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Hey y'all! I'm algorithmicpoet, 35, from Ireland. I started using the NF app about a month ago, but have been on a fitness journey since late last year when I realised I was at my heaviest and most unhealthy in about a decade. I'm hypermobile, have chondromalacia patellas (a fancy term for borked knees), and am ADHD inattentive type so it's been a bit of a challenge to find stuff that both works and I stick to, but I'm chugging along steadily so far. A lot of it has been getting into gardening and picking back up VR gaming, particularly Beat Saber, but I've done some structured home workouts too. Next step will hopefully be getting into some lifting and more defined cardio. Ultimately I'd like to get generally stronger and fitter; LARP is my main hobby and if I can end a fight without being winded that would be ace. Plus I'd like my meatsuit to stay functional as long as possible, and it's already getting on in years. Looking forward to joining the community

Into Day 2 of Leaving the Shire! I stumbled across "Level Up Your Life" after hearing about Nerd Fitness in "Atomic Habits" and love the idea of gamifying the process of personal improvement and turning life into an adventure. More importantly, for me anyway, is I love the idea of having a community. I'm a fantasy and science fiction author, finally braving the world by putting my own name on my works, and making sweeping personal changes in my life. I accidentally (yeah, that's a long story) started the Keto diet AND intermittent fasting a few months ago, dropped a staggering amount of weight, and have been throwing myself into exercise and personal improvement since. This includes my writing! More on that later. Maybe. But my biggest problem? Writing is an isolating calling. Most of my social interaction comes from my part time day job, which doesn't really count as socializing. Frankly, days I come home from it I'm exhausted. Supposedly we're a composite of the 5 people we spend the most time with...I don't actually HAVE five people. I've taken off on this adventure, found this group along the way, and have no real plans for landing. I don't think I even have a landing gear, so really, here goes nothing. I'm horribly introverted. I live most of my life in my own head. Feel free to visit sometime, it's pretty awesome! I love people, I don't always understand them, and they definitely exhaust me. That said, I want people in my life. Specifically, the kind of awesome, adventurous, downright nerdy individuals who make up this community. I'm looking forward to getting to know everyone, finding people I can perhaps meet up with in person, and have some adventures with! Any advice anyone can offer me as a new player to this game, especially about setting goals and leveling up with the character sheet, would be greatly appreciated.

PROLOGUE Hello fellow adventurer! My name is Lisiera, but you may call me Lissy. I see you've found my battle log. I admit that it isn't too impressive in its current state. But that's okay! I'm working on changing that. And, as an optional side quest, my friend, you're free to help as well. You see, I have many dreams. I'd love to spar and hold my own against a warrior like Alistair or Sten (Dragon Age). I long to have the endurance to hike from Canifis to Yanille (Runescape). I'd love to have the agility and skill like Black Widow to take down my enemies in the blink of an eye. But these are just dreams. So many times I've started to try to make these a reality, but have just failed for one reason or another. Real life seemed to get in the way. Motivation got lost in the mail. I tried and failed, so I gave up. Not anymore. I've found my haven. I've found my true starting point. I found my fellow nerds So, here I go again. This is my last "start" because I'm committed to making life style changes. To training my body for the challenges I long to accomplish. To figure out immediate goals and eventual long term goals (I don't really have any long term goals right now other than "get fit," which I think needs a bit more detail). Come, friends. Join me by the fire and let me refill your tankard of mead (or, you know, that healthy flavorless stuff called water), and let me tell you tales of my small adventures at the gym, in the kitchen, in life in general.

So I wasn't sure if this is where I should start, because I've had Nerd Fitness for about a year and I tried it, and failed miserably at sticking with it, so I guess this is technically a respawn? I did track and cross country all 4 years in high school, (about 6 years ago from graduation) and I took a year off, then did it again for a year or 2 at a junior college. Since then I've stopped consistently working out like I used to. I've tried several workout plans and "diets" and nothings worked, I end up fizzling out. So I thought Nerd Fitness would be great because it's so focused on small changes over time. But my dilemma is that I won't see the changes as quickly as I'd like, and I think my motivation just dies. So I thought about trying the 6 week program, but I feel like I'll just fizzle out on that too.... plus it's against the normal nerd fitness philosophy. I guess what I'm looking for is advice on what I should do? I'm super lost on the meal planning and nutrition, because I've never had to really think about what I eat because I'd just work it off at practice the next day. Maybe I need a coach again? I just can't afford things like a personal trainer =\ I'm also in need of motivation advice. Sorry for the long rant/explanation, any help is appreciated

So my kid who just graduated college has a shot at a job, but the company wants him to have a local address..... I know no one in that area, or anything factual about living in Los Angeles. Anyone know of a place a kid just starting out could settle into for a short time until he can get his feet under him? He wont actually move to LA until he is offered a job, but it would be advantageous for him to be able to say, no I don't live there yet but I have somewhere I can be until I find a place. Seems the "moving" part of this process is a concern for employer. Suggestions and Helpful insights are appreciated greatly.

