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Hello everyone. I am back again, and again with a very easy going challenge. About 3-4 weeks ago I came down with the 'rona and it really took it out of me. I'm still having issues breathing, so what I was doing fitness-wise before I got sick is a bit out of the question for now. I did lose about 10 pounds over the 2 weeks I was sick, and while it was not the way to do so, I'm looking at the positive in that it helped get me closer to my goal, and this challenge I am going to focus on not gaining that weight back, and hopefully losing a little more in a safer and more productive way. Goals: 1. Follow my meal plan at least 75% (3 of 4 meals a day) I am currently using the Eat This Much App to plan my meal plans for the week and grocery lists, its really nice, and has taken a lot of the stress off of me in trying to figure out what to eat and how much to stay healthy. It also has been pretty good at giving me meals I actually don't mind eating and can actually afford which has made it better than the other meal plans I have tried to use in the past. 2. Continue doing water weights/water walking at least 3x's a week, but also end it with breathing exercises. I have been going to the pool 3x's a week and running on the off days, but I can't run yet, as I can't get full breath yet, especially after a full night of work. I will continue to do the pool work, as I can scale that down enough that I'm not dying, and spend the last 5 minutes or so just taking deep breaths with my chest underwater to help work on my breathing more. 3. Use my CPAP every day for at least 4 hours a day. I am trying to use my cpap more and improve my sleeping, as well as the last time I spoke with my sleep specialist we discussed switching to a biPAP instead as my CPAP has been giving me problems with air swallowing, but since I don't currently use it enough, my insurance might not pay for me to switch until it is shown that I'm using it consistently and that the therapy is not working properly for me. Stats for the beginning of this challenge: Weight: 261.2 CPAP usage in the past 30 days: 11/30 CPAP days used 4+ hours: 5/30 CPAP average hours used: 4.3

I was struggling to think of a theme for this challenge - in NF of yesteryear, I loved doing fun, fannish challenges, usually with complex spreadsheets and real-life roleplaying. Last challenge, I picked a theme that felt somewhat interesting, but it didn't really reflect my goals and I didn't feel like I engaged with it aside from the goal post. As I put my goals together this week, hemmed and hawed over theme options, thought about roadblocks from last challenge, I realized... maybe I don't need a "theme." Maybe this month is just about simplifying and streamlining. So that's where we are. This challenge I'm using Habitica to track my info, and a spreadsheet to collect all that data and analyze it. Each goal has the Habitica tracker under the spoiler cut. And yeah, this feels like a lot of set up, but it actually should make it easier to track in the long run! 👟 Exercise The plan is to build on the awesome C25k success I had last challenge and add in even more exercise fun. I'm on Week 5 of C25k currently, and planning to stretch that week out a little since it's a steep change from previous weeks. Ideally I'll be finishing up the program right as this challenge ends. On the strength building side, I'm going to restart the ol' NF Bodyweight Workout, twice a week (thanks for the idea, @MezzotheLefty!) C25k 3x a week = 15 total NF Bodyweight Workout 2x a week = 10 total 🥦 Eat Paleo 4 Days a Week Okay, paleo-ish. I'll probably keep putting half and half in my coffee and using ketchup. So maybe this is more "low-carb" than paleo. But the idea is to eat more or less grain- and sugar- free, to fill my plate with vegetables, and to break out of the carbo-loaded diet I've been eating for the last 3 years. Hopefully some weight loss will come along for the ride. Notice it's only 4 days a week though, because, baby steps here. Even 4 days a week is better than I'm doing now. Paleo 4x a Week = 20 total 🍴 Healthy Food Habits IF 16/8 8 glasses of water a day No binge snacking No sugar before 4pm There's a lot going on here, but this is all stuff I've done before and been successful at, so the idea here is just to keep building these habits and keep up a streak of healthy days. There's nothing too challenge or restrictive, just reminders to not go nuts on the snacking or the sugar and to prioritize drinking water. Everyday = 35 total 🏠 Minimize | Organize | Optimize This is part of my on-going effort to declutter and beautify our house. I have a checklist in my Bullet Journal that's pretty granular - each space should take less than 2 hours. This includes: thoughtful decluttering, donating/selling anything we don't use, making sure this is the right "home" for everything that does stay, clearing space so that new things can come in or be relocated here, zhuzh-ing up the look to make it more beautiful or functional. The plan is to do 2 spaces a week. 2 spaces a week = 10 total Spreadsheet Of Tracking

