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Returning to my original goals with the hope of sticking to them this challenge: STRONGER: GOAL: By the end of this challenge, I will have increased my physical strength by at least 25% as measured by an increase in number of reps to failure of kettlebell single-arm overhead press. HOW: I will pick "heavy things" up and put them back down for at least 20 minutes, three days a week; this will include mostly kettlebell training with some "greasing the groove" using resistance bands, random heavy objects, and my kids. Training will look like this: Sunday -- Benchmark (single arm overhead press to failure, count reps; 30 minute run, note distance) Monday -- Five rounds of: 200 meter run kettlebell clean and press x 2 each side goblet squat x 5 two-handed kettlebell swing x 20 rest 2 minutes Tuesday -- 30 minute run; record time Wednesday -- 5-10 rounds of: 25 double-arm kettlebell swings 30 seconds rest 25 alternating kettlebell swings 30 seconds rest 25 single-arm kettlebell swings L 30 seconds rest 25 single-arm kettlebell swings R 2 minutes rest Alternating kettlebell clean & press x 30 (15 per side) 2 minutes rest Alternating kettlebell dead snatch x 14 (7 per side) Straight leg singe-arm kettlebell deadlift x 30 (15 per side) Overhead triceps extension x 15 Thursday -- 30 minute run; improve previous distance Friday -- 15-45 minutes of: clean with left hand press with left hand one arm front squat with left hand one handed swing with left hand park the kettlebell, recover, repeat with right hand Saturday -- Distance run on trails; mark distance and pace FASTER: GOAL: By the end of this challenge, I will be able to run a sub-30 minute 5k as measured by a 5k run. HOW: I will run for 30 minutes at least two days a week, with a distance/endurance run at least one day a week and sprint/speed intervals at least one day a week (see 200 m run above). SMARTER: GOALS: By the end of the challenge, I will increase my daily use of Duolingo; I will increase my daily reading habit by at least 5 minutes a day; I will learn at least one new thing daily. HOW: I will set a reminder to complete at least the daily requirements to achieve a 30 day streak on Duolingo I will set aside at least 30 minutes of reading time daily I will use apps such as Humane and Kinnu to learn new information, as well as the NPR app and podcasts. CALMER: GOAL: By the end of the challenge, I will improve my mental health by reducing my angry reactions to stress. HOW: I will use a meditation app to increase my meditation/contemplative prayer practice from 10 minutes to 15 minutes. I will take 30 minute mindful walks to help clear my mind. I will write down what I am grateful for and create daily affirmations using the 5 Minute Journal app. I will practice a relaxing breathing technique (short inhale through nose, long exhale through mouth) and apply this technique in moments of stress and frustration. I will listen to music that elevates my mood.

The journey continues... Last we saw our hero, Wild Wolf aka The Wolfitrator take on demons of unknown origins. The challenge was steep, and while not perfect, Wolf crawled out of the fire more battle hardened then before. Where there was magic and swords before, what lays before you is gun powder and frag grenades. This new journey is unforgiving. One simple mistake, one slip up can mean the difference between a look at your kill cam and a victory dance while tea bagging the enemy squad. Wild Wolf will need to dig deep and become a wraith on the battlefield, something more than mere human. He must become a tactical human. Not only in body but in mind and spirit, too. He must hear the rifle report before the 7.62x39mm round lands home. He must see the enemy before they see him. He must infiltrate the spawn points and take up every power position he can get his grubby hands on. Nothing is guaranteed. Nothing is promised. But success is there for the taking. Stay tuned as our tattooed hero checks his magwell and gets down to brass tax! *Click Click BOOM* Goal 1: Firing on all Cylinders Workouts. Diet. I started a perfect trend the last two weeks of the last challenge and want to keep up the momentum. I still haven't established the discipline I want and so the journey continues here. 3x a week workouts. At least 2 meals with veggies in them. Ready-set-GO! Possible Stat Points: +1 STR, +2 DEX, +2 CON Goal 2: Safeties Off Truth Time: I've been avoiding HIIT style workouts because they suck. They're hard. I sweat a shit ton.... but these are just whiny excuses that the old me would be ok with. NOT. ANY. MORE. On top of the 3x a week strength training, 1x a week (bare minimum) will be dedicated to a HIIT workout. These can be quick too. 10, 15, or even just 20 min will get me so much bang for my buck, it's unreal. Utilize my 35# and 45# KB's as well as the gyms array of KB's to get in a sick metcon that melts the fat and explodes the metabolism into overdrive. Possible Stat Points: +3 END, +2 DEX Goal 3: House Hunting April 1st marks the end of our tenure at the apartments we are in. And so begins a new chapter for the Wolfpack™. We're going to do everything we can to ensure we get into a house! WOOT WOOT! My mom is a real estate agent and has been sending us various houses to look at and the time is NOW to get things rolling. We are about 45 days away before we need to have something nailed down so when I say it's crunch time, it truly is CRUNCH TIME! I don't work 2 jobs for the hell of it. I've had my site set on getting us into a house every since I started working at Costco back in late-July of last year. Heather and I and our kids are soooooooooooooooo looking forward to this new chapter. We need to be diligent. First things first, we need to get our income tax filed. We should have that done in the next 2 weeks. Then... we start house hunting! Possible Stat Points: +2 WIS, +3 CHA Is there a word that exceeds being focused? If so, that's what I am right now. I'm BEYOND focused right now! Thank you for taking the time to support me during this crazy and exciting time in my life right now . Let's rock n roll! Wolf

