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"Lord what fools these mortals be..." Ah, so I've heard, and so I've lived. Yes, this mortal shall reinvent herself as a faerie, as faerie's are not fools. And alas, this is not my first (or my second) respawn. Yet THIS respawn will be the best I can muster, and I am learning the steps of prioritising and committment to me. This time, I will take small steps to BALANCE my life outside the faerie realm with my loves inside the realm. And why would I do that, you ask? The answer's quite simple, my friend. I do that for me. "How very selfish of you," I hear your thoughts, and at one time I would agree, but no longer. In my fourth decade, there is still much to do, many places to fly. The world has big plans for me; whatever those may be, to act upon those opportunities I must be physically more able to fly. This week I will: find the meditation strand I like and begin with 5 minutes. Monday - Sunday. complete 1 NerdFitnessYoga between Sunday and Sunday.use more time at school to grade papers leaving me more time at home to BALANCE.use my bullet journal as a checklist tool so as to not feel so overwhelmed all the time.20 seconds of courage... okay, more like 2 seconds of courage....I shall now press "post new topic" and my journey has begun...yep, I'm gonna do it..... right..................now

In the past, NF challenges have been great for me. But the last year, since I had my second child, I have been neglecting myself, and the challenges didn’t work for me. Than lately, I was desperatly trying to regain my previous routines, from when I had only one kid, with no succes and much frustration. Until I realised that my general situation changed, and that probably what worked in the past wouldn’t work anymore. That maybe I had to swith things up completely and figure it out again. Since then, I have been way more relaxed about this, and let the flow of the days guide my goals, with only an “intention of doing x†to guide me. And it’s much better. As usual, for me a new year means a new intention, theme or mantra. 2015 was “be present†and I don’t feel I achieved that at all. I think the work was not the right one. Reflecting back, I actually “drifted†most of the time. For 2016, after a week of self reflextion, thinking, and brainstorming, life gave me the answer : BALANCE. Now is the time to put more focus and intention in my days, to achieve more balance. Time for me, time for my kids, my boyfriend, a little of everything I love, less of things I don’t. I decided to check with myself my general happyness and satisfaction with my wheel of life. I intend to do this each month, to help me pick areas to work on. This allows a nice flow, the possibility to change things up depending on what I need on that particular period of time. January, I am less satisfied with my health, past-times, as well as motherhood. I have picked the following goals with this in mind, and I think it’s perfect. To be a better parent, I need to full my well first, with the savers morning routine. Yoga is more than exercise to me. Its spirituallity, connection to myself, presence in my own body and slowing down. It’s a past-time that covers many areas. Physiotherapy is something I need to do for my health that I always avoided, but I know I need to implement it now, as getting older and my illness evolving requires it. And clean, because I know that a tidyer house brings less frustration and more clarity, I want to add a little of it too. With the new guilds, I feel like I should go in the druids the way my goals are, but at the same time, Adventurer is more “meâ€. I’ll stay in adventurers for now, and check back in febuary. I guess I consider myslef a curious druid, thisty for adventure and trying new things ! Main goal : achieve balance by fulling my well first, to be able to enjoy family life, be more patient, calm and loving and improve my life in general. Slow down to enjoy the moment and be mindful Savers : do the mirable morning routine, before everyone else is awake. I aim to do this in about 15-30 minutes each morning. Silence : 2 min meditation (eventually up to 10 min)Affirmation : daily yoga mantra + “every day, in every way, I am getting better and betterâ€Visualisation : see myself being calm, patient, in a place of love, mindfull, in control of my emotions during all events of the day, especially in parentingExercise : do some spine stretches, maybe a sun salutation, and the 30 day plank challengeReading : “peaceful parent, happy kid†by Dr. Laura MarkhamScript : journaling in my bullet journal, and plan the day. Be grateful for 3 things each dayPhysio : Do 3 cycles of 10 breath + 2 offing, each day, for lung physiotherapy Yoga : follow the yoga by Adriene yoga camp for 30 days, and focus on each day’s mantra during savers. This is a 30-60 min practice, and I have been doing it at night with great result and enjoyement over the last few days. Clean: get back into a daily habit for 15-30 min a day. Tidy home, tidy brain. This makes me calmer, and brings more clarity in general. It eases tension as well. In my mind, a little goes a long way. Wash dishesCheck laundryPick up around the house

The last few months have been HARD. Between preparing for a wedding and the subsequent comedown, work stress, trying to make progress in the gym and cutting weight, I managed to really wear myself down towards the end of 2015. I've had the Christmas and New Year break to recharge, reflect on the last few months and consider my priorities going forward. Some things have changed - I've decided I need a break from dieting and am looking to hold my weight steady for a couple of months before getting down to 83kg for a provisional competition in April. So I'm no longer working with a nutrition coach and need to get used to managing my own diet again. Generally though, I need to find a better balance and make sure other areas of my life don't suffer too much when one part gets intense. GOALZ 1. Manage my own nutrition, be accountable and don't become a fat mess So yeah, I have to manage my own nutrition again. My TDEE is something like 2500 calories per day, give or take but I will probably do 6 days of 2350 calories (175g carbs, 185g protein, 100g fat) and 1 day of 3400~ish (400g carbs, 185g protein, 120g fat) for dat cheat day goodness. I'll log my daily weigh ins in my thread and post a nutrition summary each week. Macros subject to change depending on how things go. 2. Actually do some goddamn mobility work I am really bad for saying I will do mobility and not doing it. Twice a week. That's what I'm going to do during this challenge. It's not much but it's better than nothing. 