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Hi I've been on a weight loss journey. Down 70lbs in 2 years doing keto and little to no exercise. I started going to the gym in April to help speed up my process. I do light cardio and lots of weightlifting. I love it. My question is, since I've been going to the gym and eating keto I've been feeling really weak and very hangry. The scale isn't moving much even though I'm still eating the same as foods and amounts as before. Is this scale stuck due to gaining muscle? Or do I need to introduce carbs? Is it really just about being a calorie deficit or am I missing something? I still want to lose another 70lbs. Thanks.

Battle for the Shinies The objective of the battle is to gain the mountain and obtain the precious treasures of lifting, writing, painting, walking, cooking and spirit work. The enemies: fatigue, emotional resistance, distraction addiction, hopelessness The weapons: axe of strength, sword of courage, staff of clarity, reflective shield Skirmish Four: Marching and Net Evasion I have repeatedly overstretched my forces in order to broach new territory, which has resulted in me being unable to hold the ground I have taken. I must adapt my strategy to the fact that my army is quite small, and the ponies have rather short legs. What I need to do is move slowly, not attempting to capture new ground before establishing a firm defence of existing territory. I will add one habit at a time, and work on each for a long time, in order to gain the benefits of automaticity. Last challenge I abandoned my more complex goals and just made it my goal to walk first thing in the morning, after feeding the cats but before my first cup of tea. This challenge I will continue walking. Zero week will bring me up to a month of unbroken walks. For the rest of the challenge, I need to get away from aimless browsing. Some sort of internet ban is in order, and I will spend zero week reflecting on this before deciding on the details.

Hey, Ive had a drastic change in my life and have left my political work. in the next 3 weeks I want to use this mini challenge to heal mentally and do things that make me feel good. Since Ive signed up for a 5k run in September its time to see if there is a way for me to get back into running after dozens of injuries, I will use the 3 weeks until the end of the challenge to see whether thats possible. goals: jog/walk intervals for 30-40 minutes 3 times a week in addition to hikes and dog walks on non "running" days - do weight training( bodyweight and kettlebells) or stretch/foam roll/yoga. Sunday is rest day keep eating keto and have healthy food, even though my kitchen is still not finished and I cant use it do one fun thing every day ( like today I will put my citrus plants into new, bigger pots) I might also be able to reduce my "drugs" during this challenge: have a break from alcohol, reduce smoking and reduce sleep medication. Ive really overdone it lately and this needs to be adressed. Today I woke up happy and content, had yoghurt with berries and coffee, got invited to hike at the river at 1pm and in the afternoon I will put my citrus plants in their new, bigger pots. Im looking forward to the day and have slept well so I feel rested. All is well.

Last challenge was a bit crazy for me to say the least but here we are! After trying on our waders for fly fishing, Mr.R and I have come to the decision to try keto again until May 14 which is our fly fishing lesson. This challenge will mainly focus on trying to get started with keto and getting into the flow. Goals: - Stay under 50g carbs - Attempt 5 minutes on elliptical 2x/week - Paint 1 time / week - Meal plan 1 time/week And of course in addition to all that I will be riding 3 times a week. Fingers crossed we got Daisy’s cough under control this time.

The Third Skirmish: A Minor Melee on the Muddy Moor of Malaise, to Meliorate Moribund Morale I am recovering not only from a slug phase, but from critical morale failure. It seems that every time I get a smallish routine going, a slug phase interrupts and I have to start from zero. I had hoped that pacing and keto could help me avoid these crashes, but no. This time I contributed to my own fatigue by attempting to cut calories and do intermittent fasting at the same time, possibly as a stress reaction to food fights. This was ill-advised. It also led to me bingeing on sugar. Now I have to get through sugar withdrawals and cope with backlash eating on top of everything else. My mind has cleared a little in the past couple of days, and I'm eager to return to lifting. But I'm not back to full capacity. So here are our tactics for the melee. Axe of Strength: quit sugar (again) since it makes me tired, depressed, and causes mindless madness eating no calorie restriction verrry low volume lifting walks on non lifting days Staff of Clarity: stay off the distractinet in the mornings Sword of Courage: right now I need courage just for lifting so... pack my gym back the night before and just "go for a walk" in the direction of the gym on gym days. I have bought some new gym clothes, and they are pink. This is curiously enspiriting. Reflective Shield: start developing a daily spiritual practice and reconnect with a relevant goddess.

Brand new here and still learning the ways of the rebellion! I wanted to make a fun and interesting post but I figured it would be better to just jump in on this and learn as I go. ? I joined the rangers as of now just because that looked like a good starting point guild, I might specialize later haha. Any good tips and tricks for challenges? For my challenge goals I would like to: Drink daily water (128 oz) ? 30 mins of activity (? or ?) Stay Keto ?

Overview of the Battle The objective: to gain the mountain and obtain the precious treasures of lifting, writing, painting, walking, cooking and spirit work The enemies: fatigue, emotional resistance, distraction addiction, hopelessness The weapons: axe of strength, sword of courage, staff of clarity, reflective shield Second Skirmish: Invading the Foothills of Figure Sketching The main new habit this challenge will be doing a little work on my art, whether it's sketching or watching lessons. As with the writing, I should start with small, low stakes practices to sidestep the emotional resistance. I want to focus on figures for several months. Reflective Shield Journalling and reflecting on what works -I need to recommit to daily morning journalling, since I have neglected it -I should set a calendar reminder to reflect on Sundays, since I neglected this, too -I should continue noting how I feel after lifting (fatigue, mental fatigue, joint pain) Sword of Courage Overcoming emotional blocks to the creative work I want to do -I am increasing the writing to 20 minutes -I will add 10-20 minutes of art after dinner Staff of Clarity Getting freedom from distraction addiction and negative emotions -I will continue meditating each morning, and may experiment with a short second session at night -I will renew the internet block but update it to support journalling in the mornings and Sunday -I will continue doing 20 minutes of cleaning per day. It's not exactly one of the mountain treasures but it is good to have, and a clean house promotes an uncluttered mood Axe of Strength Strength through food, iron, and rest -I just have to keep going with my high meat keto without getting sidetracked or shamed -I will continue pacing. It's really helping -I will continue lifting: I will design a deload & strength block

Ahhhh how I love new beginnings! The start of a challenge is the best part for me: you get to dream up your ideal day and there is always the hope of coming out on the other side having magically lost all the weight and built all the muscle and flexibility! CONSTRUCTION SITE! my body is stiff and brittle and Im old. thats the starting point. Sadly being stiff in my case means my achilles tendons are chronically inflamed and hurt. A lot! so after a year of pain Im trying different orthopedic soles, new advice from my PT and YOGA! certain holy beings among us have finished a 30 day program. So Im doing that too. I chose a yoga teacher with the cool name Fightmaster ,who sadly passed away, leaving me a 30 day beginners course to try out in her honor. I was tempted to go for Adrienne, but I can always do that afterwards. This course starts with 15 minute classes and works up to 30 minutes. I even splurged and ordered two yoga blocks and a yoga belt (??) thingy to pull your body parts in certain directions. they will arrive tomorrow. GOAL do a class daily. you may repeat or adjust classes. main thing is to move about in weird ways every day. HEADBANGERS KITCHEN I have jumped on the keto train a couple of years ago. during the first 2 years I was super diligent and my ass melted down to an acceptable size. Then I proceeded to order pizza during hard times and having croissants with jam as often as I fucking wanted. Those breaks have had my weight exploding and if I ever want be able to run a 5k or fit into my nice clothes again, I will need to change! Last challenge I managed to get back to orderly eating and lost 3kg. Now I want more! While browsing the interwebs for cheap keto recipes I found this hilarious Indian guy ( a death metal musician, thus his title!) whose kitchen equipment looks like mine. No fancy stuff there. The good dude presents keto for people who dont have money for steak every night and makes it fun and accessible. I have his book now and the latest weightloss is due to his no nonsense recipes. I want more of that during this challenge. ( why on earth did I start taking about buttery croissants? now I want one!) GOAL eat cheap and tasty keto foods, prep when necessary. have a tiny cute ass when finished! TALES OF A LOUSY WEEKEND WRITER After publishing a terribly written book in 2019 I have proceeded to call myself a writer without, well erm, writing anything. I have been avoiding writing by planning a podcast, doing other stuff and basically feeling smug about having a book out. To be honest, I like the process of being in the midst of typing down a pice of world literature. I just haven't found what I want to write about next. So during this challenge, my job is to sit down at my desk every weekend and find a topic first, then begin writing a shitty first draft of basically anything. My goal is to get back into the habit and being able to say I used the pandemic to write a bestseller. GOAL find a topic to write about and start a first draft. You must sit down every Saturday and Sunday for at least 30 minutes and stare at your dirty screen. Apart from those 3 goals you will read about the dog child, hiking at the beach, me feeling important by being involved in local politics and tales of a woman with a non existent financial budget.