Felt like I was trapped in a coffin underground with no one to know I was there. But now I have a new purpose and new goals to get to! No more feeling like I'm suffocating under a severe weight. Which means it's time for me to train for my goals that will take me and my family far in life. I just want to mention something some of you may know, but I have some mental problems that have prevented me from hitting my goals years before. My symptoms fit that of schizophrenia but it's only a self diagnosis mind you. I looked into having myself examined by an expert but was told that it would take six months of intense therapy, and testing. And that given how I was functioning on a day to day basis, there would be no point. Because I'm functioning to a point where a diagnosis would be a waste of money, unless, I start mentally deteriorating. On one hand I was a little disappointed, because I'm curious by nature and I wanted to know why I function the way I do. On the other hand I'm apparently sane enough to be deemed a mentally healthy and in no need of therapy. Which makes me happy! But my goals are tough and I need to make sure I'm taking care of my mental health, especially for the sake of my family. So let's do this thing!! Warrior Training: Bodyweight training everyday; Weight training 6x a week; Cardio 2x a week. I'm a mesomorph so I only see weight loss results when I exercise. My diet is pretty good despite being on a strict budget so I'm not worried about that. But I want to train bodyweight to eventually be able to do parkour, gymnastics, ballet, and martial arts with better ease. Wisdom of Solomon: Follow School Schedule and Business Plan. I want to increase my intelligence and increase my business income. My school schedule also includes my daughter's schooling. She's a smart little thing who gets bored easily and likes to be mentally challenged. So my studying will help me when she's ready for school since I will be homeschooling. Mistress of Time Management: Unplug Until Nap Time and Bedtime. I am really horrible at time management. And the biggest culprit I'm up against is social media and being a tv junky. I'm even seeing my daughter becoming addicted to television. She's not going to grow up like me. No Way! So no phone or tv until she's asleep. And even then it will be for business purposes only. Earthly Riches: Emergency Fund 60% or More Completed. We're dedicating ourselves to becoming debt free. Which means we first have $1000 for an emergency fund. And we're 30% there so far! Life Goal: Read Bible and Meditate Everyday: As I said, my mental health needs to be priority for the sake of my family. Spiritual growth and making sure I'm mentally calm and collected first thing in the morning will keep me sound of mind. I need to make this a habit. I really need to push myself to train, and learn. I wasted a lot of my life already being in depression, and not having any goal in my life. I'm not getting any younger and there's things I want to do and places I want to go. And I want the finances there so my family can join with me in traveling and learning. I never thought I deserved a family of my own. Now that I have one, I want them to join in and be with me wherever God leads us. I will be making mini challenges every week that correspond with my goals. Each one I finish is 2+ points, and at the end of my challenge if I get 32 points I will treat myself to a manicure.

Why do you want to be harder, better, faster, stronger?

