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Hi!!!! Former Fito Freak that had a nasty injury mess with not only my body but my mind set as well. Put me into a very dark place that I've managed to get out of but now working on getting back to healthy happy fitness freak I love to be. I'm a dork and nerd and geek to the core. Love books, anime, video games, movies, and love making chainmaille. I used to be an avid trail runner till I fell and really screwed up my back. After healing from surgery I was told I could go back to running but I am honestly scared to death to go back to it. I have been thinking about other low impact ways to exercise and would love impute. Maybe swimming (gulp scared to death of deep water) or maybe biking (looks expensive). I loved lifting but have REALLY let my strength go. Will be starting pretty much everything from scratch. I really miss being on my trails running... I have been up a lot of them walking or hiking but still not the same. I just need to get myself back into that schedule that made me so successful before. Will be perusing around NF to get a workout schedule down and get my food intake back under control. Any friends and accountability partners welcome!

Hey, Rebels! I stumbled upon NF recently and I must say I love it. I am not going into a long introduction with a story and a challenge and stuff, because that's for a different place on the site.. I'm going to outline my basic understanding of the rules and my plan here. Any corrections and/or encouragement is welcome In the upcoming days: 1. I will write my "story" here on my character sheet https://www.nerdfitness.com/character/107930 I already have some quests over there - some of them are probably too complex and I should've broken them up, but ..oh well .. I shall learn the hard way .. 2. I will pick a guild and complete a LVL1 4week challenge. I will not cheat by including my already completed quests into that challenge - I will start and complete the quest properly (Monks FTW, BTW.. oh, and I want to multiclass to Monk / Druid as time goes by .. Actually, right now I just need to wake up my body with basic bodyweight training - after I feel a bit more confident, I will start lifting stuff to lose fat and build muscle - and around that time I will go see my EBMAS Sifu after what has been a prettty loooong radio silence and I'll try to pak sau his man sau.. ) Q: If I understand this correctly, I have to complete a 4 week LVL 1 challenge to be admitted into a guild, is that right? But I can start my thread in that guild's forum, can't I? Or do I automatically start as a Rebel (in their sub-forum of the challenge) and then after completing LVL1 I move to the Monks' sub-forum .. ? This is a bit unclear to me at the moment... 3. I will capitalize on this momentum and probably start seeing a difference, which will motivate me further (Actually, I already feel different and it's just been a week of improved eating and more sweating and panting due to Steve's "Beginner" (!!!) bodyweight training .. ) I still suck at sleeping, though.. It's 2:35 a.m. over here and I am in bed surrounded by gadgets, writing this on my laptop and mentally kicking my own ass for it .. Hey, at least my blinds are down .. 4. I will explore different ways of improving myself Stuff like tai chi, yoga, meditation, ninjutsu, chi kung / qi gong - whatever the spelling is , possibly parkour after I reach a sufficient level of fitness ... anyway, I imagine I will write more on these in my profile or put them in my epic quest progression .. This post is getting too long and straying from the original intention ... Oh, and let's not forget forex & futures trading --> so that I can quit my job --> so that I will have time to do all of these things properly and consistently in the first place To sum up, I am glad to be here and looking forward to leveling up with you guys Now show me your love, people ! yours sleepily, Tibor

Hi and whats up everyone? I registered far earlier on this forum but kind of busy with life and totally forgot about this awesome community. I couldn't think of a cool nickname either than using my own name with a number at the end of it. I know I'm boring.Bleehhk. Anyway, Yup, me name is Zaid from Singapore. I'm like living half way around the world and I believe it is the only Island that is recognized as a developed country. In fact it is the only island city-state. With only two seasons, Rain or Shine, those living here can't possibly have any excuses not to keep fit all year round isn't it? But I guess not. Lifestyle here is like so fast paced and you are expected to work long hours just to make ends meet. I'm currently a chemical process technician working for a German company called Evonik, the one who is sponsoring BVB Dortmund. Been working in shift for almost three years now and I would agree that shift work is hard on the body in addition to the physical labor job we need to do. We value our off days so much as we need them to recover from the workload and inconsistent sleeping time. To think about improving our fitness level would need a lot of motivation, hard work and proper strategy to prevent burning out. Luckily I'm single without many commitments to begin with. If my off days falls on a weekday, I would spend most of the time, working out, reading, studying and probably lazing off with my cat. If my off days falls on weekends, then that is when my schedule will start to get packed. When it comes to fitness, I used to be skinny and underweight, but now I'm having problems with tummy fats with small arms and legs. Probably due to irregular sleeping time affecting my weight now. It's very confusing for me. It's like I want to grow stronger and bigger but my tummy is the only thing that grows faster and easily. Annooyyyiing:/..haha I have just joined membership with Anytime Fitness, hopefully I can start with a beginner workout regime and see results..CANT WAIT.. Anyway if anyone is on shift too and hitting the gym, do beep me Id love to hear your advice. Also,if anyone coming to Singapore for vacation you can beep me for some tips going around here!:D Here are some awesome place to go!

