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The big goal this challenge is to decrease the amount of sugar that hubby and I consume. He is non-insulin-dependent diabetic but needs to improve his blood sugar levels STAT. So, this guy is public enemy number one at our house: I don't think that he is ready to go cold turkey; so I've devised a transition plan - based in part on the NF Academy nutrition guidelines. I've already dropped my sugar consumption about 25% - compared to last month. Gotta love data!!! I'm using LoseIt to track what I eat, and have the premium plan so that I can drill down on my macros to see what I'm actually eating. So Quest #1 is to transition to a Whole30 (which will be next challenge's goal). Each week, I'll add another improvement to our diet, and I'm going to be tracking it using HabitRPG. At stake: 2 CON, 2 WIS - with grading by percentage of days that I manage to stick to our improvement plan. During the break, I've convinced hubby to eat a high protein breakfast ... and he's already feeling better. That was no big deal for me, but next week ... I need to substitute a vegetable in for a starch at lunch and dinner. I'm not a big veggie eater ...... (0/42) The other big thing I am working on is to be able to complete an obstacle course race. I've been a bit discouraged at how long it takes me to improve my upper body strength, but I'm going to keep at it while working on my running and my general agility. So, Quest #2 is to do strength training 3 times per week. I mix it up and do a routine at the gym (including assisted pull ups), kettle bells at home, and sandbag training at home. At stake: 3 STR, and grading is also a percentage of goal. (0/18) Quest #3 is to get through C25K again. This should be pretty darned easy since I'm on week 4 already and am an experienced runner. But I'll (hopefully) be transitioning to outdoor running by early April. Yes?? 2 STA awarded for getting through it; 1 STA if I get to week 6. Quest #4 is to work on agility weekly (at least). I have my FitDeck agility cards. Or I can go climbing or take a related class - such as yoga, zumba, pole dancing, martial arts class, etc. I'm allowing myself to play with this and have some fun .... and be flexible with how I work on improving my agility for 2 DEX, based on percentage completion. (0/6) Quest #5 is to work on my dead drop assassin skills - using geocaching and Ingress. I'm going to pull a number out of the air and say that I'll do this 20 times during the challenge for a possible 2 WIS and 2 DEX. Geocaching in the harsh winter can get to be a bit problematic ... so the augmented reality game, Ingress, is a good substitute to get me out of the house. Scoring is also by a percentage. (0/20). PLUS - Assassin's Guild minis:Week1 - Pullups and Mountain Climbers (+STR)Week 2 - RUN!!! (+STA)Week 3 -Week 4 -Week 5 -Week 6 - AND, I'm competing in an exercise consistency challenge that Bekah put together on FB. AND WAIT - that's not all!! I'm putting together a simple Fitness RPG. It has a long way to go, but I'm playing it while designing it. So, I'm really hoping to have fun and improve my body composition this challenge!!!

Avast. So it's come to my attention that sticking with something works better when you have some sort of accountability. Well, the deal is that I have a weight-loss goal. My birthday is in late October; in 2014 I weighed 459 pounds (208.5 kg). My current goal is to try to get to 400 pounds by the time my birthday rolls around again in 2015. I hit a bit of a stall over the holidays, got a little boost from the first NF challenge cycle of 2015, and have decided to get super srs during the second challenge cycle (Feb 23rd). I'm going to start by doing the Whole30 diet (plus dairy) for the six-week challenge cycle. Get mah eating under control, you know? I'm aided in this by a few factors. First, during the first challenge cycle I drank nothing but water. I ate normally (ish) but there were no liquids but straight agua going in. Since then, I've tried a diet Pepsi or two...and found them too sweet for me. I know that I could fall back into that habit if I allowed myself to do so, but why bother? Also, my girlfriend is determined to get into better shape for medical reasons. This encourages me to add walking to my workout, among other cardio. So here I am! Time to start a new battle log. The goal here is to do a daily review of my diet and working out. It'll be interesting, if nothing else. I look forward to kicking some butt. There will be more concrete, number-based information tomorrow. Cheers!

This is technically my 3rd challenge, I think. But I didn't finish any of the previous ones and I forgot about this website for 2 years. Depression makes goal upkeep hard. I've recently been diagnosed with fibromyalgia, hypermobility, and I may have IBS, but I'm kind of sick of doctors, so I haven't gotten a diagnosis. All this on top of my depression, anxiety, and crippling body image issues. BUT being in better physical health is supposed to help with all this, so I want to break my "barely scraping by" inertia, and actually do something with my life. I've been meaning to start Whole30 to address my food sensitivities but keep putting it off because junk food is comforting. There is also a significant possibility that I will be moving later this year, and thus will need to interview for a new job, and thus will need to fit back into my suit, seeing as I cannot afford another one. I've gained a whole lot of weight in the past few months, that is doing nothing to help. This challenge is going to be about getting myself back to being able to function. I'll be working on eliminating inflammatory foods, starting a gentle exercise routine, and establishing a more regular sleep schedule. Goal 1: Diet I already know that cheese makes me feel like I've been poisoned, but it's hard to give it up because it's so yummmyyyyy. BUT I am making the commitment to discovering how I feel with out it, or other problem foods, which I intend to identify, in my system. I've chosen to follow the Whole30 program, which eliminates grains, dairy, legumes, and processed sugar. My house is already prepared. To carry out the program, I need to Meal plan each week BEFORE grocery shopping, so I don't make 10 million and 5 trips to the grocery storeRefrain from eating out, just for the duration of this challenge, since Whole30 is REALLY hard to comply with outside the houseDesignate 1 day per week to be a prep day so I have food to eat even on days when I lack the spoons to cook anything. Or move at all. ​Goal 2: Exercise I'm starting from an extremely sedentary lifestyle. I walk to and from work 4 days a week (1 mile each way. Up a really steep hill on the return. It is death. It makes me want to collapse in the middle of the sidewalk. On bad flare days, I have done just that.) But otherwise, I do nothing. I intend to Start every morning with some sun salutations to wake up my body and mind and center myself to be able to take on the day before moving on to some focused stretching. My hip flexors are constantly far too tight and my lower back is a permanent knot. I've chosen Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday as my workout days. The workout plan I'm following is a slightly modified version of one a physical trainer built for me a few years ago. (Modified to make a little easier on my body.) Goal 3: Sleep My sleep schedule is erratic, at best. I either sleep far too much, or am awake all night (I'm writing this a 5:30 am, for sanity's sake). Sometimes it's because I don't feel like going to sleep, while other times I just can't sleep. I have to be awake by 7:30, so 8 hours of sleep means going to sleep at 11:30. I intend to aim for bed between 10 and 11:30 Current measurements: bust - 44waist - 36"hips - 44butt - 47thighs - 28R arm - 13.5L arm - 14.5