3. QUALITY TIMEZ I've noticed over the last few months that I have neglected to make time for doing the things that I enjoy by myself/with my wife. I aim to do two of these kind of things per week - play a videogame for longer than an hour, watch a movie, go for a walk together etc. 4. Do two non-gaming related social things during the challenge When things get stressful or I have a lot of commitments, I tend to revert to hermit mode and try and shut out the outside world. Time to snap out of that and spend time with friends. My regular Thursday night p&p RPG session does not count. 5. Actually finish a challenge I have a really bad habit of starting strong and then falling off the challenge wagon hard. Not this time buddy. 6. Get ready to compete So yeah this isn't really a goal for this challenge but I may as well put it down here. I'm doing my first powerlifting competition on 7th February a week after the challenge ends. I'm sure I'll spend some time getting ready for it during these 4 weeks!

Sovellis cast his eyes around at the destruction surrounding him. The murky, disease ridden flood waters had begun to recede, revealing the true cost of the disaster. Amid the battered and broken buildings, bodies emerged. Young, old, mothers, fathers, children, their skin darkened and mottled from injury and rot. The stench was overwhelming. Somewhere in the distance a fire raged, sending thick clouds of acrid smoke wafting through the remains of the town. He looked around in horror. This was his fault. He didn't know how he knew this, but he knew it to be true. It was him. Him and the shit choices he made. All had led to this loss. He couldn't breathe. His lungs burned. He began to panic. There was no fixing this, and it was all his fault... He fell unelegantly out of bed, waking in time to see the floor rapidly approaching his face. Instead of his usual slew of obscenities, he frantically scrambled to his feet, kicking a couple empty bottles across the floor, searching the darkness for the destruction that had surrounded him just moments before. In its place, all he saw was the familiar confines of his usual room at the inn. Shaking his head angrily, he tried to catch his breath. His bed clothes were soaked through and clammy with sweat and it looked like someone had tried to tie the blankets into a pretzel. "Just a dream. Another goddamn dream," he breathed to himself quietly. Prone to unpleasant dreams for as long as he could remember, their frequency and vividness had taken a decidedly ambitious step up in intensity as of late. He used to be able to block them out by drinking, but now they were breaking through even the deepest stupors. Just as he was starting to orient himself to reality again, there was a knock at the door. Grumbling, he stumbled through the dark to answer the summons. Opening the door unsurprisingly revealed the innkeeper, who looked as unhappy to be making this call as he was to receive it. "My lord, you know how I appreciate the aid you've offered this town, but there have been three complaints tonight alone of shouting coming from this room. I owe you as much gratitude as any, but I am running a business here, and people are starting to check out early. You understand," she explained as politely as she could, seeing the state he was in. Sovellis nodded tiredly and wiped his hand over his face. "I understand. I can head out tomorrow. Thank you for being so patient with me. Sorry for being such a problem." "Oh no problem at all, sir, and thank you for understanding." She turned to leave, then paused. "If you don't mind me saying so, my lord, I would ask you to take care of yourself and dispel whatever evil it is that haunts you so. You deserve to be happy, or at least content." She looked nervous, but breathed a sigh of relief when he offered her a nod and a smile of appreciation. Shutting the door he turned back to the mess of his bed. He needed rest but feared what awaited him in the realm of dreams. Each of his nightmares seemed to center around his fears of the slowly aggregating consequences of his innumerable and consistently poor choices. Just like so many times before, he knew something needed to change. Reluctantly he climbed back into the unpleasantly damp bed to try and sleep. "Ugh, I wish you were here, Ishu. You wouldn't stand for me making foolish choices, you never did. Why didn't I listen to you back then?" Closing his eyes, he clutched the pillow tightly, an anchor to the reality where it wasn't too late, where he could still change his fate by making better choices. Or at least that's what he hoped. <------<<< So I decided to join the druids this time around. Ultimately, I would like to stay a ranger, because I love running and weight lifting and doing warrior dash and all that stuff. The reality is that I need to take care of some seriously more fundamental health and self care issues first. I am in the final stages of earning my doctorate in clinical psychology, which means applying for internship and working on my dissertation. This is intensely stressful and I have not been coping well. I need to find a better balance, learn to be okay being alone, and figure out how to consistently make good choices about self care. Specifically, I am going to focus on reducing my alcohol intake. Again. I tried this last challenge, but I think the structure I tried didn't work well for me, so I'm going to try something a little different this time. Goal 1: Do one academic thing each day. Goal 2: Do one fitness thing each day (lifting, yoga, running, archery, even taking a long walk, anything really other than sitting on the couch will count for this). Goal 3: Do one healthy self care thing each day (shower, read, meditate, play a game, going to be exploring options for this to see what works for me). Goal 4: Alcohol reduction. Each day where I do not drink at all, I get to bank 2 drinks for later, which I can cash in at any time. This means that after one dry day, I have 2 drinks available. After 2 days it would be 4, and so on. I cannot earn any drinks without having at least one dry day. If I manage to stick to this, it will significantly reduce my weekly consumption. I think it stands a better chance of working because it is a reward system that leaves the power of choice in my hands, so I don't feel like I'm being deprived or punished.

