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A simple three week challenge you say? I can do simple. WATCH ME 1. Remaining in the training grounds. I want to be able to dedicate three hours a week to training at minimum. When I was at my happiest and healthiest, I had 9+ hours a week dedicated to this. That was just scheduled classes + open gyms and didn't even count other "on my own time" training that I did. I have a huge mental block around this, more than a physical one (thanks trauma) …that I want to take a more active role in helping people here who are getting into/have been into staff, and this is going to carry forward to all future challenges. I feel like it will give me more of a "Reason" to be training (rather than "just for fun") and I'd like to help people if I can (doing those gifs for @Elastigirl last challenge was really fun and got me to go out and try stuff when I wasn't motivated to move otherwise.) So I'm thinking, from here on out, if anyone is trying to learn a staff move that's giving them trouble, I want to leave this as an open invitation to ask me about it. I can't guarantee that I'll be able to fix it, as I'm certainly no expert and am learning myself, but if you send me a video of what you're trying to do (the tutorial maybe, or whatever video you saw of them doing it) I'll give it a shot myself and respond with feedback of what I learned from the video and we can brainstorm about what you're finding tricky about it. Even if I'm not capable of doing the trick in the end, we may be hanging up on different parts of the move and having another perspective might help. This starts with this challenge but is going to be an ongoing thing. I'll restate it every once in a while. For this challenge however, the goal is 3 hours a week training, and will include all physical/performance arts, not just staff and juggling. So also balance board, juggling other objects, acrobatics, and generally just exploring new fun ways to move my body + other objects in the space around me. 2. Don't snap in half I desperately need to be stretching every day. This habit is easy to maintain once I get it going again, but it something major happens I can fall off the wagon for months (which is what happened several months ago I got injured and was bedridden for just enough days to break the habit. And I've stretched like four times since then.) I'm hyper mobile and while this sounds like the opposite of a stretching issue, when your ligaments and tendons are looser than your muscle, it causes ALL sorts of joint problems and these past two weeks I have REALLY been feeling it. I feel very unstable and like any one of my moves might be the next to destroy me. So I need some peer pressure to get me back into the habit and I think a short challenge is the perfect time to restart a habit that's pretty self-sustaining once I get back to it. Don't let me half-ass this either. I will try to get away with it. If I say I "stretched for ten minutes" that means I did like two lunges and a few twists and called it a night. I need to hit all the major joints and the SHORT version of that takes 23 minutes. The long version is an hour (and is the far preferred version-- I feel very good when I'm doing this one daily) it's just hard to schedule in. I'm hoping that if I do the long form a few times a week and the short form the other days, it will at least keep me in fighting shape. Time to get flexy That's it folks! TWo gOaLs! I told you I could do simple!!

First off a little about me for any newbies to my challenges. I am a 34 year old clinical psychologist from Chicago who used to be a very athletic and very flexible rock climber, dancer, and fencer. Now, I am extremely sedentary and working on losing a significant amount of weight while exploring flexibility and movement as a fat person. I have really struggled to finish challenges and to make changes in my life because of a very stressful job and the pressures of managing both my own mental illness and my wife's. I can't seem to stop trying though, and I find this community tremendously welcoming and supportive. Come along with me while I write about shapeshifters and try to change my life! --,--'--@ Main Quest: reduce my body size by 4% a loss of 15.46 lbs. Goal 1: Whole30. My eating needs a re set in the worst way. In order to get back to eating in a healthy primal manner I will begin by completing a strict whole 30, tracking all the food I eat, and using Melissa Joulwan's amazing meal planning and cook up system, I adore her paleo cookbooks and her general way of handling food. Goal 2: Continue to improve flexibility and strength by integrating in at least one more yoga video from my list of beginner videos that make me nervous. I would like to work up to the Goal 3: In addition to my daily yoga for my back pain, I want to add walking to my program. I am so ridiculously sedentary, and I want to improve my cardiovascular health so that I can do more things. I am starting this off by taking a 10 minute walk every day. I would prefer this to be outside, but it can also be on the elliptical if its bad weather. Lifestyle Goal: I want to be more creative by writing more. I used to love writing and I still do love to imagine things. I just need to let go of the critical voices in my head. I plan to do 4 big story updates and at least 8 smaller updates over the course of the challenge. In addition, I will journal daily about my food journey, and once weekly using ACT.

