Search the Community

Hi! Been doing IF for 7 days strict calorie control and macros. Day 4 woke me early with horrible stomach cramps. I ate carbs and egg with salt to resolve. Day 7 the stomach cramps came back and made me break my fast 3 hours early. Taking women MultiVits. Healthy 5"8 age 30 BMI approx 31 (Shy about weight!) Macros 40/35/25% prot/fat/carbs 156g/60g/98g 1500cal goal Light exercise: 2k jog twice this week Active job on feet Eating window is 13.30-21.30 Please help as I want to continue. I'm not feeling much hunger pangs but the abdominal cramps is awful. I'm worried that I'm harming my body. Has anyone had this? Thanks

It's been a while. when you last saw me, this happened... I've mostly stayed the course, but I reinjured my back again and spent all last year trying to get back to healthy. And the better news is nice drugs that helped me deal with the pain... burnt out my kidneys (kinda stage 3 for those who are familiar with that). Goals: It's now time to go from this to this My tracking Cals and reduce sodium. 2000 cals. 109p/298c/60f and ~2000mg Sodium continue to do physical therapy and core strength work and work on shoulder mobility so I can do more cool things! There, simple and easy.

Hi Nurds. Since we have an all-guild mashup, I'm going to go ahead a re-re-introduce myself. I'm Chris Tarly. Up until the beginning of last challenge, I was known as Curl Brogo (among other names, check my sig). I joined NF 6 friggin years ago as an overweight grad student. Over those six years there have been many trials and tribulations over weight loss, becoming a massive beefcake, then anxiety and depression, and getting through days with jobs I hate and family members who annoy me (I did the move back home thing a few years ago, it was not fun). I've spent a lot of my time with the warriors, but now I challenge mostly with the adventurers. Now I work as a machinist and I'm writing a Fantasy novel, while trying to not turn into some kind of obese potato shaped slug. Onto the challenge. Here's the big deal... I'm switching to night shift! On day shift, which is scheduled (loosely) for 5 am to 5 pm, I tried to get extra hours by going in early, then burning out because I'm not a morning person at all. And right now I need 45 hours just to make ends meet. I'd prefer to be getting 50+ so I can have a savings again. Now I'll be scheduled to come in at 3pm. I have to get 10 hours normally, but I'll have Fri, Sat, Sun evening off unless I want overtime on Friday. I'm optimistic. I used my long weekend to push my sleep schedule back. I like it. I might never again need an alarm clock. But this is a time to build awesome new habits. Goal 1: Exercise 3 days a week -- kettlebell and barbell complexes Weather permitting: go on coffee walks around the neighborhood. 1 pt. per workout +1/2 bonus point for coffee walking 15 total points. Goal 2: Stick to macros 2376 calories, 201 g Protein, 60 g Fat, 258 g Carbs Always bring a lunch (dinner haha) to work. 1 point days on target (within error of +/- 200 calories, 20g for Pro/CHO, 10g for Fat) 1 point for bringing dinner to work. 33-36 total points. (depends on how many days I actually work) Goal 3: Keep Writing I stepped up and tried NaNoWriMo this year. I kept at it but didn't make it to 50,000 words. But I started a fantasy novel that I'm keen to see through to the end at my own pace. I don't see myself getting to the end of this book until I hit nearly 150,000. Add 300 words minimum to word count everyday... no matter what* Add 6300 words minimum to pass (2100 / week) Add 12600 words -- awesome! (casual congratulatory) Add 18900 words -- excellence! Reach double the current word count [78,194] -- awesome! (formal literary) Word Count: 39,097 excludes plagues, family emergencies, and apocalyptic phenomena I feel like I should have one more goal, but I think that's because I usually have a sleep goal, and now I don't need one. Ha ha!

I'm a little late to the party, but know this, I have been fighting the war for a long time. However, my body has not been reacting at all to my nutrition changes. I talked to my nutritionist last night, and she's going to reduce my Cals to 2350 with 325c/120p/65f. I'm going to starve, but I'll be forged from fire. I also have gotten to the point that I need to practice Crossfit skills again. Freestanding Handstands into HS walks, Muscle ups, double unders and pistols, practice at least one a day.

Part 3 of my journey, more of the same... I've been doing a lot of Podcast listening to a Former Navy SEAL turned motivation speaker and he has 2 big points that I love. Discipline = Freedom and extreme ownership of everything you do. I haven't been meeting my goals mainly causing I'm not doing these things. So, this year I'm going to be more goal oriented and harder on myself when I don't make good decisions. I'm also going to get back to basics, evaluate my priorities, and reestablish my discipline. There are lots of things I want to accomplish, but haven't because, honestly, I just didn't do the things necessary to accomplish them, like I started this year fatter than last year, and I've failed to make any fat loss progress since end of Jan and electrostatic machine says I'm losing muscle mass and gaining fat. 1. Get lean as fuck or lose 20 lbs. I was in between 225-228 for most of last year, but my belly measurement went up from 35.8-36.2" to 38". This isn't good. I'm not at 36.5", and I have made no progress in the last 15 weeks. a. Count all my calories. Don't eat over 2700 cals/day. Basically, have some goddamn discipline. I've been doing good at this, but now to take it to the next step. Be accurate with my Marcos. b. New Macros: 300c, 215p, 65f. I've been mostly good for this for the last 5 weeks. c. Track my body stats. I'm great at capturing my weight, but I'm now going to be discipline about tracking my waist and hip measurements. and it's too hot here to go another summer of wearing a shirt during workouts. Fuck, summer is here and I'm not summer ready!! summer is here... summer body... isn't. 2. Give praise in the Iron sanctuary. To do this, I must remain mobile and healthy. So... have some fucking discipline and do my mobility. Don't be afraid to see my chrio, and lastly... if I need them, take my NSAIDs. I know they make me bloated... but it will pass. Use them to heal faster. 3. Compete in things. Get off my ass and enter some contests. I will enter at least 1 PL meet, 1 Crossfit comp (open isn't going to count, and I'm not entering) and 1 WL meet. Weightlifting meet: completed 4/28. Need to look for another one Crossfit meet: Time to find one PL Meet: probably not going to happen. Don't feel like joining another fed, just to compete once. Sorry, if I don't post in your challenge It takes all my effort just to post in mine.

