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I am 90% sure I am going. I say 90% because I've got my bus ticket, I've got a roomshare, and I have my Dragon*Con pass, but I feel like I'm forgetting something! Rolling my suitcase from the station is going to be a PAAAAIN, but I've been wanting to go to this convention for a while. Pretty excited to see my favorite nerdy authors and to meet some interesting folks.

Guys, first of all, thanks a bunch for posting. I'm sorry that I seemed to have dropped off the face of the Earth. As expected, the onset of new graduate school classes and an upcoming new job have thrown me for a loop. Your encouragement means a lot to me! Even though my report card shows a downward trend, I am happy that I'm slowly staving off sodas. True, I seem to have developed a bad habit of drinking coconut water, but maybe cutting out sugary drinks can be the next challenge. I am not seeing too much improvement to my fitness level, but I also don't feel that I'm getting worse. My biggest problem seems to be injuring myself, so I think in the coming weeks, I'm going to try and figure out some ways to deal with these issues. DAY TWENTY-EIGHT My weight this morning was... I forgot to check. I checked yesterday and it was around 157. I managed to hold out on the soda. I still have today's soda to drink after work, but I have to be careful because I haven't been sleeping well and I'm wondering if I'm getting less accustomed to caffeine again. I am slowly drinking a bit more water, though random drinks (coconut water, cold-brew coffee, pressed juice, bottled tea) abound. My ankles and knees wax and wane in stability, so I am utilizing braces and stabilizers to help. I did manage to run 1.3 miles this morning at a slightly slower pace. I felt I could have made it a bit further (my goal was 1.5 miles), but I didn't want to push it. There was no novelty last week, sadly. I didn't hoop simply due to time constraints, and my tennis partner hasn't been available. I got a book on soccer drills, but I wasn't able to find a good spot to test them out. I tried a new workout video today. It is a core workout badly dubbed in Japanese. Considering that I'm going to aim for the JLPT (hopefully!) in December, I thought it might be a good idea to try and osmose some verbs. It was... strange. If anyone knows any fun, funny, or weird exercise videos to try on YouTube, I'd love to hear about them. Money is still problematic, but I think this secondary goal is kind of a rough one. I paid part of a big, important bill yesterday, but then I tossed money into the hole for college books and a convention, so I'm kind of back to square one. I'm still looking to consolidate my credit cards. Fake subquest update: Nothin' really happening, although I have to hustle to meet a deadline this Friday. I've laid the groundwork; I just need something exciting to play in the background to get myself in the zone for canvas cleanup. I also have a convention coming up this weekend--I hope--and I would love to pull together a quickie cosplay. I used to whip them up in no time years ago. All and all, there are things that need to happen in order for me to get a real sense of progress, but I am well aware that I have done some awesome things so far (1.3-mile run and limited soda!) and will hopefully continue on this streak. One of the biggest things that will help me is getting some external motivation with fitness buddies or accountability. As for the latter, you guys help a bunch, so danke.

WEEKLY REPORT CARD(S) Drink no more than one bottle of soda a day or, in special circumstances, no more than seven bottles of soda a week. [GRADING: 6 weeks = A, 5 = B, 4 = C, 3 = D, 2 or below = F] A Run a 5K without stopping to walk more than once or twice. [GRADING: 3.1 miles = A, 2.5 = B, 2 = C, 1.5 = D, 1 or below = F] F (D- overall) Try a new type of workout each week. [GRADING: 6 weeks = A, 5 = B, 4 = C, 3 = D, 2 or below = F] B

WEEKLY REPORT CARD Drink no more than one bottle of soda a day or, in special circumstances, no more than seven bottles of soda a week. [GRADING: 6 weeks = A, 5 = B, 4 = C, 3 = D, 2 or below = F] A Run a 5K without stopping to walk more than once or twice. [GRADING: 3.1 miles = A, 2.5 = B, 2 = C, 1.5 = D, 1 or below = F] F (D- overall) Try a new type of workout each week. [GRADING: 6 weeks = A, 5 = B, 4 = C, 3 = D, 2 or below = F] A

