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One day I was in my local goodwill and saw an interesting self help book called Stick With It by Sean Young. (Ironically not the book that started this website and forum) I bought it and have been slowly plodding through it trying to figure out why I keep shooting myself in the foot, losing all my progress and ending back up respawning with nothing learned or in my pockets but self loathing, frustration and a bitter self determination to get it right this time. As I have been following the steps outlined in this book one of them was to get into a community or like minded people- something I have never really done fitness wise. I have always loved forums and have been a part of a few over the years and enjoyed the community within them so I hope to do the same here! I was excited to find out about this community as the last forum I was a part of was a video game forum. So a little about myself: I'm over 30 and have been married to my hubs for almost 13 years now. I have two kiddos that I homeschool. I love the Legend of Zelda, chai lattes, and bujo-ing. I really dislike people who don't take no for an answer, getting my socks wet without warning, and liver. I have tried every diet under the sun but the one that works the best for me is the keto diet. Carbs are definitely not my friends and my body just really doesn't like them. I hit goal weight before on keto a couple years back, but after having a baby and turning 30 at the same time it has been a struggle bus. So that's me! Looking forward to figuring this place out and meeting everyone. ❤️

Hey New Friends - My name is Joe! I found NF about a week ago when I stumbled across an amazing article on intermittent fasting. I read through some more content and was totally hooked. Signed up for the NFA that night and I've spend a few days tinkering around with my profile working through the mindset module. A big part of what I was most excited about with NF was the community/accountability aspect so I'm excited to be part of my first challenge. I LOVE to workout. Going to the gym is one of my favorite parts of the day. But over the last 4 years my nutrition has been total garbage. I have a high pressure/stress job (that I really love), grad school on nights and weekends, and being a new dad to a now 3 year old girl and a 1 year old boy. Those aren't excuses - my attention has just been elsewhere for awhile. But the time for change is overdue. I know I can continue to handle all of those things and find the right patterns of living that keep me at a healthy weight and body composition. My main quest: I want to lock in some new habits (mostly around nutrition). That's all in service towards the general NFA leveling up around happy, healthy and looking/feeling great. I feel pretty good. I carry a lot of muscle, but I know I have a good 50 pounds to lose. My side quests are all about consistency. For every day in January : I want to keep my intermittent fasting streak alive for all of January (at least 16 hour fasts each day). I've been going at it for about a week and I really like it. Track all that food, every day - I'm using MyFitnessPal. Close the exercise loop on my apple watch every day. This is probably the easiest one for me. I almost always get 4-6 days every week, but something about getting exercise to be a daily habit feels really powerful to me. Looking forward to feedback on whether the goals are the right idea. Also looking forward to getting to know you all better.

Ohai! My name is Haze and I'm from a tiny island most people can't find on a map... in Canada.. where it's cold... But I'm not currently living there, and am in China where I'm currently making a living teaching English! Not what I expected to be doing with a bachelor of psychology, but meh. I'm a new teacher so still learning the ropes but that's one thing I really love to do: Learn! I've never been a very fit or active person. I was a chubby kid, bullied for being chubby even though there were other kids in my grade bigger than me. I did become quite small at one point but my self-esteem and self-worth couldn't have been lower so it really wasn't any healthier. Bad friend breakups, a string of gay boyfriends, struggles with emotional issues and a love of all hobbies sedentary has physically left me a person I really don't want to be. I've gained more than 100 lbs. since high school and even though I like who I am much more now, as a person, I really don't like looking in the mirror a whole lot. Don't get me wrong, I love me! But I know that there's a better me I can be. That was a mouthful... Point is, I'm ready to level up my life! So, I have no idea how I've never heard of this website before! My awesome friend, Gurdris the Imbiber, showed it to me and I know that this is something that can really help me! Thing is, I enjoy exercise, I really do. I get a rush and I don't mind sweating (unlike the rest of my family). But I never keep myself accountable for my diet or exercise for more than a couple weeks at a time, but I'm really ready for a change. And my self-competitive streak and obsession with gaining experience in DnD (and now life) is going to finally really work to my advantage! BWAHAHAHAHA! IT WILL ALL BE MINE! ((How has no one made a gif of this adorable scene yet? Come on!)) I've joined a gym and intend to consistently be more active. My family is supportive, but not people to join in and they are currently half a world away... But I have a couple great friends here in the city I'm living in who are on their own journeys and can help keep me accountable! I'm also planning on tracking my food but will likely use pictures because there are loads of times I don't even know what I'm eating and as I can't speak more than 50 words in chinese, I have little chance of finding out! XD Suggestions for great, fun workouts would be very welcome! I love to dance and swim as my favourite physical activities but don't currently have access to a pool. This mermaid is grounded T_T And I am not a picky eater, I boast that I'll try just about anything once! I'm not going to leave that as an open challenge to eat ANYTHING, but I welcome healthy recipes too. Share your favourite with me! Have you made it this far? Wow. I'm impressed! Here's some stuff I like in general! - Languages (I speak english, french, and am learning chinese) - Drawing - Reading - Writing (generally fantasy) - Lord of the Rings (I've been listening to/reading them since I was about 4) - Superheroes - Dungeons and Dragons - World-building - Sleep (oh, sweet sleep... zzzz..... zzzzzzzzzz...... wait, did I post that topic yet?!) - Making Friends - Dancing till I drop! (no really, LET'S DO THIS!) I'm looking for more friends out there on similar journeys or just someone who wants to say hi! I'm a great listener and am always willing to help share any of the random information I've picked up ^^ Anyone out there in the digital land?

