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For years, the term “Alpha Male” has been used with some liberty but mostly it carries a negative vibe to it. Many times, when speaking about Alpha Males, is paired with being this macho like controlling and aggressive male who gets all of the women and doesn’t take crap from anyone. This has created a negative feeling of what an Alpha is or could be. First, we should establish from where the term Alpha Male derives from. Is a common way of seeing the behavior of animals (mostly wolves) and how they appear to develop on their own society They have been studies in both side claiming the existence of this hierarchy or that it might not be real at all but, my topic is not to discuss the existence or the relevance of this. In a nutshell, the Alpha exhibits some traits that make them leaders and superior to others for the way they carry themselves in relation to others around them. Now, these traits are most controversial in the way they are portraited in society. For example, Alpha Males are commonly associated with aggressive and controlling people that would step on anyone to achieve their goals. This tends to sum up the concept of an Alpha as a being that takes what he wants when he wants it. The evolution of this mindset always presents itself as a selfish, douchebag, jerk of a person that diminishes others to achieve its “greatness”. I totally understand this concept since, using those characteristics, that’s the image you can conceive. But, I think they might be more than this arrangement of ideas. During my lifetime I have been always seen myself as a shy and introvert person. A guy who lacks the courage to do things and the drive to achieve my goals. The way I look didn’t help either with this image since I felt ashamed of my physical appearance. My social skills were not the best either although I have good friends here and there. Now, all of this amounted to having low self-esteem and a poor image of myself. These traits destroyed my confidence and poured out into my life making some parts harder to achieve because of it. So, the concept Alpha Male can have a bad rep but, I think there’s something about the overall idea that can be used positively. First, I have been developing this lifestyle goal parallel during my entire adult life. Mostly after I got married. I see that in order to be Alpha in any way, you have to remodel the innate traits you have develop for years and transform them into a constructive piece of your life. I believe that the first step is to accept who you are on the inside and what represents you as a being. That step is the foundation to develop the type of person you want to be. Taking all of your traits and characteristics is a task in itself. You need to explore yourself as a whole and identified what makes you who you are. Embracing yourself is the first step to develop the way you want. There’s no “5 steps to…” type of way of doing this. You need to put on the effort to identify who you are. This will be the foundation of what you want to be. It needs to be real and part of you. You are not building a persona, you are building yourself. After finding out who you are, the next step is to embrace the good and point out the bad. Now, we are all different and this step will be inherently individualistic. The bad for me might not be bad for you. There are some traits that are definitely negative but others can vary. You have to identify all of this in order to build a strong foundation of the type of person you are. After the foundation is laid out, you have to learn how to evolve your positive traits so they can produce others. For example, if you get that you are a friendly person, that is a foundation trait. How do I evolve this? Well, having the courage to go and make new friends is a way to grow that friendly trait. That evolution will develop a confidence trait to speak to strangers that could evolve into a self-presentation way of speaking in front of groups of people. The foundation trait will get stronger and evolve into new traits that will model the way you carry yourself. Physical appearance is a part of this. For starters, I believe in a healthy and productive lifestyle. If you are achieving that in the way you are, you are on a good path. Now, in my case, obesity was an obstacle to become who I want it to be. Mind that I didn’t use looking to be “fit” as an excuse to remodel myself. No, being fit is a tool to evolve my traits. Being healthy helped my self-esteem and confidence. It helps to evolve my intelligence to develop the confidence to speak to others. It also helps me to be active and to participate with others and that boost my social skills. For example, my weight loss journey gave me the confidence to dress for a Comicon. The evolved confidence is opening new traits and helping me grow in every way. That’s the way a want to become Alpha. Is not being an overbearing man stepping on others but to grow as a person to excel me among others. For me, that’s what an Alpha is. A person with overflowing confidence. One that can achieve goals by working constantly to them. A being of positive energy that can help others succeed. A proud person that can show what its made of no matter the situation. An Alpha that can present itself as what it really is. This is my Special Quest for my life. At the moment, I have been working towards this and I feel better about myself. I have grown this past 12 years. I became Student Council President at my college in 2010-2011. I got married and I’m a father. I love my job and what I do. I’m proud of being who I am and that’s why I feel like an Alpha. That's my quest.

My 4 week challenge goals are going to be pretty basic as I want to SUCCEED for my respawn and make life changes!! Diet eat a vegetable with at least one meal daily Fitness some form of exercise every day Level Up Your Life Meditate/pray daily

Janus (Latin: Ianus. Pronounced: 'ja:.nus]) is the god of beginnings, gates, transitions, time, doorways, passages, and endings. There are respawns, and there are respawns. I do a lot of the first one - every month, every week, sometimes even every day. Things like 'I'll stop this now' or 'This time I'll do it this way.' These are normal. These are for those times when you fall off the wagon, but you only need jog a bit to climb back on, or maybe you lay on the ground for a little while and then grab ahold again when the wagon laps you. Sometimes, however, a respawn is equatable with a personality transplant. I picked my username, my character name (and my RH agent/code name) to remind myself that it is now time to change. My goals, my methods, my approach - everything. Who and what I used to be is no longer functional or, more importantly, acceptable. I have named this 4 week challenge - my first one - as the First Gate because right now, there are no doors. There is an infinite list of choices and destinations, and all that I have to do is choose a path and walk it. Later on I'm sure there will be challenges that involve more obvious barriers to overcome, but right now there are no barred entries, no fixed map. So having said all that, thank you for taking the time to read along on my not-so-little journey. Please feel free to leave comments - kudos, critiques, suggestions, and opinions are equally welcome. I'm planning to operate on a slightly different schedule - rather than a planning week, I'm going to have a reflection/planning week at the end of the challenge. This is due to how my work/holiday/life schedule is currently set up, and the fact that I've been planning already for two weeks. Which means my four week challenge starts.... Now. Somewhere, there stands a person. This person is not special. Like the many hundreds and thousands (and millions and billions) that have come before them, they stand not at a crossroads, but at a point of origin. They inhale, and acknowledge those that came before; Exhale, and know that there are those that will come after. Inhale. Eyes open, acknowledging the myriad of paths that lay before them. Exhale. Step forward.

