Mini-Challenges! (Please Follow) - REPORT BACK !

[Teros]

Mini-1: JUNE 8^th

 

This challenge, the mighty Adventurers will be taking on the demon: Distractia. 

-Just one more level!

-Just one more show!

-But Scrubs is about to come on!

-I need to look through this person's facebook album for the next 45 minutes!

 

Yes, the demon Distractia can be a tough one, but you're better than that.

 

This week's mini-challenge is to find some friends to have your back.  This is the greatest strength about nerdfitness: Community.  Find an accountability buddy or an accountability group. 

Single buddy: https://docs.google.com/a/my.uri.edu/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Aiv-aMyHwRQKdGpuNDB2V2N1REhvLWtObnFod1hkbkE&usp=sharing#gid=10

 

Group 'O Buddies: https://docs.google.com/a/my.uri.edu/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Aiv-aMyHwRQKdGpuNDB2V2N1REhvLWtObnFod1hkbkE&usp=sharing#gid=12

 

Some groups have a theme, like people that cope with depression, people that like using kettelbells, people that like rpg story, people that are from a certain place, etc.  The general rule is to have a group of 5-10 people, so if all the groups are full; don't be shy to make a group if there are no 'open' ones.

 

The list of accountability groups is right here: http://rebellion.nerdfitness.com/index.php?/forum/370-accountabilibuddies/

 

Make sure you comment and support your new buddies.  Going through changes to make yourself a better person is difficult, and sharing the path with like-minded individuals makes it a lot easier.  I know I wouldn't be here today if it wasn't from the support of all the amazing people on here:

When I'm feeling down, I look at this collage I made from encouraging comments people said to me and I feel like I can keep going.

 

For doing this, you earn +1 shiny Wisdom point. Finding others to join in your quest?  That's pretty smart.

So let the challenge begin!  Rise and Shine

 

 

Now go forth and be awesome

Convo for this mini starts Here

[Teros]

MINI for June 15^th

 

Story Bit in bold red. Mini itself in bold black.

 

Now that you have companion(s), it's time for an adventure.  Wandering into Distractia's Casino are all sorts of screens, gambling, blaring music, and swirling pictures around.  Tons of people are pushing and shoveling in the hustle and bustle of the casino.  In order to face and slay the demon, first you need to find him.  There's a stairway with 'Manager' written on a post right next to it.  Seems pretty straightforward.  Let's go!

 

-MINI WEEK 2 - Alternative Cardio -

A lot of people go walking but there's TONS of other things you can do to get the heart rate up.  It can be boxing, jumprope, stairs, swimming, dancing, hiking, etc.  This week's mini is to try something different for alternative cardio than just walking.  There's no limit to how much- everyone is different.  But the basic idea is to venture out and do something you don't normally do.

 

For me, I don't bother with stairs so for this week; I'm going to go to my old high school and climb the outside bleechers a few times instead of my same old walking routine.  Anything cardio-heartrate pumping counts. The spirit of the challenge is to just try something different.

 

 

-Other Option-

You might have a program that you're following like a couch-to-5k setup and switching to something else might be detrimental progress-wise.  It's totally fine if you're on a schedule and don't want to mess with that.  If so, there's an alternative.  Exercising without the distraction.

 

There are plenty of times that people don't work on their form with certain strength exercises, or don't listen to their bodies and push themselves too much without even knowing it. Or maybe using music is the ONLY way to pump yourself up to push yourself that extra bit.  So, if you're on a certain schedule- then try it without the distraction. It may be watching those tvs at the gym, or not really putting your all because you're focusing on something else. So try it without the tv/music and listen to your body.

 

-Reward-

Shiny +1 Dex for completing.  Let us know what you did, or if you are having a hard time deciding what to do instead.

[Teros]

MINI for June 22^nd

 

Ah, it's finally here. The dreaded week 3.  Why 'dreaded'?  Well, because for a majority of people, the 'newness' and 'fun' of doing a 6 week challenge is wearing off. This is the grind, ladies and gentlemen.  This is the real test of wills.  About now is when people start to lose motivation, slack in their exercise, don't watch what they're eating as much.  It's totally understandable. We adapt slowly. We're not seeing the results of 20 pounds lost in 2 weeks like those magazine covers promise, so now the reality is setting in.  This is the dangerous part of the challenge, because this is when Distractia makes his sneak attack on us all.

 

Having joined a group and tried some alternative cardio, Distractia whispers in your ear,

 

"Meh, there's not a lot of results in your walking and you're tired. Mine as well watch some of your shows."

 

"You've been doing good so far with eating right. It's ok to get a large iced vanilla chai and a cheddar cheese bagel with extra cream cheese to treat all your good work."

