Search the Community

Last time things got derailed p badly. My car was in the shop for eternity and life just keeps dishin. Ive been trying to keep busy. I was gonna do a theme but i couldn't think of anything lol. So my quests are p much the same as last time except for the project one. It just kinda kept me in a scatter so I'm changing it up. Goals 1. Surf 1x/wk 2. Pushups every other day. 3. Cook 1x/wk 4. Start YT channel. Most of these are self-explanatory. For the YT channel one tho basically i need to make and post at least 1 video by the end of this challenge. Bonus points for more vids. But we'll see haha. Wish me luck!

My name is Wild Wolf and this is my Respawn challenge. With a new computer set-up, I’m able to get on the boards a little more often and wanted to get back to challenging myself physically and mentally. For the last 2 months it seems, I haven’t done much in the exercise/physical department. That includes going to Gaelic practice in over a month! Laziness? Maybe. Depression? Maybe. But either way, something needs to give. Depression you may ask? It’s a mild case, but I’ve let things get me down and throw off my normally positive mental state of mind. I attribute most of the way I feel towards my lack of physical training...so I know how to fix that part. But why is it so hard for me to find the time to train nowadays? I don’t need a solid 60 min to consider it a worthy WOD….15-min is enough time to blast myself and sweat out the bullshit...I’m just being lazy and prioritizing other things. I want to be more strict and disciplined...a stretch of things that is no stranger to me and all that starts NOW. Not next Monday or this weekend or whatever. Now. So who is Wild Wolf? Well, he’s a lot like your best friend. He’s got your back when times get sticky. He’s there to make you laugh when you’re feeling low. He’s even there to lend some worldly and Godly advice when wisdom is needed. But, he’s also: A closet pot head An anxious nail biter A hot-head A procrastinator Jealous Manipulative/Cheater a quitter I’m sharing this with you because my name is Ryan and I am Wild Wolf. No curtain. No mask or cowl. No secret identity. Just me. I feel like by being transparent with everyone that I can get back to being “myself” a lot sooner rather than later My inspiration changes all the time, so I’ve decided NOT to theme out my comeback challenge and just flood it with all the stuff I like. So expect music videos, obscene memes, inappropriate gifs and anything else I’m feeling at that point in time. It’ll be very Deadpool-esque if I can make a comparison haha. Goal #1: Train 3x a week. Nothing flashy-just get out and get some structured workouts in! Goal #2: Eat I want to put back on the muscle I’ve lost from being a lazy bastard. Protein, protein and PB&J! Track my protein intake daily. Goal #3: Recover Bum shoulder is feeling good these days but I’ve been slacking hardcore on my re/prehab. Time to bulletproof and get flexible! Re/Prehab daily with 1x a week for deep tissue work. Goal #4: Run Face my fears and daily struggles head on. Run TOWARDS my problems. Also, work 1-2x sprints a week. Bonus: Try for 1 day of speed drills/footwork Bonus: Try for a long trail run or ruck 1x a week Now, all I gotta do is keep up my end of the bargain and get back to my true form. Wolf

Hi folks, I'm trying NF for a second time, it never quite stuck the last time (a few years ago). So, I am trying to be more involved and interactive to keep up the momentum this time. (It worked for my finances, so here's hoping!) Fitness Goals: 1. Walk around the park everyday (1km) 2. Try 1 new type of fitness per week Nutrition Goals: 1. Enter for in My Fitness Pal daily Level up Life Goals 1. Do one intentional activity to spend time with daughter per week 2. Go to bed at 9.45pm weeknights and midnight on weekends. Going to do this. Going to make my daughter proud. Raising a Valkyrie is a serious business.

Heyyyyyy everyone!! This is a respawn for the accountability factor. I need to check in at least weekly to log my progress for this Challenge round. I did not do this last round as it would have been a horrible anxiety-stress trigger in the middle of so much life-crap going on, so I quietly did a re-run of my previous goals in a maintenance round. Spoiler Alert, the last 5 weeks had a lot of Crap... and Not Crap. This week is a mindset week and then I will be creating some kind of manageable goal list for this challenge. ENCOURAGEMENT IN THE FORM OF CAT GIFS IS ALWAYS ACCEPTABLE!