Overarching Theme/2015 Manifesto/TL;DR get healthy, get organized, get happy 2014 kind of sucked and I’m happy to see it gone. I don’t feel like I really accomplished any of my goals- I feel very stuck in my personal and professional life, and I feel unhealthier than I’ve ever been. But one important thing to have come from 2014 is that some events, both good and bad, really crystallized in my mind what I want and need for the upcoming year. So, broadly: -By the end of this year, I want to be healthier than I’ve ever been. Lose weight, eat well, sleep well, drink all the water. At the drop of a hat, I’d like to be invited to join a hike, a 5k, a yoga class, a Crossfit class, a pickup softball game, or a lifting session and be able to hold my own. I’ve never been particularly athletic, but I want to get to the point at which I’m comfortable in my own body and feel confident in its abilities. That, and it really kills me how much I can squat or deadlift but I still can’t do a damned pushup, let alone a pull-up. -By the end of this year, I want to be more intentional in my actions. I want to be more purposeful in my actions at home and at work. I want to create a system for keeping up with errands so they don’t get put off until they overwhelm me. I want to work somewhere I don’t hate or otherwise do something to drastically change my attitude here. In conjunction with this, I want to really think about and write out a 5 year plan because I feel like I’ve been spinning my wheels with no real plans and just thinking about how much time I’ve wasted is giving me little panic attacks. Related to this, I need to include in a discussion with my husband and his own 5 year plan, and a financial plan beyond just saving. I want to go to work feeling satisfied and challenged and come home to a calm, clean space that doesn’t stress me out. -By the end of this year, I want to be much happier than I am now. This is likely a summation of working on the above external factors, but it’s also going to be an internal trial. I spend a lot of time in my head, thinking, planning, worrying, analyzing- and not really doing. I want to spend this year being more mindful, grateful, in the moment, taking advantage of opportunities instead of thinking about them to death. For me, pursuing happiness will include meditating, writing, meaningful reading (books, not Wikipedia on my phone at 3am), and making time for myself (girly beauty stuff) and hobbies (learning German, cooking, woodworking, I’m sure other stuff will strike my fancy). Instead of tackling all of this at once, which has led to a lot of past failures, I’m going to try to focus on smaller goals each month. With any luck, I’ll end the year with at least 12 good habits, instead of a pathway to Nerdfitness Hell, paved with good intentions and enthusiasm that petered out by Valentine’s Day. January’s primary focus is getting back in the habit of cooking most meals and eating Paleo. Main Quests: Eat Paleo. More like, pretty much eat Whole30 but without worrying about butter and trace bad stuff. I’ve done Whole30, I understand the purpose of extremely strict clean eating, but I’m not going to sweat it when I smother my 4th chicken breast in two days with Secret Aardvark sauce. That said, avoid dairy, legumes, grains, sugar, processed foods, alcohol, and try to stick to 3 square meals a day, Whole30 meal template style. 90% compliance 2 CON 2 STA. Drink water. Lots! Let’s say a gallon a day. 38 gallons gets my bladder 2 STR 2 DEX. Buy and consume 1 of those big boxes salad each week. If I make a goal about just vegetable servings, I’ll only eat the yummy starchy ones, if my goal is a salad a day I’ll be kinda sad, but this seems doable. Pass/fail 3 CHA. Side-Quest: Journal at least three times a week. This is my way of keeping all the other above goals still swimming in my head without losing the January food focus. 4 WIS.

I am officially shaking off the lackluster efforts and mental ruts of last year. While in some ways the concept of the new year's resolution is a little trite and certainly arbitrary, it also undeniably easier to slough off the past and look forward with optimism at this time of year. So in the name of fresh starts, it is time once again for a Whole30 - it's the freshest start you can give yourself! This will be the main focus of my challenge - I want to keep it simple and successful. So without further ado, here's "The Plan". Goal Number One: Complete the Whole 30 as designed. Follow reintro protocol for the remaining time in the challenge after the 30 days. 1 pt per successful day / 42 possible points A : 42 pts B :38+pts C :34+pts D : 30+pts F : <30pts Goal Number Two: Do something. Anything "active". Every day. Doesn't need to be anything crazy - 10 mins of yoga or a nice walk will do. Obviously a proper workout is even better. Just gotta keep it going! 1 pt per successful day / 42 possible points A : 38+pts B :32+pts C :26+pts D : 20+pts F : <20pts Goal Number Three: Clean. My. Damn. Bedroom. I actually made some good progress on this over the holidays, but I mustn't let it go to waste! Now that the majority of the clothes are off the floor, I can make a proper plan for organizing the rest of it, rather than the nebulous plans I've made (and failed to follow through with) in the past. Week One: Closet Floor Week Two: Closet Shelf Week Three: Shelving Unit Week Four: Dresser Week Five: Remaining Misc Areas Week Six: Deep Clean (Baseboards, wash floor, light fixture, etc.) 1 pt per completed task / 6 possible points A : 6pts B :5pts C :4pts D : 3pts F : <3pts And that is all. Clear cut, straight forward, and totally achievable. Twenty Fifteen FTW!

I’ve been enjoying the amount of graphic designs I have made lately for my blog and want to continue on in that vein. To that end, the “theme†of this challenge is playing with texture and font by making my own versions of those uber popular Instagram and Pinterest click bait quote images. As for challenge, I’m keeping things on the simpler side this go round. Last challenge I got really lackadaisical and really didn’t post much. I continued on (mostly, minus some completely off the rails time), but really didn’t feel like posting. NF seemed like a ghost town - most everyone on my friends list either bailed on the last challenge (last *few* challenges) or didn’t really update. I *know* these things shouldn’t deter me, but dammit, NF had been slacking for 3 challenges in a row and it’s hard to keep going when you feel like you’re screaming into the void. /rant I know myself and without the support of this community, I totally wouldn't be where I am today - and wouldn't have the stamina to shoot for my big goals this year. This year, my goals continue on from last year - I want to continue to improve my body; I have a bunch of OCRs & quick moving for bling things going on; and I still feel like I need to minimize the crap I have lying around. I also still have that GD SCARF to finish. I’m tired of that damn scarf. Oh, and to make things more interesting, I’ll be doing a Whole30 this January. So, there’s that. Goal 1: Fitness I think I want to go back to bodyweight workouts. I like barbells in theory, but I really miss my jumping all around and working on the fundamentals workouts when I'm not doing them. I plan on either grabbing a Neila Rey program or trying the January program from PopSugar's new app - and I'm starting late (on the 5th) because I'm battling some hefty thigh DOMs from last week. Goal 2: Metrics Metrics make me happy and they work for me, so I'm sticking with them. As a refresher, my metrics are: 100 grams or under of carbs, 70 grams or over of protein, under 100 grams of fat and around 1500 calories. Water is the recommended by FitBit 64 ounces, and on the weekends I like my step count to be over FitBit’s recommended 10,000. I track food with My Fitness Pal and exercise, sleep and water with the FitBit app. Last month, my FitBit Flex fell off my wrist sometime between here and the grocery store and I have yet to decide what I want to replace it with (ok, so I'm waiting to see if I want the Apple watch - shocker). Weight and BF are tracked with my FitBit Aria scale. I also use a combo of FitBit + Zombies, Run! To track my quickly moving through space workouts if they're in the wide world. Goal 3: Get My Shit Digitized I bought a Groupon waaaaayyyy back last winter to get another chunk of my mother’s pictures digitized, and just purchased another to get some of the other things scanned/duped as well. Maybe those VHSs of my tiny little blonde self singing in the church choir as a kid (BWAHAHA) won’t disintegrate after all. Goal 4: Get Out Of My Comfort Zone I’ve been doing really well at getting out of my comfort zone over the past few months, but I want to do more. I plan on going to exercise classes outside my bubble, socializing with new people, and creating new things. I’m not putting a time crunch on myself so I don’t burn my little introverted brain out, but I will continually look for new and different things to do. So far, I have at least 1 yoga class and 1 dance(!) class that I may go to in my building’s new gym + 1 yoga class out in the wild at of all places - Urban Outfitter’s flagship store. I did this class last month, and it was fantastic. And I didn’t die of exposure. Win.

2014 was an odd sort of year. I did quite a bit of start/stopping on here. Did well on my maiden challenge, and then tried starting another a few times, but dropped off. Which I’m not going to beat myself up about. I still kept working out a bit, but I could have done with the accountability. The good news is that, while the early challenges petered out because life was tough, the last one petered out because life was brilliant. I fell in love. Simple as that. I met the person I aim to spend my life with, and everything else fell by the wayside. I make no apology for that. I’m incredibly happy. I’m also, coincidentally *coughs*, about a stone heavier than I was before I met her. I’m going to do something about that. So, this challenge is both simple and hard. I’m going to do one simple thing that I’ve been trying to do for a long time, and not yet succeeding at, and I’m going to do another simple thing that the modern world makes ridiculously hard, it seems. They are: 1. Finish Zombies Run 5k training, and then run a 5k. I’m on week 4, so my next run will be halfway through the programme. I've never made it past week 5. That changes. (STA:2 WIS:2) 2. Whole30. My skin, my sleep and my brain have asked specially. The rules are straightforward, which is great. Those rules will baffle most of my nearest and dearest, which may be trickier. But I can do 30 days. Yes I can. (CON:4) 3. I'm also going to take more care of my mind. I went on a silent retreat in November. It was utterly wonderful, helped me a lot. But, as these things sometimes do, my meditation practice has slightly fallen by the wayside since I returned to my life in London. Oh, and got blindsided by falling in love (did I mention?). To quieten my mind, I’ll be doing yoga after my running and strength workouts (from doyogawithme.com, which I’ve just been introduced to), and ten minutes of meditation after that. Start the day right. (DEX: 3 CHA:2) Life Quest. Move nearer my girlfriend. I moved in October to an area of North London I’ve wanted to move to for years. And then I met her, and fell, and everything changed. The commute between us is an hour and a half. That’s unacceptable, and is slightly clogging up both our brains with logistics. So I’m going to aim to get closer, and thereby have more time and brain space! (WIS: 2) Every one of these, I feel, could have wisdom points associated. But I’m going to stick with what I’ve put. No strength points this time. I’ll still be working on strength, but I’m not putting a quest in. This is about finishing what I’ve started, and proving to my self that I can stick to habits. Here’s to it!

