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Welcome aboard one and all, once again and once more to... The 10/12lbs in 10/12 weeks weight-loss Player-versus-Player challenge! Now's the time to sign-up for a Player-versus-Player accountability challenge sure to motivate you to tackle those weight loss goals! Of course, we only advocate losing healthy weight and using healthy methods to get there! This playful side quest is less about beating your peers to the finish line than it is about challenging yourself, making some new accountibilibuddies, and having a place to share your battle plan or struggles along the way. Feel free to set your goals online with either the 5 weeks of your next two challenges, or include both Week Zeros for a full 12 weeks. Set goals that you think are realistic (that could even be 6lbs/12weeks or whatever works for you) It's okay to need a break sometimes, even if it’s not Week 0. If you find you need to take a week off, that’s okay. Take the time you need, and hop back into the spreadsheet when you’re ready. Stick around for the excellent company and to cheer on your fellow pirates. Weigh-in sometime this week, and again every week. Share your data in the SPREADSHEET! Post your successes, struggles, and tips. The Rules 1. Sign-up using the SPREADSHEET. Add your name & starting weight, waist measurements optional. Don’t enter a value for “Current Weight” just yet. That will update automatically as you enter your weekly weigh-ins. 10 or 12 lbs in 10 or 12 weeks (roughly 1lb or 0.5kg per week) is the goal but feel free to increase or decrease the difficulty as you see fit. Whatever your goals are, you are most welcome to participate (even if you'd like to join in late)! 2. Introduce yourself to your fellow competitors! Feel free to mention your goals, any battle plans for getting there, and what your primary motivation or inspirations are. Feel free to mention your Challenge goals or BattleLog too! This is an excellent place to get to know others from the forums. 3. Update the SPREADSHEET with your weekly weigh-ins. We're using Monday as the 'official' day, but if Sunday, Tuesday, or any other day work better, go nuts! Just keep it at roughly a week for tracking purposes. This challenge is aligned with the current and next 5 Week Challenges, with optional weeks off for Zero Week at the start and in between. 5. Have fun, encourage everyone, and keep each other accountable! Make sure you warm up and cool down during exercise to help prevent injuries! Also if you bicep curl a cat, I wanna see that. Tips for Success! 1. Get some exercise! 30 minutes of cardio is great for your bloodpressure and HDL cholesterol! Strength training is great for building muscle and burning fat, and yoga is a great stress buster that challenges your body to move in new ways! Also, exercise is great for getting good sleep! 2. Eat your veggies! Green leafies are fantastic, but so are non-leafy greens and other colorful veggies! 3. Stay hydrated! It's good for you whole body, including your brain! 4. Visit and update us (and the SPREADSHEET) regularly to build that accountability network. 5. Share your workout playlist for MAXIMUM HYPE!! 6. Get enough sleep, and schedule rest days. Not only does rest and sleep help repair and make our bodies stronger, studies show that a good night's sleep will actually clean your brain so you feel refreshed, focused, and less moody the next day. 7. Make your inner critic WALK THE PLANK! (arrr, we can still be piratey) This group concept and spreadsheet were created by Rurik, stolen ruthlessly and edited by Snarkyfishguts because we be piratey that way. Additional Thanks to The Most Loathed and TimovieMan for coding help with the spreadsheet

Hi guys! It's a new challenge, a new season of life, and a new opportunity to grow into myself. I know I have a lot of potential for cool things, and I'm owning that here in this challenge. I'm owning the fact that I'm not where I want to be; I'm owning the two sub-par jobs. I'm owning the nervousness about being done with college. I'm owning the bad choices I made before. I'm saying that I'm ok and the strength within me will always be greater than the challenge before me. I'm new to the Rangers and proud of myself! The theme for this challenge is strong starts and new beginnings. We're keeping it simple and treating it like the epic undertaking that it is. Missions: 1. Keep a food log of every meal eaten during the week 2. Do the workouts for Gym 3A and Gym 3B at least once a piece each week 3. Drink 3L of water every day First summit: Until I find paid internships, apply for at least one full-time position in my town doing work relevant to my skill set I hope to get to meet a bunch of you and run at your side. If we're being honest, I operate best with accountability and I'd love to find that here and be that for someone else. See you in the woods!

