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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!

Last challenge was yet another in the long line of fails I have had as of late. Hell, as of the last year even. That all changes here! At least I certainly hope so haha I have done cold turkey style in the past. and it seemed to work for me. A few times I have tried baby step it. Sometimes that works too. Really though, I feel fed up. I'm ready to get this going, so I'm mostly just going cold turkey. Goal#1 - Full on Keto, Tracking, and Fasting I've prepped a bit over the last week to make sure I get things setup to go full keto starting tomorrow. I'm not worried about calories so much, but I want to make sure to track carbs. I'm also going back into intermittent fasting. Week 0 I think 16/8 works nice. I'd actually like to try a longer fast first week. Like 72 hours or more. 9 points (3 each) per day 63 points per week. Goal#2 - Reading and sleeping I haven't read in awhile, and many bedtimes have ranged in the 3-4:30 am range. Add on I go to bed, then sit there not sleeping forever. So let's get this started up again. I need to get this sleep schedule going. Plus I'll sleep better as I lose wait again haha. The one night I will be up a bit later is Saturday night. I just need to get to bed asap there. 11 PM, off the computer to get reading. Get myself headed to be by 12. Eventually, I will move the times up, but this is good for now. Saturday's, I'll ready for 15-30 minutes, then hit the sack. Still should be close to 12. 4 points total per day. 28 per week. Goal#3 - Move that body This whole quarantine I have done diddly squat for any kind of exercise. Actually, I did do one small walk around my apartment complex last challenge. Man, I can tell just how out of shape I have become. bringing in groceries has been my workout ever couple of weeks or so haha. My plan is to walk every day. I'm not jumping into 10k steps right away. I want to start off with at least one walk in the morning around the complex. I'm also in need of doing some workouts. 3 times a week. No gym. I have some dumbbells here at home I can use. There are also so many body weight workouts that can be done. Eventually, I will get the weight down enough that I can get to use my rings and pullup bars for things too 5 points per day for walking. 35 points per week. 10 points per day of workouts. 3 workouts each week 30 points total. 65 points per week Goal#4 - Chores and more I'm stuck at home, why not actually get some chores done. There is plenty of things I can do. Spend at least 15 minutes doing chores. Check the dishes each day. Clean out the cat box each day. Start going though my boxes of cards and computers things. Get rid of all the things I don't need. Maybe I can get my stuff all cleaned through, then I can put together my lego sets that have been sitting here on the sidelines. 5 points per day. 35 points per week. Side Goal - Take 10 minutes to myself everyday I thought of getting some meditation in or some kind of mental health time in on this challenge. The apartment is packed full of actiity now with us all in stay atr hoem oprders. The youngest has zoom meetings with his classmates to do some distance learning, wife is also working at home and in meetings and such. I think part of why I have been staying up so late at night, is because it is that me time. Granted all day really is me time, but everyone is just around. Walking will help me a bit with this, but I think I just need to give myself 10 minutes each day. Lock myself in a bathroom or whatever. Sit, reflect, maybe practice a little meditation to help center myself. No points, just somethign I thought to toss in here last minute I'm going to need to make sure I start checking back in here as well. Maybe I need to restart posting in my Blog. Maybe even do it video style on Youtube. Overall, check in here and check out all the stuff with Nerdfitness prime. Things to help keep me in check. I really want this to be the restart I need to get me back on the path to reaching my future goals. I need to be getting that pull up done. I want to run again. Eventually, getting to 10k or 15k distance. I want to get close to that onederland weight level. I think that 185 - 200 lbs is the range I would probably be good at. BMI I think want me at a max of 165. I can't even imagine how I would look if I went for that weight. Points Week 1 (05/10 - 05/16) - 0/191 Week 2 (05/17 - 05/23) - 0/191 Week 3 (05/24 - 05/30) - 0/191 Week 4 (05/31 - 06/06) - 0/191 Week 5 (06/07 - 06/13) - 0/191 Total Challenge Points - 0/955 Measurements: (Week 0 / End of Challenge) Chest - 56.49 in / Waist - 61.73 i n/ Bicep (L) - 17.12 in / Bicep (R) - 16.33 in / Thigh (L) - 29.96 in / Thigh (R) - 29.37 in / Weight - 368.7 lbs /