Hello Rebels! I stumbled upon NF a while ago and I'm quite taken with it. Heres my story for those who are interested. In HS I was puny. As a 5'6" guy that weighed in at 110lbs I fell in with the nerds. Also, I'm smart! ;-) I like to think I was a nerd before it was cool. I took up boxing and inline skating and rock climbing in HS so was quite fit, but not super strong. I got married shortly out of HS and went from 120lbs to nearly 240, in about 6 years. I got serious about getting fit and changed my diet and started hitting the gym. That took me from 235ish to 170 lbs. And a divorce. She wasn't ready for changes like I was, and our only thing in common turned out to be mmorpgs, (DAoC, AO, WoW) and I gave that up to change my life. I got married again later, have 3 little girls and am woeking on unfit again. I'm back up to 187lbs and started smoking again. Wish I hadn't, but if wishes were horses and all that. I need to level up my life, so I'm trying to build muscle, lose fat, stop smoking abd eating crap (paleo bound, at least partly...) I surpise myself that I'm not as unfit as I feel, if that makes sense, but I'm aurely not where I want to be. My BMI says I'm obese (barely) and I'd put my BF% around the high 20s or low 30s, although as its mostly in my gut I have retained some ability to run, and lift things. I'd like to be stronger, I've always been known as the guy who's tougher than he looks and can take punishment, but certainly not the guy you look at and think "that's one bad mother..shutyermouth" I need help with staying motivated, breajing terrible habits and making time. My life is complicated by the fact that I work full time, run a second part time business, and my wife has two jobs too. With three little kids added to that finding time is difficult, as is dietary change. I know the time exists to find though, if I want it enough. I'd also like to be an inspiration to my wife, who is uncomfortable in her body and falls into many of the same traps as I do. If I can change, maybe I can inspire her to make the changes that I know she wants. (This message typed on a virtual keyboard, please forgive any obvious typographical errors.)

Hi. My name is Sara Benincasa. I'm a comedian and a writer and a human. I played a lot of King's Quest when I was a kid. I was in marching band for two years, and I was actually on a competitive baton and flag squad. On purpose. I spend a lot of time on Twitter and Facebook when I ought to be a.) working on my novel b.) working on a script c.) eating healthy foods or d.) exercising. I try fad diets and then stop them. I always sucked at sports and so I react to the thought of exercise by whining and running in the opposite direction (generally straight to bed to take a nap). I'm here because I'm a nerd and I want to get fit and I'm not sure what to do about it. I love bread and pasta and ice cream and I'm pretty sure I'd love a cronut if someone put it in front of me. I'm not good at denying myself the nomz. I like yoga, but I don't go. I even like lifting weights, but I don't go to the gym. I spend a lot of time napping and avoiding the great outdoors, and I'm tired of it. I also -- and I wrote a memoir about this, so I'm comfortable posting about it in an open forum -- deal with depression and anxiety, and take medication to help. Recently I tried to blame my weight gain on the meds, but my doctor said nope -- it's not the meds. It's the fact that I'm sedentary and that I loves me some carb action. And he's right! So I'd love to hear your inspiring tales, even if you've only lost five pounds. Five pounds sounds amazing to me right now! Good luck to you. I hope you are having an awesome day. Best, Sara B.

Well, I squeaked into day 1 just in time, and even managed to achieve today's goals! Thanks to my amazing friend (in real life) TheHalfie for telling me about Nerd Fitness long enough in advance that I had ample time to procrastinate about completing my post until the last moment! (This might be something for next challenge.) But I'm thrilled to be here and give six weeks a chance to retrain my habit patterns. With my new goals in place, I'm off on my mission to find balance. Here's the July 29 rundown. WIN: work up at 5:30am. (That'll be a point thanks.) WIN: yoga workout (yup, that's another point for day 1) WIN: No caffeine and NO gluten (boom -- 2 points) Side quest: totally unpacked my bags from a weekend away. Side quest score. 4 points, and priceless satisfaction. Ok Day 2, I'm ready for you.

