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Man, I disappear for like a month and y'all gotta go and change things. Huh. Neato. Reminds me of the old days. When last I was here, I was working on a novel for National Novel Writing Month and had just gone through the Book of Five Rings, which essentially worked out to being re-skins of the same challenge about 5 times in a row. I didn't plan it that way, and I think it was a little lazy of me looking back, but I took some good from it, and given all the everything around here in the past year, I reckon some consistency was actually rather called-for. And why did I disappear? Well, no particular reason. I just found myself out of things to say, and work got busy for a while and they rolled out some new processes and platforms for us which has taken some getting used to, and... yeah. What's new with me? Well, since the weather turned cold, I've pretty much just been sitting around, and between the lack of activity and all the holiday food, I've officially crossed the 25% body fat line and have become obese. Which I didn't see coming, but TBF I should have. Non Exercise-Activity Thermogenesis is a thing, and I've not been doing it, and between that and Hashimoto's (read: a finicky to dead metabolism), it was really only a matter of time. But that's hardly the only thing that happened. I rediscovered some movement drills from back in the old days of my training and my hips are good and loose and snappy for kicking now. I rediscovered that I like media! I like shows! I like watching them! I like bingeing them! There is content that is worth watching and reading! I refined my planning process for writing novels and the planning for this draft is well underway. I cooked for my family's Christmas Dinner! I did Green Bean Casserole and this time I had the guts to par boil green beans and fry my own onions, which was a major step for me. Despite my metabolism being dead, I've finally got my thyroid working again, so it's not all bad news on that front. Basically, I've spent the last month just kind of coasting and relaxing, and doing so has kind of allowed me some perspective on what I was doing before and how I want to shake things up. So, without further ado, my goals: Get my body fat percentage to sub-25%. Totally feasible over the course of the month. According to my measurements, I'm sitting at 25.8% with a 3% margin of error, give or take. That means reducing calories, but I can't do a real cut like everyone else does; my thyroid does not forgive that kind of thing. Instead, it's better to figure out a lower weight, figure out what maintenance looks like there, and then program my calories as such. Fortunately, I've got very good at calculating my numbers, so the goal is to stick to 2200-2300 calories for the duration of the challenge. I might dip a bit below that, but certainly I don't mean to go below 2100. New Kettlebell Program yeaaaaaaaaah. Long time observers would be shocked if I wasn't back on my bullshit of trying something new. Strongfirst released a program for sedentary people after one of their coaches at a similar experience to me. The article's worth reading, but the basic gist is to do some one arm swings every hour on the hour for 8 hours a day. This program is specifically designed to work alongside everything else as a plug-in for sedentary folk, and while I'm not swinging enough weight to necessarily burn that much fat, I can definitely tell that I get the "Tonic Effect" off the dosage (ie a sense of physical/mental refreshment and a heightened sense of focus). The other useful thing about this is that it gives me something to work my shadowboxing and other practices in with. But this is gonna be a daily goal, along with the others. One Page Of Planning Per Day. Pretty much what it says on the tin. One page of planning per day. This is actually easier now, since I took the time to figure out my Great Swampy Middle, so I basically have a bunch of dots to connect as opposed to having to make up the dots as I go (which was a real problem last go 'round). It goes without saying that I've got a bunch of extra training on tap. I gave up CaliMove's program because it's not designed to be friendly with martial arts, which will be a concern for me in the long run. I did Athlean X again for a while but it made my shoulder feel janky and I didn't like it, and it didn't stop me from getting obese (between training and nutrition protocols), so to hell with it. GMB's Elements program and Simple and Sinister are the two programs that are designed the most to give me the most what I want, so these will be what I do. It doesn't hurt any that they've both revamped pretty hard; S&S did so first with a revised edition and GMB's updated their Elements program for its release on their new training app. My shoulder feels better with their training, and the challenge can be ramped really easy and really well if you engage correctly with it. So... yeah. Anyway, here in the interregnum between challenges, my goal is to get through the holiday food and get some proof of concept going. And oh, hey, in the meantime, we're all together in one place now. That's pretty neat. Reckon I'll make the rounds and try to see to y'all. It's good to be back.

Any NF people also stream on Twitch.tv? Feel free to share your page if you're comfortable. I'm currently getting ready to stream a Resident Evil marathon this weekend. Suggestions and gentle criticism is always appreciated, so come by and say hi!!

So I'm curious...nerd fitness doesn't have a forum dedicated to video games?