Back in the Druids for this challenge, to focus on stress management and life balance. I usually do a storytelling aspect to my challenge, but because I will be doing a lot of writing for NaNoWriMo, I am going to take a break from Jym's story for this one. It feels more like a chore than a game for now. I'm going to try the "Combo Style" of challenge this time, as invented by Luciana Valerosa Culming. I'm actually modifying it a little bit to work better for myself. Since I'm seeking balance, it seemed like a really great way to make sure I'm doing all the things I need to, without being overwhelmed! As all of my challenges are, at their core, this is a habit-building challenge. The main focus is on what I'm calling "skillful actions" - habits that I do for their own sake (enjoyment of doing them), but that will also help me get closer to long-term goals. These are Meditation, Drawing (preferably every day, but less during NaNo), and Working Out with Will (3x per week). I also have some "keystone habits" that, while not necessarily fun to do, are things that I know will really help me to reach my goals and be more productive. These are Waking Up Without Snoozing, Counting Calories, and my Bedtime Ritual. I have a long list of other things that need to be accomplished (or done repeatedly, in some cases) that will fill out my list. Finally, I found it useful to have a list of things that I need to do at least once a week, to avoid letting them slip for too long. In keeping with the fighting game theme, I will call the combo that includes the last of these items for the week a "finishing move". How to score: Each day has the potential for a single "combo", the power of which is determined by how complicated the combo is. More things completed makes a stronger combo, but a broader variety of things accomplished is stronger than several of one type of move. Various "enemies" need to be defeated by a certain number of combos, or by certain types of combos. The enemies have a time constraint to defeat them in (usually 1 week), and if they are not defeated by then, I lose the round and must move on to the next enemy. The number of slain foes by the end of the challenge will determine my score. Combo lists: 5 or more moves combined make a combo. A combo is required to break the enemy's shield; otherwise, moves only do half damage. (So 4 moves would do 2 damage.) There are multipliers for diversity: Combine 2 lists: 1.2x multiplier Combine 3 lists: 1.3x multiplier Combine 4 lists: 1.4x multiplier Combine 5 lists: 1.5x multiplier Combine 6 lists: 1.6x multiplier Combine 7 lists: 1.7x multiplier Combine 8 lists: PERFECT COMBO! 2x multiplier! Example: A+B+Y+Y+Special 5 moves, utilizing 4 lists, is 5 x 1.4 = 7 total damage. If I also earned my 4th star for the week on that day, it would be 14 damage!! Special Moves (consider each to be its own 'list'): x Counting Calories x Bedtime Ritual (by 10:00pm) x Wake Without Snoozing x Socialization List A: Housework o Organize/Minimize an area o Vaccuum o Get Groceries o Take out Trash o Cat Care (trim nails, etc) o (Other) List B: Creativity o NaNoWriMo (1666+ words in a day) o Draw something o Scan drawings o Update Art Blogs o (Other) List X: Self-Care o Meditation o Playing Video Games o Reading for Fun o Relaxation o Watching TV with Will o Baking o (Other) List Y: Exercise and Health o Working out with William. (3x per week) o Going for a Walk o Resisting Fast Food (actively choosing not to get any) o Made Dinner o Drank 16+ cups of liquid o (Other) Finishing Moves: (A star () is earned for each of these done during a week; once 4 stars are earned, the day's combo is a FINISHING MOVE that multiplies the total combo by 2! Failing to earn 4 stars in the week resets the counter to 0 for the next week.) 1) Run dish machine and EMPTY IT. (Both parts are necessary to count as a complete move.) 2) Clean litter box 3) Do something special for spouse (date night, etc) 4) Submit time sheet (because I keep forgetting to do this and annoying the financial department.) Trophies: Tutorial Slime Christmas Slime Corporate Zombie Procrastination Demon #1 Victors: Procrastination Demon #2 Writer's Clock

Been putting this off for a while but if I start it, I am sure I can roll with a little momentum. I've been absent off and on from the forums because I can never seem to organize myself anymore or put my fitness as a priority (because I really kinda hate it). But now I am the heaviest I have been in many,many years. I have been battling the same 10 lbs for over 2 years and now I have gained even more. I was doing well for a little while, cut out the vending machines and sodas. Even did some morning yoga which I loved. But everything gets overwhelming and now I am having to rush my child to school very early in the morning. I hate to make excuses but it's been difficult. Do I want to lose body fat? Yes, absolutely! Do I want it more than anything? No, not really. There are other things I am working for in life that take a lot of time and priority over it. I am having a HUGE balance problem. I see a lot of people that love working out and want to push their bodies to see what it can do. Or workout till they are