Rebels Report! How'd you do?

[dustinwh]

So overall, based on my calculations I have made a B+ on this challenge; I have made good progress. I am up to 165-168 pounds depending on the day from 156 at the start. Eating a lot has paid off. My strength gains have been decent, especially just starting out with barbells. I am looking forward to keeping with the barbell training. I am going to cut back on eating from 4500+ cals a day (most days around 5000) to about 3000 until the next challenge because eating this much quality food is kinda expensive on a severely limited college kid's budget (and I conveniently get paid on the 20th).

[macnip78]

Grade: D

My diet was good half the time, bad the other half. My strength goals were unreasonable and I wasn't even on a set program to complete those goals. Poor planning on my part, I'll do better next time.

Leveling up my life goal was accomplished for the most part. It was a weak goal though.

I definitely need better structure with the next challenge. I plan on winning it

[Siha]

Overall Grade: B-

Fitness:

I nailed everything but the running part, and that was the primary focus of my challenge. I have discovered that I don't like running at any point during the running process. It takes me forever to recover from a run, and I am uncomfortable the entire time. But the rest of my fitness was awesome. I made almost every body weight check in, and I have also discovered I like lifting heavy. And I danced, and danced extra if I missed a week.

Diet:

Tried three new recipes, all of which were awesome. (And all of which would make a fun 3-course meal) and maintained Primal the whole 6 weeks (with only a few small, pre-planned cheats. Hello bone marrow and toast rounds.)

Life:

The house is looking better and better. I know what the big problem spots are now (kitchen, laundry, and dropping clothes), but I don't have to waste energy cleaning up other stuff, and we have finally finished a lot of the stuff we've been putting off, like getting the new inherited furniture to the house. The only sad part is that the studio didn't get painted, but I had a feeling it wouldn't, hence the 'bonus' nature of that task.

I also successfully saved the 1k I shot for, which makes me super happy.

So without killing myself over the minor run!fail, I think I did pretty good.

[lwow]

The Plan:

eating-paleo based not so strict plus weekday food logging and keep calories between 1700 and 2000 depending on exercise

workouts-Run every day until Sept 25 when I have my first 5k since April. I would like to finish under 35:00 but I don't know where I am now and it is a hilly course.

I think I would like to keep up running after that, but maybe not every day.

Life- I think for a while all my life goals will have to do with one of three things. Wedding planning, house buying, career move. It sounds kind of weird and grown up.

This month, I need to get a wedding venue, ask my wedding party to do their thing, and set a date.

One cool thing that I started in my week off was my letter-a-day project. I already started freaking out about wedding planing, and is it the right thing and all so I wanted to do something to focus on what is important. So I am writing a note to my fiance every day about something he did that I liked or fun things we did. Next year after the wedding I'll give it to him like old fashioned love letters. I am hoping that it helps me stay happy about the whole process.

The outcome:

I did really badly posting this challenge, worse than any yet

Eating:

tracked calories only for the first week- I think I am pretty over calorie counting on a regular basis, but I think it would be smart to keep it up for the first week of each challenge to make sure I am on track

Running:

Did well through 5k day with running, then lost momentum, but started doing Zumba which I love every monday night and yoga most wednesday and saturdays plus lots and lots of walking which seems to be working ok.

Life:

Did really awesome on this, for my wedding I have a venue, a date, a caterer, a baker, wedding party all invited, a dress (OMG, it is awesome), a wedding planner, a photographer, and all kinds of spreadsheets to figure out the rest. And even with all of that, I am keeping to budget. Holy cow.

In addition to that I had 2 job interviews that seemed pretty good and I am looking forward to hearing back about soon.

I visited 10 houses looking for one to buy, we aren't ready to put in an offer until spring, but we are getting good research done now.

Letter writing:

I haven't written every day, but I have 5 pages worth of good stuff, it has been helping me emotionally for sure, and I am very excited to give it to my fiance when I am all done, although maybe I'll keep on doing it even after the wedding, it is nice.

