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Hello, all! I was on here a long while ago working on my fitness and am returning several years later (and several years older - welp!) from an entirely different country and with completely different goals, ready to work on myself again! 😄 Back then I was in my late teens and concentrated heavily on cardio and studying to great success, but I also had far less to contend with back then. I'm quite a changed person now, with a job I love in a city in England, an intolerance to lactose that I was free of as a youngster (boo), and an only slightly detrimental work ethic (total workaholic, need to work on that) - plus a newfound desire to work on self-care since I seem to let that fall second to just about anything to do with work 😂 The preliminary goals I've outlined for myself are going to be: Eating nutritiously and healthily and not just whatever's there/quick. Exercise for mind and spirit. It used to be such a powerful tool for my mental and emotional wellbeing, and I hope I can refind that now! To learn a new skill that's personal to me. I'm leaning towards learning BSL currently as I feel quite strongly about it. Self-care and to utilise my free time in the evenings or days off not just to 'rest for work tomorrow' but to do things for me. The biggest challenges, I think, will be exercising (as this is practically a foreign concept to me now) and studying (something I haven't had to do in, really, any capacity since, well, since I was a student! Haha!) I'm planning on digging up the old Nerd Fitness bodyweight exercise videos I used to love following. I'm also a huge lover of kpop and dancing as somebody who used to be a dancer, so hope to learn a few of the dances as a fun thing to splice into a routine. And now that gyms are starting to re-open I plan to find some classes I can go and attend, namely beginner Pilates as I'm very flexible but have never done anything exercise-wise with it, which seems like a shame! I'd absolutely love to meet some people here and get chatting, so if you're open to it feel free to shoot me a message and lets be friends! I've got today and tomorrow off of work and my plan is to sift through the forums to remind myself of how the monthly challenges work and pick up some tips, and then plan to sketch out something of a routine for myself - so exciting! Thank you so much if you read so far! Its so great to be back again. 😄

Hiya, guys! ^-^ I was here years ago (I wish I remembered my username but sadly, I don't!) and then had some health issues that put a halt on a lot. Just on the absolute off-chance that anybody I did know comes across this, I was put out of commission (and well, into hospital) due to unmanageable seizures and the chronic pain that resulted. Its been a while and not only am I back in tip-top shape again (between treatment, surgeries and more!) but I've since moved to England and have a steady career (in the nerdy field! Ay!) I swear, how time flies. I remembered this place a few weeks ago and decided to, rather than as an excited teen, try again as an independent adult. So; hi guys! I'm CJ, I'm based in England, and I'm 21. I'll be partaking in the 4-week challenge (I remember these being 6 weeks! I'm excited for a change of pace... and trying to work out how this all works again I'm aiming for mainly life/career based goals, and right now my goals seem to align mostly with adventurer, but for now I'm back in the rebel camp so I suppose we'll see!

Hello! My names Mike, I'm overweight and no longer as fit as I was 5 years ago. After much faffing I've finally joined and set up my 'character'. And, as sharing is caring, here is my Acadamy Profile. This is me!

So I live in a part of the UK that has plenty of woodland, heathland, hills and countryside, near the end of the Southwest Coast Path, which has some fairly tricky bits to negotiate. Some routes follow roads for a bit before plunging back into overgrown footpaths or gravelly hills. I've never quite worked out which parts of these come under walking, and which hiking. It doesn't seem to be as clearly defined over here as in, say, the US. Especially when we have terms like hill- or fell-walking (though I don't think my hills qualify for those terms). I want to mark off various hiking challenges, but I want a reasonably consistent benchmark that allows me to say "yes, that was hiking x miles, I can tick that off" or "no, that was just walking through a bunch of boggy fields".

