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There is my scoring system. Now I need things to score. This is difficult, because I'm tired of long lists, but they're so useful for providing reminders through the day. And because lately my challenges have had to do a lot of adapting. So I think this will be a hybrid system, which I will test drive during zero week. I will score what I have done on a naughty/nice axis in a "be mindful of my needs and choices" kind of thing, and set a small number of goals each week. During zero week, let's try: Make a list and check it twice Hogswatch cheer Walking in a winter wonderland Right. First set of challenge goals.

It’s been awhile since I participated with the Warrior’s Guild, but I’m back and ready to lift all the heavy things again! Since this challenge runs over Halloween, my favorite holiday, it’s werewolf themed again! Main Quest To live a healthy and balanced life by exercising and trying to eat healthy. My Motivation Since starting my new job back in March, I lost access to my gym. I’ve been walking outside, but have not done any strength training for months and I miss it. Now, with access to my new at-home gym setup, I have barbells and a bar/bench to lift again! My main focus for this challenge will be lifting, but I also want to continue walking to get back into better scuba diving shape. I’ve maintained my 1200 calories per day, M-F with blow meals on the weekends. However, I need to drop some weight before my physical in mid-November so I’m going back to 1 blow day/weekend. This will be a hard challenge, since it’s been awhile for me, but I’m ready and willing, so let’s rage! Smaller Quests 1. Big Beastie = Weightlifting It’s time to get back to lifting all the heavy things! I’ve missed it, so it’s time to reset and lift stuff again. I like it, it makes me feel better about myself and it’s got practical, real-world purposes. However, since it’s been awhile since I last lifted heavy things, I’m starting off with lower weights than I normally would since I don’t want to hurt myself. Werewolves are, first and foremost, destructive forces with incredible strength. Most werewolves are particularly strong in the upper body, although they’re really just all-over slabs of muscle. Scoring: x/5 (1 for each weight achieved) - Barbell Curls: 12.5lbs → 20lbs - Bench Press: 45lbs → 65lbs - Deadlift: 50lbs → 65lbs - Squat: 50lbs → 65lbs - Tricep Pullovers: 12.5lbs → 25lbs Reward: +5 to STR (+1 for each completed) 2. Stalking = Walking I have an hour for lunch, so I’ve been walking for 40 minutes M-F, which gets me about 2 miles in that time. I want to make sure I walk each day, M-F for 40 minutes, outside. Another big thing werewolves do is stalk their prey. So being able to walk for miles at a time, without ill effects, is important. Scoring: x/25 days Reward: +5 to STA (+1 for every week achieved) 3. Blood & Guts = Blow Meals My blow meals on weekends have gotten out of control. Where I used to only have 1 blow meal per weekend, it’s turned into two full days of eating badly. And since my annual dive physical is coming up on November 16, I need to shed some pounds to make sure I’m in the best diving shape for Scuba Santa in December! So it’s back to 1 blow day per weekend. Werewolves run on high protein diets and not much else. Scoring: /5 weekends Reward: 3+ CON & 2+ CHA (+1 for each weekend achieved) Time to RAGE!!!

For my return to the Challenges, I'm going to go with a Lord of the Rings theme, since I'm currently doing a Walk to Mordor challenge too. So, attempting to follow Frodo out of the Shire, here's what I'm aiming for: Declutter the Hobbit Hole Like Bilbo getting ready for his 111th birthday party and subsequent departure from the Shire, I need to get rid of some stuff. I already have some bags ready to go, but I'm not sure what to do with them, so for this part of the challenge my three main objectives are: Figure out what to do with old stuffed animals that are still in good shape Weed out my wardrobe and pitch/donate the stuff I don't wear anymore Organize my closet Farmer Maggot's Mushrooms I've been doing a very good job (if I do say so myself) of eating local throughout the summer. In my climate, we're getting to the time of year when that becomes a bit trickier, but to try to keep the momentum going, during this challenge I want to visit: A new farm stand nearby that has fruits and veggies The local pumpkin patch The butcher shop next to my work A nearby apple orchard I always say I'm going to check out and never have Walk to Mordor As previously stated, I'm working on my own Walk to Mordor Challenge (just left Bag End on September 1). I hope to make Bree by the end of this challenge (135 miles total, I already have 26.81 miles in). Strength Training For strength training, I'll be doing the Lord of the Rings workouts. Instead of doing each book as a super set though, I'll be treating them as separate workouts. Thursday, Saturday, Monday is currently my best schedule for working out. And there you have it! By the end of this challenge, if all goes according to plan, I should be out of the Shire and ready to take on the rest of Middle Earth.

Hello hello, friends new and old! Some of you may recognize me... My old username was based off of an old persona/character I came up with a long time ago. I have long outgrown it. So, now I am Dusk. Dusk is my favorite time of day, and I could probably come up with a whole bunch of ways that making it my username has some Deeper Meaning™️, but at the end of the day, it's cool and I like it. So there. I have been a member of the NF Rebellion for a long time (six years on Sept 24!!...) but I haven't been very involved for quite some time. Grappling with graduate school, mental health, getting married, etc. proved too much for me to handle, on top of maintaining an online presence. But what I discovered was that I did still have an online presence, it was just in other places. And recently I realized that those places - especially with the state the world is in right now - were sapping me utterly, presenting me rapid-fire with so many stressful topics and no chance to recover or process any of it. So, I deleted a great deal of my accounts, edited the ones I kept into a form I could handle, and... found myself immediately in the "check the same apps over and over" loop. What better to fill that time with than my Ranger family? Perhaps I can become engaged in this community as I once was. I miss you all. As for the challenge, well. As I mentioned, I'm married - a little over a year now! And Mr. Spouse Man has to wake up at 4am for a shift at 5, more days than not. Which means... yours truly also wakes up at the asscrack of dawn. I discovered that I'm much less productive if I try and sleep more after he leaves, because once I do finally wake up to go about my own day, I'm groggy and sluggish and it takes me forever to get going. Whereas if I just get up when he does, I have plenty of time to ease into wakefulness, drink my coffee, and ultimately start my day earlier than I would ever do on my own. SO: my plan for the challenge is to go for a walk around 5am, on the mornings that Mr. Spouse Man has to leave early for work. There's a nice little route I take through campus that's right around 1.5 miles. Plus, when I go out that early, the temperature is tolerable (even if the humidity is still a nuisance)! Eventually I will see about either a) lengthening the route or b) easing into running instead of walking, but for starters, I just want to get in the habit of moving my body. Plus, walking is just pleasant. I'll post the walking schedule for each week once I know it, and update y'all as to whether I complete the walks or not! A side goal (that isn't a challenge goal but I'll likely talk about it anyway) is to track my foods, which I've been doing consistently for about a week now! I need to lose some serious fluff, hahah. 😅 💜 ~ dusk