exhausted. I don't. I hate it. So that leaves balancing diet right? Well.... I kinda have an overeating addiction that I have also been fighting for years. I refer to it as the "Archdemon." It kicks my ass every time, especially when I am emotional. I've tried many methods and many groups, still can't seem to shake it off even just a little bit. I had been going to the gym at lunch with my hubby until I hurt my back last January and I was forced to stop. Since then I did a few things here and there, but I'm just really out of the habit. I hate working out. I hate it so much. But now I am paying the consequence. I tend to get overwhelmed by the timing of the challenges, so I decided to start a daily battle log: Doing what I can when I can. Small steps. I can't just leap into it, my life's way too busy and I get burned out too fast. But I have to jump start something again because I can no longer fit into many of my clothes. They are all uncomfortable and I'm just miserable. So I guess I am picking my battle: Hate working out or hate not fitting in any of my clothes?? I have reverted back to wearing my old maternity shirts or my husband's t-shirts that are 1 size larger than my own.

Hello fellow Assassins! I realize I'm more than a little late... But life cannot always meet six-weeks deadlines. Life has been crappy recently and I've let myself fall in the trap of emotional eating, not exercising, not sleeping and just generally letting go of anything resembling a healthy habit, from eating vegetables to valuing my own strength. But no more! Jumun is getting back in the saddle! This will be a half challenge, but I hope I'll be able to get back some good habits and build on them for next challenge. 3 key goals this time around: - Healthy eating: which means balanced diet, without excessive cutting or calorie counting, but a mix of carbs, fats, proteins and fruits and vegetables. Also no shaming if I fall off the wagon and eat candies / cookies. Just acceptance and moving on. I'll use Weight Watchers to count, as it is easier to evaluate and gives me some leeway. - Daily exercising: as I was down in the dust I stopped exercising, and my knees, my back and in general my body did NOT approve. So I'm starting slowly again to gain strength, by continuing dance class, but also cardio every morning. I chose to start easy and will measure on cardio, then reintroduce strength training slowly. My knees have been acting up, so I don't want to put too much pressure on them. Measuring will be done 1 for exercise and 0 if not, with comp allowed the same week. - Going to bed before 11pm: as I have to wake up early I Have to get back into the habit of going to bed earlier. Exception for days when I can sleep later the next morning, i.e. Friday and Saturday nights. There will be no official targets or rewards for these three weeks, but just a positive momentum if I can build it and maintain it. Let's go!

I am just in a Redwall kind of mood, folks. The associations are loose at best, but let's just go with it. As for introduction, I'm Raptron -- I do gymnastics 2-3x per week and try to get into the gym 2-3x per week for lifting but have been dealing with some lower back issues that I intend to get checked out soon. In this challenge, I'll be taking on some weak points for myself: pull-up strength, jump power, and static handstand holds. I had good success last challenge when I used an incentivizing points system to help clean my house, so I will take that from last challenge and apply it here. The disincentivizing side was not as effective, so I am dropping it for now to see how it goes. GOAL ONE: BADGER STRONG *Pull-up work 3x per week, following the twenty pull-ups program I've dropped down to 2 pull-ups from 3, so that says it's time to do some work again. I've got a pull-up bar at home, so there is literally no reason not to get these in 3x per week. In my experience previously, I do not progress as prescribed and will likely have to repeat weeks, but that is OK! GOAL TWO: JUMP LIKE A HARE *Explosive jump work in at least 5 sets, 2x per week, including a mix of vertical and distance in each workout My vertical jump and horizontal jumps could always be better and there is significant carry-over into my gymnastics performance, especially vertical jumping. GOAL THREE: SQUIRREL TREETOP BALANCE *Static handstand practice for 10 minutes, 3x per week OUTSIDE of gymnastics practice. I can handstand walk for days and days and days but my static holds are shockingly bad most of the time and ya know, that's probably because I rarely train them. GOAL FOUR: TAKING CARE OF THE HOME FRONT *Clean abbey, clean mind: Cleaning things gives 1 point *Self guard duty: Some kind of self-care gives 1 point *Nursemice: Making doctor or PT appointments for myself gives 1 point *Don't raid the larders: Mindful eating day gives 1 point SCORING -- Anything higher than 180 is going to be an excellent score. Between 160-180, good. Between 140-160, okay. Below 140, blah. I like shiny positive reinforcement points, so I am going to track these on the fridge again. My kitchen was in way better shape last challenge than pretty much ever before, so this should help keep that going!

