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Become the Wolf Here we go again (Again again again). Last time I attempted this I tried my hand at Keto and although it worked really well in the beginning it wasn't for me. Near the end I was mentally exhausted, bitter, frustrated and found myself cheating and eating worse than I did while off the diet. Which of course brought on the feelings of guilt and failure. So here I am again, ready to push forward and become the wolf. Fierce, wild and determined. Let's see how far I get this time. The plan - Drink at least 2L of water daily - Meal plan ahead of time - Snacks in moderation - Move a bit more Goals -5lbs by Nov 19 -10lbs by Dec 24 -15lbs by Jan 28 -20lbs by Mar 04 Stats to date Height: 5'10" Weight: 256lbs Est. BF%: 45.3 Measurements Neck: Bust: Bicep: Forearm: Wrist: Waist: Hips: Thigh: Calf:

I want your input on whether the following diet can result in a slimmed down appearence: Breakfast: protein shake (like this one) Lunch: quinoa lentils avocado Dinner: refried beans corn tortillas black olives nutritional yeast hot sauce

I want to backtrack a little and start this log with my progress so far. As of last June 2017, my fitness activity was pretty much limited to yoga. I'd been practicing on and off for years...sometimes almost every day, and including intermediate poses like headstand and crow variations, but rarely more than half an hour per day and I felt like my progress was stalled. I had never done a pullup, and only kind of faked it through pushups in school Then, I discovered Kino MacGregor's Be Strong series of yoga videos (levels 1 and 2). These were amazing because they took a similar amount of time, but really focused on strengthening and working toward advanced poses. I did those almost every day for a few months and got a lot stronger, plus I got pretty close to kicking up into handstand unsupported. After a while that routine was hard to keep up, though, because it was fairly grueling in a way I didn't really enjoy, and I had started to see less progress...but I still did the videos occasionally. About six months later (January 2018) I still felt pretty strong, but was also the heaviest I'd ever been while not pregnant (173ish). I'd experimented quite a bit with diet in the past, partly for health reasons (I've been both vegan and paleo, at different times) and also temporarily to lose weight after having babies, but had never stuck with it for long. I decided to commit at least long enough to see some real results and decide whether it was worth it for me, even though that would probably take some experiments, adjustments, ups and downs. My goal was to lose 23 pounds and hit 155 by May 1. I started by getting back into an easy yoga routine (fightmaster yoga, yoga fix 90) which was more enjoyable and easier to stick with. I also decided to try a "fasting" diet: two or three days a week at under 600 calories. I know I get antsy if I never feel like I get to indulge in foods that I love, so I liked the idea of restricting enough at times that I could restrict less at other times. I lost five pounds in January, without needing to make any other dietary adjustments. In February, that started to get old. Three days a week is still quite a lot, and those days were hard to get through. I thought about food constantly. So, my next idea was to try weight watchers. I really struggle with counting everything, because I cook improvisationally and go out to eat and figuring out how to track all that is a real pain. One thing I liked about the new weight watchers program was the way you could eat produce, chicken breast and egg, at least, without tracking...so I tried that for a while. I lost six more pounds over the next six weeks. That eventually started to feel unsustainable, too, though. I think that because of my food choices (I eat some things that get hit extra hard with points) that my calories were probably too low on this plan, and every weekend I was going over my points pretty quickly. So, in mid March, my third idea was to try the primal blueprint. I know that protein, fruits and vegetables are good for me and, again, I loved the idea of not having to track at all. I know I don't do well at really low carb levels, so I was shooting for roughly 50-100g per day, and I felt like I was being restrained about my use of dairy fat, avocados, fatty meat, nuts, etc – so I actually thought this was a turn in a healthier direction, and it should work out great. Also, I started learning more about bodyweight fitness based on recommendations in the primal blueprint. I started with the recommended pushups, rows (I got knock-off TRX straps, and it was my first time really having a good way to do these), plank and squats. I could actually do a few real pushups for the first time in my life, because of my experience with the yoga for strength! While researching to learn more about how to optimize and progress with the exercises, I learned that there were a lot more materials out there, so I tried reddit's bodyweight fitness recommended routine and also Start Bodyweight...by the end of the month my program looked something like this: warmup/mobility handstand practice plank with feet on wall 3 x 30 seconds kettlebell swings 8,12,12@15lbs pushups 5,4,4 rows 5,4,4 squats with one foot on a chair behind me 5,4,4 hanging leg lifts with slightly bent knees 5,4,4 dips 4,4,4 jacknife pullups from squat position 4,4,4 stretching Over the month I worked up from one session to about three sessions per week, plus sprinting (realistically I only did this twice in the month - six sets of 20-30 seconds effort followed by up to four minutes rest) and ideally yoga two days a week. My reps went up over the month. I feel stronger and have more visible muscle definition and (AND!) this is my first time being able to do significant work towards pullups in any way. I've always wanted to do them, but felt there was no viable way forward - but now I feel like I can see the path and I know that the path to pushups worked for me, even though I couldn't do those in the past, either. Also, I'm really having fun with this. Even though my workout can take close to an hour, it's actually recommended to take ninety seconds of rest between each short set – so I get exhausted, but only briefly, and I spend a lot of that hour just resting, which I love compared to all the other ways I've been told to work out in the past. BUT, I didn't lose any weight over this last month, and actually went back up a pound or two which is kind of a bummer. I had high hopes for primal just working out without counting, but apparently that only works because most people are naturally motivated to eat less calories and I guess I'm just not? So, I bit the bullet and started tracking calories and, to a lesser extent, macros (mostly trying to make sure I hit a minimum or .5g protein per pound of bodyweight). I've also been resistant to doing this because I don't want to waste my time, and I've gotten different recommended calorie levels all over the internet, especially because I'm doing strength training and nobody seems to know exactly what to do with that.* I finally downloaded this responsive spreadsheet which keeps track of your actual calorie intake and weight data and creates a real-life, ongoing calculation of TDEE, so that's kind of exciting. I've only been using it to track for a week, but hopefully that will get me somewhere as it collects more data. Most days I'm having coffee (lightly sweetened, with a little heavy cream), a smoothie with yogurt and protein powder for breakfast, nothing or maybe an apple, a handful of peanuts or a salad for lunch, and something with meat, vegetables, and maybe some rice for dinner. Sometimes a banana with peanut butter and/or a little chocolate for dessert, if it looks ok in my nutrition tracker. *The research I saw that I trust the most said that it actually possible to lose up to a half percent of your body weight or, for women, one percent per week, while simultaneously gaining muscle, so that's the rate I'm currently shooting for. Also, I know that I may have lost less weight this month because I might have put on some muscle simultaneously, but I was hoping to lose four or five more pounds - so I think that the scale should have been down at least a few pounds after accounting for a bit of muscle, and thus I probably didn't lose much fat. Final thoughts at this point: * I did lose 11 pounds and turn some fat into muscle since January, but I missed my goal to lose 18 pounds in four months and even the "realistic" goal of one pound per week by quite a bit * I'm still not sure what my goal weight is. I'm at 164 today. Another ten? Another twenty? None, but turn some more of my fat into muscle? I know I still want to lose some fat somehow. * I'm curious to see what the next month will bring, with continued tracking, working out and mainly primal eating. I do feel like this is finally a plan that I kind of trust * I need to figure out what's going to work for me in terms of sensible indulgences, cheat meals and/or occasional diet breaks, though...pretty sure this is totally necessary for me to plan for so that it doesn't eventually tank all of my progress *I kind of need a new kettlebell, but they're expensive. Also thinking of buying a dip station and wooden rings, so I need to figure out how to prioritize these purchases for the most progress.

