Artemis

Thanks for the suggestion. I gave it a shot and managed to get my laptop up and running again on Thursday. Unfortunately, the laptop is still mostly nonfunctional since half of the keys don't work, though that's significantly better than nothing. I'm going to take it down to one of the local repairmen and see if they can work their magic. On a more positive note, finals are over and I'm finally back home. That means I can finally put some proper effort into this challenge and really make some progress. I did a lvl 3 Darebee katana workout and went for a short walk today and am planning to do something similar tomorrow. Other news: here's the current progress on my helmet. I still have some painting to do around the visor area and then I have to do a few acrylic washes to the whole helmet to add 'dirt' and reduce the overall shininess. The visor is almost ready to be installed, I just have to add the chrome tint. Typing this on my iPad. Apologies for any typos that my clumsy fingers have caused.

Thanks everyone! And... it was soy sauce, which has created a problem since it apparently creates excellent pathways between circuitry elements. I am being punished by the fitness gods for splurging on take out instead of eating healthy food from the fridge.

I owe you all an update and I'm hoping to post one soon. Possibly destroyed my laptop today (spilled something on it. 100% my fault), so I'm out a computer and quite a bit of progress on all my final assignments. Much to do, but I'll try to find time for an actual update in the next day or two

Thanks everyone! I swear I'm actually going to make it through this one.... I just have to defeat finals week and then I'm free and clear for summer (Yay!). There will be pics... At least of the helmet, possibly more depending on time constraints

More Mandalorians! Would someone mind giving me a brief explanation on how this game works?

The theme is Star Wars / Mandalorians since my primary fitness motivation right now is my Mandalorian costume build. I feel a bit guilty every time I look at my helmet, it reminds me that I need to get back to shedding some pounds. I've definitely been packing the weight back on, largely due to too much take-out/snacking from school related stress. It's basically summer and, while I won't be super thin, it would be nice to drop a few pounds before people start dragging me along on trips to the beach. I disappeared during the last challenge and am going to reuse my theme for this new attempt. 1. Prepare for Battle - Foundational Fitness For the duration of this challenge, I will be working my way through the Darebee Age of Pandora Program. I have specifically chosen this because it requires a more rigid workout schedule (and this seems to be where I am struggling most). Modifications will be made as needed to accommodate my cardiac condition. Mostly this means that lots of isometric exercises are off the table and need to be subbed for other options. Apparently some people do more than one of these workouts in a day... If I think I can do it, I am allowed to do this also in order to accumulate more points. Point System Per workout - 2 points + extra .5 points for each increasing level of difficulty 2. Fit into the Smugglers Compartment - Become more Flexible Since biking consistently was turning into a huge fail, I'm replacing my second fitness category with a series of options. I may only do one of these repeatedly, or I may dabble. We shall see. This is more about encouraging fitness related activities of some kind than actually developing a growing skill set in one area. Possible Points Biking for 30+ minutes - 2 Stretching for 5 minutes - .5 pts Doing a zombies run mission - 2 Extra Darebee workout/stretching exercise/weapons practice - 2 pts + extra .5 points for each increasing level of difficulty Fencing Practice - 3 3. Eat Like a Warrior I had great success with the Whole 30 two challenges ago, and then consumed far too much ice cream over the last month. My diet is still far better than it has been in a long time, however I need to pay close attention to my habits and continue to encourage healthy eating. I'm sticking with Paleo for this challenge. Points are all or nothing for each day. If I slip up and eat a cookie, I don't get points for that day. Hopefully, this will curb my desire to eat well all day long and then have cake for dessert. There will be one exception to this rule: anything that came in my latest care package (mostly chocolate) is fair game and does not break this rule. I also expect that it may take me 2-3 days before these food goals are achievable since my fridge is completely empty and I need to go grocery shopping/meal prep. I'm also turning 21 this challenge. This means that there will most definitely be some days where I will not be eating 100% paleo. Possible Points Proper eating - 1 pt Food Journal - 1 pt 4.. Maintain the Starship - Life Goal (broken into Mini Goals) Challenge Mini-Goals and Related Points: Costume Related Finish my Mandalorian helmet - 5pts Finish my holster setup - 3pts Complete the belt rig - 3pts Assemble girth belt - 2pts Other Submit my Capstone report - 5pts (one time only) 1 hour room/apartment cleaning - 2pts Complete major assignments more than 36 hours in advance - 1pt Daily update - 1/4 points Apply to an internship - 1 pt Acquire internship - 5 points This challenge is all or nothing, so the progress bar is a sum of all points, in all categories, so far. I'm placing the minimum at 125 points since I believe this is roughly the point where I would have to do the majority of my workouts, lots of random exercise activities, eat properly, and accomplish at least a few of my life goals. If I reach 175 points, I will consider some type of prize.