Arrr.. . I felt like sticking with pirates, but I'm branching out and recruiting a bunch of famous pirates to help me with my quests. This will be a 5WC, since I prefer just continuing along with things, so the points are intended to encompass that. Main Quest: Parkour all of the things!!! Climb all of the things!!! Balance in mind-bending ways! Play with weapons! Sail to new horizons! Loot, pillage, plunder. Pirate #1: Edward Kenway (parkour)- Naturally, I'm turning to Assassin's Creed and the Pirate Edward Kenway to help me with my parkour. My goals with this are twofold: One of the bits of feedback I received at my rank testing was that I was trying to go too fast, and as a result, I was adding stutter steps right before most of my vaults. Also, now that I have full open gym, I want to expand my horizons a bit by trying new things or new configurations for skills, rather than just recycling things that I've already done in classes. So, I get 5 points whenever I do parkour class or open gym and work on slow, smooth flow runs without adding stutter steps. I get another 5 points for doing class or open gym and trying some new skills or new moves. I also can get 5 points for taking my parkour outdoors and trying techniques in new ways (vaulting over benches or picnic tables in ways I've never before tried). The goal is to reach 100 points by the end of the challenge. Pirate #2: Guybrush Threepwood (strength) *well, he says he's a mighty pirate. Who am I to argue? Really, none of the pirates are overly strength-y, and I wanted to include some monkey island goodness. I want to get stronger for both parkour and climbing. And so far, my approach has been very haphazard. Ideally, I will insert some combination of these exercises at the end of parkour sessions, climbing sessions, or yoga, so I can increase my strength: Pull ups, Flag progressions, Dragon Flag negatives, toes-to-bar, one leg squats, HSPUs, plyo push ups, cat hang pull ups, and dips. Obviously, sometimes my muscles will be so trashed from climbing or parkour that I won't be able to do anything. In that case, I can get credit as long as I at least try to do the exercises and verify that there's nothing left in the tank. +5 points for every day I go climbing, do parkour, or do yoga and then after that do a strength mini workout. +5 points for each Darebee workout (providing it's primarily strength based). +5 points for every full strength workout. Edit: + 7 points for every day in which I completely fry out all of my muscles, whether it's just from a full strength workout or whether it's from parkour/climbing/yoga classes + a supplemental strength workout. Goal is to reach 100 points. Pirate #3 - The Dread Pirate Roberts (Discipline/ Diet goal) The Dread Pirate Roberts is a disciplined swordsman in full control of himself and his body. So, I'm turning to him to help me rein in my diet. Vacation was great, but it left me with the tendency to eat entirely too much, drink entirely too much, and consume way too much sugar. Easter and the abundance of candy in the house isn't helping with that, either. So, the plan is to eat relatively healthy meals every day, with only one modest dessert (100 calories or less) per day. But I also get 3 variances/week, where I can eat out, have an alcoholic drink, have a less healthy meal, or have a bigger dessert/sweet. I get 20 points/week for full compliance, but -5 points for each additional variance. And situations where I hang out with friends, have an unhealthy meal, extra sweets, and hit the booze can easily count as multiple variances. Goal is 100 points. Pirate #4: Captain Jack Sparrow (Adventure/Life goal) I need more adventure in my life, and I'm recruiting Captain Jack Sparrow to help me sail to new horizons. Last challenge, I intended to create my own adventure guide, with all of the local hikes, day trips, weekend trips, etc. within a 4 hour driving radius that I'd love to do. Normally, a large part of my goal would be to actually get out and do at least one of these adventures, but I am pretty bogged down in the next month with birthdays and other big events. But I'll do the best that I can. I get 2 points for every entry into my adventure spreadsheet (each entry can be a hike that I want to do, a nearby city + attractions that I've researched, a climbing spot that I want to try, or an event that I'd like to attend, along with the distance, estimated time needed, and other data). Since learning languages is helpful for exploration, I'm also getting 1 point for every 50 XP in Duolingo. And since reading is an adventure of sorts, I get 10 points for every book completed. If I do manage an actual adventure, I get 10 points for every new place explored. The goal is to reach 100 points. Bonus goals: Bonus #1: Ship maintenance - Keep my ship tidy by doing the flylady mission for each day (or a 15 minute substitution if the mission isn't relevant for my house). Bonus #2: Ranger Mini.

