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Thank you to the awesome mods for fixing the error that was keeping us in the past (challenges). Now we can stride forth confidently into the future! Towards the end of the last challenge, I set a weight loss goal, made it just past the deadline. I am ready to reset the board and set a new weight loss goal: to weigh in at 238 by September 4. That's 11 pounds, and I know I can do it. Starting with nutrition. I'm going to stick to three meals a day and a veggie snack in the afternoons. I'm going to focus on drinking more water too, and cutting back on cheese. But I'll continue the basic rules of limiting the sweets to after dinner, and not eating foods that make me feel sick. Basically, eat healthy and don't make myself sick It is very important to me that I focus on a diet that is sustainable, healthy, and has some fun to it. For fitness, I'm going to step it up a little. I've been walking with my mom for about 30-40 minutes; 4-5 times a week. but I've neglected my strong workouts, so I'm going to bring those back for 3 days a week. and I'd like to push my total cardio for the day to an hour. Maybe I break it up into 2 sessions, but I'm going to aim for an hour of sweaty goodness 5 times a week. I weigh in on Fridays, and will be reflecting on the week and making adjustments as I need to to continue to stay in the sweet spot of "challenging, not punishing" Also for this challenge, I'd like to find my car keys. 😮 they've been missing for a couple weeks, and I know they're in the house somewhere... THEY HAVE BEEN FOUND (august 9) YEEHAW I HAVE MY KEYS BACK! Week 0 - 6 days of exercise; 1 strong day, 3 hour cardio days Week 1-

I am currently challenged with working out on a daily basis. I have a long drive to work, so waking up to early can limit my sleep and effect my health. I want to work out when I get home, but I always end up just sitting on the couch. Even worse, some days I can get so tired from work, I pick up food instead of making a healthy meal for my family. My challenge is to work out 6 out of the 7 days of the week and limit eating out to once a week. From looking at other posts, I have decided that logging my journey is the best way to be accountable. Today's goal 1/11 Walk the dog a mile Run for 30 minutes on the tread mill ( Did 1 hour of Zumba instead) Cook a healthy meal for the family. Time to begin..... 1/12 Walk the dog a mile Yoga Healthy meal I ran into a hiccup today, binged on unhealthy snacks on the way home. Tomorrow, try to take water with lime in the car to enjoy on the ride.

Since my diagnosis with diabetes at the age of eleven, my own diet has changed dramatically. I maintain my current healthy weight with a great diet/eating plan. If you do plan on losing more than about a stone in weight then I would visit your doctor for more tips on how to do this without risk. I've had diabetes for seven years now, but to tell you that how I maintain weight is perfect would be totally wrong of me. However, I can advise you to follow my steps because I know what works and what doesn't. Before I really begin I must also say that I have been brought up by great parents who taught me to eat everything, and so I do! If there is something that you don't like, there are loads of other diabetic recipes and ideas that you will eat and appreciate. I am a university student and I like to buy fresh and organic produce from where I live. I believe that this is important because it can be the most good for your body and contain more nutrients and vitamins than most supermarket produce. I like to source food from my fortnightly farmers market in town, which sells amazing meat and dairy produce and fresh in season fruit and vegetables. This is another important thing to remember, that eating fruit and vegetables in their season means that they will taste better as well as doing you good. I have a lot of influence from Western European cuisine (mainly France and Italy) as you will tell, but I do not profess to be a chef and everything is easy to make and very convenient. I have read countless diet books and diabetic recipe/diet books, and I came to a conclusion that I think really works. I fused all the good things from the diets (but not from every diet) and sort of put together my own one. I call this my Juvenile Diabetes Healthy Diet! The "rules" that I would lay down are as follows: 1. Cut back on snacks and then change the type of snacks you eat. Certainly my biggest downfall although it wasn't really apparent to me. When I first started at University, I had little or no routine which meant that filling my day was difficult and popping into the kitchen for a snack, no matter how healthy it felt, was a regular occurence. This is one of the hardest things to do for some people, but establishing a great routine is essential to great diabetes care. The types of snacks to be eating are unsalted nuts, dried unsweetened fruit, fresh fruit, fresh vegetables (I love fresh red pepper and cucumber), dark chocolate (richer and nicer and you only want 2 squares usually). 2. Cut back on white flour and embrace wholemeal carbs. This is the most essential part of your diet, and the thing that can show the biggest increase in loss of weight. Some diets in fact jsut focus on this point, and are very successful. Wholemeal (especially stoneground wholemeal) is so good for you and has so much more flavour in it that switching is much easier than you think. Most people are really surprised at the ranges you can get in you supermarket, again remember that the bread that is best for you is the one that is freshest with least perservatives or added ingredients. Also, brown or basmati rice is great with a lovely nutty texture. Wholemeal pasta is great and for your potatoes I would totally recommend the smaller new potatoes. 3. Stop drinking cocktails, start drinking wine. Cocktails are full of sugar, colourants and preservatives. As a student I have had loads of practice at going out and not drinking cocktails, so my drink of choice is Malibu and Diet Coke if I feel I have to drink something and I make it last all night. I can then top up with Diet Coke (which has almost no sugar in it) and it looks as though I am drinking Malibu, who is to know. If you are out at a restaurant, red wine is much better than anything else you can order, (except water of course!) and it has been proven that the anti-oxidants in red wine are great for keeping a healthy heart. The recommended amount is one glass a day with your evening meal. 4. Start cooking more fruit and vegetables. Fresh fruit and vegetables are a great way to get all the vitamins and minerals you need. And there are so many different ways in which to cook vegetables, but I find that raw is the best followed closely by steamed. Both of these ways preserve all their natural goodness as well. I will follow this post with another diabetes recipes post. 5. Drink more water. I know you have heard people say this many times before, but the benefits of drinking more water are endless. A few tips on how to get more water into your day are firstly to put bottles of water at all the places you go in the house or work. So keep one in your desk, on your desk, a glass in the kitchen, the bedroom, the sitting room, etc. Try and drink all these glasses up and you will be well on your way to 8 glasses a day. The trick is to add a glass every few days or so, if you try to drink all that water in one go you won't be so inclined to drink 8 glasses again, trust me! Have a go, it's amazing how great you will feel. i recommend this cookbook for u if u want healthy delicious food : Here

So in the new update year I will suddenly have an extra hour in my morning before work. I’m stoked because that might actually help me keep my New Years resolution of working out... at all. now the question is, what do I eat post work out that will get me throughout the day after I used so much energy. I can’t have pop tarts on the way out the door anymore. i didn’t have a very good blender so smoothies are kind of dead.