. I have been lurking around the site for years. I participated in a few 6 week challenges that didn't go well. after a long hiatus I starting over from scratch. I realize that i never introduce myself to the community. Hello my name is Marcus. I also go by Marc or Mac or West. I am 6'5 and 380 pounds. I am lost and do not know what to do. I will like your help.

Hi everBODY. I'm Jade Pint and I'm not all that new to NerdFitness but I am still learning my way around the academy. I've just been kind of lurking in the background for a while. I'm a 31 year old mom of 3, who is a giant child and likes to watch cartoons (MLP FTW). I used to lift regularly but I quit back in late Feb to mid March?? when I injured my shoulder, tearing my bicep tendon and spraining my rotator cuff. I'm angry with myself for letting things get as bad as they have. Since my PT told me no lifting at all, I used that as an excuse to eat...and eat...I had only gained about 10 pounds but my muscle quality has clearly gone down considerably and my size has increased quite a bit. I'm ready to start moving my aft again. So, NF to the rescue. I have big dreams that I would love to accomplish someday (preferably sooner than later) but for now, I'll just take baby steps and work on my food intake and inactivity. I am an eater. I eat when I'm stressed and I eat when I'm bored. I am not eating absentmindedly either. I know full well what I'm doing. I weigh the consequences, realize that it's a huge step back from what I want, then I eat it anyways cuz food. I want to get back to tracking my macros and meal prepping to keep me from just stuffing whatever into my face. Anywho, this isn't an All About Me or anything but it's my starter goals for getting back to my fit life!

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)

Alas, the time has come. No more half-assed attempts. No more whiny excuses. I used to be quite the bad ass. Mountain biker, kayaker, rock climber. If it was outdoors and didn't require killing something, I was in. But then, the injuries started piling up. Left knee no cartiledge. Right thumb, right big toe, osteoarthritis. Then the slammer, rheumatoid arthritis. Shit man, I'm falling apart, my life is over, I can't do the things I love. So I wallowed in this place for many years, taking the drugs, throwing the drugs out the window, hating life. I ate too much, exercised too little, gave up on living. But now I'm back. All that crap? I threw it in the fuckit bucket. I'm riding my mountain bike again, I've signed up for two 5Ks, one in June and the other in August, and I still have 20-30lbs to lose, but I'm ready to work the program. My first challenge is ready to post, so all I have to do now is hold my nose and jump right in. Pass me the sunscreen will ya?

Hey guys, So I have had quite a journey up to this point, although I am stuck treading water in an eddy and feel like I am bobbing underwater too often. I have tried to get back into shape since a broken ankle/leg last year and it has been several years of struggling with fitness. I used to be a decent athlete, and all the injuries have piled up and slowed me down considerably. I just picked up 'Level Up Your Life' and so far it has connected with me pretty significantly. I have a lot of things that I need to get organized, and things that I need to change to get back to a better me. I am very close to signing up for the Academy, but this newfound anxiety is affecting me with that decision as well. I have about a million other things to say, but I really just need to try and get that first step back in and put work towards the mounting list of goals that I have been ignoring.