I'm really unsure where to post this topic, so feel free to move it if I decided on a wrong place. Anyhow. I'm travelling to the UK soon, and will be staying in a small town/village in Leicestershire for about a month and a half. The thing is, I'm fairly set in my ways of where and what fitness-related stuff I buy in my own country, but in the UK... I have no clue. So, UK nerds, please educate me! I'm mainly looking for online store recs (Amazon and eBay sellers included), but I'll also welcome tips about shops in Leicester, Nuneaton, or somewhere around that general area. Some things I'm looking for, hopefully in student-budget-friendly price range: Supplements, the usual creatine, citrulline, caffeine, etc. Also if you know a pre-workout that tastes good (I'm very partial to lemon and bitter flavors in general) and that you can order without enormous postage, do sharae. Protein bars. This is a tough one, since I'm quite picky about the taste and composition, so I need options to try out. I like them soft and not too sweet (many chocolate and berry flavors are sooo sweet). The bars I regularly eat are some combination of chocolate, orange, and lemon (yes, there's a pattern here.) In Finnish Lidls, there's this sport supplement brand called Sportyfeel that has really good and cheap protein bars, do they have that in the UK as well? Fitness clothes/shoes/gear, because while I'm bringing my own, let's face it, you can never have too many workout tops. Lifting and running gear mainly, as those are my drugs of choice. Especially if there's a secret Diagon Alley where they sell affordable lifting or running shoes, you need to tell me. Non-fitness clothes/shoes. Ok so not fitness-related, but if I wanna head out and buy some affordable summer clothes, which shops do I hit? Hair products and cosmetics. Another thing mostly unrelated to fitness, but as I started packing, I realized how many of the brands I usually use are Finnish. Not because I'm particularly patriotic, they just make products here that work for egg white pale skin and fine* hair here. (*Not fine as in 'gorgeous', but fine as in 'if I cut bangs, the size of my ponytail will shrink in half') Also, while I'm there, if anyone lives in the area and wants to meet, hit me up. And, in case I get lucky: if you happen to live near Gatwick airport and wouldn't mind lending a fellow nerd a couch to crash on next Sunday night, I'd be very grateful. (Stupid flight schedule is stupid - my plane will arrive too late for trains and buses, so it's either couchsurfing or sleeping (not sleeping, in my case) on the airport floor.)

Hello fellow rebels. Jess here reporting in for my first challenge. I have made it through the Christmas period without going (too) crazy on mince pies. My main quest is to get down to a healthy weight/dress size. I'm aiming to get down to a UK size 10/12 (US 6/8). I have a dress already and everything. How will I do it I hear you ask, well that's where this challenge comes in. Starting Stats: Monday 4th January 2016 Weight: 99.4 KG Height: 5'4.5" Body build: Pear BF% 54.1% Body Water% 33.9% BMI 36.8 Measurements: Thursday 7th January 2016 All measurements are from the widest part and the left side of the body. Height: 64.5" Neck:14" Wrist: 6" Arm: 14" Nipple: 41.5" Under boob: 36" Over boob: 38" Waist: 37" Hip: 48.5" Thigh: 28" Ankle: 6" Belly button:40" (the belly button is a difficult one to get accurate but its my widest point so i wanted to include it.) Christmas has added on 2 kg but I'm still less than before I joined so I'm not too annoyed with myself. I'll be posting weekly weigh ins on Monday mornings (UK time) Measurements on Tuesdays Diet Track my calories and water intake everyday to stay within a limit of 1750 cals a day (12250 a week)​How will I do this? I'll be using a combination of My fitness pal and my fitbit account. https://www.fitbit.com/user/3XL2PL limit my bread intake to two slices a.dayWhy do this? Because I recently reintroduced wheat to my diet and Ive gone a bit crazy with it so I'm putting myself on a limit of two a day. Fitness Go to the gym at least twice a week. I have a free university gym and its my last year to try and actually use it. Even if I only use the cardio machines for ten minutes it will still be something extra to my normal routine. I hope to build on this habit with further challenges. Level Up Your Life Get a bedtime My life challenge is going to be about forming good habits and the first habit I want to form is getting into a routine so I am giving myself a bedtime. As of tomorrow I will be in bed by 11:30 pm every night and getting up at 8 am every morning.