Hey all, So I know I'm not quite the most novice beginner as I'm almost a year into my fitness journey, but I don't yet feel comfortable saying I'm experienced with all of this either. I ultimately started because I was wildly unhappy with how I looked in my graduation photos and I didn't want to be the fat kid in the PhD program I was starting. As I was starting out, I used a whole bunch of bodyweight circuits from over at Darebee, and I saw a good loss of belly bulge and moderate increases in strength, and since I've moved on to dumbbell work and building strength through iron. Recently, however, I've become interested in changing my approach to include sandbags and distance while maintaining and improving strength. In terms of nerd-dom, I used to be an avid gamer, and I still go pretty hard with board games and (to a lesser extent) DnD. Recently, I've shifted to a major science nerd, and I love studying the body and it's functions, so... Health nerd, I guess? Anyway, my goals are growth in strength and endurance while maintaining balance in my life. I think that throws my best fit to the Ranger guild, but I may flirt the line of Warriors and Druids as well. I really don't have a solid epic quest yet, but I have some ideas, and I'd love any input others have. Glad to join the Rebellion.

I'm just starting this new adventure...a bit ill-prepared...but no time to start like the present, eh? So, here I am...jumping into this challenge (head first). Here are my goals/quests. 1.(diet) Drop down to 3 glasses of pop/soda per week. Yes, I said "week" because I dropped it down to one a day...and it's slowly progressed in the worst way...I'm drinking at least 1-2 glasses a day. It used to be a lot worse... 2. (diet) Eat more veggies and fruit. Kind of sound a little big...but I do try to eat at least 1 veggie with supper everynight. I'd like to increase my veggies and eat more, whether part of a meal or snack. Fruit, I need to grab for this when I'm really needing something sweet.....trying to break the chocolate/cookie/chips habit. Also would like to incorporate some fruit in my breakfast. 3. (fitness) Walk at least 10 minutes 3x per week. The weather is finally getting a little warmer and where we recently moved to is where I first grew up and walked around the whole town with my great grandmother. I'd like to pick this habit back up. 4.(life) Get sleep habits in check. Be in bed by 11 and up by 7. I don't sleep well most nights (probably due to bad eating habits and in turn health issues). I've recently started taking melatonin to help me sleep...but still having some issues. Hopefully better eating habits, less pop, exercise, and trying to sleep better will help with the weight, health, and sleepless nights.

I've noticed a couple of people scattered throughout this forum mention minimalism and the minimalist lifestyle in passing, for various reasons. Sometimes because of an upcoming move, or sometimes from a desire to slim down the amount of chaos material stuff tends to bring into their lives. I've flirted with the idea quite often - often from necessity, and most recently from an expected move. It took the looming threat of a move to realize that, push come to shove, I could load a backpack and be gone, but holy carp - where did all this stuff come from? To that end, I wanted to start a thread and share some references for others who want to do some reading, do some research, or just stick a toe into the philosophical waters and see how it feels. There is a fair amount of similarity to Buddhism in regard to viewing how possessions influence our lives and our happiness. I mention that out of a sense of full disclosure, but one need not adopt Buddhism or Zen philosophy to appreciate the tenets presented in the minimalist lifestyle. Certain principles like: if you haven't worn it in a year, why is it in your closet? That's a tough one to answer objectively. Emotionally, there are a variety of answers to be had - some good, some not so much. The flip side of minimalism, which is one possible goal - is understanding how and why we got here. That is an entirely separate post, but speaking for myself, I find impulse shopping as a means of staying entertained at work to be a major contributor, followed closely by "wow, that's a really good deal!" syndrome, and "huh, I bet that would be really useful and it's on sale!" disorder. I mention this only because while minimalism may be the answer to some problems in your life (most notably, too much stuff), it is exceedingly helpful to understand how and why we ended up where we are now. All that said: of this list - there are many books, but I'm only listing the two I have read, or am reading, and recommend them: Books: Websites, blogs, oh my: These are websites I've found from idle Googling (wow, it's a verb), as well as referrals from other sites, authors, links, and so on. I haven't vetted them and as such, some may be more helpful than others - although what may be helpful for me, may not be so for you. And vice versa. Articles of Interest Minimalist, "one bag" traveling Forums: Reddit: Minimalism Cleaning, Organizing, and other costs of stuff: Unfreak your Habitat -some cussing involved, you have been warned. EtA: True to form, I had an idea and I scrambled to get it out there without taking time to revise it, or critique it for improvement. As time passes and more ideas occur to me, I will be changing the first post to reflect a better presentation and delivery format, rather than just throwing out an entire mass of information from a fire hose. Hence, the addition of spoiler tags to help pare down (in the minimalism thread, natch) the amount of material you're being doused with. EtA: And I may be abusing the hell out of spoiler tags. Sorry.

Here I go, trying yet again to organize my life despite my affinity for chaos. So many goals, so many challenges ahead, and yet so much accomplished in 2016 that I'm confident and optimisitic. 2016 was a year of improvements for me: I lost around 50 lbs, give or take 10 or so depending on my bloat level. I got a new job that I don't hate with a passion (used to regularly tempt myself with the idea of hopping into traffic on the way to work, not to kill myself but because an injury would mean at least a day off). I began dressing like an adult- no more hoody and jeans for this guy, as I type this, I'm wearing corderoys, a collared shirt, shawl necked cardigan, and a dress shirt with a Star Wars tie (gotta rep the nerd in me). 2017 is going to continue the trend or kill me as I try. I've got multiple long term goals and a few short termers laid out. Long-ish Term Goal: Run a half Marathon by September- Diet/ Fitness Goal # 1- Do Couch 2 5k/Zombies Run 3 times a week without exception- If I can maintain that pace, I should finish the C25K by March and be able to meet my goal of September. This should assist me in... Long-ish Term Goal: Hit 185ish lbs by April- (Vacation time) Diet/ Fitness Goal #2- Maintain keto 6 days a week- I've had really good luck doing the CKD... kinda. My wife doesn't do it with me so its a difficult lifestyle situation. However, I was able to lose quite a bit of weight with a 5 day a week program. If I can maintain 6 days a week, I should reach my long term goal, exepecially with... Diet/ Fitness Goal # 3- Resistance training 3 times a week- I'm getting a sleeve tattoo done this Saturday so, while I naturally have okay definition, I really need to start trying to build some muscle (I don't want to be showing off my new tat on a spaghetti noodle), expecially with the running and keto diet. Life Goal: Quit Smoking This is already underway. As we speak, I'm jittery and longing to take a nice long drag on that sweet cancer-causing, lung-destroying, burning roll tobacco. It's especially difficult because I don't dislike smoking, I actually enjoy the act itself, I'm just very aware of all the negatives. So I'm 2 days in now, it wasn't really a resolution but I promised my wife I would quit with the new year so now I'm stuck. Also, this should go a long way to helping me with me with my fitness goals. Will Jayfive succeed in his quests? Will his love for lying about smoking cigarettes while eating carby foods and playing video games on the couch overcome his deep desire for self improvement? Will he be able to maintain his discipline? Will he get caught by the zombies? WIll his tattoo look good? Find out on our next episode- same nerd time, same nerd channel.