Hey guys! I'm Linsanity and this is my fourth challenge! Up until now, I've been training with the adventurers. This time though since I've established some good exercise habits and discovered that I enjoy both running and strength training, I figured I'd join y'all! My main goal is to lose poundage! I've lost 15ish since I first joined NF, but I've still got a ways to go. I want to get down to the 140-145 range soo I've got another 25ish lbs to shred! SUB-GOALS Goal #1: EXERCISE 5 days per weekCombo of running and strength training each dayI plan to run a 5k twice a week and do 4 quarter mile sprints on the other days before strength training. I haven't quite nailed down the strength training routine but it will likely involve some combo of squats, pushups, and burpees. Fortunately, I have no morning classes this semester so I'll be spending my mornings at the gym! Goal #2: EAT Whole30 every meal every day for the first 30 days [at least]Create food photo collage each weekRead whole30 success stories 4 days during the weekThis will be difficult for me, not gonna lie! I have eaten Paleoish during some of the past challenges, and really enjoyed it, but I cheated a lot on the weekends. Over the holidays I didn't participate in the NF challenge and ate SUPER poorly! Cookies on cookies on cookies! I noticed over Christmas that all the sugar I was consuming severely dampened my mood and made me feel more depressed than usual during pms. I also gained back 1.5 inches that I had lost back in October. YIKES!! Tuesday I go back to my apartment at school where I'll be buying and making all my own food. So, as long as I don't buy anything bad, I won't be eating anything bad. To keep me from buying non-whole30 foods I plan to take pictures of everything I eat and post a collage of the meals each weekend. I enjoy taking pictures and fooling around in photoshop so this will be fun! I also plan to read at least one whole30 success story four days a week to keep me motivated. Seeing how far people have come really inspires me, and will help me hold strong when times get tough! I have really strong drive and determination so I know I can achieve this goal. It's gonna take dedication and confidence, but it is possible and it is doable! Goal #3: COMMUNICATE Check-in on NF 5 days + a weekChecking-in means either posting on my challenge or posting on others challenges 5 days + per week. Last challenge I hardly checked in at all, which actually made it more difficult for me to keep up with my goals. Reading encouraging words and reading about others' breakthroughs is super inspiring and motivates me to keep pushing for my own fitness goals! Side Quest: DRAW Aim for 1-2 hours of sketching per weekI enjoy drawing, but have gotten out of the habit. I want to be more productive with my time and improve my skills. Also, I feel that drawing might be good stress reliever. After the first week or two I'll decide whether to make the goal one hour or two. I want to make this goal very easy to achieve so I can start to get a habit in place. I plan to figure out stat points and post starting measurements later in the week. I will take progress measurements after the first 30 days and at the end of the challenge. PS: Soo tomorrow I'm going skiing which I am SUPER excited about!!!! BUT I don't know what food options will be available or if they will be whole30 approved. I plan to do the best I can; but dairy might happen if cheese is on the salads. Tomorrow i'm prepared to give myself some leeway though! Best of luck everyone!

Oh 2014.... I am quite happy you are over. It was a long year for me, marked by a finished grad degree, a new job, best friend's wedding, summer and winter house guests, and getting settled into Alaskan life. And Meg, can't forget her! But because I was so busy, lifting got put on the back burner and has completely stalled ever since. At the same time, I really fell off the paleo wagon, and while I still pay attention to quality, I let myself slide on a lot of things that experience tells me don't work for my body. I'm sure long time readers of my threads are sick of hearing about lady cycles, but I'm having a excessively long cycle and I am not pregnant, which is frustrating because I'd like to be. SO. No more excuses. I am getting my diet, exercise, sleep/stress in line. Goal #1 GOT BREAKFAST FOR YOU ! I am starting a Whole30 on January 9th. I have already mostly cut everything down to Whole30, except for wanting to use up some heavy cream and cheese I had in my fridge. My brother flies back home Thursday, so Friday is a much nicer clear start date for me. So this will mean NO GLUTEN, GRAINS, DAIRY, LEGUMES, SOY, ADDED SWEETeNER. I am hopeful that this will be enough to kick start my cycles again and regulate hormones. I've been taking a specific set of supplements for helping with that, but I haven't been supporting that process nutritionally so that's no bueno. Bonus goal: Cook 1 meal with beef heart... its been in my freezer and I need to quit being scared! Goal #2 LET'S GET DOWN TO BUSINESS I am thinking of doing Starting Strength, since I really feel like I am back to square one at this point. Regardless of program, I am doing weights twice a week. This is going to take priority over any other type of training, but I will likely do some yoga and hiking as well on warmer days. Goal #3: GO TO YOUR TENT ! In other words, go the hell to sleep already. Another goal better served after my brother leaves, but the goal will be to wind down at 9 by turning off the tv etc and drink my magnesium and read a book and lights out at 10. This would help me get up at 6am so I can walk Meg and/or hit the weights with enough time for some breakfast and a shower before work. Goal #4 WHO'S THE SMARTEST DOGGY IN THE WORLD? Same goal as last time, some dedicated training time each day. Thankfully, Meg is a breed that is smart, and she seems to enjoy the challenge of training. I have 4 more weeks of puppy class and then another class I'm planning to add, so I'll have plenty of homework to work on with her. She's doing really well already, but of course training will never really end if we want her to be a good dog. And this is better for exercise inside, since it is now minus 2 degrees in my part of Alaska. TL;DR #1 Complete a Whole30 #2 Lift Twice Weekly #3 Implement Sleep Schedule #4 Continue Meg's Training That's it. I will try not to bring dishonor by not sticking to them! Starting Stats Weight 143 lbs Natural Waist 33 inches Waist at belly button 33 Hips 41 Neck 15 Bust 37 Calves 15 Biceps 13