I've been doing a lot of Podcast listening to a Former Navy SEAL turned motivation speaker and he has 2 big points that I love. Discipline = Freedom and extreme ownership of everything you do. I haven't been meeting my goals mainly causing I'm not doing these things. So, this year I'm going to be more goal oriented and harder on myself when I don't make good decisions. I'm also going to get back to basics, evaluate my priorities, and reestablish my discipline. There are lots of things I want to accomplish, but haven't because, honestly, I just didn't do the things necessary to accomplish them, like I started this year fatter than last year, and I've failed to make any fat loss progress since end of Jan and electrostatic machine says I'm losing muscle mass and gaining fat. 1. Get lean as fuck or lose 20 lbs. I was in between 225-228 for most of last year, but my belly measurement went up from 35.8-36.2" to 38". This isn't good. I'm not at 36.5", but have made no progress in the last 10 weeks. a. Count all my calories. Don't eat over 2450 cals/day. Basically, have some goddamn discipline. I've been doing good at this, but now to take it to the next step. Be accurate with my Marcos. b. New Macros: 250c, 215p, 65f. I've been mostly good for this for the last 10 days. c. Track my body stats. I'm great at capturing my weight, but I'm now going to be discipline about tracking my waist and hip measurements. and it's too hot here to go another summer of wearing a shirt during workouts. Fuck, summer is here and I'm not summer ready!! 2. Give praise in the Iron sanctuary. To do this, I must remain mobile and healthy. So... have some fucking discipline and do my mobility. Don't be afraid to see my chrio, and lastly... if I need them, take my NSAIDs. I know they make me bloated... but it will pass. Use them to heal faster. 3. Compete in things. Get off my ass and enter some contests. I will enter at least 1 PL meet, 1 Crossfit comp (open isn't going to count, and I'm not entering) and 1 WL meet. I'll do the worse at the WL meeting, but I need to just get off my ass and throw some numbers up. I'll be competing in the Midtown Open 2 this Sat in WL. Going to rock it and get some PRs! Sorry if I don't post in your challenge

All around us, it was as if the universe were holding its breath . . . waiting. All of life can be broken down into moments of transition or moments of revelation. This had the feeling of both. G'Quon wrote, "There is a greater darkness than the one we fight. It is the darkness of the soul that has lost its way. The war we fight is not against powers and principalities – it is against chaos and despair. Greater than the death of flesh is the death of hope, the death of dreams. Against this peril we can never surrender." The future is all around us, waiting in moments of transition, to be born in moments of revelation. No one knows the shape of that future, or where it will take us. We know only that it is always born in pain. Big Why I have respawned more times than I can count. And I think the main reason is that my big why wasn't strong enough, or big enough, or revisited often enough. I always start out strong but then something happens to disrupt the routine, or I get distracted, or lose focus, and it all comes crumbling down again. I was having a deep conversation with my partner and he said, "I wish you could just be happy with yourself the way you are, and I think you would be happier overall if you just accepted yourself as you are, instead of constantly trying and failing." I understand what he was trying to say, but I think there is a fundamental part of me that says, "You could be better." It says, "You weren't always like this, and staying this way is a failure." There's a logical part of it that says, "A healthier lifestyle would be good for your mental health because endorphins are a great remedy for depression," and "Most of your depression and insecurity comes from being unhappy with the state of your health and appearance, your inability to buy clothes, the loss of looks you once had under pounds of extra flesh, and being too unfit to do things you used to be able to do so easily." So, while I appreciate that he was saying what he said from a place of love and with the hope that I would love myself as much as he loves me, and be happy with myself in who I am now, I think that I will respectfully disagree. I deserve to be in the best condition I can be. I owe it to myself to look after my body. When I know what the right choices are, it makes no sense that I keep making the wrong choices. SMART Goals/Quest list This is a master list; I won't work on them all at once but I will work towards these big goals with the challenges. Nutrition: 1. Eating planned meals according to macros: 33P/29C/38F 2. Weighing and tracking food on MFP for at least 30 consecutive days 3. Phasing out carbonated drinks (including diet soda) in favour of water, tea and black coffee. 4. Cutting down on sugar and processed foods over time. 5. Reducing take-out meals to 3 times a week. Mental: 1. Getting control of my depression through meds and therapy. 2. Improving self-care such as brushing my teeth at least twice a day for a month. 3. Meditating every day for a month. 4. Overcoming social media addiction. 5. Updating progress here at least once a day. 6. Using my bullet journal to manage my time effectively. 7. Doing deep thinking about relationship stuff to improve our communication. 8. Tidying the apartment for 30 minutes every day. 9. Completing a konmari of the apartment before we move to Ecuador. 10. Quit smoking. 11. Developing real life, sincere friendships. Fitness 1. Exercising every day (30 day fitness challenge app). 2. Building a regular workout routine (on paper and in practice). 3. Developing a yoga practice routine on my rest days. 4. Spending at least 30 minutes outside each day (once I have left China and its air pollution). 5. Swimming at least once a week. 6. Do a 2 minute plank. 7. Do a pull up. 8. Run a 5k. 9. Climb a volcano. And if anything pops up to throw me off track, I will be prepared. After all,