Hello, I'm Jess and I'm from the UK. I've tried many times to lose weight and get healthy with mixed results. I've had problems with my digestion for the past few years and I've recently reintroduced eating wheat based products to my diet that has helped me lose 3 lbs (which I think my be due to increased fiber in my diet.) I am 5'4.5" and I currently weigh 203 lbs. This is getting close to the most that I have weighed ever and I am between a UK 16 and UK 18 dress size. I have mild asthma which I think is due to my weight gain as it has only appeared in the past three years. I am 30 years old and I am sick of trying yo yo diets and being tired all the time. I want to get fit and lose weight. I am hoping that by signing up to this site I can achieve that. I started a food log on the 1st of December as I want a clear picture of what I'm eating so I know where to start making changes. I know that Christmas season is probably not the best time of year to start but I am really sick of putting things off. It has become next week and next month for the last time. I've read up on a lot of things regarding diets and eating plans and there is too much information out there. I really am at a loss of where to start. My GP told me I should look into swimming and just eat things that don't irritate my stomach, but there is no pool that I can get to where I am within walking distance. My boyfriend says he also wants to eat healthier but I think my odd eating plans in the past have made him skeptical and he wants to eat "normal food". We are students so we don't have the best budget but I do enjoy cooking and I'm not afraid to experiment. The plus side is that my University has a free Gym membership that I want to utilize but again I'm not sure how. It has machines and free weights but the people at the gym are not the most helpful and when I went there for a "personal assistant plan" they told me to just use the rowing machine for ten minutes three times a week. Which I only managed to keep up for a week before I quit. Is there any newbie advice or threads or topics I should look into? I really want to make real changes this time. Thanks for reading TLDR: Girl wants to get of the diet wheel and make real changes but doesn't know where to start

Greetings and salutations, My name is Zack, 27yo of Albion (the UK)... Since 2013 I have been on an epic quest to get healthy, motivated and become the best version of myself. The road has been long and there have been many setbacks... at first the motivation was there and I was unstoppable, I lost 3st of my 4st weight loss goal and went from being a sedentary beer monster with a dodgy ticker to an active guy, taking part in military boot camps, tabata and crossfit. I quit smoking and completely overhauled my eating habits, becoming a vegetarian, which was challenging, but extremely rewarding. This is me, before (complete with heart monitor) and after (complete with mohawk) the initial de-fattening took place: http://i58.tinypic.com/9fzk48.png I hit a bump in the road last winter and suffered very badly with SAD and anxiety, had to take medication which caused weight gain and my motivation took a beating. It has taken me until very recently to get properly back on the horse, and despite continuing head issues, I have rejoined my boot camp, dusted off the weights and am beginning to slay some adipose tissue. After all, "a good mood is only one workout away" - some guy on the internet. Mmm Endorphins... I have gained 13lb since last November and I want to get back to my lowest weight of 13st 9lb by this November. So my main quest is this: Lose 9lb by September the 7th! The sub-quests that I have chosen to take on in order to achieve the main quest are as follows: 1. Never go two days without a serious workout. 2. Use my fitbit fitness tracker to gamify my calorie counting. Update this daily. 3. Only drink beer twice a week (with the one exception below) EXCEPT...The tricky part will be that on the 12th of August I will be at a 4 day music festival, luckily the food there is good quality, lots of veggie noms... but there will be beer... a lot of beer. It's my biggest weakness i'm afraid. The plan is to dance my ass off so that I can mitigate all the delicious amber calories, however I imagine a small weight gain will be inevitable. As soon as I am home I will chuck myself back into fitness and healthy eating. So, to my fellow nerds who are undertaking their own quests for the next three fortnights, good luck and godspeed. Any kind words of support sent my way would be greatly appreciated. Also, to anyone starting out on the path to awesomeness, I will be happy to discuss what has worked for me so far and provide any support if you would like some. TTFN Z.

Any rebels from UK especially Yorkshaire? I'm from Leeds and I'm looking for any nerds around in this area.