This is part three of a year that I am setting aside to try to heal from chronic exhaustion and demotivation. There are four aspects to lifestyle healing magic: food, stress, movement, and sleep. This module is for fine tuning the food aspect. Last challenge I started keto, and saw a massive reduction in anxiety, and some other mental benefits. This challenge I will experiment with different variations on the ketogenic diet to increase my knowledge about what works. I have some improved mental energy, and hope to spend it on writing and painting. But I won’t push it if I don’t feel like it. Motivation must come from an un-inflamed and adequately fuelled mind, not from desperate attempts to whip up willpower out of the watery gruel of fatigue. A loose sort of schedule does seem to be developing on its own, so I’m just going to let that continue. I haven’t really recovered my physical strength and energy since the last trip to Munich (now some weeks ago damnit) so exercise will be advised but optional. (We have proven to our satisfaction the inefficacy of forcing the lab mouse to run when exhausted). Lifestyle Healing Magic: Ketonics Module I Potions (food) Lesson One: Do Not Ingest Poison: no sugar, caffeine, or alcohol (Ke)Tonics general instructions: eat at or under 20g net carbohydrates per day. (Ke)tonics specific experiments: Zero week will be no chocolate and no live sauerkraut, to see if this helps with my current heartburn. I must also undergo the trial of the Silberhochzeit, in which I must endure some periods of foodlessness on the train, and evade all attempts to poison me with celebratory food. Weeks 1-5 I will adjust other parameters. Possible experiments could be increasing and decreasing the plant content of my diet, which will probably mean decreasing and increasing the dairy content, since those are my two sources of carbs, and they compete for space. I might also try cutting eggs and processed meats and really going all in on fresh meat, green things, and water. I might add fasting or save it for next challenge. Or maybe I will devise a diet inspired by Artio the bear goddess and eat salmon, berries, meat, and (*googles bears*) herbs, pine cones, hikers, and 20 000 calories worth of moths??? (*note to self: check carbs in moths*). Defence Against the Dark Arts (stress) Occlumency (meditation) is suspended so that its anxiety-lowering effects may be trialled separately from the ketonics. It shall be reintroduced next challenge. Enspiriting Runes: I shall aim to do a little art every other day. Sparking Sigils: I shall aim to write a little every other day. Transfiguration (movement) Hypertrophy Charm: any form of strength training, if energy allows. I seem to be losing weight from the keto, and I don’t really like what I see—my weightlifting over the last few years has added thickness to my legs, arms, and waist, but not to my chest, upper back, or glutes. I seem to be in a slightly longer term tired phase, so I will simply do some exercises for these areas whenever possible, until moderately tired, at home or at the gym. Recommendations for isolating the glutes without the hamstrings welcome. Current ideas include swings and single legged glute bridges. Recommendations for hitting the chest without the arms also welcome. So far, the barbell bench has added weight to my arms only. Spell of Ambulancy: at least one short walk daily. Charms (sleep) Somnolence Ritual: screens off at 9:30 Hmmm. This entry looks kind of dry without any gifs or pictures. Here, have an experimental scribble. And share gifs of mead, honey, and other beautiful liquids, please.

This is part two of a year that I am setting aside to try to heal from chronic exhaustion and demotivation. There are four aspects to lifestyle healing magic: food, stress, movement, and sleep. I'm adding a little to the basics which I established last challenge, and testing a specific diet to see if it helps. Potions (food): Do Not Ingest Poison: no sugar, caffeine, alcohol, refined carbs, industrial seed oils (Ke)Tonics: eat a very low carb, very high fat diet. Leave out grains, legumes, starchy vegetables, low fat dairy, fruit, and honey. Focus on meat, fish, eggs, full fat dairy, above ground vegetables, and healthful fats. Defence Against the Dark Arts (stress) Occlumency: meditate 20 minutes daily, after first tea and before second tea Hydrotherapy: end all showers with cold water Defensive Gesture: book a massage and show up! Defensive Ward: schedule daily internet block from 8-10am Enspiriting Rune: one effortlessly bad and therapeutic scribble per day Transfiguration (movement) Barbellogy: continue with four lift split three days per week, if energy allows. Ambulancy: at least one short walk daily Charms (sleep) Somnolence ritual: screens off at 9:15, stretch, sleep at 9:45

