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Last challenge of the year! Like most of you, I'm not wanting to take on anything too crazy during the holidays. I want to enjoy myself, eat delicious food, and not be overwhelmed by an even busier schedule. And yet.... I don't want to gain weight this month. It would even be lovely if I could lose a pound or two. Enter the Plan™️: 1. Continue to move more, particularly the kind that triggers Satiated Brain. 2. Experiment with keeping a Bullet Journal to manage my time and expectations. I hereby give myself permission to have a messy, undecorated, practical BuJo. Function over form, unless I have excess time to make it pretty. 3. Deploy Intermittent Fasting strategies so I can enjoy amazing foods and mitigate the impact. I am aiming for around 15/9 fasting ratio. I haven't tried IF in years, but I sort of intuitively ate that way before when I was thin, so hopefully it won't be too stressful.

After 10 years on NF, I hate to say it, but, I need a break from the forums. It's been great but I'm a little fatigued and not putting in the effort I used to, to be here and stick to my goals. But I figured I'll be around for one more challenge to say some goodbyes, let you all know what I'll be up to, and not just disappear. I'm not likely to quit entirely, or forever, but just taking an indefinitely long break. So here's a list of my biggest priorities over the next few months. 1) Get spiritually swole: As I've mentioned in previous challenges, I am converting to Orthodox Christianity. Today marks the first day of the Nativity Fast, and with this comes a lot of prayer, fasting, reading/studying, and attending extra church services etc. Then Great Lent and the Catechumenate start in February/March. Then I'll be baptized on May 4 (love that it's on May 4). So that'll be another big bout of fasting, reading, prayer etc. So I'll be quite busy and focused on all that, and I'm planning to disengage from a lot of screen time. 2) I mentioned in the last challenge that I've hung up my heavy bag. I"m considering joining an MMA gym. The goal is to focus on karate for all around fitness, and be able to do some boxing/kickboxing for conditioning, and dip my toe into BJJ when I need to get humbled. 3) Running: for karate/mma and general fitness I want to be running/jogging regularly. For now I'll be working on that first mile, and hopefully working up to running 5k and 10k. 4) Strength training: I want to go back to a more bodyweight focused training and max that out before I set up the old power cage again. But also, do some clean and presses. 5) Trying to find a new line of work: I'm burning out in my current job/company. Doing the same job at another company may or may not appeal to me. IDK. I want to do something else. I recently was offered an adjunct teaching role, but I turned that down because of the catchumenate/Lent because I can't make the time commitments with that going on. But I can dabble, learn about, and explore other things. So basically, this isn't goodbye forever, but I feel like I need to pull away from the forum and screens in general to recharge and focus on other efforts.

Ah. You may be wondering what exactly is going on here with the cognac and the wet celery and what appears to be a very rude novelty candle. I can explain. It is all very simple. You see, two years ago, someone 'ad a little cough and tickle in the back of the throat, which led to a small pandemic, then riots and lockdowns and some terrible singing and a great deal of sourdough bread. Then we left it to the Americans to clean it up, and of course they made a giant balls-up of it all that nearly toppled democratic government as we know it, we still have the pandemic only larger, and now we are 'ere in world war three. What could be simpler. The celery is all I can afford for dinner with all the inflation, and the cognac is because I 'ave an 'eadache from all of this. And the very rude novelty candle, well, we 'ave to heat the house somehow, and it will not be with Russian oil now, will it. In short, the 'ole thing has been a giant cock-up from start to finish, and so is our winter heating. Oh my god, here comes that stupid Englishman who thinks he can speak our language: Oh, did I not mention 'im...? He 'as a "canning ploon". "Canning" like a bloody "fix", 'im. A taxidermied one, at any rate. He has a plan to keep fit in lockdown: He is at least keen, I will give 'im that. The Officer Crabtree "How to be a Plonker" Challenge Squits Plonk Intermittent fisting

SYRRAN: [My name is] Arev. T'POL: That means 'desert wind'. SYRRAN: Does it. Why are you here? ARCHER: We could ask you the same thing. SYRRAN: I follow the path of Surak in meditation and study. Challenge goals: Walk Meditate Study Bonus: Do logical things when there is emotional resistance. Challenge Tasks Mon Tues Wed Thur Fri Sat Sun Walk Meditate Study Cleaning Meditation Intermittent Fasting Logic Over Emotion (stretch goal) Yoga (stretch goal) Mindful Sleep Don't Forget Mon Tues Wed Thur Fri Sat Sun Meds Mail Monday ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ Trash Tuesday ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ Wash (clothes) Wednesday ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ Food Friday ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖

This challenge was rudely interrupted by a pandemic last year. However, now that we're settling into our post-apocalyptic plaguescape for the long haul, it is yet again time. This challenge, I will endeavour to become the Disc's second greatest lover. "My name's Casanunda," he said. "I'm reputed to be the world's greatest lover. What do you think?" Nanny Ogg looked him up and down or, at least, down and further down. "You're a dwarf," she said. "Size isn't important." This challenge, I'm working my way up the rankings of the world's lovers by leveling up my international playdwarf lifestyle. (Or, as a previous challenge put it, do things with elegance. Strangely, despite years of aikido and years of urban myths about people being told to do things elegantly, I had to re-derive the principle in another way before I realized this was not about aesthetics but about managing to combine mindfulness with emptying the mind.) Some of these may seem like odd choices for a fitness/life level-up (like increasing alcohol consumption, and, I dunno, taking life advice from the worst possible people), but there are three factors at play here: first, this challenge needs to be fun, cuz this us what we do instead of vacations in plague years; second, it's addressing recovery from a certain amount (which is to say, lots) of cutting corners on self-care in the broader day to day living sense and getting by on "acceptable"; and three, it's addressing the (narrative) causality between good habits and seemingly unrelated projects and lifestyle choices. Or, as Vetinari would have it, all the little wheels must spin so the machine can turn. And this is a timely challenge. I've really been struggling with self-care lately. Part I: Casanunda Training There are two first steps to becoming the world's greatest lover: First, yoga warmups with lots of hip openers, for obvious reasons, and, second, get into bed as often as possible. (For sleep, of course. I don't know what you're thinking.) If I'm going to be a soldier of fortune, I need to work on mental stillness and physical prowess. Walking and strength training, to start with, and some meditation. Tasks to be checked off: rewatch Casanova and take notes. Part II: Be a Better Lover Than Lord Rust "It was a Guild of Assassins, after all. Black was what you wore. The night was black and so were you. And black had such style, and an Assassin without style, everyone agreed, was just a highly paid arrogant thug." While Assassin-School-trained, Lord Ronald Rust did not particularly benefit from the lessons on style. So I think I can outdo him here on the things that make an Assassin an Assassin. The projects I will do here include repairing and replacing bits of my wardrobe with a focus on rotating in my higher quality clothes, leveling up my daily grooming from ultra-practical to something attempting a little actual style, and more aperitifs-and-tapas. This will also involve getting back in the habit of making actual things with recipes and planning and cultural connotations, rather than just going with the fastest and most basic form of slapping nutrition onto the table, and managing my pantry better. Also, getting back to my macros and IF schedule. Part III: Be a Better Lover Than Rufus Drumknott "I believe he collects different types of stationery," said Vetinari. "I have sometimes speculated that he might change his life for the better should he meet a young lady willing to dress up as a manila envelope." All this lifestyle-leveling-up requires a certain amount of organization and schedule-wrangling. Being the world's second greatest is demanding. And for me, leveling up the bachelor pad is going to center on organizing: not just finding the right place for everything, but finding the right use for everything, and the most efficient way to organize it all. Where the Lord Rust half of this focuses on making everything I own beautiful, the Drumknott portion involves making it all useful, and also includes recycling things I don't use into things I do. Things will fit into the storage I already have, be more organized, and work better. Also, the habits I use to clean and organise it will be streamlined.

Hi! Been doing IF for 7 days strict calorie control and macros. Day 4 woke me early with horrible stomach cramps. I ate carbs and egg with salt to resolve. Day 7 the stomach cramps came back and made me break my fast 3 hours early. Taking women MultiVits. Healthy 5"8 age 30 BMI approx 31 (Shy about weight!) Macros 40/35/25% prot/fat/carbs 156g/60g/98g 1500cal goal Light exercise: 2k jog twice this week Active job on feet Eating window is 13.30-21.30 Please help as I want to continue. I'm not feeling much hunger pangs but the abdominal cramps is awful. I'm worried that I'm harming my body. Has anyone had this? Thanks

Last challenge was yet another in the long line of fails I have had as of late. Hell, as of the last year even. That all changes here! At least I certainly hope so haha I have done cold turkey style in the past. and it seemed to work for me. A few times I have tried baby step it. Sometimes that works too. Really though, I feel fed up. I'm ready to get this going, so I'm mostly just going cold turkey. Goal#1 - Full on Keto, Tracking, and Fasting I've prepped a bit over the last week to make sure I get things setup to go full keto starting tomorrow. I'm not worried about calories so much, but I want to make sure to track carbs. I'm also going back into intermittent fasting. Week 0 I think 16/8 works nice. I'd actually like to try a longer fast first week. Like 72 hours or more. 9 points (3 each) per day 63 points per week. Goal#2 - Reading and sleeping I haven't read in awhile, and many bedtimes have ranged in the 3-4:30 am range. Add on I go to bed, then sit there not sleeping forever. So let's get this started up again. I need to get this sleep schedule going. Plus I'll sleep better as I lose wait again haha. The one night I will be up a bit later is Saturday night. I just need to get to bed asap there. 11 PM, off the computer to get reading. Get myself headed to be by 12. Eventually, I will move the times up, but this is good for now. Saturday's, I'll ready for 15-30 minutes, then hit the sack. Still should be close to 12. 4 points total per day. 28 per week. Goal#3 - Move that body This whole quarantine I have done diddly squat for any kind of exercise. Actually, I did do one small walk around my apartment complex last challenge. Man, I can tell just how out of shape I have become. bringing in groceries has been my workout ever couple of weeks or so haha. My plan is to walk every day. I'm not jumping into 10k steps right away. I want to start off with at least one walk in the morning around the complex. I'm also in need of doing some workouts. 3 times a week. No gym. I have some dumbbells here at home I can use. There are also so many body weight workouts that can be done. Eventually, I will get the weight down enough that I can get to use my rings and pullup bars for things too 5 points per day for walking. 35 points per week. 10 points per day of workouts. 3 workouts each week 30 points total. 65 points per week Goal#4 - Chores and more I'm stuck at home, why not actually get some chores done. There is plenty of things I can do. Spend at least 15 minutes doing chores. Check the dishes each day. Clean out the cat box each day. Start going though my boxes of cards and computers things. Get rid of all the things I don't need. Maybe I can get my stuff all cleaned through, then I can put together my lego sets that have been sitting here on the sidelines. 5 points per day. 35 points per week. Side Goal - Take 10 minutes to myself everyday I thought of getting some meditation in or some kind of mental health time in on this challenge. The apartment is packed full of actiity now with us all in stay atr hoem oprders. The youngest has zoom meetings with his classmates to do some distance learning, wife is also working at home and in meetings and such. I think part of why I have been staying up so late at night, is because it is that me time. Granted all day really is me time, but everyone is just around. Walking will help me a bit with this, but I think I just need to give myself 10 minutes each day. Lock myself in a bathroom or whatever. Sit, reflect, maybe practice a little meditation to help center myself. No points, just somethign I thought to toss in here last minute I'm going to need to make sure I start checking back in here as well. Maybe I need to restart posting in my Blog. Maybe even do it video style on Youtube. Overall, check in here and check out all the stuff with Nerdfitness prime. Things to help keep me in check. I really want this to be the restart I need to get me back on the path to reaching my future goals. I need to be getting that pull up done. I want to run again. Eventually, getting to 10k or 15k distance. I want to get close to that onederland weight level. I think that 185 - 200 lbs is the range I would probably be good at. BMI I think want me at a max of 165. I can't even imagine how I would look if I went for that weight. Points Week 1 (05/10 - 05/16) - 0/191 Week 2 (05/17 - 05/23) - 0/191 Week 3 (05/24 - 05/30) - 0/191 Week 4 (05/31 - 06/06) - 0/191 Week 5 (06/07 - 06/13) - 0/191 Total Challenge Points - 0/955 Measurements: (Week 0 / End of Challenge) Chest - 56.49 in / Waist - 61.73 i n/ Bicep (L) - 17.12 in / Bicep (R) - 16.33 in / Thigh (L) - 29.96 in / Thigh (R) - 29.37 in / Weight - 368.7 lbs /

