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Greeeeetings! I was successful at my last challenge and have levelled up I wanted to get this written up in advance of Sunday mainly to check in on what 'overeating' days I have coming up in the next month or so, and just get my head settled a bit. I think I'll be sticking to similar things as my last couple of challenges, and daily checking in has proven very useful for me to stay on track. I'm going to be starting on Sunday. THE CHALLENGE Food Under 1600 calories a day = 10pts Two days in a row = 5pts Only overeating one meal = 0pts Overeating dinner and then eating more for the sake of it = -10pts Overeating the whole day for the sake of it = -50pts Total possible = 520pts Sleep No phone scrolling before bed = 10pts Two days in a row = 5pts Full points across the whole challenge = this can be removed from next challenge Total possible = 520pts Walking 2.5+ miles per day = 10pts (this means I have to do a walk both in my lunchbreak and after work when wfh because I've been getting slack) Two days in a row = 5pts Total possible = 520pts Other exercise Any additional cycling, HIIT, Zumba in a day = 5pts Week Sun-Sat without doing at least two additional exercises = -10pts Total possible = many! Weights Set up new dumbell/barbell/gym ring manageable workout routine Complete said workout routine every week = 10pts per week Total possible = 50pts 1250pts required to pass this challenge.

The last challenge—well, the last couple of months, really—have been ones of new challenges. Too many challenges. Challenge 1: Lockdown restrictions. Needed, necessary and I support them 100%. But being restricted to one outing a day and all of the myriad complications around having a toddler when everything is canceled and you have to keep them distanced as well... it’s not easy, you guys. Challenge 2: Enting. There’s all that Lockdown stuff, and then there’s the issue where the toddler has also gone through some kind of developmental change which has caused severe separation anxiety. I’m spending a minimum of 1-3 hours a day trying to settle him down to sleep now (I used to spend less than 5 minutes total, as he’d easily go to sleep on his own). That’s a huge chunk of my day gone. And I’m having to bed-share night time as well, and he wakes up half a dozen times a night to make sure I’m still there with him. I have to tell you, I’m exhausted. Challenge 3: Falling apart. See above—I’m tired, I don’t get out for as much exercise as I want or need, and I never get a break, day or night. My evening downtime is all but gone because it takes an hour+ to get Enting to go to sleep and then I need to catch up on chores, and then by the time I can get myself settled, it’s time to get ready for bed. But, this is the new normal around here. And I’m trying to accept that, rather than continue to think of this as an inconvenient blip that will hopefully go away in a couple of days. Pull Together There is good news on the horizon—Mr has a new job! He starts on May 18th, likely from home for the short term. The job is in the Midlands, so we’re looking at relocating when the situation allows. And we’ve decided to go for the Dream. We’re planning to make our forever home in the Wye Valley*. Why the Wye? (You may also recall me pic-spamming about this place last September/October when we were there on holiday.) Mr’s new job will change things around here, as he won’t be as available during the day even though he’s at home. After this week, there will probably be some gradual relaxations on Lockdown. Depending on how relaxed, we may soon be able to go the homes we’ve “registered an interest” with the estate agents about. We need to get our house on the market. We need be prepared to move—because it could happen in 2 months or next year. We just don’t know between the fluctuations on the housing market and what Lockdown will allow, but we want to be ready. This challenge will be rife with transition and also with “hurry up and wait!”. But for any of this to work, I need to pull together. With lack of sleep and toddler issues and Lockdown ennui, everything has fallen apart. I’m not getting the daily chores done—let alone the extra things that need doing! And more is coming! So, the challenge begins with: Get on top of daily chores Get on top of extra house maintenance (things that don’t need daily attention, but haven’t gotten attention in... um, months weeks) Future relocations activities, which may include: Preparations to sell the house (both in terms of paperwork but state of the house) Preparations to view properties (putting together travel on short term, making sure we know what questions we want to ask about a given property, exploring the area around properties) Putting together a new routine when Mr is working Caring for my balcony garden (good for the soul) Trying not to let the lack of sleep interfere with my relationships (IE, try to think before being cranky) Getting outside daily—even if it’s just sitting in our dark little garden. The trouble here is that sometimes Enting won’t go with me, or won’t want to be out for more than a few minutes, and Mr is not always available to watch him so I can go on a solo walk. Also, we’ve done every possible walk in the acceptable local area over and over again and I hate to say it, but we’re bored. Control stress/boredom eating. I’m doing okay on this one now, but I need to stay vigilant. I’ll probably think of other things. Maybe even a theme! So, it’s not as much of a fitness challenge as a “level up your life” challenge, because I need to sort out a lot of other things before I can get to serious fitness obligations. But these things... this moving to the place we’ve dreamed of, navigating Lockdown, these are the things of heroes and adventurers, too. As for details, I’ll put more of those out every few days—this is a time of flux and priorities may shift too quickly for me to have them out far in advance. But for now... time to make a to-do list! (*Please note, plans can change. But this is our top choice.)

