Search the Community

This new challenge is all about exploring the habits I’ve been working on since I respawned here back in November. A little poking, a little prodding, and not being afraid to see what happens when I shake up the habits I have to make something new. Habits I’m bringing over from last challenge: 🌟Only eat take out or at a restaurant if I am with other people or involved in some kind of social event. This wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be, and I feel so great knowing I can go into a kitchen without blowing something up. New habits to form and challenges to take on: 🌟 I’ll be keeping up with my yoga practice, going at least five days per week. However, Mondays will be dedicated to learning crow pose. I’ve found some videos that will hopefully help me on this journey. Even if I don’t fully accomplish the pose, I at least want to start to learn something new and grow from there. 🌟 Posture. I have terrible posture and with my TMJ problems getting worse, I think my body could benefit from me caring a bit more about how I sit. If there’s one thing I’ve discovered as I get help dealing with my uncooperative jaw, it’s that everything is connected in so many subtle ways. It’s been so interesting to see how the neck/back/spine has been impacting my jaw, and I want to see more progress there. Plus, maybe it will give me a confidence boost, and I won’t say no to that. 🌟 Meet my My Fitness Pal calorie targets…most of the time, and continuing to track no matter what. I don’t want to be unreasonable, because that sounds like the quickest way to failing and ending up back where I started. I have some good food habits and some bad ones, and I want to eat better over all and lose weight, but I also want to learn what works while not totally removing the enjoyment from my life. Grabbing pizza and a drink on the weekend with friends is not off limits. The goal it to simply keep track, and not overdo it with the mindless snacking/stress eating/boredom-work-from-home-cupboard-adventures on a daily basis.

Happy New Year! I welcomed the first day of the new year with a 4pm breakfast, because why not enjoy one of the last lazy days before real life starts up again. Besides, breakfast is wonderful, no matter what time of day. See? This cat agrees. But since it will be back to business very soon, here are my goals for this month: 💜 Complete all 30 days of Yoga with Adriene's MOVE series. I want to add some longer videos into my routine, since the ones I do right now tend to be around 20 minutes. 💙 Only get take out/eat out with friends and family. If I'm all by my lonesome, I'm going to focus on saving money and improving my cooking skills by actually making what I am in the mood for. The only exception is if it's a date night, family comes to visit, or I'm with friends. I still want to be reasonable and enjoy myself, and I know completely banning restaurants isn't practical. 💚 Track my calories/meals in My Fitness Pal. I always feel better and eat more mindfully when I'm keeping track of things which I haven't exactly been doing these last couple of weeks.

Heyo! Decided to revamp my challenge on the 28th, a little more indepth if you read the original post in spoiler. But working on finding a Practicum/Job to finish my degree. Trying to make good choices along with it, and now if I follow through I'll reward myself with the Nintendo Switch and Ring Fit Adventure! Quest for the RING CHALLENGE Feb 28 - Week 3 Day 1 (just using normal challenge timeline now) 1. YNAB Reset - 0/0 2. Applications 0/1 3. Savings: 12% 4. Taxes: Federal done, State to be finished 5. Calorie Tracking: 1/1 Did the math for Dominoes before I ordered pickup (had a solid craving, last out 2 eat on my own for the reset) 6. Meditate: 1/1 7. Journal Daily: 0/1 8. Musuem Job Catch up 0/30 9. Decluttering: Step 3 - Paper 10. Workout 0/1 -- working on getting through a ring fit walkthrough (sadly it is tiring w/o the ring) whelp there we go Orginal:

It's a new challenge! I've been away because it was the end of the summer/start of the semester and work becomes "overwhelming" (in a word) at that time. But it's starting to slow down a bit now, so I figured I may just put fingertips to keyboard and write a goal for myself. I've realized that resistance is futile. I need to change my way of life. Things are unmanageable and I always take an "all or nothing" approach to life, and that hasn't worked. So I'm going to slow down, take a level of Druid (not really but kind of) and see what I can do about my biggest pitfalls: Flexibility, and diet. So here's the plan: Four yoga classes per week (or at least a half hour stretching session if that's not possible), and I will track my calories, with a goal of keeping my caloric intake below my caloric expenditure. That's it. Easy enough, right? I get back from a quick trip to Washington DC on Monday. I'll still be riding, maybe running, maybe lifting, but all that counts is the yoga/stretching and the caloric counts. I'll post on MyFitnessPal for anyone who wants to friend me there (just changed my login name to Mediaguy99). Meanwhile I'll probably also post about family life, child rearing, smallbore rifle practice in preparation for winter biathlon season, and archery, and swing / salsa dancing, and Jeep repair, and ancient VW Van repair, and #vanlife, and rain, and wildfires, and all the wonders that are Colorado in the fall. Also I'm getting treated for GERD (gastro-esophogeal reflux disease) which I've had since I was about 18 and discontinued meds for in 2013. It's been hard to keep the symptoms under control but there's a new medical procedure that my doc says I'm a good candidate for, which should help a lot. I'll post more about that as I get closer to finding out if I can really get it done.

