (I love pizza). Note. For those of you who are new to me, my dietary philosophy is pretty simple. The Hazard Diet Philosophy: Eat stuff you like. Eat less when trying to lose weight. Eat more when trying to gain weight. And, I like chicken. So... anybody want to talk with me about anything? -

HAZARD Episode IX That Elbow Thing & Stuff Assigned the task of making regular intel deliveries between Rebel cell groups, spec ops agent Hazard finds that battle damage sustained from fighting Imperial patrols 2-3 times per week has made his freighter somewhat less reliable. Without addressing the mounting battle damage, agent Hazard's ability to continue fighting and make the deliveries could become compromised. To that end, agent Hazard.. Wait, what? We're mixing movies? Is that allowed? Okay. So, to that end, agent Hazard is grudgingly accepting that his ship will need to undergo regular maintenance and repairs. Oh come on, that ship doesn't even fly! *facepalm*..... let's get on with the quests. ************************************* My Main Quest: Establish better damage control habits I feel most Assassiny when I'm pulling myself into the air. Which is on ice until my elbow has fully healed. *cryface*. This challenge is summed up as following the non-surgical treatment plan. Habit #0) Don't break the ship: If it aggravates the elbow - don't do whatever it is. Habit #1) Grease the bearings: Take fish oil in the mornings & evenings. Habit #2) Tune up the stabilizers: Do easy, quick, light stretch/mobility things in the evenings. Habit #3) Repair battle damage: Do 2x/wk finger extensors and/or light reverse curls. Life Quest: Music. Since getting a keyboard near the beginning of last challenge, I've learned to play A,B,C,D,E,F, & G major scales and arpeggios. My learning to play keyboard wasn't a part of my challenge quests last time. This time, I'm making it official! With it's own sub-quests. Music quest #1) Keep adding another scale & arpeggio each week. Music quest #2) Start practicing chords along with the scales/arpeggios. Music quest #3) Start practicing sight reading. Music quest #4) Learn to play at least one song really well by the end of the challenge.

Three Rings for the Elven kings under the sky, Seven for the Dwarf lords in halls of stone, Nine for mortal Men doomed to die, One for the Dark Lord whom Gollum dethroned, Two for the Oncoming Storm to arise, This challenge Hazard will totally pwn. The Quest: Begin my journey of mastering the Rings of Power I'll be doing a modified PLP program, Performing the pushups & pullups on rings. (And subbing out the lunges for box-pistols) p.s. - I'll also be participating in the Game of Thrones PVP

Previously: During the last challenge, my family experienced a life-threatening emergency in the middle of the night. (click spoiler for a review) This CHALLENGE Main Quest: Emergency Preparedness Supporting Objectives 1) Medic Training: CPR I’ll register for a class to renew my certification. 2) Weapon Training: Pistol I’ll find a local gun range, and put a few hundred rounds of quality practice in. 3) Body Readiness: PPSC I’ll do daily grease-the-groove pushup, pullup, squat, & core conditioning. 4) Strength Training: Greyskull template I’ll complete 18 workouts during this challenge period. Side Quest) Stability Training: Rings I’ll do daily grease-the-groove work on traditional & pushup support positions.

EPIC QUEST Turn into (when I arrived on NF) (some day) MOTIVATION To be happy, healthy, sexy, and inspire awe. QUESTS for this CHALLENGE Main Objective: Waist below 36 inches (91.5 cm) when family sees me at Christmas Challenge Starting Waist: 38.4 inches (97.5 cm) Supporting Objective: Don't Neglect Training! Cutting fat means eating less. Eating less sucks. My energy will be lower. My willpower will be taxed. I won't feel like working out sometimes. But I need to keep doing it anyway so that my coming weight loss = fat loss without muscle loss. I've started posting videos of my training over on my battle log. I'll keep posting those videos as evidence that I'm doing what I need to be doing. What else? That's it for this challenge. I don't really want to give myself any extra required side quests right now. If I get the urge to play, I'll play. But I'm keeping my challenge focused on making the current change that I think will make me the most happy. I can't keep bulking indefinitely or I truly will get fat (read: obese). But bulking is when I make the best gains in strength and muscle growth. So to get to a point where I can happily bulk again, I need to trim down. Plus, I want to look nice in family holiday photos.

Assassination Contract: Dracula Complicated castle? Filled with spikey traps? And horrifying underlings? Yeah. No. Assassin's don't use the front door. I'm going straight up to the throne room. Then Drac's going down. There's just one teenie tiny problem. I'm not strong enough to climb walls!!! Quest Scale the walls of Dracula's castle to assassinate him by Halloween Objective #1: (Keep Energy Bar Up) - track weight & calories daily Objective #2: (Gain Climbing Strength) - train strength 3x per week; pullups & dips 2x per week Objective #3: (Prepare for Return Trip) - train safety drops & rolls 1x per week, because what climbs up must come down Successful Assassination = can climb a 6' (1.8m) vertical wall, & safely jump back down

EPIC QUEST Turn into At end of previous challenge MOTIVATION To be happy, healthy, sexy, and inspire awe. QUESTS for this CHALLENGE Objective #1: Hunter/Gatherer Weighing out food & counting calories works. I've proven that time and again. But it's not something I want to do forever. This challenge I'll be continuing my quest to further trim down my gut by following Mark Rippetoe's diet advice. It essentially boils down to this: Meat & Freggies. This time data will be simple. My starting pic above compared to my progress pic at the end. And my starting weight as of this morning was 175.6 lbs (79.7 kg) compared to whatever my final weight will be. I'll post a list of what I've eaten daily (or at least, most days), and we'll see how it goes. Objective #2: Explore/Reveal the Map I'm moving during the first week of this challenge. To a city I do not know. A land I'm unfamiliar with. People who will be strangers to me. I'll need to explore. To remove the map fog, and learn what this new place has to offer. I'll share pictures. Objective #3: Train Anytime/Anywhere. I am an Assassin. My weights are packed for the move. There will be no better time for this than now. For this challenge, I'm going to prove my worth as an Assassin to any remaining doubters. Throughout this challenge I'll be doing regular Assassin-inspired workouts. Will there be videos? Look who you're asking. Of course there will be videos! (Spirit Fingers)

