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I’m back!! I took the last challenge off when I saw that NF was switching from the 6-week format to a 4-week format since I’d spend most of the challenge either in Japan or recovering from jet lag (which this time was a fresh new hell, omg). But now that I’ve returned to the States and have recovered and gotten back into the swing of things, I’m ready to charge forth into NF Challenges once more! I’ll admit, I’ve been mostly lackadaisical in everything related to fitness and diet the past couple of months, so really, it’s just about coming back down to the basics. So nothing too fancy here, just reestablishing the base! So without further ado: Let’s Get Back Fitness!! QUEST 1: Snakebite! [+3 STR] One of Ban’s main attacks is his infamous snakebite, which is largely just a ridiculous amount of grip strength with some magic involved. I don’t have magic, but I do have barbells, dumbbells, and my own bodyweight to work with! This boils down to strength-training 3x/week. Ideally, I’d like to do lifting all three days, but it may wind up being more like lift twice, bodyweight once. Either way, let’s get strong! A = 3x/week | B = 2x/week | C = 1x/week | F = Ban is disappoint QUEST 2: Fuuchouin School of Grace [+2 DEX] Kazuki’s chosen style of combat is by far the most graceful of anyone. I mean, koto strings. Plus Kazuki. How could it be anything but? Though I may be taking it easy in the theatre scene this year due to my crazy work schedule, I need to keep my chops up in all areas necessary to be a Triple Threat, and that includes dancing. That’s why I will do some form of dancing 2x/week. Ideally, this will be Monday night jazz/tap class with some time spent outside of class working on basics on my own, but for this challenge, ANY dance style will do (including Zumba either at home or in a class) just so I can get back into it. A = 2x/week | C = 1x/week | F = Did you even try QUEST 3: Data Entry [+3 CON] MakubeX is all about gathering and analyzing data (though this is grossly simplifying his capabilities as a genius computer hacker) to accomplish his goals. While I’m no longer stuck on how much I’m eating as a measurement of my success, I do want to get back into tracking what and how much of it I’m taking in for the purposes of evaluating my performance. Guys, I’m ready to tackle an Eat to Perform style of eating. So it doesn’t matter how much I eat, I just need to log everything. A = 6x/week | B = 4-5x/week | C = 3x/week | D = 1-2x/week | F = Nope LIFE QUEST: Honky Tonk Tab [+2 WIS] Ban and Ginji are notoriously bad/unlucky with money, and Paul has the café tab to prove it. While I’m not terrible with money, I can always strive to be better, especially since I’m still recovering from super expensive Japan trip, super expensive new mattress, and looking to acquire a new car in the next couple of months and wanting to save for a down payment on a house. Plus, I need to start saving for the NEXT trip to Japan in 2018 and I need to start a general savings for vacations that aren’t to Japan. Like to Europe. What does this mean? Basically every Sunday night/Monday morning I make sure my budget is all up-to-date, including checking in on my various debts to see exactly how much I still owe and making sure I’m on track with paying them off in a reasonable amount of time. I know me; this action alone will keep my financial behavior under control! Pass = Did the thing | Fail = Lol nope Ready to kick all the ass! Because the post needs more Ginji

Hey everybody! Happy New Year! This is going to be a tiring month as I have to move out in the end of it. I'm going back to work on Thursday and then I have friends visiting me from the 8th until the 17th of January. After that I have to make sure I pack everything and clean the house before leaving. All these while all work is getting finished. Even my most basic routine, like going to the gym three times a week and tracking food is threatened. So the three goals are... 1. Track everything and eat about the estimated burned calories of my FitBit (± 200kcal). Drink 2500 (±500) ml of water every day. The plan is to not eat at a surplus on rest days and drink 3L of water per day on gym days. (If I'm not able to track food this weekend and the next, it's fine.) 2. Lift three times a week. That shouldn't be a challenge but I'm sure that my visitors will constantly try to persuade me to not go to the gym and that I'll be busy all the time at work and at home so it might be harder than usual this month. 3. Sleep at least 7 hours every night.

Epic Quest: Run my own Business New Year=new energy, new life, and new adventure! I’m so excited for what this year will bring! I will be starting my own business in the spring. I have a lot to learn though and a lot of things that need to get done before I register my business. So here we go! Journey to the Bottom of the Ocean I'm going to the deep unknown this month, to start the new year right and to gain experience for my budding business. This is all about freediving and breath holding. I want to improve my flexibility along with my leg (tail) strength as well. I need to be powerful enough and have a great breath hold in order to explore the dark depths. Build Tail Strength My tail is quite heavy out of water and I can’t assume there will always be a sailor willing to carry me to and fro at my leisure. Now in the water it’s almost weightless, but I have to displace a lot water while I swim in order to propel myself faster or dive. I need to gain tail strength to lift my tail on land and to dive deeper on less air. M-strength training, W-yoga, F-body weight training. Swim the Distance They don’t call it 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea for nothing! I'm setting out to improve my endurance in and out of tail by swimming at least 300m a week (100m Monofin swim, 100m mermaid swim, 100m free swim). That's just the minimum, but I will be adding 25m each time I swim if I can. Training Under the Pressure Get it? The deeper you go the greater the pressure? But in all seariousness (oh yes I love terrible puns), this is only a pass or fail, unless it takes longer than expected. I will work on getting freediver certified this month. Send Word of my Journey’s End Once I return form my journey I must tell everyone what I've learned and what I've seen. At the end of the challenge once (if) I get certified, I will notify my agents along with sending my updated portfolio photos. Side QuestsWith any good Journey, there's always side quests to complete. These little add-ons will not give me any attribute stats, but will instead contribute to my XP once the EPIC QUEST page is launched. These are things I need to work often throughout the year. Quests are as follows: Linguistic Mastery Learn 280 Vocab words this monthGold KeepingSave $10 this monthKnowledge ExpansionRead 2 books this month

Hi everyone! I have plateaued and I need help changing my workout routine. I currently do soccer once a week, cycling twice a week, and barre and yoga once a week. I want to substitute pilates for barre and add weight training into my routine but I have some questions. 1. Can I do pilates on Monday and weight training on Tuesday? I know your muscles need a rest between strength days but I thought that this might call for an exception as pilates works your muscles differently from traditional weight training. 2. [more specific] Can I do pilates on Monday and a metabolic conditioning class on Tuesday? The description of this class is: "This class centers on high intensity interval training and includes a mix of cardio, balance, coordination, core, strength, and sports condition exercises." Thank you!