 

"This week has been a drain.  I don't feel like posting. Just mindlessly watch some youtube videos."

 

No!  This week we fight back against the lull.  We fight the siren's song.

 

 

We have all been there at one time or another.  This week's mini is all about encouragement.  I'm a big proponent of this:

There are two options.

 

1) Encourage self with meditation.  Just take 5 minutes a day and focus on what you are doing on this 6 week challenge and why you are doing it.  If not that, it can be just clearing your mind of the anxiety and doubts that you have without meditating on a certain thing.

 

2) Encourage others by posting to new different people's threads.  There is no minimum/maximum here.  The key here is NEW people.  This can be other Adventurers, or check out the Level 1 Rebels that are tagged with '@Adventurer'.  They have goals similar to future adventurers. Everyone was new to a 6 week challenge at one point.  Like I said, there is no min/max.  If in 5 minutes you get to 1 person and do that each day- that's fine. If you post to 5 people each day, that's fine. The whole point here is to encourage and believe in yourself and others.  However many that takes varies and everyone has different time constraints. The 5 minutes per day is just an estimate.

 

-Reward-

+1 Charisma

[Teros]

Mini-4 on June 29^th

 

Week 4 is upon us.  How are you all doing? Good? Bad? Indifferent?  Like week 3, this is a 'slow' week. It's not the end yet so there's no last hurrah mentality to catch up with certain goals and knock it out of the park. 

 

While meditating or helping others, something suspicious has happened.  All the distractions that you face have become anthropomorphic!  The only way to fight distractions is to actually FIGHT distractions.

 

This week is about experimenting with bodyweight exercises. If you do these already, no biggy- there's a ton of them so try out some new ones. In keeping with the fighting 'theme', here are some bodyweight exercises and how they translate:

 

Push-ups - The blockhead, YouTube has knocked you down; push yourself back up again.

 

Pull-ups - You're basically doing this to your embodiment distractions:

 

Lunges - You're 'lunging' forward and attacking.

 

Squats - Well, these distractions have weapons. It would be a good idea to duck and avoid an attack.

 

Keep in mind with bodyweight stuff; there are ways to tailor it so it's a challenge. Squats/Lunges too easy? Try Shrimp Squats.  Are push-ups too hard? Try incline pushups by propping a chair against a wall and try them that way; or even by doing 'wall-ups'.

 

You've zoned in last week and are rallying. Time to take the fight to them. 

 

CHARGE!

Reward: +1 Strength

 

By the way, for some morale - check out the NF Trivia quiz in the chatroom on July 6th 3 pm EST.

[Teros]

 July 6^th

 

First, quick announcement in case people didn't see:

TODAY - 3 pm - ESDT - NerdFitness Trivia.  Be there or b²

 

Looking up at the broken computer and tv screens that you just roundhoused, you see fragments of yourself in the tv's reflection.  It makes you wonder about yourself.

 

 

What do lawyers, actors, and being a better you have in common?  They're all liars.  Think about this for a moment.  Lawyers know that the law isn't black and white; it's shades of gray.  They know that they can build a case on either side of the law.  This means they need to use lies and persuasion to make you believe their point of view- innocent or guilty, friend of foe, a maniac or a martyr.

 

 

What do actors do?  They know people aren't black and white. They tell lies and make you believe them convincingly.  There's a suspension of disbelief.  While watching a movie, they ARE another character.

 

So then what about the best version of yourself?  How does that relate?  Well You're not black and white, you are a shade of gray.  In this mini, you need to tell yourself lies in order to convince yourself or someone else, 'I don't eat that junk anymore', 'Its not that tasty',  'I'm a runner'  All those in the short term may in fact be lies, but you are presenting YOURSELF your case. Your essentially telling yourself that you are someone else.  You're not guilty; you're innocent.  You're not Christian Bale of Jennifer Lawrence, you're Batman or Katniss. 

(This is yourself in your head)

 

What about those lawyers and actors?  Eventually, in the moment, they need to believe that lie.  Heath Ledger WAS the joker.  A person WAS an innocent man under bad circumstances.  You WERE someone that didn't work out. Now, it is time you convince yourself that you ARE someone else. 

 

You are Stronger. You are Faster. You are Mentally Tougher. You are Better.

 

 And you know what?  If you keep telling yourself that you are becoming who you want to be - if you keep saying that you are another person...you start acting like it.  One day, it's not a lie anymore.  You have become another person- one capable of anything you set your mind to.  Someone that is sociable, someone that is a healthy weight, someone that prefers healthy food over junk food.  You have this power because we're all liars. 