Hi, fellow Druids, I am fearless, a long time German member (f.52)who has missed a lot at NF during the last years. I used to be a Scout (running and hiking) and have been heavily into CrossFit for some years. After knee surgery I have been sedentary for 2 years. Result: a slipped disc in my lower back, muscular dysbalance and a lot of pain since the beginning of lockdown in march. I choose the Druids for this challenge because I want to do a mix of yoga, physical therapy exercises and meditation as well. Today at my PT I presented her my "routine" which is about 30 minutes long. Its mostly core stuff to heal faster. 2018 and 2019 I did Keto successfully and cooked all meals for myself. Then I needed a break and had all the bread and fruit Now its time to get back to my way of eating. It helps me to lose weight ( still need to crush about 30 pounds.) and also helps me a lot with mental health issues ( I am clearer and more alert on keto ). my life goal is to be able to write again. I have published a book in 2018 about my way out of mental health hell into the mostly happy person I am now. Its part autobiographic, part self help. After a lot of feedback I was asked to write another book describing the technics that helped me get out of the hellhole. Like what do you do when you are in bed, have not showered in days, find yourself depressed and motionless... how do you get back into a well lived life. I have started research ( science and my diaries) but have my doubts if its a good project.. nevertheless I want to get back into creating regularly. clarification: I am a writer and Cello teacher, so I always work from home and I have a lot of free time because I retired early and only work for 20 hours/week. Only responsibility is my dog ( who plays in my garden mostly since I've been injured.) FEARLESS IS BEATING THE PAIN DRAGON ...THE QUEST... Everyday: 5 Minutes of breathing/meditation as part of my morning routine a short walk with my puppy as warm up 30 Minutes of PT/Stretching/Yoga Food Prep so I have 2-3 keto meals every day. ( I can have greek or Turkish food from takeout 2 times during the challenge. ( only meat and veggies) sit at desk for 30 Minutes a day and see if you can get your groove back. I don't have to write but am not allowed any other activity during this half hour... Thanks for reading, guys! Ive read all of your first posts and look forward to getting sh*t done during this challenge!

Restarting after a few years away from this site! This year is not off to quite the start I had planned. I had gone off keto from thanksgiving to new years because I can't go through December without egg nog, but I had planned to go right back on Jan 1. Then the start of the new decade rolled around and I came down with a nasty head cold, preventing me from being active, following any sort of diet, or even posting here until now. Oh well, better late than never, right? I will probably add some sort of fiction to my posts as things go along, but I want to get something posted so I don't use this as an excuse to push things off any further. GOAL1: Nutrition. I tried keto last year and found that while it was a difficult adjustment, I felt significantly better. I want to get back into that, cooking regularly, planning my meals out ahead of time, and being very conscious about what I put in my body. I will be using Cronometer.com to track everything I eat and drink. A bonus would be if I could put on a couple pounds, as it has been historically difficult for me to gain any weight at all. GOAL 2: Sleep. My default is nocturnal. Unfortunately, this does not lend itself well to working or otherwise being a functional person. The first thing I'm tackling is my sleep, starting tonight. For now, I am going to aim for a 2am bed time, waking at 10am, no snoozing (this might not sound like much, but last 'night' I went to bed at 6am). GOAl 3: Strength Training. I plan to get back on track with my regular workouts, shooting for 3 days a week. Once I get this re-established I am hoping to add in 2 days a week of cardio, most likely on my indoor bike trainer. LEVEL UP MY LIFE: Finances I am going to die in debt due to student loans, there is nothing I can do about that (I have already consulted a bankruptcy lawyer), but there are things I can do to get my finances in better shape than what they are currently. Part of this will mean continuing to build my case load at work, part will be resisting impulse buys or 'retail therapy' when I am having a bad day, and part will fit in well with my nutrition goal because if I plan my food out ahead of time I have no excuse to eat out. At some point I will need to contact the bank that manages my federal student loans and set up some sort of payment plan with them. I am still hoping to find something I can do about my private student loans, but it looks unlikely that Ii have any options but to just let them default.