Greetings, Nerds! There is a hint of fall in the air in Pennsylvania today, and I'm thinking about what sort of fitness goals I'm going to set for myself this winter to stay active once my summer adventures come to an end. And so I proudly reveal to you, my quest to master Middle Earth: On September 1st I will be starting my Walk to Mordor. Here is Steve's article on walking, including walking to Mordor with a document to track if you want to follow along: https://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/walking/. Once the Chin Up Challenge is done, I'll tackle the Lord of the Rings workout, which is awesome, and can be found here: https://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/the-lord-of-the-rings-workout-one-plan-to-rule-them-all/. The workout is designed to be done in three super sets, which looks insane to me. I'll be doing them as three separate workouts. Lastly, once I'm in a routine with the above two goals, I'll think about adding in some ring work to start working towards a L-Sit and truly become THE LORD OF THE RINGS! Thanks for following along, looking forward to saving Middle Earth with you all!

I have decided to continue my LotR themed challenge since I am in the midst of a 30 day challenge that is relevant to what I was struggling with last time. I'll copy and paste my challenge goals below: I have been wrestling with the urge to read the LotR series again, so what better way to motivate me than to theme my challenge after LotR. I could use some inspiration and heart from some of Tolkien's heroes. As this challenge progresses, I will no doubt be channeling some of the traits of some of my favorites, specifically the race of Men because I find myself identifying most closely with Tolkien's human characters. . Lately, some... temptations have arisen, so it is also fitting to work through a challenge that themes these temptations as the pull of The One Ring. And so it begins. Goal 1: Resist The One Ring "Not if I found it on the highway would I take it I said. Even if I were such a man as to desire this thing, and even though I knew not clearly what this thing was when I spoke, still I should take those words as a vow, and be held by them. ‘But I am not such a man. Or I am wise enough to know that there are some perils from which a man must flee." -- Faramir For this goal, I will be channeling Faramir, who is without a doubt my favorite of the characters who successfully resists The One Ring, even though he had reasons outside of the Dark Lord's power to take it from Frodo. I also identify with Faramir's struggles to make his father proud, to know that he isn't the favored son, and his choice to be peaceful and merciful by nature: “I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend.” Without getting into specifics, this goal focuses on recognizing when and why these temptations occur: what triggers them and what is the best way to resist them. Faramir's quote above also brings to mind scripture: "But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses." -- 1 Timothy 6:11-12 learn about these temptations and what hidden dangers lurk within them set boundaries and barricades against temptations; arm and fortify yourself against the attacks of the enemy be brave and stand strong when you can, but have an escape plan remember BRACE: Breathe, Remember the truth, Accountability Call, Escape the situation if you get lost, call out to your fellowship of brothers to help you find the way again fast and pray to build discipline celebrate victories and milestones, but remain resolute and do not lose your temperance Goal 2: Build Strength, Wisdom, Courage, and Heart to Become Who You Were Meant to Be "But I am the real Strider, fortunately. I am Aragorn son of Arathorn; and if by my life or death I can protect you, I will." -- Aragorn For this goal, I will be channeling Aragorn because of his strong heart, his wisdom, and his courage, which grows as he breaks free of the shame of his father and steps into his destined role as heir to the throne of Gondor. Aragorn is aware of his flaws and weaknesses as a man, but he strives to do good by serving others. He faces peril, inspires others into battle, and fights courageously for his fellowship. None of this would be possible if he had allowed himself to get weak or distracted or lose his self-control. He is also faithful to the cause of defeating evil and to the love of his life. He is watchful and alert, wise and intelligent, humble and modest by nature but also mighty and proud when necessary. Some aspects of this goal will look familiar if you have followed me for some time. awaken before dawn pray/meditate/study scripture & other books of wisdom fast daily (intermittently) eat whole foods (mostly plants) drink at least 64 ounces of water daily WHM breathing daily (I really need to get back to this; it clears my head and may help stave some of the temptation triggers) read at least 30 minutes every day (LotR, of course) spend at least 30 minutes every day in nature strengthen the body (stones, log, sandbags, cinderblocks, sledgehammer, buckets) spend time with my queen; this includes going to bed with her and not staying up late Goal 3: Rebuild Your Heart and Your Kingdom "For he was a gentle heart and a great king and kept his oaths; and he rose out of the shadows to a last fair morning." -- Aragorn, speaking of King Theoden Theoden is a good example of someone who, as he grew older and more tired, allowed himself to become misled and lost sight of his true purpose as king. It corrupted him and led to the usurping of his kingdom by evil forces. Once he is set free of this spell, however, he steps into his role as king and, in spite of the bleak outlook, fights for his people and for the good of all Middle Earth. For this goal, I am both literally and figuratively referring to my "kingdom" (as in my home, my domain) meditate on/reclaim my purpose as husband and father (as "king") spend time with daughters; hug them, play with them, go on adventures with them keep my current house in order: clean daily, keep the yard clean and mowed, make necessary repairs work on the other house, as well, at least twice per week; be assertive but clearheaded when any obstacles arise

