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Hey all! I'm looking for one or more workout buddies in the Portland, OR area. I am terrible at staying motivated by myself, but having someone to keep me accountable helps tremendously. Currently I have a gym membership at Crunch Division, and I'm frequently at PCC Cascade. I can meet at the gym or at a park or something in those areas. My fitness level is beginner. I like weightlifting, and don't like but need to work on jogging. I'd really like to train for a 5k or fun run or something. I also have a bike and enjoy hiking and kayaking.

You can be local or virtual. I'm just need an sidekick for mutual accountability and encouragement. I'm in Portland, but being local is not a requirement. However, being vegan is. I really need a sidekick who understands my dietary needs/restrictions. If this sounds like you, please reach out! About me: New vegan after 12 years of being a (junk food) vegetarian. I am vegan for ethical reasons first and foremost. Have 100 pounds to loose. I'm active on Tumblr and Instagram if that's your thing. Hobbies include reading up on cold cases, going to way too many concerts (just saw Aerosmith this past Tuesday) and playing tabletop RPGs. Non Fitness Interests: -Star Wars -true crime -Game of Thrones -Catfish -a certain British Boyband -throwing shade -Harry Potter

We fight or we die!!! That's the plan! Ok, sorry that was such a dramatic entrance. But it is kind of true for me even though I doubt it'll be death by reapers. More like an early death by obesity, drinking too much, not moving around enough. And life is awesome so who wants that? On to the real plan!!! Main Quest To wear a size 7 again. My N7 suit doesn't fit anymore and they don't make them in a 14. My Goals Hit the gym for 20 minutes 3 times a week. Eat paleo from breakfast to lunch at very least. Hit the yoga studio or the gaiam videos at least 2 times a week. Life Quest Move to Portland. Florida is a blazing inferno of hot and my family needs change. Mainly the median age level kind of change. My Motivation Adding as many life points to my health bar as possible so I can be with little clan of people for as long as possible. I am so excited to have found this site. It is like kismet since I just started trying to not feel like crap again. Hugs and wish me success!

I've returned from the wilderness and am back in society!! If you saw my earlier challenges, you might remember that I quit my desk job in Wisconsin in January and lived in a tent in the desert working for the Arizona Renaissance Festival during February & March. My time as a tent-dwelling nomad has come to an end, and I'm now getting settled in my new home: Portland, Oregon! How overwhelming is all of this? Hella. I'm tired of feeling like I'm "okay" in several areas -- I'm pretty fit, I eat mostly decent, I know a few things... granted, I have high standards and lofty goals, but I really want to narrow in on one thing for this challenge: consistency. My life has gone through some major changes in the past year, and they've been great, but I like having somewhat of a routine, and now that I'm starting a fresh chapter in my life, I'd like to develop some strong habits and routines right out of the gate. (All in my effort to be like the Lara Croft of the 2014 Tomb Raider reboot game, of course.) So: Goal priority #1: Track my food intake in My Fitness Pal for the entire six weeks. I've known for years that I don't eat enough or balance things properly. I'm a healthy weight and ideally would like to increase it by gaining some more muscle and losing some excess body fat. I'd like to get a better picture of the balance of fuel that best allows me to perform, feel, and look better. Ideally this goal will also result in me better balancing my food intake, but for at least the first three weeks I just want to track everything. I'll re-evaluate later on whether I want this goal to specifically include hitting certain macros, or if just tracking & trying is enough for this round. Either way, it'll be on my radar. After I successfully record my food intake, this will result in +2 CON, +1 STA, +1 WIS, and +1 CHA (because I'll hopefully be looking better after over a month of conscientious food choices!). Secondary goal: Consistent movement; also a struggle for me as I've changed schedules, gyms, and routines so often in the past year. I have a 4-pronged approach as I settle into my new life here: I'd like to go to crossfit 2x a week, lift on my own 2x a week, go to krav maga 1x a week, and include a daily practice of a skill I'm trying to work on (strict push ups, handstand, falls, crow pose, etc). It's going to be awhile before I find the right crossfit gym for me (there are 14 local to my area, and my boyfriend and I might be moving soon), so I'll add that in as I can but get the others going ASAP. For creating consistent workout practices, I will assign +2 to STR, +2 to STA, and +1 to DEX. Third goal: Finances have been a focus of my past few challenges as well, and this one will be no different. Moving across the country is ridiculously expensive, so this time around I'd like to finish paying off one of my credit cards (I paid it off with my tax return, but had to charge a few moving expenses) and re-establish regular savings deposits by the end of the 6 months. +2 to WIS. I don't have a fourth goal this time around; the above will be quite enough to keep me busy and honestly I'm really overwhelmed at the moment: new city and the headaches of moving (how to get the rest of my stuff here from Wisconsin; the $300 I have to drop at the DMV for a new license, plates, and emissions test; a new bank account since my old one is only in the Midwest; changing my mailing address; etc....), new job (exciting announcement incoming, I hope - I verbally accepted an offer but am awaiting written confirmation!), newly cohabitating with an awesome nerdy boyfriend who is playing Torchlight II while I type this, the stress of not knowing anyone else yet... So, yeah. Anxiety is rearing its head going hey girl what is UP? Didja miss me? I'm here! Let's wallow! The remaining 3 points will go to WIS, CHA, and CON for remembering to breathe, enjoy the process, and stay calm during a turbulent transition, provided I feel like I did my best with that at the end of the challenge. It's all really exciting, though. Just a LOT on my plate at the moment. And not enough protein. Let's do this!

