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Hello nerds and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! [image credit; pinterest] Welcome to my 2024 challenge~ My name is Shaar ❤️ and as of August of this year I will have been on the forums for 10 years! Nerd Fitness really changed my life; at this time 6 years ago I was the fittest and strongest I have ever been in my adult life. I was powerlifting and exercising consistently, dialing in my nutrition, and was sitting at 126lbs of strong determined fire. A lot has changed in the past 4-5 years for me - moving back to my home state of Massachusetts after the end of a long term relationship, the covid pandemic, juggling a new full time job that I enjoyed but was taxing and had a long commute, and most importantly, the sudden passing of my mom in late 2021 and all the trauma, stress, anxiety, depression, and eventually PTSD that came with that and having to deal with her estate as an only child. Y’all it did a NUMBER on me and I backslid more than I initially thought. Mentally, physically, emotionally, you name it. I coped in ways I probably shouldn’t have for longer than I should have and I let myself fall by the wayside a lot. There were a lot of breaking points that I never envisioned. 2023 was an eye opener for me and a year where I finally started to pick myself up, realize what was important, and gratefully have the avenue to pursue my better self again. With the help of my amazing husband I quit a job that wasn’t serving me, began taking care of myself and my home, and learned how to be FUCKING HAPPY again. My life has consistently been a wild ride and I’ve always been overcoming struggles and climbing mountains, but for a healthy chunk of last year I finally gave myself permission to stop climbing and just be, and slow down, and rest. And after it all, it’s just what I needed. I spent a lot of 2023 looking back - at the me I used to be, the life I used to lead, and just kind of reminiscing that I could never get back to that again. I got very stuck in a nostalgia loop and it rooted me in place for some time. But now I realize I don’t need to be back there, and instead I can move forward in a whole new way. AND I’M FUCKIN STOKED FOR IT The Lunar New Year for 2024 is the Year of the Wood Dragon. According to the ol’ internet (and Chinese history), the dragon is related to success, intelligence and honor in Chinese culture, while wood dragons are full of energy and dream of changing the world. I feel like I’m going into this year with a lot of drive and ambition and positive vibes, and am ready to hit the ground running to make my goals an absolute reality. The only thing standing in my way is me and I’m ready to harness the energy of the dragon and get shit DONE. [image credit; pinterest] 2024 LONG TERM GOALS » Dump this 15 lbs I've accumulated over the past few years. Currently 5’3” and 150, and would be over the moon to sit at 135 again. I’ve already taken progress photos and am ready to see where I’m at in a few months with all my hard work!! » Find a part time job that serves me. » Continue on my monk Path of 100,000 Punches. (Currently sitting at 19,609 according to my app) » Gain enough strength and mobility to be able to kayak and bike again. » Continue reducing alcohol and keep it at a bare minimum. » Read more than 20 books. I read 26 in 2023 and after a few years of barely reading anything, I’m SO HAPPY to be back into this habit. ❤️ CHALLENGE GOALS I quietly started setting a lot of foundations for my 2024 fitness goals in November and December, and I feel I’m at the point where my habits are ingrained enough to start pushing myself! Log food EVERY DAY. I’ve been tentatively doing this since December but I’m ready to make it a habit and continue keeping a close eye on my intake. Right now I’m using Cronometer and it’s got everything I need, and a really good food database too. I’m currently working at a 150-200 calorie deficit for most days (so about 1600-ish) and it’s been working just fine. Seeing the numbers is huge for me and being able to visualize what I’m putting into my body has retrained my eating - and portion - habits a lot. 80+g of protein most days. It’s a challenge to cram it into every meal but with decent planning it’s been going well! I’m hoping to achieve this at least 5 out of 7 days per week. Intentional movement 5 out of 7 days a week. What this looks like for me right now is usually 2 lifting days, 2 boxing or kickboxing days, and one walk/run day. Rest days are generally just rest or maybe some extra foam rolling or mobility if I need it. The Mountain of Howling Fists (our personal gym) is kitted out with a rack, barbell, plates and dumbbells, as well as a sick FightCamp boxing and kickboxing setup with a standalone bag and tracked workouts, as well as all of the recovery and mobility equipment I could ask for. My weekly walk/run/intervals lately have been at the local Planet Fitness to take advantage of their treadmills Because Winter. I have all the equipment and access I could ask for so there really are ZERO excuses here. I’ve been tracking my workouts on a big white board and will post them weekly here for accountability! Continue alcohol moderation. I basically backed off of drinking last month except around the holidays. It hasn’t been easy but the benefits are ENORMOUS and it’s super important to me to continue this streak. Again I’m giving myself three drink tickets this challenge to use if needed and whenever, but only three. And there we go! Honestly bigger stakes than any challenge I've really done recently but I'M HERE FOR IT and it's time for me to push forward with everything I've got. Thanks for visiting friends ❤️ and I'm grateful to have you around for the ride! LET'S DO THIS and show 2024 who's boss!!!!

"You must be proud, bold, pleasant, resolute, and now a then stab, as occasion serves." - Christopher Marlowe Train the Body: First and foremost, training is important to me. There is an aesthetic I like, a vainness that I enjoy. But, I like being strong. Not just inside the gym, but outside the gym. I thought a lot about it this past weekend with moving and knowing how the strength I've garnished over the years of lifting really helped me out. I think about being weaker and not being able to lift as much weight and how much more difficult the move would have been. I'm thankful for the time I've put in and how it's translated to real world application. I started a new training program through the middle of the last challenge and love it. The programming is great. The structure and ability to complete within an hour is even better, given that 60-65min is basically the max time I have to train before I have to get ready for work. I'm excited to get back into the program called "Comanche" later this week. The program calls for sprints 2x a week but I think with my busy schedule and two jobs that I'll just go for 1x a week for now. Train the Mind: I know that I am mentally strong. The key to me being successful in my every day life is to be strong mentally. I work 2 jobs. Sometimes my day extends around the 17-18hr mark from the time I wake up to the time I get off from Costco and get home. I have a BRAND NEW routine now that I've moved and this week is going to be an adjustment. Finish 2 audible books during this challenge. Utilize my longer commute. Train my Creative Mind™ Empire of Silence (Sun Eater Book #1) (16hrs left) Howling Dark (Sun Eater Book #2) Recover the Body: Foam roll, yoga, massage gun: USE ALL OF THESE THINGS. Work hard. Play hard. Recover hard. Recover the Mind: Nap. Eat at your desk to save time and use part of your hour lunch to catch some Zzz's. Meditation goes a long ways, I think. I definitely don't take the time to relax my mind in that regard and train it up to be stronger and more palpable. 5min a day is not long. I can do this. Wolf

This is Stronkey Kong here to tell you that I’ve got a real problem-- a set of problems really. And these are problems that you’ve all probably faced, and will face again. BUT! – Lucky for you... Lucky for me, lucky for us all, I’ve got a plan to combat these problems. And if you’ll stick with me, you can combat them too. Problem #1: I am too fat. Really. I weigh 300 lbs. It’s out of control. I have been fat all my life. Is it a slow metabolism? Is it because I’m lazy? Or just too busy to focus on eating right and exercising consistently? Problem #2: I am in too much debt. Student Loans. Credit Cards. Car Payment. Sure. I could work overtime like a dog at my job, but then I’d have no time left for me, for my friends and family, or for YOU! Scrimping and scraping pennies isn’t gonna get me that nice little piece of land. Now, it’s time for... REAL LASTING CHANGE. Problem #3: I want to work on my own terms, my own schedule, from wherever I want. If I had the freedom to set my own schedule, do what I love (writing), I’d have the extra time for more activities, spending time with friends and family, and traveling. Without a job tied to a desk, sapping my willpower, I’d have the energy and drive to work out more. And more time to focus on writing fiction and other creative hobbies that charge me up instead of draining the life from me. Can you relate? Have you, yourself, faced one or more of these problems in your life? Do you anticipate seeing them in the future? If so, at the beginning of this challenge, I’ll show you the ONE SIMPLE TRICK to making all of these problems go away. DON’T MISS OUT!!! Hit that “Like” button and SUBSCRIBE NOW!

