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Hello, happy 2019! I'm Jenn, not exactly new here -- I've tried this challenge thing before but it's been a few years. So, my goal this round is to stick to my eating plan and exercise routine. I started the Whole 30 on Jan 1st. I'd like to actually do a W60. I did two successful rounds of W30 last year and lost about 8 lbs each time with a total loss of 25 lbs in 2018. So, it's time to start chipping away at 30 more ... Current weight: 177.6 Goal weight for end of round: 170 Goals: Food Plan - Whole 30 Exercise Plan - MWF Gym cardio + resistance

I skipped the last challenge, but things have still been happening over here in my little corner -- wedding planning, family trip to Spain (holy drama llamas guys), work getting really busy, and the normal episodes of the sads. When we saw this movie fiance was like THAT'S YOU. Unfortunately true. So the year is shaping up like this: February bachelorette in San Diego May 6 Flying Pig Half Marathon June 3 Spartan Sprint Ohio July 1 WEDDING!!!!! September Honeymoon in Portugal I'm such a lucky duck. Goal 1 - Dial in Nutrition (for real this time) So...fiance and I are doing another Whole 30. It's going pretty smoothly, I'm not even having bad cravings (though fiance is...he's dreaming of pizza lol). My post-W30 is always the struggle. This year I have my bachelorette in San Diego right after, and I tend to enjoy non-paleo food and wine. But once I come home I will be shopping Complete the Whole 30 Enjoy my bachelorette party. Eat intentionally and consciously. Go back to mostly Whole 30 eating (~90%) Goal 2 - Training, duh As a Christmas gift my mom signed me up for the Flying Pig half. Training starts this week, eek! The goal components: Complete all half marathon training runs Yoga/barre/pilates 2x/week Complete the Nargles 9k Goal 3 - Be Happy Meditate every day (this is my 2018 resolution and I've been successful so far) Go to bed by 9:30 Wake up at 5am - this is to facilitate either getting in early to get on top of my work, or having a quiet moment alone before heading into the office. Last Saturday I watched a sad movie (Only the Brave), and I don't follow a lot of news so the tragic end hit me really hard. Over the next hours I went into a depressive tailspin that ended with me sobbing on the floor trying to explain to fiance that I was sad for no reason. This is on a day that I took an awesome barre class and then played tennis. Eating Whole 30, working out...it's frustrating to feel like I"m doing everything right and still get the doldrums. All I can do is work on the little things. ETA: Rereading this it sounds really depressing but I wanted to note that these episodes are occasional. And after I cry I feel better. The Whole 30 is just sort of exposing this stuff because I can't stress or emotional eat, so I end up just kind of wallowing in it.

Formerly, Curl Brogo... It's time to chill out and seek my center again. The one constant this year has been painting and developing my artwork. There's gonna be a lot of that. But my morning routine, exercise, and diet have been all over. I'm gonna focus this in the morning routine. That's the part of my day when I am the least drained. Mega goal 1: Build a good morning routine: M_Goal 1: Up at 4am. If I'm gonna get stuff done in the morning I'll need time to do it. So I gotta get up earlier and stop hitting snooze until the last possible minute. If I get up at 4, that gives me an hour and 45 min to do the rest. I think I'm gonna grade this by counting the minutes from 4 to 545 that I gain. M_Goal 2, morning exercise. First damn thing! ... well after I pee. Do a set of something, then make the coffee, do another set while it brews. I just need to build a habit of exercising in the morning. I don't care of its 100 burpees or 10 crunches. My first goal in the morning is to move. M_Goal 3: Breakfast - whole 30 style Gotta get a good solid breakfast for the day. No more last minute gas station food cuz I'm in a hurry. Mega goal 2: complete another Whole 30 Mega goal 3: Meditate Good Ole zazen. If it won't fit in the morning, I'll do it in the evening. LUYL goal: Keep making art.

HI HELLO GREETINGS Let's cut to the chase, shall we? ~~~THE CHALLENGE~~~ WHOLE 30 Yep, it began yesterday, so it goes through zero week, though not all of my goals do. It grade like so X/30 per challenge Track protein and calories here. This is important. I need this goal because apparently when I do not have it, things go horribly wrong. I spent about a month basically dirty bulking SO Whole 30 will also be a gentle cut. Whatever. Avg week calorie goal: 1300-1400 Protein goal: Not graded for zero week because I need time to figure out how to do it with Whole 30 better, but will be aiming for 95g+ at week 1. (After the whole 30 I'm adjusting protein up, but I didn't wanna rock the boat too much, especially with a cut happening). Grades like so X/1400 per week X/7 per week Keep lifting. I barely need this goal, I do it even when I don't want to when I'm not tracking so I think this is just branded on my soul now. 3-4x per week, basically per the program. Doing 3 right now since due to back rehab there's just less to do, but will be bumping it back to 4 eventually. Grade like X/3 per week Back Rehab Do the thing 2x a day, try try try I've been falling off the wagon since it feels pretty decent lately. Guys I drove 10 hours alone yesterday and my back only complained just a little during the driving, and not at all today. \o/ Also get 7k steps a day for the walking part of back rehab. X/14 X/7000 (avg over week) Write things Goal: One complete short story by end of challenge. No word limit, can be flash fiction if I want to go there (I never do). Ideastorm twice a week Write a little bit daily (no time or word limit I think they freak me out) X/2 X/7 Annnd that is all this go round. Momentum building time.