Welcome all! I’m a married parent of 4 kids aged 0-8. I’m ultimately an adventurer at heart, though I train similar to a lot of Rangers (and I’m something of a Druid Paladin which is also something of an equivalent to a Ranger). I love hiking, exploring, traveling, and other fun things with the family. Since shortly before joining Nerdfitness, my physical training is typically built around injury rehabilitation (which happens a bit more often due to autoimmune arthritis) and training to be able to travel, explore, and play with my family. I have a pretty effective Disney World training system, and try to ensure that at any point I’m strong enough to carry my whole family somewhere. That has become more difficult as the years go on but I can still do it for the most part. I am also an enthusiastic suburban homesteader bent on establishing an orchard and vegetable garden, so things can get pretty out-doorsy depending on my goals. My needs mean I do a variety of types of training, and my earliest two physical training goals were “run fast” and “be able to competitively play any sport I come across.” I prefer to avoid gyms and do a lot of body weight training. At the beginning of the year, we welcomed baby 4 into the family, my cat was diagnosed with feline dementia a few months ago, we adopted a kitten (our third cat and Rex’s first), and I’ve returned to work from my parental leave. At the beginning of this year, we started shopping for an existing business with a professional kitchen to give a physical location to our small cottage bakery. I’m not at liberty to discuss more at this time, only to say it’s a thing that we are working hard on. The fruit trees and bushes are all doing well. Deer chomped my kumquat tree, my serranos, and my Carolina Reapers (just the tops and clearly with regret) but they’re recovering and I’m still crossing my fingers that we’ll get some fruit from them. The Ranier is dead, but a replacement will be here in August or September. The berries are exploding again, now that the sun is in full force and we’re home to water them regularly too.. The fence is DONE (functionally, though I still have work to actually do when it’s not a trillion degrees outside). Healthwise, we’ve been living the keto lifestyle for a little over 5 months, and we’ve found it to be incredibly easy to stick to 99% of the time, meaning we’re seeing more success and I’m burning less willpower on food-related stuff. I am past my arbitrary goal weight, and I’m focusing hard now on maintaining around this weight while achieving my goal composition. The last time I was this weight was before I met Jessie and when I was in my student teaching (yeah, before the wrestling coach gig!) That is, one of the best shapes of my life. I want to be lean and strong, not skinny and weak. (Tried that and hated it). I have been focusing hard on my calisthenics since shortly after the start of the last challenge and when testing today, I hit a new pull up record of 10 last challenge. I can do 7 solid pull ups with le bebe in a harness and that’s basically my starting weight at the moment, though he’s getting bigger faster than I’m losing weight; in fact, I’ve hopefully reached my minimum and I’ve shifted to building muscle for a while. My plan is to work on bulking up for a while and after I add a good chunk of muscle I’ll return to cutting my body fat. It’s within the healthy range and bordering on the fitness range. This may mean I have to add gym time with heavy weights or make more or my own weights since I think that’s what will put muscle on the best. Goals: 1. Sleep. As best as possible. I’m a nonfunctional mess without sleep and can sacrifice it for a few days ok but then I have to make it a super high priority to regain it. With le bébé getting older this is easier but teething means there are still rough nights. 2. My basic calisthenics routine with Woody and Rex and Bo Peep. I’ve been hitting the upper body he’s but I need to get back into my lower body and core. Currently I’m at 10 pull ups and ?? push ups. I need to do a max push up test here. I’ve been doing the 25-push ups a day challenge in July so I hope that’s translated to progress. Woody was doing those with me but had a rough scooter accident where he sprained a wrist and that threw it off. Woody, Rex, and Bo Peep started dance last night and start swimming Saturday so we’ll be at the YMCA twice a week. I’m still doing the calisthenics but since we booked a Disney trip in December and are traveling on a vacation with my family in a few weeks, I’m back into DW Prep mode. I’ll be doing all the usual loaded carry exercises plus step ups, courtesy of my friends who answered my panicked call when I realized I no longer have a 15-story building’s worth of stairs to climb. 3. Take one concrete step forward per day- at least one tangible, visible thing to make life better. This ranges from things as small as “dig out the replacement toaster” to as big as “reorganize the playroom.” I don’t have to complete the bigger ones as long as I make progress. 4. Take one concrete step forward per day career-wise. I need my job but I’m not satisfied in it and otherwise need a change. I need to hone/adapt skills and look for other opportunities. -> Currently, this involves working towards dramatically expanding a part-time business into a full-time business, which would have Jessie running that business full-time and likely have me also working it full time within the next few years. I’ve also continued to interview elsewhere to help give us options. I really want the business to work though. 5. It’s watering time. It’s hot and dry now. We scrapped the one planned bed and I moved the blackberries. We’re going to nicely finish what we have before we add more. 6. Therapy. I have a new diagnoses and new medication that have been, it feels, pretty life changing. I finished intensive therapy that was also insanely helpful prior to that and I am continuing with less frequent sessions. My goal is to better learn how to manage ADHD and how to be a more connected, present, and supportive husband and father. I think I have been progressing well. I feel healthy. I am excited about how this has gone. There’s a lot going on. I’ve started a lot more regular D&D sessions with the kids. We’re a good chunk of the way into the Lost Mine of Phandelver. I’m seriously considering a TikTok channel detailing their exploits because they’re a lot of fun- a regular human fighter (who will likely become a Paladin) played by Woody,, a Dragonborn Barbarian who will 100% be multiclassing Druid played by Rex, and a higher level Tibbit multiclassing Druid and Rogue played by Bo Peep, who is a volatile sometime-companion and sometime-ally who can also wild shape into a dog. They love it and so do I. I told them we’d start a TikTok channel to tell their story, and if I manage to get that off the ground I’ll let y’all know- I did post one intro video but haven’t posted about the actual sessions.

Welcome all! I’m a married parent of 4 kids aged 0-7. I’m ultimately an adventurer at heart, though I train similar to a lot of Rangers (and I’m something of a Druid Paladin which is also something of an equivalent to a Ranger). I love hiking, exploring, traveling, and other fun things with the family. Since shortly before joining Nerdfitness, my physical training is typically built around injury rehabilitation (which happens a bit more often due to autoimmune arthritis) and training to be able to travel, explore, and play with my family. I have a pretty effective Disney World training system, and try to ensure that at any point I’m strong enough to carry my whole family somewhere. That has become more difficult as the years go on but I can still do it for the most part. I am also an enthusiastic suburban homesteader bent on establishing an orchard and vegetable garden, so things can get pretty out-doorsy depending on my goals. My needs mean I do a variety of types of training, and my earliest two physical training goals were “run fast” and “be able to competitively play any sport I come across.” I prefer to avoid gyms and do a lot of body weight training. At the beginning of the year, we welcomed baby 4 into the family, my cat was diagnosed with feline dementia a few months ago, we adopted a kitten (our third cat and Rex’s first), and I’ve returned to work from my parental leave. At the beginning of this year, we started shopping for an existing business with a professional kitchen to give a physical location to our small cottage bakery. I’m not at liberty to discuss more at this time, only to say it’s a thing that we are working hard on. We have several new fruit trees, including a kumquat tree, and they’re all still alive. My Ranier cherry tree is alive but hasn’t woken up and I’m not entirely sure what to do about it. I have to replant an apple tree that sunk as well. The berries are exploding. The fence had an incorrect section sent (another return and replacement!) and this last piece should ship soon, meaning that I’ll finally be able to finish the darned fence. Fingers crossed. I hope. This never should have taken more than a day or two but here we are lol. Speaking of dragging projects, our bathroom remodel snowballed. It’s almost a ground-up remodel of the small bathroom now. But it’s gonna look good. Healthwise, we’ve been living the keto lifestyle for a little over 3 1/2 months, and we’ve found it to be incredibly easy to stick to 99% of the time, meaning we’re seeing more success and I’m burning less willpower on food-related stuff. I am past my arbitrary goal weight, and I’m focusing hard now on maintaining around this weight while achieving my goal composition. The last time I was this weight was before I met Jessie and when I was in my student teaching (yeah, before the wrestling coach gig!) That is, one of the best shapes of my life. I want to be lean and strong, not skinny and weak. (Tried that and hated it). I have been focusing hard on my calisthenics since shortly after the start of the last challenge and when testing today, I hit a new pull up record of 8. It’s probably not an actual strength record since I could previously do 6 but at 25 lbs heavier, but I’m on the way. I can do 5 solid with le bebe in a harness and that’s closer, so I’m expecting to hit an actual strength record soon. Goals: 1. Sleep. As best as possible. I’m a nonfunctional mess without sleep and can sacrifice it for a few days ok but then I have to make it a super high priority to regain it. With le bébé getting older this is easier but with teething on the horizon that adds a potential complication. 2. My basic calisthenics routine with Woody and Rex and Bo Peep. I’ve been hitting the upper body he’s but I need to get back into my lower body and core. Currently I’m at 8 pull ups and 35 push ups. I recently read a study of endurance athletes that suggests full keto adaptation occurs at about 6 months and the performance dip corrects. I’m still doing the calisthenics but since we booked a Disney trip in December and are traveling on a vacation with my family in a few weeks, I’m back into DW Prep mode. I’ll be doing all the usual loaded carry exercises plus step ups, courtesy of my friends who answered my panicked call when I realized I no longer have a 15-story building’s worth of stairs to climb. 3. Take one concrete step forward per day- at least one tangible, visible thing to make life better. This ranges from things as small as “dig out the replacement toaster” to as big as “reorganize the playroom.” I don’t have to complete the bigger ones as long as I make progress. 4. Take one concrete step forward per day career-wise. I need my job but I’m not satisfied in it and otherwise need a change. I need to hone/adapt skills and look for other opportunities. -> Currently, this involves working towards dramatically expanding a part-time business into a full-time business, which would have Jessie running that business full-time and likely have me also working it full time within the next few years. I’ve also continued to interview elsewhere to help give us options. 5. It’s watering time. All but my peppers are planted or died sad deaths on the patio, but we have 1 solid bed. The second needs to be installed, I have a pile of clay dirt to deal with, a ton of weeding to do, and I gotta keep everything alive since the heats of heck have arrived. 6. Therapy. I have a new diagnoses and new medication that have been, it feels, pretty life changing. I finished intensive therapy that was also insanely helpful prior to that and I am continuing with less frequent sessions. My goal is to better learn how to manage ADHD and how to be a more connected, present, and supportive husband and father. I think I have been progressing well. I feel healthy, though I’ve been pretty amped up the last few days during the remodel chaos and whatnot. There’s a lot going on. I’ve started a lot more regular D&D sessions with the kids. We had a few false starts and some practice sessions but they’re finally getting into the Lost Mine of Phandelver. I’m seriously considering a TikTok channel detailing their exploits because they’re a lot of fun- a regular human fighter (who will likely become a Paladin) played by Woody,, a Dragonborn Barbarian who will 100% be multiclassing Druid played by Rex, and a higher level Tibbit multiclassing Druid and Rogue played by Bo Peep, who is a volatile sometime-companion and sometime-ally who can also wild shape into a dog. They love it and so do I. I told them we’d start a TikTok channel to tell their story, and if I manage to get that off the ground I’ll let y’all know.

