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Well that last challenge blew by! Not that I managed to log on much towards the end...but I did keep up with my tracking! This challenge will be much more stable! No movesNo trips (planned yet!) I loved my main challenge (track things) last month, so I'm keeping it. This time, I'm adding on to that main challenge: Not only will I continue tracking my food...but I will track to Marco goals! Last time the intention was just to get in the habit. I made it to a 25 day streak in myfitnesspal GOAL 1: Hit the Macros I have a spreadsheet started for that with some nice formatting to make good/bad days stand out. Marcos I care most about: Carbs (total): 50 or less dailyCarbs (net): 25 or less daily Calories: 1300 - 1400 (WEEKLY AVERAGE.)(I don't care if calories aren't a nutrient. Macro means "big things that are trackable" in this usage to me) The other two big hitters: Protein: 80-100gFat: around 100g Keeping these in check should result in weightloss I've been sticking to those, mostly, for the last couple weeks. I've been exhausted, but that could be a variety of factors. I am down 10lbs in January, so that's a start! Goal 2: Don't watch much Netflix Thats what I've done when I got home nearly every day...so many better things I could be doing! Actual Goal? Read and study too. Goal 3: Have Fun I want to make fun a priority! Not just going drinking with coworkers either... Is: Meeting new people, going to the city, going for walks. Learning to maintain my bike, sleeping in sometimes, planning trips...fun! Is NOT: Working on weekends, or more than 55 hours a week.

{Placeholder} I will phone it in later. Goal 1 measure Ok, this is more like size matters. I have to get back to measuring and logging caloric intake. I can get a little laissez faire during a bulk. I am not ready to cut and am fine with either maintaining or gaining... but I gotta get back to measuring. Goal 2: Consistency What had felt nearly automatic to get up and get to the gym 4x/week has become a struggle again. Lots of stuff getting in the way so back to basics. At least 15 workouts in 4 weeks. That gives me one screw up. Goal 3: Name change Sometime during the challenge I need a new handle. My username is pretty much my real name. I'm a professional working in the public sector and have posted a picture of Captain Kirk holding a rock dildo on this site... perhaps these worlds need not collide. So something nerdy and fitness related. Rhadavast the Bro? Nah, too small to pull that off. But something like that...

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.

Me over the holidays: Me in my head, going forward: I'm so lazy that I am a week late to a 4 week challenge. But at least I'm here at last! Goal One: Eat Healthy and Lose Weight Create good habits.Make it easier to make healthy choices.Track all food. Goal Two: Be More Active Get back to twice weekly gym visitsGo hiking every weekendPersonal Goal: Read constantly. My goal for the year is 50 books. I intend to surpass my goal. Right now I am re-reading the Anita Blake series. While I was off work after Christmas, I read a book per day. Now that I am back to work, it takes me about 3-4 days per book. Should still get done the 26-book series pretty quickly. One of the reasons I chose this as my first series of the year is that Anita Blake is a strong, ass-kicking necromancer who's got a black belt in Judo and lifts heavy, runs, and takes absolutely no one's bull. She's also 5'3", just like me, but WAY less Hobbitish. Day One Food so far: Breakfast was a wrap with ground beef, mozza, hummus, lettuce, yellow peppers and spring onions. On the side I had the rest of the yellow pepper and some cucumber. Tea with a tiny bit of honey and milk. I will be refraining from honey in my tea going forward, unless I have a sore throat. I have an apple on my desk in case I need a snack before lunch. Lunch will be a sandwich with ham, sharp aged cheddar and hummus. Another apple on the side. Dinner I haven't decided on completely yet. Chicken drumsticks with a large veggie side. TBD. My goal today is to not have any snacks that aren't fruit/veggies.

I've been a member of nerdfitness for a while and have decided to get in the bandwagon and announce my daily log to assassinate kill all the things. That's right. I'm here to conquer. And to tell my tale of triumph and defeat to all (who care to listen.) What to expect during my battles of valor: sarcasm, gifs, videosdaily log of current six week challengepictures of not mehappy postssad postsstories of levling up or just how "how I battle with my exercise"random noob questions. But they'll go away after the quest for answers/enlightenment is done Goals: lose 50 lbs.(Thanks college and stress for giving that to me.)study a lot.I'm majoring in accounting. and it might not sound hard but I recently switched majors which is making things a little more difficult.exerciseget into the habit of itI'm starting off with Dance Central 2 and zumba on the xbox but I'll work my way to other exercisestry new exercisesstart off with small 7 minute strength training exercisesdo the BBWW workout confession: I tried the 20min hotel workout my first time here and was sore for a week (serious case of DOMS. and kinda pulled a back muscle, so I was out for another two weeks after that)kill conquer the 20 min hotel workoutschedulinggetting into a better routine for everything is better for, well, everything. this inclides getting into a better:sleep schedulestudy scheduleworkout schedulereading schedulefandom watching scheduleetc.A little bit about me: Female Age: 22 Height: 5'5 Current Weight: 197 lbs Goal Weight: 140~150ish (I shall shout my small steps to this goal with gifs, videos, constant trips to the woot room, and lots of sarcasm) Fears: public speaking and over socialization. guess you can chalk that up to social anxiety. (but online no one knows that. and no one knows you're a cat) Likes: dogs, puppies, fluffy things, shiny things, reading, writing, fandoms, tea, D&D, gaming, music, distractions, chocolates, gummies, food, fruits Current Gaming addiction:online mmo called "Terra." I've been playing as a beserker since its so easy to lvl up with some time and a little bit of grinding