Hey guys! First post here, but I have read a few so I think I get the idea. My goals this month are a little more broad, but I plan to get a little more specific in the future. Long story short, this month is a rough one for me. Last June, my brother (technically half brother, on my dads side, but we were brothers. Closer than most I would say) took his own life. Needless to say that was a HUGE devastation and shock to me and the whole family. My training and care for my wellbeing went away for quite a while. But, over the last couple of weeks I have been getting back in the gym, and getting my life back together. SO, on a lighter note, here are my goals for June... Training: My broader goal is that I will strength train AT LEAST 4 days a week. I like doing all 5 workdays, but 4 is what I require of myself. My specific goal, however, is I would like to have a clean 240 bench max, a clean 285 squat max, and a clean 435 deadlift max. I pushed 235 bench today actually, which was a new PR, but it was very sloppy. My DL max, last I tried which was last week, was 425. I think that shouldn't be a problem. My squat max will be the bigger issue, as I have always neglected it. I'll keep you updated though! Nutrition: I started on Monday tracking my food a lot better. I have 2 goals for this, one is to stick to my food plan and stay as close to my macros as I can with a 90/10 approach. Basically only allow foods not on my plan 10% of the time. Two, that 10% of the time, it can't be junk garbage food like sweets and fast food. I have developed almost an addiction to that crap. No more! Life: This one is on a more serious note. I am HORRIBLE with communication. With my Dad, my Mom, my friends, everyone. Being the moth of the year anniversary of my brothers death, I want to make it a point, to start calling and talking to my family and friends, and be more invested in their lives. Especially my Dad, as he was the one that found my brother, and will be having a really hard month. Cherish the time you have with the ones you care about. It would rock your world to know how fast it could end. Thank you guys for all of the support and advice from the Facebook group. I hope to be more active here in the future! Let's get this shit done!! -Ben

WHAT UP MY RANGERSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS??? via GIPHY You guys, I haven't done a challenge here in, like, two years. HI. SORRY. I'm here now! And diving in to respawn, re-invent myself a little bit, and dig into what I want the next level of my life to look like. Did some mind-mapping: As usual, I want to do ALL THE THINGS, and this barely scratches the surface... But I've dutifully selected ONLY FOUR things for this challenge. With a tiny bonus side goal that I couldn't resist including, even if I don't focus on it this month. Inspired by this article on identity-based habits, I'm phrasing my goals this time around as things I will be endeavoring to believe about, and prove to, myself: #1: [MOVEMENT] I AM A PERSON WHO EXERCISES REGULARLY. This week will mark the eighth week in a row that I've gone to classes at my new awesome gym at least 3x/week, even when I was traveling (shooting for 4x this week). This is mega huge to me. I'm gonna keep it up: minimum of three classes per week. This gym is awesome - fun people, natural movement, heavy lifting, high intensity work, agility, nature... it's great. It's not cheap, but it's getting me out of the house (yay working from home), meeting new people, learning new things, and having fun. Worth it as long as I keep going regularly. Did I mention how proud of myself I am for my 8 week streak?? #2: [NOURISHMENT] I AM A PERSON WHO LIMITS SUGAR. * Okay, I reserve the right to change this one - I'm still not sure which aspect of nutritional goals I'm going to focus on. Meal prep? Veggies? Protein? Snacking? I think sugar will have the biggest impact. I'm currently reading Food Freedom Forever and highly recommend it, so I'll keep working on how I'll quantify this for the challenge. Track food and eat less than 30g of sugar each day? No spontaneous desserts; planned indulgences only? We'll see. Open to suggestions. I want to move away from tracking food, but I'm not averse to it. #3: [MENTAL HEALTH] I AM A PERSON WHO MEDITATES. * This one is going to be the toughest for me. I have never successfully created a meditation habit. Even now I'm tempted to make it a generic "ten minutes per day of focused self-care!" mission, and include journaling, yoga, walking, whatever. We'll see. Meditation would be really good for me. #4: [LIFE: FINANCIAL HEALTH] I AM A PERSON WHO STICKS TO A BUDGET. Second hardest one, helloooo. I have a good credit score, but still have credit card debt (and let's not talk about student loans). The housing market is insane in Portland, I'm engaged and about to start planning a wedding with my favorite nerd (!!!?!!?!), I'm officially in my "late 20s" as of this week's birthday (??!!!?!), and it's just fucking time to get my financial shit together and stop living like a college student who makes $80 impulse purchases from Lululemon (but I get a 25% off trainer discount you guyssssssssss). So this time around, I'm setting a non-negotiable budget for food and miscellaneous things (the categories I always go over in). And I'm not charging a damn thing. BONUS THINGS. I'm still slowly trying to work towards a handstand and have been playing with some languages in Duolingo (how do they still not have Mandarin, I'm losing all my skillz, 很不好), and it would be great to keep those up too. ONWARD!!!!!! via GIPHY