Well, he we try again. Last challenge things just went off the rails, and I couldn't get myself to get restarted. Car even got stolen haha. Luckily, nothing was damaged. Still a mystery as to how they broke in and drove it. Things have just seemed off with me. 2018 things worked well for me. Everything I seem to get going, I just end up failing out. With all that, I am still going to come back and try doing a little better then last time The goals are always similar or the same. I really just have to get myself in the routine of getting it done again. I'm actually thinking of talking to my doctor too. Check the hormones levels and such. I've been recently thinking it might be less depression, and more lower testosterone or something with me. Either way, I need to check with the doc to get some tests done. Then I might actually find out. So here we go with the challenge. Goal 1 - Sleep I know 100% that this is so important to my mental health, as well as physical recovery. When I decide to just stay up, I end up eating more things. Then I get even more tired for the next day. Then it's just a constant feeling of never being caught up, and always tired. I know my recent challenges, the sleep wasn't perfect right away, but it was getting better. Being heavier weight doesn't help either. SO better sleep will come as I lose weight as well as getting my routine in order. For now, I'll get back to what I was at before. 10:30 PM off the electronics, and start reading. At 11:30 PM, I need to head off to bed. I also need to get up right away. no laying in bed to play pokemon go or look around on the phone. 15 Points per day. 105 each week. Goal 2 - Eat I've debated over the last few weeks as to what direction I want to go with food. Keto has worked amazingly for me. It is restrictive somewhat though. I've watch lots of Greg Doucette, and he talks about low calorie high volume ways of eating. Which more of which sounds good, but still would be somewhat restrictive too. Both ways, I still would have to deal with the things the rest of my family eats. The days when my wife decided doughnuts should be bought, or whatever sweet temptations. All the times we we go out to do stuff, and it's decided to pick up fast food. I end up with nothing, and have to then come home and make myself stuff. For now, I am going to stay with Keto. I want to try to get my mindset like I had in 2018. I was faced with many a snack/food back then, but really didn't have much problem ignoring things. Keto will take a few days to get use to, and cravings to start to go away. It will help to get to sleep on time too Tracking Calories (2200-2400 max), under 20 g net carbs. 15 points per day. 105 each week. Goal 3 - Walk There is much I want to do. All the exercise. All the running. I just can't jump in full force yet. It's very evident to me whenever I just go to take out the trash and such. I'm going to focus just one getting out for walks. I need to test what my limits are, but I want to focus at least 20 minutes a day. Normally, I would have a rest day, but honestly, I am just wanting to keep moving. Hopefully, by the end of the challenge, I will have leveled up the walking to multiple walks per day, or much longer walks etc. The walking is super important for me to do, so I am making it a high point value. 20 points per day. 140 each week. Goal 4 - Check in daily, do the Mini challenge(s), get help with accountability The Mini challenge looks right up my alley. I've been wanting to declutter my area forever. I just never made much progress The mini challenge has everyone doing it. So I must participate. I also am joining the Weight Loss PvP group I saw @Rookie sign up for it, and it sounded like a great way to engage with everything. Lastly, I must get myself to post here. Missing a day isn't the end of the world, but missing weeks is not helping me in anyway. Not only myself, I can't be abandoning all the people here. At least 5/7 days posting here and working on the mini challenge will get me 15 points each week. Measurements April 28th / May 1st: Chest - 56.96 in / Waist - 62.40 in / Bicep (L) - 17.79 in / Bicep (R) - 17.04 in / Thigh (L) - 29.84 in / Thigh (R) - 29.33 in / Weight - 378.2 lbs Total Challenge points: Week 1 (03/28 -04/03) - 270/365 - 73% Week 2 (04/04 - 04/10) - 0/365 Week 3 (04/11 - 04/17) - 0/365 Week 4 (04/18 - 04/24) - 0/365 Week 5 (04/25 - 05/01) - 0/365 Challenge total - 0/1825

2019 into 2020 I really started struggling. 2020 was the full blown meltdown. In 2021, there will still be many things out of my control. That being said, it's time to get back to setting myself up for success. I've never been that big of a New Years resolution type person. In 2018 though, that actually worked for me. I setup up the goals. I had some motivation knowing that most people fail to keep up with the resolutions over the years. It was like I was in competition with the world to know that I was going to be one of the few to stick to my goals. Yeah, I still had struggles, but overall I felt like I won 2018. Of course, I am very much worse off now then I was going into 2018. I weight more I think, and so much of 2020 was spent just sitting here doing nothing. I tried to get moving, even with the covid stuff. I just lost too much average everyday things I did. We are still in lockdown here. I haven't bowling in 9 months now. I don't know when I might be able to even get out to do that. I'll most likely need to get some job this year, because things have gotten too tight. We might move. Lease for the apartment is up in August. I would love to get out of here. Many, many things in the air. Still, I can focus on thing I know I can control. I can control what I eat. I can control my sleep schedule. I can control my activity level. I do have goals. Some goals I have wanted to do forever. In 2021, I want to be able to run a 5k again. I want to finally do a pull up. I want to get back to under 300 lbs. (185-200 lbs is the true ultimate goal.) These all might be hard to see done this year, but they are all things to aim for. Ultimately, this is all goals to be stronger, faster, and just healthier version of myself. Week zero, I want to start getting myself back into building my habits. I 100% want to jump in and do all the things. I know that this is not a good way to go at it. One good challenge I had in 2020, was to set myself up for success. The goals to set myself up to win 2021 1) Getting the Sleep habits reset This may just be the most important goal. You wouldn't think so, but a good nights rest leads to so many positive things. I know when I have limited sleep, I very much feel it. It is much harder to concentrate and focus on tasks. It's much easier to give into eating or drinking things that are not good for me. Plus, I will start needing more rest when workouts come into play. I know that my sleep will also improve as I lose weight as well. Start settling down at 10:30 PM. Begin to read. Head off to bed at 11:30 PM. Now, I won't get to bed right at 11:30. I usually give myself 10 to 15 minutes. I check the door, set the alarm, and sometimes hit up the bathroom before bed. Goal 1 Points: 7 days a week. 3 points for reading started on time. 3 points for getting into bed. 42 points total. 2) Keto, Tracking, and hitting my Calorie target Keto doesn't seem too limiting to me, and has very much worked well in the past. It very much helped in 2018. It helps to control my hunger. It helps get my inflammation down too. I know some of it is water weight, but I notice it a lot in my legs. In general I do feel better while eating that way. Of course, maybe it's a lot of eating better foods, and not McDonalds or bad fast food too haha. As much as tracking can be a pain, it hasn't been too bad to me. It's quite easy when I am making my own things to eat. I need to figure out my target numbers in Week zero. Looks like I will aim for 2300 calories a day. This should be about a 20% cut vs 30% or more that I usually have been doing. Of course I want to drop as much weight as quickly as possible, but I think adds into me struggling later. I hope to take a bit slower approach, and maybe I can keep the weight off as my body adjusts to me being a smaller. Goal 2 points: 7 days a week. 3 points for under 20 net carbs per day. 3 points for tracking per day. 3 points for hitting within 100 calories of my goal (2300 Calories). 63 points total 3) Movement This is the start of getting in some exercise. This challenge, I am going to start off with a walking. Each day, I want to walk for at least 5 minutes. That's it. Nice and easy. My plan is to walk to a pokestop near out apartment. In total would probably be 10 minutes. I would feel more comfortable about walking around the apartment complex, but there are too many no maskers. I am going to leave this a bit open. I want to be walking longer times and/or more often by the end. I know before I jumped out and did a big 3.5 mile walk when I totally wasn't ready, and hurt my foot. I never really got back out after that. So this is the slow and stead approach. I will add in a back up plan incase of weather or some other problem. Plan B is to do check marks on my white board. at least 5 marks during the day. Eventually, I might combine these, and even assign tasks to each checkmark. We shall see how things go. Since this shouldn't be too tough on me, I am not going to have a "rest" day. If my feet are hurting or something, then I can default to doing the indoor checkmarks as my rest day. This walking will lead to more walking, then running at some point. Maybe, I can get back to hitting 10k step goals fairly soon. Goal 3 points: 7 days a week. 5 points per day. 35 points per week. Measurements - Start of Challenge / Challenge finish Chest - 56.57 in / Waist - 61.25 in / Bicep (L) - 17.71 in / Bicep (R) - 16.96 in / Thigh (L) - 30.98 in / Thigh (R) - 29.29 in / Weight - 377.6 lbs / Challenge Points: Week 1 (Jan 03 - Jan 09) = 129/140 - 92% Week 2 (Jan 10 - Jan 16) = 0/140 Week 3 (Jan 17 - Jan 23) = 0/140 Week 4 (Jan 24 - Jan 30) = 0/140 Week 5 (Jan 31 - Feb 06) = 0/140 Total points: 0/700

