Nerd Fitness 6 Week Challenge Review!

Today marks the end of my first Nerd Fitness 6 week challenge. Since I posted my initial challenge goals on the blog at the beginning, I thought I'd share my final progress report here so you can see just how much can be accomplished in six short weeks of work!

Challenge Starting Weight: 162.4 lbs

Challenge Ending Weight: 153.4 lbs

Total Loss: -9.4 lbs (I was hoping for more, but considering my struggles with food/con-going during the course of the challenge I'm pretty happy with this!) 

Final Measurements: 

Bust: (Starting 38") 36.25"

Waist: (Starting 41") 36.5"

Hips: (Starting 44") 42"

Thigh: (Starting 22.25") 20.75"

Calves: (Starting 16.5") 15.5"

Bicep: (Starting 12.5") 12.25"

Total Inches lost during challenge: -11 inches (That's pretty BANANAS!)

Before Photos: (NOTE: I wasn't going to post these photos on the blog, but I feel like the progress really shows and hopefully it inspires you guys to start taking photos to mark the changes in your body!)

After Photos:

Fitness/Nutrition goals:

• Take at least one Yoga class a week.
  • I aced this 100% and even took an extra class one week.
  • I made some great progress with The Wheel and the Crow that I intend to continue with a more rigorous focus in the next challenge.
    • Reward: +2 STR
• Complete "Zombies, Run 5k Training"  3x/week.
  • I never missed a run, not even at PAX East! I found a hotel with a gym and made sure I got my training in at 6AM so I could enjoy the con guilt free for the rest of the day! I'm loving my runs more and more each time and I'm getting ready to do my final mission for the app on Friday of the week! I can't wait to see my first 5k time so I can make some PR goals for the next challenge!
    • Reward: +5 STA
• Complete at least two 45 minute training sessions on the elliptical per week.
  • Passed with flying colors! Never missed a session and got in plenty of Xena: Warrior Princess episodes while I trained. Win win! AYIYIYIYIYI!
    • Reward: +2 DEX
• Learn to cook three Paleo meals by the end of the challenge.
  • I made:
    • Stay on Target Chicken Stirfry
    • Sokka's Buffalo Chicken and Sweet Potato Meatza 
    • Targeryen Dragonfire Hash!
    • I learned a lot more about Paleo, but I also discovered that I'm a much better and much more inventive cook than I give myself credit for. 
    • Reward: +3 CON

Life Goal:

• Write at least 2 new blog posts a week and create a logo for the header. 
  • I posted retro blog entries here every day and wrote my two new posts without fail every week. 
  • Having the deadline was really crucial for me. I find that having a back log of drafts is very useful and I will definitely continue to do that as time goes on. 
  • Very soon I'll be moving to a 2 post per week publishing format. Readers, feel free to vote in the poll on the left sidebar.
  • Added bonus: My reader base blossomed from under one thousand to over ten thousand unique views in just 6 short weeks! 
  • Sadly, while I did make progress on the logo with my graphic designer, the incredible Annie Stoll, she's been busy with some pretty amazing new clients! I'm so happy for her success and I'm honestly just blessed to have her volunteering to help me with the site. She's the real deal, people! Soon you'll see her amazing work at the top of the blog every time you stop by! The lesson I learned here was that I shouldn't make a challenge goal that depends on anyone's actions but my own in the future, but I know the finished product will be worth the wait!
    • Reward: + 2 WIS
      • I subtracted 1 point from the original proposed reward for not finishing the logo.

Final "Level Up Your Life" Stats for my forum signature:

Hearthsinger the Wandering Bard

Level 2 Halfling Ranger

STR 4 | DEX 3 | STA 7 | CON 5 | WIS 6 | CHA 4

The next challenge starts on Monday April 15th, so if this looks like something you want to try, check out their forums and start preparing your goals so you can participate!

In closing I want to thank the Nerd Fitness community for welcoming me with open arms, commenting on my progress during the challenge, and encouraging me through the rough patches. Your reactions to my results have been so overwhelming and supportive. I'm proud of myself, but I'm lucky to have found you guys and honored to have shared this challenge journey with you!

