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So a few great things have happened recently. My doctor's appointment last challenge went amazing: no more hyperthyroidism, no more pre-diabetic, no more early onset cirrhosis of the liver, my good cholesterol is on point, kidneys and filtration are great. No need for any meds or throat surgery with radioactive iodine injected and damaging my thyroid, etc. My bad cholesterol was a little high but it was because I have a lot of fatty meats (which I'm changing). So great bill of health. The other great thing: after WAAAAAAAY too many years of dealing with school and a lot of hurdles in life, I got my master's degree and last challenge passed my LCSW exam, making me a professional therapist. I'm taking this summer to follow up on job stuff and finally be on my career path. With the huge time-soaker of studying finally gone, I feel a massive sigh of relief and a weight being off of my shoulders. I have more time, finally, to do some fun things that I've wanted to do. One of those things is writing a story that has been kicking around in my head for about 3 or 4 years. I tried to post it as an interactive RPG but it didn't seem to pan out but it's a story that I've wanted to write for quite a while now. I have the same thoughts about writing as Charles Bukowski: In the spirit of this, I'm starting installments of writing my story and posting it in this challenge. Story will be in [This green text] while regular posts will be like this. I'm taking the summer to decide what I'm doing career-wise. As for my challenge: a couple challenges ago I was going to do a year-long thing with stat-points but with the exam being passed and changing my trajectory, I'm dropping that and I want to focus more on artwork and the free time that I have while I figure the job situation out. My challenge: 1) Whole30 (7x) - Doesn't change. I'm waiting to see if sticking will this until seeing a dietician scheduled in July will make a huge difference. If I struggle to keep my shit together after the test anxiety is gone, when I see the dietician I'm asking about doing keto or what else I should be doing. This has worked in the past but this is the first time in literal YEARS that I don't have a school-based anxiety looming over my head so I want to see how I fare this challenge. 2) NF Posting (4x) - This one always goes to the wayside but with goal #4 happening, I need to make this a priority. As stated multiple times, I don't have this gremlin on my shoulder saying, "Hey you should be studying. If you can read random shit on the internet, you can study." My success in weightloss has been directly proportional to the effort I put in here on NF so this summer it's go-time. 3) Mobility/Workout (10x) - I've been doing weight lifting for about a solid year now and I love it. I haven't done it the past week because of my covid shot and feeling run down and my arm being in a lot more pain than other people have said they dealt with (guess we all react differently). I'm going to be going outside for walks, as well as lifting weights and also stretching. At my dr appointment, I talked to him about having lardosis of the lower back and I've been googling ways to work with it (since a goddamn physical therapist/chiropractor isn't covered under insurance). I also severely neglect stretching because of how much it hurts so this goal wraps up all of these things into one: Outside Walks/Gym Cardio/Stretching/Lardosis Stretch-Work/Weight-lifting. I could do 2 of each every week, or 5 walks and 5 weight-lifting, etc. As long as I get 10x *stuff and thaaaangs* done. 4) Creative (3x) - The title for this challenge is called BellMyst for a reason: I'm writing a story (about 8k words right now and a standard 200-page book is 55k). I don't expect this to be book-length but I'm writing what I want to write and how I want to write it. Writing will count towards this goal, as will any painting or paper mache stuff that I work on as well. For instance, I'm working on two very very tiny paper mache cupcakes (smaller than my thumb). That's it. Next post should be [Story].

I pretty much fell off the planet during my last challenge. Everything was going along very smoothly until my sleep just suddenly deteriorated and my mental health spiraled intro a crazy rollercoaster. Come to find out, what had been diagnosed as depression was actually bipolar II. And I have been riding a crazy mixed episode for about a month. I am not entirely sure where to go with this challenge. The next month or so are going to be challenging. This week, I started some new meds that will hopefully help me to find some stability, but I have to increase the dose very slowly, which means dealing with a new round of side effects every two weeks, and it will still be another three and a half weeks from now before I reach a clinical dose (the dose typically necessary to start experiencing the benefits of the medication). My sleep still hasn't stabilized, either. This combination makes it hard to focus and even harder to do anything physically strenuous, because I am chronically sleep deprived and the start-up side effects are making me dizzy and occasionally nauseous. Over the last month my entire routine has fallen apart and I have fallen behind in a lot of areas, so I also have some work to do in just generally rebuilding habits and catching up. I am honestly feeling pretty overwhelmed with life as a whole right now. So, I am just going to set some intentions for this challenge, with no expectation on completing everything. I am not even going to set numbers or time limits, because I know that will just stress me out if I don't meet it. Intentions Complete bodyweight workouts when side effects and sleep allow Go for walks during lunch break when schedule, weather, and sleep allow Stretch/yoga when side effects allow Drink plenty of water Read Try to study for cert when brain is at least semi-functioning If things start improving later in the challenge, I may revise this challenge into something more structured and goal-oriented, but for now, my main focus is just on keeping my head above the water.