INTRO 'Olo, you lot! Welcome to my quiet little corner. I am Haniya (pronounced Hun-nee-yah) a Nerdy, Sporty, DND[currently watching Critical Role]loving, Comic book enthusiast with a penchant for arts, Video games, Books, Disney movies, music and Mystery Murder shows [Stranger Things, Sherlock, Killing Eve, The Umbrella Academy and Elementary anyone?] also Neil Gaimann because good omens is a fantastic show and is worth fangirling about. Today I have entered as a ranger to challenge myself. Hopefully, my experiment will help me build my habits and my body. I feel like my true self best fits in this sneaky, lean, strong and dangerously cool class because strength and stamina are the two things that I ideally want and we all wish to master. Hence, here I am and here I go! BACK STORY TIME: WE all know how our health is the MOST important thing in the world--physical, emotional and mental as well--especially when you've been obese half your childhood. Its hard to get back on that health horse when like half of your house hold isnt primed for it at all. Regaining my good healthy self has been a massive struggle, no less a bumpy roller coaster ride of high and lows. Well, I've been at it for quite a while with the NERDS--actually listening and enjoying the company of the people--thus, naturally, I come running back to thine fine health, happiness institute of fittitude! [Gedit] Even though i hate typing, i do try to update as often as I can. Well, anyways! I live in Pakistan (south east asia) where carbohydrate is as important and as common as air and I am not joking! OUR DIET AND CUISINE IS JUST FULL OF IT AND EVEN IF YOU TRIED, YOU JUST CANT SHAKE IT OFF AND IGNORE IT! BUT. I. WANT. TO. CHANGE. MYSELF. I DON'T WANT TO BE ADDICTED ANYMORE AND THAT'S MY MAIN MISSION HERE! BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY! I will go slow this time and not overwhelm myself as much as I am prone to so I'll just go over the basics of my mission. Cus. I. Can. And. I. Love. To. Sound. Very. Official. OH, SHALL WE MOVE TOWARDS MY BASE OF OPERATIONS?! *drumroll* OP 1: Take control of the wheel, agent! As the new agent of SHIELD, it is your duty to physically take care of what you put in your body. Filling in the shoes of Natasha Romanoff is going to be a hard job, recruit, so I suggest you take those shoes seriously and work hard! *There we go, guys. Big shoes to fill* So, clean eating and portion control is the key. Refined sugar and fried stuff is your ENEMY. IT'S YOUR HYDRA! You must defeat the bad side! *telegram* Recruit! We are not that cruel, you know, so we are allowing you a two day cheat treat. Aren't we cool?! Of-course, we are, we are SHIELD! OP 2: Find the lost Tomb of Rorustan You want to be the next Lara Croft? You want to go on adventures and move mountains like her, yes? Change the course of time and history like her? Then, you got to train like her! Her strong and Charismatic body took years and years of hard work and perseverance! Can you keep up? *CanI?* Journey to the lost tombs, human and bring forth power! My objective is to run and do body weight exercises (darebee and skipping rope) 3-4 times in a week with two days rest period. Walk for 20-30 mins daily. CAN YOU HEAR THE SPIRITS TALKING? YES! I DO! I CAN HEAR LARA CROFT! MASTER, I CAN HEAR HER WHISPERS FROM THE INSIDE, SPEAKING OUT TO ME (awksslipawaytoyonder) OP 3: Bend it like Korra! Before she was the avatar, Korra knew nothing of her powers and how to control them but with the help of her teachers and peers, she blossomed into the strongest being we know today! Want to Bend it like Korra? *Heck Yeah* then you must dedicate some time to your education; to learn and grow like the avatar. Daily one or two videos that'll inspire you or give you knowledge about the world and beyond. Study spanish: Duolingo and Memrise streaks, audio lessons from Pimsleur and YouTube video lessons. Dont forget to make notes in your notebook. Meditate to calm your souls. A clear and tension free mind is a happy mind! TAI CHI PRACTICE! Watch David Dorian Ross videos and practice along. New videos everyday to build your 103 long form practice. OP 4: "Be as flexible as Kamala Khan" SUPERHERO BY DAY, REGULAR GAMER CHILD BY NIGHT! Balancing your hero and human life takes a lot of work but you have to do this in order for the world to make sense plus, fun time is fun time! So, here are my humanly duties towards a good future:- Journal writing: habit tracking, Spanish progress and recording my days key features as bullet points to make my life easy Updating nerd fitness with my journey in the form of ratings A-F [A being super awesome and F Epic Wamp] and supporting new people and their journies! *POWER RANGERS, METAMORPHOSIS! Oh, wrong fandom* Read more books by adhering to the 50 books a year challenge: Give 1-2 weeks maximum to my current read by reading everyday for 20-30 minutes Focus on your hydration: Minimum 6glasses to up to 8 glasses. More water! LASTLY NEVER GIVE UP! Speaking of giving up, we all need some kind of push on our behinds, right? That's why I have certain ideals. Certain role models that I look for inspiration and motivation when I am feeling particular down in the ditch. These forces of good are there when i need them the most, to guide me through my epic quest I call life. Someone who I want to be: Inspiration Dice I have so many role models that I look up to! People who have proved to be gigantic and so bad arse--who don't need to be reminded of their worth! People who are amazing enough to inspire and motivate us all to follow our dreams and challenge our limits. They teach us that being kind, resolute, strong and brave--in the face of danger--is the most noblest of things you can do. So, so talented, so powerful and so stupendous. I want to be them and I am honoured to call them my idols: Lara Croft, Black Widow, Korra, Ellie Goulding, Aveline De Grandpre, Aloy, Merida, Captain Marvel, Avatar Aang, Dr 13 and Yasmin Khan, Neil DeGrasse Tyson, Jim Kwik, Shuri, Okoye, Kamala Khan etc. I am not promising here but i will try to keep you guys up to date with my daily shenanigans and what-nots. Apart from that, I want to THANK you for YOUR precious time! And I might need you guys to help me with this challenge because my focus on them has been very rocky but I am ready to CHANGE MYSELF FOR THE BETTER! I SWEAR ON MY PRETTY LITTLE HANDS THAT I SHALL TRY MY HARDEST! *CUE RICK ROLL SONG* p.s: i love DND even though i am a complete beginner so talk to me about it or if you are looking dnd players then lets band together! I am all for an epic dnd session!

Lightsaber skills Create a routine for staff containing the tricks I already know plus at least 2 new tricks to learn this challenge. Routine should be around 20 mins including warm up. (probably will be lots of video and bloopers this challenge) Why it's a challenge: Honestly, picking up my staff and playing with it is not really a challenge. I truly love it. However, the challenge lies more in the time management. I am THE WORST™ at time management. I have to structure my morning better to accomodate a 20 minute session and still get everything ready for work and get out the door with pants on and stuff. Why I want to do it anyway: STAFF!! And having more time to practice each day means faster progress. Find Jedi Calm Find two favorite meditations and do them every day, one in the morning and one at night. Why it's a challenge: See time management above. I don't have a solid grasp on how time works. I wake up with 10 minutes before I have to leave and I somehow think i'm gonna workout, meditate, cook breakfast, sit and eat breakfast, bullet journal, reflect on the day, pack for work, pack for after-work activities, and get there on time??? Why I want to do it anyway: Its good for my brain and my old therapist said i should LOL. Plus, you know, I'm gonna be a jedi someday so. Gotta practice. Get friggin' Flexy Using GMB's focused flexibility and some specific stretches my coaches gave me for my sad pathetic shoulder mobility, create a routine and stretch EVERY SINGLE DAY. STRETCH ALL THE DAYS. Why it's a challenge: I'm so, so, so not flexy and I hate stretching and I don'tttt wannnaaa doooo ittttttt Why I want to do it anyway: Big serious reason is injury prevention. The last two times I got wow-maybe-i-should-see-a-doctor hurt, it was because I pulled a muscle that would have been FINE if I wasn't a solid. And both times i went "that's it i'm streching every day now" and didn't. Less serious and fun reason, back handsprings!!! Re-create Spend at least 1 hour per day, or 7 cumulative hours in a week, doing something with no purpose. (ideas include, reading fiction, maybe drawing, playing video games (i haven't don this since i was a child) watching hockey without feel like i have to multitask.) Why it's a challenge: I WANT TO DO ALL THE THINGS!!!! As evidenced most recently by this challenge. I feel like i've "wasted my day" if i don't do something super productive every single minute. If I sit and continue to watch TV for 2 minutes after I've finished eating, I feel insta-guilty. Waste of 2 minutes. Could have been reading a textbook. Could have been doing a handstand. Could have been conjucating russian verbs. I jam-pack my days until i'm so over stressed that I crash, and then when i'm crashing doing nothing, I'm hating myself because i'm wasting time being unable to move. Why I want to do it anyway: If I get to be 75 and I speak all 12 of my target languages and i've mastered algebraic topology and non-relativistic quantum mechanics and i've fixed all the plumbing issues in all my neighbors houses and fixed everyone's laptop who asked and was all these things to all people, but I hated every minute of it?? NEver enjoyed my life? That's a fail. I need to do something purely enjoyable. Be a kid again. Come home and play for a bit before doing productive things.