Stay on Target Stir-fry

Ah my monthly plateau. I've eaten perfectly all week and worked out six out of seven days and yet today at my weigh-in I find I've gained a 1.2 lbs. This happens every month right before "the time that shall not be named" and even though I know it's just a fact of life, it still drives me completely up the damn wall. Seeing a negative number on the scale can really mess with your head, but you just have to persevere and remember all the work you've put in plus how important it is to continue moving forward. As Gold Five says in Star Wars: A New Hope, "Stay on target!"

One thing I've been working on is amping up my knowledge of nutrition and various different diet plans. I've been interested in learning about Paleo even though I'm unsure if it's ultimately what I would want as far as a full time eating plan. I'm a part of the "Nerd Fitness" Rebellion and a lot of people on those forums swear by it and I can see it's appeal because it's one of those diets that really does allow you to eat a ton of different delicious things in any quantity you like as long as you avoid the big "no-nos" which are anything processed; wheat, flour, sugar or its equivalents, dairy, or legumes.

As a part of my "Level Up Your Life" 6 week challenge on the Nerd Fitness forums, I made a goal to cook three Paleo recipes in order to help me explore the plan and also remedy my lack of cooking ability, something that is going to have to change if I'm going to maintain my weight loss and eat on a budget once I reach my weight goal on the Nutrisystem plan. So without further ado, here's the recipe I came up with for stir fry!

Stay on Target Stirfry

Ingredients

• Broccoli
• Shiitake Mushrooms
• Carrots
• Chicken Breast
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Garlic Powder
• Onion Powder
• Sea Salt
• Black Pepper
• Lime

1. First wash and cut up all of your veggies. I bought mine already cut up and ready to go which really cut down on my prep time so if you don't mind spending a bit more money, then awesome. Are they cut up? Great! Set them aside.
2. Next put your skillet or wok on the stove. Set the heat on low.
3. Cut up your chicken into small pieces. I prefer half inch thick slices but it's really up to you.
4. Throw your chicken into the skillet and drizzle a dash of your extra virgin olive oil on it. We're trying to be conservative with this ingredient. Now use a spatula to stir the chicken to get it all coated with the olive oil and make sure it's all spread out evenly. 
5. Now season the chicken with the garlic powder, onion powder, sea salt (be conservative!), and black pepper. 
6. Cut your lime in half. Squeeze one half over the chicken and save the other for the veggies.
7. Cook the chicken for 10-15 minutes to make sure it's cooked. Keep moving it around with your spatula every once in a while to make sure it's cooking evenly and that everything is covered in the seasoning. I also use this time to clean up after myself while I'm hanging out; wash the cutting board, the knife, clear away any packaging, etc.
8. When the chicken is done, remove it from the skillet and put it aside on a plate.
9. Dump all your veggies in the skillet. Drizzle a modest amount of olive oil on them.
10. Repeat the same seasoning process you used for the chicken.
11. Squeeze the second half of the lime onto the veggies.
12. Stir everything up. Keep moving it around so that it will all cook evenly.
13. When you think it's done, then taste one of each type. If it tastes done, then it's done! If it doesn't, keeping going and repeat the taste test process.
14. When the veggies taste done, dump the chicken back into the skillet and cook everything together for about a minute.
15. Turn off the heat and serve up your stir fry!

It's delicious, healthy, and will definitely help you stay full and stay on target when it comes to weight loss! I promise you that you'll be super excited to clean your plate and sad to see it all gone. I know I was! Let me know how you liked the recipe if you try it out!

Level Up Your Life

Early on in my quest for better health, someone told me about Nerd Fitness, a blog and forums started by Steve Kamb and dedicated to helping geeks focus on fitness, weight loss, and diet while bringing them together to support & educate each other on their way. Can anyone say, "Perfect match!" I'm rabid scifi/fantasy/gaming nerd and, as I've written on this blog many times, a HUGE reason I've finally found success with weight loss and health is because I discovered ways to use that stuff to motivate me rather than letting it be an escape so that I wouldn't have to face my issues.