I feel like it's relevant to share my goals for the year and how I intend to get there, as each of my challenges this year will directly correlate to these goals. 2015 Health & Fitness Goal: To be fit enough to survive the 2015 Missouri Tough Mudder. Attend circuit training classes 2-4x per week Feb - AugustAttend circuit training classes 3-4x per week August - October Run a 5k Lose 30lbsCreate a plan for monkey bar + pull-up training 2015 Business Goal: To double my revenue from last year. Launch new website by Feb 1. Create content marketing plan + timeline by Feb 1 (for social + newsletter + blog). Execute content marketing plan + timeline (for social + newsletter + blog). Book at least 3 public speaking gigs by June. Launch podcast by June. Complete first draft of eBook by June.Launch eBook by August. 2015 Personal Goal: To become a more mindful consumer + to increase our savings. Do not buy anything without adding it to the wishlist first, excepting standard purchases (food, toilet paper, etc.). Only purchase wishlist items if the budget category for that items allows. No budget deficits for non-essential items. Pay myself 50% of business gross revenue: 25% to savings and 25% to the monthly budget. Now, on to the challenge! Quest #1: Eat. This quest is for my Health & Fitness goal, specifically the weight loss point. I will be doing another Whole30, beginning on January 5th. Same deal as last time... 30 days, no cheating. Grading: Pass/Fail Quest #2 Move. This quest is for my Health & Fitness goal, specifically for the gym attendance point. This is simple. Go to the gym. Grading: A: 8x B: 6-7x C: 4-5x D: 2-3x F: >2x Quest #3 Sleep. This quest is for my Business goal. I am a night owl by nature, but I am actually more productive in the morning. I need to kick it into high gear this year if I'm going to double my revenue... there is zero time to be fucking around and sleeping in is not an option. This quest is actually about more than sleep. I read most of The Miracle Morning during the last challenge but was smart enough to recognize that I had too much on my plate to begin my own miracle morning practice at that time. Right now my mornings are a mess. On my work days, I wake up with exactly enough time to to be showered and presentable to meet a client... and if I don't have a morning client I sleep until I wake up naturally, generally between 8am and 11am. On the days I'm home with Mini-Me (she is with me 2-3 week days depending on my workload) I stumble out of bed when she wakes up and am grumpy for the next 1-3 hours because I didn't have any time to wake up and adjust my attitude for the day before jumping into mom mode. It takes me forever to get productive, whether I'm looking to work on my business, clean my house, or play with Mini-Me and I know it's a big part of why I'm not where I want to be in life. More often than not, half my day is gone before I really dive in and start to focus on whatever I want to do or accomplish that day. I haven't finished the book yet, but if I recall correctly the author suggests a 30 day challenge. I'll come back and adjust my grading once I figure out if I want to try to do a full 30 days (on top of a Whole30) or whether I want to adjust that to only weekdays or something. Edit: Doing the 30 day challenge. Go big or go home amirite? I am going to cut myself a little slack in my grading - it's pretty hard to screw up Whole30 but it is very likely I'll accidentally sleep in one morning with this challenge and I don't want that to derail me completely if it happens. Grading: 30 consecutive days: A 30 non-consecutive days: B 25-29 non-consecutive days: C 20-24 non-consecutive days: D >20 non-consecutive days: F Life Quest: Zero non-essential spending. This quest is for my Personal Goal, specifically the wishlist point. I already keep a budget, and it works pretty well for us overall. However we've gotten lax about sticking to our budget. Once upon a time I was a very frugal person - I never bought anything I didn't truly need and I was happy to make do with good enough. Lately I'm noticing that my perfectionism and desire for everything to be done right now yesterday is becoming an issue: I want to solve a problem right now so I throw money at it rather than exercising patience and waiting until I can truly afford it. To put it simply, I'm not stopping long enough to: 1. Check the damn budget, and, 2. Think about whether an item is really something I want to spend money on right now. I've become way too addicted to instant gratification and it's got to stop. It's not putting us into debt (I am still debt adverse, one frugal habit that stuck with me) but we aren't saving as much as we could, and we have a lot of things we'd like to be saving toward. With that goal in mind, for the rest of the year, any non-essential purchase will go on a wishlist that I am keeping for myself (excepting my "fun money" which is discretionary... but this is currently in deficit so it's a moot point until it recovers from prior overspending). The reasoning behind this is twofold: I want to get us back on budget so we can rebuild our savings, and I want to take the time to think and prioritize before I buy. For this challenge, I will not buy anything that is non-essential. If I think of something I want to buy, I'll add it to my wishlist. Now, I'm making a couple of exceptions for sanity purposes. I'll allow myself to grab an iced tea from a convenience store at any time because that is something that helps me keep my Whole30 sanity when I am out in the world. I also quit smoking using e-cigarettes and I will allow myself to purchase my vaping supplies (juice and coils) because I'm simply not ready to kick the vape habit yet. These are the only two non-essentials that I'll allow for the duration of this challenge. Grading: $0 non-essential spending: A $1-$20 non-essential spending: B $21-$30 non-essential spending: C $31-$50 non-essential spending: D $51+ non-essential spending: F

Hey, I'm kristing! I'm currently a medical student in snowy and freezing Minnesota and I'm working on getting my health back on track. In a previous life, I was a competitive swimmer and soccer player. Life Quest: Get weight to 135 lbs Goals: 1) Do strength training thrice per week (I'm using the Stronglifts system right now, and am in my 6th week) http://stronglifts.com 2) Eat according to the Whole30 system for 30 days starting in one week to get prepared (aka, eat good healthy stuff) http://whole30.com 3) Get to sleep before 10pm and wake up by 6am Bonus Goal: Read a devotional every night and pray before sleeping Grading: 1) 3x training * 6 weeks = 18 days ==> A = 16+, B = 14, C = 12, D = 10, E = 9 2) 30 days ==> A = 27 B = 24, C = 21, D = 18, E = 15 (tracking food with MFP) 3) 6 weeks = 42 days ==> A = 37+, B = 33, C = 29, D = 25, E = 21 Motivation: I want to be a good role model, for both my family and my future patients. I also want to feel better (and look hawt) That's all for now!

Let it begin, let it begin!! I'm really excited about the timing of this challenge! It is nearly perfect for my goals that I have set. Because of guests in my home I am unable to go hardcore until next week, so my goals below are a modified version of my actual plan. Actual plan includes fully compliant Whole30 starting this upcoming weekend plus consistent following of PIYO, which I can't do right now as our guests are using my workout space. Main Quest: My big goal is to fit into a size 10 dress/pant by this summer. I am currently a size 14, so if past experience is any guide that is a loss of 30 pounds or so. Goal #1: Do 30 minutes of exercise at least 5 times a week. Goal # 2: Eat paleo 90% of the time. I'm going to do a whole30 or whole45 once my guests leave, until then I'm paleo at meals, leaving room for snacks during socializing in the calorie count. Goal # 3: Work out in the morning at least 3x a week. I need to get exercise to fit into my schedule. I think mornings are the way to go. Just need to build the habit. Life Goal: Improve my sleep by not allowing screen time in the bedroom and turning the lights out by 10:30 pm at latest every night. I need at least 8 hours of sleep a night to feel human and I'm going to need that to hit my weight loss goals!

Over the last year my partner and I have been attempting to eliminate processed foods from our diets, as well as gluten and sugar (somewhat, that's the toughest one! We both love ice cream...) We have decided that we are going to do the Whole30 challenge starting tomorrow. January 11 - February 10th. I realize that this is a bit strange since we're starting in the middle of the month but I just had surgery on Tuesday so the best way to do this seemed to be after that was done. Once I am released from by my Dr I want to start "moving frequently at a slow pace" at least 2-5 hours a week. I am basically starting at couch potato here so anything is an improvement. I have RA and nerve damage in my neck but these should not keep me from getting up off my butt and moving! I figure these are enough to get me started, I do want to work up to the beginner body weight workout (and beyond) but am trying to start realistically here... Food and exercise logs will be posted here to keep me accountable, pictures if something looks particularly yummy and I can figure out how to upload them...I have a wedding to get ready for and I want to wear my dream dress!! These are my starting stats, I did have a hysterectomy and my gallbladder removed on Tuesday so that means my tummy is likely still full of the air they pumped in it... Height 5'7"Weight 185lbsWaist 38Belly 45Chest 44.5Hips 44.5Neck 14.5

