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For those who are new or behind, my main goal is weight loss, for health reasons as well as I want to look good naked, and fit in clothes I used to. I love 5Ks and kettlebells. I'm struggling with this goal because it doesn't get easier when you get older. My birthday happens in the middle of this challenge so there will be some flexibility for that if D decides to plan anything. I work from home, (3 jobs) as an accountant, so making sure I have enough movement in my day as well as not eating "all the unhealthy things" is important. It's very easy to lose track of how much time I've been sitting trying to solve an issue. Not having "all the unhealthy things" in the house also helps. I struggle to get enough sleep so that shall remain on the list until it's no longer a struggle. I found a ‘diet’ plan, the Dr. that came up with its target audience is post-menopausal women. It’s really a combination of several different things like IF, Low Carb/Keto, and Macros. The common denominator is calorie reduction, of course, unless you burn more than you take in, nothing is going to work! My biggest issue is I get tired of trying to figure it all out and do a lot better when someone just tells me how and when to do it, so I’m putting this on easy mode until I lose the weight! I’ve decided to go back to the 5k training plan I used in 2019 that worked better than anything else I tried…it calls for one day strength training, three days ‘running’ (intervals at your pace is suggested) and one to two days cross training or rest days. I took a break in the middle of this because NF Journey had a 5K training that was very similar, so I’m doing that instead. I will be transitioning back mid-challenge because that will end, I’m also using the NF Journey app for workouts on the two days I’m not running. Checking in to hold myself accountable is key to this being successful, I don't want to have to post bad news here. I plan on posting daily to make sure I'm on track where I need to be. Workout - The 5k training plan/NF Journey App Rest - Sleep (7 hours a night) - sleep is important Extra - Rides, 5k's, events, and life events go here - because fun makes life worth living Steps - Hitting my 7500 steps a day goal, minimum Track - Food, follow Galveston Diet, track in Chronometer Update - Post in thread at least three times a week. - self explanatory Duolingo daily

For those who are new or behind, my main goal is weight loss, for health reasons as well as I want to look good naked, and fit in clothes I used to. I love 5Ks and kettlebells. I'm struggling with this goal because it doesn't get easier when you get older. My original goal was to lose 58.4 lbs, I have lost 5.1 of those. I work from home, (3 jobs) as an accountant, so making sure I have enough movement in my day as well as not eating "all the unhealthy things" is important. It's very easy to lose track of how much time I've been sitting trying to solve an issue. Not having "all the unhealthy things" in the house also helps. I struggle to get enough sleep so that shall remain on the list until it's no longer a struggle My last 5k (on the 6/5) was a real wake up call. I've let a lot of things go since the pandemic, I could barely move for three days after doing it, I was not trained for it and in retrospect I probably shouldn't have done it. I’ve decided to go back to the 5k training plan I used in 2019 that worked better than anything else I tried…it calls for one day strength training, three days ‘running’ (intervals at your pace is suggested) and one to two days cross training or rest days. *I’m using the NF Journey app for workouts on the two days I’m not running. Checking in to hold myself accountable is key to this being successful, I don't want to have to post bad news here. I plan on posting daily to make sure I'm on track where I need to be The Plan... Workout - The 5k training plan/NF Journey App Rest - Sleep (7 hours a night) - sleep is important Extra - Rides, 5k's, events, and life events go here - because fun makes life worth living Steps - Hitting my 7500 steps a day goal, minimum Track - Food (stay in deficit) track in Cronometer Update - Post in thread at least three times a week. - self explanatory Duolingo daily Done - 🌈 Not Done - ❄️ * - changes from previous challenge Progress Track - ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

Hello Frenz I've been feeling reluctant to come on here since I have been fairly feeble in my commitment to training and it's depressing coming in day after day and reporting that I have done naff all again. But I've managed to get into a groove, albeit only a few days so here I go, trying to keep the wheelie up... I'm doing a 15km race in a warm climate on sand in 9 days' time. I'm not in especially great condition. I mean, I'll finish it, but I've seen the organisers' Facebook page and they look like they are pretty professional. Road racing is a big deal in Portugal apparently. I'm going to struggle to keep up! Taking part in an organised race in. Portugal has been on my bucket list for ages so I'm excited but apprehensive for a few reasons I won't go into. I'm. Going to spend a few days there and Flyer is coming with me and we'll have a sort of weird working holiday. It's going to be an adventure. Anyway, between now and then I have scheduled in daily exercises to lose weight and develop my stamina a bit. Tomorrow I'm going to row, and do a short fast run home. Then on Sunday I'm going to run the 15km using a camelbak to get used to using that. After that it's mainly weights and swimming to let me legs rest a bit. Also diet control and daily potuguese of course. The usual. It's a routine I can do when I have my shit together but my shit is so often all apart these days.

For those who are new or behind, my main goal is weight loss, for health reasons as well as I want to look good naked, and fit in clothes I used to. I love 5Ks and kettlebells. I'm struggling with this goal because it doesn't get easier when you get older. I work from home, (3 jobs) as an accountant, so making sure I have enough movement in my day as well as not eating "all the unhealthy things" is important. It's very easy to lose track of how much time I've been sitting trying to solve an issue. Not having "all the unhealthy things" in the house also helps. I struggle to get enough sleep so that shall remain on the list until it's no longer a struggle My last 5k (on the 6/5) was a real wake up call. I've let a lot of things go since the pandemic, I could barely move for three days after doing it, I was not trained for it and in retrospect I probably shouldn't have done it. I've decided the best way to motivate myself is monetarily...it worked last time when I hired a trainer, so I've decided to do that again, through an app this time that will write a program based on the equipment I have. I have four days of weights/bodyweight workouts, and I'm making my step goal a priority again. I'm also going to start tracking for the month that I paid for the trainer for, at the end of four weeks I'll see where we're at and if it's worth the expense to keep going, I'm feeling pretty sure it will be if I stick to it. So while it worked to motivate me to work out, I wasn’t really enjoying it. I’ve decided to go back to the 5k training plan I used in 2019 that worked better than anything else I tried…it calls for one day strength training, three days ‘running’ (intervals at your pace is suggested) and one to two days cross training or rest days. Checking in to hold myself accountable is key to this being successful, I don't want to have to post bad news here. I plan on posting daily to make sure I'm on track where I need to be The Plan...Still more changes Cardio - The 5k training plan that worked in 2019 (3 interval runs, 1 strength training, 1 walk day Rest - Sleep (7 hours a night) - sleep is important Update - Post in thread at least three times a week. - self explanatory Steps - Hitting my 7500 steps a day goal, minimum Track - Food (stay in deficit) track in MFP Extra - Rides, 5k's, events, and life events go here - because fun makes life worth living Duolingo daily Done - 🌈 Not Done - ❄️ Upcoming Events 6/5 - Atlanta Pride Run - Done in 59 minutes 9/25 - Summer Sizzler 5k - virtual due to prior commitment 9/25 - Fall Finish 5k - see above 12/10 - Mud Girl Run in Jax - may change this to Atl. since no one wants to join me

