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I'll try to lean into the roleplaying part of making a challenge and see if this gives me some extra motivation. I'm on my personal fitness journey for a while and have always done a little, but could never really get into it. I'm dreaming of my first pull up, but it's a long way to go to get there. So here's the story: Hey fellow rebels, I'm Agent Toracorbat. I've been on desk duty the past couple of years, but I've been asked to go on field missions soon. Of course, I said yes, but now I have to level up some skills to succeed. For the missions I'll need good endurance, hiking long trails in nature or commute under the radar in citys. Plus the missions lead me to (partly) french speaking countries. To blend in, I'll have to learn french. As you see, there's a lot to do. My goals for the next five weeks are: 1) Workout at least two times a week, but no more than four times a week 2) Spend two times a week, but no more than five times a week on focus training (like meditation) 3) Do 1 french learning exercise (no matter how small) every day It's my first challenge in a long time, which means part of this training will be to improve my training grounds.

New challenge greetings to all the Rebellion! Your friendly neighborhood mythologist/Adventurer/Tolkien scholar here, back with another attempt to actually complete a full NF challenge. Due to a profusion of pre- and post-holiday adventures at the end of last year I turned up very late to the last challenge, and previously I rarely managed more than a week or two of focused effort before the hordes of Orcs frothing at the walls overran me yet again and oopsie doodles there goes another challenge off the face of the earth Still, since the end of January I have managed to sort out a few things, and I used the last two weeks of the last challenge to test-drive some ideas for this one. I'm afraid I don't have the energy to come up with a full-on challenge theme at the moment, so we'll just make do with a random a scattering of vaguely-appropriate Tolkien quotes here and there to keep in the spirit of things. I'm starting with Bilbo's pensive reflections right before he returned from his adventures to discover his lovely hobbit hole in an uproar. There is some, ah, applicability for me here Spoiler for the list of things I want to accomplish this challenge: OK, so that's the challenge. It looks like a lot, but much of it -- the morning and evening routines especially -- are already pretty solidly-established habits. It's the (big, important) stuff in the middle that's giving me trouble Here's wishing all of us the best of luck. New challenge - GO! PS - Please to be enjoying the official recording of Billy Boyd's absolutely lovely song inspired by Bilbo's poem above ❤️

I've realized as I'm about to start writing some sort of intro to another challenge that I barely write about me and what's going on in my head. I used to journal once a week and when I was at my height on NF, I would post stuff I was thinking about and debating in my head 2 or 3 times each week for a couple years. Now though, there's just this....blankness. And I'm not sure if it's because I ran out of things to say and what I feel, or if I'm just really rusty with writing in this way. Maybe it's because writing out what's going on is too painful to even talk about. I don't want sympathy and a random thumbs up from some people I used to talk to years ago doesn't address what *is* happening. I feel like I'm spinning my wheels. I'm stagnant and I don't know how or what needs to happen to make things not feel this way. Being with my ladyfriend: it's not *bad* but it's not really *good*. It's just stagnant. My job. It's not *bad* but it's not *good*. It's just stagnant. My weight doesn't seem to budge - taking literal years of bouncing around the same 20ish pounds before I finally just snap and binge-eat; only to claw my way back to re-lose 20 pounds and trip again and again. My sister isn't doing well. I know she's not and the fact she isn't bringing up what her scan results say, means that she's terrified and at the same time, doesn't want me to worry about her (which I'm obviously doing regardless). There isn't a sense of looking forward to anything. I've really fallen into a wormhole of art and reading which has been a good comfort but it isn't really a challenge - it's not something where I'm growing and doing better and better. There's a lot of shit that I thought I resolved that hasn't truly been addressed. Case 1: My mom. She died 3 years ago now and while I've had to deal with it, at the same time; it's left an emptiness. I don't have her judging me and thinking less of me which emotionally is a good thing. But my life feels a little emptier with her not being around. Case 2: My sister. I already think I had my last christmas, thanksgiving, halloween with her and I'm in a weird position because she's not gone, but she's also not 100% here. When my mom died, my sister did too. She never recovered - slumping in to a massive depression and never giving a fuck about herself and her well-being since then. She's basically become what my mom was: glued to a couch, watching tv and passing out on it, eating random junkfood, and bitter. I can't blame her for this, obviously. But it's also like my sister hasn't been my sister for years. I don't know how to deal with this. I'm there for her as best as I can be and I talk to her all the time (I had to stay away for a couple weeks to detox from junk food but I'm ok with hanging out with her these days). It's like talking to a ghost; she's a shade of her former self. And I can't be like, "Hey get your shit together" - I mean, she's going to be gone soon. All I really can do is be supportive. Case 3: 'Failure'. I don't even want to speak the name of the woman that I was madly in love with some 5ish years ago. That was the most intense and serious emotional intimacy I ever had and then she disappeared. I grew desperate, then angry and bitter, resentful, and eventually I realized that anyone who would act like that to me doesn't deserve to take up space in my head. She doesn't deserve someone to miss her - not when she was an emotionally stunted failure. And I wrote out the entirety of the relationship one day and afterwards, I had a calmness. She doesn't lord over my thoughts at all. However, what should be said is that my emotional connection to *anyone* is now less intense. I don't feel those 'butterflies' of being in love. I don't have a strong pining for past relationships. They have all been put into perspective and I realize that the women that I had attachments to weren't emotionally there. I've been trying to make an intense connection to another person that truly wasn't there. In order to have that deep level of love, both people have to have a level of vulnerability and in the end, there hasn't been a single woman that has lowered their guard in the way that I so deeply wish would happen. Instead I get close....but not *that* close. There are feeling, but they aren't *that* strong. I've often thought that maybe that emotional part of me is broken: that having connected and lost so many times that I'm sort of indifferent to other people being in my life. All of these things happened in the past 3 years and having all my family (I don't consider my sister's doofus husband who doesn't care about her to be family) and the strongest emotional connection either disappear abruptly or fade away makes me feel less, overall. There's a dulling to how I feel and that bleeds over to being passionate about anything or anyone. Like when I get a message from a woman on a dating site and I leaf through their profile and see stuff like 'morbidly obese', 'I know my worth', 'working a dead-end job', 'has two kids and is divorced last year', 'interests are shitty canned laughter comedy', 'drinks on the weekends and does pot', 'looking for something serious, no fuckboys'; all I can muster is a 'eww, no'. I have no desire to be some woman's golden parachute after they made a lifetime of mistakes and bring literally nothing to the table, who wants something serious after they had their years of fun, and there isn't a single attribute that they have that I don't and could look up to. It's basically a wasteland and I find myself going a month or two without even looking at the site. These days, I'm not even checking. I just couldn't care less. The above cases of loss for me, has made it extremely hard for me to care about anything. I hear about the covid shit night and day despite not even clicking on articles or reading any news about it. There's that trucker strike that is getting censored and I see various content creators that I watch starting to get copyright strikes and legal battles to even stay around. I see no brightness at the end of the tunnel in regards to serious relationships. Everything seems dim and pointless. And don't get me wrong, I'm trying. I've tried to have some convos with people at work, I talk with the owner at the warhammer store (Jimmy). I spend time with a ladyfriend. I come on here and try to post on a somewhat regular tempo. But it feels like I'm treading water. I'm going through the motions. I'm surviving, NOT thriving. I'm not sure what needs to happen, what I need to do, to get that kick in the ass to do anything more than maintain. I don't see weight loss progress despite hitting the gym multiple times a week and cutting out all the trash food. I mean, I physically feel better. I'm not getting constant headaches, stomach aches, and serious suicidal thoughts and huge bouts of anxiety. But NOT gaining weight isn't the same as losing weight. NOT being an emotional wreck isn't the same as being happy and fulfilled. I'm kinda just here. I don't know where I'm supposed to find joy and happiness. Like, let's do a thought experiment and I get this huge burst of adrenaline and go all david goggins or some shit. Let's say, theoretically, that my sister will be gone by June. I'm worried that when she is gone, my bro-in-law will inherit the house and there is no love loss between us and he'll kick me out so I'll be homeless. I have enough money in the bank that I won't need to sleep in my car but I'll have a ticking clock. So to avoid that, I need to talk to my sister first to see about what assurances are that things won't end up with the jackass that literally has a song on his phone of 'I married for money' inherits the house my mom broke her back to buy in cash like 40 years ago. Say I talk to her and I end up getting half the house and pay for utilities and my bro-in-law stays in one house, while I'm in the other. Do I ACTUALLY want to be there? Well, I don't want him to have the house. Maybe I could buy his half off with the money I have saved up. Then I have a duplex all to myself and literally no one there. Let's work backwards: In order to either 1) Have my own place or 2) Own my family's house, I need $. That means I need to get the therapist job. In order to do that, I need to address this mental block I have. In order to address the mental block I have, I need to lose weight and build my confidence back up (because it's currently utter shit confidence). In order to do that, it seems I can't lift 3x week and eat healthy: I need to go full-on gym rat and do more cardio, get more strict with measuring food, weigh myself more often to make sure I'm on top of shit, etc. So theoretically, I go beast-mode and Feb+March I lose the weight. I get the job in April and start making some decent money. In June, shit hits the fan and the saved money+the new money gets used..... THEN what? Like, am I happy then? What do I do in, say, August of 2022? October of 2022? I lost some weight and I have a better job. Does that mean I'm fulfilled? I don't think I will be but I don't know for sure. Like, what would an average week look like in October 2022? Monday - Go to work. Monday night - Gym, eat, ???? Tuesday - Go to work. Tuesday night - Gym, eat, ??? Wed/Thur/Fri- same shit. Weekend - Batch cook, do some art. Is that it? I need social connections. Is life worth living if you are all by yourself? What happens when you 'solve' things and life is working a few hours to maintain your life. Like, what ELSE is life? I used to come on here and say that life is the 1/3 of the day you are free. If in 24 hours you sleep 8 (yeah right...), you work 8, then there is 8 leftover. Less because travel time but you get what I'm saying. What the fuck is that 1/3 of the leftover supposed to be? I mean, let's say I won the lottery today and I never had to work. Would that even make me happy? Then I would have 16 hours a day instead of 8. Sure, doing this art stuff is nice and all, but that still doesn't feel like *thriving*. What else should I be doing? I guess the three cases have me questioning how to feel fulfilled when those 3 are all gone. I mean, I didn't feel fulfilled when my mom was alive, or when 'traitor' was texting me all the time. Is life just about filling up your time until you have none left? My sister said two or three months ago that she wanted to know that 'this all meant something', 'this' referring to life and what she has done up to this point. The thing is, I don't really think it has. I don't think there has been a meaning and with her being like this, it's making me reflect more and more on myself. Who else is there to lose? Let's say she is gone, bro-in-law takes the house. I have a bed, tv, chair, loveseat, punching bag, weight bench, and 7 bug-out bags. Back when I had the great purge, I consolidated everything of importance to me into just 7 backpacks. Two were important papers, two were clothes, two were items, one was electronics. I still have those backpacks ready to go, if say, the apocalypse happens. This means that besides a couple pieces of furniture, I could fit everything of value in my car today. So what do I value? What do I want? And will getting those things actually make me happy or will the goalpost towards happiness just be pushed further back? Perhaps the treadmill is a state of mind. You know, I think a lot about the dating scene and about people's likes, wants, and needs and it's a laundry list. All I wanted in my teens was to be with a woman. Now that I've had that several times....whatever? I wanted random toys and crap. I got them and then.....whatever? When I was trying to eat healthy, all I wanted was junk food and then once I had it....whatever? Happiness may not be a state of mind but a constant suffering and longing for what we think we want. A sense of this is also part of how I dealt with case #3, the traitor. If I run through the theoretical life choices and consequences, and I act out reaching that finish line to happiness; is it a reality or just a projection to keep me running on that treadmill? Am I just coming up with more and more carrots on a stick? I mean, when you think about it, that's capitalism: it's the manufacturing of happiness depending on the wanting of things. If I won the lottery and had that bag of money, would I even spend it on shit I wanted? We have these uber trillionaires that accrue more and more but do you really think that the owner of facebook, youtube, various fortune 500 companies etc is truly happy when they can buy a boat or skyscraper and then never even use the damn thing? Should I spend that 1/3 of my life chasing shadows or am I going about this all wrong? What do I actually want and why? This challenge, I'm going to try something different. For frigging years, I've had the same goals over and over and maybe that's me just on the treadmill. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results, so I should change. I'm not going to posting how I ticked some boxes that I set for myself. If that works for you, more power to you; but I'm not seeing the benefits these days. This challenge, the only goal is to write. I'll still do workouts and stuff but the more important thing is to keep writing. Just posting this made things feel a little bit clearer so this might be the piece that I'm missing so I'll go from here.