Okay, so, in keeping with the spirit of simplicity, I've got one primary goal for this challenge. I'm going to walk 50 miles in August. This means that I probably have to do 5k, 4 days a week. That would put me at about 51 for the month. I might mix it up a little: throw some bike miles on there (once I have my repair kit) at the same 3 biking: 1 walking ratio that I used previously. There will probably be some dog hikes in there too. I went back and did the calcs: last month I put around 42 miles on the clock, which is good. That should make 50 a bit of a stretch, but an attainable goal. My long-term plan is still (in a few years) hiking one of the Highland Ways with my daughter, once she's old enough, so I'm going to have to throw in a few all-day hikes somewhere in the future to make sure I'm building the longer endurance as well. I figure kiddo should be at least 5-6 or so before we attempt something like that, so I've got some planning time. Plus, assuming we can get past the damn COVID thing, I've got a trip sketched out for next year anyway that is time-dependent, so it has to come first. Other than that, I've decided against actually tracking calories. I'm going to focus on keeping on what I'm doing, meals-wise. The high-fiber, non-meat lunches, two meals/day and just generally trying to cut back around the edges is the plan for this challenge. I'll re-examine at the end of this one and see if I really need to log calories, or whether I can manage this on my own. So: eat better and walk 50 miles. I think I can do it. Current Progress [❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚] 59.32/50 miles 118.64% complete

I’m Ann of Vries, often Adventurer and occasional Ranger. I decided it was time to do my semi-annual “holiday” to the Rangers Guild. I’m an American currently living in London with my British husband and 2 year old son (more on him later). However, this urban status is to be short lived as we are in the process of purchasing a woodland property in the magical Wye Valley/Forest of Dean and expect to move there this autumn/winter (move date TBD). (You may not have heard of the Forest of Dean, but you’ve probably seen it. A lot of movies and TV shows have been filmed in its faerie tale woodland.) Meanwhile, I’ve been on a pilgrimage of my own to follow my heroes the Fellowship of the Ring on their Walk to Mordor. During the last challenge, I just missed my goal of arriving at the Trollshaws (211/221 miles). For this challenge, I will put my chin up and continue my journey. The recent months have been difficult—there’s been the global pandemic crisis, of course, and myriad challenges caused by Lockdown restrictions in the UK. My husband was unemployed at the beginning of the pandemic but thankfully found a new contract in the midst of it and has been working from home—which presents its own challenges. (He will eventually be commuting to the Midlands part-time and working from home part-time, probably starting early next year.) Oh, and there’s all of the issues of moving house as well, which isn’t easy even during the best of times. But then there is also my toddler, the Enting, who is in the throes of the Terrible Twos and can foil my attempts at lengthy walks and... well, anything and everything else I’m trying to accomplish! The Challenge: Find the Entwives There are a great many tasks involved in any moving of home, and this one of course is no different. We need to keep on with the solicitors, get the building survey done, go through our things, decide what’s going with us and what’s going away, set up a removal service once we have a date, etc. Part 2 of this search for the Entwives is to Find Joy in Growing. The Terrible Twos have been pretty hard on me. I want to remember the joy of little Entings instead of spending this time always feeling exhausted and frustrated. Beyond Rivendell I’m about 100 miles from Rivendell, but I intend to get much further beyond it. My goal is 205 miles—which should take me just past the “6 Days Past Rivendell” milestone on my Walk to Mordor app. This is based on an average of 6 miles a day starting in Week Zero. These miles are taken straight from my Fitbit—they include any puttering about, errands, long walks, chasing of toddler, etc. I stick to challenges better when the record-keeping is easy and straight forward. Learn from the Rangers They say that you’ll be chasing your toddler until you’re exhausted and in a way that’s true, but I’ve found that doesn’t seem to include going on long walks which has always been my principle form of exercise and was fine when he was littler and less mobile since I could just put him in the carrier or buggy and go as far as I wanted. Add in Lockdown restrictions/social distancing in a big city, husband working from home, preparing for selling/buying/move of homes, and I’ve found my weight frustratingly ticking up. I need to find alternatives I can do in a shorter time frame—preferably that don’t require much (if any!) kit change, new equipment, or set-up since I just don’t have time for that (and I’m trying not to buy things when we’re about to move). This is an exploratory goal. I aim to try different things over the course of the challenge with intent to choose one (or some) to continue with by the end. They don’t have to be formal “exercise.” One idea I have is just playing “tag” with my toddler in the park. (Suggestions welcome!) Maintain or Lose I want to either maintain my current weight (which is admittedly a touch higher than I prefer), or make progress on it going down. I’m already a pretty “clean” and healthy eater, so I feel that weight gain is mostly about my activity level. Ever on we go....

I did it!!!!!! I finished the 5k this morning! I did my training program which was: 5 minutes walking 1.5 minutes running 1.5 minutes walking 3 minutes running 3 minutes running Repeat from 1st run 5 minutes walking (cool down) After that it was a lot of walking followed by random walking/running until I reached the 5k mark.

Hello Nerds, annyshay here! Back again for another challenge. I'm not going to make too many tweaks to things at the moment because they're honestly going really well. I want to maintain my momentum. For those that don't know me, I'm a thirty-something single lady that who lives with an orange tabby named Dragon in the Northeastern US. I've been a member of the Nerd Fitness forums for many years. Along the way, I met my health coach, Amy Clover, who has been helping me move past dieting and performance health based on external metrics to focus more on the way that I want to feel and building habits that support that. I'm going to go back to the elements for my challenge this time, with a heavy emphasis on those in Avatar: The Last Airbender (lovingly referred to in the future as ATLA). Earth - walk at least once a day Air - intentionally seek out support Fire - PT exercises Water - cook 1-2 times per week

For this challenge, I'm going to tackle a couple of things that I've been meaning to do for a long, long time: Improve the quantity of my weekday sleep by getting to bed earlier. By the end of the challenge I want to be in bed before midnight on a regular basis. Establish a regular daily meditation practice, starting at 5 minutes and working towards 15 minutes a day. The third health/fitness item is to continue my daily walking to and from work. Epic quest will be to make my garden into a more attractive place that's easier to maintain. A lot of this will be design work, things like getting quotes for a garden path, but I suspect there will be some actual gardening as well. Those weeds aren't going to pull themselves...