I thought I was going to get kind of a bad grade because I haven't been working very hard at eating well and working out, but I am maintaining (which isn't too hard) while getting a huge amount of life stuff done.

For some reason, the deffinition in my arms seems better too and I don't think I did any lifting in the last month, but I'll take tha.

Anyway, I am thinking this month is like a C for workout/eating and an A for life...so that's a B?

Inconceivable.

[Hermione Gainser]

Over already?! I can't believe how fast it came and went. I'm sad. I enjoyed my first challenge, and definitely feel better equipped to attack my second challenge with the fierceness.

So, grading:

Fitness Overall-B

I completed the majority of my goals (have not completed a pull up).

Bonus- my strength has steadily increased. I've seen a lot of improvement in my lifts and an increase in some muscle definition.

Diet Overall-C

I ate well most of this challenge. I had a couple days that involved some cheats I had not scheduled but I did my best to make up for them on my actual cheat days. I did fairly well at that (and it only happened twice, really). Also, I went over my grain limit goal a couple times but most days I hit the bare minimum so I think that counts for something.

Everything else went well.

Life Overall-B

Life got in the way (by requiring all of my money) so some things had to take a hit here. However, I still did a lot of life stuff that I would not have done and I'm glad for it.

Additional things-Woot!

So, I guess that makes my final grade a B-?

Regardless of the grade, I enjoyed myself and feel accomplished.

Little side note: GO TEAM POWERTHIRST! My squad was THE BEST. So proud to be a part of it <3

[dustinwh]

Little side note: GO TEAM POWERTHIRST! My squad was THE BEST. So proud to be a part of it <3

AGREED! We definitely kicked Mother Nature with out Energy Legs!

[Mama T]

i really hope team powerthirst stays together this next challenge! Laura, bang up job, my friend. you kicked a ton of ass and earned an A in my mind (and heart).

lwow - my head is spinning at reading through all the stuff you got done for your wedding. i'm sure most people would be having meltdowns by now, so major congrats!! and zumba - i swear it holds the key to happiness.

[deadmetal]

Reporting in!

Fitness And/Or Diet

- Prepare at least one meal a day myself.

I give myself a B on this. I missed some scattered days, but largely managed. Mostly made omelettes.

- Do 2 sets of 5 real pushups

A. Nailed this, am still working on doing more.

- Miss no workouts, with the exception of 4 days off after my next tattoo appointment. [October 10th]

Give myself a C on this one. I missed a good number of workouts.

- Log and report my workouts within 12 hours of completing them.

- Take photos every monday, and log them with workouts.

Give myself a B on this one. Can't log on mondays when you miss monday's workout.

- Cardio, 3 times a week. No excuses.

D. Not enough of this done.

Life, The Universe, and Everything

- Move out, and secure myself a home.

This did not happen. Life loves it some sucker punch lefts.

- Read one book each week

Give myself a C for this. I only got through 3 books. [the Bridge trilogy by William Gibson]

Overall grade for this challenge - I'd say a C+

[Lightstorm]

I failed pretty spectacularly on most of the main goals, partly due to some unexpected personal circumstances, and partly because I had a steady stream of friends visiting which resulted in me being drunk and eating out most nights. Not really an excuse, but it happened and I'm not denying it.

However, although the health & fitness goals were all a non-starter, I did manage to make some great headway in work and life goals, and as such I'm feeling really inspired and looking forward to the next challenge. I've not managed to get online nearly as much as I'd hoped, or post updates anywhere nearly as frequently as I'd have liked, but some things can't be helped.

I reckon a solid D rating for me. Must do better next time.

[cacodaemonia]

Technically my six weeks won't be up until tomorrow night, but I'll go ahead and grade myself here now. Here were my initial goals:

Diet/Fitness:

1. Consume no refined sugar or foods that contain refined sugar. I'm allowing myself honey and stevia, but only a tiny bit.