Recently, looking for ambient music and environment mixes, I stumbled across a number of Skyrim-inspired mixes, and I was inspired to start up an old copy of Elder Scrolls. I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed the game ... even as it frustrated me greatly at times. Being in a reflective mood, I realized that many of my struggles in the game have similar roots in my daily life. Long story short .... I'm back to focus on foundational basics: nutrition and movement. Some RPG fun. And dragons, trolls, and zombies .... oh my!! Longer Version A player can rush through Elder Scrolls and finish in 33 hours. Or you can take hundreds of hours if you explore the world, learn skills, make items, and do side quests. I always tended to be one of the players who are so focused on the main story-line quest that I end up at the end under-geared and under-prepared ... only to be frustrated that I can't finish. In the mundane world, I often have a similar problem in that I neglect planning and preparing for basic, foundational health in the rush to prepare lectures and labs and assessments. I sacrifice the good in favor of the urgent: the next batch of emails, the next meetings, the next thing that someone else "needs" (wants!!!) me to do. So ... this challenge is aimed at establishing a more productive cycle of preparing for monster encounters before going out to complete a quest. You need both to advance in the game and in life!! Drink Your Potions Between masking and days of back-to-back classes and meetings, I was often slightly dehydrated this fall, which contributed to sinus infections and the whole host of other symptoms: irritable, poor sleep, and increased DOMS. I don't want the spring semester to be a repeat of that. For Christmas, I was given a 32 oz water bottle with time/amount goals on the side. Going for 64 oz every day seems like too much, but I am willing to set a daily goal of 32+ oz. My course mentors may have to entertain the students while I run down the hallway for breaks .... Restore Health and Stamina In Skyrim, you can make mistakes with what you eat and drink. In fact, if you haven't played it before, you have to experiment with items and ingredients to find out what the results are, and some things are definite Frankenfoods ... with unexpected results. I've been eating a lot of less-than-nutritious stuff lately. In part because of the holidays and the hold-over attitude that cookies etc are a reward that I deserve etc. So, it's time to shift back to eating real, nutritious foods. I've set a goal that I will eat at least ONE serving of vegetables each day. Trust me when I say that this is a stretch goal. Train to Skill Up You develop skills in the game (and in life) by doing the activity. If you want to level up your skill with a bow ... you have to shoot at things. Shocking. I'll give myself props here because I didn't completely give up on exercise during the fall semester. I didn't do as much as I wanted, but I didn't stop either. In fact, until December 8th, my weight was holding at 158 (not quite the best weight of the year, but not shabby) because I was running and walking consistently. It was the strength training that I started really neglecting after Fall Break. This goal is multi-part, but I think I can manage: At least 20 minutes of exercise daily. Cardio, strength, yoga, staff spinning, whatever. Get to CrossFit class once per week. I am still often suffering from DOMS 3 days after class, despite water, protein, stretching and rolling. It's just going to take time to build up the muscles. 60 pounds on my lat pulldowns by the end of the month. When I can go to the gym with hubby, he can also help me manage the bands for assisted pullups. Prepare for Monsters!!! Truly, I spend enough time in the "tavern" that I can cook ahead and get ready for healthy food, drink, and activities of the following day. I am committing to taking Friday night and all day Saturday off of work (gasp!) so that I can cook ahead and have chicken and veggies prepped for lunches have a protein shake available for pre-workout have my devices charged and workout clothes ready for the week Long term goals for the YEAR of the Great Dragon Hunt Last year, I reduced from 168 to 156 (and bumped back up in the dumpster fire + train wreck of Fall Semester ....). This year, I want to get back into the "normal" weight category for my height, age, and gender: 150 (or less). And I want to do a pull up again, damnit. Those are the two measurable things that encapsulate a whole lot of life style changes along the way.