Ho! Fellow Rangers! I've been a member of NF since last February, but a move and nursing school haven't help me reach my fitness goals. I finally decided those are not the best of excuses and so here I am! This is my first official challenge but I've done many of this type of thing with other groups/people and I LOVE THEM. They are infinitely invaluable to me. I chose Ranger because I feel like a "jack of all trades, master of none" applies to my life in general. Background: I'm a 34 yr old, mom of 5--used to be farmer/homesteader but decided to put that on pause while I get my nursing degree (BSN) wo moved to town last April. I was pretty fit and at a good weight IMO in January 2012. I weighed in at 148 and was the smallest size-wise that I had been since high school, which was a size 8. I had completed my first (and so far ONLY) Sprint Triathlon and was loving life. I decided to start back to college and pursue a nursing career. With the shock of working 25 hrs a week, 5 kids, a farm and full time college, I put my fitness on the back burner. Within about a year I gained 20 pounds. When I finally decided to try to get it off, it wouldn't work. I had blood tests done and tried to figure out something because with the exercising and clean diet, I should be losing weight. It had always worked that way for me before. I spent the next year trying to figure out what was going on with me and no dr. could help. My chiropractor didn't have much better for me try and I gained another 10 pounds even while exercising and dieting (mostly paleo or Whole 30 type). I finally decided to have my IUD removed because it was the only thing I had in/on my body that was artificial. I don't have any prescription meds or anything else. So--I pulled the IUD in July, did a Whole30 in Sept/Oct and lost 12 pounds. Started at 181 and ended at 169. I gained a couple back after ending my Whole30 but I am here starting at 171 pounds. I don't know what helped, maybe not the IUD at all, BUT something is. Maybe it's just mental. SO now to my GOALS-- MAIN GOALS--Lose 25 pounds by my 35th birthday--May 15, 2015---Run a 5K by that time also (without stopping)---just get stronger and see some more muscle definition in my arms and legs. These are my overall goals to get to my goal of 148 pounds and also that it coincides with a consistent workout routine. 1) Goal for this 6 weeks to lose weight: is to complete a Whole 30 (I'm on day 4) and drink 100 oz. of water a day. 2) Registered for a 5k by Feb 15--the end of this challenge. To do this I plan to run 3x a week for at least 30 minutes. Working up to all running time. 3)Increase my weight lifting/strength training by lifting 4x a week for the challenge, doing 50 pushups and 100 bodyweight squats a day during the challenge. Side Quest for me is to meditate/pray/study scripture every day. I have slacked on this while in nursing school and want to fix it!!! I'm ready... let's do this, bring it on, no pain no gain, etc. etc. etc.

Main quest Be a strong bad ass and look killer in a bikini. Taking a challenge off has been helpful in a few ways – redefining my goals and looking at what I really want to achieve. I started here on NF just over a year ago. I was a bit disappointed to look back and think that there isn’t really anything specific that I have done in the last year that I can say “Yay! I achieved Xâ€. In the spirit of always growing, I do feel like I’m more awesome than I was a year ago, and that I’m armed with more knowledge too. I’ve definitely done some things I never would have over the past year if I didn’t participate in these challenges – especially completing my first whole30. One thing I found I’ve been lacking is specific fitness goals for myself. My post a year ago was that I want to reduce my bf%. That’s great, but I had no measure, no pictures, no big driving force. Upon (many!) chats with a good friend around here (Teros – honestly, I’m not sure how he had time to talk to anyone else, plus be the awesome guild leader that he is, with the amount of PMs we had flying back and forth! ) I’ve realized that yes, losing that fat would be awesome and make me happy, but it’s not a big driving force. When I was cheerleading in university, we would do fitness testing a couple of times a year and I loved feeling that strong, squatting my own body weight and more. My new main quest is to be a strong bad ass and look killer in a bikini. The strong bad ass is because I need to set specific goals to hit that will motivate and drive me. Right now, it’s the end goal of a pull-up. This is the ultimate in badassery. As far as looking killer in a bikini, this still keeps with the idea of dropping bf %, but I’ve taken photos to make it more measurable (I'm not brave enough to post them yet, but they exist, I promise). Don’t get me wrong, I look decent in a bikini, and I do go to the beach like that, but if I dropped just a little bit more body fat I would look killer I’m short, and so I know what is realistic of my body and what isn’t, so my definition of “killer†is rooted in reality. I was looking for examples of what my goal would be, but honestly, every picture I found was either some girl who was too skinny or too ripped. So I'm just gonna do me. My three goals to achieve my main quest are: 1. Whole30 – I have completed one and once I set my mind to it, it actually wasn’t that hard. It’s like going to the gym – the hardest part is deciding you’re going to do it and get your butt there. Once you’re there, you have a good workout and it was totally worth it. I haven’t been able to make myself commit again, and it’s been discouraging. For me, bad eating is a super slippery slope. It tends to be all or nothing. When I did the first one I saw major results – the overall shape of my body changed, I lost pounds, and I felt great. My boyfriend even said that I felt smaller. This one is 100% 7 days a week. Doing a whole 6 week challenge is 42 days, plus I started this on Oct 27, so technically my whole30 ends November 26. Another part of my reason for doing a whole30 is that I have psoriasis on my scalp, and I'm hoping that reforming my eating habits will help get this under control. 2. Bedtime routine – I have a few goals that I would like to roll into one, and luckily they work together. I would like to spend more time working on my flexibility, rolling with my foam roller and using my yoga tune up balls (amazing!!) and doing some meditation. Hopefully getting enough sleep too. Luckily it makes sense to do all of this at once/in combination. I might night get to EVERYTHING every night, but I want to make sure I do some of it, if nothing else a few minutes of meditation. I should be getting a book in the mail on this next week called The Role Model, which is very exciting for me, and should hopefully help keep me motivated. I would love to do this every night, but weekends might not be realistic, so I'm going to shoot for 5 days a week. 3. Rows – Here’s where my fit bad ass part comes in. I want to work on inverted rows daily as a progression to pull ups. I will do inverted rows daily, adding one rep/day with my TRX suspension trainer. I will be marking where my feet are (aka the steepness of my incline) and once I reach a certain number of reps (maybe 20?) I’ll move the mark so that it’s harder, and likely reset the number of reps down to 10. This goal is going to be 6 of 7 days a week. It's kind of like the PLP challenge (but just the one P!) so I don't see a problem doing it every day and giving myself one day off. Side/life quest – I plan to start working towards my CanFit Pro personal training certification at the beginning of December (when most of my fitness classes wrap up for the year). At that point, I want to create a timeline for getting my certification. Until I get the material though, I really can’t make a schedule for myself. Motivation is the part I always have a tough time defining. I have a passion for health and fitness and I just want to keep growing, learning and getting better, being better. I'm going to be a personal trainer to spread my love of fitness, and one day in the near future own my own fitness business and I feel it's important to practice what you preach, show people that' it's doable. I think it's important for clients to see that you're not perfect either. I will never be tall and thin, but I can rock what I have going on. It's always a journey, and different phases of our lives will require different things from our bodies and minds. Scoring: 1. Whole 30: 7/7 7/7 3/7 1/7 0/7 0/7 2. Bedtime: 5/5 4/5 4/5 1/5 1/5 0/5 3. Rows: 6/6 6/6 4/6 1/6 1/6 0/6

I just wanted a place to collect recipe ideas for my upcoming Whole30, in a place others can add to, or use themselves. Feel free to add your own recipes/links/general ideas, please just make sure they are Whole30 compliant! I saw a recipe the other day for Mexican Sweet Potato skins. The recipe was totally unusable for this purpose, but it inspired this idea: Mexican Stuffed Sweet Potatoes Bake scrubbed sweet potatoes until tender (45-60mins at 350 usually, depending on size) Slice in half and scoop out most of insides, leaving a little around the skin to hold it together. Mix innards with ... well, whatever you want, really. Some ideas: Cooked ground beef/meat of your choice Sauteed peppers/onions Scallions Salsa (no added sugar!) or diced tomatoes Chopped spinach/greens Chili peppers And definitely a healthy dose of some combo of paprika, cayenne, chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper. Fill skins with mixture, brush a little ghee on top, and broil until top is a bit crispy 5-10 mins (keep an eye on it). Top with diced avocado/salsa/scallions.

