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apfelstrudi and the path to deadliness - pt 1: Arya I made it my goal to be deadly by the end of the year. As with every good progression, we start with baby steps - one skill at a time. I've moved to the rangers for this challenge because, while the world is still my playground, I'm focusing less on that and more on learning new skills and being all over the place! My spirit animal for this challenge is going to be Arya (can you guess the skill yet?). She's a tiny weakling that's proven to get more and more badass. I'll try and channel her throughout this challenge. Mission 1: Work out. It doesn't matter what type of workout I do, but I want to work out every. single. day. This doesn't have to be a big, well-rounded workout. It can be something as simple as a 5 minute jog around the house or some relaxing yoga before bed. But I need to stop being a lazy bum. There are a few weekly goals to cross off my list of things I want to incorporate. They're split into easy, medium and hard to reach. So instead of saying names of people I want to kill in my sleep, and on every other occasion, I'll be saying the following: Running: 5k 10k 15k Burpees: 200 500 700 Squats (can be with or without weight): 200 500 700 Crunches: 200 500 700 Mission 2: Work on a skill This is where the theme comes into play. In order to get deadly, I need deadly skills. And while I'm great with an embroidery needle, I need the kind of needle Arya has. The deadlier one. I AM SO EXCITED RIGHT NOW. My skill shall be sword fighting. Which, I guess, is enough reason to be excited. But get this! I was talking to this guy on OkCupid that I'd just met, we'd exchanged maybe 2 messages, and I asked him for zombie survival skill ideas and then explained stuff and used swordfighting as an example AND HE IS TAKING ME TO A SWORDFIGHTING WORKSHOP FOR A FIRST DATE. How epic is that?! Sword fighting is my skill now. Over the next couple days I'll be building a makeshift dummy and figuring out where I put my wooden sword and then it's on. ALL the yays! Mission 3: Adventure it out Adventure is my thing. I want to bring back my weekly adventure. I've had loads of fun time spent with friends lately, my social life is incredibly busy and I love it, but it's been more of a "let's hang out on the couch and watch movies/cook something/maybe hook up/go to the spa" type of deal and while I guess some of them can be fitnessy or adventurous, it's not the type of adventure I want. I want to bring back my weekly adventure. Doesn't have to be sunday funday, but there needs to be adventure! Arya's been through lots of adventures. Most of them involuntary, granted, but whatever. She's always found a way to make it work for her, and look at her current adventure! Mission 4: Even it out Because my social life is so busy, I've been slacking on my workout. I've also not taken proper care of myself. I'm not getting nearly enough sleep and I never really have any time to myself, because there's always people to visit and things to do and I love being around people. So I'll make it my mission to have one evening that I don't hang out with people. This sounds so easy but is so hard for me. Because it's hard to evenly distribute my time between my friends, and I just really like dropping in on people after work, or going out for dinner or drinks instead of just going home. But I've been spreading myself too thin, and I know I need the time to myself. Me time is something that Arya could probably use as well. Maybe she'll get some this season, who knows! I'll definitely be working on it for her.

Welcome to the Level 1 accountability group led by Teros. As much fun as this looks:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUdA2VVNY3w Flying solo during the Zombie Apocalypse is a really bad idea. You need people supporting you when the chips are down. I, along with the other Adventurer Ambassadors are making accountability groups for future level 1 Adventurers. How accountability groups work is really simple. First you make sure you follow this thread, as well as the threads of people that join the group. Check up on each other to create a support system. To know how to follow people, click here: http://rebellion.nerdfitness.com/index.php?/topic/50975-how-to-pm-and-follow/ It's a little tutorial I made that's just a couple of pictures. Super easy. Post on here a link to your thread. I'll edit this post and put it here; that way everyone else that joins to group can easily follow you. Each week may have a couple of questions to help you make the most out of being here on NerdFitness. This place is the mantra: You get out what you put in. The more you are on here and supporting and encouraging others- the more you get in return which means the better chance of success in your goals. Don't feel overwhelmed to catch up with people all the time though- just stopping by people's threads once a week makes a big difference. I know that if I didn't have any encouragement when I first got here, I might not have stayed. Luckily, a few people believed in me and now I have this hanging up on my wall: This is a collage of all the encouraging things people have said to me over the past year. Whenever I look at this, I feel better. I know I'll win this war in weight loss and becoming a better person. All of you can too- you just have to stick with it. Any questions? Feel free to ask! This week's mini is all about being prepared. Take a few minutes this week and really look close at your goals. Are they S.M.A.R.T.? Specific - "I want to lose weight" Well...how much? Measurable - "I'm getting to the gym more" More by? Attainable - "I'm going to lose 30 pounds" Normal weight loss is 1-2 pounds. Sucks, but the healthy way is that roughly. Realistic - "By the end of the challenge, I want to bench press an extra 80 pounds" Seriously? What are the odds you'll getinjured before that happens? Trackable - "I'm going to eat better" What is better? Compared to when? By how much? Do you qualify rice instead of potatoes as better? Sweet potatoes better? Spinach as better? How can you compare things if you don't have a baseline? So post your goals here and make sure they meet S.M.A.R.T. criteria. You don't want to leave the apocalypse up to chance... The Survivors....