Hi there It's been a while ... and I'm not sure I can call this a comeback or resurrection or whatever, because I've been absent from the forums quite a few times already and then come back and then fallen off the planet again and ... oh well you know what I mean What I love is that so many of the friends I made here are STILL HERE - you guys are absolutely amazing 😍 I was looking for a little re-inspiration and it makes me so happy to see Lady Hatter, the Lady of the Shay, Elize and Elastigirl and so many more still rocking on - ahhh the joy of coming to a fabulous place that still is Funny how my itch to check back in collided with the 10 year anniversary, so of course I have to be in for this again and tbh it's really high time again anyway!!! RECAP: I'll try to do a thorough recap here in honor of the 10 year anniversary thing, so it might get a bit long, sorrrrrrrrry I joined the NF Forums in November 2014 when I had started dabbling in pole dance and wanted to level up my game, plus find a better work-family-fitness life balance. Also I wanted to shed some more of my mummy-tummy that seemed to grow with the kids instead of diminishing with time 😉 I had a job I passionately loved and that kept me very busy and the challenges helped me to prioritize movement as much and enjoy it with a community of absolutely lovely people. Over the years I did loose the mummy tummy (mostly) and gained a lot of strength (up to two full pull ups from hanging woot woot and lots of push ups and inversions, whooooheeeeee) I struggled more at work and had some stuff creep in that took the joy out more and more, so eventually I stopped a big part of it and "only" continued working in my own praxis as a healing practitioner. Started diving deeper into meditation and found a solid ground in that, that will always catch me now no matter how deep I fall (even if I don't feel the improvement straight away everytime - it does come and I am learning to trust it) Due to the work shift, my budget changed, I stopped taking pole classes and as a result trained less and less on the pole overall. Sad thing that, but we won't dwell on that. My weight kept piling up again and then I'd manage to get it down for a while, but it does still nag at me, because the ease with which I gain has increased a LOT over the past few years. What bugs me about it, is that it's visceral fat mostly and I am not keen on developing a metabolic syndrome or have it develop any further if that is what's already happening here. In October 2018 I started going to the gym with hubby and picked up strength training where, which is great fun and I am super happy to do it together with him. By now our boy even joins us from time to time, when he's not working (time flies!! Can't believe one of my babies is studying already, the other working as an apprentice and youngest already a teenager in grade 8 ) Also started playing a bit with Intermittent Fasting but not very consistently and fell off again later on in the year. In spring 2019 I had gotten down to 67 kg which is not my ideal weight, but still feels quite fine to me, managed to keep it at 68 - 69 kg over summer but from October to December my weight went up to 74,5 kg and that was NOT going to go on!!! So end of December I started experimenting with Intermittent Fasting more seriously again - I'll expand on that a bit more later, if you don't mind - and am thrilled to be at about 70 kg again at the moment. Best part being that the dreaded belly fat reduced significantly. After 7 weeks of IF I am hitting a motivational slow down and even though I can see the continuous improvements, I somehow don't get that excited about them and am feeling a bit tired of the whole effort and all. I think part of it is the lack of inspiration and knowledge about what I WANT to eat when I eat and what would be ideal for my body. Also I have taken on a new job beside my healing work again - and it's awesome, I absolutely love it, buuuuuuuuut it's a lot of desk work and I am becoming too stagnant again. So frustration might also just stem from inertia and how unfit I feel when I do exercise. I find myself out of breath on hikes, that used to be a walk in the park and unable to do even a single full on push up what is this?!! What now: I want to enjoy my days thoroughly with a healthy body, happy spirit and plenty of fun time as well as productive work time - is that doable? I don't know, but I'll keep going for it My goals for this challenge are therefor: DO SOMETHING Do some form of exercise 6 days out of 7 Be it a workout at the gym, a walk, a hike, using the 7 minute app - whatever - do SOMETHING EAT NOTHING Stick to those fasting hours!!! Eat nothing an average of 18h / day over the course of each week keep tracking my stats and progress on that EAT AND GROW ALL THE THINGS Make sure I get plenty of goodies into my dear body when I do eat Grow all kinds of sprouts and nut seeds to eat Keep tending my Scoby for Kombucha and try to eat mooooore veggies (how hard can it be?) LIFE GOAL uncluttering the basement to free my pole from all the clutter monsters and get it ready for a new challenge to come That's my plan for now and I guess I will only find out if it makes sense, if I stick to it for long enough 😛 I can promise pics of sprouts and scoby, haha, and hopefully of the occasional hike. Next challenge after this might be more exciting again

Title pretty well says it all. This 5 week challenge is devoted simply to eating right. The goal is to intermittent fast 6 days a week, eating only between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. I figured I should take my lack of food around the house and turn it to my advantage. Instead of grubbing for food on the way home, I can get a decent meal at work for breakfast and lunch, and keep it at that. Simple, measurable, and achievable. Game on! - Murphy's Roommate

