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Kestrel leaned back against the trunk of the old pine tree and watched the rain continue to sheet down. In some parts of the world, Spring apparently arrived with a gentle sigh. In these mountains, it ROARED. She had come a long ways today and was so close to home that she could smell it, but she would prefer not to drown or freeze, so she hesitated. There is a bottle of mead in my pack, she thought, and a nip before going onwards might be just what is needed… Kestrel sighed and pushed away from the tree and out into the downpour. There would be time enough for the mead later, and this bottle was the Tavern’s finest. It deserved to be savoured. Welcome to Zero Week of the Kestrel – Choose Your Own Adventure – Story! There will be four challenges that need to be met each week for the success of the story segment, and any failures will impact the outcome of the story. I am also shaking up my exercise routine quite a bit and trying out P90X3 (the 30 minute version) for the next 90 days in place of my regular 3/week strength training. The Challenges Strength What: daily P90X3 session for the Classics rotation. OCR training classes can be substituted for any P90X session. Why: I am hoping this gives me a boost in my push-ups/chin-ups stats. ‘Cause they’re currently at zero. Flexibility What: daily yoga mini-session from NerdFitness Yoga Academy. Full sessions are also fine. Why: I am hindered on some of the OCR obstacles due to inflexibility Communication What: daily Spanish practise, any amount or type. Why: I would like to get through the rest of the course books that I have for Spanish and try to get through the Spanish TV drama series in preparation for starting Skype conversations again. Health What: follow a rough macro-tracking meal plan of 5 servings protein, 5 servings fat, and 10 servings carbs per day (all healthy) Why: I’ve noticed my weight creeping up a little recently and I would like to stop this while staying fueled for training. This rough-estimate way of tracking seems doable and effective.

I'll give it a go in the dailly battle logs. Seems like a good way to help myself keep on-track. I chose the user name, M.O.S., to represent Master of Self/self-mastery which is my number one goal right now. I've done P90X a couple times and I met my goal of completing my first Spartan Race. Now what I need to do is find consistency on a day-to-day basis with my fitness and nutrition. I'll use this battle log for greater accountability.

Story: Nightcrawler's best friend growing up was his adoptive brother, Stefan. Even as children, Stefan could feel a growing darkness inside himself. Terrified of this, he forced Kurt into a blood pact, swearing that if Stefan were to ever give in to this evil, Kurt was to stop him at any cost. Not believing his best friend and brother ever capable of such darkness, Kurt immediately pushes the thought from his mind and forgets about the silly pact. Now, as Nightcrawler heads home from his long struggle escaping the imprisonment and abuse of the freak show in the American circus, that promise is the furthest thing from his mind. He reflects on the changes he has seen within himself these last several weeks. He is now much more flexible, which will aid in his tumbling and acrobatic skills when he returns to his home circus. Equally, if not even more exciting, Nightcrawler has developed a new ability: Teleportation! With conscious effort, he can envision himself in another location and, in the blink of an eye and a cloud of smoke, he finds himself there! He can't wait to show his family his two incredible new skills! His excitement is quickly forgotten as he arrives home and finds the village nearby terrorized by a recent string of murders. Upon investigation, Kurt learns that Stefan is the one responsible and has been killing children from the village! The promise made years previous comes back to him as Nightcrawler prepares to confront his best friend. It will take all of Nightcrawler's willpower and determination to face his closest friend. I was originally planning to take a martial arts class, but my work schedule just does not allow for me to commit to anything. Instead, I will focus on the determination required of Nightcrawler in order to fight his friend and brother. Main Quest: Back handsprings continue to be my main goal. I made great strides in the last challenge, landing two back handsprings on the floor and adding a back tuck after the back handspring on the trampoline! This is the last full challenge before Rose City Comic Con, which lands two weeks after the end! Last chance to move my back handspring to the ground so I can handspring down the hall at the convention! Missions: 1. P90X. I will be following the P90X program for the duration of this challenge! I will be giving myself some leeway in the interest of time. With the con coming up, I have a LOT to get done. On days that I will for sure be able to make it to gymnastics, I will not be doing the P90X workout. I am also choosing not to do the optional stretching video on Sundays. 2. Protein. Carrying this over from the last two challenges. 130 grams of protein per day every day. 2. Willpower. NO MOVIE THEATER POPCORN! Probably the biggest obstacle for my weight loss at this point! This will be VERY difficult for me because I LOVE going the the movies and eating popcorn!! 3. Stretching. Carrying this one over too. I WILL get into the splits by the end of this challenge and hopefully have progressed enough to actually be comfortable in them. One minute hold in six different stretches and each type of split EVERY DAY. Life Quest: Finish my Nightcrawler costume!! LOTS to do before the convention!!