INTRO I had to do something interesting yesterday: Clean off my entire desk as quickly as possible. I had placed my tea maker back down in way that the excess water had leaked out all over my desk, and I didn't realize it until the sound of it dripping off my desk tore me away from what I was working on. So in the span of a few seconds, I had to snatch all the loose papers and other things off my desk and clean the water up. I had to decide what was actually important and what had just been lying there because I hadn't made it a priority (much appreciation to Steve for the article about the "I don't have time" being a lie) to go through any of it. When I was done, practically nothing that had been on my desk was still there, nearly all of it had gone in the trash because I didn't actually need it. This got me thinking: How many of the things in our lives are actually needed or even wanted? How many of the things/people/habits that we have in our lives are only there because we're too lazy or scared to get rid of them? THE CHALLENGE: So here is my challenge to all of you: If you spilled tea on your life right now and had to make snap decisions on what stayed and what went, what would you do? Who/what would go in the trash? I don't expect anyone to do anything I won't do myself, so here is my current list: 1. Furniture. I realized when I moved into my new apartment that the standard "ok, new place, I have to get a couch/chairs/ottoman/TV stand/coat rack/display case for the souls of my vanquished foes/etc." style of decorating wasn't something I wanted. It started with buying a pull up bar/dip station that took up a good chunk of the front room instead of a couch. Then it became a bench press/squat rack...and I realized the idea that I HAVE to get traditional furniture for my place just because was silly. I live in a gym, and I love it. 2. People. I moved back home after several years on the other side of the country, and realized there were a lot of people that I honestly didn't need in my life. I cut down my social circle to the people who actually care about me and who actually enrich my life. Everyone else was either told (politely) why I wouldn't be contacting them anymore, or simply did not have contact with them re-established. This can be a painful and difficult process for a lot of people, but I PROMISE you it is worth it. 3. Toxic Games/Hobbies/Habits. I used to play a LOT of League of Legends. For anyone who knows the game, you probably see where I'm going with this. For those of you who don't, let me give you a quick breakdown. League of Legends (LoL) is a MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) that pairs you with up to four other complete strangers on a team to assault the enemy base and compete against five other people who are similarly randomly placed together. (The game CAN be played with friends and with arranged teams, but for the purpose of this post/rant/article we are using "Solo Queue" as the example) So it's you and 9 other gamers you don't know, on the internet, with a chat feature that can be used to type whatever you want to your team mates and the other team. As you might imagine this gets...unpleasant the vast majority of the time. LoL is widely known to have one of if not THE most toxic player communities in all of gaming. Racial and homophobic slurs, threats against yourself/family/friends/home/pets, vehement insistence that you should kill yourself, you name it, someone on League has said it. Add to that that anyone on your team can pretty much intentionally throw the whole match for your whole team and still have it count on your official ranking, and you have a recipe for a LOT of stress and anger. I used to be obsessed with my League rank. I used to play upwards of ten matches a day, more if I could stay awake longer. Then I moved back home, got busy, and realized I just didn't need that kind of stress in my life. I had limited time to game, and I realized how many truly GOOD single player games I was missing out on just to play more League matches. I'd skipped the entire Witcher and Dragon Age Trilogies, never touched Dishonored or any of the Bioshock games...It was depressing to realize how much of my hobby I'd been missing out on because I was obsessing over my ranking in one game, a ranking that literally gets RESET every season anyway! I had enough stress in my life from moving back home, losing a relationship and friends, looking for a good job and a more permanent residence. I didn't need 9 strangers on the internet telling me to kill myself every time I didn't perform perfectly in a game I was SUPPOSEDLY enjoying. So I cut back. WAY back. For a while I walked away from the game completely. If I had time to game, I played one of the story based games I'd been missing out on. If I played League at all, it was with friends who asked me to play. I played it for FUN, not to obsess over my rank. And something funny happened: I was suddenly a lot less angry in pretty much every area of my life. Ask yourselves what games and habits are ACTUALLY fun, and which ones you're just doing "because I've always done them." CLOSING I'm dumping a full kettle of hot tea on your life. What are you keeping, and what are you throwing away? I'd love to hear from anyone and everyone on this.

Dear fellow Assassins, I'm writing this to you while I'm working at my lawfirm, which is the daytime facade of my secret life. In the last years this daytime facade, of an mid-30-ish businessowner with three cats has been taken over my entire life. I've even started to believe that this is all there was. But then there was the wakeupcall by Rebel One who reminded me of my true calling. Since then I've been prowling around these perimeters, while I started to recreate my own self-image beneath this mainstream, middleclass, woman. Now I'm joining in this challenge with some tasks: - do (nf) yoga three times a week for increased flexibility - do weight/bodyweight workout (at gym) four times a week - continue to implement lifestylechanges according to my bulletjournal (will post along the way) By the end of this challenge I have succeeded if I'm able to: - weigh in below 105 kilo's - do a clean boxjump (any height) - do a clean precision jump of at least 1 meter - do either one unassisted pullup or 12 assisted pullups in a row - have unearthed more of my true self along the way My startingpoints: I currently weight about 106,5 kilo I can't do a boxjump because I'm afraid to fall I can only to a precisionjump of about 40 cm I can do 3 assisted pullups with minimal assistance of legs (heels on grond like a fulcrum, no use of legmuscles) Day one is on september 26th.

I have been playing a lot of Overwatch lately and can't stop thinking/dreaming about it. SO... Let's make it my themed challenge this month! D.Va - Gaming 100% Uncharted 4 and Collect the 5 dragons in DragonVale Genji - Agility Practice yoga on off days and stretch until splits (front ways, both legs) are obtained Symmetra - Knowledge Read 30 mins a day and finish two books this challenge Zarya - Strength Green Arrow workout MWSa and Handstand progression everyday Lucio - Music Learn all the words to a tough song. Mercy - Spirit Read at least one chapter of the Bible a week and continue to go to church every Sunday Winston - Health Have one side of fruit or veggies with lunch and dinner Well that's it! I may have bitten off way more than I can chew.... but oh well. Live and Learn. Here's to my second EVER 4-Week Challenge.