So apparently I am almost two weeks late to the party. Lol. However, I plan on keeping this challenge going into the summer break, so that should make up for my tardiness. I've started a challenge or two in the passed. However, I maybe lasted three to four days tops, so I still feel like a complete newbie going into this. I know that one of the problems I had, other than my lack of consistency, was that I set too many daily tasks for myself. I was bound to give up before I even started. But no not this time.... This time I'm making things really simple for myself. Somewhat difficult, but simple. I figure it's easier to develop some kind of consistency when the tasks are few and simple. I took a long hard look at my like the other day, and said I have had enough. I know good and well that I did this all to myself. I don't feel comfortable in my own skin anymore. I look in the mirror, and though I am not a total wreck, I am not okay with what I see anymore. Within the last 3 years I went through hell to say the least. I allowed my physical and mental health to plummet. Now that I've managed to find the way out of pit I was trapped in, I am ready to let the outside of me shine like the inside does. I AM READY!!! ................................................................. This Four Week Challenge: Diet: --> Eat vegetables with at least 1 meal a day --> Drink a minimum of 1 cup of green tea daily --> Drink a minimum of 10 cups of water per day Fitness: --> Briskly walk minimum of 1 mile a day --> Yoga/doorway stretch at least 5 minutes a day Level up your life: --> Floss once a day

It’s been a difficult month. It had nice things, and events to be proud of -so many enjoyed concerts- but I’ve been sick and feeling withdrawn from everybody. I haven’t seen nor talked to any human being aside my boyfriend (and the occasional postman chat) for the last week. I thought I had caught a bad cold , but it has obviously been something else, because after two weeks I’m still coughing and feeling weak. -turned out it was bronchitis- Positive side is that I’ve been finding easier to meditate and to be with myself, and that my body has been asking for healthy food as much as it has been refusing to eat crap. However, I keep on feeling disconnected from my life and my goals. To stop coming by to NF hasn’t been a good idea. Given that I don’t have much support in real life for my lifestyle change, it’s been harder and harder to do anything. I’ve missed a whole month of self-defence lessons, and I am feeling like it’s not worth it anymore. Inactivity linked to illness makes me think it will take forever to be able to work out again. I wasn’t going to take this challenge, and I just wanted to be by myself a bit longer, but yesterday I read some of the new threads, and there was such a positive energy, such a thrill, that I thought it would probably help me more to hang around the site than to keep trying to do things on my own. However, I don’t know where to start or how to organize this challenge. I’m thinking I will take zero week to think about it. The areas I wanted to improve this 2017 are: 1. Freedom of movement. 2. Getting stronger. 3. Spending time outdoors. 4. Eating healthier. 5. Owning more clothes. 6. Live in a cleaner and decluttered house. 7. Grow my savings account. 8. Read more. 9. Improve my icelandic. 10. Improve my music practice. Areas 4, 5, 8 and 10 are fine right now. I’m eating better than these last months, I’ve bought some nerdy t-shirts, I’ve finished several books, and if we except these last weeks when I’ve been sick, my music practice is full of life. Regarding this last point, I think it is time to ask BigGuy for a new lesson, but I am -again- paralized by fear and self-doubt. I think I may choose to work on areas 1 and 3, which seem rather easy now that nice weather is here to stay and a few walks and stretches will sure take less effort to do than other things. It’s just that when I think of it, I feel so so tired.