Come on now friends, can't we all stand to shake 2020 off a little?! I have a lot of habits, physical and mental that I would like to shed myself of, and replace with stuff that's going to make me feel good and happy and calm. We cannot dictate our circumstances, but we can change how we respond to them. Don't get me wrong, I am ALL for forgiving ourselves for whatever this past year looked like! No, I don't for a second believe that we should or even could have all come out of this as glowing gods and goddesses, full of new languages, perfect diets and workout routines and killer sourdough bread baking skills. Buuuuut I am also not here for another year of self-pity, depression and borderline alcoholism. "Happy medium" is always my favourite phrase and finding myself a little closer to the Middle Path is the Goal. So in pursuit of this, my goals for the next 6-ish weeks are: ONE: Follow the keto way. Because: 1. My clothes don't fit. 2. My mood is WAY more stable without the carbs 3. Energy levels are better too, once I'm long-term committed. This will help bring many aspects of my being into balance. Target is under 30g carbs per day. Mostly meats and vegetables. Week One: /210 Week Two: /210 Week Three: /210 Week Four: /210 Week Five : /210 TWO: Increase Activity Levels Because: 1. I want to regain strength and flexibility. 2. I easily injure myself, and I want to be more resiliant. 3. It will also help with mood stuff. Honestly, I don't know if I will ever be able to kettlebell again (I effed up my left ring finger... a year and half ago? 2 years? I can't remember. I've been to physio a few times since then, which has helped some, but it still gets aggravated every time I try to pick up a kettlebell, or even dumbbell). But there is plenty I can still do. I actually haven't tried yoga since shortly after I messed it up, and it was no beuno at that point, because I couldn't put weight on my hand, but it may have improved enough to handle that at least? But I can for sure do squats and lunges (I can even hold a weight, as long as it's goblet-style), I can ride my bike, I can do barre. For someone who used to work out pretty intensely on the reg, it does make me sad that I've lost that habit entirely. I just have not been able to make myself care. But it's not good, I don't like how my body feels! Not even just the weight thing, I just feel so much less capable. And it was a big part of how I identified myself, and I most definitely feel the void there. Now, I think this is an area where I need to really ease myself back in. I don't want to get discouraged. And January is going to be stressful AF, and I need to be mentally prepared to handle what I know is coming, and spend my energy and motivation where I need it most. But I also think it has the capacity to be a positive feedback cycle if I can get there. So, low bar to start, that I can crush NO MATTER WHAT. Week One: 25 minutes per week. That's ONE yoga or barre video. 5 minutes on the bike each workday. Two body weight workouts. I can DO that. I'll adjust this as it goes on. The only thing that doesn't count is walking. Only because that's the only thing I've actually maintained and the point is to increase. THREE: School. Work. I'm in the middle of an online class (Intro to Management, whooo so interesting). And by middle, I mean final 3rd, and I'm less than half way done with the course content. My goal for December was to finish my first assignment and write the midterm. I DID finish the assignment, but did not write the midterm yet. I still have 2 chapters to get done before I can do that. I still have 5 full days off before I'm back to work, so I am committing to myself RIGHT NOW that I will get those chapters read in that time, and start reviewing. Technically that's Week Zero stuff. Week One: Write Midterm and Lesson 8 Week Two: Lesson 9 and Lesson 10 Week Three: Assignment 2 Week Four: Lesson 11 Week Five: Lesson 12 and 13 Which leaves me with 3 weeks to complete the last two lessons and write the final exam. Since I'm working at work during week two, I'll have 5 hours of lunch breaks to work on this, hence the higher load that week. And 12 and 13th are suggested for one week in the sample schedule, so one of them is likely shorter. Technically I can request an extension for the course, but it's $200!!!! So no, that's not happening. So yes, between the timeline on the course, and that fact that I'll be working from work 1 /3 of the time starting in the 2nd week of January, I am expecting to have some elevated stress levels. But I am doing myself the incredible favour of eating right and getting some exercise to help me manage that. And I'm also pre-emptively forgiving myself for anything else that does not get done. If the house isn't as clean as it could be, that's okay. If I don't work on the side gig website, as absolutely does need doing, that's okay too. Pep talk to self: Straight up, you cannot do it all and stay sane. You've decided what matters the most, and you have to be okay with that.

what I want for Xmas is a happy body and a happy mood... so that's what Im getting myself: 12 little gifts! do a 3-5km walk in the late morning with the dog, preferably so she can run without a leash. Add those km to Walk to Mordor. (just passed Weathertop this week) Monday: hip stretches for five minutes in the evening Tuesday: deep squat practice for five minutes in the evening Wednesday: push up prep work for 5 minutes in the evening Thursday: hip stretches again Friday: squat practise again Saturday: push up practice again Sunday: relax in a way that feels good eat keto consistently. prep meals. no booze 2 nights a week drink 3 liter / day ( must do at least 1 liter water or tea) meditate and do morning ritual when waking up cant wait to do my first holiday challenge with you guys! * hops up and down*.......

