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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

Hi, my name is Ayman, I am 17 years old, I live in Bangladesh and I am in high school at the moment and I am very new to nerd fitness. I am here to focus on some of my short term and long term goals and make some friends and find some partners to hold me accountable because inconsistency is an issue I always dealt with in the fitness department of my life, and I'd love to make some new friends too. Cheers to everyone on their journeys and I'll list some of my goals and I will be updating this post hopefully on a daily basis. Long-term goals: 1. lose weight, become lean (particularly around the chest and stomach area) 2. Increase strength (concentrating on arms and legs) 3. Get ripped up! Short-term goals: 1. Workout 4 times a week, building up a habit so that I maintain consistency 2. Eat more healthy (cut down sugar, dairy and snack foods) 3. Be able to do 10 push ups without fidgeting 4. Meditate after my workout and before sleeping, everyday 5. Regularly update this post

Hi Nerds. Let's begin with a couple relevant background details. I started NF in 2013 in the middle of a PhD dissertation to combat the effects of the sedentary grad student lyfe. I got stronger, at least prevented my weight from blowing up mostly. Unfortunately, I never finished that PhD. I never seemed to get anything done. Fast forward to last challenge, I finally realized and accepted that I may actually have ADHD. It explains A LOT, including the abandoned PhD, my many failed, half-assed NF challenges, my messy apartment, etc. After leaving grad school I worked in an Amazon warehouse for two years, and now I'm working as a CNC machinist. Like the majority of my middle school and high school report cards said, I'm "Not working to potential." Now I'm trying to get another Master's in Electrical Engineering (online) and working on projects at home to turn things around. And to lose weight I'm following a slightly modified version of the Mediterranean diet, and have been riding a stationary bike (hamster wheel) to burn calories. Now I'm realizing I need to fix my flexibility, posture, and retain a bit of strength so I'm going to add in some yoga. I'll be building off of last challenge. If you want to see how I did with that go to my Previous Challenge Summary. Now... On to the challenge: Since, I'm learning Electical Engineering, I ought to do what EE's do best: build gadgets and try to take over the world. And what better metaphor for an EE with ADHD than Pinky and the Brain. Brain represents all my ambition, intellect, and executive functioning, while Pinky is the ADHD part of my brain that just wants to goof around, have fun, and press colorful, blinking buttons. In order to deal with achieving goals, Brain needs to manipulate, distract, and control Pinky. Just for context, all of this is happening in a BuJo to keep Pinky under control. Nutrition: Old stuff: Maintain current nutrition plan. I keep a weekly log of how many servings by food group on Google sheets: Food Log It has a rough idea of serving numbers and describes the serving sizes if you're interested in the details. I post links along with my weekly summary when I update the spreadsheet with what I track in my BuJo. I also track measurements in my body composition log for feedback: Weight Log and Track Record. Question: These two sheets are in the same workbook; Can you access other sheets or just on sheet at a time with these links? New Stuff: Add a daily reflection/challenge. Every day I'm going to reflect on what I ate during the day, look for something to improve on and come up with a challenge. Like, I ate too many grains today, tomorrow when I feel like carbs, have fruit instead. Also, on my weight tracking sheets (see below), I track weekly min and max weights, so if I set a new max or fail to set a new low I might reduce a meal, cut fat, or exercise, etc. Exercise: Old stuff: Do at least two workouts on the hamster wheel each week. New Stuff: Do at least one yoga session each week. These last two are basically some of the bigger Todo's with sub-todo lists that I want to get through. Trying to take over the world (Brain): I need to finish the online course I'm currently taking. I should have finished it last challenge, but I'm close to done. Then I'm going to work on some other projects at home and maybe at work to gain more experience and catch up on some knowledge/skill areas I'm lacking in. Also, I need to plan out how I'm going to pay for more coursework. Finish current online EE course: Finish week 4 Finish final week, project and quiz Start on my minimal retro game, multi-console emulator Pay off a credit card... I can put the next course's tuition on it once i have a zero balance, and that will be my source of 'student loans' for these online courses for now. Managing ADHD (Pinky): Right now I'm only self diagnosed. I have an appointment set up for July 13 to find a therapist to work with. At the moment, I am just accepting that I have ADHD and carrying on as if I did which means getting more organized and finding ways to keep myself focused on getting things done... BuJo! I'm also forgiving myself for my past mistakes. I still get bummed from time to time because I didn't get something done or make the right decision in the past. And the mistakes I'm currently making. I get all uptight trying to control my behavior often or beating myself up. I just have to let go of that. First mental health appointment on July 13 at 3:00 pm Take BuJo everywhere Update BuJo weekly Let go of and forgive mistakes

I have a younger brother who is tall and strong, but overweight and rather sedentary. He is 19 years old, 6’3", and over 240 lbs. He was always a chubby kid with a tendency to overload with junk food, but I guess my parents never decided to take his bad habits seriously enough, despite my father’s efforts to encourage him to lose weight (which, to this day, consist mostly of him yelling at my brother about how tight his clothes have gotten and why the hell he won’t do anything about it). A doctor’s visit from several years ago revealed that he was pre-diabetic, and I’m assuming he still is. He doesn’t really care about things like simple vs. complex carbs, portion control, or high- vs low-glycemic index foods. And with all this news about young people dying from COVID-19 due to preexisting conditions like obesity and diabetes, I’m really starting to get worried. I (24F) have always cared a lot about my own physical health — I’m actually studying to become a doctor. I try to limit my intake of processed foods, I rarely eat out these days, and I exercise regularly. My BMI has always been in the healthy zone, and over the years I’ve discovered ways to make exercise more fun for myself. I’m actually a huge nerd who loves video games and pretty much all things medieval fantasy, but hobbies like martial arts and LARP have helped me to stay fit over the years. My brother has also always been a bit of a geek. Like...we both like to play Smash Bros and Dragon Ball Z games together, for instance, but I’ve found more satisfaction from learning to fight like those characters in real life than to just be good at button mashing combinations. Unfortunately, my brother does not share those interests. TL;DR I don’t know how to encourage my brother to improve his diet and start a regular exercise routine. I don’t think he’s as willing to suspend his disbelief as I am and use his fictional role models to motivate him to get in better shape. I remember not too long ago that he mentioned he was interested in taking boxing classes, as he is physically very strong and boxing would seem cathartic for him. However, that wouldn’t be possible right now, due to the closure of all non-essential businesses. What would you suggest I do?