I know... it doesn't make it any easier though. Summer starts next weekend and it's just in time to save me from total self-destruction. I really need a break from school. There's one year left and I am beyond ready to graduate. Thanks! That's just the beginning of the paint job. I'm still working on it, though the rain has made painting outside a rare occurrence. Good luck with your cosplay! What are you planning? Also, I completely dropped off the map this challenge. At a certain point I just said 'forget it' and stopped doing my workouts. This challenge is just going to be written off and I'll reuse the theme for the upcoming challenge.

Nice! I get the idea that armor parties can be hectic... Nevertheless, I'm hoping to make it to at least one this summer. I recognize that kit! She paired it with one of those assassin helmets and it looked absolutely phenomenal. Drool. I've seen some of her work on soft parts too, she knows her stuff. Metal plates are going to be great and it's nice that you'll be able to mostly reuse a set instead of having to start from scratch..

Thanks! There are some new features that I really enjoy and others are taking some getting used to. I'm sure they're working on fixing these issues.

Have fun with your armor party!

Moderating has got to be great fun. Thanks! I hate the application process... I think you'll really enjoy Dawn of Wonder if you like fantasy and the audiobook is excellent. There's just some general frustration with university. I'm not the best at making new friends since I tend to be one of those people who bonds really closely with a few friends and stays friends with them for forever (not even kidding, I'm still friends with people I've known since I was 5). I also feel like I don't have that much in common with a lot of people here and that's frustrating. So, while I enjoy the classes, I'm rapidly coming to dislike the whole experience. It just feels kind of empty. I had a blast while I was abroad having adventures and meeting new people, but I'm not having much fun back on main campus. Bit lonely. I'm normally a fairly happy person, however I've definitely been feeling a bit down over the last few months and it's getting worse. This is probably part of the reason I really want my Mandalorian done; I want to meet people with similar interests who love doing similar things.

Has anyone else been having trouble editing their posts? The system keeps asking me for the reason I'm editing and then never actually lets me perform the edit. I was trying tp put those pics in a spoiler in order to shrink the post down.

Hey everyone! It's been a hectic weekend. I made it to Trader Joe's (so much good food...) and it turns out it is way cheaper to shop there compared to the more local grocery store. I'll have to see if anyone is interested in going again before the semester ends. Anyways, I've got a ton of meal prep ahead of me and with luck I'll get that done before Tuesday. I'm thinking of changing my food goal to "not eating out" in order to earn points. Most of my bad habits are related to eating out when I'm feeling lazy. I also don't want to punish myself for eating food I have stashed away in my pantry. It needs to be eaten before the semester's over and it's a good way to save some money, even if it's not 100% paleo. I'm sitting here cranking out internship applications and occasionally adding paint layers to my helmet. The primer, metallic layer, and 'false primer' are all down; ears are currently removed. There is still a few days of work left, but it's nice to see some visible progress. Here are a couple of pictures of my current progress:

I'm feeling pretty good about everything today. Sent off my interview questions (yay!) at 2 am this morning, so that's off my plate until I recieve a response. I also recieved last weeks econ exam back; I scored a 96%!!! Turns out that the lack of sleep last week was worth it. That grade makes me unbelievably happy since I only scored in the high 70's on the last exam (that is still above average for this class...). One more exam to go and, between my HW scores and this exam, I actually have a shot at a low A. Exams in the A-range are normally fairly standard for me, but I've been getting lower scores this semester and it's been frustrating. For the last month, I've been really worrying that I might have finally taken on too heavy of workload and doomed myself to extreme GPA damage (ok, so like half A's; half B's). It feels good to be back on my game again. We'll see how things play out, but between the slightly more managable workload and a high exam score, I'm feeling really good. Now, if only I could land an internship... I finished the audiobook for Dawn of Wonder last week and was absolutely blown away. One of the best debut novels I've read in a long time and a phenomenal start to an epic fantasy series. If epic fantasy is of interest to anyone, I would highly recommend giving this a try. As per my norm, I have plenty of work to get done tonight. I'm also hoping to double up on Darebee and maybe do some stretches. Expect another update later this evening.

I managed to accidentally back myself into a corner as far as the interview goes. Before the semester started, my professor sent out a survey with quite a few random questions. Like, "what's your favorite fruit." Ok... There were some serious questions also, but I figured it was just ice-breaker/get-to-know-you sort of questions. I also tend to be a fairly honest, possibly occasionally overconfident person. For the "what is the dream job you want to have someday?" question I was all "I want to be the founder and CEO of a successful company" (that's the short version). I had no idea that we would be handed a massive project that included an 'interview someone who's job you would like to have' component. AND she's holding us to our initial dream job. Headdesk. So, yes. It feels phenomenal to have a plan because I've been freaking out for the last few weeks. I love the NF forums, but they're definitely an unneeded distraction at times. If possible, I'm going to catch up with everyone. I'm also going to try for more frequent updates, even if they're just short ones. I think I struggle with life... Someday, after I achieve that CEO thing, I am hiring a PA. Yes! I need to get going on my Mando. There are far too many exciting event opportunities coming up ths summer and I'd like to be able to attend at least one of them.