Guess who's back?! (No, not Slim Shady....) It's been at least 6 months since I last took part in a proper challenge (holy crap, it's been so long!). I realize this one is coming a few days late, but I've had all kinds of shit going down lately and I'm slowly catching up. There's a lot to fill you all in on, but I'll do my best to give you as brief of a synopsis as possible before moving forward with my challenge goals. For those who don't know or remember me - HI! I'm your friendly neighbourhood Ranger-Cyborg who has a hankering for adventure, crafting, video games, and overall badassness. Last you guys really saw from me was a month or two after my second ICL surgery, where I had my contact lens implants replaced (hence the cyborg bit). Thankfully, everything is going great on that front! At the time, I was getting back into the crossfit game, doing some urbexing, and had recently purchased my replacement car after hit and run totaled my previous one. My boyfriend and I were living on the Massachusetts coast line and trying to get our collective 'stuff' together - sorting our individual mental health problems, improving the living situation, and doing general growing up/adulting. The present... I am continuing to go to therapy for depression and anxiety after starting last spring; it has been incredibly helpful, but opened up a lot of old wounds that never properly healed. Long term, this is good, but it has made me question a lot of things in my life. I became (and still am to some degree) unsure of my surroundings, priorities, and, most disturbingly, myself. It's brought about A LOT of introspective thought and having to figure out what's really important to me. I'm still working on it, it's not a done deal, but pieces are coming into place. I have a better idea of what path I need to be on. As for my car, I'm still loving the hell out of it, and she runs and drives like a dream. Even with the snow, ice, and low temps we've had recently, she's been swell! Now, onto some major changes. For starters, my job has been sucking the life out of me, and I've been looking to move on for a few months now. It's gotten to the point where I am just so apathetic about my work and it takes all of my effort to even get out of bed in the morning (granted, depression doesn't help with that). Luckily, a friend knew of a position that was opening at her company and offered to pass on my resume. Long story short, I should be receiving an offer letter in my inbox any day now Received the offer today - JOB ACCEPTED!! Time for the next steps Secondly, Shaun and I are no longer together. I came to the realization during my introspection that I wasn't happy in my relationship and hadn’t been for a long time. There were a number of factors involved - some had been there since the beginning, and others had come up over the last year. Ultimately, I ended it, but it's turned into a bit of a nasty situation. In any case, I have moved in with my college friend for the foreseeable future. Even with this big bad thing slowly settling itself in the background, it's brought about some good things too - I'll be closer to my new job, I have unlimited access to my friend-turned-roommate's 3 kitties (Max, Momo, and Goober), and I've made new friends and am working on strengthening my pre-existing relationships. I've also started seeing someone else, which has been an adventure in and of itself (especially since I was not expecting to get into anything new for a while, nor was I looking for it. It just kinda...happened). Lastly, due to my move, I am no longer participating in crossfit. It’s not something I want to give up completely, but I’m going to have to hold off for a bit because of the way my finances are right now. I’m bummed about it, but I gotta do what I gotta do. I think that’s all the big, or at least the most prevalent, stuff that tends to show up in my posts. So, shall we move along to the goals?

Hi Fellow Nerds, I'm a Level 6 Warrior, and I'm not like I used to be. But I'm also not like I want to be. I'm in the middle on this journey, and this is about my journey from Madness to Sanity. Looking back I see how crazy my views of myself and health really were, and I am slowly replacing that insane thinking with sane thinking. I'm going to be the kind of guy who logs what he eats and how he exercises for 90 days so that I have accountability and encouragement in what I am doing. The BROAD goals for me in these next 90 days (starting July 1st): Level up my Nutrition from NF Diet-style Level 3 to 7 - This is a reasonable goal for me, because I have been eating more and more healthfully over the last 10 months, with the last month here moving to a more NF diet-style. I'm also going to work on logging what I eat on a daily basis and make it available to accountability partners. If you'd like to see what I'm eating, go to http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/diary/mawnstroe. Level up my Workouts from Level 3 to Level 4 - I'm currently doing NF Level 3 Bodyweight workouts and they are just the right amount of butt-kicking I need, so I think a good goal is to move up to Level 4 BW workouts. I have injured myself in the past too often by aiming too high, only to strain or tear something, so I am going to take the NF Mindset to heart and work on small, long term changes rather than try to change everything at once. As for where I am right now: Mindset: I have my Big Why (posted in my intro post on these forums). I've been hacking my sleep and it's really improved over the last month, I use the Sleep Cycle app for iPhone and Android. I get 6-7 hours of sleep a night and that is plenty. I can't sleep more than 7 (or 8 at the absolute max) no matter how hard I try. I'm just one of those guys who needs less sleep than others. I have accountability with a friend, and this thread is another version of that to widen my circle of friends and accountability partners I have set up some Loot! rewards for myself when I reach my goals, which I will post another time I am working on getting my Batcave customized, though I have the things I'd like to do, I haven't yet implemented them Nutrition: I'm on level 3 of the NF Diet-style, working on high protein breakfasts, eating vegetables with every lunch and dinner, and replacing normal carbohydrate or starch for 10 days out of a 2 week period. I've already conquered not eating pasta, and things like eating broccoli instead of French fries or asparagus instead of white bread, that sort of thing. I am working on limiting my bread consumption as well as carbohydrates in general. My goals right now are keeping carbs under 150 g a day. Workout: I'm currently on Level 3 Bodyweight workouts, and defeated the Widowmaker last week. w00t! I have had 3 weeks of regular workouts without missing one. I walk 10,000-12,000 steps a day and track it using my Misfit. I use "Zombies, Run!" app to make my walking more fun for me, and I like to also go hiking with my kids on weekends. If it's not fun, I'm not going to be doing it for long! I am paying close attention to my knees and shoulders because in the past I usually ended up injuring one or both of them and I am not going to do that this time around. I will pay attention to my body and I will not be afraid to modify my workouts so that I will not miss a workout. So I think that's about it for now. My goal for tomorrow is to report that I did my bodyweight workout today and also to go over my short-term goals and their subsequent Loot! as well as complete any other details I need to fill in. This is me living and leveling up one day at a time, enjoying one moment at a time, accepting hardship as a pathway to peace and health. Rawr! - Mawnstroe Level 6 Warrior