"A sound soul dwells within a sound mind and a sound body." Hello nerds. I'm a nerd. I'm a research engineer with a two year old mini-me IRL. I have had so many false starts (several 6 month bursts) and it seems like every 5-10 years I gain another 5-10 lbs. A couple days ago I set out on a new quest to de-clutter my head, my house, and my body. Perfect timing for my first challenge. I've been a member of NF for over a year. Devouring blogs and doing workouts but I've never posted before. After regaining 10 lbs of the weight I lost and lost nearly all of the strength I gained last year I think its time for support. My 6 week challenge will be in two parts, since I already embarked and set my own goals. I'll do my weigh in and measure at the end of the first 6 week challenge. These might seem like they are overly ambitious but I don't mean for this challenge to be my way of life. I need a boost to reboot my body. A 90 day boost. 90 days I can do. After that I plan to do yoga in the am and then go to the gym 4 days a week to lift free weights/ TRX or attend one of the classes below. I am happiest when I work out daily, thus the day of rest/meditation. I don't drink soda and I love vegatables but I still have a carbs addiction. I'm not diet focused right now as once my regular mood returns, diet isn't really an issue and is mostly paleo+rice by accident. Start: BMI: 25 (targeting ~21) height: 5'4" pants size: uncomfortable 6/8 (for my height/body "comfortable 4/6" is toned and healthy, 2/4 is sickly on me) skin: blotchy and stretchy from losing 50+ lbs of pregnancy weight and having no muscle mass and high BMI mood: stressed, depressed, anxious, but improving and starting to be positive and hopeful towards fitness, life, and general outlook Main Quest: 90 Days of Awesome:1st Chronicles For six weeks+3 days I will stick to my plan to include the following specific goals: P90X 5 days a week (I don't like their yoga or their stretch videos) (4-5x= A, 3x =B, 2x=C, 1x=D, 0=F)Gym 3 days a week (to include cycling, free weights, bodyweight circuits, TRX, UXF Burn, or Hatha Yoga) (3x =A, 2x=B, 1x=C, 0=F)Rest or meditate 1 day a week (1=A, 2=B, 3=C, 4=D, 5+ or 0=F) Side Quest: attend the bodyweight class at work once (gold star)perform pull up without assistance (Chronicle 2 will be 10 of these since I am almost to one already) (gold star) Life Quest: Dave Ramsey Baby Step 2: Pay off all Debt (I've been on this one for 6 months already... I've already cut my debt by over 50%!! It will probably take another 2 years to finish this step if I keep my 'gazelle' intensity)Motivation: To be happy & at peace with myself, to be the best me I can be for God, myself, and my family.

Braaaaaiii-*cough* God, I hate it when that happens.... Hello all you warm-blooded beating heart fellows! I'm Ceysth, your average radioactive zombie come back from the dead to terrorize and eat share with all of you my quest to restoring myself back to a better me. Here's a little info about me to get you guys started: I'm a 26 year old male, 5'11" and 220 lbs. I'm out of shape (21% body fat last I checked) and I'm looking at getting back into a physically fit status. Back in high school, I used to be an instructor in TaeKwonDo (hence why I'm connecting with the Monks here) and I would very much like to get back to that level of fitness. Since high school, I joined the military and became a nuclear engineer (Hence the radioactive part of the race) and due to the incredibly high academic requirements of that job, have pretty much let myself go. So what am I looking for? Well, I'd like to get the strength and flexibility of a martial artist's body back and to raise my endurance as well (maybe cross class a bit into some assassin? Shadowdancer anyone?) I'll have my goals posted up in a bit, but for now I just want to join a friendly community of like-minded nerds (who are 20% cooler than the non-like minded nerds who troll) Strengths: Adaptive and able to learn new things quickly. With the right motivation, I can be very very dedicated. I also love Apples more than Applejack. I consider that a strength. Weaknesses: I'm a foodie...which is a double-edged sword. I love eating good food, and trying new food. But that leads to caloric intake problems. So that's me in a nutshell, and I can't wait to get started working out with you guys and leading the charge into a fitter nerd-dom. Cheers.