Hey. I'm Jelly, a 24 year old German person who's been living in the UK for the last seven-odd years. I've recently completed a Media Studies degree (recently, as in Tuesday) and am now in that odd inbetween-y place that temporarily grants me buckets of freetime to finally sort myself out a bit until I've found a place to stay/someone willing to give me money in exchange for labour power. Not that I intend to fall back into bad habits once I'm a bit more secure, but we'll tackle maintainance once we get there. So, I've been pretty fat all my life, and am perfectly aware that it's mainly due to a horrendous diet, which isn't helped by my family's love for processed crap. Round about this time last year I staged a semi-hostile takeover of the kitchen at home and have started cooking fresh food every day, as healthily as I've been allowed to. I'm currently financially dependant on the people I'm also cooking for, meaning I've got to cater for two carb fanatics and a guy who basically refuses to eat vegetables of any kind,and all of this on a very small budget. There was some shouting, not gonna lie. However, even just working with the resources I've got has been pretty effective so far. I don't own a pair of scales, but since I started cooking last year I've gone down from a UK size almost-24 (US size 20, the internet tells me), to a 18, pushing 16atm (14/12). And that was without exercise and during a damn stressful time of my life, which featured quite a bit of chocolate (University! *shakes fist*). Now that I'm done with dissertations and all that, I'm going to get a lot more serious about eating well (or as well as I can, until I can support myself), and am planning to start on some bodyweight workouts (sadly no gym access around here). Mainly for health reasons, as I've got a quite bad back, and my family has a long history of heart disease and cancers. My granddad had his first heart attack when he was 26, and I'd prefer not to join him. The immediate goal is to get to UK size 14/16 (US 10/12, I believe) by September. No real reason, just have a larp event coming up around there as the next big thing in my calendar, and it'd be damn nice. I just want to be healthy, damn it. As far as geekery goes, I'm quite the all-rounder. Larp, as I mentioned, is a thing I'm really trying to get into more now (if there's any UK-based LRP-ers or Freeform players around: Hi! I've been stuggling to find local stuff that really works for me so far :/). Otherwise, I like classic lit (Les Miserables!) and fantasy (Discworld!), and am absolutely planning to spend some of my newly won free-time catching up on Video Games. So yes. Hi, people, hi. I'm looking forward to joining the next 6 week challenge.

25yo girl khajiit seeks leanness... 1/2 marathon in Sept '15, swimming once a week and strength training with a PT 2x a week. BUT I've been seriously slacking on my nutrition, not tracking macros and hence no results yet! SO I'm determined to join the Rebellion and get serious about my new 6 week challenge... 1) MAIN CHALLENGE: I will track EVERY calorie - every gram or butter, yoghurt or ml of milk. No more lazy 'guestimating' for the full 6 weeks (30 days) 2) I will stretch every morning, switching up the routine as required, for at least ten mins. (To improve squat, deadlift performance and build an arch in my feet) 3) I will weigh in a measure twice weekly, to show my PT my progress. Side quests: - Get my 5k time down to less than 32:30 (10 and a half min mile pace). - Stay Facebook-free for 6 whole weeks Looking forward to adventuring with you all. Any guilds with females just starting their 6 week challenge too plz gimmie a shout!