I ended up watching Batman V Superman and Snyder's Justice League this weekend for a combined total of 7 HOURS of movie-time. Shit's exhausting. Anyways, figured I would make my challenge and do some cleaning up around here. Last challenge was ending on a low note: I have this feeling like the good vibes are hard to find/make around NF and I had this catch 22 that I was feeling: if I post about good things, I feel guilty because I know so many people are doing badly. If I post about bad things, I feel like I'm adding to the echo-chamber of depression that I'm actively trying to fight against. I was assured that I should post regardless and that it help so that's what I'm going to go. My challenge is the same this entire year: 1) Workouts - When covid was getting scary and gyms were closing down, I didn't use it as an excuse: I decided to look up some dumbbell workouts at home. I've gone from bodyweight or 7 pound dumbbells to using 30, 45, or 50 pound weights. And for Christmas, I got a 60 pound dumbbell. I work out 4 times a week so it's pretty obvious that I should get 1 Strength point per workout. 2) NF - With the changes on the forums and the fact that I've been dragging ass for a while, I think I need to bump up this as a priority. I've overhauled my schedule to include way more frequent posting/checking threads. I feel like typing up things is hand dexterity, so each time I'm on NF, I'm going to give myself 1 Dexterity point. Also something that I neglect terribly is any sort of stretching. I know I should do it. I know it's supposed to aid in building muscle and yadda yadda. And YES I have bad back pain daily but I never seem to work on it and I NEED to. Since that is body dexterity, that also will count towards a point so if I don't post on NF, I can substitute it with a stretching routine. 3) Whole30 - Eating this way always make me feel better and the thing is, the longer the streak I do; the better I feel. As soon as I fall off the bandwagon, I feel fucking AWFUL so what makes sense is to, you know, never have a break from eating this way. Every day I eat this way improves my overall health, so I think I should get 1 Vitality point per day. 4) Study/Arts - I already read the LCSW practice exam stuff but I don't want to get rusty if, somehow, magically, I'll be able to take it sooner than expected. Rather than be caught off guard, I want to get back into studying a little each day. I also have some artistic pursuits that I would like to do again and if they are viewable, I'll post pictures. I'm pretty sick of playing videogames and watching twitch/youtube. I want to create something. I feel like these are both wisdom-related so I think that every time I do either thing, I should get 1 Energy point. --- 1) Workouts I started ramping up a little more by adding some more cardio into the mix as last challenge kept going. 2) NF was posting less as the challenge continues because of the aforementioned issue. 3) Whole30 stayed about the same - with some slight fuck-ups but nothing seriously bad. A couple glasses of milk or some cheese in a meal was the worst I did; and I haven't had any candy/sugar/junk since Christmas and plan to keep it that way. 4) Study/Arts was increased by a LOT as I've been studying in blocks. I've been able to concentrate for 1-4 hours and read through the study book and I'm about halfway through it. I checked yesterday and there weren't any test dates up yet for me to choose from but I'll check again tomorrow. I don't want to say the specific date just in case it doesn't go well but I'm studying my fucking balls off. I'm trying every challenge to be a little more efficient so I'm hoping that by the end of this year-long challenge, I'll have these 4 goals mastered.

Welcome! I’m the married parent of 4 kids aged 0-7. I’m ultimately an adventurer at heart, though I train similar to a lot of Rangers (and I’m something of a Druid Paladin which is also something of an equivalent to a Ranger). I love hiking, exploring, traveling, and other fun things with the family. Since shortly before joining Nerdfitness, my physical training is typically built around injury rehabilitation (which happens a bit more often due to autoimmune arthritis) and training to be able to travel, explore, and play with my family. I have a pretty effective Disney World training system, and try to ensure that at any point I’m strong enough to carry my whole family somewhere. That has become more difficult as the years go on but I can still do it for the most part. I am also an enthusiastic suburban homesteader bent on establishing an orchard and vegetable garden, so things can get pretty out-doorsy depending on my goals. My needs mean I do a variety of types of training, and my earliest two physical training goals were “run fast” and “be able to competitively play any sport I come across.” I prefer to avoid gyms and do a lot of body weight training. We recently welcomed baby 4 into the family, my cat was recently diagnosed with feline dementia, and I am still on parental leave. We discovered some nearby bakeries for sale, a way to give a physical location to our small cottage bakery, and are intensely investigating those. I am off work for this whole challenge. I am also halfway through an intensive therapy round that seems to be helping quite a lot, as well as possibly having been egregiously misdiagnosed for most of my life. This challenge, we are going forward with business/kitchen buying due diligence, we move back into full planting mode at the suburban homestead, and we are continuing with eating a ketosis diet that has been quite helpful for us. I am working back into my calisthenics routine and may or may not start back with running. I am also continuing to work through the house, organizing and cleaning Goals: 1. Sleep. As best as possible. I’m a nonfunctional mess without sleep and can sacrifice it for a few days ok but then I have to make it a super high priority to regain it. With le bébé here and being off work, this is a lot easier than it was. 2. My basic calisthenics routine with Woody and Rex and Bo Peep. As well as spending some individual time with each kid exploring the neighborhood area, Just Dance sessions, and running or walking stairs or carrying sandbags up and down them. We started geocaching at the local park as well as fishing, thought the Mickey Mouse rod requires repair. 3. Take one concrete step forward per day. This had a great effect on my mental health last challenge and also helped me to do at least one tangible, visible thing to make life better. This ranged from things as small as “dig out the replacement toaster” to as big as “reorganize the playroom.” I don’t have to complete the bigger ones as long as I make progress. 4. Take one concrete step forward per day career-wise. I need my job but I’m not satisfied in it and otherwise need a change. I need to hone/adapt skills and look for other opportunities. -> Currently, this involves working towards dramatically expanding a part-time business into a full-time business, which would have Jessie running that business full-time and likely have me also working it full time within the next few years. 5. It’s planting time. I have a raised vegetable bed to dig in, another to level, drainage to install, and permanent cinderblock sides to install. I have anti-deer fences to put in around my fruit trees as well, and I’d like to start a bunch of seeds. Also, some of my experimental seed fruit trees may have actually survived and those I need to get into the ground at the back of the yard. It’s too early now, but I also have my grandma’s Japanese yellow rose to place somewhere too and a second decorative pot to put in with paver stones in the front. I also want to finish off the fencing (connecting neighbor fences to our house and installing a gate) so I can let the dogs out/delegate that job to someone else. 6. Therapy. I have a lot of goals for the therapy. I won’t accomplish all of them in the three remaining intensive weeks BUT I’ve already come a long way and I believe I can get the framework I need to live a happier, healthier, and more interpersonally effective life. It’s actually fun and rewarding, particularly in light of my personal discoveries and the fact that I was able to get my sister away from a doctor who was awful and caused a bad situation for her over and into my doctor on short notice. My little sister is one of my favorite people and she deserves quality care from a doctor who validates her. For tomorrow, we have a meeting re: the bakery to sign paperwork and gain additional due diligence paperwork. I want to take care of the shoe problem or what is necessary for the raised bed as well. It’ll be a busy day. In any case, that’s going to require sleep so I bid y’all adieu.