I had surgery on my spine ( slipped disc/paralysed right foot) on June 5th and am recovering well. last challenge I beat the "pain dragon" with the druids. I meditated, wrote, lost weight, cooked and prepped healthy keto foods. Movement not possible pre surgery. Now its time to get back going. Right now I am able to walk more than 4000 steps with breaks and am pain free. The next weeks I will experiment with my own personal rehab program, supported by my neighbor who is my PT as well. Im a cello-teacher and writer and will also level up on the time I spend with research for book #2. To help my spine I need to lose some more weight. As a 52 year old (queer) woman I feel its not about what my body looks like ( that's fine ) but about what my body can do and will be able to do as I keep aging.My dog has been very patient with me but enjoys the walks we could restart since last week. My long-term goal is to hike/run? longer tours in nature with the pup. I joined this guild because I also want to do bodyweight/strength stuff again. (was heavily into CrossFit for a couple of years) Starting out with stretching and PT stuff for my back and stomach to help my spine longterm. Since Im in recovery I can't predict the condition I will be in during the next weeks. Therefore I will adjust my goals weekly to make sure the goal is neither too hard nor too easy. Here are my goals until Sunday 21th. : food: cook and prep healthy keto meals. eat 2 meals a day. veggies are your friend! drink 3 liter of water/coffee/zero sugar drinks/ tea daily movement: complete 21.000 steps until Sunday 21th 8pm. breaks are your friend. careful with your foot! wait bodyweight stuff until you are ready! nothing this week practice sitting, starting with 15 mins and going to 20 mins without break life: complete 3 hours of research for your book this week don't cancel any Cello students because you don't feel like getting dressed I will post often and will read what you are up to as much as I possibly can! ❤️

Dearest Adventurers, It has long been the ambition of mine to follow in the footsteps of the legendary Fellowship of the Ring. And so, I have began something of a pilgrimage of their footsteps, from Bag End to Mordor. But I also have long felt a connection to the lost Entwives, and I seek home, a garden to tend. I don’t think I will find the Entwives—no one else has—but I can find one in myself. (I already have an Enting, after all!) So it is while on this long journey I hope to find my place in Middle Earth to settle down. During the last few weeks, I journeyed from Bag End to Bree. In the next few weeks, with my Enting on my back and friends coming and going at my side, I should make it as far as the Trollshaws. Challenge: Starting in Zero Week, begin walking. My goal is the Trollshaws, which is 221 miles. It doesn’t really matter how I make the miles—steps done on daily activities/errands, local walks, hikes, etc. After more than a decade of trying and failing the record-keeping with this challenge (I certainly haven’t lacked the mileage), I believe the key to me completing the Walk to Mordor is really by making the bookkeeping as simple as possible. Whatever my Fitbit says at the end of the day goes into my handy WtM app. Easy. Do something each day to help get the house sold and get me to that garden to tend. That will usually involve some sort of upkeep on the tidying, decluttering, or attacking the dust bunnies in some forgotten corner. If we get an offer on the house during the challenge, I will outline new goals based on our next steps. Skip Second Breakfast. I’ve put on a few pounds over the last several months (before Lockdown started, really), and I’d like to see them go. My goal here is to weigh less at the end of the challenge than I did at the beginning—as simple as that. It’s more about increasing activity than eating (I’m a pretty clean eater already), but they are of course intertwined and I need to be mindful I’m not just replacing every calorie I burn. Starting weight: 126lbs. (Usual disclaimer—I’m quite petite, so that weight puts me nearing the top of my healthy range and when I see an upwards trend I like to nip it in the bud. I want to get back to the middling—somewhere around 115lbs.) And that’s it. Walk a lot, make the house look good, and say no to extra snacks sometimes. I can do that much, right?

Main Quest To live a healthy and balanced life by exercising and trying to eat healthy. My Motivation For my 37th challenge here, I’m going back to the Ranger’s Guild to balance endurance with strength training. I started here back in 2014, after having dropped weight and started a fitness routine on my own. However, with Nerd Fitness, I honed my focus and added muscle. But it’s been awhile since I did a challenge here and I find the motivation the forum provides is a great one. I’ve maintained my 1200 calories per day, M-F with blow meals on the weekends and I’ve been going on daily walks with my husband M-F. My weekly meals will remain the same, but I want to hold myself accountable for walking more and to add in weightlifting again. Smaller Quests 1. Walking I want to walk each day during this challenge, including on the weekends. Ideally, I would be walking 2 miles per day, but with going into my office sporadically, and with the spring weather (read: rain), I’m not sure how realistic this is. So I’m going to shoot for every day to see how it goes. Scoring: x/34 days Reward: +5 to STA (+1 for every week completed) 2. Weightlifting - Trim & Tone workout from Darebee.com I enjoy weightlifting, but lack a proper gym at home. Still, I do have barbells and I should be using them. I want to focus on my arms, and my biceps even more specifically. I want to use another Darebee program, but only a few times a week. Before, I’ve gone with a specific program, but that website has a lot of single day programs too. I’m going to try a single workout, twice a week. The Trim & Tone workout focuses on arms and I should be able to perform the exercises at home. Scoring: x/10 days Reward: +5 to STR (+1 for every week completed) 3.Language - Spanish I want to practice my Spanish again on DuoLingo, so I want to aim for once a day, M-F. Scoring: x/25 days Reward: +5 to WIS (+1 for every week completed)