I just introduced myself on the Intros board, so I guess I had better kick off my Battle Log. This is my daily occasional log of food and activity. I won't lie to you (or myself) and promise to show up here every day to regurgitate my meals and relive my workouts. I'll be happy if I actually DO my workouts. I haven't done any of the Tiny Quests that have been assigned to me. And they are stacking up. So far, I'm supposed to be walking for 10 minutes every day, changing one thing in my daily diet, and now, doing the BW exercise circuit every other day. So far, nothing. I'm reading it. I'm thinking about it. I'm telling myself I'm going to start doing it. But, so far, nothing. Here's a little back story which should shed some light on the title of my log. In a previous life, I was a "Before and After" story. I was fat--fatter than I am now, but not by much. I was approaching my 48th birthday. My mother asked what would I like as a birthday present, and without thinking, I answered.... I have never figured out how or why I said "You can pay for a 10- week membership at Weight Watchers." She was happy to do it. She was a Lifetime WW member who had lost a lot of weight and kept it off pretty well. So, on my 48th birthday, I joined. I weighed in at 241.2, at 5'6" wearing size 22. I promised myself I would be Fit by Fifty. 17 months later, I hit my goal of 155. Six weeks later, I achieved Lifetime status at 147 pounds, and size 6. And my 50th birthday was over 5 months away. I was the darling of my WW meetings. My success story was published in the WW Magazine and I was interviewed on local TV. I trained to be a WW meeting leader on a part time basis. I really enjoyed helping others change their habits and achieve a healthy weight. I started working with a trainer and learned the Olympic lifts. I was "this close" to signing up for my first competition when real life happened. There was a series of serious health issues among members of my family, including my own complicated medical problems, which I ignored in favor of looking after everyone else. I eventually resolved my health issues and was given a clean bill of health and the OK to resume training. I've made some attempts. I've started many times. Every time I start, it's from further back. I hate it and it has to stop. Like that old saying: "If you're tired of starting over--stop quitting!" Without going into any more boring details, it boils down to this: I have once again found myself at the "Before" stage. My intention is to Get Back To The After.

Hi! I am very new to "this" site and I saw in a post Steve saying there is a community of people willing to welcome me with hands. So starting off, I am kind of a beginner to fat loss methods and exercises and I was wondering if anyone here could tell me in a little detail (cut out all the basic info) on where to begin, what to do etc. I saw that Steve mostly recommends Paleo diet and strength training. But here's what, I don't have access to the gym and I live in India where getting food that is completely natural and void of artificial stuff/hormones is somewhat impossible. I am at 200 pounds but that's not fully fat. Don't have a fat caliper to measure it since its not very common here. I believe I have a pretty good set of biceps and am able to lift up to 50 kgs on my "forearm". Yes, you heard it right. I am a little fat at the chest, abdomen and thigh areas. So if anyone could tell me exactly what I should be doing under these conditions I would really be grateful. -mrforhelp

I just got back from my office Christmas party this weekend, and realized I was feeling really good in my little red dress. Strong, balanced, fit. I had stepped on a scale for the first time in months, and found that I was at #138. My goal weight is somewhere just under #135, based on what I have learned about my body and how different activities (lifting! running! climbing!) and what I eat (cereal! steak! Salads!) change my body composition. I don't hold much stock in the idea of a BMI, but I thought it was interesting that in the past 5 years I have been at both ends of the "healthy" BMI numbers. In college I was #118 (BMI 18.5) to #158 (BMI 25) when I went to work after university. So how do you figure out your ideal weight? Do you take into account your goal body composition? Or just take a shot at something in the "green" zone of the BMI chart?

I’ve debated over and over how to start this log, and, to be completely honest, I still don’t know how. Introductions have never been my specialty, but I suppose I could start by telling you a little bit about myself. I started my Nerd Fitness journey in October of 2014. I had just moved into my first apartment with my boyfriend and was ready to get myself on track. Or so I thought. I wasn’t happy with how I looked, my recent-ish weight gain, lack of strength, and incredibly sedentary lifestyle. During a google search, I came across an article of Steve’s - I don’t remember which one for the life of me. It was the name of the site that drew me in first (‘Nerd Fitness? I’m a nerd...I should do this!’), and then I wanted to absorb as much info as possible. All of it made sense to me, it was just a matter of applying it. A week later, I signed up for an Academy membership and started going through the modules located therein. Since that time I’ve had fleeting encounters with Paleo, Whole30, and various fitness plans. In early 2015, I discovered, joined, and started following the NFWA facebook page (which has since exploded to enormous proportions after the closing of the NFA forums). After some time I decided to give the forums a try (again), but waited until the latter half of summer to join a 6 week challenge. I’ve started 3, but have since withdrawn from my third. The Rangers have become my home, and I have made more friends in the last few months than I have in the last few years. I’ve been influenced, supported, and motivated by them more than anything else, for which I am thankful In here you will find: -My Crossfit journey -Workouts -Food porn -Goals -Random thoughts/life occurrences -Geekery -All the gifs -Much, much more Now,

launching the battle log I recently completed my second challenge which went pretty well, I think. But I'm not up to jumping in to this next challenge. I'm starting a new job in a couple of weeks (yay!) and frankly have a lot of things to get done between now and then, now that all my time is not spent on the job hunt. Still, one of the things I enjoy about the six-week challenges is posting updates to my challenge thread. In order to keep that aspect of my fitness in place I've decided to start this battle log. I keep my nutrition logged in My Fitness Pal (nearly 390 days straight, thankyouverymuch), but I may use this thread to occasionally post about my nutritional input as well. Speaking of nutrition, I've spent the last two days engaging in what I call "nutritional debauchery." Maybe it had to do with Halloween, or the extreme relief at getting a job offer. Whatever the cause, I unapologetically indulged every whim and craving I had. At the moment I can't look another Twix in the face. I did still manage to put some healthy stuff in (yesterday was my fave breakfast of eggs over spinach and sweet potatoes), but there was more than my share of treats. One fascinating thing about doing that occassionally is realizing how my definition of comfort food has shifted. Those things I once considered "comfort food" now actually induce a level of stress in me, the exact opposite of comfort. Maybe it's because I know such things can potentially undo a year's worth of effort. I know I won't undo it all in a day or even two, but I've been doing this fitness stuff for long enough that it never is far from my mind. I consider that a good thing. It's morning here, and the dog and I have already been for a run. I don't know that I'll get a strength session in today, but there are a couple hours' worth of leaf-cleaning to do this afternoon, then I'm hoping to watch some football before the day's done. Coffee beckons.