Hello all! I didn't want to introduce myself until I was sure I was gonna stick around, and now, very nearly at the end of my first six week challenge, I'm confident that I'm a rebel for good! So, hi! *waves* I'm Sam, a 24-year-old from North Yorkshire, England. Work as a French tutor and live with my lovely partner of 5 years, whom I'm marrying this summer. I love birdwatching, Joss Whedon's entire oeuvre, spending as much time outside as possible, Harry Potter, craft, reading, and lately, getting fit. I also love cheese and beer. In terms of fitness, I was always a geeky child who came top in everything except sport, which I'd come bottom in, so instantly dismissed. As such, I never learnt sports, participated in PE or anything in school, or indeed thought about the fact that I have a physical body! I always felt like a mind trapped in a useless and limiting body; I'm guessing I'm not the only one... Anyway, last year (in March), I realised that I was really really out of shape, with the true fact of the matter being that I'd never been in shape. I could hardly run ten paces without gasping, had no strength anywhere in my body, and was a couple of stone overweight. Something sort of clicked in my head and I realised that I didn't want to be this completely useless lump forever, particularly given that I also hated how I looked. Also, being broke, I didn't want to pay any money to go to the gym or anything. So I started running. At first I couldn't even run 5 minutes without nearly chucking up, but after very very sloooooowly building up to it, I can now run 6 miles without stopping in a go. I'm about a stone overweight (12 stone 4 (172lb), a BMI calculator reckons I should be no more than 11 stone 2 (156lb), but I am a wide person in terms of skeleton and have large hips/breasts so I'm taking it with a pinch of salt) and would now describe myself as reasonably fit, but I still want so much more. I have really really terrible coordination. As in, I genuinely injure myself fairly frequently just by walking into things/misjudging distance etc, and the more exercise I do, the more I keep getting silly injuries. Both my knees are covered in scars and scabs from falling over so many times. I also have rubbish posture (spent my entire childhood being abnormally tall; thankfully stopped growing when I was about twelve but still stoop naturally) which not only makes me look unattractive but I think good posture would also help with the whole moving naturally thing. So, my plans are generally to develop a routine to lose weight, and come up with some sort of a system to improve my coordination and posture as I definitely need it. Any advice would be very much welcome as I need to work out what to work on for my next 6 week challenge! Also, does anyone know when the next 6 week challenge will start? Thanks for reading if you got this far! Looking forward to meeting you all! tldr: 24yo Brit wants to improve coordination, posture, general strength and fitness and lose a stone. Looking forward to joining in with the community.

Looking for someone to start training with, I'm a beginner so all levels of fitness welcome. Maybe take a few martial arts courses, do some cardio, then there's the mental fitness, which will involve watching lots of fight movies Anyone?

Hi! I am looking for someone to help me stay motivated and even perhaps train with. I am 30 yrs old, coming back from not doing weights for a fair few years. I was really active in my twenties. Judo, Aikido and wrestling. I live on Barry Island , South Wales, UK but will be moving to Pentyrch very soon. I am doing weights in the backyard 6 days a week 5.30 am start, cardio maybe 2-3 a week and throwing in some yoga. I work 12.5 hour shifts so 5.30 starts or 6.30 in the gym at work. I have lost about 14 lbs since January and would like to lose another 14 lbs. I work as an MRI tech. I am interested in parkour, movies, video games and dc/marvel. I am taking on a paleo lifestyle. I have just bought a resistance band to help me increase my pull up reps. I am just getting over an injury. I managed to get a back spasm which the physio says is due to tight hamstrings and perhaps dodgey form on some of my lifts. I am hopefully back to training next week after a frustrating rest. I am up for just texting to keep / you me motivated as my schedule is hectic and my phone has decide not to connect to wifi anymore. If you are interested, give me a shout. Wolfie

Hello UK sorts. I've noticed that the current 6 week challenge finishes (25th May) during the Hay Festival of Literature. I am that sort of nerd too, and likely to be attending, and I wondered if any fellow rebels will be around, to celebrate the end of the challenge. Maybe even ruin all that hard work by drinking. For we are British.

Hi everyone, This year in October I want to do the Inca Trail in Peru and as part of the preparation for it I was thinking of doing several hiking week-ends, culminating with some hikes in the high Alps in August-September. Seeing that at the end of April I have to be in Aberystwyth for a few days, I'm trying now to organize one week-end of hiking in Wales (not necessarily around Aberystwyth, even though that was my first option). I've never been to Wales, but I already started looking a bit around. For now these are a few ideas I have for the hiking routes: part(s) of the Wales Coast Path (I was thinking around Aberystwyth, since I have to be there anyway starting with the 28th of April, but not necessarily)walks in the Cambrian MountainsSnowdonia National ParkThere are even more ideas if I'm looking at pages like "Top 10 walks in Wales", but I don't want to give myself too many options because it becomes too difficult to choose then... I'm neither an experienced, nor a fast hiker (this is something that I want to do to start preparing for the Inca Trail, emphasis on start), but I can walk several hours without problems, on hilly grounds as well. My questions on you all are: do you have any recommendations / suggestions?would anyone like to join me?Thanks a lot!