So, here we go! I'm going to commit to my first challenge. I'm posting here in the Rebels forum because I'm not entirely sure of what guild I fit in - although I have some hunches. My background and what I do most often would put me on the fence of Monk and Druid. I could probably lean toward one or the other depending on the goals I plan out but for now I'll stay neutral. I also found that awesome character/guild generator quiz and plan on using it to help sway me and it's just really fun. I was always an RPG fan. Q1: Daily Meditation: Trying to find 5 minutes a day to meditate; also would like to do 15 minutes of Ki breathing at least twice a week. Q2: Workout 3-4x/Week: Planning to start the Couch to 5k workout which helps gain traction on one of my EQs. Other bodyweight workouts, yoga or strength training at the gym. Q3: Meal Planning: I need to better plan the meals I take with me to work. Planning on Sunday nights for the week or packing leftovers from dinner the night before to take the next day to avoid grabbing whatever I find or buying lunch in the cafe at work. Q4: Reading: I would like to read more - this could be books, articles, websites, etc. One night a week set aside to reading for at least an hour, no tv, no phone, just reading. I'm sure I'll come back to either edit or expand this, but I needed to get something down to help me get started. Super noob, first challegne on NF even though I've been a member of the Academy for over a year. I have also joined Rising Heroes and will be incorporating that into my challenge goals as well. - 60W

Brand new to NF and asking for a hand. I am so old that I pre-date video games, but I don't think there is any doubt that I am a nerd. I worked at the first game shop in my home town (still have my first edition Player's Handbook), got in trouble for reading in class, and was captain of the debate team. My Epic Quest is to become a level 50 Beach Bum. I want to be able to have no physical limitations on the things that I already do: beach-combing, snorkeling, scuba, spear-fishing, kayaking, beach soccer, beach volleyball. And I want to try out some things that my size would make difficult: surfing, paddle-boarding, free-diving. I love the idea of NF! I like breaking things down into attainable goals and using levels to track aggregate progress, so even if I don't hit a triathlon this year, I can see movement. I started 2016 at 334 lbs. (6'3"), which, sadly, was not my peak weight. I started 2017 at 309. So I know I can make inroads, but I had definitely plateaued. The good news is that 305 had been my best weigh-in ever, which means that my life-style had improved to the point that I was not gaining weight even in the doldrums. (I weigh twice weekly and consider 3-5 pounds to be fluctuation, not true loss or gain). In 2015, I challenged myself to read 100 books and made it! In 2016, I set a goal of 100 work-outs. I made it, but kind of coasted in. I had 50 by April. April was also when I quit tracking my meals with MFP. Bad idea. So I am re-spawning! I am back to tracking and I have set a goal of 12 work-outs a month, 10/12 months. But as I have been reading, I can't out-run my fork. I need to get deeper into the nutrition side if I want to build on last year's success. While navigating NF after joining, I found the "diet levels" and assessed that I was likely a Level 2, making progress toward 3. After a week, I wanted to go back and see what specifically I needed to do to reach that next level. And now I can't find the description of the levels. I am sure that it should be easy to find, but after two days of looking... A little help?

Hi, my name is Ryan and it's all biscuitey. Whatever that means, but I do know thats biscuits are tastey. Anyways, enough of that. I'm here because I finally have the perfect excuse to do what I've always wanted to do. What is I want to do? Well lots of stuff. What's my excuse? My soon to be born daughter of course! So as you can see I finally have the motivation I need. I want to be alive as long as I can for her. I want to learn as much as I can for her so I can teach her. I have my hobbies of course and a great many other things I want to pass to her. But the most important things to instill in her are a disciplined, goal oriented lifestyle along with critical thinking habits and of course a sense of being lived and cared for. Being the trekie I am I want for us to better ourselves together as we grow. All of that being said (BTW I am damned long winded, sorry) my purpose for writing is to ask a question, but first let me explain where I'm at in my training. I worked out in high school. I'm 33 now and haven't been very active since my early 20s. I started working out and making diet changes before I found this extremely interesting fitness community. I'm only on the free character for now BTW. My question is really a few that all basically ask - Should I level up my character based on the changes I have already made? I get it's up to me ultimately but would like some opinions. Some possible solutions would be to assign points for the changes I've made and award them, just give myself a random one time boost to level myself up or just start from where I'm at. Also, is there some sort of guideline for assigning points to certain categories? I'm honestly not much of a gamer. I've played a few rpgs but not a lot. I'm a sci-fi nerd. Lol. So there you have it. I thank you all. Don't forget those deep knee rock squats. Live long and prosper! Ryan

