Hello?

[Nymphadora]

Hello! 

My names Sharna or I sometimes go by my alter ego Nymphadora, (Tonks, Harry potter anyone?? :p)
Anyways Im 23yrs old uni student studying Primary teaching and working two part time jobs to pay for all the adventures to come

I recently respawned in my fitness journey and so far so good!

At the moment Im a rebel in the academy on the path of Bodyweight Level 3.
Ive never been good any kind of physical activity. I was the kid that would trip over myself walking down the street and end up with a broken bone

(So far only four breaks and one sprain from this) But Im determined, and not going to let my track record hold me back. 

 

However I am finding it hard to go it alone. 
A lot of my real life friends lack the understanding of my goals, fitness, transforming my life into a game etc. Which can be difficult at times. 
So part of my wellbeing quests have been to reach out and recruit some like minded people into my friendship circle, whether online or irl.

I am from Australia so I know theres a huge time difference, but Im up for a challenge.

Anyways thats me, can't wait to hear from any of you.  

[Akari]

18 hours ago, Nymphadora said:

So part of my wellbeing quests have been to reach out and recruit some like minded people into my friendship circle, whether online or irl.

Good morning Sharna, I like this quest. I'm here to support you to succeed in it. Can't meet you in real life yet. Too much water in between us.

I'm from Germany, so I'm currently 9 hours behind you if I'm right.

 

[Nymphadora]

Hello akari! 

 

Lovely to meet you!

 

Yes that would be a fair distance to swim! But I'm happy with being online friends  

 

Wow that's really cool! You're officially my first German friend  

[Akari]

3 hours ago, Nymphadora said:

You're officially my first German friend

Yay first one

[Eskcanta]

Hey hey hi hi.  I suspect I would enjoy being a sidekick on this team...

 

I'm in North America, so it's quite a swim between us all still.  I recently respawned back into NF.

 

You mentioned working two jobs as well as being a Uni student.  I'm also doing full time school and work, and juggling fitness and self improvement into my life.

 

Are you looking just for online friends who are into fitness and self improvement, Nymph, or are you looking for people to team up with (even across the time differences) and try to work on goals of a sort with?

[Nymphadora]

Hi eskcanta! 

 

Welcome to the group  and congrats on the respawn! 

 

I think a little bit of both. I would love to make some friends with similar goals and interests. However I do feel if we created a team with similar goals would definitely give me the motivation to be consistent with. 

 

It's so easy to lose sight of my health and fitness goals with such a busy schedule. Hence trying to reach out to like minded people. I think it would be awesome if we had some similar goals that we could touch base on, encourage each other and throw in some friendly competition with  

 

[Nymphadora]

On another note, it's actually one of my epic quests to visit America when I graduate from university! Not sure where I'd go yet. Still have just a little over a year to plan it.

[Eskcanta]

Excellent well.

 

My current goals involve increasing... or maybe just maintaining... my workouts across a week period, and trying to stay more within a calorie budget plus... eat less totally not healthy stuff.  Which I try to justify by the 'look Ma, I work out a lot!' trick...  Sure, I can't outrun my fork, but if I work out many hours a week.... I may not fall that far behind it?  *hides*

 

So Yeah.  I most need help/motivation/persuasion/accountability about what the heck I am eating, and how much.

 

I would also enjoy being part of a working out 'team', regardless of how virtual it was.  I think I would enjoy that and might work out a bit harder than I do already.

 

More specifically, my goals are closer to 'work out at least 4 hours a week' (got that one most weeks, exceed it often) and 'eat something closeish to 2000 calories or less a day, with few (no?  please none...) empty calories, which... I am utterly failing to follow almost every day. 

 

I am open to friendly competition.  I am very open to cheering others on and being part of a team working to achieve mutual goals ('we do better, all of us, including me' tastes like a mutual goal to me!)

 

So, Nymph, Akari... is there perhaps 1-3 specific goals you two would like to throw into our accountability pot for stewing and focusing on?

[Nymphadora]

 

22 minutes ago, Eskcanta said:

Which I try to justify by the 'look Ma, I work out a lot!' trick...  Sure, I can't outrun my fork, but if I work out many hours a week.... I may not fall that far behind it?  *hides*

I am the exact same!! This is a huge one for me. 

My current goals are;
-  Trying to work out 4 times a week as well as walk for ten minutes a day (not counting any walking I did during my day, its so easy to go I'm sure I walked ten minutes tick then to actually walk for the sake of walking ten minutes).
I'm currently working through Bodyweight 3 in the academy...sucking at the assisted pull ups so badly and hanging from the bar! Who knew hanging from a bar could be so hard!
- Restricting my calorie intake to 1300 which so far has been a huge fail as I fall short on empty calories way too often
- Attempting to cook all my dinners/breakfasts at home (next week I'll throw lunch into the mix, baby steps). This doesn't have to be from scratch just yet, it's just getting me use to eating at home rather then takeaways.

I think the calorie accountability could be easy, we can keep a food journal or be myfitnesspal friends to have to submit to each other. This can help motivate us to steer clear from empty calories as we have someone reviewing our choices. In an encouraging way though, theres always gonna be those days were we fall short and life throws curveballs at us. Or maybe even a picture journal or something?