I'm Ann of Vries, aged 39; a diarist, a fiction writer, a fiber artist, a LARPer (also TTRPG, board games), a traveler, a hiker, and mother of a young toddler. I’m madly in love with my partner, Mr of Vries and my son, Rowan of Vries. I live in London, after having emigrated from Seattle three years ago. I love it here, although I’m still trying to find my tribe (outside of the House of Vries, of course). I long to live in the English countryside, in a stone house with a large garden that grows most of our herbs, vegetables, and fruit. But that time is out in the future—for now, we are city folk and I aim to make the best of that. Not every person gets a chance to move abroad and live in one of the most famous cities in the world! To that end.... *** Depending on who you speak to, some claim Keepers of the Flame are a subset of the wizards. Like metamorphmagi or parseltongue, being a Keeper is just an extra talent that wizards can possess. Since I never got my Hogwarts letter, I’m not convinced we Keepers are wizards except when it’s convenient to the Ministry of Magic. Example, a few days ago many of us Keepers were contacted by the MoM asking for our help with a Calamity that has threatened to expose the wizarding world, and I suspect may play a part in the darkness that has been seeping into the local Hearth Flame network. So maybe I’m still a little bitter about that Hogwarts letter, but I need to do what’s right, and it’s time to increase my patrols in and outside of my domain. *** This challenge is loosely tied to the new Harry Potter: Wizards Unite mobile game.* I’m keeping things relatively simple for this challenge—a focus on fitness. My weight loss has plateaued. We have a 12 mile hike planned conveniently on the last weekend of this challenge, and I don’t want to be the one who backs down from this Boss Battle. (It’s a group hike with varying fitness levels, so there is a likelihood of an early turn-around. That’s fine—I just don’t want to be the one who initiates.) Patrol the Area for the SoS Task Force Go out for daily walks, focusing on the “active minutes” stat of my Fitbit. Actions for this goal: Start with 40 active minutes 4 days a week and ramping up as I go on based on progress. Research (and potentially purchase) hiking boots that I will enjoy wearing. The current pair I have feel like I’m wearing lead weights and I really dislike them. Rock that 12 mile (or whatever it ends up being) hike. Examine and Fix My Eating Habits I hate food tracking, and I make no promises to do it. But my weight loss has stalled, and while I’m considered a “healthy” weight on the UK BMI scale, it’s only just barely. I want to increase that margin. My household already eats pretty clean. The challenge for me is to get back to eating on a sensible schedule instead of “whenever I can cram something into my mouth.” This is most problematic on weekday mornings, as Rowan has breakfast with Mr while I shower and then I have a toddler on the loose while I’m trying to fix and eat something for myself. This usually ends in me eating whatever I can find, and snacking later as it often wasn’t enough. Even healthy foods can be misused. Actions for this goal: Note when I eat (and possibly what I eat). Find and fix unhealthy patterns— particularly regarding breakfast. Stick to these solutions for the remainder of the challenge and check results. ***

Hello everyone, I'm a newbie and I was wondering if there's any Rebel Londoner in here. It would be cool to organize something together, like a run or anything else. Cheers