I've been doing a lot of Podcast listening to a Former Navy SEAL turned motivation speaker and he has 2 big points that I love. Discipline = Freedom and extreme ownership of everything you do. I haven't been meeting my goals mainly causing I'm not doing these things. So, this year I'm going to be more goal oriented and harder on myself when I don't make good decisions. I'm also going to get back to basics, evaluate my priorities, and reestablish my discipline. There are lots of things I want to accomplish, but haven't because, honestly, I just didn't do the things necessary to accomplish them, like I'm now fatter than I was the start of last year. 1. Get lean as fuck or lose 20 lbs. I was in between 225-228 for most of last year, but my belly measurement went up from 35.8-36.2" to 38". This isn't good. a. Count all my calories. Don't eat over 2400 cals/day. Basically, have some goddamn discipline. b. don't eat foods high in fat. I'm going to try do high carbs / low fat for this challenge. next month, I'll try high fats low carbs in an experiment of how my body reacts as all my clothes are tight on me now... c. Track my body stats. I'm great at capturing my weight, but I'm now going to be discipline about tracking my waist and hip measurements. and it's too hot here to go another summer of wearing a shirt during workouts. 2. Give praise in the Iron sanctuary. To do this, I must remain mobile and healthy. So... have some fucking discipline and do my mobility. Don't be afraid to see my chrio, and lastly... if I need them, take my NSAIDs. I know they make me bloated... but it will pass. Use them to heal faster. 3. Compete in things. Get off my ass and enter some contests. I will enter at least 1 PL meet, 1 Crossfit comp (open isn't going to count, and I'm not entering) and 1 WL meet. I'll do the worse at the WL meeting, but I need to just get off my ass and throw some numbers up.

Update from last challenge: Mobility is going better, Nutrition was static. I've been between 225 and 229 for the last 5 months. I'm getting better at the Crossfit skills including my first 5 muscle ups. No work was done on my rifle or gun. So part 2 of the 2nd half of the years goals: 1: Give praise in the Iron sanctuary. To do this, I must remain mobile and healthy. I know right? And since I'm sacrificing my gainz at the in the halls of crossfit. #makingcrossfitwarriorsagain Wait... I have to quit Crossfit because of time and money, so I'll be going back to the Bro gym and doing something. I need to design a WL/PL/CF style workout plan that I can do at the bro gym and not get kicked out. and still do mobility. Work Mobility every day to include lax ball to the thoracic area, quads, calves and lats. And do distracted stretches to help my hips and ankles. And the other various stretches my PT says. I have 4 times a day where I can really do this (morning, mid day at work, pre workout, evening.) So I don't have all of these all at once, but break them up and hit trouble spots multiple times if needed. With all that said, I feel the best I have felt in years right now. My shoulders are opening up, my hips are moving better, my ankles move well, everything feels good except my foot. 2. Stop being fat. Whatever I have been doing isn't work. Try new stuff. Details to come. 3: Be better at Crossfit. Train hard, rest when I'm dead. And I discovered that there are a bunch of skills that I suck at or just can't do. Some I'm going to practice these one or more of these skills 5 times a week. Over head squat: I need more shoulder mobility and maybe scapula strength to do this properly, but If I want a 225lbs snatch... I need to learn to get under the bar. Double unders: This is the one skill that is single handily preventing me from Rx'ing WODs. I need my own jump rope that is sized for me for me to truly progress. Current record is 11 dups. Muscle Ups: I have done 5 total, but I can't do them on queue. Be better. Handstands/handstand walks: Didn't you all watch Stongman's fury in the Xfit games? I could do some of that... but not the handstand walks, I want to be better. I need to actually do a freestanding handstand, stop being a bitch. 30" box jumps: Need to be more explosive with these. I can do 24" really easily now, its the next step. *space reserved for other things as I remember I really want to do them* 4. I've been working on prepping for Ragnarok all this year, but I didn't really know why. But now I do. Br0dinsdottir is on her way to reign havoc. So, I have lots of work to do to prep the house. Build various furniture, clean rooms, etc etc... So I will do all the things and maybe do them before the wife nags me to doing them. I have a dresser and a changing table that needs to be built. and of course, still do my gun stuff, like paint my AR. And those who were following last challenge, wife indirectly told me I should get a pistol for everyday carry and home security. But... Then her car broke down and we had to surprise buy a new car over the weekend. So I feel like I need to sit on my Christmas/birthday money for a while.

Update from last challenge: Eating 6 times a day fucked me up. Planning dinner with the wife is the key, that's where I need to improve. I worked on Crossfit skills (double unders, Muscle up progression etc) and stayed mobile. I did things at the house. I did not work on my riffle. So part 2 of the 2nd half of the years goals: 1: Give praise in the Iron sanctuary. To do this, I must remain mobile and healthy. I know right? And since I'm sacrificing my gainz at the in the halls of crossfit. #makingcrossfitwarriorsagain Wait, that's not how they look... Work Mobility every day to include lax ball to the thoracic area, quads, calves and lats. And do distracted stretches to help my hips and ankles. And the other various stretches my PT says. I have 4 times a day where I can really do this (morning, mid day at work, pre workout, evening.) So I don't have all of these all at once, but break them up and hit trouble spots multiple times if needed. With all that said, I feel the best I have felt in years right now. My shoulders are opening up, my hips are moving better, my ankles move well, everything feels good except my foot. Now the bad news... I tweaked my back on Saturday. I feels like I have a bulging disk and my lower back froze up to protect my spine. I found a chiro who crossfits and understands what I want to do with my body and I also have a Dr Appt of Friday. Last time I hurt my back, I became a lazy POS and did nothing. This time, I'm going to stay active. i.e. yesterday I did 5 rounds of 10 cal on assault bike, 25 air squats and 10 strict pull-ups. And I felt great afterwards, my body responded well to it... or maybe it was the drugs. 2. Stop being fat. And I did what I usually did for the last 3 years.. and I didn't lose any weight. I was eating 1950-2050 cals/day. So for the last 2 months I have been reverse dieting and last months goal is to eat 3K cals/day. Reverse Diet has been working well for me so far and I've been still losing weight. Now is time for the cutting. I will bring it down in a controlled manner and finally start losing fat. I got down to 225 and 35.1" before I went on vacation. This weeks goal is 2800 cals/day with 40% C/30% P/30% F which works out to 278g C/209g P/93g F. I'll evaluate total cals on a weekly basis. 3: Be better at Crossfit. Train hard, rest when I'm dead. And I discovered that there are a bunch of skills that I suck at or just can't do. Some I'm going to practice these one or more of these skills 5 times a week. Over head squat: I need more shoulder mobility and maybe scapula strength to do this properly, but If I want a 225lbs snatch... I need to learn to get under the bar. Double unders: This is the one skill that is single handily preventing me from Rx'ing WODs. I need my own jump rope that is sized for me for me to truly progress. Current record is 2 dups. Muscle Ups: cause when you do one... everyone knows you're bad ass. New coach taught me something new, so now I need to practice. Handstands/handstand walks: Didn't you all watch Stongman's fury in the Xfit games? I could do some of that... but not the handstand walks, I want to be better. I need to actually do a freestanding handstand, stop being a bitch. 30" box jumps: Need to be more explosive with these. I can do 24" really easily now, its the next step. *space reserved for other things as I remember I really want to do them* 4. I've been working on prepping for Ragnarok all this year, but I didn't really know why. But now I do. Br0dinsdottir is on her way to reign havoc. So, I have lots of work to do to prep the house. Build various furniture, clean rooms, etc etc... So I will do all the things and maybe do them before the wife nags me to doing them. I have a dresser and a changing table that needs to be built. and of course, still do my gun stuff, like paint my AR. So the wife and I were talking... and she told me that she would feel safer knowing that I was packing. Did she just know what she really asked? So guess who basically got permission to use his own money to buy a pistol? So, I want to get a pistol this challenge period. That means I need to go to the range and test them all out.

