Hi! I needed this kick in the butt

[Tazaria]

Hi! 

Though in my profile it says I've been a member of Nerd Fitness for like 5 years, I'm just now returning after a really long dry spell. I got an email a couple of weeks ago from this site that came at a time when I really needed it. It said "We need you back" from Steve at Nerd Fitness. I had hit a stall in my weight loss and was having trouble sticking with any sort of diet plan. When I got this email, I was reminded of Paleo and how much I liked it and how much it worked for me when I did it years ago.

 

I was the biggest I've ever been when I got pregnant with my son, who is now 18 months old. A couple months after he was born, when the scale kept climbing and climbing from my unhealthy eating habits, which I then blamed on being too busy with a new baby to be healthy, I decided enough was enough. In the last 15 months I have lost 75 pounds. I am very happy about this for sure! But, I have been yo-yoing around the same weight now for the last few months because all of sudden I'm having trouble with sticking to a plan. I've done a few different things the last 6 months or so trying to find something to do (calorie-counting, Dukon, Juicing). I started Paleo again 2 weeks ago and have now dropped an additional 10 pounds and it's been easy to stay with! I feel like this was the answer for me. This makes me very happy and I'm looking forward to continuing the way of eating for a very long time to come.

 

It's good to be back!

[Guzzi]

Welcome back!  There's been a few changes while you've been gone so if you need any help figuring it out then let me know.  The challenges are now only 4 weeks, which I think is a bit of a shame, there's been a few tweaks to the guilds which resulted in a new "Rebels" guild being created, and you can now create your own character and write out your Epic Quest.  

 

They also launched the Acadamy, which you pay to join, that walks you through all the changes to diet, exercise, lifestyle, with quests and exercises.  I don't know too much about it but some people seem to get a lot out of it.  Might be worth checking out?

 

The next challenge starts on Sunday (a week today) if you're interested in joining up?

[Lovejoy444]

I'm so glad you've found your mojo again Tazaria! I'm actually a true newbie myself (been with NF for two or three weeks), and I love the atmosphere here. I've found I really like writing my own Epic Quest because I can create goals... er, quests... that go beyond fitness, yet contribute to my overall mindset, which INCLUDES fitness. I can also create weirdly specific quests that work around my recent ACL reconstruction surgery, like "Do prone leg hangs 10x per day."

 

I also joined the NF Academy (even though it's pricier than I think it should be), because I just need the structure, and really need to work on my mindset before I can be successful. It sounds like you're raring to go, though.  Good luck to you, and welcome back!

 

=)

Laurie

[Tazaria]

On 4/16/2017 at 9:11 AM, Guzzi said:

Welcome back!  There's been a few changes while you've been gone so if you need any help figuring it out then let me know.  The challenges are now only 4 weeks, which I think is a bit of a shame, there's been a few tweaks to the guilds which resulted in a new "Rebels" guild being created, and you can now create your own character and write out your Epic Quest.  

 

They also launched the Acadamy, which you pay to join, that walks you through all the changes to diet, exercise, lifestyle, with quests and exercises.  I don't know too much about it but some people seem to get a lot out of it.  Might be worth checking out?

 

The next challenge starts on Sunday (a week today) if you're interested in joining up?

Thanks! I'll definitely send a message if I have any questions! I've been checking out some of the different areas of the forums and trying to decide what guild I associate most with. I don't think I have read any of the epic quests though, I will have to do that. It always amazes me how creative people can be, I'm not very creative with my words!

I will look into the academy but I will probably just hold off for now on paying for anything. Back when I joined before I bought the beginning strength guides and still have those though!

How do I join a challenge? I don't know anything about them really as I didn't do them before either. What kind of challenge is it?

Thanks! 

