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Where to begin? I'll start by saying I am a 24 year-old Canadian girl. I'm 5'3", weighing ????? pounds (I'll get to that later), looking to really commit to getting my butt in shape!! Literally and figuratively speaking. I need to go back a bit to explain. A long time ago, in a city far far away.... For the longest time I was kept in decent shape by a physically demanding job, but then I was promoted to an office job. A financial "Yay!" but a physical "Oh no". I quickly went from weighing about 115lbs to 150lbs. Ouch. Over and over again I told myself I would get in shape, but I could never commit. Until about a couple months ago. I am doing great! I'm really trying to stick to mostly healthy eating as well as working out most days of the week. It also helped that I STOPPED weighing myself! I have no idea what I weigh right now and it's incredibly liberating. I realize that the scale is what made me stop every other time. Since your weight doesn't properly reflect how well you're doing, it was always a disappointment and very discouraging. Now that I am more determined than ever, I NEED SOME HELP. I need anything I can get ESPECIALLY support. Unfortunately my friends, and fiance, are all gaming nerds with 0 interest in being healthy, so I am on my own here. I'll tell you where I am at right now: Every Sunday and Thursday I take a 1 hour Iyengar yoga class (cutting back to one soon for financial reasons). 1-2 times a week I go to the gym with for 1-2 hours, usually focusing on either my arms or my legs (mostly machine-work for my legs). At home I switch it up quite a bit. From running on my treadmill for 20 minutes or so (attempting HIIT training), or doing awesome and short Youtube "Blogilate" workouts. As far as food goes, I am REALLY trying to eat healthy. Overeating is my weakness...and cheese...mmm...cheese (I'm never giving that up though). It's tough to find time to prep and cook dinner every night (if I don't cook, it's pizza or KD for dinner), So I'm also looking for great, healthy recipes that I can prep ahead of time, use the slow cooker and/or freeze. I also need some MAJOR support here. It's incredibly hard to eat healthy and properly living with someone that is determined to eat and buy junk all the time, as well as argues with me about what is good food and what is not. This also causes a lot of food to go to waste. If I don't eat fresh food right away, it's garbage. Did I also mention that I love playing video and computer games?!? It's true. So far I'm proud of myself for staying away from a new WoW subscription. Although I could probably resist the temptation on my own, it's nearly impossible with a certain someone I care about, begging, bribing, and reasoning with me to join him in doing some LFR (as in al of them) dungeons, daily quests etc. I also have incredibly low self-esteem. I need to stay positive and I just need someone to keep me on track! Someone I can talk to on a regular basis about healthy eating, new techniques and overall encouragement...and you know, I can also be won over with talks about Fantasy novels (esp. WoT...I have a Moiraine costume), Star Wars, Firefly, WoW, Diablo, and you know, general awesome things like that. Help me Rebels, You're my only hope!

So this is it, me committing to making something better of myself. So here we go, let's do this! This is my first challenge so I'm not sure how to start, and I'm a little late to the starting line, but here goes nothing. A little bit of me: I am a 20 year old Canadian man, I'm 5'11" and 135 lbs. I have moderate clinical depression that from time to time just rips apart and destroys any momentum and motivation I have to keep going (my psychologist recommended that I try to make exercises a constant in my life, then when I heard of this place with all of you wonderful people to hold me accountable and to keep me motivated I just had to join). I am a chef by trade, but currently unemployed. As a hobby I practice the martial arts of Hung Gar Kuen and Ninjutsu, I train in Parkour, I play D&D every wednesday, and I game. That's enough about me, onto the challenge! MAIN QUEST To master my own body by becoming stronger, faster, tougher, and more flexible. Three Goals 1. Train a body weight routine every other day, pushing myself to my limit. Doing this will help me gague where I am and how far I still have to go while making me stronger and building my endurance. Str, Sta, Dex, Con 2. Run at least 1 km on my off days, building eventually to 5+ km. This will not only help keep my momentum, but build stamina and speed. I'll throw in some vaults and walls for fun. Sta, Dex 3. Eat healthier, less processed food and sugar, and vegetables with every meal. Health is more than just physical capability, I want my body to run as smoothly and efficiently as possible. Con LIFE QUEST Get a job. MOTIVATION 1. My girlfriend. I want to be the best possible person I can be for her, both physically and emotionally. She is the light of my life, and the reason that I still bother to get out of bed in the morning. 2. Myself. I look in the mirror every day and see a skinny, lanky guy. I want to change that to something better. I want to be more confindent in my own skin, I want to be able to go to the beach and take off my shirt without being nervous. 3. Fun. I want to be able to do things with my more athletic friends. I want to be able to go to more sporting events and participate (like in Quidditch, Parkour, ect). Also, my girlfriend's dad is the stunt coordinator for an upcoming big film and if I can get in the right shape he'll let me be in the movie, so that would be really cool.