Wonder: n. a feeling of surprise mingled with admiration, caused by something beautiful, unexpected, unfamiliar, or inexplicable. Respawn. In my head, this takes place as a horse-drawn wagon ambles along a mountain road. My wrists are bound and I think (again), 'who am I to be this time.' Are our lives driven by the gods or fate, or do we act as the architects of our destiny? Maybe both? Either way, I am here now and an entire unwritten tale calls to me. Calls me to become greater. So let us go then, you and I...and remember: do or do not -- there is no try. Hero's Journey on Darebee. For the purposes of this challenge, I need to have completed at least 25 workouts by the end of the challenge period. Meal Planning. Practical Paleo + pancake cheat day. The broad goal is to minimize time-invested while eating as clean as possible. Adulting on Legendary. I need to work intelligently, efficiently, and tirelessly. There is much to be done and 'extra time' needs to be invested in relationships. http://waitbutwhy.com/2015/12/the-tail-end.html Accomplishments can be earned in the following areas: Toft and Croft - the house is cleaner/more organized/or improved. Coin Purse - anything from increasing financial knowledge to paying down debt. Guildmaster - professional activity - networking, interviewing, or attending membership/continuing ed. events Binding - relationship building with friends and family. Wonder - do something that creates this feeling in yourself or another. Potage le Magnifique - plan those meals. Adventurer Like You - get bigger, stronger, faster...to adventure of course. *Bonus* stay injury free (a.k.a. avoid arrows) Revised 4/27

I took a year to rest and recover with the Druids, and now I'm ready to come back to the Assassins! I'm ready to start working out again more regularly and more seriously. I miss the strength I gained and the visible muscles I had. I've made a lot of progress on getting more sleep on a regular basis, and that's helped a lot. I've been working on not snacking in the evenings, but it messes with my stomach, so a light nighttime snack is actually a good thing for me. Since sleep and food are good, they're not on the plan any more. Here's what I've got! THE PLAN Yoga: Monday / Wednesday / Friday Work out: Tuesday / Thursday I have yoga at lunch on Wednesdays, so that's the easy one. For workouts, I will swing my sledgehammer for 15 minutes, or hula hoop, or do my physio exercises for my knee. I'm keeping it really simple for this one because I'll get overwhelmed too easily with more. Disclaimer: I'm a queer, genderqueer (they/them pronouns), poly, kinky, social justice tank. The photos I share here will be SFW, but if you follow the link to my Instagram page, you will probably see things that are not.

In the last months I have been pretty much absent from the forums. I participated relatively frequently in the Facebook group, though. But after achieving my goal of 85 kg in November or so, I was absolutely clueless where to go next. I want to make sport/fitness a more active part of my life, but I'm unsure in which way. Right now I'm bouncing between 88 kg and 90 kg. That's okay; my size M shirts still fit nice nicely and I feel good. But I'd like to get back below 85 kg. And about five weeks ago I started to have back problems again. When I was on a walk with my girlfirend the pain in my bach became so bad that I almost collapsed. Right now it's okay, but I still feel it in the morning and when squating. I have a new prescription for physical therapy and I have four sessions to come. Anything else that happend or is relevant I will tell along the way. But feel free to ask things. Now, on to the challenge! I am ABSOLUTELY HOOKED by The Legend of Zelda -- Breath Of The Wild. I finished the main story two weeks after the launch, but I still play once or twice per week for a couple of hours. I have completed the game for about 25%, so there are still many things to do. Because of that, I will probably do Zelda-themed challenges for the rest of the year. With this it will be easier to fit the theme to the challenge rather than the other way around. (It also helps with getting attention here in the forums.) MILD BREATH OF THE WILD SPOILERS AHEAD! NO STORY SPOILERS! . .. ... .... ..... In order to "celebrate" my respawn I will do a Breath-Of-The-Wild challenge, since the whole game is basically a respawn for Link. And the main mechanic of the game is to collect stuff. So my goal is: Focussing on the same categories of items as Link! Swords Rule of 3: Plan to do three things every workday and then do them. In order to attack my enemies, I might not need the best weapon, but a very good strategy. So I will plan for three things to do the next day, mostly at work, and then I will do them no matter what. Additionally, I will be content when I finished my three tasks. Even when "should do" more. Shields Go running twice a week. A good defense will prevent me from harm. And shields are an active way defending myself. Therefore I will build my stamina by going for a run twice a week. It will usually be for about 30 minutes. The main focus here will be to get out in my running clothes, even when I feel bad/sick/tired and only walk around the block. Bows Do back exercises three times a week. The most important skill for surviving the dangers in Hyrule is snipping everything wtih an arrow. (At least, the way I plax it.) To do so I need a strong back and strong shoulders. So I will do my back exercises three times a week. I'm not sure yet which exercises I want to do. But I plan for 20 to 30 minutes per session. Nothing intense, more focus on movement, mobilisation and stretching. Armour Walk at least 8000 steps six times a week. Just like shields, my armour protects me. But it does so passively. So I will do a fundamental "movement diet" (cf. Katy Bowman) of walking a lot. I usually get 6000 steps done, except on Sundays. So this will be rather easy. But I want to step it up in the next challenge. (Pun intended.) Resources Track all "unregular" expenses. The single most important thing for surviving in Hyrule is to find lots of recsources and to plan ahead how to use them. As I struggle a lot with my money, I want to track it while thinking about a plan on how to budget reasonably. I'm soing this for three weeks now, so no "real" challenge there. Meals No sweets and no alcohol six times a week. Keeping many healthy meals on you when you fight Guardians and those fricking silver lynels is super important. The focus lies, of course, on "healthy". I'm more or less satisfied with my diet, but I have to cut back sweets. At least in the first iteration. And, even though I have no problem drinking two beers in front of the TV each night, I don't want to do this regularly. So, for the next four weeks at least I go cold turkey. Key items Write something positive every day in the Academy Facebook group. Finding a key item usually means that you will have to use it later, but for a very specific purpose. About a month ago I started to write a one-liner on the Facebook group. The main reason is that our rebel leader Steve told me that people active in the group tend to do better with their quests. So I wanted to participate in a low-effort way. I'm still unsure how I want to proceed with that. So, in order to try something, I will only write about positive things, focussing on gratitute and mindfulness. I might complanin and whine in additional posts.