I am wholly and completely terrified of this journey. Not because I could fail, but because I could succeed and then more will be expected of me. Part of me wants to stay exactly where I am. Declare I'm too old and crippled to make these kinds of changes and sit on the couch eating potato chips. Then there's the part that's whispering 'we can do this, it isn't that hard'. I'm fairly convinced that little voice is either outright lying or sugarcoating the truth. I guess I'll find out which. First quest: Diet information. If diet is 80% of success, I need to get on that asap. Traveled to the local library and picked up "The Paleo Diet" and read it. Quest 1 part 1 complete diet knowledge expanded. I'm not sure if that's the right diet for me or not, but I'm willing to give it at least 30 days to impress or deject me. Second Quest: Walk to Mordor I walk everyday usually at least three miles. Now I will start logging my miles to put them on a spreadsheet and see how far I can go. ONGOING Third Quest: Strength Working on the getting the beginner body weight workout in my week at least three times. ONGOING Here we go. How did we do today? Today was not a good day for the diet. I ate all of my calories at breakfast. I ate in IHOP, this was a bad idea. I have also had a slice of cheesecake today which is a Paleo no-no. Maybe I should have waited until the holidays were completely through before I decided to change my diet. Logged 3 miles walking. I'm still meandering my way toward the edge of the shire. At least the scenery's pretty. Today wasn't a strength day.

Hi everyone, My Age is almost 22yrs, Height 5'10 - 5'11. i was a bit fatty and never avoided sugar or junk food, the first day when i started to diet my weight was 83.75KG (19 January 2020). Today (20 February 2020) my weight it 79.10 KG, im dieting and avoiding junk foods. Whatever im doing my parents want me to stop it but i am feeling better than ever before by doing diet and going to gym. But one thing is making me feel so uncomfortable (CHEST FAT) My left side have more fat than the right one, right one is not much noticeable but the left one is clearly visible whenever im wearing a Shirt my left side is always visible. i dont know if this is something to worry about? i just want to make sure its nothing serious and how i will get rid of my left side chest fat. also i dont have any gyno or tumor sh*t.

Happy New Year! I am Mr. L and this is my first challenge. A bit about myself: I have a collection of board games that I do not play enough (current favs right now are Arkham Horror: LCG and Terraforming Mars), I teach high school math, and I am presently potty training a very feisty 2 year old. I am starting this challenge, because I have 3 big things to face this year and I need to be healthier to tackle them. "What are those three things you say?" Good question. I turn 40 in September I signed up for a Goruck Light Challenge in October Child #2 is due to arrive in July My goal for this quest is to lose 15 pounds by the end of the challenge. My quests for this challenge are: No Pop: I am giving up pop (soda, Coke, sugary carbonated beverages, etc) for the year. I drink way too much of it and I often make poor food choices to get more (ie getting fast food or ordering pizza) since we rarely have any in the house. I plan on maintaining this particular quest for the whole year. Be Active: I need some more activity in my life and my goal is to have at least 5 days of activity per week over the course of this challenge. I plan on starting the Stronglift 5x5 program later today and on some of my off-days I will do some rucking (either on the indoor track at the Y or around my neighborhood - weather depending). Eat Better: Eat within my calorie target goal for the day - at least 6 days per week. My non-fitness related quest is: Cleanup Time: Ever day due 15 minutes of cleaning, or other housework while my daughter is asleep. Good luck to everyone!

Hi Nerd Fitness family! I’m CelebrateCeleste, sometimes called Poison, and I lost my path hard in the past couple years. So I’m beginning low key, and hoping to ramp up. My main goal is pretty ethereal right now, so I’m going to set a weight loss goal and develop quantifiable benchmarks for the way I want to feel. Main Goal: get back down to 140 pounds, the weight I was when I left Camp Nerd Fitness in 2015. Small goals: 1) maintain NF nutrition Level 2. This means tracking and reducing liquid calories. 2) exercise habit: doing some activity at lunch time, either taking a class at the gym or going for a walk. lifestyle goal: tracking finances using YNAB. this works really well for me when I keep it up. If I succeed (at least 90% of the days in this challenge), I’ll get the joy of moving up a level in nutrition and buy myself new walking shoes.

i use to weight more than 400 pounds. in 2014 i sank into a deep depression. my depression came from personal problems mixed with prostate problems. after that 2 year period things started to get better than people started complimenting my weight loss. i never believed them because i always been fat. when i checked my weight i remember i was 280. when im depressed i dont eat. thats just me. for that reason i lost so much weight. everyone is different. some people eat alot when they depressed and others dont. i remember it was hard to adjust food because my stomach would get full fast. so basically i was never hungry. i remeber sleeping most of the time. all day through the night. after those two years i took notice of my weight because people were telling me i look skinny and my jeans no longer fit me. it was way too big. so after i weight myself it was 280. so then i started to educate myself on calories and healthy foods. i stopped buying taking, i stopped eating bad food. i stopped drinking soda. i stick with water, selzer water and sometimes pure leaf unsweetened tea. so after i started to learn more about the body and weight loss i went from 280-224. right now im 224. my goal is 200. i have a couple of questions im hoping someone can answer for me. everyone keeps telling me i look good and i dont need to lose more wight. but at the end of the day when im in bed i could still see my belly and hanging skin from when i was 400 pounds. i still see all my flaws when im naked looking at myself in the mirror. my question is 1: what happens if i keep losing weight, will my belly fat shrink and will the dead skin be more worse? 2: will working out and gaining muscles help my left over skin look better? since im losing weight will the look of my face change and get better? how can i look better and change my face appearance? im on a 1500 calories diet. some times i stay under. will changing my calories to 800-900 help improve the weight loss than a 1500 calorie diet? my doctor said i dont have anymore diebetes and she took me off the medicine so i believe its a good thing. but im still careful and dont eat all those fattening foods anymore. i prepare my food myself at home.