I'm determined to build habits and to actually win a challenge for the first time in a year. So why not go out in 2015 with a bang! I learned a lot about habits from Rog Law at Camp Nerd Fitness this year, and I think the 6 week challenge is the best place to learn how to implement these habits. So now I'm going to introduce my challenge. No comics, no Muse songs, no stories. Just simple updates and execution. MAIN QUEST: LEARN TO BUILD HABITS USING S.M.A.R.T. GOALS (my own version of SMART) Mission 1: To complete all class assignments and exams on time and with an A average Specifics - Finish by making course work a habit through task management and calendars. Measurements - Complete tasks by deadlines given by instructors and according to criteria for a 4.0 GPA Actions - Put each assignment and its specifics in Trello and use Google Calendars to block off time to do it without distractions. Reminder - Calendar alerts and a program that blocks websites, complete as soon as I sit down at my desk. Tools - Trello, Google Calendar, Site blocking program Mission 2: To win Nanowrimo Specifics - Schedule times and have a list or calendar to check off after completion Measurements - 1,667 words per day, 50k words. This mission will be marked complete on December 1st Actions - Schedule blocks of writing time and write without distractions Reminder - Calendar alerts and a program that blocks websites Tools - Google Docs, Google Calendar, Site blocking program, checklist Mission 3: To begin a strength training program Specifics - Do bodyweight based exercises starting one rep at a time and adding a new exercise each week Measurements - Begin w/ 1 rep of 1 exercise and end with at least 1 rep of 6 exercises, do Tues, Thurs, Weds, and Sat Actions - Start with just 1 push up for the first week as soon as I get home from running Reminder - put a yoga mat in front of the door to remind me to get down and do a push up. Tools - Yoga Mat REWARD: a standing desk Side Quest: Finish BCS Half Marathon sub 2 hours, 30 minutes - this is not a habit because I already have a running habit. I just need to pick up speed using speed workouts, long mileage runs and variety runs. I know there aren't many fitness goals here, but that's because I have too much going on to make my main quest fitness related. But learning to build habits affects health and fitness, so it counts. Let's get this party started.

Hi All, I’m NeverThatBored and this will be my 5th challenge at Nerd Fitness. I’ve produced mixed results so far, with challenges 1 and 3 going well and challenges 2 and 4 going less well. In my last challenge, I took my challenge 3 goals and made them slightly harder, but I learned that that slight hurdle was much larger than I imagined. So for this challenge, I’m modifying those goals again, but I’m trying a different approach. My health is holistic, and my accomplishments on different goals play off of each other. With that in mind, I’ll treat this challenge more like a game where I can earn and allocate bonus points to cover for areas where I struggle. I want to take less of a strict pass/fail mindset, which discourages me easily, and instead adopt a more compassionate attitude towards my efforts. As I’m arranging this challenge, I’ll need to balance the point values for each goal so that they’re roughly equivalent. Whatever action earns a bonus point has to be equal in value to the point I’m replacing. This challenge already feels more fun than my last one since I'm such a point junkie. J Goal 1: Walking +2 STA +1 STR + 1 DEX 96 miles of total walking, rucking for 36 of those miles + at least 6 runs (138 points total) Walking regularly maintains my health, and it will get harder with winter starting and the sun setting earlier. Rather than trying to increase my mileage a bit each challenge, I just want to maintain a healthy mileage, period. I plan to walk 5 hours a week based on the primal blueprint recommendation – for me, 5 hours per week equals about 96 miles of walking in six weeks. Every extra 5 miles above 96 can be redeemed for a lost point somewhere else in my challenge. Rucking = carrying weight on your back while you walk. Last challenge I rucked about 24 miles. This time, I have a system set up to make it easier, so I can increase the mileage a bit more. I’ve also been running on and off for a while now as I try to correct my running form and overcome shin splints, and I want to work on that a bit more this time. I will run at least once per week (for any length that I choose) for as long as the weather allows. I’ll run a slow 2 miles per run at most, so I can count running mileage towards my walking total. Every additional run per week earns one bonus point to distribute for other points lost this challenge. Goal 2: Strength +3 STR + 1 CON 3 workouts per week (18 total) I’ve been struggling to get above 2 workouts per week, so I’m repeating this goal again this challenge. I have two types of workouts: the BBWW and a bootcamp workout class. I use a modified BBWW where I gradually increase the difficulty of moves or add more moves. Here are some possible modifications I’ll add as I get stronger during this challenge: Get 15 pushups per circuit more comfortably again (I’m mostly here, but struggling with the 3rd set lately)Add weight to lunges and squatsAdd a new motion or switch to a more difficult pushup, plank, lunge, or squat (offset squats?) Goal 3: Food +3 CON +1 CHA 19 points per week in general, but modified from week to week as described below I want to move away from an all or nothing mindset, so I’ve chosen to explore a new way of measuring success. Even without “cheat†days last challenge, I found that if a day was shot, I would just keep eating badly that day because I had already lost the point. Steve’s recent article on cheat days was timely. I’ve never loved the term, since I associate it with dieting rather than trying to make healthy changes to how I eat. So, I want to eliminate the concept of cheat/treat days from my life. I want to make this goal positive instead of negative. I want to encourage good eating rather than punishing bad eating. Here’s what I have: I will eat 19 primalish meals per week, meaning no grains or refined sugar and limited cheese and processed foods. This makes my goal additive rather than restrictive (3 per day on weekdays and 2 per day on weekends, or redistributed as needed). Any extra primal meals over 19 can be redeemed for a lost point elsewhere.I will reduce this number by 1 meal per weekend and 2 days per weekday on days my boyfriend stays with me or I stay with himI need to think about this one more, because this encourages what I think of as “YOLO eating†where I just eat whatever. Instead of cutting out these meals completely, I might change these dropped meals to 50% meals (so a bit of rice or an appetizer is ok, but not pizza)That would mean 1 primal meal, 1 anything meal, and 1 50% meal each day – with bonus points if I turn the 50% or anything meals into primal meals insteadI will never have two non-primal meals in a row – I think this is a cornerstone habit if I get it right, so points lost from two consecutive non-primal meals cannot be redeemed (-1 penalty per meal or snack)I will not worry about this over Thanksgiving (likely a 4 day period with family), though I’ll still try to eat primalish and avoid consecutive non-primal meals when the opportunity presents itself. Any primal meals I manage during this period will earn me a bonus point.Snacks…what to do about snacks – I think that I will never eat more than one non-primal snack in a day (includes sugary beverages), and never eat one adjacent to a non-primal meal (-1 penalty)I will not eat after 8pm on days where I’m not forced to (Aikido and bootcamp days don’t get me home until 8ish, so I have to make exceptions on those days and some travel days) (-1 penalty)This plan still penalizes bad eating in some places, but I think it feels much more positive overall. I’ll see how it goes and adjust accordingly. The snacking rule might encourage junky eating, so I’ll probably end up modifying that one. Goal 4: Life Goal + 3 WIS Spend my time more intentionally (42 points) I’ve been doing well with reading daily, so I can maintain that habit without making it a life goal this time around. The reading goal has made me think a lot about how I used to read all the time naturally before I found my attention getting sucked up by managing my email, reading blogs, keeping up with airing shows, etc. I’ve realized that I really want to spend my time more intentionally. It’s totally ok if I want to spend my free time playing a game for hours, but I need to choose that rather than just letting it happen to me. I can do whatever I want with my free time, but I need to do it intentionally rather than letting myself get sucked up into internet browsing, games, etc. by default – I don’t really know what this looks like for me yet. For now, I will do one thing each day to spend my time more intentionally. Examples of this include: take a step back from something I’m doing and ask myself if I really want to be doing it, give myself quiet time to see how I’d want to spend the time, stop trying to force something to happen that I’m resisting, turn off or eliminate some kind of notification, switch to a different activity and see how I feel about spending my time on it instead, etc. Other Maintain/improve yoga time, continue Aikido, and ride my bike while I can – these aren’t measured, just things I’m working on as bonuses. So, in short: 5 extra miles walked = 1 run = 1 strength workout = 1 primal meal