Brave adventurers, I join you today after so many years lurking and questioning It's an honor to fight by your side I decided to join because of the accountability task in the Academy. I've been unhappy about my weight and some other aspects of my life for at least 7 years now and want to see it through this time. Finding like-minded people to take this journey together seems like the obvious plan. Main Quest: I am somebody healthy, that eats real food 80% of the time, is a size 4/EU 38 and goes to the gym 3 times a week Challenges: - Go to bed between 22h30 and 23h to sleep at least 8 hours a day - Not use bread for my meals, at home or in the office - Have tea when I want to drink something in the office I've started these challenges on April 5th. They will last until April 25th. These are things that I want to turn into habits, I don't plan into reintroducing bread to my diet. About me: I’m a half Vulcan trekkie on a journey to be healthier every day, approaching my 25th birthday. Also a warrior/druid hybrid. I've been having to push myself to the gym (do weight training) lately but after I'm done I feel so powerful and happy for being there. I've been dealing with anxiety a lot lately so I will be focusing on lowering stress, taking it easy, breathing and sleeping properly, treating my body with care, specially when it comes to feeding it with real food. I hope to meditation and include some yoga. I've learned to surf and it's one of my favorite things in life. I've also trained muay thai and it was pretty awesome. One of the things I want to do (even more after I lose some weight) is to cosplay. The character I'd be closer to is Beverly Crusher from Star Trek TNG but I'm also a big fan of T'Pol and Number One (Majel Barrett) and would love cosplaying them. Arch-enemies: Migraines Poor sleep Being tired since waking up Anxiety Stress Busy life Binge-eating Sweets **** Welcome and thanks for dropping by ****

Goals: Nutritional Budget: No eating outside of eating windows: Breakfast in the morning: 6 out of 7 days: protein shake Lunch in the afternoon: 6 out of 7 days: salad Dinner in the evening: eat what the wife cooked up No alcohol Exempt in week 4: Only when others are having too No candy/cookie No bingeing (exempt: bingewatching) Financial budget: No overspending during lunch (salad only) No spending of money on anything else Exempt: Grocery shopping Change healthcare provider Workout: After DST, at least once a week running. This will coincide with the "CrossFit Open" being over. 0-week Working out: Deload, only CF (Thu: WOD / Fri: Dryrun of 18.4 / Sun: 18.4) Weigh in: March 14th: 81.3 KG / 28.2 BF% Goal at the end of the challenge: 79.3 KG

Felt like I was trapped in a coffin underground with no one to know I was there. But now I have a new purpose and new goals to get to! No more feeling like I'm suffocating under a severe weight. Which means it's time for me to train for my goals that will take me and my family far in life. I just want to mention something some of you may know, but I have some mental problems that have prevented me from hitting my goals years before. My symptoms fit that of schizophrenia but it's only a self diagnosis mind you. I looked into having myself examined by an expert but was told that it would take six months of intense therapy, and testing. And that given how I was functioning on a day to day basis, there would be no point. Because I'm functioning to a point where a diagnosis would be a waste of money, unless, I start mentally deteriorating. On one hand I was a little disappointed, because I'm curious by nature and I wanted to know why I function the way I do. On the other hand I'm apparently sane enough to be deemed a mentally healthy and in no need of therapy. Which makes me happy! But my goals are tough and I need to make sure I'm taking care of my mental health, especially for the sake of my family. So let's do this thing!! Warrior Training: Bodyweight training everyday; Weight training 6x a week; Cardio 2x a week. I'm a mesomorph so I only see weight loss results when I exercise. My diet is pretty good despite being on a strict budget so I'm not worried about that. But I want to train bodyweight to eventually be able to do parkour, gymnastics, ballet, and martial arts with better ease. Wisdom of Solomon: Follow School Schedule and Business Plan. I want to increase my intelligence and increase my business income. My school schedule also includes my daughter's schooling. She's a smart little thing who gets bored easily and likes to be mentally challenged. So my studying will help me when she's ready for school since I will be homeschooling. Mistress of Time Management: Unplug Until Nap Time and Bedtime. I am really horrible at time management. And the biggest culprit I'm up against is social media and being a tv junky. I'm even seeing my daughter becoming addicted to television. She's not going to grow up like me. No Way! So no phone or tv until she's asleep. And even then it will be for business purposes only. Earthly Riches: Emergency Fund 60% or More Completed. We're dedicating ourselves to becoming debt free. Which means we first have $1000 for an emergency fund. And we're 30% there so far! Life Goal: Read Bible and Meditate Everyday: As I said, my mental health needs to be priority for the sake of my family. Spiritual growth and making sure I'm mentally calm and collected first thing in the morning will keep me sound of mind. I need to make this a habit. I really need to push myself to train, and learn. I wasted a lot of my life already being in depression, and not having any goal in my life. I'm not getting any younger and there's things I want to do and places I want to go. And I want the finances there so my family can join with me in traveling and learning. I never thought I deserved a family of my own. Now that I have one, I want them to join in and be with me wherever God leads us. I will be making mini challenges every week that correspond with my goals. Each one I finish is 2+ points, and at the end of my challenge if I get 32 points I will treat myself to a manicure.