2. Run 4-6 miles per week. I don't want to do too much in case I aggravate my healing Achilles injury.

3. Do at least one pull-up. This involves getting a pull-up bar first.

Life:

1. Practice mindfulness meditation 5 minutes each day. If I miss one day, I have to do 10 the next day to make up for it.

And here are the results:

Fitness:

Run 4-7 miles per week: I adjusted my goal so that I could run up to 7 miles per week during the latter 3 weeks. I met all of my weekly goals (interval training, trail runs, 5Ks), and stayed within the 4-7 miles/week range. Very happy with my running progress, and most importantly, I'm starting to kinda-maybe-sorta enjoy it.

A

Do at least 1 pull-up: I got a pullup bar, started doing sets of negative pullups every other day (was incredibly sore for the first week or two), and during the last two or two and a half weeks I've been "greasing the groove" with the negative pullups. That seems to be increasing my strength more effectively than doing sets, but I still haven't been able to do an actual, full pullup. Lots of effort but did not reach my goal.

C

Diet:

Consume no refined sugar or foods that contain refined sugar: This was waaaay easier than I thought it was going to be! I had a couple unintentional slip-ups where I consumed a tiny amount of processed sugar, but I never once deliberately gave into any cravings.

A

Life:

Practice mindfulness meditation 5 minutes each day: I actually managed to do this, only missing one day, which I made up for the next day by meditating for 10 minutes.

A

Overall: B+

Despite the pullup fail, I'm going to keep working at it, and otherwise I'm very happy with my results! I definitely couldn't have stuck with it if you wonderful NF peeps didn't keep me accountable.

[nightlight]

DIET

*Paleo at least 75% of the time. (+whey protein) - B-

*Only planned "cheats" allowed. C -- this doesn't jive well with the 75%, because then 25% of the time are cheats

*Drink at least 8 glasses of water per day B

*Get 8 hrs of sleep per night. A

*TRACK food intake. Bite it, and write it, folks. A

-- these are from last challenge -- which did not follow well.

FITNESS:

*Keep up with CrossFit. Do at least 3 WODs per week. A most weeks got at least 4.

*Do at least 2 CrossFit Strength sessions per week B think i missed one

*run 800m after at least 1 wod per week - get my time sub 6 minutes A

*Track weight at beginning and end of challenge (will use last challenge weight) DONE!

*Track measurements at beginning and end of challenge (will use last challenge measurements) DONE!

*Get 200 reps in Fight Gone Bad 6 on 9/17 -- don't know if this is possible for me, but we'll see! A

LIFE:

* Go on dates. Real dates. A went on 3 dates!

* Go through clothes and donate F

* Get last 4 boxes out of the apartment F

* Be active on the NF boards -- Stay on top of others challenges, and comment at least once per day. C was pretty active, but not as active as I should be

STATS

Weight: 173 (gym scale with clothes and shoes pre workout, post food) new weight 168

Measurements in inches

right calf - 15.5 same

left calf - 14.75 same

thighs 24.25 24.5

hips 41 40

waist: 35 (across belly button) 36 -- i am super bloated from something today, so this isn't exactly accurate.

under boob rib cage: 34.5 same

across bust: 39.5 39

bicep 13.5 13

neck: 13.25 a hair under 13.25

*tracking calves separately because i still have some muscle atrophy since my back surgery.

all in all, B

[Seabright]

Challenge Status Report

Diet

Goal: 8 glasses of water a day.

Result: Not bad! Just missed a few days. A-

Goal: Alcohol on Fridays and Saturdays only. Bonus points for skipping it entirely.

Result: Did it! PLUS, skipped it entirely last weekend. Bonus points! A+

Goal: Drop the caffeine down to 1 scoop regular to 7 scoops decaf by the end of the challenge. Bonus points for going to all decaf. [Fear Factor.]

Results: Meh. Did really well for 5 weeks, even going completely decaffular several times, and then backslid big time in the last 3 days. I'm going to say B- because now I know I can do it. Next challenge may go cold turkey.