Hey there! This is my first 6 week challenge. I started week plans by myself from time to time, but I never sticked to it after the first motivation is gone. So, I (at least hope to) learn from the past and now focus on smaller, more reasonable goals. I will write down what I did the other day so I know if I slept or not! Goal number 1: Better sleep To archieve this, I want to stay away from my mobile, my xbox and my computer - devices that send out blue light - the hour before I go to bed. Since I am going to bed at 10pm to get my 8 hours of sleep, I need to stop at 9pm. In the free time I can paint, draw, read and exercise. Turn off devices at 9pm and fo to sleep at 10pm (On Sunday, Monday- Thursday. I want to try it out on weekends too (too not use devices), but I can sleep longer so I dont need to be in bed at 10pm ) Goal number 2: Habit of training I want to build a habit of training. I am starting a calisthenics bodywheight routine (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVlF6U0eZEw). At the moment, I am not sure what will be better for me, either do a split and work on my upper body on day one + stretching of my upper body and work ony my lower body + core + stretching on day 2 OR do the full routine on day one and do a stretch routine on day 2. I dont know if the first version will give me enough rest between the workouts, but I like the idea more since I am constantly building the habit to workout. In the best case, I can workout at 9pm and then do something else, but I dont know how it will influence my sleep. a) Train 6 days a week (or more) - If I cant do a full routine, I will do a back up short workout (and mention it here) b)Workout 3 days a week and stretch on 3 days a week EDIT: Handstands all the way There was a time where I trained the handstand a lot, but at the moment I can't do it anymore. But I really like the handstand, so I am starting again at point one and do them against a wall, trying to get a straight form before I try them without help ( that was my biggest problem before). I want to do ~5min of Handstand training every day. Do ~5mins of handstand training every day Goal number 3: Milk every day: In order to gain weight, I want to drink more milk. I read the GOMAD diet and liked the idea. But because of my purse and my stomach I will start with 2 L a day to see how it goes. Unoffical goals: These are goals I want to archieve at one point, but I know myself, and focusing on too much will throw me back. So I will try to do these but I can cut them back if I dont have time/energy/money/fun - Eat more - Participate in a martial arts course or breakdance course - Do more parkour videos Thanks for reading! More details + rewards will follow(hopefully) in the next days since it is already 9:30pm and I still want to workout ~ Gurkour EDIT (07.11.2015): I was sick so the challenge starts today

I've been largely absent of late, due to an uptick in work, as well as the fact that I have started coaching CrossFit. However, the time has come for a new DBL. I feel like today is an appropriate day because I started the introductory cycle of the Smolov squat program today. I have seen claims that it will add up to 100# to your squat in 13 weeks (I'm assuming that applies to novice/early intermediate lifters). I'm going to take the first 6 weeks easy, since it requires squatting relatively heavy 3x/week. To that effect, I entered 90% of my 1-rep max instead of my actual max into the spreadsheet that does the weight programming. After 6 weeks, I will conduct a 1RM test and then begin squatting in earnest. This will be interesting, since the article I read on the program talks about not performing other exercises that use the same muscle groups and ensuring that you get 8+ hours of sleep every night. I intend to keep CrossFitting (though I may scale back a small amount) and I get 5-6 hours of sleep most nights. Clearly something will have to give...I hope this means that I get more sleep. Actual 1RM: 345# 90% of 1RM: 310# Smolov Day 1: 3x8 at 200# 1x5 at 215 2x2 at 235 1x1 at 250 WOD: 7 RFT: 7 S2OH @ 135# 7 BS @ 135 Time: 8:38 So that was 81 squats today.