It is finally spring again. The days are getting longer, the weather is warming up, and nature is slowly coming back to life. There have already been multiple days where I could open up the windows around the apartment and turn off the heat. My last couple of challenges have been fairly strong, and my intent is to continue to build on that. I did struggle some with my INT goals last challenge, but a lot of that had to do with some time contraints that arose during the challenge. I made a valiant effort to catch them up before the end of the last challenge, but could not QUITE make it. That being said, I was able to do a lot of catching up, so I feel comfortable wrapping them into this challenge along with a new round of things to do. Challenge Goals: Body of a Agile Swordswoman - (STR) Strength and Agility: Bodyweight workouts 3x/week - (DEX) Balance and Coordination: Yoga and/or stretching 3x/week - (CON) Stamina: 20min+ walks 4x/week - (CON) Nutrition: Avoid processed sugar 6 days/week - (CON) Hydration: Drink 64 oz of water per day - (CON) Physique: Track macros daily Mind of a Scholar - (INT) Develop Breadth: Read 6.5 books (6 for present challenge + 0.5 from last challenge) - (INT/WIS) Develop Depth: Complete 7 modules of certification course (6 for current challenge +1 from last challenge) - (CHA) Career Knowledge: Complete Digital Marketing Course part 3 (15%) (roll over from last challenge) Weekend Warrior Side Quests - Spring Cleaning Edition - Inbox Zero - Declutter desk - Clean/clean out car - File Taxes

Hey, here I am again. Again I have a 'big hike' that I'm prepping for - hopefully the state boarders will stay over this year. https://www.trektoursaustralia.com.au/tour/jatbula-trail-walking-tours/ I'd love to drop about 7 kg before the end of July - and I"ve joined the weight loss pvp. I want to keep up lifting at the gym (just keep the momentum) Cardio goals - as much hiking as I can fit in along with a little running goal. So how will I achieve this? The weight loss is the hardest - I have a very sluggish metabolism - my weight doesn't fluctuate at all. I've had some success trying keto but really just getting low-carb. I'm going to concentrate on this after the Easter weekend (nothing stupid before or during the weekend just not super locked down). 1. Track food 2. Limit snacking (even of keto friendly food) Gym - aim for 4 weight sessions per week. These are relatively short so I can fit in multiple per week. If I miss this number because of extra cario I'm fine. This is really about keeping consistency/momentum. Cardio - I'm trying to get to a consistent 10km jog/run. Either a 10km on the weekend (running to and from gym is around 14km) or do a Park Run. I'm planning on doing park run this Saturday as my first ever. One long hike. Again if I only get one due to other commitments I'm fine but not if I just blow them away. Spa/Sauna - Once per week is the aim. Because I go by myself I get a big bored. It's getting colder here in the south of the Southern Hemisphere. It will be warm in the Northern Territory when I go in July so I want to keep the Sauna in the routine. Now most of this I've been doing (except tracking food) so most if this is just giving me some accountability.

Hello. I am Stronkey Kong. Umm... Been on NF over seven years. I'm still fat and making the best of it. Which means I'm tempering my goals, accepting what is and what is not (feasibly and sustainably) possible. I eat as healthy as I can while enjoying my food. I move as often as I can while enjoying movement. I think. I create. I devise elaborate plans for challenges and eschew all rules as soon as convenience dictates. <sigh> This challenge is inspired by a recent dream I had. This is one of my stress dreams. It came after spending a week switching to day shift, rather abruptly, after having been on night shift for over a year, going to a training course across town, then coming back to work to find out that someone more senior than me, and training/guiding me at work is leaving in another week and then I'm pretty much on my own kinda. Idk. This is gonna get tough. I suppose the point/meaning of this dream, if they do have meanings, is that I need to avoid quick fixes and work on my coping mechanisms ahead of stressors. Then there's the fact that I'm turning my attention back to mindfulness and my Buddhist practice. I have dabbled and practiced with varying degrees of seriousness in Zen. I'm currently learning about Tibetan Buddhism and reading and meditating on Way of the Bodhisattva by Shantideva, and am planning to get back into my meditation routine. If you've never heard the term, Bodhisattvas are beings who have attained enlightenment, but rather than pursuing full Buddhahood (where you get to just chill out in Nirvana for eternity, free from suffering) they choose to return to Samsara (the eternal cycle of life, suffering, death, and rebirth) to guide other beings on the path to enlightenment. Hence, they are good examples to follow for freeing oneself from suffering and helping others. I could go on on this topic, but I'll leave it there for now. I just thought I'd let you know why I named my challenge as I did. And then there's the Big List... which I made during the Holiday challenge as a set of goals to pursue long term. From this list I usually create a goal or two from something on the list to work toward, and lately I usually focus on Intuitive Eating, Exercise, Creativity, and buying a home. My goals are listed in order of general priority. I'm putting the TL;DR up front and spoilering the details to tidy things up here: TL;DR Mindfulness: daily meditation with increasing session times Lotus Position: stretch to improve lotus posture during meditation Nourishment: Eat mindfully and watch out for GERD symptoms Movement: Qigong Abode: spring cleaning Creativity: Knit a Beanie or Finish part one of my fantasy novel Wisdom: Study The Way of the Bodhisattva Knowledge: study Tibetan language

The next month is going to potentially very chaotic for me. I have no idea exactly how things are going to pan out, so I'm keeping a super open challenge as things come my way. By the end of zero week, our appraisal should be in, which will either mean moving forward with settlement or going back to some sort of drawing board around house plans. Right now, settlement is scheduled for April 16th, so we are on track for having everything completed by then, but it does make the appraisal piece the most important (aka only missing) step. If everything goes smoothly, our builder is ready to start our house (up to and including already getting permits!!). Which means needing a fairly open schedule to be able to meet to discuss finishes and other housing related needs. My parents house also went on the market today and they have put in an offer for the lot right next to ours (which might sound awful - depending on your relationship with your parents), however these are large lots which means that right next door is actually partially down the road (and my parents are putting in a pool). This means there is a chance I will be traveling down to Florida to help them with packing and / or helping them unpack when they get moved up here (and also potentially working with a realtor to help them find a rental). My daughter and I are starting a new workout program starting next week and I am starting a more lifting focused program at the same point. I'm also doing 2,000 burpees in April as a fundraiser. So this challenge is going to be me reacting to whatever I get thrown at me.

