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Hello friends. It’s been a while. My last challenge was with the rangers, ending in October. Mere days, in fact, before I found out I was pregnant. I didn’t spin up another challenge, as I spent the first trimester napping and trying to work and dealing with some difficult family stuff. Come second trimester, I was walking more and doing some yoga, and thinking about what my post-partum challenge might look like and how once I’ve recovered from childbirth I might take up kickboxing for a few months until I’m ready to have another baby. But those idle daydreams, along with pretty much every other dream I had, ended suddenly in an early stillbirth. I delivered my poor baby, perfectly formed and inexplicably lifeless, at 24 weeks. My doctor cleared me for exercise about two weeks ago, and I’ve done physical therapy for my core muscles maybe 10 times so far (didn’t see my chiro/PT until about a week and a half ago), plus a couple yoga routines and walking. I want to run for the psychological benefits, so I need to build up some strength and flexibility so I can do that safely. Really, I haven’t been this out of shape for years. (Hence the Rookie/Rebels guild this time — in a lot of ways, I'm starting from scratch.) I'm up 13lb (11% of my pre-pregnancy bodyweight of 115lb) and spent my 6 weeks of post-partum disability leave crying on the couch, playing video games, and eating chocolate and takeout (we had many people bring us home cooked meals as well as GrubHub gift cards, but since cooking let alone grocery shopping was far outside our capacity, we still ate a lot of takeout). So what weight I lost by delivering, I gained back in sadness. Given hormonal changes and the effects on my body overall I don't expect to return to pre-baby weight nor do I expect to fit into most of my jeans ever again. But the sheer dread of trying to find and buy a new work wardrobe when I was hoping to be taking care of a baby instead of working suddenly kicked in last week and I decided to at least try losing weight and see if I can keep my button shirts. So my goals are twofold: Regain enough strength and flexibility to run Weigh in at 120lbs OR trim enough waist inches to wear my work shirts again I intermittently remember how it feels to want to be strong and physically capable. I’ll channel that when I have it. But most of the time I just feel like broken glass inside. There’s no fixing this. I just have to keep going, and the fact I have to keep going feels like a cruel joke half the time. I know from past experience that running helps when all I want to do is scream, so that’s what we’ll do. And breathe. We’ll do that too. I played Kena Bridge of Spirits while I was home on disability. It was comforting.

So Challenge one for me done today. I logged in. Normally I would go into the "this is the plan, this is the theory, this is the backstory, please cheer and be nice" thing. But the last few weeks, I have just been out of spoons for everything. Plus I have a ton of forks that are just dragging me down. If you have never heard of the Spoon or Fork theory, please see here since I am not explaining well. I have too many things that are my responsibility to get done and most . Work is crazy, and we had to redo everything we have done since August til now. I am a caregiver to my mom. Who wants to live alone, but really can't, and now has 2 new reasons to do the "I can't do anything, but I hate being helpless" which I could understand if she wasn't taking the misery out on me and mine. I am officially in charge of 2 yards of grass/gardens, Eldest agent graduates this month, and I found out mid last week one of my chosen sisters (family I chose), the baby died suddenly. The reason is still unknown. Bio family I can't help not doing well either, coworkers asking when the grad party is when I keep saying COVID, and at the same time, really just don't want them here. Also, add Anxiety and depression acting up, and honestly, it feels like everything in BOTH houses is my fault and or responsibility. So yeah. boxes are hopefully going to all be done. I should make it easier and do a "Do SOMETHING" challenge, but I am supposed to see the dr at the end of this challenge (I moved it from this week to temporarily deal with a fork) and I need to be better about things. I am hoping to be here more. I miss here. I miss people helping/supporting, but I feel bad that I am not doing better than this. I just can't anymore. But I have to, I can't just not anymore. (nope, boxes not posted today. too many spoons and I need to go start watching Buffy with Youngest Agent as girl time.