I've always been a very tiny girl (5 feet, 88 lbs) and for as long as I can remember very weak. I'm 21 now and I've just recently started going to the gym in hopes of getting stronger and bigger but mostly just stronger, thankfully I have noticed a difference in my body from when I first started but as I continue going to the gym i'm not sure if i'm seeing any more results. I think it may have something to do with my exercise routine, I do a split routine for all my major muscle groups but I don't really switch up the exercises. For example, whatever exercises I do for leg day, I would just repeat for every leg day using heavier weights and doing less reps and more sets. So my question is can you get bigger and stronger doing the same exercise routines but increasing the weights you use for those exercises ? My routine usually goes something like this LEGS AND ABS Plank Side bends bicycle crunches or in and outs some times i'll do weighted bridges sit ups leg press hamstring curl calf raises and i'll either do deadlifts or barbell squats ARMS AND CHEST bicep curls dips pull ups hammer curls overhead extension dumbbell flys dumbell bench press incline chest press sometimes i'll do deadlifts as well on this day SHOULDERS AND BACK deadlifts bent alternating dumbbell rows cable row dumbbell shoulder press dumbbell raises both side and front one handed dumbbell rows dumbbell shrugs If I continue doing these exercises but using heavier weights will I be able to get bigger and stronger ?

Hi everyone! My name is Carlee and I am a "struggling" graduate student living in Maryland. You know who it goes with school: lots of debt, classwork, and a whole new level of balancing. That's my life for you! I have been following the site for several months now (bordering on obsessive) and finally have built up the courage to join the community for real! Life has had many ups and downs for me and currently I am fighting to maintain. I am really posting so that I can have another support group at my side when things get tough. And tough they have gotten! So let me start at the beginning somewhat. I have always been an athlete, a one sport wonder with enough athletic ability to get me by in other sports. I love volleyball and will always enjoy playing. After I graduated from college, I floated around the gym not really sure what to do. At the time, there were other issues going besides graduating. I had just gotten out of an abusive relationship, was working on my thesis, and did not get into any graduate school I had applied for. So I floated through the gym, not sure what to do. While I was in the dark part of the relationship, I had watched the Crossfit Games and immediately decided that I was going to become one of those women. It was their strength and confidence that got me hooked (fitting since I felt out of control and weak while I was in the relationship). I moved back home and signed up for my first crossfit class. I have never looked back since. Working out and staying active has never been an issue for me. I have competed this year, and have signed up for a 12 mile run and another crossfit competition (two opposites right?). My issue is in eating and maintaining a healthy diet. I have mingled in Paleo, completed two Whole30s, and even did a 90 day paleo challenge. I struggle with my sweet tooth and the reasons why I eat. I get upset, I get distracted, and I feel bad. I am convinced I am fat, that I am overweight, and will not accomplish my physical goals, which is just to be stronger and have less body fat. What can make my eating problems even worse is that I have a family member who cannot maintain a healthy weight at all. Lots and lots of health problems keep him dangerously under weight. So he buys unhealthy foods that also happen to be my comfort food. Someone help me! So I ask any members of this awesome community to be another support and to follow me as I develop the skills to be self-sufficient and independent. I am in school, there will be struggles and challenges. I am hoping that with my growing tool box (something that all my professors say. I am a rehabilitation counseling student), I can be successful. My goals are to lose weight, while gaining muscle. I believe that I have about 20 pounds to lose with 5-7% of fat to lose as well. In that time I am focused on becoming free from my sugar monster tendencies and to be comfortable with who I am. So is there anyone out there with me?

My goals for this challenge are really basic: keep going to the gym, continue with the StrongLifts 5x5 program so that by the end of this challenge, I'll have been doing StrongLifts for 14 weeks;improve flexibility in legs, hip and back for future bodyweight challenges;eat less carbs (easier done now that the Christmas/New Years break is done),intermittent fasting 2x/wk, anduse determination to do those things I should be doing around the house (referring to a private New Years resolution).That's all.

Allright, here I am: during my first challenge I was invited to join the assassins, so I will start my second one here. Last time I joined late but still I had at least some success with my main quest, completing my first pullup. Also, for a little while I managed to resist my built in urge to drink every single beer that somehow sneaks into sight or, let's be honest, my mind. Relax Grover... Beer is here to stay, it will be there all your life. You can drink it another time...breath... Ok, so obviously there is still some room for improvement. Here is the plan for this round. Main Quest Become even more heroic! Be stronger, fitter, be kind to my body To achieve this I will Do the beginner bodyweight workout at least 3 times a week. (Secretly working on that pull up, of course) Go hiking, swimming or to the sport club at work at least twice a week. Drink alcohol only once during the week and once during the weekends. Side Quests Play outside every day. (Meaning being outside on purpose, enjoying it) I am an outdoor person and much healthier and more balanced when I remind myself of that instead of coming home after work and locking myself up indoors for the rest of the day. Life Quest Meet friends. I have some really good friends that I need to see, but "more important" things keep getting in the way. There is nothing more important than the people that are close to you, therefore this must stop. I will plan how to or actually meet one of these people each week. Note to myself: Steffipopeffi, Timmi, Mirka, Christine, Dönerleute