Greetings, Assassins! After 3 successful challenges as a visiting Ranger, I have decided to officially jump guilds and join you all here! I figured that if I want to fit in, have everyone like me, and always be happy, I'd better to turn to Lego for some instructions. As I said, my last 3 challenges have been pretty successful, so I want to keep the momentum going. I've built some good habits and found a workout routine that works for me, so I want to stick with those. For this challenge, I'll be adding some goals to accentuate what I've already accomplished as well as build some more assassin-y skills. Goal 1: Strike a balance There are a variety of bodyweight skills I'd like to learn, and while striking the pose pictured here would be awesome, my immediate goal is a bit humbler. I really want to master the pistol squat. I found this tutorial on Rowan's thread this past summer and will be following the progressions. I can currently perform 20 good form narrow squats with my arms in front. My next step will be 20 narrow squats with my hands behind my head. I tried these this week and found my balance to be severely lacking, so I don't anticipate mastering the pistol during this six weeks, but I want to continue to progress. Edited to write out the progression so I don't have to keep referring to the external link: 30 second Grok Squat50 bodyweight squats20 Narrow squats20 clean deep narrow squats with hands behind my head10 Seated Pistols10-15 Assisted Pistols Goal 2: Sculpt some muscle My last few challenges have focused on getting lean and building strength, which I will continue to do, but I also want to address some of my lagging body parts. My current workout routine includes 2 "work" days and 1 "play" day, based on Anthony Mychal's 242 method. So on my "work" days, I'll focus on my 6 main lifts and I'll use my "play" day to give some extra attention to areas like my calves and triceps. For this particular goal, I'm actually going to try this calf raise workout every day. The goal will be 6 weeks of single-leg calf raises, 3 times a day. Goal 3: Use the right building blocks I was very happy with the results of my goal last challenge to lose 5 pounds in an effort to take an inch off my midsection. I'm going to continue to follow Kinobody's intermittent fasting scheme in hopes of losing another inch. However, if I do lose another 5 pounds, I'll be down to about 150 and the last time I was that light, I lost a lot of muscle, too. So, in an effort to keep muscle and just lose fat, I'm going to focus this goal on THE muscle building block - protein. Greg from Kinobody recommends 0.82 grams of protein per pound of body fat. I'll be shooting for about 120 g/day and then balance out fats and carbs depending on my training vs rest schedule. This goal will be graded based on number of days I hit my protein number. Goal 4: Be buddies! My last goal is a social one. I've been super busy at work for a while now and unfortunately it looks like it will not slow down for at least the duration of this challenge, so I'm setting a goal of having at least 2 date nights with my wife and 2 guys' nights over the next 6 weeks. It will take some effort and planning to pull off, but I think it's do-able and very necessary for my sanity and IRL relationships. Double decker couch optional. There you have it! I'm anticipating another successful 6 weeks with the Assassins. Thanks to all who stop by and I look forward to all the impending awesomeness I'll see on your threads!

