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Last challenge was a complete failure, so I need to take some time off from Epic Questing to get my head back in the game. My mental fortitude took an ass kicking last challenge and without working on my Wisdom stat I don’t feel like I’ll be able to keep levelling up effectively. I just want to have fun with this one and stop stressing so much! I also miss the druids and now that spring is here I want to be mindful enough of the outside world to truly enjoy it. MAIN QUEST: DIE HAPPY Simples. Current quest: Cheer the f*** up. Step 1 - One long meditation session a week. +1000 points I get stressed trying to remember to do so many things a day, that I figure I'll just give myself one session to remember to do and be done with it. I should try to make it over 20 minutes but to be honest, as long as I'm meditating I'm winning. Step 2 - One long yoga session a week. +1000 points Same thing as with the meditation. I get so stressed and guilty about not doing everything I should that I freeze and do nothing. Should be at least half an hour of yoga, but any yoga is pretty much a win right now. Step 3 - Keep a log of how I feel day-to-day. +100 points p/day I'm getting better at noting what changes my levels of happiness and affects me greatly, but if I can actually see it and write it down I can then work out what I need to do to avoid dramatic mood swings and dips in motivation. Some things I could log; -work hours -weather (if it affected actions/mood of the day) -positives / negatives about the day -sleep quality (time awake, / sleeping, feel upon waking) -foods, if they had an effect on my body. -different moods throughout day, what changed them. !! Bonus Missions !! These are things I should do but don't always feel like doing and I'm not going to guilt myself into doing them. I want to create triggers for good decisions based on how I'm feeling or what I'm not doing. - Extra meditation or yoga sessions during the week. +20 points per session - Use bodyweight exercises to release anger. +100 points - Be creative if I'm sitting around fidgeting. +50 points - Attempt to talk to someone in my social circle about how I’m feeling / what I’m thinking. +200 points - Get out of the house. +50 points - Clean something, anything if feeling bored. +100 points - Say something nice to myself. +10 points per nice thing - Add a serve of steamed vegetables to any meal. +20 points per serve of vegetables

Okay, so here's the thing, I just got my bachelor's degree and had to move back home. Living alone and abroad was very easy when it came to managing food and developing healthy habits. However, now that I am back home, I see myself sliding back to my old eating habits and for some reason I can't stop myself.When I was studying, I was folowing the Paleo diet 90% of the time, and I won't buy foods that contradicted that. It was simple, junk food did not have a place in my flat, and that worked perfectly. Going back home just ruined that. I tried several times to go back on track but it's just too dang hard. It took me almost 3 weeks to get back to my exercising routine but my eating habits are just terrible. Adding to the old habits, I just got a job that's starts a month away which gives me this insane amount of free time (I think I should've mentioned I'm a workaholic) and if I'm not doing something, I look to food as a way to waste time. You see I know what I'm doing is wrong, but how can I get back on track? You'd think that sticking with something for a year would be easy to come back to, but I'm finding it harder to pick it up again. Any ideas?