What a weird year! I'm feeling kind of ambivalent about Christmas this year, but I'm excited about New Year's. I don't have some kind of Pollyanna thing about everything being better after 2020 is over. I just really love the hope and promise of the New Year holiday. It's probably my favorite night/day of the year. I've got a couple goals for this mini challenge but will probably add some more...or maybe not. 1. PUSH-UP challenge! A couple friends and I made our own push-up challenge that runs from Thanksgiving to Christmas. The idea is you do as many as you can in one set on Thanksgiving (scaled however necessary), train like a beast, and then re-test on Christmas day. I did 14 negatives for my test. I'm doing a training plan I saw in an old issue of Trail Runner magazine. Basically 40 negative push-ups each workout (every 2-3 days) in sets of 7-10 with decreasing rest intervals each workout (starting with 1 min). 2. BuJo/Art Journal Set-up. I've gotten into sketching/doodling in a BuJo-like format. This is the first time I'll be setting up a journal for a new year. I'm not sure of all the pages I want, but I know I want a 2021 cover page, year calendar, monthly future log, and then NF challenge overview section. I'll try to at least get those done during this mini. 3. Clear out the old. I just went through a big flooring and painting project. While doing that, I piled up a lot of stuff in the spare bedroom. Now I'm wondering if I even need all that stuff. I'm gonna treat this as a "sushi list" project. I'll make a list of 10 or so things to deal with, and then I'll take care of them when I can. It might not all get done during this mini challenge, and that's fine. 4. Kindness. I want to think about being kind rather than nice (although in most cases you can certainly be both). I don't think I'll write much about it here, but it's something I want to think about. 5. Mobility. I'm going to try sitting on the floor for at least 30 minutes every day. I did this for quite a while and somehow got away from it. It's super easy to do (e.g., while eating or watching tv), and I think it's good for me. I basically need to spend less time slouched on my couch or sitting at my computer station. Some other things I'll be doing (not making them specific challenge goals) Decorating for Christmas. I'll definitely be home a lot to enjoy it, so I should do it. The sooner the better. Quick Strength program...I just finished going through the 8-week program. Gonna re-start it. Have pages set aside for it in the new BuJo so I can track how I improve on specific workouts over time. Running...lots of running. "Last mile." A couple of us are going to do a hard mile some time between Christmas and New Years. The specific day will depend on weather and our schedules, so it might be this challenge or might not. I got this idea from a friend who does it. He was talking about how it lets you put everything out there on the track and kind of symbolizes leaving behind the old year. It appealed to me.

Welcome to the Scouts Camp! Ever on the move, our camp has relocated from the mountains into the wilds of the jungle farther down the river of NerdFitnessLandia What we will find as we explore this year? What mysteries lie out in the world beyond our camp? Welcome to 2018 ... here's to the future!

Alright NERDS Welcome to the NerdFitness (unofficial) Santa Sleigh 5K 2018! Now, I know like four of us in the Scout Guild but don't be a Grinch! Let's do a 5K... a lowly 3.1 mile run over the holiday! You non-Scouts can join in if you'd like So ... Rules! I mean ... I guess you could walk, job, run/walk too - heck you can do it outside You could do it inside 3 As long as you do it between Dec 24th and January 2nd Now if you'd like you can post a link to your 5K info or just post your time we'll believe you! Happy Running!

Welcome to the Scouts Camp! Welcome lords and ladies! A new year means a new campsite to rest our feet, pull up a log and sit a while! Come! Let us talk of the challenges to come and those that have passed.

Hey y'all! I'm back after (another) hiatus. The short story: I had a year-long internship that was pretty rough in a lot of ways (you can read the sordid story of how I used my challenge back in January to help survive a bad several months' worth of depression), and went until I returned to my grad program this past August. I took a shot at getting another challenge going after that, but I didn't really have the mental or emotional steam to do another once my life had started to get more normal again. August, I made it back to school. I'd been exercising a bit throughout the year, although not staying in the greatest shape in the world - eating well most of the time, but generally just staying at basic running fitness, and going for pretty regular short hikes. Transitioning back into classes (and city life here in DC), I dropped most of that for about the first half of this semester. The damage of that inactivity added up pretty fast. I knew I needed to draw a line when I was feeling sore and uncomfortable literally just trying to sleep - I'd been sitting around for lectures and work so much that I was just that stiff. So I finally managed to slowly start some activity again - doing stretching and mobility a la Gymnastic Strength Training, and building my old running routine back in. Some weeks back, I think I hit a tipping point where, for whatever reason, I just decided I was tired of the mediocrity. I've had a lot of fun with athletics, and obstacle racing in particular, so I've decided to take that to the next level. In the past, I always did best when I could shoot for a milestone, and now the milestones are getting a bit scary... for example, in terms of straight-up mileage, the only main race length I haven't done yet is a full marathon (I did the Rock N Roll Half Marathon two years ago), and I've enjoyed two Tough Mudders. At this point, I'd rather seriously commit and see if I can survive something really intense, and get in really good shape for it, instead of just muddling along like I've been doing for months now. In sum, I have two major athletic goals that I legitimately intend to accomplish in 2018, barring serious injury or life crises: - Run the Rock N' Roll Marathon in March. - Complete a Spartan Race Trifecta (all three main lengths of their obstacle race series). I haven't done any of these yet, but I know they'll push me to a much higher level of overall fitness and strength. The one I've really got my eye on is the Colorado Rockies Beast, a half-marathon-length obstacle race at high elevation in the mountains. (Yikes!) The races I have in mind start in June. Basically, any challenges I do in the next year will probably be working toward these goals in different ways, but having the accountability of this community again would be awesome. Also, since this is going to take me out of the pure running world and into a lot of strength and crosstraining, who better to have along for the ride than the Rangers? (I thought of Iron Man for this challenge because he kind of reminds me of how I think of obstacles in general - with enough forethought, planning, and preparation, you don't have to have superpowers to overcome a difficult task!) All that being said, here are my main goals - keeping in mind that this month's challenge will be going right up through Christmas break: - Run! Run faster!: Running's a big part of my workout plan (really the main part right now). Goal is to get two short runs and one long training run done each week. No excuses. - Throwing my weight around: I'm just starting to work in some strength and bodyweight exercises as part of the exercise regime. Goal here will be two workouts of some kind in addition to the runs, always including a stretch/warmup and probably with a lot of Gymnastic Strength Training-type exercises. I might work in more Spartan-specific exercises as time goes on. - Diet: I'm really struggling with the food situation I'm in right now. I've got a mandatory meal plan as part of my program, and it's compounded by the fact that I have several mild allergies (and pretty serious gluten intolerance) that make it very hard to eat a balanced meal AND not get sick trying to eat the food here. Oh, and the dining hall people have zero clue about how allergen awareness actually works, so that isn't helping. My goal is to basically make it through five days a week having definitely avoided anything that would make me any sicker... This will probably be one of the hardest goals, honestly. - Pass my classes?: Oh yeah, and for half of this challenge I'll be doing final papers and exams. Yay? I guess I should try and make sure those get done... Here we go! (And thanks for stopping by.)

