Iggy_003

I really have to learn to update more often. Over the last few weeks I have been sticking fairly closely to the plan, and have seen good results from it. Not only has this method of mine been working for me, but it has kept me going with my food and fitness schedule. The result is that I have lost a few pounds of fat, gained a bit of muscle (stronger now than ever before), and just generally feeling better about myself. So far so good it would seem. After finishing the "Have a 5 Minute Dance Party Every day" quest, I moved onto other things (I wasn't having any fun with this one, so did not go for the month long sequel to this quest). I also moved on from the "Say one positive thing to yourself each morning when you look in the mirror" quest because I mistakenly thought it was a week-long quest (oops). Following this were "Nutrition: Now That’s what I call High Quality H2O" and "Mindset: Smile More", both of which were completed (and along the way I discovered how hard it was for me to smile without looking unnatural or creepy). After a false start from the slouching quests I decided to instead focus on reading books more, both for personal reasons and to complete more book reading quests in the future. One part of the Druid Class are quests related to juggling. I haven't tried to juggle in years so took this as a challenge to finally learn how. I originally started with a book titled "Juggling For Complete Klutz" back when I was a kid, whereupon I came to the conclusion that I must somehow be beyond a complete klutz as, despite much effort, I just couldn't juggle. Two decades latter I have tried again, with my more mature and more coordinated (but still klutzy) self finally coming closer to my goal (my current record is 73 throws, about 3 times my old record from childhood). All of this is thanks to Nerd Fitness here having a "Juggle three balls for 21 throws" quest and for me counting it as part of the "Spend 10 minutes a day working on a weakness" quest (after all, juggling is one of my weaker skills listed in the Druid class quest list). I'm not a full-fledged juggler yet, but am having fun so am looking forward to the future. Next items to learn to juggle: juggling clubs, juggling rings, contact juggling, juggling knives, and finally flaming chainsaws! Well, maybe not the last two. Public logs, as usual, but now with my workout log in the second link: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1PIx88F9xFaVJLSinCpXAjIHTeTnO8XrgSKjQwmUDjcE/edit?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/open?id=1OI_nRFcAnRcTg5ptPV93bwg4NRRfBsjHp0bcsMjyvP8

As much as I don’t like having one of my first posts here be a somewhat negative one, the following issue has been bugging me since the Druid class was introduced and I feel a bit of constructive criticism is warranted. After all, the Druid class is all about inner focus and enlightenment, and this includes finding areas to be improved upon. I want this class to be well-made and well-designed, both for the success of those seeking the quests within and for the betterment of the Academy in general. So, what’s the problem? Simply put, the quests as they stand are not well-balanced and more need to be added as well. So, here a few areas of concern: · Completing a monthly Yoga or meditation habit nets 300 xp, but the equivalent for Tai Chi (Commit to a Tai Chi Practice.) is worth only 25 xp. · There are no descriptions or links for many of the new practices suggested; the reader is left with no direction for finding out what a mindful bridge activity is or what the various meditation types are, for example. · Some quests specify that one can use online resources as a substitute for an in-person class (such as Attend a Tai Chi or Qi Gong class), others specify only local ones count (Try out a few Tai Chi classes.), and most don’t mention either way; overall, this leads to confusion as to what actually “counts” for completing the quest. · There are only four quests relating to performing specific physical feats (Bend and Touch Your Shins, Bend and Touch Your Toes, Fully Clasp your hands behind your back on Back Scratch – both sides, Sit in a full lotus position); there should either be many more of these types of quests or, better yet, they should be eliminated completely (leaving such quests for the Yoga section alone). · Try a Guided Meditation should not be worth 75 xp (most meditation quests like this are 25 xp). · The juggling quests (Juggle three balls for 21 throws, Learn to contact juggle and perform the cradle and butterfly) are worth more xp than they should be considering that most people can learn these in only an hour or two (granted, I’m not “most people” and am still struggling with this, but that’s beside the point). · Speaking of which, why are performing arts like juggling and aerial silks in the Druid class to being with? Should they be somewhere else? Open to debate, I guess. · The Help your fellow rebel. quest should be titled Help your fellow rebel with Tai Chi. · The Attend a Tai Chi or Qi Gong Retreat (3+ days) quest is rather difficult considering the lack of such retreats available (compared to meditation and Yoga retreats); if this is there purely to even out the three practices, there should also be 1-3 day retreat quest for this and Yoga and a quest titled Read a book on Tai Chi or Qi Gong. · The Monk class receives quests for reaching attendance goals for multiple months/years and number of classes attended but the Druid class doesn’t have the equivalent despite Tai Chi being a martial art and Yoga following a similar structure; such quests should be implemented and it should be left open-ended to any classes the Druid decides to make attendance goals for (Tai Chi, Yoga, Meditation, and/or similar would all count towards the quests). · There are no “big” quests; the biggest ones available are worth 300 xp whereas Scouts get one worth 2500 xp (Complete the “I am Ironman” Challenge which, granted, is also a balance problem for the other classes). In the end, much like everything else in the Academy, the Druid class has a good start but can be made even better. The above are some of my suggestions for improvement, but I’m sure others out there have their opinions as well. Have any thoughts to add?