"The Road to Success is not a Path you Find, but a Trail you Blaze." -Robert Brault- Tired of falling backward when it's Spring and I should be leaping forward! I see there've been some changes around here since the last Challenge I attempted, so let's see if I can get back into the swing of things with you guys. I'm really glad Adventurer is its own guild now and not just a place for people who don't know what other guild to be in. Adventurers are awesome! I love hiking and climbing so I feel like this is where I belong. Let's start with the basics. I really need to develop some GOOD habits to counter all the bad ones I've got. One of my New Year's Resolutions is to gain altitude this year, and another is to lose weight. How does that translate? Spring Quest - Hike at Lapham Peak and climb to the top! Summer Quest - Participate in the Dirty Girl Mud Run in August! Diet Goal #1 Eat at least two servings of vegetables every day, including weekends! Diet Goal #2 No food after 8 pm, at least 5 days every week. Fitness Goal Workout three times per week. Choices are: -Kettlebell Workout -Bodyweight Workout -Climb at Adventure Rock -Others? Life Goal Eliminate Clutter - Remove 200 things from my home. Since I'm having some troubler with my computer right now, and it's getting late, I'll sort out the grading and what-not tomorrow. But it's good to have a start on this at least.

Happy New Year everyone! I hope the holidays were good for everyone. I sure have had a great holiday season, and am excited to take on 2016. This year could either see much change in my life, or a lot of the same old same old, I don't honestly know which way it will go, its all dependent on what will happen with my husband (The Mastermind), who is working on his PhD. Either way, I want to make the most of the year ahead, and I have big plans to do so. The biggest of my plans is that I signed up to run the Detroit International Half Marathon in October, EEEK! So that is the current fitness quest I am on. Other plans include exploring and soaking up all there is to do and see around the area where I live, because if The Mastermind finishes his PhD we will be moving, most likely. So without further adieu, this is what I have planned for the first 4 weeks of the year! 2016 Take 1 - Love thyself Step 1) Rehab that ankle! I will do my physical therapy for my sprained ankle everyday, first thing in the morning. The motivation, you cant run a half marathon on a sprained ankle, plus I need to develop good workout habits in the morning. The PT only takes like 10 minutes and its so simple there should be no excuses! 42.8%42.8% 3/7 as of 1/10 Step 2) No spend soda/Starbucks! I will not spend any money on soda or Starbucks. I have to break this bad habit. I got a good start with my 2 week vacation back home for Christmas (still here actually). So I'm already caffeine detoxed and on a roll. The caveat here is that I can still drink said beverages if someone else buys them for me, like Saturday morning dates with The Mastermind, but those are rare so its not a big loophole. 100%100% 7/7 as of 1/10 Step 3) "you are so used to your features, you don't know how beautiful you look to a stranger"- unknown Since I gained all this weight I have struggled with my body image. I spent last year avoiding photos like they were the plague. I have bought minimal clothes in the last few years because I hate looking at the large sizes and getting frustrated when things that used to look good do not. This body image issue reached a critical level when my mom offered to buy me pants that fit for Christmas and forced me to try on a bunch of clothes. It was such a demoralizing experience for me. So I have decided I need to work on my body image, and learn to love my body no matter what it looks like. This is a 2 part quest, part 1 I will clean out my closet and only keep the clothes that fit and that I look good in today. The others will either be packed up for the future me, or sent away. Part 2 will be more challenging, I will go shopping once a week and try on some clothes that I need to complete my much smaller wardrobe and must buy one piece each trip. Closet Clean Out 33.33%33.33% 5/15 as of 1/10 Shopping 0%0% 0/4 as of 1/10 Scoring All three quests will be pas/ fail. Step 1 and step 2 are obviously a daily pass/fail, step 3 part 1 is pass/fail for the entire challenge, while part 2 is a weekly score. I think I will just go for a completion percentage and see how I do. If I accomplish everything there may be some pampering for me for my birthday which is at the end of the challenge.