Let's go back to January 2019. I weight 94.6 kilo and getting heavier. So it was time for a change. I ate less, mostly cutting out snacks and lost weight. 1st of July I weight 92.1 kilo. I had been lower, but the last two months was gaining again. Also I wasn't really happy with the progress anyway. I attempted IIFYM and pledge to do that for July. However as I had to eat more, I got more and more hungry. (How's that for a twist, eating more made me more hungry and miserable). Come August my BF and I did a lot of research and were ready to take on the next challenge. My weight was now 91.4 kilo. We decided to go low-carb. At first aiming for no more than 100 grams of carbs. Half way through August we easily could stay below 50 grams. We learned a lot. Managed a lot. And we're going strong to this day. I'm currently weighing 83 kilo give or take. At the start of December I was 85.1 kilo. Even the holiday season can't ruin my progress anymore. I feel the best I've felt in a long time. So in 2020 I'm going to continue and smash more goals! I want to lose another 10 kilo, but that's no longer really the focus. That'll happen on its own. Also the centimetres are more important to me now anyway. I'm losing those too! So for 2020 these will be my goals! Health 1. Cycle 100 km 2. Do 10 real push-ups Relationship 1. Spend more meaningful time with BF 2. Give my attention to BF every day Discipline 1. Disconnect from technology every day 2. Meditate every day Career / Education 1. Learn how to manage my time 2. Learn how to create better photos For January these are the habits I'll be working on. 1. Meditate every day 2. Do 1 push-up (any progression) every day 3. Be in bed by 10 pm before every work day 4. Fast till 12:30 pm every work day 5. Read every day 6. Take my medication every day Let's go

Hey everyone! To those who frequent my challenges, welcome back! To those who are new, welcome to my crazy rantings. Feel free to introduce yourself, I love meeting new people. I was looking over my New Year's goals from 2019. Many of them I at least attempted at some point this year. Some I realized just were not for me, others I just didn't prioritize, some I stuck to all year, and some I started and stopped throughout the year but am finally getting them to stick. I noticed that most of the weightier of my goals, the ones that should have been highest priority and were of most value to me were the ones that actually received the least priority. In other words, I prioritized the easy stuff that didn't matter as much instead of focusing on the things that would really propel me toward where I want to be. One of those things is fitness. I have put going to the gym on my list of goals every year, and every year I make very little progress towards that goal. It is not for lack of interest. I have gone to the gym, I know a good workout session feels good, I WANT to be a person who goes to the gym, but I always have a (rather pathetic) excuse not to go. I have a lot of life goals that I want to work on next year, and I don't want to be fighting tooth and nail with a gym habit, so my goal is to use December to at least start to get into the swing of things so that by the time New Year's hits, I don't have to focus as much energy on just convincing myself to go. I also want to continue solidifying some recently introduced habits (twice-daily skincare routine, twice-daily teeth brushing routine, daily flossing routine, intermittent fasting) so they are more secure before I add new resolutions in January. The recently introduced habits all had great streaks last challenge, so they are definitely getting closer to where I want them, but I am not yet ready to take the focus off of them. And finally, I want to finish up my reading goals for the year. Challenge Goals: 14:10 Intermittent Fasting during the workweek (attempt on weekends and during holiday travels, but not required) Gym Week Zero: Get a gym membership at pre-selected local gym and workout at least once Week One: Get to the gym at least twice for weight training Reading - Finish last book to hit my goal of 30 books in a year (complete) Daily Routines 2x Skincare 2x Brushing Teeth 1x Flossing Let's finish this year out strong!!

And so it Begins. The countdown to Shodan, that I have probably been trying to avoid for the better part of a year now. I didn't want to test in April (I had other fitness goals/baselines I'm trying to return to before the exam), but with Sensei apparently being okay with me teaching without a blackbelt and many, many, many people ganging up on me to test, I pretty much have no choice outside of a massive injury. And so here we are. My approach to my beginning degree. And as is typical, my body is still kind of a mess, so this challenge is all about preparing for the exam and the strain I'm about to take over the next 5 weeks. 1) Shodan Prep - 8 hours of class a week, plus yoga and November Project It's been a long, long time since I've been this active. I suspect it's going to suck, but I need it to polish things on my test, plus help with my flexibility, and up my endurance. I initially put myself as having 9 hours, but it's been so long since I've done more than 5 hours in a week, I don't want to burn myself out. Saturdays I have the ability to train for 4 hours in classes, and will probably do so as all of those classes involve people who I really like having eyes on me for Shodan prep. I figure I can make 4 additional hours otherwise pretty easily during the week, even if I take it light. 2) Physical and Mental Selfcare - Thursday night intensive selfcare. So I figure with all this activity, I'm going to be exhausted, mentally and physically. Mentally, I'm blocking off all Thursdays until the exam as hermit-time. I love the dojo, but it also means I'll be dealing with people for longer hours than I'm used to, even if the people involved tax me less than the general public. I also will take the time to do whatever stretching, foamrolling, and sleeping I need that the other days haven't covered. 3) Better Fuel - Paleo-centric Intermitent Fasting (16-8ish), Food purge I liked the 16-8ish window I had going on last challenge. Company being here screwed that up, but it works well for me otherwise. What doesn't work well is that Company shows her love in gifts, and in this instance a lot of the gifts were junk food. So I need to find everything she left behind and either store it out of sight or just straight up toss it. I feel bad, but when we started dating had told her after a while that would happen. Otherwise, mostly-paleo is the plan. I might try to figure out some easily prepped lunch plans, too. 4) Big Events: Major tasks and events for the upcoming challenge March 16th: Dojo cleaning and St Patrick's day gathering March 28th: Kanai memorial class at dojo March 30th: Kanai memorial seminar at NEA April 5th: Final Fantasty Distant World's Concert April 6th: Friend's shodan exam April 12: Shodan Exam April 13th: Sioux memorial seminar at Harvard Aikikai Figure out hakama size, order that and belt Schedule windshield tank repair March 25 Schedule 2 massages before exam March 20 April 10 Get haircut before FF Concert Final Jamaica vacation logistics So very busy the next several weeks. Plus side is that work is going smoothly (or at least as smoothly as science allows), so I can focus on all this stuff rather than having a split attention and panic. Onwards and upwards and to the Start.