This is my first 4 week challenge, so I'm going to keep it simple for my sanity. I'm a rebel that will probably fit in the Rangers...not sure yet. Saorsa thought university was hard, now this? Her degree didn't prepare her for the end of the world. Graduation day ended with monster attacks and Saorsa learning how to escape a city without dying. The world as she knew it was gone. Everything was different now. Sure, she could cry about it all day, but she had to survive. Already, she was surprised with what she could do - navigating the wilderness or wrecked cities, learning new weapons quickly, and sustaining on very little - all skills she didn't know she had. Ironic, the apocalypse taught her something. Is that what they call a silver lining? Now, she stood on the edge of a lake wondering what the next year would bring. Her journey brought her all the way from Florida to Canada, in hopes the cold winters would deter the monsters. Well, the ice and snow revealed a different branch of the mysterious creatures invading Earth. Were they invading? Or were these things created by us? Saorsa didn't have time to care; autumn was coming and she had to prepare for another tough winter. This time she would be stronger. WEEK ONE DIET: Energy for Survival: Eat breakfast every morning */7 Stay Hydrated: 3 glasses (500ml) of water everyday */7 Reduce Resource Consumption: 7 days of no bread or pasta */7 (test run to see how I feel with no bread or pasta) <<< Not excited about this one! FITNESS: Strength to Fight: 3 days of Strength Circuit Speed and Endurance: 1 day of Interval Cardio LIFE: Downtime: I hour a day of me time (no working allowed) */7 Ready for Survival: Wake up before 8am */7 I'll add the next two weeks after this test run!

Hello all! My name is Blake I am 26 years old, 6'3" currently around 245 pounds. I started my weight loss journey about 18 months ago after I hit an all time high of 340 pounds! I began by cutting out my sodas and slowly phasing out the bread. Then incorporating and increasing different exercises. I did well for the first 6-9 months losing 70+ pounds before hitting a serious plateau. I followed some bad advise and changed my tactics to strictly maintaining and reincorporating all of the foods I love (pizza, cupcakes, etc.). I did maintain but eventually I realized I had to this was not working. So I again cut out the junk and focused on exercising. Since then I have been yo-yoing fairly badly and realize that I can't do it alone. And with the ridiculous overload of information available online I don't know what way to go. But, happy to have found Nerd Fitness and hope that it will help with my goals.

LEVEL 1 REBEL CHALLENGE: Diet Eat a vegetable with two meals every day Eat at least 3 times a day Fitness Walk every day (15 minutes) Level Up Your Life (Pick One) Have a 5 minute dance party each day

So I've recently joined the Rebellion, and figured I should identify where I'm at, what I'm doing, and what I want to improve. Any input is welcome, of course Where I'm at I'm 39, 6ft tall, and am currently sitting at about 86kg (190lbs), down from a starting point a couple of years ago of 95kg (209lbs), putting me in the overweight BMI category. Visually, you can see that I'm carrying too much weight around my torso - too much gut, and I have man-boobs (I never feel comfortable with my shirt off). I'm making an effort to improve my diet, but chocolate is my downfall. I find it really difficult to just stop at just a small taste. What I'm doing After a long hiatus from regular exercise (I'm talking right back to my teens) circumstances led me to buy a bike and start cycling some of the way to work about 5 years ago. This snowballed into a newfound love of bikes, and I've been a keen mountain biker ever since (I have a few friends that also ride, which is what got me into the sport). I'm not gnarly, watching me ride isn't like watching a Red Bull video on video on YouTube, but I'm now at the point where I beat my friends to the top of any given hill. Every time. To complement my riding, because you can't always get time to hit the trails, and just to improve my endurance, I've dabbled in running on and off for the last 3 years, but have made it part of my routine for about the last 6 months. The area I live in is hilly, and I'm now getting up at 5:30am 2-3 times a week and doing 10km (6 miles) before work (it's summer here, so we'll see how this goes in winter). In late 2014 I started up at the local Karate dojo, after watching one of my work mates earn his 3rd dan - he's now my sensei. Part of my motivation to run more stems from my enjoyment of my karate practise, and my desire to do better at it, and be the best martial artist I can be. What I want to improve To be blunt, I want to look good naked (cliche, I know). I've set myself an objective of getting down to at least 80kg (176lbs) by the end of the year As best I can tell, I'm keeping up a pretty good level of activity, but I think I need to work my upper body more. Thanks to running and riding, I have strong legs, that seem OK, but I'm lacking up top. I'm keen on body weight exercise, and am trying to fit a routine of pushups, inverted rows using a suspended pole I've set up at home, and planks, into my routine, Diet is improving, but probably needs the most work. Does anyone have any thoughts or advice on any tweaks I can make to this formula? Also, sorry if this is an over share, or if I've posted in the wrong forum.