Hi all, Been a hermit on this site. Accepting my first challenge. Hoping to start the year off right and get healthy. Quest 1 - Decrease my soda consumption by 50%. Soda is my addiction. Time to kick it! Right now I average 8 24oz cokes a week. Quest 2 - Make it to swim practice 2x/week and do a body weight workout 2x/week. Can't be a good rebel without working out the body. Quest 3 - Run 2 miles without walking. Gotta get ready for that half marathon and don't want to run/walk the whole thing! Life quest - 5 minutes of meditation a day. Can't be a good rebel without working out the mind. I tried to put in some inspirational photos but failed. Will try and figure that out for the next challenge. Look forward to kicking this challenge's butt! Remba

I decided to get in on the recipe action too, so I'll post the recipes and cooking tips that I like here. For now, here's a green smoothie recipe that I use for breakfast sometimes. It does't taste spinachy at all! Ingredients 1/2 cup ice1 cup (1 large handful) baby spinach1/4 cup blueberries1/2 frozen banana1/3 cup almond milk (or other kind of milk)Up to 1/3 cup of water depending on desired consistency 1/2 scoop vanilla protein powderOptional Mix Ins 1 Tbsp chia seeds (I like to soak them in the water first for a smoother texture)1-2 Tbsp almond or peanut butter for extra fat/protein1 Tbsp ground flax seeds1 Tbsp coconut oil (for extra fat - I generally don't do this)Instructions Blend all ingredients except protein powder until smoothAdd protein powder and blend for no more than 30 seconds

These next few weeks, my goal is just to try and work on keeping as healthy a diet as possible. Currently, my house is going through a kitchen remodel and we are being provided food by members in my community. So, there isn't much control over what is given to us. I will track my portions and focus on only eating when I am hungry and stopping when I am full. I've slipped into snacking more often, so I am going to focus this time on limiting the times I eat to when I am actually hungry and not because I am bored or anxious. Also, in a few weeks I am moving across the country, so at that point, I will focus on building my batcave to be as helpful as it can be. For these next 6 weeks I will be living in three houses, so this is a time for me to step up my game and start new healthier habits. With all of the transitions coming, I am tabling leveling up my exercises until I can establish a routine in my new place. There is too much crazy right now to add anything new. Here's to big life changes! Woot!