------------------------------------------------------------------------- Current Quest: Improve physical strength through sensible eating and body weight workouts. Side Missions: Improve quality of life through positive affirmations, gardening and house maintenance. Epic Quest: Survive the apocalypse! ------------------------------------------------------------------------- My sixth 6WC finally involved a plan, taken directly from my Epic Quest of Awesome to slowly and surely improve my life. That worked well, so I'll be continuing on from that. Why fix what ain't broken? Food: Maximum one take-out meal a week (6 / 6) Only if all effort is made to cook something from what’s in the cupboard at home. Food at work is allowed; within reason. Cakes and other sweets count as non-snack items. If I go out, best efforts should be made to eat well and not overindulge. 3 cheat snacks per week. (18 / 18) Allowed snacks (not cheats): 70% dark chocolate greek yoghurt popcorn with butter fruit, fresh or frozen nuts, raw or roasted only sweeteners allowed are honey or maple syrup. home baked treats - best efforts made to make paleo / GF / not total shit (under 120cals per serve) Skim milk in any coffee made by oneself. This quest is half me stopping my mindless food grabbing both at work and at home, and half getting clever with the supplies hiding in the back of my cupboard, and less reliance on fast food. Shelter: 6 gardening missions. (0 / 6) plant sunflowers plant chills plant basil indoor compost bin outdoor compost system evening snail chase Now that Spring has sprung, I really want to get out into the garden more, make my composting more efficient, and I don't want the snails eating my beautiful vegetables! One mission a week. 6 spring cleaning missions. (0 / 6) clean out fridge dust windowsills clean windows clean out wardrobe clean on top of the fridge clean the patio There are still dark corners of my house that need attending to, and this Spring I want to fling the curtains wide open and see the outside! Or at least, just not choke on the dust that erupts from the windowsills every time I move the curtains. Another "once a week" mission. Company: Meditate 5 minutes a day. (0 / 42) Enjoy your own company! There are still dark corners of my mind that need dusting as well. I need to spend less time distracting myself from life and spend a bit more time with myself instead. Just five minutes. Naps count, if I spend the first part of it clearing my mind and focussing on my breath. Survival: Bodyweight movements 3 days a week. (0 / 18) 5 sets of 4 randomly drawn cards. Push up progression (clubs) Pull up progression (diamonds) Squat progression (spades) Push ups / Handstand progression (hearts) Dive roll practice 2 yoga sessions p/week 2 rest days I think I've found my "thing" with body weights. I don't have to faff about with barbells or dumbbells or weight plates, I just get in there and do it. I want to be able to do cool things, like pistol squats and handstand push ups. I've just gotta work through the progressions until I get there. I'll be using Quilly's Bodyweight Solitaire idea to structure my workouts, to give them a hint of unpredictability and day to day difference. I'm not a "same thing every day" kinda girl. Also, dive rolls are a must-have in any zombie-escape arsenal so I need to start learning how to do those. I've already scoured the Assassins for info, they have heaps. Gotta love this place! I could be over there for this challenge, but I'm doing loads of other things as well and I like you Adventurer people! Yoga is lovely and I really enjoy the added flexibility and control it's giving me over my body. I don't have to do it to succeed in this challenge, but it definitely helps my body recover and strengthen in different ways. Purpose: One positive affirmation per day. (0 / 42) Happiness is a good purpose, right?

