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Hiya there, I've been browsing this forum for some time now and am amazed to find so many fellow nerds like me, and, I finally feel ready to tell you about my goals. I wish to gain muscle weight, abs and be strong in general. I also wish to increase my stamina. Right now, I can hardly run for a kilometre at a stretch. As a student, I don't get much time to hit the gym or a good diet (the college provided food is really, REALLY BAD). I have put on belly weight though, to shed which, I've taken to running for the past 4 weeks (daily 1.5 km). What can be a good plan to gain muscle weight without resorting to supplements/protein powder and with my hectic life as an MBA student? Are there challenges for the same? ABOUT ME I am 24 and an MBA student in India I am an eggetarian I like Superheroes, especially DC Comics superheroes (Batman's my favourite!!) I am also into Tennis & Star Wars BASIC STATS Current weight is 176 lbs. BMI is 24.69 Not much junk food, but not able to have a balanced diet either (more into rice, less into veggies) Thanks in advance. I hope to meet some amazing people here on NF and be much more interactive from now on. LET IT BEGIN!!

Hello beautiful people! I'm writing from the wonderful city of Boston, USA. I'm a third year university student studying bioengineering. My weight is always something I've struggled with. I was blessed with a wicked slow metabolism(thx mom) and my parents didn't enforce the good values of nutritional education as I was growing up. My first two years of college were not good, as I carried those uneducated eating habits with me in extreme ways. I started mega binge eating to cope with stress, closet eating, and only exercising minimally which ultimately led to horrific skin, weight gain, and pre diabetes. I knew I had to do something quickly. I did my first two years elsewhere, but when moved to Boston something in the atmosphere changed. I had some family help me out and have been such an amazing influence on me for the past year. Fall semester of 2016 was one of the best times of my life. My school work was going great, my work schedule was manageable, I pack day lunch everyday, and went to the gym 5 times a week. I looked and felt awesome and had so much encouragement from others to keep up the good work. Although i don't think i will ever go back to the horrific binge eating mindset i used to have, this semester is definitely different from the fall. My school work is MUCH more vigorous, I picked up more hours at work, the weather definitely has a large effect on my mood and motivation. I barely meal prep anymore and only go to the gym maybe once a week. My goal for being active on this forum is to stay accountable for what I'm eating, and find some motivation(and virtual friends!) to get back into going to the gym more often. I love working out, but I hardly have anytime, and what little time I do have, I want to actually relax! My biggest weakness is absolutely carbs, ESPECIALLY in the morning. Muffins are bae. Also, with having to get up early and generally a stressful hard day ahead, I'm always like "oh this day is gonna suck, you know what will cheer me up? A coffee and a muffin from Dunkin Donuts" THIS IS BAD.... Any who, I'd like to get out of that habit as well and find good breakfast recipes for those who are always on the go! I'm super excited to join the nerd fitness world. Any advice is SO APPRECIATED. Tomorrow is going to be a great day. Ooo i guess a bit about myself I'm very much a science nerd. I love love love biology and physics and chem. Honestly, just learning in general. It's addicting. I also loving reading and listening to sci-fi pod casts, listening to jazz, and watching dog videos. Looking forward to chatting with you all. xoxo Mak

I've always been an 'overeager beaver' who jumps in head first, tries to make huge changes overnight and then (go figure) falls flat on my face and fails miserably. SO I'm definitely into trying small changes and actually succeeding with my goals! Here's my first 4 Week Challenge! Diet - Replace hot chocolate with tea - Eat a veggie at one meal every day Fitness - Complete the beginner bodyweight workout 3x per week Level Up My Life - ALL dishes must be cleaned or loaded into dishwasher before bed every night.

Hi all! I am here because I'm tired of feeling, well, tired! I am in my fourth year of nursing school and married with a basement suite to manage which have been my main excuses for not taking better care of my health. The challenges of all the above, especially nursing school, have made me incredibly mentally strong (I'm not full of myself, I swear!), but I feel I am lacking in physical strength. I am inspired by black widow and want to be able to kick ass like she does! I also have some GI issues that would be helped a lot by cleaning up my diet, which currently consists of anything quick and lots of cheese and sugar. I'm starting with bodyweight exercises and yoga/some meditation for stress. I just started a 4 week challenge in the Rebel guild but will likely move to assassins as I am inspired by the idea of mastering my bodyweight. I would also like to try parkour! Basically, I see myself at level 50 as a badass action heroine!! On a side note: Laidir is Irish for strong. Strength of body and mind is my ultimate, super broad goal so I picked Laidir as a reminder of that.