Hey all, just reseting for the second or third time now. I've been thinking about why I could make progress and quit mid progress. I think the key was I took everything too quickly. I would cold turkey, breads, pasta, soda, and start going to the gym daily. Now that I have my wife on board with the nerdfitness program (note not just supportive but actively participating with me) And we've been working toward financial peace, I see that I really should slowly go through and change my default habits. I still don't know what class I should be. I'm a huge character creation fan, and I think this sums up my outlook on life. I like starting a whole bunch of stuffs with a lot of detail. But don't follow through well. I actually just finished my first project at my job and felt immensely proud! So I'm taking this mindset and working through like the Tortise. I would like to find out my class for rpg purposes as well as training purposes. I like the idea about being a younger Gandalf (The high level dex based fighter with a few tricks) I'm thinking this is probably Ranger, Monk, or Rebel. Also, neither my wife or I have social media so we can't join the Facebook group. I would like to find another accountability partner as well as someone who may have done something similar and exchange emails. Anyone have any questions? This week we are working through the mindset modules. We've been tracking food for a while so we are minimizing liquid calories and will start walking.

This makes the twentieth time I have started a challenge on the NerdFitness forums. They should all be linked below in my signature. Some of them went really well, some of them were total failures. Most were somewhere in the middle. Current overall mission (admittedly a little fuzzy): Lose weight and get physically prepared for a family trip to Disney World in early November 2017. Fitness Goals: Goal 1: It's now or never/ I ain't gonna live forever Avoid sugar, corn syrup, grains, potatoes, and snacks. Record daily and report here. Goal 2: I just wanna live while I'm alive Strength training three times per week. Report here what I do. Life Goal: Tomorrow's getting harder make no mistake/ Luck ain't even lucky/ Got to make your own breaks At least ten minutes every day of focused, non-distracted meditation and scripture study. Report on this thread.