I admit I'm never very good at these things. But I'm still here, so that counts for something... Thank you to everyone who has stuck by me during my failures here at Nerd Fitness. You keep me coming back for more. --- Body Workshop A body I've built myself. A better, stronger me. Parcourse once a week. Gym three times a week. C25k three times a week. Mind Workshop A mind to withstand all that is thrown at it...even that within. Read and finish one self-improvement book during the challenge period. Learn something new (juggling, no excuses). Practice meditation, nightly if possible. Soul Workshop A soul that forgives and accepts. Pay it forward once a week. Practice self-forgiveness. SUPPORT MY FRIENDS IN THEIR CHALLENGES.

Some acquaintances roped me into a Whole Life Challenge back in September. I was kind of at the end of my rope with diet - what's bad, what's good, what should I avoid, what should I eat? Ahhhh! The challenge broke it down pretty easy - no soy, no diary (except yogurt and butter), no sugar (except whole fruits), no wheat. I did the "Intermediate" level It had a giant list of "Yes" foods and "No" foods. It also had mini-challenges throughout, stretching daily, exercising in some way for 10 minutes a day (even if that's just going for a walk). Anyway, read up on it if you're curious. It just ended Friday (yesterday). Goals: Get faster at running. Lose body fat but not necessarily weight. Results? I lost 1.5 inches off my waist, 1.5 inches off my booty. At the beginning I timed 1 mile at 10:00 minutes. Today I ran 1 mile in 8:35, and then ran another 3.5 miles after that (much slower, but averaging ~10:30 mins/mile). This is why they make you take before pictures because although my weight hasn't changed at all, I can tell a difference in the mirror, doh! Lessons learned: Scales are stupid. Weight means nothing. I weighed myself about a week ago and was crushed to see the weight was the same as it ever was. But that certainly didn't mean I wasn't progressing!! Consistency is key. This is hard for me because I get a snowball effect when I eat something "off the list". I just want to keep eating and eating instead of just saying, "well that was a delicious cupcake, and now back to your regularly scheduled programming". Portion control! Because I was planning all my meals and didn't want to get caught without food, I rarely overate. Eat when you are hungry! Sometimes I eat just because it's time, or because I think I should. Listen to your body! It's much better at telling you what's going on than you think. Anyway, I'm pretty excited and can't wait to see where I am 8 weeks from now!

MAIN QUEST: Complete all obstacles and make it to then end in the Tough Mudder Mid-Atlantic on Sunday, October 20, 2013. Main Quest Missions/Goals: Lose 10 lbs by eating clean and working out. Complete each of the following weekly: Trail Run (at least one preferably 2) Long Cardio Workout Hills/Stairs Cardio Training 3 Strength Training Days Get 7-8 hours of sleep per night. LIFE QUEST: Bein plan to pay off debt. Life Quest Missions/Goals: Stop using Credit Cards. Use $100/paycheck to pay off debt. Cut expenses by packing lunch daily STARTING STATS: Height: 5' 7" Weignt: 146 Body Fat %: 22-23% (estimated from pictures) Any training suggestions and tips for Tough Mudder are greatly appreciated! Laura