It's winter. This is a challenge. I'm not creative with challenge names. I need to keep doing the things. Some are old, some are new (or new versions of old things). Leave for work by 8:30 am Workouts - NF bodyweight 3x a week and jump rope 2x Readings Clean the kitchen counter every day Clean or put away, or repair one thing every day Brush teeth in the evening Adventures (hiking, climbing gym, geocaching, SAR training, etc.) at least one per weekend, other times optional Tracking table Week Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Leave for work Workouts Readings Clean Counter Clean / Put Away / Repair Brush Teeth Adventures

2022 is here! We are (pretty much) settled in the new house (sans internet, which is a whole other can of worms), travel is still on hold, and the family is working on a new schedule. Oh so many shiny new things to build a challenge on! A quick (spoilered) intro for anyone who doesn't know me: This challenge, I'm working on keeping a baseline to build on for all of my future challenges. This is even more important now that we have this nice new house to keep up with (and if we are being totally honest, homemaker isn't something I'm naturally good at). With that in mind, I'm trying to keep the bar realistic and reasonable while I develop new habits in the house. Goal 1: Morning Routine (develop one) - I currently waste a lot of time in the morning doing nothing. And not that there is anything wrong with doing nothing, but it tends to rush the beginning of my day more than I'd like. I don't have an official start to my day and I'd like to get in the habit of having one. Over the past few weeks, I've stopped hitting snooze and get up from a single alarm. Goal 2: 40 Work Tomatoes - This is an ongoing goal that is the baseline I had set previously, but don't always hit. I play fast and loose with the tomato theory. A work meeting counts as a tomato (regardless of time). Crossing something off of my list counts as a tomato (regardless of effort). If I run out of tasks, I use a tomato timer set to 25 minute intervals to make up any remaining tomatoes. Goal 3: 20 Home Tomatoes - This one is still in process. I'm trying to figure out what a reasonable amount of home tomatoes will be for me. I'll get this linked in my Google spreadsheet at some point to look at recurring tasks versus one off tasks and we'll go from there. But the overarching goal is to make sure I'm keeping up with all of the things I need to do to make sure my home looks nice and stays that way. Goal 4: Do something active daily. This is currently vague on purpose. I live on the east coast US and the cold is not my friend. So I'm not limiting myself to any specific activity. If the sun is shining, maybe I'll go for a run. I've got a shiny new kettlebell program to do with my son when he wants to join. The goal is to get used to moving daily, so that when the gym gets installed, I'm more likely to use it.

Hello, 2022! [Preamble] 2021 was quite the year. We spent our first full year in the Forest which has been an experience! I also (unexpectedly) went back to full time work for the first time in nearly 10 years, and for the first time at all since I became a mother. I changed my eating habits and lost extra 10lbs that had been following me around since before the pandemic started. In many ways 2022 will be about continuing and carrying on, but instead of just finding my feet in my new reality, I want to get some forward movement, too. [About Me] I’m a 42 year old American woman living in the forests of England with my British husband (Mr) and pre-school son (Enting). I work in gamedev and when I’m not doing that, I’m tending to my garden, doing needlework of some sort, playing games (of various sorts), and exploring our local woodlands. [Goals] My fitness goals are pretty simple: Reach Mordor Finally finish my (tracked) journey to Mordor. I’m 1000 miles away! I’ve been wanting to complete this challenge since the early 00s (when it was called the Eowyn Challenge), and I’m sure I’ve been “there and back again” several times over, but I’ve never managed to track the whole thing. I want to finish my walking route to Mordor by November 2022. My goal for this challenge is 25 miles a week. Eat PAI Continue with PAI. For this challenge, I want to build up to an average score of 75 (and actually maintain it). Eventually, I’d like to get up to 100, but I’m building up to it. Maybe next challenge… Down Another 5 I’d like to trim down another 5lbs, although not necessarily all of it during this challenge. This will be done with increased activity and continuing to watch my portion sizes/limited snacking. It doesn’t sound like a lot, I know, but I’m now in the range where I find losing weight (let alone keeping it off) to be really difficult! My goal is to weigh less than I did at the start of the challenge. Tracking will be done with a minimum of weekly updates, and of course will include plenty of Owlshire photospam. [Challenges] It’s likely that my husband will soon need to start commuting part of the week to his studio and I’ll be regularly solo-parenting which will require some routine adjustments. My household has a tendency to catch every germ (except, so far, Covid) that comes through the Enting’s preschool. I do not exaggerate when I say this happens about every other week. This tends to knock down my fitness goals since I become housebound looking after people even if I’m not sick myself. I’d really like to work on alternatives for when I can’t go for long hikes in the woods—which is my preference, but can’t always happen. Admin note: I always start on Week 0, and I track from Monday-Sunday.

Hi all! I'm Stronkey Kong. Umm... yeah... still here. If you don't know by now, just ask... I just did a long, rough draft outline of this challenge at the end of the last one hidden in the spoiler because of its length: tl;dr -- I'm kicking off a year long (or at least multi-month) challenge aimed at losing weight by training like a boxer... really tho, it's all about calisthenics and cardio with boxing training mixed in for fun and because hitting a heavy bag for 10x3 min intervals is an awesome workout. I have it themed and organized after "Mike Tyson's Punch Out!" on the NES. Here's how this will work... I have 3 Major goals: FIGHTING WEIGHT (FW): Hit 199 lbs in the next 1-2 years BOXING SHAPE (BS): I want to be in the kind of shape that boxers and other fighters are in so I'm going to train like them... lot's of cardio and calisthenics for foundational strength and conditioning, and bag work and boxing/martial arts drills for developing speed, coordination, balance, power etc. METABOLIC HEALTH (MH): Be able to burn whatever I put into my body: carbs, fat -- metabolic flexibility, learn to maintain the balance of calories in vs. calories out, and develop good eating habits. I'll be using LUMEN for metabolic feedback... might start tracking body temp too... smh, and tracking diet with MFP. OTHER minor GOALS (OmG): I will also be doing some writing, meditating, and home improvement projects throughout the year. Right now I'm in a warmup phase where I assess a few baselines and set goals for the first 'fight.' Each fight will be 3 weeks (rounds) in length. The morning on the day before the fight, I will 'weigh-in' and this will be my official weight for tracking weight loss in the fight. For each fight I will identify 3 KO techniques -- one for each of the first three goals. These are impressive and worthy enough to constitute a KO singularly. Then, I will have 3 TKO criteria -- again one for each of the three major goals that together (all three) constitute a TKO. Finally, even if I fail to KO or TKO, if I go the distance and do more good effort than bad, I can WIN by DECISION -- wherein I track good habits on the FIGHT SCORECARD for each round. There's a lot on the scorecard, and it includes things from my OmGs. Throughout the course of the year and 13 total fights, I will track my W-L-KO stats. For the first Minor Circuit Bouts, I'm just diving from one into the next. After that I might decide to take breaks between fights and title bouts. And I won't be sticking completely to the NF Challenge Schedule. Some Fights will straddle Challenge breaks, I may decide to take week long breaks to sync them up, or just as I need a break here and there. We'll see. I'll keep the current fight, future fight schedule, and fight record on the second or first post of each of these challenges so you (and I) can find it and figure out what the hell I'm currently doing at any time. Stay tuned.