Hi there, Xo here. A close friend recently recommended this paleo diet to me and explained the logic behind it (which I have to say is quite convincing). Today is my first day giving it a go! I have a trip coming up in a few months and am hoping to see the weight drop before takeoff. I wanted to know what everyone elses experience is with it. Has it been successful? How did you feel? Any tips or pro recipes? Everything help! -Xo

Right, so I did like three challenges successfully-ish, but then I moved and started college and it all sort of fell by the wayside, but midterms are over and Christmas is soon and I'm back! Unfortunately I've lost most of my progress and am starting from square one again, but at least I know I can do it now. Goals will be updated in the progress bar, and here. They are: Sleep: 7-8 hrs sleep every day Food: 1200 kcal, 16 hr IF 5 days a week, and one day of 24 hr IF. every meal has fruits/veggies (1st week), cut out pastries, chips, chocolate, cookies (2nd week), cut out all other junk food, oatmeal with whey protein for breakfast (3rd week), 24 hr IF twice a week (4th week). Exercise: 5 days a week, 30 min (week 1), 6 days a week, 30 min (week 2), 5 days a week, 45 min (week 3) 6 days a week, 45 min (week 4), 5 days a week, 1 hr (week 5), 6 days a week, 1 hr (week 6). Preferably do strength, cardio, and yoga at least once a week each. Overall Goal: 45 kilos by Christmas Mini-goals: (5 days a week) 30 min of music 30 min of language All homework done on the day it was gotten, and revise on Friday Lesson plan and to-do all on Sunday (prep for next week)

Hi NF'ers I have just started actively following a fitness plan and tonight is my first evening shift at work this week; I was wondering if there were others out there like me who have a varied schedule, and I was curious as to what you do / eat / drink to keep yourself energised and feeling well without succumbing to copious amounts of caffiene and sugar (two of my biggest downfalls!) What kind of meals should I eat to keep myself energized, or is a quick afternoon nap more the way to go? Or do I just continue my daily routine (breakfast, lunch, workout, dinner) as per usual and just "suck it up" whilst at work?

Hey all! First things first, I've begun my journey to becoming a badass Assassin. I finished my first challenge in the recruit section and I did fairly well but I know I can do better! And since I'm able to post this in the current challenge thread that starts on April 13th I'm starting a little early. So lets get a little bit of back story for the new people; Throughout high school I was 6' 120lbs on a good day, wore all black, read fantasy books in my classes (mostly dragonlance), and had a very small group of friends. I was picked on, but I figured that was a part of high school. Shortly after high school graduation I joined a gym tired of being stick thin I began to eat non-stop massive amounts of food / weight gainer shakes. I sky rocketed to 200lbs in 8 months, I did gain quite a bit of fat but I was stronger had muscles and felt way better about myself. I learned to diet correctly and found a routine that worked for me and turned my doughy 200lb body into a solid muscular 190lbs. I got a girlfriend started spending more time with her and less time at the gym and my diet turned to shit. I got dumped because I was no longer "in shape" I got depressed and stopped lifting and dieting all together for about 2 straight years. Now present day me; No longer depressed, motivated, has a good support system (thank you nerdfitness!), and I'm ready to get back to where I was and then fly past that becoming the best me possible! Current stats Height: 6' 1" Weight: 184lbs (upon waking, kinda dehydrated) Bodyfat: ~16.5% Long term goal stats Sadly I can't get taller... Weight: 190-200lbs Bodyfat: 8-10% Now onto the challenge! I felt like my first challenge while I did well wasn't hard enough for me and not tailored to my end goals as much as it could be. So I'm changing, I'm going a little crazy, but I've made great results doing this in the past and I'm looking forward to seeing how it's going to go this time around. Quest 1: Body Recomp. (+2 STR, +2 CHA, +1 DEX) That's right, you heard me correctly. It's recomp time, how will I do this you ask? Well it's simple, well sort of... not really... With extremely hard work. So here's my plan. Friday: Chest/Tri Saturday: Back/Bi Sunday: Shoulders/Abs Monday: Legs Tuesday: Chest/Tri Wednesday: Back/Bi Thursday: Legs That alone is going to be fun! But here is the icing on the cake so to speak because I won't be consuming icing or cake. CARDIO! Minimum 1 time a day for 20 minutes. Maximum 2 times a day for 20 mins each. I hate cardio so this is going to be a struggle. I didn't tell you the best part though! The breakdown of my routine!! Chest/Triceps Barbell Bench: 7 x 5 @ 80% of max.Incline Barbell: 4 x 6-8Decline Barbell: 4 x 6-8Cable Flys: 3 x 10-14 (3 sets from top, 3 from bottom, 3 from middle)Close Grip Bench: 5 x 5Dips (weighted): 4 x 6-8Tricep Pushdown: 3 x 8-12Cable Kickbacks: 3 x 8-12Back/Biceps Barbell Rows: 7 x 5 @ 80% of max.Lat Pulldown: 4 x 6-8Seated Row: 4 x 6-8Pull-ups: 3 x failureStraight arm pulldowns: 3 x 8-12Barbell Curls: 4 x 6-10Preacher Curls: 4 x 6-8Reverse Curls: 3 x 8-12Hammer Curls: 4 x 8-12Shoulders OHP: 7 x 5 @ 80% of max.Bent-Over Reverse cable flys: 4 x 8-12Front raises w/ barbell: 4 x 8-12Hammer Strength (machine) seated press: 4 x 4-6Dumbbell Later Raises: 3 x 8-12Single Arm Reverse Cable Flys: 4 x 8-12Legs Squats: 7 x 5 @ 80% of max.Leg Press: 4 x 6-8Hack Squat: 4 x 6-8Goblet Squats: 4 x 10-14Leg Extensions: 4 x 8-12Leg Curls: 4 x 8-12Standing Calf Raises (slow controlled reps): 8 x 12-16 Massive amount of volume you say? Correct you are my friend! Which is why I'm only going heavy on certain lifts the rest the weight will be dropped so I don't overtrain/burnout. Quest 2: Dieting! (+2 STA, +2 CHA) As if quest 1 wasn't bad enough, here comes the meat and potatoes of the recomp (literally meat and potatoes.) Healthy food, I've reconsidered my thoughts on going full paleo but it won't work the way I want with what I'm trying to accomplish. My diet will vary daily depending on how I feel during the day, what muscle group I'm hitting that day, and if I'm doing 1 or 2 cardio sessions. The plan is on the days that big muscles groups are being trained (back and legs) I will increase my calories to assist in muscle gain, and on the other days my calories will be dropped to maintenance levels to assist in fat loss. Quest 3: Smoke-free. (+2 WIS, +2 CON) Simple enough quest remain smoke free, it's challenging some days but the only thing I'm doing by smoking is killing myself slowly so where is the sense in that? Life Quest: Multi-quest. (+2 WIS) This Life Quest is going to be comprised of a couple things that I need work on. 1. Paying off debt. I did great last challenge and I'm going to do better on this one! 2. Savings. Save $50 a week for an emergency fund as I've never had one before. 3. Get everything set up for school in January, basically quiting my full-time job and taking out loans to pay for school so I finish in 1.5 years and not 5 years going part-time. 4. Friends. Make new friends and a lot of them. Most of my friends moved out of state and I don't see them anymore so I've been living the hermit life for about 2 years now. Gotta change that! Well alright! I think I'm done, hopefully I didn't miss anything but if I did I will be sure to add it! Grading: Everything will be rated Pass/Fail I'm generally pretty hard on myself but in the off chance that I mess up a challenge and try to make it a Pass instead of Fail, call me out! I do know if I pull off the recomp I'll be putting a lot into Charisma due to me looking sexy AF like I did before! *smirk* Thanks for reading, and good luck (I know I'll need it...) -Tixnleeches