This challenge is going to be a bit weird. I have a parkour rank testing in a week, so I'll be a little bit deload-y the first week. I'm on vacation the last week. And I still kind of have whiplash from doing so many short challenges back to back. I also tend to have a full schedule with all of the parkour, climbing, and yoga, so any specific exercises have to be kind of opportunistic rather than scheduled for me. Thanks to all of this, I'm going to embrace and love the pirate code this challenge: Main Quest: Parkour all of the things!!! Climb all of the things!!! Balance in mind-bending ways! Play with weapons! Look like someone who could compete on ANW. 2016 goals Goal 1 - Raise the Black Flag Last challenge, I played around with Human Flag progressions, and now I'm hooked. I can do the first progression, which is a quasi one-armed lever, pretty well I'm okay-ish with the second one, which is an armpit tucked flag lever. I have started working through the third, which is dragon flags. Goal: Take advantage of any reasonable opportunities to work through these progressions. Goal 2: Hang on the rigging - I've neglected my dead hang pull ups, and I haven't really made progress in the last many months. Goal: take advantage of any reasonable opportunities to focus on the pull ups. For both goals 1 and 2, if I'm not completely sore and destroyed after parkour class or a climbing session, I need to do these progressions. If I'm already pretty spent, I can skip. If I have something major the next day and don't want to risk DOMS, I need to just do a minor GTG approach. I'm just grading these on vague, mushy feelings of whether I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing. Goal 3 - Get rid of the rum. (diet) I'm going on vacation in 3 weeks to a resort with free booze. So, in the meantime, I'm giving my liver a bit of a rest and reset period. I've played around with going dry in the past, but I generally have ended up just cutting back because I enjoy booze and don't truly care enough about being dry. The difference this time is that my husband is going dry with me, rather than taunting me with tasty drinks. Goal - Dry until vacation. On vacation, don't overdo it too much (which I won't, since the kids will be there too) Goal 4: Swab the deck (domestic Rangering) Domestic Rangering went okay last time. This time, I'm going to keep up with daily chores as well as doing a Flylady (or substitute) cleaning mission every day. Goal 5 - Learn the Language of the Land (Duolingo spanish) I don't want to be an asshole American tourist, so the goal is to amass 1000 xp in Duolingo Spanish before my vacation. On vacation, the goal is to at least make some attempt to read or speak spanish. Bonus goals: Bonus 1: Swim like a pirate captain Before vacation, brush up on swimming and get the kids ready to swim a lot. On vacation, swim a ton. We are planning on swimming in a cenote, and there's the beach, hotel pools, and some other great swimming sites. Bonus 2: Stop culling the herd (videos and media) Yeah, I totally need a goal to encourage myself to post more media... Really, though, the goal is to post pictures or videos that are technically sound, even if I think I look flabby, my hair is messy, or I'm otherwise nitpicking the way I look. And after I post those pictures or videos, I'm not allowed to say anything negative about my appearance. I also have kind of promised piano video for ages, but I tend to overly nitpick any recordings and then just don't post them. So, the goal is to post something, even if it sounds (to me) like a steaming pile of cat vomit. Bonus 3 - make my own adventure guide (travel) I need more excitement and adventure in my life. And now that springtime is approaching, it's the perfect time to look into day trips and long weekend trips. My goal is to research all of the best attractions in all of the major cities, the national parks, and the climbing sites in about a 6 hour driving radius (which is A LOT), and then come up with a bunch of 1-day, weekend, and 3-5 day trip options. The goal is to add 6 little trips to my list (which currently sits at 2). So. um.. yeah. This is a lot of stuff for a kind of burned out challenge. But I have no doubt I can prevail, because of this: And this:

Hey Assassins! Big Adam here. I’ve been hanging out with the Monks for the past several challenges, but thought I’d stop in here for a challenge or two as my goals are more assassin-y than monk-y at that moment. I have three main fitness goals I’m focusing on right now: GOALS Bodyweight Strength: I’ve been doing a modified version of the StartBodyWeight (http://www.startbodyweight.com/p/start-bodyweight-basic-routine.html) program for the past few months and have seen consistent improvement. I’ll be sticking with this as I reach for my goals of a 1-hand pushup, pistol squat, and handstand pushup. Though my strength gains have been consistent, I’ve noticed that my lack of mobility is making it difficult to progress in squats. With that in mind, my second goal is… Mobility: This is not something that I’ve traditionally focused on. I think that my flexibility in some areas is decent. I’ve always been able to touch my toes. But there are many areas that could use improvement - particularly my ankles, hips, and shoulders. To that end, I’ll be incorporating some NERD FITNESS YOGA into my weekly routine. Body Composition: I want to reduce my body fat %. I’m currently fairly slim and not what anyone would call overweight, but I’ve always had a stubborn belly that doesn’t want to go away. I don’t have a specific number in mind. I just want to see a flat stomach in the mirror. To that end, I’m adding diet and sleep quests to this challenge. My diet has been mostly Primal (basically paleo + full fat dairy) for the past few years. I saw significant initial progress after adapting a Primal diet, but it tapered off before I got where I wanted to be. I’ve been on a plateau for a while, so I think it’s time to shake things up. I eat a TON of fruit. Like, 4+ apples in a day isn’t unusual. I think that that, in addition to more calorie dense primal foods like Greek Yogurt and Nut Butters, is what is keeping me stuck. So to that end, I’ll be cutting these foods out for a 4-week period. I’ve found that if I keep foods in the house and attempt to restrict the amounts, I experience a lot of resistance, but if I just don’t buy them, I don’t have too much trouble. So I’m giving this a shot. For sleep - we all know that it’s important and I’ve found that I need to keep a consistent bedtime or else I end up suffering for it. So I’m attempting to establish a habit of consistent sleep. QUESTS: Strength and Mobility: Bodyweight Circuit + Stretching 3x/week At least 2 Full Yoga Sessions/week. Daily Movement and Stretching of some sort outside of Yoga or Workout days Diet: Don’t buy any Fruit, Nuts, or Dairy for the 40-day period. Snacking on fruit or nuts at a party is fine, but I won’t buy any for myself. This is in addition to my usual “Eat Primal†guideline that I’ve been following for the past year. I expect this to be the biggest challenge for me within this challenge. My other two quests aren't a huge stretch for me, while this will probably take some willpower. Sleep: Establish and keep a consistent circadian rhythm by going to bed within a consistent timeframe. 10:30 bedtime on weekdays and 11:00 bedtime on Weekends.

Aye, me bonny lasses, join us on our hunt fer fortune n' adventure. Set sail with us as we ply the waves in search of true treasure - freedom n' friendship! We are the Pirate Queens... Fierce in our commitment to our goals and determined to pursue our destinies wherever our dreams may take us. We raise our standard and set sail! To come aboard the Sea Witch, sign on here. Then grab a mug of rum and introduce yerself right on this thread. We be a group open teh all rebels regardless of guild or level, and we encourage anyone with the interest teh take the plunge (harr, we promise we won't make ye walk the plank teh prove yer dedication!). Level 1 rebels can start with the fleet as apprentices and work their way up teh become Able Seawomen, ship captains, or even fleet commander. Dream big, me hearties!

Aye, me bonny lasses, join us on our hunt fer fortune n' adventure. Set sail with us as we ply the waves in search of true treasure - freedom n' friendship! We are the Pirate Queens... Fierce in our commitment to our goals and determined to pursue our destinies wherever our dreams may take us. We raise our standard and set sail! To come aboard the Queen o' Swords, sign on here. Then grab a mug of rum and introduce yerself. *ShadowLion raises her mug high* "Here's teh the stars we chase an' the booty we shall plunder in the days teh come!"

