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Hi Nerds. Let's begin with a couple relevant background details. I started NF in 2013 in the middle of a PhD dissertation to combat the effects of the sedentary grad student lyfe. I got stronger, at least prevented my weight from blowing up mostly. Unfortunately, I never finished that PhD. I never seemed to get anything done. Fast forward to last challenge, I finally realized and accepted that I may actually have ADHD. It explains A LOT, including the abandoned PhD, my many failed, half-assed NF challenges, my messy apartment, etc. After leaving grad school I worked in an Amazon warehouse for two years, and now I'm working as a CNC machinist. Like the majority of my middle school and high school report cards said, I'm "Not working to potential." Now I'm trying to get another Master's in Electrical Engineering (online) and working on projects at home to turn things around. And to lose weight I'm following a slightly modified version of the Mediterranean diet, and have been riding a stationary bike (hamster wheel) to burn calories. Now I'm realizing I need to fix my flexibility, posture, and retain a bit of strength so I'm going to add in some yoga. I'll be building off of last challenge. If you want to see how I did with that go to my Previous Challenge Summary. Now... On to the challenge: Since, I'm learning Electical Engineering, I ought to do what EE's do best: build gadgets and try to take over the world. And what better metaphor for an EE with ADHD than Pinky and the Brain. Brain represents all my ambition, intellect, and executive functioning, while Pinky is the ADHD part of my brain that just wants to goof around, have fun, and press colorful, blinking buttons. In order to deal with achieving goals, Brain needs to manipulate, distract, and control Pinky. Just for context, all of this is happening in a BuJo to keep Pinky under control. Nutrition: Old stuff: Maintain current nutrition plan. I keep a weekly log of how many servings by food group on Google sheets: Food Log It has a rough idea of serving numbers and describes the serving sizes if you're interested in the details. I post links along with my weekly summary when I update the spreadsheet with what I track in my BuJo. I also track measurements in my body composition log for feedback: Weight Log and Track Record. Question: These two sheets are in the same workbook; Can you access other sheets or just on sheet at a time with these links? New Stuff: Add a daily reflection/challenge. Every day I'm going to reflect on what I ate during the day, look for something to improve on and come up with a challenge. Like, I ate too many grains today, tomorrow when I feel like carbs, have fruit instead. Also, on my weight tracking sheets (see below), I track weekly min and max weights, so if I set a new max or fail to set a new low I might reduce a meal, cut fat, or exercise, etc. Exercise: Old stuff: Do at least two workouts on the hamster wheel each week. New Stuff: Do at least one yoga session each week. These last two are basically some of the bigger Todo's with sub-todo lists that I want to get through. Trying to take over the world (Brain): I need to finish the online course I'm currently taking. I should have finished it last challenge, but I'm close to done. Then I'm going to work on some other projects at home and maybe at work to gain more experience and catch up on some knowledge/skill areas I'm lacking in. Also, I need to plan out how I'm going to pay for more coursework. Finish current online EE course: Finish week 4 Finish final week, project and quiz Start on my minimal retro game, multi-console emulator Pay off a credit card... I can put the next course's tuition on it once i have a zero balance, and that will be my source of 'student loans' for these online courses for now. Managing ADHD (Pinky): Right now I'm only self diagnosed. I have an appointment set up for July 13 to find a therapist to work with. At the moment, I am just accepting that I have ADHD and carrying on as if I did which means getting more organized and finding ways to keep myself focused on getting things done... BuJo! I'm also forgiving myself for my past mistakes. I still get bummed from time to time because I didn't get something done or make the right decision in the past. And the mistakes I'm currently making. I get all uptight trying to control my behavior often or beating myself up. I just have to let go of that. First mental health appointment on July 13 at 3:00 pm Take BuJo everywhere Update BuJo weekly Let go of and forgive mistakes

