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Hello There, I started in NF a month ago and just finished my First Challenge. It was a blast and a great way to get accountability for your efforts. Now, I want to be part of the Adventurers and create more connections inside NF while we go on this journey. My main goal (First long-term goal at the moment) is to lose 110 pounds and reach 200 pounds. I have a lot of ideas for my quests to keep it interesting. Well, I'm a newbie but I love to research and compare info to gather the best advice possible. If I can help with anything, you have my support. (But please have the permits available because I would not do that Malaysian job without them) #Success

I'm in the middle of the Level up your life book now. Its been really helpful in a crazy time. I'm joining the forum to meet other people trying to level up and hopefully find friends and support to. Short background: I've been building a company for the last 8 years only to find myself painting myself into a corner of a life I don't want. My partners a jerk, I sit at a desk all day and I can't live my own life. The sad part is I've known this for maybe the last 4 years but haven't been able to find my way out of it. Two weeks ago I told my partners I was leaving, I wanted to sell my shares of the company and go. Its been a war ever since. I will probably end up with not a lot of money, and having to start over new. I'm hoping the decision I've made is the right one, and I'm hoping I can now start working toward a life of happiness, and fulfillment, and greatness. The super me is a performer, is a world champion, a traveler and an adventurer. I've been building this side of my life for a few years now not knowing if it would ever go anywhere or if it ever will. It may or may not but above all else I want to find happiness, peace and freedom under my own terms. I was building this side of my life as an escape from the life I hated. I don't want to escape anymore to feel better for a little while, I want to be free. Me (SevenChan.com, TanksForAmerica.com)

Hello everyone, Where do I begin? This is probably the saddest I've ever been in my life. An artist and entrepreneur who has had mild success but hasn't reached a consistent revenue stream yet. Somehow I still managed to fall in love and find the woman of my dreams. At the moment of writing this post I have a negative balance in my bank account. I weigh the most I have ever weighed in my life with a nice high body fat percentage to go with it. I'm extremely out of shape. This time last year I was hitting the gym 6 days a week. I did it for almost 8 months straight. Then I landed a "dream job" that ended up taking all of my time and stressing me out. Thats when I began going to the gym less and eating unhealthy more. A few months into the job a good friend of mine asked me to take a leap of faith and quit my job to join his start-up...I jumped. Its been extremely stressful and really taking a toll on me and my life. I spend most of my time hunched over a laptop with little to know breaks or physical activity. I started drinking more too. It feels like every time I look down at my gut it gets bigger and bigger. Last night I hit a breaking point. I got drunk and acted out of character. My awesome fiance called me out on it today and it has put things in perspective for me. I'm going to down a dark path. So I decided to google fitness forums. Last week I saw a video about a virtual bully that joined a health forum and it changed his life. He dropped his old ways lost half 3/4 of his body weight (he was in the ball park of 600-700 lbs.) He said it wasn't possible with the help and encouragement of the forum members. I'm broke, and really sad. I don't know if any one will even read this but this is a cry for help. I want to change my life for good. I want to get in the best shape of my life. I hope someone sees this, I could really use the help. I'm tired of being good, I want to be great. If there's anyone out there listening, I don't have any more to offer but maybe we can do a trade-off. I paint and am a graphic-designer by trade. I hope to hear from some one soon. In trust, 2