I'll be continuing on the path to a body weight bench press. Bench Goal 1: Be methodical Last challenge I switched up my program three times trying to manage recovery, and realized I was just biting more than I could chew and decided to back off and retrain my base. So... I'll be doing Starting Strength from the near beginning. For this goal I have to stick to the plan: (spoilered cuz long and complicated) A bit wordy because I need to lay down specifics for myself and things I can check off to make sure I've done all I can. tl;dr Stick to the program until you've gotten all you can get from it. 1) Don't take big unnecessary jumps on lifts 2) Try to maintain LP as long as possible by decreasing weight increases 3) Put recovery first 4) Don't jump into an intermediate program when I get bored. Sidequest: Buy or make fractional plates/weights. Grading: ... ? Just stick to the plan pass/fail. I doubt I'll encounter any big challenges this first month, so there are not really any excuses. Bench Goal 2: Be Consistent Maintain 2-3 weekly workouts. Track workouts using fitnotes. Sidequest: I've dusted off my battle log recently. I'll be posting all my workouts their. I want to get back to maintaining it so I have records not tied to challenge threads which are basically like toilet paper: use then flush. Grading: 12 workouts = A, 8 = D, <8 = F Goal 3, Track nutrition I need to get back to logging on MFP. Every day. Tracking macros. Grading: Percent of days tracked, usual scale. >90 A, <60 F Goal 4, Track weight and waistline first thing every morning. Measure each once a week. Grading: Same as nutrition. Sidequest: Identify the monthly trends Once I have all this data tracked I want to make sure I assess it and make sense of it at the end of the month in some kind of report. It would be good to observe when my weight spikes or decreases, and see if it's affecting my lifting. LUYL: Job Hunt: I need more money so I'm going to start looking around. So one application a week sounds good. I also want to explore within Amazon, where I currently work, for pathways into other departments/advancement. 5pts total. **************************************************** Weekly Measurements: Week Weight Waist Avg_Cals Avg_Pro Bench 0 273.6 39.5" -- -- 120 (5x5) 1 273.3 39.0" 2900 189 130 (5x5) 2 272.6 41.0" 3182 189 140 (5x5) 3 270.1 39.25" 3209 189 150 (5x5)

OK, first ever four week challenge. And a day late but better today than tomorrow, right? 1. No bread 2.At least one veggie with two meals per day 3. 10 min Pilates per day 4. Meditate using Headspace app daily Ultimate goal is to lose 60lb by my birthday at the end of November...

Here goes my first challenge, so hopefully I set this thing up right. Goal 1: Workout 5 days/week. I'll be alternating 'heavy' lifting days with active recovery days for now, so actual lift days should happen 3-4 times/week. These will start as home workouts until I join a local gym (see LUYL). Active recovery will be spent mostly attempting a couch to 5k program, unless I get too tired or too busy and use it as a rest day. Goal 2: Complete 3 weeks of the C25k program. I've already progressed to week 3 in the C25k app, so I'm hoping to hit week 6 by the end of the month. Not sure how many days i may have to repeat/skip though. Goal 3: Eat 1 veggie per meal 5 days/week. I really want to say everyday, but I highly doubt my ability to commit to such a feat for a whole month. LUYL: Get a job and then join a gym. Having recently moved to a new area, I am currently lacking in both of these areas, and need to fix that quickly. Really wish that I could start some serious gym workouts now, but my wallet is sad enough already without income.

Hi all, I'm starting again (as so many of us have) but this time I'm heeding Steve's advice and making small adjustments. I'm 43 and have always been a little overweight. I gave up smoking 13 years ago when I woke up one morning and literally did not want to smoke anymore. Well, this year, I've had a similar epiphany with my weight loss and fitness. I just don't want to be that tubby guy anymore I ran a half marathon and a 5K endurance/tough mudder event last year and really enjoyed it. Motivation (or lack of it) has always been my nemesis however as I said, I feel different this time. I just hope I can keep it up! As for guilds I'm going to stay a rebel for a little while and see how I go. I do have one question which I hope someone can answer or point me in the right direction. I've started the Beginners Bodyweight exercises but want to go onto the Advanced but how do I know when the right time is? I've only been doing them for a week and am certainly feeling it from a muscles point of view, but when should I move on? Or should I modify the Beginners workout to more reps, or slightly different exercise variations? Probably needs posting in a different forum I appreciate but if anyone can point me in the right direction I'd appreciate it Thanks for reading.

Hi there! New-ish to Nerd Fitness and making a proper go of it for 2016. I'm half Warrior, half monk class-wise as I am loving heavy lifting, but have done martial arts for years. Which brings me to the point of the post... I've done traditional Tae Kwon Do (to black belt level) but I'm looking for a new club, having moved away from my old one. I figured it was time to maybe switch up disciplines so- any recommendations? Aikido has intrigued me so far, as well as Jeet Kune Do, but I'm just wondering if anyone has had experience with switching up martial arts? Thanks!