I'm finally chasing my dream and starting a game studio with a friend of mine. We have a game in mind that we've been designing for a year or two now and we're curious if you guys would be interested in it. It's an action platformer heavily inspired by games like Guacamelee and Metroid Fusion, but we want to parody gym culture and stereotypes and maybe make a meme or two along the way. Think of it like this: do leg day, get high jump. So yeah. If there's interest in the game on here, I'd be more than willing to post updates and keep you guys in the loop. The images below were initial sketches during brainstorming.

Hey all! So, I was just thinking, with the recent rise in virtual reality as a gaming technology, more and more gamers are starting to stand up and move around in order to play their games. I believe this could have very interesting implications for gamers and the fitness community, and going forward we may see those two communities intertwine much more often. First of all, VR games on systems like Occulus and the Vive have people on their feet, ducking and dodging and flailing their arms wildly. Generally, these games have people moving and at least getting some kind of workout where, using traditional methods, they would have been sedentary. Secondly, as VR evolves and becomes more accessible, user-friendly, and compact, I think we could see people begin to integrate it into legitimate fitness experiences. Imagine putting on your HTC Vive or Occulus Rift while you stand on the treadmill, and instead of having to stare at a wall and blare music, you could be jogging through the grand canyon on a sunny day, listening to a nature soundtrack, even if it's the dead of winter where you live. Or taking part in a simulated boxing match that requires you to duck, jab, kick, and perform other movements to win. I think the potential for VR to be used as a tool to promote fitness in the future, as the technology becomes more refined, is incredible. I'm interested in hearing your thoughts! Can you think of any other uses VR could have, fitness-related or otherwise? Or am I getting far too ahead of myself? Thanks for reading, guys. Have a great day!

I'm late but I'm here! I took an extended week zero thanks to traveling. I got home a couple hours ago so figured I should put up a challenge thread. My spreadsheet will be added to this post when I create it, lol. I'm actually going to be doing my challenge officially for the month of June, but since the NF challenge started yesterday (oops) I'll still post along. I knew starting a challenge on vacation just wasn't going to happen. My depression has been bad, and I've identified one reason was my efforts to date go in waves and the current waves have been super crappy. So I am taking a break from attempting to date for the month of June. If I meet someone organically, cool, but I'm not going to try (dating sites, etc). That should help with my depression. I'm also going to try a little less hard to do ALL THE SOCIAL THINGS. That will also help with my depression. So, goals for the challenge: I now have a 24 hr access pass to my gym. Huzzah! This means I don't have to avoid going because I feel guilty for giving up time with my son (which was a cop out, since he's out on his bike anyway). I can go after he's in bed if I want (since my mom lives with me, he wouldn't be unattended). So the goal is going to be hit the gym three times a week, and I'm roughly targeting Tues/Thurs/Sat, with allowances that life happens so I can reschedule if need be. While I would love to lose weight after spending the last two months re-gaining a bunch of what I had lost, instead of eating at a deficit I'm going to make my nutrition goal be to not go above maintenance calories period. No eating back the calories I "earn" from activity/exercise, no exceptions for special occasions. If I do lose weight, I will readjust MFP to recalculate my new maintenance level. If I do well with this, I expect to lose some weight just because of the activity level I have on a daily basis at work. This will seem really weird to put as a goal, but, I will play at least two hours of video games per week. Because I keep avoiding playing WoW with my family and friends due to stupid anxiety/perfection/depression reasons, and I want to get back into it. I also still haven't touched the Steam games I got for xmas/bday. So yes I am actually setting a goal to play games! LOL! Side benefit: video games are the one indoor hobby I have that I don't like to eat during, because I don't want to get food on my keyboard/mouse. So the more I game, the less I snack, which is a score. My fourth goal is going to be to read for at least two hours a week. I have barely read a page in the last month. It's been all Netflix all the time. I'd like to get back to reading. My fifth goal is going to be to get at least one hour of outdoors exercise a week. This can be walking, hiking, biking - but I know I feel better when I am getting out in the sunshine. I think five goals is enough, so, now I will build my spreadsheet, edit in the link, and then I'm all set to unofficially start tomorrow. Edited to add: Challenge Spreadsheet

Hello guys, I'm back! Just in time for competition too (Comp is January 22nd! Squee!) Feeling a lot better in general, taking some time off did really good things for my mental health. Zero Week Goals: (Challenge goals to follow) -Adulting - buy a singlet/other stuff for meet! It's three weeks away and I haven't bought anything *gasp* (needs to be done ASAP) -Lifting - do the program -Eating - track the foodz -NFing - Post Every Day Challenge Goals! 1a. Tracking in MFP = 10 Points 1b. Completing Entry in MFP = 10 Points 2. Do the Yoga = 10 Points 3. Do the (Lifting) Program = 10 Points So a perfect score would be (1a*(4*7)) + (1b*(4*7)) + (#2*(4*3)) + (#3*(4*3)) = 800 points Life happens, so... we're doing grades again A is (800)*(0.9) = 720+ B is (800)*(0.8) = 640+ C is (800)*(0.7) = 560+ D is (800)*(0.6) = 480+ F is (800)*(0.5) = 400+ Will think of prizes for these later.... I'm thinking nerdy t-shirts or tank tops for lifting Also, I am going to do discretionary points. AKA points that are basically gold stars. If I don't do them, it doesn't hurt my total, and I'm not counting them in my calcs at all. This can be... eating a fruit/veggie with every meal for the day, doing an adulting task that was difficult, prioritizing my mental health, posting in NF every day, etc. These can be awarded in any increment, but I'll probably keep them under 5, and of course I'll tell you guys what they're for!