Hey everybody, I only have a vague idea about what my goals will be and I'm too exhausted to write them down now.

Last challenge I kinda abandoned for reasons. I kept coming up with some funny, witty and self trolling summaries to post... but I never got around to actually doing them. I guess I was paralyzed by my expectations of posts that prevented me from actually posting. So, I'm going to repeat because my standards on myself are high and I'm not going to accept the stagnation that happened. So, lets repeat. 1: Continue to get my workout back in order. 2 challenges ago, I changed to order of my work out order and I like it. I'm doing a modified 5-3-1 with emphasis on Bench and front squats. I've changed the order of my workout so I do squats/legs on day 2 and DL/back on day 3. This has reduced my back fatigue/pain in the week I've done it. Last Challenge I separated out the OHP from bench day and now truly doing a 4 day 531 cycle with the exception of pushing DLs. I still don't feel comfortable programming heavy DL's so I do some volume and call it good. Plan: A. Continue to lift and maybe think (this went well last challenge, I'm at my strongest again) about taking a 2nd rest day during the week. What are rest days? seriously, Ahh, fuck it. I'll take a rest day when I'm dead. No seriously. If I feel decent, I'll gym, if life comes up... I'll gym then do the life thingies. And If I'm really tired... I'll sleep. B. More abs. Do 15 min abs workout 4-5 times a week. Abs help carrying load barring equipment into battle. This is routine now. C. Conditioning. I need to improve my conditioning a bit. So, I'll do some type of sprints, rows or horizontal cardio 3 times a week or go snowboarding for the day. Everyone knows you can't kill frost giants all day long... if you can't last all day long. Ski resorts will be open to july, golf weather is getting great, go do stuff outside, or torture the fuck out of myself with the rowing machine. C1. Also, Since I got my promotion last summer and was moved to a first floor building, I realized that I'm missing the stairs in my life. Therefore, all bathroom/water breaks will be done on the 3rd floor (highest floor of my building.) Cause stairs are good. (this started to fall off, need to focus on this again) 2: I got fat(ter). I hit over 240lbs a couple of times (I was 212 in OCT) and I'm measured the highest I have ever measured on the waist. This is unacceptable. a. Track all the foods. This fell off last challenge, time to get my shit together. b. Be less fat. Using the Marine body fat test, I'm 21% BF with 50lbs of fat and a LBM of 186lbs. So, losing the 25lbs I gained will quickly fix the problem that I don't fit inside my armor. I hit 226 and under 36" around the waist, 4 weeks ago... now I'm 233 and 37". Stop being a fat fuck! Make better decisions, I know what I have to do, have some goddamn discipline. 3. Ragnarok will require proper defensive positions and weapons. So, I need to build proper defensive positions. Then I will train with my new Sword (in the Romeo and Juliet sense (no, the Leo/Clare one!)) I did finish the shed and cleared out most of my garage and I did get to the gun range once. Things I want to do this month to improve my defensive positions: A: Sell my Army uniforms. I found a surplus guy, we coordinated to meet, but he had to cancel, I need to follow up and sell it. I think I can get about $2000 for them. Uniforms have been sold B: Clean out my garage fully. Move the rest of the stuff out of my garage into the shed, then sweep and clean out the garage. Complete C: Clean out computer room and move stuff to the garage, shed or good will. Build racks in the Garage to mount my snowboards. Not started D: Touch up paint a couple of spots around the house, and WD40 the door hinges and garage door. 4. Lastly, I've not been around the forum like I should be, so (Doing better, but can always do better.) I disappeared for 2 weeks last challenge, be that troll I know I am again.

So last challenge was quite successful in keeping me focused on my goals, while allowing me the flexibility to enjoy myself and not get burnt out. So I decided to continue it for one more challenge! Here's what happened last game: And just as a refresher, here's Da Rulez again: We'll see if I can beat my final score from last challenge!