Aye, me bonny lasses, when we last left off our story we were a-huntin' a fine little brigantine. Perhaps we shall catch her yet... Join us on our hunt fer fortune n' adventure aboard the Queen O' Swords, where we ply the waves in search of our true treasures - freedom n' friendship! We are the Pirate Queens... Fierce in our commitment to our goals and determined to pursue our destinies wherever our dreams may take us. We raise our standard and set sail!

Ahoy, ye brave n' bonny lasses! Are ye a Level One Rebel who seeks adventure n' fun on the high seas? Piratical adventures, in particular? Then sign on as an Apprentice seawoman Aboard the Queen O' Swords An' learn the Merrie, Piratical Ways o' the CutLasses! This accountabilibuddy group is open to any Level One lass who wants to encourage other Level One rebels. Sign up here teh come aboard the "Queen O' Swords." Grab a mug o' rum an' post below teh introduce yerself teh the rest o' the lasses. Be sure teh include yer challenge thread link in yer post, if'n ye want teh have the encouragement o' yer shipmates!

Aye, me bonny lasses, join us on our hunt fer fortune n' adventure. Set sail with our bonny pirate fleet as we ply the waves in search of true treasure - freedom n' friendship! We are the Pirate Queens... Fierce in our commitment to our goals and determined to pursue our destinies wherever our dreams may take us. We raise our standard and set sail! To come aboard, sign on here. Then grab a mug of rum and introduce yerself.

I enjoyed my first challenge with NF so much that I'm back onboard for another one. And since I found The CutLasses for my Accountabillibuddy, this challenge will be piratey themed! Arrrr! The Code To live a healthy and balanced life by exercising and trying to eat healthy. Getting Into Shipeshape I want to continue to gain muscle and become stronger while continuing with my fitness lifestyle. I’ve been successful at dropping weight, but now I want to be more muscular. And just in time for the summer swimming season too! Shore Excursions 1. Work on my story at least once a week. 2. Start getting into scuba shape by swimming as part of my cardio routine at least every other week. 3. Become stronger by doing one of these: a. bar squat 150lbs (current: 105lb) b. stiffleg deadlift 150lbs (current: 105lb) c. dumbbell row 65lbs (current 50lbs) 4. Do 1 pull-up or 1 chin up Current Stats Age: 32 Gender: female Height: 5’3†Weight: 140lbs Ship Manifest 1. Continue going to the gym 4-5 times per week. Doing weights MWF and cardio TTR. 2. The plan is to continue to add 5 pounds per exercise as long as I get to 3 sets of at least 6 reps the week before and have good form. Ex: Week 1 = barbell curl at 25 pounds for 3 sets of 6 --> Successful? Go onto Week 2. If not successful, rinse and repeat. Week 2 = barbell curl at 30 pounds for 3 sets of 6 3. Begin training for pull-ups and chin ups specifically. Battle Log: Battle On, Eli! "Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me!"

We are the Pirate Queens... Fierce in our commitment to our goals and determined to pursue our destinies wherever our dreams may take us. We raise our standard and set sail!