Fitness

Original Goal: my original level-up-all-over-the-joint-and-go-mountain-biking-all-the-time-and-do-inverted-rows-and-one-and-one-planks goal was waylaid by a ruptured disk in my neck, of all creepy things.

Revised Goal: the revised goal became do-everything-the-doctor-tells-me-to-and-get-better-really-fast.

Results: Not bad! I went from literally shrieking in pain several times a day to an on-and-off ache. Did everything my doc told me to do very obediently, except for the horseback riding. Hey, ya gotta feed yer soul, no? A

Life:

Goal: When I get sad, I'm going to stop being sad and be awesome instead.

Result: Yeah, I'm awesome. A.

Goal: Job search M-F; create portfolio of work and fine-tune resume. [Fear Factor.]

Result: Regular scan arranged, resume nailed, the idea of relocating looked square in the face. Still working on visual evidence of work performed, but at least now I have an idea of how to approach this. I'm going to say B+.

Goal: CD project - narrow the 30 songs down to 15 and NAIL the 15 by the end of the challenge. [Fear Factor.]

Result: Meh. Narrowed the songs down to the 15, but didn't get no farther, no we did not. A solid and uninspired C.

Goal: Sing every day of this challenge. It can be really bad. [Fear Factor.]

Result: Sang when I didn't feel like it, even if it was only in the shower. Missed only one day. A.

Goal: Do the big Team Sorting event at the Santa Cruz County Fair - at least two runs. Get at least two cows out with my team mate in 75 seconds during at least one of the runs. This event happens in front of a huge crowd, at night, with a loud speaker and loud country music playing at the same time. [Fear Factor.]

Result: NAILED IT!!! We got SIX COWS!!!!! A+

Goal: GALLOP down the length of the arena and this time feel confident while doing it. No horn-holding. [Fear Factor.]

Result: OH MY OH MY! Bring on all ye cows, J.J. and I are going to run you down to the end of the arena and then back up the other side! We will make the ground shake with our mighty galloping hooves! Fear conquered! A++++

Bonus Goal: record something for youtube and post it.

Results: did it! A

Final Challenge Thoughts:

At first I thought I hadn't done too well with this challenge, but looking back at my original goals, I see that I did okay. I'm going to give myself a B+, because the fears I did conquer were pretty big ones and made me feel like I can now do anything!

Bring on the next challenge!

[RDOwens]

This was the first challenge I participated in. Overall, I was happy with it. I began highly motivated; that waned toward the end as life stepped up. I did not record measurements or take photographs for a pre-/post-analysis. That was a mistake and something I think will provide more motivation. Lesson learned. I also went off my paleo diet for several days and did not completely come back until more than a week later. That has cost me. I don't feel lean, although I think my body shape has changed. Even so, I still have a paunch.

More specifically, let's take a look at my goals:

Family:

* Attend each of my son's soccer games and practices

B I missed a practice, looked forward to two cancelled practices and one missed game, and was frustrated at most events as I realize my son's relationship to organization is not what his old man's is. I need more patience in this area. Oh, I could have attended that practice, but found a convenient reason not to go.

* Tell my wife and daughter I love them daily

I'm not terribly demonstrative.

A+ I knocked this out of the park! Every day I met this goal. Most days it was multiple times. I saw positive responses to my actions. That's good!

A-2: (my classroom)

* lesson plans completed for the following week before I leave for the weekend

A+ Each week my plans have been completed and left on the desk. It relieves a lot of stress when I don't have to worry about them over the weekend.

Self:

* weight train thrice weekly

plan: Saturday AM with trainer, Sunday noon with friend, Monday after work with friend; if something were missed, Thursday and Friday are available

F I did not work out thrice weekly. Twice most weeks. I got some cardio in occasionally, but that was not the goal. I thought Mondays were going to be a good workout day; that hasn't proved to be the case. Tuesdays and Thursdays are not good days, even though I thought I might be able to squeeze something in once in a while

I was close to a really good deal on used weight equipment to build a home gym. I should have pulled the trigger. That would have helped to get the third day.