Recap! I am down 14# ! at the end of the challenge- week 4 you can see i started to fall off... lose steam... When I stepped on the Scale and saw '-14 lb' I freaked out a bit and couldn't believe it... I had been avoiding the scale if there was not change i would feel the work was not worth it- it has been a huge boost! Plan: The next Challenge: I have found a good audiobook helps be inactive be fun and not a chore. I finished Without Remorse (Jack Ryan Universe #1) Starring John kelly. https://goo.gl/TcWzSj The next book is Patriot Games (Jack Ryan Universe #2) ( https://goo.gl/GgyxEt )As my loot for this 4 week challenge I am eyeing an audible subscription! Back to the next challenge: for 'level 1' the challenge was simply tracking food (RE: first NFA mission) For level 2- Because food is emotion tracking is critical to success, I will continue with log food daily. In line with NFA missions I will add ' be active' Because the core obstacle has been 'habit' the focus will be consistency over 'quality'. lay RolePlay In the last challenge I wrapped up Without Remorse and learned about John Kelly and a brief introduction to Jack Ryan- it looks like in Patriot Games we will really get to know him.... Become him As my loot from last challenge I will be getting an Audible Subscription Since tha audio book is 22 hours and 1 minute I will have a target of 20-22 Listening movement: However the Meta goal is habit... so active 2-5 times a week or daily is better. Consistency Targets Continue Food logging: 5-7 times a week A - 7 days each week B - 5+ days each week C - 20+ meals the whole challenge Listening movement: 18 - 22 hours A - Listening movement 5+ days each week B - 3 + Workouts a week Moov work out 10+ minuets NFA Body Weight Work out C - 22 hours the whole challagne OR active 5 days a week Counts active IF any apply Google Fit says 1 Hr active for the day Log 5 + min Moov Work out 1 Hour plus of Moov a Active minutes Stretch Goal NFA missions Complete 75% of tasks of points per week Streaming One YT video or Twitch stream a week Domestic One 'Wall' tasks a week or 30+ min of progress *Wall - list of home projects or improvements NF recap Continue Food logging: Log with iEatWell 5-7 times a week Tt least 1 meal a day Easy picture Rate on how balanced Shows weekly summary Contingency plan: set total number of meals range Numbers: 4 weeks * 7 days * 3 meals = 84 meals 4 weeks * 5 days * 2 meals = 20 meals Listening movement: 18 - 22 hours Tracked activity that I can listen to an audiobook doing Good: walk, jog, bike, maybe Circuit weights Other: Cardio boxing,7 min+ Numbers: 22 hours / 4 weeks = 5.5hours / week 5.5 hours / 7 days = 42 minutes per day 5.5 hours / 3 days = 1 hours 50 min (110 min) per day

I’ve got my first 10K smack dab in the middle of this challenge. I will be attempting to prepare myself for this hell so here's the plan: lift 3x per week run/hike/cardio 3x per week - first two weeks will be running then the last two weeks will be any cardio i want burpees 3x per week: 20 per session yoga 60 mins per week stay within 2000cals per day or 14,000 cals per week life things to keep in mind 7/7 & 7/8: Wedding party duties for SO’s brother’s wedding 7/15: Gansett 10K 7/16: Dad’s bday brunch and Kevin Hearne 7/21 – 7/23: Saco River camping and canoe float 7/30: Garbage and Blondie

I'm back where I belong with my beloved Assassins. I have a renewed understanding of my long-term goals and the motivation to achieve them. Let's Go! Simple and SINISTER Challenge Goal #1- Tighten up my diet Keeping with the Simple and Sinister theme I'll be doing a Whole30 and tracking my food every day. E.V.E.R.Y Day That's no sugar, no grains, no legumes. Goal #2- Get Stronger Follow the Simple&Sinister kettlebell workout. 4x and week plus 2 additional workouts of my choosing. Yes, 6 workouts a week. Goal #3- Recovery 4 Cups of water/herbal tea Foam roll after every kettlebell workout Life Goal- Gratitude/Positivity End every challenge update with a list of things I'm thankful for or daily accomplishments.