MJ's sticks his head out from behind the hulking shape of a tree and can see that there is no one for miles around, one large hoof at a time he moves away from the tree and away from every comfort he had in his life. As far as he was aware, he was the first Centaur to leave The Forest to set out on his own. This was the start of a new day and his new life, he was nervous but overwhelmingly excited for what laid ahead of him. He headed for the small road just ahead and he thinks back to what lead him to this. In The Forest, MJ had the pleasure of eating what he wanted, drinking what he wanted and damn well doing whatever it was that made him happy. But he began to realise, he was not happy. He enjoyed the activities and meals but he noticed he could no longer keep up with his friends and the rest of the Herd. Where he was once the proud leader during The Game, he had fallen behind and could no longer keep up and the Herd had noticed. At first it did not worry him, but as it dwelled on his mind he knew something had to change. *GOAL ALERT* - Lose 5kgs (11lbs) by the end of the challenge "I will head North." He thought. "There is a town 20 leagues North of the forest, as that is where the traders who come to The Forest looking for the Herds armour and bows are from." Head down looking at the road beneath his hooves he set out, walking, because he could no longer trot for any large length of time. *GOAL ONE* - Walk for at least 10 minutes daily 3 STA - 24+ Days 2 STA - 15 - 23 Days 1 STA - 10 - 14 Days After a few hours of walking down the road he started to get thirsty and went to his pack to pull out some Sweet Forest Apple Cider. But he remembered this was part of the problem. He had grown accustomed to drinking the sugary nectar of the forest that rather than being a treat, it had become a daily drink. He also had the foresight to not include any on his journey. He knelt down to the river that was running adjacent to the road sipped until he had had his share and filled his flask full of the fresh running water. *GOAL TWO* - Drink more water daily 3 CON - 3L per day - 24+ Days 2 CON - 2L per day - 15 - 23 Days 1 CON - 1L per day - 10 - 14 Days As dusk approached, MJ set up camp on the side of the road next to the river. Sitting by the fire he had created he felt worn out from the days travel but knew he should be doing something more to help him prepare for the coming adventure. He reflected on some teachings from when he was younger. His mentor Chiron had taught him a number of exercises that could be done with just his body alone to help his strength and flexibility. The longer he sat there, the more he remembered and once he was confident that he had recalled as much information as possibe, he pulled out his journal and wrote it all down. *GOAL THREE* - Body Weight Exercises and Yoga N.B - to achieve the 3 STR and 2 DEX the following must be completed with the adequate rest days in between - 12 days body weight exercises, 16 days of yoga. Failure to do so drops down to 2 STR and 1 DEX. 3 STR, 2 DEX - 3 days of body weight exercises, 4 days of yoga a week 2 STR, 1 DEX - 2 days of body weight exercises, 3 days of yoga a week 1 STR - 1 day of body weight exercises, 2 days of yoga a week Looking back on his first day of this new adventure and life, he knows he has mapped out the immediate future, but whether he sticks to it or not, that is the real test TL;DR - MJ - Centaur - Level 0 - | STR 0 | DEX 0 | STA 0 | CON 0 | WIS 0 | CHR 0 |

Greetings, fellow warriors! I'm brand new here. Ooh shiny new, as in just joined today. I thought I'd give a brief intro to my warrior kin before I lay out my challenges. My geekery I'm a Tolkienphile. I love the movies, the books, the collecting - the whole bit. I even study Tolkien via online courses. I have many nerd passions, but this one runs the deepest. I also love playing MMOs, which I can happily combine with my Tolkien love in Lord of the Rings Online. My icon is my dwarf Rune-keeper, whom I capped just a couple of weeks ago. I'm into a lot of other geeky pursuits, including attending SDCC yearly, but I could be here all night listing them all. I'd rather getting this posted and jump right in! About my journey My goal is to get fit. Or rather, get fit again. Just 4 years ago I was lifting weights and even did a couple of triathlons for the challenge of it. I was pretty fit. Then I just let it all go. I can't even say why or how it seemed to happen quickly, but I've spent too much time remembering how fit I was and thinking of doing something about it "next week." I think connecting with other nerds who are similarly motivated is really going to be the motivation and encouragement I need. I'm so happy to be here! I have about 80 lbs to lose, and some serious reworking of my eating habits. I know I can do it - I've done it once already. I just need to get back on that track. My goal is to get back to my previous fitness and then improve on it. I want to return to Olympic lifting, my favorite, and better all of my previous PRs. I also want to lose enough weight that I feel comfortable returning to crossfit, another love. Right now, I Current challenge I'm going to take a few suggestions from the Level 1 challenge page for my first challenge. Diet Eat a vegetable with at least one meal per day Eat one fresh fruit every day Fitness Strength training 3x/week (I think I read that there are suggested workouts on NF - I need to find those) Level Up Your Life Meditating 5 minutes a day So there it is, and here I am! I look forward to getting to watching my progress and cheering everyone on in theirs!