I would like to second this motion. The lists of quests can be rather long, so it would be nice to filter out the quests we've completed to focus on what's next. Tagging quests would also be amazing to have. So, yeah, please consider adding this as it would make our questing a much smoother and more focuses experience.

The four week challenge has officially begun, and so far I'm confident I can meet the goals I set! My preliminary"warm up" of 3 days went well, only missing a little bit of exercise on Thursday, one fruit/vegetable on Friday, and being a bit over my calorie limits in terms of overall food intake (with, as usual, a bit less protein than ideal). Remembering to do my daily "Dance Party!" and music practice early in the day (as opposed to putting it off until right before bedtime) and eating more vegetables than fruit seems to be the biggest challenges so far. I'm also starting to understand just how hard it is to eat "healthy" when out in public, such as eating at restaurants or hanging out at local festivals (quite proud of myself for avoiding that elephant ear, though). Either way, I'm off to a good start, so here's to four more weeks of goodness! Since my logs are a matter of public record now, I might as well link to the documents here as well: Starting Measurements: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hPcGPtJvqKV5b20CPZ6mcfGNq-uyGgizqJfZP3PYkig/edit?usp=sharing Log Sheets: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1PIx88F9xFaVJLSinCpXAjIHTeTnO8XrgSKjQwmUDjcE/edit?usp=sharing

Thanks!

Hello. I've been visiting Nerd Fitness for a few years now and have been in The Academy from almost the beginning, but only just now decided to start actively posting here. I mostly will just stick to posts for my four week challenge for now, and my first post says all that I wanted to say, so I'll just link to that:

After a year and a half away from The Academy and finding myself once again in a physical and mental slump, I have re-spawned onto the field and am ready to fight again! This time I'll actually take advantage of the forum here and start with the four week challenges. Every bit of help counts, so I'm going to try out this type of goal-setting along with the usual habit of finishing quests and leveling up. Firstly, I have made a spreadhsheat for myself to print out and track my goals, a copy of which is found here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1bwOYWu7AS03x-DPWvlAZV2-odO6gYt7hotITrGQ0AaQ/edit?usp=sharing The Google Docs version doesn't hold up as well (there is no ability for sideways text or in-cell shading, so I had to modify it a little) as the original, but it gives the idea of what I'm setting out to do. Essentially it is a bunch of check-boxes to fill in as I accomplish the things I want to accomplish, with the goal being to fill in the minimum number each day (shown as a line in the above version, but shaded in the original). It's simple, but it works for me. So, here are my quests for my first four week challenge: Keep Track of My Macronutrient Intake for Each Day To keep it simple I came up with an approximate divisor for each macronutrient to keep it basic and to fit my check-box method. The numbers are far from exact, but I rather be "close enough" than to meticulously track every gram I eat. This method allows me to simply look at the list on the left for most foods and fill out the boxes as needed; so, for example, if I eat an egg I check one protein box and one fat box, and if I eat a banana I fill out three carbohydrate boxes. It may not be a very specific diet plan, but it accomplishes my main goal: to increase my protein intake to build muscle while keeping my overall calories low to loose fat. Being overweight and out-of-shape, I have to keep a balanced diet or risk either not having enough to support my physical training or having too much and gaining more fat reserves (yeah, my "spare tire" is big enough). Now this method isn't quite the "paleo" diet that is all the rage around here, but it leads me in the same general direction of replacing my grain product intake with more meat and green vegetables by encouraging me away from high carb food choices (like mac and cheese) and towards low carb, and conveniently healthier, food choices (like broccoli). Another upshot to this method is that it helps me to eat basic, natural foods because they are easier to keep track of what macronutrients they contain (i.e. I don't have to look at the back of junk food containers as much). Eat at Least Five Fruits and Vegetables Each Day, and at least Seven for Five Days of the Week Even with the above method I still need to make sure I am getting the proper plant material to feed myself with. The general recommendation for someone my size is 9 fruits and vegetables in total, and currently I am eating about 5. So, my current goal is to move up to 7 a day, with the above requirement being a start to that. I'm not yet to the point of worrying about which ones to eat, just as long as I have a good variety and that one of my daily fruits is a banana (as the old saying goes: "A Banana a Day Keeps the Doctor Away!"). Engage in at Least One Hour of Active Physical Activity A Day, Six Days a Week Being the sedentary, computer dwelling, desk job person I am, I really need to get up and move more. This is by far the most important thing I can do, as my lack of decent exercise has been deteriorating my health for years. I am not as bad as I once was, but I have a long way to go. Part of this is to go on a 20 minute walk everyday. On strength training days (3 times a week) this means that I can add an additional 60 minutes from my usual barbell workout at the gym, going beyond the requirement (but that's still fine). On days I golf, 9 holes will readily make the amount. For the other days I need to find other things to do, rather it be a simple activity (walking around the grocery store, cleaning the house) or more specific to my physical training (using the elliptical machine at the gym, going to the driving range, yoga training). Either way, one way or another, I need to move around more, and an hour a day six days a week is a good start for me. My secondary goals here are to build up a yoga routine again (I'm a druid for more than just the meditation) and to keep up with my strength training; on the latter part, I am following a variant of the Starting Strength program (http://startingstrength.com/get-started/programs), which has worked quite well so far (the book's also a good read). Unfortunately I can't do the power cleans (or any Olympic lift) due to the lack of proper equipment (no bumper plates at my current gym, and the last gym I went had them but yelled at me for using them). So, for now I have replaced it with assisted chin-ups (never been able to do a chin-up unassisted) and back extensions on a roman chair. Practice a Musical Instrument For at Least 20 minutes, Six Days a Week I used to be in a band class in middle school where I played a cornet and latter a baritone horn. I stopped when I went to high school, but have been missing the experience ever since. A few years ago I purchased an ocarina from Mountain Ocarinas (http://www.mountainsocarina.com/b/), a great instrument I highly recommend, and started their training course. Well, one thing led to another and I fell out of practice. Recently I've started up again I want to continue. So rather it's multiple 5 minute sessions or my usual one 30 minute session, I'm going to want to get some practice in on a daily bases. I might get distracted with other instruments like the recorder or my attempts at the piano, but that still counts as music practice. Making music is a rather therapeutic activity, and which not only calms me down but gives me a chance to work out my creative side. While I'm focusing on the above four goals in the next four weeks, there are still plenty of other things for me to do (there are a lot more quests now than when I was here last and the system was in beta testing). My character has been reset due to the change in systems, and I am taking advantage of this by re-doing most of the quests I did before to rebuild my habits (I nearly finished out the druid class within about a month last time, but will probably take it slower this time). Current quests I am working on, and listed on my log sheet, are the following: Mindset: Meditation Challenge (and anything else involving daily meditation) Say one positive thing to yourself each morning when you look in the mirror (positive thinking can't be a bad thing, right?) Have a Five Minute Dance Party Every day (a bit ridiculous, but I might as well try something new) Fitness: Defeat Boss: Lady MacBench (the chin-ups are, as usual, holding me back, but I'm working on it) I think I said more than enough here, so I'll leave it be for now. Still have a couple of days before the challenge starts, but I should might as well start the habit building now. So, here's to a good four weeks, and many more sets of four after this! Edit 8/23/16: It actually takes more time at the gym than I remembered, so I updated the amount. Also added more instrument options, and fixed some typos and such.