I'll write out my goals and then write a bit about me, where I've been and where I'm going. All you readers can follow along and enjoy but all you non-readers can skip the wall of text that's sure to follow. My main overarching goal used to be weight loss. I still weigh 300 pounds (down from a recent high of 315 on Oct 24) but I've changed my theme from weight loss to improved performance. Weight loss will be a happy side effect. I'm a rugby coach now and still playing some. Even if I never play another game, I need to improve my physical performance so I can demonstrate things to my team. I also hope it will inspire some of the less fit girls as they try to improve. Goal 1) Go to the gym 3-4 times per week. I have to do 3 for the lifting program I'm following. The 4th is a cardio day that can either be at the gym or done from home. The lifting program is a slightly bastardized Stronglifts 5x5 with some rugby specific stuff added in. Goal 2) Food. My eternal Achilles' heal. I've eaten my pain for a long time and as someone with chronic and sometimes unrelenting depression, I have a lot of pain to eat. I'm starting small here. My only food goal for this 4 weeks is to track everything I eat. I automatically do better when I track. In January I will add a step. But this is such a problem area, I need to start small. Goal 3) My habitat. As I mentioned above, I'm in a constant struggle with my depression. My wife also struggles with it. As a result, our house sometimes isn't in great shape because we're both just too beaten up to deal with it. I used this goal once before in a challenge and it worked great for me so I'm going to start it again. I will do one thing each day towards tidying up the house. It might be a big project or it might be something as simple as making sure I've policed up the clutter on the coffee table. But I will do something each day. So about me...I struggle terribly with depression and anxiety. I'm actually considering seeing a psychiatrist to manage my meds instead of the family doc. I take 3 different medications and I'm barely hanging in there part of the time so I think it's time to bring out the big guns. I'm a rugby coach. Being a rugby coach has been a dream of mine for a long time but I thought that ship had sailed. I'm thinking about taking up bjj. I could write paragraphs about where I am but that would probably get old. Also, I'm not very good at posting lots of clever pictures and gifs. That's why I have you guys!

Although it's the fall season, in terms of phases of my life, I've realized I've been in a season where I've done a shitty job taking care of myself. Not physically, my lifting goals are chugging along, and while diet can always be more consistent (might sneak a goal in on that front actually), apparently there's more to being a whole and healthy person than picking up iron bars and putting them down again (sounds wrong, I know, personal worth and your wilks score are supposed to be interchangeable!). This month I'll be channeling my inner hobbit because those guys have life figured out. Apples, good conversations, fried mushrooms and a great pipe tobacco - plus they're so short they should be able to easily squat 2x bodyweight! Write like Bilbo - he may have sucked at picking book titles ("there and back again"? Bet he would have named the Hunger games, "shooty girl accidentally starts revolution"), but he sure wrote up a storm. Between journaling and working on creative writing, I'm aiming for 1000 words a week. Best if that can be a daily 100-200 count, but life happens and no sweat if I churn it out in one catch-up day. Eat like Fatty Bolger - unlike Mr Fredegar, I don't have the luxury of Saruman taking over my community and forcing me on starvation rations to make my cutting efforts successful. Instead, the part of the fallen Maia will be played by MFP, and my challenge is just to log every day. My diet is fairly monotonous, i still tend to space on logging (user name is laghail on MFP). Maybe once my cut is over, Frodo will show up and scour my local Merry-olde-England-lite pastoral community from the tyranny of mechanized industrial development, in an distended metaphor about how you can never go home. Might be a tall order. Meditate better than Frodo - I think Elijah Wood nailed the brooding pensive nature of Frodo. Poor chap was obsessed with his doomed wish to live in the shire and his inevitable exile haunted him throughout the tale. To do one better than Mr Frodo, I'll be using the app Calm and Alan Klima's material to meditate 5 mins in the morning, and 15 mins at night. I'd speculate on how I'll doubtless reach a grey haven-like enlightenment by the end of the challenge, but that seems equal parts certain and gauche. Yoga like Sam - remember the disjointed scene in the return of the king, where Sam deals with Shelob, then dons a set of luluemon leggings and goes through a series of yoga poses to deal with his homoerotic angst over poor naked Mr Frodo? Yeah, that was an odd little section, probably for the best when they cut it from the movie. But like Sam, I'll be practicing yoga twice a week at least. Smoke like Pippin - not only did Peregrin Took have a dope ass name, he also smoked a mean pipe. Part of self care is recognizing I need to enjoy life instead of just rushing to keep up with my schedule. One leisurely pipe bowl of tobacco a week. If I have a dog leash or a book in hand while i do so, bonus points, but purposeful enjoyment of a relaxing hobby, and it makes me more like Pippin? #WWPD? Be stuck up like Lobelia Sackville-Bagginses - Bilbao's grasping cousin that was so haughty that Frodo would don the one ring just to escape. But the one thing about arrogant know it alls, they have great back health. The stiff posture, the nose in the air; their spine alignment must be fantastic. I'll be going in for weekly chiropractic adjustments (since they're fully covered) to get a bit more Lobelia in my life. Based on past experience, I need to post every day or I'm not going to get much out of the challenge process. I'll be brushing up on my gif game for sure.