DAY SEVENTEEN My weight this morning was 159.4. It's just climbin' on up again. I don't know if it's because of too much food or what. I cut a string the same length as my waist circumference to see if I'm actually losing inches. So far... the same. Sigh! It's easier to drink only one soda a day than before, but I still crave sweet drinks. Now my ankle hurts. Grr! I was able to run .6 miles without stopping at a pretty fast pace for me (sub 10:00 minute/mile), but that's it. I was hoping to make 1.5 miles, but I was overly enthusiastic with my speed because the weather was so hot and I was running out of time to exercise. That said, now my bad ankle is flaring up again, which means tomorrow is likely a rest-and-ice day. Double sigh! There is some novel stuff going on. New stuff includes: "paleo" fitness via natural movements like crawling around the house like a bear (really), doing yoga on my balance board (sort of), and playing fake badminton by hitting shuttlecocks around the yard. Hopefully on the horizon: more intense hooping (tricks!), a playground fitness routine, "parkour," and tennis. I am thisclose to signing up for a local fencing class, but will the budget allow it? Probably not. I made some money via eBay and the flea market, but now I have to buy school books. I've also spent a suspicious amount of money on exercise-related stuff. I may be able to consolidate my credit cards, though, which will help a lot. Fake subquest update: I haven't even thought about painting the past week. That said, I am forcing a bit of writing time tonight. Overall, the past few days haven't been great, but they haven't been totally awful either. I need to stop injuring myself. I just want to run at the park.

Haha, Kailer, sorry I haven't updated in a while, but to answer your question: much like Link had to first get the Zora tunic and a pair of iron boots to access the Water Temple, so must I find a nearby playground with a pull-up bar before I can access that particular workout. I already bought a medicine ball for the Fire Temple; I can't start purchasing pull-up bars willy-nilly too! For now, this chica is stuck jogging around Hyrule Field.

DAY TWELVE Why isn't it fall yet? So hoooooooooot... My weight this morning was 158.1. Oops! It's not a huge difference, but I do have to be mindful of the ridiculous amounts of chocolate I've been eating. That plus liquid calories like bottled tea, coconut water, and the like. Which leads into... Still one soda a day. I drank today's bottle really late, and I think the lack of carbonated drinks is affecting me now in that I guzzled it down and had a mild stomachache afterwards. I think my stomach's not used to all the bubbles anymore. I need to drink more water still. I kind of slacked off on infusions and teas, hence the liquid calories. My knee is still on the mend. I played Just Dance midweek in lieu of a jog, and I was able to play for about 20 minutes before my knee hurt. I stopped afterwards, then took a rest day. Later on, I met with my mother and did about a quarter-mile jog. Ouch. I stopped our run, but most of the day was spent on my feet for work. FitBit said I hit 16,000 steps. Side note: Pact canceled my bet last week due to injury, so my card wasn't charged. Guy Good App Developer. I keep trying new things. This past week, I have hooped to anime (not new, but so fun!), danced to music on Songza, did a dancey YouTube tutorial video, pretended to play soccer, and did bodyweight exercises. Despite my lack of a Y chromosome, I have been enjoying a book I got from the library, The Men's Health Big Book of Exercises. I like picking out a random exercise out of the book when I feel like doing something. If I have the equipment, I try it out. Side planks hurt. Lifting dumbbells while lying on an exercise ball feels mildly dangerous. One of my biggest novelties was today. I went to a park I used to visit as a kid and swung on the swings, ran around and jumped on stairs, and tried to do a pull-up. The attempted pull-up was hilariously bad, but I had fun laughing at my wimpy arms. I am focusing on budget for now, planning out future expenses like conventions and travel in order to mitigate too much frivolous spending in the present. Ramit Sethi, finance blogger, likes to talk about conscious spending. This ideal works for me. While I need to better deal with credit card debt in the present, conscious spending is a useful paradigm for money I'll be spending in the near future. Fake subquest update: nada thing. The next deadline isn't for a while. I really do need to curb my terrible foodie urges, but for now, I'm satisfied with the fact that I'm moving around and not drinking four or five sodas a day. (For those of you not concerned with perfect eating habits, the new Lay's mango salsa-flavored chips are oddly satisfying. Go, go, flavor chemists!)

Mary, ChristArtist, and Kailer: thanks, everyone! It means a lot to me to see your posts. It put a huge smile on my face to see everyone's replies. Things have been going well enough on the exercise front; I'm just really, really busy in preparation for class, etc.! Mary, I hope you find some fun novelties. I haven't done anything too crazy yet, but I might have a few things up my sleeve. They'll take a bit of scheduling and money, but I hope I can pull through. I sort of tried the playground workout today, and it was great! ChristArtist, I have been being extra careful with my knees. I am only running and doing knee-based cardio in increments and testing the waters on how I feel. So far... eh. But my day-to-day walking isn't killing me like before, so I have hope that it's just going to be a slow healing process. On the bright side, without my usual go-to run at the park, I have been using an exercise ball, doing planks and other bodyweight exercises, lifting wimpy dumbbells, and kicking around a soccer ball. Fitness is starting to creep into my life, and even though I'm a bit sore in my back now, it's not bad. Kailer, I absolutely love that image! It's a good mantra not just for NerdFit, but for GTD. Aw, yeah. And the Zelda workout is very fun, even though I had to prep some and I am still stuck in the Fire Temple. I hope the Water Temple in real life is less obnoxious than the one in the game.