Hello everyone I've been an assassin for my last several challenges, but I am here to work on getting a steady diet of iron in my workouts. Main Quest: I'm getting married in July and I would like to fit into my wedding dress. Steady relationship weight and the holidays have not been kind to me and I need to get into some sustainable habits that will allow me to hopefully drop some body fat before the big day. I think 20 lbs is not unreasonable. Quest 1: Go to the gym & lift weights 3x a week. I have some trainer appointments to use up, and then my fiancee and I are doing Stronglifts 5x5 on the other days. The plan is Monday, Wednesday, & Saturday and we've done pretty well the past 2 weeks so far. Quest 2: Track food. I'm aiming to track every day, because I overeat when I'm not keeping track of what I eat. The focus this month is on compliance only, not calories or macros. Quest 3: Find and record at least 10 comforting activities that I can do whenever I feel sad or stressed out. I am the world's worst emotional eater, and I need non-food alternatives to big macs that I will be willing and able to substitute when I feel sad or lonely or anxious. LUYL: I have one class left in my grad school program, and it ends on January 31st. If I can get through it, I will be done with my MS. That is all I want for this month.

My main life quest is to improve my body composition. In order to achieve this, I need a solid foundation upon which to build a more balanced life. My goals for this challenge focus on improving habits, routines and creating a more healthy way of life. 1. Walk! STA+1 CON+2 I have already got into the habit of walking in the evenings (avec dog) but on weekdays I sit at a desk, looking at a computer screen for 7+ hours per day and I need to take proper breaks. I will buy a timer, bring it to work, and at some point in the day I will get up and take a 5-min walking break. So look out Mordor, here I come. A = 30 or more 5-min walks B = 24-29 walks C = 18-23 walks F = 17 walks or fewer 2. Gym! STR+1 DEX+1 STA+1 CHA+1 I last worked out at the gym on 30th June 2015; then summer happened, holidays happened and this all contributed to one big gym hiatus. The hiatus has to end. I will get back to the gym and do stuff. I will have to restart gradually but I will restart. A = 18 or more workouts B = 12-17 workouts C = 6-11 workouts F = 5 workouts or fewer 3. Sugar! CON+2 WIS+1 CHA+1 I regularly consume excessive amounts of sugar, mostly in the form of chocolate, biscuits and desserts. Cravings get the better of me, causing me to mindlessly devour any sugar in sight. I will keep a check on my sugar intake and reduce the amount of added / processed sugar I consume. Naturally occurring sugars (in fruit and vegetables) are allowed for this challenge. I will treat this as a "hard hat" challenge for the whole 6 weeks, meaning I will not miss 2 or more days in a row and I will either pass or fail. Pass = never miss 2 or more days in a row Fail = miss 2 or more days in a row 4. Declutter! CON+2 WIS+2 Building on my last challenge to get organised, it is difficult to achieve a good level of organisation in life when things are cluttered. A cluttered living space leads to a cluttered mind and body. The clutter has to go. I will rid myself of 126 bits of tangible clutter over these 6 weeks. That’s an average of 3 items per day. These items will be sold, recycled, donated or gifted to friends. Actual rubbish does not count. If something is put aside for gifting or donation it will be out of the house within one week. A = Got rid of 127 items or more B = 84-126 items C = 42-83 items F = Got rid of 41 items or fewer. Starting stats: (using my home scale which I am sure is wildly inaccurate but at least will be consistently inaccurate) Weight 86.9kg Fat 33.6% Water 48.4% Muscle 31.4% BMI 30.1

