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Wow this new format doesn't leave much time to do a new challenge. Anyway here we go... "What a piece of junk!" - Like the Millenium Falcon and Optimus, I plan to be more than meets the eye by the end of this challenge Goals: - Alcohol max 1 day a week - 1 hour a day of 'exercise' - 4 weeks of Paleo Bonus: - Each day I don't play video games is an extra drinking day. This one is about body transformation, would like to drop another 3kg this challenge. I was going to count calories but I know already that it will just piss me off so I will go full Paleo for 4 weeks. Other important things happening this challenge: - I will sit my Advanced Scuba Diver certificate - I'm getting back to squash - Planning to finally book my dive on the Yongala.

Challenge 17 There can be only one....goal. There's something I've been avoiding for a long time. Justifying to myself this way or that way, enough is enough, I need to give Paleo a proper go. Not a bit of a go with a lot of other stuff thrown in and sort of do it, a proper full Paleo go. Controlling food intake has been a long standing battle and I keep dancing around it so this challenge: Goal 1 Full Paleo for 6 weeks. Rules of engagement: - Full Paleo to me means no processed food, no processed sugar, no grains. That pretty much covers it. - Exceptions: I have no issues with Dairy, I'll allow milk in limited quantities for tea and limited amounts of cheese. - Prep in advance, Prep in advance and Prep in advance. - Stick to my meal plan as much as possible. I like this summary for my Paleo approach, I'll be adding sweet potato. Tools to support my success: - Meal plan - Prep ahead of time, every Sunday prep 5 days of food. - No Alcohol, that's when I eat crap. There is 1 exception when my oldest friend comes to visit me for 1 weekend. I only get to see him once or twice a year so I will allow an alcohol exception if he comes but still Paleo food. - Consider a pre & post DEXA, need to look into cost. - Support from my NF friends...please I need lots of accountability for this one, I really want to finally succeed in trying full Paleo, I usually crack around the 3 day mark so 42 days is going to be a massive PR. Bonus antique film trailer for the fogeys among us: Time for a transformation. Oh yeah, big goal means big reward. Reward: Achieve 36 days or more of full Paleo: Book a holiday to dive the Yongala I've wanted this for soooo long, it's appeared in a number of my challenges as a reward for big goals, usually related to weight/BF% that have thus far eluded me. I'm already planning to my Advanced diving cert locally in 6 weeks time so I will have the ticket to go down to 30 metres hopefully by the end of this challenge. I will also have the funds to be able to book this by the end of this challenge, just got to come through and deliver the goal....

Hello fellow rebels, I'm happy to be back after being m.i.a. for pretty much a year. This is my second try to complete my second challenge, out of the 3 challenges that I started in the past I only finished 1. Although I wasn't active in the NF community i still kept on exercising and somewhat half-assed my diet. I tried to do two things at once: loose weight and build muscle and it didn't work out for me, I just gained 3kg of probably 99% fat After reading the last NF Blog posts about how it's better to first focus on fat loss and then on building muscle I decided to come back to the forum and do just that. GOAL: weigh 54 kg / 119lb My weight this morning was 56,7 kg /124.7 lb but I came down with a gastroenteritis this weekend and I'm just back to eating normal (which is also why I'm starting late) and I wouldn't be surprised if my weight is up 1kg by the end of the week. Mission 1: Diet (4 CON, 1 CHA) Allowed foods: everything Paleo + the following foods in moderation: Dairy if full fat and natural, corn, green legumes, honey Off Limits: Sugar, alcohol, grains, soy, everything "low fat" or "diet", processed foods, fast food etc. I start at 100% every week and for every item from the "off limits" list I will substract 10%, 50% is the passing grade. Mission 2: Exercise (3 DEX, 2 STA) In the past I made the mistake of making this part to complicated, so this time I'll try to keep it simple: Exercise 6x a week between 30 and 60 minutes, depending on the intensity of the workout (e.g. walking: 60 min, BBWW: 30 min), try to keep it diverse. Mission 3: Push ups (3 STR) Right now I can do one good push up before Ilet my knees drop, so I want to get to 2 sets of 5 push ups. Push ups will be graded by result at the end of the challenge. Life mission (2 WIS): Dedicate 4 effective hours every week day 20 effective hours every week to my Master thesis and job applications. Height: 160cm / 5'3" Starting weight: 59 kg /130 lb ------------------------->56,8 kg / 125 lb BF%: 32% (Navy calculator) ---------------------------> 30% Shoulders: 40cm / 15.7 in ------------------------------> 39cm / 15.3 in Arm r: 25,5cm / 10 in ------------------------------------> 25,5cm / 10 in Arm l: 24,cm / 9.6 in -------------------------------------->25cm / 9.8 in Waist: 82cm / 32.3 in ------------------------------------> 79cm / 31.1 in Hip: 94cm / 37 in ------------------------------------------>93cm / 36.6 in Thigh r: 56,5cm / 22.2 in--------------------------------> 55cm / 21.6 in Thigh l: 56cm / 22 in ------------------------------------->56cm / 22 in Calves: 34cm / 13.4 in ----------------------------------->34cm / 13.4 in Week one: Diet: 80% Exercise: 3x out of 4 active (non sick) days: 100% Life: 0%, outch. Mini Challenge: 201 Mountain Climbers 1STR Week two: Diet: 40% Exercise: 100% Life: 67% Mini Challenge: walked 12 km, 1 STA Week three: Diet: 80% Exercise: 100% Life: 72% Week four: Diet: 40% Execise: 50% Life: 57,5% Week five: Diet: 60% Exercise: 86% Life: 35% Week six: Diet: 0% Exercise: 66% Life: n/a Challenge wrap up: (details) Diet: 50%, (2 CON, 0,5 CHA) Exercise: 85% (2,5 DEX 1,5 STA) Push ups: 85% (2,5 STR) Life: 45% (0,5 WIS)

