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GONE TURBO I've always had big plans to make a website, blog, podcast, etc to put myself and my philosophy out in the world to influence more people. I've implemented so many of these things and gotten myself outside my comfort zone to do it. With all these changes I've made in the last few years, it feels like I am not just in a new world, but like I am playing a whole new game. I'm taking a page from the movie "Wreck-It Ralph". I've Gone Turbo jumping games. So now, here we go with another episode of The Exciting Adventures of JediNickD! It was a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away that I joined this site and started my first challenge. As a Ranger, I tried to Do-All-The-Things in World 1, my first extended stay at NF through 22 challenges where I learned how to develop and pursue health and fitness goals utilizing daily, weekly, and monthly routines. I took a hiatus from NF and came back with a better focus for my goals where I warped to World 2, which I defeated in an Epic Boss Fight slaying some mighty big life goals. In World 3, I strafed over to the Assassins and continued to develop my fitness, getting my body in the best shape of my life, even with the Degenerative Disc Disease, Arthritis, Disc Fissures, and more. Through physical therapy exercises and karate, I have maintained my core and back muscles to ease the pressure off my spine, but in the end, I defeated World 3 by transforming my life into a new form. With chiropractic care healing my spine, reaching the black belt at karate, blazing through the new Toastmasters education program called Pathways, and completing Novice rank at IJRS, World 4 was something new every day. I have moved over to the Monks to reach for more diversity in my workouts and culture as my physical and mental training focus has been more on my karate training. As I actively took on more responsibility of coaching, mentoring, and teaching in all aspects of my life, I formed a different me on World 5. Now, I have Gone Turbo into World 6. Every day, I just keep on L-I-V-I-N: fighting the good fight, lighting it up, and leveling up my life!  Challenge Lesson: "Budo, Empty Hands" I like themes so I'm going to continue with my karate dojo's creeds where I left off. The next one is for our Blue belt rank. The creed is below: As a martial artist, my body is my weapon. Any tool in my hand is just an extension of my body. My body can cripple my opponent or deliver mercy as I see fit. I must not be reckless as I could hurt myself. I must exhibit control and be precise while understanding my anatomy and skeleton to best protect or maim when necessary. My Main Quest and Mission: My mission is to be the best Jedi I can be. My main quest is always to enhance my overall health, fitness, and knowledge to be prepared for whatever challenges life could throw at me. As a Jedi, I need to be able to help people, whether that is a life-threatening situation or just a charitable one. There is no end in Jedi training for every light cast a shadow somewhere. Instead, it is a journey of self-discovery and compassion for others. World 6 Level 5 Challenge: FITNESS: Cardio: Speed and Stamina - Run twice a week. Include sprints, agility drills, and distance running. Get on the treadmill if I have to. STA +1, DEX +1 Walking: Fortify the Spine - 10+ min with good posture, daily. Do some stairs too. CON +1 Exercise: HIIT, Weight Lifting, and Bodyweight - 20+ min twice a week. STR +1, STA +1 Flexibility: Stretching and Physical Therapy - Daily exercises. Focus on hips, hams, and splits. DEX +1 Karate: Training and Practice - Three classes a week plus every spar class I can attend. Practice for 20+ min twice a week. DEX +1, STR +1 DIET: Lean Body - I need to lose some weight, which starts with what I eat. 5+ cups of fruits and veggies. Cut down flour and corn-based carbs at lunch and snack time. Fill up on spring mix. CON +1 LIFE: Write some new stuff for Journey2U.org website. Work on revamping the site. Edit podcast interviews for "Evolving in Toastmasters". Schedule more interviews. Start researching speeches for second podcast "I Evaluate U". WIS +1, CHA +1 Edit and publish videos from last year's gameplay. Record gameplay clips and edit videos for Madden custom league. WIS +1, CHA +1 Epic Quest - Complete something EPIC! I want to be able to look back at my four week challenge and say, "that was the challenge I did X". My challenges tend to be a lot of the same old. I've given myself plenty to improve in small steps, but I also want to see big strides in the things I've been working on. What box can I check? What have I been procrastinating? What am I focusing on? WIS +1, CHA +1