Introduction: My name is Sandra. This is my first challenge, and I think I need it. A couple years ago I embarked on a weight loss journey and lost 70 lbs. It felt good, but over the last several months its been creeping back on as I've become sedentary again and forgot about tracking my food etc. I'm also sleeping like crap. Not only that, but as I've become more sedentary all the old aches and pains are back, and worse than ever. I've been telling myself all summer I need to 'get more active', but apart from a few brief spurts here and there, I've mostly been sitting/lying around telling myself I hurt too much to move. I need the focus of a challenge, and other people to help me stay on track. My goals are fairly modest, but I'm going from zero again. Once I've mastered this hill I can look to climbing a mountain again. Main Quest: Move regularly again and use exercise and movement to regain stamina, endurance, flexibility, and reduce stress and joint pain. Hopefully that will also lead to some weight loss so I can fit into my clothes again and not look like a stuffed sausage. Weight lost matters less than how I feel - less pain, less stiffness, less exhaustion. Will be creating a 'pain/stiffness/exhaustion' scale from 1 (=none) to 10 (=most), with a goal to go from about an 8 (now) to a 2. Quest 1: Get Good Rest Getting enough sleep is crucial to feeling rested the next day, and also helps avoid overeating (using food to replace energy that wasn't gained through rest). a. Go to bed during work nights between 10 and 11 pm (goal to fall asleep by 11 pm). This will ideally mean 7 hours of sleep a night. If insomnia hits, I will NOT turn on the computer or play on my phone, but read quietly in a dim room until sleepy again. b. Make the bed every morning so that it is welcoming and ready for sleep at night. This includes clearing off bags, clothes, books, etc. Quest 2: Move it, Move it Avoiding stiffness and joint pain requires movement. I know this works for me, because it has worked in the past. Ideally this movement is low impact and regular, and includes a variety of movement so I don't get bored. a. Five times a week, go for at least a ten minute walk. If this becomes routine after a couple of weeks, add a day, and/or increase the minimum walk to fifteen minutes. If its cold or rainy or miserably hot, walk in the back halls (at work), or go to the mall. b. Work out for 20 minutes three times a week. One yoga or pilates, one cardio, and one strength, to work on flexibility, stamina, and muscle strength. I have dumbbells and a resistance band and a yoga mat and various exercise DVDs and youtube videos saved - its time to use them again. Quest 3: Track that Food Eating mindlessly is my biggest enemy. I like healthy foods and eat them regularly; but I also get sucked into eating far too many snacks and sweets, and all without thinking about it. My best success in avoiding this, while still getting to enjoy treats, was to track my food intake. Hauling extra weight on my joints is not good. Being mindful is good. a. At least five times a week, track all food eaten that day (breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks). No matter what it is, no matter how much, and no matter when. Tracking food helps minimize mindless snacking and leads to better awareness of portion sizes. b. No snacks from the vending machine at work. If I feel like snacking at work, go for a walk in the back halls instead. Any other snacks get tracked (see point a.) Quest 4: Prep for the new Cats Now that Icarus is gone, its time to get the apartment ready for new arrivals. In the next few weeks of the challenge I will go through all the cat stuff, purge what is old and broken. Carriers, cat beds, etc. will be cleaned and aired out. The floors will be cleaned thoroughly, and as much of the old cat hair will be removed from all furniture and other surfaces. Make sure the apartment is clean and welcoming to new cats. Reward: new cats! Very tangible, and very wanted. The golden goose at the top of the beanstalk. I *will* need help - buddies - to keep me on track. Without someone to be accountable too, its all too easy to fall into the procrastination trap of 'I'll start tomorrow', or 'It can wait'. Anyone who wants to be my buddy, let me know! And I will be your buddy too.

After a pants-ripping incident this morning (thankfully nothing severe or embarrassing, though they are my favourite pair), I'm thinking I need to start tracking what I eat. Apparently my jeans can't take it anymore - though this could simply be an issue of derby thighs... I have managed to get myself on a pretty good track as far as eating healthy foods and cooking at home, but I think I might be eating too much of it. I've tried counting calories in the past, but it never worked out - I restricted myself too much, it was bad for my mental health, etc. Instead, I'm thinking about tracking my macros - I like the whole IIFYM thing and it seems to work really well for a number of people. Based on what research I have done, my macros come to something like this for fat loss: Calories:1405 Protein: 131g Fat: 39g Carbs: 132g Fiber: ~20g (because I guess that's something else that's good to track? They mention it in the article below) This is based on my info: 26yo femaile 5'5" 159lbs (I fluctuate between 157-159, so I just used the higher number) This is the site I used for calculations: healthyeater.com/how-to-calculate-your-macros I did everything by hand first, and then used their calculator, which had the same results. Now, one thing I'm unsure of is my activity level. The above info is for 'sedentary', but I do have two 2hr derby practices a week. I'm also adding 3 days of strength and endurance training (~30-45min/day) for this challenge - I guess that means I should up it to 'light activity' (burn addt'l 200-400 calories/day for females)? This is what 'light activity' while losing weight looks like: Calories: 1610 Protein: 131g Fat: 45g Carbs: 171g Fiber: ~23g Would it be better to use a mix of both- Sedentary for rest days and light activity for workout days? The site suggests buying a scale to measure food, which I have no problem doing. I also re-downloaded MFP for my phone (though it's really different now) so I can create my own recipes and see what the carbs/protein/fat/fiber contents come out to - this is how most of my food will be. Any suggestions for dining out? I know that most places have their nutritional info on their website, but some don't, and it's not always easy to access in a pinch. Also, are there any other tracker apps or ways of tracking that anyone would recommend? I don't mind using MFP for now, but if I end up alternating the macro info, it's going to be a bit of a pain to change it. I'm sure this will all eventually come easily, but it seems wicked complicated right now. :/

After last challenge I clearly need to get back to basics. Soon I will be revealing that plan but now I need to do terrible things to asphalt. Okay: Goal 1) 3 work outs per week. Days to be declared at the beginning of the week Goal 2) Track food, meet the calorie goal my trainer set out for me Goal 3) Keep up with YNAB.

