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Late to the party, whoops, but I did just return from vacation on Monday. I trailed off on the last challenge but don't feel terrible about it because it was insanely hectic - not the most stressed I've ever been, but definitely the most major events in a month. Plus at the beginning of the challenge I wasn't planning on the Italy work trip, and then that happened in the middle of everything. My healthy routines were thoroughly disrupted, but I still squeezed in a little exercise and some vegetables. I'm thrilled to be home, and in my own kitchen and bed again (not at the same time, obviously). After eating out most meals for three weeks, I am excited to cook balanced, delicious meals at home. Overall Goals My general life goals have changed a bit because, uh, I'm pregnant and all - so weight loss is no longer the primary aim. I weighed myself this morning and was unpleasantly surprised by the number on the scale, but the internet tells me it's normal to have gained 4-6lb at this point even though the baby is only the size of a raspberry, so I feel better about it now. I'm going to stop weighing myself at home because it makes more sense to focus on make healthy choices each day. I've cancelled my NF Coaching because I already feel a bit overwhelmed, and through work I'm going to be assigned an RN who will advise on healthy eating and exercise throughout my pregnancy. But I have even stronger reasons to eat healthy, and I won't be drinking ha, so I'm going to focus on paying attention to how I feel - more frequent, small meals seems to sit better with me these days. I am currently working to use up a lot of my pantry/freezer food which has been accumulating for...a while. I also want to declutter since we mayyy buy a house and move before the baby comes. Goal #1: Cook all the things Make (nearly) all our food at home, avoid relying on processed food. I'd like to get in a good pattern of meal prep and eating at home pre-baby. Document food here. Goal #2: Feel the burn Work out doing whatever feels good. Right now that's barre but I'd like to try to get running again if I can do it without chest pain. Aiming for working out 3x/week minimum, and walking on other days to aid digestion and circulation. Goal #3: Feed the fire Take extra kind care of myself. Give myself an 8-hour sleep window. Nap if needed. Meditate daily. I have FIVE WEEKS before our family vacation when we tell the family, and I have already told random coworkers in Italy (because finding out I was pregnant the week before the trip was anxiety-inducing), a couple coworkers I am closer to (because we were on vacation for a week and they wouldn't have figured it out from the not drinking anyways, and this way I was able to talk to a friend who had twins last year about it), and another friend (who I stayed with on the way to and from the Florida vacation, because we're close and it was nice to do it in person). Between now and the official family announcement at which point it will be public, I will probably tell a couple more friends because as an external processor keeping secrets is not my strong suit. It still feels completely surreal, but in the best way.

Hello! I'm Miss Fortuosity. I'm a 30-ish mom of three, cosplayer, crafter of various things, and new rebel. Kinda. I did a search in Google assistant one day (for something vague and possibly not even fitness related), and the result it gave me was an article from nerd fitness. I kind of- well, I was shocked. Nerd Fitness? As in, fitness for NERDS like me? I signed up for the emails right away. Learned about the Paleo diet. Steve said it worked. I collected some underpants on it. My husband and I had a family meeting and we decided the whole family should do it. He bought a cookbook called everyday paleo. I've been stricter than he, and my kids still get dairy products, but it has made a DIFFERENCE. My son is better at focusing. My hubby is finally starting to shed fat. I had a baby in September. I'm now 10 pounds lighter than my pre-pregnancy weight. I've lost 30 pounds since January. This is the best site I've ever found to help me get back to where I'm healthy, and happy. 30 down, 40 to go. Thanks to God for throwing me that out of context search result on Google. Thanks to Steve, and his rebellion, for working so hard. I'm finally on my way!

Hi all. This is Dorcha. I usually go by Druid on the net but as that is an actual thing with your nifty organization, I changed it up. I'm 29 (almost 30...holy cow) and non-binary. I currently have a fairly sedentary job at a law firm but used to work in the theme park business where things were more active. I'm currently semi-active but the 20s metabolism crash definitely got to me. I would like to lose about 25-30ish pounds. Slow metabolism is a pain. Haven't been a part of a forum in about fifteen years or so, but thought I'd give this forum a try anyway. Last forum I was a part of was a Zelda one. Man, I'm getting old. I also recently jointed Rising Heroes and was recruited by Tyrus. I fence occasionally, ride bikes, do Yoga occasionally, read a bunch, play video games, and love long walks. Currently have a home gym (of sorts) where I do at least a portion of my active life. Pleasure to meet all your acquaintances.