As promised, I am back for my second challenge and this time I'm coming into it a bit more prepared. Since my first challenge I have let myself continue to go back out of control and I am highly disappointed in myself for it. Because of my lack of vigilance I have begun to show signs of exposure to the deadly toxins of the "Standard North American Diet" or SNAD-virus. These signs include increased appetite and mindless eating, headaches, lethargy, acne, poor sleep, bloating, weight gain and digestion issues. My husband has also shown some of these symptoms as well as respiratory problems due to exposure. If treated immediately the effects are reversible but left unchecked, full infection is imminent. A 6-week Detoxification Protocol and Strength Training Regimen has been recommended for full recovery. Detoxification Protocol Dietary Restrictions: -Subject is to eat following the normal restrictions as outlined in the Paleo diet. -Subject is to limit consumption of caffeine, nuts, seeds, fruit and permissible dairy. -Subject is to follow the 6-week Operation Slim Down Meal Guide with minimal modification. Drink plenty of water to help flush the toxins from the body. Rest. Proper sleep is necessary for the body's recovery during the detoxification process. Failing to follow these recommendations will result in the failure to reverse the effects of exposure and possible full infection. Training Schedule Monday: Recreational Activity Tuesday: Dumbbell Division Workout Wednesday: Rest Thursday: Hapkido/ HIIT Friday: Dumbbell Division Workout Saturday: Rest Sunday: Dumbbell Division Workout Activities should include: frisbee, swimming, cycling, indoor wall climbing, kayaking and other activities designed to get the heart rate up while having fun. On rest days it is further recommended to remain active with stretching and moving frequently at a moderate pace. It is also a good time to practice combat techniques so that subject will be fit for battle once the healing process is complete. Subject is to report here on 07.28.13 at 20:00 for initial evaluation and every Sunday at the same time for re-evaluation. Main Quest: RecoveryFrom the articles I have read recently in desperation to regain control, my main problem seems to be leptin resistance. My main goal for the next six weeks will be getting my leptin back in order by taking the advice of this article. Now, we all know there's no underpants collecting here! I'll be taking action with the following missions: Eat 100% Paleo for the entire 6 weeks. It sounds hard but nothing worth doing is easy. I really want to make my main goal possible and this is the best fix there is. The primary reward for mission completion will be +5 Constitution. Do strength training 3 times a week. I've had dumbbells around for a while now and have yet to start using them seriously. I've mostly stuck to body weight exercises because of my familiarity with them. I've fallen off of my good workout habits in general and this is my way to level up training. Full completion of this mission will be rewarded with +4 Strength, +2 Stamina and +2 Agility. Keep a log. I know my logs are usually quite detailed and I tend not to leave anything out of them. I haven't logged anything since the last challenge ended and that's part of where I fell off the wagon. I am adopting Zuel's simple and clean logging style this time and forgoing the extra work of inputting everything I eat and do into MFP. I tend to obsess over macro nutrients and calories too much when I use that method and I am not very pleasant to be around when all my downtime is used up with the inputting and obsessing. Mission reward will be +2 Charisma for being less anal and more relaxed. Life Quest: Replace Retail Therapy with Recreation We have about $8000 in credit card debt to pay off before we can start saving for our first house and move out of the parent's basement. (Embarrassing at our age, I know.) I am very bad for using retail therapy when I am feeling down on myself or to fight boredom when I'm trying to keep my mind off of eating. Meanwhile, my reading list isn't getting any shorter and I have all these unfinished projects and ideas sitting around that would do just as well to keep me entertained while possibly even supplementing my income. I've been lazy here and going for the quick fix instead of taking the longer, more fulfilling path. As a side note my husband is also unhappy with the weight he's gained in the last few months and is going to be my silent partner for my challenge. He'll be attempting to go Paleo and join my strength training for the next 6 weeks with me. His added support will help keep me accountable and we tend to push each other harder when working together. With him as my wing-man, we will survive this outbreak and take some zombies down! Parameters set. Initiating program...