This is my second NF Challenge, and my first as a Ranger. Whether it's Jim Phelps and the original gang, or my generation's Ethan Hunt and crew, everybody digs the IMF. There's just something so badass about a group of people who tackle odds so steep, even their own organization's name assumes they can't win. Yet somehow, time and again, they get the job done. I really like the idea of achieving the impossible on a regular basis. See, I'm a big guy. Have been for a long time, but I've also been working for a long while at being less big. At 6 foot and 278lbs, I'm about 32 pounds lighter than my heaviest weight. In the last NF challenge, I lost 8 pounds and added some awesome gains to my lifting regimen. I assumed I'd be doing more of the same for this challenge, until I talked to a buddy a little while ago. He told me about a race he'd done back in May, 5 miles. Not just running, but facing obstacles, lifting heavy objects, getting muddy and cold, facing fire and electricity. Another buddy, ex-military, commented, "sounds like basic training all over again!" Another close friend, somebody I hugely respect and one of my fitness heroes, told me he'd already signed up for next year. And that's how I committed to a Spartan Race for next May, and that's why I'm in the Ranger subforum. This is a six-week challenge, but I'm playing a pretty long game here. I've got 75 pounds to lose, in 9 months. I can keep up a run for a couple minutes, but not much more than that. I've never run regularly in my life, beyond playing when I was a kid. I can't do a pull-up. From here, the mission is looking pretty impossible. The Mission: Kick ass at the Spartan Race next year. (aka: lose weight, get fast, get stronger) The Impossible Mission Force didn't stop the bad guy and save the day just by having a long-term objective. They set specific short-term goals, and executed them one step at a time. You gotta scale the Burj Dubai before you can get the nuclear launch codes from the sexy assassin! So the long-term goals of weighing under 200lbs, being able to run for miles and miles, and being able to do pull-ups, backflips, handstands and all that fun stuff, comes via the specific goals listed below. The Six-week Goals: Eat right, run regularly, lift myself and other things Eat right: I've gotten in the habit of logging everything I eat these days, and I've seen some great progress just from staying in the 1900-2100 calorie neighborhood. I'm gonna tighten things up for this challenge, setting a goal of 1700-1800 calories each day, logging every bite, and sticking to a mostly-paleo diet. Lots of veggie omelettes, bacon, chicken breasts, protein smoothies and steamed veggies coming up, which is awesome. I'll have the occasional slice of bread, but I'll be avoiding anything processed or loaded with sugar. I've also found having cheat days to be an immense help with sticking to a plan like this, so I'm gonna designate Saturdays as my day to ignore the restrictions and eat whatever I want. I'll post my calorie totals for each day in this thread. Run regularly: I'm going to start with the classic Couch To 5K running program. I put in the first workout of that today. It's a little tough to log that one on Fitocracy, but I'll give it a shot. It's a 9-week program so I won't be complete by the end of this challenge but I'll be well on the way. I'm sure I'll have a lot of questions to ask and info to gather, as running is by far the weakest area of my fitness knowledge. Lift myself and other things: By the end of last challenge I had a pretty good habit going of lifting at the gym. I'm gonna try and stick with a lifting routine for this challenge, secondary to the running goal. I'll continue building toward pull-ups by doing bodyweight Smith rows and lat pulldowns, and add push-ups to the routine. I've got some research to do before I fully define the routine so I might tweak this section later this week. I've got a life quest left over from the previous challenge, since I bailed so hard on it last time. Draw 1 page per week of the comic book I'm working on For real, I only drew two pages last challenge. I work as an illustrator in my day job, and I've been back-burnering this book for a year(!). If I don't finish it soon I never will. Here goes!

Main Quest: Complete the Tough Mudder on October 20th, 2013 Goals: - Complete the Tough Mudder Boot Camp 3 days/week A. Complete full boot camp 3 days/week every week. B. Complete full boot camp 3 days/week every week with a few exceptions C. Complete full boot camp 2 days/week every week D. Complete full boot camp 2 days/week every week with a few exceptions F. Complete full boot camp 1 day/week or less - Additonal Cardio 2 days/week A. Additional 90 minutes/week B. Additonal 70 minues/week C. Additional 60 minutes/week D. Additional 45 minutes/week F. Less than an additional 45 minutes/week - Get 7-8 hours of sleep every night A. Get 7-8 hours of sleep every night B. Get 7-8 hours of sleep 5 out of 7 nights/week. C. Get at least 6-7 hours of sleep every night. D. Get at least 6-7 hour 5 out of 7 nights/week. F. Get less than 6 hours of sleep/night. Life Quest: Watch no more than 2 hours of TV per day, and read at least 1 book every 2 weeks. Motivation: To feel strong and healthy again. Stats: - Height: 5'7" - Weight: approx 148lbs - Body Fat %: about 23% (guess based on pictures)