I'm a relative noob to NF. Last spring/summer I joined the Academy and was making some good progress, but dropped off toward the end of the summer/early fall. Now I'm excited to start the year by getting back into the battle and training for greater combat! Diet 1. Eat at least one vegetable every day. 2. Cook 2+ meals every week. Fitness 3. Walk 10+ minutes every day. 4. Play tennis Go for a run every week. Level Up Your Life 5. Meditate 5+ minutes 3+ days a week. Each challenge is worth 5XP for a complete week. So it's 25XP each week when all 5 challenges are met, for a total of 100XP at the end of the month. I'm training to be a Druid-ish Ranger, so I wanted to start a Druid habit (meditation) and a Ranger habit (walking) with this challenge.

6'2" - 6'3" depending on posture, 185 lbs BW, 32 yo, male, .... Canadian? Okay, so I'm relatively new to the lifting things game. I've got about 2 months down including the current 4 week challenge. I'm looking for the same helpful information you're sharing with everybody else but tailored to my noob ass. Please help. This is face on for a 162.5 lbs workset (the same one I failed to hit 5x5 twice prior but got it today) https://drive.google.com/file/d/0ByTP-s6sfmp2ZWt3alRKdjBjU3M/view?usp=sharing Side view, same weight, next set https://drive.google.com/file/d/0ByTP-s6sfmp2ZlVFZEFGZld6NnM/view?usp=sharing And yeah... I see what that first video looks like now At least turn the sound off

Background: I created an account on NerdFitness a while ago-don't remember exactly when, and I don't remember my username. Anyway, I stopped after a few weeks because I got annoyed by a post I read. Stupid reason, I know. Anyway....I've been working out fairly regularly since last year. Got in decent shape-not anything to write home about, but at 212 lbs I was benching 3x5x265, so I was doing something right even if my diet wasn't awesome. Then came my fall semester of electrical engineering-my final semester. Between having to do a RF design course for teams by myself (long story) and being the project leader for my senior design group, I had no time to east healthy or workout-and even when I did have time I was too tired and made excuses not to go. I lost most of my gains, and gained a bunch of weight. Wah, wah, woe is me... So now that I'm done with school and have a job (thanks be to God...literally ) I am now taking my health seriously, and I'm going to give this another try. My stats: Male, 24, muscular build but tending to fat (runs in the family...thanks dad), 230 lbs and 5'9". I am beginning with Mark Rippetoe's starting strength program. I am using a combination of MyFitnessPal and a Garmin Vivofit 2 to track calories. Goals: Diet: Eat green vegetables at least once a day Record at least two meals per day in MyFitnessPal Fitness: Workout 3 times a week. If I follow starting strength this should not be a problem. I sometimes have to travel for work, so if that interferes I will replace the iron with a bodyweight work. Level up your life: Go to bed on time at least 3 times a week. Hopefully I can get more than this, but I like to read in the evenings and sometimes lose track of time. I'm not going to worry about character generation or picking a guild until the challenge is over (although I would like to be a warrior). I got caught up in that way too much when I tried this before. Keeping it simple for now. If anyone has any suggestions, comments, etc., please feel free to let me know. PS---The title of the post references the fact that I just finished college, hence "the end of the beginning"....I try to be clever

Hi! I am very new to "this" site and I saw in a post Steve saying there is a community of people willing to welcome me with hands. So starting off, I am kind of a beginner to fat loss methods and exercises and I was wondering if anyone here could tell me in a little detail (cut out all the basic info) on where to begin, what to do etc. I saw that Steve mostly recommends Paleo diet and strength training. But here's what, I don't have access to the gym and I live in India where getting food that is completely natural and void of artificial stuff/hormones is somewhat impossible. I am at 200 pounds but that's not fully fat. Don't have a fat caliper to measure it since its not very common here. I believe I have a pretty good set of biceps and am able to lift up to 50 kgs on my "forearm". Yes, you heard it right. I am a little fat at the chest, abdomen and thigh areas. So if anyone could tell me exactly what I should be doing under these conditions I would really be grateful. -mrforhelp