The workout thing could be we can set goals of an exercise once a week e.g. running, push ups, weights etc, where we have to see how many reps/distance/heavy we can do that exercise in. Then we can come back to that and see how we progressed?? Or something similar? 

 

[Akari]

Hi, @Eskcanta.

I will 100% not counting calories! And I will not cut down the calories, like @Nymphadora to 1300. I do at the moment the slow carb diet suggested by Tim Ferris. (It's kinda similar to the Paleo diet.) I lost 2 lbs in the first two weeks I did it. Might have it back because I ate what I wanted last week, but I really want to stay with it.

I'm open to doing a workout program together How about Age of Pandora from Darebee. This is a training plan for 60 days. Even the Level 1 would be a challenge for me, but without effort, there will be no change. And to track if we have done our Programm we could use google sheets like the Monkey Tamers do already.

 

 

[Nymphadora]

 

3 hours ago, Akari said:

 

I'm open to do a workout program together How about Age of Pandora from Darebee. This is a training plan for 60 days. Even the Level 1 would be a challenge for me, but without effort, there will be no change.

 

 

That sounds really cool akari! I'm in  

[Eskcanta]

Interesting ideas!

 

I am too afraid to do the Age of Pandora workout myself.  I have an old knee injury that has limited some of the ways I can safely move, and I am still overweight enough that I do not wish to do much jumping around at all yet.  Day two of that Pandora includes things like jumping high knee tucks and jumping from side to side.  This program is wrong for me at this time and I do not wish to extensively modify the entire thing to make it work for me - but it could be totally right for you both.  Either way, I -do- want to work out and be part of a team doing it together... even if that means I am not doing exactly what you guys are.

 

We also have some different areas of focus in the direction of diet as well.

 

Which opens up a path for us to possibly work together, and support each other, but not do exactly the same things.  Kind of like an adventuring group, so this may still work, especially if we want it to - after all in an RPG the ranger does very different things from the paladin - but together they can be part of a great team with a great story.

 

Pandora seems like a good super hero thing... I'm happy to be a sidekick, and you awesome super hero folks can do the stuff that frankly scares me into sitting down and holding still.  Since I wish to focus on endurance workouts on an elliptical trainer with a few other exercises, and I wish to focus on not eating too much or the wrong foods... Maybe in our story I will be scouting around/patrolling and bringing back food and materials for our team?  Or something.  If I eat the stuff I'm trying not to, in the story I'm eating more than my share of what's being found, and I really don't want to do that.  If I don't get enough of my workouts done, I'm leaving you hard-working heroes to pick up the slack that I didn't do (no actual change in what either of you actually do expected).  And if I do extra well, great, that'll be theoretically good for the team?

 

For today so far:  I have done an hour elliptical workout, my usual resistance of 12, 5.29 miles 'gone'.  Slightly better than I hoped to do, it's actually my second best distance in that time.  And, so far I have not eaten too much (but it's early still!) or any empty calories.  So if we do something like a story... and if I my role in it is something like scouting and finding/bringing back needed things/food... so far I'm not messing up

 

I'm happy to track stuff on a google sheet but am not sure how to set that up.

 

Do we want to roleplay our daily efforts and how well or badly we are meeting our goals, or just keep a google sheet?

[Nymphadora]

I love this so much. I think we can build up a team with different classes and make this work, after all most RPGs rely on different classes working together  

 

I'll look into pandora more after work 

[bker1370]

Welcome @Nymphadora.  I'll be glad to be online friends as well...  and maybe even jump in on the sidekick thing (your time difference is not a big deal for me as I'm a night person anyway...  meaning I'm probably up and on still when you get up in the morning LOL.)

[Nymphadora]

Hello bker!! Lovely to meet you

[bker1370]

Nice to meet you as well,  going to join in on the mini-challenge over in the Ranger's sub-forum?  Also, don't forget to introduce yourself in the guildhall so we all can welcome you.

[Nymphadora]

@AkariI just had a look at age of pandora and absolutely love this!! 
What did you want to aim for? 1 chapter a day? We can start tomorrow if you like? and give each other feedback on how we went. 

[Eskcanta]

(Starting a bit of an RP post about our stuff.  I have no idea if anyone else wants to play with this, or do their own writing even if they do.  But when I can I'll write a short piece about an adventure we might be having around the theme of Age of Pandora intertwined with whatever we've let each other know about what we've done that day.  Speaking of which, I managed to stay under 2000 calories today... but had 350 empty calories.  Oh man how to figure that between the good versus bad accounts...  Anyway, my RP writing will always be mostly in italics, so easy to recognize and skip if not enjoyed.  I'm aware we have not exactly started or specified exactly what we are going to do... so this is something perhaps of background and getting started.  Play with this and weave your own story in should you wish!)

 

Eskcanta crouched beneath some bushes, staring at the ruin of the shack where she had sheltered for most of the past year.  Something had certainly destroyed it; something she had no desire to encounter.  Not the worst of luck, at least she'd been away when disaster came calling, the roof went falling, and most of the things she'd gathered were scattered again.