I’m actually starting a week early, in the hopes of getting a decent jump on weight loss for this challenge and to make it 4 weeks. Main Quest To live a healthy and balanced life by exercising and trying to eat healthy. My motivation I've successfully dropped weight by counting calories, but I’ve been slacking with this a lot. I need to get back into the habit of eating better and getting more exercise. I know the holiday season, basically from Thanksgiving through New Year’s, is really hard food-wise to be good, but I need to do better. And I’ve got a performance at the end of December that I want to look my very best for! Smaller Quests 1. Cookie Counter - Eating Habits In an effort to drop some stubborn weight and to knuckle down again, I’m dropping to 1000 calories per day M-F. Mostly because I shouldn’t be eating the sweet treats in the evenings anyway. Those 200 calories are always spent on things like Oreos, which they shouldn’t be! To be a bit lenient since it's the holidays, I’m not including Christmas Eve, Christmas Day or Dec 27th for a family function and my performance. Scoring: x/17 Reward: +5 CON & +5 CHA 2. Walking in a Winter Wonderland - Walking Walking is a good filler exercise and it’s mildly enjoyable because I get to watch TV while I do it. Scoring: x/30 miles in 4 weeks (6 miles per week) Reward: +2 STA EDIT: I upped this from 24 miles to 30 miles because I seemed to be really succeeding in this, so I upped the difficulty on 12/9/19. 3. Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree - Weight Training It’s been too long since I lifted heavy things (June 2019!), so I want to add weight training back into my gym routine. Bench press: 45lbs → 60lbs Squat: 50lbs → 75lbs Deadlift: 50lbs → 75lbs Scoring: +1 for each achieved Reward: +3 to STR

After a bit over a year in Korea, I'm back in Colorado. The move was, as usual, discombobulated. I have things in storage scattered across the country, and need to find a permanent residence in a stupidly hot housing market. Darn you Denverites, invading Colorado Springs! Well, I can't control some of that, what I can control is: Tai Chi - I got the bare bones down of the 42 form before I left Korea. Time to start doing that again. Lets aim for 5x days a week for the 9 and 24 form, and 3x days a week for the full 42. I went to Korea trying to lose 30 lbs, now I'm working on 60 lbs. Good news is I can afford food prep delivery (cheaper than eating out) and am executing on that. Goal is to stick with the food prep plan and not arbitrarily deviate. 15 meals (3 meals for Mon thru Friday) and then the weekend to do with as I will. Lastly, I went from a stressful job, to a very stressful job. The difference is, I now have the mountains to escape to. Goal: 3 nights a month in the mountains. Car camping, camping, even a hotel room, just getting away from the grind. This is a stepping stone to bigger and better things. Long term goals are to do the Bataan Memorial Death March again, start overlanding, figure out where to live, find a Tai Chi group locally, and maybe grow a few more active hobbies. - Murphy's Roommate

I've met some of you monks around the guilds, but a brief intro... I am Brogo, I typically hang out in the warriors or adventurers. I just got done with an 80 day stint of ketogenesis in which I lost 10 lbs., but my motivation to workout has gone flat. So to give myself a reason to run, lift, and stay limber, I'm going to return to martial arts (or at least give it another shot). In college I studied Shaolin Eagle Claw Kung Fu. I did that for three years and it was the best shape of my life (granted I was in my early 20's). I went from about 260 lbs. down to 210 in the first year. I got stronger, faster, and felt awesome. I was able to to jumping spinning kicks, and could almost do the splits, and new how to lock joints and spar and throw people around. Super fun. Plus, I had a lot of focus, discipline, and mindfulness. In grad school, when I got back up to 260, I started NF and lifting weights. Since then, it has now been right about 6 years, I'm stronger, but I have not been lower than 244 on the scale, and I struggle with motivating myself to get below 250. Recently on keto I saw 249, but struggled to push below and didn't have the energy to workout. Hopefully, practicing a martial art can motivate me to crush that goal. Goal 1, Conditioning: I don't move like I used to and I don't have the endurance. So before I settle into a martial art practice/study I need to get my body moving again. Daily: Stretch, Breathe, Meditate: 2x Daily, individually or in combination Combat: Do one basic stance, strike, or technical drill 1x Daily Core: Do one core exercise 1x Daily Conditioning: Run: 1x Weekly Strength Training: Pretty much any other kind of workout 2x Weekly Goal 2, Find a dojo: I need to pick a new martial art. There is no Eagle Claw Kung Fu here in Indianapolis. Plus, what I'm looking for in a martial art now is different. Kung Fu was great because it was physically demanding, but now I'm more interested in something I can do sustainably for years to come, and something that has more applicability for self-defense, and develops character in a balanced way. Here are a few dojos/martial arts in town I'd like to try: Jumonkan (Daito-ryu Aikijujutsu, Senso Jujutsu, Kenjutsu, Judo) Mudokwan (Jiu Jitsu, Aikido, Kendo, Iaido) MMA (various clubs) (Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Kickboxing, etc) 7-star Praying Mantis Kung Fu That's the short list. I'm going to try Jumonkan on Aug. 7. They offer a free Aikijujutsu class as an intro to their dojo. What I pick will be a balance of money/time/interest/whether or not the teacher is crazy etc. Goal 3, To-Do List: Daily: Clean something, Check To-do list Weekly: Update To-do list/challenge sheet The Tao of Brogojutsu (spoilered to remain hidden from those who would use this haphazardly compiled collection of musings about martial arts practice for evil)