Hey, I've just moved to the area and live in Leighton Buzzard. Don't know anyone in the area and would like some fitness buddies to train with and meet up for other nerdy ventures. Like I said I live in Leighton Buzzard so anyone around Milton Keynes or Luton please get in touch. I generally train doing Movnat, but have focuses every couple of months. I'm also a Movnat certified trainer so could teach you some stuff too if your interested. Look forward to hearing off you guys

I procrastinate too much! I think too much and do too little. I'm from Doncaster in the UK I'm 45 and self employed. As a child, my fitness and activity level was zero, nil... Never played any sport in school or collage (sport was not compulsory when I was a kid). I was a real nerd. Into computers (had the obligatory ZX-80), gaming, staying inside away from daylight, watching cartoons that I was far too old for etc... The only time I ever got fit was when my best mate who I met in my first job - I was 19 - who was a fitness and gym fanatic talked me into going to the gym with him. I went to the gym like it was a religion. I got fit, I toned up, gained muscle, lost a load of fat. I felt and looked great However (and I have never said this to anyone) the only reason I slavishly went to the gym with my mate was because I fell in love with him. He had no idea, but I was gay. So to cut a long and boring story short (told you I procrastinate too much), I moved to another area, my mate got married, and I had no reason to go to the gym. But now after a 15 year break, I want to get fit and lose the weight I've put back on and I want to loose it for ME! So here I am a Nooby who will be asking LOTS of questions. Peace and love

Hi guys, So when I was a teenager, I used to be fit, healthy and played a lot of sport. Unfortunately when I was 16 I received an injury while playing rugby (I split my pancreas in half, I kid you not! questions are welcome) which meant I had to spend 2 months in hospital. After I recovered I was stupid enough to start rugby again and ripped 2 ligaments in my knee. At which point I took the hint and stopped playing. So I went through A-Levels and went to University (doing a degree in Comp Sci and AI) and didn't do nearly as much excercise and a lot more drinking. I am now 21 and have yet to get back to my original fitness and have gained a lot of body fat. While at work (I am currently taking a year out between my 2nd and 3rd year of uni to work in the industry) I was looking at articles on the internet and happened to stumble over NerdFitness. I’ve been reading the blog posts over the past weeks and decided I’d like to join the community. I’ve also bought the Rebel Strength Guide. My long term goals are to get down to around 12-13% fat (currently ~20%), be able to do 20 pull ups (never been able to do more than two or three, can’t even do one now), and bench press twice by body weight by next summer. Hello to you all!

Hey Everyone! I'm back for my second challenge after slipping up quite a bit towards the end of my first I'm not very creative but I've seen a few people 'theme' their challenges so - why not! X-Men has been close to my heart since I was a kid so it's only fitting that I apply it here! MAIN QUEST: Ditch The Brotherhood and return to The Institute (NF) aka Lose weight and feel better about myself Goal 1 - Don't eat like Blob! I'm going back down the Paleo route with this one because I didn't quite stick it out on the first challenge but I felt the benefits and want that again. Following RogueWelkin's advice I'm gonna do things gradually and for this challenge I'll be removing grains from my diet. A - No Grains with 1 Cheat Day a week C - No Grains with 2 Cheat Days a week F - No Grains with 3 Cheat Days a week Goal 2 - Get in the Danger Room! I'm gonna introduce the BBWW into this challenge so I can maximise my weight loss ability alongside eating clean: A - Complete circuit 3x a week C - Complete circuit 2x a week F - Complete circuit once a week Goal 3 - Become Pyro's Enemy! Ok maybe not his enemy but at least annoy him. And what annoys a fire manipulator - water! I failed the water part of my first challenge so I'm bringing it back! A - Drink at least 1.5L of water daily C - Drink 1L of water daily F - Drink <500ml of water daily LIFE QUEST: Visit Uncle Nightcrawler I was actually born in Germany (but not a national - military brat, long story) but I love the language and enjoyed learning German at school. So now I wanna get back into it and I've got the duoLingo App on my phone. A - Complete 1 lesson 3x per week C - Complete 1 lesson 2x per week F - Complete 1 lesson per week