The Apocalypse, Day One. "The day the apocalypse hit was a day like any other. It was slightly overcast with more then a slight chance of rain, and so I had locked myself inside with nothing but my dog and my computer. The middle of winter is a real motivation drainer so I have found herself drawn to the warmth of the gas heater and cheesy reality TV shows more and more as the cold months have progressed. That was until, my partner (henceforth known as Mr. Tea) came roaring home from work one day, flung the front door open, flung himself through it, and slammed it shut, back pushed firmly against the wood. I assumed he was just hangry, and wandered over to see if he wanted something to eat, until I saw the look of horror on his face. The kind of horror only brought on by one thing." The last thing I ever wanted to do was become a mindless drone, wandering around in a daze, not using my life to it's fullest potential. Most of my empty wandering sprouted from the lack of a clear cut plan of attack for improving my life, and while I made some progress fluffing about learning the basics of eating right and exercising, I got to where I wanted to be and well, stopped. I fell into the trap of getting to my destination and got slack, instead of changing tack and creating some progress goals to keep me going. Now, I have a plan, and I'm implementing this plan today. I'm keeping it simple, building habits I need. Hence joining the Adventurers for this challenge! "Zombies." Just that one muttered work changed our whole life. Unfortunately that change started sooner then I had hoped. I wasn't ready! Unprepared! I was still unfit, untrained, unmotivated! How the hell was I supposed to survive a zombiepocalypse?!" Survival: Get moving for at least 30 minutes 6 days a week. Work does not count. (0 / 36 points) e.g. walk the dog, practice basic parkour, do yoga, bodyweight exercise This is obvious. I need skills to be able to get away from zombies. Build barricades, bend through tight spaces Etc. Any of the above are fine, but I need to make a habit of planning something physical into my day; that isn't my job. (also I would like to be fit enough to keep up at work without falling to pieces by the end of the day) "Thankfully, Mr. Tea wasn't having a mid-apocalypse crisis, having armed himself with his hockey stick and now dragging the sidebar across the front door. He shouted my name and I started to help him. That was until "Crash!" Through the glass back door. They were in! Mr. Tea cursed and ran at them. I squealed like a girl and ran for the kitchen. Sharp objects, Fire, Electrical equipment! Excellent! I grabbed the closest thing I could reach; my frypan. Still dirty from dinner and rusting from old age and misuse. More of that to follow. I heard a moan close behind me to my shoulder and swung the pan. Mr. Tea ducked as I swung wildly where the head of a zombie had been moments before. He only glared briefly before looking at the back door. The zombies has stopped coming through... For now. "Grab anything important! We might have to get out of here in a minute." I nodded and ran from the lounge room to the bedroom to the office, looking for things to grab. Yarn? no. Batteries? Probably. Underwear? Yeah maybe. Crap, how unorganised is our house? How am I supposed to find anything? What do I class as important? Why didn't I ask these questions until now?!" Shelter: Pick one spot in the house a week to clean up and organise. (0 / 6 points) pick a spot. Sort into keep / trash / donateables. Put donatables into back of car. Throw out trash immediately. Plan new homes / new storage for keepable items. There's only room for important things in the apocalypse, and they have to be organised for living a long time in the place you're staying, if it happens to be your safe zone. Otherwise, it needs to be organised so that you can up and leave at a moment's notice, or grab that thing you knew would come in handy for fighting zombies one day. I need to clean up the dark corners of the house so when I clean up in general the place actually looks cleaner. "I ran back to the dining room where Mr. Tea had just taken down another zombie by plugging in the circular saw that had been sitting in its box in the corner of the lounge room for months. I hadn't decided whether I should have told him there was bits