I missed you! (Thank you Salinger for getting my ass back here!) Im fighting the ear infection from hell. my ear is so swollen that my face isn't symmetrical anymore... crap! ( saw a doc twice and am treated. it just doesnt get better) My counselor tells me to chill the fuck out. She and I think that Ive reached important goals. And I will be here to keep up the work and look for joy and happiness in what I've created for me. I live such a privileged life, being able to do whatever I want, during my days. I work 3 hours a day max.. I made my most important weightloss goal, I stood up after back surgery, recovered like a boss and made it back to cross fit! Its time to shut up about not doing enough and just to enjoy what I have build. but fearless, when you are here you need to have goals!? you ask well my goal is to enjoy what I am building for myself. I want to get up in the mornings exited to start the day! I do not want to push myself further at the moment. intentions: ( totally stole that from you, Iatheyeti ) develop a morning and evening ritual that covers all the fun things you want to do ( stretch, meditate, journal) see if you can include a daily writing hour in your day without stressing about it keep up cross fit 2x /week ( once recovered from the plague of the ear) keep eating healthy keto meals and prepping them to make it easier make sure dog child is happy make sure you are happy

This is my third challenge since coming back. I started out being bed bound because of a slipped disc , had surgery and made my way to moving around pain free and with almost no more symptoms of my paralyzed leg and foot. Now I need to get serious about keeping up activity and diet. My two main goals are: 1. lose weight (to help my spine and make me able to move with ease) and get down to 99 kg. Pursuing this goal via keto diet. 2. do PT exercises and get to a point where I can switch to bodyweight training as a form of movement. Also do daily walks with the dog and increasing the distance as a preparation for hiking long distances with my puppy EDIT: just found the walking to Mordor app and my goal is to meet the elves at 65.98km during this challenge. YAY this will be fun! I have lined up a couple of fun side goals like the minimalist game, starting on the 1. In this game I declutter my home from stuff I don't need anymore. On day one its one thing , on day 2 two things and so on until the 31th, where I have to get rid of 31 items. Tell me if you'd like to play with me! Im embarrassed to say that I will also include daily showers as another side goal. Working from home has made me quite lazy. So this needs to change! morning meditation is something else I want to do consistently. I will ad secondary goals each week as I go along. Will use week zero to practice main goal nr. 2 and start with daily showers and morning meditations. Right now I have a friend visiting me and that's what I can do while she is here. She leaves on Saturday which is when I will get back to keto and add the minimalist game..... Ill take it from there. Ive gotten so used to hanging here with you that I missed you guys over the weekend.. Glad to be back!

I had surgery on my spine ( slipped disc/paralysed right foot) on June 5th and am recovering well. last challenge I beat the "pain dragon" with the druids. I meditated, wrote, lost weight, cooked and prepped healthy keto foods. Movement not possible pre surgery. Now its time to get back going. Right now I am able to walk more than 4000 steps with breaks and am pain free. The next weeks I will experiment with my own personal rehab program, supported by my neighbor who is my PT as well. Im a cello-teacher and writer and will also level up on the time I spend with research for book #2. To help my spine I need to lose some more weight. As a 52 year old (queer) woman I feel its not about what my body looks like ( that's fine ) but about what my body can do and will be able to do as I keep aging.My dog has been very patient with me but enjoys the walks we could restart since last week. My long-term goal is to hike/run? longer tours in nature with the pup. I joined this guild because I also want to do bodyweight/strength stuff again. (was heavily into CrossFit for a couple of years) Starting out with stretching and PT stuff for my back and stomach to help my spine longterm. Since Im in recovery I can't predict the condition I will be in during the next weeks. Therefore I will adjust my goals weekly to make sure the goal is neither too hard nor too easy. Here are my goals until Sunday 21th. : food: cook and prep healthy keto meals. eat 2 meals a day. veggies are your friend! drink 3 liter of water/coffee/zero sugar drinks/ tea daily movement: complete 21.000 steps until Sunday 21th 8pm. breaks are your friend. careful with your foot! wait bodyweight stuff until you are ready! nothing this week practice sitting, starting with 15 mins and going to 20 mins without break life: complete 3 hours of research for your book this week don't cancel any Cello students because you don't feel like getting dressed I will post often and will read what you are up to as much as I possibly can!

My third challenge - it's almost like this is becoming a habit now This time I'm doing something that wouldn't normally be something I would try - I'm adding goals that are way outside my comfort zone. This time I want to add a meditation habit for every day after work. I need the meditation to help mitigate the large amount of stress I'm under. I'll also be working on handstand progression - it really scares me, and it will help me feel confident that I'm getting better at something, there's a lot in my life that feels stagnant right now. I will still be working on my hooping, but this time it will be because I want to, not because I feel obligated to. I just re-taped my LED hoop and it is SUPER PRETTY now. I'll have to post some photos. That in itself makes me want to play with it more, it's a super yummy yellow/orange/white/red color changing opaque tape. Best $5 I've spent in a long time. Epic Main Quest is: Become a performance LED/Fire hula hooper (long term goal) Goals: Work on Handstand Progression. 3x a week. 5 minutes at a time. Meditate every day after work. 5x a week. 5 minutes a day. Keto on. <50g of carbs 6/7 days a week. Points for tracking all of my calories in MFP every day. Side Quests: Record daily miles walked into "Walking to Mordor" spreadsheet. Life Quest: Work on decluttering my tiny house. Throw away or donate at least one thing a day. By the end of the challenge, have costume clothing out of my main closet and in my costume chests. Motivation: "It's never too late to become what you might have been." Grading: I will give myself a total each week, based on how well I do. I will then assign my total grade at the end based on how many points I earned. Week 1: 15/15 Week 2: 14/15 Week 3: 16/15 Week 4: 14/15 Week 5: 16/15 Week 6: 14/15 TOTAL: 89/90 or an A

Aaaand I'm back. Well, I was always around, lurking/creepin' on the forums and dutifully reading my biweekly NF emails, so let's say I'm back and actively participating. So, let's get down to business, shall we? Main Quest: To lose 10 pounds and/or 5% bodyfat. Bikini season is soon upon us, ya'll. SUMMER IS COMING! Current stats: 142 lbs, 28% body fat, 5'5", single white female (j/k j/k). How to do it? 1) Ketosis. Can I get an "Amen"? I'm pretty much in love with the ketogenic diet. After going full paleo since the beginning of the year, I started playing with ketosis for a month now and love my results. I've been following a "paleo" version of it, so no dairy but lots of coconut and olive oil, fish, fatty grass-fed goodness (I'm salivating), etc. I'll follow a paleo-ketogenic diet 97%. By 97% I mean, one "off" meal a week that will probably throw me out of ketosis, but it better be so worth it. I've tried having "weekends off" or even one "off" day a week, but have found that my weight jumps up 5 pounds, then takes all week to get back to my pre-cheat-day weight. Yes, I do weigh myself everyday. Yes, I know doing that doesn't give me the most accurate information about true weight loss. But I like to start my day off knowing I'm making progress, cos usually it's a good number. So anyway, paleo-keto 97% of the time. I'll be tracking my macros and calories on myfitnesspal, aiming for 1400 calories a day (this is surprisingly hard for me to hit. I find myself eating coconut oil off a spoon sometimes to get that high). 2) Drink a gallon of water a day. A ketogenic diet is naturally diuretic, so keeping a close eye on hydration is key. I know I don't drink enough water daily. After I left my water bottle at a doctor's office a few weeks ago, I've haven't been putting effort into my water intake. 3) Follow Barbell Battalion Lvl 1 Started this last week and am OBSESSED with the barbell! So basically for this challenge I'll be at the gym 3x/week following the workout plan. Gotta get dem stallion legs. Motivation: Again, SUMMER IS COMING! More specifically, I'm taking a river trip down in Austin in June with a huge group of folks. I want to look hella good in that new bikini I'm going to get myself when this challenge is complete. #epicloot

PrettyPhD's Second Challenge: Following her North star once again *please note this is a work in progress and I will be editing it soon so it will look all sexy and cool...maybe Goal #1: Keto After initial week log onto MFP and meet macros Goal #2: Yoga3x a week, one of which needs to be intermediate so I can get out of my comfort zone (I've been doing yoga for years so it's time I force myself to level up) Goal #3: Hiking Go on one hike a week but go on a different trail each time! I just moved to this area and need to be brave, get out there, and discover the wonderful trails. Side Quest: Scholar specialityTurn in all 5 chapters of my dissertation to my chair by the end of the challenge *weekly goal: meet word minimum/time minimum each week. Thinking 6-8 hours.