Hi, this is my first time on the boards and I'm excited to meet like minded, motivating and positive new peeps. I started my fitness quest after I realized that if I didn't change my ways, my parents were going to have to bury me. I was an uncontrolled diabetic [A1c = 9.2], on insulin and about 3 other meds, using a c-pap at night because my weight was crushing me and cutting off my breathing. I would be so winded after 1 salsa dance that my legs would give out. I was 5'6" and ~252 lbs [114.3 kg]. I am currently going to a supervised diet plan that encompasses not just weight loss but they have behaviorist, exercise physiologist, as well as medical doctors to help you adjust your plan. I've also changed my diet to paleo and am loving it. I never realized that I was allergic to SOY and legumes. As soon as I cut them out of my diet - my skin cleared up and I lost ~7 inches off my abdomen. I reached my weight goal of 165 lbs [74.8 kg]. my A1c = 5, which means I'm totally off all of my insulin and only on 1 tablet of medication [my vitamins now out number my medications] But now I feel the "hard part" begins -- meal planning, budgeting, and coming to terms with my new body. Sometimes I feel like a baby giraffe -- gawky and awkward. My goal is to be able to dance all night. I love to dance salsa and am learning West Coast Swing. There are many workshops were you take classes all day and then open dancing from 9 pm to 4 am. I'd like to be able to do that. So, I think endurance strength training (with bodyweight) and vinyansa yoga intrigues me. I'm also considering taking a kinesiology class(es) about movement in general and nutrition to bulk up my mental muscles too. I'd also like to participate in the next challenge but not sure what guild to choose, any suggestions? Thanks for listening/reading.

Hello everyone! So I finished my brief tutorial for the last challenge. Now, it's time for the real deal. I'll keep my specific goals from my intro challenge. These were though for the last two weeks, so I guess I should continue improving upon them. I need to create a sense of discipline. So, I added three more side quests that might help me do just that. May you all find success! Main Quest: I want to look like a skinnier version of Wolverin, but also become stronger and healthy. Specific Goals: -Do Level 1 of the "No Gym Challenge" every day. -Eat Paleo for 16 out of 21 weekly meals. (5 quality cheat meals, no garbage or fast food) -Respect a sleep schedule of ~8 hours with natural sleep cycles. (1 cheat day a week, but only Friday or Saturday) Side Quest: -Keep desk clean. -Medidate. -Keep list of daily activities. -Update blog with a daily picture (and a day recap if I have the time). Motivation: -Girlfriend's grin upon seeing me shirtless washing car... (Yep! I'm still going in with my cliche!) MINIS: #1 DONE! +1 WIS #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 Picture #1:

When I was little, I had this misguided idea of what a Scribe was. I essentially thought they were fiction writers from the middle ages, but I now know that more often than not they were essentially secretaries whose sole function was to copy papers. Scribe is still a cool name. I'm going to try and form this into some kind of repetitive daily function that is easy and fun to write and hopefully to read as well. So, to start out I'm going to start tracking my day-to-day nonsense, goals and challenges: Mostly Vegetarian, Mostly Paleo - A maximum of one food-item that isn't paleo, if anything (exceptions: Dairy and rice) --------------------------------------- Worth: 0.5% (CON +1) Walk to Mordor - Walk 5 minutes. BONUS 135 Miles to Bree (217.3 km) if reached before/by the end of challenge treat oneself to some brie and a pint - Worth: 0.5% (STA +1) Bat Cave - Clean or maintain some part of living space. Minimum 1/2 hour ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Worth: 0.5% (WIS +1) Shameless - Complete 1 hour bodyweight training of some kind, can be intense or relaxed ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Worth: 0.5% (DEX +1) TODAY Today. Today I had coffee, scrambled eggs /w onion, and lemon yogurt. My one exception to the paleo diet was some crisps. I'm hungry now, but currently unwilling to make eat anything. Going to keep drinking my water~ I DIDN'T WALK BLOODY ANYWHERE BECAUSE I'M NOT A WHITE-WALKER GDI IT'S TOO COLD FOR HOBBITS I did a lot concerning my bat-cave today, fairly proud of myself for that. I can see part of the floor again d*w*b Doing laundry currently and trying to figure out where to temporarily relocate my stuff while I clean/reorganize my closet. Where's Alfred when I need him? I didn't work out today either, and the reason is TMI. If you're curiosity is blinding you, click the spoiler. I'm giving myself this as a good excuse, so not too worried. And for FUN Today I played "The Last of Us", got to a certain point and gave it a rest because I was starting to get irritated. Spent A LOT of time looking up possible workouts because I was upset I didn't have a good enough range of motion for it today. Going to watch 1 or 2 episodes of Gotham later today (almost caught up!) "We aren't entitled to sh!t. You were born with a silver spoon in your mouth, so you don't yet understand that as a living creature you have to bloody-well earn what you want"