Better late than never? At the end of this challenge we'll get the keys to our new house. I'd very much like a fresh start in the battle against chaos and clutter, which means that we should not move all of our stuff with us. While prepping for the move I'd also like to maintain my tenuous grasp on sanity and not completely lose all the progress made against chaos and anxiety* these past few months, which means keeping up with the things that help with that aka exercise, gardening or otherwise being outside and attempts at bullet journaling. Decluttering: - block out time for some major work together with Jaap - tackle clothing (mine and the kids) and paper clutter on my own - throw away 5 random things every day Maintaining grasp on sanity: - run, lift kettlebells and strength train twice a week each.. but try to be content with at least once - do 5 min of work in the backyard or the garden every day - just brain dump in my bujo, anything else is bonus, but just brain dump as often as possible *The good news is that last Monday during our holiday I spend 4 hours catching up on admin stuff that I've been avoiding for literally months. I had build up a nice block against doing some of the things and somehow broke through all of that in one sitting. If only I could bottle some of that magic!

Character sheet: Level 2 human scout adventurer STR: 1 (+1) DEX: 0 (+2) CON: 1 (+4) END: 1 (+1) CHA: 0 (+4) WIS: 0 (+2) Starting weight: 72.5 kg Starting measurements: - Thighs: 60/61 cm (L/R) - Hip: 106 cm (below hipdips) - Waist: 80 cm - Belly button: 88 cm The goals: 1. Leave the house and move every single day. (+1 constitution per week) 2. No takeout. (+1 constitution per week) 3. Take at least 3 pictures per week. (+1 charisma per week). Stretch goals: 1. Continue Zombies, Run! Training 3x per week (+1 endurance per week completed) and go to the gym 3x per week (+1 strength per week). 2. Make 1 new healthy recipe per week (+1 wisdom per week). 3. Post on instagram. (+1 charisma per 3 posts, +1 dexterity per adventure). The challenge: I've arrived at Abel Township. It feels like I've been here before, but that can't be right, can it? I jumped right into the training to become their new runner 5 (I think this occupation might be just a bit dangerous, seeing as the runner 5 that came before me also died before I came) and injured my knee in the process. It's been a rocky road to recovery and I've not been able to go on runs while it gets back up to speed, so I'm learning from my mistakes and making sure I focus on staying healthy while training rather than setting myself the goal to finish my training and possibly injuring myself further. I'm not a runner. I'm not strong. But I'll get there, slowly, one day at a time. If all goes well, I'll be training my running three times a week. That's what the training plan says and that's at least how often I *want* to be running. I might have to go a bit slower at the start especially. Build up the strength slowly and safely vs. diving in head first and then having to stop training again. Once the knee has recovered, I'll make sure to speak to the gym keeper about adapting my training plan. I want to focus on exercises that help me run safely vs. those that make me look a certain way. I won't let upper body strength come too short, but I do very much want exercises that help build up the muscles needed for running, strengthen my joints and help with mobility to make sure my body gets through the training stronger and unharmed. And hopefully with my brains uneaten. Opportunities for takeout are few in the zombie apocalypse and I must withstand them. I wouldn't want to eat food that was poorly prepared and have it delivered to my bunk. That feels like unnecessary luxury and strain on resources. So I'll cook it myself. And if I can't cook, I'll go get food from the cantina. But I won't be the new runner that makes people wait on them. There's food shortages. We gotta work with what's in season and what we can provide ourselves, so I should learn a few new tricks to make sure I eat healthy and well with what's at hand. Lastly, as you might imagine, the zombie apocalypse isn't a glamourous place. It's been a rough few years and this body that I want to train has been the last thing on my mind. I've existed in it, I've put the creams on it, but I haven't noticed it. It feels odd to romanticise it, focus on its good sides rather than its flaws and document it for the world to see. But if I want my body to do its best work, I should also be in love with it. So I'll document the adventures, document my body and let others see. Get over the shame of having changed, fall in love with the softness and get over the cringe of taking pictures of it in public to then post them to a different public. Whether that's pictures taken during a run, on an adventur or digging through the archives of what used to be Pinterest, before the zombies attacked, to make my own version of them. If you want to see that bit, you can follow along here - it's set to private because I don't want people from Abel to be able to see it yet, but I'll happily accept all requests. By the end of this challenge, I want to have covered distance. I want to be stronger. I want to love myself more. So I can be the runner Abel Township deserves, ready for more adventures. I kept everything very low-key for my first half-challenge, but I'm so excited to interact with everyone for this one and see what you guys get up to! I missed this place horribly.