So I'm a little new to this whole forum thing and definitely new to collective fitness things... A little about me: Sandavia Student, Office Wizard, PC Gamer, Ensign Trekkie, Trivia Team Captain, Pun Enthusiast My story starts almost a year ago when my health started to spiral into oblivion. At first, I attributed my exhaustion to poor sleep habits, high stress and regrettable food choices but as I began making tweaks to my water intake, started going to bed earlier, and chose healthier food options, I barely noticed a change and couldn't seem to catch a break. 6 months, 4 positive strep tests, 2 colds, and all of my sick days (plus many unpaid days) later, my newly acquired doctor ordered a sleep study. Apparently 45 minutes of REM sleep a night is not enough for a functioning immune system, let alone a healthy human being. Fast forward to today; I've been using my CPAP machine for about 4 months and have noticed a startling improvement in my overall health. I am 25 pounds down, wearing jeans in a size I haven't fit into in 5 years, I have more energy, my wit has returned, and I'm ready for the next step! I've been a far-off observer of Nerd Fitness for a while and it felt like fate when last week I was attempting to implement bodyweight training (specifically squats and planks) into my day and I received an email about how to do the proper squat. I can't wait to start this lifestyle and journey with you all! No more excuses. Engage!

After a bit of a hiatus, the Slayer is back! I'm a little frustrated because I'd made some great progress, and then I started law school and fell back on some old unhealthy habits I thought I'd slain along the way... Unfortunately, the undead don't like staying dead, so here we are again. The story goes that I've been staying up way too late, buying way too much food from vending machines between classes, and generally neglecting keeping myself grounded. I've been getting moving a lot because I've been dancing a couple of times a week, but I'd like to be working on getting stronger so, you know, I can actually get better at the dancing. And slaying. The goals: 1. Eat four home-cooked meals a week. I usually get lunches on campus (mostly for free), but for four meals a week, lunch or dinner, I need to eat meals I've cooked at home. Baby steps. I'm not counting breakfast. BONUS: avoid paying for unhealthy food. 2. Strength train once a week. I'm already doing yoga once a week, so this'll bring me up to 2. I'm tempted to say twice a week, but I think starting smaller is probably better right now. 3. Go to bed before midnight every night that I'm home that early. Because this 2AM business is a little much. 4. Meditate for 10 minutes every day, ideally in the morning. Slayer needs some mental quiet. Those are the goals! I'm starting tomorrow since I didn't hop on here until tonight. I'll let you all know how it goes.

hello, all! i'm new here. i'm pretty small, partial to pastries, more inclined to sit and read than go for a run. really love nature and cats. currently, i'm studying abroad in a totally foreign country and have been a bit over my head, hit by culture-shock, bad anxiety, and isolation. i'd really like to get back on track and because i feel my mind and body are so connected, here i am! i'm visiting the druid group because i love yoga and definitely need some more balance and reflection in my life. with that lil introduction over, here's what i'd like to implement in the next month to challenge myself... daily: journal, meditation (ten minutes), yoga (thirty minutes), 2L water weekly: run ten miles total, attend all classes (11 total) diet: budget/record spending on groceries, no cooking with meat, less cooking with dairy i want to find myself- find balance and routine again- feel at home with myself- i haven't felt healthy in my mind or body for the past few months since arriving here. i would love any and all suggestions! what are good ways to achieve these goals? peace, toughhobbit

I feel like I've been drifting for quite awhile now. Keeping it simple to 2 things, so I can focus on them. Everything else I know I should be doing not going to take up challenge space for it right now. so taking inspiration from some of my new favorite shows over the next few challenges. This challenge- Lian Yu. Train 30 mins daily- this can take many forms. Stretching, core work, strength work, cardio, , practicing forms. Have quite time/meditation at least 5 mins at least 3 days a week

I'm a college nerd who is also working a part-time (up to 36 hours) job with a thirty minute commute time to and from school. I work in a fast food resturant so while I'm up and moving grabbing orders, takeing orders, cleaning the dining room I'm also in a place where I am constantly surrounded by junk food. I also have problems with my blood pressure, as it tends to not only run low but will dip if I haven't eaten enough sodium during the day. I am not on any type of BC at the moment but my doctor saw no change in blood pressure when I was on it. I noticed that I was in worse shape then I thought when my boy friend and I decided to go hiking before playing dnd. He lives in a very hilly area and hills that didn't bother me when I was younger started to make me winded. and I drained our shared water bottle. Obviously I need some better ways of trying to get in shape and stay in shape but I feel like I have no time for the gym, share a house with my mother and two sisters (I sleep in the living room to avoid sharing a room with one who is ten years younger than me) and have homework and work on top of everything. I already take the stairs at school instead of the elevators and try to eat healthy but my energy levels seem to be running at an all time low all the time. Any idea of how and where to start?