Hello Nerd Fitness Friends! Extra-Life is on a mission to save kids through gaming, and we need your help. Each of us has chosen our local Children's Miracle Network Hospital where thousands of children are treated each year, regardless of their family's ability to pay. These kids are facing scary stuff like cancer, cystic fibrosis, and injuries from accidents to name just a few. We'll be part of a huge international celebration of the social impact of gamers with Extra Life and it's our sincere hope that you'll find it in your heart to support us with a monthly pledge or one-time gift that will go directly to that team member's chosen hospital. Your donation is tax-deductible and ALL PROCEEDS go to help kids. Last year, Extra Life raised more than $8 million dollars to save kids, but in 2016 our goals, just like the needs of the kids we serve, are much, much higher. http://www.extra-life.org/team/RobinGamersFTK http://www.extra-life.org/participant/JediNickD Gameday is November 5th. I am organizing a 24 hour gaming marathon at my house for all local Robin Gamers to come, play, and support a great cause. In 24 hours, we'll play just about everything from Cosmic Encounter and Manhattan Project to Star Wars: Battlefront on XBox One and Halo 3 on XBox 360 to Super Mario Bros. on NES and Mutant League Hockey on Sega Genesis to Dungeon Crawl RPG and Magic The Gathering. We'll have kids games going to, where I'll run a custom kids RPG at one point. We'll setup a YouTube or Facebook stream for those who can't make it to be able to check in to see what is going on. I'm not super experienced with streaming so that may be a mess, but documenting the experience with pictures and video is a must! Also, you can search around your area for other events to participate or donate to. The game store in Aberdeen called Xpanding Universe is hosting an Extra Life 24 hour event on Oct 29th starting at 11am. Other game stores will likely have similar events. Go find one! Keep in mind, your donation to Extra Life is tax-deductible and ALL PROCEEDS go to help kids. We can't do this without your help. Donating online is safe and easy! To make an online donation please click one of the links I provided above. On the team page, click on the "Roster" tab, then on a participant's name and then click the "Donate" button on their page. Thank you for caring for our kids! Also, if you are already an Extra Life Member, then post your fundraising page for others to support you!

Hi everyone! I have no idea what I've stumbled across, but I'm a nerd and also into fitness, so here goes nothing! First, let's start with the basic and nerd stuff - I'm a girl, and a professional web developer for a living. I have a NES, SNES, and PS2 connected to a CRT in my studio in Chicago, with such awesome games as Battletoads, Final Fantasies IV - X, all the DDRs, Mega Mans, Castlevanias, Super Marios, and other side scrollers and JRPGs. I'm pretty good at art, and also play a few instruments (piano, accordion, and uke). Oh god, this is starting to read like a bad dating profile... Moving on, I love camping, hiking, biking, and the outdoors. Just got a new bike since my old childhood one got stolen, and I'm really excited about riding all the time now. I do fitness stuff on weekdays and hang out with friends and go to concerts, comedy shows, game nights, dinners, and other events on weekends. I'm far too late for a "success" post - I was kind of a lazy, out of shape nerd as a kid, but when I turned 16 I decided to turn that all around and lost 45 lbs in 6 months by eating healthy, running and walking all the time, and DDRing with friends at the arcade, of course. I'm 26 now (27 next month!) so it's been 10 years and I've maintained my healthy lifestyle and weight. I haven't really played a video game since those days, except casually in a social setting, yet I go to every Nobuo Uematsu Distant Worlds concert, so the nerd is still alive in me...plus I make websites, so good enough. So, 26 year old female, 138 lbs at 5'6" (22.3 BMI according to some calculator?). I've been relatively healthy, but lazy, and a few months ago I said fuck that, I'm going to go to the gym again and ACTUALLY get into shape. So I bought my new bike and have been going to the gym several times a week. I'd like to just get some perspective on what I'm doing and if there's something extremely important that I'm missing, or support, or to make some friends! My goal is to at least be down to 130 (I've been trying to lose that last 10 for a decade now...) or get jacked, or both, I don't know. I was running one mile every day for cardio (I fucking hate running) before working out, but now I've been biking 5-10 miles instead. Here's generally what I've been lifting: (I don't know the proper way to write this, so hopefully it's right - 3x5 at 20 will mean three sets of five reps at twenty pounds.) Free weights: Dumbbell Curl: 3x8 at 15lbs Bench Press: 5x5 at 75lbs Squats: 5x5 at 105lbs Pull Ups: 2x5 with a 30lb assist (I can do like, one normally, and this one I'm definitely not doing the correct form) Cable Crunch: 3x10 at 60lbs Triceps: 3x10 at 35lbs Machines: Hip abduction: 3x10 at 170lbs Hip adduction: 3x10 at 130lbs Leg Press: 3x10 at 150lbs Linear Hack Press: 3x10 at 140lbs I also sometimes stick in bent over row, deadlifts, standing press, and whatever else I see. I guess it's actually working, because I threw a football while playing catch on the 4th and it actually went somewhere. As for diet, I have no restrictions technically...if I'm out to dinner with friends or a date, someone makes something for me, or it's a special occasion, these can be broken, and it's back to normal the next day. However, I just generally do NOT eat or drink any: - pop (soda, for all you from weird states) or any calorific beverage - things that come in a box (Mac and cheese) - junk food (no candy, chips, sugar etc) - deep fried food - cereal and I greatly limit: - milk, cheese, dairy - meat - pasta So, most of my diet comes from vegetables, eggs, complex carbs. I've eaten many different ways over my life, and no one diet is right - I prefer a balance of all things. I lost all my weight as a kid by eating mostly oatmeal and bread, so no one will ever convince me that carbs are evil. But for once, I'm trying to do a thing where I stick to an actual somewhat set diet, which frees up my mind for programming projects, and recording music, and reading books, and thinking about other things, and it's something like... - 2 eggs for breakfast - Salad with a bunch of stuff on it for lunch (artichokes, olives, feta, mushrooms, beets, nuts, whatever is available). No meat, no dressing, just vinegar and sometimes oil. - Variety of roasted, sauteed, steamed, or boiled vegetables (broccoli, corn, edamame, kale, mushrooms, carrots, asparagus, brussels sprouts, beets) and then some starch like potatoes, rice, whatever. - A lot of water, and coffee/tea without sugar If that doesn't sound like enough calories to sustain a person - trust me, other calories find their way in. Snacks will be PB, hummus, nuts, and so on... I go out and drink here and there (and of course, it's wine or hipster beer) work brings in a pizza party, someone hosts a dinner party (usually me...I worked as a chef for 8 years), and life happens. But that's what I've been sticking to for the last week or two. Before I was going out to eat every day for lunch with the coworkers, which was a lot of tacos, Thai and Vietnamese food. Also, I don't take any medication or supplements. Man, I just keep ranting. Alright, just talk to me!