Come to the Table (actually, it's time to turn the table!) Getting back to basics here. The image of a table is very comforting, centering to me. I need that after all the crazy traveling! 1. Do a Whole 30 Eat at the table The food I'm going to put on my table during this challenge is going to be really clean. I need a reboot after all the traveling. To hold myself accountable I will keep a food log. 1xp per day (.25xp per meal). I don't have the energy to do a whole 30 right now. I've restarted twice already. I think more importantly I need to slow down and get back into a healthy routine. I need to sit at the table and eat without distractions unless it's conversation with my boys. that said I'm not going to eat junky but panera just brought back their turkey chili which is my FAVORITE and not whole 30 friendly. I'm not eating it daily obviously but probably 1-2x a week (my son works at panera and he brings me home chili because he knows I love it so). so 1xp per meal I eat at the table. 2. Journaling. When I work in my art journal I take up all of the table with my things. I love it so much but I rarely give myself the opportunity to play. For this challenge my goal is to play twice a week in one of my art journals (I have several). To hold myself accountable I will post a picture of my work on my thread. 3xp per playtime. 3. Yoga. Time to get into table pose... My plan is to add yoga back into my regular exercise routine (1x weekly). 4xp per practice. 4. Nerd Fitness Forums. Put it all on the table. Share ideas for discussion. My goal is to check in daily with 5 rebels. .25xp per post. Looking forward to getting back to basics. My boys are back to school and so now it's time to get myself back into a regular routine.

This is my last challenge before finishing my MPhil Dissertation. At last, I feel good about working on it until I could have it finished. I have the deadline a week before September 24th and I've written 18 pages (of 50-60) at this moment, so for this challenge I've thinking about what kind of lifestyle can help me passing this month the best way. Goal #1: One page a day I must write 32 more pages in order to present the dissertation to my examining board. Each page counts 1 point and the goal is getting more than 30 points. Easy? It seems so, but I've blocked a few hours per day (24 pomodoros each week) to guarantee I could write every day. A: >30 points. B: >20 points. C: >15 points. +3WIS +2CHA Goal #2: Whole30 I like counting calories, but this challenge I'm avoiding it because I need to be focused on the previous goal. As I also need not to have insulin peaks continually, the best diet I can follow the next month is avoiding sugar, dairy and cereals. +1CON +1WIS Goal #3: Commit to a regular routine for one month Do indoor cycling on Monday and Friday, and lift weights on Tuesday and Thursday. I'm doing a personal variation of Stronglifts: 16 workouts = A 14 workouts = B 12 workouts = C less than 11 = FAIL +1STA +1STR +1CON +1CHA Life goal: Meditate I'm reading one paragraph of Marcus Aurelius' Meditations each day. It has to be the first thing of the day, and during the day I'm coming back to the same paragraph to be inspired by its spirit. At day one I've read until I 6 and I should read III 1 the last day of the challenge. >30 days = A >28 days = B >26 days = C <26 days = FAIL +1WIS Bonus: Read I'm still a book seller, but I'm lowering the level of this goal down to reading only one book each week, mostly 20th Century literature.. Week 1: In Cold Blood (Truman Capote) Week 2: The Savage Palms (William Faulkner) Week 3: The Girls (Emma Cline) Week 4: The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (Carson McCullers) Each book = +0.4WIS +0.2CHA +2WIS +1CHA

We all carry around baggage, and eventually, it's too much. I loved the idea of sorting through it all, taking what really is important, and walking away from the rest. It's what drew me to the Druids in the first place, and I realized that it's taken me this long to sort through a lot of it and pick out what really matters to me, and now I have to decide what gets left behind. This challenge I'll be doing Whole 30. I'm really excited about it, and I'm hoping this helps me feel better. I'm also excited because this is a great opportunity to break some really bad stress-eating/binging habits and learn to put my needs before the wants of others. This is the point in my life where I say "If I'm ever going to make this work, now is the time." It's a terrible time to start a major change. Lots of stressful things are going on this month! But it's also the perfect time to make life changes because life is stressful. I can't just shut down every time it gets hard! I can DO this. Goal 1: Complete Whole 30, the reintroduction and then make some decisions about my daily diet. Goal 2: Complete a total body strength training workout 2-3 times a week. Keep those muscles strong! Goal 3: Draw for an hour everyday. It's time to get back to work!

Was debating on visiting the rangers this round, but I think the Assassins still fit what my end goals here are, especially since I want to work more on the bodyweight training that I've been struggling to keep up (in large part due to stress) I ramped up most of last month for a Whole 30, which I started today, and so far it's off to a rocky start, as I completely forgot to make breakfast ahead of time last night so I wouldn't have to worry about it this morning (had to get up "early", by my night-shift habits, to help out with some gardening.) Thankfully my lovely friend/adoptive mother 2.0 made me some eggs to go with the fruit I'd shoved in my face running out the door. She just got done with a Whole 30 last month, so she totally gets it Other than that, made a venison stir-fry this afternoon with potatoes, carrots, mushrooms and onion, which tastes like a shepherd's pie. Nom The other reason I named this challenge what I did is that my roommate (the one who was using her window as a door, and who hadn't been paying her rent the last several months, along with other tendencies that have been an absolute blast to live with) is getting evicted; I'm hoping she'll be out by the end of the week and I can actually go about getting things done with a lot less stress in my life; it'll be a very tight budget, especially while I'm waiting to find out if I get hired in at work (2 months later, still waiting on interview #2... *sigh*) but even so I'm honestly looking forward to having her out of the apartment, I'll definitely feel a lot safer. I'll hop on here later to put my challenge sections up, since break's over for now.

Hello all! I am considering embarking on the Whole 30 train. I would like to plan things out as much as possible so I have no excuses if when I get busy. What are your favorite recipes/snacks/advice for this new journey? Thank you!