Hey all, Need a little help understanding TDEE and how much I should be eating please. Now, I understand that TDEE is the total amount of calories I need if I were to maintain my weight and current exercise levels, but I am a little confused when it comes to what I should be eating to lose fat. I'm not overly concerned with the number on the scale, but I know that my hips and thighs could stand to be a little smaller, and I need to lose the excess around my middle. Eat to Perform has the option to calculate my TDEE -10%, but does that mean I can lose weight - or rather, lose fat, eating this amount of calories and eating the right balance of macros? I currently do 2 - 3 cardio workouts (running, incline work on the treadmill or rucking usually) and 3 lifting workouts. Currently they are based around Stronglifts, though next month or the end of this one I'd like to move to juggernauts programme. So, I don't want not feeling energised for my workouts to start being an issue. Thanks in advance

I'm back for my second challenge! What's changed? Well, I have decided to say farewell to the Rangers and join the Warriors! Thanks everyone for your support and encouragement. I am looking forward to working on this one for the full 4 weeks, as I joined my first one a few days late. THE GOALS: Write weekly blog posts Create a content calendar by 4/25 and post it to the NF thread COMPLETE 4/25! Share links of weekly blog posts on NF thread to keep me accountable Finish setting up website Finish setting up footer, social media threads, related posts, and all miscellaneous template stuff by 5/7/17. Website is www.kaylamaeanderson.com for those of you that are curious. Hit macros 5/7 days/week I downloaded the MyMacros + app to help me track Current Macros are: Protein 122 Carbs 152 Fat 59 Calories 1623 Make macro-friendly snacks over the weekend to have on hand throughout the week Complete morning routine 5/7 days per week M/W/F up at 5:15am T/Th up at 6:15am M/W/F 5:30-7:00 Gym 7:15-7:30 Shake/coffee 7:30-8:15 Journal and Meditation 8:15 Get ready for work T/Th 6:15-6:30 Coffee/Walk Dog 6:30-6:45 Breakfast 6:45-7:15 Journal and meditation 7:15-8:15 Work on blogs/performance pieces

The focus of my challenge this time is all about fitting within limitations (an If It Fits Your Macros diet) and flexibility (I still want to work on increasing my flexibility by daily stretching before starting back into bigger workouts, especially since my back is still hurting quite a bit). In light of that, I thought "What better theme to have than Tetris, and if I'm doing that why not make it game!" The Rules: 1. 3 random tetronimoes (just learned that's what they're called!) drop each day, one each for protein, carbs, and fat 2. If I'm within 5g EDIT: ~5% for a given Macro, I can place that block anywhere it fits on the bottom of the screen. If I am outside 5g EDIT: ~5% then the block drops automatically down the center of the board 3. Doing my daily stretching allows me the ability to rotate all the tetronimoes for that day 4. Actions Per Day (APD) average for the week gives me that number of bonus squares that I can use to fill in holes to complete rows. 5. Completed rows are tallied and scored 1 point each at the end of the challenge. The number of completed mindset quests at challenge end forms a score multiplier (ex. 2 quests = 2x number of rows completed, 5 quests = 5x, etc.) 6. If the block pile reaches the top of the screen I lose any previously accumulated points and start over. Goal score: 150 The actual score number will be mostly driven by mindset quests, but it'll be important that I don't reach the top, so the macros that are the focus of the challenge become more important. Example end-of-week screen: APD average = 7, so I get to insert 7 squares: 5 rows completed and disappear, so my running score is 5, the rows disappear, and my board for next week is: So that's it! It's a bit labour intensive, so I can't promise that I'll update every day, but I will follow the rules, and at least get a weekly board up!

1: Continue to get my workout back in order. Last challenge I changed to order of my work out order and I like it. I'm doing a modified 5-3-1 with emphasis on Bench and front squats. I've changed the order of my workout so I do squats/legs on day 2 and DL/back on day 3. This has reduced my back fatigue/pain in the week I've done it. And for those who know 5-3-1, I'm doing OHP on bench day. Not trying to get super strong in OHP, just build strong looking shoulders. I'm going to attempt a back squat cycle to see how my back handles it. Plan: A. Continue to lift and maybe think (this went well last challenge, I'm at my strongest again) about taking a 2nd rest day during the week. What are rest days? seriously, B. More abs. Do 15 min abs workout 4-5 times a week. Abs help carrying load barring equipment into battle. This is routine now. C. Conditioning. I need to improve my conditioning a bit. So, I'll do some type of sprints, rows or horizontal cardio 3 times a week or go snowboarding for the day. Everyone knows you can't kill frost giants all day long... if you can't last all day long. Ski resorts will be open to july, golf weather is getting great, go do stuff outside, or torture the fuck out of myself with the rowing machine. C1. Also, Since I got my promotion last summer and was moved to a first floor building, I realized that I'm missing the stairs in my life. Therefore, all bathroom/water breaks will be done on the 3rd floor (highest floor of my building.) Cause stairs are good. (this started to fall off, need to focus on this again) D. (New) start doing Yoga. I have a reduced pass for a week at 2 places. I need to check them out and strech out my Glutes and Traps/Rhoms. Yoga days don't need to be double up with a heavy lifting day. I can step away from the gym to stretch... (this did go well.) Time to pay up to keep this going. 2: I got fat(ter). I hit over 240lbs a couple of times (I was 212 in OCT) and I'm measured the highest I have ever measured on the waist. This is unacceptable. a. Track all the foods. Better at tracking, but lots of room to improve b. Be less fat. Using the Marine body fat test, I'm 21% BF with 50lbs of fat and a LBM of 186lbs. So, losing the 25lbs I gained will quickly fix the problem that I don't fit inside my armor. I hit 226 and under 36" around the waist, keep building on this. c. (new) reduce sugar intake. My wife did the whole 30 for a month last year and she really liked it and I really liked the foods, even though I didn't want to fully participate. Mainly, I didn't want to give up my whey. This year, I'm interested in trying the whole 30, but the wife isn't, (food is really expensive.) So, I'm not going to do the whole 30, but I'm going to read the book and incorporate as many principles into my nutrition as I can. This will be hard to track. Going to cancel this one, not feasible right now. 3. Ragnarok will require proper defensive positions and weapons. So, I need to build proper defensive positions (I.e that shed Mrs. B wants me to finish.) Then I will train with my new Sword (in the Romeo and Juliet sense (no, the Leo/Clare one!)) I did finish the shed and cleared out most of my garage and I did get to the gun range once. Things I want to do this month to improve my defensive positions: A: Sell my Army uniforms. I found a surplus guy, we coordinated to meet, but he had to cancel, I need to follow up and sell it. I think I can get about $2000 for them. Uniforms have been sold B: Clean out my garage fully. Move the rest of the stuff out of my garage into the shed, then sweep and clean out the garage. Complete C: Clean out computer room and move stuff to the garage, shed or good will. Build racks in the Garage to mount my snowboards. Not started D: Buy a carry case for my 1903 Springfield and then take it to a gun smith to ensure that its serviceable (pending the money from my uniforms.) weapons at gunsmith. 4. Lastly, I've not been around the forum like I should be, so (Doing better, but can always do better.)