Hi again, Kailer! I had a pretty good weekend. I didn't get much done on Saturday because the weather was dreary, but my Friday and Sunday went well enough. There wasn't too much to talk about on the being-healthy front, unfortunately. I hurt my knee somehow between Friday and Saturday, so I have been resting it. I also ate waaaaay too much chocolate the past few days. Oh, well. I'm going to try and correct my course a bit today. DAY NINE Waking up today was like waking up on the worst Monday ever. My weight this morning was 157.8. I forgot to weigh myself yesterday morning, so last night's scale read 160.1. I'll just keep weighing myself in the morning! Still one soda a day. I ended up guzzling four water bottles yesterday because I was so craving a soda. I suspect I am a little dehydrated at times. I have today's soda sitting beside me, and I'm debating if I want to save it for work or not. Current menu: lazy people don't make fancy tea. I had a WONDERFUL run day... until I hurt my knee. Friday's run was amazing, so I was waiting it out until Sunday to try another hard run. Unfortunately, Saturday my knee started hurting really bad along the interior side. My parents suggested it might be a small meniscus tear, so I've been treating it as such and using the RICE method to make it feel better. Sunday it felt terrible. Monday, less so. Today, it isn't really bothering me anymore. Depending on how I feel later, I might do a tentative jog. Side note: I use the Pact app to bet against myself to do my workouts, and it's so useful. I didn't realize how much I depended on not losing money for motivation until I canceled this week's bet. I am feeling lazy. In theory, I shouldn't have to pay for hurting myself on Sunday; we'll see how customer support handles my request. No full-blown novelties, but my workouts are more interesting. On Saturday, I was squatting around with the medicine ball. In the afternoon, I hooped for 30-40 minutes while watching part of the Star Trek reboot and an episode of an anime on Crunchyroll. It didn't raise my heart rate too much, but I think it worked my core some. Novelties counted on my report card include the following: medicine ball, balance board, and NerdFit's own Zelda workout. And... I got another bill. Fake subquest update: I wrote down some arts deadlines, and while they won't take priority over other deadlines, it's nice to mull over new projects. I am a grad student, so I'm on the cusp of starting new classes, settling into a new job, and taking charge of money. I need to look for some extra heart containers now, if you know what I mean!

WEEKLY REPORT CARD Drink no more than one bottle of soda a day or, in special circumstances, no more than seven bottles of soda a week. [GRADING: 6 weeks = A, 5 = B, 4 = C, 3 = D, 2 or below = F] A Run a 5K without stopping to walk more than once or twice. [GRADING: 3.1 miles = A, 2.5 = B, 2 = C, 1.5 = D, 1 or below = F] D- Try a new type of workout each week. [GRADING: 6 weeks = A, 5 = B, 4 = C, 3 = D, 2 or below = F] A