[Tazaria]

On 4/16/2017 at 4:34 PM, Lovejoy444 said:

I'm so glad you've found your mojo again Tazaria! I'm actually a true newbie myself (been with NF for two or three weeks), and I love the atmosphere here. I've found I really like writing my own Epic Quest because I can create goals... er, quests... that go beyond fitness, yet contribute to my overall mindset, which INCLUDES fitness. I can also create weirdly specific quests that work around my recent ACL reconstruction surgery, like "Do prone leg hangs 10x per day."

 

I also joined the NF Academy (even though it's pricier than I think it should be), because I just need the structure, and really need to work on my mindset before I can be successful. It sounds like you're raring to go, though.  Good luck to you, and welcome back!

 

=)

Laurie

Thanks!!  Welcome to NF to you =] I love the atmosphere here as well, everyone is so helpful! I feel like any epic quest I would try to write would be extremely boring, I'm not good at being creative with words! I will go check yours out, though! As well as start reading some other ones.

Right now I'm doing great on this lifestyle so I don't feel like I need the kind of help I would get through paying for the academy. This time around it really helps that my husband is also trying out Paleo (even though he's always supportive even if he doesn't follow diets with me). It just helps!

Thanks and good luck to you, too!

[Guzzi]

I've never bothered with the academy, I find the challenge structure enough to keep me motivated (and I'm really not into role play!!)  

 

There's a really good NF article about the challenges, from back when they were 6 weeks long, that really explains it well, and the Rules/FAQs are here, though that page does make it sound a bit more complex than it really is (I think). 

 

Long story short, you pick 3 diet/fitness goals and an optional "life" goal (read a book, pay off a debt, have a family game night etc).  The idea is to try and create new, better habits so they should be fairly small goals, no big changes.  You could easily use your switch to paleo as a goal - eat one paleo meal each day/every breakfast to be paleo etc.  I would just advise not to have "eat 100% paleo" as it's too hard to keep up and would probably just make you feel crap when you weren't able to achieve it. 

 

There's a good article explaining the guilds here but you don't even need to bother with the guilds if you don't feel like it.  That's why they introduced the Rebels guild, so that people who didn't want to pick a guild had somewhere they could post. 

 

All you do to join is just post your thread and that's it!  The forum is now open so you can have a read of other people's threads for inspiration if you like. 

[Tazaria]

7 hours ago, Guzzi said:

I've never bothered with the academy, I find the challenge structure enough to keep me motivated (and I'm really not into role play!!)  

 

There's a really good NF article about the challenges, from back when they were 6 weeks long, that really explains it well, and the Rules/FAQs are here, though that page does make it sound a bit more complex than it really is (I think). 

 

Long story short, you pick 3 diet/fitness goals and an optional "life" goal (read a book, pay off a debt, have a family game night etc).  The idea is to try and create new, better habits so they should be fairly small goals, no big changes.  You could easily use your switch to paleo as a goal - eat one paleo meal each day/every breakfast to be paleo etc.  I would just advise not to have "eat 100% paleo" as it's too hard to keep up and would probably just make you feel crap when you weren't able to achieve it. 

 

There's a good article explaining the guilds here but you don't even need to bother with the guilds if you don't feel like it.  That's why they introduced the Rebels guild, so that people who didn't want to pick a guild had somewhere they could post. 

 

All you do to join is just post your thread and that's it!  The forum is now open so you can have a read of other people's threads for inspiration if you like. 

I was reading the challenge posts last night after I posted and I was thinking of the challenges the wrong way. I was thinking it was more like every 4 weeks there was a specific challenge and then everyone tries to complete that. Instead, it's more like you make your own challenge and then post on your progress and stuff right? I found a link to the "formula" for creating a level 1 challenge when it's your first one so I guess I will try that. All of the stuff under Diet on there though doesn't apply to me as I already do all of it but from your suggestion it sounds like I can basically make up my own stuff to meet my needs.

We do eat paleo for every meal already, but we aren't 100% as I use real butter for cooking and I have no desire to change that =]

It sounds too like having a certain weight loss goal isn't the point of the diet part right? It's more like choosing goals that will help me lose the weight?