Time for our first 2016 Sydney meetup, trying to make it inclusive and accessible to all since we have a few new names around the boards. Date: Wednesday 11th May 2016 Time: 6pm Venue: Strike Bowling at King St Wharf, http://www.strikebowling.com.au/locations/nsw/strike-king-street-wharf Price: If you want to bowl, $16 for 1 game, $28 for 2 games. If you don't want to bowl you can come and just hang out while other bowl. After party: 7.30 - 8pm (depending when we finish bowling) - Spawn Point video games bar http://www.spawnpoint.com.au/ Me and Dawsy @BarefootDawsy are confirmed so the event will go ahead, the more people that come the better, everyone is welcome we'd love to see you there! @Yuen Tired to tag Sugaru but not happening...

I'm playing Fire Emblem: Conquest (hard mode, classic) right now and really loving the challenge. I already beat Birthright and am looking forward to playing Revelations. And, of course, I recently beat Awakening as well (including a Lunatic run). I've really fallen in love with the series and am planning to go back through the original games and playing them all, when I get the chance. Are any of you playing Fire Emblem? What are your thoughts on the series? Or do you want to be converted to this tactical RPG series? (I'd be glad to rant about the strength of the gameplay and the pleasure of the tactical challenge.)

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

Destiny Island Zone 1 (February 15 - 28) Core Objectives Explore the Zone - Run 7 Miles Keep the HP Up - Drink 56 Healing Potions (16 oz water bottles) Get to the Healing Ports - Spend 104 Hours Relaxing in a Healing Port (Bed / Equivalent) Kill the Heartless: Hit 1000 minions and 10 mini-bosses with my Keyblade (Mini-Bosses are difficult responsible things to do, minions are words written on my work projects.) How I Play Every Challenge, I'm going to post a new topic, talking about the Zone that I'm in. Each Zone revolves around a few core objectives - each specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely, measured in the frame of four weeks. But it is not held within the temporal bounds of those four weeks. Nor do these topics - and the number of challenge-coinciding topics I've completed - decide when I Level Up. (They do In fact, I don't really "Level Up" at all. My Weapon Leveling happens however fast it happens, and is based on a completely different system, detailed in the following section. Back to these Zones. So for instance! This first challenge is measured for the exact two remaining weeks. My intention is to walk 0.5 miles a day... but it's an average, not a hit and miss. So, 0.5 miles average for 14 days is 7 miles. So my Destiny Island (Walk-to-Mordor) objective is 7 miles. If I hit 7 miles, 56 healing potions, 104 hours of Healing Ports, and 1400 words on projects on the intended measured day of the 28th (a breakdown of 0.5 miles, 64 oz, 8 hours, and 100 words a day) then, perfect! I begin the next Zone on the first day of the new Challenge Sector. If I hit 7 miles before the others have reached their Zone 1 objective, I can start moving into the Zone 2 correlating objective. If I hit 7 miles, 56 potions, 104 hours, and 1400 words each before the 28th, then I'll open my Zone 2 challenge in this thread, and re-announce my Zone 2 challenge and progress there-in when I start my new Challenge Thread on the 29th. And if I haven't completed all of them when the 28th ends? Then I open my new challenge as a continuation of Zone 1, until the point when I move into Zone 2. No such thing as failure. Only progress. My Weapons The following are statements I desire to be true - some of which are partly or even completely true! But each aspect is something that makes me excited to think about it. I will not be leveling up. Each of these interests will be leveling up, separately, as they gain experience points. Athletic Skills (My body is confident in...) - Partner Dance - Spirit Dance - Aikido React (in response to tantrums or thoughtless physicality, in physical play, in grounding ease) - Aikido Fall / Land / Roll - Use of a Bo Staff - Gymnastics - Original Play / Lion Cub Wrestling - Zumba Dance - Passion Running - QM (Quadrupedal Movement) - Hunt / Free-Fly Nature Parkour Knowledge Domains (I know a lot about...) - Gamification Psychology - Developmental Psychology - Motivational Psychology - Childhood Education / Psychology - Community Building Games - Ancient Civilization Myths, Gods, Creatures, and Stories - Zumba Choreography (The Set) - Performance Choreography - The Musical/Princess Disney Movies (Details, Lyrics/Lines, etc.) - Neurochemicals - Psychological / Neurochemical Mis-wiring and Re-organizing Craft Skills (I'm very good at making...) - Personal, Relatable, Performable, and Catchy Songs (Original Songwriting) - Parodies (Parody Songwriting) - YouTube Videos - New Dress Designs (Dress Design) - Dresses (Sewing / Fabric Handling) - Original Games (Game Invention) - Italian Food - A Variation of Soups - Royal Breakfasts - Holiday Meals - Beauty War-Paint Masterpieces Presence Skills (I have a cultivated talent for...) - Emotional Aikido Separation - Impassioned Connection - Courage of Visibility - Motivational Speaking - Networking - Piano Performance - Guitar Performance - Jazz Singing - Show Singing - Holiday Carols / Chorale Singing Communication Skills (I can speak...) - Spanish - ASL - French - Chinese - Japanese - Italian - Upper Class (English) - Thespian (English) - Millennial (English) - Child (English) - Play Language - Directing - Group Coordination and Organization - Large Group Activity-Direction and Management Self Care Experience (I am capable and knowledgable about...) - Self-Comfort - Supportive Structure - Environmental Psychology & Interior Design - A.D.H.D. - Habit Psychology and - Sex (Safety and Knowledge) Bridge Domains (I can talk about my specialties in their relation to...) - Classic Science - Hank Stuff (Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Meteorology, etc.) - Human Understanding - John Stuff (Literature, History, Sociology, Philosophy, etc.) - Current Events (News, Politics and Goverment, Current Situations, etc.) - Economics The above is the only section that I am NOT excited to learn about - but I am contently interested to learn about and definitely value having those weapons in my belt.