DAY SIX My weight just now was 158.4. I am trying to convince myself that that doesn't mean I can eat a chocolate bar to celebrate. Sounds amazing, though. Still one soda a day. I think it is definitely giving me headaches to go from 3-5 sodas a day to one. Things are tapering off, and if I'm busy, I don't think about how thirsty I am for a Cherry Coke Zero. Right now, I just finished my bottle, and I'm wanting some more. I think I'm going to make some tea after this. It's cold and rainy, so tea will probably hit the spot. I need to force myself to drink more water. Current menu: plum water | a "slimming" tea with mate and sencha + "thrive" tea with black pepper. My running break was an extended one. The yoga I did really hit me hard for some reason; my back was killing me for a while. I hooped a bit on Wednesday, and I ended up walking over 10,000 steps according to my FitBit. Thursday was a bit of a wash. I tried to do the Zelda workout using my fake-o flour medicine ball, and flour ended up ALL OVER MY ROOM. On Friday, I was finally feeling like a normal person again, and I laced up my shoes and went to attempt to run W4D2 of C25K. Sadly, I think my free app hates Songza, and so I was unable to get the C25K timer to run. I spent almost 15 minutes walking in "warm-up mode" with the app crashing. Grr! I made lemons out of lemonade, though. I walked 1.1 miles, then began to run. I ran for about 13 minutes straight, for about 1.3 miles. I feel like I could have gone further, but I was at that point where I was worried pushing through would just result in another extended running break. So I stopped. The pain began immediately after. +1 WIS for stopping in time. I almost have a passing grade for my second quest, and it's only the beginning of my journey! YEEEEEAH. I am still on the quest for novelty. I was gonna kick around the soccer ball, but the weather isn't cooperating. On the bright side, my athlete parents gifted me their medicine ball and a balance board. The medicine ball definitely counts as a novelty: I am just mystified by it. I have been lugging it around the house here and there, and it really tires my arms out. It's impressive how weak my arm muscles actually are, especially since my legs and grip strength are pretty good. I think I'm going to dance around with the medicine ball to Awesome Mix later; Star-Lord's dance moves in Guardians of the Galaxy were pretty boss. My unexpected bill has been put on a payment plan, and I accepted a part-time job starting in late August. Fake subquest update: I am painting abstract athletes for an upcoming art show. See, guys? I combined it all. Today is not yet over, and so I have still have to finish up today's workout. I daresay it's a dancing day.

Hiya, marymama and ChristArtist! Thanks for checking in! marymama, I'm going against the grain here and going with the idea of allowing myself to wander if it gets me moving. I'm not aiming to be the "best" athlete, so in the end, the ends justify the means. So far, I'm enjoying being an exercise wanderer. I hope you get to play on your jungle gym--that sounds so fun! I need to find one myself! I have read some financial guru books, so I have a good idea of how to eradicate debt. Right now, I think it's more a matter of adding money rather than cutting spending. We'll see, though. ChristArtist, thanks for the encouragement. I'm pretty happy with how things are going so far. I haven't had too many stumbles, and the overall trajectory has been upwards, so that's good. I have been hurt enough times doing workouts that I have a sense of what is going to hurt me badly enough to cause me to stop working out. It sucks, but whatchugonnado?

Thanks for checking in, Kailer. I really do have higher ambitions that my reach. I love doing a bunch of things at once, but I tire quickly. I am hoping to maintain enthusiasm the entirety of this challenge. It's my fitness NaNoWriMo-plus-a-bit-extra.

DAY THREE My weight this morning was... 160.1. I am nothing if not consistent. I am still on the one-soda train. I want a soda pretty badly in the afternoon after I chug one down in the morning, so that's going to be something I'll need to figure out a solution to. I don't crave soda at night; generally, I drink my tea and infused water, and it's all good. I have been drinking some sugary drinks in lieu of soda, which isn't great, but I am not gonna be too upset about it because, hey, I just said I'd tone down the soda. I think the healthier choices will be further on in the challenge. Current menu: raspberry-pear water plus basil (NECTAR OF THE GODS) | SleepyTime and genmaicha tea. I took a break from running yesterday and today. I decided to do yoga instead of running yesterday to rest my legs--and I overdid it. I woke up this morning and was in pretty rough shape. I stretched way too far on a forward bend, and my back is worse for the wear. I did a few minutes of light hooping to loosen the back muscles, but I am gonna see what the prognosis is tomorrow. I am trying to figure out my novelty workouts. I bought a cheap soccer ball, and I think I'm going to run around and kick it for a while. It's a totally new thing for me; maybe I'll love it? I also made a medicine ball out of a five-pound flour sack, so any workouts with it will be new as well. Two things I've never really done are weights and sports, so these are possible new avenues. yes& opened the treasure chest: "You receive an unexpected bill!" WORST TREASURE EVER. My life quest is a teeter-totter that will hopefully stabilize soon. On consideration, I will not make my creativity side quest official because I agree, it's probably too much. Best to focus on the other goals. I will secretly think of it as official, though.

I like raw broccoli if it's thinly shredded in a slaw. Around where I live, you can buy packs of "broccoli slaw" that has broccoli slivers and carrots. I like letting the broccoli sit in a German vinegar overnight. It tastes a bit pickled, and it's quite nice.

Good luck with your journey! I hope you find the calm you're looking for.

Just wanted to pop in and say that I hope the Force has been with you! Glad that things are going well.