So a buddy of mine invited me to go climbing with him this Friday, and I'm pumped; however, I've been doing the beginner body weight workout religiously every other day for about 2 weeks now and this Friday is supposed to be a rest day. My question is do I skip my Thursday workout and possibly through off my rhythm or do I do my workout, go climbing (really want to go climbing) and take a couple of days off afterward. Keeping in mind that while the BBW workout is still challenging, I don't feel nearly as sore the next day. Any advice is appreciated Cheers and on to Victory Tag

Hello Everyone, I've been reading NFs Blog for around a year now, and since I need my first respawn since I started exercising I'm here now. I hope to find new nice contacts here, also maybe a group to motivate me and to keep the goals I'm aiming for more binding. So about me: My Name is Schaengel and I'm living in Koblenz, Germany (that's around 1h away from Bonn (former German capitol) and 1h away from Frankfurt). I'm doing sports all my live but since you can't outrun your fork I always have had some pounds more than I like. Last year I turned my eating upside down and lost around 65pounds (hope I'm translating that right). Since I have been falling back into bad eating and skipping exercise I'm starting over this time with more Nerd Fitness Help I hope. At the moment I'm already doing climbing, kick-boxing and running and trying to meditate on daily basis (with poor result so far). I'm mainly looking to improve my cooking/eating here but would also like to get some things going that I am putting off for quite some time (picking up parcour, play/learn guitar(on hold till april)). Yeah so here I am hoping for some new companions My First Challenge, Yeah: http://rebellion.nerdfitness.com/index.php?/topic/76499-hey-ho-finally-lets-go/#entry1755246

Challenge 1: Cop Conditioning INTRO: Hi, I’m Sythez. I used to be on quite a bit. This is not my first challenge, but it’s been over a year. I’m starting again from the ground up. For my year out of the loop, I had an emotional breakup which threw me off track of life for a few months. I’ve leveled up my mental life 3 fold since then. I have a tight group of friends, I track my food, I work out three times a week, and I prioritize university. I also have a part time job arresting people (Loss prevention). All in all, I’ve found quite a bit of success. It’s time to continue that trend with fitness. Wish me luck, it’s time to kill it. Dragon slaying time! SHORT SUMMARY: After 6 weeks 1: Run 10 minutes straight. 2: Do a pull up and chin up 3: Make my year progression plan with my physical trainer 4: Do 30 pushups, Plank 2 minutes, 5: Batch cook for at least one meal a day through the week DEBRIEFING: In about a year, I plan on tackling the physical test for the Edmonton Police Service. In Canada, the police are held to a very high standard. Many have degrees or diplomas, It is expected that you are in incredible physical shape, and have excellent control over your life. You also must have a high level of life experience prior to joining. Over this previous year, I’ve been working on my degree and gaining some experience in the security industry. I work with drug addicts, homeless people, and people suffering from mental illness every day. I’m usually the last person they want to see, as I’m usually either asking them to leave, arresting them, or providing emergency first aid assistance. This isn’t to say I don’t have positive interactions with these people. Respect is ironclad rule in this profession. What I need now is to increase my physical level to the point where I am hirable as an officer. I need to nerd out with heavy things and running tracks. I’ve listed some of the basic requirements below. Let’s look at the minimum requirements; I’m 25 seconds off from the plank, can’t do a pull up, and since I can’t sustain a run for longer than about 3 minutes, failing the beep test. Which is fine. I want to be in the Gold range in a year’s time. I think this is do-able. Further details of the requirements can be found here: http://www.joineps.ca/ApplicationProcess/NewApplicants/Stage3.aspx ACTION PLANS: Over the past month, I’ve slowly changed my habits to change a few key habits. I go to the gym 3 times a week I track and log all my food intake I count the calories I eat. I aim for 1800, but am flexible depending on needs. Current goal is lowering BF % I plan on continuing these habits. The progression towards achieving the goals for this week will be as follows: (may change depending on progress to Nov 2nd) Week 1: Batch cooked healthy food for week (One meal/day) 1 minute 10 seconds plank 22 pushups Week 2 of running program app Negatives Pull/Chin-up, back muscle training priority Week 2: Batch cooked healthy food for week (one meal/day) 1 minute 20 seconds plank 24 pushups Week 3 of running program app Negatives Pull/Chin-up, back muscle training priority Week 3: Batch cooked healthy food for week (one meal/day) 1 minute 30 seconds plank 26 pushups Week 4 of running program app Negatives Pull/Chin-up, back muscle training priority Body Fat percentage measurement Week 4: Batch cooked healthy food for week (one meal/day) 1 minute 40 seconds plank 28 pushups Week 5 of running program app Negatives - Assisted pullups, chinups You’re awesome award - One month celebration with friends Week 5: Batch cooked healthy food for week (one meal/day) 1 minute 50 seconds plank 30 pushups Week 6 of running program app Negatives/Pull up, chin up Week 6: Super challenge: Paleo food for week Batch cook paleo 2 minutes plank 32 pushups week 7 of running program app PULL UP/ CHIN UP Beep Test SCORING: Every week is marked out of 5. Ideally, 5 checkmarks a week. If I get above 25 marks for the challenge, I am rewarding myself with a new diesel watch. Regardless, I will be rewarding myself with new clothes. As my body composition changes, I’ll need to. FINAL NOTES: This is a heavy challenge. However, I have good friends to support me. One of my friends is a spin class instructor, and is incredibly supportive. The other is a salsa dancer who is also tackling problems with body fat composition. I know where I want to be in a year. I know getting the results I want will take time. But I’m going to kick some ass for a year from now. RAHHHH! Thanks for reading. Let’s kick some arse.