Okay so, I've been struggling so hard with losing weight like, ever since I was 10 years old (and my mum kept on saying that i was too fat and i had to lose weight even though i was only 2 or 3 kg above average)? Now, 8 years, 2 eating disorders, loads of therapy and a few food intolerances later, I feel determined (actually more like desperate) to lose 7 kg. I am still incredibly struggling with the way I see myself and find it hard to respect my own body. I still have bruises on my legs, arms, hips, etc from times I just couldn't bear feeling my body move and when I see myself in the mirror in underwear/a bathing suit I still start crying or go to the toilet only to throw up out of disgust. It is time to change something about this, not just the weight, but mostly the self-esteem. It's outright shit to live like this, nobody deserves it. So, in order not to crash diet or develop another disorder, I made a plan. Rather than dieting, I will make one lifestyle change every week and stick to it. I'm slowly working up to a practically plant-based diet (although I will eat a little meat or fish once every while), but I feel most at ease with fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds and gluten-free grains only. As I do have some sort of protein goal for the day, I'm thinking about getting a plant-based protein powder like soy or pea. Next to that, I will keep a food log. This is a way of checking up on myself, why I ate barely anything one day or binged the next and find a way to prevent this behaviour. I won't set a calorie limit, cause it'll make me feel too distressed. So, my starting point is basically a gluten and sugar free diet, which is quite something already, and every week I will make one change. Here's a list: Week 1: No more peanut butter Week 2: Go for a walk every morning for 5-10 minutes before breakfast Week 3: Minimise dairy intake to 1 portion/day (ie 1 pot of yoghurt or 1/2 cup cottage cheese) Week 4: Incorporate short meditation sessions before every meal (except when at school, where it's quite impossible) Week 5: Make sure to be in bed by 10:30 PM every night except for fridays and saturdays Week 6: No dried fruits anymore except for all kinds of berries What happens after that, I'm not sure. I just want to make sure I'm slowly progressing towards a lifestyle that suits me, while gradually trying to love myselft or at least accept my own body. It will be hard, but then again, nothing great has ever been accomplished that was easy. If you have any suggestions or tips, would really appreciate it. We can do this, rebels!

I have made some surprisingly clear goals for the first challenge. I graduated on Christmas and started working full-time, so now I've got some real free-time and I can focus on fitness! I've been having quite a lot of different kinds of physical hobbies in my life. From dance to horseback riding. Now my main hobbies are gym and climbing (I know I should belong to the assassins' guild, but my body type is too heavy for that... in my opinion.) Main Quest: Sticking into healthy lifestyle and building strong body! (Exercise routines (both strength and cardio), almost vegan diet and getting out of the sugar addiction) Challenge quest 1: Reduce sugary treats into eating them max 3 times per week. (That's a hard one for a chocoholic) Challenge quest 2: Make up a clear gym workout-plan. (leg-day, pull-day, push-day) And DO IT! (Gonna post more about it later) Challenge quest 3: Four clean pull ups wit underhand grip. 3 is my record so far. One pull up with overhand grip.

Introduction: Greetings fellow nerds, Jawad here! ^^ I've known about NerdFitness for quite a while now but never got involved until now. I know I'm starting this 6-week challenge a bit late, but I think it's definitely better late than never! (Longest Joke in the world reference? ) I'm not in the best shape right now and it's definitely time for a change. For the past few months - heck, years - I've been telling myself that it's time for a change, but whenever I start something it never lasts more than a few days. And I think that this challenge, and joining NerdFitness will be a great way for me to keep myself on track and finally make those changes that I need. I'm just about to start my 3rd year for my B.Sc. Computer Science. And I currently study quite far from where I live, which means I spend a lot of my time outside and end up buying my food (which is normally not very good). Also, my love for computers, video games and TV Shows, anime, etc. which keeps me seated for hours isn't really helping. Well, I guess that's gone on long enough, time to get into that challenge!! I've read up on challenges and thought I'd do a themed challenge too. I chose to do a Mad-Eye Moody (From Harry Potter) challenge. Challenge: The Mad-Eye Challenge Learning from Moody's example of constant vigilance, I too shall not trust anything I eat or drink. Now, I do not unfortunately have an awesome hipflask to carry my own drink around, but I could definitely make sure anytihng I eat or drink is safe by not accepting food from others. Main Quest: Change lifestyle for the better My current lifestyle is horrible, there is no doubt about it. If I continue like this, I'll only make myself more vulnerable for any dark wizards to take me down easily, don't think I don't see those signs, mispalced keys? I DON'T THINK SO, I know they've been moved and booby-trapped! Goal #1: Prepare own meals, at least 3 times a week. Eating out is dangerous, you never know what they put in that burger when they make it behind closed doors. So, from now on I will attempt to cook my own food whenever possible from ingredients that I will acquire myself. reward: 0 week(s) missed +3 intelligence 1 week(s) missed +1 intelligence 2+ week(s) missed +0 intelligence Goal #2: Avoid soft-drinks as much as possible (no more than 4 per week) Those cokes could kill me. so, to lower those chances of death, I will monitor my drinking thoughout the week and make sure I don't drink more than 4 per week. To stop drinking completely will be nearly impossible, not right away at least, I'll have to do this gratually. reward: 0 week(s) missed +3 consitution 1 week(s) missed +1 consitution 2+ week(s) missed +0 consitution Goal #3: Excersice every other day Avoiding poisoned drinks and explosive cake is great and all, but eventually my enemies will notice my new plan and will probably resort to physical attacks. But aha!! If I get myself to do at least 10 minutes of excerse every other day, I will hopefully be ready to retaliate. reward: 0 week(s) missed +3 strength 1 week(s) missed +1 strength 2+ week(s) missed +0 strength Life Quest: Get some personal projects started I've got a few personal projects that I've wanted to start working on for a long time now but never got around to. In the next few weeks I'd like to at least have some progress to show. I'll probably start with a small video game development idea that I've had for a long time, nothing too special but it's still something. I'll be using Unity3D and Javascript which means I'll be learning alot while working on this. Motivation: I'd like to enjoy my life in new ways. Dont' get me wrong, I do love my life. I love my studies, working with computers and new technology. I love palying video games with my friends and watching anime and movies and discussing who would survive the longest vs. Goku. But I'd also love it if I could go out for a run and not die after 10 seconds, go to the beach and have a great day, hike and climb and all sorts of things that I currently dread doing because they're too much for me.