____________________________________________________________________________ "Fatigued with life, but loathe to part, yet on Hope, the soul relies, and every pang that rends the heart bids expectations r i s e. Hope, like the gleaming, tapered light, adorns and clears the way; and still, as darker grows the night, emits a brighter ray." The above is a somewhat modified version of a song that I discovered during research for a story. It...struck a major chord, and so is now saved to my book of favorite words. <3 There were several variations, so the modification comes from attempts to merge them somewhat. It's...just true, really. I had not anticipated stumbling across something so relatable. As for the song above that, also..."Every breath that you breathe takes all that you've got, you wonder if you're always gonna feel this way...feeling overwhelmed before the day even begins..." It's exactly where I am. But...then there's the rest of the song, and it's a hopeful note. So, I was going to say there's no Theme this time, but... there kind of is one. : ) Honestly, right now I feel Stuck; I went away for most of the recent Challenge. Not all of that time was spent in the doldrums of anxiety and sadness, but rather in a slumped loss of energy and interest. Just don't have a lotta get-up-and-go at the moment. But...to put it in terms of Characters and RPG, Miaulin's wandering Ye Darkende Woode, well off-path. There are no signs to mark the way, and nought in sight but further tangled trees and fog. The Black Dog walks at her side, growling frequently, biting at unpredictable intervals. There's an ashen bird perched on her shoulder, and it whispers dread in her ear in a voice like snakes slithering over damp leaves. She is weary. Something tells her she'll never leave this forest. Sunlight is rare, dribbling to the ground in watery patches, never quite enough to dent the looming mist. She rushes for them, when they appear, stays close by and never fails to dismay when they fade. It strikes her as pointless to keep walking when the journey will never end. But, in those soft moments by dwindling pools of natural light, when the dog sits tame and panting, and the bird ceases its whispers, she remembers...if there is an end to this forest, she will not discover it by setting up a permanent camp and making a home of the dark. I dare not entertain further illusions of doing much in the way of narrative, but I have done a bit more writing lately and so won't discard the notion entirely, perhaps some small snippets and snatches here and there. As for goals...I worry it would be a set up for failure to set the bar much above ankle-height for the time being. So, instead of a collection of goals, the aim is to take at least one small step a day just to gain some ground. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Tracking Zero Week: Day One: Check Day Two:Check Day Three: ? Day Four:? Day Five: ? Week One: Day One: Day Two: Day Three: Day Four: Day Five: Week Two: Day One: Day Two: Day Three: Day Four: Day Five: Week Three: Day One: Day Two: Day Three: Day Four: Day Five: Week Four: Day One: Day Two: Day Three: Day Four: Day Five: __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Hello! My last challenge attempt was in January and, well it was quite a roller coaster of a few months family-wise so it didn't work out. We unfortunately lost my mother in law at the end of March and have been working to get things in order. One big focus is on restarting a healthier lifestyle, especially with the warm weather around the corner. My goals for this challenge: Increase my water consumption Remove one cup of coffee from my routine (down to 2 from 3) Do yoga every night before bed to help me relax Attend kickboxing once a week That's enough for this round. Trying to set myself up for success and be able to have time for all the estate stuff going on: Get Grandmother-in-law's house on the market by end of May Finish clearing out mother-in-law's NYC apartment also by end of May Boy am I looking forward to Memorial Day. Maybe I can convince hubby to go for a hike.....

OH HI. Some of you (probably not a lot) already know me but I'll introduce myself anyway: I'm Virago! I've been a Nerd Fitness reader for a loooong time, I went to CNF 2015, and I even used to post here sometimes - but I'm horrible at forums Anyway, since I'm also the Rebel Support Leader at Nerd Fitness, and since I'm going to be helping Spezzy out with the forums now that she's COACHING FULL TIME FOR NF (AAAAAAHHHH HOW COOL IS THAT!!!!?!), I'm going to take another crack at a battle log. I've always wanted one here, and just been too scared/overwhelmed to do it. Well guess what: it's respawn time!!! More introductions (and, you know, battle-logging) to come, but for now I'm going to hit publish before I chicken out. LET'S DO THIS, NERDS!

placeholderrrrrrrr!

Laidir here! I know I'm late for joining this challenge but I'm hoping to set myself up with some basic healthy habits before the next challenge! I'm finishing my Bachelor of Nursing next week (shameless brag!) and I need to start taking better care of myself. Stress has done a number on my body and I just discovered that I've gained 25 lbs throughout the program and am now technically a little bit overweight. Which is super weird because for the longest time, I could not gain weight no matter how hard I tried (I wanted boobs, what can I say :P). Heart disease, cancer, and diabetes all run in my family and I'd like to do what I can to avoid them. ;P I'd like to lose 10-15 lbs and see how I'm doing at that point, but ultimately I just want to be stronger, healthier, and feel energized. Food Have a healthy smoothie every morning - I normally don't eat breakfast and when I start my day eating something nutritious I eat better throughout the day. Fitness Do the playground or living room workout 3x per week - I want to master my body so bodyweight workouts make sense. (future assassin maybe?) (Also, I did the playground workout for the first time this morning and it was so nice!! I live in a basement suite so actually seeing the sun was WONDERFUL!) Life Study for the NCLEX (Registered Nurse licensing exam) at least 1 hour every day - Ideally on days off I need to be studying for several hours but this should build the habit and keep the content in mind every day. My goal is to be ready to take the NCLEX by the mid-end of May.