I was looking into Bear Grylls Survival guide for life in here he describes that any momentous challenge can be seen as climbing a mountain. You have to do it step by step, you do it in legs and with the right preperation it becomes much more easy to climb the mountain. My biggest challenge is my weight. The reason for this is in the fact that i really like food and easily forget how much calories can be inside certain food items. Leg 1 weightloss (Has to happen) In order to lose weight i have to do 2 things. 1: monitor how many calories i eat and log it in my samsung health app. 2: Stick to my samsung health app calorie recommendation. Leg 2 excercise (exceptions can be made) To assist my weightloss i will do some excercises This however is not mandatory for my weightloss. That is why it is okay if i miss a day every now and then Monday: Running Tuesday: Lifting Thursday: Lifting Friday: Running Sunday: Yoga I want to start every other day with a light body weight workout, these are mandatory. Leg 3 Community Every week i will post an update on my weightloss progress on here. I will try to update my thread every day with some king of way to keep people engaged.

After having a complete collapse of my final weeks of the previous challenge, I am coming back for more. Quests Lift: Do my lifting routine 3 days per week. Count: Count calories daily and stay at my goal. Cook: No fast food. This is what kills me, I stop and get something and get upset, blow off my workout, and eat like a fool for the rest of the day. Read: Reading from a book every day. Rewards Instead of rewards at the end of the challenge, I am going to be giving myself little rewards at the end of each week for hitting 90% or better. This weeks reward will be some sleeves for my Arkham Horror LCG cards.

Hey Folks, My nickname's Stefan(made by me). I am an introverted(though I like to think of it as a lone wolf) college freshman from India. This is the first time I'm doing any sort of a blog, so let's see how it goes. It's my term break right now, and college begins from 5th March, 2018. That's when I actually plan on starting my little fitness regime to the full extent, like daily 15,000 steps, badminton and better food intake etc. I plan on writing about everything I manage to do to physically and mentally improve myself on a daily basis, starting 5th March. Till then, it'll be baby steps and reading up. At little bit more about myself. I am 18 years old. I am overweight, weak and slow. I love playing badminton, despite being poor at it. I have tried to be fit my entire life but ended up quitting everything in 1 or 2 months, sometimes even less. I really want to change that now. And the main reason behind me writing this is to have some sort of a virtual accountability and also to have some sort of a social outlet(not my forte). This is my 4th day, since joining the free part of the Nerd Fitness Rebellion(cause I'm broke). I've been getting some daily emails from those folks as to what to do each day. As for today - I went for a walk ( finished 10,000 steps for the day) - Read an article titled "You're Flawed and so are you're heroes". - Managed to limit my soda intake to a single can for the day. Signing off.. Stefan For the Rebellion!

2018 is going to be a year of healthy choices. I'm betting on it! Yes. Literally. I'm betting on weightloss this year using HealthyWage. I am betting $30 a month for the next six months that I will lose 10% of my body weight. You better believe I'm going to do it! When I succeed in June, I will be $100 richer. Whoo Hooo! The problem, of course, is my stupid knees. They carry more than they should, and I am paying the price every day. When I started NF, I made similar weightloss promises, and did lose over 10% of my bodyweight...even more. But I have been a yo yo since the initial push, and it's time for a new beginning. Ahh, January. What a good time to go ahead and make a new beginning. Goal #1 Healthy Eating This is my major focus because my mobility is limited after knee surgery. I am moving more every day, but I can't count on much exercise to help boost weightloss. Luckily, exercise is only 20% of the weightloss equation, and I can do plenty with healthy eating. There is no secret weapon for this one. I am tweaking my existing plan a little bit. It is a good plan...when I follow it. I'm going to use coloring pages to track mini healthy choices through the day. I will also color for each check mark on my daily healthy habits checklist for portion sizes and fruits/veggies. Roll the dice MFP food tracking continues-when I roll a "1" on the dice, I track my food. Prizes will include bike and wardrobe incentives. I will earn a prize for each full coloring page...and will post a photo here for accountability. I've been pretty good at intending to award myself prizes...but not so good for following through. But now that I've written it down, I will follow through! My whole healthy habit tracking system has been out of wack the past week and a half because of knee surgery. I usually track while I fill the water pitcher to take out to the chickens...but my dear husband has been handling chicken chores for me. It's weird how hard it is to remember to track without the trigger. I am feeling well enough to do chicken chores again, but I probably won't take over again until he goes back to work after the holidays. I'm a lucky girl to have @Mando Baxter in my life...even if he doesn't run challenges anymore. Goal #2 Knee Exercises Duh. If I want to recover, I need to do the exercises my doctor/physical therapist recommend. Goal #3 Upper Body Exercises So many excuses for not exercising these days. Ok, so I can't bend one knee. That doesn't mean I can't lift some dumbbells or something. Cardio is limited, so I'm going to switch my strength days back to MWF. Upper body exercises are a must during my morning exercise time. Life Goal (yes, still) Get a Job This includes 1-2 hours of job search activities M-F. I also have a 2-day training in week three of the challenge for substitute teaching. This is something I've been considering doing for the next year and a half while my youngest son is still in elementary school. Otherwise, I'm still applying to flexjobs (with not too much luck) and full time office jobs (with not too much conviction). It's been a blessing to have knee surgery without worrying about work...but I do worry what will happen in May after my severance runs out. We can handle me being a stay at home mom for a while, but eventually making lifestyle changes won't be too much fun. Just a quick update before I hit submit. My knee surgery went fine. I don't have a followup appointment with the doctor until this coming Tuesday (2 weeks from the surgery). I am getting better every day, but the progress is slow and frustrating. I had this idea that I would be on crutches for 3-5 days, and then bounce right up. Yeah, not realistic, I guess. I can hobble a bit without the crutches, but am still using one crutch most of the time here on day 11. Trying to focus on the good and taking things day by day.