First off, great way to start the new year: I'm in RI. With the heartbreaking news that I've been dealing with over the holidays, I hermited away (more than usual these few years) but I'm ready to get through this. 1) 2400 Cal - Petty basic. I saw a dietician who gave me a paper that says how many servings of each thing I should have a day. Once I streamlined that eating, I started losing weight. Holidays hit and I went off the rails big-time. I would like to, by the end of this week, have that stable 2400 cal plan all set. What this translates into: Meal #1 - 8oz protein, 3 serving carbs, 2 cups veg. Meal #2 - 2 carbs, 1 dairy, 1 fruit. Meal #3 - 2oz protein, 1 dairy, 7 carb, 3 fat This still isn't ideal. I'm supposed to have more fat than this and the protein amounts seems really low compared to the carbs, making me feeling...idk, sluggish. Keep in mind that 1 cup of pasta is = 3 carbs, but the ratios seem off. Once I find the exact ratio here, I'm sticking with it for a month and tracking results. My plan is to eventually transition this into a 2400 cal Whole 30 plan by swapping a bunch of carbs for sweet potatoes (instead of oats and rice which is the main thing now) and also using olive oil in meal #1. 2) Gym - Working 3x week now and that means hitting the gym 4x. 3) Update - Ya know.... actually use the forum and post how things are going. I've been really bottling up how I've felt for better part of a year. I went to therapy literally 2 weeks before my mom died a couple years ago (talk about timing) and I stuck with it for a while but my therapist felt there wasn't much happening. It turned into me giving a progress report. Eventually, some scheduling conflicts came up and then we never met again and I'm not sure if I should bother going back or not. I think I'm going to vent here for a bit and if it really feels like I need another outlet, then I'll contact him. I'm gunning for 3 posts a week. 4) Art Showcase - One thing I have been doing a bunch has been getting involved in lore and miniatures. I like making my own stuff out of clay, tweaking armies, creating my own story/lore, and painting the minis. It's kept me distracted in a good way. Seeing as how I think these are turning out better than some of the paintjobs I've seen of minis on ebay, I thought I should post pics on here. I don't make a ton of progress and uploading can be a pain, so I'm going to shoot for 1 art pic update a week. 5) *Passive* Finish my Neurobiology book. I consider this a passive one because I read it only while I'm at the gym, while I'm able to concentrate. Sometimes I only get 2 pages done. Other times, I read the entire cardio session. I feel great afterwards because I feel like I improved my body AND my brain so I'm gunning to finish the book before the challenge ends.

Campaign: 2022 Adventure I: Bloodlines Staggering out of the mist, Aquarii stumbled to a large boulder to catch her breath. Glancing to her wounded right shoulder she kicked herself for not choosing better armour; black veins were already spider-webbing their way across her skin from their point of origin - the bite of a vampire. She could already feel the pangs of hunger festering in the pit of her stomach, and her soul. Ripping a piece of her cloak, she quickly bandaged her wound. She knew she had to act quickly; finding the right materials and learning the spell of a healing potion. If the hunger were to overcome her and she fed, she would be cursed to the life of a Dhampir. Or worse, she could die and become a vampire spawn - a slave to the bidding of the dark lord that bit her. Happy New Year everyone!! Welcome to my little chaotic corner of the multiverse. For those of you who are new, welcome, and buckle up! Things get a little crazy around around these parts. For those of you who have been following along, welcome back! (when did I start using so many exclamation points?) There have been a lot of changes in my life since I joined NF five years ago, and especially a lot of changes over the last two years. Because of that, I have decided to respawn my character to level 1 (and actually start using a leveling system for once). Still keeping the structure of my stats from last year (which you can find in my Battle Log), but I wanted to add some points and leveling, because my stats increase soooo slowwwwwlllyyyy. I need something to keep me motivated along the way. So, I am experimenting with some stuff. Anyway, as you can tell from the exposition above, I need to save my IRL RPG from imminent peril. So let's dive into it. Don't Feed If you feed, you will begin your transition to a Dhampir, robbing you of your elven heritage and cursing you with eternal hunger. No sweets (XP 30) Dry January (XP 30) Penalties Miss 1 = -2 Hit Points Miss 4 total = Become a Dhampir Keep up Your Strength If you die, you become a vampire spawn, which binds you to the one that bit you. Work out at least 2x/week (10XP/workout) Walk for 15min at least 2x/week (10XP/walk) Penalties Miss 1 = Roll 1d2 Odd = No hit, no XP Even = 1 hit, no XP Miss 8 = Die and become a Vampire Spawn Heal Your Wound Create and administer a healing potion to cure the bite and set yourself free of the vampire's clutches. Roll 1d6 per day (5XP/day) 6 - Pick any 5 - Listen to music for 10 min 4 - Draw/color for 10 min 3 - Stretch for 10 min 2 - Journal for 10 min 1 - Meditate for 10 min Penalties Miss 1 = Roll 1d2 Odd = No hit, no XP Even = 1 hit, no XP Miss 15 = Infection takes over your mind and you become a Dhampir Hit Points Starting Hit Points = 10 If HP reaches zero, rest to replenish. Rest = No Social Media for the weekend Bonus XP for completing challenge at >90% = 100XP Total XP Possible = 435