In the words of Bugs Bunny, "I should have taken a left at Albuquerque." A few months ago I gained a couple injuries and took some time off to recuperate, then I let that spiral out of control for 5 months of very little activity and negative progress towards improving my health. Well that changes now. In my constant efforts to not bite off more than I can chew I am going to change my training methods to remove potential excuses before they arise. My goals will be simple and revolve around a basic start in endurance, strength, and food. Endurance: As much as I want to go out and work on running because it lines up with my ultimate goals, at my weight and cardio condition right now that is not feasible. So 2x/week I will ruck with my dogs and aim for either a faster pace or a longer distance each week. Strength: I love lifting weights. Unfortunately I have found that I let weight training take up most of my attention to the detriment of everything else so I determined that I will have to earn my way back to the Iron. To do so I will start with body weight work 3x/week. Food: My girlfriend does most of the cooking at home so I'm not always in control of the food available and she is not 100% on board with healthy eating habits. So for this goal, I will strive to take over cooking most days by planning and preparing meals I can put in a crock pot to cook while I sleep so that we have food ready when she gets home from work. On days that this doesn't happen (even on days that it does honestly) I will focus on portion control. That way even when my nutrition isn't optimal, I will be working towards maintaining a healthy calorie intake. Optional: In place of my endurance and strength training I will have an optional 1x/week I will do GPP and heavy bag training and/or sledgehammer work on my tire (weather dependent), again I will strive for longer duration or more rounds completed in a time limit. As either of these options have a bit of both I will use it instead of one of the others on a day where I am constrained by time or weather. Punishments: If I don't follow my planned routine or if I sub in my optional work more than 1x/week I will perform some corrective measures that have yet to be determined but I'm thinking 5 minute cold showers seems like a likely candidate. I am aiming for 1 training session per day but if I need to make up missed time I can do two different types of training a day the give allowances for unforeseen circumstances. I can only make up training sessions for the week I am currently in. Remedial training was the word I was looking for instead of make up training... Brain wasn't cooperating yesterday. Last, but certainly not least, for my fellow Doodlies... PERKELE!!

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!

I can't remember who gave me this quote, but it will be with me all year: "Nothing tastes as good as being fit feels" Quest: lose 15lbs and enhance my mind 4am: Morning workouts, alternating between bodyweight days (from Academy workouts, likely Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays) and walking/cycling days (likely Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays) Stick to <1,500 calories and >180g protein, <50g carbs per day, adjusting fat as a lever if my activity levels merit more calories Quest: Master Prep Food: weekends most prep, then supplement Wednesday nights (will be tricky on travel weeks), in this challenge, improving my preparation of chicken breast and salmon (and some bacon) Quest: the mind and career goal of becoming a master trader/investor by passing CAIA Level 1 on March 10th 4am - after meditation and workout, study until time to work at 8am, then study more at lunch This image is not of me, but it makes me laugh (because it's too true!)

Hi all, I'm Elliott, back at it again with the white Vans. Or at least, some kinda shoe. I'm back after a looooong hiatus. I messed up my leg and lower back in a major way with disc herniation, nerve damage, and what seems to be muscular atrophy back in November 2015, and I'm now to a point where I can walk relatively reliably again. I managed to recover without surgery, which wasn't exactly my idea, but my doctor and I got to a point where surgery actually increased the likelihood of further injury. Anyway, long story aside, I'm here, have frequent numbness in my leg, and am working on getting to a point where I can eventually do all the things again. That, in essence, is my epic quest. So, to help myself succeed, I've enlisted a partner in crime - my husband, actually. His work has given him a free membership to the gym and includes me on it, so we're heading into this together. Paired with his fear of mortality, we've got ourselves some good motivation to work on our physical health. Some tactics we're using: 1) Better diet. We've increased veggie intake and are slowly weaning ourselves off of meat proteins (because we're broke all the time and meat is expensive here). We're also reducing reliance on simple carbs. I strive to make a balanced breakfast for the two of us most work days, and I'm continually trying to convince him to bring something for lunch (that's a hard sell, though, because apparently his company sucks and doesn't have a break area or real place to like, hang and eat.) 2) Lots more water. We've taken to drinking from half-gallon juice jugs and it helps keep us hydrated. I prefer to drink with Crystal Light packets, since they have like, 0 calories and a low hit on nutritional values, but I'm trying to drink more water plain through the day. I have a problem not hydrating enough, and it gets the better of me. 3) Better sleep. I'm a horrid sleeper, whereas he hits the pillow and immediately drifts off. I'm jealous. Over the last month or two I've taken to trying to go to bed when he does, around 10, so that I can try to wake up and make us breakfast in the morning. That's just a few things we've started working on, and I'm happy and cautiously hopeful about moving forward. I took my starting weight at the gym yesterday, so that I at least have some numbers to go by, but I'm hoping to get measurements taken for a more thorough analysis of my progress. I also have to find another physical therapist if I really want to get anywhere, since my last appointment was in August. Ugh. I hate the American health care system, lemme tell ya. Well, here I am. Gonna try not to drift out aimlessly like Jubal Early, and finally get to a point where I'm happy on my path. Here goes! Here's my battle log: https://rebellion.nerdfitness.com/index.php?/topic/96196-doing-the-thing/ Aaaand here's my character sheet: https://www.nerdfitness.com/character/180689