Me the past two years I woke up this morning at 185.2 That may be my highest ever. So basically I need to start moving and eat right. No theme to this challenge just a few basic principles and the help and support of this community. Daily: My morning routine A workout later in the day(lifting or cardio) Eating right No alcohol Morning Routine Walk around the blockish. Some mornings I do 45 mins, sometimes I do less. That is all. If I do this I always hit at least 10k steps later in the day. Read. Read a book for some period of time. That's it. Duolingo 50XP When I start my day like this it generally goes really well after. It also prompts me to get to bed early so I can get up early and do these things. Workout 3 Days a week I'll do compound barbell lifts. The other 4 days I will do some form of cardio. Some examples might include: Running Biking Paddle boarding Hiking Rucking Hockey Tennis This will likely be done right after work. Eating Right Is it Mediterranean? Specifically Ikarian. Is it Paleo Those are my two approved eating methods. I am loving eating Mediterranean food, specifically Ikarian. Ikarian is mostly veggies/fruits, lots of beans, some whole grains, and a metric ton of EVOO. Very little fish and poultry, very little dairy. I am still eating paleo since that is in my freezer and cabinet. I will not be buying any more paleo items though. When out to eat, I will just try to make good choices. I went and had Thai with my GF for lunch this past week and ordered the ginger dish with shrimp and brown rice upcharge. I ate half and then took half home for later. Normally I would order pad thai and eat the whole thing and that is why I am in this mess now. No alcohol None. However I will cook with it if called for it since a lot of my recipes call for it. IPA is good, but it makes me fat. Maybe after this challenge I will reincorporate red wine into meals like the Mediterranean.

Happy 2023! I know it’s arbitrary… but I always love the dawn of a new year with no mistakes in it yet. It seems like a sweet opportunity to shed some of the baggage and nonsense of the previous year. Spent some time today thinking about my intentions and goals for the year. Physically, I am way stronger than I was this time last year! Let’s (a) keep that up, and (b) double down on sticking to some sort of caloric deficit to melt off the overlay of fluff. Big goal for the year is to drop bodyfat percentage by 10-12%! Aesthetically, feeling cute but could always be cuter! Pandemic and work from home have been DEADLY here. Eventually I will whip up some goals involving showering before noon, and if not getting tarted up, at least wearing a proper bra and proper pants with a waistband and do my brows most days. Teeth whitening touch ups, much needed haircut, and skin routines (sunscreen every am, oil cleansing in the pm). Professionally, I am pretty much where I want to be… full professor, woo! I just need to think carefully before saying ‘yes’ to committees, projects and service traps that don’t get me where I want to be. Another big goal here is to re-kindle my passion for my work. Pandemic and other changes to working conditions have done a number on that, but I think I can get it back! Personal life- well I don’t want to jinx things, but all is currently great in that department. Lovely hub, two great kids in their early 20s, three labs, one feisty cat. I could be more mindful of how lucky I am here, maybe gratitudes in the morning routine are in order, or remembering to do at least one nice thing for the hubba hubba each day! Music- I’m always happiest when surrounded by good tunes! Keep cultivating my theme songs and various playlists. I’ve been on sabbatical from show choir over the fall, but coming back to it later this month. Keep up with that, and with piano. Dry January- I’m usually pretty abstemious but had a lot of holiday related excess on the drinking (and eating, but mostly drinking) front. Actually 3 days into this already. Goals for this challenge, I guess should be smaller and more concrete versions of the above: Keep up 4 workouts/week Track food, 1850 cals/day is awesome but anything under 2100 is an improvement One thing each day for project Cute Say no to at least 10 work things Do something nice for hubby each day ❤️ A song a day! Can be singing something for choir, playing on the piano, even listening to a favourite. no! Booze! Til! February!

Year of Battle: rout the enemies of fatigue, anxiety, and distraction addiction, win the territories of lifting, art, writing, and whatnot. All right. One last skirmish. Fatigue and distraction addiction are wounded, anxiety is down and being kicked in the head. We’ve got art fairly well fortified. Let’s try to pry lifting back from the hands of the enemy. Goals 3 sets of any lift at home with the first tea every day. Art from roughly 8-12

Conquius Balances the Books I flipped through the Citadel's ledger with a sense of dread. All of the necessities had been accounted for. We had ample supplies to make it through the winter, but as I scanned the ledger line by line, I was reminded of the frivolities upon which I spent my hard-earned coin. Many of them, naturally, were things for Jormungandr and Cerberus, but I can't say that all of them were strictly necessary. Some of them were for me: a new set of gambeson, drinks down at the tavern, a new tunic to wear to court, et cetera. They each brought me their own small joys, and some of them - like clothing purchases or riding equipment - have been extremely useful, but I can never quite shake the voice of my grandfather, a man who lived through the Great Depression, telling me to hold onto my money. In the past, I've tried to do like the monks and go the ascetic route, but I ended up winding myself up so tight that I bought a bunch of things in a fit of whimsical backlash. Thus, I've decided that what I need is a proper budget. A means of portioning out part of my coin to whimsical fancy, while maintaining a strong sense of financial responsibility. In time, I hope to build an adventuring fund - a pool of time and money that I can use to go on extended adventures. This Challenge is all about financial planning and responsibility. I've put some details of my personal life, including the impetuses for this challenge, in the spoiler text. Quest One: Balance The Books. Balance The Books will be comprised of a set of basic financial goals I intend to meet in 5 weeks. For my resources, I'm using The Financial Diet, and r/PersonalFinance. ✅ Set Up A Budget - Using a Budget Spreadsheet and the 50/30/20 Budgeting Template, I'm going to assess my current spending habits, and build a monthly budget. I will do this without guilt or judgement for my past self. Previous purchases are previous purchases, that money is gone. This will be the bulk of the quest, and I'm giving myself the first two weeks to do it. ✅ Build A Small Emergency Fund - Now that I know my monthly spending, I will set up a small emergency fund to cover my 1-month essentials. I will build into my budget a portion of my paycheck to go towards this fund. In time, I intend to build up to a 6-Month Emergency Fund, but that's a longer-term goal that is out of the scope of this 5-Week Challenge. Automated Budgeting - I plan on looking into various budgeting apps recommended by TFD. I'm leaning towards Mint. I want to do this manually via spreadsheets first to give me an understanding of how I'm currently spending my money, but around Week Three I want to start looking at automating my budget to reduce overhead time. New Credit Card. I've been using my debit card to pay for absolutely everything. This doesn't help my credit, and it also means I'm missing out on potential rewards. I want to spend some time researching Credit Cards, find out which one aligns best with my ethics and goals, and then make the switch. I plan on tackling this on Weeks Four and Five. New Bank (stretch goal). My current bank has had some major scandals due to some dubious practices. I want to change banks. This will take some research, but if I have time near the end of the challenge, I want to at least start the search. Quest Two: Rise With the Dawn. If you followed my last Challenge, Conquius Rises With the Dawn, you'll find that I started picking up some better habits for improved sleep. I made some great strides, and I want to keep it going. I'm primarily concerned with the following habits, which I'll be reporting on daily: Dishes Chores After Dinner. Starting my evening chores after dinner lets me enjoy the remainder of my evenings, and go to bed stress-free. This goes beyond dishes. It could be laundry, packing my bike, setting out my gym clothes, etc. If it's my night to cook dinner, I start when I get home from work. It means sometimes that dinner is early, but no one in my apartment minds. Get Up, Get Out. I found a great app, Alarmy, that helps me get out of bed every morning. I've used it with very low rates of bed-recidivism. I'm going to keep it going, and I'm going to use that time in the morning to do some Hard Winter Training. Quest Three: Hard Winter Training tl;dr - 2/week lifting doesn't mesh well with my schedule, a shorter 4/week lifting schedule in the morning might. To make it work I have to: Master the Art of the Short Workout. My old weightlifting gym has a solid Fundamentals program. It comes in two flavors: 2/week and 4/week. Adopt the 4/week paradigm, and complete your workout in 45 minutes or less. That's a few sets of a compound lift, some accessory circuits, and 5m of stretching. I'll track workout time on my Garmin watch. Go to Bed On Time. My math says that I'll need to be up at 6 to make this work. My partner is also planning on getting up at 6, so that makes this a good bit easier. For this to be sustainable, I need to be getting 7+ hours of sleep nightly. I'll track it on my Garmin watch. I'll also be reporting on these daily. Wednesdays will be 30m of indoor cycling at an easy pace, or, weather permitting, my normal bike commute. If this doesn't work, that's okay, I'll switch to a Monday/Thursday 2/week paradigm, and just make Fridays my cook nights for the foreseeable future. Gotta experiment to find what works, gotta be willing to fail.