Hi, Brand new rebel here with my first post. My name is Joe and I am from the UK. My nerd credentials first: I love comics. Right that is out of the way. Phew. Now on to fitness credentials. I have been in and out of the fitness world my whole life. Played football (Soccer) a lot (and I mean a lot) up until I was about 20 then at university I found beer and laziness and one thing led to another and I am in the state of unfitness I am today. During that time there have been sojourns into running - a year or so of training for 5ks and a half marathon, got back in to football (soccer) for a couple of years and most recently about 18 months ago - I started on some strength training (Rippetoe's starting strengh to be precise (man I love brackets(parenthesis))). Right, I'm getting bored of my biography so I'll call it a day on that one, except to say I am currently the heaviest I have ever been (dead on 200lbs) and I estimate my body fat % to be a little over 25%. Which brings me on to the first part of my challenge. Main Quest For me this is a no-brainer to reduce my weight and body fat % (ultimately getting down to 10-15% bf% and whatever my healthy weight will be at that time. This will obviously take time but I hope by posting here I will have the staying power to eventually reach this goal. So that is my main overall goal, what will I do during this challenge to start on my way to achieving it I hear you cry. Well, actually I've already started. This week I have dived into a Primal/Paleo diet (full paleo straight off, hope I won't regret it) and have started following the crossfit endurance 6 week plan. http://crossfitverobeach.typepad.com/files/competitor_06_2011_cfe1.pdf So with a running start my 3 missions to start me on my way are: Mission 1 Eat at least 80 % Paleo for the next six weeks - I have gone straight in full (95%) Paleo but not sure I will sustain this rate but I am giving it a go. Mission 2 Continue to follow the crossfit endurance fitness plan and at the end (week 6 of challenge) join the local crossfit box - Will try not to miss a workout during these 6 weeks which will be a challenge as I am going on holiday in 2 weeks time, this will also make Paleo diet a challenge too. eek Mission 3 Get 8 hours of sleep each night - This one will also be tricky because not only do I have 2 young children who enjoy waking up very early but I also like to play online poker and find myself up way too late most of the time. So challenge is to get to bed at a sensible time so the lovely kids can wake me up at silly o'clock. I realise this post is getting quite long already, so I will now rush to my life goal. Life Quest Start writing my screenplay - for a long time I have had a desire to be a writer/filmmaker - this 6 weeks is the time to start. Anyway, there it is. My initial foray into a 6 week challenge. Have I bitten off more than I can chew. Who knows? I hope some of you will follow me along as I see what I can achieve over this 6 week period. Enough for now. Will pose more another time to give a bit more details about myself. Sorry for the length of this post but I didn't have the time to write a short one. Joe/Spidey1978

Hi, Brand new rebel here with my first post. My name is Joe and I am from the UK. My nerd credentials first: I love comics. Right that is out of the way. Phew. Now on to fitness credentials. I have been in and out of the fitness world my whole life. Played football (Soccer) a lot (and I mean a lot) up until I was about 20 then at university I found beer and laziness and one thing led to another and I am in the state of unfitness I am today. During that time there have been sojourns into running - a year or so of training for 5ks and a half marathon, got back in to football (soccer) for a couple of years and most recently about 18 months ago - I started on some strength training (Rippetoe's starting strengh to be precise (man I love brackets(parenthesis))). Right, I'm getting bored of my biography so I'll call it a day on that one, except to say I am currently the heaviest I have ever been (dead on 200lbs) and I estimate my body fat % to be a little over 25%. Which brings me on to the first part of my challenge. Main Quest For me this is a no-brainer to reduce my weight and body fat % (ultimately getting down to 10-15% bf% and whatever my healthy weight will be at that time. This will obviously take time but I hope by posting here I will have the staying power to eventually reach this goal. So that is my main overall goal, what will I do during this challenge to start on my way to achieving it I hear you cry. Well, actually I've already started. This week I have dived into a Primal/Paleo diet (full paleo straight off, hope I won't regret it) and have started following the crossfit endurance 6 week plan. http://crossfitverobeach.typepad.com/files/competitor_06_2011_cfe1.pdf So with a running start my 3 missions to start me on my way are: Mission 1 Eat at least 80 % Paleo for the next six weeks - I have gone straight in full (95%) Paleo but not sure I will sustain this rate but I am giving it a go. Mission 2 Continue to follow the crossfit endurance fitness plan and at the end (week 6 of challenge) join the local crossfit box - Will try not to miss a workout during these 6 weeks which will be a challenge as I am going on holiday in 2 weeks time, this will also make Paleo diet a challenge too. eek Mission 3 Get 8 hours of sleep each night - This one will also be tricky because not only do I have 2 young children who enjoy waking up very early but I also like to play online poker and find myself up way too late most of the time. So challenge is to get to bed at a sensible time so the lovely kids can wake me up at silly o'clock. I realise this post is getting quite long already, so I will now rush to my life goal. Life Quest Start writing my screenplay - for a long time I have had a desire to be a writer/filmmaker - this 6 weeks is the time to start. Anyway, there it is. My initial foray into a 6 week challenge. Have I bitten off more than I can chew. Who knows? I hope some of you will follow me along as I see what I can achieve over this 6 week period. Enough for now. Will pose more another time to give a bit more details about myself. Sorry for the length of this post but I didn't have the time to write a short one. Joe/Spidey1978