Hi guys! I am starting my boy scout summer camp in a few days, which is awesome. What isn't awesome is the menu. When we go, we are catered by the camp for all our meals. When buying food for 500+ scouts, the camp tries cutting costs, and the quality of our meals goes down. I am trying to eat a diet free from refined sugars and flour. This diet has worked wonders for my energy and has allowed me to lose 40+ pounds since December. I would hate to derail myself by the sheer amount of sugar in most of our meals. I was wondering if anyone could suggest healthy snacks that would last a week at camp. Also, ideas on what to avoid in camp food (besides the sugar wafers we get for dessert) Would be really appretiated!

Hello! It's been awhile. Oh... you don't remember me... oh... well... that's not surprising to be honest. I have a tendency to start one of these, post like once or twice, then drop off the face of the Earth for 3 or 4 challenges, then pop back up randomly to do it all again... BUT NO MORE! I have had enough. Lately I've been making more small changes in my life to be more present, active and get out of my comfort zone. I've been attending meetups with *gasp* ABSOLUTELY NO ONE I know *dies of shock* So, to further push myself I will do another challenge! But also back it up with other accountability so I don't completely fail again. So without further ado my goals for this challenge: DIET GOALS 1) Complete a weekly Meal Plan in Real Plans 2) Make planned meals and track calories (we'll be focusing on tracking, not trying to stay in a certain threshold this challenge, to get a baseline and to see how certain meals stack up for later calorie restricting and macro planning) EXERCISE GOAL 3) 1 hour of Contortion progression stretching 3x's a week (Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday) -I am currently researching for a good yoga-esque flow that will work for this, so today will still be counted as a win as long as I find/create a program for the rest of the challenge before end of day today. - This will be documented on my Instagram, I'll be time lapsing the first round (IE sorta like a "this is what I can do pre-warmup... but it will be after a brief warm up... not crazy enough to try and stretch cold >_<) and then time lapsing the last round (Like a "this is what I can do after an hour of work") If you wanna follow that progression, my Instagram is lifeslittlemistrys - I'm thinking each day will be a different foundation work - Monday Front Bends/ Hand balances, Wednesday Backbends (bringing back Wednesday Bridge Club!), and Saturday Splits MONEY GOAL 4) Create a monthly budget and track spending weekly -using the Everydollar app for this, such a good resource. So that's it... pretty simple this time around I hope... the only thing I'm worried about is the 1hr long stretching 3x's a week, but there's not really much point in doing less than an hour when trying to extend your range of motion i think. Any tips, tricks, resources that may be helpful would be much appreciated, and let's get this DONE!

Hi! I figured I'd post my story here, and there might be a chance somebody will see it and become inspired. I stumbled upon NF while looking up recipes for kale chips. I was 16 when I found your website, and probably in the worst shape of my life. I would occasionally eat healthy for a week or so, and maybe do a few pushups a month. The first article NF article that I read was the Beginners guide to Pull-ups. I was intrigued, did a little more research, and discovered the NF blog. I was really impressed by the Beginner Bodyweight Routine and started doing it every other day. I also started making small changes to my diet. After a while, I found the Kettlebell Routine and started doing that instead. A few weeks in, my cousin (Who was looking to lose a few pounds) came over to my house and joined me in the kettlebell routine. We now workout over webcam every few days. I have also started to implement 20 seconds of courage in my life, and I try to protect the asset at all times. Combining exercise, diet change, and IF, I have managed to drop a lot of weight, and at a recent family gathering, I walked up to greet a cousin who I hadn't seen in a while, and his jaw literally dropped. He said "Holy c***! Isaac, You have lost SO MUCH weight!" That hasn't been the only time I've been randomly complemented like this. A few days before, a random woman at church came up to me after mass. She asked, "Are you losing weight?" I replied that I was. She said, "Your face looks so much thinner now!". While this creeped me out slightly (Why are random old ladies gauging my weight?), it also made me very proud. Because I see myself every day, I really haven't noticed any weight loss, and I depend on others to let me know I'm losing weight. However, since I've fixed my diet and started to exercise, I have felt so much stronger. I've gone from doing 0 pullups on Jan 1st to being able to do 5 in a row now, as well as doubling the number of pushups I can do. I am now doing the Semi-Advanced Bodyweight Routine every other day, and I've just started to learn parkour. I can say without any doubt that none of this would have happened if I had not found Nerd Fitness. Everyone on the forums has been super helpful as well. I just wanted to write this and let everyone know how grateful I am for their continual help and support. I also hope this story inspires other rebels to level up their lives as I have done.

After experiencing some success with my 1st challenge I have decided to get join up with the Rangers Guild and start a new one. Here are my goals for this coming challenge. Get Healthy: In order to get healthy, I need to lose some weight (about 140 lbs), and the best way (for me) to lose weight has been monitoring my calories. In this challenge, I will stay under my target calorie goal for the day - every day. Get Strong: I have been following the Stronglifts 5x5 program and I need to keep at it with greater consistency. I will do my Stronglifts workout 3 times each week. Get Outside: One of my long term fitness goals is to complete a GoRuck challenge. In order to start working on that I bought a backpack, which I now need to use. In this challenge, I will go for at least 2 rucks a week. Bonus Life Quest Get Off the Phone: I have been wasting too much time on my phone while at home recently, which I need to stop doing. I have downloaded and set up an app on my phone blocking everything but essential communications. I will engage the app when I get home and leave it running until at least 8 PM daily.