Hi! It's been a long long while. During summer vacation I derailed embarracingly, had a bazillion beers, ate whatever the heck I wanted, woke up every day feeling like I had lava on my guts and one of my friends was mistakenly taken into custody and had to spend 4 days locked up until we managed to get things straight and get the poor dude out. Good times... But now it's time to get back on track and shed the extra Kgs. I've already returned to CF and Krav Maga. I'm also officialy dieting, that is obsessively tracking macros and calories (especially calories) even on weekends. I've cut out alcohol and started intermitent fasting again, in ~15 hour fasts(which basically means not having breakfast). Nare is on vacation with her parents and the academic year has not started yet, so it's a perfect time to focus on training and eating right. Let's do this!

I've been out of the NF loop for a while, but I'm back and ready to commit to a month of focused adventuring. Goal #1: Lose 10 pounds My weight has been sneaking up over the past year or so, mostly through neglect. Diet needs a bit of maintenance, mainly cutting down on starchy carbs (especially bread). The plan is to try one new vegetable a week, make sure I have at least some fruit and/or veggies every day, and exercise due diligence with high-glycemic foods (did I mention how much I love bread?) Going for more fibre, good-quality protein in reasonable serving sizes, and avoiding stress- or boredom-eating. Goal #2: Outdoors activities every Sunday I've already started this, going snowshoeing or cross-country skiing on Sunday afternoons for the past month. I'm going to continue this, alternating between the two and also looking for one or two new places to do them. Goal #3: Some other fitness activity on Thursdays This could be just a matter of going to the gym and/or the pool, but I want to try out something new. Wondering how hard it would be to learn rock climbing. Goal #4: Travel planning! I need to be in the northwest United States this August for the upcoming total eclipse of the sun. I don't yet know exactly where I'm going to be on August 21, or if I can get the vacation time (already put in a request, but it won't be official till the seniority-phase vacation deadline, which IMO is at the end of February). Regardless, I'm going to be researching possible destinations and chatting with a travel agent, and generally getting this show on the road.

After two semesters of butt kicking (and sitting way, way too much), I've got myself organized and sorted and I'm ready for Challenge 2. I'm keeping it simple for this challenge. I've made the mistake in the past of getting excited about a new start and setting incredibly optimistic goals that needed to be done by tomorrow in order for me to feel successful, and yeah. We've all been there, right? I tested this out last week during the rest and it worked out well. So my simple goals, and the steps I'm taking to set myself up for success: Food Log every meal, every food, every day - meal plan every Sunday, shop accordingly - try one new recipe every week to avoid boredom - log everything on Sunday for the week (a new tactic for me - I'm just the kind of person who'll stick with it if it's already "inked") Fitness Walk for one hour at the gym, Mon - Fri LUYL Drop cable - buy indoor antenna - buy modem - call Comcast for new user deal, arrange installation - call U-verse to see if they'll match the new user price - after installation, hook up Apple TV, Firestick (already have) And one thing that will help me on all of my goals: Log in to the boards here for inspiration every day. I get so charged up seeing everyone's challenges and progress, and it helps with my accountability since I don't have anyone reliable in RL. I have school again this semester and I'll be working that in with everything else, so I'm officially calling this good. I'm excited with the LUYL goal because this is something that's been on my To Do list for ages and I keep putting it off because I stress out during phone calls to utilities and such. No particular reason, that stuff just causes me great anxiety. When I knock that out, it's going to be such a huge sigh of relief. It's not fancy, but there it is!