Two words....Depression sucks.... It's been a while since I last did a challenge on NF. Honestly I miss it! I've made amazing friends on here and I have come a long way from where I first started. As you can see from my before pictures, I was overweight. And those pictures are after I had lost some weight already. I joined NF, lost weight, and turned my life around. Although, it started out in a healthy direction, I ended up just a year ago in a really unhealthy spot. I was hardly eating (the most I ate was 800 calories, but that wasn't constant), obsessively working out till I would almost pass out, not really sleeping, and abusing my body because I genuinely hated myself. My self esteem was really low. I was doing a lot of things that only made my mental stability worse, But God really stuck with me even though I was convinced He just didn't care about me. I turned to Him again after talking to a guy online. We both realized that although we called ourselves Christians, we didn't really follow God like we should have been. Working together to get our sights back on God, we grew closer together. Which is funny because when I first started talking to him I really hated his guts hahaha. I just assumed he was a jerk because I firmly believed all men wanted one thing, and that's all he wanted. But he didn't and God was pushing me towards him because I was meant to be with him. We did a long distance courtship that was brief, and were married April of this year. I've been better because of it. My husband really works hard to make me happy and remind me that I am worth more than what I had led myself to believe. We are expecting a baby in Jan 1st and we are so excited! That's a brief look at what's happened to me ever since I joined NF. And right now I want to start another challenge to keep going in trying to be better. I need to be better for my husband and baby. So Goal #1: Be consistent with working out. There is a gym in the apartment complex, and I have Pilates on Youtube. But lately I have been letting some depression hit me hard and neglect my work outs. A. Workout more than 3x in one week B. Make it only to 2x in one week C. 1 visit to the gym in a week F. Nothing all week Goal #2: Eat better. I haven't been eating as much as I should be for the baby. And when I do it's hardly any veggies which is important. So I want to add veggies, protein, fruit, and the right amount of carbs to every one of my meals. Along with eating small snacks to keep the little one happy. A. Eat 6x a day, and all meals are healthy B. Eat 4x a day, meals are still healthy C. Eat 3x a day, meals are OK F. Eat 2x a day Goal #3: Read my Bible everyday. I need to be giving everything to God. And it's tough, because I don't ever like to admit I need help. Asking for help emotionally is a weakness that my mom would not have. You just got over it. But that's not healthy at all and it just makes me crash harder. Reading the Bible is a great stress relief for me, and I want to open up to my husband more to. Both will get me through everything. A. Read everyday for a week B. Miss 2 days of reading C. Miss 4 days of reading F. Miss 5 days or more of reading Life Goal: Stand with my husband and not let my parents push us apart. My parents are visiting us Tuesday, and I have an OK relationship with them so far. But my husband doesn't really care for them because he's seen how they have treated me. My older sisters are their favorites, and I'm the one to take care of everything because they know my personality is to be the doormat. Something I was so used to, I didn't see anything wrong with it until my husband and pastor showed me it wasn't healthy or OK. They don't like my husband really, and that's because he actually will call them out on their bull and stand up to them. Something my mom especially doesn't like. So they will talk to me only now, because I usually will cave in to them. Which causes a rift between my husband and I. I am determined not to let that happen with they arrive. I want to stand with my husband when they arrive and not let their games push me back to being the old me. Well that's my challenge! How is it?

Who plays ESO? I'm new to MMORPGs and feeling like a big baby and would love some friends to play with. I play on a PS4, so I don't think we're compatible if you play on PC (right, that's how that works? I'm dumb!) I have a level 15 Dragon Knight character (such a baby!) that's Aldmeri Dominion but I'm thinking of making another character for another faction. Haven't decided yet. Who's game to play?

I've been kicking the idea around in my head since I was 11... make a video game. How fun would that be? I've always loved video games, drawing, music-ing, and recently I've picked up programming. And it turns out now couldn't be a better time to make my own with all the tools and markets out there. I'm thinking this could be a cool side business or hobby to get into. And I wonder if there are any NFers that are into it. If so, speak up!

I'm hoping I haven't started a duplicate thread, but I'm very curious about this! I've been playing Marvel Heroes 2015 for a little over a year now. It was a very slow-moving leveling process, but I think I've finally gotten the hang of good ol' power leveling. Which is good considering I made the decision to try and prestige level my Captain America. My question is ... does anyone else play around in this game? If you're curious about it, I can tell you that it's free to play and is pretty much Diablo with Marvel heroes/villains/maps. If you do play, or have an interest, you can find me there under the name "NariSparkles" and I have an amazing SuperGroup that I can invite you to!