Greetings, and welcome to all! I’m a married parent of 4 kids aged 0-8. 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. When I do lift weights it is at the YMCA or, more commonly, takes the form of children, sandbags, or logs. Quite nearly a year ago, we welcomed baby 4 into the family. We take all kids to Disney World for their first birthday (or roughly thereabouts) and thus Le Bébé becomes L’enfant. My cat was diagnosed with feline dementia last year and I’m struggling between putting her down and trying to adapt. Some days are really good. She’s snuggly and social and totally fine. Other days she forgets what litter boxes are and hides. As it is I think she had something like it when we adopted her at age 8 and I suspect when she went missing during those early deep freezes she’d run off to die. So. Struggling. She’s really messed up some things in the house. But on the other hand… yeah. We adopted a kitten (our third cat and Rex’s first), and I don’t want my old broken cat to inadvertently teach her bad habits. We have returned to school in person, which I think the kids needed mentally but I’m still incredibly nervous about, especially since the youngest two are too young to be vaccinated. I know getting some level of COVID is virtually inevitable but I really want to push that at least until we can all be vaccinated. We’ve been both cautious and lucky thus far. At the beginning of last year, we started shopping for an existing business with a professional kitchen to give a physical location to our small bakery. We now own the bakery kitchen and business, and are focusing hard on getting our renovation done and team built, as it had grown by multiples over the summer from the original numbers given to us. We’ve done home hiring, had some more curveballs come our way, and may have to pivot again. I think we found a good balance that keeps us from having to spend all of our capital on machinery, and let’s us move forward with the original plan. Of course, we didn’t go into business for the guarantees, we went into business to make our efforts matter. Those efforts are still paying off and I think this will enable us to lead a much better life going forward. The fruit trees and bushes are all doing well. They’re going to sleep for the winter. The kumquat tree and pepper plants live at the bakery now. It’s been extremely hard to homestead as I want to, with both of us having day jobs and the bakery. I see some light though. We’re again looking at possibly moving and possibly even a new build. It’s either that or some major work on our house; we love our neighbors and location but the bedroom situation is difficult and the garage is painful when you have 2 big vans instead of smaller cars. Plus, with the recent car accident taking out my van and putting us into a Tahoe… it literally doesn’t fit into the garage. But it’s way more cramped than either van. Truly, I hate the Tahoe. It’s big in all the wrong ways and cramped. But it will do while we’re waiting for my van to get fixed. My leg is still messed up, partly because I sat in the super cramped passenger seat along with 3 backpacks and a suitcase giving me little room to move for our roughly 2,000 mile round trip. I drove maybe 600 or 700 miles. Healthwise, we’ve been living the keto lifestyle for most of the year and we’ve found it to be incredibly easy to stick to 99% of the time, meaning we’re seeing more success and I’m burning less willpower on food-related stuff. I am past my arbitrary goal weight, and I’m focusing hard now on maintaining around this weight while achieving my goal composition. We took a break over the holidays and I gained about 18 lbs, but it’s almost all inflammation; my muscle and waist measurements are substantially the same. I can feel my psoriasis and arthritis flaring. We were planning to have a hiatus throughout January too but I don’t think I’m gonna last with my joints (psoriasis gets a lot worse in winter anyways). A huge problem is that I still struggle with intense carb cravings when I have more than, say, 1-2 cookies per day, and being otherwise low-carb but not keto isn’t quite enough. It’s better perhaps, craving wise, to stay generally keto while occasionally breaking out an indulging. I still plan to enjoy Thanksgiving pies and Christmas cookies and Christmas Even bourbon slushes and New Years black eyed peas. But I think I may make it more a series of per-meal or per-sitting exceptions in the future? Maybe not. Arthritis sucks. I’ve been doing lots of bodyweight squats and lunges with the 6-lb trays and I can tell a difference. Working in the bakery is much better physically than desk work (which I also still do). It’s a good physical job. The slowdown combined with standing throughout Jim’s funeral is probably what triggered my calf. I’m getting back to it and recommitting to the rule of “never bend where you can squat.” I've generally been doing well with my “no yelling” goal, though I’ve slipped a and I suspect it’s in part due to being tired and habits being difficult to break. I continue to strive towards zero yelling. I am also striving to be careful with my words at all times. I’m tired of being so very careful of my words most of the time to the point where I’ll simply be silent (where I have to be careful to not stonewall) but then just let loose and impulsively say a bunch of thoughtless things. I think the trip really, really helped. Getting away is mentally good for us and we kinda rely on the resets to break us out of bad mental-emotional routines. Goals: 1. Sleep. As best as possible. This is critical to managing my emotions as well as general health and quality of life. I’m currently trapped in sleep deprivation until we can hire and train our team. But I can also see a light at the end of the tunnel. 2. Basic calisthenics routine at the least. I don’t want to lose my pull-up and chin-up strength so I’m still doing those in the morning every other day. I’m catching up on sleep and housework so I hope to move into a strength-building mode soon. 3. Take one concrete step forward per day- at least one tangible, visible thing to make life better. This ranges 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 finishing the bakery renovation. 5. Home and Garden. I want both to be better. Especially the home. The basement is… bad. I spent one today doing laundry and cleaning up. The basement needs a tremendous amount of work. The dogs have been staying down there snd it’s better than kenneling them but they’ve eaten some toys and containers which made a huge mess and the best dog’s separation anxiety issues are coming back into play. I hope that in the future I (or one of us at least) can be home half the day with them most days. My Christmas gift to Jessie was to rehire the lady that helped us previously. She’d graduated to become a hairdresser shortly after we moved, and I asked her for a referral. Lo and behold, COVID really changed things and it didn’t end up being what she wanted, so she’s going back to school to get her art degree and she’s cleaning/organizing houses to pay bills. So I coordinated with her and Marinara to get the main floor and bedrooms cleaned and organized while we were on vacation. The basement is further down the list but it’s there. We totally wrecked the house as we left. Then we kinda wrecked it unpacking and coming home but I’m taking this morning to clean and straighten up so it’s maintained. She’s not feeling well and I’m not pushing her to come in while she’s sick, but once she’s well she’ll be back to help more. 6. Therapy. I have a new(er) diagnoses and new(er) medication that have been, it feels, pretty life changing. I finished intensive therapy that was also insanely helpful prior to that and I am continuing with less frequent sessions. My goal is to better learn how to manage ADHD and how to be a more connected, present, and supportive husband and father. I think I have been progressing well. I feel healthy. I am excited about how this has gone. I am working on anger management and taking a page from the book of Mr. Fred Rogers. I had no idea that he struggled with a strong and volatile temper. He never wanted to be remembered as a saint because he didn’t want his example to be unachievable but I do think he is probably the best person who ever lived a full life. I will be looking to him as an example and we’ve decided to introduce the show as a regular part of our kids’ lives. Gods know it’s as helpful to me as it is to them. And I’m adding care of words as well to this goal for things don’t have to be yelled to hurt. It is a very exciting time. The bakery is coming along. It looks a lot more like what we wanted. The house is getting in order. D&D isn’t strictly regular but it won’t wait. It’s a good activity for the family and super easy to do in the car. I’m glad they love it so much. Rex really comes out of his shell and I think it’s his favorite activity. We haven’t played in a while and want to get back to it; the car is great but with a fully packed car it wasn’t feasible in the Tahoe. Speaking of Rex, he loves dresses. Big poofy Princess dresses are his favorite. But kids at school, particularly this group of girls led by one in particular who loves to tell him his favorite stuff is only for girls, have been getting to him. He was afraid to wear a dress to Disney (his custom), even his brand new light blue Cinderella dress. So I offered, if he wanted, to buy and wear a dress with him. He had me buy a Captain America dress, and I wore it to our day at Epcot. It was kinda fun. Definitely not my normal style. And… as good as Rex looks in a dress, I look bad (at least in the one I was wearing). But he wanted me to wear one with a lot of blue. He ended up wearing that with a chef’s hat with Remy in it and if that isn’t the most Rex thing in the world I don’t know what is. I adore that boy. Of all our kids he’s the least conventional so far and I want all of our kids to be supported and empowered to be themselves. He had tons of compliments, and a lot of older people saw him and were just overjoyed to see a young boy receiving love and support from his family, as I suspect some of them did not. He’s himself and that’s what matters. The alternative is hardly living.

Last year, Man Uncivilized founder Traver Boehm shared that instead of the typical New Year's Resolutions that many people make (and often fail), he names his year. For me, 2021 was the year of Purpose and Power. In spite of the year's challenges, I did indeed tap into my purpose and power as a father, as a husband, as a leader, as as educator, and (most importantly) as a man. After some meditating and deep contemplation, I have chosen to name 2022 The Year of Connection: connection to my self (my truest self), to my body, to my loved ones, and to the universe. This challenge is step one of that connection: Elevation. (side note: I also binge-watched the Jack Ryan series, so if that influence trickles into this challenge, don't be surprised; and of course, expect some poetry along the way). Elevate Your Body: 40 push-ups upon waking two-a-day workouts: one cardio (running, brisk walking, hiking, elliptical, stairs, etc.) and one strength (weights, machines, bodyweight, kettlebells, cinderblocks, etc.); aim for 30-60 minutes each, but don't stress if this is not possible fast intermittently when practical and eat whole foods when possible cold shower daily drink at least 93 ounces of water daily Elevate Your Brain: at least 15 minutes daily using Duolingo at least 15 minutes daily using Elevate read at least 10 pages daily of any book (I am participating in the Read Harder Challenge for 2022) stay informed via NPR One app & podcasts (with one caveat: do not exceed 15 minutes of news consumption) limit social media Elevate Your Mind/Soul: 0415 wakeup daily meditation/prayer daily scripture/devotional reading daily breath exercises daily spend focused and present distraction-free time with wife and kids evening reflective journaling

Howdy, ya'll! I'm respawning! I've missed the support of the forums and structure of goal setting. Quick life update: Bunker passed away, Kerm lost his job, we moved from the Bay to Reno, Kerm got a new job, my mom passed away, Kerm got offered knighthood, we got another dog, Charlie, Kerm got another new job now working day shift. I'm still working from home at the same job, just further away. So the last couple of years have been a crazy roller coaster. But, things seem to be settling, so it is time to get back to taking care of me! Goals this time around are simple: Drink water every day Go for a walk every day

It is offically the Year of Taking Action for me. This is pretty much the theme of most of my challenges as one thing that I struggle with is overcoming inertia. I've developed some tools to overcome this in the past - so I've got a good handle on what I can do to build some momentum but I'm declaring this the 'Year of Taking Action'. Just assigning more actionable tasks will only take you so far as time will become the limiting factor so there is a need to prioritise the actions that will get me to where I want to go. Fitness: I know that a big driver for me is an upcoming activity that will prove the incentive. Problem is that 2022 is a big unknown due to the obvious travel restrictions as well as some financial restraints. I do have a hike booked for August (covid willing) which will be my first focus but while it would be optimal to be fitter than I currently am for this hike, I also know that I could do it now - so the incentive isn't as strong. With this in mind I am offically declaring to the NF universe that I will train for a half marathon for the Melbourne Marathon in October - which is well out of my comfort zone (consistently 5k - at a stretch 10k right now). Action: Cardio: 3 x week (mostly running but could include decent hike or anything on the bike) Yoga/Meditation: 3 x week Strength: to be determined once I get back to using the work gym Outdoors: Look for opportunities to develop my outdoor activities and in particular skills. I've got my eye on some volunteer work around track maintenance - which is something I'd love to get into. I've also just purchased the book on the http://www.john.chapman.name/pub-aawt.html which is making it onto my radar. This track involves a lot more navigation skills than previous hikes I've done. Action: Investigate and report on any activities that will extend my skills in this area - navigation, other overnight/multi day hikes and volunteering in this area of my state. Building routine: This is just about prioritising the things that I want to Take Action on and developing some sort of routine to make these begining ideas a basis of what to buld on. Action: Still to be determined - will report back either weekly or at the end of this challenge. A really vague challenge but I figured it was worth getting something down and flesh it out as we go on. Bring on The Year of Taking Action