* Burpee quarter-mile

I am enamored with the Burpee Mile. I am not ready for that at this point, but I will complete a Burpee .25-mile before this challenge is over.

A I completed this. I actually completed a third-of-a-mile, so that exceeded the goal. I could have done better. I felt like I didn't push as much as I could. I can do better, but am happy I did this task.

* complete a mud run

I am signed up for one

A This was a lot of fun, despite the inclimate weather. I went in for fun and running with my wife. She released me a little over halfway. I could have pushed harder at that point, although I finished at the end of the first group. Next year I expect to push harder.

Toastmasters

* Complete Advance Communicator Bronze

A+ I am proud of myself. I re-organized my speaking schedule to accommodate this goal. Two different speeches two days apart last week stressed me out. I almost bailed on the second, but didn't. Having this as a goal was a contributing factor as to why I did not. I officially turned in my paperwork for this award this evening.

Overall, I would rate this as a C. Failing the working out thrice weekly really hurt me. I don't feel any greater six weeks later. My weight is the same, but I feel squishy. I can't help but recognize that my days off the reservation have taken their toll. This is something that will show up in the next challenge.

I liked participating. I love the feedback I received. I "met" some nice folks along the way.

[Kishi]

All right. Let's see how I stack up, shall we?

My goals were as follows:

Follow the 50 Day Program I'm On -> REBEL RUNNING CHALLENGE. WITH STRENGTH TRAINING. AND ALSO MARTIAL ARTS.

Man, but this goal changed a lot. I graded it based on participation, taking half credits when necessary for half a day's work or incomplete work. I actually thought this was going to turn out worse than it did, but as it was, it ended up being 27.5/31 days: 88%, or a B+. Yeah, the running guide cut a couple days off the end, but that's what happened. I own it. And I'm not against a B grade.

Intermittent Fasting

Ended up making good on 10 out of a possible 12 days: 83%, or a B. Hoo, close one there.

Achieve a Body Fat Percentage of 11.6

Done. I honestly didn't think it was going to happen, but the running really did the trick. A+, 100%

Life Goal: Find a New Job

I'm honestly kind of torn about how to grade this one. So much of that turned out to be beyond my control. And I did find 5 out of 5 contacts to network with. I pushed them all as hard as I could - it's not as if it's my fault directly that nothing materialized. But that doesn't change the fact that I failed.

...

Still. I made a quantifiable effort, and I succeeded as far as that was able to go - 5/5, A+. I should have messed around with some different life goals, but. That's my bad, and it's a lesson for next time. I think the fact that I made forward progress despite the chaos of the past week merits the credit, so I'm going to take it.

So. 3.3+3+4+4=14.3/16=89%: B+. Better than before! Fantastic! And I've got some more fun stuff coming up for the next challenge - it's going to be more life stuff than fitness stuff. I'm already looking forward to it!

[Aejaxe]

Overall Grade: B+

Exercise/Health wise, I did really well. I didn't miss my workouts, and I only put food in my body that was going to fuel it for later. What bit me in the butt was my life challenge. I didn't quiet make the cut, but despite that, I'm happy with how my first challenge ended.

Is it Monday yet?

i really hope team powerthirst stays together this next challenge.

I second this. Especially being new to the site and community, my squad was what kept me updating regularly.

[drjayphd]

Haven't posted in a month... sounds about right.

Overall grade's a D. I kept screwing myself over at the beginning of the day, causing everything else to fall by the wayside. (It's kind of hard to go to the gym, etc. before work when you wake up at 11 and were supposed to be in at 10.) That said, this wasn't a complete loss, as you read ahead...

Diet goals:

* No fast food when I'm only responsible for feeding myself.

D. Improper planning means failure here. I've gotten things in better shape lately, though, so let's keep the upward trend moving.

* Prepare 10 new-to-me recipes. Salads are allowed, but not preferable.

C. Let's call it two. Baked chicken thighs over steamed broccoli/cauliflower and a spinach salad with avocado and cherry tomatoes.