The scouts of Nerd Fitness have set up a rough camp on outskirts of the savage lands. This area is filled now with demons, devils, orcs, goblins, mystical beasts, and other creatures after the outbreak late in the year last. You've just come from the more hospitable land to the North. Camp is not quiet as people seem to be coming and going quickly. A few fellow scouts you know wave to you, before you are stopped by a lean elf who looks you over, "I believe you should go see the scout leader, he said to send you his way as soon as you came into camp." Not one to leave the scout leader waiting you head over to the largest tent in the camp. You are let in by the guards there, and inside ... An older half-ork stands near the rear of the tent talking with a dragon like creature, both are speaking in hushed tones. As you enter he looks up and waves the dragon which slips out of the back flap of the tent. The guild leader moves with a sense of haste to you and greets you, "May the gods of the land find you well." He motions you over to a map sitting at a nearby table. "We've gotten word from a few scouts that the Black Legion Orcs are on the move. They were part of the group that aided the demon assault the Ranger Hall last season. Unfortunate the reports are spotty and we need better intelligence than that before we can send in the Rangers to mop up." He points an area you'd guess is several days travel from the encampment. "I believe based on what we know that the orcs are here, it is through the Eglast Forest, once an elf held land but with the events of last winter I'm not sure any elves are left. I need you to be my eyes and locate the Black Legion."

Hi all! I'm throwing myself back into this with a vengeance. My challenge for this month is pretty simple : get back up to half marathon distance on my long runs. 23rd 10km 30th 15km 7th 17km 14th 15km (race) 21st 21km (I know this is after the deadline, but Sunday is runday, not Saturday hah) obviously this one ain't for beginners but for runners who have simply got a bit lazy about their longer runs lol. Anyone with me?

I ran a half marathon on Sunday and finished the bugger without giving myself any major knee pains. I not only feel accomplished I actually feel like I did the week before the race instead of limping around in pain. I even went for a short run this morning. Here's me in the home stretch (in the shades):

Welcome to the Scouts Tavern! After a long day of scoutery it is nice to sit down with a couple of friends and share tales and news of our adventures. Everyone is welcome at the Tavern as long as you have a tale to spin and or song to sing.

welcome Scouts ! I'm all out of fancy gifs for we're going simple. The Houses of Hogarts are Gryffindor - values the virtues of courage, bravery and determination Hufflepuff - values hard work, patience, justice, and loyalty Ravenclaw - values intelligence, creativity, learning, and wit Slytherin - values ambition, cunning, leadership, and resourcefulness I'll post what each house's mini on Monday/Tuesday of that week, and you pick which house you want to participate in ... its 4 weeks of challenge so you can go through all 4 houses. You can not pick the same house you picked the previous week (ie you can repeat a house after a week at another house but not two weeks at 1 house) Hopefully that makes sense Alight Scouts let's get to it!