Two days late, whoops. Goal #1: Meal prep on weekends Two veggies, breakfasts, lunch for a day or two minimum. And some kind of salad ingredients / veggie snacks. I've come to terms with the fact that laziness is the barrier to getting enough vegetables mid-week. Travelling and eating out for a week got me excited to cook my own food again. Goal #2: Marathon training I haven't signed up, but I'm seriously eyeing the Monumental Marathon (Indianapolis, November) and I've started the Jeff Galloway training program. Ran 9 miles last Saturday despite being on vacation (woke up at 5AM to do it, guys!) so I think I'm committed now. Concerned about the neck/shoulder issue that I came home with Monday, but I'm ok with dropping a midweek run here and there if I can keep up the weekend long runs. I'm afraid to tell people because I've 'started marathon training' a million times before getting too lazy or injured to continue. But 9 miles injury free is pretty promising...first marathon, here I come? Goal #3: Cross-train 3x/week So I've done some Stronglifts in the last couple months, but not consistently. I want to do 3 cross-training sessions per week, at least two lifting. Possibility to add in yoga for funsies. Or rucking. Bahahahahahhahaha no. Bonus Goal #1: GO TO BED - Sleep 8 hours/night, Meditate/pray in the morning I'm still struggling with this. Surprisingly difficult to get myself to go to bed early enough to get 8 hours (especially after reading). This little guy makes me want to go to bed right now, but sadly office napping is frowned upon. Bonus Goal #2: Post every day On my thread, someone else's, whatever. Just do it. Be social. Don't avoid the boards just because I'm embarrassed about being lazy. Bonus Goal #3: Declutter every day. Closet, clothing, bathroom, kitchen. My main barrier is clothing because I'm in the process of losing weight...but I'll realistically never need 50 t-shirts no matter what size I am. At least one item per day. Boring? Maybe. But I'm keeping it basic this summer, because focus is required to run a marathon...probably. I tell myself I can do ALL THE RACES next year. Self-rewards haven't been working for me. But I'll try again anyways...in no particular order... Reward #1: New shoes (my inov-8's are getting worn from running/walking/wearing them allllll the time) Reward #2: Kitchen island -I've been procrastinating on buying this because $$$ but could really use it Reward #3: New shoes (Chucks) Reward #4: Camelbak water bottles (where do all my water bottles go? with the single socks?) Reward #5: Marathon registration -After I've completed the 10.5mi run scheduled for 6/25