 

So this challenge, I want you to lie to me and lie to yourself.  Post here or on your thread about the person that you are.  Every single day this week, tell yourself this lie.  Maybe it's first thing in the morning when you wake up and you want to hit the snooze button, "I'm a runner."  Maybe it's multiple times at the office, "I don't eat that." Have a suspension of disbelief.  Suspend the doubts.

 

For completing this mini, you have the choice of +1 Charisma or +1 Wisdom.

[Teros]

Mini-6 on July 13^th

 

This is the final week for the current challenge. There are two options that can be done to slay Distractia.

 

1) Unplug from the world an hour a day.  Whatever your current distraction vice (youtube, facebook, tv, buzzfeed, texting people, whatever it may be), unplug from that distraction for 1 hour.  Whatever you do with that time is up to you.

 

2) Bonus workout.  There are multiple things that can be done here. Either stick with your workouts and try to break a Personal Record (more time running, more hills, more weight, more reps- whatever)   The focus is on a non-scale victory.  Either that or do an extra workout this week, or even do 50% more on a workout.  However you want to kick it up a notch.  BAM

For your continued effort on kicking arse, you earn  +1 Constitution.

[Tateman]

This will be nice since one thing I didn't like doing was digging through the giant thread to see each mini challenge  

[Edigo]

love that format Teros !

[ChristArtist]

Ditto!

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

[Teros]

Yeah I wanted to set it up this way last challenge but 'creative differences'.  I used this format for the RPG Fanatics story and it worked out great since there was no sifting around.  There may be a 'pre-mini-challenge' coming in the next day for all the early-birds. 

[Hiraedd]

Creative differences are what make life interesting and keep new things happening here.    We found the single-thread last challenge worked well for not clogging up the forum, but it did leave a little accessibility to be desired.  Hopefully Teros' new format will help address that.

[IronGlider]

Great idea Teros, it might sound a little silly but the prior format difficulty to navigate on tapatalk caused me to slip and eventually I just forgot about the sidequests... :-/

But cool, now I can follow this thread and look forward to new content keeping up with my fellow adventurers! :-) Looking forward!

Sent from my Z10 using Tapatalk

[cracked_belle]

Yeah I wanted to set it up this way last challenge but 'creative differences'.  I used this format for the RPG Fanatics story and it worked out great since there was no sifting around.

I'll be more inclined to try out the Mini Challenges now that I know where to find them. I don't have the dedication to sift through all the posts to find them.

 

There may be a 'pre-mini-challenge' coming in the next day for all the early-birds.

do eeeet!!

[dhar]

So, you'll just edit those top replies when it's time for the mini?  Is that how they'll stay on top?  

[Teros]

So, you'll just edit those top replies when it's time for the mini?  Is that how they'll stay on top?  

Yup!  That way it's all on the front page.  Easy to find and easy for when you do an end challenge wrap up.

 

 

do eeeet!!

done.

 

 

 

PRE-CHALLENGE IS UP!  You can scroll up to the top of the first page and.... SHAZAM!

[RogueWelkin]

Hmm...I generally the pre-challenge anyway, it'll be awesome to see more folk out there focusing on doing this as well.

[ravnos]

How would you gauge 'stronger'? Is your goal to throw a car into the sun?  Is it to not get winded when playing with your kids? Is it to do a salmon ladder?

 

You're welcome

[GingaNinja]

Yeahhhhhhhhhhhh format good. I kind of forgot to check for mini challenges towards the end of last challenge because thread searching, is a wee bit awkward!

[Tateman]

Creative differences are what make life interesting and keep new things happening here.    We found the single-thread last challenge worked well for not clogging up the forum, but it did leave a little accessibility to be desired.  Hopefully Teros' new format will help address that.

My only other thought would be to at least update the first post with links to the mini challenge post.  Of course you might miss out on some conversation though by just clicking on a link.  At least you would be able to find each challenge quickly.

[Hiraedd]

LOL -- I think that was an intention last challenge that got forgotten in the muddle of actual happenings  

[Tateman]

LOL -- I think that was an intention last challenge that got forgotten in the muddle of actual happenings

haha yeah, things get a bit hectic during the challenges

[RES]

I just want to know what a salmon ladder is? 

[Teros]

I just want to know what a salmon ladder is? 

[pumazealy]

that is the best 90 seconds i've ever watched!!

 

i love stephen armell!! that man is insane!

[AddisonNemeth]

im really glad you will post mini challenges on Sundays before the week they are suppose to refer to. for people who live outside of US posting them on Monday usually meant not having them till Tuesday which was not ideal. So thanks for the change