Stats STR - 31.75 | DEX - 47.5 | STA - 41.75 | CON - 72 | WIS - 41.5 | CHA - 44.5 Weight 173lb Waist 31" Belly 35" Hips 40" Thigh 23 1/2" Body Fat 27.11% Previous Challenge Goals Sleep 10:30pm bedtime. Pay attention to the reminders on my phone re: getting ready for bed/getting to bed. Cardio Minimum 1 "long" (read 30 minutes/5kish) run per week + 1 intervals session. Extra is encouraged Reading Haven't been reading as much as I would like, so 210 minutes of reading per week (equivalent of 30 minutes/day) Mini Challenge Strength Feat - 1 extra lifting session COMPLETE Ranger Feat - start next knitting project. Minimum 120 minutes of working on it throughout the week. COMPLETE Distance Feat - 1 extra cardio session COMPLETE Recovery Feat - Go to a yoga class COMPLETE

As I never did a closing post for the last challenge, I'll both close this one out and start the next one. Things I'm going to continue building on: 1: Continue to get my workout back in order. Last challenge I changed to order of my work out order and I like it. I'm doing a modified 5-3-1 with emphasis on Bench and front squats. I've changed the order of my workout so I do squats/legs on day 2 and DL/back on day 3. This has reduced my back fatigue/pain in the week I've done it. And for those who know 5-3-1, I'm doing OHP on bench day. Not trying to get super strong in OHP, just build strong looking shoulders. Plan: A. Continue to lift and maybe think (this went well last challenge, I'm at my strongest again) about taking a 2nd rest day during the week (new.) B. More abs. Do 15 min abs workout 4-5 times a week. Abs help carrying load barring equipment into battle. (this went alright, I got about 2-4 core sessions a week.) C. Conditioning. I need to improve my conditioning a bit. So, I'll do some type of sprints, rows or horizontal cardio 3 times a week or go snowboarding for the day. Everyone knows you can't kill frost giants all day long... if you can't last all day long. (this didn't go as well as I wanted, lots of room to improve. Actually go snowboarding twice this month.) C1. Also, Since I got my promotion last summer and was moved to a first floor building, I realized that I'm missing the stairs in my life. Therefore, all bathroom/water breaks will be done on the 3rd floor (highest floor of my building.) Cause stairs are good. (this did go well.) D. (New) start doing Yoga. I have a reduced pass for a week at 2 places. I need to check them out and strech out my Glutes and Traps/Rhoms. Yoga days don't need to be double up with a heavy lifting day. I can step away from the gym to stretch... 2: I got fat(ter). I hit over 240lbs a couple of times (I was 212 in OCT) and I'm measured the highest I have ever measured on the waist. This is unacceptable. a. Track all the foods. (did good for 3/4 weeks) b. Be less fat. Using the Marine body fat test, I'm 21% BF with 50lbs of fat and a LBM of 186lbs. So, losing the 25lbs I gained will quickly fix the problem that I don't fit inside my armor. (I lost 12lbs, 2 inches off waist and at 17% bf over last challenge, need to keep this up.) Also, I've been called out in bf% PVP, so I have to destroy me some up and comers and get back to being this guy: c. (new) reduce sugar intake. My wife did the whole 30 for a month last year and she really liked it and I really liked the foods, even though I didn't want to fully participate. Mainly, I didn't want to give up my whey. This year, I'm interested in trying the whole 30, but the wife isn't, (food is really expensive.) So, I'm not going to do the whole 30, but I'm going to read the book and incorporate as many principles into my nutrition as I can. This will be hard to track. 3. Ragnarok will require proper defensive positions and weapons. So, I need to build proper defensive positions (I.e that shed Mrs. B wants me to finish.) Then I will train with my new Sword (in the Romeo and Juliet sense (no, the Leo/Clare one!)) I did finish the shed and cleared out most of my garage and I did get to the gun range once. Things I want to do this month to improve my defensive positions: A: Sell my Army uniforms. I found a surplus guy, we coordinated to meet, but he had to cancel, I need to follow up and sell it. I think I can get about $2000 for them. B: Clean out my garage fully. Move the rest of the stuff out of my garage into the shed, then sweep and clean out the garage. C: Clean out computer room and move stuff to the garage, shed or good will. Build racks in the Garage to mount my snowboards. D: Buy a carry case for my 1903 Springfield and then take it to a gun smith to ensure that its serviceable (pending the money from my uniforms.) 4. Lastly, I've not been around the forum like I should be, so (this went better last month, I'll continue on with this.)