Time to get serious here. Goal: reduce body fat so as to fit in a pair of lovely blue pants. Also: feel strong and in control of my life and fitness. To achieve this goal: 1) Whole30. I thought it might be crazy, but I looked at it closely, and I thought it might work better than what I'd been doing before, namely, giving myself "a day off" from paleo far too often. In practice, this really means for me: eating no rice/styrofoam crackers with butter, no honey or dried fruit, no alcohol. Also: unlimited veggies. I've spelled it out to the husband, so that he doesn't open a nice bottle of red until Dec 9... 2) Time management: already I got my hand on books and resources, and those have been pretty useful. In practice, this means planning ahead, which might kill my sense of spontaneity, but I simply can't continue my life as an improv. (It was fine when I was on my own, but now there's 4 of us). I've started writing down what we've been eating, and just that helps with planning the cooking. I've been planning my daily 17 min of meditation (since week 2 of the last challenge). I've also decided to hire a babysitter who comes in 2 days a week. This will allow me time for myself, and some time for getting back into fitness. 3) Getting back into fitness: I liked the BBWW, so efficient. I bought a membership card for a nice gym (not the closest one, but the nicest), so I have no excuses: I've got the babysitter, I've got the gym, it has to be 3 times a week. Bonus points for going swimming on days off. 4) Sleep: the bedtime of 11pm set last challenge was ok, but can definitely be improved on. 10:30pm. 5) Positivity: this should stem from better planning/time management, reintroducing the BBWW, and getting more sleep. But, inspired by the week 2 mini-challenge of the previous challenge and elsfaire's last challenge, I'm going to put on my schedule to meditate about 17-20 minutes after lunch every day, and also ask myself the positivity questions. Well, to start off with, just the one: what are you grateful for today? This seems like a bit much perhaps. But for the last two challenges, I'd been setting the bar a bit low, so as to guarantee a successful result, and it didn't work that well, things fizzled out at the end, each time. This week end I was listening to a podcast, and two pieces of advice came through that had me stopped in my tracks: 1) work on yourself (do something to improve yourself), and 2) honor your commitments to yourself. So that's what I'm going to do, and I think that stepping up my game in terms of time management will be the key to success.

It's time for me to get out of this funk. The two weeks off made me lose an insane amount of motivation, paired with starting to backslide with eating. Granted, what I had over the course of 2 weeks that is considered 'bad' would normally be eaten in 1 day just 2 years ago. It's about perspective, huh? Anyway, for those of you that don't know me, my name is Teros and I'm the Guild Leader here for the Adventurers. To date, I've lost almost 70 pounds, made my own homegym, and tried a Spartan Race. Tried. This challenge though, I get my redemption. In just a few short days I will be attempting another Spartan Race with my extended family: my NF family. I'm more scared this time than I was at my last Spartan. I know what to expect though, but I'm going to be brave and face it anyway. As a side note for those that are new here: Never hesitate to ask questions or send me a PM. I always have time to help people. However, there are a LOT of people here on NF, so don't feel guilty for taking any of my time. Seriously. I've had a few people say they didn't want to 'bother' me, and that's foolish. This is a community of people that care and if there's a way I can help you out- whether it be through giving advice or just being someone to vent about your problems- I'm here for you. NF has been here for me and I fully intend to return the favor. Let's get on with the challenge now, shall we? 1) Eating Right - Last challenge I stuck with 95% whole 30. In fact, I went 54 days without feeling like I was deprived and I got close to dropping almost 15 pounds. I need to get back to this mentality. I had a slip up the weekend before the challenge ended and with the 2 week break; I've been sliding back. No more. I make another stand and with the exception of NerdsGiving; I hope to beat my 54 day streak. Today it starts. Day 1. I'm starting early. I can't postpone this. What I basically eat is meat and vegetables, with 1 serving of fruit and some healthy fats if I'm hungry. No sugars. No processed crap. It's whole 30, but with the exception of protein powder so I can make protein pancakes (protein powder, egg, banana mashed together). 2) Working out - Again, last challenge I was going solid with this. A few ladies come over twice a week to do strength training and I show them different exercises and spot them; while also getting my own workout in consisting of using a sledgehammer, kettelbells, dumbbells, sandbags, and some bodyweight stuff too. I also like going for long walks on non-workday mornings to keep some endurance/cardio as well. Jack of all trades. 3) Major List - This one is a bit fuzzy, but basically there's a list of about 10 things that I need to get done... like NOW. So I'm not writing it down, but I will note when one of the things on my Major List gets crossed off. 4) NF Basics - Last challenge I had a bit of depression. Also, consulting some people pre-challenge put a really bad taste in my mouth with dealing with certain....aspects... of this site. Don't get me wrong, I love all the people that are trying to better themselves, but the wind was taken out of my sails (and some Ambassadors) because of a big dispute. This challenge I go back to basics. I want to do a sweep of the Adventurers to make sure everyone feels welcome. I also hope to get the minis and RPG story that I write done sooner in the week. Lastly, I hope to be more active with the level 1s and make sure they feel welcome as well. Doing this is what made me feel like a better person. People on NF have inspired me to be the best person I can be. They gave me my life back, when all I wanted was to burn down the world with my bitterness, depression, and fury. I've been paying this back since day 1 of being on this site, and I continue to do so this challenge, despite some haters. I have decided to not bother with assigning points this time. What I always do anyway is try to even out my points so that I have easily divisible #s, so it's pointless. I'll grade on a whole. If I do everything and get an A+, I earn 15 points to distribute however I want.

The short story for any new followers: The past few years I’ve been learning how to balance academics and health (esp. how to work around PCOS). I joined the Rebellion this past April, started powerlifting during my first challenge, and have been with the Warriors ever since. In September I hopped across the pond for grad school. I’m keeping many of the same goals from that first UK challenge and carrying on… MAIN QUEST: Do my first pull-up. Mini-main quest: Continue my "year of consistency." I'll get my time in under the bar, continue working on mobility, figure out how to eat in a way that supports my health, strength, and happiness, and see what happens... Goals for this challenge: GOAL #1: Take all of the supplements. [+1 CON, +1 STA] Right now, all of the supplements are Vitamin D, myo-inositol, and D-chiro-inositol. Omega-3 might be added. This is just a matter of remembering to take them every day (morning and evening) and sticking with the regime long enough to see if it helps. For anyone who is curious, the inositols are interesting critters. They’re the precursors of second messengers in various signaling pathways, including the insulin signal transduction pathway. There’s a growing amount of evidence that these processes are disrupted in PCOS, perhaps due to an inositol deficiency, and that inositol supplementation can alleviate symptoms. They also have little to no side effects—in fact, massive doses of myo-inositol (18 g/day!) have been used to treat psychiatric conditions such as OCD and depression. So, if nothing else, the molecular biologist/neuroscientist side of me is intrigued. I don’t think it will be a cure-all (and I don’t want to get my hopes up too much), but I’ll be very happy if it makes my other lifestyle choices more effective. Grading (at end of challenge): A = miss <= 2 doses, B = miss <= 6 doses, C = miss <= 12 doses, F = miss > 12 doses GOAL #2: Whole30+ [+2 CON, +1 WIS]: The Whole30+ continues (although I might add back occasional goat cheese soon). I started on Sept. 28, so at the start of the challenge I’ll have completed a Whole43 so far. Grading (weekly): somewhat subjective because there are a lot of Whole30 guidelines, but shooting for an A = Whole30 + mind fruit and nut portions + no tracking + eat enough to support lifting. Goal #3: SLEEP [+2 CON, +1 STA]: Turn off lights by 10:30 pm. Try to be in bed by 10 pm. Minimize evening putzing around on the computer. Grading (weekly): A = on time 6+ nights, B = on time 5 nights, C = on time 4 nights, F = on time <= 3 nights And, last but certainly not least… Goal #4: LIFT [+2 STR, +1 DEX] This includes maintaining mobility so I’m able to lift. More specifics: I’m doing Starting Strength at least 2x/week (almost always 3x/week). I’m microloading the upper body lifts. I joined my uni’s lifting club last challenge, so I have people to lift with! My “for fun†goal: this challenge I want to surpass my old 5 RMs from July/August: Squat: 70.5 kg (155 lbs) Bench: 45.5 kg (100 lbs) Deadlift: 79.5 kg (175 lbs) OHP (with good form): 25 kg (55 lbs) Latest pre-challenge, successfully completed working weights were Squat: 62 kg (136.4 lbs) Bench: 42.5 kg (93.5 lbs) Deadlift: 75 kg (165 lbs) OHP: 30 kg (66 lbs) so I can already cross off OHP . I should have plenty of time to make my other goals, but I know from personal experience (see Challenge #2…) that progressing isn’t as straightforward when the weights are heavy. Also, theoretically I could attain a bodyweight+ squat during this challenge, which would be fantastic (once again, see Challenge #2), but I’m not sure if I’ll hit it using my current programming. I’m going to use all of the tricks in the book (the book = Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training) to drag out the progression as long as I can, though. I’m also working on power cleans, but have been focusing on getting the form down (with the help of a coach from the aforementioned lifting club) rather than increasing the weight. Grading (at end of challenge): A = 16+ training sessions, B = 14-15 training sessions, C = 12-13 training sessions, F = < 12 training sessions And a couple of fun smaller quests: Fitness Side Quest: Climb the Tower [+ 2 STA] The uphill climbs on my hiking trips have been leaving me breathless—lifting just isn’t good preparation for walking up a seemingly never-ending natural staircase. Luckily, though, my graduate program’s home base is on the 9th* floor of a tower, so I have plenty of opportunities to walk up man-made stairs! I’m pretty good about taking the stairs when I only need to go ~1-4 flights, but I need some extra motivation for the long trips. With classes on floor 6 and my computer cluster on floor 9, I should be able to easily hit 50+ flights up the tower stairs every week. *That’s the 10th floor according to U.S. floor-counting rules. In the U.K., the floors are counted Ground, then 1, 2, and so on. Grading (weekly): A = 75+ flights, B = 60-74 flights, C = 45-59 flights, F = <45 flights Life Quest: Make a Weekly Work Plan [+1 WIS, +1 CHA]: Regular swing dancing is coming second to sleep at the moment, so in the meantime I want to work on some small time-management/productivity habits. This technique is from the Study Hacks blog (mentioned in a recent NF blog post). Grading (at end of challenge): A = 5 weeks, B = 4 weeks, C = 3 weeks, F = <3 weeks Note: I’ll be travelling the last week of the challenge and will modify my goals accordingly: “Supplements,†“Sleep,†and “Lift†will continue as usual. I’ve already started looking for gyms with day passes/free trials.“Whole30†will change to 1) Do the best I can with the options that I have, and 2) Allow a few deviations from Paleo, in a Whole30-sensible way (i.e., be mindful of what my body will tolerate, watch quantities, and return to Whole30 guidelines afterwards rather than spiraling into never-ending poor food choices).“Climb the Tower†and “Weekly Work Plan†will no longer be applicable (although I’ll do plenty of walking).