Hey team! I'm Andrew, I'm 22, and I used to be pretty fit. A few years ago I moved out of my parents' house, had a break down, and have gained a steady ten or so pounds a year since then. I weighed myself recently and the scale put me at 188.8 pounds. In that moment I very, very suddenly found myself motivated to get back on track. My mom has been a yo-yo dieter for years, so I did a bunch of them with her (Atkins was the worst, good god) but never had any real results. I've been following NF's posts for ages and had always meant to do one of the challenges, but never really got around to it. Now though, for the first time in almost five years, I have access to a gym that I like (at my college) and better yet, it's always empty in the mornings. To fitness! Ultimately I want to clock in between 140 and 150, and be mostly functional muscle. My class of choice would be Monk or Assassin. I joined this forum for accountability. I would really love to make some friends in the downtown Toronto area for some group workouts. It's so hard to get motivated alone.

Long time lurker, sporadic participant and dedicated student. I have tried doing the challenges, but the timing never works out for me, so I am going to give this daily log thing a crack. My goal: Do a pull up. Then do some more. And get stronger and lose a little weight (goal is to lower bf%). Stats: Female 150 lbs 5' 3" 21 yr Chest - 38" Waist - 31" Hips - 40" former athlete Approach: 1. Bodyweight training 2. Karate 3. Active Rest Days 4. No binge eating! My diet is pretty clean, so I need to focus on energy in/out. It's the student stress life that really gets to me and makes me just eat loads of food at 10 pm. I will not go full paleo, but I do have my own kitchen and plan on making pretty much all my meals. So far, I have followed a MWF bw schedule with Karate TR and active rest on SaSu for the entirety of August (from sedentary). Using startbodyweight.com I will basically follow that schedule. I am switching to a split schedule in September so I can do more exercises for bw. This is my schedule this week: M- 6/6/6 split squat, 30s/30s/30s alt. lunges, 6/5/5 pushups, 4/4/4 inv. body row, 45s/45s/45s plank T- Karate, W- 7/6/6 split squat, 40s/30s/30s alt. lunges, 6/6/5 pushups, 5/4/4 inv. body row, 45s/45s/45s plank R- Karate Skipped b/c of sprained ankle F- 7/7/6 split squat, 40s/40s/30s alt. lunges, 6/6/6 pushups, 5/5/4 inv. body row, 45s/45s/45s plank Sa- active rest Su- low intensity bike ride to campus (~2mi) This is currently a mix of the bw guidelines from the NF blog and the startbodyweight program, but as I said I will be switching things up to go full startbodyweight in September. Not too sure what will be daily in this log, maybe food? I have problems finding cheap/no time recipes so maybe that will be my daily approach. Edit to add some info I might have left out: Yes I have goals to get stronger and lose weight, but I know they don't always work at the same time, so I want to lose the weight first.

Well I found this site from the Art of manliness podcast. I found this work out from the email blast form Art of Manliness. All of these work out are killers and are with in my price range (Free.99) Im working in dips and squats from my desk at work figuring any little bit helps. And being this is day 3 or 4 of Nerd Fitness Im going to try to add some reps tonight after my 20 minute walk. http://www.artofmanliness.com/2015/08/05/the-prisoner-workout/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheArtOfManliness+%28The+Art+of+Manliness%29 http://aom.is/rYH-J

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?

Introduction: Hey, I'm Josh, and this is my second challenge! I like road bikes, but I live in the city and I own a mountain bike, so it's really more of a mountain bike on a road. I also love bodyweight exercises, but I have a really hard time getting out of bed and consistently doing it. The only time I have available to workout is the morning because I'm still in college (MY LAST SEMESTER!!!) I live an active lifestyle and my job requires a lot of energy, as my career demands physical fitness (I work in the theatre, so actually, my name is currently Jack Raymon. Detective Jack Raymon). I joined the rebellion because I really want a community that pushes me to stay fit and to improve my body. I want to be able to dance and spend an entire day working (for example, at a Renaissance Festival) without being utterly exhausted by the end. I want to feel good about my body and to feel confident in my skin. Main Quest: Be able to do a 15-second freestanding handstand by Graduation (May 24). Quest 1: Handstands Practice for 5 Minutes, 6 days a week. Measurement: 36 workouts by May 24, 30 workouts, 24 workouts Reward: +3 DEX +2 STR, +2 DEX +1 STR, +1 DEX Quest 2: TMNT Workout 30 minutes a day, 3 days a week. Measurement: 18 total workouts by May 24, 12 workouts, 6 workouts Reward: +3 STR +2 STA, +2 STA + 1 STR, +1 STR Quest 3: Cardio Bike for 5 miles or Run for 3 miles, 2 days a week. Measurement: 12 total workouts by May 24, 6 workouts, 3 workouts Reward: +3 STA, +2 STA, +1 STA Life Quest: Wake-up RIGHT after alarm, encourage others and talk about fitness with people! Measurement: 7 days a week, 5 days a week, 3 days a week. Reward: +2 CHA, +2 WIS; +1 CHA, +1 WIS; +0.5 CHA, +0.5 WIS Motivation: I want to be fit and healthy for my job so I'm not always exhausted. I want to have more energy for the day and to do all sorts of fun things without being too tired. I want to look good for my girlfriend and be able to carry her easily. I want to feel good about my body and how I'm taking care of it. I want to feel confident.