I made this recipe last weekend, and it is AMAZING. It tastes like someone pureed fall! Adapted from this recipe. Prep: ~30 min. Cook: ~45 min. Ingredients: 1 medium butternut squash, cubed 1 medium acorn squash, cubed 3 medium sweet apples, diced 1 medium onion, diced 4-6 cloves garlic, diced 1 medium carrot (or 5-6 baby carrots), diced 3 cups low sodium chicken stock 1 cup almond milk (or coconut, or rice, or...) 2-3 tbsp EVOO Curry Powder (to taste) Salt and Pepper (to tast) 1. Preheat Oven to 350 2.. Place squash cubes on a greased baking sheet, roast for 30-40 minutes until easily mashed with fork. 3. While squash is roasting, cook the apple, onion, garlic, and carrot in EVVOO until tender (~10 mins). 4. Add chicken stock to apple mixture. Stir, then cover and let simmer (~10 min). 5. Mash squash, and add to apple mixture. Add almond milk and curry powder. Stir and let simmer (~5 min). 6. Add to food processor, puree to preference (I like a slightly textured soup). 7. Serve, refrigerate, or freeze!

Challenge 10 Starting Stats: Weight: 85.7 kg Body fat: 20.7% Goal 1 - Full Paleo for 2 continuous weeks (CHA 3, DEX 2) I'm doing really well on my lifting and conditioning but I'm eating too much rubbish and it's preventing me from dropping some stubborn fat. I've tried full Paleo in the past and struggled with it, never usually make it past 2 days, I get really bad headaches. So this time I'm aiming for something realistic, at some point during the 6 weeks I want to get 2 full weeks of 100% Paleo under my belt. The other 4 weeks I can do what I want, except for sugar....see goal 3! Goal 2 - Sub 80kg (CHA 2, DEX 3) Keeping this goal from last challenge as it's still where I want to be. Yes weight figures are arbitrary but I have some fat to lose and I need a goal to focus on. I also want less weight to have to haul around the squash court. Weigh in once a week, if I stay the same weight but BF% drops that's good news too. I have a nice reward linked to this, details below. Goal 3 - No sugar on more than half the days this challenge (CHA 3) Sugar has reappeared in my diet and it's holding me back from losing BF%. I want to get more than half the days this challenge as sugar free. I also want my NF friend @Ems to join me for this goal....will ya?! Side goal: I have stopped swimming and I miss it. This challenge I would like to go swimming at least once a fortnight. (DEX 2) Rewards: History shows rewards also work well for me. - If I go sub 80kg I will book my dream diving trip to the Yongala wreck. As you can see no strength or fitness goals at all this challenge, it's all about nutrition and if I hit my goals I'm going to get major Charisma and Dexterity buffs! Edit: moved this tracker here so I can find it easily. I need to track my non-sugar days somewhere to stay accountable so I'll just do it here. x=fail y=winner winner chicken dinner! Week 1 M: x T: y W: y T: y F: x S: x S: x (3) Week 2 M: y T: y W: y T: y F: x S: x S: y (5) Week 3 M: y T: y W: y T: y F: y S: y S: y (7) Week 4 M: y T: y W: y T: y F: y S: x S: y (6) Week 5 M: y T: y W: y T: y F: y S: n (alcohol) S: y (6) Week 6 M: y T: y W: y T: n (alcohol) F: n S: n S: y (4) Total no sugar days = 31/42