Hey there fellow Rebels! My first challenge, so let me know if I'm doing it wrong. My introduction thread In brief: horror/zombie fan, goals: lose body fat, improve flexibility, master my own bodyweight! Challenge 1 (fitness): Complete strength training (either bodyweight or weight based) 3 x weekly. I'm starting from a relatively good position of having done this either 2 or 3 x weekly for the last 3 weeks... but before then... NOTHING for the last 2 years! So I'm hoping to instill some good habits and hopefully progress my workout a little so I can see some measurable improvement either in the number of reps or weights used. Challenge 2 (fitness): Attend Pilates class 1 x weekly. (Stretch challenge: 2 x weekly) Ugh, I suck at Pilates. I used to think I was flexible - now I know I'm essentially made of bricks. This needs to change. I'd love to improve my core strength over time, and at the moment I'm not really getting the benefit of my gym's Pilates classes because I have to "sit out" too many of the exercises. If I attend regularly - particularly at the smaller and paid-for classes with more individual instruction - I think I'll improve my technique and be able to participate more. Challenge 3 (diet): Practice Intermittent Fasting on weekdays. (Stretch challenge: weekends too!) I used to be really good at the 5:2 diet, and see both a measurable reduction in appetite and the tightness of my jeans, but the long long fasting days were terrible when I started a more office-based role and could no longer rely on distraction to keep hunger at bay. I'd like to return to fasting by omitting breakfast - I'm never very hungry in the mornings, and used to skip it without thinking for 5 or so years. I've completed 1 week so far. Challenge 4 (diet): hungry? drink water! (Stretch challenge: 1 litre per day) I don't drink enough water, so this is self explanatory. It should work in conjunction with the fasting above. Challenge 5 (lifestyle): 30 min of active work on my novel daily. (Stretch challenge: 60 min!) Again, self explanatory. I'm pretty good at doing an 8 hour day at work, and then spending time in the gym, coming home and cooking dinner, and then using the excuse that "I'm too tired" to work on my novel. Nonsense - it's my life goal to become a published novelist, and that takes time, not just 3 hours at my writing group every weekend! I'd love to hear any tips or suggestions re the above. The "stretch goals" are to give myself something to feel super-good about if I manage to achieve it - with a view to these maybe becoming the next challenge's goals, WHEN I succeed in completing these ones (positive thinking). I didn't realise it was the start of the challenge today, but looking back, I've adhered to the goals by accident (phew): morning Pilates class, no food before 1pm, plenty of non-caffeinated beverages, and 2 hours of editing work.

After a few weeks of browsing, I've finally decided to sign up and make an introduction post! I'm a 30-something lawyer living in London who wants to take back control of her life. Specifically, I want to survive the apocalypse (hence the username). I've been a lifetime fan of horror movies, post-apocalyptic fiction, and stories of lone wilderness survival: last year I spent a fascinating and very very fun few months as a cast member in a popular zombie immersive theatre event, running around and throwing myself against walls (and audience members). However, when Secret Cinema announced that it was bringing 28 Days Later - possibly my favourite film - to London, and all my fellow cast members banded together to attend, I couldn't bring myself to go. Why? Well, I was told pretty early on that I'd be chased by zombies up several flights of stairs, and my immediate reaction was, "I can't do that." Not "wow, my favourite film!" or "that sounds super exciting!" but: "I can't do that". I couldn't imagine keeping it up for more than a few moments. I worried about being slow. I worried about looking lame in comparison to my friends. And I realised, painfully, that I don't have any of the basic skills to survive the apocalypse: - running - jumping - pulling myself up onto things! - hanging from things! - carrying heavy things! beyond, of course, the skills we all have as nerds (like avoiding the hospitals in the event of a suspicious outbreak of "bitey corpses"). I am also making it unnecessarily difficult for myself to do the above things, by carrying unnecessary body fat. So I joined a gym a few minutes away from the location where I'm doing some short-term contract work. But I'm scared as anything, because all previous gym attempts have failed after a few months, as I've failed to integrate fitness into my lifestyle, and failed to see progress, and have stopped and let life take over. I'm challenging myself to use my next few months having a reasonably steady job to create healthy habits, and make exercising both fun and desirable. Please do hold me accountable! I'm currently going to the gym for bodyweight/weights-based strength training 3 x a week, with cardio sessions mixed in and Pilates to try to strengthen my core and improve my (very sucky) flexibility. I had some great success last year with the 5:2 intermittent fasting regime, but this time I'm trying to make it super simple for myself by skipping breakfast and eating within a defined window each day. Oh, and I'm vegan, so you might see me hanging out in the recipe boards and posting protein-high plant-based suggestions - I absolutely love cooking and normally make everything from scratch. Now off to set up my goals for the current challenge!