A restless night, followed by a hollow day... I live in an island paradise for which many a queen would lay aside her crown. I command the loyalties of free men and women such that no empress could compel. Yet I look across the sand to a clear, cerulean sky and vivid turquoise waters and I am only aware of the dark storm brewing within my mind. I have fine ships and treasure aplenty, and yet... And, yet. What has it gained me to have escaped the confines of that narrow life reserved for so many others of my sex? I pursued freedom on the high seas and won it, only to realize that I am still in chains. My days pass in an endless stream of responsibilities and tasks. There are so many that I must provide for and watch over. Even my twin loves of the sea and of the art of the sword are fading. I no longer take joy in plotting my attacks, nor in my daring escapes. Would that I could find again that glad simplicity of my younger years... But, wait! Have I grown so weary as to have forgotten the simple truth that once filled the sails of my ambition? It is my choice and my choice alone that steers the ship of my future. Dare I take my sword to those things that grind down my days and steal the precious hours of my life? Will I make my fears and failings my new enemy and win my way to freedom and joy once again? Do you dare to become the Pirate Queen of your own life, to cut away all that stands in your way of epic awesomeness? How many ships can you realistically command, anyway? What is your joy? Where is your freedom? What is your true treasure? Ahoy! I'm ShadowLion, and I started this thread after reading a conversation between Starpuck and Wufkar. Their discussion contained this, among other wise and useful insights: I realized how hard it can be to make the sorts of choices that would simplify our days, allow us to take back our freedom, and live life on our own terms. Come on up the gangplank and let's plan our adventure over some rum laced with tea...

It turns out I'm quite awful at keeping up with forums consistently. But I'm back until further notice, with a mission and a vengeance. EDIT 1/5/2014: Still bad at keeping up with forums. But, I'm back again. Original early 2013 post in the spoiler, but for current 2014 nonsense, start here.

Hello NF! It’s been far too long! My fault, but I’m going to make a sincere effort not to fail this time. Here’s the background short version -- I’m 29 years old. I had a stroke at 28 and it SUCKED. I got physical therapy and made dietary changes that helped me bounce back and recover from that completely. (YAY for no long term damage!) I’ve got two kids, 10 and 3, who are my pride and joy. I’ve got a wonderful wife who loves and supports me. This site changed my life in November of 2012. I lost quite a bit of weight, learned about this amazing thing called parkour and committed to a healthy lifestyle. I felt great about my first challenge and had good momentum. Started at 206 and got down to 179 lbs via Paleo and exercise. Had an amazing opportunity to train in Shaolin Kungfu in my second challenge and loved it, but had to quit due to a close friend and his wife passing away unexpectedly, leaving a daughter behind with no job and a house payment and bills that needed to be paid with no one to help. Enter my family…and a LOT of personal sacrifice, including KungFu. I tried coming back for a third challenge in April and never really got started. Again life stepped in and I made other things priorities. (We’re never too busy, we just prioritize something over getting fit or eating right.) FAIL-sauce on my part. So yeah…that’s me and a quick synopsis of my journey on here thus far. Now you’re probably saying to yourself, “Well what makes this time different?†That’s a very valid question, so I’m going to give you a very valid answer. “Greed.†Yeah, I know, I know…greed is bad right? Well, not all the time. I’m greedy for a longer life. I’m greedy for more time with my family. I’m greedy to feel better and have more energy. So yeah, I’m greedy…I want more! And yeah, I’m greedy in the traditional sense too…there is money involved… a contest at work. So yeah, no false pre-tenses, no bs, let’s do this. The contest is whoever loses the most body fat % by December 20th, 2013 wins $1100.00. So yeah…that’s a LOT of money. That’s plenty of money to add a nice new toy (or several) to my new man cave. (I recently finished my basement.) I’m at 26.5% at 196lbs, so I’ll need a pretty significant drop to win this thing. Either way, I’m getting healthier, which feeds into the other greed I listed above. Win-Win even if I lose and don’t have the most BF% lost. So, here we go… Drink Water and ONLY water!!! – Short and sweet. No soda and no beer. Eat clean! Paleo only! – Clean eating to power strong exercise! Exercise! - Starting Convict conditioning, running with Zombie 5k, and doing Parkour! Life Goal: Get promoted or get a new job! – Things are in flux at work. Lots of position shifts…but none of the people that need to go are being moved….i.e. it’s getting rather toxic.I’m up for a promotion for a job that I am over qualified for and have been doing the work of since I got into my current position. If I don’t get it, I’m looking for a new position where I’m getting paid what I’m worth and valued.Toxic workplace = bad news bears. So, that’s it. Hope you’ll join me on my journey. There will be lots of fun along the way. Attached are two pictures, one of my lunch today and one of me (note: I’m not the green leafy one) Oh yes, and one more thing... I'm Batman!