Five weeks, you say? FIVE WEEKS?! So since CAMP NERD FITNESS falls directly in the middle of this challenge, I am hereby dubbing this a five week challenge. Because my challenge for camp week is going to be JUST ENJOY CAMP! Period. I don’t want to have to think about goals or grading when I’m kayaking or on some ropes 60 feet above the ground or swordfighting someone or leaping through a waterfall. NOPE! Five weeks. Let’s do it. So I’m sitting here trying to come up with a theme that has to do with the number five. Hmm. Lots of thinking. What am I currently into nerd-wise that can work with the number five?............ Aaahahahaha yes YES EXCELLENT. STRONG WOMEN THAT DON’T TAKE NO SHIT. ALL RIGHTY THEN. Mad Max: Fury Road. If you haven’t seen it, it’s ok, we can still be friends. This movie has quickly rocketed into my top films of all time - brilliant characterization, a stunning musical score, impeccable and creative craftmanship, 99% CG-free crazy wild stunts with real humans and acrobats... and of course, blowing things up and a DESERT CAR CHASE YEEEAAAHH!!! These are the five Citadel Wives that the warlord Immortan Joe had taken and imprisoned for his own “personal use†(ugh) to breed him pure children (read: boys) to carry on his craycray warlord lineage and leadership. But when they break out on a risky road to freedom, they’re anything but delicate flowers. They fight and load weapons and work on the vehicles and lug heavy shit around and it’s JUST RAD. This challenge will be structured a little different than usual - mainly I’m breaking my quests up into a total of 5 instead of 4, and the point division will be a little different. But you’re not here to hear about the technicalities. You’re here for GLORY, SHINY AND CHROME. (hey there might be spoilers in this post if you haven’t seen the movie, so there’s that.) The Splendid Angharad (+3 STA) Splendid is the unofficial “leader†of the wives, she’s Joe’s favorite and throughout the movie always keeps a cool head, no matter what the situation. (Like, you know, if she’s about to have a baby in the underbelly of a truck that’s going 500mph and being pursued by Bad Dudes, or when she flings herself onto the outside of a war rig as a pregnant human shield to keep her friends from being shot, idk.) She’s graceful and grounded, and I want to take an opportunity to work on my mobility and flexiness with some yoga balance poses. Balance has always been a strong point of mine, and I think this will be a great opportunity to test myself, and expand my mental/physical “rootsâ€, if you will. I’ve chosen three balance poses to work on and will practice 3 times a week, and will also make it a final goal to hold each one at the end of the 6 weeks for as long as I can. Poses in no particular order are: Royal Dancer (otherwise known as Lord of the Dance), Crow, and Eagle. (I think I subconsciously listed them from most challenging -> least challenging, ha!) A - Practiced 3 times a week. B - Practiced 2 times a week. C - Practiced 1 time a week. Capable (+3 WIS) Capable is probably my second favorite of the wives. She’s gentle, kind, and compassionate. The way she treats Nux when she discovers him hiding on their rig - with compassion and not anger or disgust - and how she continues to support him steadfastly throughout the film speaks volumes to her character. Her words and actions are subtle yet full of a quiet inner strength. She’s just great, y’all. GREAT. (Her costume is also my favorite. That hair. Yass.) Anyways. I need to be a little more compassionate with myself and check in with myself a little better each week. Life’s about to get a little hectic - I’m going to Camp at the end of the month, then flying home for a long weekend in October, so that combined with my usual hijinks makes me err on the side of more self-care than usual. Plus, my favorite season is coming (autumn yo), and I want to be able to be present and mindful to enjoy as much of it as I can amidst the chaos. Like balancing, meditation is something I’ve been well versed in from an extremely young age, so I’ll try to describe my mindful experiences in detail here. A - Meditated once at the end of the week. F - MEDIOCRE. (Sorry, MM pun, this means I screwed up and didn’t do anything.) Cheedo the Fragile (+3 CON) Guys. I am literally Cheedo the Fragile. Seriously. This quest is probably going to be the most important one out of them all. Cheedo went from being timid and pretty darn naive (and actually wanting to go BACK to her terribad yet coddled lifestyle at one point, girl, you a strong wasteland woman that don’t need that junk) to using her 20 Seconds of Courage to trick Rictus into helping her onto his rig, thereby helping Furiosa on so she could kill Joe. Ballsy. While I won’t be spearheading any warlord assassinations, MY BACK IS FRAGILE, YO. Holy crapola. I need to get on this NOW and do it right, and stop saying, “Oh, I’m going to do this lala~†and just dooooo it. I don’t want to be someone that’s constantly sidelined by injury because I failed to take care of myself the right way. Consistent stretching and low back exercises has proved very helpful in the past, and I need to make it a priority. This will be a combination of targeted stretches along with strengthening core work. A - 5 days of low back stretching/strengthening. B - 4 days of low back stretching/strengthening. C - <3 days of low back stretching/strengthening. Toast the Knowing (+3 STR) How can you not like a chick named Toast. For reals, yo. Toast is a survivalist. She doesn’t beat around the bush, there’s no sugar coating here. When the other girls were flipping out over Angharad, Toast kept her cool and had her eyes on the prize, reminding them that they didn’t have any time to stop because they were going to the Green Place. She reloads guns and puts together weapons like a seasoned pro. She’s tactical and the first to suggest blocking the pass on the way back to the Citadel, to keep the War Boys from catching up to them. Toast just does what needs to be done. In the spirit of doing what needs to be done - I like gaming. A lot. We recently built some super fast mega charged pew-pew Shiny New PC’s for just such a thing, and as much as I love a nice long weekend gaming session......... I need to hold myself a little more accountable with my screen time. For each hour spent gaming on the weekend I owe myself 15 minutes of being up and mobile. Any type of exercise that suits my fancy - cardio, yoga, jump roping, practicing my barrel rolls (?), shadowboxing, vigorous spell-casting, whatever works. Turning into a Weekend Screen Warrior (literally) is a blast but if I spend too long on the computer I get fuzzy, lethargic, and spaced out. And that’s no way to survive. Speaking of survival, this quest is pass or fail ONLY. A - Every hour of gaming met with 15 minutes of exercise. F - You done screwed up. The Dag (+3 CHA) I love The Dag. I think she might be my favorite of the wives. She’s sassy and feisty and mouthy, and with all the bad juju she’s endured it hasn’t dulled her fire. She hisses at people and spits on them and doesn’t hesitate to let you know where you stand. Conversely she’s also very intuitive and creative, learning how to take care of the seeds from the Vuvalini, and always being keyed in to her environment and knowing when the enemy was approaching. For my Life Quest I want to spark my own creativity and use my fitness Instagram more!!! It’s something I’ve been slacking on and I really want to do more with it, but just haven’t had the drive to. Hey, it’s time! Follow me here for accountability and motivation, if you are so inclined. A - Instagram 3 times weekly. B - Instagram 2 times weekly. C - Instagram once weekly. Throughout all of this I plan to continue my lifting at least twice a week, but that's so ingrained now that I felt it silly to make it an actual challenge. Besides, variety, etc. Hop on my War Rig, rebels, and let's take this journey down the FURY ROAD TO VICTORY!!!! I LIFT! I REST! I LIFT AGAIN!!!!