I was trying to find a good theme. But I think I'll take the easy route for now, and go with my name sake. And some Harry Potter. I wrote some venting stuff. It wasn't very good. So let's cut to my big 2018 goals: Blackbelt Prep Iaido Prep Get down to 15% body fat I need to build back up a whole lot of habits that have fallen to the wayside the last couple weeks/months. I also haven't done much physical activity in December, with the official start of the 'new' job and the travel prep and traveling. So slow and steady is how this is going to go, until I build back up to where I'm comfortable. That said, I DO need to keep in mind the whole "schedule free time" thing. I don't want to end up exhausted and stressed by all the 'fun' stuff I'm supposed to be doing. And so, we begin. 1) Return to the Count: Count all the calories, 2400 calories per day (taking into account physical activity) I do really well calorie counting. It honestly is the best way for me to both lose weight, and maintain weight. So I'm going to log all the food in MFP, like the olden days. Unlike the olden days, I'm going to be actually taking into account my physical activities. Honestly, it won't be much, because I stopped lifting months ago to give myself some more sleep time. Maybe the lifting will make a come back, maybe it won't, but either way no lifting will likely happen in January for me. Also, some additional stuffs: Nothing but fruit and nuts from the work snack stashes will be allowed. Also the lifesaver mints. Which definitely have calories. Might actually empower the receptionist to knock my hand away from the candy dish.... But I should be able to get some decent calorie cutting by not eating all the things at work. 2) Aikido Archive - Document 5 techniques a week in name, one a week in video format I have seriously been slacking on this project since I decided to do it. By which I mean I wrote up the base document and haven't filled in a damn thing. So I need to start working on that. I should be able to get through the 5th to 2nd kyu exams pretty easily, and I can actually put our testing video into the document at this point, at least until I get the techniques individually recorded. 3) Class Time - 5 Hours of aikido a week Like, seriously. How is this not expected at this point. I'm aiming right now for QUALITY hours on the mat, more than quantity. I plan on testing the end of 2018 or the beginning for 2019, and I will have more than enough hours by then. I don't need more hours, I need more brains on the mat. I need to start playing again a bit more, I need to embrace the fact that I suck, and I need to find ways around it. Eventually I also want to start attending classes at Harvard Aikikai (at least once in a while) and New England Aikikai. Both because the different instruction will help, and also it'll be good for helping mend the relationships between the dojo's current generation. Even if the older generation can't play nicely due to the history behind everything. 4) Find an easy, short mobility routine for ankles. Perform in the morning. I've come to the conclusion that my ankles are my biggest limiting factor in aikido these days. My knees bend easily enough, but my ankle lock out a bit sooner than I would like, which makes lowering my center while maintaining my posture a bit more tricky. This likely also contributes to my hatred of squats. In any case, I'd like to get my mornings started with some mobility work, so maybe things will get a bit better on that front. 5) Extra Credit Adulting: Tidy up the Pantry Purge old/unworn clothing Put the clothing away Fix the Oven and/or call the landlord to replace over Find two new recipes to try Host a house Game night That should cover it for the first couple of weeks. I need to get my head back in the game. At least this time I have stable employment. What an odd feeling that is. Hopefully it helps give me an anchor for the coming year.

So towards the end of July 2017 I joined a gym. I started going fairly regularly (maybe around 3-4 times a week, that number did fluctuate depending on the week), in the interests of gaining muscle, getting stronger, and generally acquiring a more athletic body. Beforehand I had already been an active person, having picked up the hobby of running long distance in 2015 as a way to lose weight. I did, around 30lbs of it (when I was at my lowest weight). Weighing myself for the first time in a good while in January 2018, I realised that I have gained quite a substantial amount of weight since joining the gym- which seems entirely opposite to what people aim to do when joining a gym. In fact, it does seem to be different to what I was aiming for as well. Did I want to gain muscle? Yes! Of course. Have I noticed muscle gain since joining? Yes. Did I want to gain more fat? Definitely not. And there's my problem; I cannot deny that I've gained a lot more fat too since joining the gym- and I wasn't particularly "slender" to start off with. So, I feel as though I am in a predicament. I want to gain muscle. I want to be STRONG. But I'm not entirely sure ive been going about it the best way. Whenever I was maybe eating too much food before, I would always just think "its okay boo, you're just feeding those swole muscles lurking beneath that layer of fat" - had the idea that I was maybe on a "bulk". I also think possibly I had been using weights that weren't challenging enough the muscle growth I was wanting. Undoubtedly, I have gained muscle since July 2017 (for one thing, if nothing else, I can do a fair few push ups on my toes now), but I really need to refine both my nutrition and the way in which I workout in order to hit my goals. So, for the moment ive decided to focus on losing weight again, rather than continuing to eat the way I was previously, I will be more mindful of the foods I am putting into my body. Additionally, I will increase the cardio in my workouts, which I reduced whilst in the process of my ill-informed "bulk". I am definitely not giving up on my strength/ muscles goals. Those are still as solid in my mind as ever. But something needs to change in the way I'm working at these goals. Hey, fitness is a journey, and not a linear one right? (Female, 18)