Yes - I'm back. And yes, I do mean Hard Reset. Starting 2/15 I have a new position at work. And for the first time in over a decade (barring house sales - yes plural - not going through) I will not feel like things are in limbo. I'll put more behind a spoiler guard. But in essence, hubby and I are starting the *expletive* over in a new city (with a nice nest egg). So I will have the time, bandwidth and ability to actually focus on my health. I will be taking kind of a gap week this week as we're still moving out..... But next week - it's ON. 1) Walk EVERY DAY. Unless it's raining\sleeting\whiteout snow, below 20 or too dangerous to do so, I will get out and walk. It doesn't matter if it's 5 min or 30+ min at this point - I just need to do it. 2) Whether or not I go out and walk - 5,000 steps per day. It can be pacing the apartment, walking around the building - whatever. 3) Every night - clean kitchen. The kitchen is teeny tiny and this sets up for SUCH a better morning. I've gotten pretty good, but need to keep it in mind. 4) Add more veggies to my diet. I'm not cutting at this point, just adding better food going in. 5) Work on my sleep schedule and GTF to sleep at a decent hour. That's it!

I got a little buried under work last time (or two... or three) I tried to do a challenge, so time to give it another try. It would be a lot to try to explain here, but long story short I went from functionally being the only person doing my job (it's a 2 person job and the other person wasn't interested in actually working) to literally being the only person in my job for a few months, which also meant I was pulling some crazy long weeks. This is thankfully no longer the case, and the person working with me now is doing a fantastic job so far and eager to help out, meaning I get to have a life outside of work again! (...now I just need to get my mind to understand that I don't have to work nonstop, because brains are complicated and annoying) Unsurprisingly, my main goal remains the same: RECLAIMING MY TIME (honestly most of this challenge is basically going to be a repeat of my Grumpy Cat one, hence keeping with the silly cat theme. There's also a lot of overlap of the quests because of their relation to time) Quest 1 : Sleep (4 points/wk) Kinda hard to claim time when I'm tired and want to sleep most of my not-work time. I went to a doctor last year right before things went crazy and he gave me some things to try to do to improve my sleep that I want to start doing this challenge: Going to bed near the same time every night (I'm going to be aiming for between 11:30 and midnight) Getting up at the same time every morning, when my alarm goes off - this one is DEFINITELY going to be a struggle, I tend to snooze and I absolutely hate getting up in the morning Exercising 4-5 hours before bed, this is the window the yoga class I want to go to falls into, and I can try to add swimming or walking on days without yoga too with my Y membership that I really need to use one point per day I'm up before 7:30am, I'm not expecting myself to be able to roll that back all days hence not doing 7 points on this one Quest 2 : Food prep (6 points/wk) I've had issues with eating a lot of fast food because I haven't always prepped food ahead that I can eat/want to eat when I've gotten busy, so I need to prep food ahead for both work and outside work so I don't wind up eating more Burger King due to lack of preparation. Get meals made ahead - lots of Instant Pot recipes left to try Make sure lunch and breakfast are packed ahead the night before a work shift (when I actually prep ahead, I throw a frozen breakfast sammich in my lunch bag and leave it in the fridge so I can just run in the morning) Reduce eating out to 1-2x / week, preferably an intentional meal rather than just hitting a drivethru because I didn't have anything better available. 1 point for packing ahead (4 work days/week, 'cause 10 hr shifts) 1 point for batch cooking ahead 1 point for staying under 2x eating out/wk Quest 3 : Schedule outside of work (especially exercise, 4 points/wk) (not Pusheen, but adorable and my cats would never let me do it) So... I'm still enrolled in that yoga class that I have NOT been able to go to for months, some of which was because of it being cancelled for a month because of lack of enrollment (I just had them roll mine forward a month each time that happened) and some of which was the fact that I was still at work when the class was happening. I do also want to get exercise in on other days as well per sleep doc's recomendation, not to mention it helps my ADHD as well and I would definitely get a lot of physical benefits as well. I do also want to get some other things I've neglected back on my radar as well, like crafting and gaming. Attend yoga classes (M,W) work on setting up schedule for exercise besides yoga (T,H,F) - likely swimming at the Y or doing a Zombies, Run! session as a walk set aside time weekly for at least one of the following: solo gaming, painting minis, knitting, playing music 1 point for making a yoga class 1 point for making a non-yoga workout 1 point for planning for and following through on one of the above activities Life quest : Japanese (2 points) Like most other things on my challenge, this got shoved to the back burner (and then promptly dumped off the stove entirely) due to lack of time and energy. Use Duo min 5x/wk Study 1 lesson/wk from my text books (I think I was on the second one when stuff went crazy? I'll be starting back at one though) 1 point for Duo 1 point for studying from the text books So, hey NF community, I've missed you folks. LETS DO DIS!