(WHOOPS, posted this in the main Challenge forum instead of the Assassin one. Here it is in the correct place!) Oh hi forum! In the time since I saw you last I moved, started 2 new jobs (one of which is coaching gymnastics!), started using myfitnesspal, joined a climbing gym, and switched from kinda Stronglifts to doing 5/3/1. November is also a ridiculously busy month for me... also, I'm gonna try to do nanowrimo. Seems like a great time to do a Challenge! 1. Food Goal is 6/7 days "winning," aka coming in at or under calories and hitting protein. 2. Gymnastics My new motto is EVERY EVENT, EVERY PRACTICE! I have a tendency to hang around working on the same stuff long after it's ceased to be productive, both preventing my progress on the skill I'm working on and stealing time from other events, which is significant since most of my practices are only either 1 1/2 or 2 hours, once or twice a week. Beam and vault are vastly underrepresented in my training at the moment. So, every practice I have to spend at least 15 min on every event. Beyond that the time can be distributed however I want. 3. Sleep My sleep patterns have actually been getting better! I think this is largely due to now living with my partner, who while is definitely not going to tell me go to bed (and usually goes to sleep later than I do), is another human in the house who notices if I am awake or asleep so provides some accountability in my mind not to do the "oh whoops, I was just going to check my email before bed and now it's 3 AM and I've been on reddit for five hours" thing. My goal is to get 8 hours of sleep 6/7 days/week! I will need it 4. Writing Okay, maybe this one is cheating because it's for another challenge-type thing-- but yeah, NaNoWriMo, write 1667 words a day! I would also like to go to at least one meetup a week, although that might get tricky with travelling. ALSO I am gonna try to not drop off the face of the earth here and keep reading and commenting on all of your awesome challenges! Off to subscribe to some rad Assassin challenge threads

My boss battle right now is to be able to swing a 44lb Kettlebell 100 x in under 5 minutes; and do 5 Turkish Get ups 35# in under 10 minutes. I will be working on this about 5 days a week. I don’t see this as a goal. It is a habit, and a very fun habit! It is just something I do. Here are my other goals as I continue the journey: Be like Samwise the Brave: He was always there for Frodo, never wavering, ready to do whatever it took to help Frodo. I need to be just as focused. Morning Routine: Read Bible, drink water, kitchen, and start workout no later than 9:30 If I am late: 2 burpees for every minute after 9:30, If accomplished 2 points Track Food and Water I can have second breakfast, or even lunch, as long as it fits in my calorie budget. My plan is to get down to 22% body fat, the first two weeks of the challenge, and then maintain the last two weeks. Water 64 oz., water,(decaf and herbal tea count toward goal) 2 points each day accomplished for food, 2 points for water Not all Hobbits love adventure. Sometimes they would rather just stay in their hobbit holes. I want to be a hobbit who enjoys life and embraces adventure. My adventure is a mixture of fun stuff, strength, and adulating. 2 points for each unless otherwise noted. I can do some of the things multiple times. The idea isn't to do all the stuff on the list, just to give me a springboard . Adventure List Speed Ruck Run 7 pull ups Post pull up video on NF Video my workout Mobility work -10 minutes Practice gymnastic skill Farmer’s walk 100 seconds – 5 points Run in rain -5 points 9 pull up -10 points 100 35# Kb swings in 5 minutes- 10 points 5 (each side) 35# TGUs- 10 points Try a new food Hike a new trail Make a cool food Try something challenging/new Buy hiking book Bullet journal –set up Bullet Journal Buy safety gear for hiking Research rowing machine Vacation idea plan- spend 15 minutes on Memorize Philippians 1-30 points Scrapbook- 4 pages Declutter 15 minutes Finish scrapbook-20 points Bookshelf organizing 15 minutes Research options for couch/bed/futon 15 minute Each 75 points earns me a reward; I’m thinking a cookbook or exercise book · I feel like I should note something. When I am talking to people here, I always suggest small goals, and not several goals in one. It occurred to me that it looks like I’m not following my advice. But, I started with one thing and built on it. So for my morning routine, for one challenge it was just reading my Bible, then the next challenge was kitchen, and then the morning start time. And I started out with just tracking food 3 days a week, and then built on that. So (most of the time anyway) I am following my advice, it’s just that I’ve been doing this awhile Workout Plan:Simple and Sinister 5 days a week, Also This Fighter Pull up program, only I will do it every other day rather than every day. I’ll keep walking, and some running, and some rucks, and maybe even some gymnastic stuff in there.

October 8th, 2016 All these people are sooooo young and fit and wow.... scary obstacles too.... but I have the ticket hanging on the fridge. I'm going. Fear be damned. So better get the training on track, summer lull is over. It's time to move! Details will follow. love you folks.