So... I guess hello is a good place to start. As the topic title suggests, I've taken step one. I'm here and I've come to accept that I need help. I feel this is a positive step forward for me, since I'm usually the "do it all myself" kind of person. This has caused a big problem for me. I'm not the kind of person to dump my issues out into the open but in the interest of accountability I feel I need to. (Prepare for flashback in 3, 2, 1...) About seven years ago I finally decided I had enough with my weight issues, and with my future-husband going on a sixteen month deployment I decided to do something about it. I started working out every day. I did bellydance six times a week, even got to the point where I did performances and taught classes. I went from 167 lbs to 116 lbs in three months. If a 51 lb loss in three months doesn't raise a red flag for anyone in here, it should. It wasn't until after I got pregnant that I realized what I had done to myself. Turns out I was bulimic! (Cue sad trombone) It was sneaky, though, because my purge of choice was exercise (yes, that is considered a purge, as you will see). I was very strict with my caloric intake, keeping myself at no more than 1000 calories a day. And this wasn't 1000 calories worth of salads, either. I had no problem ordering a small meal from McDonald's to feed myself for the day and used online calculators to tabulate my daily caloric intake. I would then do a workout each evening, which primarily consisted of 45 minutes on the elliptical while watching Xena (I can do the Xena warcry rather well!). I didn't do much strength training, having bought the myth of bulky muscles on a woman with strength training, so I didn't really have any muscle tone. And about four times a week I would binge: two medium pizzas in one sitting, enough Chinese food to feed a family of four, a six pack and a pound from Taco John's. You get the idea. And inevitably, in order to "compensate for the calories," I would then spend anywhere from 4 to 6 hours on the elliptical afterwards. By the end of each session I would have a headache from dehydration (I wasn't drinking enough water in an effort to prevent "water weight"), my knees would be sore, my feet would be numb, and I'd be dizzy. But hey, it worked! I was thin. I didn't feel good, but I attributed that to the "suffering" of weight loss and not the method. And why would I think I had problem? I was eating everyday and exercise is healthy for you. Fast forward to today. My pregnancy was fraught with complications (but fortunately my son was born healthy). I now have chronic fatigue syndrome and dysthymia. My left knee cannot, I repeat, CANNOT bend beyond a 26 degree angle while bearing weight without intense pain (I've been tested) and I'm supposed to have knee surgery after we move later this year. And to top it off, I'm seven pounds heavier than when I started (which is going to make recovering from knee surgery even more difficult). So here I am. After a few attempts at weight loss, none of which were as extreme as before, and none working, I've decided that now is the time to ask for help keeping on track. I'm not looking to make any extreme changes, just get started and make some good habits. I am very much aware of my physical limitations but I see no reason why I can't work around them. After all, my arms work just fine, you don't need knees to do sit-ups or planks, and there are a variety of isometric exercises and work outs that don't involve putting too much strain on the knees. What I need now is someone to make sure I'm doing it. My husband, while supportive, travels for work and doesn't want me hurting myself. Which means that if I tell him I'm too tired one night, he'll be more than happy to not push me into doing anything. I'm trying to start slow. Very slow. I've already got some good habits down (I don't drink my calories, and my diet isn't bad) so I'm not worried about seeing results right now as much as I am working towards consistency. To that end, I've come up with the following goals. Health: Let's get hydrated! I have a 64 oz water bottle that I fill every day. However, I never finish it. For a health goal, I want to finish that bottle. Between that bottle and the water I drink in the morning and evening, this goal should help me maintain an adequate level of hydration. In the interest of going slow, I've decided that five days out of seven for this is passing. Less, and I've failed. Exercise: I like to move it, move it! As I've said before, there is no reason I can't do other exercises. With that in mind, while I'm binge-watching Supernatural, there are a few things I can do. I plan to start out with doing five sit-ups, five push-ups, five tricep dips and ten, count 'em, TEN minutes on the elliptical, three times a week. Why the five-five-five-ten? Because right now, being able to do even one of any of these is going to be work. I am not going to allow myself to do less than five of each but if I can do more I will. This will be built up each week as follows: add five sit-ups a week, one push-up and dip a week, and five minutes on the elliptical a week. By the end of this six week challenge, I should be up to 35 sit-ups, 11 push-ups and dips, and 45 minutes on the elliptical. Three times a week is a pass, less is a fail. Lifestyle: Bland is NOT beautiful As you can see, this entry is pretty dry. I want to learn how to jazz up my weekly posts, make them more visually entertaining to read. When I get comfortable my writing style is very entertaining but who wants to read far enough into something that looks like the visual equivalent of plain oatmeal? So, if anyone can give me tips on how to make these posts more striking, I will take them! Once a week, a new, hopefully prettier, post will appear summarizing the week. So there it is. First six weeks outlined. I need help, my fellow Assassins. Rally to my aid, and forever in your debt shall I be!