Finally, finally, finallyyyyy..... I am back on the forums for good this time!! HOO BOY HOWDY TL;DR - hi friends, I’m Shaar, longtime forum member, local bard (and occasional time-mage), and CAPS LOCK CRUSADER, that’s been wayward for a few years due to the Chaos Rodeo that is Life. [a little more details under spoiler tag to avoid wall of text] Cue to today where I’m admittedly struggling a little! My job has been exhausting and overwhelming for me after everything I’ve been through, and I get very tired during the week very quickly - it’s affecting my fitness and gym schedule too. Heck I even finally bought myself a bicycle three weeks ago but haven’t had the time or energy to take it out yet, and that makes me REAL SAD. So I met with my supervisors recently and was very honest and open with them, and I’ve been given the blessing to drop down to part time work - three days a week. I’m super grateful for this because financially we are in a very privileged place where I can make this decision to step back and slow my life down again. It’s also HARD for me (i am a proud little shit) but lately I’ve been slowly able to come to the realization that... I’m not young anymore shaar you dingdong! Past Me coulda maybe done all this shit and kept on trucking but I’m not Past Me anymore, I’m not 25 or 35 anymore, I’m 42. And it’s time to start ACTING LIKE IT. This challenge is all about adjusting to my new schedule, re-learning how to slow down, and be able to start taking better care of myself. I’m getting older and need to get comfortable with settling into a different chapter of my life - and being okay with not being all FULL SPEED AHEAD all the time! Each week I’d like to post a checklist of my goals for the week and keep this thread updated with HOW THE HECK I’M DOING, even if I’m hardcore failing, ‘cause that’s ok too. (And also part of the process.) My main goals are to get settled into a comfortable - and sustainable - gym schedule. I love lifting weights but it’s become increasingly hard on my body lately. Whether that has to do with my schedule being so jam packed or just me getting older remains to be seen, BUT I need to work with the concept of not pushing myself to my limits all the time, but keeping it more real. I have a BICYCLE now so hopefully take that out for a few spins before it gets too cold here toooo~ I NEED to add more mobility and yoga into my life. I feel like an old oak tree a lot and I’m going to be able to have the time lately to take more care of myself. Yoga, foam rolling, even just laying on my acupressure mat for 20 minutes, anything that will help my recovery!! Keep drinking water, keep eating generally balanced meals, keep the drinking ONLY TO WEEKENDS, keep your anxiety in check, keep getting decent sleep, and keep working on enjoying myself!! I’m going to have more time on my hands to balance all of these things and make it work for me and holy HECK am I looking forward to ittttttttt. I’m REALLY STOKED about this new chapter in my life and I’m just really over the moon that I’m able to make these changes and just lead a more enriched and healthy existence mentally, physically, and emotionally. Anyways that's it from me for now, more updates very soon and I can't wait to catch up with all of you nerds!! ❤️❤️ I MISSED YOUUUUU let's do great things together!!!

THE CHALLENGE!!! STARPUCK FIGHTS THE BEAST I've fought this beast before. He's often goes by the title Gloom Monster, but we're referring to him as The Beast on this challenge. He gets more powerful as summer ends and autumn gives way to winter. He's a little stronger this time around, because our heroine has been fighting a side of apathy lately. One of my greatest weapons against that is momentum. But to get momentum, you have to get a first step underfoot and follow it up with a second, and third and so on. Bio: ON TO THE CHALLENGE Doing much of the same old same old! In fact, I found a google sheet tracker I made in May 2021 and just changed a few of the things I plan on tracking. I really need to get my food consistency back in place. I do fine at work and during the early part of the week. Going into the Thursday gaming night and weekend tends to unravel full tilt. Exercise is not a problem ever, but I'd like to be more focused in what I am choosing to do. Art is back on the table, on top of me trying to practice three instruments at once. (I did mention Ranger, right?) Goals: Track food daily. If unable to track on a weekend meal, eat sensibly, guesstimate cals. Exercise 5x a week. Art some times a week. Music - try to get 3-4 practices on each instrument, length of time not important. (** Might switch this to amount of time on each per week. Some days I get on a roll, and might jam out for a good amount of time on just one instrument.) Track Spending. I gotta get this under control too. As a side note, I am 8 sessions into our latest TTRPG game; Vampire the Masquerade. I am SO into this game right now, so lots of art for it has been kicked out. It's also where I have borrowed the idea of fighting against the beast within. For vampires, that beast is their monstrous side. For me, it's apathy and inconsistency as we hit the S.A.D heavy days. I'll try and catch up on sharing some art (and a quick backdrop as to what it means.) Vampire Art Taking Zero Week to get slowly back into a better groove after this last hurrah, lol. See ya Rebels tomorrow!