She woke from dreams of running the fields with the black horse beside her. It was spring and the air held a luminous glow of power and happiness. Birds called, filling the air with the music of hope and Surakha's blood sang with the glorious thrill of the chase. Their path took them towards the banks of the river and she tensed, ready to turn. The black horse bunched powerful muscles and arched into a graceful leap to the far bank. Surakha turned sharply, skidding in the grass as she tried to change direction and stay dry. Her hindquarters went out from under her as the edge of the bank crumbled and she landed in a heap in the shallows. The mare let out a low whickering chuckle that slowly transformed into the bell like laugh of the human woman that stood in her place. Surakha shifted in kind and stood up, instantly colder in this form. "Damnit Ebon, you cheater!" she groused, crossing her damp and muddy arms over her chest. The Phouka sighed strolled into the water without even a wince for the spring chill in the swift flow. "Oh hush beautiful. There is nothing like a swim to follow a good run is there?" The phouka gathered Surakha into her arms nad pulled her to the grassy bank beyond. They tumbled together in a contented tangle of limbs and lips. Surakha tasted sweet grass on her lover's lips and smelled the warm scent of horse on her skin. She sank into the kiss... And woke in the cold dark of winter, her cave barren of even the remains of a fire. Her heart ached for the dream, but she said nothing, hiding her pain behind the cold and neutral eyes of the lion. Surakha laid herself against the cold stone and watched the snow whip in great clouds across the cave opening. I will find you my love. No matter how long it takes. In order to quest for Ebon, I have to show commitment, sacrifice, physical prowess, and general willpower towards success. My successes on my goals below will determine how well Surakha does in her search for her partner. · MAIN QUEST: Lose 4% of my body weight over the next 4 weeks. This comes to 15.2 lbs o Goal 1: Whole 30: In order to cleanse my body and improve my metabolic outcomes, I will be engaging in strict gluten free, grain free, primal eating. We used to eat strictly primal and my wife and I were both much healthier. Plus, my hypothyroid condition will be better managed. I will track all my food through myfittnesspal o Goal 2: Endurance Through Cardio: I used to be a runner and I loved it. Now, walking for any period of time causes pain and struggle. In order to improve on this, I am going to make a goal of 10 minutes of daily walking. This will have an added bonus of helping to reduce stiffness and leg swelling from sitting all day at work and reducing overall anxiety a little bit. o Goal 3: Getting Strong and Flexible: My back is a total mess. I have a messed up disk in my lower back that gets aggravated by long periods of sitting, say to do progress notes and therapy all day. I have found in the past that regular stretching and yoga practice makes a significant difference, so before I move on to strength training I am going to add 10 - 20 minutes of yoga daily. · LIFESTYLE GOAL: My lifestyle goals are going to be consistently about self-care. I am a psychologist and I love it, but the weight of carrying others’ pain all day takes a toll, and I have a tendency to neglect my own spiritual and creative health in favor of practical tasks. The most important things right now is building a creative outlet back into my life. o Creative Process: I am a writer. I have always been one since I started journaling in 3rd grade. I don’t ever take the time to write anymore. As such, I am making a goal to write for 1 hour a day. For the purposes of this challenge, this has to be creative writing or journaling of some kind, be it poetry, fiction, or other.

I'm doing the Whole30. I'll be done next week on June 11 but one of my goals is to continue for 60 more days in order to solidify the pales habit. Doe anyone have the Whole 30 as part of their goals? If you don't know what it is, it's a detoxifying eating program pased on Paleo. In the last 22 days, I've dropped 2 pant sizes, my skin is glowing, my hair softener, and I feel great. It's not a master cleanse type of detox, there's a lot of food. Just no dairy, sugar, grains, or processed foodstuffs. Check it out at thewhole30.com

So I've hit an egg rut. I'm doing a whole 30, but I'm finding that I can't have eggs for breakfast everyday. I tried googling, but everything is how to make sweets with replacement approved ingredients. This is not what I'm looking for. There has to be more to breakfast than eggs and sweets. Anyone have any ideas?

Main Quest: lose 25 lbs Goal #1: continue Stronglifts 5x5 workout (I am currently in week 4...this is my second go around with SL) Goal#2: Eat Whole 30 for the 6 weeks Goal #3: complete one of the below cardio activities daily for the 6 weeks 4 mile walk 3 mile jog60 minute road biking40 minutes of ellipticalcomplete a TABATA of rowing/box jumpsLife Quest: practice golf 3 days a week for a hour each time (focusing on full swing) I am 48 years old, 6 foot and 210 lbs. In the fall of 2012 I was 185 lbs but not particularly fit. Over the past year and a half I have really been good with lifting and really enjoy big compound movement lifts (think that's what they are called). Unfortunately my eating has been bad to say the least. I will actually spend the next 60 days slimming down for a beach vacation.