Hi everyone, I am a lucky go happy fire dragon, who has developed such a curiosity for life and all its goodies, that it is time for some time management and discipline in order to get all the fun into the 24 hours a day has... I love particularly pole dancing and aerial hoop, but am excited about other bodyweight and dance arts too. I enjoy yoga and meditation, love traveling, reading, hiking, funny movies, the work I do and of course my gorgeous family. This is a challenge in which I am trying to do all the things and still aim to be On Top of my Game which feels a little bit like this at times and actually I am aiming for THIS: So, how can I get to this level of Ease, Grace and general being on Top of my Game?? Simple, I will have to be a) strong b, balanced c) flexible d) connected e) clear and focused For my STRENGTH I will continue my hoop training, which is easy as I have lessons once a week, but also keep up with my pole training at home until my next set of lessons in September again. This will increase my strength beautifully and be fun when I can do better on things and be all up for the new course when it starts. a) Pole training 2x / week (+ 3 STR) have drafted a checklist of moves I would like to improve on and put it here, it is not necessarily complete also could be a move gets neglected... just gives me ideas and motivation For my BALANCE I will revive my handstand training (thank you, Mad Hatter ) Had done most of a 30 day challenge on those in January and will give it a new go in some way. Not sure yet how my training program will look like exactly, but aim to train daily at least a few minutes and do once a week progress videos. Getting into a Handstand if ever so briefly off the wall would be sooooooo cool! Also want to include training for the wrists (thank you, Elastigirl ) for the spreading of the unbreakable wrist trainings b, Handstand training (daily) + 3 STA - unbreakable wrist training - 5 min walk up, kick up or press up training, - headstand alternatives okay on 2-3 days/week - wall plank for 1 min of training - progress video once a week For my FLEXIBILITY I'd like to train on the splits this time. There, I said it. Now it's official and I will finally have to do it Looked today and am better than I thought I'd be but still wayyyy away from that dear floor... am very tempted to get myself the GMB focused flexibility course for it... will see, otherwise see plan below c) Stretches for Splits (4x / week) + 3 DEX: - both knees bent in long, low lunge - front leg straight - both legs straight - splits - center splits - progress pics once a week For my CONNECTIONS to the dear, dear world around me - meaning my family - that often gets neglected between work, house chores, fitness and other things... my goal is to give them a LOT more time. Related to that in a big way is the next goal, but I know if I don't set these things in my diary, I might end up working anyway and time flying past... NOT ANYMORE This should work well as my kids have only one more week of school and then it's six weeks school holiday. My hubby is visiting his family in SA for four weeks, so I promised I would give the kids a good time here and will! Apart from ice creams and movies etc I will include them in my workouts which is great fun for them and for me, yay. That first point I'd like to keep going after the holidays as well as a healthy habit. d) Training and outings with kids + 3 CHA - do warm up or short workout units with kids and/or go roller blading once a week - Take kids for swim or another fun outing at least twice a week My CLARITY and FOCUS will be a most crucial part of staying On Top of my Game! If work eats up too much of my time, the other important areas in my life come short... if I neglect work I fall behind on that and it doesn't feel good either. I love my work, but am learning to delegate more and more (big woot on that one) so my new goal is to slowly shift my general work schedule to mornings only plus 1 max 2 hours in the evening. This would be heavenly, to have ALL afternoons for kids, house, fitness and fun, woweeeeeeeee, would that be awesome Here is a list of things, I'd like to keep on top of workwise, mainly as reminder to myself The other part of this goal is literal clarity. With sitting a lot in front of a screen, be it for work or relaxation, I want to give my eyes a break in between and pamper them with some relaxation again. Will want and need them to see literally clear for a long time still Eye exercises - do 3 min per hour at computer, set timer - rolling, up and down, crossing, far-near, rub hands and hold - can also be combined with relaxation pose e) Eye exercises and work schedule + 1 CON + 2 WIS BONUS PART What, this is still not enough?? Well, when I look at some of the other challenges, this looks like peanuts to me, but to be honest, it is A LOT for me and I am a little nervous if I can manage... on the other hand, it's all things I really, really want to live daily, so.... Well, assuming I can manage there is one more thing to be a big help in staying On Top of my Game: uncluttering The less stuff there is about, the less fuss I have, right?! This may be a cluttered drawer or a room in the cellar that needs to be cleared and both can be equally intimidating. So REALLY AWESOME would be, if I could unclutter one area of the house per week. Be it one draw or shelf or an entire room, just something that is clear and neat and fresh again so that I have some space to fly.....