Cuz that's what you do when you're cooped up in a cage with some scientific gadgets, you develop plots to take over the world -- Brain. Of course, there's always that other part of you that worries that just wants to run on the hamster wheel, goof around, and blow off steam -- Pinky. More context -- the world is in a vulnerable state due to the current Pandemic which provides an ideal opportunity to advance my plans for world dominiation... I am taking courses on Coursera toward a Master's in Electical Engineering from UC-Boulder. So that means I'll be doing a lot of studying and working on projects at home while I'm cooped up. I'm focusing on embedded systems (computers that run machines with little, if any, human interaction) so I get to play with circuits and microcontrollers --inventor/mad scientist shit -- which is gonna be fun. Despite stay-at-home orders, I'm essential so I still work, which makes staying on top of coursework hard. I've also got to clean up my apartment and organize some workspace -- the lab. And I'm overhauling my nutrition and exercise. I'm going to re-try the Eat Right for Your Type diet... granted the motivation for the diet is based on blood type which is not supported by any published science, but it's the one that made me go from 330 to 280 during the summer following my senior year of high school. It might work again. I also looked at the food groups/portions and calculated some macros and calories based on them... the nutrition is balanced and the macros and calories are reasonable, and sticking within the plan I should lose weight. For exercise I have a hamster wheel stationary bike. I will just be putting in my time and trying to burn as many calories as possible. The upside is I can do this in front of a TV which lets me get the workout in while watching Netflix or playing video games and such. Goal 1: Finish my first EE course on time. I finished my first week. There are four more to go for the first class. I should be wrapping it up in week three. Then I'll have to decide if/when/how on the next one. I'm only taking them through coursera right now which means I'll get one of their certificates, but I don't get academic credit from UC-Boulder until I pay their tuition and take their final exams. I'm enrolled in a four course (3 credit hour) specialization. I'm planning on finishing them on coursera, before I decide to enroll and pay up. But I need a 3.0 or better average across the whole specialization to be admitted to the program. So... keep up and get an A. That is all. Goal 2: Track and follow the Eat Right for Your Type diet I've worked out the plan and will be tracking my nutrition by servings and portions according to the plan. I made a spreadsheet for tracking. That makes it easy. I worked out the portion sizes so they are easy to count by eye. 4 oz of chicken breast or fish is about the size of the palm of my hand. Fruits, nuts, veggies all a small handful etc. Just eat the food and check a box, and try to stay within the ranges given each week. Goal 3: Hamster Wheel Get on the exercise bike. I'm tracking the calories burned and the time I spend on it. Ideally, I'd like to burn a pound of fat a week... 3500 calories, but that would require 6-7 hours per week. It's possible, but managing 4 hours is hard enough. I'll try and track though and see what I can do. Goal 4:Track measurments for good feedback. Weigh in daily. Calculate 7-day rolling average. Diameters of body parts weekly. I'll use these to adjust my nutrition or exercise to get into that 1-2 lbs./week weight loss I keep aiming for. Goal 5: Build my lab I need a generally clean, generally organized workspace to study and build electronic shit. So I'm going to work on cleaning up my junk filled office and set up a work table. I've got 4 book shelves to hold (hopefully all) my books. I also ordered a white board and a cart with some drawers and little organizer bins for holding tiny little electronics components. We're doing this.

Ready player one Sup my fellow rebels, I'm back again for another challenge. (Sorry no themed challenge this time.) I burnt out on the last challenge, but that's not stopping me from coming back for another go. The hiccups were mainly from the real life kicking me in the pants. Dealing with college while living with your parents and then some can get pretty hectic. Heck, it's still kicking my butt as I type this. If you're looking to subscribe to a challenger that over uses gifs and talks about how her life is falling apart you've come to the right place! I'm taking summer classes, but forgot to confirm a payment plan, so they got dropped... after I had purchased the books. I spent the day afterward in the heat running all over campus with a readmittance for that needed the signature from the instructor, advisor, chair, dean of business, and the dean of undergrads. After all this work I go to fiscal services to find that they changed their policy and students have to pay out of pocket up front to re-enroll. And this is money I don't have. So I had to go to my bank and take a small loan and move around some investments to make things happen. Now I have to wait two to three business days for the money to transfer to my personal account so I can pay for courses that I am behind in. I also took an five week online course and I'm two weeks behind. While in this hectic game called life I'm gonna try and find some structure in my life before I start packing on any more pounds. Everything is better if it's a game, right? I feel like this is a game of don't starve, where no matter what you do... you. will. die. But at least you leave with a better understanding of the game and some experience points towards unlocking a new character with more unique survival skills. I keep falling, but at least I learnt from mistakes and can avoid them before