Got sick. Work got busy. And I fell off the exercise and drinking-less bandwagon last challenge. (Other than alcohol, food has been pretty good though. I blame our garden which is currently exploding with kale and lettuce faster than we can eat it). For inspiration, I signed up for a 5K in mid-July. Gives me a bit of a shorter-term thing to train for than the half-marathon in November. Also... I really loved part 1 the new season of Stranger Things. I can definitely relate escaping the upside down to pulling myself out of this slump and back into better habits. In the interest of keeping things attainable, I'm also really going to embrace the "fitness is a dial" mentality with this challenge. As such my current vision of goals for this challenge are: Movement Dial: 1) Walk the dog 2) At least 1 rep of each warm-up routine 3) Full warm-up routine or 10+ mins yoga 4) Full warm-up routine + Run (any length/distance) 5) Full warm-up routine + Run 30 mins Warm-Up Routine: Nutrition Dial: 1) Track food & water in journal 2) Track, Drink 2 L water 3) Track, Drink 2 L water, and up to 2 alcoholic drinks 4) Track, Drink 2L water and up to 1 alcoholic drink 5) Track, Drink 2L water and 0 alcoholic drinks

Hi all! I'm Stronkey Kong. I started on NF 9 years ago and am still fat, but making the best of it, and grateful for the community here regardless. Main Goal: Find my 'Best Weight' My ideal weight is probably 180 lbs. going by the numbers and pictures. I recently (today actually) came across the idea of best weight, the weight that lets you live the life you want to live. So that's the real goal. Mine is probably about 220-230, which is halfway between my current 285 lbs. and my 'ideal.' Goal 1: Run. I'm still following the program in Run Your Butt Off (RYOB). I had some trouble tho, once I hit the run 2 minutes, walk 4 minutes workout, and these last two weeks I've only got 1 walk or run/walk workout per week. I'm going to redo the run 1 min./walk 4 min week, then increase 20 s per week until I hit 2 min, then pause and reassess there. Goal 2: Eat 99% Vegan I tried to go vegan back in the spring. I was thirty days in and it was going very well. Lost a few pounds, had fewer GI issues. Then I got Covid (probably) and went off it since. I'm going to try again for 100 days (July 24 - Halloween) of 99% vegan eating. I call it 99% to allow for mistakes and variation in practice. I will probably forget at some point that most pestos contain cheese, or that some vegetable recipes have beef/pork/chicken broth etc. But I will not: eat a steak, put cheese on salads, eat baked goods that have eggs... yada yada. If I can see an animal product on my plate, or on an ingredient list, I have to start over. Otherwise, I can keep on going without a restart. Halloween is good, it's right before the holiday season when the temptation to have animal products based solely on tradition is highest... and there's a good chance I won't be able to refuse polish sausage, ham , and cheese pierogies as part of my family's Christmas Traditions. I've read most of the book Vegan for Life (VFL) which is written by a couple of Vegan R.D.s and will be following their plan and recommendations. Doing so, it will be hard to go over 2500 cals/day which is a good goal given what RYOB recommends for daily calorie intake on their program (per my individual calculations based on their program). =============================== First? (addit: No. RES beat me.)

Hi I'm KB Girl, 34 year old mom of two littles (5&2), gym owner, kettlebell sport coach, avid Harry Potter fan fiction reader, novice gardener and lifter of heavy things in many shapes. I struggle with juggling too many things I want to be doing and things I feel I should be doing. The overwhelm does my mental health no good. In the past bullet journaling has helped me keep that overwhelm at bay while also helping me focus on all the good things in life, so I want to get back my regular habit of using it. Main quest: use my bullet journal Perfectionism is standing in my way, there are so many things I have used my bujo for in the past and I also have many ideas for how I could be using it and now I feel like I have to pick all of that back up straight away.. which is bullshit. I think that if I give myself permission to start small that I will gradually pick things back up and start new things. Plan: write down one good thing about the day, every day, ideally right after the kids fall asleep and I've cleared some space for it if necessary. Side quest: pick up running I dislike starting running because.. well its painful at first isn't it? I've always toyed with the idea of pushing through that initial phase because it would be very beneficial for my kettlebell lifting, but never felt motivated enough. This has changed in Porto when two of my teammates would go for a run together in the morning- it seemed like such a great way of doing some extra sightseeing. I love being outdoors, running could be something I'll love. Plan: start small, on Saturdays when my 5yo is in swimming class and on Wednesdays after lifting heavy things. Bonus challenge: grow and cook good food! This one is simple! I shall learn all the things about the growing and the cooking! if the stars align I might even write down in my bujo what I'm learning aka what went wrong and what I'll have to do different next time Plan: there is no plan! just winging it. Also give me all your recipes involving lettuce, because I have so much lettuce to eat!

Conquius and Jormungandr Ride to Glory Image Source: 0826 by Catan on ArtStation Adventure Log: At the end of my cross-country trip last year, my riding companions and I talked about a reunion. We decided that we'd do RAGBRAI 2022 together. That time has come, RAGBRAI is just around the corner, and I need to prepare. I'm still in decent riding shape (nowhere near the shape I was in at the end of my trip), but there's room to improve. Additionally, I have to handle some trip logistics and bike maintenance. For those unaware, RAGBRAI stands for "Register's Annual Bike Ride Across Iowa". From the RAGBRAI website: Without further ado, here are my goals for this challenge: #1. Back in the Saddle | Reward: +1 CON Establish a 2-3x a Week Cycling routine. This will either complement or replace my current lifting routine. I will have to plan this around my regular Citadel duties, such as grocery shopping and dishes. I do have one card up my sleeve, though, and that is my weekly commute. For those who don't know, I work from home. However, once a week for the past few weeks, I've been riding Jormungandr into the office. My commute is 8-12 miles each way, depending on the route I take, allowing me to easily rack up 20 miles during the week. The idea is to do two rides during the week (one workout, one commute) and one ride on the weekend, with the option of that weekend ride being a longer one. I think this will be sufficient preparation for RAGBRAI. #2. Chart the Course Plan travel logistics for RAGBRAI. This includes getting there and back, obviously, but it also includes shipping Jormungandr. Normally, I'd take an Amtrak, and use their bike carryon system, but those are all sold out. So the plan is to take an Amtrak for myself, and ship my bike in a bike box, either through the mail, or on the train with me. That means that I also have to be adept at assembling and reassembling my bike, which brings me to: #3. This is My Bicycle. There Are Many Like It But This One Is Mine. Learn to assemble and disassemble my bicycle on the go. I know how to do basic maintenance, but if I'm going to ship my bike, I need to be able to put it back together. There are bike shops who will typically provide this service for a fee, but I foresee a lot of people going to bike shops trying to get their bikes reassembled, so I'm going to learn to do this myself. I'm also trying out a new set of handlebars & shifters, so I'm throwing that project into this bucket as well.