I seem to be stuck in a cycle of respawn after respawn. I really need to get my life together. Things have been going well, but were super stressful. I have finally reached a point where I should be able to get things back under control. I graduated from LSU with my MLIS on August 5th. I am getting married Sunday, September 18th to a really great guy that I adore. He makes up for all my worst weaknesses and supports me in all that I do. My job is okay. It can still be stressful at times, and I have applied at two other places that I'd like to work at. I'm getting along well with the kids, for a bit the stress was getting to me and I'd snap at them over stupid stuff. Now that I've a whole lot less stress in my life I'm much calmer and easy going with them. They still have times that they stress me out to the max, and I still fuss at them, but not nearly as much and not over stupid things. I've learnt that getting some alone time to do stuff on my own is important, so there are weekends when I do my own thing without Matt or the girls. And that's fine. I used to think I was supposed to spend all my weekend time with them, but now I can see I need time for me too. So that means it's time to respawn and get my health on track. I did a physical appointment back in the beginning of July and the findings are that I'm in great shape other than three things. I plan to focus on areas to help me with these three things. Problem #1 I'm obese. I weigh in at nearly 330 pounds. This means I have trouble with shortness of breath, getting up stairs, and moving for long periods of time. My goal for weight is to get between 140 and 180. I say in between those numbers because I want to feel healthy, not hit a particular weight goal. I know that this is a long term goal, so I'm trying to break it into reasonable amounts. For now I want to focus on getting my weight below 300. I know that loosing 30 pounds in a month probably won't happen, but I want to try for it anyways. Goal 1: Lose 30 pounds by my wedding. To do this I will buy a scale. I will stop drinking soda and fast food from my diet. Will I hit 30 pounds, not likely, but this will be a big step in the right direction. Problem #2 I have super low iron. My doctor has told me to get on an iron pill. I also know that this can e solved by eating more greens and drinking less soda. However, until my iron levels come back up I need to stay on the iron pill. From what I've read, this low iron could be the source of a great many of my general health problems. I feel tired and sluggish a lot of the time. It is a real possibility that the reason for this is the low iron. One of the things iron does is help build red blood cells. Blood cells deliver oxygen. Low iron means low levels of oxygen. Symptoms of low iron are: feeling weak and tired, dizziness, grumpy and cranky, headaches, look pale, short of breath, trouble concentrating. I have all of these problems. I'm hoping that getting my iron levels up will help me get them all to go away. Goal 2: Get the iron up. Every day I will take my iron pill. I will also increase my intake of iron rich foods, such as spinach, raisins, eggs, beans, and liver. I'm still doing research on what the best iron increasing foods are. I will also stop drinking soda as mentioned in goal 1. Problem #3 I have high blood pressure. My blood pressure is really high. I have what's considered Stage 1 high blood pressure. My numbers usually fall between 140 and 160 for the top number, and 85 to 95 for the lower number. It's supposed to be less than 120 over 80. There are lots of different factors causing it. Stress. Being overweight. Lack of physical activity. Salt. And so on. As i just graduated, I've reduced a lot of my stress right there. My job has changed slightly which is less stress, and if I really want I can find a job else where, I just have to keep applying. Some stress areas I can't get rid of. I love Matt and the kids even though they drive me crazy at times. Same with the cats. I want to strangle the little jerks when they treat me like a trampoline and sink their claws in, but I still love them. The weight will come off slowly, so for this goal I will focus on exercising more. Goal 3: Move it. I will exercise 5 days a week. I am going to pick one of the nerd fitness workouts to do on three days a week and will walk the other two days each week. I play Pokemon Go, so I can head to the small town near where I live and circle the block hitting pokestops. I will have to pack a change of clothes to put on after work, otherwise, I'll go home and change into my pajamas instead of workout clothing and not get a workout done. For the mornings I do the Nerd Fitness workouts I can wake up when Matt's alarm goes off before mine and get things done then. Personal Goal: Me time. For my personal goal I want to get 30 minutes of 'me time' each day. This can be relaxing in my library, getting a manicure, or playing pokemon on my ds. What ever the case may be, it will 30 minutes of stress free time that does not involve social obligations, kids, or Matt. It will allow me to de-stress and relax. I'm going to try to remember to post here daily about how things are going. This time I need to keep on track and get healthy. If I don't start now things will just continue to get worse. I don't want my health to keep deteriorating. I want to get healthier and better.

Hello! Welcome to the Scout Events Calendar. We have made a list of everyone’s races in order to keep track, so we know when to cheer. Anyone with a smartphone can subscribe to the list through their calendar and get alerts when fellow scouts are due to run.. Are you signed up for a race that you’d like to add? Just respond to this thread with the date and time, and we’ll add it! App Directions: 1. Log into http://google.com/calendar and on the lower left hand side where it says “Add a friend’s calendar,” copy/paste this address:egkuk030df3ft3bhdjul2efi18@group.calendar.google.com 2. For Android: a. In the default calendar app, open the menu and choose "Calendars to Display". b. At the bottom of the screen, click "Calendars to Sync" and you should see the Scout calendar listed. Tick it and click "OK" c. Rejoice 3. For iPhone: a. Go to Settings -> Mail, Contacts, Calendars -> Add Account -> Other b. Add Subscribed Calendar c. Paste the following: https://www.google.c...ublic/basic.ics d. Profit!