Today's workout was Isometrix- Balance heavily routine holding various Yoga Positions for 45 seconds, taking out the flow and keeping all the struggle of each pose. Six Week Challenge Number II: MAIN GOAL: Build on Good Habits formed during 1st Six Week Challenge This is my second Six Week Challenge on NF, only a week between them. I'll be using this Six Week Challenge to push myself further then last time and continue to cement these new habits into my life. QUEST 1: Finish P90X3 Classic 1 Schedule. This Six Week Challenge will cover the last 5 Main Weeks of P90X3 and the Recovery Week before taking the After Fit Test. Using the Accountability I set in the first Six Week Challenge I will continue to stick to the schedule and for the first time ever finish one of these exercise programs. I plan to intensify my work outs, pushing myself farther by using daily goals. Examples: Modify X Exercise Less or Not At All, Add X Number Reps or Take Less Breaks During Cardo. Potential Increase to: Dex (+2 Points), Str (+2 Points), Sta (+3 Points). QUEST 2: Continue To Improve Nutrition. This comes with two parts- 1: Eat 100% Paleo Diet One Day a Week. It'll allow me to try the diet without jumping in too deep too fast. Additionally I hope to will influence my total diet weekly to be even more healthier then I have already gotten it to. 2: In Addition to the above I'm going to try at least Two New Healthy Meal Recipes a week. Figured this will help keep me out of a rut of eating the same things over and over again. Potential Increase to: Wis (+3 Points), Con (+2 Points) QUEST 3: Bonus Round: Add an additional 15-20 Minute Workout that Compliments the Day's Workout every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Sunday's I don't have filming add a 30 Minute Yoga Routine to the day. Figure this will help me push myself further and get closer to getting use to a full hour long routine for Working Out. Potential Increase to: Dex (+1 Points), Con (+1 Points) LIFE GOAL: Finalize Entry to this years Nicholl's Fellowship Screenwriting competition before March 31st. Potential Increase to: Wis (+1 Points), Cha (+1 Points)

Hello everyone! This is my first ever post so forgive me if I seem a little lost, but I am extremely excited to be here! I'm horrible about introducing myself, but I'll give it my best shot! My name is Tess411 and I'm 18 years old. My fitness journey began sophomore year of high school when I decided that being overweight wasn't really for me, ha. I'm 5'2 so not only was my weight making me lethargic, but every little pound I gained was reflected back on me 10-fold. Most of my issues were due to poor eating habits-not for lack of activity (I played varsity soccer during high school, I still love it but unfortunately hardly play anymore). Not going to lie, I had some major self-esteem issues when losing weight and lost it in an unhealthy fashion. It took me basically a year to get over my "I'm fat" mentality and get over the numbers (because without the strength to back it up, who needs numbers,right?). Fast forwarding to the present: I'm currently 100lbs (working on gaining some weight through lifting) and have no strength. While I look like I'm in shape, I'm not even close. I'm hoping to work on more weight-lifting strategies so I can embrace my new motto that one of my friends turned me onto, "Strong is the new Skinny." (I love this saying!) Ready to get over my unhealthy past and finally start living for me, rather than my body image! So here I am, a total newbie to lifting or anything that's not cardio, haha! MAIN GOAL: Complete P90x (1 week in) MISSIONS: Play kickball & soccer in my sorority's leagueDo 10 pull-upsLearn basic weight-lifting exercises and track my progressLIFE QUESTS: Find a new job related to my major (Nursing)No fast food!Randomness: Wondering what ya'll think about P90x? I've tried to start twice before (third time's the charm!) and I want to know what everyone else thinks about it? Thank you guys so much, I can't wait to get more active on this site and hear about your progress as well! Don't be a stranger! :] Btw, can anyone guess the quote from my post's topic? I'll love you forever. Haha!

What are your thought's on p90x? I currently do the 5x5 but am looking to switch things up for a bit