Hi! Several questions, but first background. I am 5'0", female, 18, and about 45 pounds overweight. 1. Half my family is doing Atkins ( the other half doesn't need to lose weight, which makes it really hard ), but I'm having a really hard time doing it because I can't seem to keep my carb count down. I'm eating the right foods, but I keep eating too many vegetables (cauliflower, brussel sprouts, green beans, etc), and I'm never sure if I'm using too much salad dressing (I like French and Caesar). Is there something I can do to make this easier, or is it something I just need to deal with? 2. Paleo vs. Atkins. Is one inherently better than the other? Not just in losing weight, but also in keeping it off and maintaining a healthy lifestyle? One allows fruit and not dairy, and the other allows dairy and not fruit (I love both). Is there a way to mix and match the diets and take the best from each one while still losing weight? With Atkins I can't have cheat days 'cause that messes up the whole body-in-fat-burning-mode thing. Is that how it is with paleo? Does one make you lose faster? Is one more reliable in keeping it off? Will I completely ruin it in paleo if I have cake and ice cream at Dad's birthday or with the occaisonal junk food snack? 3. Can you still lose weight if you're eating grains? Please don't tell me grains are bad for you; I don't believe that (I have evidence to back my belief up), so don't waste your time or mine trying to argue otherwise. I just want to know if the high carb count will counteract my losing weight or keeping it off. 4. Can I lose fat and build muscle at the same time? I don't care about looking muscular or toned or whatever- I just want to be stronger, more flexible, and have better stamina. Can my muscles improve to that while my body is burning fat? It seems to me doing that would help with the burning of fat because it could draw energy from the fat and the new muscle would also eat at the fat. 5. I tend to get bored when I exercise. I was doing a program that would get me up to doing 200 squats (in one set) in a day, and I was doing great, except I would get bored around the 18th rep. I'd like to train myself to run because it's useful in games and in case I ever need to run, but I get bored less than two minutes in. The same for using my stationary bike: it takes about a minute before I get hopelessly bored. I tried setting up so I watched a movie (doctor who, actually! ) while I cycled, but going at a steady pace I wasn't tired at the end, going any faster and I'm completely pooped in about ten minutes. Also when I try to do bodyweight exercises in my room, I can't because the floor squeaks and it disturbs my sisters (don't say do them another time, because I can't). So I guess my question in this, how can I build my strength and muscle in a way that I don't get bored. I'd still like to be able to do 200 squats and pushups and stuff, but if I'm bored I hate it and if I hate it I make excuses to not and if I make excuses I don't improve. I tried upping the intesity (ten jump squats instead of normal squats-to-boredom), but that still gets boring day after day. I think part of the problem might be I'm not being stimulated mentally, only physically. It's especially difficult to warm up, because that's five minutes when I'm not even pushing myself physically. Does anybody have any suggestions to stave off the boredom? And is there a faster warm up I could do in about a minute or less? 6. I'm tired all the time. Not exhausted, just in that want-to-lean-back-and-close-your-eyes kind of way. I get up between 6 and 7 and go to bed never any later than 10, but usually around 9. Am I getting enough sleep? Am I getting too much? Is this a result of a bad diet? Could it be not enough exercise? I'm at the same level of exercise I've been all my life (none) and it's only in the past year or so I've started feeling like this. 7. And finally, is someone willing to acountability buddy with me? Someone my age(ish) and gender (I say age because I'd feel more comfortable with someone my age. With an adult, it just gets complicated because I'm supposed to defer and can't disagree and stuff). I just want someone I can text with who will encourage and hold me accountable, and I'll do the same. I will not meet in person with you, so location doesn't matter. Thank you in advance for any help you can give me. I really really appreciate it.

“Eating and lifting are the only things Warriors worry about.†~ Nerd Fitness So far I have succeeded in building a solid lifting routine. But exercise is only a part of the battle. My strength and stamina is improving but my belly is not getting any less wobbly! We nerds are often told “you cannot outrun your fork.†So, in order to achieve Level 6, I plan to switch my focus on to what goes in to my body and my mind. I will continue to progress with my exercise routine, but I will concentrate on building a healthier mind and healthier food habits. My main quest is to fit comfortably into size 14 trousers. To move towards achieving this, I have set the following goals for this challenge: 1. Protein CHA+2 CON+2 STR+1 According to my NF Academy homework, 136g of protein per day should be sufficient. This rises to 176g-264g when I am looking to build muscle. Currently I do not hit 100g of protein per day very often. So, I will track what I eat and work towards eating more protein than I currently do. I will gradually find new ways of adding protein into my diet. By the end of this challenge I will be getting at least 136g of protein per day regularly. A=5 consecutive days over 150g protein B=5 consecutive days over 130g protein C=5 consecutive days over 110g protein D=5 consecutive days over 100g protein 2. Food discipline CON+3 STA+1 No eating after 8pm. A=36+ days with nothing to eat after 8pm B=30-35 days with nothing to eat after 8pm C=24-29 days with nothing to eat after 8pm D= 20-23 days with nothing to eat after 8pm 3. Ban boredom CON+2 DEX+1 When I get a craving for an unhealthy food, it’s usually because I am bored. Mostly, I end up playing “Candy Crush†for an hour and mindlessly eat some kind of junk. I no longer buy the junk so there is no junk at home. I will introduce a little extra activity here and there in order to keep boredom away. The activity can be anything useful, and I use the term “useful†in its broadest sense. A=36+ days where I was active and not bored B=30-35 days where I was active and not bored C=24-29 days where I was active and not bored D= 20-23 days where I was active and not bored 4. Life Quest: Practice meditation WIS+3 I will follow some meditation instructions (a book, a CD, on the internet or whatever) and will spend at least 10 minutes per day either reading through the instructions and practicing the exercises or taking part in a guided meditation. A=36+ days of meditation practice B=30-35 days of meditation practice C=24-29 days of meditation practice D= 20-23 days of meditation practice MOTIVATION: Your body keeps an accurate journal regardless of what you write down. If you start now you’ll see results earlier than if you start tomorrow. When you feel like giving up, think about why you started.

So I've come to discover I don't have much of an attention span. I like to keep changing things and keep progressing. I've been doing the same workout for about 4 weeks now. I'm to the point where I can start upping my weights or adding more reps to make it more challenging, but I'm a little bored with my workout routine. I still have the drive and ambition to continue working out and I've already got a plan for a 'new' workout figured out. But what do you all do to beat the boredom? I'd like to not change my workout entirely every month, so any suggestions would be awesome!