Helly everyone, this is my first Adventurer Challenge. After starting in recruits last challenge I still haven't quite figured out where I fit in guild-wise and since I want to do a bit of everything this time, I guess the Adventurers are for me. A bit of a background: I'm 28 years old and live with my boyfriend and two cats in a nice not-so-little town in Germany. I started Nerdfitness 6 weeks ago when I looked at photographs from a vacation with friends and really didn't like the way I looked in them. My starting weight was 70kg (154 pounds) although it's not as much about losing weight as it is about toning up and getting fit. I have been quite the couch potato for the last years (almost all my life, when I come to think of it) and although I tried running and swimming and badminton at some point, nothing really stuck. I love singing, drawing, baking and currently play a lot more ESOTU (Elder Scrolls Online) than I should Last challenge I learned I'm capable of a lot more than I thought! I can run for 40minutes straight, if I want to, I can do a 40min workout at 10pm if I put my mind to it, I can easily leave unhealthy stuff out of my diet, I can drink 2l of water a day, if I put it right in front of my nose all the time (which I should do right now, brb). I couldn't do any of that when I started out, or maybe I didn't know I could so I never tried. I learned that doing things that are good for me lead to doing more things that are good for me I pampered myself more, I felt better in my own skin, I did more than was required by my challenge goals in certain ways... I've been feeling really good emotionally and physically during the last six weeks. I also lost about 0,5 kg each week on average (1,1 pounds) but more importantly, I look a lot slimmer. So much that my friends noticed, some of my coworkers noticed, my boyfriend constantly tells me... I did some progress shots after 4 weeks and the improvement is much bigger than I thought it would be in that little time. I'll give you a bit of a summary of how my last challenge went and what I want to change about it for this one. For the tl;dr version, just scroll down to my current goals. The easiest thing (surprisingly) was the diet part - I abstained from industrial sugar and white flour without much problem. Sure, sometimes I was very tempted by sweets or bread or cake, but most of the time it was easy to tell myself "No, I can't have that right now. I don't want to have that right now!". Since my first slip up from this rule resulted in stomach pains and a general feeling of un-wellness, it was surprisingly easy to resist temptation from there on (I still treated myself to cake sometimes, but it was planned and decided beforehand, not a spur of the moment decision, which is fine by me). I also noticed that I resisted other things that were not necessarily forbidden by my rules but I still deemed unhealthy and therefor didn't want to eat despite their yummyness - nachos for example. I definitely want to continue this challenge this time. I feel better, my skin is better and my eating habits fit those of my boyfriend better (who does atkins most of the time), which saves time and money (yay!). The drinking part has been an important one for me. My fluid-intake is way too small for the most part, especially now that a heat-wave has drenched Germany in sweat. Sometimes I forget to drink and there were days when I didn't even reach one liter of water. The last six weeks have definitely changed that. I fill up two bottles of water each day and empty them before bedtime. This works very well as long as those bottles are in my line of sight. Out of sight, out of mind. I want to keep this habit up, too, which also includes not drinking my calories. The next challenge included to get up early and go for a 40min run three times a week. I started out great with this one and then gradually lost motivation, especially on the get up early part. My bed is way to comfy. However, I managed to go from alternating walking an running every 100m (109 yards) to running 40 minutes straight, which is something I still can't quite comprehend I want to continue this quest because it's the one where I saw most progress and which made me feel good about myself. Especially when I did manage to get up early, it was an awesome feeling to already have accomplished something that day. I nursed the idea of going on a 5k run sometime soon. My current running distance is 4,2km (2,6 miles) and is quite manageable. I'll use the one week break to see whether there are any runs at the end of the challenge period and figure out how to join one. The most difficult main quest for me was the workout quest. I followed the Nerdfitness bbww (beginners bodyweight workout) and have become better at it (holding planks for 30s, doing 15 dumbbell rows each side with 10kg (22 pounds), doing 10 wall push-ups in a row instead of... three) but it was the most exhausting one of my quests and therefor the one that gave me the most motivational issues. However, the strechting I did afterwards also gave me one of my biggest motivational boosts, since I'm finally able to touch my toes with my fingertips while standing up with my legs straight, which is something I haven't been able to do in forever! I do want to continue with this but I think it will help to keep better track of my progress. If I really write down how many reps at what stage I have been able to do and try to up that number next time, I think i'll be more motivated because I'll have a better connection to my improvement. At least I'll try My life quest was to apply for jobs. I failed this one miserably. I currently work part-time and would like to either get a second part-time job or a different full-time job closer to me (I currently commute 50 minutes one way). I sent out one application to a company I've worked with before who are looking for support from september to january next year and that was it. I feel pretty confident that I will get that job since they already know me, my current job is pretty close to what I'll be doing with them and the invited me to a job interview so I felt like it would be weird to send initiative applications to other jobs only to then tell them I won't have time to start until next year... I don't know. The interview is on the 6th of August so I'll see what happens then. New quests this challenge: I want to start yoga. I really enjoy the stretching and gymnastics stuff I did and I want to give yoga a try. I'll look around for suitable online resources and find one I like. Maybe I'll do the 30 days of yoga routine during these 6 weeks. Or maybe I'll find a few longer routines I can do on weekends. I don't know yet. If anyone knows any free videos that focus on the movements and not so much on the spiritual aspect and connecting with everything, that would be great I need a new life quest. Since there are so many things I would like to do I think I'll make a list of different activities and try to do 3 of these each day. They will probably range from household scores that only take 10 minutes to practicing my singing for 45 minutes so I can adjut which ones I do to how much time I'll have that day. However, I think it will be good if I decide the day before which ones they're going to be and maybe I won't repeat one I've already done until I have done all the other ones, too (kind of like twelve-tone technique ), but I'm not sure about that yet. I'll figure that out when I've written my list. Goals for this challenge: Main quest: I want to get back in shape, fit in my old jeans again, be able to run to catch the bus without being out of breath, be more flexible and agile and generally look the way I feel again. I feel better about myself if I'm fitter and more active and I want to stay on that path. Quest 1: get up! - I want to get out of bed earlier. Right now I still have days where stay in bed the whole morning and feel like I've already wasted half a day by noon. I want to see what happens and how I feel when I actually stick to this for 6 weeks. So I will get up not later than 7am on weekdays. I can sleep in on the weekends. 0/30 (ommited in favor of "no unproductive internet usage between 8am and 8pm" ) Quest 2 1: run for it! - I want to run at least 40 minutes two times a week. Three times a week turned out to be a little much, especially now that I want to add yoga to the plate. I'll find a 5k run to join towards the end of the challenge. 0/12 (bonus if 5k completed) A: 12 runs, B: 9 runs, C: 6 runs, F: less than 6 runs +2 STA, +1 CON Quest 3 2: more power! - I want to do the bbww two times a week and track my progress in detail. I will also try to do more reps or harder versions of the exercises each time. I will finish the session with strechting and/or gymnastics for a total of at least 40 minutes. 0/12 A: 12 sessions, B: 9 sessions, C: 6 sessions, F: less than 6 sessions +2 STR, +1 STA Quest 4 3: go yoga! - I want to find a yoga routine that I can stick with for 6 weeks. Details will follow when I've taken a bit of a look around the ressources out there. 0/? I will do a daily yoga stretching routine (no excuses) and follow as many of the 30 days of yoga with Adriene videos as I can. 0/42, 0/30 A: 42 sessions, B: 31 sessions, C: 21 sessions, F: less than 21 sessions +2 DEX, +1 WIS, +1 CHA, secret bonus reward provided by boyfriend if I actually do all 30 videos Quest 5 4: stay healthy! - I want to continue with my no artificial sugar, no white flour rule. I will allow myself 6 plus days during the challenge period where I can eat and drink what I like. I will also drink 2 liters of water every day, without exception (if I don't drink enough on a plus day, it counts as a fail). 0/36, 0/6 plus days taken A: 36 healthy days, B: 27 healthy days, C: 18 healthy days, F: less than 18 healthy days +1 CON, +1 WIS, +1 CHA Life quest: 3 a day! - I'll make a list of things that I want to do more of and do three of these each day. I will plan the day before what those three things are going to be based on how much time I'll have, what needs to be done and what I haven't done for a while. I will allow myself a rest from this on sundays. 0/36 A: 36 days, B: 27 days, C: 18 days, F: less than 18 days +1 WIS, +1 CHA (it's a smart thing to do and having my shit together will make me more attractive. That's how this works, right?) bonus reward provided by boyfriend if I finish all of these quest with at least 85% (yes it's ambitious, but I can totally do it!). Looking at it like this it seems like a lot, but I think it's manageable. I reduced the times I want to run/workout because I noticed it was a bit too much last time. I also split the getting up and going for a run quests, but put the eating/drinking habits back in one again. I think it will work better this way. At least I hope so. What do you guys think? Oh, I'll also try to update this thread every one or two days. I noticed that slacking in my quests lead to not writing here which lead to more slacking... I actually can't wait for the next challenge to begin, it's been a lot of fun and so rewarding to change my habits. My feeling of self-efficacy is over 9000

What do you guys do for quick, affordable, healthy, tasty meals? My dad went carb-free for a while and lost maybe 30 lbs in what seemed like very little time. He was eating at good restaurants every meal, getting filet mignon and grilled shrimp, telling me all the while about how easy it is, and how it doesn't taste that bad. But my budget is maybe $3 a meal... What can I do? So far, I've been buying a family pack of chicken breast in the beginning of the week and cooking it up with some spices, setting aside small portions for each meal. But it's getting old quick. I love fish, but it's expensive and doesn't taste so great when kept in the fridge for a few days. Prepackaged meals? Frozen meals? A nibblet of a meal from a common restaurant? Or something that will keep all week in the fridge for me to mass produce on Monday nights? Thanks!