Hallo! I iz bak. So life kinda kicked me in the proverbial balls. Last time I was on, I was kept afloat by my wonderful RAGErs but I was still struggling with an overall lack of energy, a seemingly unending cold, and was compensating with an increasing amount of junk food. I also went from being one of three people in my department at work, to being the ONLY person in my department - which meant I was working overtime and weekends to keep up with the workflow. I started experiencing dizziness and (according to my doctor's diagnosis - I had no clue what was happening) anxiety attacks. When I finally went to my doctor, she sent me out for blood work and we discovered - surprise, surprise - that I was showing prediabetic and very high cholesterol levels. So I'm now on what basically amounts to a vegan diet with high carb restriction. I go in for another blood test in 3 months to see if anything's changed. My goal for the next 3 months is pretty simple: follow my doctor's orders, and get those numbers as close to normal as possible. This week's goal has been to get my diet on track and get my running shoes back on. I meal prepped last Sunday, and have been 90% compliant thus far (went out with the husband to B-dubs yesterday and had their black bean Southwest burger with fries and a beer - felt awful afterwards; will not be repeating that performance). Went for a little 1 mile jog around my neighborhood Tuesday and today; will go again either tomorrow or Sunday. Next week's goals are 100% dietary compliance and run 1 mile M-F.

I'm back! Or at least I hope so. The wedding in September was a smach, everything turned out amazing and I had the time of my life! So ok, the wedding came and went and a few weeks later I started feeling like shit honestly. Was always tiered, couldn't sleep properly and got more and more sensitive around certrain smells and stuff. And then came the puking. So yeah....turns out we didn't even spend a week as proper man and wife until shit got super real. XD I'm preggers! YAY! ... ... I think.... To be totally honest it scares the living crap out of me. How the hell am I supposed to take care of a baby when I can hardly take care of myself?! Ohwell, time will tell I guess. But to the POINT! I'm still obese. And I know that being obese is a whole other lvl of shitstorm to add to the normal crap of being preggers. So now that I have stopped puking my gutts out every morning I was planning on getting my shit together and getting my groove back on. I have an appointment with the midwife tomorrow and then we'll take all the measurements. Not fun. But it is what it is. But now I need to figure out what kind of stuff I can do when it comes to eating and moving around with a baby on board without messing everything up. I'm happy for all ideas and input!

This is my first NF Challenge. This is also my first Forum of any kind....bear with me! My goal with this challenge is to get my eating in order. This party needs to end! I'm going to stop eating refined sugar, white flour and eat a more "clean" diet. I will also get on the elliptical at least 3 times per week and strength train at least 2 times a week to start.

In continuing with my quarter long challenges (because I'm kinda lazy like that) our goals are still: Gym 3x/week Food 5x/week, would be 7 but let's be realistic Nerd Fitness 3x/week posting something/somewhere doesn't have to be my own thread, hopefully this will become a daily habit again. Tracking spreadsheet is in the signature Gym has been a struggle, I am committing to doing this in the evening if my other half doesn't get up with me in the morning to go. Food...probably could be better but not horrible, my job is quite social and since being back in FL I've reconnected with a lot of friends and activities I enjoy. Been making it a habit to check on here more, having something to say doesn't always come easy to me though. Not sure what's going on with me lately, I haven't been doing that bad with my eating and have been better about not overdoing it, but I really need/want to lose weight and it's been just the opposite. I have fallen off a lot worse than I have been here lately so not sure what's up. Nothing I've been doing justifies a 15 lb gain in two months! This needs to get under control and quick!