Lucky fire dragon gets a grip on After a luscious break time during last challenge, I am ready to pull my "innerer Schweinehund" out of the comfy mud again and get back into action. A shocking realization of not being able to do a full pull up anymore has brought on extra motivation to build up strength again with the ultimate goal of Leveling up my dance again literally. It's time to move on to the Level 2+ courses at class and I won't be able to unless I gain more strrrrrrrrrength So, here we go: 1. Get a grip This too is literally. I slip too often from sweating hands, especially when I am upside down and that is just no good. - figure out how to improve grip: which aids work best, room temperature, washing hands in between?, gloves?... - improve grip strength by training, training, training (see goal 2) and working with tennis balls and hair bands 5x/week for 5 min each hand 2. Get strrrrrrrong Stick to a daily "homework" of - 10 push ups - 5 lay back sit ups each side on pole or 20 rolls with ab roller or 30 regular sit ups - 5 chin ups Do a full pole workout 3x/week no excuses!! If I could run 3x / week, I can train, too Here is my inspiration for workouts this time round: She makes it look super pretty and I must warn you it does not look anything like this with me (yet) but hey it gives me a goal, right Can't do it all yet, will "only" do the following parts: - continuous climbs - pole hold leg lifts -- 3/side - pole ups (or at least attempt them) -- starting with 1 or 2/side - superman push ups -- 5/side - caterpillar push ups -- 5/side - tucks and lift from floor -- 10 reps - aerial squats -- 3/side - lay back sit ups -- 5/side and if I have any strength left I can add a couple of swing mounts with slow negatives I actually tried the whole thing out today just to make sure it's doable and am so proud that a large part of it is, woot woot Video of my attempts today to have a starting point for progress celebration: 3. Stay in the Flow Balance with active recovery, happy shiny points and goooood restoration - no need to burn out This will be my hunt for shiny treasure points and I will actually buy some pretty stickers of stars and smileys to stick on my calendar on all the days I did well because stickers are shiny and success needs to be proudly celebrated Doing my main pole workouts will give a big star or smiley each, on all the other days, stars can be earned with - 15 min or more of yoga - some of Marlo Fisken's beautiful flow exercises - eating the whole day healthy and nutritous (no need to list cheats, I'll be honest) - drinking 2,5 liters of water or more (herbal tea counts too) - getting 8 hours of sleep in - spending 20 min or more outdoors - meditating for 10 min or more Each of these areas can get a star so a perfect day would have 3 stars and at the end I will see with one look what went especially well and which parts I might want to prioritize better - you see I am planning ahead while going, hehe, I must be growing up I will let myself off the hook completely for 1 day / week, so with a max of 3 stars / day that makes it 108 stars to go for over the whole challenge. Treasure hunt go I am also hoping for some nice visible effect from all these badass workouts, so this time I will actually take measurements again and do before and after pics To be included here on Monday What else? Oh yes, important note to self, if I slip into some silly mindframes: DISCLAIMER None of these exercises will be done to prove anything about me. I know that I already am special and beautiful, just the way I am (*in case nobody told you yet today: you are too!!*) I am not doing these to become special - I am that - I am doing these because I want MOAR FUN ON THE POLE and enjoy the feeling it gives me, the vitality of my heart beating fast, the thrill of exciting moves and spins, the delicious sense of a worked out body that just gave it all, the clarity that comes after you sweated everything out, the satisfaction of cuddling into bed and falling into rejuvenating sleep after an active day,... all of these and more will be my bountiful reward

The time has finally come. Here's one challenge where I won't have to include travel goals. Bring all the sleep! I'm going to surprise you all and make as my first goal... 1. Sleep No, sleep makes you stronger, and less grumpy, and helps you think better. Shortly, it's just great! Continuing from the previous challenge, the goal is to sleep enough. During the previous challenge I was aiming to get at least six and a half hours of sleep when I was at home. I did, most of the time, but I still feel very tired. For this challenge, I'm increasing the minimum amount of sleep to seven hours. 2. Time management Yup, even if that project is cooking and cleaning! Cleaning mostly, I eventually (although admittedly that doesn't take too long) get hungry and have to cook. Also, I waste a lot of time during the day. Some of it is commuting, some of it (ok, a lot of it) is because I procrastinate, and a lot of it is because I'm too tired to do anything. This leads to me going to sleep later than I could. So lack of sleep causes me to waste time and wasting time causes me to sleep less. I'm going to better structure my daily schedule. I'm going to add specific subgoals during this week but also during the challenge, whenever I notice something that could be improved. However, I am not going to quantify this goal. If I'm happy with the progress after the challenge then the goal was achieved, if I'm not then it was not. Suggestions that you might have are more than welcome! 3. Foam rolling Foam rolling was implicit in my mind during the previous challenge. I'd been doing the Limber 11 routine all rest days so I didn't make it a challenge goal. However, I stopped doing it as soon as it got colder (because the central heating was not on and I was too cold) and then skipped it altogether. I've been too lazy and quickly dismissed it as a challenge goal, until I woke up today. It's after a light day at the gym and I'm not sore but meeting Procrustes suddenly did not sound that bad. The ultimate goal is to do the whole routine again at least 3 times a week. If there's not enough time for the whole routine then spending a few minutes foam rolling only is also acceptable. Side Quest: Be more social at NF and at the gym I still suck at talking to people here. My goal again is to bother you. It should be easier to catch up this time since I'm not travelling and I hopefully will not miss whole weeks of updates/discussions. During the last challenge I had to change gyms due to the limited opening hours of my previous gym. The people at the new gym (with a few exceptions) are more friendly and chatty and I very often have to share the squat rack or the bench and end up chatting with them on the breaks. But I do forget some of the simplest things. Introduce myself, ask what their name is, etc. If I'm going to be there 3 times a week and run into the same people every time I might as well know who they are and say hi to them.