That's become my new mantra. I can keep going. I can keep growing as a person as long as I follow that one simple rule. Be a little braver today than I was yesterday. That's exactly what I'm going to do. My name is Jess. I'm 22 years old, class 1 obese and training to be an assassin. I did well in 2014. I made a great foundation with my health and fitness. I'm ready to graduate to an intermediate level. I know what to do now, I just have to do it, and stick with it. Train for Spartan Sprint The next two months are a little nuts for me. Next Sunday I am running my first ever half marathon. It’s a week away, there’s not really a whole lot more I can do about it, except finish the damn thing! I’m ready! However, when that’s done, on February 8th I am running my first spartan sprint. Yup. All 220 pounds of me. I’m ready to train like a spartan warrior! I have a list of things to work on: Specifically BURPEES. God I suck at burpees. I’ve tailored my level 4 training for my spartan race. Level 4 Training 30 Squats 15 Push-Ups 3 Assisted Pullups or 15 sec Hang 20 Burpees 20ft Army Crawl 20ft Bear Crawl 30+ sec Wall sit 30+ sec Plank Repeat. Do this 3x per week for an A in this category. + 2 DEX, + 2 STA Whole 30 I started my first Whole 30 on the first of the month, and I’ve already screwed up and had to start over twice. But you know what they say: third time’s the charm right? So I’m going to be finishing like a week or two later than the rest of my friends in my support group. It’s not a race. I’m just going to keep trying until I get 30 days in a row of clean eating, even if it takes me all year. Complete a Whole 30 in this challenge to earn an A in this category. + 2 CON, + 2 WIS Improve Flexibility There’s two aims to this goal, improve my flexibility, and just generally calm the fuck down. When I got back from camp, I was in a really good habit of stretching and meditating before bed and it made my sleep much better. I want to make this a permanent habit. Take some time each day, even if it’s only a few minutes, to stretch and meditate to earn an A in this category. +2 DEX, + 1 WIS Girl it up I’ve never had a ton of self confidence in my appearance. It makes me comfortable in jeans and a t-shirt, with a ponytail and no makeup. I really want to start putting more effort into my appearance because I think it’ll help my self confidence. I’m going back to school a week from tomorrow and I want to make a good impression. I also have a list of girly things I want to do/learn how to do: Wear makeup every day Coordinate a nice outfit for school everyday Accessorize things Start wearing earrings again Lean to french braid my hair Master liquid eyeliner Learn to do a smokey eye Be okay with buying clothes. It’s important. Walk out of the house feeling gorgeous and presentable every day for an A in this category. + 4 CHA How I’m going to do it: Identifying personal triggers I’ve been doing a lot of self reflection in the last two weeks. I’ve been trying to identify what makes me fall into this endless pendulum swing between being on fire and wanting to hide in my bedroom and ignore the outside world. It’s not something I’ve really wanted to confront, but now that I have I can make a conscious effort to fix things. Peer pressure I’m a total sucker when it comes to peer pressure. Somewhere there is a happy medium between hanging out with my friends, or completely skipping an outing because *gasp* they might want to go to a restaurant or go to the bar. I’ve gotten completely college-girl plastered these past two weekends. I ruined my whole 30 challenge twice because of alcohol and peer pressure. I’m getting too old for this shit. I don’t want to drink anymore. I went almost a year without it and didn’t really miss it. I don’t like it. I don’t like the empty calories. I don’t like having a hangover. I don’t like spending roughly a half day’s income on booze. I just don’t want to do it anymore. Work is not my life I repeat. I am not my job. Work is not my life. My job is a job and nothing more. I am more important than my work. I like going for a short run on my lunch break, but I’ve gotten into the habit of skipping it in order to do my daily paperwork during that time. I work through my only break in my 9 hour shift. Kind of bullshit when you think about it. I’m only full time at my job for one more week until I go back to school, but I need to stop letting work run my life. Be okay with screwing up I gained some weight since thanksgiving. About 10 pounds to be specific. And I’ve been pissed off at myself for it. But when I think about it... this year, I didn’t gain ten pounds. I’ve lost 30. That’s awesome. I can’t let 10 stupid pounds ruin the other 30. Hopefully this time next year, I’ll have lost another 30. I have a great network of people supporting me, but I get into the mindset of every time I screw up, that I’m disappointing the people who are supporting me. I feel like I’m letting myself and everyone down, and rather than face that I shut out my support system, be it NF, my friends, my parents, whoever. I’m human. I’m allowed to make mistakes. It’s always going to be a struggle. Nothing in this world that is worth having ever comes easy. I’ve just gotta keep reminding myself that. And that's that. Bring it on, 2015!

Hi Druids! This is my third challenge. Confession time: I have yet to complete a challenge. I am doing this challenge with the Druids because I like your philosophy of figuring out the great why. That is what this challenge is all about for me - trying something new to ultimately figure out why my relationship with food is so disordered and how I can change that. My relationship with food is terrible. It always has been. Even when I was at a healthy weight after losing 75lbs, my eating was disordered and obsessive. Food has always been a source of stress and guilt for me. Always. As long as I can remember. I will weigh once before the challenge starts, once at the end of my Whole 30, and once at the end of the challenge. No more, because this is not about weight to me. This is about changing my relationship with food, period. I will fill in rules/grades later, but I wanted to get this out of my head quickly like. Quest #1: The Whole 30 I will follow the Whole 30 for the first 30 days of this challenge. I will allow myself a paleo but not Whole 30 approved dessert on Thanksgiving. Otherwise, I will follow the program to the letter. For the remaining days in the challenge, I will reintroduce some foods but I will still stick to an 80% paelo diet. I plan to write much more later on my motivations for doing this. Pass/Fail: 30 days, no cheats except for Thanksgiving. Quest #2: Get in the kitchen, woman. I've been relying on the mister to do most of the cooking.. He's really good at it. But with us both going Whole 30 for 30 days, he is going to need lots of kitchen support to make this sustainable. I love to cook, and I'm good at it. Time to bust out those skills. I will count meals made fresh, including meals that Mr. Ripple and I make together. So long as I am preparing something fresh, it counts, even if it's just scrambling up some eggs or chopping up some veggies for salads. Warming up leftovers or freezer meals won't count a second time. I'm aiming for roughly 1.5 meals a day for the duration of the challenge.... this factors in the fact that we will have more leftovers and freezer meals as the challenge progresses and 60+ meals - A 50-60 meals - B 40-50 meals - C >40 meals - F Quest #3: Get over yourself and use that expensive gym membership. Yes I've gained 15lbs since I last saw my gym. Yes, I don't want to face my personal trainer. Yes, I am paying for UNLIMITED TRAINING every month and not going at all which is ridiculous. I need to get over myself and baby step my way back into the gym environment. In the name of baby-stepping, I am only aiming to make it to the gym once a week, and I'm going to track the total for the duration of the challenge instead of by week (meaning I can make up a missed week with two sessions the following week). 6+ gym visits - A 5 gym visits - B 4 gym visits - C > 3 gym visits - F Life Quest: Don't kill anyone. Whole 30 has been known to bring out the angry in people due to the side effects of detoxing. Thus, my only life quest is to get through this without killing or alienating anyone important to me. This is about attitude - I want to keep it in check. It's okay to not feel 100% every day. It is not okay to trudge through this process with a shitty attitude. This part of the challenge is really subjective. I want to feel like I have a mostly positive attitude for most of the challenge. If I have a a day where I think negativity overruled positivity, I'll make note and keep track, and I'll evaluate at the end how well I did.