Hello. I'm back. I'm still like 280 lbs. All this year I've been toeing around, trying to get back to some cardio. I talked about it with my Punch Out! challenge. I even bought new running shoes back in January. I still haven't run. I remember gym class, in 7th grade, we had to do a 1 mile run. We went out to the football/track field on a hot muggy day in August. The track was this awful, ugly black gravel (that I'd be picking out of my shoes the rest of the day). I was fat, and had never tried to run a mile before. At this point, it had even been a couple years since I played football with the neighborhood kids regularly. I remember the gym teacher blew the whistle, and I started out at a good pace keeping up with everyone... that lasted about 10-20 sec. By the time we reached the first turn, I was falling behind, and before I finished that turn I was walking, breathing hard, sweating, and feeling awful in the muggy August heat. I paced 14 min, and I'm pretty sure I was the last person to finish that day. Every time I think about running, I think of that day, if only for a nanosecond. I think I need to get over it. The other time I did get over it, I gradually built up a tolerance for running one summer in grad school. The next year, I would go on a 4+ mile run 2x a week (most weeks). Now when I try to run, I feel like anything less than that is failure. I need to get over that too. (my one and only) Goal: Run... or walk as my program dictates... get get to level 5. Specifically, I am using the JogGo app. It is a graded running program with assessments every two weeks to see if you're ready to move up. Level 5 is the 'Beginner' running level. At the moment, I'm at level 3, 'Walker'. It has me doing workouts 4 days/week, with a mix of fast walking and lower body strength training (BW squats, lunges, etc.) The next week looks like: M: Fast walking (short distance) and strength intervals T: Recovery W: Fast walking (long distance) R: Recovery F: Strength intervals S: Fast walking assessment S: Recovery It's easy at the moment, I just need to stick to the schedule. I'd be surprised if I didn't level up my assessment on Saturday this week. Then I'll have four weeks and two chances to get through level during the challenge. That's it. My one and only goal. I'm not focusing on diet/nutrition this challenge. I'm still trying to eat mostly plant based, but mostly I play it by ear. I usually go for tofu and beans etc. first, but I'll eat meat, fish, eggs, dairy, etc. if it's available and the plant foods really don't appeal to me at that moment. I'm also still gardening and working on home repair, playing music, and all the usual stuff. My tomatoes are flowering so expect photos of big, juicy heirloom tomaotes soon!

Starting this challenge with a sore bum as a result of doing the thing I said I'd do at the end of the last challenge. It went well. Despite having few friends to morally blackmail ask, I managed to raise over five hundred quid. But my legs hurt and my arse hurts and I feel a bit out of it from lack of sleep, still. Anyway, this challenge I want to get back to my normal routine Exercise 6 days a week, including running at least once a week but preferably more and rowing once a week. Record calories daily and stick to usual target Do my daily checklist, plus at least one reasonably challenging item (ie not just "buy potatoes") from the to-do app that isn't on the daily list. This needs to include signing up for a 10k race and registering with a Portuguese conversation tutor.

... to follow their training schedule. In other news, I've been on a Star Wars kick for the past... month or two? And probably spending a bit too much time in front of my computer playing Star Wars: The Old Republic (Star Wars MMO). Work is crazy busy, so just going to keep it simple this round. Just the two goals, but they're big ones. 1) Build Running / Exercise Routine Training plan selected: Hal Higdon Novice 1 (12 week program) The race is ~30 weeks away so I have time to build a baseline habit & fitness. Step 1 - build the habit by working up to the below weekly run schedule over next two months: Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun Rest 1.5 mi run 30 min run 1.5 mi run Rest 30 min walk 30 min run Backup Plan of options to swap in for busy days: 30 mins yoga 30 mins bike ride NF Bodyweight Workout Walking , Hiking 1.1) Warm up + 30 min dog walk every morning On super early work days, this can be swapped with afternoon walk and/or yoga. 2) Track Food / Meal Plan Need to further define this. But want to work on minimizing food waste, eating more produce, and generally paying more attention to whether I am eating well or not.

For those who are new or behind, my main goal is weight loss, for health reasons as well as I want to look good naked, and fit in clothes I used to. I love 5Ks and kettlebells, I'm struggling with this goal because it doesn't get easier when you get older. I work from home, (3 jobs) as an accountant, so making sure I have enough movement in my day as well as not eating "all the unhealthy things" is important. It's very easy to lose track of how much time I've been sitting trying to solve an issue. Not having "all the unhealthy things" in the house also helps. Checking in to hold myself accountable is key to this being successful, I don't want to have to post bad news here. I struggle to get enough sleep so that shall remain on the list until it's no longer a struggle. I've been a workaholic as long as I can remember, mostly because of past experience and not wanting to have to count on anyone for things I need. D (my wife for those new here) and I have had many conversations about this. She understands my feelings because she's the same way, but we also know the importance to our relationship for us to be able to depend and count on each other. This is a very long winded way of saying that we need to remember to step away from work and have some fun, riding our motorcycles are a huge part of this for us, and for right now our every 4 week trips to FL also count towards this. The Plan...making a few changes that I feel are needed Cardio - Treadmill 3x a week, and one kettlebell/strength workout a week - I'm going to start getting up at 5am and working out again, bonus this time is I don't have to drive to the gym Update - Post in thread three times a week. - self explanatory Track - Sleep (7 hours a night) and Food (Just track) - sleep is important, you would think going to bed at 9:30 that 7 hours would be easy! Tracking food is a pain, I dread entering it in MFP, so if I do I do, but I will continue to put it on my spreadsheet Extra - Rides, 5k's, events, and life events go here - because fun makes life worth living Done - 🌈 Not Done - ❄️ Upcoming Events 4/10 - Spring Sprint 5k Unfortunately skipped this one, D wasn't feeling it 5/21 - Terrain Race 6/5 - Atlanta Pride Run 6/12 - Summer Sizzler 5k 9/25 - Fall Finish 5k 12/10 - Mud Girl Run