I'm new and here for a place to describe what I'm doing, express my thoughts about it, get some feedback, and ideally participate in a community. Areas for exploration Physical Be consistently active, following my plan. Since I'm trying to do too much, figure out what's carved in stone and where I can be flexible. Dumbbell workouts three times a week will likely be foundational. See what happens when my planned hikes and weighted pack walks collide with my new jogging habit -- do I decrease my weekly urban hike? Kick jogging down the road? Leave the backpack behind? Take walks and do gentle yoga as often as they're needed. Diet Find easy ways to increase protein intake at all meals. Make better choices overall. Cook regularly and happily. Say yes to Gatorade on long walks. Rest Get quality rest. Take sufficient rest between demanding activities. Recuperate with baths, hydration and healthy food. If I need to take a week off again, focus on yoga and walking rather than sitting on the couch watching Star Trek. Improve sleep hygiene: decrease drinking during the week (glass of wine with supper yes, "one more dram" at ten o'clock no), screens off by 9:30, read before bed. Create room for prayer and meditation before bed. Build a habit of getting up on time. To Do (Zero Week stuff, hopefully) Sort out the indoor/outdoor shoe issue. Inventory and replace socks. Look into new jogging pants since the ones I've been working out in have holes in the butt. Probably get a new hiking hat. Prowling dragons If there is a sudden increase in my workload, I will either shorten my strength workout or go for a walk or do yoga on my break and do my strength workout after work. If self-esteem issues around exercising in public flare up, I will build up time gradually and do longer runs before work; the early morning dog walkers are generally chill. If Bad Thoughts attached to running flare up, I will express them in a neutral venue and judge how seriously I should take them; it might mean scaling back or letting jogging go for now. When unresolved issues that decide to be relevant when I try something new flare up, I will distract myself with more interesting thoughts (what even is the relationship between Neo-Platonism and Merkabah mysticism anyway?). Weapons True Names (being able to describe the problem helps tame it), a plan (make it easy) Virtues curiosity, self-awareness, courage

I spun out last challenge in the last week to week and a half. Work stress, relationship stress, blah balh blah. I had just gotten cocky with about 90 days of staying on course so thats about time for me to screw up. So 3x workouts per week minimum. By week 3 take a run. Dont go more than 3 days without posting or commenting. I get in a bit of a cycle with that. So I dont have my sheet in front of me but I did squats today. I was getting dressed to lift when a half dollar sized wolf spider ran out of my knee sleeve on the ground and I made a decidedly un-warrior like sound before grabbing a shoe and smashing it. I have woken up 6 straight days with a pounding headache. i have put water on my bed and IBU in hopes that if I notice it in the middle of the night again I can get ahead of it.

It is time to return to a challenge that always seems to fill me with the energy and motivation to stay active. It is an epic one, but it is less about completing all of the things and more about staying present with the essence of each challenge goal. Basic Challenge: Connect With Environment: The Na'vi are deeply connected to the natural world around them and they take care of it. When completing each of these challenges, engage all of your senses and stay mindful of the impact nature has on your body and your spirit. At least 30 total minutes outdoors/day in a natural setting Go barefoot as often as possible and be mindful of how my body reacts; wear minimalist shoes when necessary. Explore an unfamiliar outdoor area, or explore a familiar one as if seeing it for the first time. Swim in wild waters (creeks and rivers) and climb trees Give at least 5 total minutes/day of mindful attention to a life form other than human (pets, wildlife, plants, etc.). Download Joulebug and complete at least one challenge/day. Do a litter cleanup in a natural area at least once/week. Avoid using plastics of any kind (unless impossible). 1 hike or trail run/week Connect With Food: The Na'vi are omnivorous hunter-gatherers with a deep connection to the available provisions that surrounded them, both meat and plant. When completing these challenges, savor each bite, eat mindfully and pay close attention to how this affects your body and spirit. Eat full vegetarian at least one day/week Eat at least 1 vegetable/day Eat fresh meat whenever possible instead of processed/boxed/canned meat at least 3 days/week; this includes fish (BONUS: game meat when possible). Forage at least once/week (dandelion, plantains, wild onion, etc.) Fast intermittently; be mindful of when it is acceptable to not eat and when it is necessary Eat locally at least once/week if possible (Farmer's market?) Connect With Body: The Na'vi need their body to be in top shape in order to survive such a harsh environment. When completing this challenge, use a variety of "wild fitness"/primal/paleo natural movements and be mindful of how this impacts your body and spirit. Deep squat more Drink at least 1/2 gallon of water/day. Practice balancing on a narrow surface 3 days/week Dead hang for at least 30 seconds 3 days/week. "Natural movement" HIIT workout at least 3 days/week; continue to incorporate resistance bands and other home workout equipment (cinderblocks, log, stones, etc.) Barefoot sprint in the field more often Daily breathwork Connect With Tribe: The Na'vi have a deep connection with members of their tribe, especially family but also tribal elders and leaders. For this challenge, be mindful of your relationships and how you strengthen them. Spend time in the afternoon with your daughters ('ite); at least one technology-free playtime/week. Use intimate physical touch with tribal members (for family: hugs, kisses, holding hands, snuggling; handshakes/hugs for friends). At least one uninterrupted/technology free evening with wife (muntxate) Call your mother (sa'nok). Connect With Self: In spite of living in a savage environment, the Na'vi are very self-aware and practice a disciplined self-control and humble appreciation of all life, including their own. Become toruk makto: tame the beast and take control of your temper by pausing and being mindful of your emotions. Seek wisdom: read works written by great tribal leaders and elders who have come before you. Choose your words: be mindful of when to speak and when to be silent; don't waste words, but choose them wisely. Be grateful: keep a log each day of things for which you are grateful. Connect With Eywa (God): The Na'vi believe in and commune with a being greater than themselves. This is the essence of their culture and it drives their actions and lifestyle. While completing these challenges, be mindful of where your heart and spirit rest on these issues. Greet each morning with a grateful smile and a spoken "Thank you." Pray/meditate in silence at least 10 minutes/day. Integrate prayer throughout the day. Treat each person you meet as spiritually connected and as image-bearers of God; treat all lifeforms as God's creation. Practice agape love (unconditional love). Bonus Challenges: Learn Na'vi language. Spend at least one night outside (in a hammock, if possible). Take a long hike deep into the woods (off trail, if possible). Ride a horse. Harvest spring water. Go rock climbing (freestyle).