of zombie in his beard before he told me to take stock of whatever food we had and how long we could survive on it. I ran back to the kitchen. There was a few ends of vegetables, a few cans of things like tomatoes, some packets of noodles... If we had to survive on this I was going to have to get creative. Hopefully the zombies hadn't trampled my garden yet because those sad little vegetables could very well be the only thing sustaining us after a while." Food: Eat one serve of vegetables a day. (0 / 42 points) Tend the garden twice a week. ( 0 / 12 points) It's important to get your greens for a healthy diet to fuel your lifestyle; more so when your life revolves around always potentially having to fight or flee at any given time. Also being able to supply your own food when the fast food places are overrun with zombies seems like a good idea. No Hungry Jacks in the apocalypse. "By the time I'd got the food sorted Mr. Tea had managed to push a sofa and the dining table up against the back door, and hushed my crashing and banging in the cupboard. "I think that's all of them. Now don't break anything or be too loud and they might forget we're here. Call anyone you can. See who's okay and what useful stuff or advice they can give us." Company: Get out and about with someone once a week. ( 0 / 6 points) e.g. Walk the dogs, Have coffee / lunch together Everyone needs a support crew, and other people need supporting. Some of my friends are going through rough patches right now and I want to be there for them; and others I just like to see quite often because I have valuable friendships with them and don't get to see them often enough. Loners rarely survive happily in the apocalypse without turning into psychopaths. "I called around. Thankfully the phones hadn't gone yet. Some people didn't answer immediately but were grateful to hear intelligent speech instead of the groans of the undead. We were going to have to gather ourselves and our supplies if we had any hope of surviving this long term. I hung up the phone. Mr. Tea was sitting on the couch staring at a wall. I sat next to him and breathed out. Felt like my first one in a while. I looked at him and asked, "What do we do now?" Purpose: Find a reason to get out of bed every day. Post to the forums. (0 / 42 points) I'm struggling with a reason for me even being on this planet, so lacking a overarching purpose as of yet, I'm going to focus on just getting myself up every day. I need to find a reason - even the smallest one - for getting up in the morning and knowing that I'm not wasting my days away on mindlessness. I will post it to my battle log, or maybe even make a separate topic if other people feel like the exercise may be worth their while. Epic Quest: HAVE SOMETHING WORTH LIVING FOR. Current Quest: Find something to get out of bed for every day. Completing this challenge will get you; 15 stat points and; A: A Shiny new frypan. B: A New pair of Chucks. C: The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks. D / F: Your life. You escaped this time, but don’t think you’ll be so lucky next time!

Challenge #3 Ultimate Quest: Survive the Zombie Apocalypse Necessary skills: - STR: Fend off zombies with melee or hand-to-hand - STA: Outrun hordes for long distances - DEX: Be agile and quick enough to cover rugged, varied terrain effortlessly (parkour style) - CON: Have the supplies and wherewithall to bunker down and equip myself properly - WIS: Be wicked smaht. Because zombies are dumb. - CHA: Charm the pants off of handsome survivors. Steal their shit. Current Quest: 4/14 - 5/25 Main Quest: Complete a 5k in under 60 minutes (Color Me Rad 5k Run 4/27) Side Quests: Prepping for the 5k 1: Walk an average 30000 steps per week (+4 STA) A: 30k+ B: 27-29k C: 22k-26k D: 19k-21k F: 18k or under 2. Walk a minimum of 5 exercise miles per week (Steps don't count) (+4 CHA) A: 5+ B: 4+ C: 3+ D: 2+ Life Quest: Stick to my Mon/Tues, Thurs/Fri Paleo Food Plan (+2 WIS) A - Strictly Followed, no slips B- 1-2 Slips C - 3-4 Slips F - Off the Wagon Sunday will be my official check-in day, when I will grade myself for the week! I tried to streamline this plan a bit. Fewer things to track, and its scaled back a little more. I think I got overwhelmed with too many goals in the last challenge. I'm excited to participate in the Color Run in April!