As some people know here, I am a Bowler. This challenge, I have signed up for all the bowling. haha. First we start off with the USBC Open Nationals Tournament in Las Vegas, Nv. I fly out on Wednesday the 29th, and return home on the 1st of June. Thursday I bowl team event (3 games) then Friday will be double and singles. (6 games total). The day after I get back, I signed up to bowl a Match Club "fun" day event. On June 15th, I bowl in the California State Tournament. Team/Doubles/Singles all in one day (9 games). Then I have two different Match club bowling events on the 22nd and 23rd of June. (One travel out of town). Still in June, i have two more Match club events on the 29th and 30th (both travel out of town) This, plus my normal league bowling haha. Summer league is starting up, and this summer I am only bowling one league. So, I have a lot of bowling headed my way. Along with some bit of traveling. This challenge will be pretty similar to last challenge. I'll add in a few things to try to kick it up a notch. I did decent in the last challenge when I wasn't trying to self sabotage myself. Hopefully, this challenge I can keep that under control. Goal#1 - Tracking, Keto, Calories, and Intermittent Fasting Pretty much the same formula as last challenge. Though this time, I am going with some Max numbers. Last time I wanted to be close to 2100 calories on my workout days. I gave myself a but of room though. I re-looked at my target macro numbers, and am going to try go with 2100 calories MAX on working days, 1700 MAX on rest day. This means 2101 calories is over. I am also continuing with IF. My current goal is 18 hours fast. I am going to keep that this challenge. I might toy with the longer fast this challenge, but we shall see. I also need to make sure I am under 20 grams of net carbs each day. All this while tracking everything. Chronometer for food, and LIFE for fasting. During the days I am in Vegas, I am not going to worry about tracking in Chronometer. I think I will just get too frustrated trying, will play it by ear I suppose. 2100/1700 MAX Calories - 4 points 18 hour fasting done - 4 points Under 20 grams of net carbs - 4 points 12 points per day. 84 points per week Goal#2 - Run, Walk, and lift things. Be Active! I am currently following the RunDouble 5K Improver plan. I am not doing 4 runs per week. Instead I am sticking to my 3 day run schedule for now. This pretty much means I run a 5K, then the next time I run intervals. The intervals seem to change distance or resting times every couple of times. Along with this, I am keeping to my step goal of 10,000 steps per day. I still also have my goal to someday do a pull up. Hopefully, this year. I won't get there if I really don't start training for it though. Workouts will still be on the non run days. Week 0 I am going to look into creating my own bit of workout schedule, or even see if there is a plan I should follow. I think I need to start doing a bit more targeted workout vs randomly picking 4 exercises to do. This last bit I want to try having more active minutes in Fitbit. I want to target 100 minutes per day. My plan is to get in my normal walk time, then each hour or so, make sure I get in a few steps. I will work this out a bit more during Week 0 I hope. Overall though, I want to get away from having to just rely on one big walk or run to get in the steps for the day. It would probably be better to move more often instead of sitting there. Run the 5K improver on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays - 4 points each day Workout on the non run days Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays - 4 points each workout 10,000 steps per day - 2 points 100 active minutes - 2 points (this may change) Sunday is rest day 6 points per day. 36 points per week. Goal#3 - Rest up I need to make sure this sleep is on lockdown. I may even work on changing my sleep to go to bed a little earlier. We shall see. For now though, pretty much the same as last challenge. 10:30 PM off the computer and start reading. 11:30 PM time to get to bed. My gamer night (Saturday night) never has set hours. So the plan is to Log off the game within 15 minutes of us being finished. Then get in 30 minutes of reading before heading to bed. Off to bed at 11:30 PM plus reading done - 4 points per day. Gamer night, log off in 15 minutes, and read for 30 minutes - 4 points 4 points per day, 28 points per week Goal#4 - Create that positive headspace I want to get myself into a good frame of mind each day. Or even before going to bed. I'm not sure what will be best for myself yet, but I want to explore my options here. Last challenge I struggled with some self sabotage. It's really just those mind games going. This challenge (particular in week 0) I want to find something that works for me. Maybe I use a meditation app to help out, or I just have to spend 5-10 minutes focusing on a positive aspect for me that day. Pumping myself up for the day. Using the Mindfulness Coach app, complete a Mindfulness training session each day. Training session completed 4 points per day. 28 points per week. Measurements:(Week 0 / EoC) Neck: 17.44 in / Chest: 46.22 in / Waist: 48.30 in / Bicep (L) (no flex): 14.84 in / Bicep (R) (no flex): 14.29 in / Forearm (L): 11.77 in / Forearm (R): 11.92 in / Thigh (L): 25.59 in / Thigh (R): 25.55 in / Weight: 255.9 lbs / 266.1 (week 1) / Points: Week 0 - (05/20 - 05/26) - test running ideals Week 1 - (05/27 - 06/02) - 0/140-176 (if I can track) Week 2 - (06/03 - 06/09) - 0/176 Week 3 - (06/10 - 06/16) - 0/176 Week 4 - (06/17 - 06/23) - 0/176

Recap of the last couple challenges The goals... Lose 50 lbs (total) by October, 31st, that's 5 lbs a month January - Done! February - Done! March - Done! April - in progress The Plan.... 1. Three interval runs, and one strength training a week. Look for someplace to make one of these runs outside. 2. Continue making the 24 hour plan, eat on plan when hungry, stop when full. 3. Three times a week (at least) take time for me, this can be journaling, crocheting, or time to read. Yes, baseball season is in full swing, I'm trying to not disappear here but mid last challenge my marriage fell apart, granted, it was only hanging on by a thread to begin with... Things are really up in the air with that right now, we're still living together, we are trying to be civil and be friends...it's tough, not gonna lie, not looking for sympathy it just is what it is. So more than ever I need to meet my goals, running and training help keep me sane, I really miss when I don't do it...where I struggle most is finding me time, especially now.