Hey guys! I came up with a fun way to stick to your diet. I'm posting to share it so that maybe it can help you guys out too. It's very in line with the gamer mentality we all have at NF. It's pretty cool if you can commit to the gameplay! So. Stickers. When I was a kid, everyone went rabid when the teacher baited good behavior with sticker rewards. If you had enough stickers in your sticker book, you touted them like merit badges. Puffy stickers with goggly eyes. Ecstatic smiley faces of every variety. Lisa frank. Hot wheel. Scratch and sniff. The animal ones with actual fuzzy textures. The giant sparkly metallic kind, envy of everyone in the whole class. There is great motivational power in stickers. Why not harness it to stay on track with your diet? I don't know about you guys, but diet tracking apps don't really work for me. It's annoying to upload pictures, browse databases, and key in portion sizes for everything I eat. It's awkward in public. It's WAY more convenient to keep a notepad and write everything down. And you can put stickers in a notepad! Plus, everyone's long term goal is to eat wholesomely, but it shouldn't be at the expense of never enjoying treats every now and then. Obviously a slice of homemade birthday cake is worth more than a handful of M&Ms for "something sweet" after lunch. I built this mentality of differentiating "special" treats into the game. Here are the rules I set up for myself personally in my sticker-diet book. It's a little complicated but I'm neurotic like that so it suits me fine. Feel free to steal this and adapt it for your own priorities. If you like it, get thyself to a Staples or craft store, pick out a booklet of little stickers that engages your inner-kid enthusiasm, and give it a shot! Here goes. The Sticker Merit Diet: GAMEPLAY Write down everything you eat. Every. Thing. If you follow your diet (*A*) that day, you earn a sticker. If you follow your diet for three days in a row, you earn a small reward.(*B*) If you follow your diet for a week straight, you earn a big reward! (*C*) There is NO PUNISHMENT for not following your diet. You just didn't follow your diet. This is a positive reward based game! Consistently aim to challenge yourself. I've been at this for about six months now, and it's still pretty tough at times. If it becomes too easy (you'll know when it is) to follow your diet for a week solid, modify it so you level up! Experiment with paleo, eliminate processed foods, or make your rules a little stricter. If you can sail through all your diet obstacles and you are happy with your lifestyle, mission accomplished! DIET RULES (*A*) You define your ideal diet. Think hard on your habits and where you need the most incentive to eat right. Decide your conditions for a healthy diet and aim to meet them all, every day, so you rack up your sticker badges. For me this includes: eat a salad every day, limiting myself to one unhealthy food serving per day, and eliminating junk food (soda, candy, potato chips, artificial cheesy things) entirely. An unhealthy food in my case is: one *~*SPECIAL TREAT*~*, one serving of white bread/rice/pasta, one serving of red meat, one serving of buttery/creamy/oily food (slice of pizza, miscellaneous food you might have at a restaurant, etc), 2 oz of high fat cheese, or one alcoholic bev. (*B*) Establish a 3 day reward. Find something small, repeatable, and something not unhealthy, for following your diet for 3 days straight. You could win a bigger shinier sticker, or an hour of guilty pleasure TV, a favorite healthy-ish snack, whatever. It has to be cheap; expense cannot be a deterrent in this game. (I use these popsicle things called Smoozies, they're tasty, treat like, and I can order them in bulk.) It works best if you can invest yourself in getting whatever it is, so that if you're halfway into your 3rd good day on your diet, and an enormous cake presents itself to you, you can withstand the temptation because you WANT the reward instead. The strategy: treat + sense of victory > impulsive eating. (*C*) One week reward! This is actually pretty tough to get, so the stakes are higher. For my 1 week reward, I let myself buy or do something fun for under $100. You can set your expense limit at whatever is reasonable, the idea being that you can do something nice for yourself without breaking the bank. It doesn't have to be expensive! I used one reward to get my nails done with gal pals, I used another to get a rocking new pair of gym shoes. A concert ticket, a new video game, or something that shows off your increasingly good-looking self. The one caveat here is that your reward cannot be food. Eliminate the idea that you can ever deserve to eat badly. ~*SPECIAL TREATS*~ This is the part of the game that keeps your sweet tooth in check while and diet realistic. That adage of nothing tastes as good as eating right feels is, IMO, baloney. Obviously whoever thought of that has not had my mom's banana bread. So identifying a sweet treat as *special* allows for some leeway in your diet. If a unhealthy food is Special, that means it will life-enhancing as opposed to just "tastes good because it has sugar and fat in it". Examples: A home made pie made just for you with love by your SO for your birthday. A lavish dessert at a fancy occasion restaurant. A regional specialty donut that is unique to the area that you are traveling to on vacation. A deliberate choice to indulge in an ice cream cone, because it is a perfect summer day on the beach and it's just what the doctor ordered. A cookie or two from the new recipe you're trying out. Etc! Special treats are NOT store-bought or mass produced. Special treats are NOT the kind of treat you eat "because it's there", or because you happen to crave it. They do not have high fructose corn syrup. Examples: a slice of your coworker's birthday cake from Walmart. The brownie that comes with your combo meal. Candy, cookies, chocolates, ice cream, pastries, extra whipped cream caramel frappacinos, or anything like that that you suddenly want when you're out grocery shopping or running errands. Etc! BONUS This is an optional part of the game. I let myself offset 1x high fat food, so that I can have 2 high fat foods in a day and stilly earn a sticker, if I complete one of the following bonuses. There is only one bonus credit per day allowed. 1. Have a second salad, so that 2/3 of the day's meals were dark leafy greens. 2. Go to the gym and complete a solid workout. 3. Earning a "gold star" at work; i.e. working a double or triple, generally kicking ass way above normal levels, getting shit done. Game on!