Where to begin? I'll start by saying I am a 24 year-old Canadian girl. I'm 5'3", weighing ????? pounds (I'll get to that later), looking to really commit to getting my butt in shape!! Literally and figuratively speaking. I need to go back a bit to explain. A long time ago, in a city far far away.... For the longest time I was kept in decent shape by a physically demanding job, but then I was promoted to an office job. A financial "Yay!" but a physical "Oh no". I quickly went from weighing about 115lbs to 150lbs. Ouch. Over and over again I told myself I would get in shape, but I could never commit. Until about a couple months ago. I am doing great! I'm really trying to stick to mostly healthy eating as well as working out most days of the week. It also helped that I STOPPED weighing myself! I have no idea what I weigh right now and it's incredibly liberating. I realize that the scale is what made me stop every other time. Since your weight doesn't properly reflect how well you're doing, it was always a disappointment and very discouraging. Now that I am more determined than ever, I NEED SOME HELP. I need anything I can get ESPECIALLY support. Unfortunately my friends, and fiance, are all gaming nerds with 0 interest in being healthy, so I am on my own here. I'll tell you where I am at right now: Every Sunday and Thursday I take a 1 hour Iyengar yoga class (cutting back to one soon for financial reasons). 1-2 times a week I go to the gym with for 1-2 hours, usually focusing on either my arms or my legs (mostly machine-work for my legs). At home I switch it up quite a bit. From running on my treadmill for 20 minutes or so (attempting HIIT training), or doing awesome and short Youtube "Blogilate" workouts. As far as food goes, I am REALLY trying to eat healthy. Overeating is my weakness...and cheese...mmm...cheese (I'm never giving that up though). It's tough to find time to prep and cook dinner every night (if I don't cook, it's pizza or KD for dinner), So I'm also looking for great, healthy recipes that I can prep ahead of time, use the slow cooker and/or freeze. I also need some MAJOR support here. It's incredibly hard to eat healthy and properly living with someone that is determined to eat and buy junk all the time, as well as argues with me about what is good food and what is not. This also causes a lot of food to go to waste. If I don't eat fresh food right away, it's garbage. Did I also mention that I love playing video and computer games?!? It's true. So far I'm proud of myself for staying away from a new WoW subscription. Although I could probably resist the temptation on my own, it's nearly impossible with a certain someone I care about, begging, bribing, and reasoning with me to join him in doing some LFR (as in al of them) dungeons, daily quests etc. I also have incredibly low self-esteem. I need to stay positive and I just need someone to keep me on track! Someone I can talk to on a regular basis about healthy eating, new techniques and overall encouragement...and you know, I can also be won over with talks about Fantasy novels (esp. WoT...I have a Moiraine costume), Star Wars, Firefly, WoW, Diablo, and you know, general awesome things like that. Help me Rebels, You're my only hope!