I am a brand new character here at NF, and a little late off the starting block, it seems. A little about me: I'm a mom to a very active and curious 2 year old. I am a full-time student, finally going to college again after a 13 year "break". I am a voracious reader and gamer, but I have cut down on that since my child's birth. For this, my first challenge, I set the goals at novice level. Main goal is to lose 5 lbs and 2 inches from my waist. Starting at 191.2 and 41.5, respectively. Sub-goals: •Track my food in Myfitnesspal at least 5 days out of the week. •Workout on Tuesdays and Thursdays at least twice a week. •Drink 60 oz. of water a day. I am sure these are realistic goals and I'm looking forward to how much better I'll feel after completion. Update to add starting weight and waist measurements. Updated to alter workout goal.

Bonjour fellow rebels, I'm Pierre from Courbevoie (near Paris, France), I'm French-American, currently studying economics and management in university. Now for the important stuff, I try to work out as much as I physically am able to, so every 2-3 days depending on how hard I pushed myself in the last workout, because of my time table I can go to the gym every day if I want to, only problem is recovery time. My sports passion is karate, I've been doing it (with a few year break when I moved) since I was eight, and reached the brown belt, and now I'm taking it back up. That's what motivated me to get in shape, in August 2014 I weighed 95kg, and now I'm hovering between 73 and 76 depending on the time of day which I'm quite proud of. I discovered Nerd Fitness two days ago, and the main thing I seriously regret is taking my "before" picture AFTER losing 20kg! Now my goal is to get competitive in "kumite" (no-contact combat) karate, if possible on a national level. I think I definitely qualify as a nerd by most standards, I was diamond 4 in League of Legends last year (even though I took a break for a while and I'm a little rusty, now I'm getting back to it) and whenever I work out I bring my trusty Ipod with me with fantasy audiobooks, or ones about theoretical physics. A few of my recent reads are "From Eternity To Here" by Sean Carroll, and "The Broken Empire" trilogy by Mark Lawrence. Yesterday I followed NF's recommendation to go for the Paleo diet, which I plan to follow except during social occasions. Some of my strengths are -Discipline, I've never had trouble working towards my goals and I plan my "cheat" meals in advance to make them as healthy as possible. -I'm kind of tall, 190cm/6'3, which helps for karate -Incredibly good looking, intelligent and most importantly modest (translation: I try to be funny sometimes). Some of my weaknesses are (at the moment): -Flexibility, I can't do the first flexibility quest on NF yet, that is grab my shins between my ankles and knees with my legs straight. -Squats, I can only do 4 sets of 8 with 20kg with 1 minute 40 second breaks, and that alone leaves me aching for 3 days. -There's a lot of room for improvement in my endurance, I find that after I do two or three katas full speed I'm exhausted. I'm excited to meet the NF community, I'm glad to be here! Pierre