Fitness goals:

* Hit Level 3 on all four exercises in the Angry Birds plan. (I have two of them at Level 3.)

F. Never did any new installments, so I'm starting over from the first levels and doing this proper.

* Do 25 consecutive burpees (including the push-up).

N/A... see above.

* Run 5K, either in a race or on a treadmill.

N/A. Kept stalling out on Week 6 of Couch to 5K, so this fell by the wayside.

* Drop down to a 36" waist, pants-wise. (I currently wear a 40.)

F. If I lost any inches off my waist, I wouldn't know because I haven't been measuring. This will change tomorrow morning.

Life goals:

* Apply to 100 jobs

C. Letters for about 30 jobs going out the door tomorrow. It sounded ambitious, but I could have done better.

* Post on my fitness tumblr at least thrice weekly

F. Uh, how about once? Not a week, period.

* Have at least $500 in a bank account for moving

A. I'm calling this a win because even though I didn't shift any money out of my Paypal account, the balance there is, in fact, over $500. That'll be my moving/emergency account for now, because I need to get some pretty big repairs to my car.

* Sell at least four more platforms' worth of my video game collection. (I have two platforms' worth out the door.)

INCOMPLETE. Shifted my focus to other things to sell (boxed systems, games, etc.) instead, in the name of clearing out immediate room. Since I didn't sell off anything new platforms, not going to give myself a grade, but it's success in a different way.

Sooper seekrit goal:

* Get a second job or promotion.

INCOMPLETE. Interviewed for a few new jobs within the company, and they're either dragging their feet or waiting for the hiring freeze to thaw before announcing anything. This... is encouraging, because mine is one of the papers that's being impacted by said freeze.

[Affienia]

Ok then, the results.

Diet:

Continue with paleo and try to refine it down a little more. Last time I challenged myself to at least 80% paleo, this time I'd like to up that to 90%

I only got 73%. However I really don't feel I can give myself a fail for this. The last 6 weeks have been brilliant for showing me how I feel about what I eat. I fell short of my goal by miles but I feel great on everything I ate, don't regret any of it and plan on continuing to eat as much paleo as I can. I guess the proper result should be an F but I'm gonna give myself a C because I learnt so much.

Fitness:

I started crossfit during the last challenge and am loving it. So I would like to continue with that. I challenge myself to a combination of crossfit and bodyweight exercises at home 3 times a week. In an ideal world it will be crossfit 3 times a week but I'm not sure I can afford it.

I got a C. Out if the 18 sessions I missed one for a cinema trip with my bestie, one due to a really sore back and 1 due to an injured wrist. I am very pleased with this result. Over the course of the last 6 weeks I've gotten to grips with many of the moves, deadlifted my own body weight, put 17.5 kg on my push press and increased my box jump from 4 20kg plates to a 16 inch box. A vast improvement.

Manage at least 1 pull up. I should be able to do at least one of some variety through crossfit. So I'm aiming for 1 proper one but I'll let you know hehehe

Again I've got a C. I managed one pull up with a green resistance band. We did a lot of pullups during Fran and I managed all those on jumping ones. Previously I could only manage maybe 5 before I wanted to cry, Fran has 45!

Do 5 proper burpees. By proper ones I mean jumping my legs out into press up position and jumping them back in. Currently I have to step out.

A baby! The last 6 weeks have involved a lot of burpees and I managed the 5 quite early on. I still can't manage more than that before my form slips but they are getting better each time. I've even done burpee box jumps.

Life:

I failed at the driving last time round, only going out once. This time I'm gonna be more specific. I want to go out in the car once a week for this challenge, more if I can manage it.

Only a D for this one. I managed to get out in the car 3 times, one of which was an epic 35 mile motorway drive. I still need to try much harder at this one but it's getting easier.

Get the most important parts of my wedding preparations sorted. Book the registrar and pay for the ceremony venue.

Both of this are done so it's a pass. I'm now down to 10 months and 20 days til the big day and am very excited.