Hi, it’s me again! The way that I had this year planned at the end of 2020 went completely off the rails—and it wasn’t exactly in a bad way! But I’m still trying to catch up with all of these major life changes. To summarize: In late November, moved to our dream property, Owlshire. It’s a big, demanding lifetime project with some urgent issues that need addressing to create a strong foundation for future years. Luckily, I wasn’t working (outside of minding the toddler) and didn’t plan to start looking for a job until he started school.... Except in January, I was contacted (and eventually) offered an opportunity to get my foot into a dream job/industry. But it’s full time, new territory, and really demanding. We decided the pros of this opportunity outweighed the cons, but the cons still have costs XD I’ve not worked for other people in a proper 9-5 in over a decade. I’ve not held a job previously since I became a mother. Oh yeah, we’ve now been in a pandemic Lockdown for over a year and while we’ve had it pretty “easy” we’re still talking EASY for A PANDEMIC YEAR+ LOCKDOWN. Balancing act? What balancing act? So many dreams come true! It’s awesome! But also an ongoing pandemic! It’s exhausting! And, actually, while we’re supposedly on the road out of Lockdown, doing all this when we get back to having social lives and community again... is still going to mad. This challenge is more about assigning priorities and learning to juggle better, and a lot of my updates will be links to my Instagram, because that’s my current favorite and low pressure/effort place to document and photospam online. But I still love NF and want to keep connections here ❤️ More Deep Work/Focus Time in my day job Personal journaling Bujo Lite Gardening Walking/time in the woodlands Quality time with family Sleep (as is within my control with a toddler who still wakes in the night) Less Mindless Interwebs Getting caught in stress loops that affect my mental health but also my relationship with my husband and son Trashy stress snacking (These lists will evolve.) No metrics, really. I’m rubbish at keeping up with them. May edit this more later... may not XD

Well, here we are at Week 2, but better late than never. My last challenge or two kind of fizzled near the end when I stopped caring about doing things. So we'll see if this one goes any better. I'm setting a morning routine and things are scheduled with a time that they should take to get done. Get up: 7am Brush Teeth: 5 min Morning Prayers: 15 min Walk: 10 min Exercise: 30 min (M W F - Pull-up Workout, T Th - Rucking) Brush Hair/Get Dressed: 5 min Pack Lunch: 10 min Which in theory gets me ready to leave for work by 8:15 am. Trying it out this morning, several things took me a minute or two longer than scheduled, but I mostly made up the time when the workout didn't take the full 30 minutes, so it's all good. This will be the plan for Monday-Friday. Weekends will be modified as needed to fit whatever I'm doing that day. Mostly I expect that will mean walk/exercise won't be part of the morning routine. I think Saturday get up time will be 8 hours after whenever I go to bed as long as I don't have anywhere particular to be (I want to allow for staying up late one night a week if I want). Sunday it will be 6:30 am which will hopefully mean I'm not rushed getting to church. Now, in order to get up by 7 am (or whenever I need to be up), I need to go to bed at a reasonable time. So, getting ready for bed is 10:30 pm and lights out is 11 pm.

First off, I totally love this stupid possum image I found and I will likely keep using it because it makes me happy Physical health things to do this time around: Act like a good little kid and go to bed when my Mum, aka the alarm on my phone, says it's bedtime Prep food for work based on the hours I will be working and the general level of effort that shift will require. Follow the very easy, very doable plan set up in my yoga app and hopefully earn back some of the flexibility and ease of movement I used to have. Mental health things to do this time around: Play WoW with my girlfriend at least twice a week for at most 3 hours. I'm paying for the game and it's an easy low energy thing we can do together that won't sap her limited energy and doesn't require masks. Finish reading one actual novel off my bookshelf that I had not read before... After I finish re-reading Ender's Game 🙄 Listen to music and take some solo time at home at least twice a week. I don't have privacy, but I want to see if this will help. Environmental things to do this time around: Do the dishes, check/take out the trash daily. I am bad at letting things pile up and then I run out of things like forks, and floor space... Crack open all the windows and sweep/vacuum the apartment. Go through the kitchen cabinets, the bathroom cabinet and the hall closet and throw out what is just trash, and move anything that is a seasonal item down to the storage locker. Things I want do but likely won't because lately, my brain doesn't let me have nice things: Get a haircut, this shit is getting unruly and it is very uneven. Paint my nails purple!

I'm coming off of a pretty successful challenge at the beginning of the year, but that is in part because I made my goals super simple and not terribly difficult. I wanted to build a couple solid daily habits, and since I have kept them up without reporting here every day over the last week I suppose that means I'm on the right track so far. So this challenge I am keeping the same format, just adding another daily habit. 1. Hike outside at least one mile per day. I am trying to get ready for longer hikes in the next few months. Last challenge I usually did between 1.5-2.5 miles each day. I can usually make time right after work. I've been wearing a 20-pound weighted pack (with something like these inside) a couple times per week as well, to get used to that. 2. Studying or doing exercises from my Latin language textbooks for fifteen minutes. I'm working out of Lingua Latina Per Se Illustrata. Volume 1 is called Familia Romana. I have read up through chapter 26 of 35, but in those last chapters my comprehension is very poor. I've started going back to the earlier chapters and doing more exercises in a notebook, writing a lot more than I had been the first few times through. 3. Strength or mobility work for fifteen minutes. This is the new one. I need to work on these two aspects of physical fitness that I have let slide during the recent months of lock-downs. I'm planning to alternate between a circuit of mostly body-weight exercises and other activities to get more mobile and active.