Hi, fellow Druids, I am fearless, a long time German member (f.52)who has missed a lot at NF during the last years. I used to be a Scout (running and hiking) and have been heavily into CrossFit for some years. After knee surgery I have been sedentary for 2 years. Result: a slipped disc in my lower back, muscular dysbalance and a lot of pain since the beginning of lockdown in march. I choose the Druids for this challenge because I want to do a mix of yoga, physical therapy exercises and meditation as well. Today at my PT I presented her my "routine" which is about 30 minutes long. Its mostly core stuff to heal faster. 2018 and 2019 I did Keto successfully and cooked all meals for myself. Then I needed a break and had all the bread and fruit Now its time to get back to my way of eating. It helps me to lose weight ( still need to crush about 30 pounds.) and also helps me a lot with mental health issues ( I am clearer and more alert on keto ). my life goal is to be able to write again. I have published a book in 2018 about my way out of mental health hell into the mostly happy person I am now. Its part autobiographic, part self help. After a lot of feedback I was asked to write another book describing the technics that helped me get out of the hellhole. Like what do you do when you are in bed, have not showered in days, find yourself depressed and motionless... how do you get back into a well lived life. I have started research ( science and my diaries) but have my doubts if its a good project.. nevertheless I want to get back into creating regularly. clarification: I am a writer and Cello teacher, so I always work from home and I have a lot of free time because I retired early and only work for 20 hours/week. Only responsibility is my dog ( who plays in my garden mostly since I've been injured.) FEARLESS IS BEATING THE PAIN DRAGON ...THE QUEST... Everyday: 5 Minutes of breathing/meditation as part of my morning routine a short walk with my puppy as warm up 30 Minutes of PT/Stretching/Yoga Food Prep so I have 2-3 keto meals every day. ( I can have greek or Turkish food from takeout 2 times during the challenge. ( only meat and veggies) sit at desk for 30 Minutes a day and see if you can get your groove back. I don't have to write but am not allowed any other activity during this half hour... Thanks for reading, guys! Ive read all of your first posts and look forward to getting sh*t done during this challenge! ❤️

The last challenge—well, the last couple of months, really—have been ones of new challenges. Too many challenges. Challenge 1: Lockdown restrictions. Needed, necessary and I support them 100%. But being restricted to one outing a day and all of the myriad complications around having a toddler when everything is canceled and you have to keep them distanced as well... it’s not easy, you guys. Challenge 2: Enting. There’s all that Lockdown stuff, and then there’s the issue where the toddler has also gone through some kind of developmental change which has caused severe separation anxiety. I’m spending a minimum of 1-3 hours a day trying to settle him down to sleep now (I used to spend less than 5 minutes total, as he’d easily go to sleep on his own). That’s a huge chunk of my day gone. And I’m having to bed-share night time as well, and he wakes up half a dozen times a night to make sure I’m still there with him. I have to tell you, I’m exhausted. Challenge 3: Falling apart. See above—I’m tired, I don’t get out for as much exercise as I want or need, and I never get a break, day or night. My evening downtime is all but gone because it takes an hour+ to get Enting to go to sleep and then I need to catch up on chores, and then by the time I can get myself settled, it’s time to get ready for bed. But, this is the new normal around here. And I’m trying to accept that, rather than continue to think of this as an inconvenient blip that will hopefully go away in a couple of days. Pull Together There is good news on the horizon—Mr has a new job! He starts on May 18th, likely from home for the short term. The job is in the Midlands, so we’re looking at relocating when the situation allows. And we’ve decided to go for the Dream. We’re planning to make our forever home in the Wye Valley*. Why the Wye? (You may also recall me pic-spamming about this place last September/October when we were there on holiday.) Mr’s new job will change things around here, as he won’t be as available during the day even though he’s at home. After this week, there will probably be some gradual relaxations on Lockdown. Depending on how relaxed, we may soon be able to go the homes we’ve “registered an interest” with the estate agents about. We need to get our house on the market. We need be prepared to move—because it could happen in 2 months or next year. We just don’t know between the fluctuations on the housing market and what Lockdown will allow, but we want to be ready. This challenge will be rife with transition and also with “hurry up and wait!”. But for any of this to work, I need to pull together. With lack of sleep and toddler issues and Lockdown ennui, everything has fallen apart. I’m not getting the daily chores done—let alone the extra things that need doing! And more is coming! So, the challenge begins with: Get on top of daily chores Get on top of extra house maintenance (things that don’t need daily attention, but haven’t gotten attention in... um, months weeks) Future relocations activities, which may include: Preparations to sell the house (both in terms of paperwork but state of the house) Preparations to view properties (putting together travel on short term, making sure we know what questions we want to ask about a given property, exploring the area around properties) Putting together a new routine when Mr is working Caring for my balcony garden (good for the soul) Trying not to let the lack of sleep interfere with my relationships (IE, try to think before being cranky) Getting outside daily—even if it’s just sitting in our dark little garden. The trouble here is that sometimes Enting won’t go with me, or won’t want to be out for more than a few minutes, and Mr is not always available to watch him so I can go on a solo walk. Also, we’ve done every possible walk in the acceptable local area over and over again and I hate to say it, but we’re bored. Control stress/boredom eating. I’m doing okay on this one now, but I need to stay vigilant. I’ll probably think of other things. Maybe even a theme! So, it’s not as much of a fitness challenge as a “level up your life” challenge, because I need to sort out a lot of other things before I can get to serious fitness obligations. But these things... this moving to the place we’ve dreamed of, navigating Lockdown, these are the things of heroes and adventurers, too. As for details, I’ll put more of those out every few days—this is a time of flux and priorities may shift too quickly for me to have them out far in advance. But for now... time to make a to-do list! (*Please note, plans can change. But this is our top choice.)