Urban Ranger Quests Challenges☐ Spartan Sprint - Sat. February 8th, 2014. ☐ Phoenix Go Ruck Light - March 22nd, 2014.☐ Tough Mudder - Sat. April 5th, 2014. ☐ Boston Go Ruck - Fri. May 23, 2014.☐ SF Go Ruck - Fri. July 4th, 2014. ☐ Camp Nerd Fitness - Thu. September 18th - Sun. September 21st, 2014. ☐ Hike Grand Canyon - Fall, 2014. ☐ Run For Your Lives - TBD. ☐ Warrior Dash - TBD. Skills & Practice ☐ Take Urban Survival Course.☐ Take Wilderness Survival Course. ☐ Obtain Concealed Carry Gun License.Obtain​​☐ Purchase Honda Element. ☐ Purchase a gun. ☐ Purchase emergency rations. Future☐ Learn Basic Electronics & Electrical Repair. ☐ Learn Basic Mechanics and Vehicle Repair. ☐ Learn Basic First Aid. ☐ Learn Blade/Knife Self Defense. ☐ Learn To Pick A Lock. ☐ Learn To Capture, Gut, and Cook a Fish. ☐ Eat Paleo for 6 Months. ☑ Learn Basic Self Defense (Krav Maga). Ongoing. ☑ Purchase/create get-out bag. 9/8/13 ☑ Sell my car and purchase a bike for primary transportation. 3/22/13 ☑ Shoot a Gun. 2013 goal. 4/1/13 ☑ Purchase GoRuck entry. 3/23/13 Fitness Endurance ☐ Run 5k in Vibrams. ☐ 10 Consecutive Double-Unders. ☑ Run 5k. 7/16/11 ☑ Run 10k. 8/12/11 ☑ Run Tough Mudder. 1/14/12 ☑ Jump Rope Double-Under. 1/23/12 Strength ☐ Muscle Up. ☐ Deadlift 405lb (4 Plates). ☐ Squat 315lb (3 Plates). ☐ Bench Press 225lb (2 Plates). ☐ Press 135lb (1 Plate). ☑ 10 Minute Plank. 8/29/11 Health & Appearance ☐ 10% body fat. ☑ 82 days of Whole 30. 1/23/14 ☑ Fit into a medium T-shirt. 6/10/11 ☑ Fit into a 32 waist pants. 8/1/11 ☑ Paleo/Primal & 100% Gluten-Free. 8/31/11 Sport ☐ Try Archery. ☑ Try CrossFit. 4/2/12 NerdFitness ☑ Go to a big NF Meetup. 1/23/14 ☑ Meet Steve Kamb. 1/24/14 ☑ Win a NF Challenge. 1/20/12 Faith ☐ Read through Bible in one year. Life ☐ Purchase a Home. ☐ Release a professional music album. ☑ Learn Piano. 4/2/12 Finances ☐ Become financially and job independent. ☐ Save 6 months of life expenses. ☐ Pay off debt... again. ☑ Pay off debt. 9/31/11 ☑ Save $1000 for emergencies. 4/14/12

THE END OF THE WORLD IS NIGH!!!!! And there may or may not be zombies involved.... Technically it's just the end of the year, but this is the time of year when all of my plans, to get healthy and lose weight and build good habits and suchlike, go flying out the window. For one thing, I've got two weeks left of NaNoWriMo - National Novel Writers Month - where crazy writer-types sign up and attempt to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. This means most of my time and energy is devoted to writing. And when I'm not actually writing, I'm plotting, planning and otherwise ruminating over what I'll be writing next. That's why I'm only getting around to joining the current challenge today. I've been writing. And I'm behind. In fact I've only got 10,000 words right now when I ought to have16,667 as of yesterday and 18,333 by the end of today. So as soon as I finish this, I'm gonna go write. Right! In addition to NaNoWriMo, I've read about a certain phenomenon, and have experienced it to be true, that people tend to gain weight in winter. Why? Well, lots of reasons that I've read about for example that we tend to feel more hungry and crave more food in a cold house than in a warm one. It's harder to be active in the winter months, especially around here in Wisconsin - in fact it just started snowing. We tend to choose carbs - aka Comfort Foods - as a quick fix for hunger and for SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder). We eat more under stress, and let's face it, the holidays can be very freaking stressful. Not to mention the holiday's themselves which tend to turn into multi-day food extravaganzas. The fact is, since the start of November I've already gained back a few of the pounds I so recently lost. My Life Quest continues to be achieving the weight that I had in high school, back when people made me feel fat, but I really wasn't. Still aiming at 152, though the other day I looked at my driver's license and thought it would be nice to weigh the 170 that I claimed I weighed the day I got it. Goal #1 - Escape PlanCircumstances may require that I need to relocate very quickly. To that end I've discovered that going up and down the stairs at my office, which has 1034 of them, is a great weight to get in shape. In fact, I'm doing a charity stair climb on Thursday. But, I want to continue on with the climbing after Thursday, and working out at work is a good thing. On days