After a hiatus, I've decided that I need to return to the structure and discipline gained from partaking in challenges. I know that it's going to be during the holidays, but goals don't wait for those things to pass by, since they happen all the time. My mission, whether I can get to it or not, is to lose 15lb by my birthday, which is December 22nd. Here are the quests that I will undertake to accomplish the mission: 1. Eat clean, Paleo diet (complete Whole30 standards) for all meals, with only ONE exception per week. +5 CON 2. Workout three times per week. Workouts have been pre-planned, based on Steve's workout blueprint. +2 STR, +2 STA 3. APT (anterior pelvic tilt) therapy must be performed every day. This is a short body-weight movement and stretch routine that I've pre-planned as well, based on some simple research. +5 DEX My side quest has been difficult to decide on, but I think I will pick one that will help aid the above quests: 4. Learn how to plan meals for the week. +1 WIS I believe these quests will allow me to complete my mission by the deadline. I know that it seems like a bit much in such a short time, but I've been too relaxed during my hiatus. I wish to return to having plans and structure, to nurture my self-discipline. It will work; I love plans, schedules, and all sort of nerdy things like that. I also understand that using the Whole30 standards at once seems a bit tough and slightly against the habit-forming standard here of gradual elimination, but methodical elimination does not work with me. If I want one thing I shouldn't eat, I want all of the things I shouldn't eat at once. For me, holding myself to those standards all at once is the best way to keep me focused and make it easier for me to say "no" to things that otherwise might be questioned. It gives me some good black and white rules to follow. The one meal per week is a little window built in for those nights when I forget to plan ahead and need to hit the steakhouse for dinner (if the budget allows for such a thing). The point of that is to get me used to being okay to fall off once and roll back onto the plan after that moment without feeling sorry or guilty about it. I will post some pre-challenge stats, like measurements and maybe some before photos, later this weekend. I will also share the pre-planned workouts and therapy routine that I'll be doing, along with attribute points for completing my quests.

Last challenge after giving my all for 4 agonizing hours at a Spartan Race. I tasted bitter defeat. To boot, I injured my ankle and it has been giving me trouble ever since. However, I am committed to healing and coming back stronger than ever to tackle the next Spartan Race in mid-November. This introspective look made me think a lot about who I am and what I want to be. Before NerdFitness, I was just a hammered down kid that never thought he was good at anything. That's 'Mike'. There was an alter-ego, my ideal, Teros, which was the small whisper in the back of my mind that said, "You can do more. You can be more. I just have to commit and listen to my real self, not society's hammered-down version." The Bad&The Ugly Vs The Good. Over the course of being here on NF, that whisper finally started to gain traction. During my low points, You all picked me up and I started to weather the storms that normally would bring me down- the ones that would pull me back into a depression and wallow. The whisper got stronger, louder... By the time the Spartan Race rolled around, I felt like I was being torn in two- my 'Dark Passenger'/depression/old Mike VS my ideal/Teros. One day I would feel like one of them, the next day I'd feel like the other. It was maddening that I could commit to something one day and feel fine and the next somehow feel like a complete failure and shoot myself in the foot. After the Spartan, as I sat here stewing while being on these forums while dealing with an injury; something changed. I faced a huge fear by going up against all odds- huffing around roughly 85 extra pounds of fat while going up and down rocky hills, through the mud, over walls, tire drag, carrying a sandbag, logs, burpees, etc. The fact that even in my falling, I still had Your support, the fact that I still had a will to fight through this and come back even better lit some sort of spark. This was the tipping point. This was The Time. I feel like that small whisper that hoped I could get better turned into a real personality with actual legs to stand on. Now, it is not merely a whisper, it is a roar of a lion and I have no conflict in my head. I am realized. This is the tipping point in a battle that has been waging in my head since I was in second grade and was constantly being lost- until now. I promise to all of You, and to myself that I'm not going backwards anymore. Now is The Time to be a hero and do what I knew in that near-lost kernel of my psyche I could do all along... 1) Whole+ - It's 95% whole 30, so technically it's not a whole 30. I'll be having protein powder and possibly a bit of seasoning which might have minute traces of flour/soy/milk. It's really more like 99% whole 30, but whatever. My goal this challenge is to stick with is the entire challenge. Technically I started on Sept 1st and it was supposed to be 1 month long. On October 1st however, I will not be backing down. I'm going to continue this and move forward. 2) Stretch - With reading up on ankle injuries and my want to push myself a bit too much, I need to keep stretching in mind. All my ankle stretches, twice a day, no exceptions. 3) Workouts - I'm walking this week to get a gauge for what my walking distance is as well as doing pushups. When I walked 2.2 mile, my Achilles was burning and after I read some stuff- that's a really bad sign. So I'm experimenting with distances until I find one that feels good, but doesn't cause pain. After I find this 'baseline' for myself, I will be sticking to it for 1 week; and then increasing the distance from here. So I might walk 1.5 miles the first week and feel fine. Then I'll try 2 miles, then 3, etc. As long as I'm not in pain; I'm going to keep going. 5+ times per week. This is consistency. I can't be a weekend warrior and do a beast workout, then hurt myself and spend the rest of the week nursing myself back to normal. That's dumb. I can't push myself too much here so this is a gradually and progressively increasing goal until I'm fine with going up flights of stairs and walking 4+ miles. Once that happens....watch out; because my goal before the next spartan is to find out how many steps are in 5 miles, then do that IN STAIRS. I will not be ill-prepared next Spartan. 4) Making Something - With my ankle being like this, I've had to itch to make some new gym equipment- a set of dumbbells. I'm figuring around 50 pounds. So, I think that's it. I'll assign actual points later on but this is my tentative idea here.