A bit late to the party and yet there so much to do! High time I put my challenge up and get some oooomph going again For those who don't know me, I'm a happy go lucky fire dragon from Germany that used to fly around pole and a bitty on the aerial hoop as well, then kind of fell into a slumber of inertia and padded up a little... Life was still moving, but fitness not so much and I discovered how the longer the gap between things, the harder the hurdle to get started again. Well, the hurdle was crushed during end of 2018 and my January challenge this year was like reaping from the three or so before in terms of it going super well and me feeling like I can do this fitness thing again I even managed a nice balance of fitness, family, work and household things, go me. Thanks to a silly stubborn cold, I lost momentum a little and could not wooosh into this challenge like I would have loved to, but I'm getting better everyday and it's time to rock another challenge Talking about rock, I've got a theme song this time, check it out This song always puts me into a good mood and helps me take all those flippin decisions in my life less seriously. I really believe we can change like the weather and watch out I might just do that I'll spend the last week of this challenge in an intense meditation retreat with Dr Joe Dispenza in Bonn, Germany and am beyond excited about it, squeeeeeeeeee (There are so many possible challenge themes in preparing myself for it, that I had trouble choosing and don't ask me how I ended up with this song instead, I really don't know) Anyway... No way of knowing what all will happen there, but I am expecting the unexpected and new for sure Miracles even, as a lot of people have spontaneous healings at these events. While I don't have any health issue that needs healing, I am very keen on learning how to help others better in their healing. Also am really curious what activities await us for going beyond common comfort zones, have to admit heights might really freak me (they never used to when I was younger) at the same time I remember the boost of energy I had after the two fire walks I had the chance to go on some years ago and this might be similar in having conquered things that my mind tells me I can't. Climbing up a pole like they did in this event would be soooooo awesome, the feeling at the top must have been utterly amazing! But before I go, there is lots that I want to get done still. A good chunk of work projects that I'd like to progress on, some house keeping stuff (that always seems to pile up), getting back into my training rhythm plus adding some pole fun, keeping up my meditations and experimenting with intermittent fasting.... Basically I want to do all the things again Rock, Paper, Scissors, which one is it going to be....? Let's see how often I can go for each of them ROCK - Strength training 2x/week - Pole PvP with @Mad Hatter and who knows where that will lead to .... plus - rock solid foundation in meditation: rise and meditate at 4am (Mon - Fri) or 5am (Sat/Sun) PAPER - tend my website, get some more audio recordings up and update some texts - write a nice article and send it out with a newsletter - get accounting done for January plus - some reflection on my day on actual paper at night or coloring in on paper instead of on screens SCISSORS - cutting down my eating times again; going for 16/8 and maybe an occasional longer fast in between - cutting and pasting motivational images into a mind movie to encourage me into bold, new adventures (this is actually preparation for the meditation retreat, so I better get on it asap) plus - cutting screens out of the hour before bed time might have to rediscover some creative things

I am returning to Nerd Fitness after being away since February 2017 (A Journey of a 1000 Stairs) where I attempted to do 1000 stair climbs and lose weight accumulated and maintained post the birth of my 2nd son. I succeeded in getting down to about 180lbs from about 200 lbs. I did not reach my dreamed of 165lbs. Instead, I got pregnant with my third and final child (a dreamed of daughter) and my weight bounced right back up to 220lbs at the height of the pregnancy. For the first time I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes - which made for interesting self experimentation with a blood glucose reader and many meals. I had my baby girl in May of 2018. Recovery was better than it had been with number 2 - at least I did not have drop foot! AND I was super active before and after the birth. However, something about turning 40 and having gained all this pregnancy weight - my weight went down to 190 and then did a massive up turn back to 110. I have been hovering between 202 and 206 lbs ever since. So - given my NF experience... and I signed up to Mutu Mamas and had a physio as well in the early days post pregnancy (diastis rectii). So here I am thinking, I am crossing the T's and dotting the i's and yet.. not a single budge of my weight. This is the least stressed I have been in eons. I am not working, I have the time and ability to go to the gym at max 2 hours per day... I spent a lot of time in an active upright state. I eat wholesome healthy home made food. I work out at least three times a week and I get a decent (if not enough) amount of sleep. I haven't eaten my children yet. I have a weakness for sweets and baked goods but I am not as glutton as I have been in the past. I practice a great deal of restraint. Breastfeeding may play a part and be a factor with regards to hormones that are involved in retaining weight. So bringing it down to basic things that affect my weight - I will make an effort to drink more - I will make an effort to sleep more - I am aware breastfeeding hormones are a thing As far as diet goes, I have started Intermittent Fasting as of last week - too soon to see any difference - and last week I went to the gym for a two cardio box classes, one aquafit class, one yoga, and one anti-gravity restorative class. That's four times! This week I've already gone in for a 20-20-20 class (step meets weights). Plan is to go to the gym at least three times a week. At least one time for a yoga/restorative session. That leaves food - Granted with three kids and a bunch of carb eating junkies... I am pretty good at keeping things home made and nutritious. I started baking my own bread! So given that I started regime above only last week - too soon to tweak anything here. (I did a MFP check and my daily calories are around the 1650 mark.. so not terrible).

Just broke out my skinny jeans today! I'm back down to the size I was when I fell off the wagon last year after a death in the family and loads of stress, and getting here this time has been much easier and more fun with NF. I still have a long way to go toward my long-term goal, but this victory feels awesome. Plus I tried on a dress today and didn't hate it. I have hated myself in dresses for decades. I didn't buy it because I didn't LOVE it. Still, I feel like it was real progress!