Y'all now that I am back at work FULL TIME it's going to be so hard for me to keep up here but does that dissuade me from trying?? ABSOFRICKINLUTELYNOT Honestly the only reason I think I'm able to post a thread today is because I took the day off so we can go apply for our marriage license and generally be lazy!!! Yahoooo~ HI PALS, TL;DR it's me shaar, longtime forum person who recently took a mental health stint from work due to PTSD and anxiety/depression stemming from my mom's sudden passing last year (and likely lots of other shit too), as of going back to work 8 hours a day last week I've been sorta struggling to make time for everything else. I had a shitty 2021 and 2022, worst years of my whole ass life, but as of late I'm honestly thriving and feeling so much better about literally everything in general, and I'm ready to fully get back on my bullshit. >:] Posting is HARD for me to carve out time for but I will do my best and maybe try to check in more from my phone??? !!! ANYWAYS I do have a goal, one single goal, a big'un: KEEP CONSISTENTLY FITNESSING!! My work schedule has changed from 7-4 to 8-5 -- I'm not the biggest fan of this (I hate being the last one in the office ugh); I'm a loser early bird and really like getting things started early. This messed with my gym schedule as I would generally hit the gym at 4:30 on my way home from work.. I knew hitting the gym at 5:30 wasn't going to work for me, because by the time I get home it would be 7 and I would be OUTSTANDINGLY rushed to get a bunch of shit done before bed. (And exhausted.) SO. I now wake up at 5:15am two days out of the week to go to the gym before work and it's KIND of the best thing ever. No crowds, no waiting for anything, I shower quick and get ready for work at the gym and scoot out a-ok. Plus morning workouts give me so much positive energyyyyYYYYYY So I'm GONNA KEEP DOING IT I'm in a really good mindset for progression and I sat down to look through my training schedule and work out my programming for August: You can't see it all because it truncates the bubbles BUT here is my August template! Goal is THREE GYM DAYS and then one OPTIONAL lunchtime workout at work with mostly bodyweight and easy dumbbells - we have a gym at work that I want to 100% utilize for this - but I will also listen to my body and not PUSH MYSELF. I love this community and miss y'all so much and I'm HOPING that down the road I will have more time to be here... and I do have some plans for me career-wise that I hope to put into effect over the next few months hehehehehe. >:3 More on that laterrrr BUT For now, focus on my goals and saying hi when I can! LIKE NOW HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII ❤️❤️❤️❤️

A ranger? Oh no! I've been an assassin so long. Okay, not that long, but the Rangers is the largest guild, and as Plutarch, "I live in a small city, and I prefer to dwell there that it may not become smaller still," I didn't want to be a ranger, EVERYONE'S a ranger, come on now. But maybe it's time for me to accept that the real action is in Rome/that my entire life is a mediation of the driving need to do ALL THE THINGS with the necessity of choosing some subset of Things to actually get done, at risk of being paralyzed by how very many things there are in the universe. So: Ranger. I went to a hockey game last week, and decided I wanted to learn how to skate on hockey skates/maybe eventually play hockey. So, I have three fitness Things that I want to keep up this challenge: -Gymnastics: Wednesday/Sunday, with Wednesday being my main training day where I can go to the gym while EVERYONE ELSE is there and marvel at all the gymnastics happening, and Sunday I come in a bit early before I coach my adult class to do some flips. Lifting: Tuesday/Thursday/Friday. I'm still trying for Thursday, even though i teach a Zoom class at 2:30 and had been spending Thursday mornings wandering around the house muttering maniacally to myself about math for a pretend audience. But if I take the car to the gym that morning then I'll have plenty of time. (I usually take the bus.) Skating: Once a week! There's open skate Mondays 2:30-3:30, so I'm going to aim for that. I need to look up stopping, backwards skating, etc. Other things I will do this challenge: learn python (I got a summer job that... has something to do with data science? I literally have no idea what it is or how I was chosen but hey), learn classical mechanics (my one class that I am taking this semester is first-year physics, which yes hilariously I am taking first-year physics and teaching first-year math, because when I went back to school I MEANT to take science classes that I'd been scared to take in high school because I couldn't do math, but then I had to take a math prereq first, and fell into a rabbit hole of math, and now need to get around to those science classes, and going from differential equations last semester to a physics class which does not have calculus as a prereq this semester is a really bizarre form of whiplash and confusion), keep practicing and making reeds even though concerts are cancelled for the entire month, buy peg dope and new strings for my violin and take it out of the case for 15 min/day, keep up my now weeklong duolingo streak (anyone want to be duolingo friends? https://www.duolingo.com/profile/_tei) and-- GO TO BED BY 11:30 AND AIM TO WAKE UP BY 8 SO I HAVE TIME TO DO ALL THESE THINGS

Happy (almost) New Year Friends! So things have got a little slack around here for the last few weeks. Weird work stuff and vacation stuff have had me doing not a great job of keeping up with my fitness routines. So this challenge is about getting back into the foundational stuff. Here are the goals: Run 3x/week I am continuing with my 5%/week increase plan. It has worked so far and I expect it will continue to do so. Lift 3x/week I might do as many as 6x/week, but 3 will be my minimum. Track Calories and stay on target I'm using MFP. My target is 1800/day, plus 100 on a day I run, and 100 on a day I lift. Since I often run and lift on the same day, this will mean often I will alternate between 1800 days and 2000 days. I'm watching to see how my weight responds. I'm up about 5 lbs from a month ago, but for the last month I've done a crap job with tracking and food choices. So I'm expecting over the course of this challenge to drop back down at least that 5. We shall see. I think that's it. I'm going to give myself a point for each run/lift/day tracked and on target, against the 13 possible points each week. I'm starting with zero week, and I'm starting on a Monday because that's today and so far I've tracked everything and this will be a very good day for a start. Happy Challenge!

HELLO THERE and WELCOME to what is probably take 38 of Shaar Actually Posting Enough to Finish an Actual Challenge......... WILL IT HAPPEN??? Ahahahahaha yeah hmm we’ll see about that~ >:3 Hi friends, I missed you! ❤️ Brief Intro: Hello I am shaar!! I’ve been here on and off for almost a decade now (!!!) and it’s no joke when I say that Nerd Fitness changed my life. I’ve lived up and down the east coast but am currently (and very happily) settled in a comfy little town in central Massachusetts not far from where I grew up. I live with my boyfriend of almost a year now, he is the absolute best and I love him x 4980358740. ❤️ We are both very much health and fitness nuts (he is extremely fit and is an actual himbo) and both of us being on the same page helps so much when making healthy food and lifestyle choices. I play a LOT OF VIDEO GAMES maaaan I really love video games, I’m still playing XIV but not so much, kinda burned out there, but I’m also into Genshin Impact and the new FF7R DLC with Yuffie AND I played the Swords of Legends Online beta last week and man I cannot wait to lose myself in that flashy xianxia bullshit when it comes out for real wowow ❤️ I love cooking and being outside and horror movies and video games (duh) and reading and well pretty much everything. My life is unbelievably amazing and I’m grateful for it every day, I’m certain I’ve gotten to where I am with 50% hard-ass work and 50% luck, somehow I rolled a nat 20 in LUCK, it is a very high stat, also CHARISMA, I am max CHA and am an actual bard, my dump stat is INT and I’m not even sorry about it. BRIEF HUH SHAAR JEEZ Anyways hmm ok. SO on the real I hemmed and hawed about even making this challenge 500 times ‘cause my biggest enemy really is - finding the time to post. I work a 40 hour week in the office (and I adore my job), aside from that I’m at the gym or watching movies with Ao or having dinner with my mom or just being out and about, I’m very out and about lately, so I’m worried I’ll kinda fall off the log or whatever with keeping up here. The new forum format STILL OVERWHELMS ME A LITTLE but I’m gonna do my bessssssssssssst. (also an excuse to use a bunch of wei wuxian gifs HA) SHAAR GOALS! - THE GYM! GUYS. After nearly 4 years (since I left North Carolina wow) I have found a killer local gym with LOTS of racks and actual DEADLIFT PLATROFMS and shit! !!!!!!!!!!!!! Nothing fitness-wise has hooked me as much as lifting, ever, and I’m SO STOKED to be back at it. Like I don’t even have words for how happy I am. I’ve gone twice and yesterday was my first leg day that I blew out of the water and am feeling the DOMS BAAAAAD today. But I DON’T GIVE A HECK. This goal will be easy; lift three times a week. My plan is to go one morning (they open at 5 am) before work, one day after work, and one weekend. (Side goal for this - don’t break your ass) I’m so ready to get back to a good routine and see my stupid little noob gains and rebuild my muscles and get STRONG AND FRESH TO DEATHHHHHHHH. - Eat smart. In the past I’ve struggled with fueling myself properly for lifting heavy - I may or may not have been a victim of the ol’ carb flu MORE THAN ONCE OK int dump stat there it is pals - honestly my diet is pretty neat and clean overall BUT I know I’m going to need to add more protein and good carbs overall. My Fitbit is going to be a huge help with this so I know exactly what I’m expending energy-wise and I may track my food on their app ‘cause it’s SUPER SLICK but long story short - don’t eat like a shitface. - POST HERE. THIS IS MY HARDEST GOAL. HONESTLY. I will do my best, I love my friends here SO MUCH and I always feel guilty when I can’t be as present as I want to. Posting used to be so easy for me ‘cause honestly I’d do a lot of it at my old job in NC or when I worked from home here but all of that is gone now and honestly, covid really made me REALLY jangly being “online” all the time, so I’m really on the go a lot more than I ever have been just being able to be OUTSIDE. But I will try my hardest to strike a good balance here. ❤️ I wouldn’t be where I am without the support of my friends here and I really mean that 50048095%. Ho-kay that's all I've got for nowwwww, I'LL FINISH THIS CHALLENGE JUST WATCH ME~