Hello all! I am IronAegis, and this is my first time posting to the Nerd Fitness forums, although I've been reading for a few months now. I loved the idea of a 6 week challenge and though I'd throw my hat into the ring for this one to spice things up a bit. Pictures and other fluff to come, but I wanted to at least get my post up. A Little About Me Well, for starters, I turned 30 this year, and in anticipation of this event, I decided to make a big push. I, like oh-so-many individuals, made a New Year's resolution to eat better and get back into shape. I did come up with a plan, worked toward improving my nutrition, and work out fairly regularly. It hasn't been a smooth downward path on the scale (As evidenced by a jagged upward spike in February when I went to Las Vegas for the first time in celebration of my birthday), but I have made significant progress. At my heaviest, I was 260 pounds, which needless to say I was not too happy about. Since the beginning of the year, I've hit a middle ground of sorts. I'm not exactly where I want to be, but I am down to 228 pounds, and the fitness gains have been quite noticeable. For this next challenge, I want to continue my weight loss, but also improve my overall body composition and put on additional muscle. I have a big frame, and I've lifted my share of heavy weights in the past, but ultimately functional strength is the goal. Ideally, I'd like to be able to be proud of the figure I've worked for when I look in the mirror. I am proud of the progress I've made, to be sure, but I'm just not there yet. Main Goal: Over the next 6 weeks, I'm endeavoring to lose an additional 10 pounds. This is modest, to be sure, but I'm hoping that muscle gains will make the look a bit more dramatic. How I'll Get There: Here are the three goals I have to lose those pounds and put on muscle: YOAG (Link here) workouts 3x per week. 2 EA Sports Active workouts per week (Gaming +Exercise fun!) Track my caloric intake each day (My Fitness Pal app has helped greatly with this) At least 7 hours of sleep per night (I sometimes have bouts of insomnia)Life Quest: Travel has been a goal of mine for some time, and I've found that as I've gotten into better shape, I'm more willing to put myself out there. I'd really like to make travel a priority and hope to visit 3 places I have never been to over the course of the year. For you JoCo fans, I'll be on the Joco Crazy Cruise (Link) in February. Well, that's all for now! Nice to meet you all, and I'll be sure to put up pictures and progress as I continue to flesh this post out.

S'up! I'm not hugely overweight, but I'm heading in that direction. I have diabeties in my family AND breast cancer, so I need to turn my life around and fast! I'm nearly 30, about 11 and a half stone (don't know what that is in pounds, ironically), and five foot 6, so I've always been a bit stocky. My main problem is laziness shortly followed by lack of social graces and a terrible diet plagued by sugar and carb addiction. The silly thing is my mum is a fitness instructor and yoga teacher with 30 years experience! Did I listen to her? Did I hell! This has, understandably, fustrated her and saddned her no end, I never took any notice of her sage, well informed, expert advice. In fact, that's a very understated way of putting it, I went out of my way to ignore it for the most part. I went to the gym, sure, but it never really amounted to anything. I wasn't taking any notice of how to work out properly and as a result getting nothing out of my gym membership except knee pain! Over the years I've pretty much caused her heartache through not being healthy as she knows the concequences of bad health and lack of excerise more than anyone. Her mum (my grandma) died of breast cancer about a decade ago, my other Nan is diabetic and is now suffering from dementia. She has, for a long time, tried to steer me away from this and I've thrown it back in her face. Things came to a head recently when she discovered I'd slagged her off on Facebook (how pathetic is that?!) to my partner (she doesn't have a FB account, but accidentally opened my messages on the iPad). She then told me that if I did not turn over a new leaf, she would never try to help me again. That scared me more than anything. I'm now a mum to, of an amazing MLP loving daughter, and I need to set her a good example. She currently has a mum who doesn't care what she eats/drinks and is getting headaches and knee pains before she hits 30! ARGH! Aren't those indications of diabeties?! I need to change and FAST! Really, the excersie is not an issue because my mum has offered to assess me and give me my own personal programme, it's the motivation and the diet thing really. I've not had any sugar or carbs for 24 hours and I have an epic headache, it's clearly an effect of a detox and just shows how addicted I was! I just need to stay motivated and clear on what I want to do. If my mum gives me some targets, I can meet them. As long as I have some fruit or veggies and hummous on hand I won't reach for a cake/biscuit. Another thing that didn't help was my teaching course which was stressful, took up ALL my time and put me in the way of temptation. At the teaching college the biscuit tin was always full, and at the schools I was placed in people brought in cakes and doughnuts in for birthdays and, lord help me, I probably consumed my bodyweight in sandwiches. I had to drop out after too many terrible observations in my lessons (they have a three strikes rule) and looking back, it was probably a blessing!