Main Quest Attain 12% body fat once. Starting Stats: Weight: 81.4kg Body fat: 19% Goal 1: Feed the beast the good stuff....and know it [WIS 2, CON 1] I need to experiment with calories and macros to get to a level where I can continue to lift well but not put on too much fat. It's been creeping up recently. I'm terrible at tracking food and calories, I just don't do it and don't enjoy it but I need to suck it up and get on with it if I want to achieve my main quest. - Track all food. - Eat 80% Paleo - Aim for 2500 cals a day (169g Protein, 206g Carbs, 111g Fat) - Aim for minimum 1800 cal a week worth of exercise. (3 lifting sessions with accessories and 3 walks should easily achieve this) Goal 2: Prepare for Hawaii [CON 2, STR 2] I'm going to Hawaii in December (OMG!), I want to be able to feel strong and confident in the water. - Swim once a week - Surf once a fortnight Goal 3: The elephant in the room [CON 2, WIS 2] I drink more alcohol than I should and it makes me fat. I've tried to tame this in various ways almost every challenge so far, the only thing that has worked has not been drinking at all. Last challenge I went 6 weeks without alcohol, during the rest week I've had it most days. Time to try another approach. - No more than 5 units of alcohol in any one day. - At least two alcohol-free days a week. 100ml wine = 1 unit 1 bottle full strength beer = 1.5 units 1 bottle light beer = 1 unit Fitness Side quest: [DEX 4] Mobilize 4 times a week for 15 mins. - Create a mobilization routine to follow - Follow it 1RM PR's. Back Squat: 90kg Clean: 65kg Strict OHP: 50kg Strict Chinups: 10 Strict Pullups: 8

I'm looking for some advice on adding some intense cardio to my week. At present I am eating well, 70-80% Paleo, non-paleo is to help me with carb shortfalls. Lifting 3 times a week: Mon: Back squats, Upper body work Weds: Cleans, Push Press Fri: Front squats, DB rows and DB press Other days: Walking and once a week swimming. As you can see, not much cardio, although I get out of breath supersetting my weights and a fit test on a running machine tells me I'm "above average". I love squash and used to play amateur comp at a low level (bottom division but I don't care I enjoy it so much). Last week on Thursday I played squash for the first time in a long time (18 months or so) and it took me about 5 days to recover and feel normal again. I was totally exhausted for the first 2-3 days. I didn't lift on the Friday as I was too tired, lifted on the Saturday instead. Even though it knocked me sideways I really had fun playing and my lifting has seriously improved my fitness and my game, I destroyed my opponent as I was no longer held back by my fitness level, it came down to strategy and technique. I don't think I've ever been in that position before. I found it inspiring enough that I am considering playing competition squash again, there is an over-35 comp on Tuesday nights for us old folk . I also used to surf and am planning to get back into that one morning a week, probably Sunday for about 2 hours. This is preparation for a holiday to Hawaii in December where I want to be capable of catching a few waves. However, I am really enjoying my lifting and that needs to come first, I don't want it to be held back by Cardio work. I was so tired from the squash last week that I'm concerned I will not recover quickly enough to perform well at my lifting if I take up squash again. Does anyone have any advice on: - Will intense burst cardio hold back my lifting? - How to recover faster? - Do you think I would get used to the extra cardio work?

Came across this recipe here: http://www.beantownbaker.com/2013/01/winter-kale-and-quinoa-salad.html and tried it out two nights ago. My notes are in italics. Winter Kale and Quinoa SaladYield: serves 4-6 Ingredients: 1 Small Butternut Squash (~3.5 lbs.) 1Tbs Honey 1/2 Tbsp olive oil pinch smoked paprika or ground chipotle pepper 1 cup quinoa 2 cups water 2 bunches kale 1 cup water 1 pomegranate, seeded (Pomegranates were out, so I used dried cranberries) 1/2 cup crumbled goat cheese 1/2 cup walnuts, toasted salt and pepper Directions:First, roast the butternut squash. Preheat oven to 375F. Nuke the squash in the microwave for 5 minutes after peeling it to soften the squash so it's easier to cut. Cut the squash into consistently sized pieces ~1 inch on each side. Toss with honey, olive oil, and paprika.(I didn't do the microwave on account of lacking a microwave) Spread squash onto a foil lined baking sheet and bake 30 minutes or until roasted. Stir every 15 minutes. Remove squash from the oven and allow to cool while preparing the other components. Next, prepare the quinoa. Follow the instructions on your package or combine 2 cups water with 1 cup quinoa. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 20-25 minutes until quinoa is cooked. While the quinoa and squash are cooking, prepare the kale by removing any of the thick stems. Tear into bite-sized pieces. Add 1 cup water and the kale to a large pan or dutch oven. Cover and cook on med-high to steam the kale for 5 minutes. Remove the lid, toss the kale, and cook another 5 minutes. Remove kale from heat and allow to cool. Once squash, quinoa, and kale are cooked and cooled to room temperature, combine in a large bowl. Add goat cheese, walnuts, and pomegranate seeds. Toss to combine. Add salt/pepper as needed (I ate this still warm, it was good, and then cold the next day and it was still good) Enjoy! - Daniel