I've stepped away from Nerd Fitness for awhile, but I'm joining up again because I need to lose some weight and this style of tracking has always worked for me. I'm very happy to find it's still a vibrant community, and even see a couple of familiar faces I'm usually a scout, but I'll be joining the druids this time because I would like to work on a more mindful approach to better living. I hope to find inspiration in your writings and in the group challenges. I've chosen three simple goals for my first challenge after a long break. 1. Track all food on Myfitnesspal App. My goal is currently to stay under 1500 net calories.and to consume 100 g protein per day. I'll give myself one point for calories and one point for protein, for a total of 14 points available in a given week. 2. Incorporate Adventurous Exercise. I already have a good routine (thanks to previous NF challenges) of either running or doing yoga 5-6 days per week. I would like to spend one active day doing something adventurous: paddleboarding, bike riding, bouldering, or maybe go to a different yoga studio. The goal is to have fun and try something new. 1 point available per week. 3. Meditate Every Day. According to the Headspace app, I'm already on a 14 day streak. My routine is currently to meditate in my car during my lunch break. I would like to continue working through the Headspace program. One point for every day completed, 7 points available for the week. Total challenge points available: 88 Thank you very much for reading my challenge. Feel free say "hi" or to let me know what you think.

I've stepped away from Nerd Fitness for awhile, but I'm joining up again because I need to lose some weight and this style of tracking has always worked for me. I'm very happy to find it's still a vibrant community, and even see a couple of familiar faces I'm usually a scout, but I'll be joining the druids this time because I would like to work on a more mindful approach to better living. I hope to find inspiration in your writings and in the group challenges. I've chosen three simple goals for my first challenge after a long break. 1. Track all food on Myfitnesspal App. My goal is currently to stay under 1340 net calories and to consume 100 g protein per day. I'll give myself one point for calories and one point for protein, for a total of 14 points available in a given week. 2. Incorporate Adventurous Exercise. I already have a good routine (thanks to previous NF challenges) of either running or doing yoga 5-6 days per week. I would like to spend one active day doing something adventurous: paddleboarding, bike riding, bouldering, or maybe go to a different yoga studio. The goal is to have fun and try something new. 1 point available per week. 3. Meditate Every Day. According to the Headspace app, I'm already on a 14 day streak. My routine is currently to meditate in my car during my lunch break. I would like to continue working through the Headspace program. One point for every day completed, 7 points available for the week. Total challenge points available: 132 Thank you very much for reading my challenge. Feel free to let me know what you think.

Okay so last challenge was interesting. Moving, getting ready for the wedding, work going crazy and school. I've started using a bullet journal and it's helped a lot but missed being on here. Kind of messed up my shoulder moving, so Kung Fu has been a little hard. Plan is to go to just 1 of the hours tonight, although I really wish I could do two. Joined a farm share program (CSA) and now get a box of veggies every week. only had 1, a few things were a bit of a challenge but overall most everything turned out well. I do hope to be on here more. I know when I"m following a long with others it makes it easier to stay on track with mine. Challenge 1: Don't eat all the things As stress has gone up, eating well has gone by the wayside. I want to get back to PHD, and the only way to do it is just jump in. No alcohol other than wine. White rice, sweet potatoes and other PHD approved starches only Focus on veggies, and protein. Keep tracking Quest 2: Make Yoga & Meditation a Priority Yoga twice a week, at least a mini session Guided meditations an additional 2 days a week A yoga challenge really shouldn't be THAT hard right? (only been the last 3 months of challenges and still yet to complete) my whole body has been off. and when I tried doing some yoga last night it was super hard, ended up not even being able to finish the whole session. Going to start with some mini's and work back to water A One of my favorite white noise apps now has guided meditations. Quest 3: sleep!! Get at least 7 hours of sleep at least 5 nights a week. Take time to enjoy: This challenge ends on my wedding day, and I really want to enjoy the last weeks before the wedding. At least once a week going to make time to do something fun with my fiance. could be something like going out to eat, a movie, or as simple as taking the dog on a walk.