Greetings, and welcome to all! I’m a married parent of 4 kids aged 0-8. 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. When I do lift weights it is at the YMCA or, more commonly, takes the form of children, sandbags, or logs. At the beginning of the year, we welcomed baby 4 into the family, my cat was diagnosed with feline dementia a few months ago, we adopted a kitten (our third cat and Rex’s first), and we have returned to school. At the beginning of this year, we started shopping for an existing business with a professional kitchen to give a physical location to our small bakery. We now own the bakery kitchen and business, and are focusing hard on getting our renovation done and team built, as it had grown by multiples over the summer from the original numbers given to us. We’ve done home hiring but had some more curveballs come our way, and may have to pivot again. Equipment orders just have everything so very far out that I’m not sure anything is going to come in time, and we’re looking for used/secondhand/other stuff for sale but that’s not guaranteed either. Of course, we didn’t go into business for the guarantees, we went into business to make our efforts matter. The fruit trees and bushes are all doing well. They’re going to sleep for the winter. The kumquat tree and pepper plants live at the bakery now. It’s been extremely hard to homestead as I want to with both of us having day jobs and the bakery. Who am I kidding though, we’ve been living at the bakery 😂 I hope we’re able to return to it. However, we’re again looking at possibly moving and possibly even a new build. It’s either that or some major work on our house; we love our neighbors and location but the bedroom situation is difficult and the garage is painful when you have 2 big vans instead of smaller cars. Healthwise, we’ve been living the keto lifestyle for most of the year and we’ve found it to be incredibly easy to stick to 99% of the time, meaning we’re seeing more success and I’m burning less willpower on food-related stuff. I am past my arbitrary goal weight, and I’m focusing hard now on maintaining around this weight while achieving my goal composition. The last time I was this weight was before I met Jessie and when I was in my student teaching (yeah, before the wrestling coach gig!) That is, one of the best shapes of my life. I want to be lean and strong, not skinny and weak. (Tried that and hated it). We did very specifically NOT stick to keto for Thanksgiving and it’s leftovers. We still are watching what we eat and are going back until Christmas but we’re not totally skipping green bean casserole, stuffing, and the pies of my favorite holiday. Even if we are still be pretty darned conservative with the consumption. I’ve been doing lots of bodyweight squats and lunges with the 6-lb trays and I can tell a difference. Working in the bakery is much better physically than desk work (which I also still do). It’s a good physical job. I've generally been doing well with my “no yelling” goal, though I’ve slipped a and I suspect it’s in part due to being tired and habits being difficult to break. I continue to strive towards zero yelling. I am also striving to be careful with my words at all times. I’m tired of being so very careful of my words most of the time to the point where I’ll simply be silent (where I have to be careful to not stonewall) but then just let loose and impulsively say a bunch of thoughtless things. Goals: 1. Sleep. As best as possible. This is critical to managing my emotions as well as general health and quality of life. I’m currently trapped in sleep deprivation until we can hire and train our team. But I can also see a light at the end of the tunnel. 2. Basic calisthenics routine at the least. I don’t want to lose my pull-up and chin-up strength so I’m still doing those in the morning every other day, but I’m in maintenance mode until I can fix the sleep situation. I see a light at least? 3. Take one concrete step forward per day- at least one tangible, visible thing to make life better. This ranges 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 finishing the bakery renovation and acquiring additional equipment. And hiring more people. 5. Home and Garden. I want both to be better. Especially the home. The basement is… bad. I spent one today doing laundry and cleaning up. The basement needs a tremendous amount of work. The dogs have been staying down there snd it’s better than kenneling them but they’ve eaten some toys and containers which made a huge mess and the best dog’s separation anxiety issues are coming back into play. I hope that in the future I (or one of us at least) can be home half the day with them most days. 6. Therapy. I have a new(er) diagnoses and new(er) medication that have been, it feels, pretty life changing. I finished intensive therapy that was also insanely helpful prior to that and I am continuing with less frequent sessions. My goal is to better learn how to manage ADHD and how to be a more connected, present, and supportive husband and father. I think I have been progressing well. I feel healthy. I am excited about how this has gone. I am working on anger management and taking a page from the book of Mr. Fred Rogers. I had no idea that he struggled with a strong and volatile temper. He never wanted to be remembered as a saint because he didn’t want his example to be unachievable but I do think he is probably the best person who ever lived a full life. I will be looking to him as an example and we’ve decided to introduce the show as a regular part of our kids’ lives. Gods know it’s as helpful to me as it is to them. And I’m adding care of words as well to this goal for things don’t have to be yelled to hurt. It is a very exciting time. The bakery is coming along. We’ve had so many problems and I think we can or have overcome them all. I think I’ll feel better when our renovations are complete and the doors are open, and we can openly market for retail business. As always, I seem to bounce between exuberance and despair 😂. That is, some of the long days are really hard. But having help is, well, oh-so-helpful. And though it is slow going, building a team will make it absolutely doable. Baking itself is FUN. And physically more pleasing than sitting at a desk. D&D isn’t strictly regular but it won’t wait. It’s a good activity for the family and super easy to do in the car. I’m glad they love it so much. Rex really comes out of his shell and I think it’s his favorite activity. I made my first delivery to Jim’s place today and it took a while. Their doorman was run over too; broke both legs, shattered ribs, and he’s got to relearn how to walk. He’ll be by later. I’ve never seen that place so somber. They’re keeping him on the payroll and having him as a guest to watch the Blues game tonight with everyone. It really is a family, and one in mourning. I really miss him myself but I can’t even imagine.

Hey everyone, remember me? The one who fell off the planet last challenge? Lol. Well, I am back! Bladesinger - Martial Arts, Stamina, Bodyweight Training - (STR) Strength and Agility: Bodyweight workouts 2x/week with focus on joint stability and muscle endurance - (CON) Stamina: 15min+ walks 3x/week with focus on improving cardiorespiratory endurance Bladesinger - Mental, Intellectual, and Career - (INT) Intelligence: Read 3 books - (CHA) Charisma: Finish Salesforce Admin Training course So, keeping this one pretty simple this round. Trying to get back into working out after having to take a break while my back was hurt has been somewhat difficult. I am finally managing to get in about 2 workouts per week, so I am going to stick with that goal, since the holidays are crazy and I just don't see adding that third day working out for me until we get past them. I meant to have this up on Sunday, but I accidentally took my meds twice that day and oof. Never again. 24 hours of side effects, and it triggered a hypomanic episode I am still riding. Anyway, I look forward to challenging with you all!

I’m a 42 year old American woman living in the forests of England with my British husband and pre-school son. I work (remotely) on the narrative side of gamedev and when I’m not doing that, I’m tending to my garden, doing needlework of some sort, playing games (of various sorts), and exploring our local woodlands. Or at least, that’s what I want to do... The last year has been full of big changes—in November 2020 we moved from Central London to a woodland property in the Forest of Dean in the midst of this pandemic. I had stars in my eyes about spending my time gardening and wandering the woods with my young son (the Enting), but a couple of months after we arrived I was recruited for fantastic role, and while me returning to work was not in our plans for another couple of years, it was too good of an opportunity to pass up! But it does mean I’ve spent a lot more time indoors this year than I expected to, and I’ve done a lot less work around Owlshire as well. Add in several rounds of autumn colds and the darkness of coming winter and… well, it would easy to stay inert indoors under a fluffy blanket until next summer. I’m keen to feel strong again, get outdoors, and feel worthy of Owlshire! This is me, today.