Welcome!! This accountability group is a little different - we're playing a game together in the hopes of getting through the upcoming holiday season with both our waistlines and our good spirits intact. You are welcome to join us!! This is a cross-guild group, and even Level 1's may join in if you like. The game is modeled on several easy kid's games, such as Candy Land or Chutes and Ladders. No copyright infringement is intended. Also, it is NOT a well-designed or carefully constructed game. I was going to play this by myself, but the idea intrigued other people; so let's give it a whirl. There are no winners or losers. I hope that everyone gets to the end of the board by the end of the challenge!! We're here to cheer each other on. Maybe engage in a little good-natured ribbing. But I hope to see everyone in the Celebration Square at the end of the challenge!!! Most of the activities you'll undertake to play the game will be decided by YOU. I'll share my lists of adventures, rewards, forfeits (ugh!), and challenges, but I really want this game to be customized to your needs and circumstances. I'm creating some resources that you can download and print out, but those are optional and the game can be played by using dice or rolling random numbers any way that you can (such as using a random number generator on your smart phone). You will need a Google account in order to access the online board. So, if you are interested, read the (yes, rather long) rules post and add your name to the game board. We'll start the game when the challenge begins!

I dunno about you guys, but I love this time of year. I especially love the pumpkin flavored everything you get this time of year! But, sadly, eating healthier means that most of those delicious pumpkin treats are great big no-nos! So I thought I'd start a new topic for all of us pumpkin nuts to share our favorite healthy pumpkin recipes! Healthy alternatives to the sugar-loaded pumpkin lattes, donuts, and pies. And of course, my favorite, the IHOP pumpkin pancakes! Whoa! I need some ideas for replacing that badboy! So please share your pumpkin recipes with the rest of us pumpkin lovers! Let me start it off with something I found online: Pumpkin Pie Bars Ingredients: 15 oz. pumpkin puree (1.5 cups) 3/4 cup coconut flour 3/4 cup real maple syrup (may use honey instead) 1.5 teaspoons ground cinnamon 3/4 teaspoon ground ginger 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves 3/4 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt (or salt replacement) 2 large eggs Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x9 pan with coconut oil, or butter if you are okay with dairy. Combine all of the ingredients in a mixing bowl until smooth. Pour into the pan, smooth it out with the spatula until even. Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until firm. Allow to cool completely, then cut into squares. Store in refrigerator for up to a week! (Of course, if you want to use a different flour than coconut flour, this recipe is not going to work for you. Very unfortunate results with almond flour! Ew!)

Hello all! I have a super busy schedule with school/work/family obligations. My issue is that I have literally no time to cook for myself as I am always on the run and dont get home until late at night. Im starting to try to eat healthier but I do not know where to start for pre-made foods. I was wondering if anyone had suggestions on what they think are the best quick meals to buy and/or the easiest and quickest to make.

I'm a 41 year old female, and my weight has been up and down a lot, but I've remained obese since about my mid-20s. I don't know precisely when I truly became overweight - starting around the time that I was about 12 or 13 (basically puberty), I got told by my parents that I "would be so pretty, if only you would lose a few pounds." I remember being a freshman in high school and being within the average weight range for my height according to the BMI, but believing that wearing size 12 jeans meant I was fat. Oh, to fit into those size 12's again. At some point in college, while STILL hearing that being pretty was completely dependent on me losing weight, I decided I just didn't care - if I was fat then I would just be fat. I would eat whatever I wanted, I would do whatever I wanted. This came at the same time as a lot of other anger and rebellion which I think was largely related to struggling with coming out of the closet as well, and around this same time I stopped being accountable for a lot of things, which in part meant I stopped weighing myself. So I don't really know when exactly all the weight came on, but it has stayed since. Imagine my surprise a year ago when a friend of mine posted a "Throwback Thursday" photo of the two of us from around about the time I was 13 or 14, and I realized that I was an absolutely, completely average looking kid. I stared at it for a long time trying to see why, exactly, that kid needed to lose weight. I still don't have any answers. And weight is still tied to my self-esteem and my sense of attractiveness. In the years since, mostly I've been healthy in spite of my weight. I did have acute pancreatitis due to mis-handling of gallstones, and had to have abdominal surgery and now, while I can do some ab exercises, I can't handle an entire ab workout (by doctor's orders). That situation going so wrong was due to bad practices by a doctor, but, well, gallstones are a really common problem for people who are overweight. I also had a little blood pressure scare this year, and while my doctor determined it isn't a chronic problem yet, I feel like I need to take it really seriously so that that doesn't happen. So there have been small health problems that can definitely be linked to my eating and exercise habits. Over a year ago I joined Weight Watchers and at first, I had really good momentum and lost 38 pounds. But then my willpower dropped, there were personal issues which made it really clear to me that I'm an emotional eater, and I've gained back 18 of those pounds and have found it very difficult to lose them again. What I would like to find here - what I really hope to find - is like-minded community. I'd like to find a group of regulars that I can hit it off with, who offer encouragement. While I attended Weight Watchers meetings, you don't really get that there. People just show up, weigh in, listen to what is said, and go about their day. People don't really bother to get to know each other or form bonds. I'd like a place where bonds can be formed. What I want to accomplish is weight loss, a greater sense of self REGARDLESS of how my body looks, and the ability to do a pull up! What I would LOVE to accomplish is looking awesome in my cosplay. I'd like my body to match the way I feel wearing costumes. I have a primary goal of losing 50 pounds through healthy eating and exercise. This is my goal because when I had pancreatitis, I lost that much due to sickness, in a really unhealthy way. I'd like to lose that much in a healthy way, and consider that a good starter goal. So that's me. Hi! I look forward to meeting you.