Korranation's back onboard I had to take a break from the challenges for a bit. Here's a little backstory to it So here's the goals/objectives part. Part One - Food Pictures - take pictures of all food (excluding repeating meal prepped items). Totally stealing this from Deffy Tracking - Put all items in MFP the night before Snacking - all processed food snacking is banned. I found snacking on baby carrots gets me through the workday and working on a pomegranate gets me through the evening. Part 2 - Health Workout - I'll either do +30 min on the rowing machine or the modified NFA workout Sleep - Go to bed minus looking at the phone before 10:30 Water - drink +8 cups of water. Or drink 2 cups of water 30 minutes before every meal. Part 3 - leveling up Language - practice Spanish on duolingo every day. Gotta keep that streak bonus going. Learning - spend +30min every day prepping to apply for grad school. That means either writing a personal letter, reaching out to old professors for letters of recommendation, and studying for the GRE... or doing classes at khan academy or reading peer-reviewed papers. Loving - Do some self-care every day/evening. (e.g. some work de-stressors, other non-work ideas, avoiding the non-profit compassion fatigue pitfall, yoga... LET DO THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

For those looking for a good podcast for newbies and beginners to hiking and backpacking, I recommend "The First 40 Miles Hiking and Backpacking Podcast": http://www.thefirst40miles.com/ I've been listening to them since I heard them do a guest spot on the Homesteady Podcast. Good, solid advice. Cheers, John Harvey

My job is largely mindless so I listen to lots of podcasts. I'm always looking for something new to listen to. So, what podcast do y'all listen to? I currently listen to: Wait, Wait, Don't Tell MeThis American LifeThe NerdistHiyaa Podcast (about martial arts, especially Kung Fu)Co-optional Podcast

I would really like to see a Nerd Fitness podcast. I think it would help grow the blog, and get the message out to more people. I would listen to it weekly for sure!

I've always wanted to start my own business, but never really known what it would be. I'm starting to think about creating a podcast and a blog, but again I don't really know what about. Any advice on finding what it is I would like to write about? I'm really inspired by Steve and what he has done here. Any suggestions?

For all the zombie fanatics out there, or anyone looking for a great apocalypse survival story, you might want to check this one out. It's called We're Alive - A Zombie Story of Survival. Check it out if you like, it's on it's 4th and final season. All the episodes are free on iTunes and on their website. I'm addicted to it and have re-listened several times. The quality they put in this story is great, the sound effects and actors they have are amazing. www.zombiepodcast.com

My oh my. Feels like a whirlwind this time. Like, we just finished the last one and the next one is already here. Weird. I know we usually can't wait for them to come, so I'm glad, but at the same time, just, wow. Oh well. Let's get it on. Goal 1: Mobility Work on Off Days Pretty much what it sounds like. I've found all of the things that I need to do for my body so far. I've found yoga for my shoulders and knees, and the HFS for my hips and lower back, and SMR for the other pains in my body that I have to deal with. It's all good. But it's not enough to know that these things work. They also have to be applied. The general rule I've heard before goes that you need to spend at least as much time on your mobility work as you do on your strength work. So, if I'm doing strength/power stuff three days per week, then I need to be doing mobility stuff three days per week as well. Graded out of 18. +2 STA, +2 CON. Goal 2: Integrated Martial Arts Training Just like before. This started strong and finished weak, but I really think that I was onto something there, given myself. Unfortunately, there's no hack to get around getting things done. I can't make the training happen if I don't show up to do it. So. Here we go again. Combination work, uchikomi work, and newaza work at the end of the training session. No matter what. Graded out of 42. +2 DEX, +2 STA, +1 STR And now to be a loose cannon... Life Goal 1: Walker University What? Have I somehow tricked a university into giving me more moniez so that I can earn more useless papers? Pshaw. Naw, y'all. One of the ways that personal trainers are encouraged to get ahead is to go for a walk and plug in an audio book of some kind. I spend so much time reading fiction on my own as it is that I don't need to plug in fiction books. So, it's time to start listening more to podcasts and the like relating to fitness business and writing stuff. Any time it's nice enough near me to go for a walk, I'mma do it. Graded out of a possible 30, with adjustments as needed depending on the weather. +3 WIS Life Goal 2: Write Our Story Well. Y'all asked for it. My mom's asking for it. My friends are asking for it. So, now I've got no choice. I have to buckle down and get to work. Every day, I need to be either writing some on the story, or working on characters, or plotting scenes, or something. Each day has to have a concrete step taken toward the completion of this bloody novel. RisenPhoenix already has an expy in it, though it's not really him so much as a character who shares a couple traits with him. I feel like I'mma have to make this disclaimer repeatedly: these characters are not y'all. So please, please, no freaking out if you end up reading this and you spot someone whom you can clearly tell was based on you and they do some decidedly not-you things. Graded out of 42. +3 CHA Also, unofficial savings goal: gotta start working on saving up for the Spartan. First step: registration fees.