[Preamble] Hi rebels! I’ve been on a challenge break, but recently started doing a Daily Weekly Battle Log/Epic Quest with some longer term fitness plans. I thought I’d join the holiday challenge madness and see if I can do a bit more! [About Me] I’m a 42 year old American woman living in the forests of England with my British husband and pre-school son. I work (remotely) on the narrative side of gamedev and when I’m not doing that, I’m tending to my garden, doing needlework of some sort, playing games (of various sorts), and exploring our local woodlands. [Goals] My fitness goals are pretty simple right now: Reach Mordor Finally finish my (tracked) journey to Mordor. I’m 1100 or so miles away! I’ve been wanting to complete this challenge since the early 00s (when it was called the Eowyn Challenge), and I’m sure I’ve been “there and back again” several times over, but I’ve never managed to track the whole thing. I want to finish my route to Mordor by November 2022. My ongoing goal is 20 miles a week, but for this challenge I’d like to stretch it to 30 miles a week. Eat PAI About this time last year, @oromendur introduced me to PAI, which wasn’t working well for me as a satifying metric early on, but I’ve decided to start tracking it again. For this challenge, I want to build up to an average score of 75 (and if I get there before Christmas, maintain it). I’m also shatteringly close to reaching my weight loss goal for the year, so hopefully I can hit that, too! Tracking will be done with a minimum of weekly updates, and of course will include plenty of photospam. Admin note: I always start on Week 0, and I track from Monday-Sunday. Week 0 is going to be an odd one—I’ll tell you more about it later!

Hi all. Stronkey Kong here. I'm back. For anybody new stopping in on one of my challenge threads for the first time... I've been doing this for over 8 years now. I'm still fat, and either trying to figure things out and/or make the best of it. THE BIG LIST RETURNS Last year for the holiday challenge I made a list for Santa of all the things I really, really wanted for the next year, and did a lot of reflection and planning. That was really useful for the majority of my challenges this year since it helped me stay focused on goals and planning. So I'm gonna redo/repeat it, and that will be the main focus of this challenge. WEEK 1: REFLECTION Reflect on the old list. I need to go back and think about my old goals. Why/how did they succeed/fail? Should I keep pursuing it or move on? Etc. Then think about ideas for new goals. Here's the old list... just as I left it three challenges ago. WEEK 2: DROP/ADD Next, I'll decide what the new goals are for the year and decide what's going on the list. This means deciding which old ones are staying, which are going, and what new ones I can include. WEEK 3: PLANNING Here's where things come together, and I decided how I'm going to achieve my goals. For example, if want to lose weight, and I also want to learn how to box, then I'll set a goal to practice boxing and get better at it so I can get more exercise and lose weight etc. I think you can all see where this is going now. ========================================== Here are some other non-goals that I'll be talking about during this mini challenge... and that will probably influence the list heavily. BOXING: As I mentioned in the very last post of last challenge... I bought a 100 lbs. heavy bag and hung it in my basement, and I very much enjoy punching it for exercise. So I'm gonna plan on centering my training on boxing for the foreseeable future. No doubt, some boxing training regimen will make it onto my big list for 2022 YOGA: I'll be doing this on my active rest days. NOOM + LUMEN = I'm spending too much money on fitness gadgets. Anywho, I started using NOOM in the summer. What I was hoping for was some kind of AI in the app or something that gives useful feedback based on your habits and progress. Following it was helpful at first, but in the end it just boils down to a food/activity tracker app, with some mildly educational/inspirational articles chock full of nerdy fun and a support group that you can share your victories and setbacks with... which means it's not much more than I was getting with NF anyway, so I'm quite disillusioned with it. However, I paid $200 for it so I might as well finish what I can in the articles and such. It would be a good place to start for a weight loss noob, but I've been in the trenches for years. I want to try something else. Enter Lumen, the metabolic tracking breathalyzer. I bought one of these yesterday and downloaded the app. It measures your O2/CO2 ratio in your inhale/exhale to figure out what your metabolism is doing. Then it gives you suggestions based on your fitness goals on how you should eat for the day. I'm hopeful for this thing to be at least useful since I think it will be able to at least tell me what my intuition is likely missing. Here is a detailed review of the device if you're interested in learning more than I feel like discussing here: https://latestfuels.com/reviews/lumen-review/ If it inspires you to buy one also, DM me and I'll give you a coupon/code. JOB/CAREER STUFF: I need to set my sights on moving up in the world, at least a rung or two on the ladder. My house and the upkeep expenses it has are stretching my dollars more thinly. Not to mention gas prices, food prices, and the overall post-covid inflationary economy... I need more money. I need to research some certifications to boost me on my current career path (quality inspector--> technician--> engineer) so I can either move up at my company, and more easily secure work in the uncertain future. I should also get back into programming on the regular and pick up more skills in other programming languages, operating systems, etc. ===== I had something else, but I stepped away to do some chores, and now I forgot. I'll add it later. Good luck surviving the holidays to all!

This is an Advent challenge which means it's a time of preparation for Christmas. We're already halfway through Advent so I need to get to it. I'm also planning a trip to the Grand Canyon in a couple of months and I need to prepare for that as well. I haven't been doing nearly enough hiking in the last couple of months. Advent readings Sleep better (in actual bed by 11pm, up by 7am) Walk/hike 6 days a week for a total of at least 7 miles per week; one day has to be at least 4 miles Three NF Workouts per week Clean one thing per day

Holiday greetings to the Rebellion! In the spirit of my last two holiday challenges, I'm back to make an effort to seek out moments of #YuleCheer in and among the random and ofter exhausting adventures that generally characterize the holiday season for one over-educated, under-employed, somewhat-unmoored wandering mythologist Adventurer. I'm sneaking in late (as usual) as today is the first day of Week One for me (challenges start on MONDAYS and I refuse to listen to talk that says otherwise) but if I can get this up before midnight I'll call it good. The real challenge tracking happens over on the spreadsheet, but here's a breakdown to put some narrative flesh on the spreadsheet's bones. PAI: I will keep my PAI score over 100. I've been doing this for a few years, and it works as well as any other arbitrary measurement designed to keep me moving, and it actually requires me to get my heart rate up for a time as opposed to simply counting steps. To get to 100 I generally need at least two short (or one long or very intense) proper cardio sessions a week. Outside: I will go outside every day for at least ten minutes. I'm in the second week of a six-week trip (see Adventure description below for details) and I want to take advantage of the opportunity to see things I love that I generally can't get in Southern California (pine trees, mountains, snow). Routines: Every day, first thing in the morning I will do a meditation/HRV reading and do Julia Cameron-style morning pages, and right before bed I will write in my gratitude journal and do at least the Sleep routine with the Theragun. In recent challenges I've been attempting to keep up with a long list of routine habits. I won't try and do everything -- it is a holiday after all -- but I want to keep these four going because when I blew them off in the craziness of the last week I felt icky about it. #YuleCheer: Three times a week I will post something highlighting my enjoyment of this holiday season, extra credit for more (up to 1 per day). I've done this for the last two holiday challenges and I like what it does for my mindset. If I'm noticing how pretty that bright silver ornament is nestled in dark green pine, or smiling at the colorful patterns of lights in the darkness under a fluffy snowfall, I'm not seething about family drama or feeling sorry for myself. Since I also need some encouragement to keep this thread updated (for proof of how awful I am at this, see pretty much every one of my NF challenges ever), updating this thread will count for this task. Charming hobbity holiday images encouraged but not required Adventure: Twice a week I will leave the cocoon of my various comfy temporary homes for some sort of adventurous activity, extra credit for more (up to 1 per day). Spoiler for trip description: Should the snow gods prove kind, I hope to get a few days of skiing or riding in before I leave. If not, well, I will have to figure out some more hiking options to meet my adventure task (preferably with fewer incidences of questionable decision-making but I can't make any promises on that). There is also the option to drive to Reno for a some ballroom dancing at a holiday ball this coming Friday, which since I know not a soul in the city will totally count as an adventure Projects: As this (like most) is a working vacation, before Christmas I have three personal and professional projects to complete: a) submit a paper proposal to the Tolkien Studies area of the Popular Culture Association National Conference (deadline 23 Dec), b) mail my holiday cards (deadline next week sometime), and -- this is the big one -- c) edit the page proofs of, write the index for, and submit the final version of my forthcoming academic book on Tolkien and wilderness (proofs deadline 13 Dec, index deadline 3 Jan, ideally I'd send it all at the same time before I leave for Buffalo). Spoiler for book discussion: So. That's the challenge. It's a bit more complicated than expected for a short holiday challenge while traveling, but I think it should do the job anyway. Here's wishing everyone all the Yule Cheer you can enjoy, and not a drop more!