Overall result

3 C

1A

1D

1 Pass

I'd say from that my overall should be a B. I'm really pleased with how the last 6 weeks have gone. I've learnt a lot about my body and intend to carry these things on. I've learnt I'm still terrified of driving but it's getting easier. I've learnt that I've found a comfortable place to be with my eating that is working for me. I've learnt that I am really excited about getting married (though I knew that one already). Over the last 2 months roughly I've lost nearly a stone iwn weight, can fit into cloths that I've not worn in years and am happier and more at ease than I have been in ages. Thanks Nerd Fitness, I owe you a bunch!

[Hermione Gainser]

i really hope team powerthirst stays together this next challenge! Laura, bang up job, my friend. you kicked a ton of ass and earned an A in my mind (and heart).

You too, my friend! You too! And agreed. I think Team Powerthirst needs to stick together. We obviously have something awesome going on here!

[Mama T]

So much Team Powerthirst love! Digs it.

And I've got some more fun stuff coming up for the next challenge - it's going to be more life stuff than fitness stuff. I'm already looking forward to it!

Kishi, you totally rocked this challenge, especially considering all of the fitness goals you’ve been tackling. Can’t wait to see where this running takes you, and I’m also including a lot of life stuff in my next challenge. Think it’ll be the only way I don’t go insane with homework/nanowrimo/etc.

Is it Monday yet?

Haha right? It’s not the same posting my workouts to evernote instead of the forums this week. I almost feel like a lost puppy. No challenge thread to update? What do I do??

[Kishi]

Kishi, you totally rocked this challenge, especially considering all of the fitness goals you’ve been tackling. Can’t wait to see where this running takes you, and I’m also including a lot of life stuff in my next challenge. Think it’ll be the only way I don’t go insane with homework/nanowrimo/etc.

I know, right? Team Powerthirst really ought to stick together, especially since we found out that some of us are actually going in on the whole NaNoWriMo thing. I'm telling you, it's about to get crazy up in here!

[aidanpryde]

I'm just a poor, wayfaring stranger.

I seem to have one good challenge followed by 1 bad challenge. This challenge sucked for me. I had trouble the entire time sticking to my diet, and a shoulder injury a couple of weeks ago kept me from working out.

I finished the challenge strong as this past week I have been to the gym a couple of times and over the weekend a buddy and I went camping in the Tennessee hills. 5 miles of hill trail will really wear you out, but I feel good.

Weighed in this morning at 232.8 which is 4.8 lbs. lost from the beginning of the challenge, but is equal to where I was at the end of the last challenge.

As I said a little above, exercise was very hit and miss and definitely not where I would like it to be.

Overall for this challenge I would give myself a C. I didn't really make any progress, but I didn't backslide either. Hopefully the last couple of weeks have set me up to have a good showing in the next challenge so that I can finally crack into the 220's and get on my way to my end-of-year goal of 216.

[Hermione Gainser]

BTW, totally open to challenge suggestions from my creative and awesome squad mates (and others who may have popped in on my last challenge).

[Colin]

The End of Challenge Results

I opted out of updates because I was spending way too much time checking out the community ... lots of interesting folks, methods, stories, successes ... Alas, only so many hours in the day.

However, much of the food and exercize goals were in support of breaking through a seemingly impenetrable barrier for me ... 200 pounds. Well the end of challenge produced a weight of ... wait for it ...

...199. Probably not statistically significant, but I'll take it for now. Improvements in the steps below should see this improve. New goal of 190.

What I did?

Action:Completed the NF Basic Training program

Result: Push Ups went from 15, 12, 8, 6 to 15,15,15,10

Action: Worked on the 20 pullups program sporadically

Results: Sporadic action equals limited results ... 1 pullup to 3

Action: Running ... hardly happened

Result: No improvement in 5k time ... duh

Food Challenge:

The drink limited calories goal was a success. Well within my allowances for special occasion beverages ... otherwise water and black coffee & tea

Eating - While I didnt' eat poorly, the challenge goals of whole foods and no processed carbs were not overly successful. Again, important to get buy-in from the home network on this one, especially when they do a lot of the cooking.