Affinity - a similarity of characteristics suggesting a relationship, especially a resemblance in structure between animals, plants, or languages. Hi guys. Last challenge was just a little overwhelming for me to keep up with. This is not to say I didn't do well because when it was all said and done, I think I performed adequately. I just got overwhelmed tracking everything on top of balancing out my schedule AND posting it all daily. I just don't have that kind of time, lol. I wish I did but I don't. With that being said, I'm going to focus on a smaller challenge that just cover's a few things and allows me the freedom to post as frequent (or infrequent) as needed. This challenge will be covering some affinities I hope to continue gardening over the next several months. But the best part is, is I'm not locked into anything, so if I change my mind, then WOOT WOOT! I can do that . Here are the 4 affinities I'll be focusing on: Brawn - Toughness Reflex - Mobility Fortune - Luck Discipline - Control I also have a couple of goals I want to complete this year based off each affinity. And here they are: Brawn 275# Rack Pull 250# 350# Back Squat 225# Bench Murph WOD w/ 20# Weight Vest Sub 10-min mile Reflex Full Saddle (with back on the ground) Full Straddle (with chest on the ground) 30+ streak of mobility (this will change once I hit that streak) Fortune Start our savings account Invest (could be anything. Need MOAR research because I want to be smart about it) Tithe 10% of each paycheck Discipline Limit junk food whenever possible Try and complete 30-days of no junk food Daily Devotionals and Bible Study Controlled bed time during the week (11pm). Stop staying up watching YouTube! Continue growing hair (so far so good!) Lean more towards a Paleo way of eating. Try to eliminate dairy and gluten when possible. Get under 10% BF #Wolflean, I can definitely see this list growing, but I've been thinking more long term goals recently and this is the most immediate list that came to mind. As for specific challenge goals. I only have 2: Workout Sleep Yes, I do have a problem with sweets from time to time, but outside of the couple times a month it drags me down, I eat really clean. It's not an issue for me to eat good...especially when I set my mind to it. So, along with making sure I get enough sleep Monday through Friday, I want to make sure I can continually hit 4x a week in the gym. It doesn't happen as often as I'd like and I'm annoyed at myself lol. More sleep = more energy = more gym time. Plain and simple What I am reading: Battle Mage by Peter A. Flannery This is a really good book. If you like dragons, then this is your book. If you like epic battles, then this is your book. What I am watching: Black Summer (on Netflix) I'm on a HUGE zombie kick right now for a couple reasons. I love zombie stuff and have loved zombie stuff since I was little Army of the Dead is coming out next week on Netflix and I'm SUPER stoked! I finally watched Train to Busan...WOW. Amazing zombie movie. Aaaaannnnnd, Back 4 Blood is coming out this year and its one my most anticipated games in a long time! I can't wait! Castlevania What's not to love? It's incredibly violent and the animation is superb. Season 4 drops on Netflix this week. Resident Evil 8: Villiage I'm watching a YouTuber go through the whole game. It's been a blast to watch! This was lengthier than I anticipated but I haven't updated in a while and thought my initial post would be best served for that purpose . Happy Challenging, Nerds! It's good to see my wife @PrincessMononoke back on the boards. She's been working very hard since February to establish healthier habits and the results truly speak for themselves! She's lost like 40lbs so far! If you haven't checked out her challenge, you should. She's funny. And I think she's suuuuuuuper sexy! Cheers, y'all! Wolf

So I have been struggling on my challenges for a few years(understatement), but I thought deeply and realized what made me really happy when I was most active on NF around 2015. It was a rucking PVP. Taking this knowledge and what I need to do to improve myself I enrolled in the weight loss PVP for the next 10 weeks. I am right above 170lbs and would like to get below 160lbs by Memorial Day weekend, specifically Saturday May 29th. I leave for a week long vacation in the Florida Keys and am staying on the water and will be bringing my boat. I think that whole week will be spent fishing, snorkeling, spearing, swimming, boozing, and eating fish. So obviously my one goal is to lose some weight. I also need to exercise daily. Yes daily, no rest days. Every day will include a 30-45 minute ruck(more if I am up for it). After the ruck I will lift Mon/Wed/Fri and then run Tues/Thurs/Sat. Sunday is going to be a hard 2 miler since one of my goals this year is to get that sub 6:30 pace. Each workout is followed by my stretching routine. I need to seriously restart my eating habits. I have been pretty good the past couple weeks but now need to crack down. I meal prep for work and do great during the week, but the weekend is the put it all back time. So I am going to attempt to eat only whole foods with a lot of veggies. I already am there 5 days a week. Also as far as alcohol goes, no more IPA's and thick bois. I need to stick with mixed drinks, wine, and white claws/ultras. I also need to limit myself to Friday and Saturday only, as well as 2-3 on each of those days. Maybe I will try something where I can have 3 or 4 drinks per weekend. I'll play with it. Goals: Weigh under 160lbs Ruck 100 miles Run 50 miles Continue to hit my 2021 goals

I spun out last challenge in the last week to week and a half. Work stress, relationship stress, blah balh blah. I had just gotten cocky with about 90 days of staying on course so thats about time for me to screw up. So 3x workouts per week minimum. By week 3 take a run. Dont go more than 3 days without posting or commenting. I get in a bit of a cycle with that. So I dont have my sheet in front of me but I did squats today. I was getting dressed to lift when a half dollar sized wolf spider ran out of my knee sleeve on the ground and I made a decidedly un-warrior like sound before grabbing a shoe and smashing it. I have woken up 6 straight days with a pounding headache. i have put water on my bed and IBU in hopes that if I notice it in the middle of the night again I can get ahead of it.