Hello all! I am a 38 year old woman in Las Vegas, NV, new to this whole board and forum. I've been doing Keto or Low Carb off and on for the past few years, and have lost over 50 pounds. I had knee surgery over summer which set me back a bit so I am hoping to get back in the grind along with the new year. For fitness, I tend to gravitate more toward free weights, yoga and body weight workouts. I have gone through the Strong Curves program a couple of times, but am hoping to up my level and maybe even find a few local nerds to get my sweat on with. :D I work in Education, and in my free time enjoy playing DotA2 on Steam, listening to true crime podcasts or crocheting. Excited to be here, and nice to meet everyone! :) COME AT ME 2020!!! XD

I haven't had a decent challenge this year it seems. Though I mostly have maintained, I really went full on self sabotage mode this last month. I tried to reflect a bit on what was happening. I have the anniversary of my Mother's death coming up on August 20th. That usually that hits me closer to the date though. I know that in the back of my mind, I have been fearful of what happened to me last time I lost this weight. We I first joined Nerdfitness in 2013, I had a great go to start off. Dropped down 257 lbs. Then seemed to bounce between 260-280 the next year. Then everything went sideways, and I gained everything back. I left the forums in shame, but finally found my way back. I had an amazing 2018 run. Losing 110 lbs for the year. Then this year I have been doing the bouncing between 250-270. All the while, that failure still lurks in my head. Today, I am sitting at 280. I seem to keep trying to make things work, but then giving in to whatever garbage at night. Thus erasing everything I am doing. My damn brain is really trying to make me do this crap all over again, isn't it? I am refusing to go back above 300. These last few weeks, I have been listening to some motivation type speeches. I linked one in my last challenge thread. So, I came up with an idea. This challenge, and really the challenges for the rest of the year. I need to Go Beyond, Plus Ultra! I am going to set impossible goals for me to reach this year. By my birthday (November 2nd), I am going to have these goals met. #1 - Be under 200 lbs #2 - Run a 30 minute or less 5k #3 - Do 1 pull up Easy, right? To meet this, I will have to lose over 80 lbs in 4 months. I will have to shave probably 8 minutes off my 5K time. I will also have to actually do a pull up, and the best I can do now is hang from the bar for a bit. Each one kind of fit together though. I lose weight, I will get faster. As I get stronger and lose weight, eventually I will hit that magic point that I can get the pull up done. So why the impossible goals. It seemed like a lot of these inspiration videos had common themes. Setting goals when everyone else said it was impossible. Having that time frame where it must get done. I never had my "big why" moment for why I want to lose weight and be healthy. I have the same "Be around for my kids" answer. Really though, I want to be the best version of myself. I want to be stronger, faster, and just a much healthier version of myself. What I think can drive me forward on these goals, is the idea of what if. What if, I can actually get this done? That will be one hell of a self esteem boost haha. Of course the flip side is what if I fail. That What if has always been there in my life. Kept me from many things. What if I fail? Well, I still succeed. If I truly give this my all, then I can be ok with not making goals. I will be just that much closer to reaching them. I look at it like a bowling game. If I do my very best and bowl a 250 game, but the person I am bowling against bowls 260 I lose the game. Still I gave it my all. I can be mad at the outcome, but not the performance I had. I felt like I wanted to have a little theme this challenge. My Hero Academia shall be that theme. From Crunchy Roll: In the show All Might choose Izuku to inherit his powers that he can pass on. Before he can do that though, Izuku has to improve his body. He has to push his limits so that he can be able to handle the All for one Quirk. Like him, I have to push my limits. Go beyond, Plus Ultra! Goal #1 - Get back to Keto, do Intermittent fasting, track all the things This challenge, I need to get back into the food eating 100%. I am going to use Chronometer to track food. I am going to use LIFE Fasting to track my fasting. I also have looked at my macros, and want to keep a certain calories remaining tracked. This should help a ton with weight loss. Since I have been off the full keto wagon for a bit, I can expect a pretty big drop in weight right away. I also need to check my glucose numbers. Type 2 never really goes away, and I bet my numbers have been spiking recently with my poor eating. 