Arrowan’s Sixth Challenge: Whistles and Bells Mistakes are the portals to discovery Name: Arrowan Race: Human Class: Adventurer Level: 5 Starting Attributes: STR 9/DEX 6/STA 15/CON 8/WIS 16/CHA 7 Starting metrics: 5'6", 163 lbs Introduction: I’m back at home base after having done my last challenge (January) with the Monks. They are a great group and if you have any interest in martial arts I highly recommend going to these folks for advice—they are extremely knowledgeable and supportive. I made friends there and still check in on them. Still, in my heart I feel like I am an Adventurer, so here I am for my sixth NF challenge. It’s an odd transition period in my life and I have a TON of goals I’d like to achieve, but in the interest of being smart and realistic, I’ve narrowed it down to four for this challenge. Challenge Goals: 1. Physical training: Running 3x/week, workout routine 3x/week 2. Track all caloric intake, every day 3. Herp ID and frog calls: learn to ID all state herps by sight and all anurans by sound 4. Continue the job search: submit at least 2 applications/week Side Quest: Create 1 power point lesson per week on any topic, 5-10 min talk Strategies: 1. Physical Training: Running makes me happy. Well, first it makes me tired and out of breath, but then it makes me happy. For me, running is as important to mental health as it is to physical health, if not more so. Maybe diet is 80% of the battle, but without the bolster of confidence and satisfaction I get from running, I have no will power to maintain a healthy relationship with food. So. Running 3x a week. I’ll do 1-3 miles at a time, logging time and distance for each run on a chart on my wall. No goals for speed or distance, but I’ll report my bests for the month at the end of the challenge. In between running, I’ll do a workout routine based on body-weight exercises and martial arts movements. It’s a routine I’ve used before, though I haven’t done it in full in a while. I’ll increase difficulty as the challenge goes on. 2. Overeating and poor food choices are big issues for me. I need to make a lot of changes but for now my goal is to track every morsel with MyFitnessPal. I’ve used the program before with some success. The consistent tracking will make me accountable for my caloric intake, even though I’m not setting specific food restrictions. For further accountability, I will even post how far off I am from my daily calorie goals. I know quality of food is at least as important as quality, but for now my focus is on tracking. 3. I’m trying to get back into wildlife research after taking some time away for personal reasons. To brush up on my skills, my goal is to be able to ID all Maine herp species (reptiles and amphibians) by sight by the end of the month. Also, I will memorize the calls for all the frog and toad species in the state. At the end of the month I’ll devise a test. I’ll focus on a subset of species each week, spending at least 15 minutes a day reviewing. It doesn’t sound like much, but it will add up. 4. I’m searching for a new job—something related to what I studied in school. Or at least closer to it than what I’m doing now. I’ll check the job boards every day and get out at least 2 applications each week. I already have a call back for one job, so in the event I get it, this goal will morph into preparation for that job, which will involve studying up on the target species and related topics. Side Quest: Knowledge, discovery, and curiosity are my themes for this challenge. The true test of knowledge is the ability to teach it to someone else. I got a lot out of making presentations in graduate school in order to teach undergrads and give information to the public. This goal involves picking a topic—anything at all that catches my fancy—and creating a short PowerPoint presentation that I could give to an interested audience. I’ll give myself a week to make each presentation, and when it’s done I have to practice it through at least twice for it to count. I may not have an audience at the moment, but the process itself will be very informative for me, and I can file away the knowledge and the presentation in case I get the opportunity to deliver them later. Grading: A=100% B=75% C=50% D=25% F=0% 1. Physical training: A=24 out of 24 days; B=18-23; C=12-17; D=6-11; F≤5 2. Calorie tracking: A=28 out of 28 days; B=21-27; C=14-20; D=7-13; F≤6 3. Herp ID and anuran call test: A=100% B=75-99% C=50-74% D=25-49% F<25% 4. Job search: A=8 out of 8 applications submitted; B=6-7; C=4-5; D=2-3; F=0-1 Reward for all A’s/B’sà Get my bike tuned up

Last week was pretty much a total fail. changing the challenge a bit to try and get through the rest of the challenge Quest 1: Sleep In bed, and no more screens by 10 pm Not sleeping enough, not getting great sleep when I do, Basically at this point I feel tired almost all the time. Quest 2: Mobility/flexibility Complete 4 NF yoga workouts during the rest of the challenge Stretch at least 5 mins a day on non yoga days, with at least 2 days a week being spent on the foam roller Quest 3: track everything Track all food intake and exersize into MFP. even if it's not good for me or will put me over calories.... as of April 4th there are 60 days until the wedding. The planning is going pretty well. Still a lot of little details but overall I'm really happy with where we are at!. The biggest thing is finding a place to live. As of this week I'm starting to box things up, the plan is for me to be out of my place before the 20th (when my rent is due) but as of yet, we have no clue where we are living next. Thankfully my parents have a storage where most of my stuff will be going until the move but that is probably the biggest stress right now in the whole wedding stuffs.

Hey folks, Chinchilling with the warriors for the March challenge and going for a minimalist theme (spoilers: there is no theme). Challenge #1 – Track all the Füds Looking to hit some daily macro goals and that means MFP-ing everything I eat for a month or so until I get a better handle on what eating that much protein and fiber looks like. Doing two meals a day, intermittent fasting makes tracking easier, but cooking most meals paleo from scratch does not. Challenge #2 – Track all the Progress Did Stronglifts for a decent while and my eventual plateau was more form related than the end of newb gainz. I switched to circuits for a bit to tighten my form on lighter weights, now I’m starting Stronglifts again with intermediate numbers. Round 1 of stronglifts saw me make fast newb gainz and also eat all the things to gleefully fuel my progress; I gained heaps of muscle and regained some fat. I quickly saw the scale alone was inadequate to track my progress, but I didn’t bother with body fat % or measurements. This time I’ll be recording weight, skin fold, and measurements every Thursday morning. As a bonus, I'll be posting workout results to keep up with a sidekick. LUYL – Track all the Monies Starting a new job in mid-March and that includes a new budget. I’ll be categorizing every transaction I process through debit/credit cards that same day in Mint. Not the sexiest goal but somebody gots to do it.