Time for bed, deets tomorrow Mmk, technically bedtime now but I should do this to so... Last challenge: didn't take holidays into account, didn't end up tracking food at all due to not making my food for probably half the challenge cause I was home, continued sleeping not-enough, etc. etc. So, time to try and do the things that I've been trying to do for ages? Previous Challenge Stats STR - 31.75 | DEX - 47.5 | STA - 41.75 | CON - 72 | WIS - 41.5 | CHA - 44.5 Weight Waist Belly Hips Thigh Body Fat Goals Cardio I have a 5k coming up in a couple months, so that and rugby starting up again are my cardio motivation. I should do a "long" (5k-ish) run once a week, and intervals once a week. Sleep This is the big one. Bedtime is 10:30, gotta figure out how to meet it. Mobility Gotta do this 5/7 days a week to keep my body happy Food Food prep + IIFYM are gonna be the order of the day here. Aiming for 5/7 days of IIFYM. Mini Challenge Week 1: You Must Gather More Resources Before we can begin rebuilding the Guild Hall, we need something to build it with. So for week 1 we will be quarrying stone, chopping down trees, and gathering dirt for mortar. This will be represented by several activities from which you can choose. Wood Choppers will represent cutting down trees and milling them. Kettlebell Swings will represent mining for stone. Shovelglove workouts will represent gathering supplies for mortar. We will track it by multiplying reps times weight. It would get to technical trying to keep the three separate, so any of the three, in any combination, counts toward the goal. Keep track of how many reps you do at each weight, and post your totals in the mini-challenge tracking spreadsheet. Week 2: Return To Base We have gathered all the supplies we need to re build the guild hall. Now we need to get them to the construction site. This weeks feat is a distance feat. We need to log 220 miles as a guild to get all the wood, stone and mortar supplies to the fort so we can use them. The barkeep is getting positively giddy with anticipation. Apparently the rubble we cleared from the old hall was organized in our absence, which means the new hall will be even bigger and more impressive than the last. Any mileage counts, whether its real world stuff or on some sort of cardio machine, just log your miles on the tracking spreadsheet. Count anything from 12:01 am Sunday morning your time to 11:59pm Saturday night your time. Week 3: Construction Commencing We have gathered all the supplies we need to rebuild the hall and transported them to the construction site. Let's build this thing! To represent moving the supplies into position, shaping them, and actually assembling them, we will work with over the head weighted exercises. By that I mean anything that involves moving something weighted over your head. That could be any of the Olympic lifts or their variants, over head press, push press, thrusters, squat thrusters, squat press, Turkish Get Ups, any of it. Again, multiply weight times reps to get yours score and post it on the tracking spreadsheet. We need 50000 lbs to finish. Week 4: Putting The Tent Away Well done everyone, we've got the project done on time and under budget. The only thing that remains is to give the guild tent a thorough cleaning before folding it up and putting it away one last time. That's right, it's time to do your Domestic Rangering feat. When you finish, put a 1 in the week 4 column by your name in the tracking spreadsheet. At least twenty of us need to get our feats done to get the tent cleaned and fully packed into the cart. To Do List 2017 Roadmap Mitts for Dad Kitchen Organize cupboards Work on Imagining Other Earths on Coursera Shrink sweater sleeves Stretch NY shirt Rugby team website/image gallery/design Account/password list Finish white skirt Drawing Change address Tidy Closet - started Grey drawers - started Bed drawers - started Clean green purse Get watch button fixed Living Room TV out Magazines - working through the stack Tray on coffee table (actually a trunk) Mending (socks + leggings) Send @Wild Wolf that prehab stuff (I promise I didn't forget - I scanned the stuff I had and then realized that it's not super helpful without visuals so I have to find videos/pictures to go along with it) The Road So Far Week 1: Cardio 1/2 Sleep 0/7 Mobility 4/5 Food 4/5 Week 2: Cardio 2/2 Sleep 1/7 Mobility 5/5 Food 5/5 Week 3: Cardio 2/2 Sleep 0/7 Mobility 3/5 Food 5/5 Week 4 Cardio 2/2 Sleep 0/7 Mobility 5/5 Food 5/5

I have returned to return to my awesomeness. During my Br0din sleep, I had injured my lower trap, got sick, went on vacation them went through the holidays. ...and I got fat and fat Warriors won't do well when Ragnarok comes around. rare before photo: and rare after photo: Therefore, I have to get the basics back into order and start new things! 1: Get my workout back in order. I'm doing a modified 5-3-1 with emphasis on Bench and front squats. I've changed the order of my workout so I do squats/legs on day 2 and DL/back on day 3. This has reduced my back fatigue/pain in the week I've done it. I'm not lifting my deadlifts on a scheduled plan, just going to do 4-5 sets of 5 to work my back, glutes and hammies. And for those who know 5-3-1, I'm doing OHP on bench day. Not trying to get super strong in OHP, just build strong looking shoulders. Plan: A. Continue to lift and regain strength and get stronger because strong people crush weak people in battle. B. More abs. Do 15 min abs workout 4-5 times a week. Abs help carrying load barring equipment into battle C. Conditioning. I need to improve my conditioning a bit. So, I'll do some type of sprints, rows or horizontal cardio 3 times a week or go snowboarding for the day. Everyone knows you can't kill frost giants all day long... if you can't last all day long. C1. Also, Since I got my promotion last summer and was moved to a first floor building, I realized that I'm missing the stairs in my life. Therefore, all bathroom/water breaks will be done on the 3rd floor (highest floor of my building.) Cause stairs are good. 2: I got fat(ter). I hit over 240lbs a couple of times (I was 212 in OCT) and I'm measured the highest I have ever measured on the waist. This is unacceptable. a. Track all the foods. b. Be less fat. Using the Marine body fat test, I'm 21% BF with 50lbs of fat and a LBM of 186lbs. So, losing the 25lbs I gained will quickly fix the problem that I don't fit inside my armor. Also, I've been called out in bf% PVP, so I have to destroy me some up and comers and get back to being this guy: 3. Ragnarok will require proper defensive positions and weapons. So, I need to build proper defensive positions (I.e that shed Mrs. B wants me to finish.) Then I will train with my new Sword (in the Romeo and Juliet sense (no, the Leo/Clare one!)) But first I need to prepare my sword for battle like buying sights for it and paint it "tacticool." But do I got Multicam or black and white stormtrooper? or The more I look at it, the black and white is freaking cool looking. But before I paint it, I need sights and have my sling mount put on it. 4. Lastly, I've not been around the forum like I should be, so