Last challenge was yet another in the long line of fails I have had as of late. Hell, as of the last year even. That all changes here! At least I certainly hope so haha I have done cold turkey style in the past. and it seemed to work for me. A few times I have tried baby step it. Sometimes that works too. Really though, I feel fed up. I'm ready to get this going, so I'm mostly just going cold turkey. Goal#1 - Full on Keto, Tracking, and Fasting I've prepped a bit over the last week to make sure I get things setup to go full keto starting tomorrow. I'm not worried about calories so much, but I want to make sure to track carbs. I'm also going back into intermittent fasting. Week 0 I think 16/8 works nice. I'd actually like to try a longer fast first week. Like 72 hours or more. 9 points (3 each) per day 63 points per week. Goal#2 - Reading and sleeping I haven't read in awhile, and many bedtimes have ranged in the 3-4:30 am range. Add on I go to bed, then sit there not sleeping forever. So let's get this started up again. I need to get this sleep schedule going. Plus I'll sleep better as I lose wait again haha. The one night I will be up a bit later is Saturday night. I just need to get to bed asap there. 11 PM, off the computer to get reading. Get myself headed to be by 12. Eventually, I will move the times up, but this is good for now. Saturday's, I'll ready for 15-30 minutes, then hit the sack. Still should be close to 12. 4 points total per day. 28 per week. Goal#3 - Move that body This whole quarantine I have done diddly squat for any kind of exercise. Actually, I did do one small walk around my apartment complex last challenge. Man, I can tell just how out of shape I have become. bringing in groceries has been my workout ever couple of weeks or so haha. My plan is to walk every day. I'm not jumping into 10k steps right away. I want to start off with at least one walk in the morning around the complex. I'm also in need of doing some workouts. 3 times a week. No gym. I have some dumbbells here at home I can use. There are also so many body weight workouts that can be done. Eventually, I will get the weight down enough that I can get to use my rings and pullup bars for things too 5 points per day for walking. 35 points per week. 10 points per day of workouts. 3 workouts each week 30 points total. 65 points per week Goal#4 - Chores and more I'm stuck at home, why not actually get some chores done. There is plenty of things I can do. Spend at least 15 minutes doing chores. Check the dishes each day. Clean out the cat box each day. Start going though my boxes of cards and computers things. Get rid of all the things I don't need. Maybe I can get my stuff all cleaned through, then I can put together my lego sets that have been sitting here on the sidelines. 5 points per day. 35 points per week. Side Goal - Take 10 minutes to myself everyday I thought of getting some meditation in or some kind of mental health time in on this challenge. The apartment is packed full of actiity now with us all in stay atr hoem oprders. The youngest has zoom meetings with his classmates to do some distance learning, wife is also working at home and in meetings and such. I think part of why I have been staying up so late at night, is because it is that me time. Granted all day really is me time, but everyone is just around. Walking will help me a bit with this, but I think I just need to give myself 10 minutes each day. Lock myself in a bathroom or whatever. Sit, reflect, maybe practice a little meditation to help center myself. No points, just somethign I thought to toss in here last minute I'm going to need to make sure I start checking back in here as well. Maybe I need to restart posting in my Blog. Maybe even do it video style on Youtube. Overall, check in here and check out all the stuff with Nerdfitness prime. Things to help keep me in check. I really want this to be the restart I need to get me back on the path to reaching my future goals. I need to be getting that pull up done. I want to run again. Eventually, getting to 10k or 15k distance. I want to get close to that onederland weight level. I think that 185 - 200 lbs is the range I would probably be good at. BMI I think want me at a max of 165. I can't even imagine how I would look if I went for that weight. Points Week 1 (05/10 - 05/16) - 0/191 Week 2 (05/17 - 05/23) - 0/191 Week 3 (05/24 - 05/30) - 0/191 Week 4 (05/31 - 06/06) - 0/191 Week 5 (06/07 - 06/13) - 0/191 Total Challenge Points - 0/955 Measurements: (Week 0 / End of Challenge) Chest - 56.49 in / Waist - 61.73 i n/ Bicep (L) - 17.12 in / Bicep (R) - 16.33 in / Thigh (L) - 29.96 in / Thigh (R) - 29.37 in / Weight - 368.7 lbs /

I've got 7 more weeks to go, theoretically, it could be more or it could be less, and there are still some things I need to do to prepare for Wolvie's arrival, so a great part of the challenge will be focused on that. Goal 1. Prepare Wolvie's arrival. - Wash crib reducers ✅ - Wash clothes ✅ ✅ - Wash nappies ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ - Assemble and attach crib to bed ✅ - Buy the few items still missing ✅ ✅ - Prepare hospital bag ✅ - Prepare questions for my next medical appointment ✅ - Finish writing my labor plan for the hospital (still need to collect some more information on a couple of topics) ✅ - Mental preparation ✅ ✅ ✅ Goal 2. Be active every day if possible. - Walking every day - Spinning babies stretches every day - Yoga 4-5 days a week - Try to do at least some short bodyweight workout once a week ✅ Goal 3. Stop it with the news. I need to pay attention to the end of confinement updates, but I don't need to look at my news feed so many times a day. Every time I feel the itch to open the site, I have first to do some other thing for at least 15 minutes: reading, drawing, practicing icelandic, or playing a game.