I'm doing ok. I seem to have far to many weeks from hell. Anyways, I survived (though my thesis progress report is definitely not being submitted on time). For the most part, I have been keeping up with my workouts, though my food choices are continuing to suffer as a result of lack of time/prioritization. I'm behind 1 workout and plan to double up on a couple of days in order to get ahead. I doubled up yesterday and didn't die, so it's not that terrible. I have plenty of projects coming up at the end of the month, but there's quite a bit of dead space until that point. There's one large project due next week and I was hardcore stressing out, however I just heard back from the staff of the entrepreneur I was attempting to interview (required for the project) and I have confirmation. I'm reading his novel tonight so that I sound somewhat informed when I type up the questions to send over. There's still plenty to do for that project, but having the interview locked down relieves a huge amount of stress. I have to get that reading done, so this is just a really quick update. I'll try to be back on tomorrow night to give a better idea of my progress last week (and I still need to check out everyone's challenge threads... I'm so behind)

Armor Party! That sounds like so much fun! Did you see the new Rogue One trailer yet? I'm so excited. Must. Get. Kit. Done.

Trader Joe's didn't happen this weekend since our two attempts to reserve zipcars ended in cars that wouldn't start. I also haven't found much time to meal prep all of my groceries, so I'm relatively low on meals. I have a few things though and hopefully that will be enough for the next few days. The next 2-3 days are going to be insanely busy with schoolwork and exams. I also have class registration for next semester and haven't yet taken the time to design my schedule. It's going to be fun... Fitness -Did my Age of Pandora workout on level 1 since I'm fairly sore today today. 2pts

Awesome theme, I love the ridiculous manuscript images. It sounds like you're yet another zombies run fan. I'm going to have to give that a try this challenge.

Not much to report, but in the spirit of daily updates I did get my workout done today Mostly cardio + wall sits. I have newfound hatred for wall sits, which probably means I should do more of them. My legs hurt already. Tomorrow is going to suck Points: Workout - 2pts Daily update - .25pts.

Ta da! Look what I found...

This is very interesting. Is this a research project because you believe the info could be interesting, or are you actually thinking of trying this? From an art perspective, many of the pieces produced during the greek classical period relied on impossible proportions, at least for the overall body. It might be possible to mimic musculature; I don't know. Waldo would be better at that. Grecian art also changes rather rapidly, I believe all of these pieces are from the classical, but many Hellenistic sculptures display similar athletic ideals, just with more movement. There were also a multitude of artists, and I highly doubt that any two pieces have the exact same proportions. The artist of apoxyomenos is specifically recorded as stating that he did not rely on creating a plausible figure (specifically, I believe his head is much smaller than that of an earlier generation of statues). My point is mainly that I don't believe you'll find any 'perfect' standard. This doesn't mean you shouldn't try to achieve a Grecian body, I just wouldn't nitpick too much over a bit of difference here or there. Maybe go off of picture comparisons rather than measurements. This is a very cool project and I think the two human examples have amazing bodies

First, welcome to the rebellion! I'm in the academy, but I'll give my overall fitness related thoughts and hope that they will help. I'm glad to hear that you're paying attention to both diet and exercise and it sounds like you've made some great progress already. That said, be careful to keep a close eye on any dietary adjustments you need to make as you lose weight/change exercise routines. Nutritionists are only as good as the info you give them, so be 100% honest. Doesn't seem like you have a problem with this, I'm just mentioning it as general advice. On the fitness side of things, you're on the right track. If personal trainers are too expensive long term, they can still be useful for learning new skill sets on an occasional basis. I know the Academy has a how-to video series, hopefully someone else can comment on their opinions regarding the exercise videos. Fitting exercise into your schedule by biking to work is a great idea. Definitely try that. You mentioned that you used to love swimming. If this is still true, I suggest adding it to your exercise routine. Why? Because the best workouts are the ones you enjoy and that you will stick with long-term. Swimming will also help you get stronger. It won't make you massive, I'd expect a leaner sort of musculature if you swimming was your only form of exercise, but you will get stronger and burn a massive amount of calories. Also, I know some swimmers and they also weightlift regularly in addition to doing "dry-land" bodyweight exercises. One last thing; what's your definition of stronger? Do you want massive muscles? Be able to run marathons? Wanting to get stronger is great, but it's also a little vague and I suspect you probably have a better definition in mind. i'll leave the academy explanation to someone else.

Daily Update Age of Pandora Workout 1 done on Level 1 - 2pts Daily Update - .25 pts Total: 2.25 pts Other news: Managed to do some grocery shopping and also made some tentative plans to visit Trader Joe's this weekend. Hopefully, this will help me hit my diet goals in the next day or two.

Do you have a specific program in mind? I agree that programs tend to make feel like I'm making more progress. Pushups are not my strength and I haven't been working on them lately due to medical reasons. I did enjoy the first half of heroes journey and will probably redo that at some point. Have you tried any of the other Darebee programs. I like the point system you're using.