Last challenge was a bit of a burnout. Two vacations, general lack of motivation, and stress kept me from hitting a majority of my goals. Now I am back from vacation and feeling relaxed and motivated once again. Food The RP templates, while very useful, were stressing me out more than helping when my schedule got busy. I am headed back to the IIFYM approach to ease that stress a bit while still keeping my diet in check. Tracking in MFP once again in order to support that. Reran their new calculator and the numbers for weight loss that they provided were 2600 calories and a macro split of 260g protein, 130g Fat, 98g Carbs. On days where I workout, the overall calorie count will come up a bit with some added carbs to fuel workouts. Only allowing one cheat meal or event per week so that I have some freedom on weekends so social events do not stress me out. Workout Workouts will also change a little bit. Sticking with the Wednesday/Friday crossfit-esq classes in the mornings. But new to this challenge is a running goal. Since Spartan Race is in the cards for next summer, running will need to be something I get used to. Can currently only run about a mile without stopping and that's a slow 11-12 minute mile. Would like to work up to a nonstop 5K eventually. Also adding in something that is a bit of a step outside comfort zone which is going to a class at the gym with a different coach or one of the new classes offered. I have shied away from them because its not familiar strength style conditioning work but now I am interested in trying them. Finally, ROMWOD to help out with the mobility. 4 days a week was a bit ambitious so limiting it to two to make it more manageable this challenge with all the other stuff. Life Throwing in some life goals in there for a bit of a change. Trying to help the GF feel less stress at home because work for her has been pretty brutal lately. I have a bunch of little to-do tasks that she has been asking me to do, that I have on my list, or just things I know that will help which will ease things at home and make us both happier. Going to keep it very simple this time and adopt the check box style for tracking Food ☐☐☐☐☐☐☐ Zero Week MFP Tracking(☐ Cheat Meal used) ☐☐☐☐☐☐☐ Week 1 MFP Tracking(☐ Cheat Meal used) ☐☐☐☐☐☐☐ Week 2 MFP Tracking(☐ Cheat Meal used) ☐☐☐☐☐☐☐ Week 3 MFP Tracking(☐ Cheat Meal used) ☐☐☐☐☐☐☐ Week 4 MFP Tracking(☐ Cheat Meal used) Fitness ☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐ Lift 2x week. Extras:☐ ☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐ Run 2x week. Extras:☐ ☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐ ROMWOD 2x week. Extras:☐ ☐ Try a class other than RX FIT or with a different instructor Life ☐ Build second set of chairs ☐ Clean out front closet and store summer stuff ☐ Prepare/plan for Friendsgiving in November ☐☐☐☐ Clean dishes or empty dishwasher once per week ☐☐☐☐ Vacuum or sweep apartment once per week *Add stuff to this as needed

Bros and SwoleMaidens, I conquered a kingdom and partook in too my festivals in my honor... and now I'm fat(ter). Its time to get back to work and make Br0din great again with this easy to list 4 step method: 1: Stop eating like an asshole. No more if it fits into my mouth. It must fit my macros, it must be counted. 2: Start lifting again. I have (what I think is) server tendinitis in my right elbow and forearm. Drugs and REST didn't help, so PT it is, starting tomorrow. So, lots of legs until I'm cleared to lift upper body. *(may have to reevaluate this after PT session.) 3: restart my abs exercises. I'm become lazy with my back PT because of time. Stop it. start doing abs. 4: Be awesome and spread my awesome to others. Same rules as past challenges, no need to restate them.

That's it. I"m getting my shit together. I've lost my way and not been disciplined like I want to be. So, I got some simple things to get me to my goals. 1. Track everything. cyclying between 1a: 3 weeks eating at 1800-1900 cals 1b: 1 week of 2500 cals (and don't eat all the extra cals for dinner.) 1c: put down the beer and wine. 2. Get to 205lbs. 3. Post daily on my thread. don't worry about putting cool gifs in my posts, just post. 4. Create a challenge for the Warriors this cycle. Here is an update since the last time I've challenged Good: I've been doing great to sticking to 5-3-1. I found a new app that does the plate math and tracks sets preformed vs failed. I've been getting stronger and just missed a 5lbs pr for my bench in the last VPL comp and almost getting a set PR every week. Bad: I've sucked at tracking foods, I would track breakfast, lunch and snacks... but fail to track dinner. I've been in recomp/slight bulk for too long. And got fat(ter) I keep drinking the beer and wine... then get hung over and can't lift the next day... or I have to heavily medicate to be functional. But enough about me, lets talk about you too! Since I'm obviously struggling at taking care of my own thread, I'm really not making time for others. So feel free to bring your PR's, success, failures and dramas in here.

Greetings, fellow rangers. Please, ignore the fact that I am 10 days late for this challenge. I was just going to wait for the next one, but yeah. Screw that. I am a 25 year old living in Rio de Janeiro, Brasil, who actually has this whole exercising/healthy living thing down. I Crossfit 4-5x/week, I don't eat like an idiot 80% of the time, I enjoy martial arts, meditation and I own a pair of Kettlebells for those times I am bored at home doing nothing. I am 5'2'' and currently weight 55kgs (110lbs). I decided to give NF challenges another chance because I absolutely suck at setting goals for myself if there is no accountability involved. So, for this challenge, my main goal is to do a proper push up. Yeah. As a newbie crossfit addicted, I am learning to do all these awesome things with my body (I can squat 120lbs, deadlift 160lbs and swing a 20kgs kettlebell with awesome form and a smile on my face), but I can't still do a decent, honest to God, push up. With that in mind, here are my quests for this challenge: Strenght Quest - Master the push ups by training them EVERYDAY. 5 sets of 5 reps, following the Convict Conditioning progression. Dexterity Quest - Stretch my hamstrings EVERYDAY for at least 10min. - NF Yoga 3x/week. Constitution Quest - Aim for 1800-2200 calories a day. - Eat at least 110g of protein everyday. Inteligence Quest - Finish reading the book Getting Things Done by David Allen. Wisdom Quest - Meditate everyday for at least 10 minutes. Charisma Quest - Reach out to a different friend/acquaintance everyday. It can be via Facebook, e-mail, SMS, whatever.