1 point - Calories never above 2100 per day. 1 point - Remaining calories 1000 or above each day. 1 point - Under 20g net carbs tracked each day. 1 point - 18 hour + fasting tracked each day 1 point - Blood Glucose tracked once per day 5 points per day, 35 points per week Goal #2 - Workouts, Running, and Walking I am going to restart the RunDouble 5k improver program. This time I will run every other day. I need to get hitting the weight as well. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday will be the workout days. Hopefully, I can expand this to maybe having 2 workouts during the days. I also want to do other workouts on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturdays, but let's get consistent with 3 days first. My goal is to hit 10,000 steps each day as well. Nothing super fancy, just walking. It will help me mentally as well as physically. Saturday or Sunday will be my "rest" day. I still don't want to just turn into a pile of goo on that day though, so I can still go walk or do something fun. 3 points - Workout 3 times per week. 1 point per workout per day 3 points - Getting in all runs for the week. (4/3 runs per week) 1 point - 10,000 steps per day (5,000 on "rest" day) 7 points per week. 13 points per week Goal #3 - Rest Equally important to all other goals, is to make sure I get my rest. I know in one video Arnold Schwarzenegger said to sleep 6 hours. People say they need 8 hours just need to sleep faster haha. I don't think I quite subscribe to that idea. I have been staying up way to late, and getting up early too. My sleep has not been great. So really I need to get back into the grove. this challenge I am actually going to try a little less reading, in hopes of getting to bed a little sooner. With school coming up soon for my kid, I will have to be getting up earlier again. If I can get use to getting to bed sooner, then I might try getting up sooner as well and getting workouts or whatever polished off before school time. first steps first. 1 point - 10:30 PM off the computer and get reading. 1 point - 11:00 PM off to bed. I do have one exception. I have a later night game session with my friends in World of Warcraft. Usually only running a mythic dungeon or two. So I just need to get myself logged off as soon as we are done. Then ready a little to settle the brain, and then off to bed. 1 point - Saturday off PC when done with dungeons, ready for 20-20 mins, and head to bed. 2 points per day 14 points per week. Goal #4 - Plus Ultra Make time to check in daily. Fit in some meditation and/or positive affirmations from time to time. Kill this challenge, feel great, live up to the ambassador title again. 1 point - Checking in 7 points per week So there it all is. I wanted to use Week zero as my perfect start. Nothing is ever perfect though. So I am up late to make sure this gets posted. So while it isn't perfect, it is a start. tomorrow (Tuesday) I'll be tired, but it's time to engage. I will not let myself regain any more weight. Time for the fit me to win out again, over that other side that is trying to keep me down. Measurements: (Week 1 / End of Challenge) Neck - 17.08 in / Chest - 47.91 in / Waist - 51.37 in / Bicep (R) - 14.56 in / Bicep (L) - 14.48 in / Forearm (R) - 12.08 in / Forearm (L) - 12.08 in / Thigh (R) - 25.66 in / Thigh (L) - 25.31 in / Weight - 268.9 lbs / Points: Week 1 (08/05 - 08/11) - 0/69 Week 2 (08/12 - 08/18) - 0/69 Week 3 (08/19 - 08/25) - 0/69 Week 4 (08/26 - 09/02) - 0/69 Week 5 (09/03 - 09/08) - 0/69 Total: 0/345

Brogo’s Rocky themed challenge Rocky I Yeah. This is way too long overdue. Considering how much I love Rocky I – IV. So you can expect three more of these. In my universe, we pretend that Rocky V and beyond don’t exist. In fact, III and IV are not great movies either, but contain certain redeeming elements. Those being [Mr. T], and [topical Cold War political discourse disguised as a boxer known as “The Italian Stallion” fighting an exhibition match in Russia + a badass, “old school” training montage in the Russian wilderness], respectively. WARNING: 1. This thread will contain Rocky spoilers. If you haven’t seen Rocky... 2. WTF is wrong with you? It’s a classic and you should have seen it already like a million times. 3. Not only that, if you’ve made to adulthood, you’ve probably pieced together the entire plot and ending from movie and TV references and parodies and various internet memes and gifs. 4. So really it’s you’re own fault for not having your shit together enough to sit down and watch the whole movie so stop whining about spoilers. 