So, as I said in my introduction (found here) I work part-time as a Loss Prevention Officer. What that means is that I'm licensed by the Province of Alberta to carry handcuffs and work as a security official in plain clothes. Basically, I'm like an undercover cop without any cop powers, weapons, or cool nicknames. But I do get to arrest people, provided I can watch them commit the crime from start to finish, and catch them afterwards without getting myself killed. Hence, I figured I probably should do something about my lack of running endurance, increase my strength a bit so people comply (amazing what nice pecs will do for that), and overall just become better prepared so I don't risk my safety or others safety as much. The plan I'm going with right now is still in the works. I have a talk with a personal trainer coming up, and we will work out a plan that will progress me over this next year. After a year and a half, I will be applying for the Edmonton City Police department, which has very high requirement for officer fitness. By that time, I will be finished my degree, have about 2 years of security/loss prevention experience, and in amazing good shape. I will be keeping the food logs separate, as time is off the essence with posting. I need to keep the actual logs after this very short, so it will cover only my daily workouts. I am starting with 3 days a week, and moving towards 5. The goal is to build a habit of short workouts done consistently every day. The point right now is to make the gym a part of my life, not kill myself. Therefore, the focus is on flexibility, starting cardio endurance, and major lifts with a good degree of fun thrown in the middle. I'll edit this post later with details of the actual plan once it is finished.

Woof to all you great people from the Rebellion! I'm so happy I found this website, I have tried getting healthy in the past, but I had so little in common with the people who usually frequent fora on health/sports sites. So here's to hoping we all will get along better, because I love nerding things up! Okay, so more about the person behind the name. I'm a 22 year old girl (pretty old for a dog, huh?), I love gaming (RPGs and point and click games all the way!), boardgames, watching movies and series and drawing. I'm also learning how to play guitar. I'm a total Potterhead and The Elder Scrolls geek. I study biomedical sciences (basically: research on human diseases), already have a bachelor's and I'm busy in the second and final year of my master's now. I'm totally terrified of what the future has in store for me, as I have no clue if I'll be happy as a crazy scientist. But time will tell! As said before, I've tried to adopt a healthier lifestyle in the past, but it's been difficult. My boyfriend and I have been living together for 4 years and we both love eating and being lazy. Mainly unhealthy stuff, haha! French fries, hamburgers, spare ribs, nomnom, you name it! I've tried to eat healthier but when he has a big pile of meat on his plate and I only have some salad and a small piece of meat I get envious and fall back into my old habits. I've followed 2 5K running programs before (a Belgian one and Zombies, Run 5K training) but I quit right before making it to 5K due to losing interest in it. I'm not terribly overweight, I am usually around 136 lbs, but I would like to feel better in my own skin and feel proud when looking in the mirror and not have stuff flubber around I want to get a bit 'tighter' so to say and lose some weight around the typical girl areas (thighs, butt, belly) as well as getting a bit stronger! 120 lbs is my 'goal' weight, but if I look fit and toned while weighing a bit more than that, that's completely fine. I am not sure which path to take, but so far I'm leaning towards Assassin because 1. I love sneaky characters in games and 2. I am interested in body weight exercises! I also hope to find some accountabilibuddies here, but I see there's a special topic for that. I also have some questions about the beginner body workout, but I think I should ask them somewhere else? Love you all! Dog

Total n00b here, on my second day of the Beginner Bodyweight Workout. I loved it the first day, but I got through two cycles and was so physically tired I had trouble going down stairs because my quads were so tired. So I let it rest for a few days and then started again today. About halfway through the first set of lunges, my right quad felt like it seized up and went OW OW OW OW. Is that a cramp? I stretched it out and that seemed to help, but I can definitely still feel it being kind of tight and painful and not wanting to do anything. Did I grievously harm myself? Do I need to return to level negative one? Is this even something you, my fellow rebels, can answer over the internet? My sincere apologies if this is the dumbest question ever. I'm just not sure how to proceed - should I try the workout again tomorrow? (Or the day after tomorrow?)