Hello all! It's been quite some time since I was last part of the scouts or the NF community. You may remember me from my previous account, username "Sora". I made a post HERE yesterday detailing my absence and change of account. Regardless, I'm back, and that's what's important! Part of the reason I'm starting this challenge a few days late is my account troubles, but I figure better late than never. So Let's Go! This Summer, I'm completing an internship in Japan, near Kyoto. Some of you may remember my challenges from the past that led up to my first trip to Japan, and I'm really happy to be back in this amazing place. However, I have found that I haven't been living a very productive life while I have been here. It's been almost a month, and I'm sick of being unproductive and wasting this amazing opportunity to improve myself. So, for this challenge, I have decided to channel Saitama from One Punch Man and work towards a better me through aggressive repetition. Goal 1: Workout! Rather than taking Saitama's workout directly (100 push ups, 100 sit ups, 100 squats, and 10 k of running everyday for three years), I'll be adapting it so fit my my current fitness level and timetable: Run 5 days a week, and incorporate body weight exercises... week 1: 2 days / week 2: 3 days / week 3: 4 days / week 4: 5 days The idea is to get back into running consistently again, while adding in some other moves to make myself more well rounded. I'm hoping to try out some types of fitness in the next year, so the body weight work (primarily push ups, squats, and sit ups) should help me gain some strength outside of distance running and improve my overall fitness level. There is also a good chance that I'll be climbing Mr. Fuji in July during my trip to Tokyo, so I'll need all the strength I can get! Goal 2: Cook! Cook 1 meal a day at least six days a week. At least one recipe must be new each week. This is my first time living and cooking 100% on my own for an extended period of time, and I've been wasting a lot of money the last few weeks eating out. The food here is AMAZING, but I need to start eating a little healthier and economically. My Goal here is to expand my cooking ability through consistently cooking and trying new recipes. One of my ideas for the next four week challenge is to work towards a paleo diet, but I think the first step towards this goal should be simply cooking in general. Goal 3: Hydrate! Drink 100 Ounces of Water a day, and limit soft drinks to once a day. At home in Michigan, I'm usually much better about staying hydrated. However, since my lifestyle changed significantly when I moved here, I have found myself drinking less. It's also much hotter and humid here than I am used to (yay rainy season!), so it's even more important that I am intentional about my hydration. I also need to try to avoid the many options that the plethora of vending machines here have to offer (Japan has the highest ratio of vending machines to landmass of any nation worldwide). I have downloaded the "iHydrate" app to track my progress. Life Goal: Daily Routine Complete at least three of the following each day, and complete all of them at least: Week 1: 1 time Week 2: 2 times Week 3: 3 times Week 4: 4 times Tasks: Read (20 minutes), Vlog (Film one video OR Edit one video), Study Japanese ( 1.5 hours), Clean (including laundry, dishes, etc. Basically anything in my apartment), Adventure (go somewhere I have never been before), Draw (1 completed sketch of 30 minutes working on full drawing) I have a lot of things I want to accomplish while I'm here, and the only way I'm going to be able to do that is by consistently practicing all of them. I've been doing fine doing them individually, but the problem for me has been giving attention to all of these things at once and finding the proper balance. So, through this goal, I'm hoping to slowly add more on to my plate and adjust to the balance gradually. IN SUMMARY: I'm hoping to slowly add more onto my plate as the challenge progresses. Through repeating everything consistently, I'm hoping to become a hero like Saitama! I'm super excited to be back among the NF community, especially the scouts. I'd love to talk more with you all, and I hope we can all reach our goals together! Let's go!

So the third challenge of the year has come and gone ... how'd we do scouts?