So my last challenge had a lot of slip ups but I am moving forward and looking to really make this year a good one for myself. I joined a GAME On! challenge with a buy in of 20 bucks, and I am taking my goals from that and implementing them here. Since that started yesterday this 6 week challenge is going to be more like 8! Train All The Days- 60 minuets of activity 5 days a week, 20 minuets minimum of activity on "off days" 6+ Days per week - A 5+ Days per week - B Less than 5 - F Drink All The Water- 3 liters per day, every day. 6+ Days per week - A 5+ Days per week - B Less than 5 - F Don't Eat All The Things - eat 4 to 5 small/proper portioned meals per day (1 quest bar/protein shake counts as a meal per day). I will stay under my 1600 calorie limit on heavy workout days, 1400 on light workout days. The game on challenge rules allow 1 meal and 1 day off, so I am sticking with that as the rules. No alcohol except 1 drink allowed with the cheat meal, and then on the free day. 6+ Days per week - A 5+ Days per week - B Less than 5 - F Life Quest: Save up for my Cruiser now that I have my motorcycle endorsement!!

Hey Everyone! I've decided to start up a battle log. This way I can keep track of things and not fall off the wagon if I take a break from a 6WC. Currently, I'm trying to keep up the momentum from the past challenge. It's tough in some ways. Since I'm waiting to find out what I'm allowed to do with my shoulder injury, I can easily foresee changes in my workouts. I'll keep doing my walks for cardio and keep watching what I'm eating, though I need to work on that a bit more and tweak it. The big thing I need to do is that once I figure out my limitations for my shoulder, I need to create a workout plan and stick with it so I don't drop that aspect completely. To be honest, I've been unmotivated since I found out I had a tear in my rotator cuff. I like being a completionist and doing a full body workout in one shot. I suppose I need to get over that and do what I can do for now... (As was pointed out to me by a friend (DF, this is for you), I still got legs and I should keep pressing towards the weight loss and fitness, not what I was hoping to do.) Anyway, time to get cracking!

Posting this fashionably late, as always. This dragon will be the death of me! I am coming into this challenge with very little to almost no motivation at all. I thought about skipping it but then I would feel much worse in the long run. I have relapsed completely on my morning routine since the last challenge but I want to pick it up again. Quests 1. Practice mindful eating habits. No eating while standing, continue to not eat while gaming or watching tv. Focus on the food and nothing else for at least one meal a day. WIS + 3, WIL + 2 2. Track my food intake using FatSecret I have always been more successful when I keep track of what I have eaten. Also helps put into perspective just how much I am eating. WIS + 3 3. Yoga & Walking (One or the other, or maybe both, 5 times a week). Preferably mornings. STA +1, DEX +1 Ready to begin my Walk to MORDOR challenge! Life challenge Work on cosplay pieces at least 5 days a week. (no time limit, at least SOMETHING). Tracking and Accountability Progress Calendar Walkers PVP. Walk to Mordor progress in Signature. Mindful Eating FTW!

My week has been a little hectic so I don't have anything really set down how I want it. But my goals are going to keep on being pretty similar. I just really want to have some details and hammer on some grades this time to see if that helps me be a little more locked on to my goals. Goal 1 will be about exercising consistently even when my job interferes with life. Goal 2 will be about food, tracking religiously and maintaining a calorie goal. Goal 3 is going to be about me time. I have a new chain mail project to work on so I want to at least get that started. I'm also going to do something really outside my normal bubble and go to a board game group I found on Meetup. They meet every Tuesday and Thursday night. Eek!

I'm looking to trim down, but not necessarily lose "weight" in general. I have been slowly and steadily gaining muscle for the past few years, and know that the scale doesn't tell the full body comp story. What methods do y'all use to track % body fat? Tape measure? Impedance? a pro with a caliper?