After doing well for many years 2020 got the better of me. Heaviest I've ever been and first time over 100kg, I'm aiming to reestablish a walking habit and create a healthier relationship with booze. Limiting my goals so i can focus and get some momentum going. Goals: 1. No alcohol in January 2. Walk 20km a week 3. Avoid obvious sugar Side goal: 1. Complete part 1 of the weight loss pvp Weigh-ins: Start: 101.8kg (224 lbs) Week 1: 99.0kg Week 2: 97.5kg Week 3: 97.3kg Week 4:96.9kg Week 5: 95.4kg (210 lbs)

I am QRG! Or Mary. Either way. I'm currently deep in the throws of a Supernatural re-watch so my battle will be to train me for "saving people, hunting things". Really, I'm just a chick who loves horror, supernatural, superheroes, and knitting. I could just as well be a slayer in training, but Buffy is waiting for its re-watch turn. I've worked in various offices for most of my life, starting with folding pamphlets and babysitting for my dad's church as a kid, followed by market research, insurance, and trucking. Being an office monkey is good for me since I kind of enjoy getting lost in paperwork, forms and organization. But its bad for my body. Also, I'm no longer a weird little nerdy punk rocker grrrl. I sit to knit and watch tv. And I'm not running all over town visiting friends and going to shows. Adulting is hard all over. So, here is where I'm sort of starting (sort of because I've been an NF member for a year now, but I've only done 2 challenges counting the current): That was a couple weeks ago. I'll update after the next challenge or during it sometime. No pictures yet. I took some, I just really don't feel like sharing right now. So, I've been working on my food. I love baking, but I've been spreading out to making more salads (which I also love) and experimenting with other dishes more centered around veggies. I love veggies. But I still get asked to bake a lot, so I just make sure its clear the leftovers are not coming home with me. My boyfriend Mike is adjusting to there being more vegetables than chip in the house. He's doing ok so far. But he still brings in his own and eats out a lot. Which is cool.. This is my thing, he is only required to participate if he wants to keep eating the food I cook and keep around. Unless he's buying chocolate or pizza. Then I have to fight it. I've started running. I love it, even if I'm not very good yet. I did track in junior high, but I hadn't run since. I just love how I feel afterwards on a run day. Aside from the stiffness, I mean. I have more energy and I just am in a much better mood on run days. I feel like I have more patience. My best mile so far is 16:11 I'm trying to do yoga more and meditate, but those have not been my main focus. I do need to make yoga more primary, though. I miss my old flexibility and I am definitely stiff and in need of yoga after a run. I'm also starting to lift. This is quite recent. I had been doing bodyweight workouts and that was great, but I am in love with the bar. Right now I'm only lifting the bar, but I plan to get a schedule set up to start really strength training for the next challenge. A hunter has to be strong to fight. Those are the basics. With some side quests along the way. Here are links to my challenges: The Adventure Begins QRG vs the Army of Darkness QRG Apocalypse Preparation QRG Does Stuff. And Things. QRG - No Power in the 'Verse Can Stop Me QRG - Five by Five Now let's do this.

HELLO ALL-GUILD DARLINGS! Merry Liftmas! Your friendly neighborhood flipperdoo here with fewer flips unfortunately, but activity a-plenty. I'm planning on running my first half marathon on December 12 or 13 (depending on which day looks to have better weather)! That's it. That's the goal. Hahah. Just kidding, just kidding. There will be other goals. WHAT ARE THEY? TBD.

Sunset is creeping earlier and earlier. Restrictions are tightening again due to the pandemic. Our federal election is two weeks away and likely will have violence as a result, no matter which candidates get elected. I'm delving deeper into a half-marathon training plan... Yes, this does seem to be the darkest timeline. GOALS DARK Handbalance practice 2x per week -- This is basically for core and overhead work DARKER Yoga 3x per week -- Move my hips more good! EVEN DARKER SHADE OF BLACK Write a short story -- National Novel Writing Month is coming and I definitely don't have the bandwidth for that, but I can write SOMETHING! VANTABLACK Follow the half marathon program (3-4 runs per week) -- Did you get the memo? I run now. 🙈