Hello Level 1 Rebels!! A small intro: I'll be honest I think I gave a small intro about myself a few years ago and for some unknown reason didn't do the follow up, maybe it was a lack of commitment or some not so smart goals. Here I am though with some new and more achievable goals, and an upcomming year of school stress that will need to be directed in a postive and productive direction!! I'm 25 years old and working on my 3rd college diploma. After a few years in the business industry, I was losing my mind sitting at a desk everyday feeling like I should be contributing more to society or in someway making more of a difference than just doing mundane data entry in an office with no windows. I'm now in my 2nd year of an Environmental Technician program and it's pretty awesome! MAIN QUEST: Since I can no longer consider my self a freshman, I need to start avoiding the freshman 5 - 20!!! Each school year I vow to keep up the gym habits and avoid the cafeteria lunch habits. So with your help this will be the year that I start breaking the bad habits and making better healthier ones! Since this Main Quest will carry me to the end of April, I'm also throwing in a second quest of the ever so mystical pull up, I hope to achieve this second quest while working towards my Main Quest. Specific Mission 1: 3 days, a week stretch for 10 minutes in the morning. I'm choosing this goal because as a student I spend a lot of time sitting a desk, hunched over text books and binders, when I wak up in the mornings I'm stiff, tired and unmotivated. I love the feeling of stretching! So what better way to start the long days in class than with something that feels great and gets me moving. A+= more than 30minutes of morning stretching over 3 or more mornings. A = 3 days a week, 10 minutes per session (30minutes over 3 mornings) B = 20 minutes a week C = anything less than 20 minutes but more than 10minutes Specific Mission 2: Maximum 2 mugs of caffine per day!! Some lectures are hard to get through but liters of tea and coffee are NOT the answer, I will always love my first cup of tea in the morning (plus its usually some type of green tea), sometimes a cup of coffee or tea late in the afternoon or early evening is necessary. The idea here will be to drink more water and eat healthy snacks instead of running to the cafeteria for that extra shot of caffine. A = less than or equal to 2/day B = 2/day + 1 or 2 extra a week C = 2/day + 3 or 4 extra a week Specific Mission 3: Maintain 3 workouts a week. I'm doing this already but I know that as we get further into the school year my motivation will be on a steady downhill slope and skipping exercise will be easier justified when the studying AND the snow begin to pile up. Even if it's only 30 minutes it always makes me feel better than if I skip them. A= 3+ workouts 3+hours/week B= 2 - 3 workouts 1.5 - 2.5 hours/week C = 1 - 2 workouts 0.5 - 1 hour/week So there it all is, breaking some bad habits, building new healthy ones, and giving up on freshman excuses. Good luck to the rest of you newbs and level 1's, I look forward to seeing where this takes all of us and look forward to working together with many of you to level up our lives.

Hi guys! I'm looking to work my way into a paleo diet once I'm away at school and buying my own groceries. I have a few problems though... 1) I'm not very experienced when it comes to cooking 2) As a student I don't have a big budget 3) Not a big vegetable eater 4) I have an intolerance to fish(a lot of fish makes me sick) 5) I'm not sure what to replace breakfast stuff like toast with that doesn't involve eggs (eggs on their own make me kinda nauseous as well) and snacks (I usually eat crackers as a chip alternative lol) Basically what I'm looking for is easy to make and not very expensive recipes (I'm ready to put my crock pot to use) for meals as well as simple snacks that are student budget friendly. Also any paleo breakfast alternative to eating toast every morning which I usually do... Sorry for all the n00b questions, I have looked at other paleo entries in the forum I'm just looking for some recipes that take into account some of the stuff above or even some links to helpful websites.

This is to be the summer of my greatest academic and physical challenges! I'm going to be stepping it up a notch for my very second challenge and let me tell you... Well, mostly anyways. I've got 15,000 words to write by August 26th, but I'd like to be done earlier than that, as I have friends and family coming out to visit me pretty much for the entire month of August, and the last two weeks of July. It's going to be chaotic, but I don't want my work stress to ruin the progress I've made so far with my health. Even though last challenge I didn't end up losing any weight (what's a number anyways?) I dropped my waist and hips by a little over an inch each! I'd like to keep that up, and to do so I'm getting a little tougher on myself and do a dual challenge of body and mind. I know it's meant to only be one main quest, but I need to tie them together so I don't back down from the progress I've made so far. Main Quest - Physical Drop at least another inch from my waist and hips, bringing my measurements to 26in and 38in respectively. +2 CHA Main Quest - Mental Complete at least half of required word count for dissertation. +2 WIS In order to achieve these big goals I'll obviously need to keep up with the day to day routine, which is where my side quests come in. Side Quests SQ1: The Diet! +3 CON, +1 STA Stick to paleo, yo! Hey and how about trying some intermittent fasting while you're at it? The fasting will be hard though, because.. A: Follow diet plan as laid out, including healthy paleo eating when forced to eat out during traveling and abroad. No more than gluten 2x per week. Fast at least one day a week. B: Follow diet plan as laid out, staying mostly paleo, but eating gluten up to 4x per week. Fast at least one day per week. C: Same as above, but no fasting. D: Eat gluten up to 6x per week, no fasting. F: Eat pizza, cake and other no-nos all week!!! NOOOOOOOO Don't do that! SQ2: The Exercise! +2 STA, +2 DEX The BBWW worked for me last time, and so I'm going to keep it up, and maybe attend a HIIT class with a friend on the off day. Also, I want to finish the last two weeks of my C25K program and start just doing free runs through run keeper or Zombies, Run! I'm currently running around a 9:40min mile, and I'd like to push that a bit faster, which I think is reasonable as long as I keep running every other day. The nice thing is that it never gets too hot in Scotland, so I won't feel like death after my runs. A: BBWW 3x per week, and either the C25K or a run at least 3x per week. Additionally, run that 5k on the 22nd of June and own it! B: Miss 1 BBWW OR 1 Run. C: Miss 1 BBWW AND 1 Run. F: Miss any more than 1 of each. No middle ground on this one. SQ3: The Dissertation!! +4 WIS A: Read at least 2 articles (of at least 40 pages each) a day, and once possible, write at least 300 words a day, even if those words are garbage. B: Read at least 1 article a day and once possible, write at least 200 words a day, even if those words are garbage. C: Read at least 5 articles a week and write at least 500 words in each week. D: Read at least 3 articles a week and write at least 500 words in each week. F: Uhhhhh, don't read, don't write and fail at the dissertation. Notes on Dissertation: I have set dates in place already requiring a certain amount of reading and writing accomplished. Specifically 2000-3000 words due on June 23rd. Then at least one chapter completed by Mid-July. This should push along the work schedule. Alongside the articles I will be doing primary source collection, which accounts for the lower number of pages I've set my reading to. Hopefully I'll be doing more than that each day, but I don't want to set unattainable goals.