I'll read other challenges and see if I can find any inspiration for my own challenges.

 

Thank you!!

[Guzzi]

You've got it exactly!  Each person's challenge thread is different and tailored to their own particular goals.  You don't have to use the "Level 1 suggested goals" either, they're just there to help people who are stuck for ideas to get a feel of what kids of things they can do, and to try and reinforce the idea that you don't want to jump in and make massive changes that you aren't going to be able to stick to. 

 

You can certainly aim for a weight loss target over your challenge, but your actual goals would be the things that you plan to do to achieve that loss, like eating paleo.  

 

Here's a couple of examples that I like that people have posted, just to give you some ideas about how you can have fun with it.

 

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This makes the twentieth time I have started a challenge on the NerdFitness forums. They should all be linked below in my signature. Some of them went really well, some of them were total failures. Most were somewhere in the middle.

 

Current overall mission (admittedly a little fuzzy): Lose weight and get physically prepared for a family trip to Disney World in early November 2017.

 

Fitness Goals:

Goal 1: It's now or never/ I ain't gonna live forever

Avoid sugar, corn syrup, grains, potatoes, and snacks. Record daily and report here.

 

Goal 2: I just wanna live while I'm alive

Strength training three times per week. Report here what I do.

 

Life Goal: Tomorrow's getting harder make no mistake/ Luck ain't even lucky/ Got to make your own breaks

At least ten minutes every day of focused, non-distracted meditation and scripture study.  Report on this thread.

I took the Bon Jovi video out of the post to save space but I bet you still get the song stuck in your head after reading it, lol!

 

 

 

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Deffy Drops the Dead Weight

 

I have had a lot of success this year but recent events have led to my feeling atomised yet again, a feeling that always seems to sweep me up in the spring. I start to look at where I want to go in relation to where I am currently at, and I feel the need to spring clean my life so that is the focus of this challenge. I have asked myself why I have the possessions I have, why I do the things I do, why I want the things I want, why I mix with the people I do and why I let myself lose touch with some people, and some of it doesn’t make much sense any more. So the focus of this challenge is to ensure I am giving the daily focus to the things that are important and not wasting my time on the things that aren’t.

 

1. Escape the Unbearable Weightiness of Stuff

I have too much stuff, I might have mentioned this before. I like the idea of living amongst only those items I truly love and dropping the stuff I don’t particularly care for. I am not quite ready for a full Konmari but for this challenge I want to get rid of one item every day, which I believe is 32 items in total. At the end of the challenge, I have 14 days to donate this stuff or I have to get rid of my favourite dress too. I will be a throwing away monster, ruthless and cruel. 

 

 

2. Drop the Excess Weight

I still have my chain going for all my daily goals and they will continue but I also want to aim for a specific calorie goal. This is not set in stone and there will be no penalties for me not hitting it which is the only way I can do this without activating my inner Rebel to sit up and do what she damn well pleases but I will keep this calorie goal in mind every day and shoot for it, on the downlow.

 

 

3. Stop Stockpiling Food

I open my pantry door and that crap just falls out all over the floor. My freezer is full and I am not intentionally preparing for a zombie apocalypse, I do not need to stockpile food. I want to eat down my cupboards and buy less food so meal planning will be around what I already have. There are only two of us in my house, we do not need three months worth of food hanging around.

 

 

4. Stop Being Frivolous with Spare Time and Pursue an Old Passion

When I was younger, I used to write a lot. I maybe showed a little promise but somewhere along the line I just stopped doing it. I would really love to get back into it but I find myself stumped, creatively. So I am going to start at the very beginning and read a book about how to effectively write, make notes and hopefully snatch back some of that lost talent.

 

 

5. Explore Avenues

This is a semi secret goal so little will be discussed publicly on the forums but I don’t mind discussing it semi publicly so this may be chronicled on Instagram because I use this exclusively for you fine people. In the interests of making this goal SMART, I want to explore 5 avenues.