I think there is a spy among us... Hey there Warriors! I'm BlackTezca a gif crazy code Monkey that has decided to temporarily abandon my Martial Artist bodies and join in with the strong folks! You may remember me from such posts my bloody introduction From Lurker to (Newb) Rebel!, the uber violent and continuous macabre fest known as BlackTezca's Daily Battle Towards Feline Greatness, and the absolutely colossal and titanic grab bag quest known as BlackTezcas' 6th Trial: An Artsy, Geeky Amazon Becomes Colossal...in 5 Weeks. This time I'm ready to level from week vampire to a badass Draculina courtesy of you guys and of my awesome vampiric theme... Why Hellsing Ultimate?! Isn't Halloween before the challenge? You are correct! However, I love Hellsing Ultimate; the animation is gorgeous, the violence is just juicy, and despite it being very plot driven, the growth of Seras is a great bit of character development and acceptance of being what she is and growing stronger for it. It also helps that I have been on a vampire kick for a while, been disillusioned with the start of vampires in Young Adult fiction and Hellsing just reminds me of how awesome, horrific, and badass vampires can be. Especially the big ole Drac himself. Now, I thought the great Nerd gods would give a little bit of a break but already these awesome new forums are up and ready for the next greatest thing and I'm uber excited to level up my strength with the experts this time! No surprise here due to my main goal! My epic quest!! My Main Quest is to be as POWERFUL and BATTLE READY as Wonder Woman The main focus this time with my fitness is strength training! I have been doing it consistently for while, but not really as a main focus and I'm looking to decrease the amount of cardio I'm doing (lots of HIIT) to increasing strength training as well, since the kickboxing classes I take add a shit ton of cardio already and Winter is coming so that means Maintenance as well as no more walks outside... I'm not that hardcore With that out of the way, let's get this party started!! Alucard: "It's time to educate you on how a real vampire does battle!" Details: The strongest, most powerful, oldest vampire. The real O.G. Alucard (otherwise known as Dracula cause of course). This is my strength training quest; I too would love to be over powered and to do that I need to ramp up my strength training and get buff! This will be a pretty simple quest; do strength training with weights four times a week, working either legs, arms (or both). Contingencies: None, this will be just be part of my normal routine that I do anyways. Tracking: I'll be tracking the stretching sessions using MyFitnessPal ( username BlackTezca ) with the workout listed as 'Calisthenics Vigorous/Moderate" for this thread. This thread will be updated with numbers (weight per hand, sets, and reps). Grading: A for Strength Training at least 4 times a week ( 3 Str 1 Sta ) B for Strength Training at least 3 times a week ( 2 Str 1 Sta ) C for Strength Training at least 2 times a week ( 2 Str ) F for all else Walter: "Oh dear, I missed...I guess I'm not as spry as I used to be." Details: So I work out five days a week, with three of those days being for kickboxing, 4 of those days including strength and one day with...well not much. Nothing super hard. I may dedicate this extra day to doing some yoga training for strength and core, as well as continuing my stretching work for after kickboxing as well. Walter is very spry, even in old age, and I think I need to stay just as spry as well, especially as days get colder! Contingencies: None; stretching and yoga can always be done, even when sore. Tracking: I'll be tracking the stretching sessions using MyFitnessPal ( username BlackTezca ) with the workout listed as 'Yoga' or 'Pilates' or depending on how hard it is 'Aerobics Low Impact'. Grading: A for Flexibility work 5 times week ( 3 Dex ) B for Flexibility work 4 times week ( 2 Dex ) C for Flexibility work 3 times week ( 1 Dex ) F for all else Seras Victoria: "I'm not afraid of anything anymore." Details: Seras Victora was a newly turned vampire who just refused to get enough liquids (okay, blood. She refused to drink blood). This left her weaker than many of her opponents, even though her master was Dracula himself. Only when she finally got the sustenance she needed did she evolve into a Draculina and a true vampire. I need to drink more water. I haven't been tracking as much I need to do and I slack on the weekends, so now it's time to keep track! Contingencies: None. This is water. I should be drinking water with all my meals too. I can't really think of a contingencies for water. Tracking: I'll be tracking my water using MyFitnessPal ( username BlackTezca ) as well as keeping myself accountable using this thread. Grading: A for 64 oz of water 6 to 7 days a week ( 2 Con ) B for 64 oz of water 4 to 5 days a week ( 1 Con ) F for all else Alexander Anderson: "I want nothing more than to be a bayonet...wielded by the hand of God." Details: This will be a bit different! Anderson is a badass. Massive badass. He is a fantastic fighter and nigh-indestructible human being. However, he is fantastic with children, an honorable, noble person, and someone who I think fits what this Life Quest will be about... Thankfulness. Every day, I shall think of something to be thankful for and update my thread with it. This could be about what is good about the day, or about family, etc. One thankful, happy thought, especially since Thanksgiving is coming soon! I'm not a religious person, but a bit of a sentimental one, so this will be a feel good kind of quest . Tracking: I'll be updated this thread with my 'thankful' thought each day once the challenge begins! Grading: A for 42 to 38 thankful thoughts ( 2 Wis, 1 Cha) B for 37 to 34 thankful thoughts ( 2 Wis ) C for 33 to 29 thankful thoughts ( 1 Wis ) F for all else Pip Bernadotte: "It was never about the money, it was always about the fun." Details: Pip is human, like Anderson. But he is also the weakest physical character. He is creative, has leadership qualities, but in the world of vampires and werewolves, he is woefully lacking in strength and power. However, he loves, he cares, and he is French. He represents my art challenge! I will not have a number of works to do this challenge. Instead I will dedicating 30 minutes a few days a week to just working on art straight. I want to have less stress overall with my art and thus holding myself to spending a set amount of time on art maybe a lot easier on me mentally than trying to pump out work. We'll see how it goes. Contingencies: There will be busy days of course. My hobby should not stress me out. But 30 minutes most of the days in this challenge should be doable I think. We'll see. Tracking: I have an art Tumblr and I also have a DeviantArt (WATCH ME FOR ACCOUNTABILITY). I shall use those and this thread to keep track. I shall also post up WIPs of my work, maybe not after every 30 minute session, but several times a week to show progress on the current work. I have only two things to work on, and I will announce a new project after those two works are done, but that will not factor into this quest. Grading: A for 30 minutes of art 5 to 6 times a week ( 2 Cha 1 Wis ) B for 30 minutes of art 3 to 4 times a week ( 2 Cha ) F for all else That is a bit to keep track of, but I'm still quite excited to get back to a more normal routine! Especially after my vacation! Here are some starting measurements (starting from where I ended the last challenge) along with the latest fitness image of me! Starting Measurements: Date: 10/15/2015 @ 6:15 am Weight: 124.6 ***Body Fat***: ~19% Waist: 23 Waist @ Navel: 23.5 Hips: 33.5 Neck: 12 Chest: 32 Left Bicep: 10.5 Right Thigh: 16 Wrist: 5.5 Forearm: 8.5 I probably should take account my vacation the last week of last challenge but...nah I'm too lazy! I rather work from this high point like this instead . This challenge is looking quite fun so far! And should be quite manageable as we get closer to the holiday season! Let's do this strong Warriors! I mean, strong is what being part of the Warriors (for this challenge) is all about right?! W00t!! Time to go check out who else has there awesome thread up!