Hey All, I'm back. Last challenge went well, I didn't hit everything I wanted to, but life is a process. Big Picture *Current Weight: 240lbs *Goal Weight: 175lbs swinging for the fences here, I haven't seen this since high school 16 years ago *Short Term Goal: Weigh 235lbs by the end of the challenge. Adulting: *Two items from Flylady's detail cleaning per day *One more thing that is adultish here Movement: *Simple and Sinister 5 times a week *Fighter Pullup Program 5 times a week Eating: *Practice 16/8 Intermittent Fasting 5 out of 7 days *Track food using MyFitnessPal

Hi All, A long while back I started my NF journey with the Monks. I took some time off of the forums and have bounced around between the different guilds and have found my way back here. Originally the family and I were attending classes at a Kajukenbo dojo but ended up stopping because it didn't fit into our schedule (Getting off work, driving a half hour home, pick up the miniBrowncoat, half hour back to the dojo, hour for class, half hour home plus homework, cooking, household chores, led to burnout right quick). I do miss the activity though, and the miniBrowncoat has been asking if he can go to karate class again. I have a lead on an instructor who lives in our town and would eliminate the driving back and forth. I'm hoping that he will work out and that he also teaches adult classes... And on to the goals Longterm Goal: Weigh less than 180 pounds. Right now I'm weighing in at 250, I want to get healthy to make sure that I can enjoy life with my family. That is the big goal, the short-term goal right now is to hit 240 by the end of the challenge. How to do this: *Fix the eating. I need to get my diet under control. Last challenge I had the goal of starting a Whole30 reset, but that didn't happen. The house wasn't set up enough to make it feasible. Eventually I will do one of these, but for now I'm going to try and focus on cleaner eating. I don't have to be perfect, but I do want to be better. I have the tendency to avoid fruits and vegetables. Eat at least 1 serving of fruit and 2 servings of vegetables each day. Use IF (16/8) at least 5 days a week. Stretch goal: Start tracking what I am eating using MyFitnessPal. This doesn't have to be a long term commitment, but I think it will help me be more mindful of what I am eating and reset my notions of what a normal size meal should be. Move more. I know that food is the main ingredient to losing weight, but being fit and capable is also important. Simple and Sinister 5 times a week. I am finally starting to use the kettlebell again. I started for awhile back in spring, but pushing too fast led to bursitis in my shoulder. I'm starting S&S again, but really trying to ease into it. Right now I am up to 70/100 swings (adding a set of 10 each week) and doing 1 getup on each side. I've also added armbars into the warmup to try and prehab my shoulders. Stretch Goal: Find a place to hang my gymnastic rings. I've got them but haven't used them. I tried hanging them off of my doorway pullup bar but kept slamming my knuckles into the door frame or banging my head into the pullup bar. Adulting. Get the house cleaned. We never really recovered getting the house clean since we got an evacuation notice for the wildfires this summer (we didn't actually have to evacuate, but it was a hectic 2 hours thinking we would have to and ransacking/pillaging the house and loading it into the car). Pick one chore to finish the next day. Actually do it. Totally stealing this concept from Machete. Donate stuff. We have two big boxes to donate of old clothes/toys/stuff that we don't think we can sell. Get it out of the house! Schedule shredding service. Lots of paperwork that has moved with us that needs to be shredded. Find a shredding service that will come to the house and get rid of it for us. Stretch Goal: Start selling stuff. Need to get crap out of the house. Any cash that comes of it is a bonus.

I had a rather succesful challenge, so let's keep the pace going. Just a heads up, I probably won't be very active. This means I probably won't be visting other people's threads. I will have a hard time to keep updating my own I think. Background info Statistics Long term goals Goals for this challenge I fast for at least 14h a day At least 2 days a week I fast for 16h At least 5 days a week I follow a meal plan (breakfast & lunch) Bread with cheese + handful of nuts (or healthy replacement) Bread with cheese + strawberry cottage cheese (or healthy replacement) At least 5 days a week I sleep 7.5 hours -> turning in at alarms At least 2 days a week I cycle Tuesdays: training rides Weekends: tours At least 1 day a week I walk Bonus goals Replace 1 slice of bread with vegetables/protein Go from 3 meals to 2 meals Track kcal intake and adjust as needed At least 1h a week I play AC Unity Progress 13 augustus - 9 september 2018 Goal # per week 0 1 2 3 4 Total % 14h fast 7 2 2 6% 16h fast 2 1 1 10% Meal Plan 5 1 1 4% Sleep 7.5h 5 3 3 12% Cycling 2 1 1 10% Walking 1 0 0 0% AC Unity 1 0 0 0%

Hello! I'm looking for some advice please! I do intermittent fasting on 16:8 with my feasting window being 12pm to 8pm. I love to work out early in the mornings usually around 7/8 - I don't always work out this early but this is my favourite time to do so - I do purely weight training no cardio. I can't say after fasted training that early that I get particularly hungry waiting until 12pm to eat and I drink plenty of water (at least a litre just in the hour training session) so i'm all good on that front. However I don't know if say my training finishes at 8am if its detrimental to then wait 4 hours to till 12pm to then break my fast? There's unfortunately no wiggle room with my feasting window as I still live in the family house and dinner/tea is set at 8pm. Whenever I train within my feasting window I will have 2 tablespoons of Greek yoghurt before and after training to get my protein/BCAA's - just personal preference that i prefer to 'do it' through Greek yoghurt than protein shakes or BCAA powders. So finally if it isn't great to be waiting 4 hours after my fasted training to break the fast should I either just break my fast earlier that day and have a longer feasting period or should i just have the 2 tablespoons of greek yoghurt ONLY AFTER my training and then wait as normal till 12pm to begin my actual feasting period? Thankyou so much for any answers! Emmie

After an extremely long hiatus, I'm back. I fell off the Nerd Fitness wagon last year but now I'm back. I did a few challenges previously and I liked the four week format. I've been on a weigh loss journey for a very long time but have never reached my end goal. When it comes to exercise, I have no problem at all -- I love it. My problem is eating, I don't make the best food choices. Currently I'm doing Weight Watchers and while I track my foods on their app as well as on My Fitness Pal, I eat too many "high point" foods. So, I am setting up this challenge to hold myself more accountable and to have the support of the NF community. Goal #1: Continue half marathon training -- race is on May 6th I'm currently using the half marathon training app from Zenlabs and I like the prompts it gives me when to run or walk. The race is only 7 weeks out and even though it's not my first race, I just wanted to be a bit more prepared than I have during previous races . I'm finishing up a RunBet this week and I've found that has been a great motivator to run on a regular basis. Goal #2: Orangetheory at least 3x/wk As I continue to go to OTF, I can feel my body getting stronger. There are days I don't want to go after sneaking a peek at the day's workout (usually when burpees are involved) but have to since I have goals to meet. I want to continue going at least three times a week so I can keep up my weekly calorie burn. Goal #3: Vegetables or salad with each meal I don't eat enough vegetables. It's not that I don't like them, I just don't make an effort to make them for each meal. So yes, I will work on getting more vegetables in each day. Goal #4: Continue IF 16:8 I've been doing consistent intermittent fasting for the last few weeks and I feel it has been going well. I changed jobs back in October and now have a schedule where it's not as torturous to wait until 12 to eat a meal. I start work later in the day so by the time I get to work, it's almost time to break the fast. I would like to continue working with IF to see if it can help me yield better results as far as weight loss goes. I know there have been studies where IF doesn't work as well for women but I still want to keep at it. Wish me luck! I'm glad to be back