I'm Bee! For the past six months I've been focusing on my health and wellness through nutrition and mindfulness. Over the course of 3 years I gained about 30 pounds and struggled significantly with depression, anxiety, and accumulating health issues. After many failed attempts at restrictive diets and all-or-nothing workout regimes, I finally found that taking a simplistic approach toward changing my eating habits a little bit at a time allowed me to develop a greater awareness and appreciation of what I put in my body. I also dug deep into the core of my compulsive overeating and began to repair my relationship with food while rebuilding self-confidence. In the second half of 2015 I lost almost 15 pounds, quit my soda addiction, and transitioned to a fully vegan diet. I'm happier and healthier than I've been in a long time! I have many goals on the horizon and I'm ecstatic to be starting a new year (for perhaps the first time in my life) with a positive outlook on the months to come. Back in college I was a very basic runner (a few miles a few times a week). Since then I've been itching to get back into running but have never been able to find my groove; I either start too fast too quickly and injure myself or don't follow through in order to build a habit. I'm SO excited to get started again. I've been reading books and asking questions and setting myself up to be successful one step at a time. I'm not concerned about speed or distance at this point - I'm just ready to lace up every day and discover what works best for me. Main Quest: Within the next 6 months, my goal is to drop 1 dress size and be able to run a 5k. Run and/or Walk 30 Minutes/Day As a newbie runner I'll be following the Couch to 5K app, which calls for a walk/jog three times per week. The rest of the week I'll decide: either adding walk/jog days, or simply taking a long walk. This coincides with my need to walk our dogs more often. Why every day? I need to build a habit. I only have to commit to the 3 days of C25K -- if necessary, the rest of the days can be a slower walk. 5 STA = 37+ successful days // 4 STA = 36-32 successful days // 3 STA = 31-28 successful days Stretching/Flexibility Work Daily Whether it's a basic stretch after my jog or a yoga session, I need to loosen up my limbs. I always struggle with sore knees when I first start running, and know it has to do more with my strength and flexibility rather than the act of running itself. 3 DEX = 37+ successful days // 2 DEX = 36-32 successful days // 1 DEX = 31-28 successful days Snacks = Fruit, Veggies, Nuts/Seeds My nutrition has improved tremendously over the past six months. Inherently, in cutting out all meat, dairy, and eggs there are far fewer junk food/fast food items readily available that I'm interested in eating. I have increased my fruit and veggie intake and worked to balance my sweets intake. Chips, however, are something that have wiggled their way into my daily snacking habits. Like soda, chips are something I can certainly live without. Update: As noted above, I'm a bit of a compulsive overeater. And as much as I've started to balance some of my eating habits, I have found over the past few weeks that I can easily replace one bad habit with another. Last challenge I committed to not eating sweets, yet replaced that habit with eating chips. I am already forseeing that I'll replace chip-eating with sweet-eating. So instead, I'm sticking to my original plan at the end of the last challenge: snacks are limited to healthy, whole food options. 4 CON = 37+ successful days // 3 CON = 36-32 successful days // 2 CON = 31-28 successful days Finish 4 Books in 4 Weeks Brain food. 3 WIS = 4 books // 2 WIS = 3 books // 1 WIS = 2 books ... Possibly to be updated with some stats and more refined quest descriptions. For now - lace up!

Quest 1 Run every week No distance goals here just keep moving. I'm going to keep my long runs happening with some mid week runs added to keep my feet going. 4 weeks = 4 runs! 4+ runs A +3 Sta,+2 Con 3 runs B +2 Sta,+2 Con <3 run F Quest 2 Keep swinging Kettle bells I've signed up for the next session of 626 (Six weeks To a Six Pack) which is a heavy kettle bell program with my boot camp BUT it doesn't start till mid-challenge so I'll be doing my best to keep swinging my bells till then. 1 KB + TRX workout / week 8 workouts A +3 Str 6-7 workouts B +2 Str <6 workouts F Quest 3 Eat clean(er)! I'm going to kick the boozing out of my diet. I had been pretty good about this till the holiday when I let loose a bit So I'll be restricting myself to 2 drinks a week - save for my birthday which I'll allow myself a few more Grading 2 drinks per week for 4 weeks equals 8 drinks 0-8 A! + 2 Con, +2 Wis 8+ F Life Quest Reconnect with friends 4 weeks = 4 friends! 4+ A +2 Chr, +1 Wis 3 B +1 Chr, +1 Wis <3 F

...hopefully! Just checking in to reserve my slot. My main goals for the 6wc are to run a little bit faster and increase my maximum distance from 8km to 10km. I will update my goals tomorrow when I've formulated a plan. I'm a little bit behind.

For each week of this challenge, you will decide to make one healthier diet option. These will cumulate over the challenge so hopefully your diet will slightly healthier by keeping all six options. It can be easy to make a single small change at a time and the cumulative affect of several small changes can make a very nice impact. Possible ideas for a healthier diet option is to remove a certain non-nutritional food or add some quite nutritious food. For something like a nasty soda habit your option can be just to remove a portion of the soda intake instead of trying to remove it all at once (you could even use each week to further reduce the soda). Each week post what your healthier diet option will be and at the end of each week detail on how the week went. During week 3 we also planning an additional small challenge on top of the healthier diet options.

Hello fellow recruits! It's CloneClubber Reboot. I am CloneClubber's successful clone. The one that completes things and doesn't fail at challenges. I am pretty much more awesome than that other one. Here are my challenge Quests and Goals. Watch me succeed. Main Quest: Run the Jingle Bell 5K in Seattle December 13th 2015. Goals: 1. Run 4 times a week and do yoga/swim once a week either at the gym, home, or outside. A= workout 5 times B= workout 4 times C= workout 3 times 2. Eat a big salad for lunch with a side and water. No soda. A= 7-6 salads B= 5-4 salads C= 3-2 salads 3. Prepare meals 4 times a week and do one grocery shop a week. A= 4 meals B= 3 meals C= 2 meals Side Quest: Keep up on house work. Each day at the very least do the cat boxes, kitchen, and laundry. This is my motivation. Clone Sarah.