Guys! Good to see you. It’s been a while. After being active, on and off, in the community from 2012 through late 2017, I dropped off the face of the map. I left mainly because of an ankle sprain that laid me out on and off until September 2018. The injury forced me to set aside my dreams of recovering my old parkour skills for a few months... and then a few more. Since then... it’s been tough to come back, and I’ve suffered physically as a result. I’m no longer as lean as I used to be. What’s more, although I’ve tried to re-implement my old exercise and diet routine, I’ve proven to be a little less... sticky with them than I used to be. It turns out, habits are hard! And then, this last November... I turned 30. So folks, now that I’m a Real Life Adult, it’s time to take care of my sheet. All right, let’s dig in. No fanfare, no theme. 1. Work out 3 days per week, all four weeks. I use a bodyweight progressive strength routine, as is pretty standard among well-informed fitness nerds (you guys!). Usually I make more specific goals for strength, and I do have several goals for the next few weeks. But for this challenge, I’m trying to solve the problem of habit-building and consistency, not just improving performance. So I’m going back to the very basics. Work can get crazy and mess up my schedule, so I won’t hold myself to a particular daily schedule for this challenge goal (although I do plan to work out MWF). I don’t care if I do it on odd days or even if i just eff around and do handstand practice rather than my whole routine; as long as I get a workout in three days per week, I’m winning. 2. Track food intake EVERY DAY. No excuses! Again, I’m going dead simple to focus on habit-building rather than getting too ambitious. However... I’m going through a cut cycle to lose bodyfat. My typical routine is to cut fast, at a 1k calorie deficit, and track my bodyfat with tape measurements and pictures over time. So I’ll be tracking that process here! 3. Build a set of parallettes, and a balance trainer. I dipped my toes into the waters of DIY a few months back when I built my doorway pull-up bar. From scratch! Out of galvanized pipe! That I cut and threaded myself (mostly)! Since I work out with bodyweight, I work out at home, in my apartment. That means I need to provide my own equipment. Since I plan to start training L-sits and get back to parkour training within the next few weeks, that means I’ll need a set of parallettes and a balance/precision trainer, probably something like the railings featured here. This is a bit of a blend of an exercise goal and life goal. But it’ll be fun! 4. Implement my budget. I want to be good at budgeting, but I’m kind of not. I have a very nice, super-reasonable budget laid out in an Excel spreadsheet on my laptop... and I have done exactly NOTHING to put it into action. I win at this goal if by the end of the challenge, my bank accounts are automatically withdrawing money for spending, savings, and retirement; and if I’ve updated my 401k and IRA investments, which I’ve been putting off for about six months. Bonus Achievements: Attain 3x5 Pistol Squats. I used to be great at these. I was no Waldo-esque pistol monster, but I could hold my own! Unfortunately, at 30 my knees are significantly weaker and creakier than they were at 25. Right now I’m doing partial negatives and ancillary exercises to build strength. But I plan to get them back, and if I can manage them within the next month I’ll be ecstatic. 3x5 chest-to-bar Pull-ups. My eventual goal is a bar muscle-up, but these will be a necessary first (baby) step. These used to be easy, but haven’t been easy in a while. Currently I can do 2-3 in a set. 3x3 Wall Headstand Push-ups. I did this once upon a time! I won’t get this one during this challenge, but I want it here to remind myself I WILL GET IT BACK. Hit 14% Bodyfat. If you think this makes me sound vain, you’d be correct. But I want it back. 14% is near the top of my ideal bodyfat range for myself. I perform better and I just feel more attractive. Eventually I wouldn’t mind hitting 10%... I was within a whisper of it only once, back in the days of my training log... but I know it will take a couple of cuts to get myself there, and I’m not ready for that just yet. Post (or repost) 2-4 recipes here during the challenge. You are talking to a man who loves cooking to the point that it’s driven him insane. How insane, you ask? Allow me to cite a short list of things I make from scratch on a semi-regular basis: chicken stock, fresh pork sausage, pasta, most kinds of rice noodles, bagels, sour cream, Sichuan chili oil, lacto-fermented pickles, duck prosciutto, and slabs (SLABS!) of pancetta. Still not convinced? Allow me to show you the carbon dioxide tank I keep under my sink for DIY seltzer water, sparkling wine and cocktails; my 20-pound, eight-inch wide granite mortar and pestle; my pantry collection of food-grade acids; and the fact that my next big planned cooking gadget purchase is a centrifuge. All this is to say... I like to cook, and I take great pains to experiment in the kitchen so that when I’m cutting fat, I’m still eating meals that taste great. However, I haven’t done a great job writing down recipes or techniques that work, so I have a tough time planning good meals in advance. To that end, I’d like to use this challenge to post a couple of recipes that I’m having good success with. They can be things I’ve put my own twist on, or they can be straight-up reposted from a resource I use a lot, like Serious Eats (but I’ll try to give my own take on those too). It’s a lot to bite off for one challenge, so it’s a bonus goal... but one I’d like to have some fun with. And that’s it! For now at least, this will replace the old training log I kept from 2013 to 2017. That log holds a lot of records from when I actually used to be good at this stuff, so feel free to take a look! But it’s time for me to focus on Future Paul.