Hey y'all, So I am a super-stressed out, incredibly busy college student and I want to break the cycle of my current unhealthy habits before I graduate (roughly a year-ish from now). I need serious help. With everything. Workouts, nutrition, motivation, all of it. Any and all help would be supremely awesome. Here's a bit of a breakdown- Workouts I like Lifting thingsDoing things that have a practical applicationI don't like RunningGoing to the gym (because the super-skinny girls do horrible things to my psychological state and the buff guys in the weight room intimidate me) Nutrition If I can make a lot of it and eat it through the week, that's awesomeI hate the idea that "I should never feel full"I have to be budget conscious I fall off the wagon when my life gets crazy and can't eat right for a several daysMotivation I get the most discouraged when I do something for over a month and don't see/ feel any differentNone of my friends are starting from square one like me. They're either already super-fit or aren't doing anything on the fitness frontI hate going it alone, but that often feels like my only option. So what do y'all think? Can someone help me out? Should I get my butt over to the academy? How can I set this up so I don't fail again? Seriously, I'm sick of starting and then failing. I'm willing to do something different. I want to do something different. I just need someone to help me set it up so I don't fail.

I'm ready and raring for my first challenge! I want to be tip top for this summer, and to do that I need to buckle down. So here are my goals: Main Quest: Drop 10 lbs whilst gaining muscle mass! Side Quests: 1. Follow CouchTo5K 2. Complete the first set of Bodyweight exercises in regime 3. Follow daily diet plan including juicing and high protein content, eliminating processed foods wherever possible Life Goal: Finish my exams and papers! Don't let the stress of it all get to me.