Hello visitor. For those who don't know me, mandatory background info: Here are my goals this challenge. I'm doing a bare minimum because I've just been "done/tired" with everything lately. My mental health is not quite up there, so I take it easy for a bit. #1 No Snacking - No snacking on weekdays - A snack is anything not part of a meal (max 3 meals a day) - Fruit and nuts are not counted - A deep fried cafeteria snack is still a snack, even if it's eaten with lunch #2 Intermittent Fasting - Every day for at least 15 hours (up 1 hour from last challenge) #3 Cardio - 3x a week - Walking / Cycling / Spinning - At least 5 km or 20 min I've decided to do my fitness goal slightly different, mostly more relaxed and have me stressing a lot less. The important thing is that I do exercise 3x a week, doesn't matter whether that is on a bike or on my own feet. IF is gonna be challenging again. Last challenge I did manage 100% at 14 hours though, so I'm feeling confident! That's all there is to it. I generally use this thread to journal. I also post challenge updates reguraly. This challenge I will use Track your fast and Habit Bull for tracking. This in place of my handy spreadsheet.

Hello Scouts! I thought I give this guild a try My name is Siferiax, or Sif, or Siffy, or... be creative! I'm a female and 30 years old. I have a boyfriend and two cats. I'm working within the limitations of autism & hypermobility (the moment flexibility SUCKS) I love road cycling and spinning. I also love walking. I unfortunately have quite a road cycling trauma I have to get over at the start of every season. I made a false start with a walking goal last year. The idea was to walk every single weekend for the entire year. Hypermobility basically ruined it and it ended up with me unable to walk for more than 30 min. I got shoe soles and special physical therapy and I'm happy to be able to say I CAN walk again. SO this year I'm again going for that goal! Unfortunately my problems with cycling haven't been resolved yet. I have been to the hospital and hopefully soon I'll get a special adjustment in my cycling shoe. Right now I do spinning for at least 20 minutes. Sometimes it goes well and I go for longer and sometimes it doesn't. I have been doing more spinning though. Right now I'm trying for Tuesday and Thursday. As for diet I'm currently focusing on Intermittent Fasting (IF) and no snacking (see below). I'm otherwise eating whatever I want. This has to do with my mental health in part and my sanity as another part. I'm a very picky eater and I dislike a lot of common foods. And ESPECIALLY I can't take anything spicy/hot/sharp/whatever you wanna call it. And with anything I mean not even in the slightest. Which is a challenge all it's own. And that's basically my background in regards to my health. ONTO THE FUTURE! I focus on habits instead of goals, but I have decided on some passing grades. So here goes. #1: No snacking (+WIS) Limited to weekdays only. On weekends I can snack, though it shouldn't be a snack feast either. A snack is defined as follows: anything not part of a meal (max 3 meals a day) and not a fruit or nut. Snacks as part of a meal are not tolerated when they fall into the category of deep fried cafeteria snack. (I seem to gain a bad habit there) Passing grade: 50% #2: Intermittent fasting (+STA) I fast at minimum 14 hours every day. I don't hold strictly at times, though usually I don't eat between 19:00 and 9:00. Passing grade: 100% #3: Drink 2 bottles of water (+CON) Every weekday I drink 2 bottles of water (I have 2 bottles with me to work) On the weekend I don't use my bottles, but should be mindful to drink enough Passing grade: 100% #4: Physical Therapy (+STR) As part of my recovery from downright evil hip problems I had physical therapy. I should still be doing this every day. They are mostly core strength exercises. Passing grade: 25% #5: Walking (+STA) I love walking and I want to do more of it! I want to not be limited by my endurance or muscles. I walk at least once a week. At least 5km. My end goal would be to have enough endurance for a vacation to New Zealand (goal and reward wrapped up into one ) Passing grade: 100% #6: Cycling / Spinning (+DEX) More spinning more better! And road cycling when weather allows. They are my absolute joys! I cycle (outside or inside) at least once a week for at least 20 minutes. Passing grade: 50% #7: Take medication (+CON) So on top of all the limitations I have... I have some more I have laxatives as a "real" medication. I also have supplements for my period. I should be taking my laxatives every day. Period supplements are more... flexible?! Passing grade: 25% #8: Creativity (+CHA) I want to be more creative. Writing, drawing, designing, coloring, you name it. I want to do a creative activity at least once a week. D&D Prep and D&D sessions count toward this. Passing grade: 0% As you can see my passing grades are all over the place. They indicate my focus and most important habits. For example IF is one of my main focus, while creativity is more of a nice to have. These grades and exact habits are probably going to change every challenge I don't change goals, I change focus and details. I use a nifty Google spreadsheet to track all these things. Including my current streak. Link is in my signature EDIT: I forgot I was gonna do stats again Here's the challenge start stats as I promised myself last challenge: STR: 2 | DEX: 2 | STA: 3 | CON: 1 | WIS: 1 | CHA: 1 What's what? I've added to my goals what they can earn me! I always felt the stats go up too quickly. So I earn 1 point for getting at least a passing grade. I'm not gonna bother with levels, so I'm leaving those out.