I am way late to the party. But I'm here now and that is the important part. Today I looked a photo from one of my campus clubs and for a second couldn't find myself. The person in the picture standing where I should have been didn't look like me. All I could think is, what happened to my neck? Here are my goals for the rest of the challenge Limit wine consumption to two glasses on Friday and Saturday night. Unfortunately I have been using wine as relief from school stress. 4- 1 hours workouts per week I've been skipping workouts in favor of relaxing with wine and the internet. That ends today. Lose 5 lbs. As a nutrition student I know that the scale isn't a accurate measure of health but I need to put number on this so that I can measure results somehow. No disordered eating This one is important. My history with food is terrible and I cannot go back to the way I was. I can exercise and eat right but I will not hate or shame myself into weight loss.

Hello NF! Can't wait to get to know you on this NF journey! Starting out, I am 25 and at around 220 lbs. (my scale batteries died so I am not quite sure ). I (finally) joined nerd fitness to actually get my butt in gear! After having a couple bad exp. with my intsetines, I no longer want to exp. that kind of pain again. so with eating right, a supportive community, (you guys), and a NF plan (or two) I will Height: 5'4" Weight: 220 (guesitmate...) Goal Weight: 145 - 135 Other weight-related goals: Being able to have defined waist and hips (will happen thru weight loss..., but still!) Headstands & backflips? (it would be really cool!) Doing those complex yoga poses (with ease) Not being addicted to sugary products (being able to say no!) Healthy paleo diet master! feeling strong and confident! (and looking it too!) I'm sure there are other goals besides these, I'll add them in later when I think of them.

I'm past the point of long intro's and crazy ideas but here's some random stuff about me and crap. I was once thin... a long long time ago in a galaxy far far away. I know how I got there just can't seem to remember or find my way back. So I'm hoping this will work for me, finally find that thing that gets into my brain and makes me listen up. I have a total of 140lbs to lose (though I'm very flexible with that number), lost 33.4lbs so far on my own, and a total of 12.9lbs since I re-committed myself (yes that's part of the total 33.4lbs). I feel like I have all the odds against me. I work from home full time only going to the office 3 times a month (which is also a good thing since I've gotten great at avoiding the snacks at work), I have a weird schedule of 11:30am - 8pm, I say I'll workout on my lunch but tend to find a reason not to (I usually work through it off the clock), I have a hip/leg injury that I'm always trying to strengthen, as well as other injuries from a really bad car accident back in 08, than add to the mix my husband who doesn't want to diet and is very over weight (and constantly buys things I can't have but love or says I don’t need to lose weight he loves me for me) so I have that always hitting me in the back though I've been doing great lately and he's really trying to help me, than you have my daughter, Zelda, she's a Warrior Princess for sure... cutest thing ever! Its amazing I'm alive after that accident so her being alive is beyond anything people can think of. It wasn't an act of God or some religious thing... no she's just Zelda... 100% Zelda. Anyways I could go on about her for ever, she's my life, but this is about me. For once I'm doing something for me. I want to get back in shape but first I need to lose a lot of weight. I want to get my leg back up to par with my other leg than work on toning. Getting that body fat % down and myself healthy. Plus I hope my changes will fall over to my husband cause I need him to be around forever! I know I can do this cause of my physiatrist. He's always brought up how once I put my mind to it I can break every rule. He's the one that told me I'd never walk without a walker again and mainly use a wheelchair, after 5mo I was full time walker baby! Than after only 2 more months I was using a cane and after a year of crazy rehab (you name it I had it! OT, PT, ST, etc) I was okayed to go back to work and be discharged from rehab. I was asked to come back to the clinic and speak to patients but I find with my weight gain I just can't do it. Who would listen to someone that went all this way just to get really lazy? I need to find that motivation again. That need to move. So I've lost track of what I'm doing (its the TBI I swear...) and jump all over the place... personality flaw I know. But I bought the guides, I'm reading them tonight and starting first thing in the morning! Why wait another day to mess up? I'm already eating a lot cleaner and working to clean it up even more (cutting carbs is hard). So wish me luck... I hope I get where I need to be! **FYI I tend to forget to post a lot so I'll probably vanish. As you can imagine my house is a bit crazy and my daughter is fully disabled and requires our constant care. Forums usually get forgotten around here and sadly, yes, I have given up gaming to take more time for my daughter's needs.