For this challenge, I am keeping the same four big goals from my last one, but I have adjusted to allow more flexibility where I need it. My last challenge was rigid and quantifiable (I even had a spreadsheet that never got filled out, ha) but what I’m finding is I need a plan that is flexible in positive ways and allows me to work around weeks where I have tons of grading, lots of stress, or a million things come up. I need the challenge to work for me and to help me achieve things, and I think my goals in the last challenge were a bit lofty and rigid. The big change for this challenge is after 0 week I will have worked up to the proper dosage of the medication that has been prescribed to me for both my ADD and my anxiety, so part of this challenge will simply be observing the impacts of that. Instead of continuing the circus theme (because I am hoping life will become less of a circus) I have decided to call upon the Fellowship to get me through this challenge, because let’s face it, I need all the help I can get. Goal 1: Eat Like A Hobbit Hopefully in this one I will be channeling more of the home cooking of Samwise and less of the “I ate three lembas” of Pippin. Will there be second breakfast? YES. I am going back to the idea of small meals all day because that seemed to work really well in the first challenge, and skipping lunch makes dinner a binge and I just feel gross all night. GOALS 1600-1800 calories a day (5/7 tracked) 4-6 smaller meals every day (5/7 completed per week) Plan out lunches a week in advance BONUS: Cut down coffee creamer consumption by half by the end of the challenge, eat my lunch every day for a week, drink 2 full water bottles during the school day Part Two A: Lift like a Dwarf Calling on Gimli for the Strength portion of this challenge. I truly love Body Pump. Hubs jokes and calls it lifting Zumba (truth) but I can’t help myself. And while I eventually want to branch into just lifting, I think my love for this class is what keeps me in the gym despite all the stress and crazy that is the rest of my life, so we are just going to stay the course. Will also attend kettlebell/bootcamp when my schedule allows. I am also adding the choice to get up and do an in-home bodyweight workout (darbee: Athena’s Playbook) for days that I need to be at school earlier than 7:45 but want to get a workout in (usually why bootcamp gets skipped). Part Two B: Gain Elven Endurance Legolas is my inspiration for this portion of the challenge. I need to get on the bike. I need to start training for my ride this summer, but instead of setting a mileage goal, I am going to set an activity goal of 5 active days per week, including the biking, classes, and body weight workouts. 2 days a week must be weight training, one must be a bike ride, and the other two are up to me whether it be biking or whatever. I will be aiming to go a little farther each week. I was able to do 5 miles in 30 minutes last time I was out, so that will be my baseline. GOALS: 5 Active days per week 2 BP, 1 biking, 2 my choice BONUS: Go up in weight on any BP track, bike three times in one week Part Three: Plan like A Ranger Obviously couldn’t do a LOTR challenge without Aragorn. But seriously, he is fearless in the face of stress and a great strategist-- just what I need! School and my issues with organization, efficiency, and stress management are not going to go away, so this piece of the challenge needed to stay on the table with added flexibility to accommodate the ever changing needs of my schedule/classroom. I am not limiting grading days this time because in the next month I will have 90 essays to grade (⅓ 2 pages, ⅓ 3-5 pages, ⅓ 6-8 pages) so a little every day is the plan GOALS: Create a grading schedule for SR and JR papers and stick to it. Weeklies: Lesson plans, grade book Organize Cartlos and my corner once a week BONUS: Organize my file cabinets, pass back any assignment within 48 hours, grade something the day it is turned in to me Part Four A: Healing with Arwen Every Fellowship needs support, so for my mental health category, I called on some supporting members to get me through this challenge. Sometimes we all just need a river full of raging water horses to wash away our troubles, hence I called upon Arwen here. The meditation will continue, and meds will be taken daily. Journalling will accompany what will hopefully be daily updates. Also adding sleep to this one this time as I have been getting less and less lately. Part Four B: Relaxing with Bilbo I really miss writing, so who better to call on than someone who has finished a book! Ha! I also want to cut down on my netflix consumption and go on a few more mini adventures with hubs during this challenge, so he seems like the perfect fit. GOALS: Finish reading the book I started at the beginning of last challenge Meditate x10 across the challenge Write once a week Take meds daily (I had to set an alarm on my phone...there is a reason my birth control is an implant, ha) Start a journal beyond NF to track how the meds are working Date/Adventure Night! x3 across the challenge Average 7 hours of sleep a night. AAAAnd here we go... Happy Challenge Everyone!!!

It's been awhile... Over the past past couple of months I have lost my way in terms of fitness. A combination of the end of the school year, my wife being hospitalized a couple of times (eventually being put on bed rest), the birth of my first child, and spraining my ankle have caused me to neglect working out and eating properly. Now that we have gotten into a routine (as much as possible with a newborn) it's time to get back to taking care of myself. Quests Lift: 3 days a week - no excuses, I have the length of this entire challenge free from work, so there is no reason I can't set aside 3 hours a week to lifting. Chart Calories: Everyday - I need to be more aware of what I am eating and take ownership of it. Eat Like an Adult: No pizza, no burgers - with all that was going we got into a bad habit of eating carryout several times a week. Not only is this unhealthy it's expensive. Garden: 3 days a week - in addition to neglecting my fitness, I have neglected my lawn and parts of it are starting to look like a jungle. I need to spend at least 3 days a week trimming plants, pulling weeds, and getting things looking nice. WARNING Cutest Baby Ever

Hi All! My husband and I have been hoping for a positive pregnancy test since October 2016. Before we started trying, I went to my doctor and asked specifically about my weight and my choice to be (and remain) vegetarian (I'm about to turn 27, 5'4 and 175lbs). My doctor was of the opinion that I "shouldn't be trying to make any drastic lifestyle changes" if I wanted the greatest success in getting pregnant. Which, for me, meant that all care about my weight and eating habits stayed fairly unhealthy. The more I talk to other women, the more I'm hearing that the first thing their doctors told them to do was to lose weight. So, now I'm turning back to the idea that I need to lose some weight and try to get myself to a place of being more healthy. I'm planning to follow the 21-day fix eating program, because my understanding of portions is WAY out of control, and I need a bit of hand-holding when it comes to eating. he problem is that I'm also hearing very conflicted information about what types of exercise I should be doing. Everyone has told me that I shouldn't be doing weight-lifting, and most people say that high intensity cardio is iffy. Most people are telling me to walk and do yoga.... but frankly, I'm getting impatient and I feel like yoga and talking walks are not going to make enough change quickly enough. Can anyone share a similar experience? Any thoughts or wisdom?

Since I'm not going with a new theme or changing my routine in any significant way, I decided to just go on with the last challenge. Exercise: 3 WODs a week 3 lifting sessions a week 2 Krav Maga classes a week Nutrition: Aim towards 200g of protein a day. Stay under 100g of carbs. (Yes, I'm back to tracking macros) Batch cooking will be of much help to attain those goals, so I'll try to do it for the entire duration of the challenge. Key word is TRY.