when I don't do stairs, I plan to bust out my mini-trampoline and start running from zombies again. And there may be some rock climbing thrown in there too, from time to time. Get 30 minutes of cardio exercise at least 5 days a week. Days missed - 5 or less = A, 6-7 = B, 8-9 = C, 10-11= D, 12 or more days missed = F. +2 STA +1 DEX Goal #2 - Stock Up (and Ration)I've been slacking off a bit, and I do have a general tendency to eat prepackaged everything. But I'm gonna be packing my own lunches and avoiding eating out like its... well, the plague. My focus will be on whole foods, fruits and veggies, on keeping my meals simple, and on actually cooking my own meals from scratch every now and then. Also, I'll be tracking my points and not spending more that I've been allotted, but this isn't something I'll be tracking on Nerd Fitness since I already track that with Weight Watchers. Eat one 'from scratch' meal every day. No vending machine purchases or fast food, and no more than 2 prepackaged microwave meals per week. Days missed - 7 or less = A, 8-11 = B, 12-15 = C, 16-19 = D, 20 or more days missed = F, +1 CON, 2 WIS Goal #3 - Get StrongI may have to fight my way through hordes of the undead, or worse, the shoppers on Black Friday! I may need to kick ass in multiple ways. And even if I don't need to, just knowing I'm able to kick ass on a moment's notice is always nice. So I'm going to start, and STICK TO, a body weight workout that will get me strong enough to face whatever comes my way. Body Weight Work out 3 days a week. Days missed - 3 or less = A, 4 = B, 5 = C, 6 = D, 7 or more days missed =F +3 STR Side Quests Fight the Winter Blues (fitness) I'm going to sleep. Okay, this sounds weird as a fitness quest. But honestly, everything I've read and heard points to the fact that the more good sleep you get, the more likely you'll be to lose weight. And right now I'm getting about six hours on the weekdays. Of course, this whole writing thing, and the fact that I tend to not even start writing until 11:00pm and then don't wrap up until 1:00am, is definitely a factor right now. But even in general, I don't get enough sleep. Get at least 7 hours of sleep every night. Days missed = 6 or less = A, 8-11 = B, 12-15 = C, 16-19 = D, 20 or more days missed = F +2 CON Communication (Life) There's safety in numbers, so I'm going to stay in touch with my fellow survivors by staying active with the Guild and encouraging my fellow Assassins on their quests. Check in with one fellow assassin every day, at least 5 days per week. Days missed - 5 or less = A, 6-7 = B, 8-9 = C, 10-11= D, 12 or more days missed = F. +3 CHA

Loren Wade, Zombie Apocalypse Ranger, Agent of the Light Episode 2 The Story So Far You have witnessed me fail and succeed at a lot in the last two years. I've done Tough Mudder, ran a 5k, a 10k, jump roped for charity, and completed a 10 minute plank. I've done CrossFit, StrongLifts, and Convict Conditioning. I won my first Challenge here and later became a mod. I've been through a divorce, depression, and rediscovered who I am. I even shaved my head, learned to shoot a gun, and got an epic tattoo. If I've learned anything, it's that I have a huge family here and that I don't stick to any one thing for very long. Last Time... Last time, Chammy and I went on a road trip and met up with ALL the nerds. After the trip, I became very ill because I was 4 weeks late on my Crohn's disease treatment. I am finally just now starting to feel better, but I haven't ridden my bike in a few weeks, and I've gained a few pounds. It was a really trying challenge for me. Right Now... I am still not eating very well. I need to gradually start moving more and stop being lazy. I will continue biking to work and back. I am also going back to Krav Maga and writing for my blog, both of which I completely failed at doing last challenge. Prepping and eating paleo will probably be the hardest part about this challenge. As with my Epic Quest, my focus over this next year (or few) is to prepare for the apocalypse. Episode Two: Agent of the Light The Quest Prepare physically and mentally for the Zombie Apocalypse.DefendStart: Krav Maga 2x A WeekGoal: 4x A WeekStrengthStart: Pushups 3x A WeekGoal: 25 reps in one set.RationPrepare, eat, and cook Paleo.Goal: About 90% paleo.Side Quests ThoughtStart: Write 3x a week.Goal: Write one blog post per week.​Streamline​Improve or remove one thing from my life per week.Motivation Updates Day 0Day 1Day 2Day 3Day 4Day 5Day 6Day 7Day 8Day 9Day 10