Came across this by a friend who recommended it. The Story After numerous attempts to lose weight and tone up nearly all had failed. After tipping the scales at 16stone in 2011 i decided enough was enough. Previously i had attempted Weight Watchers and lost about 2 stone, only to regain. Like wise with slimming world. After seeing myself on holiday in size 18 swimwear i decided id had enough and this was no way to spend my young adult life, having fought with my weight for many years. I started on cambridge weight plan in Nov 2011 and ended March 2012 after losing over 4 stone by liquid diet. This was great apart from the extremely unhealthy relationship it gave me with food and the lack of it. I managed to keep the weight off for about 18 months eating normally again, only wavering 6-7lbs. Gradually after that its crept up again to 12stone2lbs on New years Day 2014. I started my New year resolution to go the the gym every other day with my partner in an attempt to lose weight for a family holiday in May. After 2 weeks all i had doe was gain weight whilst my partner lost. We were eating normally (which wasnt classed as unhealthy, no snacks or fast food and no secret eating) but we were doing different regimes at the gym. So for the next 2 weeks i followed my partner step by step to watch what he did and see what happened. My partner lost 7lbs and i gained 5lb. At this point i was starting to lose hope. I have never liked the gym, especially cardio and after all this effort i was actually getting bigger and was now 12stone10lbs. It was at this point i spoke to a friend of mine and she recommended this site, showing me her results and guiding me through it. i immediately told my partner who spend and evening reading it all and to my surprise he leapt at the chance and started clearly the cupboards out and researching paleo foods. Now to the good bit. Unaware that there was specific dates for the challenge, we started on 17th Feb and finished today 31st March2014. After 6 weeks of paleo (with only a few minor slips and not half as much water as i should of had), plus 10-15 mins of hard cardio every other day with 45 mins of heavy weight training and dead lifts. i know these machines can be very unreliable but this is what i got.(ignore it says 1994) Date Calf Thigh Bottom Hips Waist Underbust Chest Bicep Relax Bicep Bent Before 40 109.5 106 94 85 102.5 30.5 28.5 02/03/14 39.5 62 108.5 106 91 84 101 31 31 20/03/14 40 61.5 108 105 92 84.5 99 31 31 31/03/14 40.5 62 108.5 104.5 92.5 85 100 30 32 There isnt anything i can see different in the portrait photos hence its not being posted.

Hi Everyone! I've been on and off the fitness train, I consider myself a beginner because I still don't know what i'm doing, or if what i'm doing is right. Being a girl who weighed under 110 pounds growing up, living in a house with no set breakfast/lunch/dinner time, not knowing the difference between whats healthy and whats not, and not having a active family/lifestyle... I started gaining and not knowing why or how to lose it. In December 2012 I weighed the most I've ever weighed, and to make it worse, at family gatherings they noticed and picked on me about it (which never feels good, and no one should ever have to be picked on because of how much they gained.) That's when I decided to start working out, starting weight was 155 Pounds at 19 years old. The lifestyle change I made was going for a 30 minute run everyday, and eating healthier smaller portions. In 3 months March 2013, I managed to lose a total of 10 pounds, and gave up because? I don't know, I just gave up. I started going on a health kick again in September 2013, this time I did strength training+cardio and tried doing the macro diet, everything was going good until I started losing motivation, telling myself id do it tomorrow, almost anything to get me to not work out. As of Today, I weight 136 pounds at 20 years old. I lost a total of 19 pounds. My main quest is to work on my lifestyle and to lose 10 pounds (so weigh 126) and then start strength training: I want to try doing this differently, before I use to jump into it (lets look up a fitness you tube video and hopefully I stick to it) but never had a goal or developed habits so I just gave up and didn't feel bad because I didn't have goals or habits (understand?). GOAL 1 The Gym: I hate the gym, I don't know if its me or the gym (its probably me) but I just don't feel comfortable there. But I will try going and try finding something I love and hopefully that will motivate me to keep on going. GOAL 2 Sleeping, Eating, Balance: Sleeping: I need to set a habit of having a bed time, and getting out of the habit of over sleeping which makes you over tired which makes you have to energy to work out and makes you lazy .. well that's my theory. Eating: Controlling that salty, yummy, goodness. I don't usually crave junk, and I don't usually buy it either, but when I crave it I binge and I really need to work on controlling that. Instead of going on a crazy junk food haul, I'm going to try to prep good raw snacks, and replacing my dessert with a greek yogurt with banana kinda deal. Also looking up recipes that can over power that need for crunchy and salty foods, like eating seaweed or those snap peas snacks from Costco. Balance: I need to find the balance between my priorities. Between family, school, social life, cooking and preparing food... stuff like that, i've been stuck deciding whats important for me and what can wait. GOAL 3 Exercise atleast 4x a week: I need to find that motivation that will get me to exercise, even if its taking my dog out for an extra 5 minute walk a day, making slow progress is better than no progress. My life side quest is to be happy, and not give up on myself. I want to do well in school, and finish with a 90% or higher average, which i'm on the verge of. I just wanna focus on being happy, being healthy, and not feeling sorry for being selfish for trying to make my life.