Challenge #2 of the year. Let's do this. My last challenge went really well for me. 96% overall score. It was exactly what I needed in my return to the Nerdfitness forums. With in one month, I have stopped taking all my medication and lost 22 lbs. With seeing success in the last challenge, this challenge will be very similar. I will add in a few more upgrades to my challenge goals, to push myself a bit more. Hopefully, this will enforce the habits to have them as a good base for the rest of this year, and beyond. Now, on towards the goals for this challenge! Goal #1: Keto on, and add in IF I have successfully ate in the keto method since the first of the year. I figure I may as well continue that on. This challenge, I want to add intermittent fasting back into my eating habits. Now, I may need to adjust the eating window from time to time, but I am going to go for a consistent 18/6. 18 hours of fasting, 6 hours of eating time.My window will be 11 am to 5 pm. This should cover most my needs for times I need to get eating in by. I still need to track everything in MyFitnessPal. Goal #2: Walking, Walking, Walking... I started off last challenge going for 3 days a week to walk on. Eventually moving up to 5 days. This challenge I want to start off with 5 days a week of walking. Eventually moving up to 6 or 7 days, or possibly staying 5 days, but increasing step count. My eventual goal is to get back to running, and possibly adding in body weight workouts. Goal #3: You must still get Sleep I did well last challenge with closing down everything by 11:30 pm, reading till 12:30 am, then getting to bed. Though I have been able to easily slip back into night owl habits in the last few days. I need to have this again. I also notice I wake up a lot more while my wife is getting ready for work. So to get more possible sleep, I am going to try to get to bed 30 minutes earlier. Shut all things down by 11 pm. Then read till Midnight, and head to bed. I'm going to grade on reading as well, because it is too easy for me to not read, but still get to bed on time. Goal #4: Start and finish Introduction to Linux I figure for a bit of fun, I'll take an online course. I've played with linux from time to time, but don't know a lot. This means time to take this class I signed up for awhile back https://www.udemy.com/introduction-to-linux-centos-7/learn/v4/overview Looks like 26 lectures, so I'm guessing enough to last the month. Grading: Goal #1 - 7 days, 3 points per day. 1 point for IF, 1 point for tracking, 1 point for under 20 net carbs Goal #2 - 5 days, 1 point per day of walking. (may get adjusted during the challenge) Goal #3 - 7 days, 2 points per day. 1 point for reading started at 11, and 1 point for heading to bed at 12. Goal #4 - 6 points per week. Almost one per lecture course. Weekly points: Week 1: 37/40 points - 92% Week 2: 38/40 points - 95% Week 3: 0/ points - Week 4: 0/ points - Overall challenge score: Measurements End of last challenge/Start of new challenge/Finish: (taken Feb 5th) Weight: 345.6 lbs / 340.2 lbs / 335.4 lbs Neck: 19.68 in / 18.85 in / 19.60 in Chest: 54.72 in / 53.74 in / 52.95 in Waist at bell button: 59.84 in / 58.66 in / 58.07 in Bicep (L): 16.37 in / 17.08 in / 17 in Bicep (R): 16.33 in / 17.04 in / 16.61 in Forearm (L): 13.34 in / 13.46 in / 13.22 in Forearm (R): 13.58 in / 13.58 in / 13.50 in Thigh (L): 29.44 in / 28.70 in / 28.58 in Thigh (R): 28.30 in / 27.99 in / 27.71 in

Sea Level back again for another battle against the robot masters. These are my opponents: Six days a week to conquer Gravity Man! Get upside down six days a week, starting with wall walks and handstands on the walls Battle Metalman one day a week! At minimum, once a week, walk 3 miles with a 20-pound plate. I got myself a GoRuck pack last challenge, and got a 20-pound plate mid-way through last challenge. I have a three-mile route around my neighborhood that I've enjoyed. I'm going to do this walk with the 20-pound GoRuck plate at least once a week. It's also a three-mile roundtrip walk to work, so bonus points if I do that. Six days a week, take on Woodman! Intermittent fasting six days a week, eating lots of vegetables. I started IF in December, and I feel great, and I've lost 10 pounds. It's great. My eating window is 11 am to 7 pm, with the bigger meal at the end of the day. On Saturday, I may have a cheat day and have a good breakfast with nice, crispy bacon. ! Conquer Quickman by challenge end! Read a book by the end of the challenge. Being quick means having mental strength. Last challenge, I finished Desert Solitaire as part of my Goodreads challenge. (I want to finish 15 books this year.) So I'll keep that goal going with another book this month. I started Sense and Sensibility this month. Most people may not think about men reading Jane Austen, but I've heard good things about her books from other men. So I'm going for it.

I'm back. It's hard to believe it's been more than a year since I've been here. Let's go. I: Gain Strength Bodyweight workout at least twice a week. Particularly, I want to focus on improving my overhead pulling and pushing. These are areas where I'm pretty weak. Pull-ups and shoulder presses/wall walks will be a part of my workouts. II: Walk Do my three-mile walk at least once a week. This should be simple. I have a three-mile route that I can walk to work, or I can take a loop around my neighborhood. Poor weather and short days may limit the frequency of this walk, so I only put once a week. For Christmas, I bought myself a GoRuck pack. I may get a ruck plate as well so I can carry weight easily. I want to incorporate this into my hiking. III: Eat Right Intermittent Fasting (calorie input between 11:00 and 19:00) six days a week. (Saturday breakfast may be permitted!) I've been doing IF on occasional days over the last month or so, and my weight has moved from hovering around 190 to hovering around 180. I know the scale isn't the best tool to measure, but I do feel better, too. I'll drink tea and water when I wake up. For l lunch, I'll pack stuff like salad, fruit, nuts, veggies, boiled egg, green smoothie, etc. Good dinners with veg and protein. Limit breads and empty sugars. IV: Read Read one book during the challenge. I've set up a Goodreads reading challenge this year of 15 books. I want to start and finish one book during this challenge. Bonus: Keep daily Standard Memorandum entries I bought a Standard Memorandum book this year. I've seen old notebooks like this at my mother's house, and I think it's a great way to document a year simply. There's only room to write a couple sentences, so it's easy to write an entry each day.