MAIN QUEST: Do my first pull-up. Mini-main quest: Continue my "year of consistency." I'll get my time in under the bar, continue working on mobility, figure out how to eat in a way that supports my health, strength, and happiness, and see what happens... This is my first New Year's with NF! Now that I have a good foundation for fitness and health, it’s time to work on the weak points. Which brings me to the theme of this challenge: Hakuna Matata a.k.a. Don’t Stress About Food I’ve been focusing on eating “clean,†and I definitely feel better as a result. However, that alone doesn’t mean that I’m eating optimally for my goals (whether that’s gaining strength or cutting bf%). I need to add more structure into my nutrition, but without getting frustrated by slow progress or bogged down by perfectionism. That brings me to my first goal: Goal 1: Counting with curiosity [+3 WIS, +1 CHA, +2 STR] I’ll be tracking food with the goal of figuring out what works best for me. Possible questions that I can answer with this data (albeit not all at once) include: What does “eating at maintenance†mean for me?What is a sustainable calorie deficit for me?Am I eating enough protein?Do I feel better if I eat more/fewer meals?How does my carb intake affect how I feel?In addition to tracking food on My Fitness Pal, every day I’ll also log how I feel (energy-wise, mood-wise, etc.). I tried something like this during my second challenge and it quickly turned into a fiasco because of lingering body image and food issues. Why will it be different this time around? I’m going to eat more, for starters. MFP now thinks that I’m a very active individual who wants to maintain her weight and therefore won’t tell me that I’ve exceeded my calorie goal on a regular basis. Turning my daily stats red isn’t cool, MFP. I will NOT measure my success by “results†(i.e., fat loss, which is an eventual goal). Any information that I gain from this is valuable. Also, there will be less frequent tracking of these results. I have a before photo and the fit of my clothes to track changes during the challenge, and I know my approximate starting measurements/weight if I want to check these down the road. Different motivation—this is for the lifts. I want to be strong for my size, and I don’t want inconsistent intake to mess with my progress. As a novice, I’ve gotten away with not having on-target nutrition, but that won’t always be the case. I *think* I’m better prepared for this challenge now than I was last summer. For one thing, I’ve fallen in love with lifting and it helps keep me sane. Life outside of the gym is going pretty well, too.So, that’s the big goal for this challenge. Other things I need to work on: Goal 2: Mindful eating [+2 WIS] When did eating at the computer become a habit again? For this challenge: always eat sitting down, and at least one meal each day should be eaten without distractions (computer, reading, etc.—music and conversation are fine). Goal 3: Conditioning 2x/week [+3 STA] I’ve neglected conditioning work since I started lifting. However, even though strength training is my main goal, I do want a base level of conditioning for my daily tasks, hiking, and powerlifting. This challenge I'll build the habit of incorporating conditioning of some form into my weekly routine. The workouts will probably consist of rowing since I hate treadmills, don’t fancy running in the cold/dark/wet, and don’t have access to a swimming pool unless I purchase another gym membership. Goal 4: Scheduling for sleep [+2 CON] I have trouble getting to sleep on time because of 1) evening workouts, and 2) messing around on the computer in the evening. To make sure bed time doesn’t get pushed back by these things, I’ll Get to the gym by 6:30 pm so I can change, warm-up, and be ready to lift by 7 pm. Stay off the computer for leisure purposes (Facebook, non-work email, reading blogs, watching movies/shows, Nerd Fitness…) after 8:30 pm. Ideally I won’t do any chores (e.g., grocery shopping) or school work on the computer after this time, either.Life Quest [+2 CHA] Go to two swing dance events (lesson, dance, etc.). Yeah, no lifting goal because getting the lifts in is now easy for me. This challenge starts at my 16th week of Starting Strength, and the workouts will mostly be posted in the battle log. Not quite sure what will be posted here... probably ramblings, food photos, and Lion King gifs (and please contribute to these ). I don't plan on posting much raw MFP data, but if anyone's curious about what I'm trying (macros, meals, etc.), feel free to ask. tl;dr: Goal 1: Track food on MFP without the tracking becoming a source of stress. Also track how I feel that day.Goal 2: Work on mindful eating (eat sitting down + one meal/day without distractions).Goal 3: Conditioning 2x/week (probably rowing)Goal 4: Get to the gym by 6:30 pm and get off the computer by 8:30 pm (at least for non-work activities) so I can get to bed on time.Life Quest: Start swing dancing again by going to at least 2 swing somethings.Lifts ( = Starting Strength) are in the battle log.

Argh. I typed most of this, hit the Enter key and for some reason Google Chrome decided that meant "go back." Starting over... *grumble grumble* Main Quest: Obese No More. This requires that I lose almost 100 pounds. My current weight is 261, and in order to no longer be obese according to the BMI, I must weigh 169 at least. Quest 1: Heavy lifting workout 3 days a week (3 exception days permitted). I'm permitting exception days because I know that real life can get in the way, and there's also a much greater chance of me getting sick this time of year, which would prevent exercise. Also, 2 days a week of a good weight lifting workout is still good. But for the best results in this quest, 3 days a week is ideal. Quest 2: Tracking food every day (3 exception days permitted). Stay within daily food allowance limits. Again, real life may get in the way. In my experience, especially when eating out it can be hard to track food. I want to strive for tracking every single day, though, and if I can't track something I want it to be because it's a meal that is very hard to accurately track, and not because of laziness. Also, last quest I stuck to tracking only, but could eat whatever I wanted, because I was just making myself get into the habit of tracking daily. This time, I need to stay within daily allowances and stick to healthy choices most of the time: good sources of protein, healthy fats, and of course lots of fruits and veggies. Quest 3: Lose 6 pounds. Quest 1 and 2 should lead to this goal. This is low-balling possible weight loss quite a lot - considering my weight, I wouldn't be surprised if I lose 10 or even a little more. But a pound per week is good healthy weight loss, and accounts for any plateauing that might occur. Life Quest: Complete one wearable garment for my costuming. DragonCon is at the end of the summer, which is closer than you might think. I have a bad tendency to start my costuming in June, and that means I spend the entire summer rushing to finish costumes. Things that I have a very hard time doing while rushing to finish costumes include having a social life, getting to the gym, and prepping healthy meals. So this year I'm striving to get started early because I know at least one costume will include a lot of leather work, and the other is an existing costume that I'm altering to make it look much cooler. And since "get started on costuming" isn't really a SMART goal, I've decided I should strive to complete one wearable item. Could be a leather gauntlet or armor. Could be one of the two jackets I need to alter. Just so long as I can wear it by the end of the challenge. And yes, everything I'm working on this early is either not relevant to size or else adjustable, so that weight loss won't prevent me from using it. Editing to add point distribution for each goal. Quest 1: Heavy lifting 3 days per week: +3 to STR, +2 to STA Quest 2: Track food every day: +3 to WIS Quest 3: Lose 6 pounds: +2 to CON, +2 to DEX Life Quest: Complete one wearable garment for costuming: +3 CHA Point distribution in case of failure to complete any part of the challenge is as follows: A - 100% B - 75% C - 50% D - 25% F - 0% I will also only award myself an A in lifting and tracking if I do these the set number of times (3 times a week for lifting, every day for tracking). I really only added the exception days in order to give myself permission to make a few exceptions, but still put a limit on the number I intend to take.