 

 

Obviously all the other stuff is still required – 3x 30 minute workout sessions a week, daily  Daily Dare, 5 a day every day, proper hydration, daily journaling, daily MFP tracking and reading 10 pages per day. I have 100% success for these goals for this year and that will not end here.

 

My challenge starts on Tuesday and goes through until the Friday before the official end of the challenge. Maybe longer if I'm feeling fruity.

 

 

 

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Introduction: 

It's been like a year. Er. Oops?

 

I've been delaying my return (obviously, LOL), and finally checked it out today. Just in time too, as I see a challenge started only yesterday. Pretty good timing, as I officially restarted my new healthy ways two days ago.

 

In the last challenge, the consequence for my character if I didn't do enough body weight training (hand-to-hand combat training for her), she'd be captured. I failed, then ditched her for a year.

(*Not happy*)

 

Oops.

 

Okay, I left poor gal stranded for a year, so it's time I help her to rescue herself. 

Anyway, I want to get this started, so here we go.

 

Main Quest: The Adventure Continues

 

Michaela, along with three others, Cron, Arle, and Cyrus, have been sent out on separate paths to discover the truth about dark rumors. Unfortunately, after leaving city of Three Land Crossings, Michaela was captured. (I'll post more details about this later for a more complete story.

 

Losing weight is my adventure. No XP here. Whatever comes off will come off.)

 

Quest 1: Becoming a Warrior

 

Michaela needs to hone her fighting skills…even if she is a cell.

 

(Strength training 3 days a week. How else is she going to make her escape?)

 

A = 12+ days total. Michaela will beat up all the guards and escape.
B = 10. Michaela escapes, but she leaves guards. They'll follow her after.
C = 8. Michaela is injured, and needs to go into hiding. She escapes at least.
D = 6. Michaela escapes…her cell, but not the actual dungeon.
F = 4. Michaela doesn't make her great escape.)

 

Quest 2: Toes are Just so Far Away

 

Orc's aren't well known for their flexibility, but Michaela should still stretch.

 

(Stretching 12 times throughout the challenge, which averages 3X per week. A max of one stretch session counts per day.

 

A = 12. Everything is great for Michaela.
B = 10. Tightness in her legs.
C = 8. Cramps in her legs...
D = 7. ...and arms...
F = 6. ...and now has trouble sleeping.)

 

Quest 3: Cleaning

 

Michaela digs a tunnel as part of her escape.

 

(I need to clean up the house more. 20+ minutes. Aiming for 3 times a week. This one I have already got started on my own, so I'm not behind like I am for the others. Yea me!

 

F = 6. Michaela digs Adhara, But they could only talk. She is the one in the picture.
D = 7. Adhara and Michaela meet face to face.
C = 8. Adhara is able to tell Michaela where to find her people.
B = 10. Adhara escapes with Michaela, but she is injured. What does that have to do with a tunnel?, Uh, it partly collapse on her? LOL
A = 12 total. Adhara and Michaela escape.

 

Quest 4: Health and Hygiene

 

For health and a great scent, Michaela needs to learn how to keep clean in the dungeon. 

 

(Want to floss every day, but going to allow for some "whoops, forgot" days.

 

A = 24 total. She smells great!
B = 21. She smells good, but it's nothing special.
C = 18. She's not helping with that "Orcs stink" reputation.
D = 15. People avoid her.
F = 12. Is that...fungus?

 

Most of this challenge is just basically a copy and paste of my previous one.)

 

Real Motivation: To be healthier and stronger. In then last challenge, I was prepping for a mud walk. I was able to complete that. Pretty sure I came in last. I mean last of the last. As in, people who started an hour after me finished before me. I also did horribly (didn't finish or sometimes even start) and upper body challenges. I want to do better on the next one. Right now, I'm not concerned so much about the time. As my dad said, I got the most for my money. LOL However, I need to get where I can hold my own bodyweight at least. That mean stronger arms (etc.) and less weight to carry