I suppose my signature says it all, doesn't it? For a TL;DR, I was losing weight and feeling great, then I wasn't, then I was hiding from the world, then I spent a lot of time with doctors, finding out that I have diabetes, MS, and at least one heart condition. FUN So I am rebooting and keeping it simple, going from a newbie's standpoint. I just want to re-establish healthy habits and get my brain back into the swing of things. Level One Challenge Eat a vegetable with one meal every day Complete the NF bodyweight workout at least 1x a week Pick up the house every morning, and do the dishes I think this is a great place to start. I'll see you in the forums.

I'm back. So, the last five months or so weren't pretty. Long story short, got a year-long internship that I thought would be great and turned out to be hellish, had a bout with several months of serious depression/anxiety (a new and not-at-all fun experience for me), turned into a hermit, watched my health and fitness crash and burn. Great times. But, slowly, I've been recovering, thanks in part to the support of some good friends (h/t to @Treva and co.), and this month I've been on the upswing. Still, I really need to repair the damage that was done by the psychological paralysis and inactivity - my runs, strength, and flexibility all suffered a lot, and my appetite probably dropped by about 40% or so. Therefore, this challenge is simply a respawn: to get back on track with health, workouts, and general quality of life. No enormous challenges this time around - I'm just focusing on the respawn, and I'll be happy to do that in the company of fellow Rebels. Thus, the goals: Stretch 10 minutes per day - I'm super stiff right now from how little I was able to workout beyond some basic running and occasional hikes, and any time I try to do much else athletics-wise, it's painful. So stretching and mobility work needs to be a bigger part of my routine than it was. (Ideas and resources welcomed!) Make it to the gym twice a week - Not a huge goal, but I basically failed completely at getting any strength training in from November to January. I need to make it a habit again and break through the mental barriers keeping me away. Sleep! Get in bed by 11:00 - My sleep routine got pretty screwy for a while. Lately I've been doing better about this, but I need to make it a priority to manage my time and get to bed by 11:00 at the latest. My early mornings are always good for personal development and reading time. Extraordinary Barding: Pick up my guitar at least daily - I was once again reminded that one of the hobbies I'd most enjoy improving is my musical ability - guitar in particular, and hopefully mandolin in the future. This needs to be more intentional if I'm going to make progress. BONUS: Extra barding achievements (TBD) if I record a video of myself playing any songs. Oh, and if any of you have good stories or tips from recovering after something similar, I'd love to hear 'em. Again, this is a new challenge for me. Thanks for all the support so far!

Belgian and Belgium based Rebels, Assemble! It's time to join forces and work together my fellow rebels, i know we are but few but we are here. Let's join up, help each other and show what Belgian Rebels are capable of. As an assassin in his 10th challenge and with some experience under his belt I'm always present to help. So, where are you my Brotherhood?

Starting the four week challenge: 10 lbs. weight loss. Start bike riding 1 mile per day No alcohol (the horror)

January… uh… somethingth. So, the zombie apocalypse was happening. Actually, legitimately happening. National news kept going on like the world wasn’t ending but the locals were getting nothing but radio silence. Power was out, resources were scarce, and I just put on my big damned hero pants to save a teenager stuck in a tree. Oh, and did I forget to mention I got bit within the first week or this and my days are numbered and it’s only… uh… six days? Until I turn into some undead monster? Yeah. That sounds about right. “You caved his head in!” the teenager shrieked. “Shut up,” I hissed, still gripping the tire iron, “Mister Armless was trying to make you lunch and if you keep yelling more will show up.” “No-no, I mean- thank you-“ “You’re welcome-“ “But it’s really hard to break a bone like that.” “I… uh… played softball when I was fourteen,” I told her with a sheepish look. “What, that was, what? Twenty years ago?” I can’t believe this. The world is ending and a teenager is giving me crap about being comparatively old. “Fifteen years ago, kid,” I corrected, “c’mon, we gotta bounce. Things are going to get really bad out here and neither of us are going to do too hot if we stay alone.” “Wait, who are you?” Well, crap. I hadn’t actually thought about this. I know, it sounds lame, but it felt kind of weird telling someone what my name was. She was a stranger- also I was going to turn into a zombie in about five days (six days? Five days? Crap, either my memory naturally sucks or this is a side effect of the bite people don’t tell you. ANYWAY). I didn’t want her to get attached. It’s the same principle behind naming the goldfish you win at the state fair. Besides, I just bashed a zombie’s brains in with a tire iron and Heather didn’t sound like a badass enough name to give someone. “Ruby,” I replied. “Well, uh, I’m Jessica,” she said. The kid offered a thin hand with chipped nailpolish. She had on sweatpants and a messy bun that had never intended to be cute. I decided instantly that Jessica was a good kid. Like it or not, she was going to be the Clementine to my Lee. Except, hopefully, it wouldn’t end with a traumatized Jessica shooting me in the head. Greetings from the great beyond! I figure it's better late than never to get back on this horse. I have a bad habit of getting behind on a challenge, getting eaten by life, and then skulking away in shame with my head hung low wailing whyyyyy? I let all my followers dooooooown! And it is a sad, sad time all around at the Heather compound. So, I decided to go through a handle change, get myself geared up, and be ready to rock this jam yet again. I have readers to (hopefully) not disappoint! Stories to tell! Things to talk about and finally get my readers back in the game about figuring out how my main character survives getting bitten during the zombie apocalypse. Eight months later, I am finally going to pick my story back up. I mean that in both a creative sense and a non-creative sense. AND NOW, ON TO THE GOALS FOR THIS CHALLENGE!