I am stoked that you're trying to learn a language! I was one of those intense language-learners a while back, but I have found my interest waning a bit due to a lack of time with grad school, etc. I still dig linguistics, though, and I am often trying to resurrect my studies in German, Japanese, and Spanish. For your French studies, I would totally recommend doing some immersion while working out. It's really helpful to attune to the language and starting getting a sense of sound systems, etc. I would recommend finding some French podcasts to listen to while you walk. In addition, you can listen to some pretty great French music as a part of your playlist. There is an app called Songza that has a large number of French music playlists. One other good thing about French is that if you're a gamer-type nerd, many games (on Steam especially) have the option to change language tracks. I play many of my games in German, and you could probably pick out some favorites to play in French. Bonne chance!

I love infused water as a way to taper off of soda. I'm lowering my soda intake to one a day for this challenge--I know I can't do everything else AND abstain in the long run yet---and so far, trying new water infusions is a lot of fun. I bought a water bottle at Target that's tapered like a soda bottle. My infusion for tonight was basil, raspberries, and pear. It was SO GOOD. Way better than the Coke Cherry Zero I guzzled earlier. It doesn't stop me from wanting the Diet Dr Pepper downstairs, but it's a help.

Keep it up!

Good luck on things. My friend was a swim coach, and she always said she was healthiest when she was constantly swimming. She's way stronger than me now; the muscles she built up lingered! I think you can make this challenge particularly fun by learning new strokes and figuring out your favorite one. Good on you too for trying to save money. I don't know if you're an investor much already, but I would recommend Ramit Sethi's blog I Will Teach You To Be Rich (the early entries) on setting up automatic savings systems. I also like Get Rich Slowly and The Simple Dollar, though the quality has wavered a bit. There are a huge number of financial blogs out there. I'm trying to save and earn more as well, so I'm in that boat with you--before you leap out to take a swim, that is.

BEARD BEAST MODE ACTIVATE! I am really excited to see so many arts-based goals in these threads. I am frantically trying to finish a painting up by midnight for a gallery deadline, and all of these forum posts are guilting me and telling me to put down the mouse and pick up the paintbrush. So good luck, but I must be off~

cn3wton, as far as creating a certain number of works counting as a pass, that's totally the way to go. I don't know if you've ever read the story about the pottery professor who created two different assignments for the pottery final. One group had to turn in a single pot and be graded on it. The other group had to turn in a certain weight of pottery, where 20 pounds was an A, 15 was a B, and so on. The weight-based group got vastly better grades because they were constantly refining their practice. As a fellow artist, I think it's a great reminder that perfection is the enemy of the good, and sometimes the act of creation can bring about beautiful works. I wish you luck with the illustration thing! I am going to add a creativity-based sidequest to my roster as well.

Oh, the diet soda beast! I'm there with you. I actually am allowing myself a soda a day since the last time I tried to stop drinking so much caffeine, my migraines came back with a vengeance. I wish you the best of luck! I'm trying to replace my sodas with fancy tea (if that's your thing) and infused waters. I think the fun part will be coming up with flavors for the waters. I do fruit infusions, but you could probably do some herb infusions with the keto diet.

DAY ONE My weight this morning was 160.1, which gives me a trajectory of losing roughly a pound a week. I suspect that will be a little tricky because food is delicious, but it's a good start! I drank one soda this morning. There was another bottle of soda in my car, staring at me while I drove away from work. I WANTED IT SO BAD. I broke down and drank a lemonade instead. As part of my anti-soda campaign, I'm going to get back into drinking more fancy teas and infusion waters. Today's menu: raspberry-pear water and green tea. RunKeeper congratulated me on a PR. I ran and walked 2.2 miles, running straight for about six or so minutes. I had intended just to walk, but I felt pumped up about the challenge. Now I feel like a sad, rickety chair. Tomorrow I yoga and meditate, and then maybe I can do another Legend of Zelda workout later in the week. The way I ran was new, but it wasn't a workout novelty. I am going to research exercise ideas tonight. In theory, if I come up with six activities I want to do--SUP, taichi, whatever--I can try and fit them in and find low-cost ways of testing the waters. I spent too much money today. Life quest fail. I was feeling sick and bought a ton of medicine, and then I bought veggies and fruit for later healthy snacking. On the bright side, I possibly landed a consistent gig doing nerdy writing every week, so that's a possible future win! I am considering adding a secondary side quest: do something creative every day. I haven't done creative writing, art, or embroidery in a while, and I just picked up the paintbrush this past week. Amazing! I need to incorporate more artsy-fartsy joy into my life. Overall, today was a great start, but my poor body's achin'. I know I can't commit to daily updates, but hopefully I can post updates a few times a week.