EPIC QUEST Turn into At end of previous challenge More details on my Epic Quest, and my regular lifting workouts, are in my battle log. MOTIVATION To be happy, healthy, sexy, and inspire awe. QUESTS for this CHALLENGE Objective #1: Drop 6 lbs of Fat Fat = (-0.082 x weight [lbs]) + (4.15 x waist [inches]) – 94.42 Taking starting measurement in the morning Objective #2: Raise the Dragon (Flag) This; lower, better, more . . . Objective #3: Fly the Dragon (aka. develop a back lever) Turn this . . . Into this . . .

<Incoming Transmission. . . .> To: Hazard Fr: Rebel Intelligence Regional HQ Re: Division Attachement Agent Hazard, review of your performance on your field test has been completed. Congratulations on your commission with Rebel Intelligence Special Operations. As you were informed, all active SpecOps agents are attached as support personnel with Alliance divisions operating in their theater. Your request to be attached to the division colloquially called the Assassins has been approved. All of your personal effects were forwarded to the Assassin division's training center in anticipation of your arrival. While here, you will train to develop the specific skills that will make you most useful to this division. Remember, however, that you are an active agent and you may be called upon from time to time to complete assignments beyond the confines of your training regimen. <End Transmission> EPIC QUEST Turn into At end of previous challenge More details on my Epic Quest, and my regular lifting workouts, are in my battle log. MOTIVATION To be healthy, sexy, and inspire awe. QUESTS for this CHALLENGE 1) Bulk. This will involve tracking: weight calories protein waist size * Maximum bulking threshold is 33.5" (85 cm) waist. If reached, switch from bulk to cut. 2) Strengthen Core. This will involve exercises such as: hollow holds & hollow rocks arch ups & arch rocks dragon flag progressions hanging knee/leg raises 3) Increase Flexibility. This will involve stretches such as: german hang progressions center split progressions front split progressions 4) Develop Balance. This will involve skills such as: parallette crows handstands (pistol squat progressions, via guild mini-challenge) 5) Side Quest: Play on Camera I shared videos of me doing assassiny things last challenge. People liked it. I liked it. It was fun. I'll be doing it more.

<Incoming Transmission. . . .> To: Hazard Fr: Rebel Intelligence Liaison Re: SpecOps Agent Test Finish up practicing on the proving grounds, candidate Hazard. Your Rebel Intelligence Special Operations Agent field test will begin in five days on 2/24. You will be going live with the skills that you have been practicing, tracking the movements of three High Priority targets for six weeks: Weight, Calories, Protein. Futhermore, MedCorp has determined that excess fat may hinder your ability to maneuver in the field. While this does not disqualify you from your test mission, your advancement within SpecOps may be limited if you do not take immediate steps to remedy this. Also be aware that active Agents are attached to various divisions within the Rebellion. There are seven divisions operating within your assigned theater. Upon successful completion of your field test, you will be given the choice for which division you will be attached. During the course of your test, you are to analyze the modus operandi of the seven divisions so that you can make an informed choice. Good luck, candidate. <End Transmission> EPIC QUEST Turn into More details on my Epic Quest, and my workouts, are in my battle log. MOTIVATION To be healthy, sexy, and inspire awe. QUESTS for this CHALLENGE 1) Track weight, calories, and protein. 2) Do a hard cut until at least March 10th. Decide then if I want to continue the cut longer. 3) Learn about and evaluate the 7 Nerd Fitness guilds to decide which will be my best fit for my second challenge.

<Incoming Transmission. . . .> To: ***************** Fr: Rebel Intelligence Liaison Re: Proving Grounds Welcome to Rebel Intelligence Special Operations, candidate. You are assigned the codename Hazard until further notice. Your willingness to volunteer for SpecOps in the fight against the Empire is commendable, and consideration of you as a SpecOps Agent is a mark of the Rebellion's belief in you. Never doubt what you can achieve, or the Empire wins. In less than two weeks you will be offered the chance to gain full agent status by completing your first field assignment. Until then it is highly suggested that you spend time on the proving grounds practicing your tracking skills. <End Transmission>

Name: classified Code Name: Hazard Occupation: Hero - in training Height: 5'9" (174 cm) Weight: 185 (84 kg) Level 50 Bodyfat: 12% Deadlift: 405 lbs x5 reps (183 kg) Squat: 325 lbs x5 reps (147 kg) Bench: 240 lbs x5 reps (108 kg) Press: 145 lbs x5 reps (65 kg) Chin: +55 lbs x5 reps (+25 kg) Level 0 Bodyfat: 22% Deadlift: 200 lbs x5 reps (90 kg) Squat: 115 lbs x5 reps (52 kg) Bench: 120 lbs x5 reps (54 kg) Press: 50 lbs x5 reps (22 kg) Chin: BW x3 reps (+0 kg) Initial Training Plan Day A Day B Squat Squat Bench Press Deadlift Deadlift Chin Chin Day C - Joint Operations with Agent XX Leg Press Chest Press Lat Pulldown HG Press Calf Press Status: . . . . . Activate