It's been a hot minute since I've interacted on the boards with anything more than a like. I'm still struggling with the forum updates. I'll just leave it at that. The house is due to be finished the week of (American) Thanksgiving, so we are looking at moving the first week of December. This means that we have a lot of things to do in the mean time. We've already started compiling a list of things we need to purchase (like mounting brackets for tv's) and cleaning out odd corners. Most of our stuff is still boxed up (unless we use it regularly), but we definitely have random things to do to get ready (I have a huge pile of shredding to get through!). Goal is to complete one task weekly to prep for the move. Work has been busy - not so much like overwhelming, just lots of little things that keep piling up. I've rebooted my tomatoes. The goal is 8 tomatoes a day (meetings are included as a tomato). At least one tomato task has to be for each of my service lines. I've also started instituting tomato tasks for household chores / tasks. This is separate from above. Cleaning the bathroom is a household chore, not a move prep chore. Goal is to complete 40 work tomatoes (8 x 5 days a week) and 15 house tomatoes every week. I was doing really well on my running plan until I completed it. The next plan in the series includes adding in an additional run day (which gets me up to 5 / week). My mind has literally gone "screw this, I'm out" for no good reason. Now my average daily steps are significantly lower than they should be. I'm going to aim for 3 - 4 runs a week (at least a base run, and interval run, and a long run), but the least I need to do is hit my weekly minute goal (150 minutes). Also, one yoga day. Goal is to hit 150 active minutes plus one yoga day per week.

"Quiet friend who has come so far, feel how your breathing makes more space around you. Let this darkness be a bell tower and you the bell. As you ring, what batters you becomes your strength. Move back and forth into the change. What is it like, such intensity of pain? If the drink is bitter, turn yourself to wine. In this uncontainable night, be the mystery at the crossroads of your senses, the meaning discovered there. And if the world has ceased to hear you, say to the silent earth: I flow. To the rushing water, speak: I am. Sonnets to Orpheus II, 29 Let This Darkness Be a Bell Tower by Rainer Maria Rilke Greetings and Happy Holidays fellow Rebels. As some of you know, life has been wild crazy busy for me lately but for good reasons. While this is always a difficult time of year for me personally, I am determined to rise above dwelling on past traumas and instead focus on upgrading my mind and body as I turn this new page in my life. My challenge will be similar to my last one with a few minor changes. Since winter is approaching and cold weather is already upon us, I am returning to my Wim Hof training. I'll be squeezing it in with my morning meditation practice. I am also intermittent fasting again but not in the same way as before: I will eat if I feel hungry (as in stomach actually growling), but if not then I will hold off until I am hungry. So here are my challenge goals: PHYSICAL GOAL: Lift heavy objects as often as possible and move in ways that bring me joy. This includes cinderblocks, logs, stones, kettlebells, weights, and my own body whenever the opportunity presents itself (yoga, Darebee workouts, etc.). The key is to have fun moving again and to lift mindfully, focusing on specific muscles/muscle groups and specific movements. NUTRITIONAL GOALS: I will eat mindfully, selecting foods that nourish my body and don't leave me feeling blah after eating them. From the Harvard School of Public Health: "Eating mindfully means that you are using all of your physical and emotional senses to experience and enjoy the food choices you make. This helps to increase gratitude for food, which can improve the overall eating experience. Mindful eating encourages one to make choices that will be satisfying and nourishing to the body. However, it discourages “judging” one’s eating behaviors as there are different types of eating experiences. As we become more aware of our eating habits, we may take steps towards behavior changes that will benefit ourselves and our environment." This will also include eating only when I feel hungry and not because I'm bored or because I think I'm hungry. This requires me to listen to my body and be mindful of my hunger. MENTAL/SPIRITUAL GOALS: I will re-instate my morning practice which will now include Wim Hof practices. I will meditate twice daily (morning contemplative meditation and evening gratitude meditation). I will read and post one poem a day, as well as write a poem of my own every day. I will read at least ten pages of a spiritual development book daily. I dropped the ball on the "poem a day" goal last time, but I struggled because life was so busy. Now that I'm finished with my Master's degree work, I should have the time to read and compose some poems. MORNING PRACTICE: 0400 wakeup prayer/contemplative meditation scripture reading breath work (Wim Hof) cold shower

Hello everyone, here I am rocking up late YET AGAIN to another challenge, to post YET ANOTHER thread which I am as likely to ignore as anything else, but whatever. Even if nobody reads this, typing it all out is a valuable exercise for me, even if all it does is provide a bit of narrative structure to the spreadsheet that actually does the tracking GUYS IT'S ALMOST NOVEMBER AND I AM KIND OF PANICKING BECAUSE I HAVE NO [BLEEP]ING CLUE WHAT I'M GOING TO DO FOR NANOWRIMO THIS YEAR I mean, that's not really all that unusual (I often sit down on November 1st and start typing and that's the first I see of the story) but it is not usual for me to be anxious about it. I think it's probably just the unending stress of these really crazy times (and even discounting the pandemic times are unusually crazy, even in my crazy life). So, anyway, I intend to ease back a little on the challenge front to give myself space for NaNo exploration this month. Last challenge was considerably more successful than my lack of updates indicated. I squeaked out passing grades every week -- which hasn't happened in quite a while, to be honest -- and I also got to go on a proper Adventure™ up at Great Western War during Week Four (an SCA event -- see this post for pictures of me in armor and a link to cool drone footage of a battle). I'm feeling okay about my trajectory right now. I don't want to lose any momentum, even if I am restructuring things a little, so I'm going to try and keep a steady state as much as I can. Spoiler for the plan: So, that's the challenge. Long and overwritten as always, and late as usual, but it's better to have one up than not. Here we go!

Becoming a Norse Warrior - LEVEL 1 (part 2) “I’m not afraid I’m not alone I feel in my veins Desire rage I’m awoken, I’m awoken Night of the warriors I’m awoken, I’m awoken Everything inside me I’m awoken, I’m awoken Theory of madness I’m awoken, I’m awoken This is my final stand” Becoming a Norse Warrior - LEVEL 1 Welcome to the next level of my challenge! Technically it stays the same, I am just gonna continue what I was doing previously. I am gonna report about my progress casually and post some motivational stuff and music too. If you support me, I’ll try my best to return the favour. Let’s unite our powers! I am gonna level up on the path of a warrior. These are the values of the Vikings’ Code of Values I am gonna pursuit and how I am gonna do it: 1. Strength “It takes a certain kind of warrior to be able to row for hundreds of miles on the open seas and then go raiding for riches. Raw power is necessary, along with endurance and functional strength. Having a physical presence and mental fortitude was essential in surviving.” Strength: -Full body home workout with dumbbells 3 kg 2 times a week, cardio 1-2 times a week - abs exercise (10 min) - Do exercise to strengthen the joints every day (was injured recently, need to prevent future disasters) (10 min) -Eat garlic every day (if anyone has any advice about other effective ways to boost the immune system, let me know) 2. Discipline “Discipline, again as part of a total way of life, refers to self-discipline. If one is going to live by ones own standards, they are responsible for and must be willing to control your own actions. “ Always do what is planned unless seriously sick or unwell. Never slack off - especially studying. Study every day for at least half an hour and more on the weekend. 3. Courage The Vikings were known for their courage and bravery in battle. Courage actually applied to every part of ones life. It take courage to do what you know is right, especially when those around you disagree with your point of view.” Do at least one thing that scares you. 4. Self-Reliance “Warriors are by nature independent beings, they strive to ensure that they don’t have to depend on others for their survival. Indeed family was at the center of Viking life. A Viking is responsible for taking care of himself and his family; this is his first and foremost duty in life. Being frugal and prepared for hardship, as with a long upcoming winter, was an important part of being self-reliant.” Don’t spend more than 1000 yuan (it is 156 American dollars) for personal expenses every month. Save the rest for future adventures and possible hardships. 5. Stay in tune with the gods “The Vikings had a deep connection to nature, to the Earth and the phases of the moon, and Norse spirituality has many similarities with shamanism around the world.” Turn off your phone for two hours a day (on the weekend). Admire the nature. Connect with it and search for that feral feeling deep within. Reach to your roots, to the roots of humanity.