I have gone back and forth probably about a million times on whether or not I wanted to do this challenge; obviously you can see which side won. Content Warning for depression and anxiety. Last challenge did not go well. Near the end of December, depression and anxiety hit me hard. Within a few weeks, insomnia set in and progressively got worse. By mid-March, I was so sleep-deprived I often felt sick and dizzy and was often terrified to drive because I could not see or react properly. I have dealt with anxiety for all of my life, and depression for about half of it, so those were not new, but I had never experienced insomnia quite to that level before. I have been working hard to try and manage my mental health in healthy ways (opposed to the unhealthy coping mechanisms of my past), but it has seemed that everything I have tried either did not work, or provided minimal or temporary relief. Over the last few months with the added insomnia, things spiraled and became crippling. I have refused to even consider taking medication for years and years, but a few weeks ago I finally reached a breaking point. I felt it was time to try it. If there is a chance it might help get my life back, I have to at least TRY. For those of you unfamiliar with anti-depressants. They are no quick fix. They often take anywhere from 4-12 weeks to start working fully...but the side effects tend to start overnight last for the first 2-12 weeks. I am now on day 16, so a little over two weeks in, and it has been a rollercoaster. Part of it has been physical - my side effects are mild, but still unpleasant. And some of it has been mental - I have always thought of myself as someone who "didn't need medication", and opening myself up to taking medication has been a journey. I still haven't told more than my husband and a friend about it, until now, of course. In some ways, taking medication makes having mental health issues feel more real. Mental health is still something I struggle to talk about, despite how much it has impacted my ENTIRE life. Anyway, this journey just so happens to coincide with a pandemic that is sweeping the planet right now, and like many of you in the US, I am under a shelter-in-place order. I have been furloughed by my company, which means I have been out of work for two weeks, and will be out for at least another week, maybe several more. As frustrating as all this is, it has at least given me some time to suffer through the initial side effects of the medication outside of the office, and more importantly, it has given me some MUCH NEEDED time to work on my mental and physical well-being. I would love to say that I have spent the last two weeks out of work just accomplishing all the things. But I haven't, and I have to keep reminding myself that is ok. It is ok that a lot of it was resting and just letting my brain be what it was going to be. It is ok that sometimes the most productive thing I did in a day was read for an hour and clean off the kitchen counters. It is ok that I have not been as active, productive, or creative as I wanted to be. Because the last two weeks have been a journey of off-loading my over-loaded brain. But, I am starting to feel a little better. Some days are still TERRIBLE, but I am starting to have more ok days again too. I am starting to have days where I feel more motivated and productive, more hopeful, more active, more myself again. And I feel like I am ready to try another challenge again, even if I am a bit late to the party. Goals: Physical: Plank for as long as you can at least once a day - starting time 50.9 seconds (4/4/2020) Stretch for at least 10 min, 4x a week Walk for at least 10 min, 5x a week Mental: Read 3 books to stay on track with New Year's goals The Dip by Seth Godin Daring Greatly by Brene Brown The War of Art by Steven Pressfield Emotional: Write down three things I am grateful for each day.

As I am working on this challenge my theme is starting to take on more form. With the whole Corona virus pandemic I think it is ideal to use this as a way to add flavour to my challenge. I am not exactly sure how the challenge will develop. After all the pandemic is going to be part of our lives for the next six months at least, so it's not like I can kill the plague-bearer daemon in one challenge. Maybe it will involve me hunting and tracking it down. Or just surviving the effects of a plague daemon on my world. H'mm I may even get back into some creative writing with this challenge. Let's see how I go. So my goals for this challenge: To Defeat the Daemon one must Study the Daemon Study with the uni going into shut down there will be no more on campus classes. I need to focus on maintaining my study habits and get my assignments in. I am studying two subjects and it is recommended to spend 10 - 15 hours per week on each subject. So that is my goal, ten hours per week per subject studying. To Defeat the Daemon one must hunt the Daemon Walking I love my walks they help clear my head, and help me feel good in the mornings. Ideally walking daily is best, however as long as I get a minimum of three times per week I will be okay with this. To Fight the Daemon one must be Stronger than the Daemon Bodyweight Workouts I have been a bit slack with my physio exercises for my knee. Which is not good. I need to get these going consistently. This goal is vital not only for strengthening my joints, but also with the lock down it may become the primary means of exercise. I also need to start doing some upper body and core strengthening exercises as well. This is a good time to bring back the NF BBWW routine. The goal will be three times per week.

Right first up, yes I got through the Black Summer fires okay, so far. Wagga Wagga where I live was one of the main evacuation points for the Riverina region of NSW. The nearest fire was 47 km away and headed south east from me. It did start within 10 km from the farm I used to live on. We did cop a lot of smoke over Christmas and New Year's, one of my son's co-workers ended up in hospital due to the smoke messing up her asthma. My kids struggled to breathe, and we had P2 breathing masks available for the asthmatics. Secondly, I disappeared as Tapatalk for some reason stopped connecting to NF, and still won't let me in. My PC crashed and with a bit of depression creeping in from unemployment, forced inactivity, and a year of failed goals that I just didn't get things sorted. PC is working again. Now onto the good news. I do not need surgery on my knee. I do need to build the strength up in my muscles surrounding my knee. I am meant to attend physio, can't afford it, so that isn't happening. This challenge is about getting out and walking again. I will also research exercises that will strengthen my knee, so to speak. My weight ballooned out over the past few months and I am now 135.1 kilograms or 297.8 pounds. Food is hard, minimal money, sucks. Bluntly I am living so far below the poverty line here in Australia that I would have to hijack a QANTAS plane to even reach it. Odds of getting a job are slim with 200 applications for every job that is available. Employers here are using keyword searches to test resumes against. If you don't have the right keyword, your application doesn't even get looked at. This challenge's goals: 1, Walking Everyday 2. Start strengthening my leg muscles to support my knee and ankle better. 3. Try to move forward from this position of poverty.

It's that time of year here in MN! This time of year has been the hardest, with or without school. Last year, it whizzed by with little problem (except for my dad passing away, that was a whole other thing). I was able to get through it with my support and my own car. Just need to a little grinding with my goals and tracking. The Long Dark Game By the end of the challenge, the winds of Spring will be coming (even if snow does stick around through March). While also getting through Spring break. Now with my Dad's death anniversary (March 9th) coming up(dark memories surfacing) and me working on narrowing down on my goals i want to work in the next 38 Challenges here's what I came up with: Main: (Life) Meditate/Journal Daily (Hoping to get 30 this challenge) One Pomodoro of Schoolwork each day (on my own) (Hoping to do 30) YNAB Side : Nutrition - A daily Green Shake (the one thing that stabalizes my blood sugar and helps bring me a better idea with food). Fitness - Tracking walking through GoogleFit on phone (Walking to Mordor?) Reward If I update with weekly counts of each (better if I update daily), I'll get this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0779SKCXW/ref=cm_sw_r_fm_apa_i_zodpEb6X1GH5P (A cheaper tracker). I've been wanting a fitbit since before NF, but I'm worried I'll get bored or break it. This one I found through a friend that is half price of the kids fitbit. FIgured it will be the trial one before I buy brand name. Since any tracker connecting to my phone will make it easier to track, since many times I have to let my phone charge when I get home. Again big on tracking and finding my way through the grind. This is my survival. I have this semester and Fall before I do my internship next year. School work is my daily job outside of my two jobs. Priortizing it for the next few months will help! My wolf fights is daily with school to get those points I need. Wish I had more brain space... but a cool way to kind of theme it. Also will be looking up my old challenges... maybe have a write up. Curious on how others are doing it. 4.5 years probably not going to find a whole lot.