So what is this about you might ask? Well, I'll tell you! Just take a seat, this could take a while.... It all started back about 10 years ago. I was in high school and just getting to figuring out who the hell I was. I met this really cute guy and got infatuated. I even invited him to go to prom with me but he declined, said he wasn't interested in going. I was sad but not heartbroken and found another dude to go with. And oh boy...was that ever a disaster! Fast forward a few years and I meat this boy again but now via my boyfriend. He is funny and sweet and nerdy, just like me. And I liked him. A lot. But since I had a guy already and was happy (not really, I just told myself this...idiot teenager...) I never thought more about it. Instead things changed and me and this guy started hanging out like friends and that was just fine. Until one night when he was drunk and it slipped out, when we were alone, that he had liked me since high school and regretted so badly turning me down for prom. I had no idea what todo with the information and it just got stored away in the back of my mind. So I moved away for college and he got a job, life went on. My relationships started and ended like bad sitcoms all of them, one worse then the other, and this guy stayed with me. He became my closest friend and confidant and I told him everything. I even felt a few times that if he ever was single I would snatch him up. But he never was. When he had a girl I was single and vice versa. So time went on. And then I got engaged. To a dutch guy. And was planning on moving from Sweden. And me and my friend were hanging out a lot that last summer, because I realised that I would miss him the most of all the people I had in my life. And then, one night, something just came over me. We were sitting outside in the Swedish summer night, meaning it was still a soft light out at 2 am and the wind was warm, and I just felt like something changed. I looked at him and all of a sudden his lips were on mine. One kiss. That was all. Nothing more ever happened and I know I should have been beating myself up over it since I was engaged but....I just couldn't. I was just blown away. And all those feeling came rushing back in. But yes....I was engaged....and I was moving the week after. I remember thinking "WTF dude!? NOW?! REALLY!?!?!?!" but I didn't say anything. And I left. I packed up my life and moved. And after 2 weeks I regretted it. I had the feeling in my gut that neither the guy or the country was right for me. He was mean, stupidly cheap and nothing I wanted to do was worth the money. We couldn't go to Amsterdam because that was expensive but he could have a scooter, a car and really expensive hobbies. I felt like shit and I was reduced to a nervous wreck. And after a year I gave up and moved back. I don't regret going but I do regret not listening to my gut feeling sooner. That was the time I finally learned to listen to my intuition. And it has payed of since then. So I moved home. And me and my friend started hanging out again. And something had changed. Something huge. Like....the planets hade changed path and the sun was just....so much brighter. And I realised that it was this guy I wanted to be with. So I did what any sensible woman would do - I made him mine. It wasn't hard since he never had been able to forget me either. And that first year was so blissful it was almost irritating. Reality hit. We hit a really rough patch and after a lot of heartbreak and tears and anxiety we decided to move apart. When things had settled we started talking again and both of us realised that we missed each other. So we tried again. We started dating, took it really slow, kept living apart and just easing into it. Using the time we spent apart to figure out what we wanted individually and where we wanted to go in life. And it worked. About a year after we started dating we decided to move in for a trial period. He stayed with me for one month in my apartment and after that I stayed with him for a month. We managed to find someone that wanted to rent my apartment for a year when me and the guy tried living together again. This time we kept all the safety-measurements on. I kept the apartment so in case of chaos again I could move back and not have to go to my parents again as the last time. We started talking more, communicating more, letting each other in. It worked. <3 We found each other again, over 9000 times stronger this time, more grown up and knowing what we needed to do to make it work in the long run. And THIS brings me to the topic! We got a really nice offer for a fantastic house, it needed alot of TLC but it was too good to pass on, and we started talking about the future. Slowly it nestled its way into our conversations, things like how many kids we would like, would we get married in the spring or fall, what last name would we take? And it happened so naturally and didn't feel scary on bit. So now, this February I decided - I would propose. I was waiting for him to do it but then I thought - why should I? I wanted him as my husband and I'll be damned if I was just going to sit there like a damsel in distress and wait. F*CK THAT! I had a plan! Neither of us are that kind of lovey-dovey old school romantics. For valentines one year I got Heart of the Swarm and we had a ton of fun. He got a 6-pack of MTG boosters. Yeah, that is how we roll. And that got me to the plan - I would design a MTG-card to propose! So I got to making and it turned out awesome, I'm very pleased with it. But come on, that would just be weird with one card, right? So I had a friend of mine help me make a whole playable deck with the theme "Rings". And I printed it out and made a proxy. And omg I was so nervous when I was sitting at the kitchen table cutting out the cards that he would figure out what it was. He just looked at the cards and said it looked weird and laughed. So when the second week of march comes around we go to Prague for a family trip and I'm so nervous I think I'm going to die. I had managed to buy us a pair of rings and smuggled them into my bag together with the deck without him noticing. We get to Prague eventually, went out for the evening and on the way back I feel like puking from the nerves. He thinks I had something bad to eat so we go up to the room and he asked if I wanted to sleep. Ok, now or never! I say I want to play a bit first and that was of course ok. (Side track, but it was me that got him into the whole MTG-scene about 2 years ago) So we sit down and play. using the bed as a table. And I feel my hands sweating more and more. And then I get it. The card! With this I can play the proposal-card from out of my purse and him not having any idea wtf is going on. We keep playing for a while and then I just feel like I have to play it. And I do. And then I start going thru my purse and he asks me what I'm looking for and makes some kind of lame joke about using my lipstick as a token..hurr hurr, we'll see ho laughs last. This is where things starts to get blurry. I remember playing the proposalcard upside down and him looking at me like I'm crazy. He later told me he thought I was pissed at him since I was acting so weird....oops. XD I play the card and as he reads it I literally throw the rings up on the bed, not saying anything. I had this HUGE speech prepared but nope, that didn't work. At all. I just grunt and jerk my chin at the rings and raises an eyebrow at him. The answer was a flying man and a lot of laughing and kissing and many many yes:es. So I got him....finally. I got my heart-neerd. <3 ----------------------------------------------------- Ok, so if you managed to get this far- CONGRATUFUCKINGLATIONS! You are a champ! And the reason to why I post this here is because there is a wedding coming on April 2018. And I want to lose some of the weight until then. I'm not aiming for model thin but just a lighter frame. I want to feel pretty walking down the isle. And I want to be healthy enough to have a baby or two down't the line. That is it. Welcome to my story.