Hang tight, the insanity is about to begin... Because when you want to leave work, you LEAVE and update your challenge thread after a home made steak dinner, not before. >.< But the least you can do is save yourself a spot on the Rangertrain. Update: 10/26 @ 8:10pm Dinner is DONE (gotta love steak and sweet potato soup), so now it's time to update this thread with my actual challenge goals and such. If you couldn't already tell, the theme to this challenge is... I've decided to stick with my overkill insane motivation for the remainder of the year. I had mixed feelings about using this as a challenge theme; my husband happens to hate the movie, and I know there were a LOT of mixed reception about it. While my knowledge of the 80's TV show is very limited, I still enjoyed the movie for the exact reasons that my husband hates it and more. It brought to life an idea that I've had for a Spec Ops team since I was in middle school, and the ridiculousness, the unrealistic, the hilarious, the insanity, and the EFFECTIVENESS just makes me melt inside (while laughing maniacally). So, without further adieu, I bring to you the challenge in which I become an early bird. Last challenge, I went back to my basics and learned a few things during my struggles. The biggest lesson I learned is that, while it sucks getting up at 5am, it actually makes my life easier to do so and gives me enough time in the day to do the things I need. So, sleep will be added to my basics, along with a few other small things. The Mission: Lose 10lb by December 22nd (my 28th birthday). Team members for the mission: Team Leader: Colonel John "Hannibal" Smith Hannibal is the leader; the brains behind the operation. It is his brilliance in tactics that carries the team through their missions time and again. He is the backbone of the team, always making sure their plans work, one way or another, and gets them out of trouble.Diet is king when it comes to losing weight. So, for this six week challenge, I've decided to take what I've learned about my food issues from last challenge and come up with my own eating plan. I will follow a predominantly Paleo diet while aiming for specific macro-nutrient/calorie numbers. I tend to under-eat while eating clean, so aiming for specific numbers should help me avoid that. The macros should also help with cravings that I just need to nip in the bud and get over. I want to stay as clean as possible though, because it just makes me feel so much better when I do.Macros: CALORIES: 1670|PROTEIN: 145g|FAT: 90g|CARBS: 70gWhat does this have to do with becoming an early bird? Well, if I get my lazy butt up when my alarm goes off, I can actually eat REAL BREAKFAST, something I really need to start doing.Mission role: Eat clean/Paleo at home, following my macros. Reward: +3 CON Team Member: Lieutenant Templeton Arthur "Faceman" Peck His nickname says it all. Peck is the face of the group, always getting into trouble, being the bait and the reel for their plans, and looking damn good doing it. Full of charisma and good-nature, albeit a bit immature at times, he can always be relied on to pull his weight.I will continue with my strength training regimen. Three times a week, push/pull/leg. Although, I'm extending the time from 60 minutes to 90 minutes. This will allow me more time to do a complete workout, main movement and accessory work, not just a main movement. Waking up on time is crucial to this. Peck is also the player of the group, always flirting with the ladies. Because of the bumps that occurred during my last challenge, I'm planning on having a date night with the husband at least once a week. We're still working to put our relationship back on the rails that it was before, so I plan on making a conscious effort in this endeavor.Mission role: strength training 3x week; one date night per week. Rewards: +3 STR, +1 CHA Team member: Sergeant Bosco Albert "B. A." Baracus "Bad Ass" Baracus is the muscle and mechanical brain of the operation. Primarily an "hit first, ask questions later" kind of man, he stands out and is constantly straight forward about himself and his methods. However, being incarcerated has given him a chance to re-evaluate his stance on violence and get in tune with himself to understand how he feels about things.Here's the biggie: SLEEP. I will dedicate EIGHT HOURS to sleep; in bed, no distractions, eyes closed. Even the bedtime routine needs to be done before I start counting. Quality will be tracked with my FitBit. Bedtime is 9pm and I MUST get up with the alarm at 5am, especially on week days. Maybe some leniency during the weekends, but not much. On weekends, I should be out of bed by 8am.My anterior pelvic tilt needs consecutive MONTHS to start correcting properly, so this also needs to be a primary focus, as I didn't spend as nearly enough time or attention to it last time. Waking up early should allow me the time without distractions in order to complete the FULL ROUTINE, instead of just the basic stretches.On the mechanical side of things, I've been a bit lazy at my new job. I've taken the opportunity that it would give me to do more of the things I love (creating, tinkering, etc.), so this is something I will aim to make better. Though, I don't plan on tracking it just yet.Mission role: adhere to bedtime protocol and do my APT therapy routine (full) every, single, day. Rewards: +3 STA, +3 DEX Team member: Captain H. M. "Howling Mad" Murdock Murdock is the pilot and the supposedly insane one of the bunch. Eccentric to the extreme, but completely lovable (in my opinion) and in some ways, ingenious, he completes the team and puts that extra childish, ridiculous flare to their schemes. Always leave it to Murdock to put the madness into the method.EDIT: Play aspect of this challenge will now include any time spent doing any of the following hobbies: sewing, writing, reading, gaming.I will continue to work on my Mandalorian kit. I've got all the fabric swatches and boots, so after I select a fabric for the flight suit, I can purchase it and begin that work. After that's complete, all the other soft parts should fall into place. EDIT: This part will now include all the sewing projects that I have accumulated. I've added a list of what needs to be worked on and completed. Theses do not need to be completed by the time the challenge is over; these are just the articles that I need to spend time working on them. Any time spent sewing costs for this part of the goal.Writing needs more effort than I gave it last challenge. I will try to journal every day, doesn't quite matter about what, and try to get in some serious writing sessions in once a week. This means headphones on, proper writing music in the background, and my pen and notebook. Because, that's how I write.Adulting! There are quite a few adulting chores that I need off my list of things to do. What better way to get them accomplished than to feature them in a Nerd Fitness challenge! I've got a working list so far, but I imagine it'll get things added to it as I remember them.Mission role: work (chores and adulting) and play (sewing and writing hobbies) throughout the week. Rewards: +1 WIS, +1 CHAAdulting List: Sewing List: And there it is, folks! Open and exposed.

Ok ..... during the previous challenge, this happened ...... Not literally, thank God, although I have been tossed off a horse a time or two. No, this time, it was purely figurative. I thought I had a handle on plans for moving and my daughter's wedding all while taking care of my nutrition and exercise .... but my Mom's health threw it all into a cocked hat. One wedding and one funeral later, I have managed not to gain weight and looked pretty darn good at the wedding (and not awful at the funeral), but the weeks of eating simple carbs - brought over by well-meaning friends, family, and neighbors - left me feeling like crap. Tired and out-of-sorts, it is time to get back on the wagon, even if it is only for a couple of weeks. So, it is time for a MINI-challenge ..... #1 - Stick to LoseIt.com calorie limit (+1 CON) I restarted a new plan on LoseIt.com to lose the next 40 pounds over about 18 months. By then, my daughter will be graduating from grad school. #2 - Get back into strength training (+1 STR) I unpacked my Simple and Sinister book .... and I have moved closer to a branch of Anytime Fitness. Time to get back into strength training. One thing I learned from watching my Mom's decline: build up muscles NOW!! #3 - Take time for self-care (+1 WIS) Get in at least one massageHit my 11K step goal daily#4 - Sign up for Yoga Class (+1 DEX) Heartwork Yoga downtown looks like they have some good classes and events to help me unkink. #5 - Become a better Ingress Agent (+1 CHA) Level up to Level 9 ... which is a big step, but it should be feasible if I just keep playing each day.