The skittish man looked over his shoulder before he made his way up the creaky steps of the tavern. He wasn't supposed to be here but he didn't have a choice. There was an evil coming...an evil so vile and so horrible that the fate of every man, woman and child in the surrounding kingdom would be in mortal danger if he didn't seek help. Two nights ago, he had been followed. The undead black bird was nearly silent when it stalked in the treetops among the gnarled branches. He looked again over his shoulder to see if he could spot the bird but to his surprise, the undead creature was no where to be seen. Each step towards the tavern doors entrance echoed audibly, and despite the boisterous noise coming from inside, the creaks and groans under his weight seemed to weigh heavily into the night. With a shaky, outstretched hand, the man opened the door and entered the tavern. He was immediately greeted with warm air, the smell of ale, and a symphony of music coming from the stage just left of the bar. The atmosphere of the tavern seemed to calm the man's nerves and he made his way through the crowd to settle at the bar. "Whadda having, sir." The short, burly barkeep asked as he wiped down a glass and threw the rag over his shoulder. The barkeep was bald with a dark brown beard that was trimmed neat and cut short to the neck. He had kind brown eyes that seemed trustworthy and to the skittish man, he felt comfortable around the barkeep, even though it had been mere seconds since he sat down. He wasn't really sure what he wanted though. The long journey had taken a toll on his body and he had actually grown sick to his stomach over the last day's ride to get here. "I, um...well," the man cleared his throat, "I'm actually looking for someone." He said to the barkeep. "Aye?" The barkeep asked. "So nottin to drink fer ya? Maybe some hot boar stew? It's the best in all the kingdom." As if his stomach ache was instantly cured, the sound of boar stew made the skittish man's mouth salivate. How long had it been since he last ate, he thought to himself. Two days? "Actually, the boar stew does sound quite nice. I'll have a bowl of that." "Comin' right up!" The barkeep announced cheerfully and scurried off to the kitchen. When he came back just a few seconds later, he had a faded blue bowl filled with the piping hot stew. The smell of the boar nearly cramped the man's stomach up as he realized just how hungry he was. He nearly snatched the bowl out of the barkeep's but restrained himself. "There ya go, sir. Gallup's world famous boar stew. Hell, we took down der beast not twelve hours ago so ya know its gonna be gurd!" "Thank you very much. And you must be Gallup?" the man replied with a thankful nod. "Nah, dat's me brother. I'm Garrick, the most handsome barkeep in all the land!" The barkeep chuckled so loud it nearly drowned out the music. After a moment, he caught himself and turned back to a more serious demeanor. "So...ya say yer lookin for someone, eh? Gotta name?" "I don't know the man's name, per say. I've heard him called numerous things if I'm being completely honest. The Red Wolf?" Garrick paused a minute, his eyes shifting to the back of the bar. "Well...I do know a man by dat name but he's not to be bothered at da moment." "Really?" the man sat up from his boar stew, almost excited. "I dare say, it's rather urgent that I speak to this man. It's a matter of life and death!" Garrick saw the terror in this man's eyes and almost felt sorry for him. The barkeep got down low to the bar to whisper something. The skittish man leaned down with him but couldn't hear the words over the music. Then, Garrick nudged his head towards the back of the bar where his eyes shifted earlier. The man turned his gaze in that direction and saw a leather clad man sitting by himself drinking a mug of ale. His features where like that of a warrior; well muscled and tight jawed. He appeared to be tall with his legs stretched out under the table, one foot crossing over the other. His skin was fair, which made his other features stand out like a sore thumb. Atop his head was a mess of wavy red hair. Even in the dimness of the bar you could tell. And with that look, the man sitting in the corner gazed back. The look paralyzed the skittish man as he noticed the piecing blue eyes burning through him. They were the eyes of a wolf. Gulping down hard, the skittish man grabbed his hot bowl and made his way over towards the red-haired man. As he stood before him, the red haired man held his gaze the entire time. "Go away." he muttered, his voice gruff and raspy. Almost as if he hadn't spoken in days. "But sir..." "I said. Go. Away." He cut off the skittish man and pointed back towards the bar. The skittish man, feeling more confident this time, sat his bowl down on the table, pulled out the chair on the other side, and sat down. "Sir, my name is Sibis Davizo and I have come looking for the Red Wolf." Sibis was fully expecting to be cut off again and was surprised when he wasn't, so, he continued on. "And I am in need of your service. It has come highly recommended that YOU are the best scout in all the kingdom and that when it comes to finding things, there are none better." There was a long instance of silence between the two men before the red-haired man spoke. "Go on..." "So, are you the one they call The Red Wolf?" "It's possible. Why don't you tell me what you need first and maybe I'll tell you who I am." "Very well... as I've said before, rumor has it that you can track things down better than anyone. Whether that be people, items or more exotic things. I'll cut to the chase because time is of the essence. I am in search of something called the Book of Life. This book has immense power." "Why search for a book that's only been rumored to exist?" The red-haired man asked as he leaned forward now, interested in what Sibis Davizo was saying. "I was told the only way to defeat Dedd Lyft the Necromancer was by obtaining the Book of Life. Somewhere in it's pages is a spell that could destroy him and his undead army." The red-haired man shook his head slowly. His face was expressionless but his eyes showed something. They showed fear. "Come with me. It's too dangerous to talk here..." ************************************************** Hello All!! Welcome to another challenge! I'm very excited about this one for a number of reasons. 1) My birthday is right in the middle of this challenge! 2) I'm doing some creative writing! and 3) I'm kicking ass in the gym AND the kitchen! This challenge is all about writing, eating, lifting and gearing up for the holidays. Won't you join me?? Goal 1: Tevior "The Red Wolf" Bindreft This goal is all about writing. I loooooove creative writing. I looooove creating fun and interesting characters. To do this goal justice means I need to write little excerpts like the one above and work to do that 2-3x a week. Nothing major, just write for 15-20 min and see what I come up with. I'm hoping to build a fun story for everyone (and myself) and maybe turn this into something I do on a more regular basis! Here's what Tevior looks like: but think wavy red hair and reddish stubble instead. My inspiration is this guy: Possible Points: +2 END, +1 CHA Goal 2: Dedd Lyft the Necromancer Dedd Lyft is the main villian in my story. This is a play on for Deadlift, obviously, but you already knew that, didn't you?? . @Jarric made a good point on my last challenge: "don't be afraid of deadlifts. Just take them serious and you'll be ok." And...that's exactly what I'm gonna do! I'm fine with trap bar deadlifts...but it's traditional deadlifts that have always scared me because I didn't want to hurt my back. I'm usually really solid in practicing good form with ALL my lifts, but I've stayed away from barbell deadlifts in favor of trap bar for a while now. The idea behind this goal is to practice barbell deadlifts at least 1x a week and work on getting better doing those. They don't have to be heavy but ideally I would like to find my 1rm sooner or later. Possible Points: +3 STR Goal 3: Up the Intensity Between lifting 3x a week, I also want to add in 1-2 KB workouts on my off days as well as add in a sprint day on Saturdays. This is about sweating and getting out of my comfort zone. I have a plethora of KB workouts I can do, AND, I have a 35# and 45# KB I can use at the house. I'll be posting my KB metcon's when I do them for anyone interested. Possible Points: +2 DEX, +1 END Goal 4: #SmoothPanther I'm on a 5-day streak right now and don't plan on breaking this. Stretching has been something I neglect. A lot. And I'm never going to perform well in the gym unless I limber up and take care of myself better. I work hard. Now, I need to stretch hard as well. I'll be following Nsima Inyang's Smooth Panther routines each and every day. I'll also be posting these for anyone interested or maybe you just want to follow along with me?? Possible Points: +2 CON, +1 DEX Goal 5: Carnivore-ish If you've been following me recently, you know that I've adapted a carnivor-ish eating style. Basically, this means TONS of protein. TONS of fat. And SOME carbs...like 100-150g a day total or less. I'll mainly be eating red meat loaded up with butter and bacon grease with some rice and potatoes thrown in there every now and again. The idea is NO sweets until my birthday, which I will indefinitely have a cake, and then it's back to the grind after my b-day weekend. Thanksgiving is also a small pass as I'll probably have some pumpkin pie or something. But, my diet consists of almost NO veggies and hardly any fruit. If I do have fruit, it'll be some blueberries or something. But otherwise, it's ALL meat ALL the time. Possible Points: +1 CON, +2 WIS And there you have it folks. Thanks for following along and I hope you enjoy my story thus far Wolf

(I made a joke about looking cool while walking away from the tractor tires I was flipping for a conditioning workout on Saturday, and a friend photoshopped some explosions for me. It is AWESOME. Hahahha.) Hi Assassins! It's Raptron, your somewhat lapsed gymnast GL who is still lucky to be able to lift and otherwise leave the house. This is going to be a pretty straight forward challenge unless I wind up going wild on the TBD goal below. I could try to bring back more intentional hand balancing practice, start trying to regain some flexibility, order takeout less... there are certainly many things I could chase, I'm just not sure what is going to really draw me this time around. 1. LIFT: get stronger 3-4 times per week ( 💪) 2. RUN: run 2x per week (I keep failing here!) 3. BIKE: bike 1x per week as a way to get somewhere or just for fun (winter is coming) 4. GYMNASTICKY: train gymnastics related skills and abilities 2x per week