So it's my third 6WC. I managed to complete both far better than I expected but this does mean that I've set the bar high! My biggest failure was that I didn't check in here enough. Goal 1: "I see. For one moment, I thought you were running to help her. But no... not after my warnings, that WOULD be stupid!" as with previous 6WCs, my first goal is running based. Having got a 5km PB of 33:22 on the final day of the last 6WC, I have decided to enter a 10km. It's until the end of November but I need to train for it. I will run three times a week. Once with my running group, one 5km and one 5km+. I will gradually increase this run length. Goal 2: "THEN I SHALL FIGHT ANYONE, ANYWHERE, ANYPLACE, ANYTIME!!!" This goal is strength training based. In the previous challenge I got really bored with my strength training so I have treated myself to some personal training sessions which start next week. I've found a trainer that I am comfortable with and we have had an initial session where we discussed goals and went through some moves with a barbell. Our next session is on Monday so I will set my goal properly then, but the goal will be whatever he says it is. Goal 3: "Good times, bad food!" This is my dietary focused goal. This is going to be a combination of my last two challenges third goals. I will track my calories and aim to stick to it 5 days per week. 2 days per week can be anything I like but chosen mindfully! I will also drink 2 litres of water a day. Side quest "I've just noticed that your lovely jewels are missing" If I want a personal trainer more regularly I need to save some cash to pay for one. I allocate myself monthly pocket money so I will track what I spend and only buy essentials. Points Goal 1: I will be increasing my agility, speed and endurance so I will attribute 2 points to dexterity and 3 points to stamina. Goal 2: I will gain knowledge, new skills and hopefully physical strength so I will attribute 3 points to strength and 3 points to wisdom. Goal 3: I will improve my health by eating no drinking sensibly and hopefully look better so I attribute 2 points to constitution and 2 points to charisma. I am sorry that this is very similar to my previous 6WC but it's working, just needs tweaking!

Since October 21, 2015 we’ll have flying cars and hoverboards, I thought a Back to the Future themed challenge would be fun. So, Great Scott my 11th challenge is now on! Main Quest To live a healthy and balanced life by exercising and trying to eat healthy. My motivation I've successfully dropped weight by counting calories so my diet will mostly be staying the same with 1200 calories per day M-F and then blow meals on the weekends. I've managed to put on some muscle in an effort to become stronger by weightlifting and I’ve discovered that I love lifting heavy things! However, since I have neck pain, for this challenge I’m going to go easy on lifting weights. I want to take a bit of a break from the more serious weight lifting I’ve done in the past in an effort to try to help my neck heal. Nothing else has worked, so maybe not lifting as much will? I’m not giving weightlifting up entirely, since I love being the tank, but I do want to not focus on poundage so much as form and function for this challenge. So I’m *gulp* joining the Scouts this time to focus on speed and endurance! Smaller Quests 1. “Run for fun? What the hell kind of fun is that?†-Saloon Old Timer #3, Back to the Future III Marty does a lot of running throughout the trilogy; from Bif and his cronies to the Libyan terrorists. I am not a runner and never aspire to be one. I’m of the mind that I don’t run unless something is chasing me (t-rex, zombies, otters). But in the case of this challenge and in an effort to be a True Hero, I am going to practice this hated exercise and try to at least not die while doing it. Run three times per week working my way up to running for at least 30 minutes by the end of this challenge. I’m starting with running 10 minutes straight during week #1, 15 minutes during week #2, 20 minutes during week #3 & #4, 25 minutes during week #5, and, hopefully, 30 full minutes during week #6. Week 1: 10 minutes Week #2: 15 minutes Week #3 & #4: 20 minutes Week #5: 25 minutes Week #6: 30 minutes Since I’m not a runner by nature, I’m going to strive to simply run the allotted time length and not a set amount of times per week. Scoring: /6 (one for each week’s achieved) Reward: +3 to STA & +3 to DEX 2. “Save the clock tower!†-Back to the Future Without the clock tower to supply the lightning and power, Marty would never have gotten back to his own time. Doc must have climbed a lot of stairs, and quickly, to get up there to fix the wire in the first movie. While I’m not climbing stairs, I am going to continue working on getting my first dead-hang pull-up. I was thrilled when I attempted a pull-up with my arms flexed at about 120 degrees so it gave me hope that one day I will be able to do one from a full dead-hang. I am going to continue working towards my first dead-hang pull-up by lifting weights. a. Rows: 45lbs → 55lbs b. Assisted Pull-ups: 25lbs → 15lbs assist Scoring: /10 days Reward: +2 to STR (+1 for each completed) 3. “Hey, Frisbee. Far out!†-Marty McFly, Back to the Future III Frisbees back in the Old West were a brand name for pies and Marty recognizes it and refers to the toy when he sees a Frisbee pie tin in the old west. I need to go back to limiting my sweet treats during the week since processed sugar is evil. So I’m going back to no sweet treats M-F. Last challenge, I tried eating more veggies but since I’m so picky when it comes to green stuff, I only had carrots and red beets. Focusing on not having junk food during the week has worked before so I’m going back to that for this challenge. However, since I’m at the beach the week of September 12-19, I’m not counting sweet treats then. Because: ICE CREAM!!! Scoring: /25 Reward: +2 to CON & +2 to CHA 4. “When this baby hits 80mph, you’re going to see some serious shit!†-Doc, Back to the Future While not explicitly stated in any of the movies, being fluent in another language is incredibly useful! And I’m sure Doc speaks several. I really enjoyed practicing Spanish a few challenges ago so I’m going back to it. I want to focus on practicing for 30 minutes per day, M-F. Scoring: /25 days Reward: +3 to WIS Let's do this!