Hi everyone. I'm a complete newb to NF, I've literally posted my first challenge 2 days ago, but I can't resist a forum! I'm 160cm/5'3" female and 84kg. I've got 2 children, my youngest is 21 months. I've not really done any exercise since before I had kids, even then it was just occasional swimming, and I've slowly ballooned to the fat and flabby person I am today. I want to change that. I adore the way strong women look. I'm not aiming to be a size 0 with no waist or boobs or arse. I want to have shape, strength and definition. If I choose to go down the route of weights would I achieve that? Would my cardiac health improve incidentally or should I incorporate that into my new and improved lifestyle? Do you have any pointers for a complete novice? Thanks in advance. From reading through the forum I'm excited for what this year has to offer!

a lot of hard work on my part T_T I tried to go all gung-ho on my last challenge to only sizzle out right away and have to keep changing my goals lol So clearly it is time to get the basics down again. What I did do well in my last challenge is start to get my sleeping habits back on track. I will continue working on these. Ultimate goal.... lose 85lbs This challenge goal.... lose 2lbs lose 5lbs SubQuest 1: Track my food stuffs on MFP (@Plaidponcho) - 3 days / week [1 point] - 5 days / week [2 point] - 7 days / week [3 point] SubQuest 2: Drink more water per day - 1 liter [1 point] - 1.5 litres [2 point] - 2 litres [3 point] SubQuest 3: Do my physio exercises every day at least once a day. - once a day [1 point] - twice a day [2 point] - thrice a day [3 point] 1. Shoulder stretch total of 1 min (on hold) 2. Neck stretch total of 1 min 3. Bicep curl while laying on my back and arm hanging down. max 5lb weight. 3 sets of 10 reps 4. Stomach lay robot thing.... (on stomach, arm bent at 90 degree angle, rotate down, then back up slowly) 3 sets of 10 reps 5. Sitting straight arm non-curl? Arms start in curl position, instead of bending like a curl, bring arms up straight up to shoulder level.. then back down. 3 sets of 10 reps Life Quest: Make progress on my paintings at least twice a week. And since I don't believe in forcing art... if I don't feel like painting I can read one of my horse books about rider exercises/stretches or riding activities to improve my flat work with Daisy. Week 0 Points SQ1 (food): 3/3 SQ2 (water): 2.6/3 SQ3 (physio): 1.5/3 Life Quest: success Overall goal: -2lbs Week 1 Points SQ1 (food): 3/3 SQ2 (water): 2.1/3 SQ3 (physio): 1.4/3 Life Quest: fail Overall goal: +/- 0lbs Week 2 Points SQ1 (food): 3/3 SQ2 (water): 1.7/3 SQ3 (physio): 1.5/3 Life Quest: success Overall goal: no progress.. maybe gained Week 3 Points SQ1 (food): 1/3 SQ2 (water): 0.4/3 SQ3 (physio): 2.5/3 Life Quest: Reno took over Overall goal: no progress.. maintained 2lbs lost.

Hi. I want and need to lose weight (while at least maintaining, if not improving, fitness). I was kicking ass the first few months of 2018 and then started traveling and everything fell apart for the rest of the year (although at least I largely maintained rather than gaining significantly). January 2019 was also a bit messy. I don't have any travel planned for February or March, though, so I'm ready to dig back in. I've got a lot of goals, small and large, but right now and right here, I'd like to focus on four daily S's that seem somewhat small and simple but will combine into a healthier lifestyle: Sugar. As in, minimal added sugar. I can have something small (a square or two of chocolate, for example) after dinner each day, but nothing during the day. Exceptions allowed for special occasions (dates with my partner, birthday parties, etc.), but I can't get too loosey-goosey about what constitutes a special occasion. Snacks. No snacks between meals. I'm often a hardcore grazer, especially when I'm working from home, and that needs to stop. Sleep. In bed by 11 pm each night. I have so much I want to get done at night once my daughter is in bed, but sleep is important, too. I've been running low on sleep for far too long. It'd be nice to remember what "well rested" feels like. Sweat. Some kind of workout at least five days a week. Right now I'm focusing on running and Street Parking SHIFT workouts. These are very flexible things that I can easily fit into my day even when I don't have a lot of time. Going to try to check in here once a day. Okay. That's all. Let's do this.

Hey everyone, I wanted to hear some input on this thought that's been on my mind. I wanted to know if you guys would pay for a health and nutrition coaches if they didn't charge too much? Or would you pay a good amount if they can get you down or up to a desired weight based on what you like to eat?