Hi there! I've been lurking on Nerd Fitness since about March, and I finally decided to actually join up instead of just lurking. I've been sorta working out, sorta healthy for a few years. I've been running for years - first with my Dad, now on my own - and it's something I love to do. I added strength training in a year ago - both bodyweight and kettlebell, and occasionally my Dad's borrowed dumbells - to work out, and I love it. I also love food, but I grew up in a family that didn't really cook at all. I've improved my cooking skills throughout University, and now that I'm living on my own for college without access to a full stove [i have a convection oven & a hot plate], I'm struggling to make healthy meals again. My biggest struggles right now are keeping a consistent eating schedule as well as healthy habits, and continuing to work on strength. The majority of my classes fall right on lunch or dinner, so by the time I get home, I'm starving. Small changes are the way to go, so I'm collecting slow-cooker and prep-ahead recipes to start trying so that I have something healthy to eat when I get home. As for workouts, the struggle comes now it being harder to get access to heavier weights - the school gym is expensive, so until I get a job, I'm unfortunately out of luck buying the membership. But I'm not giving up - this is just another bump in the adventure.

Hi guys, I forgot to pop in and talk to people about what I was doing, but I completed my first half marathon last weekend. I owe a big part of that to Nerd Fitness and all the strength training I've started doing. I'm not a sociable lad, but I was bouncng all my training against the NF forums and blogs before I set anything in stone. I did the Wicked Half Marathon in Salem, MA in 1:58. I said if I completed in under two hours I'd do a marathon in the spring. So I guess I'm doing a marathon in the spring... Anyone in the Boston area feel free to get in touch for some training. I'm on the Nerd Fitness New England facebook group too. -Mike

Found this to post on someone else's page and decided to build my challenge around it. Perfectly describes what I need to do. ( I also like the eye candy) I have had a lot of success here at NF changing my eating habits and getting moving again. Now it is time to get results and put everything together. Taking it to the next level this challenge. Quick and to the point here! FOCUS F. FOOD. Track MFP daily. Keep total calories around 1500 and carb g under 100 with challenging myself later to keep under 50. Work a stricter Paleo diet. More details in weekly goals. 7pts/week. 42 total. +3 CON O. OWN the morning. I feel so much better when I do mobility exercises first thing. Gets the blood pumping to the joints, reduces achenes throughout the day and just sets the tone for a good day. Every morning, every day, OWN IT! 7pt/week. 42 total. +2 DEX C. CARDIO. Just need to put my big girl panties on and do it. Burn that fat. 3x a week for 30 minutes. I have videos, walking dogs, bicycle, and there are tons of options. No excuses. 3pts/week. 18 total. + 3 STA U. UNWIND. Had a goal on a previous challenge where I pampered myself with a nightly routine. Loved it and also found I slept so much better. Doing this again along with no electronics 30 minutes before bed. 7/week. 42 total. +1 CON +2 WIS S. STRENGTH. Increase overall strength using BBWW 3x per week and using home gym 2x per week. Will take some baseline measurements and goal is to improve. 5pts/week. 30 total. +3 STR LIFE GOAL. Reduce clutter and get ready for new carpet and new tile to be put in the house. Lists of major things to accomplish weekly so I can stay FOCUSED. Participate in all Adventurer mini challenges. Keep up with current friends threads and make new friends. Any comments, questions or ass kicking is welcome here. I will continue music trivia Monday through Friday, usually by 7am CST. All are welcome here. No comment goes unread. I really appreciate all of your support. Answer to my 2 truths and a lie. I am only on my first marriage

This will be my first challenge after my respawn (excellent timing, really). Keeping it short and sweet: Main Goal: lose 20lb by December 22nd EAT CLEAN! Continue on the Whole30 for the entirety of the challenge. +5 CON STRETCH! Spend time every day doing PT routine for my anterior pelvic tilt. +3 DEX EXERCISE! Strength training three times a week (Sunday/Tuesday/Thursday). +3 STR, +2 STALife Quest: October is the time for COSTUMES! +1 WIS, +1 CHA Complete costume designs: Orange/Black tunic set; Mando armor set; Paladin armor and attire set.Spend time writing prose (converting story/character notes into prose from TTRPG games).Basics that I've been trying to work on for a while, but I'm determined to see this through (as indicated by my respawn thread). I'm already Day 8 into the Whole30, but I don't think stopping at 30 days will be enough time for me to break out of old habits and food cravings. I plan on doing a full reintroduction period afterward, but I will probably take a slow roll approach. My APT always bugs me; I focus a good deal on the physical therapy aspect during leg day (Sunday), because I focus on deadlifts, but the PT routine needs to be done every day. Part of that also includes NOT SITTING a lot. So, I'll have to move around more often at work. Strength training is down; Sunday is leg day, Tuesday is push day, and Thursday is pull day. It's just a matter of getting out of bed in the mornings on Tuesday and Thursday. But, seeing as I've been waking up at 430am since Week 2 of the Whole30, it shouldn't be a problem. And seeing as how I've been hording Ren Faire costume supplies and materials for YEARS, I think I need to get them going, since I always show up to the Faire at least once. Edit: for motivation (and other) purposes, I've decided to change the theme of this challenge from Mandalorian themed to.... if anyone is familiar with Kamen Rider. If you are, awesome! If not, I understand completely.

She wakes up on the ground, disoriented and just a little sore. It's dense and humid forest surrounding here, branches and leaves nearly blocking out the afternoon sun. Turning slightly, looking up, she notices a little light peeking through that darkness.... could this be the respawn she's been waiting for? Gosh I hope so. So here I am, ready for a "do-over" in round two. I am a long time Women's Academy member. I began my first challenge with the best of intentions, but I went on vacation and though I kept track of the Academy Facebook group, I just waned everywhere else. So it was a partial win, I suppose. Like my first challenge, I have crafted this challenge to make sure I continue the little bit of progress I made over the summer. A little background may be in order: in June, the pain in my lower back made it so uncomfortable to walk, I knew I needed to take control. Thinking it was just weight pressuring my back, I found a trainer at an all-women's gym whom I really liked and set forth to work with her twice a week. After the first few workouts, she told me my right side was way higher than my left. That could be causing my issues. After two tries, I found the right chiropractor for me, and proceeded to go twice a week. The diagnosis was misalignment, but also very very super tight muscles. And I thought I was just tense? Ha! So here I am. I continue on a regimen of deep tissue massage, core strengthening, and trainer sessions twice a week. I need to stay, and perhaps surpass, where I am now. Hey, that's my main quest. I will: 1. make an effort to walk in the evening at least 2 days a week2. fit in yoga at least 2 times a week3. use my toning balls and plank on off trainer days to continue to strengthen my core4. set my Fitbit activity alarm so after 2 hours of nonactivity, I will get up and stretch (at the very least)These are small steps-- but I know I can handle them. I often check my phone during my free periods at school, and I will continue to do that through my nemesis, Tapatalk. My mini-quest is something I need to conquer to keep my brain with my body. In this mini-quest I will work to curb my negative self-talk. I'm not completely sure how I will begin slaying that, but I do have a few ideas up my sleeve.