Hello all, I am happy to say that I just completed the LOTR: Fellowship book. While I can't say that I remember all the details of the novel, I can say that it was a very good book. I do think that to complete the series, I may opt for the movies (none of which I have ever seen)....I know "bad nerd". I also started Star Wars Rebels this weekend. One of my other posts about Thrawn Trilogy led me to begin looking closer at the newer Canonized Star Wars Universe, instead of going back to the older books. So Rebels is my first step. I didn't watch all of Season 1, but watched enough to know what was going on, and then watched the Season 2 Premiere. I will also be going back and watching Episodes IV, V, and VI with both my daughters this weekend. My daughter and I are also going through the list of Marvel Universe Phase 1 and 2 to get ready for the upcoming movies. I am happy to say that I have turned her into an Avengers Angel (I liked the alliteration better than saying Marvel Nerd). We began with Captain America: First Avenger, and have made it through Iron Man 3 so far. Next on our list is Thor: Dark World, Captain America Winter Soldier, then to see Age of Ultron (again), and Ant-Man. Next on my list of books will be Game of Thrones. I haven't seen any of the HBO shows, but I am still looking forward to it. So, anyway, that is my "Leveling Up in the Nerd Universe" update. Now it's on to Level Up my Diet and actually stick to it. More to post about it later. If anyone has any suggestions about what they recommend for what's next, feel free to share.

Rogue Squadron has returned yet again! As always members and their threads will be in this post. Open for all, and we pay no mind to those pithy member limits! Come one Come All! Continuing from last time we'll be trying to find ways to increase the in (this) thread engagement! As always make sure to follow this thread, your own thread, and the thread of the other Rogue's. So Let's Rock Rogues! MEMBER LIST! RogueWelkin: RogueWelkin vs the Kiltiverse Annie1120: Annie1120 - Me Versus Myself. Gingered: Gingered SirHammerlock: SirHammerlock #8: Budgeting is like loosing weight... Tateman: Tateman's Challenge #8: It's been a year already? Wovercast: Wovercast's Final Challenge ScoutSays: ScoutSays You Are the Only Exception... Challenge 5 KingLeeroy: KingLeeroy: Move On Up towards her 8th Challenge jofalltrades: [Jofalltrades] Don't Forget Challenge Shelyid: Where Shelyid defeats the Wagoner Primeval: Primeval Takes Pictures, Leave Footprints JohnnyShoes: JohnnyShoes hopes to redeem himself jlud007: Do, or do not... there is no try RESOURCES! Rogue Squadron Facebook Group

Hello there guys! Class: Elf Race: Level 1 MAIN QUEST To create a base foundation in health and in fitness, which I can then work upon within my respective class. I want to begin leading a lifestyle in the way of an elf - who I really am, I suppose. POINTS I will award myself 10 points once I get three weeks in and move on to level one. When I finish six weeks, I will award myself an additional three points - one for each of my quests - and then move to level 2. Now, if this isn't how it works for first challenges please send me a pm and let me know, and I'll update this properly! Quest One: Cut back on chocolate and candy (+7 CON) A. Once a week or less per week B. Twice a week C. Three times a week F. Four times a week or more Quest Two: Exercise at least four times a week, in any form (+3 DEX, +1 STR, +2 STA) A. Four times a week or more B. Three times a week C. Twice a week D. Once or less Quest Three: Take my multi-vitamins, supplements, and iron medication every day (+3 CON) A. 7 days a week, on average B. 5-6 days a week, on average C. 4-5 days a week, on average F. Less than that Wish me luck! I'll drop in as often as I can! Lucy.