Hello Nerd Fitness! I have never posted on a forum before, so this is all pretty new to me, but here goes. I grew up in Alaska as one of the fat kids in school. Started getting overweight at the end of elementary school and only got worse as I got older. By the end of my freshman year of college, I was 225lbs at 5'10''. I was determined not to gain the dreaded freshman 15 and succeeded, but for all the work I put into it, did not lose any weight either. One of my friends and I tried all sorts of homemade diets, one of them lasting a grand total of about two hours! That summer I had a moment of clarity and decided enough was enough and I did not want to be this way anymore. I joined Weight Watchers and started tracking my points. I loved it! I was allowed to eat whatever I wanted as long as I stayed within my points allowance and lost 10lbs my first week on the program! I had a lot of ups and downs, but finally made it to my goal weight (the maximum BMI before being considered overweight) after two years and kept it off for six weeks, resulting in my "lifetime member" status, meaning I do not have to weigh in every week and as long as I am within 2lbs over my goal weight, I do not have to pay anymore. I have kept this weight off now for 5.5 years and when I was at my lowest weight, I had lost 65lbs. Two years ago, I started the P90X program and finished it just before going on a cruise! I lost weight and gained a lot of muscle. I was able to feel confident in my swimming trunks without a shirt on really for the first time in my life. As soon as I got home, I did the Insanity program then repeated both programs two more times. At my 10 year high school reunion, where most of these people have not seen me since high school when I was 225lbs, I got a lot of excited responses and some friends didnt even recognize me! It felt great! When I got home though, I did not get back on the program and have done small workouts here and there, but they are few and far between. I tried to start P90X again twice in this time, and failed to make it past the first few days both times. A little over a year ago I found an adult beginners gymnastics class offered twice a week and fell in love. I am getting my body to do things I had only imagined doing, but never actually thought possible for me! After about a year, I have been able to do back handsprings and move them from the tumble track (long, skinny trampoline) to the floor! Since stopping working out though, I can tell that I am losing the strength and stamina I had and the workout before class and the actual gymnastics is getting much harder. The number on the scale is going up, I am losing the muscle mass I had worked so hard to gain. I am ready to make a change. I am very excited to get started with the six week challenge coming up and am starting to put it all together! I feel that the nerdy basis will help me stay motivated to stick to it! Wow! That was a lot more wordy than I had planned on! Sorry bout that to whoever actually reads through it!! Good luck everyone!

Normally I would have posted for the challenge the day it started - or maybe the day before. My wifi is out, and since my husband is the nerd in the family and currently extremely busy, I have been without internet. I have however already started the challenge. A ranger is the life for me - currently. I love to run and can currently run a 5k in about 30 minutes, but I also enjoy the results from weight lifting, so to pick one to focus on more than the other is impossible. This is why I chose this guild. As for may challenge... Part of what I'm doing in my diet is getting rid of the things that would cause insulin spikes naturally. My mom has both diabetes and hypoglycemia. Due to this, she has to be very careful about what she eats. Besides flour, the thing that causes the highest spike in her insulin is corn. That is a very starch food and not paleo anyway, so that is the thing I am focusing on for the diet part of this challenge. This will include anything that contains any type of corn product in it. This will be added to my current status of keeping flour and sugar out of my diet. I will, however, allow myself 2 days to "cheat" on this strict diet due to Thanksgiving. - An A will be anywhere from perfection to 10 days of having corn, sugar, flour (CHA+4) - A B will be anywhere from 11 to 21 days of having corn, sugar, flour (CHA+3) - A C will be between 22 and 32 days (CHA+2) - A D will be 32-41 days (CHA+1) - An F would be having these nasty things every single day. I have been successful at keeping up with a 30 minute workout 5 days a week. During this challenge, I plan to increase four of those workouts to an hour long. These are my P90X strength training workouts, and the Yoga workout. I'm hoping to add a 6th day exercise, but it will not be included in my challenge. - If I manage to miss less than 5 workouts during the challenge, I will have an A (STR+3; DEX+2) - 13-16 missed workouts will earn me a B (STR+2; DEX+2) - 17-20 missed = C (STR+2; DEX+1) - 17-20 missed = D (STR+2) - I will receive an F if I miss more than 20 workouts during this challenge. I've always had the occasional heart palpitation, but have just recently discovered that Cardio arrhythmia runs in the family. I do know that msg aggravates this condition, but I don't eat that stuff anyway. In order to have a healthier heart, and to test to see if anything else might cause palpitations, I have decided to keep a food journal. - An A will be anywhere from perfection to 10 missed entry days (WIS+4) - A B will be 11-21 missed entry days (WIS+3) - A C = 22-32 missed days (WIS+2) - A D = 32-42 missed days (WIS+1) - An F = 0 entries into my food journal for the entire 6 weeks I have never done a side quest before, but there are so many things that I want to tackle that I though I would give it a try. Last week, I read the blog post about learning to do a handstand and thought, "Why not?" By the end of 6 weeks, I plan to be able to do a handstand. I will work on this daily. If completed: (STA+1) Now for a Life Quest. When I home schooled my children, we had Bible study daily as part of school. Since they've started public school (3 years ago), I'm ashamed to say that I've seriously dropped the ball. For the next 6 weeks, my goal is to have a Bible study once a week. Small beginnings... If completed: (WIS+1) My main quest in these adventures is to reach a size 6 in clothes, and to obtain the best health possible. My motivation? My family. I don't want my husband or my children to have to care for me as I age. I also want to be a good example to them.