Hello! It's a me, Mario! Ok not really. Shawn here, if you don't know me yet, lucky you! After reading all the rules about the challenges and the guilds, I just couldn't get into it. To be honest, I was never interested in those types of RPG's. As a kid, I was more of a Mario player. My childhood consisted of dodging turtle shells instead of arrows. So to keep true to the purpose of Nerd Fitness's idea of "Level Up Your Life," I created my own challenge for the journey my girlfriend and I are on to build strength, lose weight and live a more happier life. (Follow us on Twitter, link is in our signature.) We just started this challenge today so we may need to make some tweaks along the way as needed. I have broken down my idea into sections below for easier understanding. I have attached 2 pictures for reference. Basics The objective is to go through each level (week) and try to obtain coins and avoid bosses to level up to the next world. All progress is tracked on a chart on our fridge. What is a level? A level is 7 days long. How do we advance to the next level? We have to earn 12 coins. How do we earn coins? We get 1 coin per day for a total of 7 coins. To earn the additional 5 coins we need to complete the level and earn a star, we have to do little challenges or other things that will level up our life (ex. reading a chapter in a book, putting money in our savings or towards a bill, cleaning our cars, etc.) Monday is our weigh-in day, if we lost weight, we get a coin. We can only get 12 coins per level to avoid earning too many coins early and slacking off the remaining levels. We need a total of 4 stars (48 coins) and a minimum of one 1-up mushroom to "warp" to the next world. More on the 1-up mushroom later. How do we get a star? We have to cash in 12 coins to earn 1 star. A total of 4 stars allows us to warp to the next world. What is a world? A world is a commutation of 4 completed levels. To warp to the next world, we need a total of 4 stars. After successfully completing each world, we can buy ourselves a maximum $10-$20 Prize each! (ex. LEGO's, new clothes, iTunes gift card, DVD, can opener, bubble wrap, w/e we want!) We can also save the cash each world to buy something bigger and better later. Oh and of course bragging rights to our pet. That's right Peter our rabbit, we're king! Can we lose coins? Absolutely! If we go about our day and do what we are supposed to, we get our daily coin no questions asked. However, if we encounter a boss and he defeats us, we lose all chances of earning a coin that day and need to earn that coin back on another day. What do you mean bosses? Bosses are different for everyone and should be specific to your own life. Bosses are things that represent our goals, our chores, our mentality, etc. The way a boss "defeats" us is by us not doing what we had planned to do. Bosses for us include not going to the gym, letting our depression take a hold of me, not having at least 1 game/movie night a week, not doing our chores, going over our calories on MyFitnessPal, etc. I included a picture of our "key" which shows you our bosses and the character that represents them. If the boss defeats us, we have to put his picture on our warp pipe for the whole level as a constant reminder that he won that day. What are red mushrooms for? We are given 3 red mushrooms in each world to be used as a free day where we still can get our daily coin even if we royally screwed up. Once we use them, we lose them until we start a new world. What are green mushrooms for? The extra life green 1-Up mushrooms are earned by trying something new and out of our comfort zone, whether it be a new food or a new activity. We need a minimum of one 1-Up mushroom to warp to the next world and we can earn as many as we want. Today I earned one by trying dehydrated jalapeno kale chips my coworker offered me, win! Is the Doctor in? If we are sick one day, we can call Dr. Mario and he will prescribe us a day of rest. If we're faking it however, he will charge us 1 coin so we have to be honest with ourselves and hold each other accountable. Doctors aren't cheap! How the chart works We tape our character to the pipe that is the current day and tape either our bosses or our coins to the pipe depending on how that day went based on the instructions above. Each day we move only our character to the next pipe leaving the previous days items still attached. (We laminated ours to make it easier and we can draw on it with a dry erase marker. Benefits of dating a teacher!) I put the star we're after on the last day for something to aim towards. We put the total number of 1-Ups, stars and coins we've earned to date next to the icons. We put the number level we are on and world we are on as well. We put our weight under our name. An example of what it should look like once we get it going is attached. What are those mystery boxes? Mystery boxes are something to add fun to the week. They can be anything we want. We saved a bunch of these box photos in a folder on our desktop and renamed each photo a specific item so we just open up the folder, hold the arrow key down to scroll through all the pictures at light speed and when we release the button, whatever picture we land on we read what it is titled and that is what we win, or have to do...mu ha ha ha! Some of our examples are: Do 15 jumping jacks, Other person has to do a plank, You pick next movie, Other person has to wash your car windows, etc. I know it sounds confusing but it really isn't. We hope it will bring an element of fun to our journey so we will no longer live like Gumba's! Think this is cool? So did the following: The NY Times calls it, "That was 6 minutes of my life I'll never get back." Borat said, "Very nice, great success!" Lil Jon screamed, "What!? Ooookkk!" Why be Mario if we can Super Mario! Thanks for reading!

That is a fantastic title, I'm fairly proud of myself for that! Anyway, I feel that missing more than 2 weeks of the current challenge is enough to want to wait until the next one starts to officially log there. That is to say, I will still sort out and start on my goals RIGHT NOW, but I won't join a 6-week challenge until the next one starts (Feb 23 - April 5 I believe is the next one) So a preview and toe-dipping-to-check-the-temperature is what this is, I suppose. There's always room for tweaks and scootching to adjust for the busying of schedules or for more leisure time as it comes along. MAIN QUEST: It resides in my signature~ inspired by Daft Punk's song "Harder Better Faster Stronger" and Might Guy from Naruto, I never want to actually be able to finish this goal. So, my goal is to be better than my past self. YEAH FOREVER-GOALS! My current goals to achieve the fundamentals of my main quest are as follows: EDITS IN BOLD Goal #1: Mostly Vegetarian, Mostly Paleo Inspired by: Everyone who's ever picked on me for eating a vegetarian meal. Please note: I am not a vegetarian. I just don't eat a whole lot of meat products, they tend to be a smaller part of my diet because I prefer vegetables. Someone once told me this meant I was "Mostly Vegetarian", and I laughed pretty hard not gonna lie. I told one of my vegetarian friends about it and they got upset to the point of being offended, which I thought was strange but hey- to each their own.Plot Point: Reduce grain intake and replace with more proteins and healthy fats. I mean I love veggies, but they're not gonna keep the engine running all by their lonesome. Veg intake is already optimal.How-to: Replace at least 1 grain product per day with a protein/fat combo (ei: replace veggie burrito with lettuce wrap + meat/nuts, replace sandwich with raw almonds, ect) watch portions - make sure to have ≥ of veg instead of going nuts later and filling up on potatoes/breadGoal #2: Walk to Mordor Inspired by: The Lord of the Rings & Nerd Fitness! Great movie/article. I have a good activity level, but it's kind of sporadic and dependent on other peoples presence (my mother at the gym, my co-worker for bouldering, my sister for Just Dance Wii, ect)Plot Point: Walk places, or around. Don't have to go anywhere necessarily, but motivation always helps! Instead of paying an extra $3 to go 5 km from work to the next bus stop, walk. 0.75 km from the grocery store on the way home to buy those raw almonds instead of asking someone to pick it up. It's a beautiful, fresh-aired day, walk the 11 km to the local nature park and back, plus whatever wandering happens at the park! Anything counts.How-to: Walk a total of 25 km (15 miles) per week walk 5 minutes/day minimum - first thing after breakfastGoal #3: BAT-CAVE!!! Inspired by: Batman & Nerd Fitness (I spy a theme here)Plot Point: My living areas are pretty chaotic, it's not good. Definitely need more order and organization in that department.How-to: Do one thing, every day, to improve the overall functionality of my batcave living spaces. Can be cleaning, dusting, re-organizing all of my mothers DRAGONLANCE books (that last one takes hours though, maybe for an especially enthusiastic day) order of importance/rooms to focus on first: Computer room, kitchen, bedroom, living room.Goal #4: Finish This Challenge Inspired by: Every other challenge/goal that I have not finishedPlot Point: I habitually quit after a week or two for most things. No longer. I am now someone who finishes what I start or has the sense of mind to not start that thing.How-to: Keep a day-to-day journal. Post a cumulitive report online once a week (Friday) I opted to replace one of my diet/fitness goals with another life goal because that last one is fairly important. It's not looking at my failures in life and trying to be motivated by regret. I've accomplished a lot since I decided I wanted to be healthy: Lost 45 lbs Started exercising again Made new friends Go out of my way to socialize instead of complaining about being lonelyand then some more, so it's more looking at my failures and seeing how I can better myself from them (see: main goal). And this all starts today, right now. After I post this, I'm going to go wash todays dishes (goal #3) and then I'm going to check out what food-stuff we have so I can plan tomorrow's breakfast (goal #1). I'm not going to put too much pressure or planning behind this, because I know it doesn't work and I'm only moderately insane. So tomorrow's goal achieving plans will be made tomorrow, likely right before I do them. It's 11:01PM here in Canada, I wish you all a good night! Happy Tuesday~ -Rebecca