Hello fellow Rebels! I think I'm going to try to start 2015 off on the right foot by holding myself accountable for a full challenge. I'm really terrible at finishing challenges, so my first personal goal for 2015 is to ACTUALLY FINISH this challenge. I have four simple goals this time: Fitness Goals 1. Track all of my training and food intake into my pretty new journal. (It's all pretty and official and stuff) 2. Do 20 minutes of cardio (elliptical... ugh) 3x per week after training. Life Goals 3. 30 minutes of crocheting or personal reading 3x per week (no textbooks). 4. FINISH THIS CHALLENGE See? Easy and attainable goals! I'm really excited to be back in the game. I am hoping to kick off 2015 right with this challenge. Sorry about the short intro to the challenge... Gotta get back to work!

My Main Quest: In October I had a minor surgery. Unfortunately, I have to have a second very soon, likely in within this next 6 weeks. The recovery period from the first surgery did two things: 1) It inhibited my ability to work out for months. 2) It brought on about a week of intense anxiety attacks and about a month of not being able to fully control my stress levels. Going into this a second time my main quest is to make sure my body and my mind are as prepared as possible for the second recovery process. I want to be as capable of healing as I can be. My 3 Goals: 1) Record everything that I eat. The idea here is to make small improvements in my diet every day and foster a habit of healthy eating. Recording it allows me to easily see what improvements I am making and keeps me honest about what I am putting in my body. (If I know that I am going to have to write down that I ate an entire box of Little Debbie christmas tree shaped snack cakes, I am less inclined to do it.) I've had a lot of successes and failures in the last year with my diet. The biggest hurdle was overcoming a nasty bout of candida. Most of the struggle was from suddenly being put on such a strict diet. There are lot of ups and downs when making drastic dietary changes. The crashes feel terrible, physically and mentally, and the changes rarely stick around. I want to make small steady changes that lead to long-term habits. A consistently healthy diet is going to allow me to heal more quickly. 2) Small daily workouts. I can say with certainty this second surgery is going to prevent me from working out for a while, but there is no reason to not work out every day until that happens. In fact, the more fit my body is, the faster my recovery time is likely to be. I am doing a small warm up every morning to keep myself loose. I also started the PLPS workout (ask me what this is if you are interested) again on 12/31 and plan to continue to do it daily. In addition to this I am going to be attending weekly parkour classes again starting next week. Once the surgery happens I can move to meditation. This second recovery period is only going to be a minor pit stop on my overall path to fitness. 3) Clearly define my life goals. This may not be directly related to fitness, but when I was having anxiety attacks the issues that bubbled to the surface were a lot of worry about not having a clear path for myself. Now that I've turned 30 the question is burning even brighter for me: What's next? Do I travel, go back to college, WWOOF around the country, start a business, go back to Detroit, head out west, stay put, what? I don't know if I will have all of the answers in the next six weeks, but I am going to have a damn good understanding of my options. I'm going to get clear on what it is I'd like to be doing and the direction I'd like to be heading in. Side Quest: Learn geography. I want to travel and I want a better understanding of the world. Knowing where everything is will be the best starting point for me. I found a wonderful flashcard app that is has already allowed me to quickly learn country locations and major currencies. It will eventually get me through capital and flags as well. Guild: Although my heart lies with the assassins I'm going to be siding with the adventurers for this since this is my first challenge and my goals are a bit more general. I'm proud to be among them. I'm excited for this 6 week quest!

Another challenge and I'm ready. Back to crossfit, and adding another day each week. Adding a yoga session once a week to help with flexibility and range of motion. Tracking my food and water intake....something is off on my diet and I intend to find out what it is. I am making a point to get my sleep schedule back on track. I use the mornings for meditation and journaling and errands. If I don't get up on time I am rushed out the door and often skip crossfit in order to give myself time to get ready for work. I will be reading 6 books minimum to keep up with my yearly goal of a book a week.