Rogue Squadron's back for another round of diverse support! This is the group's Sixth Challenge and we've got several regular members that are always willing to help support anyone. Feel free to come here for support even if you're not a member of the group, especially First Timers. Memberlist: (Updated as new members are added) RogueWelkin - Kiltercise - RogueWelkin Challenge VI SirHammerlock - SirHammerlock #6: Back to kick some tail JohnnyShoes - Can JohnnyShoes become a hero? Tateman - Tateman's 6th Challenge: One more step to a better me Wovercast - Wovercast is a Ranger after all Scoutsays - Scoutsays sugar is toxic... think on this and write about it - Challenge #4 Cookie351 - Cookie spins about on a pole while waving a sword in the hope of becoming smaller KingLeeroy - Kingleeroy's Castle of Grind, Foundation of Fitness part 2 Viriana - Viriana has a Plan! Chasely - Those last few, several, okay - more than several, pounds are a tough nut to crack Zarklin - Zarklin's 2nd Challenge - The Journey Continues dhert - "Might doesn't make right. Might makes reality." - dhert Challenge 6 Fultonator - Fultonator Swings into Spring

Origin Story Pushing his way through wave after wave of ninja zombies the hero Kung Fu Johnny slowly worked through the nine levels of the Mijikkujutsu fortress. The weeks of fighting would have been to much for all but the strongest, but Kung Fu Johnny had the ability to temper his strikes with his chi and enhanced combat skills. As he reached the top of the nine towers Kung Fu Johnny was meet with one last challenge. Could he strike down the demonic martial artist Mijikku, defeat evil andlearn the strongest attack known in the multiverse? The sound of the ancient evil overlords head bouncing off the towers floor was a resounding “yepâ€. The scores of undead evaporated and the ancient scroll of power manifested in front of Kung Fu Johnny. As he read the technique which could break worlds in half he heard an evil laugh. For a split second he felt he was the most power martial artist the world had or would ever know. Then just as quickly as the feeling came upon him it left. Not only the world ending move but all of his martial arts knowledge. All of his of training in alien martials arts, sparring with superheros and gods of old and his magical martial arts skills were gone in an instant. The evil Mijikku had tricked him into reading a tome of forgetting. He was left on the ninth floor with his body good only for walking. Kung Fu Johnny struggled out of the Mijikkujutsu fortress and through the dark realms he had traveled to defeat evil. As he collapsed into the forest he knew his training must begin again if he was to defeat Mijikku. This time he would train differently... Main mission Get moving! I want to stay on track with my marathon training plan. It involves 4 days of running (with one of those being an optional rest day) and 2 days of cross training. Goal 1 Win a dietbet. Loose 4% total starting weight. I weight 190 now. A - 8 pounds B - 6-7 pounds C - 4-5 pounds D - 2-3 pounds F - 0-1 pounds Goal 2 Decrease my resting heart rate. Pass/Fail Goal 3 Increase my easy run speed. A - 6.5 B - 6 C - 5.5 F - No change Life Quest Run in the mornings so I have more time with family when I get home at night. A - 4 times a week B - 3 times a week C - 2 times a week D - 1 time a week F - 0 times a week Motivation My wife and I signed up for our first marathon in November down in San Antonio. The furthest I’ve ever run is a 5k so this is a huge stretch for me! I've been on a quest to loose weight since I found out we were having a little girl 2 years ago. I've been slowly but surly dropping the pounds (40 so far) and I'm ready for the next push.

?I'm from Chicago and I havent seen anyone with nerdfitness apparel. So anyone from Chicago ?

I'm not sure if NF has one of these already, but I often see these kinds of threads on forums. Personally I like to see the faces behind the names, wether it is at work contacting a supplier or customer, selling something to someone on the internet, forums, etc... I'll start with a picture of myself and invite you to do the same, but feel no obligation to do so! A picture of me with my dog (that I had to leave to my parents when I left the province for work) this spring when I went home to see my parents for Easter weekend!