Loren Wade, Zombie Apocalypse Ranger, Rival of Dark DaysEpisode 1 The StoryYou guys have witnessed me fail and succeed at a lot of things in the last two years. I've done Tough Mudder, ran a 5k, a 10k, jump roped for charity, and completed a 10 minute plank. I've done CrossFit, StrongLifts, and Convict Conditioning. I won my first Challenge here and later became a mod. I've been through divorce, depression, and the rediscovering of who I am. Even shaved my head, learned to shoot a gun, and got an epic tattoo. If I've learned anything, it's that I have a huge family here and that I don't stick to any one thing for very long. Last time you saw me redesign my living space, switch to a standing desk, sell off 90% of my belongings, and sell my car in favor of a bicycle. Some of you also might remember a long time ago I had a similar challenge to this one. I am going back to my roots and focusing on the story I love the most: surviving the apocalypse. The JourneyI am not eating super healthy right now, but I am counting calories, which works for me. I am slowly moving back to the Paleo lifestyle I've fell away from the last couple months. I will continue riding my bicycle "Eleftheria", or "Ellie" for short, to and from work 9 miles as I have the last few months. Bicycling has been an incredible experience, especially with the weather here in Arizona. Chammy, one of my best friends, will be traveling with me from 8/5 to 8/19 to visit a bunch of our Rebel friends across the west coast. I will be chronicling the road trip adventures within. As with my Epic Quest, my focus over this next year (or few) is to prepare for the apocalypse. Episode One: Rival of Dark Days The QuestPrepare physically and mentally for the Zombie Apocalypse. The Best Defense is a Good OffenseKrav Maga or bodyweight workout 3x a week.Ration, Ration, RationRemove one non-paleo problem food per week.Lay To RestBed time: 1am. Rise time: 9am. Side Quests Life Ain't Easy: Stay SharpWrite one blog post per week.Death Is Too Easy: Stay AlivePut together a get-out bag.Motivation

Ultimate Goal: To be Fit and Skilled Enough to Survive the Apocalypse (whether it be Zombie or Panem or other) (last year at the Renaissance Festival) 6-Week Challenge Overall Goal: To Lose 10 Pounds Steps to get there: 1. Swim at least once per week. I have always loved swimming. I kid that I am half fish. I love to swim underwater and do twists and turns like a seal. Swimming does for me what yoga does for everyone else. When I swim, I am Zen. Plus, swimming uses muscles you didn't even remember you had! I am always tired and/or sore after a good swim. I haven't been doing it nearly enough, though. I decided to start this part of the Challenge last week because I was so excited about it. I went swimming 3 times last week And the reason I didn't write my Challenge Thread on Monday? I was out swimming again I am LOVING it. 2. Improve my diet. Stop snacking at work. Tell my coworkers to stop putting out "share" food right behind my desk. Ignore the candy at the front (I have been good about doughnuts but the little candies have sometimes temped me). Cut down on dairy (too much cheese lately). Have more lean meats such as turkey and fish. I have been having much too much red meat and bacon. I know Paleo = love of bacon, but it is a lot of calories and I need less calories to lose weight. Last summer when I lost 30lbs, I was mostly still eating turkey, chicken and fish. I'd also like to add more wild meats into my diet. And finally, bring less temptation into the house, and bring more packed lunch ingredients in. 3. Ascend at least 100 metres per week. This will be a mix of hiking & walking, stair climbing, and squats. I have calculated that stairs are approximately 3m/floor and I'm going to say that unweighted squats are 3m/10squats. One of my swimming spots in down a giant flight of stairs, so that will help with my weekly goal. I also always take the stairs at work (2nd floor) and at my parents condo (4th floor). So I do 30m for work per week. I go to visit my parents at lease once per week, so that's 9m. Just need 61 more every week! My butt's gonna be awesome! Here are a couple pictures of me Pre-Challenge: Last weekend at Rocky Point in Port Moody, BC - Kayaking to see baby seals! Last weekend at Van Dusen Gardens in Vancouver - rocking my new parasol.