 

Night falling.  No shelter left here.  As the shadows grew away from the setting sun, Eskcanta moved among the wreckage, gathering a few things.  Mostly foodstuffs, some water.  A coat.  A noise rose in the distance, warbling, almost musical.  Not a monster's call - that was a siren!  Like from a police car... there might be people in that direction.  Eskcanta wrapped the salvage in her rucksack and stepped into the early night, headed towards the sound.  People, to see people again.  A break from too much time alone or among monsters.  Her pace sped up as she wondered if she would find people she could work with again.

[Nymphadora]

Wohoo go Eskcanta! You smashed your calorie goal! and only 350 empty calories! Thats a solid effort! Tomorrow if you're going to have empty calories reason with yourself first and say its only acceptable if it's 325. Try continuing that daily and see if you can cut it down gradually rather then all at once. 

Love the RP it is fantastic! I'm not much of a writer myself but I'll give it a go. 

[Eskcanta]

... 325 would be very hard.  Each of the candies is... 50.  To eat just half a candy?  How strong do you think I am?    Thank you for the encouragement though, and good luck in what you do!

[Nymphadora]

Chapter One: Completed (Level One) 
@Akari I'm exhausted haha but love the RPG style of the workout  
 

Nymphadora awoke to the sounds of sirens blasting across the city. Where was she, how did she get here? She felt a sharp throbbing pain in the back of her head..'ugh' she groaned as she picked herself up off the ground. She put her hand out to steady herself and found an invisible wall in front of her. Panicking she began to back away when THUD! Smack straight into another wall not even a metre away from the first.

 

'No no no, HELPPP!!' she cried out as she realized she was imprisoned in a glass box. 

Nymphadora banged on the glass in front of her, 'HELPPPPPP' she screamed. Her screams fell on deaf ears as the sirens continued to go off. 
She would not give up, she would not let her claustrophobia break her. Nymph kicked and punched and elbowed the glass. Her hands were bruised and bloody when the first crack appeared. Fueled by rage, adrenaline and fear she persevered until finally the glass cracked and she was free. 

Nymph sunk to her knees, her heart racing as blood and sweat dripped onto ground. She was exhausted. 

The sirens had stopped. How long had they been silent for? And then came the screams. 'AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH' 
Nymph jumped to her feet, she guessed they were a few blocks away. She began to stumble towards them when the screams stopped. Suddenly the streets were filled with the chomping sound of jaws tearing apart its prey... Nymph began to retreat, tripping on some rubble and sliding back into the shadows. She was exhausted but knew it was smarter to put as much distance as she could between the chomping noises and herself. So she began to retreat... 

[Nymphadora]

23 minutes ago, Eskcanta said:

... 325 would be very hard.  Each of the candies is... 50.  To eat just half a candy?  How strong do you think I am?    Thank you for the encouragement though, and good luck in what you do!

 

You can do it!! just bin the other half before you second think it  or drop 50 rather then 25. 
You're part of the rebellion! You have the strength within you! 

[Akari]

I'm not a writer. I don't have the patience. And writing stories in English is even harder. But it's fun to read what you wrote.

I skipped workout today completely. After work, I was exhausted. But I managed to practise the languages which I'm currently learning.

[Eskcanta]

Hrm.  Well, I wasn't so strong as you encourage, @Nymphadora.  After I posted last night, before I went to bed, I went after more food.  Sigh.  Empty calories up to 650, total calories over 2000.  Food that food, meh.  My nemesis, so hard to resist.

 

@Akari, would you mind if I sometimes write you into the story fragments I create, with your reports of your progress affecting how things go in the story?

 

Dark buildings ahead.  Everything shadowy.  Still that siren somewhere ahead; also periodic screams, roars, and sometimes the tinkle of breaking glass.  Time to think this over... did she really want to risk going into this chaos?  More directions to run in a forest....

 

Eskcanta slowed, hiding just outside of the city to reach into the rucksack and munch on something she'd salvaged.  Wonderful smell, wonderful taste; her eyes half closed in pleasure.  Such a mistake  A woman's voice shouting 'HELPPPPPP' followed by sudden silence from the sirens shook her from her focus on the food - as Something came at her from the thick shadows around the base of the nearest building, hands outstretched and flesh gleaming.

She dropped her food and ran, leaving the rucksack behind as well, no time to grab it.  As she escaped a rattle behind her, then a tremendous tearing, chewing, chomping sound came, not just from behind her, but in many places across the city and forest she was running between.  The monsters, they were rising up and feeding...

 

She had to make a choice.  No shelter between the city and the forest.  Not much food in the forest...  Eskcanta turned up the next street she passed and started running into the city, trying to find somewhere to get supplies, someone to help or be helped by.

[Nymphadora]

You guys guess what! It's a new day today (8.30am Australia time) so leave tomorrow's battles behind and charge into today refreshed and ready to tackle the new challenges today brings! 

Eskcanta at least you're recognising empty calories. Maybe you could look into removing them from your location or replacing them with some other kind of snack? I have a bowl of fruit on the bench and have to reach for that before I think of giving in to a craving! 

 

@Akari that's okay you can smash it out today!