In January, at my yearly checkup, my doctor and I had a heart to heart. As in she told me it was going to break her heart when my heart gave out and I died. At that point I was age 39, 5’9â€, 240lbs, resting heart rate of 90 with a 10-12 hour a day desk job. Bad cholesterol was… High. I don’t remember the exact number, but somewhere plus 450. My eating habits were 50/50. By that I mean my wife is a health nut (I say it with love) and feeds us pretty healthy at dinners, but lunch… I love me a Whopper. Nuff said. =D Doc wanted to immediately put me on meds to bring stuff in line… But I knew if you start the meds, you never get off them. So I asked her if she would give me six months and see where we were at before moving to medication. She agreed and we scheduled a follow up for July. I live in NW GA and we have pretty good hiking, so from February to April I went hiking every weekend. I don’t mean strolling… I mean hiking, 3.5 miles up and down. It was painful, but I got to where I could do 10 miles in a day. I lost 5 pounds in that time. You guessed it, I did not change anything else, and I just started hiking long distances one day a week. (235lbs) With less than 90 days left before the dreaded follow up. Someone turned me onto counting calories vs. exercise and the math behind it. This is right up my ally baby! MATHS! So I got an app to count and put everything in it for a week. It was very clear that had to do something every day and stop with the Whoppers, fries, and sodas. I live on the side of a mountain, and the road to our neighborhood is .5 miles with a 70 foot ascent/decent hill in the middle… So on 5/2/15 I started hiking. 3 miles a day. Up and down. Up and down. Every day no matter what I walk three miles at 3.5 to 4 miles per hour. NO MATTER WHAT. We go to Six Flags, spend the day walking 10 miles and get home late… How nice! Then walk the hill in the dark you lazy bastard. I go hiking with the Cub Scouts and put in 6 miles… That was sweet, now do the hill you damn sloth! I named that hill El Diablo and I love him, and hate him. =D At the same time I stopped all soda. I moved to 2 cups of black coffee in the AM and lots of water through the day. Massive calorie drop just from that. I also changed lunch to 3 chicken soft tacos fresco style (no cheese and such) from Taco Bell a day. I know I know. But that is every day, same thing, same 480 calories, and easy math. I am a creature of habit not variety. =D Fast forward to 7/20/15. I go to the Doctor and I weigh in at 205lbs! She is floored and literally speechless. She looks at me for a few minutes before saying, and I quote, “How the fuck did you do this?†(We are pretty close and friends outside of the office) So I told her. She snorted at the Taco Bell lunch and said to keep doing it. My blood work was perfect. My resting heart rate was 62. So I have kept doing it. And now I am at 195lbs with resting heart rate of 55… And I have been stuck here for a few weeks! Shit. But I found this place because of my plateau! I am not really worried about the heart rate, I just think it is neat. =D Just for future reference. My last trip over El Diablo was 3 miles, 40 minutes, 148 average HR with a max HR of 182. It is basically interval training I think. I get max heart rate as I hit the top then it curves down before I turn around and do it again. I currently carry a 15 pound pack. I think I need to add in weight training to promote muscle mass. However I am not a gym person. El Diablo works for me because I can put in ear buds and Zen out (I am a Zen Buddhist) in some walking meditation. Yesterday I decided to add the simple Nerd Fitness Beginner Body Weight Circuit to my day after my wife told me that I needed to do weight training. So I did the three circuits no issue. Took me 20 minutes, max HR 153, and my HR monitor says I burned 171 calories. Then I went and walked El Diablo. I am a little sore this morning, but nothing major. I plan to keep this every other day as advised. I think the other part is nutrition. Kick me in the face, but I just need lunch to be easy and fast. I read the Super Woman story and admire her ability to prep chicken on Sunday for the week. I am just not likely to get that involved in it. I am in total honesty mode here. I will fail at that. What can I do instead that is as easy? This is my current eating habits: Skip Breakfast (I KNOW! Today I started wtih three eggs here, quick and easy) 230 calories 450 – 500 calories from Taco Bell Fresco menu. Mid Afternoon snack of ¼ cup of popcorn or an apple, or a peach – 75 – 150 calories Dinner (Wife’s choice) but normally pretty darn healthy. I skip bread and potatoes. Call it 700 – 900 calories. Snack ½ cup of popcorn 260 caloriesTotal Max 1990 I should still be losing with my additional 500 calorie daily El Diablo run, but I have been stuck here for 2 weeks. In the end, I don't want to be a body builder. I want to have defination, and be between 170 - 180. Doc says I have a large frame and that is healthy for me. What class is that? Any suggestions? And thanks for reading my book. =D Drew

Hi all! My name is Morgan, known as mindelann online. (What up all you Tortallans out there!) I'm a cis female, 22, 5'5", and overweight. I'm a Gryffindor and ESFJ. I'm dealing with depression, finishing up university, and moving out to NYC from MN. I keep meaning to "try" to get healthy, but as Master Yoda says "Try not. Do or do not, there is no try." (I know, I know, we've all heard that a million times, but hey, I'm re-watching Star Wars right now so shush. ) I want to be a knight, be it medieval or Jedi, but I believe a knight must be able to be flexible, so I plan on joining the Rangers, a good match of strength and endurance. I have been working on cleaning up my diet, removing pop (soda, coke, whatever you call it, it's difficult. Oh God is it difficult...), eating my veggies so I grow big and strong, less grains, etc. I have yet to make a solid plan, but considering it is currently 11:45 pm at the moment, I will do that tomorrow in this same feed. Please come say hi! I'd be happy to meet you.