Sept. 19, 2013 Day 1 of P90X Have you ever pushed yourself so hard during a workout that you had to vomit and poop at the same time? I did. Although I'm not exactly proud that I had to cut my exercise routine short today, I am proud that I finally took the first step to getting my physical health in order. My workout for today was the "Chest & Back" routine. It's primarily composed of push-ups and pull-ups. Those are two of my favorite exercises, so I had a lot of fun until my insides wanted to be my outsides. My mistakes were Not properly pacing my exercises Half-assing my warm-up Eating crappy food right before I got startedAfter making odd cat noises and doing my best not to turn into a Barfmander, I decided to lie down. Not a beautiful start, but it's better than what I did yesterday (i.e. nothing). Here's to a better tomorrow.

WOLVERINE TAKES IT ALL OFF INTRODUCTION I have three big events coming up in the next couple of months: a camping trip, a vacation in Las Vegas, and Pretty Panty Party IV*. All of these events will result in my being in various states of undress in front of largish groups of people and when I strip down I would like to look like Ryan Reynolds in Blade Trinity (handcuffs optional), which is impossible. I'll settle for Ryan Reynolds' younger, shorter, more average looking, but infinitely more awesome brother. *Pretty Panty Party IV is an annual event (the fourth!) in which my friends strip down to their elaborately decorated skivvies, drink too much, and perform ridiculous "choreographed" dances for cheap prizes from the local dollar store. It's ridiculously awesome. MAIN QUEST Reduce bodyfat and increase muscle mass while maintaining a weight of 136 lb. (+/- 3 lb.). GOALS Fully embrace chaos. No set training routines, no strict eating plans, no boundaries. As long as the goals are met and the mission is achieved, no #$&% shall be given. +1 WIS +1 CHA Train 5+ days per week. Pretty simple. I hope to workout every day, but @!$# happens. No set routine. No set workout time. No rules. +1 STR, +2 DEX, +2 STA Set calories for initial weight loss, then adjust to balance body composition and performance desires. Initial target = 1800 calories per day on average. Focus on protein and fiber (veggies!). Adjust target when necessary. IIFYM. +3 CON, +1CHA Read technical book for work. 342 pages of dry but worthwhile content. Read it in a day or spread it out over the six weeks. Don't matter. +3 WISSIDE QUEST Complete 5 hours (combined total) of planks, hollow body, and Superman holds by the end of the challenge. +1 STA STARTING STATS Height: 5 ft. 7 in. Weight: 142.6 lb. (142.77 lb. 7-day average) Chest: 37.5 in. Waist: 29.75 in. Bodyfat: 12.05%

I am an absolute amateur at Yoga - My experience include's roughly 2 years of attempting yoga routines on my Wii Fit balance board, on and off - never on a consistent basis. Most recently, my experience has been with p90x's Yoga routine, which is a lot more intense. One thing I like about doing yoga on the Wii,Balance Board, is that is measures my center of balance and can track, to a certain degree of accuracy, the form i am using or shifting my weight properly. I have noticed however, that when I do certain poses the way the instructor on p90x says to do it, on a Wii Balance Board, it says my balance is off, or I am using the wrong form. Which is a more accurate, in telling me what the correct form is. I am eager to learn more yoga, as I believe it will help with my posture (something that is drastically needed), and I have a strong hypothesis that it can make improvements to my golf game. Does anyone else have an experience like that, using yoga to make improvements in other areas such as sports?

Oh hey Rebellion, I have been reading NerdFitness for a little bit of time now, and I have loved it! I actually have loved it so much that I have decided to just join the community and see what happens. Just as a quick intro, I'm a nerd who is graduating from my master's program like, in three weeks. I have a pretty decent workout routine and I am starting P90X for the third time, hopefully the second time I actually finish it I am looking into getting into trail running and I have a feeling the rebellion will have some tips for me. I would like to be able to continue to do strength training as I prep for trail running. Any tips on trail running prep? I figure this is a good starting place to get such advice Thanks guys, cannot wait to get more involved with the community. Eric Pete!

Sidelined by the flu and a pretty nasty bug, I've dropped my efforts on this challenge. I'll be joining again on the next round. Adam