Any doing Rock n Roll Portland on May 18th 2014? I'm going to be doing the 10k really excited for this one! Will be my first race medal!

It always hard for me to write these introductions. I feel lie I'm either blowing my own horn or making excuses but hey, nothing ventured nothing gained. Right? Background I will be signing up for Medicare in a couple of months so I'll let you figure out my age. My advanced age brings with it the limitation that any form of high impact exercise is out of the question. Between mild arthritis in one knee and an ankle that sounds like rocks in a cement mixer high impact exercise is in the past for me. That said I am an active fitbit user. I actively compete with three to five other fitbit users to see who walks the most. Currently I am walking about 12,000 steps a day, that's five to six miles, and rowing thirty minutes three times a week. This may slow down a bit as we head into winter as it can be rather sloppy in western Oregon during the winter but I plan on maintaining at least 10k steps on average. All this activity is a rather recent change in my lifestyle. For most of my working life I've had sedentary desk jobs. That combined with my motto of "Too Much Good Food, Too Little Time" has lead my to weighing more than I should and having mild high blood pressure. My love of food has always been my Achilles heel. You can't outrun your fork especially when you don't run. Food: I love to cook and eat. Fortunately, with age has come a little wisdom. While I have always eaten a healthy diet compared to most of my peers, heavy on vegetables, more chicken than beef, I've never paid much attention to portion size and that added weight every year. Currently I am about 60 pounds overweight and lack the endurance to enjoy hiking and bike riding, two activities that gave me much enjoyment in my younger years. Goals: I have a whole list of things that I am going to be changing over the next year. Having recently retired I have made the decision that my new job is to change my lifestyle from unhealthy to healthy. So here are my health & wellness goals for the next year. 1) Lose 60 pounds. 2) Become a weekday vegetarian. 3) Crush my daughter in a bike ride, summer 2014. (Sorry if that sounds harsh but she's thirty and in good physical shape so I think she can probably handle me beating her in a bike ride.) 4) Hike Dog Mountain during the spring wild flower season. Dog Mountain has always eluded me and its about time I conquered it. Long term goal: Walk The Way, not for any religious reason but just for the experience. Well that's about it. If you live in the Beaverton, OR area and want to get together to compare goals and discuss failures and successes I'd be happy to meet you for coffee or a walk at one of TVPR nature parks. Just get in touch with me here on the NF discussion board. Good luck on you goals and may your successes be many. gary

Avast NF Crew! I'm ready for my second challenge! I got into some good habits the first time, so here's my plan for the next six weeks: RUN LIKE MY LIFE DEPENDS ON IT! (+2 STA, +3 DEX): I will begin a 12-week half marathon training program that will end with me actually running a half marathon at the end of the next challenge- May 19th. Here's a link to the training plan I'll have to modify it a little to fit my schedule by doing the big runs on sundays and the cross training at the gym on saturdays. Otherwise the plan stands. Grading: (days ran)/24= % of grade. GETTIN' SWOLE! (+3 STR, + 2 CHA): Starting tomorrow I will be a member of a local weight gym, my goal is to go three times a week. Grading (days gone)/18= % of grade. HUNGRY HUNGRY GAMES! (+1 CON, +1 CHA): Adapting my meal plan for the second challenge- Maintain my goal of 2,000 calories per day, which must include a post-workout protein supplement (~100 to 200 calories). Off days- For every week of successful tracking I will give myself one off day to use at my discretion (this is what tripped me up last challenge, so I will work harder to meet this goal this time). Grading: (days my calorie goal was met)/(42-6)= % of grade. MOONNNNNEEEEEEY (+2 WIS, +1 CON): My savings plan is currently a horrific mess. I have a small account that charges me a fee per month to be poor, I will close this account and route the 25 bucks a paycheck that goes there along with another 125 to an account with no fees (save $150 a paycheck). I will get 3 paychecks during this challenge, my goal is to have at least $450 in that separate account by the end. Grading: ($in account)/450= % of grade.