5. There. I’ve used up enough of this post to sufficiently warn you about spoilers (that won’t ruin the triumphal cinematic experience that is Rocky anyway). I’ve done my part. Now… Main Goals: Get down to “fighting weight” of 199 lbs. I’m closing in on 250. Getting to goal is way beyond the scope of this series of challenges. Build a satisfying career. I’ve been a machinist for a year now. I like it. I can tolerate it as a necessary 40 hours a week put food on the table job. But I need a more intellectual engagement to be happy with my work. And money. I’m working on a certification in Data Science on coursera. I’m also exploring a bootcamp on artificial intelligence and machine learning… (oooohhh, can’t wait ‘till we get to Rocky IV XD.) That, and lately I’ve been dicking around with editing audio files using Python. I really want to keep going forward and I’m aiming for a Machine Learning Engineer type of position… which might be possible with the bootcamp certifcation. The plot Every Rocky movie has three main elements and basically follows a sequential formula. I. Introduction phase – Rocky’s current situation is introduced, we meet the opponent and Rocky’s motivation for rising to the challenge. Roughly the first half of the movie. Basically, this post and week zero where I figure shit out. II. Training phase – Rocky begins training, often using unique or eccentric means based on his circumstances, often with some sort of montage. Plot develops as Rocky faces and overcomes small challenges that result from interactions with his supporting characters, primarily: his trainer, Adrian, and Paulie. This phase finishes with a training montage. Roughly the third quarter of the movie. Weeks 1-3 of this challenge. This is where I’ll do stuff and score points. III. Final fight – From the end of training to the credits, pretty much, Rocky fights his opponent. Week 4 of the challenge. I’ll set some specific, quantifiable goal and try to reach it. On to the challenge. I. Introduction: Rocky Balboa vs. Apollo Creed Rocky Rocky at the beginning and I have a lot in common. We’re both southpaws. We both have small time jobs, live in obscurity, and shitty apartments. We’re both yearning for a shot to make something of ourselves. We both eat weird shit for the sake of fitness. Rocky sets his sights on his goals and trains hard. For me this means: 1. Maintaining ketogenesis with my pescatarian, dairy-free ketogenic diet. 2. Following a lifting program 3. Working extra hours and saving money 4. Working on my certification and getting better at programming and statistics Apollo Creed Apollo is the current champion. Not only is he undefeated, no one has gone the distance, the full 12 rounds, with him. Rocky just wants to get his chance to show the world his best in the face of fighting the champ. For me, beating Apollo is setting new post NF weight PR. The lowest I’ve ever weighed since joining NF was 244, which I set about a year and half ago. I’m at about 252.2 on average. I’d have to lose over 8 lbs in four weeks. I probably won’t get there by the end of this challenge. But I will commit and go the distance. I will also go the distance and finish my Data Science Certificate on Coursera. I have one assignment from the penultimate course, then the last course to finish. Totally doable in 4 weeks. II. Training Phase: meet Mickey, Adrian, and Paulie Here I track points according to how each character helps support me on the way. Mickey Mickey is Rocky’s trainer. Mickey is a mean, tough old fucker who yells at Rocky to get him to do more and follow his training regimen. +1 point for time I use my willpower to stick to a goal even though I don’t want to. When I turn down a food that’s off plan, when I pick up the barbell, when I go in to work an hour early or stay an extra hour, when I make time for a lesson on cousera even though I just don’t want to. No points for simply doing. Points for doing it anyway. Adrian Adrian is the love of Rocky’s life. Adrian is supportive and roots for Rocky to win, but also doesn’t want Rocky to get hurt. Mickey thinks she distracts Rocky, but Rocky can’t fight without her support. Whenever she disapproves or is absent, Rocky turns into a giant wuss. +1 point for every time I do something extra for recovery from all the goal oriented work. Go for a walk, do some yoga or stretch. Catch up on sleep on weekends. Take time to cook a better tasting more enjoyable meal so my diet doesn’t stagnate. Play guitar to clear my head from coding. Etc. Constructive Tangents that support goals. Paulie Paulie is Rocky’s best friend and Adrian’s older brother. He drinks a lot and throws temper tantrums. He’s jealous of Rocky sometimes, but he’s also Rocky’s biggest fan. He really just wants Rocky’s attention and friendship. +1 point for every time I overcome an obstacle. Make time to get training done, or eliminate a distraction, or fulfill social obligations Etc.