No theme, just... 1. Track everything. Actually track in this challenge and again eat 300kcal less than the estimated burned calories of my FitBit. Also, drink 2500 (±500) ml of water every day. (Although, the water part was not a challenge.) I can have dinner out with friends once a week but it's going to be grilled chicken with vegetables and maybe carbs depending on what I had the rest of the day. I'm not going to eat less than 1700-1800kcal in a day though so if I don't burn enough calories for a 300kcal deficit so be it. 2. Don't spend the days sitting. As before, I'll keep lifting according to my program. I will do yoga on Mondays (the only other time I could do yoga according to the gym schedule and my schedule is Friday evening but that never works). I will keep hiking/walking on Sundays. I'll see if I can add one dreadmill day. I need to find a way to replace my daily coffee walks since I now have an espresso machine. 3. Either write about something nice/funny that happened during the day or write about something I like. I got the idea at some point and couldn't come up with something better/easier. I'm cynical so it should be fun... LYUL goal: Read! I always complain about how I never have time to read or that I have to travel light and can't carry books with me whenever I live abroad. So now it's the time to take advantage of being at home! So, unless I have to prepare a lecture or read a paper (work conflict) or I'm out and come back home late (social life conflict) I'm going to leave the laptop on my desk and read instead.

of the questions of these recurring, Of the endless trains of the faithless, of cities fill'd with the foolish, Of myself forever reproaching myself, (for who more foolish than I, and who more faithless?)Of eyes that vainly crave the light, of the objects mean, of the struggle ever renew'd, Of the poor results of all, of the plodding and sordid crowds I see around me, Of the empty and useless years of the rest, with the rest me intertwined, The question, O me! so sad, recurring -- What good amid these, O me, O life?Answer. That you are here -- that life exists and identity, That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse. The first thing I thought when I first came here was, "What if I drown amidst this gargantuan forum?". So many posts and threads bombarded my sight, it feels daunting to even start lurking here. Then this poem popped into my head. It portrays how I currently feel quite accurately and reminds me that as vast as life or this forum may be and as insignificant as I may feel in the face of it, I can still contribute something of myself and that makes all the difference. So hello, how are you and do you happen to love "Dead Poets Society"? Because that is my ultimate favourite movie ever. Omgletsgushaboutitplease. And you, whoever you are, strolling around the Introduction forums, be it other newbies like me who are looking to feel less alone in this huge place or regulars who enjoy greeting fresh bloods, I just think that you must be a very warm, friendly individual or in a serious need of collecting good karma. Now I should probably share my health goals. Its been a long while since I last checked my measurements and last I remember it was 143 lbs, 4'9". I aim to lose 2 pounds 4 weeks from now. I know, I know, I'm starting small. I've done the beginner's bodyweight workout twice this week and I jog 20 - 40 minutes 3 times per week. So I'm not concerned about staying loyal to my exercise routines...it's my diet that I'm devastated with. I live with my family and we eat a lot of carbs and never enough vegetables. I ate a slice of pizza for dinner last night for goodness sake! I need a buddy to pair up with and help keep me disciplined on eating healthier. Anyone want to be my diet buddy? Would be a bonus if you're a (South East) Asian like myself since you'll understand my palate. I'm planning on cooking for myself more and more often so I can control my nutrition and calorie intake. Also, anyone else use myfitnesspal as a daily food journal? Let me know so we can add each other and learn what good things to eat. For those of you struggling to manage a healthy diet like me, holler at me and could you please tell me how you improve your situation? 'tis a pleasure to meet everyone!

Ok so it is way past my bedtime (off to a great start, aren't I??) so I will throw down these goals really quickly and elaborate later as needed. Since last month's challenge was a mediocre success, I am tweaking the formula but going with the same basic goals. I will repeat what needed more work, and I will amp up the goals that I was successful in achieving. Based on my learnings from last challenge, here goes: Diet Reduce coffee-with-cream drink at office to one per day, after that, consume only black coffee or herbal tea drinks (round 2 - need to make this a habit!)Meet my MFP calorie intake goal 5 out of 7 days of the week (I have committed to a 500 cal/day deficit - on the other two days I will not eat more than I burn)Side note: I have converted to MyFitnessPal for food logging because it lets me delete the Fitbit's ridiculous calorie adjustments and helps keep me real. More discussions to come. Have you also had this experience?? Reply to this thread and let's chat about it!It's official: this round the goal IS weightloss. I'll start small, and while aiming for a pound a week, I'd take half a pound also. The point is that I'm sticking to the realistic calorie deficit and aiming to shed some weight! Fitness Meet my Fitbit activity goal of 5 active days per week (go for a 40+ min walk, use stationary bike 30+ minutes, cardio or yoga, etc) Level Up Your Life Wake up no later than 6 am on weekdays, and 8 am on weekends (If I have not slept enough I will give myself a free pass on Sundays for a reduced grade, but I'm hoping to not need it)As evidenced by the fact that I'm posting this at midnight, I'm clearly a night owl and I struggle with sleep like nobody's business. I'm hoping by forcing myself to get up early it will help create a more habitual routine that will have me falling asleep earlier at night (although chances are I may become prone to napping and narcolepsy... well, we'll see lol)