Hey European NF folks! The wife and I are heading to the UK for a trip in the coming month or so and won't mind meeting a few like minded folks. We're heading to London for a few days then taking the train to Edinburgh for a while before heading back to London then home. We know we'll be going to Draughts in London as it seems to be semi-near our hotel and looks like a nifty place to spend some time. Even if you're not in London/ Edinburgh if you've been and have suggestions for to-dos we'll take those too!

This is my first challenge with NF, and I'm really excited to get stuck in. This challenge coincides with a big change in my life too - I'll have just moved to London to start a PhD, so I'm looking at this as a new start or a blank slate, and a chance to move away from all the bad habits and routines I've gotten into whilst I've been at home over the summer. Logically, my challenge will focus on establishing patterns, routines, and a healthy outlook which I think will be easier to stick to if I make it part of my 'London experience' to begin with, rather than later adapting my life to fit around fitness goals. I need to incorporate flexibility into my challenge, because I'll be working at the uni bars, sometimes until 3am, and I know that going for a swim at 8:30 the next morning just wouldn't happen. Motivation! I'm running the Wimbledon Commons HM in October, aiming to do the Santa Pola HM in January, and I have a target to do a triathlon in 2015. My motivation for this challenge is to get fitter for these challenges, and hopefully smash some PBs! Main Quest: Establish the fitness base to be a strong triathlete. Quest 1 - Fitness: Stick to my weekly workout routine (3 runs, 2 swims, 3 bodyweight sessions) Measurement: A = 44 - 48 workouts over the 6 weeks, B = 38 - 43 , C = 30 - 37, D = 20 - 30, E = <20 A = 3 STR, 2 DEX, 2 STA, B = 80% C = 60% D = 40% E = 0%. Quest 2 - Diet: NO FIZZY DRINKS - I've recently really upped my intake of these, and they make me, my skin, and my mouth feel horrible. I tell myself because they've got no calories in I'm ok, but can feel the negative side effects raging in my body! Measurement: A = 38 - 42 fizzy drink free days, B = 34 - 37 FDF days, C = 30 - 33 FDF days, D = 26 - 29 FDF days, E = <26 FDF days A = 3 CON, B = 80% C = 60% D = 40% E = 0%. Quest 3 - Socialise: Try out the university running and swimming clubs, and if they're not for me, then local groups. If they're not for me, then hey ho, at least I tried! I think this is quite an important goal for me because I've never seen myself as sporting, athletic, etc. and have always felt like I wouldn't fit in teams or sporting groups. This is a prime chance to banish those thoughts and prove myself wrong! Also, they offer coaching sessions and such which would increase my technical ability (hence WIS points). Measurement: A = tried a running and a swimming group, B = tried either a running or swimming group, C = tried neither A = 3 CHA, 2 WIS, B = 66% C = 0% Life Quest: I'm having a hard time thinking of a life quest, because I don't know what my PhD-life will be like - so my current life quest will just be to achieve my three quests. Measurement: A = Achieved 3, B = Achieved 2, C = Achieved 1, D = Achieved 0.

I am an American law student who was accepted to study in Switzerland this coming semester. Classes ended here in December, and start there in mid-February. I'm using my extended break (we usually restart in mid-January here) to fit in some traveling. The best deal I could get on a ticket has me landing at Heathrow at 0600-something on 21 January, and departing at 0700ish on 1 February, which thrills me no end. I've always wanted to explore the U.K. Of course, the rub is that I don't know anyone outside the U.S., and I'm not terribly good at striking up random friendships with people (Mommy always told me not to talk to strangers…). I'm going to change that. I know we have Rebels in the U.K.; I've creeped on some of your threads in this sub-forum. I'd like to meet as many of you as I can! It helps that my travel plans are really quite vague. I'm thinking about going straight from Heathrow to catch a train to Edinburgh and explore Scotland first (for indeterminate time) and do London (for indeterminate time) right before I leave. Everything in the middle is fuzzy. So, if (1) you are a Rebel, and (2) you live in the U.K., I throw myself on your good graces. If we can meet while I'm there, I'd love it. If we can't, but you have suggestions for me, that would be equally great. Even if it's nothing more than "If you're in Edinburgh, you need to train at X," I'd appreciate it. I'd rather take the advice of Real People than read the guidebooks for tourists (although I'm starting a list of things-to-do from internet sources). Hope to hear from you!