It's on Now Hey all this will be my first 6 week Challenge with the Assassins, I am really looking forward to working with all of you and all the mini's coming up. So, Let's get it on now!!! So a little background on what I am looking at, my life quest in the recruit forum was to attend the Command Fitness Leader (CFL) training class and the first step was to make an Excellent or Outstanding on my PFA. Well I did make Excellent so now I do qualify and have even started working as the assistant CFL, however we do not know when the next class will be...what that means is that I have o maintain or improve my fitness level as well as maintain or decrease my weight. Why, because the first day of class will be yet another PFA, if I fail then I get kicked out of the class. Yay me, essentially I have set myself up to be the Navy Fitness Poster child for my command and if I cannot keep those standards then it will be a black mark on my career, no pressure. So while this wll be on my mind and still a quest of mine I am going to put this goal on hold till I know when the class is, however I am going to continue to try and keep my weight under control for this holiday season as well as improve my fitness levels. I will be also piggybacking some of my quest off of my wife, Bast, since we are doing a few activities together, though I will not be using the same names for the events that she is. Epic Quest: Maintain fitness level for PFA there are two a year one in March and one in October. Main Quest: So yea this picture says it all don't it. Quest 1: The Work Cardio: Lean muscles is the goal here, my plan is to do 3 miles twice a week here. Fitness: Free weights and mat workout 3 times per week Quest 2: Sharing the load Impact Training Walks with Wifey Quest 3: The Weight Get down to 190 and keep it there.....So I did fall 3 lbs shy of my goal of 190 last challenge but that is not to bad considering where I started at. This challenge I plan on dropping those last 3 lbs and keep it there thru the Holidays...no small feat for those of us who love our ham and turkey.... Life Quest 1: Home for the Holidays: So this will be a bit different, the Thanksgiving and Christmas decorations are always a big deal and a lot of work so my goal is to stay on top of the holiday decor. Life Quest 2: Cleaning up the project room: I want to be able to work on my leather projects again, it's been too long Guild Battles: No Clue just get it done.... I will update this later this week with my plans for grading myself

I'm super tired right now, so I'll just make a really quick summary, and tomorrow I'll finish it off! MAIN QUEST - To lose weight and fit in my prom dress by April 25 SIDE QUESTS - successfully do a complete pull-up - run a 10k in under 60 minutes - do yoga everyday, even if it's just for 5 minutes - 3 strength trainings/week LIFE QUESTS - To finally paint and redecorate my hobby room Okay okay so I waas having a bath earlier today and I was thinking about how I'd take on this challenge and I got it all perfectly worked out! Here goes: Laodamaren's 6-week challenge rules 1400 kcal limit (little more than my BMR) , this goes for all days, whether severely active or notI will try intermittent fasting for the very first time. However, if it makes me feel bad, I will stop doing it.My workout schedule looks somewhat like this: M: bodyweight training (I use NF bodyweight workout level 4 of the academy) T: Active rest day: yoga class W: Running: intervals T: Strength: lifting day!! (squats, deadlifts, bench, all of it, me likeeey) F: running: intervals S: HIIT and bodyweight training curcuits S: long distance run + arm and abs day I usually don't run this much, as I'm more a bodyweight training kind of person (with a passionate secret affair with lifting weights), but I'm currently training for the Antwerp 10 miles run on April 26 and I want to have a decent time I do not eat any gluten, refined sugar (or artificial) or dairy, with an exception for sheep yoghurt in the morning cause there's no other way I can reach my protein goal.MY carbohydrate intake looks like this M: normal - 75g T: low - 50g W: normal -75g T: low - 50g F: normal: 75g S: normal: 75g S: high -100g Tbh, I'm not so sure whether this is a correct view of the low/high carb intake, so I'd be very pleased if someone could help me with this?Daily protein goal is around 90g, which is quite an accomplishment for me.I have a daily yoga practice of 10 mins before I go to bed (been doing it for a week now, trying to make it a habit) and as soon as I wake up i do one set of push-ups AMRAP cause that wakes me up!Will try to minimise dried fruits, although that shit is delicious!! Also trying to minimise legumes, but I'm not obsessing about them!For the record, Natasha Romanoff/black widow is my greatest motivation, as she's such a badass woman and I'd love to be like her! My friends say I've already got her red hair and bitchy face, hah! Looking forward to starting!!