SEIZE THE DAY! Alrighty, Princess Heather is back in action! I have been MIA around here for the past few weeks, and it was due to me being in a bit of a funk and also lots of life happening. I have been promoted at work, from office manager into a sort of project coordinator, responsible for overseeing several ministry teams and being the point person for outreach and service projects for my church. It's a fun environment, and out biggest service project(s) of the year happen at the end of September so I've got lots going on for that. We are also in the midst of TTC, and keeping healthy for that is another major priority, leaving less and less time for internetting. Which is also at odds with a blogging project I'm trying to get off the ground. For anyone who was following my last (pitiful) challenge, I more or less accomplished all my goals with reading and with workouts, but food was a bit more elusive. Still trying to reign that in, but I know it's miles better than my diet was 3 years ago that I need to just keep trucking and not worry about being perfect. Goal 1: Quit being a hater... to myself I give myself way too much grief when I'm not perfect, which is of course all the time because perfection doesn't exist! I'm always fluctuating between being content and being critical, and while I've been making progress on this over the past 3 years especially, I want to make this a goal this time and hopefully improve my self talk habits and tip them towards contentment. Which I have to remind myself, is different from complacency. It's not about accepting me as I never bothering to improve again, its about making sure to be happy with how things are in the moment. Measurable goal: Post one thing each day that I'm happy about in my life, because there is always SOMETHING to be happy about. Goal 2: Come at me bro (science) Just kidding, though I love me some Dom. I've been struggling ever since I effectively took a semester off from lifting in the spring. I was so swamped with finishing my graduate capstone that I lifted maybe once a week if I was lucky, and it wasn't really with any direction or program. I've been trying to get restarted since, without really doing any tracking and without really ensuring proper protein or carb intake to fuel and recover... it's just been a mess. And no results. So I am going back to basics, and redoing New Rules of Lifting for Women. I had really great success with this the first time, and I expect that I can progress through it faster that I did the first time. This will give me a direction, and something to track, and a good new foundation for being strong. I just want to regain my BW squats by the end of the year, which I feel is not out of reach if I'm training with purpose. Measurable goal: Lift 3x Weekly Goal 3: Deal With It.... and do a Whole 30 This goal will start on September 22, and go to October 22, so ending right before the challenge ends. I will be a teensy bit lenient with added sugars in things like organic and clean BBQ sauce (for bbq pineapple crock pot chicken), but more or less will follow the protocol. I have been back on the juice (caffeine) and I'm already weaning off that again, and I have been SUPER tired and I think its a result of being too low on carbs when I'm not eating crappy ones. Carbs are easy to get when you binge on gummi bears, but harder when all your carbs some from carrots and brussels sprouts. Whole 30 is okay with potatoes now, and I will allow white rice smothered in coconut oil in case of emergency... which makes me think I should keep rice in my office's fire extinguisher box. Measurable Goal: Finish Goal 4: Publish something on my fledgling blog I have a blog that I have like 5 incomplete posts for, with nothing whatsoever published. I want to post at least one thing each week of this challenge, regardless of length or content. That's only 6 entries, not insurmountable. I have some pics of meal prep already, nothing unique but I have to start somewhere. Measurable Goal: 6 Blog Entries BONUS: Get a logo made by my design type friend.

Hi everyone! I'm Teros and this will be my 9th challenge. I slumped the last 2 weeks of the previous challenge because of depression and then a massive screw up in terms of eating. I'm a sad panda because of this I'm fixing that this challenge by coming back http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxcWbOZ-AC8 What helped me immensely was believing in Consistency>Intensity last challenge. I want to keep going with this by building a full everyday routine. This challenge I'm aiming for a Flawless Victory 1) Whole 30- Gotta eat right. Nothing else to say. 2) Cold Showers- I just started taking cooler showers in the morning. It's tough to not turn the heat up but I do feel better so this is something I want to get used to. I've read a bunch of benefits from taking cold showers. 3) Workout Routine- I want to work out everyday but the amount varies per day. I at least want to get a 20 minute walk in everyday in the mornings with my dog before I have to go to work. On non-work days I'll be doing: Walking & P/L/P & Sledgehammer & Kettelbell & Sandbag. Any mix of those. I'm currently up to 30/30/10(rows) and I hope to get up to 50/50/50(rows or upgrade weight) by the end of the challenge. 4) Survive g/f's family OR something else to be named later. Last year was a clusterf$@k when her family came up. I went from eating relatively paleo pre-family to eating donuts and Doritos for breakfast and feeling sick to my stomach every single day. Literally ate take-out 2-3 times a day, every day, for a solid week. It spiraled both my g/f and I into eating more horrible garbage for months until I did my first whole 30. I want to have a plan and I want to make sure my g/f talks to her mom so we have a couple of planned cheats as opposed the garbage-thon we went through. *Possible #5* Meditate on the wall of positivity for 5 minutes a day: Points to be figured out later.