I am thrilled to have stumbled on this forum, it's exactly what I need. I know it's supposed to mainly include workouts and food logs, but I suspect it will become a catalog of triumphs and obstacles. I've never been big on journals on diaries. I'm haunted by the paranoia that others will read my private thoughts or scrutinize my public ones. Even worse, I fear the gut wrenching embarrassment I may feel when my future self reads my past self's thoughts. I am also fairly confident that no one really cares what fitness/healthy lifestyle goals I achieve or which struggles I endure along the way. Quite a melancholy perspective isn't it? However, after reading some other users' threads, I've found comfort in knowing that the community that has formed here really does care about its members' opinions and contributions. Whomever developed this supportive atmosphere should really be given a pat on the back... Who am I kidding, give 'em a beer! I am looking forward to sharing my journey with those who are curious and documenting my experience as I sit, safely hidden, behind my keyboard. :-P My story begins many moons ago. The first time I got healthy was as a teenager. I refused to change my diet as I was convinced all I needed was exercise. I took weight training in school with all the boys and went to the gym in my neighborhood at least once if not twice a day. Man, I had so much time! This worked okay, I was very strong and comfortable in my clothes, but still self conscious in bathing suits and the like. Did I mention I basically live in surf city? The place where everyone is friendly and beautiful. So feeling uncomfortable in swim suits dramatically reduces the number of social gatherings and activities available to you. Regardless, I still refused to change my eating habits. I slowly stopped going to the gym and began gaining weight. A few years later, my world seemed to crumble. It was my first day of junior year in college and my boyfriend of 3 years had finally completed the long, drawn out, and painful process of breaking up with me based on a rumor that I had been unfaithful. Thought I was already paranoid? Try adding the anxiety and stress of knowing that one or more of the people you know are spreading hurtful rumors about you. I analyzed everything, I questioned everyone, and I sank into a deep depression. Have you ever sat in a garden on a bright and sunny summer day, but saw nothing but dull colors with hues of grey as you choked back unprovoked tears? I hope you never have and never will. Here comes attempt to get in shape #2. I decided to get fit by running and completing Beachbody's Insanity. I also decided to clean up my diet. I stated counting calories, portioning properly, and ditching carbs for protein. I was in the best shape of my life, but I was obsessed and it was doing nothing good for my depression. I measured every inch and pound lost. All I could think about was my next meal and despite being 107 pounds (I'm 5'2" so I was healthy skinny) all I could see were flaws. I would look in the mirror and think, "I should really get braces and whiten my teeth now. Maybe I should dye my hair and get a tan." Also, I was unhappy with my lack of muscle definition. I was definitely skinny and starting to develop some definition after 90 days, but not nearly what I wanted. I also remember my face was so thin that one day I caught a glimpse of my reflection and didn't recognize myself. After Insanity, I kept eating well and working out in other ways. The weight stayed at bay until I entered law school. I began living a very sedentary lifestyle due to the fact that all I did was study. I would sit in the library for 10 to 12 hours on most days. I was too tired to exercise when I had the time and shortly my good eating habits were out the window because it was so difficult to plan meals for crazy long days. Some friends and I tried to do a spin class and encourage each other to run. It worked, for the most part, but it was only maintaining my body, not changing it. Then I left the country! Fast forward to today. I've been studying abroad for about four months with less than two to go. Fortunately, my boyfriend (the same one from the story above, we worked it out after about a year) has been able to accompany me so I'm not alone. The first couple of months here were freezing and I was adjusting to having so much time on my hands, trapped indoors. I ate and drank like a queen and I was so so happy. Unfortunately, due to all of the winter clothes I had never worn before, I couldn't see the weight piling on. I noticed I was wearing my fat pants almost all the time and my regular pants were becoming too snug. It was definitely time to make a change. Most people come back from studying abroad thinner and happier and I am not going back home fatter and with a drinking problem, damnit! I joined the neighborhood gym about two weeks ago, about the time I found nerd fitness. I work out everyday with about 40 minutes of weight training (arms one day, legs the next) and 20-60 minutes of cardio depending on my energy. Fortunately this gym focuses primarily on weights and only has a few cardio machines so i can't get too distracted. I've also cut out carbs quite a bit and re-introduced protein shakes. I just don't like the taste of meat enough to get ask the protein I need in a day naturally. So here I am. The heaviest i've been in my life - 138.6 - with about 40 days to get at least below 130 and back in my normal pants. Ready, set, go!

v Main Quest: I want to lose 10 pounds in 10 weeks. o No fast food, hot Cheetos, or soda. o 30 minutes of cardio at the rec/park every day. o 7-8 hours of sleep every night! o Do not eat in front of TV or computer! v Life Quest: Get a 4.0 this semester o Study 6 hours/class spread out throughout week o Study SMART, not HARD! o Two office hours per week (Different Prof.) v Measurable: Take measurements and pictures every week v Attainable: Take a picture of every meal throughout the day & add calories consumed with Pixlr. v Realistic: 1 pound per week is do able, not out of this galaxy. I CAN DO THIS! v Timely: I want to accomplish this goal by April 28, 2014! Motivation The man who can drive himself further once the effort gets painful is the man who will win. – Roger Bannister High School Graduation Picture – this is that ‘one’ picture I look back on for motivation (4 years ago) Current Before Picture – will be posted on 2/24/14 Current Measurements – will be posted on 2/24/14