I decided to just start fresh on this challenge then carry over my "OODA Loop" one I created last week. The idea behind the OODA Loop is still in place but mentally, I'm trying to morph into something else entirely. I'm trying to shapeshift into a Renaissance Man of Lethality. So what exactly is a "Renaissance Man of Lethality? Ironically, he's basically what a Nerd Fitness Ranger is: A jack-of-all-trades but master of none, Rangers are well equipped for any situation....and so is the RMoL (Renaissance Man of Lethality). The video above breaks down a massive amount of things that a RMoL should have in his bag of tricks. Some of these "tricks" just are not obtainable at the moment, but I don't want to focus on the things I can't do. I want to focus on things I can. Things like: Fitness: Power Speed Agility Endurance Flexibility Every Day Carry (EDC) Verbal Judo Military History Now, on to things I would like to obtain at some point. (A lot of things are put on hold because of the COVID stuff😞 Martial Arts ground game standing game disarming improvised weapons Emergency Medical Firearms Pistol Concealed Carry Run-N-Gun Rifle Shotgun Precision Shooting Cyber Security/IT Criminal Psychology Bushcraft "Don't get tunnel visioned in to the sexy thing you saw on Instragram, in terms of 'THAT is self-defense and protection!'. Instead I want us to be really well balanced... so that if we were in a video game you would choose yourself as the avatar - as the good, well-rounded person of lethality." - John Lovell on "Be the Renaissance Man of Lethality" So! How does this translate to my challenge goals. I'm so glad you asked Goal #1: Learning A true Warrior Poet... a true Renaissance Man of Lethality is going to soak up as much knowledge as he possible can. He's going to read. He's going to research. He's going to be open to new ideas. He's going to be humble. He's going to be sensitive and vulnerable in the right situation. He's going to test theories, ideas and hypothesis. This goal will entail a few things. Reading is the first part. Instead of a goal to finish this book or that book, the goal is to read/listen for 7 hours a week. That's 1 hour a day. This can be reading a book on Military History. This could be reading a book on Verbal Judo. This could be meditating on the Bible... which is really something I should do every day anyways. But the goal is to read and learn and apply if applicable. The second part is teaching my kids what I know (and even what I don't know). If they ask me a question about WW2 Tanks. I want to do some research and watch documentaries with them that can help explain the various tanks in WW2 and how they functioned. If they want to know why the sky is blue or how big the sun is, I want to be able to tell them the correct answers and be involved with the development of their mind. We home school our kids and for the first time since they've been doing home school, I am able to be a teacher and a presence in their life that can help them find the answers to the questions they are seeking. The goal would be to find time, be it 10 min or 1 hour a day, in helping them answer life's most burning questions and expanding their minds. Stats Earned: +4 WIS, +1 CHA Goal #2: Lifting Due to the fact that one day is still just 24 hours long, I needed to scale back my training. I'm not scaling back the intensity, just the days of the week i'm at the gym because 5+ days a week is just too much. Maybe not for me, but adding in more training days takes away from time I could be spending with my family. Luckily for me, I paid for a program last year from Athlean-X. The problem with last year is the workouts were taking 90 min to complete when I only had 60 min to train. Now that I'm working from home on a more permanent basis, working out for 90 min is no big deal. So, I'm going back to the BeaXst Program and starting at day 1. The program itself is 3x a week lifting, utilizing a full-body split. The days I'll be lifting are M/W/F. Tu/Th will be active recovery days (like yoga or KB metcons) as well as days I can help my wife train and help her reach her fitness goals too. I always forget to take before/after pics but I'm doing my before pics today, 09/08, and will be taking after pics at the end of the challenge, 10/17. I will post them for accountability. I'm also going to do better at writing my workouts down and tracking them as I progress through the program. Stats Earned: +2 STR, +2 DEX, +1 END Goal #3: Loving If you've known me a while, you know I love my wife and kids. However, his is an area I want to improve. I want to be more purposeful about the time I spend with them. I want more date nights with my wife..even if our (almost) 18 mo old daughter has to tag along. I want to be more purposeful about doing things with my kids. I was listening to a podcast a while back called Dad Tired, which is a good podcast for all fathers out there, and he mentioned something he did with his two boys. Once a month, he would do something with them on they specific day they were born on. For example, Racer was born on May 4th, so, on the 4th of each month, I would do something special with him. And the same goes for the other boys. It doesn't have to be anything crazy. It could simply be playing with Lego's for an hour or drawing made up Pokemon. I've already missed Jamison's, Racer's and Declan's this month because they are the 1st, 4th and 5th respectively. Jamison's is tougher because we get him every other weekend so I won't always have him on the 1st of the month. I'll find time to make that up to them. And, as mentioned above, I want to find more time to have a "date night" with Heather. Trixie is still pretty clingy but she's recently started eating more solids the last month or so and she FINALLY sleeps in her own bed. It actually didn't take a lot of effort to get her used to that. It's been AMAZING to have our bed back to ourselves because you wouldn't believe the room that little girl can take up, lol. Anyways, because of the recent development's with Trixie, Heather and I should have more opportunities to get away with just the two of us for a couple hours. That's enough time to go have dinner or even see a movie! I want to make stuff like this a priority and continue to strengthen the relationship between my kids and my wife. Stats Earned: +1 WIS, +2 CHA, +2 CON As you can see, a Renaissance Man of Lethality is going to be a continued work-in-progress. I doubt I'll ever reach a pinnacle of excellence because I feel like there's always so much more to learn and skills to sharpen. We'll take it one step at a time and that starts with keeping my challenge afloat lol. Happy Challenging, Nerds! Wolf

The ThenMorbidly obese, full-time nerd, soft creative artist type with a penchant for food and videogames. Little to no relationship with exercise until I had a health scare senior year of college, weighed in at 333 pounds and told me to consider surgery. Joined a gym, but didn't get around learning to eat properly until maybe two years later, when I started keto. Keto taught me to log and track, lost much weight, began some barbell 5x5 work and fuckarounditis at a local gym.The NowFormerly obese, part-time (ok still more or less full time) nerd, slightly hardened creative artist type with a penchant for food and not enough time for videogames. As I lost the weight, I became enthralled by what my body could do, learned to love exercise in various forms. Did some starting strength, did a bulk on ice cream fitness, did some calisthenics. Currently at a happy medium with calisthenics twice a week and barbell training twice a week with at least one active rest day in between somewhere.GoalsStay lean, see if I can reach a normal BMI without crash dieting and still kicking butt in the gym. Picking up the running I put down when winter started, by years end I want to run the 16.5 miles from my house down to Pike Place Market. Working on muscle ups and levers, maybe get a floor L sit this year? Basically stay active, enjoy life, don't settle, blah blah. Anyway, What follows next, will likely be a play by play of the last days training or nonsense, as often as I can provide it. Maybe the occasional food porn. Start!

Hello and welcome to my battle log, est. 2016! I've been doing challenges for over a year straight and I decided to experiment with an alternative style that gets away from the feeling of being perpetually "on" and one step away from the pointy end of the spear that is the 4WC format while not losing the structure that said 4WC format provides. Kinda strike a balance, like? This will be an ongoing experiment, with some room to adjust. This will be accomplished by a month-to-month formal re-evaluation of goals, without grading per say, and the freedom to change things up at any point with no regrets. All in one place! No need to wonder when my new thread will be up, just stay tuned for the next day's post! Below I will update links to each month's first post so you can see change over time. To round off 2016's activity, I'm posting links to prior challenge activity for the sake of completeness. ...And we're off! Index 2016 Challenges: January, February, March, April 2016: May, June, July, August, Intra-Month Madness, September, October, November, December 2017: January, February, March, April, May, Intra-Month Madness v.2, June, July, August, September, October, November, December 2018: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December 2019: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December 2020: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December Lessons Compendium *~* 5/6/2016 *~* Magnesium deficient is something you don't want to be--supplement You might also be deficient in other vitamins and minerals--supplement with a multivitamin Magnesium is a diuretic Squat foot position should be maintained at hip width, no farther: a wide stance is Trouble for your inner legs *~* 5/21/2016 *~* Ukemi must be executed with one's head tucked There is in fact such thing as too much ukemi, especially when biased to one side of the body TM Fact: If you get to a place on Intensity Day where you struggle to PR, add volume to volume day *~* 8/1/2016 *~* Daily neck stretches keep even small tension headaches away Too much of the wrong kind of foot rolling can lead to TIGHTER feet *~* 8/27/2016 *~* Stress is real and it will harm training momentum. Knee sleeves are good tools in the gym for preventing quad tension. *~* 11/7/2016 *~* 1/wk DL Intensity Day is too intense. 2/month is good. *~* 1/29/2017 *~* When stressed, a massive deload is not necessary. Just hold fast to the same weights and...wait it out. Too much magnesium = diarrhea *~* 7/10/2017 *~* A reminder: sleeping on one's back reduces the risk of headaches and muscle knots. *~* 12/09/2017 *~* Do not stop taking Slo-Mag. Just. Don't. *~* 1/19/2018 *~* Drinking a minimum of 44oz of water helps regulate headaches, even migraines to some extent. *~* 7/18/2018 *~* Hormonal birth control does cause migraines. So does looking down at phone with bad posture all day. *~* 7/30/2018 *~* Dairy and yogurt disagree with my stomach. Vegetables + fermented food are keys to BM balance. *~* 10/1/2018 *~* Fruit disagrees with my stomach. Bananas are fruit. Lacrosse ball rolling helps manage bad posture headaches. *~* circa 4/2019 *~* I need the lunch hour away from my desk to keep headaches down *~* 10/4/2019 *~* Remember how fruit disagrees with my stomach? That goes for ingredients found in preworkout. Gas and bloating.