This will be my first official challenge at Nerd Fitness; I've been waiting for this since I signed up 6 weeks ago! I could have jumped straight into the previous challenge but at the time my motivation was running on fumes so I thought I'd ease into it before tackling anything scary like a real challenge. Gotta complete the tutorial before playing the game! The challenge doesn't start for another couple of days which will give me time to nut out the details, but I'm not too worried about stat points at this point because hell, I'm level 0. Just getting to level 1 will be a big deal! But I want to be able to give myself an actual mark because I think it will help me find out what I need to work on, and then I get to win points! (do the thing! win the points!) And I will know what to work on for next time. "But wait, what do you mean by 'attempt at total control?'" Well, I'm glad you asked. While I have been getting my health back in order these last few weeks, my brain has been functioning well enough to realise that I could be doing so much better in other parts of my life then I am and I've known about these issues for a while, but have lacked any sort of drive to do anything about it. I have no intention of throwing myself into the deep end, (this would end up in me flailing about and probably drowning in failure) but I need to start somewhere, and at least if I'm winning points for doing things then I might just! I also want to keep my general fitness improving, so my main quest is still diet-related, but I find it harder to keep my diet on track then delegate time for workouts. (I'm casually employed have time slots around everything I do where I can work out, but I hate cleaning my kitchen so cooking gets left behind when I run out of forks!) SO, without further ado, I give to you, nerds and nerdettes, my sparkly new challenge to start off this year the right way. Get as close to 15% body fat by attempting to eat totally Paleo. (6pts available) Starting Body Fat: 21% Having a number to work down to will be good motivation for me to stick with eating properly. My motivation for joining originally was a lack of happiness in the way I looked, but since I've been following the Rebel Fitness Guide I've reached a point I'm quite pleased with, so I had to think of something else to keep me going. There are still parts of my figure that will benefit greatly from this, and I want to see my abs. I will get a point for every percentage point dropped at the end of the challenge. So, my plan for doing this is; Eat Paleo 3 meals a day 7 days a week (126pts availble) Doesn't get much simpler then that! Cooking has never been a problem for me, I quite enjoy it, but meals need to be easy and quick and not involve a hundred different bowls to create. And paleo, in this instance. Also, I have struggled fitting in breakfast so I'm just going to have to start getting up earlier if it becomes a problem. I score a point every time I eat a paleo breakfast, lunch or dinner. Paleo snacks are worth no points, but I shall deduct a point every time I have a non-paleo snack! I'll try to keep a running tally during the challenge. Find and cook at least one new paleo recipe a week. (6pts available) Pretty self-explanatory; I'm used to cooking with a lot of pastry and cream and flour, and I need to be more creative. At least this way I can explore different things and find new things that myself and my Love will eat. He's coming around slowly but he still likes bread and pie and ice cream. I mean, so do I but my hips don't. One point every time I find and cook a new recipe, but only one point can be earned a week. I might even link and photo in my efforts if I'm feeling like sharing that day! LIFE QUEST: Invite more nature and art into my life. My last year was full of overworking, underachievement and a lot of "I'll do that one day" And I'm sick of hearing it from myself and everyone I know. Ultimately I would like to be doing a job that I love that always changes and I can use my natural flair for creativity and fun to do something awesome, as well as having an adventurous and fulfilling out-of-work life, but ever since finishing my diploma in media I have worked in the same cafe and played the same games and listened to the same music, and used the same excuses to not venture outdoors. Short term, I want to work less, create more, and enjoy the beautiful part of the world that I live in. Putting it on here makes it real and official, and I get to win more points!! A. One detailed artistic work a week, any medium (6pts available) Simple. I have a variety of hobbies, and never do any of them. I'll just pick one each week and go for it! I have to get at least 50% of the way through whatever I choose to do though, no planning things and not following through. B. Go somewhere I haven't been before (6pts available) Again, easy, but something I rarely do. I might even combine the two and go somewhere and work on something. MOTIVASHUNZ Lately I have ben feeling very stifled by real life; work and bad habits bind me into a destructive cycle of not eating properly or not moving around enough and they are the two problems I really need to fix, but I also need to be able to say "no more." I don't need to take every single shift that work throws at me, I could be doing fun things. And I don't get out enough. I also want to have things to talk about when I actually catch up with other humans instead of "yeah, we sat at home and watched tv..." I will keep a daily log of my eating and creative habits, and probably how much exercise I do too (I'm followng the rebel fitness guide and intend to jump from Rookie to Recruit at some point during this challenge.) because that's what I've been doing already. Total points available: 150. (hey! That worked out nicely!) A: 95% B: 80% C: 65% D: 50% F: 35% Phew! That was a lot of info at once, sorry! Anyway, this doesn't start until the 6th, so until then I'll continue updating my Battle Log until then.

So, before I get to my question, here's a little background on how I got to this point: I started eating paleo about a year ago, but I have had a lot of issues with slipping back into my old SAD ways for stretches of time. When I was younger, I lost a lot of weight by restricting my calories to 1200/day but my diet mostly consisted of lite and fit yogurts, kashi go lean cereal, salad with salsa and sliced lunch meat. Thinking about that now makes me cringe. Needless to say, that didn't last and I gained the weight back. One thing that did stick with me from that time in my life however, was a fear of/obsession with calories. I also have a history of binge eating and compulsive overeating. When I started Paleo, I struggled for a while because I was trying to count calories and that left me hungry all the time. Eventually I figured out that calorie counting is a major issue for me because it makes me obsessive, and plagued with guilt when I eat "too much". Last summer I completed the Insanity workout while maintaining an estimated 80/20 paleo diet. I lost about 30 lbs and gained a little muscle tone. Then I slipped into a month long episode of steady overeating and a SAD diet (don't look at me! I'm hideous!) Since then, I've completed two very successful whole30's but each time I completed one, I came barreling out into another month or more of aggressive SAD eating that basically undid all of my hard work on whole30. I enjoy completing whole30's and I love eating paleo. However, I've found that while I can be restrictive in my diet, the second I give myself any leeway, I crash hard. I am about two weeks into my second round of insanity, and I am trying very hard to keep my diet at least mostly paleo. What I am struggling with now, and what I am look for advice on, is how to find a healthy balance in my diet and my life. I am trying to lose another 15ish pounds, but since I have been doing insanity and cleaning up my diet, I haven't seen/felt any real progress. I know that some people count calories on paleo, and I am wondering if I should consider it despite my past calorie counting issues. In addition, I will admit that I could stand to tighten up my diet quite a bit, as I am still drinking and indulging in non-paleo foods occasionally, including one bad night when I binged on half a bag of sun chips, two cookies, several handfuls of cookie crisp cereal and some paleo things. But I am having a hard time finding a balance between paleo and non-paleo indulgences. I have guilt when I eat non-paleo foods, but I also feel like it is unrealistic for me to think I am going to be able to eat all paleo, all the time.

I'm new saw this sight and thought where has this been all my life. I'm a male 23 yr old nerd/jock who once I stopped playing sports I steadily put on weight now I'm trying to pull myself back from the brink and get in the best shape of my life! Any advice at all is welcome and much appreciated I have access to a gym but ideally it's money that could go to better things any tips to get that elusive six pack and gain mass are much appreciated . Ready to work and reporting for duty !!! Tony