Tayrey was there when the world changed. The trouble was, she didn't know what to do about it. A spacer like Tayrey, usually she'd be up and gone before the first signs of trouble, into the black expanse of sky. You try getting a spacecraft to fly true now. Hell, even the hovercars have had all their fuel cells torn out. Tayrey's stuck. She's stuck, and for a while it wasn't even all that bad. Holed up in a cushy library, she did, looked out from her high windows at all the terrors and read up what she could on how to take them down. She's resilient, is Tayrey, though she doesn't know it. Her mind's strong, even if her body's - well, we'll get to that later. The problem came when the supplies ran out, 'cause she had all the best information on how to run for more, ways round the demons and the zombie horde - oh yes, it's that kind of crapsack world our protagonist finds herself in, and maybe she herself has just worked out that she's not just a supporting character. Tayrey, This is Your Life, broadcast over the entire datanet in full technicolor, maybe, if there was anyone left to watch. Anyway, she knows exactly what to do, but there's parsecs of difference between knowing it and doing it. Tayrey's been sat up there so long in her safe haven with her digibooks that she's gone soft. Weak. And maybe her old injuries are giving her more trouble than they used to, 'cause she's not fifteen any longer. She outran the temporal cops, once, went into hyperdrive for hours at a time and came out without a scratch, but now she's got to be careful. Especially now it's not a matter of buttons and levers but shifting her own meatsack if she doesn't want to be left behind. And the truth is there are stranger things in this run-down world than even our Tayrey knows about. Things you can't see, that creep up on you. If she's going to make it at all, she'd better do things properly. MISSION: Collect supplies. Fight the monsters along the way. Don't get killed. Create healthy habits to use as a sound basis for further self-improvement. OBJECTIVES: 1. Locate the uncontaminated food supplies 1. Eat at least 80% Primal 2. Avoid the roaming packs of zombies 2. 30 minutes cardio-based exercise (dancing, jogging, etc) 3 times a week 3. Fight and defeat the Demons of Sloth. Don't drop the supplies! 3. Get stronger! Dumbbell session 3 times a week, plus knee push-up challenge and stretching. BONUS OBJECTIVE: 4. Don't lose hope. There are monsters that you cannot see, more dangerous than those you can. Don't let them latch on. 4. Meditate for ten minutes daily. Cultivate serenity. Read on for more of Tayrey's post-apocalyptic adventures. Does she have what it takes to survive?

Every time I ever imagined what the world would look like after the apocalypse I envisioned waking up some morning and looking out my front door at a wasteland, smoldering ruins, the smell of the dead and the moans of the dying filling the air. But… I never imagined this. The books and the movies led us to believe that the apocalypse would come all at once from some enormous disaster, an earthquake, an emp blast, an outbreak of some pathogen. But that’s not how it happened at all. The apocalypse is here alright, but it didn’t happen all at once, it happened slowly, like a creeping sickness, an odorless, invisible toxin that effected everyone so mysteriously that no one saw it coming, until it had already over taken us. The people around us are dying. Most people literally couldn’t walk a mile to save their lives. There are grocery stores filled with products, but actual food is scarce. Everyone is beginning to atrophy, people are hardly strong enough to carry themselves let alone do any sort of heavy manual labor. Hope is all but a memory. I see people going through their lives despairing or despondent. But not us. By the Grace of God, we’ve survived, and now it’s time to rebuild civilization, starting with our own family. Goals: Search for survivors. (Go for family walks for at least 30 minutes at least 3 times each week) Scavenge for food. (Prepare at least 3 100% paleo meals together as a family each week) Haul water. (Do heavy lifting appropriate to everyone’s age/ability using water filled containers at least 3 days each week) Keep vigil at night. (Pray a family rosary together at least 3 days each week)