Greetings all! I’m sliding in here late, on the last day of Week Zero (yes, I know, the challenge has already started for most, but my challenges start on MONDAYS dammit). My previous few challenges have been focused around trying to establish home routines that support my current reality of post-grad-school unemployment, and I’ve had a bit of success, I guess. I had planned on continuing that for this challenge, but, well, life happened, and I now find myself at the beginning of a quite unexpected adventure Spoiler for the (kind of long) story: Since instead of puttering around my hobbit hole I am going to be enjoying my version of the beautiful mountain valley of Rivendell, the many detailed routines characterizing my life back at Bag End feel kind of far away. For the first three weeks of this challenge, then, I plan to simply embrace the spirit of adventure that landed me here in the first place. I’ll save tending the routines for the last two weeks, when I will be back at home and in need of some structure to recover from whatever frenzy this current madness creates in my life. Spoiler for discussion of my goals for the first three weeks: For the last two weeks of the challenge, I will plan to return to my routines as tracked in my previous challenge, with some possible tweaks to be determined once I think about it some more. I will edit this post with further details later; I don’t want to delay getting this up any further, but I also really don’t want to waste any energy dealing with something beyond beyond this current madness. Right. There we are. I got something up, and I’m here! I’m late, but I’m here... Good luck everyone on your own adventures!

I'm Stronkey Kong -- neutral good human/wizard adventurer/warrior hybrid. I made a list for Santa during the holiday challenge. That is now 'The Big List' that I'm trying to achieve goals on to improve life, health, and fitness. Right now the big things on my plate are strength training, getting outdoors and walking/hiking, cooking/eating healthier, painting/drawing, and buying a home (my Wizard's tower). I left off last challenge building a foundation of barbel training, batch cooking, and just put an offer on a house. Here's the big list: (spoilered cuz it's a big list) And here's what I'm focusing on for this challenge. Intuitive Eating: Keep batch cooking tasty, healthy meals Start food journaling, Bujo portions and notes on mood, energy, etc. Intuitive Exercising: Keep up the barbell program 2+ times /week Ruck (>= 1 mi) or walk (>= 2 mi) 1+ times/week Painting and drawing: Ahh.... just keep going. But especially with the ink drawings right now because that makes me focus... cuz you only get one chance with ink. Buying my Wizard's Tower: This one's an ongoing to-do list Satisfy requirements for loan Gather documents Do taxes Complete first-time homeowner class(es?) Realtor/Property Search Look at moar houses. Work and save Respond to shop manager about the lab position Tax returns: Set aside a portion for first-time homeowner classes Save the rest

Welcome! I’m the married parent of 4 kids aged 0-7. I’m ultimately an adventurer at heart, though I am experimenting with toe dips into the Rangers and Assassins this time around after 3 1/2 years. I love hiking, exploring, traveling, and other fun things with the family. Since shortly before joining Nerdfitness, my physical training is typically built around injury rehabilitation (which happens a bit more often due to autoimmune arthritis) and training to be able to travel, explore, and play with my family. I have a pretty effective Disney World training system, and try to ensure that at any point I’m strong enough to carry my whole family somewhere. That has become more difficult as the years go on but I can still do it for the most part. I am also an enthusiastic suburban homesteader bent on establishing an orchard and vegetable garden, so things can get pretty out-doorsy depending on my goals. My needs mean I do a variety of types of training, and my earliest two physical training goals were “run fast” and “be able to competitively play any sport I come across.” I prefer to avoid gyms and do a lot of body weight training. Last challenge, we welcomed baby 4 into my family, my cat was diagnosed with feline dementia, and I started parental leave. My broken big toe healed though I still have some nerve damage. And we’ve been prepping the house to have our first real houseguest in this house, Jessie’s sister-cousin who will be coming for a week to help with the new baby and to pick up any slack I leave for the week after getting The Chop. This challenge, I will be prepping for her arrival, recovering from the relatively minor procedure (with the knowledge that I tend to not patiently recover long enough from such things and adjustments for that) and then getting back into the swing of thing afterwards. It looks like we’re also going to try keto again, but with more planning than last time. We’re still doing some follow-up nesting, and my cat will probably not make it through this challenge. Physically, I’ll be continuing my calisthenics and conditioning training, including blood flow restriction sessions especially when I start back up after the procedure. I do these with Woody and Rex, occasionally being joined by Bo Prep. We’ll also be hooking up Just Dance again on the Xbox 360, again except during the recovery period. Last week I broke my all-time weekly stair flight record. Goals: 1. Sleep. As best as possible. I’m a nonfunctional mess without sleep and can sacrifice it for a few days ok but then I have to make it a super high priority to regain it. With le bébé here and being off work, this is a lot easier than it was. 2. My basic calisthenics routine with Woody and Rex and Bo Peep. As well as spending some individual time with each kid exploring the neighborhood area, Just Dance sessions, and running or walking stairs or carrying sandbags up and down them. During recovery the goal will be to recover and not eat my feelings. Post-recovery I want to get back into both sprinting and distance running. 3. Take one concrete step forward per day. This had a great effect on my mental health last challenge and also helped me to do at least one tangible, visible thing to make life better. This ranged from things as small as “dig out the replacement toaster” to as big as “reorganize the playroom.” I don’t have to complete the bigger ones as long as I make progress. 4. Take one concrete step forward per day career-wise. I need my job but I’m not satisfied in it and otherwise need a change. I need to hone/adapt skills and look for other opportunities. For non-goals that I’m still going to do, I’ll looking at homesteading items such as starting seeds, planning the veggie beds and deer mitigation strategies, and planning our new indoor bay window and south window garden plantings. We never did order those heirloom/lost apple trees but I need to look into that and there’s a form I have to fill out for Woody’s next doctor appointment. Oh, and also I actually have a GP doctors appointment for myself for only the second time since Woody was born.