I recently had my 44th birthday and I recently realized that my mindset since the beginning of the year has changed for the better. I’m wasn’t sure what it was until I listened to The Tim Ferriss Show Podcast featuring Terry Crews. He explained what I had been thinking since the beginning of the year, you say what you are and your mind finds ways to make it true. Since the beginning of the year I’ve been saying “I am a yogi” and I’ve made more progress in four weeks than I did the entire of last year because of that one simple statement. I’ve been thinking about how to improve moves and to hold them longer, how to get more sessions in, and do them for longer. I even have a plan laid out for the year where my yoga sessions are broken out into 4 thirteen week sessions. So I’m using that simple phrase “I am” and then finding ways to make it true. At the same time I think it will also help me set my priorities. I’m thinking more about what I want to do and I am surprised by things I’m not saying also. Never once have I thought “I would like to watch more TV” or “I would like to eat out more”. So with this simple premise I’m starting to lay out my plan for the year with gradual increments. So without further ado: Bearlee is ... a Yogi! On January 2nd I started DDPYoga and have so far finished 4 weeks. When I made the decision in mid-January that this year I’m a yogi, my mind has been more focused on the task. I’ve added more yoga sessions, I’ve performed the moves better, and I’ve been doing longer sessions. The program is broken up into 13 week sessions which is perfect becuase the 4th 13 week session will end on December 30th. As of now I’m working through Beginner 2.0. On April 1st I’ll move onto Intermediate 1.0. Then on July 1st to Intermediate 2.0. And Finally on September 30th/October 1st onto Advanced 1.0. As I advance in the program I’ll be able to expand my workout base that I can chose from to add extra sessions. For example, currently I’ve recently added Fat Burner 2.0 which means that now I can also use Fat Burner 1.0 along with the easier sessions of Engergy 1.0 and 2.0. Next with be Below the Belt 2.0 which with unlock Below the Belt 1.0 also along with the four previously stated workouts. I can also add “live” workout sessions that are on the same level that I’m currently on meaning the beginner “live” workouts. “Live” means workouts that were live but are now recorded to be played back later. Bearlee is ... a Cook! I also have a goal of cooking more this year. Then people that seem to have the most success with weight management seem to be people that cook. Plus I want to make more meals for my kids that are healthier. So what does a cook do? They get a recipe, gather the ingredients, and cook. Seems simple but I haven’t been doing it. My goal was to cook something new every week and have 52 new recipes by the end of the year, but so far I’ve only cooked one new meal. So I’m modifying this goal to a new recipe every other week with 26 new recipes by the end of the year. I’ve found two books that I really like. The first is called the Ultimate Soup Book and the second is called Kitchen Counter Cooking School. I like the idea of learning to make soups because they are usually nutritious and hopefully easy to make. So the first part of my learning to cook willl be soups. But the other book breaks down cooking into really easy and understandable cooking skills. For. Example to make an alfredo sauce take two cups of heavy cream and reduce to sauce consistency and add herbs you like then add pasta and that’s it. Things I want to learn cook: Omelets (I cook fantastic scrambled eggs but not omelets) Scallops Steak cooked well How to cook hamburger correctly. I also have an issue where when I start something that I want to go and buy all the gadgets for that hobby. For example I would like to buy a food processor, an instant pot, immersion blender, grill, new cook wear, expensive knives, and so on. I’m going to hold off on that stuff until I use what I have properly. That is also why I want to start with soups since I have a pot. Bearlee is ... an Amateur Astronomer! Since the Great American Eclipse (that I missed due to weather) I’ve been obsessed with space. I caught the final days of Cassini before it plunged into Saturn and have read some of the fantastic things it’s done. I’ve been learning tons about our solar system and just how neat it is. I’m surprised by the number of space missions going on that I never knew about before: New Horizons, Osiris Rex, and Juno. I’ve been learning about what looks like the new space age happening right now with private companies getting into the space business, specifically SpaceX. The number of exoplanets that are being discovered is astonishing. Just so much to learn and be fascinated by. Since the eclipse I’ve visited my local astronomy club and viewed Saturn and the Moon through their telescopes. I visited my local planetarium and watched their “What’s in the sky this season” show. I joined the Planetary Society that was founded by Carl Sagan and is now headed by Bill Nye. And I’ve done some observations in the sky like on New Year’s Day super Moon and plan to watch January 31st’s Super Harvest Blue Moon Lunar Eclipse. This is also another hobby where I want to go out and buy the best telescope and laptop to view and photograph the night sky. But first there are other things that I will do. View a meteor shower Learn the constellations and be able to identify them in the night sky Learn the classification system for identifying objects Read at least one astronomy paper a week to learn more in depth about a topic Continue listening to astronomy Podcasts For now these will be my focus. I have other things I want to add to this list but I don’t want to overwhelm myself. If I can nail these down I’ll be off to a great start in 2018. And if I only get these down but do them really well I think it would still be a good 2018.

I am returning to Nerd Fitness after being away since February 2017 (A Journey of a 1000 Stairs) where I attempted to do 1000 stair climbs and lose weight accumulated and maintained post the birth of my 2nd son. I succeeded in getting down to about 180lbs from about 200 lbs. I did not reach my dreamed of 165lbs. Instead, I got pregnant with my third and final child (a dreamed of daughter) and my weight bounced right back up to 220lbs at the height of the pregnancy. For the first time I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes - which made for interesting self experimentation with a blood glucose reader and many meals. I had my baby girl in May of 2018. Recovery was better than it had been with number 2 - at least I did not have drop foot! AND I was super active before and after the birth. However, something about turning 40 and having gained all this pregnancy weight - my weight went down to 190 and then did a massive up turn back to 110. I have been hovering between 202 and 206 lbs ever since. So - given my NF experience... and I signed up to Mutu Mamas and had a physio as well in the early days post pregnancy (diastis rectii). So here I am thinking, I am crossing the T's and dotting the i's and yet.. not a single budge of my weight. This is the least stressed I have been in eons. I am not working, I have the time and ability to go to the gym at max 2 hours per day... I spent a lot of time in an active upright state. I eat wholesome healthy home made food. I work out at least three times a week and I get a decent (if not enough) amount of sleep. I haven't eaten my children yet. I have a weakness for sweets and baked goods but I am not as glutton as I have been in the past. I practice a great deal of restraint. Breastfeeding may play a part and be a factor with regards to hormones that are involved in retaining weight. So bringing it down to basic things that affect my weight - I will make an effort to drink more - I will make an effort to sleep more - I am aware breastfeeding hormones are a thing As far as diet goes, I have started Intermittent Fasting as of last week - too soon to see any difference - and last week I went to the gym for a two cardio box classes, one aquafit class, one yoga, and one anti-gravity restorative class. That's four times! This week I've already gone in for a 20-20-20 class (step meets weights). Plan is to go to the gym at least three times a week. At least one time for a yoga/restorative session. That leaves food - Granted with three kids and a bunch of carb eating junkies... I am pretty good at keeping things home made and nutritious. I started baking my own bread! So given that I started regime above only last week - too soon to tweak anything here. (I did a MFP check and my daily calories are around the 1650 mark.. so not terrible).