I was hiding in my cave while the others were enjoying the fire and dancing, laughing. Suddenly, someone dressed all in black comes towards me and hands me an enveloppe. "Wanna join?" says in curved letters the paper contained inside. When I raised my head to look at the man a second time, he was already gone. The paper was all blank except for these two words. Whether or not I wanted to join was moot, since I couldn't join based on these two words alone. Or could I? I needed to solve this mystery. Following an idea, I get closer to the fire. Some people laughed at me, a snort of sort, which gave me goosebumps. I usually stayed away from these people, but for a little while, I needed the fire. I placed the white piece of paper closer to the flame. A woman, beautiful, dressed in an elegant gown, looked at me and harshly starts: "What do you think you're doing?" Her contempt was visible. I shiver inside, but I know I am right. I focused on the task at hand, trying to ignore her as I get the paper closer to the heat, almost getting burnt in the process. After a few seconds, more words appeared on the paper, written in invisible ink. "You have the answer. See you in three months. Signed: The Assasins' Guild". Slowly, I left the fire to go back to my cave. I needed to think. I was one step closer to join the Guild, but still had no concrete steps to follow. The beautiful woman started talking to me again, but I didn't hear her anymore, lost in thoughts. Joining the Assassins. It was all I could think about. The Assassins were an old legend in our community, and no one had really met a one before. Until that day. But if I really wanted to become an Assasin, I only had three months ahead of me. I had to start planning... Period: 13 weeks (double challenge, to align better with work schedule, which is based on 3-month periods) Ultimate goal: Become an Assassin, a well-balanced, self-confident woman, happy about herself and impervious to what others may say. This will translate into: - reaching the weight goal doctors assigned for me (60kg) and on the way lowering my BMI below 25 - be happier about being me, despite the pressure around and the criticisms and be more relaxed about life in general - regarding food, be more confident about eating and less stressed about restricting myself, make nutrition fun, not a chore Method: Leverage learnings from my first 6-week challenge and be more relaxed about it. This is why over the course of the next 13 weeks, I'll have 5 jokers. A joker is a day when there is an unforeseen even, preventing me from reaching the goals, while still maintaining full grades (cannot be used to compensate). Jokers cannot be used more than once a week or on consecutive days. TL:DR - Lose another 10kg by focusing on weight training and healthy nutrition (mostly Paleo and S-diet), be more happy and relaxed Fitness goal (+1 STR, +1 CON, +1 DEX): Continue strength training, but add more cardio, since I missed it so much last challenge. Also make time for more dance practice. Finally, focus on upper body strength training, especially handstands. Goal is to be able to stay 30 seconds in a handstand without a wall. Method: - Monday: 4 body weight training circuits (2 beginners workout, 2 hip program) - Tuesday: dance practice and cardio, then upper body focus - Wednesday: 4 body weight training circuits (2 beginners workout, 2 hip program) - Thursday: dance practice and cardio, then upper body focus - Friday: 2 body weight training circuits (2 beginners workout, 2 hip program) Exercises: Hip program: lunges x10, plank 30 secs, side kick x10 each side, leg raise x10 each side, hip raise x10 each side, squats x20 Upper body focus: 20 pushups at the level where I will be, then 3 attempts on the floor, then handstand practice for 10 minutes Grading: 1 point for each day where I follow the exercise program, 0 if I don't, 0.5 for cardio instead of strength training, 0.25 for additional circuit training (to compensate). 5 points per week for A, 4.5 for B, 4 points for C. TL:DR - M-W-F: Strength training, T-T: cardio and handstand training Diet goal (+2 STA, +2 CHA): I managed to stick to the no carbs diet last challenge, so I will continue. But the weight loss slowed in the second half of the challenge due to heavy snacking. So goal is to continue the no carbs rule but to limit the snacking. Method: Follow the almost-Paleo rule, with no carbs except in fruits and vegetables but allowing dairy fully this time (life without milk is too unhappy for me), but adding the S-diet to limits sweets, snacks and second servings. I will allow snacks in the form of fruits (as much as I want) and nuts (only one pack, I ate so many last challenge...). Protein shakes for the days when I have dance class in the evening will serve as pre-workout and dinner (will switch to casein for slower absorption). Grading: 1 point for each day with no carbs during the day Monday through Friday and only fruits or nuts for snacks, lower depending on the "infraction", on S-days 1 points for no carbs during meals and only 2 snacks with sweets / carbs. Compensation: no snacks at all on normal days or fruity snacks on S-days, for a maximum of 1.5 point per day. Total 6 points per week for A, 5.5 for B and 5 for C. TL:DR - Mostly Paleo with S-diet to prevent snacking Study goal (+3 WIS): I am taking the Topik level 4 in late March, so I need to STUDY hard. I need to focus on vocabulary mostly, but also do mock papers and take lessons to check practice exams and deepen grammar practice. Method: - Monday to Friday 30-minutes of vocabulary study, - 2-hour lessons on Saturday mornings, - 2 hours during the week (Monday morning and lunch Wednesday) - Monday and Wednesday: 90 minutes of study - Sunday: 2h of self study Total: 2h30 of vocabulary, 4h of class and 5h of self study. Goal is to do at least one practice exam every other week Grading: for vocabulary: 1 point for each day where I study vocabulary, 0 if I don't, 0.5 for study shorter than 30 minutes. Compensation at another time during the week but for half the points. 5 points per week for A, 4.5 for B, 4 points for C. For the rest: 1 point per hour of self-study (goal 5) and 1 point per 2 hours of class (goal 2). Compensation and anticipation only yield half the points. Total 7 points per week for A, 6.5 for B and 6 for C. TL:DR - Mix of self-study (practice paper), one-on-one classes and vocabulary to prepare my Korean exam Life balance goal (+1 CON, +2 WIS): I want to be more happy and relaxed. Meditation helped last challenge, but I need more positive reinforcement, especially building self-confidence in the face of critics at work. I also need to sleep more, since I tend to go overboard and sleep less than 5 hours when I am stressed. Also read more (anything). Method: - Go to bed by 11:30pm Sunday through Thursday (Fridays and Saturdays are optional since I can sleep in in the mornings) - Keep a gratitude journal: everyday, write at least one thing I am happy about being me, one accomplishment I should be proud of or something cool I do. I will keep 2 journals, one in the office and one at home so I can never say I forgot. - Read at least one book a month Grading: for going to bed: 1 point for each day where I go to bed before 11:30pm, 0 if I don't. Compensation for doing it another day during the week. 5 points per week for A, 4.5 for B, 4 points for C. For the gratitude journal, 1 point for each day when I do it, 0 if I don't. Compensation two positive thoughts but only half the points. Total 7 points per week for A, 6.5 for B and 6 for C. No grading for the reading, just positive karma and happy time well spent. TL:DR - Bedtime 11:30pm S-T, with Fri and Sat optional, keep a gratitude journal, read This will be a hard path, the path of the Assassins. But I was ready. I had a plan. The next three months would be tough but I would hold on. I would start again when I would fall and dry my tears when I would cry. I would do my best and be proud of myself. And at the end of these three months, I would be proud, wherever I would be, whether I would have been successful or not. I would stand tall and shout to the world that I tried. I took a deep breath, ready to engage in this new challenge, starting a new era of my life. I looked around me and strengthened my resolve. This was starting now.