Hey y'all, (Yes I'm from the South). This is my go at entering the forum. Never been much a chatboard/forum person, but the more time passes, the more I realize that the right people are awesome to be around. Especially NF Rebels. So excited to hear from fellow Rebels and to help other Rebels exceed their goals! I'm a senior at University of Tennessee studying Economics. Personally I'm reserved but can be goofy from time to time. I'm a business, productivity, and self-help nerd. Love the stuff. Listen to HBR podcasts and the like walking to classes. When 2013 rolled around I took to NYE resolutions with a fervor. I set 10 in particular that will be accomplished before 2014 shows itself on the calendar on the wall. These weren't pie in the sky either. Each one had 1-month, 3-month, and 6-month milestones. In addition on a weekly basis I work on adding them into my productivity system (OmniFocus. Any other OF users out there?). The 1-month and 3-month goals will be adjusted on a rolling basis as they are achieved or not. So here goes: #1 Make the first sale for my company. I've started up a little side business to help students when they talk to recruiters and interviews. This year I will make my first sale and officially have started my own company. #2 Write 26 articles for my blog, FrankenLife.org. Another initiative of mine, this is a blog dedicated to designing a better life and broadcasting some of my personal views about personal productivity and achievement. #3 Reach 12% body fat. For a long time I've been the chubbier guy and at 225lbs. out of high school (with some muscle from sports) I was a little larger than I'd like. While the weight has been whittled down, this will be the year I give it the final blow. PS I'm actually ahead of schedule here due to cutting weight for a boxing tourney soon! I'm lighter than I was as a junior in high school! #4 Go on 8 dates Never one to have much social confidence, I've sorta allowing dating to come to me. No more. I'm going to start making a conscious effort to get into a relationship. #5 Publish an academic paper As an aspiring economist publishing an academic paper means quite a bit to me. It would be make me incredibly happy to see my name in a peer-reviewed journal no matter how small. #6 Establish my 7 Habits Based off of Covey's 7 Habits I want to finally delve into them in a very Ben Franklin way. Of course there's never any such thing as completing the 7 Habits but having a strong basis in them is the idea. #7 Increase my confidence A little nebulous, but I had trouble quantifying a concept as nebulous as confidence. The idea being by the end of the year, my friends will see a difference in me, and I will feel more in line with my "true self" in a way. #8 Improve my charisma Really you might say #4, #7, & #8 are similar and you'd be right. But this is different in that it's not just about communicating with the other sex (#4) and about connecting with other people, not myself (#7). Again the litmus test here is do my friends see it? #9 Visit Europe In between high school and college I had the amazing opportunity to live in Hungary for 3 weeks and ever since I've wanted to return. Instead of talking about it, this year I'll go. Already saved some Christmas money for the cause. #10 Learn Hungarian Kinda a bonus to #9, it would be great to get to Hungary and be able to somewhat converse with Hungarians. I have a pen pal in Hungary and she'll be the judge of whether I know Hungarian by the end of this year. I know that was a lot so thank you for reading! AND LET THE REBELLION BEGIN!

It's the third day of twenty thirteen, and I figured it's a good time to finally get out from behind the youtube screen, and start trying to do something amazing myself. My name's Kelsey, and I want to be a tracuer. I've been interested in parkour for a little more than a year now, but I've got the typical "shy chick, she's unathletic and hasn't got a clue where to start" back story. Time to grow some balls much? I'm not in high school, don't have a job at the moment and have yet to start college: meaning there's nothing standing in the way of me getting up, getting out, and getting started. Besides, I have a whole rebellion as a resource, right? =] Hah, guess this was more of my own motivational rant than anything, but please let me know if you have any PK advice to help me get on my feet. I know everyone has to start from square one, but it's a daunting thing nonetheless. ~Otaku_Wanna_Fly