Hi everyone! Time for another NF challenge J I’ve been using my battle log recently, but now I got an urge to participate in a challenge! After a great summer, I’ve found it hard to adjust to going back to my studies. The past two years have been very busy and filled with studies, but this year… I’m having half the amount of courses. This is thanks to me working my bum off last semester, but I realized that this is hard for me. To study less. To have more time to myself. To help me cope with real life (le gasp!), I got an idea: to create my very own super spy identity! I’ve always wanted to be someone like Black Widow, and now’s the time to work towards that dream I study languages, computer science and information science, so I’m getting well prepared for managing super secret international information… Kinda. What I really want is to help people. Whatever profession I will have in the future, I want to help people - whether I’ll be a librarian, helping people find the information they need, or a super secret spy, uncovering all the delicious pancake recipies… Wait, what? My codename: SHEPHERD FOX. An international super spy, whose goal during this challenge is to help all the cows in the world to keep their milk. And look great while doing it. Committing more time to myself, my health, and the NF community should keep me grounded and focused (or make me create Excel spreadsheets on a Sunday morning… what the heck??). I have worked with a lot of emotional pain the past few years. During this time, I’ve got to know people, who have helped me get out of my head and look at my life with softer, loving eyes. Some of these people I’ve met here on NF, and I just want you to know that you’re all heroes. Every weird and funny conversation here, every terrible joke, the puns… They’ve all encouraged me to get out of my head and keep believing in people. You’ve got no idea just how far a bit of kindness can take a person.You’re gold <3 I finally think I’m ready to leave the past behind and keep living my life without the emotional baggage. Well, it’ll always be there, ready to emerge, but I know that I will be able to handle it. That’s enough. I’m enough. To kick my mindset in place, I wrote a list of things I’d wish to accomplish. I am someone who: 1. has energy to get through her days 2. has a healthy relationship with food 3. has time to have fun with her friends 4. manages her finances by planning ahead (what to buy, does meal prep, etc.) 5. manages her studies/work by being active. Well, that’s a start. To get this mission going, let’s check my goals! Goal #1: Meal Prep I started meal prepping this summer, and it’s made eating healthy a lot easier! I make a bigger bunch of food twice a week, and eat it during the next three or four days. So, when I come home hungry and tired, I just take healthy food from the fridge, heat it up, and boom: keeping it quick and healthy! Meal prepping is part of this challenge, because my daily routine has changed a lot and I want to make sure that I keep this habit going. To complete: - plan ahead meals for the next 3 days - make a grocery list - only buy what’s on the list - have a meal prep on Wednesdays and Sundays Goal #2: Don’t Drink Your Milk During the summer, I cut out yoghurt, cottage cheese and quark from my diet. This has made losing and maintaining my weight a lot easier, and it is also recommended for people with PCOS to drop dairy products (they produce testosterone among other things in your system, which is bad for PCOS). For the next 6 weeks… No dairy 5/7 days a week. Besides cream in my coffee. Because I'm not gonna live forever. To complete: - avoid dairy 5 days a week for 6 weeks. Keep the cows happy. Goal #3: Shake It Up This would be my exercise goal…! I’m already active, but to surprise my body every now and then, I’m going to complete a Darebee WO in addition to my regular training schedule (2 kettlebell WOs at home, yoga class on Wednesdays). To complete: - 2 kettlebell WOs a week - 1 Darebee WO a week - attend yoga class on Wednesdays The flu season is here (hurah!), so this goal might take some damage. But I can’t really help falling sick, so I’m taking the sickdays into account. Goal #4: Money Count Yeah, I’m too careless with my money. I do get along fine, but I’d like to really know what I’m doing. So, this challenge is for tracking where da riches go, and I’ll start working with this data during next challenge! To complete: - mark your spent money on a spreadsheet. Data will be used in the next challenge! ** That’s all, folks. Let’s have fun, shall we? I actually made a couple of spreadsheets (you Doodlies are bad influence!), which will definitely help me to stay on track. I'll modify them a bit, and post later

(you will find in this thread corny writing ((and English isn't my first language)) and a sense of humor that could probably be reminiscent of a troll) It's time. Time to face the dark reality that our world has sunk in to dark magic. Voldemort is getting stronger and the only way to defeat him is through regular strength training and yoga. Yes. Yoga. Don't run away now. Your quest is only starting tiny yogini. You have much to learn and you're not very fit anymore. What happened? I work in a coffee shop and so... In the wizarding world there is no coffee shops. Focus. Here's some pumpkin juice. Relax. Who are you? You might know me as Dumbledore but for the purpose of your education, you can call me Delightful Yoga Guru. Em... Sure. In order to defeat Voldemort, you will have to do yoga everyday. Even if it's only for 5 minutes, you have to get on your mat. Everyday. I know that you are in the house of Hufflepuff and therefore have a caring sensitive side (but also gluttony stuck to your brain) so I will challenge you to eating healthy and not harassing the house elves for sweets. Am I clear? Yes... Sir. But I've never been to a magical school before. I mean. I knew I had powers but... There is a reason why we didn't contact you earlier, you simply weren't ready. But now. Now I know that you can set your mind to anything. So will you do it? Will you train and do some yoga everyday? Eat healthier? Do some strength training three times per week to build some muscle foundation? Can I put my faith in you? I hope I won't disappoint you Delightful Yoga Guru. Call me Dumbledore, my child. - Excuse my sense of humor. Here's the start of my battle log. I'm looking to build discipline and one day finally get the Scorpion pose. Let's do this!

Bonjour my fellow Rebels! I am looking forward to bringing some more discipline into my life and connecting with more people who like video games and fitness! I'm a huge Potterhead (like yeah, sometimes I go to bars in my Hogwarts sweatpants) and I've also been addicted to Harvest Moon/The Legend of Zelda since I'm 7. I recently started doing more yoga and it gave me such a wonderful boost of energy. I've also been doing strength training on and off for 2-3 years now and I would love to finally get to that good flow of doing both yoga, strength training and some cardio to get my health to optimal levels. (There's no way I can defeat those bosses if I don't level up a bit more!) I hope this description showed you a bit of who I am, haha. See you soon Rebels!

Here's where I start. I'm 43, and weigh 210 lbs. I'm 4'11". Time to begin. Here's what I ate today. Not bad, but not great. Breakfast - Sausage Egg McMuffin, no cheese. I put peanut butter and jam on the english muffins and eat the sausage and egg separately. 1 med coke zero. Yes, I'm a coke zero junkie. Lunch - Turkey chinese salad. veggies with dip. 1 small bag of butter chicken lays chips. wanted to see how they tasted, not bad. 1 bottle coke zero. Again, it's an addiction. Dinner - Bowl of french onion soup from Panera Bread and baguette. Didn't drink anything. I need to drink more water. Gonna work on that. Was a little stressed, but didn't emotionally eat. For excercise did Day 1 of the 90 Day PUMP program. Felt good to be lifting weights again, even if it was just the weight bar. Also rode the elliptical for 5 min. I have a feeling that once I get used to it again, I should be able to watch a whole episode of Friends on Netflix while I do it. Can't wait. Here are my beginning pictures. I'll be doing this every 2 months. I don't really want a target weight, just want to see a difference each time I do post pics. see you tomorrow. Mera