My Motivation: It says: To be healthy and strong, so I am a good example for my son, and so I am around to watch him grow up and be here for him for as long as possible. My Main Quest: To get stronger. I have been stuck at the same weights for all my lifts for the last several weeks. I think I know what the main problem is, but it's going to take smashing a large mental block to get through it. Some background/what the mental block is from: 3 years ago I was a lazy sloth (still am, really). I wasn't severely overweight, but I was headed in that direction, and flabby. I don't know exactly what triggered my desire to change - my kid, my mom getting diagnosed with pre-diabetes... probably a combo of things. I wanted to lose about 20 lbs. I started tracking what I was eating with Lose It and was appalled by how many calories I was eating - about 2300/day. Much of it junk - chips, a whole bag of Smartfood popcorn. I cut my calorie intake to 1200/day, and when that wasn't enough (because I rarely hit it), I cut to 960/day. I did that for about 9 months and lost most of the weight. No exercise at this point yet. Then I started working out off and on (p90x mostly). I was using 2 and 4lb weights. I bumped my calorie intake up to 1200/day (using MyFitnessPal by this point, better food database). I was still eating a lot of processed foods for breakfast and lunch. Once I started on NF this last January, I started improving the quality of my food - much less processed food, cut out most grains, stopped getting the "low fat" crap. I was lifting 10 lbs for curls and such by this point. Up thru May of this year I was PR ing every few weeks, got up to 20lbs for a curl, started dumbbell squats and dumbbell deadlifts (I work out at home). About 8 weeks ago, I suddenly lost about 5 more lbs. It scared me, and I upped my calorie intake goal again, to what MFP says would gain me 1/2 lb per week (about net 1900). I hit that about 1/2 the time. I've got weight down and built up muscle to the point where I'm getting compliments. But I'm not making any more strength gains. I know I need to eat a calorie surplus to build muscle. I'm afraid to increase my net calories back to what I was eating when I was so unhappy with myself. I am literally sitting here with what feels like stagefright as I get ready to type out my goals for this challenge, but here goes. Goal 1: Eat a net 2000 cal/day, with 125g protein at least 4 days/week for 3 weeks, then 5 days per week. There. There it is in black and white (ok, green and white). And I realize I may have to adjust this upwards, this is probably too low. But I can't right now. This is my starting point. I will log my food in MFP every day. I am going to start a battlelog to track this, will be linked in my signature. Goal edited 7/31/13. CON +2, WIS +3, STR +1 Goal 2: Stay in bed to sleep at least 7 hours at least 5 nights per week. I have a bad habit of staying up past midnight watching Netflix (Fringe is my current addiction). Then I have to get up before 6 or 7 depending on the day for work, or to get my workout in before work. This is not helping any aspect of my life. By "stay in bed" I mean trying to sleep, not playing with my iphone or reading. Edited to fix wording 8/2/13. WIS +2, CHA +1, STA +1, CON +1 Goal 3: Increase lifts. Vague, I know. I want to increase my deadlifts, squats, benchpress and rows. I just don't know what a reasonable increase in the the course of 6 weeks would be. Current #'s: deadlift 40lb db x6; squats 35lb db x 6; benchpress 22.5lb db x 6; one-arm row 30 lb db x 8. I also have been stuck on 8lbx8 for side lateral raise for months. It's embarrasing! STR +1, CON +1, STA +1 Life Side Quest: Write in a Journal 3 days per week. Haven't done this since high school. I wanted to do it for the last challenge, but decided on the yardwork goal instead. I need to reflect on my life a little more. Doesn't have to be more than a few sentences. WIS +1 Grading: for each goal: 90% A, 80-90% B, 70-80% C, Less than 70%, fail. The main quest goals 1 & 2, fail either = fail challenge. Goal 3 is based on the first two - a way to gauge if they're working, so will not fail challenge by itself. Life goal is extra, will not fail challenge by itself. No power in the 'verse can stop me! (except myself).

Quitting is not an option. One more rep. Embrace the suck. Do you hear/say these things on a regular basis? Do people act shocked and call your workouts "crazy", "insane", or other similarly awesome word? You probably belong with us. Post your loads and times to comments.