So, time for Challenge #3, take 2. There's more background in my previous challenges, but the short story is that I moved to the UK (hence dividing my weights by 2.2 to convert to kg) 10 days ago to start graduate school so things are a little crazy right now, although also very exciting. After lots of moving around and travelling, I need to focus on getting back on track fitness-wise. Keeping this short and simple: As before, my MAIN QUEST: Do my first pull-up. (For now, assisted pull-ups and chin-ups are on the agenda.) And starting a mini-main quest this time around: I want my year in the UK to be my "year of consistency." I'll get my time in under the bar, continue working on mobility, figure out how to eat in a way that supports my health, strength, and happiness, and see what happens... GOAL #1: Start a Whole30+. For the first couple of weeks of this challenge I'll focus on getting set up food-wise in my new home (learning where to shop, getting a lunch box, etc.), and then by the beginning of week 3 I'll start a Whole30+ (the "+" because I may need/want to extend it beyond 30 days). I'm following the entire Whole30 guidelines--no SWYPO foods, fruits and nuts in moderation, no tracking/weighing, etc. [+2 CON, +2 WIS] GOAL #2: Strength training 2x/week (preferably 3). I'll be doing bodyweight circuits for now and switching to barbells once I get a gym membership and a proper schedule (i.e., after orientation ends). Since I've been lifting inconsistently for the past several weeks and still need to work on mobility issues, I'm deloading quite a bit, with the goal of returning to my old 5RMs in about 6-8 weeks by following Starting Strength. [+3 STR, +1 CON] GOAL #3: Maintain mobility (esp. hips and shoulders). Grading: if I can't squat properly, I need to do more mobility work. What this will probably look like: mobilizing (yoga/static stretching) the day before lifting, with SMR as needed (probably post lifting), along with my usually stretching after workouts. [+3 DEX, +1 CON] Fitness side quest: edited after week two Weeks 1-2: Keep moving--i.e., do some sort of conditioning work 2x/week along with the strength training. For now, this could be dancing, walking, running, swimming... I just want to start forming this habit. Starting Week 3: Re-establish a proper sleep schedule--lights out by 10:30 pm on school nights, 11 pm otherwise, 6+ days a week. [+1 CON] Swing dancing LIFE QUEST: Infiltrate the local swing scene. [+1 CHA, +1 STA] Grading will be a little more subjective A-F scale 0-100 (British postgraduate grading scale*) for this challenge. *because when in Rome... The grading scale, for those that aren't familiar: <49: Fail 50-59: Pass 60-69: Merit 70>: Distinction I kind of like this grading scale better because while anything 70+ is great according to these standards, I can make the distinction between doing very well (a 70) and absolutely rocking this challenge (a 100).

Last challenge I really looked at where I was, where I wanted to be, and what I needed to do to get there. I was the heaviest I've ever been, and not for the good reasons. With the help of a whole30 I managed to drop back down to a more "acceptable" (to me) weight. I had a week of holidays right at the end of the challenge that sabotaged my progress, and I've had considerable life changes that have been pretty stressful. My ultimate goal is to lose weight. I would like to get back down to ~150lbs or less. Lets talk about those other challenges sprinkled in called life. Firstly, injury. It may as well be a 4-letter word! My right shoulder hurts when doing a lateral lift, but not really when my arm is close to my body. This is the first time in my life (and I've always been active-dance, cheerleading, group fitness) that I have an injury that is persistent and requires expert attention. It's killing me. I was hoping that it would get better but it hasn't. So I now have a physio appointment for Tuesday. This is my first time going to physio, but I know this guy is really good, at the same time, it's a major joint that's very complex, so while I"m hopeful he can help, I'm trying not to set my expectations too high because I know it will take time. The other big life thing that I alluded to at the end of last challenge is some big shake ups at work. I work for an electrical service company that deals primarily with big mining corporations. Right now in that sector things are tight and it trickles down to contractors like us. A few months back we laid off our marketing director. About 3 weeks ago a more senior engineer in my department was offered a new position elsewhere. Yesterday I found out that our procurement manager was laid off as well. But the biggest hit to me personally was when I found out my boss was leaving. His girlfriend who is a close friend of mine transferred within her company to Kelwona BC (beautiful place, but far from Saskatoon!) Three and a half years ago when I started at this company, the department was pretty much just me and my boss. He's like the big brother I never had. It came as a pretty big shock that they're moving, and everything's happening pretty quick. The bad news for me is that because there will be no senior engineers (things are tight and it doesn't make sense to replace anyone), the engineering department will go back to being a support group for the other departments as opposed to taking on our own projects. It blows and is a career step backwards for me. HOWEVER I'm choosing to look at this as an opportunity. It has been my plan to quit being an engineer and move to the Vancouver area to own a fitness studio for quite some time. Because I just bought a house last year, I was planning on doing it when my mortgage needs to be re-negotiated (2018). This change at work however is pushing me to look at this more seriously and taking steps to achieve this. One of those things is to become a certified personal trainer. The certification I want is likely going to require me to go back to school. SO I intend to use my bargaining power at work (I'm basically the only engineering resource we have left) to negotiate a remote work agreement to facilitate getting my certification. And then I want to spend less and less time in the office so that I can train people on the side. My goal is to work out most of my business and career changes before moving, largely because I'm doing all this on my single income (which I realize is currently more than what some duel income families take in, but when I'm not working as an engineer, things will be much less certain!) GOALS 1) Whole30 - I did a whole30 for the first time last challenge and it was great. Because my eating isn't terrible to begin with, I didn't have a lot of the side effects that other people have described. This time I'll be doing a whole 42, but plan to allow for a few slips here and there. (I know that whole30 is about being committed for the whole time, but this time around I feel like I know what my problem areas are, and if I say I'm eating "paleo" I let myself cheat too much - so this is me, finding something between whole30 and paleo that works for me) Last time I used a calendar as a hardhat challenge which worked really well for me because it's very visual, and I'll be going with this again. 2) Move more - I've read enough articles lately about the dangers of sedentary life, even if you work out and go to the gym, that now I"m going to do something about it. I intend to break up my stints of sitting by setting a timer while I'm at work to remind me to get up every 30 minutes. I'll be trying to implement this on weekends too, but it's tougher when you're not in one place. So my ranking is just for monday-friday. A - 30 days B - 25 days C - 20 days D - 15 days F - <15 days 3) Exercise - I really wanted to put handstands in this challenge, but with my shoulder that's looking like a poor idea. So this spot is going to be open for now, but likely will end up being "do your prescribed physio exercises" Life side quest Do 3 fitness business-related tasks per week and journal about them. These tasks include: Finish reading 4-hour workweekget concrete information about CPTstart making business planbudget for better money tracking/savingwrite more on my fitness blogfinish dad's estate paperwork (and get $$)Tracking: 1) Whole42 - 5.5/7 3.5/7 0/7 0/7 0/7 0/7 = 9/42 2) Move more - 5/5 4/4 0/5 0/5 0/5 0/5 = 9/19 3) Exercise - 4/5 3.5/7 0/7 4) Handstands - X X 0/7 0/7 0/7 0/7 = 0/28 Life challenge 3 Business-related tasks - 3/3 3/3 0/3 0/3 0/3 0/3 = 6/18 Expense tracking - 1/1 1/1 0/1 0/1 0/1 0/1 = 2/6 Starting weight: 157.5 lbs

As the caption states I have been at this weight loss, no life alteration, for a little over a year. Now, I could easily tell I was on the right track as my pants kept falling down and when I would wear a belt it looked like I had extra pleats in my shorts/jeans. Now, I can where a belt that my dad made me when I got back from Afghanistan a decade ago. At the beginning of my journey I weighed in at 265 lbs and this point I have dropped to 205. Now, that alone is impressive since I haven't weighed sub 220 in almost a decade. On the 1st of May my wife and I started a Whole30. Now, those before and after show some major differences in my eyes. You be the judge

I've been thinking about this for a while. But I'm about to lose my job (store closing down), and I decided that I need to jump in the deep end. If I can get this done, it will give me a lot more confidence for finding a new job. Dinner tonight was oven-fried chicken with spaghetti squash. Twas delish. I mixed up some sloppy joe mix to put in lettuce cups to take to work tomorrow. I also bought salad, plenty of eggs, and pre-chopped veggies. One day at a time...