So I think the pitfall for me when "dieting" in the past was counting calories. Always scanning food on my phone to get the nutritional information, worrying about how to count things that were homemade, etc. Then the novelty wears off, and I stop doing it. After I stop doing it, I say, "Oh, I haven't counted today, what's the point of working out?" That's not how things work in real life. I want to eat healthier; I know everything to buy, but I don't want to count each individual calorie because that's what I've done in the past, and it didn't work.

Terinatum: Commitments So, I have to admit, I'm pretty amazing. lol Really! Just ask my four-legged clients! So are all of you. We just have to give ourselves permission to be proud of ourselves and our accomplishments. It doesn't matter the size of them, they all go together like a life encompassing puzzle. I have a lot of new shapes and commitments in my life from all these changes and I want to really take ownership and responsibility for them. Tracking works for me. Planning head will work for me, when I do it regularly. Enjoying what I'm doing always enhances what I get out of it and what I give back to my community, here and IRL. So, this challenge will be about doing these new things and fitting them into a routine no matter where I am considering I work away from home a lot. I use to use that as an excuse to not do stuff, but no more. That's not how I want to live my day-to-day existence. Motivation: To feel comfortable in my skin, in my home, and in my communities. QUEST: Integration of my Amazing Self Goal 1:: Plan and Track fitness and food to-do lists. I've tracked before so now, I want to plan my weeks or gig times in a way that promotes my well-being and helps prevent me from relying on old habits that keep me from the new aspects of me. +2 WIS and +2 CHR I will track every day, with leeway on posting times, and plan 3 times a week with an 80% success rate. Goal 2:: Bring Tai Chi back into my life. I am headed toward an energy-healing business and this will be a major fitness boost that will enhance me and keep the client's needs separate from mine. No energy leaking! +2 CON and +1 WIS I do Tai Chi every other day with an 80% success rate. Goal 3:: Take responsibility for my health. Planning and tracking is well and good, but I also need to implement these activities that I know help me succeed and flourish. So running, weight-lifting, and eating all have to happen regularly. I'm keeping the goals separate as I don't want to them to influence each other to the point that my frustrations bleed over one into the other. +3 STA and +2 DEX I will stick to the plan and to-do's from Goal 1 with an 80% success rate. Life Goal:: Write!!!! Again, it's about doing what I know works and feeds me. Content doesn't count toward the goal in any way so long as it's not gibberish. +3 WIS I will write everyday with an 80% success rate. Grading: A = > 79% B = > 69% C = >59% D = >49% F = <50% Thank you, Dizz Goal 1 is everyday 33/42 days Goal 2 is every other day 16/21 days Goal 3 is according to goal 1 plan (TBD) something like 3 1/2 to 4 times per week. So, 16 or 17/42 days Life Goal is everyday 33/42 days

Hello There! My name is Tiffany, and I am actually on the academy forums but I figured I would keep everything in the same place since the 6 week challenges are something I enjoy. As the new year is about to start for me I have reflected on what I did well and not so well over this current year. I have gotten stronger, I haven't lost weight, I have fought my bad eating habits a bit but I need to get better at consistency overall. Since I used to do the whole "get in shape" resolution every year I figured this time around I'm going to focus on something new. Becoming a Badass! lol... My goal this year is to deadlift my body weight (at least 3-5 reps). I just started deadlifts with dumbbells a few weeks ago, I am up to 12 reps of 50lbs, so it's a good start. I figure if I focus on the strength, the other changes I want will come along as well. And this is something I will see constant/consistent improvement in if I keep up with it. What I will need to do in order to hit that goal by the end of the year: - Eat the correct nutrients to gain muscle and lean up - I will be tracking meal's with My Fitness Pal - I will be aiming for an 80/20 eat healthy ratio, so as not to binge on horrible things because I say I can't have any - I will be planing and prepping breakfasts and lunches for my week, so going off plan will be less likely - WATER!!! At least 8 glasses a day - Weight Training 3 times a week - I have an online training coach through fitocracy that gives me a schedule which I will be following - I will be going to at least one extracurricular active activity once a week - I enjoy crossfit, want to learn more about MMA and enjoy ice skating, so I will be doing these once a week. If I got to AM crossfit it will count as a weight training session since it is a weight based crossfit class (and kicks my butt for 3 days after, lol). What I will be tracking here: How I feel I did for the day overall, my goals as they change and adapt, and overall thoughts on my journey.