Mouse Is Gettin' Srs Biz Guise Let's lay this down straight - there's one big goal: Weigh in at <120lbs by Feb 16 UNWRAP ONE: EAT [CHA +3, STR +1, DEX +1] Charisma for the aesthetic results, Strength for dat protein, Dexterity for the increased movement thanks to less weight As per usual, I will be sticking to a ketogenic (<25g net carbs) diet at a -19% deficit (1410cal at light activity, switching to moderate starting Jan 15 for 1590cal). As for free meals, I will earn two over the course of this challenge - but only if I eat within keto for 3 weeks straight. Grading will follow on a percentage of days in keto or not: so a score on 40, essentially. UNWRAP TWO: WORKOUT [CHA +1, STR +1, DEX +1, STA +2] Charisma for the lovely muscles, Strength for the lifttttts, Dexterity for all that bobbin' and weavin', Stamina for the sustained bobbin' and weavin' I've done something stupid, gais. I've totally taken the hand wraps of moderation off. My workout schedule is kinda hectic, with Mondays being Kickboxing followed by Deadlifting, Tuesdays as Karate, Wednesdays as Bench Press plus Rock Climbing, Thursdays as Rest, Fridays as Squats and new Karate club (more intense dojo!), Saturdays as Karate and Sundays as rest. However, I will really only need a minimum of the following to count myself successful just in case I need to call it a rest on some days:M, W, F - lift in Reverse Pyramid Training style (which has so far proven lovely in results!)M - Kickboxing (1.5hrs)Grading will be by week - a possible for four points per week for a total score of 24 (A+ earned if most other workouts above minimum are also done). If I do workouts above and beyond, those will also be awarded one point, so I may have a point score over 24 by the end of the challenge. UNWRAP THREE: REST [CON +2, WIS +2, STA +1] Constitution for the obvious health and recovery benefits, Wisdom for finally learning this lesson, Stamina because I'm sure it'll increase in proportion Taking cue, finally, from my buddy Zuel, I'm going to be aiming for at least 6 hours of sleep a night. I will keep track using SleepBot on my phone. This is probably going to be the hardest goal. I will allow myself 6 mistakes, for a total possible score of of 36. UNWRAP LIFE: UNFUARK THE WARDROBE [WIS +3, CHA +1, DEX +1] Wisdom for learning to let go of things I don't need, Charisma for the inevitable increase in fashion sense, Dexterity for... a lighter on-my-feet wardrobe? I want to organize and clear out my wardrobe. I've unfuarked my built-in closet already, so I just need to do my stand up wardrobe. I have no specific structure in mind for this goal, so it'll be more or less "pass fail". FIGHTER STATS: MOUSE TO SOON-TO-BE MIGHTYWeight: 123.8lbs (may be inaccurate, as I was bloated) Neck: Bust: Arm: Stomach: Waist: Thigh: Deadlift: 95lbs Bench: 80lbs Squat: unknown (injured, previously 95lbs)

Mouse Rising: Recovery and Resilience an injured mouse is still a tigress My friends, let me lay it out for you - I've got patellofemoral pain syndrome, aka Runner's Knee. It happened a month in to my training last challenge with Zombies, Run! 5k Training. I got it because I was being stubborn and pushing through way too much. So my challenge this time is to keep things slow, keep them on track for a strong recovery and keep moving towards both weight loss and injury prevention. This is my challenge. The Mouse Rising: A Monk In Recovery Her knee elevated, an ice pack resting on it, our heroine Mouse sat at a table in the city square, an egg roll in front of her. She poked at it absent-mindedly with a fork as she poured over readings a medicine man had given her. All of which were exercises and stretches for her to complete with her injured knee to strengthen and correct her form for running. She was frustrated. She couldn't run, she couldn't squat or deadlift, she couldn't do a lot of the ass-kicking she had gotten used to. But she still had her mission, and it was within sight. The Path of Adipoxia leading to the Dragon Flabxia was at the other side of that mountain in the distance to the city. That mountain that blotted out the sun - but not for long. She would succeed at this. This, and her other, more personal mission - a mad writing festival she had signed herself up for. GOALS Diet For Recovery [CHA +3, CON +2] I will stick to keto once more, as much for how much it helps me with water weight as for how much it helps me stay away from sugary snacks and high caloric food. Also, I want to see how it affects my cholesterol - as much for my curiosity as my dad's, who has been insisting I do a blood test for a while now, despite my previously excellent results on the diet. (Blood test results, I should clarify.) For this, I will eat keto (<25g carbs) and 1375cal 95% of the time, meaning I will have 6 days over the challenge (at most once per week unless emergencies force my hand) to eat either out of keto or above caloric deficit. But as much as possible, I'll try not to break both in one go. *Note for the caloric deficit: I am just barely over 5' and I am not able to be physically active as much as I am used to. I have done careful calculations as to my BRM and TDEE and 1375cal is well within healthy range for me. I am somewhat ticked when people claim I don't eat enough. To put things in perspective, if I were to eat at maintenance, I would be eating close to 1750cal with my current level of physical activity. So, frankly, thank you for your concern - but "you call that breakfast" or other comments like that are what I typically put in "Annoying Comments You Hear All The Time". You've been warned. Grading: A: 6 Free MealsB: 7 Free MealsC: 8 Free MealsD: 9 Free MealsF: 10+ Working Out and Physical Therapy [DEX +2, STA +2, CON +1] As I have Runner's Knee, I am forbidden from running (sad), but I have been cleared for using a stationary bike! I haven't tried it yet, so I'm a bit apprehensive, but I'll give it a go this week. Also, my weights are restricted to bodyweight and upper body - so basically, of the big three, I'm only able to do bench press for now. I will work out building up to my usual 5 or 6 days a week, starting with 1 day/week for 1 week, 2 days/week for 2 weeks, 3 days/week for 3 weeks... etc. On the days that I don't do my regular workout, I will do my physio (which will, of course, be part of my regular workout a well). Grading: A: 1 + 2x2 + 3x3 = 14 workoutsB: 13 workoutsC: 12 workoutsD: 11 workoutsF: =< 10 workouts Prepare to Rise! [WIS +3, STA +2] (I don't know, my creativity is shot, okay?) One thing that I've been slacking on recently, which has led to a lot of bumps in my diet, has been preparation in advance. Breakfasts, lunches, snacks and sometimes dinners were things I always prepared in advance in my first challenge and it helped me really get on track. So I want to get back into that. What this goal looks like is every weekend (Sat or Sun), I will cook my breakfasts for the week, my lunches for the week and buy dinner supplies. I will also pack snacks for the week. I'll also choose my work out days and so on and so forth. Grading: A: 5 weeksB: 4 weeksC: 3 weeksF: =< 2 weeksNOTE: As my first week is a long weekend, I'm not really counting it as half the week will be gone. And long weekends give me lots of time to cook my meals as I eat them, which I enjoy much more than eating something out of a microwave. Personal Goal: NaNoWriMo If you've never heard of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), here's the deal: write 50,000 words in 30 Days. At the time of writing, it's been several days since I've been at the 50,000 point, however, I have not yet reached the end of my plot outline. Therefore, I will continue to write while I still have plot to work through. Grading: Pass: Story is finished by Nov 30Fail: Story is not finished by Nov 30 STARTING STATS Weight: 125.8lbs Height: 5' 1/4" Neck: Bust: Arm: Waist: Stomach: Thigh: BF%:

"I'm late! I'm late! I'm oh-so-very late!" but a late Mouse is still a Mouse - and for that, she is a Tiger. Hey! I'm trying something very different this time around, folks. Zuel is fantastic for logging, and I'm afraid that my Mouse-like mind doesn't have the devotion (read: free-time at work, 'cause I've landed a fantastic job until graduation that is actually keeping me busy and putting my skills to work) to pull off the same kind of dedicated logging in-thread. However, I want to try "micro-logging", kinda like micro-blogging. So I'll be posting what I can (meals, activity, thoughts, etc) on Twitter using the hashtag #monklvl5 (and, if I've got the space, pairing it with #nf6wkchallenge, #keto, etc - though no more than 2 at a time!). My Twitter handle is @atienzac, so feel free to follow/search the hashtag and please, tell me if I'm Twittering wrong. I suck at using social media and it's part of my interest as a future HR-professional to see the impact social media has on recruitment and building one's online presence. And of course, I'm far from a social media expert. But hey, if Twitter can help me organize my info, then so be it! It shall be used! My plan is to update as often as I can on Twitter, then do a recap of my performance for the week, catch up on any comments and post a weigh-in every weekend or so. As for why I'm starting a week late, I was pretty disheartened by my lack of progress (though it wasn't entirely unexpected - in fact, I maintained weight and performance quite well despite my almost complete lack of both dietary and exercise discipline) and took a bit of a dive. I'm happy to say I'm more than back on the horse, though my back and neck have become seriously tight and I'm gonna have to see if I can book regular chiro/massage appointments to try to bring things back into shape. I feel the week of rest has helped me to reset and get my priorities straight. I've also identified that I want to start running again - it's the one thing that changed between the challenge where I lost 10lbs to the recent challenges where I've been struggling. THE MAIN QUEST Mouse, our intrepid Monk-in-Training, stumbles into the Town Square - nearly toppling the Bard as he sets up his wooden crate to sit on. She's haggard, tired, laden with endless reams of scrolls scrawled with plans and logs and dreams. Ink splashed across her face, she all but collapses onto one of the makeshift chairs slung together from bits of wood and rags in front of the Bard's meager stage. Brushing the obviously exhausted woman's entrance aside, the Bard began on his tale of the valley beyond the mountain ridge - the next stop for many of the Rebels in the courtyard, all eager to take the next steps on their dragon-slaying journeys. He strummed majestically, at first the tune sounding as up-lifting and inspiring as always, but his fingers shifted and the minor chords struck sent chills down the spines of those gathering to listen to him. He sang of a valley, filled with bones and corpses and rotting flesh - flesh that refused to lie still and rest. He sang of Rebels being chased, overrun and taken by the sheer masses of the Undead come to live again - taken by mere shambling masses of skin and bone that couldn't move but for a slow shuffle. Overrun and taken simply due to the numbers of them all. And how bursting through them - through maddening runs, terrified sprints, feats of sheer melee genius - only through those could Rebels hope to cross the Valley of the Undead to reach the Mountains of Passage. Mouse shivered - she was at once driven by every desire in her body to defeat her dragons, to blaze through the Valley, across the Mountains, crash through the Wall of Weakness to get to the Path of Adipox, and crush the dragon Flabxia in its Lair; and utterly terrified of anything remotely similar to horror. However, fear is simply another step to conquer, another experience to gain, another storm to be weathered. However much she feared zombies and the undead, she must blaze a trail of glorious victory through them to attain her goal. And so blaze she would. Eyes burning with determination (and more than her fair share of terror at the prospect of running through hordes of zombies), Mouse threw aside her scrolls, opting instead for a small blue bird to which she could attach snippets of parchment to send to her friends, adopting a lighter load out and set herself down the path to the Valley of the Undead. She would conquer this, she told herself, conquer it well. GOALS Run Like Zoms Are Chasing You... No, Srsly. They're Right Behind You. [DEX +2, STA +3] I hate myself for this, but I've started Zombies, Run! 5k Training. As someone who is both easily terrified of anything horror and easily addicted to anything storytelling, I'm at the mercy of my imagination when running to this thing. Fortunately, it works and I run fast, hard and for as long as I can. Unfortunately, I can't run anytime it's dark, so I have to run either inside on the track or outside when it's bright out - and in Alberta, Canada, that means I'm not running outside for much longer. But I will run 3x a week, aiming to complete 6 weeks of Z,R! by the end of the challenge (I'm already in W2). However, this can include going back and doing a week over - so essentially, I'm going to be running 3x a week. Grading: A: 3 Runs Per Week (total of 15 10)B: 2 Runs Per Week (total of 10 5)C: 1 Run Per Week (total of 5)Anything less is fail.Lift Like You're Killing Zoms By Throwing Heavy Things... Srsly, Throw. [sTR +2, STA +2, DEX +1] I joined my campus Powerlifting Club! And I'm throwing myself back into karate in full-force! And I joined a dance class! So essentially, I'mma be lifting, kicking and steppin' my way outta those Zoms' reaches. Hopefully. Gracefully. ...The way away from the Zombie Apocalypse is slow-slow-quickquick! (Fox Trot, anyone?) I aim to lift/dance 3x a week - if my legs feel tight again, I will reduce this to two and replace one of the workouts with stretching. I also aim to attend hot yoga once per week as a sort of flexibility and pre-emptive recovery. Still gotta work out the logistics, though. Grading: A: 3 Workouts (any combo of lifting/dancing) Per Week (total of 15)B: 2 Workouts (any combo) Per Week (total of 10)C: 1 Workout (either lifting/dance) Per Week (total of 5)Anything less is fail.Eat Like It's The Zombie Apocalypse... Srsly, Don't Poison Yourself. [CON +3, CHA +2] I find that 1,550 calories per day is an attainable goal, and that even eating much above that (probably close to 2k), I was able to stay within 2lbs of my "attained weight" (125lbs). This gave me hope that outside of keto is totally fine (though I hate what excessive water weight does to how my tummy feels while running - it feels so jiggly), and that I can recover some lost hair doing so. I may or may not eat keto, but I will not go off the deep end and drink/eat sugary crap just because. During my two week break, I found I could eat @ 1,550cal and not in keto and went down to 126.2lbs. Now, I'm likely in 125lb range, back to my lowest. So I hope to eat namely keto (breakfast+lunch) and stay strictly within my 1,550cal limit. Be advised: as I will start running and hot yoga, I may need to up this caloric limit. Grading: Pass/Fail​Pass: No more than 5 days above 1550cal, other than that it's based on feel.Fail: More than 5 days above 1550cal - must be a sizable difference (100cal+).​ The Life Quest I want to find myself a good job. And I want to be happy doing it. For this, I've checked off a big To Do: I've become a member of the Human Resources Institute of Alberta (HRIA) - this lets me access their workshops, and most importantly, their networking events. I want to do one principle thing: work towards developing my professional identity. This involves two steps: creating a personal brand and developing my online professional presence. Specifically for this challenge, I need to design a business card (design in mind, just need to finalize it and print it) and finish up my LinkedIn Profile (may not be possible, as I'm part of a test group for work that means I'll have to keep it unfinished for a bit, but I can at least draft all my information and arrange to have professional photos taken). The Starting Line Weight: 126.2lbs Neck: Bust: Arm: Waist: Stomach: Thigh: A Social Media Question Okay, I've got a question for you guys - as we all know, our fitness journeys are pretty personal things. We confide details on our deepest thoughts, our darkest hours and our most personal victories. So I'm wondering: Is it appropriate to have it all linked to our public, online selves? One of the things I liked about NF at the beginning was I could choose to be anonymous - I didn't have to reveal my name, my picture, anything. But I chose to because I feel safe with you guys. I'll be honest and confide: I'm a bit frightened that, given the personal nature of some of the stuff I've posted before and will post in the future, it would impact how future employers perceive me if they search my name. I have three questions for you: Do you think it will have an impact on how employers perceive me? Will the impact be positive or negative and why?Would it be best for me to have a separate "personal" Twitter to keep my fitness journey more anonymous?