Once, an elven lord, desperate for a child of his own, turned to drow worlock when all other magic failed to help his wife concieve. The powerful drow gave the elven man what he wanted...or so he thought. When the child, concieved out of dark magic, began to grow older, the elven couple noticed a strong power, a strange darkness to their child. When they took their young daughter to an old, scholarly wizard, his prognosis was dire: the girl was touched by the hand of Darkness itself, a force that would consume her before she reached adulthood. If she tried to contain it, it would poison her from the inside out and take her life. If she released it, it would spell destruction for everyone around her. The distraught couple searched high and low for a way to spare their child. No one was willing to make an attempt at breaking the spell; no one knew if such a thing even existed. As the elven girl approach adulthood, the elven parents had nearly lost all hope when they came across a Bladesinger master. He said he could not heal their child, but if they entrusted her into his tutelage, he might be able to spare her life while protecting her from others. So began the arduous training of the young elven lass. For years she has trained in the shadowy, quiet forest, honing her skills and her magic. Only with extreme discipline, careful precision, and the best of the arcane spells can the darkness be funneled and released in a safe and productive way through bladesong. Now, her years of an apprentice are drawing closer to an end. With continued training, she will soon be a master herself. But the training does not end there. The darkness is ever present, waiting for discipline and vigilence to desolve so that it can take hold and bring destruction. Bladesong is not her profession, it is her life-blood. Alright everyone, time to dive right into the next challenge. I don't really plan on taking a week zero, because I have lots of momentum going from the last challenge and want to continue with it. I may go a little more lax with nutrition goals during week zero, but only because my birthday is this week. BECAUSE it is my birthday, do not be surprised if things get a little contemplative/reflective around here. Challenge Goals: Body of a Agile Swordswoman - (STR) Strength and Agility: Bodyweight workouts 3x/week - (DEX) Balance and Coordination: Yoga and/or stretching 3x/week - (CON) Stamina: 20min+ walks 4x/week - (CON) Nutrition: Avoid processed sugar 6 days/week - (CON) Hydration: Drink 64 oz of water per day Mind of a Scholar - (INT) Intelligence: Read 6 books - (INT) Intelligence: Complete 5 modules of certification course - (CHA) Career Knowledge: Complete Digital Marketing Course part 3 - (INT/WIS/CON) Focus: Meditate 6 min per day, 5x per week Upping the difficulty a little bit from last challenge, but not much. Just want to make it slightly more challenging to keep it interesting, without making it overwhelming.

As you know if you’ve been following the Tales of Owlshire, that—quite unexpectedly—I was asked to take on a full time, ~6 month narrative designer contract in January. Although I’d hadn’t been actively pursuing a return to the working world right now, this is career direction I had been hoping to go someday so we seized on the opportunity to make it work. It has rather shaken up our 2021 plans at Owlshire, but as we like to say in the House of Owlshire “a plan is just a place in which manage change.” In any case, now that I’m navigating full time employment for the first time since I became a mother and trying to continue developing Owlshire, I’m keeping it simple for this challenge: Storyteller Kick ass at my job. This is Living the Dream and I don’t want to wake up. 1XP per “Deep Work” (focused and undistracted) hour logged. The view is that it’s hard to sustain more than 4 hours of this on average so that makes a natural “cap.” (And somedays I need to do more fragmented, distracting work than others anyway.) Keeper of the Flame At least one Owlshire green or restoration activity a week. 5XP for the first one per week 3XP for each that follows Multi-activity tasks I’d like to conclude in this challenge: Plant seeds to start in the conservatory Ready the (reduced) vegetable garden for planting Sow early seeds into the garden. Help get all of the trees and berry bushes in (Mr is mostly doing this, but there are ways I can enable him) Map the Leylines Use regular walks and other exercises to: Walk at least 4+ miles a day. Build and maintain my PAI goal (10+ points a day until I get to 100 average, then maintain that average.) 1XP for each, 3 for the day if I make a combo. No XP cap on any of these goals—they’re focused in on my main priorities. I think this may be the first challenge in which Enting doesn’t play a big role, since he’s now in full time nursery school. One of those big changes from starting work! I’ll continue to aim for 200XP (total of 400XP) to get to level 3, if I’m getting close halfway by Week 3 (keeping in mind I start challenges in Week Zero), I will raise it. PS: Don’t worry, there will still be photos of Owlshire! We’re transitioning into spring and how can I not take a million pictures of that?!

Hi everyone! Snarky here. Pronouns are she/her. I like sunshine, reading a book, and finding creative ways to avoid responsibility. This is the cookbook link. Last challenge there were a lot of contributions and I'm happy to continue adding to it. Whether it's your own recipe or someone else's, we'll share it and credit the creator. This is the exercise and nutrition plan in the spoiler.

This challenge, I'm going with a winter theme. To promote growth, sometimes you have to let the ground settle, rest, and heal. Last year ended up being a whirlwind of activity, selling our house and moving into a rental while waiting to build our dream house. Last challenge ended with us requesting our builder to draw up our contract to get on the build list for this spring. *Sigh of relief* I've seen a lot of progress over the past few months. While I don't want to lose any progress, I do want to make sure the progress I've made isn't just due to momentum. So this challenge I'm going to not add anything new, but rather cement what I'm currently achieving. Track calories - I don't like doing this, but it's effective. Workout - I have a handful of days left on my 30 day challenge (today is 27), so finish that. Continue to use the app I've been using to workout. 5 Work tasks - I'm (fingers crossed) up for a promotion this summer. The extra money will be really nice with the cost of the build and new furniture. To do this, I need to continue showing my worth. Particularly since I'm staying on with this client through at least 2022.