Hey Guys, Just finished out a profile and thought that an introduction post was in order. Once upon a time, I was fit...like REALLY fit. I've got a 2nd Dan ranking in Isshin Ryu, and kickboxed competitively for a while. Then, I got married and had kids. The thought of having teeth knocked out and then showing up to the office on Monday with an eye swollen shut just didn't have the same appeal. I still lifted weights regularly, but let my diet and conditioning go. I eventually settled into a groove where as long as my lifts were holding well, then I "must" be getting stronger, but it's easy to be strong+chubby and out of shape. My wife is a yogi, and she managed to finally drill through my thick head that I needed to find some balance. As such, about 1.5 years ago, I took up Tai Chi (Cheng Man-Ching form, for those who'd care). It really helped open my eyes as to how much flexibility I'd lost, and that I needed to be lean and feel spry again. I've been steadily polishing my diet and workouts every day, and ran across this website while just browsing around. The idea really appeals to me, as I played MUDs back in the day and dig RPGs. So, signed up. I'm still pretty sketchy on how 'leveling up' and such works, but I'm sure I'll get it soon enough. I'd have sworn I was a monk until I read the article that says that tai-chi is normally relegated to druids, and I DO do yoga with my wife some times these days. Can I be a taoist monk who like nature and punching things? Also, count me in for having fun with this, because I'm all about fun challenges and such. ...getting profile in order now, Foo

Hello everyone, I am pretty new to NF only been around for about 2 weeks so far but I have been going throught the steps slowly. Already I have cut out soda and started walking on my breaks at work. I am a little worried to start a challenge so soon but I don't want to wait around until next year to get into the action. I am level 0 so I grabbed my stick and I am ready to squish some rats and get my first level up. I am pretty out of shape. I was in the military when I was younger and that is what pushed me away from working out. I guess being forced to workout is why I have not done any fittness really since I was discharged. I slowly balloned up to about 270 after the military and 2 years ago decided I had to make a change. I switched from drinking beer to Whiskey, after sticking to that for a year I had lost almost 40 Lbs. (yea I was drinking that much beer!) Its been another year and at the begining I had lost even more, but in the second half of the year my oven has broken pushing me to eat out pretty much every meal, and I have shot up to 245. I am ok with having a beer belly, I really dont care that much how I look. Now I am getting pain when I do simple tasks. I have pressure on my chest anytime I do anything too physical. I am NOT okay with that, time for a change. I have decided to get on track and start on a path to keep myself in good condition. I really care how this is going to make me feel and don't really care about how I look as much. I am looking forward to showing that I can keep track of what I do workout wise and keep going even if I mess up here and there. I have added a side quest to Meditate 3 times a week so that I can build focus in my life. So far I have only tried this a couple of times but already I have noticed it helping me elsewhere in my life. My plan is to get used to making good choices about what I eat, sticking to a workout schedule, and taking 30 minutes for myself each week to meditate. I am going to be tracking each of my goals here in this thread weekly and using coach.me for the daily reminders. I am going to do the following in this challenge:Stick to my chosen diet NF level 4 no soda (23 days so far!) 2/3 vegies per meal 1/3 protein bread/pasta 2 times a week start trying to eat fruit (I don't like most fruits) track everything I eat on evernote Mindful eating eat breakfast every weekday Strength train 3 days a week using the NF Bodyweight brigade workout plan get better every workout dont skip cooldowns PT extra on shoulder (injury from motorcycle accident) Walk 2 days a week at the park near my house (1 laps) Stretch afterwords Meditate 3 days a week in the backyard after work 10 min per session I am posting my begining mesurments and weight and will update much better mesurments after the challenge. Biceps: R - 13.5 L - 14 Chest: 46 Stomach: 50 Thighs: R- 26 L- 25 Calves: R- 17 L- 17 Neck: 16.5Weight: 232 (Pre NF weight 244.4) Edit: today is the start of the challenge so I wanted to get a starting point. I weighed myself and was very surprised that even before starting the challenge I have lost some. (Must have been all that soda I was drinking)

Hey there, I'm looking to become a druidish person eventually, but for now I'm a lowly neophyte Nerd Fitnesser. Anyone in the same boat, or want me in theirs?