ZELDA: A LINK TO THE FUTURE It's 2015. Welcome to the future. Your consciousness has finally been downloaded into a computer. The singularity is upon us. Time to start figuring out how to use these virtual bodies. Since now you have the ability to create your own reality. You have of course decided to create the greatest environment possible by creating virtual Hyrule. You are awoken by a voice in your head telling your they are locked in the dungeon of a nearby Hyrule Castle. You wake up to see your Uncle getting ready for battle. "battle... must battle" he says. He leaves in a hurry towards the castle. You know that you shouldn't follow because you are woefully unequipped, but you feel compelled to chase after him. You come upon your Uncle. And it is not good. He has been mortally wounded... no hope. He hands you his sword and shield. You take them and carry on to find the princess. Now you are in this dungeon. You need to find Princess Zelda. Time to crawl through this dungeon and find her! THE RULES Let's get down to business. We are dungeon crawling during part 1 of this challenge. We have to crawl all the way to where Princess Zelda is being held. It's a pretty long way. We may encounter some baddies along the way so stay alert. Have your sword and shield ready (subscribe to this post). Our first team goal involves doing an Army Crawl. They look like this... https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=qFeuj6hrKzQ One rep = both sides (left, right... right. left or however you accomplish that) You don't have to do forward then backwards. It is just recommended so you use alllll of the muscles and work your core hard, bro. TEAM GOAL = 1000 crawls/reps >>>A spreadsheet to tabulate your crawling progress.<<< Other rules: - Mini-challenges are not mandatory, feel free to ignore this one if you don't want to participate. Don't let mini-challenge hinder your own goals. - If you're not sure how to register something, post it here. - If you already have some army crawl-ing in your challenge, then yes! It counts for both - Keep it simple! - Don't hurt yourself! Every sleuth who competes in this mini-challenge gets +1 STA for crawling through the dungeon! Assassins, remember to be safe and have fun!

Hey, I've been pondering this thread for a while. I love the community of NF. The rebels are some of my favorite people. I also happen to play my fair share of video games, but don't have a huge friends list to pull from when I want to play co-op or multi-player. So I wanted to throw this thread out into the wild and see what/who comes to the surface. If you are interested in being part of a NF gaming community of sorts, answer these questions three: 1. What platforms do you currently play video games on? 2. What are your gamer tags on those platforms? 3. What games are you currently playing? and... Add yourself to the Rolodex: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1N-dn1CyJHvpr2yRJrkofutnElAGIasN1YmLDND5gQ30/edit#gid=0

Soooooo I thought I had another week until this challenge cycle. I'm a bit late to it, but I guess not catastrophically late? Anyway! Here I am! Challenge 1: No video games (except on the weekends...after five). Those of you familiar with my last challenge and its results know that I had a "no video games before five pm!" rule. I did not do so well; I ended up with a 69%. In my experience with school, that's a D. In some classes, that would have been an F. An F+, I grant you, but still. So this time I'm getting srs bzns about it. No games at all during the week. On the weekends, I can play after five. This is mostly a professional challenge, because those suckers eat up time and I'm weak against their siren call (I have an inherent -4 to my saves against video games). This is my kryptonite, my soda pop, my gallons of whiskey, my Waterloo. Time to beat this crap. That's right. Spark is a crapbeater. Challenge 2: Work my workout. I have a workout that I'll post about in my blog. Basically it's Monday/Thursday legs, Tuesday/Friday arms, and Wednesday/Saturday core. That's six workouts a week, all of them involving some elements of doing things at home and doing things at the gym. I have to complete the entire day's work to score a point here. Watch this space for the link when I post. Note that next week I'm going to be going to a friend's place for about ten days. During that time I won't have access to a gym at all, so instead of my gym workouts I'll be doing the 300 Workout from Neila Rey. Bodyweight workouts ftw! As a side challenge, to myself, I'm going to try to teach myself how to do burpees. It's not so much that I don't know how they work as that I've always been scared to try them because of my weight. I'm a lot stronger than I was, so I'm going to start easing my way into them. As it were. Challenge 3: Finish another book. I have books left over from previous NaNoWriMos, and a couple of them have enough potential that I'm going to go ahead and put some work into them. I plan to take one (around 50k words) and turn it into an actual novel during this challenge cycle. I'm hoping to get it through the entire editing process, including the cover, and get the sucker posted. That's my goal! We'll see how far Spark can get! Woo for three challenges! Kittens for everyone! Also, um, sorry I'm late. There was a pileup on the Superhero Crosstown. Very sad.

Hi Nerds! I am looking for an accountabilibuddy that I could text with in order to motivate/remind each other to make good eating choices and to exercise. I find it difficult to follow a forum online as my schedule is quite random, thus texting is more flexible and convenient! I'm hoping to find someone that can help me, and who I can help in return! My goals are to lose around 50-70 lbs. I'm 23 and into video games, politics, movies, books (lots of books), and entrepreneurship - I'm sure we can think of some more things to chat about too . Looking forward to creating a mutually beneficial relationship with someone! Ashleigh