Main quest I just got my very first pokémon. But we've got much training to do before we're ready for the road ahead. So lets get ready! To become all-around healthier so that I can direct my focus towards something more specific next time Quest 1; Feeding my new Fennekin Drink 2L of water daily A. Average of 7 days a week (by end of challenge) B. Average of 6 days a week C. Average of 5 days a week Quest 2; Winding down after a hard day of training Yoga 6 times a week A. Average of 6+ times a week B. Average of 5 times a week C Average of 4 times a week Quest 3; Pokémon league, here we come! Weight training 5 times a week A. Average of 5+ times a week B. Average of 4 times a week C. Average of 3 times a week

Hello All, Im Tkbird45. Im just recently graduated from High School. Im 18, and im ready to finally shed those baby pounds so im below the Freshman 15 for college. Anyway. Im Male From California, San Diego Im 6'2" I am a bit chubby in the midsection and thighs and would concider my "race" to be either Human or Half-Giant. Weigh 236 lbs as of today. I go to the gym once a day. Im currently transitioning into the Paleo diet. And i take protein powder and creatine. My ultimate goal is lose my gut and go down to 175 lbs, i weighed about that much about 2 years ago and was in much better condition health wise and would really like to get back to that. Similarly i would like gain muscle, so that i can visibly see it, my goal is not to look like a body builder but to appear fit and healthy.

What a great site. My first challenge but I found the site 6 months ago and read some of the articles and even put the beginner body weight excercise routine on my BR mirror with a dry erase pen. A little about me. 35, married, 2 kids (7&8). I'm in real estate, which means I'm either driving or checking email, but does allow me a flexible schedule. I'm 5'8" and weigh 207. Ultimate goal: weigh a healthy 180. About 5 years ago I weighed 190 which is only 10 pounds heavier than I weighed when I graduated high school. But I had a completely different shape. While I know I can't reverse the clock, I want to tone my body as well as lose weight. It's not just the lbs. 6 week goal: Alternating weeks of 3 days running and 2 days beginner body weight excercise. (This week MWF run & T/Th body weight excercise - next week the reverse). 1. Running - by end of week 2 running 3 miles under 35 mins (in the fall I was averaging a 11:38 per mile). By end of week 6 average 11min/mi for 3 miles (once I average a 10 minute mile for 3 miles I want to explore HIIT workouts.) 2. Just forming the habit of strength training. I hope to feel confident enough to advance to the next workout, but for now I want to focus on actually doing it for six weeks. I'll reassess at week 3. 3. Tracking food intake. (Myfitnesspal I'm morrisdjon. Let's do this). I know I do well when I'm conscious about it and actually make a lunch to bring with me. Eating out is my weakness. My wife and I are better about eating out in the evenings, but usually I can stay under the caloric goal even if we do eat out at night. Life goal? I have a lot of goals planned this time of year. Business, saving, marriage, etc. I'll choose one and say I want to keep up the 5 marriage goals my wife and I planned out last week. I won't go into detail, but we have struggled.

Late again! I promised myself I'd start this thing on time! Anyway, My goals remain mostly unchanged from my last challenge. 1) Main Quest- Weight loss: I'm cutting down to 1200-1400 calories a day along with keeping track, and on track, on Weight Watchers. I'm also exercising whenever and wherever I can, as well as playing DDR and working in the Hot Foods kitchen for schooling. Two pounds a week, here I come! 2) Life- School: I'm going to finish Hot Foods by doing everything I need to do. Furthermore, I will go a bit ahead in my workbooks so I can work on that research paper on Food Sustainability. It has to be four pages long, include something about fish/seafood and it's due January 9th. Lateness won't be accepted in this case, so hopefully I'm not tardy in this respect as well. 3) Fitness- DDR: I want to get to Standard/Difficult levels of awesome. I'm actually doing really well, right now. I'm doing fours, fives and beginning on sixes, when I have my energy. I'm going to be grading myself DDR style, just for fun.

Noob with a Late start... I went gluten free in December 2012 and felt awesome. So many problems I was having dissappeared. I went Primal/paleo after that and have mostly stayed that way, but I've drifted more to 50/50 than 80/20. Gluten-free junk food is still junk food! I initially lost 30lbs going primal/paleo but I've been stuck a year and half with about 20 more lbs to go. MAIN QUEST: Lose 20lbs or thereabouts. I'm not set on the number but I want visible fat rolls to go away. Side Quests: 1 - Do beginner workout 3 times a week 2 - Refocus diet to primal 80/20 goal. 3 - Take at least 1 walk a day at work. Motivation: Look good naked, or at least mostly naked.

So I somehow missed this area where I was supposed to introduce myself. I did that in my challenge post, so I'll link that. My main goals are weight loss and strength. I want to be able to see the muscles I build, not just know that they're there. Here's the link to my "introduction"