So I am back for my 6th challenge. The last couple were not so hot. Especially the 5th challenge. I was sick almost the whole time, and I gained 11 pounds. End of challenge I was 289lbs. I want to prepare for a bowling in the USBC Open Championship in Reno, Nv. We bowl May 17th and 18th. The team I am bowling with, I have been with for a couple of years now. I want to deliver a little Shock and Awe when they meet me this year. Last year I was around 340lbs when I bowled. This year, I want to get down as much as possible. We all buy the same shirts there so we can match as a team. This year I don't want to go in saying "I'll wear whatever shirt they have the biggest size in" instead I want to be able to go in and get whichever shirt we feel like getting. I want to see jaws drop when people see me that I know there. Then hopefully, make jaws drop with my bowling skills! It's not a super long term goal, but it's one I want to get. I think it will be good motivation for me to really want to get out and get things done. If I can hit my goals, I will be in a much better place for future things like off road course races, and 5ks etc. I imagine that my goals for the next two challenges will be the same, or very similar. Goal 1 - Whole 30 90?+ So I really want to get to a place where I don't have to rely on the Whole 30 program for me. It works for me though. So for now, I am doing it again. I started my Day 1 the 17th. This time though, I am not stopping. At least not until I bowl in May. That may be my weekend to have fun with my bowling friends and such. Then I can re-evaluate my food strategy after that. I hope to be in a much better place food wise, so I really don't have those late night sugar cravings, or just bad eating in general. This challenge I will not monitor my weight each week or every other day. This time I will only weigh myself at the start and end of the challenge. Goal 2 - Stronglifts 5x5 This might be the hardest part of the challenge for me. I want to lift. I just have to let myself do it. Got to get that f'it attitude going and just get it done. I signed up for a new membership at 24 hour fitness. Don't even know where the power racks are. I decided I need to get it done anyway. No excuses. They even have child care available so I can do this any time. I have the app on my phone to be able to track my workouts. I'll watch the videos some more to make sure I have good form as well. I'd like to get some recording of my workouts if possible. Probably have to get my wife's help for that. I'll start off with just the bar only like he suggests. Then soon I'll be lifting tons of weight This will be a workout every other day. Either M, W, F or Tu, Thur, Sat. Goal 3 - Cardio specifically C25k After last challenge, I was tempted to give up on C25k again. Maybe to pick it up again later. The problem is, I want to do it still haha. I feel like it's a challenge I have to beat. So ideally by the end of the challenge I want to be doing cardio every day. Walking after Stronglift workouts, and C25k on the off days. Since I never did beat week 4, I am going to start over fresh. I figure this way it will help me build back up to finish C25k this time. Plus any lingering cough should be gone soon. Since C25k is 9 weeks, this goal will extend into next challenge. I am already thinking of "tests" to do once I am finished next challenge. So those goals should set me up to be lighter, stronger, and faster. Now I need something to help me be that better bowler. Goal 4 - Practice I must! So before I had a bowling goal. It was recording myself while I worked on a few things. This time it is different. Over the next 12 weeks I want to get in practice on the weekends. Saturdays, I want to practice at a different bowling alley then I normally bowl in. Then Sundays I'll practice in my normal house. Should there be some reason I can't bowl during the weekend (tournaments etc) Then I will setup bowling time after my league bowling, or go over there after the wife gets home. I will work on a few things, but really it's about getting my timing down, and just building up my bowling game in general. The USBC Open also uses different then normal oil patterns. At some point, bowling alleys will put out that pattern. I'll be trying to bowl on it as much as I can. Goal 5 - Document the journey So this goal really isn't about getting healthy. I just thought I'd like to have my own montage haha. I have a few pictures I have taken from when I started the challenges. So pictures I'll take. I haven't decided if I should do every day pictures, or once a week. I'd also like to get video if possible. Especially, the workouts and running. Might be hard to do though. Also I want to get myself coming here and posting every day again. So maybe it's updating my battle log again with food and exercise, or maybe this thread. I had been thinking that this might eventually evolve into doing a weekly video blog or something. Baby steps first. Grading: This challenge I might not bother with a grading scale. Maybe I'll use a point system or something, but I might just not use anything. Instead I might just use every week or even everyday to focus on the positive aspects of the challenge so far, and not dwell on things to try to get a A or whatever. Measurements: Starting weight: 276.6 lbs Left Bicep: 40 cm Right Bicep: 38.2 cm Left Forearm: 31 cm Right Forearm: 31.7 cm Chest: 122.9 cm Waist: 130.8 cm Neck: 45.4 cm Left Thigh: 66.5 cm Right Thigh: 67 cm Left Calf: 48 cm Right Calf: 45.8 cm Measurements taken on 02/24/14. Next set will be taken 04/07/14

Hello again Monks! The last time I was here in the NF dojo was not particularly profitable, so I headed over to the Druids to get my head straight and my year started soundly. Chapter 5 was rewritten and now the story continues... Chapter 6 My über goal is to be as fit and healthy as I can be by 40. 576 days to get there as of today! I was thinking about this goal, when another side possibility occurred to me, I could be a black belt in my 40th year if I worked at my TKD seriously (and my knee holds out). So, that is a kind of big sub goal... So what am I aiming at right now? I have a lot to build on from the first challenge this year, I paid up my TKD insurance as sports so I am covered for tournament fighting and my friends wanted me to do a paleo challenge with her for March... So, fighting fit is probably where I am aiming in this challenge. The things that will help me get there: Training: STA 2 & STR 2 Sometimes you see those little kids around who are doing the thing they love ALL the time, carrying and juggling a soccer ball, bouncing a footy or basketball making imaginary shots, kicking and punching imaginary fighters and practicing combinations over and over til they master it. I have to find THAT spirit again. Just going to classes and the odd bit of practice before grading is not sufficient to make me the fighter I want to be. I am inspired by Cheechoe and Kishi and the volume of kicking practice they do. I am going to practice for both technique and speed 3 times a week. 2 of these can be warm up before PT sessions at the gym. Classes do not count. I'm not 100% on what makes for a good solo practice session so am happy to take advice for markers and measurement ideas. Nutrition: CON 4 A friend has been challenged by her PT to do a month of Paleo and wanted me to do it too. I thought about it and my previous nutritional challenged (which have mostly sucked) and decided that what I need is a reset. I eat pretty much paleo but when I don't it is really bad and bad for me. Inspired by TerosX I am going to give this whole 30 thing a crack! Week 1: Assessing current diet. Am going shopping today and will not buy anything non compliant with whole 30. Have already been disappointed to realise the coconut amino sauce I bought is full of coconut sugar... Week 2 - 5: Whole 30! Week 6: Reintroduction with careful monitoring of reactions. Recovery: DEX 3 From the last challenge I learned that I don't like stretching cold and the most likely time I will stretch is after exercise... But I also know that sometimes after the gym I skip it or I think I have stretched enough during my TKD class to count. If I walk to the station there is nothing stopping me doing my calves or a seated glute stretch. If I am ever going to be even close to as bendy as Mad Hatter I need to keep on this. So, stretching after every exercise (except yoga ). Headspace: WIS 3 A new category that the Druid practice has shown me is as required as the other areas... I will build on the mindfulness practice of last challenge, but haven't quite decided on details yet. It wont be mindful eating just yet (plan for that is after the whole 30) but some solid daily practice inspired by Matt72. I think just after work or maybe at lunch would be good places to try, but I worry I will claim too busy, too rushed. Yet, if I do it before bed I suspect I will continue to fall asleep part way through my allocated time. 5 minutes a day of mindfulness practice (topic yet to be decided from breath, sounds or thoughts). Embarrassing Side Quest: CHA 1 At risk of becoming the crazy cat lady, my friends have convinced me that now is the time to get back into the dating game... Mostly because I wont have time or energy to put up with anyone who is emotionally crippled or needs a carer rather than a lover. I have made a really tentative step towards this rejoining a web site but I think I will have to push myself to actually get out and meet someone in RL. 1 date in 6 weeks isn't really a lot to ask, but it might be the push I need to get things happening and have a bit of fun with someone else. I really want to channel Jodog's EPIC persistence for this one, I am inspired y the way she just keeps on trucking no matter what life throws at her. Roll on Monday and here we go, Chapter 6 begins!!