Hi All, I was listening to one of my favourite podcast series ( http://www.dirtbagdiaries.com/webpage/category/podcasts ) yesterday and came across a really cool episode that helped me shake off some stagnancy and re-brighten my perspective on fitness, fun and adventure: http://www.thecleanestline.com/2012/12/dirtbag-diaries-the-sufferthon.html ... yes, the name is a bit offputting isn't it? I actually didn't listen to this episode for a couple of months because of the title and then the actual part about "The Sufferthon" itself didn't really do a lot for me. What was great was the intro featuring Alistair Humphries and the concept of "microadventures". Now, perhaps to someone of his history the things he describes on the podcast and here http://www.alastairhumphreys.com/microadventures-3/year-microadventure/ are "micro" but most of the time these are about as far as my adventurousness extends! I love the spirit of "start small but start" and this whole section from his website: "Adventure is only a state of mind. Adventure is stretching yourself; mentally, physically or culturally. It is about doing what you do not normally do, pushing yourself hard and doing it to the best of your ability. And if that is true then adventure is all around us, at all times. Even during hard financial times such as these. Times, I believe, when getting out into the wild are more enjoyable, invigorating and important than ever." ... just brilliant, right? I think the whole thing's really in the spirit that Steve started this whole shebang about. Any thoughts? I've got a little bit of time off work coming up myself and think I may just take Alistair up and do a few of these things that have been tickling the back of my mind. It just so happens that there is a hill I've wanted to bike out to and sleep on! I'll throw a little trip report on here after - it'd be great if anyone else did the same. Cheers.

I think the topic of psychology around and after weight loss is an incredibly interesting subject - not just the psychology that leads to obesity and how to achieve weight loss by reversing it, but also the realignment of one's mental self with one's physical self after achieving and sustaining significant weight loss. There was a podcast I listened to recently that really made me say "damn, nailed it". Beware that this podcast is very much from a male perspective(I'm sure that the details vary for women, but the over-arching message probably applies.), and contains some colorful language - but speaking from the perspective of someone who's been through it, adjusting the way you see yourself and how you act to be inline with how others see you is a tough, tough process. I'd be interesting in hearing others' thoughts around the topic as well. I know realignment of my self-image with my physical appearance is an ongoing process for me, despite the fact that my weight is the same as it was 3 1/2 years ago at this point. The sad reality is that for many of us, myself included, fixing the physical stuff is a far simpler task than realigning one's mind. Anyhow, the podcast is at: http://www.fatburningman.com/john-romaniello-man-2-0/

The Art of Manliness Podcast #42: Level Up Your Life With Nerd Fitness & Steve KambI wish I caught this before I left this morning. Will have to wait till I get home to listen to it. - Daniel