Spezzy's Side Quest Special Alright, friends! This challenge is going to be a bit different because my life is going to be kind of all over the place during it. 2 weeks in (3 weeks including zero week) I have to head back south of The Wall, and then I have a ton of stuff to do in order to get ready to come back north later on this year. So I am kind of imagining this challenge as when you're in a game and you come to a town and need to take care of a ton of side quests, collect items, learn new fighting techniques, etc., before you can get back on the road and start focusing on your main quest again. I'll be keeping my goals simple and sparse, as one of them (COMPLETE ALL THE SIDE QUESTS) will be taking a lot of time and likely, be a bit stressful. Now, last challenge I focused on building my mental Garden and keeping it in Ard. That challenge, albeit a quiet one from me post wise, went really well. The goal of the mental garden is to have a way for me to manage everything that I need to do on a daily/weekly basis to keep my mental health in order. One issue that I've found is that I'll focus on a goal, it will be come habit and just a part of what I do, so I remove it from my challenge goals - and then a few months later finding that I need to focus on it again. The purpose of the garden is not to always focus my challenge around it, or to make the garden increasingly difficult over time, but instead now that it is in place, the garden itself, and tending to it, will be one of my goals. So you'll see that below. This seems like a lot, but these are all things I just DO every day. They are a part of who I am and how I function and live my life. However, I use the garden as a way to check-in and make sure I'm not slipping with the maintenance of ANY of the grotesques. So I'll still do a check-in with myself on how I'm doing on keeping each grotesque happy. So for the most part, it's a reminder to do the things, and if I'm struggling with one, I can pull it out and make it a main focus for a challenge. So if we look at Spezzy, the IRL character - kind of like how a Wizard must prepare their spells for the next day, Spezzy must tend to her garden each day. It's just a part of how her character works. I've updated my battle log to have a summary of my grotesques and what I need to do each day, just to be "Spezzy". (Link) This challenge I will be focusing in on a few grotesques in particular, though, in addition to a few other goals: FLOKI (daily movement outside of walking) SKADI (daily walking) Fitness: [SKADI (garden grotesque) or TERRAIN MASTRY (character skill)]: I hit 80 miles of walking in January, and the goal is to hit 80 miles again in February (and then will set another milage goal for March). Right now it's realllly cold (the coldest it's been, with "Real Feels" being in the -50's and -60's), so my milage for Feb isn't that great, but it will be warming up soon so I should be able to start to get in some more milage again this week. Once I'm south of the wall, weather shouldn't play a part ever 😂 [FLOKI (garden grotesque) OR SPELLSTRIKE (character skill)]: Some sort of non-walking movement every day. Can be yoga, strength training, muay thai - doesn't matter. Just movement. *When back in Michigan, I'll have a gym available, and depending on how safe it feels to train, I'd like to get in 3-4 barbell workouts a week once I'm back, but I will re-evaluate that at the end of this month. Nutrition: [AUGMENT PHYSICAL PROWESS (character skill) ]: I've been doing great on my garden goals around nutrition (90% Auto Immune Paleo + Gallon of Water a day), so not focusing on a grotesque here. Instead, the goal will be to log everything I eat and to hit close to my macros. Zero week will just be logging to see where I'm at, then I'll start to focus on hitting specific goals. MINDSET: [Keeping Garden in Ard] : Continue to check-in and tend to my garden. MISC: [DO ALL THE SIDE QUESTS] Between now, when I head south of the wall, to when I head back north of the wall, I've got a list of items that need to be taken care of that looks to be miles long and are in basically every category of my life. I will spend zero week focusing on building this list out, and then will have a more clear goal of what I need to get done each week - and then the big focus of this goal will be to actually do the things each week. That's it! Keeping things as simple as possible this time 'round GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!

I'm Ranger Hal (female). I do adventury things: hiking, climbing, search and rescue. I'm not terribly happy about how last challenge went. I did some stuff, but I also didn't do some stuff. So maybe I need to work on some of those mindset things. Which I have been avoiding because I'm not terribly interested in being a "superhero." And redefining my identity is big and scary. But I can change it for a day. So, today I am a person who gets up 5 minutes after the first alarm and does a morning workout. Today I am a person who does the sink full of dishes. Things I'm working on Getting up in the morning Kettlebell workouts Hiking during the week Learning stuff (mountaineering class, soldering) Housework ("What Rangers do...is the housework." ) Starting the last TV episode of the night at a reasonable time (currently 10:15pm) Going to bed at a reasonable time (currently 11:30pm) Let's see how this goes.

This is the Way - Building Habits for Wellness My Kaizen technique of making gradual changes over time seemed to work well for my first challenge of 2021, so I'm trying it in Part II. There are three areas I want to focus on. 5 points per week that I'm successful in each goal, plus opportunities to earn additional points each week with 'bonus' wellness tasks. Sleep I need to get back to an earlier bedtime, so I get a decent amount of sleep each night. Adequate rest is essential for health, wellness, and weight loss. Over the next 5 weeks I will gradually increase the number of days per week that I need to hit my goal of being in bed, lights out, and no devices, by 11:00 pm. Week 1 - 2 nights Week 2 - 3 nights Week 3 - 4 nights Week 4 - 5 nights Week 5 - 6 nights Strength I've been trying to find a program to gradually increase intensity, or create my own program - too complicated. To keep it simple I found a series of DVDs I had received as part of an old weight loss program I had joined through work. The DVDs are good though. They have 5 DVDs covering 5 levels of strength. I don't intend to do one each week, but I hope to make progress at least through the first two, and then we'll see how I've progressed by Week 5. Week 1 - #1 x 2 days Week 2 - #2 x 3 days Week 3 - #2 x 2 days Week 4- #2 x 3 days Week 5 - #2 or #3 x 3 days Sustenance I'm still figuring out exactly WHAT my diet should look like, but I do know that tracking will be important if I want to get moving in the right direction with my weight. So this one is all about tracking everything I eat. Week 1 - Track 2 days Week 2 - Track 3 days Week 3 - Track 4 days Week 4 - Track 5 days Week 5 - Track 6 days BONUS This time it's all about self-care - Sleep and eating better and exercise are already in the plan.. Along with these, I can earn bonus points for journaling, reading, decluttering, taking a bath. I may even attempt meditation.