Hey guys! Long time no see! Yeah, I dropped off the wagon again. …or did I? The last few months have been going great. I started my first semester at university and resolved to really work as hard as I could with my studies. Believe it or not, actually working hard is having some kind of magical effect! My grades are at the top percentile for all of my modules and I have a very disciplined, organised manner of studying now. This is a big deal; it’s the first time in my life that I can honestly say that my academic stuffs are going great. I’ve also kept up to date with training! My main thing is gymnastics and I climb every fortnight, but alongside that? I’ve picked up powerlifting, which I started during my previous challenge. Probably not going to focusing on that this challenge. Now, I was playing with the idea of joining the boxing club. However, it started to get a little tough; I have three hours of gymnastics training the same day that the boxing club meets. Tried going to both and realised training both on the same day would probably mess with my progress in both for the long run.. …and then I found out that we have a breakdancing team. I do not believe that further explanation is necessary. Honestly, when it comes to developing myself, I don’t really think I have a problem. I’ve developed a mindset that keeps me hungry for improvement, mental or physical. So.. why am I on here? Two reasons! First off, I do a crap ton of things in my spare time. It’d be nice to organise some of it! Secondly, and most of all, it’s very difficult to find people who understand why I do the stuff I do. I’m a first year student; we’re expected to drink and go clubbing multiple times a week. Me, I wake up at 5:30AM and spend all my time either working or training. I’m virtually a monk (as in, more like a shaolin monk, not the NF Monks.. for now) at this point… I wouldn’t have it any other way! That being said, given that my training and development is a big part of what I do, it’d be nice to have some people to talk about it with and a place to record the stuff I do. So, here goes! 1. Morning stuff! As I mentioned, I wake up really early in the morning nowadays. It’s not because I enjoy it! It’s really a matter of discipline and one that takes a lot of patience given how annoying my housemates are. I generally have to be at university by 9AM; I use the time I have beforehand to get a bit of training done. I generally stretch out (no heavy flexibility work, more limbering up) before doing gymnastics conditioning or cardio. As it stands, here is my schedule: Mon: Cardio Tue: Gymnastics Conditioning Wed: Cardio Thur: Gymnastics Conditioning Fri: Cardio Sat: Both! Sun: Rest. After this, I shower and get dressed and all, but then I do some focused visualisation. This is a really helpful technique for really complicated technical skills for acrobatics. Occasionally I can’t be bothered to run through backflips a hundred times in my mind I visualise hard maths stuff or chess tactics in my head. Now, the deal is, I need to be more consistent and disciplined with my morning routine. I want to really cement it into habit rather that something I need to drag myself out of bed for. I’ll grade myself weekly to see how things are going along. A - At most 1 failed morning per week B - 1 to 2 failed mornings per week C - 2 - 4 failed mornings per week F - More that 4 failed mornings. 2. Evening stuff! Okay, so I’ve become an organisation freak ever since starting university. Evening for me focused a little on injury prevention and a lot on the more mental tasks I have to do. With injury prevention I do stuff for my wrists, elbows, ankles and neck; the parts of me that are most at risk when training. Thrice a week I do some hard flexibility work; this is also tackled in the evenings. I’m going to start practicing freezes for breakdancing on the days I don’t have flexibility, too; freezes take some time getting used to. After all this I set aside all the training and do some other stuff. I do some more visualisation after stretching, but this time it’s exclusive to mathematics topics. I also signed up to Japanese classes on a whim a few weeks back and I review vocabulary and all during this time. I then update my journals before reading a book until it’s time for bed. This is basically just the evening version of the morning thing. Really no different, just different things to do. Here’s the schedule for the physical bits and bobs: Mon: Freezes, Neck+Elbow Tue: Wrist+Ankle, flexibility Wed: Freezes, Neck+Elbow Thur: Wrist+Ankle, flexibility Fri: Freezes, Neck+Elbow, Sat: Wrist+Ankle, flexibility Sun: Rest! A - At most 1 failed evening per week B - 1 to 2 failed evenings per week C - 2 - 4 failed evenings per week F - More that 4 failed evenings 3. Breakdancing! Not going to hide it. I suck. I’m a completely useless dancer. Of course, I’m okay with the more physically demanding things like handstands and whatnot, but rhythm? Flow? Grace? Nah. Top rock in breakdancing is supposed to be smooth and precise. I’m just.. awkward as hell. Now, of course, the first step to getting good at something is to suck at it, right? That is precisely what I intend to do! I no longer look completely ridiculous when doing top rock, but I still suck. I’m going to do a bit of top rock every day. One day I might log in 10 minutes, the next it might be 30 minutes… but I’m going to be logging it in, definitely. At the end of the challenge I’ll record the total time I’ve spent practising top rock. Check this out! Grading: TBD 4. Nutrition! I used to have my nutrition under pretty good control. I ate good food daily and I kept the sugar cravings under control. All that changed when the fire nation attacked when I discovered this pizza place near my house. A large vegetarian hot with stuffed cheese crust with large fries.. was only £10. Christmas didn’t help either. My parents run a few grocery stores and I get all the junk food I could eat for free at my convenience. I’ve definitely put on weight. No more! I’m going to do a food log. I’ll note down everything I eat in a day right here on this thread. Then, I’ll assess it all at the end of the week. Okay I’ll be honest; I am not going to give up mochas. Everything else can go but not mochas. But yeah everything else will be all healthy and whatnot. I’ll also stick it on MyFitnessPal for the sake of tracking. Grading: TBD Closing notes The aim of this challenge is to build a foundation of good habits that’ll help me in the mad challenges to come. 2016 will be an awesome year and hopefully the routine I get into with this challenge with make it easier to for me to make it more awesome. … IMPROMPTU BACKFLIP!!!1 (This was the fifth backflip I ever landed! ) Wish me luck!

About 2 weeks ago I suddenly realised that I'm signed up for a Tough Mudder on September 21st and haven't done any training (outside of my daily 9.5 mile commute by bicycle.) I'm incredibly happy to say that after 1.5 weeks of practising at treadmills, on Friday I climbed on the treadmill and doubled my previous "time spent continuously running" PR from 20minutes to 40minutes. Finally nailed a 5k after a year and a half of wanting to be able to do it, and I'm incredibly proud of myself Next stop: Sub-30min 5k I guess