Hey Everyone! So this will be my 2nd challenge. I'm an undergrad studying at university looking to get a B.S. in biomedical engineering. I originally thought I was going to go to med school and then the difficulty of classes (and the amount of time it takes) hit, so right now I'm exploring options and looking into internships. Anyways with fitness, I've really been thinking about getting into weight training and the more I read about it the more excited I am to get into it. I'm not that sure on how to start, but luckily my school offers a weight training gym class and I'm taking that this spring (It starts on Jan 13th and is Mondays and Wednesdays). I'm hoping that will teach me some of the basics and I can learn the rest from research. So onto the goals! Main Goal: Start lifting and get fit! [this is kind of vague, but I've been thinking about this for so long, and I want to do it right. This goal would mean that I'm working on lifting regularly and know how to do some of the basic lifts by the end of the challenge. EDIT: for measuring sake, I would like a pair of jeans I own to fit comfortably again] Missions: Workout at least 2 times a week [2 pts STA, 2 pts CHA] [i'm purposefully leaving this unassigned so that, as I learn more about lifting I can add more of that into my workouts and I also have the ability to decide to do a cardio day] Only have at the most 1 grain a day [3 pts CON] [i'm really interested in starting Paleo, but I'm in love with dairy and I do like to snack on edamame (soybeans). I'm keeping the restriction small because when I'm at school it's really hard to keep myself to my workouts AND keep up with a diet when I have all this stress bombarding me, so that's why I'm just trying one thing slowly. I also have a lack of options for food which makes it really difficult to cut main food groups out so I have hope this will go well.] Learn how to do the basic lifts with Starting Strength program [3 pts STR, 2 pts WIS] [by the end of the challenge, I want to be able to properly do the workout outlined in the Starting Strength 3rd ed. I ordered the book on amazon and should be getting it by Jan 7th!] Life Quest: Do all my homework [3 pts WIS] [This sounds silly when you first read it, but I think it's a necessary goal. I had a lot of classes last semester that had daily homework--it all became too much, and I started skipping assignments when I was overwhelmed. I lost a lot of points that could have given me more leeway when it came to finals and I probably could have gotten some better final grades if I had done all my assignments. So, for this semester, come what may, I will do every homework assignment. God help me.] Looking forward to the new challenge! Starting Measurements 140 pounds [using the right side of the body] wrist: 5 3/4 in upper arm: 9 11/16 in 2 in above the knee: 17 1/2 in 3 in below hip joint: 23 9/16 in hips: 40 3/4 in waist: 28 6/8 in bust: 36 9/16 in

Hello, hello! I'm Christina, and I've been a lurker for some time now. I credit NF as one of the resources that has re-sparked my interest to become healthier and fitter. I'm a 20-something university student from Vancouver, Canada. Once upon a time, I dated a bodybuilder who taught me lots about exercising and eating right. I was once in shape, but have let years and years of schooling and extracurricular involvement get in the way of being healthy and feeling good. I started my final year in Fall 2013, and just didn't feel healthy. Halfway through, I've made a commitment to myself to live a healthier lifestyle and get back in shape. I finally decided to join the forums because I'm looking for a community of supportive and like-minded people who I can share this experience with. Goals Reduce body fat to 20%Build more muscleWaist measurement of 26'' (66cm)Be balanced: Strength in both mind and bodyFeel, look and be strong! I'm not too concerned with my weight, as long as I get stronger, and achieve my desired measurements. Starting Point About 25% body fatWaist measurement of 31" (~79cm)I've been eating healthier and started exercising in mid-December. Since that time, I've gone down by about 2.5", and have lost 4lbs. I feel much more confident and stronger. I'm finding myself feeling very energized, and have been waking up earlier and not needing coffee to stay awake. So far so good! Exercise Plan 4 days of strength training, consisting mainly of squats, deadlifts, pull-ups and pressesWarmups consist of a 10-15 minute run, along with jumping jacks, pushups, planks and burpeesEvery morning (including off days), I do sets of squats, planks and burpees15 minute meditation each morningDiet Mostly Paleo. Planning on moving to strict PaleoHave cut out grains, dairy and legumesBalance of vegetables and lean meats (mostly chicken, beef and seafood)Occasionally find myself cheating with tiny nibbles of friends' chips or chicken wings. No bueno! Lifestyle Changes Have cut out coffee. Throughout the day, I drink green tea and waterTaking more frequent walksStarted meditating and journal writing again. Great way to keep track of progress and motivate myself So far, everything is working out and I'm seeing results. One of my concerns is cardio. For the goal I have of reducing my body fat (but also gaining more muscles), do I need to prioritize cardio? As of right now, I don't really do much cardio, except for some running for my warm-ups. Another concern is my diet. I started mid-December, which was probably the worst time to start. I managed to survive the holidays by reducing portions, but did break many of my guidelines (ate bread and rice). I've been able to transition to a mostly Paleo diet, but find myself breaking the rules again once in a while. Is an occasional cheat meal okay? Are there guidelines to 'cheating the right way'? Thanks, and looking forward to getting to know you! Edit: forgot to mention my nerdy interests! Back when I had free time, I played GTA, The Sims and Portal. I love documentaries about society, psychology, economics and history. I'm also a bookworm who always carries a book to read. My favourite deck to play in Magic are mono-green and green-red.