I am still working on my "year to awesome." Some things have gone well, some have not. My biggest issue has been my diet. I have not made it a priority, so it keeps getting lost in the shuffle. So this round will be a full on emphasis on diet. As luck would have it, Lent is almost upon us, which gives me both a spiritual and physical reason to start a new diet lifestyle. I will do the following: Health and Fitness Observer the Whole 30 protocol during the days of Lent. This starts on Wednesday, March 5 and ends on Saturday, April 19. Yes, this is after the end of this challenge, but Lent is when Lent is . I will use the time between now and March 5 to do proper preparation. +2 STA, +2 CON, +1 CHR I will practice handstands for two minutes each day. +2 DEX, +2 STA I will add another day of pullups/pushups to my current weekly high intensity weight lifting routine. +2 STRPersonal Growth I will practice music at least five hours a week. split however it happens to fit. This must be at least two hours each of violin and mandolin playing. I have a recording project I would like to get done before the end of Easter (my parents would like a meditative recording of the rosary), so that should help with motivation. +2 WIS, +2 CHR

With it being the new year, I've been very reflective and I've never stuck to anything besides nerd fitness. Within 6 months I dropped 4 pants sizes and I'm a lot stronger now. I want this to be THE YEAR. This is the year that I take everything I've learned and finally finish my weight loss quest. Main Goals: Lose 140 Pounds / Complete a Spartan Race I don't know how far I am on the weight loss since I haven't weighed myself since May, but clothes have been a good indicator that I'm going in the right direction. I don't want to get discouraged over how much left I have to lose. I'm just eating healthy and exercising and my body will take care of itself. 1) Do a whole 30. (+4 Constitution) I did a complete one back in september. I did 3/4 of another one in november. Cookie day ruined that and I gained some weight back. I'm completing this one. I started Jan 1st. 2) Sledgehammer Workout 2-3x a week. (+4 Strength) On a whole 30, I lose a lot of energy in the beginning. So when I start this, I'll be working out twice a week. Once I get my mojo back, I'll do 3 times a week. 3) Make more gym things. (+4?) i want to make 2 sandbags with handles for farmer's walks and such. I also want to make another kettelbell so I can be more balanced when I do certain exercises. 4) Read more. (+3 Wisdom) I need to think about this one a little bit. I want to read but I'm just not sure how much would be a goal/challenge.

Main Goals: To Lose 100 Pounds / Complete A Spartan Race It's time to kick it into high gear with my RPG character: 1) Finish another Whole 30. I started my 2nd Whole30 on Nov 1st, so I'm chugging along with it. +3 Strength, +2 Constitution 2) Warhammer 3x A Week. I want to have a base workout, and then start adding some new exercises into the mix to keep things fresh. I'll also be including stuff from Challenge #3, which is.... +5 Strength 3) Make some new gym equipment. I want to make a kettlebell and a tornado ball. They both look like fun and they're something new to use to mix it up with my warhammer. I want to make a 25lb kettelbell and a 45lb kettelbell. +3? 4) Prepare for hobo xmas. I have created a holiday much in the same light as festivus (although I never knew of festivus before coming up with my idea). It's anti-commercialism. It's all about making gifts, getting joke gifts, and finding the cheapest and worst possible gifts ever. Creepy doll with a black smudge on it from the holiday bazaar for 2 bucks? PERFECT. I have a huge stockpile in the laundry room that reaches the ceiling so I need to sort it all out, make some of the gifts, and start wrapping them up since I DESPISE rushing the holidays. +2?

Loren Wade's Urban Ranger Challenge I am enduring The Great Wholetexalypse of 2014 for the oncoming Tenacious Texas Test of Toughness in January. I will be the best I can be before I meet the Nerd Herd. Back in March/February, I switched to a bike-only lifestyle during my very successful minimalism challenge. I am kicking off this challenge with my childhood anthem, going back to my minimalist roots, embracing my jack-of-all-trades personality, and my ever-growing desire to be a Ranger in the modern world.Quest: to gain more control of my fitness and lifestyle.DefendAttend Krav Maga 3x weekly.RangerDo at least 3 things weekly to train for Go Ruck, Spartan, and Tough Mudder.NourishTry one new recipe from Well Fed weekly.ReinforceReread It Starts With Food for Whole 82.UnlifeWrite for blog 3x weekly.Incentives80% completion = lion on a bicycle teeUpdatesDay -6Day -5Day -4Day -3Day -2Day -1Day 0Day 0.5Day 1Day 2Day 3Day 4Day 5Day 6Day 7Day 8Day 9Day 9.5Day 10Day 11Day 12Day 13Day 14Day 15Day 16Day 17Day 18Day 19Day 20Day 21Day 22Day 23Day 24Day 25Day 26Day 27Day 28Day 29Day 30Day 31Day 32Day 33Day 34Day 35Day 36Day 37Day 38Day 39Day 40Day 41Day 42