Reading a book about neanderthals the other day, I came across a section about evidence for cannibalism. Not that surprising of course because it's a dog-eat-dog world and if it weren't for Ocado we'd all be reduced to eating the neighbours and their dog in about four hours, but it made me think maybe in previous attempts to go Paleo I hadn't been going quite far enough, so this time I will be redoubling my efforts Move almost every day That food won't catch itself so practice running at least twice a week and some exercise six days a week with one rest day. No excuses. Eat well every day Track my food - and here I don't just mean tracking their Nike-clad footprints across the barren plains of Hounslow before spearing them with a sharpened laptop, but also tracking the calories in their protein-rich brain tissue in my app. Stay under lady calories most days and gentleman calories every day Be More Like Hannibal Leitor Read Portuguese books and do my Portuguese routine daily - I've got a bit behind with this lately but I need to start being more rigorous again, especially with the structured exercises. Be more like the Argentinian rugby team Bit of a tenuous one this - do rugby teams have eleven people? Anyway, I have eleven tasks on my task list and I need to sort that out. Actually, a couple of them are Portuguese-related so they're already taken care of in the last heading but some of it gets routinely ignored so I need to shape it into something realistic so I can meet my goals without feeling like I'm failing left right and centre and then I can start biting down on the delicious marrow of success. I feel like a key part of this is staying the fuck off twitter. Oh and I will be a better supporter and make sure I check out other people's successes and draw inspiration from that as well as maybe cheering you on... If my mouth isn't full.

HI! It is you, wonderful human, perusing through my first challenge after a guhzillion years of not being here.... Well, well, well, welcome to you then! I am Hani and I am going to....as Carly Rae Jepsen puts it. REALLY LIKE ME (There were 7 reallys in that song and i honestly cannot be bothered to add them. I am lazy :P) Anyways! where was I? Ah yes, lazyyyyy~ Well, extending the lazy part, I am...a very lazy person. I definitely lack the ability to follow up with repeated tasks, be it habits, rituals etc; anything that requires consistency, I suck at it. Whether, it is my perfectionist nature or something else, I just know that there is something in my brain that just doesn't like cyclical actions or repetition, so naturally, me thought to abandon this site forever and continue being as I am because, what's the point, right? Wrong! I felt stuck in a loop with no solutions and exits points. I wasn't going anywhere it turns out and I felt like in order to get better, I needed support and accountability of people who get me, am I right?! Everything aside, the first thing I want to do before I begin my journey here is, give a huge shout out to this perfectionist procrastination of mine. I failed to hold into account this aspect of myself which led to me starting a challenge with the full expectations of following it up daily but down the road abandoning it just as quick due to lack of energy and enthusiasm. No more though. I want to do something. I want to say that I did something instead of everything so I want to say this to myself Dear me, you are not perfect, first of all, but you have what it takes to be better, so, please – be easy on you this time. Start as a youngin, a padawan, a fledgling hobbit, a younger time lady. Therefore, this time around my challenges will be the most basic.....BASICEST TASKS THAT I WANT MY PERSON TO PERFORM THEN WITH EACH NEW CHALLENGE I AM GOING TO PUT MORE TASKS/MAKE THEM MORE INTRICATE. *(in tiny hand writing) subject to change (you can't see this) Theme: Body Task-1 Movement of any kind daily as long as you sweat (SKIP ROPE? AWESOME! WALK? OH LOOK AT YOU GO, QUEEN! BODY WEIGHT EXERCISE? THATS FANTASTIC! GYM? You just won THE WORLD!) *darebee is included in the shenanigans as intended by the God of Nerds* Task 2: Skin care routine. Even spritzing rose water works, my dude but if you do the whole thing....oh god, you win my soul, girl (yes, I am talking to myself. My own hype queen) Task 3: Pushups, squats etc. Your morning wake up exercise routine. It's not huge, just a few to get your blood pumping and make them muscles plus you need to GET BETTER AT PUSHUPS MAYHAPS? Good luck okay, you gotta wake up and do ze movements. TASK 4: WAAAAAAATERRRRRRR!!! DRINK FROM YOUR WATER BOTTLE A LOTTTTT. IT IS NECESSARY IN THIS HEAT Theme 2: Mind Task: Meditate Task: Listen to the QQur'a, pray all five prayers 😳 Task: Taichi Task: Journal Task: Just lie down and breathe. BREATHE. (Do any of these or all of the above. Just try) Theme 3: Nutrition Task: Portion control Task: Eat well if you can't follow a strict diet Task: Intermittent fasting (16:8) Task: Record on myfitnesspal. Theme 3: Skills Task: Learn Spanish (Pimsleur, Duolingo but lingq, Busuu and YouTube are good sources to further your language journey Task: Podcasts! Listening and grammar. The know how's of the language Task: Art practice. You don't have to do it for long and give it everyday. Whatever you give, give it your best because your art skills will get better if you practice consistently) Task: Ted discussions actually help further your understanding of the world around and how you yourself function so one ted talk everyday would be great. (sub-note:DON'T FORGET TO RECORD THESE ON YOUR HABITICA APP) Task: Study what you see in the hospital/college everyday. Brush up on your medicine and surgery knowledge. Goals: To look or at least feel like the physical forms of Wonder Woman and Lara Croft combined. It do be a huge dream (Atleast Yasmin Khan or Yaz from Doctor Who)