And thusly it was spring. I emerge from my winter 'bulk' feeling disillusioned with my gains and ready to change things up. Its a bit of the same, a bit of some new, in four weeks, I'm gonna do some stuff: I still want to run 5k. I was pretty damn close last time around. My leg, while not entirely normal, is healing, and I want to 3 miles with it. I still want to deadlift 315. This time I want to do it without a belt, and definitely do it with proper form. I want to hold a 3+ second freestanding handstand. A second or two is a fluke. I aim to finally get some handstands in my life. I want to shed at least 3 pounds. My winter and vacation weight is beginning to show and slow me down. I feel the yearn to unite my slightly newfound strength with slightly less mass. I want to publish 2 awesome tracks of music. I aim to put out an EP or something this year. I'm going to need some awesome tracks, so I'm going to finely hone 2 tracks in this next month. So yeah, its gonna be great, fantastic even. Lets go!!

I'm having a little drama trying to figure out the best next step for me program wise. Ideally, I want something that doesn't grind me into the ground quite so much so that I can use the additional recovery for met-con style work (I'd like to add fitness and leanness to my still growing strength profile for several mostly personal reasons). From what I gather, the juggernaut method looks like it'll be the right fit for the purpose of allowing extra recovery, except its a 4 day a week program, and that doesn't really fit with me being a shift worker. Just wondering if anyone has any experience, or knowledge of whether the program can work as a 3 day a week program (and just shift the 4th session on to the next week)? Also, I currently squat and bench 3 days a week, and deadlift twice a week, is the likely drop in frequency going to cause too many issues? Or will it all just sort of balance out in the end? As a side note, I'm competing in May and will then likely have around a year before I compete again to try and actually change weight classes and get generally fitter. So, if the frequency thing is only an issue for those prepping for a meet, this would likely be the best time for me to drop that back.

Hello, It's kind of funny how I wanted to write a post here so i could get help and suggestions and now I've been sitting here for about 10 minutes trying to figure out how to start this lol. Probably should start with some basic information I'm 25 currently and I weigh around 115kg and have a bad back due to a fall in 2013 and naturally the weight also wouldn't be helping my back. I generally have discs shift out of place around the T5 section so middle of my back, I generally have a disc in my neck move out of place and generally either twice my hip bone or a disc in my lower back comes out of place so every month I'm at the chiropractor to have it put back in place and then most the pain goes away. I can exercise I just cant do things like sit-ups or crunches etc so no bending my back in that way and no like dead lifts though i can do squats with light weight. I've always found exercise hard, daunting and frankly it hurts. I've been trying to loose weight my own way for well honestly the majority of my life and its clearly not working. I tried seeing a weight loss clinic which proceed with telling me what to eat and when and i was eating around 10 meals a day and constantly drinking and well I felt the worse I've ever felt and it was like i was stuffed and bloated all the time... Tried this for 2 months and nothing seemed to be happening besides me feeling quiet ill so i left. I changed my diet and it seems rather good to me, i generally have 1-2 bottles of water a day 500ml generally. I have maybe 1 glass of soda stream a day which was changed from regular softdrinks. Ive stopped drinking juice, I rarely have a hot chocolate and I don't drink coffee often. Food wise I pretty much toast or cereal in the morning, cereal is normally nutrigrain, milo or cheerios. Lunch is generally a cold meat sandwich or a cold meat with salad sandwich and dinner normally always has a salad or veggies with it. I'm also taking the Healthy Care Ultra Strength Garcinia Combogia pills, Healthy Care Green Coffee Bean pills and 2 table spoons of Apple Cider Vinegar in water 30 min before dinner to help boost my metabolism and well reduce fat intake. Take-away foods is maybe once a month if myself and my partner have had a long day and really cant be bothered cooking or cleaning. Currently routine with exercise is.. 30 min DDR so a dance game I have for fun 45min walk with my partner and my brothers dog Digger Jumping rope x100 10 squats Abtronic 3 times a day on a low setting mostly to massage and move my muscles figure it feels good and hell if it does something good then cool. Just ordered a waist belt to wear as i do the above to heighten my core temperature apparently it helps. I'm also unemployed currently and money is pretty tight. Equipment I do own are... Treadmill which is used if i cant go on my 45 min walk due to rain or heat. Ankle and Wrist weights A weighted 2kg ball Skipping Rope My living environment makes things hard with support. My partner is great and we have a little room out the back of my mothers place which gives us privacy but things like the kitchen, bathroom, laundry etc are shared so daily when you enter the house you can smell the take out my brother has just bought, the fridge is full of softdrink which we don't drink as its not ours but the point is there's alot of temptation.. Exercise is limited to my room generally unless people actually have gone out and i can use the backyard feeling without being teased by family. My family are pretty negative and blunt and will put you down without knowing there doing it, even when you point it out its basically taken as well I'm just telling the truth kind of thing. Tough love i suppose. I have the want and desire to lose weight, I have a goal, smaller goals and a time frame. I even have a vision board of what i want to remind me everyday. Tried Hypnosis too for weightloss and self motivation so kind of not sure what to do now besides what i'm already doing which is why I joined nerd fitness it seems difference and being a frequent player of WoW the quest idea kind of hooked me in lol. Well I think Ive ranted enough and hopefully someone might have a suggestion, advice, exercise routine that can help or something I'm not thinking of. Thank you

Hi! It's been a long long while. During summer vacation I derailed embarracingly, had a bazillion beers, ate whatever the heck I wanted, woke up every day feeling like I had lava on my guts and one of my friends was mistakenly taken into custody and had to spend 4 days locked up until we managed to get things straight and get the poor dude out. Good times... But now it's time to get back on track and shed the extra Kgs. I've already returned to CF and Krav Maga. I'm also officialy dieting, that is obsessively tracking macros and calories (especially calories) even on weekends. I've cut out alcohol and started intermitent fasting again, in ~15 hour fasts(which basically means not having breakfast). Nare is on vacation with her parents and the academic year has not started yet, so it's a perfect time to focus on training and eating right. Let's do this!