running into the next unknown obstacle. For this challenge I'm going to take things a little slower and try and build on better habits. The only habit I've gotten out of these challenges is drinking more water. That's progress in my book. Eating (2 +CON) "You can't outrun your fork." That's a saying I always hear either from one of my health nut friends or a health article. I've got a pretty big sweet tooth, but I'd like to see that change by the end of this challenge. After dinner I've gotten in the habit of wandering into the pantry and grabbing a quick fix of sugar and carbs. This time round I'm making a zero tolerance policy on eating after dinner. My goal on MFP is to lose around 1.0 to 1.5lbs per week. That gives me around 1,500 calories to work with. log into MFP x7 per weeklog between 1,200-1,500 calories Exercise (+3 STA , +3 STR) I'm reaching for x6 per week for exercising. I know that sounds like a lot, but I don't like taking too many breaks from a routine. I'll be alternating between strength training, cardio, and yoga. I'm starting off with BBWW and once I get comfortable I'll change the level or the type of workout routine. Beginners Body Weight Workout x2Cardio (stationary bike, walking the dog, treadmill, etc.) x2yoga x2 Sleep (3+CON +1CHA) One of the key things that messed up all of my goals last challenge was my sleep schedule. I never go to bed on time and couldn't get up win the morning, let alone have enough energy to get everything done. I'm not worried about the numbers of hours I sleep, but rather the time I go to bed. I'm setting a time of no later than 11:30. The family is already in bed before then because of work and school. (But now that schools over my small sisters may stay up. They don't make too much noise, so all is good.) lights out at 11:30sleep 7-8 hrs Study (3+WIS) I'm taking summer classes as I've said before. I don't want to make a number of hours I need to study because I don't need to study for the same number of hours everyday. I get easily discouraged if I don't make my mark and this works as reverse motivation. Plus it's a five week class. And it's in speech. I only have to worry about reading the chapters, highlighting important sections, rereading the material, and working on my presentations. I'll be keeping up with the syllabus the best I can and post what I have to do that day followed by and edit of how I did. I just want to be accountable in this aspect. [Edit: I had troubles with financial aid so I can't finish the rest of my June course for this challenge] Words Are Power (+3WIS) Since I can't do communication college course work for a side quest, I'll do things a different way. I've been promising I'd teach myself two things eventually. To speak another language and to practice creative writing. I can use the time I put aside for studying to work on a daily writing prompt and to practice Spanish on duolingo. +30 min daily writing prompt+30 min Duolingo

Hello! I am currently debating whether or not to buy a spin/stationary bike, and I'm wondering any of you own one or have a preferred type at the gym that you would consider buying for yourself. My ride style is more upright (I currently ride a hybrid bike outside). My reason for inquiring about this is that where I live we get about 6-8 months of winter/ice/snow/slip-and-fall-on-face weather and it's really interfering with my fitness goals since I am just not hardcore enough to stick a pair of ice tires on my bike and be miserable outside when it is awful out! So I'm looking for an indoor cycling solution for those times when I just don't wanna be outside (and I'm really not a fan of the gym). On a side note, there are some fancier bikes with heart rate monitors and other gizmos attached to them. I'm interested in your opinions about which is better: a basic bike and a separate heart rate monitor, or a bike with its own built in heart rate monitor/chest strap (those tend to be quite pricey).

ok, so background: I casually mountain bike in the summer and ride around the city. I'm also planning on commuting to work via bicycle once it gets warmer. And I am trying to incorporate other types of cardio into my workout, and was thinking of a stationary bike. I have checked out craigslist and kijiji but nothing really looked purchasable. I am thinking I could spend less than $400. I found this and this on Amazon. I was leaning towards the first because its more of a spinning bike I guess. I have actually never been to a spinning class. But I don't really have a cyclists physique. I have a gut that I'm trying to lose, so being hunched over kind of doesn't appeal. Also, even though it gets good reviews, the fact that it is a had and uncomfortable seat is a drawback. But I guess that can easily be fixed/replaced. The other stationary bike on the other hand seems more for the casual work out (which in all honesty I will probably be doing, riding while watching tv/movie) But is that really what I want? Is that going to be the best for me? I don't really care about bells and whistles, but I also want my moneys worth (or what little I'm willing to pay). So I come to you bike rebels. If you were in my shoes, what would you do? or what else would you suggest?