I am back again, Challenge Number 3. Yep, first two were failures. First one was a spectacular crash and burn. Second one, I didn't quite make it, but am still functional ish. Challenge Number 3, the number one goal is to not be broken at the end of this challenge. This will take some doing as historically I fall apart after three to five weeks of steady PT. Goals are basic. RICE + stretch my feet to fight the planar fasciitis. This needs to happen daily. Run 3x week - end goal 8 min mile. Pushups and situps, 1 min - 40 pushups, 1 min 52 situps - do on run days. Pullups at the end of the workout. Where ever that gets me, it gets me. Walk the dog, twice a day, every day. Don't eat horribly. Little baby steps, stop stressing over eating etc and just win as often as I can. - Murphy's Roommate

Ok that may be an overstatement...but really it would be awesome. Anyway, my main quest is actually for this weekend (can I do that?). Here it is: Main Quest: Under 3 hours in olympic distance triathlon on June 14. (if that is too soon, I'm planning on signing up for another in July or August as well). How? Run 1x per week. There is a team workout on Tuesday mornings at 6am that I'd like to get to every week. However, that has not happened yet this summer. Also refer to life quest.Bike 1x per week. Biking to work is separate and does not count as bike workout. Bike workout may be road or mountain as I have just discovered my love of mountain biking.Hike 1x per week. Refer to previous challenge "Freddyfly's Grand Quest". But why is there no swim goal? Well, swimming is my strongest leg and I REALLY need to work on the other 2 so swimming improvement does not count towards being athlete extraordinaire. Life Quest: Wake up with alarm. As in less snoozing and coming into work later than I'd like. This should help me get to that running workout on Tuesday mornings. Hopefully. I used to be SO GOOD at waking up with my alarm and I'm not sure how this happened. Any tips?

Why hello there assassins. I excitedly started the challenge last week, promptly got a sinus infection, and I've been laying low ever since. I am however still on my quest to send 10lbs of padding off into the wilds with some sweet bodyweight workouts, swimming and yoga. Main quest - Lose 10 lbs 3/3 - down 1.1lbs! Goals: Complete beginner bodyweight workout 3x per week - reward 3 STR 3/3-3/8 - In calgary sorting 22,000lbs of storage units with family. No flexibility to go to the gym, but 7-9hrs a day of opening and moving boxes. Goals: Swim 2x per week - reward 2 STA 3/3-3/9 - in calgary, not swimming Eat lunch and dinner cooked at home 8x per week - reward 1 WIS 3/3 - 2x! (lunch and dinner) Life quest: Pay $1000 on my consumer debt reward: 1 WIS 1 CHA Current stats: 5'11 250lbs