Prologue I took my usual winter sabbatical off social media to figure out what’s important and what I most missed. And again, NF begin to call to me.... The House of Vries once again finds itself in transition. Mr’s work contract ended quite suddenly at the end of November (we expected the end of 2020), leaving us in a tumble. Our plans had been that after that contract, we would make good on Operation: Escape London and find our forever home. We’ve decided to go forward on that... probably. New employment hasn’t surfaced in the primary places we wanted to go to, and new places to research have come to light. In addition, the siren’s call of adventure always trickles in, inviting us to come away from settling somewhere and making roots, or put that off for another few years and go explore another land. And also London keeps her claws in us, whispering to stay for a few more years... who would be mad enough to leave this glorious city? Mr and I have never been good at settling down, despite really wanting to. We are fortunate. We are in a position to take our time and be choosy about our next move. But I find this in-between space stressful. Even... unsettling. So much change is soon to come—yet where is it? When is it? What will it look like? Unsurprisingly, most of my goals from autumn into winter fell through into icy waters. The whole household routine is in shambles. We had continual illness (one or all of us) until after Christmas. Amid this, SAD hit me like a truck. My physical activity went down, and my weight ticked up. We’re still picking ourselves up and trying to get sorted. Preparing to sell the house for a move? Haven’t even started! So, my goals will be about getting myself grounded again. To get comfortable in this uncertainty—and indeed, be ready to take action when and if we find the right contract and the right place and pull the trigger. That may be during this challenge, or it might be another.... Oh, and there’s likely to be an adventure or few along the way....

This is the nostalgia challenge... I honestly thought it's been a lot more years than the threads make it out to be. I joined NF in January 2015, as a Recruit (obviously), then February 2015 I went over to the Assassins, and October 2015 joined the Rangers. I made friends in Recruit and Assassins which I'm still friends with today! (or they are still friends with me, good, patient people they are ). Along this epic 5 year journey I was blessed with many more friends, all of whom had a profound influence in my life. Thank you for making my life, my world, a better place! I started off as an Amazon-Mom, wanting to loose weight and get fit and strong to enjoy life with my boys (then 5and 8yrs old respectively), and I'm back at wanting to loose weight, but still enjoying life with my husband and boys (now 10 and 13 years respectively). I am back at being mostly unfit and not as strong as I was, but I am much more fit and strong than I was then. This level of 'unfit' or 'not strong' is miles above 'that then there level, you see'. Then I didn't know that I had very limited boundaries, some would say I was an open target. Over the years NF has meant more to me, has taught me more than just health and fitness. I think I'll take a chance and say that it has matured me some, definitely taught me safe, healthy boundaries, and has healed my spirit. I might take the odd challenge off, but there is no way I can live without NF in my life. And NF is synonymous with the people. It's the people that make it special. This is the one woman that I came back to, time and again. I've been adventurers in Lord of the Rings, in Hobbits, I've been Na'avi, I've been human, and I became a non-hero Elf-ranger, having to save humanity against grime, crime and crazy monkeys. I've ridden dinosaurs, brooms, foxes, gryphens (ok, it was a hippogriff)... You've inspired me to draw, to write, to try anything... ...and your encouragement is pushing me on to keep going, keep trying. Thank you lovely people of Nerd Fitness.

It is a big adventure, indeed, this one I have in my hands. If everything goes well, little Wolverine (I do need to find a nick for her - suggestions are welcome) will be born end june, and I want to do my best to prepare for the day and to enjoy the way. After a couple of tough months, I'm feeling much better now, and I'm slowly trying to get more active and get back to some of my previous healthy habits. What I'm going to do might not seem impressive, but right now every little thing feels like a feat to me. So I'm going to give myself a pat on the back for every small action I accomplish. Goal #1 Nausea really messed up my body. After 2 months of being unable to eat most foods, I feel weak both physically and mentally. Sugar cravings have raised to the top, and while I'm trying to eat as healthy as I can (my body still rejects all fish and most types of meat), meals are still a tricky thing, and bread and sweetened foods are hanging around. I'm going to try to slowly get back to my usual nourishing diet. This will include taking my vits, and adding foodstuff that helps me, such as coconut oil, garlic, and gelatin. Goal #2 Feeling weak and tired all the time doesn't help to be an active person, and I've let all of my good movement habits slack. I'll try to get back to healthier patterns regarding this. Any type of movement counts, but I'm focusing mainly on doing yoga every morning after waking up, and on walking for at least 1/2 hour everyday (I usually walk for longer, but this is my minimum for this challenge). I'm also trying to keep an eye on my posture, because I've seen that as my belly grows it has began to push me forward, and I guess many backaches could come from it. My back doesn't ache by now, so I'll try to keep it that way by standing with my spine upright, using well my abs when walking, and avoiding sitting in chairs as much as I can (I spend a lot of my sitting time on the floor, so many other ways of sitting, including squatting, are available). Goal #3 Things for fun. Reading, drawing, learning. One of them once a day. No pressure because it is for fun, but it helps a lot to feel my life is still in my hands. Points --------- I've been testing these goals since february started and it seems they're realistic. I hope I can even grow up from here. Let's go!