Life Challenge:

Rappelled off a 30 story building - terrifying, exhilerating ... not text book rappelling form, but the goal wasn't to do it in style, just to do it.

Increase practice time for musical interests ... NOPE!

Gonna settle generously for a C on this one.

[Robzilla1983]

- run 3 times a week (basically following couch to 5k) - A

With the exception of taking a week off in the middle (more on that later), I didn't miss any. Pretty sure I got more in than planned

- strength train 2 times a week (following 20 pullups, 200 squats, 100 pushups) - B

More or less hit it. Certainly didn't finish either program (I'm one of three workouts into week 4 of 6). Some weeks I got 3 in, some only 1 or 2. When I had to miss a workout I skipped this one to focus on running.

- try not to lose my mind at work. It's our busy period. B

Mostly stayed true. I noticed about half way through that I was dwelling on things a lot so I put a conscious effort into maintaining a more positive attitude and for the most part it worked.

- 5k is on September 25. Last year I ran and had a time of just over 32 minutes. This year I want to beat that at the very least, and really want to beat 30 minutes. If I beat 30 I'm buying myself a pair of real Vibrams (I bought two pairs of eBay knockoffs. One fell apart and went to the trash, the other isn't holding up well anymore). A

BAAAAAAAAAAAM. So stocked about this one. Long story short, it's been a goal for much longer than the duration of this challenge.

- beat Spezzy in the double unders challenge: http://nerdfitness.com/community/sho...-Double-Unders - A

Unless Spezzy did some and didn't mention it, I think I handily won this one.

- compete mud grinder on September 25. A

Damn near killed me by making my asthma act up, but it was a lot of fun.

Overall: A

I say A because I wanted my runs to score higher. That was the top priority. Since I didn't miss any, and hit my sub-30 minute 5k goal, it counts as a win. Mud grinder and beating Spezzy are bonus points

This was by far the most successful challenge I've done here. (Probably my 4th or 5th overall). My goals did shift part way through. I kind of burned out about 3 weeks in so took a break from everything, then for the last few weeks I just worked on getting my workouts in without going overboard like at the beginning. I'm still really excited about the mud grinder. It's no Warrior Dash, but it was so awesome to have something like that near by.

I did kind of hit a mental breakthrough after doing the run. That was mentally really tough on me, but I pushed through, and I'm really happy that I did. Now I need another challenge like that. Not sure what it'll be yet.

Another big mental win was that I finally stopped weighing myself. I've been pretty neurotic about checking every Tuesday morning after a shower. My scale has the BF% option, and I kept hoping it would change. But I've been tracking things for the better part of the year and there really hasn't been much fluctuation. On one of my weigh ins before I checked I thought it'd go down a bit. I was feeling great that morning. Felt skinnier, felt like my arms were getting bigger, etc, etc. But my weight, and BF%, went up that day, and I bothered me for a bit. I clued in that I shouldn't let it bother me, so since then I'm focusing more on how I feel and not the numbers. I'm like 4 weeks without a weigh in, and I *just* had to tighten my belt another notch, so it's obviously working out well for me.

On my runs I took my dog with me most of the time. I figured it'll kill 2 birds with one stone: I get to run, and we tire him out so we don't have to go for a long walk later in the evening. A nice little bonus to this is that he lost a bit of weight. He's not huge or anything, but he does need to lose a bit more. This is seriously motivation for me to keep going. Next challenge I plan to focus on strength, but I will try to get some runs in for Dwight's sake.

[Mama T]

Robzilla - way to just kill this challenge! you should feel so proud of yourself, because you leveled up all over the place. i also like the fact that you made a conscious effort to have a positive attitude at work too... if that's the place you spend most of your week, might as well try not to feel crappy about it, right? excited to see what you do with the next challenge - 10k? even faster 5k?