Right around the time I discovered Nerd Fitness, Steve delivered this TEDxTalk and I was incredibly moved because his mentality is so similar to mine.

This whole journey is about improving your life and giving you the strength you need to take what you want from it. On Nerd Fitness I found tons of great articles about eating healthy on a budget, the amazing transformations of the forum members, using Frodo's trek to Mount Doom as inspiration for a new walking regimen (seriously awesome), and how to approach seemingly impossible goals in a way that actually helps you accomplish them- not to mention several articles with workouts you can do outside of the gym if you can't afford a membership. There are so many more awesome posts and new ones come out every week both from Steve and sometimes guest bloggers.

When I started looking through the forums and discovering the threads for the "real life role playing game" and six week challenges, I got really inspired and very intimidated. These people were accomplishing amazing feats just by applying the structure of a tabletop RPG to their actual lives.  It's genius. Everyone creates their character, decides a profession/class that correlates to their fitness goals, and assigns 15 points to their level 1 stats (Strength, Dexterity, Stamina, Constitution, Wisdom, Charisma). Each challenge offers the opportunity to gain one level and more stat points. Everyone sets four goals (3 fitness/health and one 1 life goal per challenge), assigns the amount of points they'll win for different statistics should they succeed, and at the end they grade their work and award the amount of points they feel best reflects their progress. You can learn more from the full rundown on Nerd Fitness Rebellion Forums.

As much as I loved the idea, I was already participating in challenges on the Nutrisystem forums and every time I checked back, they were in the middle of a challenge and I had to wait to sign up for the next one. I missed a few opportunities, but FINALLY I figured out the challenge dates and put it in my calendar so I wouldn't miss it. I amped myself up by preparing my character in the down time:

Hearthsinger the Wandering Bard

Level 1 Halfling Ranger

STR 2 | DEX 1 | STA 2 | CON 2 | WIS 4 | CHA 4

"You are what you do. You can re-create yourself every second of your life." -Xena

Clearly I couldn't resist quoting Xena- and it's a damn good quote too! I chose to join the Rangers guild (a mixture of cardio and strength training), and started getting my goals ready. You can read about them and see all my starting measurements and weight below.

Fitness/Nutrition goals:

• Take at least one Yoga class a week. (+2 STR)
• Complete 5k training missions with "Zombies, Run" 3x/week. I'm starting my week 2 training missions on October 25. (+5 STA)
• Complete at least two 45 minute training sessions on the elliptical per week. (+2 DEX)
• Learn to cook three Paleo meals by the end of the challenge. NOTE: I'm on Nutrisystem right now, but it's just an open door into a much larger world. I'm learning a lot about portion size and breaking food into 5-6 smaller meals a day, but I want to learn a little about Paleo and cleaner eating so that when I get to my goal weight and drop my subscription, I'll be ready to hit the ground running. (+3 CON)

Life Goal:

• Write at least 2 new blog posts a week and create a logo for the header. NOTE: I've been posting backlogged entries from the past seven months daily so there's constantly new content, but I need to keep CREATING content on a schedule so that I can stick to releasing two articles a week on a regular schedule for the readers once I catch up to current time. (+ 3 WIS)

Measurements:

• Bust: 38"
• Waist: 41"
• Hips: 44"
• Thigh: 22.25"
• Calves: 16.5"
• Bicep: 12.5"

Starting Weight:

• 162.4 lbs

Yesterday, Feb 25th, was officially day one of my first challenge as a Nerd Fitness Rebel and I'm REALLY excited to get to work! In fact, this is post number one for my first week. One down, one to go! If you decide to join in, I'm Hearthsinger on the forums. So take the plunge, join the rebellion and let's do some serious power leveling! 

Before I send you off to do great things, here's some final inspiration from Steve as he exercises around the world.