Hey everybody! Happy New Year! This is going to be a tiring month as I have to move out in the end of it. I'm going back to work on Thursday and then I have friends visiting me from the 8th until the 17th of January. After that I have to make sure I pack everything and clean the house before leaving. All these while all work is getting finished. Even my most basic routine, like going to the gym three times a week and tracking food is threatened. So the three goals are... 1. Track everything and eat about the estimated burned calories of my FitBit (± 200kcal). Drink 2500 (±500) ml of water every day. The plan is to not eat at a surplus on rest days and drink 3L of water per day on gym days. (If I'm not able to track food this weekend and the next, it's fine.) 2. Lift three times a week. That shouldn't be a challenge but I'm sure that my visitors will constantly try to persuade me to not go to the gym and that I'll be busy all the time at work and at home so it might be harder than usual this month. 3. Sleep at least 7 hours every night.

We are here! At our first 2016 challenge! I am excited to start off the year with the rebellion and see where the year takes us all. Since this is a leap year and leap years are full of awesomeness and an extra day, my spirit animal shall be the Unicorn. I will let it guide me through this year with all its glittery splendor. Let's get this pony unicorn on the road! Goal #1: Eat the Rainbow, Be the Rainbow For this goal, I would like to eat a vegetable rainbow per day. This includes frozen, canned and fresh vegetables. I will track with pictures what my daily intake of colorful veggies is. Grades- A: 22-28 Rainbows for entire challenge B: 17-21 Rainbows for entire challenge C: 11-16 Rainbows for entire challenge D: 10 or less Rainbows for entire challenge Goal #2: Turn this Fabulous Fatness into Fabulous Fitness For this goal, I would like to log in at least 30 minutes of activity per day. I plan on tracking this with RunKeeper. For this month, it might mostly be walking, but it will most definitely count! Grades- A: 22-28 30-minutes of Activities Logged B: 17-21 30-minutes of Activities Logged C: 11-16 30-minutes of Activities Logged D: 10 or less 30-minutes of Activities Logged Goal #3: Become a Sea Unicorn For this goal, I am focusing on my water intake during my weekends. I do great at work, I drink at least 10 cups of water, but during the weekends, I am lucky if I get 3. This contributes a lot to my overindulgence during the weekend and I would like to drink more instead of eat more. My goal is to get the recommended 8 cups of water per day during my weekends. Grades- A: 6 Days where goal was met B: 5 Days where goal was met C: 4 Days where goal was met D: 3 or less Days where goal was met Goal #4: Magical Money Management After much denial, I decided to try out You Need A Budget and try to adult in regards to my money. I just started and it's a bit overwhelming. I have signed up to do a couple of classes this week to learn a little bit more about the program in an attempt at being as successful as possible. This will be a Pass/Fail goal. I am very optimistic that it will be a PASS! I will update as much as possible. May this be a magical journey for all!

Hiya This is the second time I'm trying to do a challenge. I didn't complete the last one. Quest: Work out more than once a week Challenge 1: Go to the gym for one hour, 3 times a week Success: 3 hours of exercise a week for 4 weeks Challenge 2: Eat 5 servings of unicorn veggies per day Success: 5 days a week fro 4 weeks Challenge 3: Drink water instead of sugar drinks Success: <2 sugar drinks in 4 weeks

Hello everyone I've been an assassin for my last several challenges, but I am here to work on getting a steady diet of iron in my workouts. Main Quest: I'm getting married in July and I would like to fit into my wedding dress. Steady relationship weight and the holidays have not been kind to me and I need to get into some sustainable habits that will allow me to hopefully drop some body fat before the big day. I think 20 lbs is not unreasonable. Quest 1: Go to the gym & lift weights 3x a week. I have some trainer appointments to use up, and then my fiancee and I are doing Stronglifts 5x5 on the other days. The plan is Monday, Wednesday, & Saturday and we've done pretty well the past 2 weeks so far. Quest 2: Track food. I'm aiming to track every day, because I overeat when I'm not keeping track of what I eat. The focus this month is on compliance only, not calories or macros. Quest 3: Find and record at least 10 comforting activities that I can do whenever I feel sad or stressed out. I am the world's worst emotional eater, and I need non-food alternatives to big macs that I will be willing and able to substitute when I feel sad or lonely or anxious. LUYL: I have one class left in my grad school program, and it ends on January 31st. If I can get through it, I will be done with my MS. That is all I want for this month.