Hi everyone! Have been in the NF community since 2016, but first time on the forums. Going to CNF next week, so will go dark for a bit 🙂 Big why: I want to stay healthy and active as far into old age as possible - being able to go on hikes, travel the world, and be an active parent / grandparent. No kids currently, but I’m in my early 30s, and looking to adopt in my 40s. Long-term goal #1: Get back to being able to run a 5k in under 30 minutes, and then maintain that process for the long haul (e.g., run a few races each year at that pace). Why? This feels like a good marker of cardiovascular fitness. When I was at peak fitness in 2018, I ran two 5k’s in ~30 mins and was really proud of myself (I had never really run before that year). Signing up for a race and training for it is really motivating to me. Not really interested in distances beyond 5k. Goal for this challenge: Complete a 1-mile run every Tuesday morning and a 1.5 - 2 mile run every weekend. Recent progress: I live with my partner, who’s an obsessive runner. He runs 4-6 miles every single morning without fail. What’s worked well so far is having him come back and pick me up at the end of his regular run. It’s a cool down for him, and for me it adds accountability and makes it a more fun activity. We did a 5k together in March, and I ran 37:33. To train for that, I did a run with him every weekend. Now, I’m looking to add in the weekday run - this Tuesday was the first time doing that. I signed up for another 5k in July to keep me motivated. When I’ll post? I’d like to post after every run (so twice a week). Will likely skip next week due to CNF. Other long-term goals: I’m going to focus on just the running goal for this first challenge, but here are the other two long-term goals I have in mind. #2: Do a full push-up. #3: Do all toe planks (vs on knees) during my Lagree Fitness classes.

For the last four years, I've started a quest of accumulating medals after walking (sometimes jogging) 5Ks and 10Ks. I've recently decided to take a leap of faith and sign up for my first half marathon in November. Coincidentally, I'm currently part of a work fitness challenge where I get points for walking at least 6,000-10,000 steps each day over the next 6 weeks. Over the coming weeks, my goal is to hit that 10K per day target, and improve my walking speed. My baseline over the last two days has been 19:42 per mile which would put me at a 4 hour 24 minute half marathon, so I'd love to see that shorten after some consistent training.

credit: Old Door by Stefano Aneto CHAPTER 3: AThousandWords Alights (Chapter 1, Chapter 2) I used to think that Doors were rare and mischievous. After all, finding an ephemeral passage between monotonous reality and the tingling prospect of adventure isn't something that happens everyday, right? A lifetime could pass by before the opportunity presents itself again. I was wrong. It turns out that Doors — like cars with one darkened headlight or a word you swear you've never read before — appear far more often after you've noticed them once. As if acknowledging their existence brings them bubbling to the surface. Once upon a time I saw a Door at a train station and walked away, fearing I would never see one again. Instead, the persistent openings pop up in the corner of my eye at every turn. A broad-slatted blue Door out of place in a stone wall; a fairy Door tucked away in the roots of an oak tree; an inconspicuous louvered Door when I stop at a red light. "I liked that one," my son says idly one night, marching a chicken nugget through a trailing doorway of ketchup on his plate. "The green one we saw at the playground. I bet it had dinosaurs on the other side." Across the table my daughter shrieks in delight and chomps down on her fork with a loud roar. I smile at her but my eyes dart to where my husband sits with a raised eyebrow. I shrug in return. It's a conversation that's been played out after bedtimes and in passing a hundred times with no real answer. We've been putting it off, but it feels insistent, inevitable. And if I'm honest, exciting. "A dinosaur Door? Wouldn't you rather open a Spider-Man Door?" my husband teases and I start the lists in my head. What to pack - snacks? Probably. Diapers, for sure... And I wonder what the next door we find will be. Spring is sprouting! And while currently we're still in grey chilly days (and I have a seasonal, non-covid head cold to go with it), I'm starting to look ahead to sunnier and more exciting days. Last challenge, I had a long weekend break with my husband, celebrated my 36th birthday, and ran my first ever half marathon! What started out as a longing for change manifested in a lot of adventure coming my way. In 2 weeks we're hosting my son's first real birthday party, then two days later driving to North Carolina to see my sister's new home, and during week 5 of the challenge I'm flying to Georgia to meet my coworkers for the first time at a developer's retreat. I'm anxious and excited and ready for something new. So this challenge will be flexible (there's a lot of travel days in there!) and hopefully fun. I'm looking forward to not spending my Saturdays doing long runs every week, but I still want to do something active. My next running goal is a sub-30 5k, so I'll be doing more interval runs. And I need to take a closer look at my diet because my cholesterol is up and honestly I've been letting a lot of unhealthy habits slip in because I was running enough to not care what I was eating. In particular, I need to cut out the afternoon snacking because I've gotten reeaal comfortable eating cheetos and girl scout cookies at my desk... Habit 1: Run 3x a week for at least 30 min Follow training plan for improving 5k times Ideally running Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday -- but can move around days if needed due to travel, daycare schedules, etc Habit 2: Endurance Activity on weekends Options include: 5mi+ run, 10mi+ bike ride, 2 hour hike, or similar level of activity Include the family as much as possible! Habit 3: Stop the Snack Follow IF 16/8 (usually 12pm - 8pm) for 6/7 days a week Coffee + creamer or water allowed outside this window (I can't give up my morning coffee!) No after-lunch snacking (eat enough to be sated at lunch) Habit 4: Follow Meal Plan (Weeks 1,2,4*) Meal Plan for the week every Tuesday Cook from the meal plan 6/7 days a week * Weeks 3 and 5 are exempt for this goal, but make every attempt to meal plan and cook on the days I'm home Bonus Points: Eat Well No more than 1 red meat dinner per week Eat 4+ servings of vegetables a day Drink 8 cups of water a day