So, I've been a reader for a long while, but have purposefully not started to post until now. I'm James, 28, from London England. I decided to get into shape when a good friend of mine decided to become a personal trainer late in 2011. I was a good 20lb overweight at that point (I'm 6ft tall and was hovering around 205lb) with a sedentary lifestyle thanks to constant travel with work. I had major confidence issues in general, and had recently mostly overcome a stammer which really didn't help matters. Fast forward to today, and I'm still travelling a fair bit, but am in the gym 4-5 times a week when I'm home, and a change in jobs means I'm about to be home permanently. I've shifted most of the weight, and certainly look a lot better for it (Some muscle definition coming through in my upper body, a lot less fat everywhere), but really want to push on and get a nice flat stomach in time for a Florida vacation in November. The confidence issues are still there, but most people seem to have noticed a big change in my general demeanor, which should count for something I guess. Last year, I challenged myself to run the British London 10k, which starts in little over 9 hours, and thanks to some absent mindedness on my part, I also signed up for the color run 5k later on in the day. I've already run a 5k in at around 25 minutes, so I'm not too concerned about the distance today, but it's going to be fun. I've also signed up for a Spartan race next month and the Men's Health Survival of the Fittest in November, as these things look fun and are great to work towards. So, a summary of my goals: Cut the body fat down Be an all round bad-ass and do obstacle races Get my own house I think that's me in a nutshell. The forums here seem a fantastic library and forum for help and support, and I hope to be able to pick the collective mind of thousands of geeks whilst trying to contribute. If anyone is running either race tomorrow, drop me a message!

Well this should be interesting, my first challenge oooo scary Ok, well my starting point is about 7.16 stone, and my fitness isnt too good (to the point where the teacher for my MMA fitness class has to warn others that im fragile and not allowed to hold the pads). My goals: I technically have five goals but seeing as the first one will probably be the same one for any and all challenges i participate in i thought id pick four different ones aswell. 1. Actually stick to this everyday for the full six weeks. D: i have a tendency to give up REALLY easily, i make all my goals, work out what im gonna do, and then do none of it. But this time im gonna do it, im going to stop collecting all these underpants and start wearing them instead! 2. Do 15 lady pushups and 5 proper ones. Yeah im just bad at these, but i wont improve unless i try to 3. Gain a bit of healthy weight. Im ridiculously boney which makes me self conscious :/ so im going to eat better and excersize to put on weight that is good for me, not put on weight by eating an excessive amount of fast food like everybody seems to be suggesting. 4. Get my raspberry pi to do something other than sit in a box. I got one and then didnt really do a whole lot with it, i think i turned it on... Yeah so the end goal with the pi is for me to come up with a programme that will graph things. I fully expect to not do that in this challenge, but what i will do is set up the pi and start on learning a language. 5. And finally, to feel better and more confident in myself so i can work up the courage to talk to this guy i like. Hes really cute :3 So this is it my first challenge! Woo!

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