With a moderately successful recruit challenge under my belt, I’m ready to join my kind. Scouts, I’m Theophilus. I come to you an inveterate sloth with a penchant for running, looking to transpose the adjectives. After an eight-year hiatus, I began training in July 2015 for a half marathon in January 2016. My reach goal is to beat my 2008 time (8:16 pace). Right now I’m in the 9-10 min. pace on my runs, so it’s time to accelerate. Main Quest: Complete the 2016 Phoenix Rock ’n’ Roll Marathon at 8:15 min/mile pace or better Quest 1: Accelerate Pace Run at least four times per week, keeping with my current training plan mileage with one speed workout per week for the first three weeks (intervals) and two speed workouts per week for the second three weeks (intervals and tempo). Outcome Target: Be able to run three miles at sub-9:00/mile pace by the end of the challenge. Measurement: Pass/Fail. Pass = 8+ speed workouts over next six weeks Quest 2: Accelerate Recovery When I started running again, I was reminded of just how inflexible I am. I suspect that a misguided doctor may have shortened my calf muscles to theoretically increase my jumping ability. (Never see Dr. Stein, even if he is the best doctor in the country the state Southern California.) To lengthen these muscles again, I’m emphasizing stretching and adding some yoga. I’m committed to doing my regular stretching routing when I run, and adding 1 yoga session per week. Outcome target: N/A Measurement: Pass/Fail. Pass = 22+ stretch routines and 5+ yoga sessions Quest 3: Accelerate Weight Loss I usually trim out when I start running regularly, and I’m experiencing the same here. But I’m still about 15 lbs above my fighting weight, and I feel every bit of it on my runs. My progress has been stymied by my unfortunate habit of eating out for breakfast and/or lunch during the workday. During this challenge, I will eat breakfast at home and pack a lunch every day. I will make an exception for office-sanctioned special events lunches, but those come so rarely that I do not expect one in the next six weeks. Outcome target: Lose 6 lbs in 6 weeks. Eliminating garbage foods coupled with my running should get me there. Measurement: Pass/fail. Pass = 55+ homemade breakfasts/lunches Side Quest: Accelerate Debt Repayment My wife and I are repaying some consumer and student debt, and really want to make some serious strides over the next year or two. We’ve done the numbers to set a budget, but just need a kick in the pants to stick to it. So, that’s the challenge. Outcome target: If we stick to our budget, by the end of the challenge we’ll have a $500 or so surplus at the end of the challenge. We’ll take that and put it toward debt repayment. Measurement: Pass/Fail. Pass = 5 weeks on budget

Boston: The final frontier. These are the voyages of the Scout Gunslinger_25. His eight-week mission: to explore strange new running routes; to seek out a healthier life and new friends; to boldly go where no man (at least not him) has gone before. Howdy all! I'm eager to get going on the next challenge after wrapping up my recruit challenge. There's a lot of nice folks on here and everyone is really supportive! I hope you're prepared for a Star Trek/running themed challenge. I beg forgiveness in advance, but I will definitely be mixing TNG with the Original Series. Long story short, I'm 8 weeks out from my qualifying attempt at Boston at the Lehigh Marathon. For my age group, I need a sub-3:10. My training has been great so far, but there's always room to improve. Quest #1: Daily running My training program calls for daily runs, of which I've only missed four since 4/24. I have several races on my calendar which I'll be using as training runs. I'll post those in the Scout calendar area. Quest #2: BW Exercises 2x per week I had trouble in the Recruit challenge with getting in my body weight exercises, but I have a renewed focus since I'm in the homestretch of my training. The spouse suggests I shoot for a minimum of 2 times per week, so I'll be doing this program. I did my first round yesterday after my run and felt pretty good. Quest #3: Food & water intake tracking Again, this is super important combined with the above two quests. I am on the Weight Watchers program, which works really well for me. My aim is to get in three liters of water (Crystal Lite cut in half) per day and track my food daily. I'll be a little more lenient on long run days and with my pre-race carbo loading. I've made a major switch in the past week to dumping processed food as much as possible and eating many more veggies and fruits. That was certainly part of the 9.8 pound loss I saw since last Monday, though I've been on a plateau and had a 25k on Sunday. Typically, I hold on to water after a race though. I'm really excited about my chances of qualifying for Boston and since I've been working on this goal for probably 15 years, I'm also pretty nervous about race day. Gotta not choke and just keep on keepin' on!