http://www.spartanrace.com/malibu-obstacle-racing-spartan-sprint-2013.html So the time is finally here. My Spartan Sprint Race in Malibu happens this challenge! My Main Quest: The true goal is for myself to get healthy. I want to reach that under 200 mark. That will take awhile. I'd like to be as close to 250lb as I can before the race. I won't get there, but as close as I can This challenge My quest is to get ready to finish my first Spartan Sprint Race. Goals this challenge to help me complete my quest: #1 Don't eat the bad things! I am getting back onto strict Whole 30. Technically, I started back up on 11/06/13. I want to make at least one new meal for myself each week. I know I can just get buy on chicken, fish, and frozen veggies. I want to try new things, so I want to have my whole 30 challenge to include finding a new meal to make each week. I will also make sure to not only track this in my battle log, but also post here each day. #2 Get your Run/Walk on! I want to start up my Couch to 5k app again. Plus additional walking on the off days. I hope to hit 10,000 steps a day. If I feel I need to repeat any weeks on the app, that is ok. It will probably be a slower process before I can get up to running a decent distance. Ideally, my goal is to be able to run a 1/2 mile without stopping. If I can get to that, then I can start aiming for a mile, and running 1/2 miles to try to beat my old middle school time Of course I need to make sure I get my stretching done with this extra running #3 Get to bed! Back in my first Nerd Fitness challenge I had a sleep goal. It was great. Since then I have gotten more and more out of going to bed at a good time. Last challenge I started to notice if I am tired, I am less likely to make myself workout or do anything that I need to. So back to the basics here again. In bed by midnight every night. I give myself a 10 minute window. Life Goals: #4 Clean up and start downsizing! The current place we live in is expensive, and the owners don't care about any of the problems here. The place we want to move too is smaller, and will probably work out great. We have lots of extra tubs/boxes that have to be gone through. We have started this already, but it seems to take a back burner a lot of times. I want to make it a priority to get through these boxes! Time to donate or get rid of all the extra clutter we don't need! #5 Get the guts to go to the gym at least once a week! I am going to be really open with this one. I can simply go and walk on a treadmill if need be. If I want the A, I want to try a few things though. I have had a membership since January, and the only time I was there was the first sign up. This challenge isn't so much about the workout. It is more about me getting over my gymitimidation. Since it is planet fitness I don't think they have free weights, but I think even machines would be better then nothing at this point. plus the wife and I were looking at other gyms in the area. One has a pool she can use for exercise since her knees are pretty messed up. If I can go at least once a week to the gym, then I could probably justify the higher cost of a better gym. Motivation: The same thing drives me this time. I want to get to a much lower weight. I want to be able to have that feeling of accomplishment for running this spartan race. I want to get rid of all the medicine I have to take because I got myself in the situation of getting type 2 diabetes. I don't want to be this fat guy any more. I want to live. Not just for me, but for my kids. I want to set the positive role model they deserve to have. This challenge I will be getting all the last minute things I need for my Sprint race The One hitch in this challenge will be when I go to run the Spartan Race. It's about 5-6 hours drive south of here. Since we are going to be in the area, we are also going to Disneyland for a few days. So basically, I am giving myself some leeway during that time frame. I will Travel down on the 6th of December. The Run is on the 7th. Then the 8th, 9th, and 10th we will be in the Disneyland parks and other places around. the 11th is our travel day back. So 6th-11th. I am not letting myself go crazy on corn dogs or whatever. I just don't want to hold myself to having to get in the running etc if I can't. I have been talking with the wife about bringing things that we can have that are healthy options for food already. I am sure I will get in lots of walking, and the hotel has a gym and a heated pool. So I might just take up some swimming activities while we are down there Grading: #1 Don't eat the bad things! A - Whole 30 done, and one new meal made! B - Whole 30 done, but no new meals F - Whole 30 broken, start it over! #2 Get your Run/Walk on! A - Complete C25k and get 10k steps in each day B - Complete C25k, and get some extra walking in, just not 10k steps C - Complete C25k, but got no extra walking in D - No running, but got in lots of walking F - No running or walking #3 Get to bed! A - Got to bed at midnight every night B - Missed a day C - Missed two days D - Missed three days F - Yes, you are in fact a night owl #4 Clean up and start downsizing! A - Going through multiple boxes done at least one day B - Going through only one box, but multiple days C - Going through only one box, one day D - No boxes gone through, but did extra cleaning or arranging F - Did nothing #5 Get the guts to go to the gym at least once a week! A - Sweet, you did it. Time to get another visit in this week! B - Ok, you went there, and just did treadmill F - Ohh didn't get there at least once. Measurements: Weight: 276lbs Left Bicep: 40.6cm Right Bicep: 39cm Left Forearm: 31.5cm Right Forearm: 31.6cm Chest: 122cm Waist at belly button: 130.1cm Neck: 45cm Left Thigh: 68cm Right Thigh: 66.3cm Left Calf: 49cm Right Calf: 46.2cm Weekly Summary: Week 1 Summary C Week 2 Summary C Week 3 Summary Technically a F Week 4 Summary B

Round 4 Main Quest: To lose 100 pounds 1 - Food - Complete the Whole 30. So I started the whole 30 and it's a massive pain. I've gotten into yelling matches, gone hungry, and fallen asleep with tears in my eyes because of how defeated I've felt- but I'm going to beat this. Pass or Fail. There is no leeway. I must finish the whole 30. +5 Constitution 2 - Exercise - Warhammer Training 2x+ a week. I had originally done warhammer training 3 times a week. However, with trying to do the whole 30, part of the detox is having no energy and I really feel it now. I'm going to do this training twice a week at a minimum. I will try to do a 3rd time each week, but there's no promises. Pass or Fail as well. +3 Strength 3 - Stretching 2x a week. I tried stretching out last challenge. I want to improve. +1 Strength +2 Dex +1 Wisdom 4 - School. I was going to attempt a bookshelf (still might), but considering all the work I have to do to get an application (3 letters of recoomendation, 8 page essay, etc) I think that'll be my life goal this time. +3 Unsure