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

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

Hi – I’m Alocin. This is my second go at a challenge – I abandoned one last year while I had some horrible, no-good, very-bad health issues. My backstory is that I lost almost 25 kilos (approx 55 pounds) in 2013-14, through getting a handle on eating better and portion sizes, getting back into swimming, taking up yoga and starting to run (C25K). I was in a really good place for a long time, and was on the cusp of getting down into a healthy weight range for the first time since my late teens/early 20s. Then, about a year ago, I was diagnosed with severe depression and anxiety, as well as regularly working 12-15 hour days. I was at such a low point, and so snarled up in my head, that exercising only made things worse. I had panic attacks in the pool, out running and, most embarrassingly, in yoga class. So, I stopped. And started comfort-eating. However, I have since made a lot of other changes to get better. I got medical help and I changed jobs. But, I’ve regained almost all the weight I lost, I’m back in the ‘obese’ BMI category, I can’t fit into most of my clothes (I got rid of almost all my plus-size stuff!), and my immune system has tanked – I have had every single cold and flu bug going around this year. So, now life is on track, my main quest is to re-establish good, sustainable health and fitness habits. My motivation is a sailing trip in south east Asia in late November. I want to be fit enough to feel unselfconscious about participating in activities like paddleboarding, hiking, snorkelling and helping sail the yacht (as well as being able to easily get on and off the damn thing!) without worrying about being the fat, out-of-breath lady on board. Quest 1: Improve my food intake by (1) tracking calories on MyFitnessPal (2) only eating out/getting takeaway when socialising and making better food choices when doing so. (Defining ‘better food choices’: no takeaway pizza, no McDonalds, no Oportos or similar, no cheese or chocolate pig outs. Limited, planned and accounted-for ‘treats’, eg a piece of birthday cake, are ok, as is limited, planned and accounted-for alcohol consumption, eg an occasional glass of wine with dinner.) Measurement: Calorie tracking: A = hit calorie target every week B = hit calorie target four weeks out of six C = hit calorie target three weeks out of six D = hit calorie target two weeks or fewer out of six Better food choices: A = no fast food/pig outs B = fast food/pig out once per week C = fast food/pig outs twice per week D = fast food/pig outs three or more times per week I’ll score calorie tracking overall at the end of the challenge, and the better food choices per week, then I’ll average the two for the end result. Quest 2: Re-establish my exercise habits by (1) completing a 30 days of yoga challenge (2) doing 3 x C25K sessions per week (3) 30 mins of laps in the pool 2 x per week. Measurement: Yoga: A = 30 consecutive days completed B = 25 consecutive days completed C = 20 consecutive days completed D = fewer than 20 consecutive days completed Running: A = all sessions completed B = 2 x sessions completed and/or 3 sessions with any incomplete C = 1 x session completed and or 2 sessions with any incomplete D = no complete sessions Swimming: A = 2 sessions completed B = 1 session completed and/or 2 sessions with any incomplete C = 1 incomplete session D = no pool visits Yoga score overall, running and swimming per week, then I’ll average them all together at the end. Quest 3: Improve sleeping habits by being tucked up in bed by 10pm Sunday-Thursday, no TV/Netflix in the bedroom, plus eye-mask. Measurement: A = Five nights B = Four nights C = Three nights D = Two nights or less Life quest: Throw more dinner parties/lunches for friends at my place. Being connected to my social network is important for my wellbeing. Plus, I’ll clean my house when they come round – and I can control the menu. Measurement: A = three times B = twice C = once D = none. Concerns/challenges: I’m booked in for a weekend away with friends who are major food and wine connoisseurs in the middle of the challenge. I need to put a plan in place for how to handle that weekend both score-wise and so it doesn’t throw me off track. Additionally, I’ve also been really unwell with colds/flu this year, and it’s smack-bang in the middle of flu season. I need to decide how I’m going to deal with scoring if I get sick mid-challenge. Rewards: I’m not an RPG/gamer person – my nerdery is more the books and politics variety, so the points make no sense to me but, I’m going to appeal to my fashionista side. A: That really super-duper expensive handbag I’ve been eyeing off for months. (I figure the $$ saved on junk food will help towards this!) B: A new work suit. (Even with a B, I think I may shift down a size. If not, I need work clothes!) C: A new pair of shoes. D: Nada.