Hi all! I've done a bit with my daily battle log, and it's been up and down, as I try to work out how to get going. You know how in The Fellowship of the Ring (the book), Gandalf tells Frodo about the ring, and Frodo proceeds to sit around his hobbit hole for a few months eating a lot of breakfasts, and even once he truly gets going on his quest, he still spends way too much time chilling with Tom Bombadil? It's been like that. I need a challenge - something I can fail at to drive me to succeed. I need Black Riders running after me. Main Quest: Obese no more. This means losing about 100 pounds. Quest 1: Stop drinking sodas and sugary drinks by the end of this challenge. Currently I have about a 5 a week soda habit. I plan to taper off as follows: 4 sodas in week 13 sodas in week 22 sodas in week 31 soda in week 4last two weeks NO SODAS. Two whole weeks without a soda is better than I've done for about 3 months. Quest 2: Exercise 3 days a week - at least 15 minutes for high intensity (BBWW) and 30 minutes for moderate intensity (fast walking). I want to maintain success on this quest throughout the entire challenge - 3 days a week is not that hard. I should be able to do it. One major liability: I have surgery on Thursday, November 13. However, it is not the type of surgery that should stop a person from hopping on a treadmill. According to my doctor, there may be some pain the weekend following the surgery, but mainly I will be recovering from the effects of anesthesia for 2 days and I should be basically fine. Walking is highly recommended as soon as possible following surgery, and I should be able to get back to squatting and lunging within a week or two, depending on pain. At any rate, even if i'm just going for walks the week after surgery, I CAN exercise that week. No excuses short of completely unexpected results. Oh, and what's that other thing that might interfere with exercise during the next 6 weeks? Oh yeah, the holidays. Holiday shopping, particularly. No excuses though - 3 days a week. Quest 3: By the end of the challenge, track my meals every single day. For some reason, daily tracking strikes me as hard. But it's also what leads to the most success for me with weight loss. So I will work my way up as follows: Track 5 days in week 1Track 6 days in week 2Track 6 days in week 3Track 7 days weeks 4-6Life quest: Put $100 in savings. Savings is tough right now, and I'm working on a long term goal of having $1000 backup and then chipping away at debt after I have backup established. I am prepared for the holidays, thankfully - I've spent the year putting savings away each month specifically for holiday shopping. But $100 is still a major accomplishment during the holidays, because this is the time of year that I am most likely to eat out. Motivation: I want to keep adventuring for my whole life. Perhaps this is just the luck of genetics, but I have avoided pretty much all of the chronic diseases of obesity. I have only recently started having some issues with my blood pressure, but even that isn't yet at a point where I need medication. I can control my blood pressure with diet. I SHOULD control the blood pressure with diet. Additionally, my doctor pointed out to me that although I don't appear to be at risk for any chronic disease based on my current status, we all suffer joint degeneration as we age, and I will suffer far less if there is less weight on my joints. I like being an independent person. I like being able to go where I want and do what I like. I will better be able to keep doing that if I lose weight. Once the 6 weeks is up, I can make it up to Level 2! And that's awesome, because I LOVE leveling up. Seriously. I have done SO much blacksmithing in Skyrim just to level up. It's an addiction, albeit a great addiction for the purposes of this challenge. Here is what I plan for point allocation: Quest 1: Stop drinking sodas and sugary drinks: CON - 3 Quest 2: Exercise 3 days a week: STA - 2 STR - 2 Quest 3: track my meals every single day: WIS - 3 CHA - 2 Life Quest: Put $100 in savings: WIS - 3 I believe that's everything I need. Of course this is my first quest, so if there's anything I've left out, please let me know!

As we all know I cannot out run my fork, and I need to turn and tackle it to the ground and choke it till it submits. This challenge has one major, straight forward objective, track my food to allow for accountability and to prove to myself that results happen when I do the right thing. Nothing flash of fancy about this one. I will use this challenge to provide a base of knowledge of habits I have with food and will use this knowledge to make major changes where needed in the coming new year and move to the Monks Guild! Goal 1: track food, that simple. I will track all food intake for the next 6 weeks through MyFitnessPal. I will be targeting between 2200 cals per day. At last maths my current sedentary daily need is roughly 3700 so basically a 1500 cal deficit a day. To do: · Track food and try best to stay under limit · Focuses, but not deal breakers: o Focus on real food o Decrease in breads, pastas, aka the glutens o Lower cheese intake Goal 2: Support my fellow Nerds…..I spend too much time reading everyone’s challenges but not commenting, encouraging or helping to motivate. The people that I respect the most in this community are the ones that seem to put others before themselves and it’s time I emulate that. I will: · Comment on at least 2 threads a day (excluding weekends if needed) · I will count humorous pics and gifs as posts….due to the fact I am hilarious Goal 3: Find the right crowd. Simply put, I need to stop trying to get acknowledgment from the wrong people. All my life I have tried to live up to the levels of others, but not just that I judged myself on how those others viewed me, and I have a horrible habit of looking for praise/acknowledgement from those that could really care less about me...that constant need to be part of “the cool kidsâ€. I have found myself doing that again and it needs to stop Plain and simple goals, but I hate tracking (even though I like the challenge of eating well with limits) that’s were all of you come in. I need some major account ability so please feel free to harass me anytime to make sure I am staying on point. Rather it’s here, battle log, facebook, IG, twitter, snail mail or smoke signal please help keep me on point. Thanks all.