For those who are new or behind, I found out a few things during the last challenge that I’m hoping will help me going forward with goals. My main goal is weight loss, for health reasons as well as I want to look good naked. I work from home, so making sure I have enough movement in my day as well as not eating "all the unhealthy things" is important. Checking in to hold myself accountable is key to this being successful, I don't want to have to post bad news here. I struggle to get enough sleep so that shall remain on the list until it's no longer a struggle. I've been a workaholic as long as I can remember, mostly because of past experience and not wanting to have to count on anyone for things I need. D (my wife for those new here) and I have had many conversations about this. She understands my feelings because she's the same way, but we also know the importance to our relationship for us to be able to depend and count on each other. This is a very long winded way of saying that we need to remember to step away from work and have some fun, riding our motorcycles are a huge part of this for us, and for right now our every 4 week trips to FL also count towards this. The Plan... Cardio - Treadmill or Rowing 3x a week, and one kettlebell workout a week Update - Post in thread three times a week. Track - Sleep (7 hours a night) and Food (Just track) Extra - Rides, 5k's, events, and life events go here Done - 🌈 Not Done - ❄️ Let's do this! ETA: (To possibly be added to) 4/10 - Spring Sprint 5k 5/21 - Terrain Race 6/12 - Summer Sizzler 5k 9/25 - Fall Finish 5k

2022 Road Map Usually I start a year by making a roadmap for the year, and then create my first challenge with that roadmap in mind. This year is no different, but rather than running a battle log for my roadmap I want it at the top of every challenge so I remember what I'm trying to do (looking back over my 2021 roadmap just now I was surprised to find out what some of my goals were!). Goals for 2022 I've been trying to decide what my goals should be for the year, and that's proving quite difficult. I have the option to enter a few endurance races - I'll be doing Rat Race Dirty Weekend that clocks in at 20 miles, and then there's Nuclear Oblivion Extreme (6.5 hours), Nuclear Oblivion Maxx (13 hours). I could add in Europe's Toughest Mudder (12 hours) and even Quarry Events Longest day (16 hours 38 minutes). The trouble is I don't know if I really want to do endurance events; they're really hard work! At the same time I don't know what I would want to focus on if not that; there was talk of the Spartan European Championships being held in the UK this year, but I can find precious little information about that at the moment. With that said, I can always decide these goals later in the year. This arbitrary change of date doesn't have to be the time that I plan to do something cool in the future, so if I do find something that really captures my imagination I'll add it here. The 5 pillars So I don't really have any big goals in the same way as I had in previous years. But I've been thinking recently about what's important to me, and I worked out that it falls quite well into 5 pillars. And then I worked out that I could map the 5 pillars to RPG stats, which made it much more exciting. So my goal for the year is to advance as much as possible in the following: Exercise (Strength) this includes everything I do physically - climbing, OCR, lifting, crossfit, running etc. I really enjoy seeing progress in all of these areas, and as long as I stick with them I'm bound to improve. I couldn't really separate what would fall under STR and what would fall under DEX, and I don't think it's really a useful distinction for the kind of things I do, so I just chucked everything under STR. Nutrition (Constitution) this is about putting the right things in my body (you heard!). That includes food that fuels me well, but also things like moderating caffeine and alcohol intake, and generally balancing anything else I consume. Creativity (Charisma) being creative is really good for me, and it's a side of myself I want to foster. That includes drawing, playing music, and writing. I still want to write and publish some basic D&D stuff, so hopefully I can incorporate that at some point. Self-care (Sanity) this is really just about doing the basic stuff that I know keeps me ticking over - cleaning my teeth, cleaning and tidying my house, keeping in touch with friends. Really basic stuff, but it has such an impact on the way that I feel, so it deserves its own category. Arguably I could have stuck with core D&D stats and put this under WIS, but SAN makes more sense to me for this goal. Also, I'm a super low-WIS person; I have very little awareness a lot of the time, and it's not something I'm really interested in working on (or even know how to work on) right now. Learning (Intelligence) I feel like it wouldn't be Nerd Fitness without an INT goal. I want to get through the professional qualifications I'm doing (which feels easier said than done right now, as I've somehow ended up working on three units concurrently). I also just love learning things. I'd like to get back into learning French, which I did a good chunk of on Duolingo for a while last year. Really, all learning is good. Under the hood The plan is that my goals for each challenge will have stats assigned to them, and over this course of this year I'll try and get each of these stats as high as possible. I'll start everything at 0, and hopefully by the end of the year I'll have a decent looking stat array. To tie this in with my previous format, I'll be looking at levelling up backwards compared to most systems. Every stat point will be equivalent to 5XP under my old system, and every 20 stat points I will level up. That should mean I can gain 3-5 levels in a year, which feels about right. I don't have to hit every stat every challenge. If I want 3 STR goals one month or need all my goals to be SAN based another month, that's all fine; it'll work itself out over the course of the year Jarric Runs On the final weekend of this challenge, I'll be running Rat Race Dirty Weekend with @Mr_Willes and @Rhovaniel (and maybe some others? I've lost track of who can and can't make it.) RRDW is a 20 mile obstacle course, so it would be a really good idea if I could do literally some running between now and then. The past few weeks have been pretty tough for various reasons, and I'm not expecting life to get any easier for at least the next few weeks, so I'm not going to push it and try to do all the things™. Instead, I have one goal: Run 4 times per week - +3 STR, +2 SAN I'm going to cut down on Crossfit from week 1 in favour of running, and I'm hoping that now the mornings are getting lighter I might feel more inclined to run. Ideally I'll be running Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, Sunday each week. I don't really have a plan for distances or workouts at this stage, I just want to put some miles on my legs before RRDW. Bonus goal - wrap up last challenge - +1 SAN I'm generally a fan of wrapping up a challenge properly, but that's going to be tough as I've disappeared off the forums due to life stuff for a few weeks. I won't let perfect be the enemy of good, so I decided to get this challenge posted now, but I will give myself a little stat bonus if I go back and wrap last challenge.