Hi all. Last year, around this time, I started on the path to improving my physical fitness as a means to improving my mental health. I made dietary changes (particularly, cutting out Energy Drinks) and did some basic bodyweight exercises (based around the Angry Birds plan) I was/am literally at the peak of fitness in my life - more so than when I wrestled, or when I played American Football. So I reached a point I was happy with and then... Stopped. For one, while I enjoy the results, I find working out itself ultimately leaves me feeling empty. At first I could burn through the exercises relatively quickly, but later on I was having to set aside 40 minutes to an hour which was difficult to work in to my routine and access. Also, the activities, while strenuous, were boring and left me feeling breathless but unfulfilled. On top of that, and to my annoyance, I don't find any kind of sports or exercise interesting (to watch or take part in) and have very limited access - I can sometimes eke out an 8' by 2' space to exercise in, during the daytime, when I'm not working. The nearest gym is roughly an hour away, and while the area I live in is not terrible, I don't feel comfortable leaving the house without a reason. So, fellow nerds - am I a lost cause?

Hello to everybody, I've just signed up, after a few days of coming and going through the website and the forums. I think you've build an awesome community and I hope I will learn a lot from you all. I'm ready to start a big work, which consists of several parts: putting on weight, strengthening myself, beating anxiety and more. I'll be starting soon a battle log to keep track of my progress and I will thank any help and support as I am thrilled by this new stage but also scared of not achieving my goals. I hope to talk to you soon

Hello all! I am IronAegis, and this is my first time posting to the Nerd Fitness forums, although I've been reading for a few months now. I loved the idea of a 6 week challenge and though I'd throw my hat into the ring for this one to spice things up a bit. Pictures and other fluff to come, but I wanted to at least get my post up. A Little About Me Well, for starters, I turned 30 this year, and in anticipation of this event, I decided to make a big push. I, like oh-so-many individuals, made a New Year's resolution to eat better and get back into shape. I did come up with a plan, worked toward improving my nutrition, and work out fairly regularly. It hasn't been a smooth downward path on the scale (As evidenced by a jagged upward spike in February when I went to Las Vegas for the first time in celebration of my birthday), but I have made significant progress. At my heaviest, I was 260 pounds, which needless to say I was not too happy about. Since the beginning of the year, I've hit a middle ground of sorts. I'm not exactly where I want to be, but I am down to 228 pounds, and the fitness gains have been quite noticeable. For this next challenge, I want to continue my weight loss, but also improve my overall body composition and put on additional muscle. I have a big frame, and I've lifted my share of heavy weights in the past, but ultimately functional strength is the goal. Ideally, I'd like to be able to be proud of the figure I've worked for when I look in the mirror. I am proud of the progress I've made, to be sure, but I'm just not there yet. Main Goal: Over the next 6 weeks, I'm endeavoring to lose an additional 10 pounds. This is modest, to be sure, but I'm hoping that muscle gains will make the look a bit more dramatic. How I'll Get There: Here are the three goals I have to lose those pounds and put on muscle: YOAG (Link here) workouts 3x per week. 2 EA Sports Active workouts per week (Gaming +Exercise fun!) Track my caloric intake each day (My Fitness Pal app has helped greatly with this) At least 7 hours of sleep per night (I sometimes have bouts of insomnia)Life Quest: Travel has been a goal of mine for some time, and I've found that as I've gotten into better shape, I'm more willing to put myself out there. I'd really like to make travel a priority and hope to visit 3 places I have never been to over the course of the year. For you JoCo fans, I'll be on the Joco Crazy Cruise (Link) in February. Well, that's all for now! Nice to meet you all, and I'll be sure to put up pictures and progress as I continue to flesh this post out.