Right, here I am trying to lose this 20-30lbs I have been wanting to shift forever, to appreciate myself, become stronger, build healthy habits and try not to binge. Recently. I have been doing really, really well with the not binge eating; I read a book which I think helped quite a lot - but that's not to say I haven't had slips ups but I am on the right track.. I posted a thread in the Weight Loss section and got back a lot of good advice, I also read a lot on these forums and think the input and information is far more helpful than where I was before. I'm gonna cut my calories a lot. I have muscle there, so will be eating a lot of protein but can probably get away with a bigger deficit for a shorter amount of time.. and having calories low means, well to me, I have more to play around with and change if I need to. I may eat a bit more or maintenance on a weekend day, but I am also thinking of IF-ing one day and just having a big meal in the evening - sort of like 5:2 diet but only once a week.. like I said I can play around a bit. I am scared to weigh, my body image has been really bad lately and I am scared what weighing might do to my mentality. However, I want to weigh daily to see fluctuations and know if adjustments are needed. Main Lifts (currently) Squat: 75kg (3x singles) Deadlift: 100kg (5x singles) Bench press: 47.5kg (5x5 - sacred to make the leap to 50kg on my own!) OHP: 30kg (3x3) I have recently added in cardio sometimes, and a few isolations exercises to target other muscles more and kettlebell stuff - I want to figure out a superset routine or HIIT routine and have more body weight stuff but not sure what to do or where to begin!! I also do 1-2x circuit classes on the weekends, body weight, ropes, kettlebells etc which I sorta of see as cardio/conditioning. Goals: Following a more IIFYM way of eating but I want to ensure I hit my proteins really - and learn portion/treat control, like I will buy a small 1 person size chocolate bar instead of buying a big one (which I think I will hide away for another week but never do..)Not be scared of food/food groups, but eat healthy - lots of vegetables Think and be aware of binge habits and when I feel the "urge" IF - I seem to do better just having coffee in the morning or nothing at all, breakfasts make me hungry, so adding in IF to my weekly routine seems a good idea and will help keep calories in control.Track everything. I know it will help. I will add to this I think - and it might change, these are just of the top of my head and things I have been thinking about!

Introduction: HIYAH! I'm Zee & up until last week, I had no motivation to change my unhealthy eating habits...that is until I found this amazing website by accident! Ever since, I joined NF, I have been welcomed with open arms and tons of support! I'm very excited for my first challenge! I work a mostly sit down job, but, I am very active after work (long walks, jogging, kickball games etc.,) It's after all that, when I find my self hungry...that's when I make the worst mistakes ever, fast food, late night eating, and SODA! I am ready to make a life change and lose some weight. I just want to be more comfortable in my skin and gain more self confidence. Current Stats: Height: 5'4 Weight: around 280 LBS. Main Quest: Lose 70 by July 2015 Quest 1: Walk for 15 minutes a day and work out for more than 1 hour 4 times a week (in addition to walking) Measurement: A = 15 min & 4 times a week for 30 days, B = 15 & 4 times a week, 25 days, C = 15 min & 4 times a week Reward: A = +3 STA, +2 STR, B = +2 STA, +1 STR, C = +1 STA Quest 2: Only drink soda once a week when I go out to dinner with pals Measurement: A = 1 sodas, B = 2 sodas, C = 3 sodas Reward: A = +3 CON, B = +2CON, C = +1 CON Quest 3: Go to bed by 11pm during the week (excludes weekends) Measurement: A = 11pm, 42 days; B = 12am, 36 days, C = after 12am Reward: A = +3 WIS, +2 CON, B = +2WIS, +1 CON, C = +1WIS Life Quest: Get up early when I do not have to and doing something beneficial with my life, learning how to manage stress at school and work effectively Measurement: A = 42 days, B = 36 days, C = 30 days Reward: A = +2 WIS, B = +1WIS, C = +1 WIS Motivation: I want to feel comfortable in front of my friends without awkwardly making jokes about myself to ensure no one else can make fun of me. I have the best friends, I just feel uncomfortable around them. I want to be noticed more and possibly date more! LET'S DO THIS!!!!

First challenge. http://rebellion.nerdfitness.com/index.php?/topic/50587-candace-koller-improve-health-despite-depression/ It started off well but then life got in the way. Now I'm right back up to where I was when I started with only 4 days left to lose 5 lbs. That's not going to happen unless there's a miracle. Diet plan, modified primal/paleo. Mostly meats and vegetables. No fruit or fruit juice, nothing with added sugar, and a little heavier on the dairy, a lot of cream and cheese (and cream cheese). Goal carb intake below 50g. Goal fat intake at least 60% of my calories from fat.

Current activities/diet: Ketogenic Diet (Doctor Recommended)Walking 15 min at work and then longer walks/runs in the evening (Doctor suggested minimum of two 15 minute walks a day)Tai Chi/Qi Gong 15 minutes a day (Starting soon based on Doctor commendation)Strength TrainingAny other suggestions for things for me to work on let me know. Also in my signature is my battle log if you are interested in how I am doing. Thanks for checking this thread out <3

I actually bought a Pop Tart out of the vending machine. I even started to eat one of them! Then I reminded myself that I'm stronger than my cravings and opted for pistachios instead. consider my will power workout done for the day

I've always had a problem with eating breakfast but I'm starting to get over it recently. One thing that I really like are smoothies (I just got a blender) and I was wondering what's your go to smoothie when it comes to breakfast. I prefer sweet smoothies (otherwise I crave sugar throughout the day) but I've seen a few recipes for savory smoothies (or blends), not sure how they taste however. Has anyone tried any of them? Thank you

I've realized that I don't know how to eat. The more I think about the food I make, the more I realize that although I'm cooking from scratch, I'm making food that isn't necessarily healthy (one recipe called for 1 cup of mayo...what the hell man?!) So I want to cleanup my diet and start eating like a person, not like a college freshman. Does anyone have any suggestions on where to start? Maybe some good cook books and ideas for all meals? (Breakfasts, dinners, lunches?) and ideas for bringing lunch to work? (I work in an office.) For context, I hate tomatoes more than water hates oil. So if I could stray away from them as much as possible...that would be great.