O hai, it’s a new challenge! This month my trail race series kicks off! Less than two weeks to race day #1 - I’m a bit nervous but also really looking forward to it. I liked the gold star approach last time, so I’m gonna stick with it. Even if it wasn’t enough incentive to get me to do my laundry promptly… Fitness goals 2 runs/week 🌟 beat my average in some way 2 workouts/week 🌟 longer than 20 minutes 3 stretching sessions/week I need to do more than just stretch after I run. I used to get to bed early enough that I could stretch for 10 minutes nightly, so that’s the long-term goal. But for now, I’ll do 3x/week. Which, along with 2x/week after I run plus 1-2x doing yoga is not bad. 🌟 5+ nighttime stretches Life goals 400 minutes of housework over 5 weeks This was one thing that I didn’t do so well with last challenge. Plans for how I will do better: lower expectations, be more energized by longer daylight hours, set reminder on my phone for 15 minutes after I usually get home. 🌟 laundry folded/put away within 48 hours 🌟 put up a shelf or empty a box 🌟 get a box worth of stuff out of the house (donate, sell, gift) In bed by 10pm on weeknights My sleep hygiene is not bad, really, but it’s not as good as it was a while ago. If I get back to considering 9:30 the time when I put down what I’m doing, it will improve Mr. Radost’s night (he is a worse sleeper than me and needs a little extra time in bed) and mine (I like to read for a while before I turn out the light, which is harder to justify when I lie down 7.9 hours before my alarm). Diverse hobbies No expectation based goals, just gold stars for: 🌟 painting a mini 🌟 photographing/cataloguing 10 unpainted minis 🌟 working in the garden 🌟 photographing the garden 🌟 hike, bike, or other outdoor fun 🌟 hosting vocal ensemble practice 🌟 reading something I’ve meant to get to for a long time (current thoughts: Watchmen, one section of Canterbury Tales, Odori, Killing Monsters, The Three-Body Problem, The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, Listen Slowly, Gods of Jade and Shadow) Monday: 30 minutes housework

Starting as I don't mean to go on yesterday - Mrs 18ck and I had our twentieth anniversary so we wandered about on the North Downs Way with our beloved offspring to give our old bones a challenge and then ate a lot of cake and drank some sparkling wine from the vineyard where we'd stopped for lunch. But that's it for cake and wine now, at least until my birthday. OK, I've been struggling a bit to stay motivated and work is not helping: I'm super-busy at the moment and likely to remains super-busy at least till the end of the month, so I think my best chance of success is to keep it simple and manageable but not so easy it's boring: I'll go for an indoor lockdown-style workout once a day, in the morning, 10-30 minutes, probably either yoga or a Joe Wicks session, and see anything on top of that as a bonus. I'm aware that I need to run a a bit and also to start working on my cycling endurance (because months ago I signed up for this shit and the day of judgement approachetheth) but I don't want to make those into goals because I don't think I'll stick to them. I'll just concentrate on cranking out small wins and see each extra as an added bonus. I am not a lost cause yet but it definitely feels like with a little inattention I could just slip into bad habits and end up giving up, so giving myself some wins is essential. I'm less worried about the cycling anyway. I've been riding so long I'm practically a bike centaur by now so my only real worry is whether I'll be able to stay up past my bedtime. I'd quite like to sign up for an organised 10k run to motivate myself for running too but money is tight and it feels like an indulgence so I might need to motivate myself the old fashioned way, through the power of prayer. Ó Rosa Mota, nossa senhora da maratona, dá-me força... Food-wise, I need to do better. Nothing sweet other than fruit, count calories every day and stay under target. And... Actually, that's it. Two goals. Exercise once a day, food under limits. I might review in early April but for now, two seems to be a realistic maintenance level. Me & my homeys out training for our 10k

Hello late challenge start. Hope everyone is doing well. Work schedule has been really busy, lots of crazy hours. But in a good way (part of me enjoys the chaos). Unfortunately that means all the good things I was doing have started to fizzle out in the past week or two. The weather being alternatively warm or freezing and damp have not been helping either. The next month looks like work chaos will continue. So I am going to focus on basic habits and building up a running routine for a Half-Marathon I signed up for in November. 1) No alcohol Monday-Thursday Dry January went really well, February continued well then I started to slip up as March progressed This is more for accountability to continue to do good things. 2) Running Routine Training plan selected: Hal Higdon Novice 1 (12 week program) The race is ~30 weeks away so I have time to build a baseline habit & fitness. Step 1 - build the habit by working up to the below weekly run schedule over next two months: Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun Rest 1.5 mi run 3 mi run 1.5 mi run Rest 30 min walk 3 mi run 3) Basic Self Care Things I am already doing, but find that they start to slip as I get stressed. Mostly monitoring as a gage to stress levels Shower & wash face daily Brush teeth 2x daily Floss teeth 1x daily Officially going to start tracking this on 10 April.

Greeting Nerd Fitness Well the theme of marathon is wrapping up and well I finish the Oakland Marathon on Sunday. It was not the fastest I've run one but was not my worse either. Official time was 5hr55min53sec - yes my wife gave me grief about those 2 seconds! So a new theme must be brought to the forefront as we leave the theme of marathon behind - or perhaps we continue it... I'm not sure yet, but I know what I'm gonna do for this challenge - so let's get to that! QUEST 1 - Keep Moving Marathon is over but that doesn't mean we stop running. Taking a few days to recover and should be running again soon. My wife is seriously considering the San Francisco full in July so we'll look into training and such We'll likely keep with 3-midweek run and 1-weekend long run QUEST 2 - Fruits and Veggies Food game has gotten kind of junky as we burn so many calories during marathon training - so time to focus up on more greens and fruits! QUEST 3 - Read More! Hope to finish Grave Peril and move into Summer Knight by the end of this challenge QUEST 4 - Monster Hunting My RPG group has started Monster of the Week with me being the Keeper (aka GM/DM) so I'm gonna focus efforts on that. Hopefully with mystery prep and after action reports posted here