Sovellis woke with a splitting headache. He felt woozy and disoriented. Looking around, he saw he was back in Noor's stone shack. How had he gotten there? Wasn't he just at the ruins of that tower? Despite feeling awful, at least he could feel that the fae beast's hold on him had been broken. Noor calmly chopped vegetables, layering them over chunks of rabbit meat to start a stew. She ached all over and her mind felt crisped, but it was over for now. The tower was free of beasts and she could finish her research and collapse it's haunted hall. Sovellis was freed for now. "What the hell happened...?" he croaked, his voice hoarse from disuse. How long had he been out? "You were almost taken by a faebeast in that blasted tower. Do you remember anything? Did you accidentally talk to it?" Noor crossed to him and handed him one ofher heavy mugs filled with strong smelling tea Taking the mug, he tried to remember. "Ishu, I talked to Ishu." He shook his head. "But that makes no sense, Ishu couldn't be there. I had to get out, but I couldn't." His memories were a confusing mess, and didn't seem to flit together cohesively. "AH. it stole an image from your mind and tricked you into speaking to it. There was too much magic in that place to be safe." She shuddered, glad that the creature was gone. He stared down into the steaming mug, slumping. "I'm sorry, I should have been stronger. I'm not being any help at all. Just putting both of us in greater danger." She placed one large gnarled hand on his shoulder. "Stop. You know how dangerous fae can be. That's why I waited fro there to be two of us to go back. Had it been just me, it could have taken me I would still be there in its clutches. He looked up at his old friend with a sad smile. "Thanks for saving my life. Again. Heh, my family should have paid you double." She laughed long and hard remembering. "Your family pays plenty well. You should send them a letter after this. Speaking with Ishu for real might do you well." Nodding and fiddling with his signet ring, he sniffed the tea, then took a cautious sip. It was surprisingly good, if rather pungent and strong. "Were you able to find out anything helpful at least?" "Well, I came close to sorting through all the magics and traced the curse to the fae's room. Now that its gone and made a bond to not return, I can go back and finish my work. One thing I do know is that this curse can not be dispelled and has to be survived or bested." "A curse that can't be dispelled? I didn't know such a thing could be done. Damned fae. Sounds like you are doing a pretty good job besting it so far!" He still felt a little ashamed for being tricked and captured by the fae, but he tried instead to focus on his friend's success. "So, back to the tower again?" "Yes, soon. First though we need to make you well again. You didn't eat properly for several days, or meditate." That explained why he felt so horrible. "I'll be fine, I should just need a day or so. I don't want to slow you down." "And I could use a day to research and rest before heading back to work. We shall have stew and relax tonight, spend tomorrow regrouping. Then we can see how well you have recovered and if the fae keeps its word." At the mention of stew, his stomach growled. Nodding, his smile grew as a spark of hope returned to him. "Good plan, especially the stew part!" "I had good hunting today. A brace of rabbits, a small deer. Hunting w iht a cat is so difernt than with a dog." SHe beamed at the large sleeping cat napping inthe sunlight "Heheh, I bet, a predator that large that can also sneak up on things? Terrifying!" He stretched his stiff limbs, trying to feel closer to normal. This quest had not been kind to him so far, but he had to find a way to move forward. <-------<<< Woo! Another challenge! Last one did not go so well for me. My poor elf succumbed to the pressures he faced, but luckily he had his friend Noor there to defeat the fae beast and drag him to safety. This challenge I am back with the rangers, and will look very different for me, because school stuff is ramping up again. I am going to focus on balance. In therapy I realized there were 5 basic areas that I need to succeed in to be a happy, healthy person. Academia, spirituality, physical fitness, chores (basic adulting), and reducing my drinking. I have shown many times over that I can rock any one of these at a time. The problem is that I need to make them all work at the same time. For this challenge, I must do something productive in each category to be counted successful. Four of five categories accomplished is a successful day. This feels uncomfortable for me, because it will place less emphasis on several things I've been doing awesome at and more emphasis on things I've been avoiding. I am also trying to practice greater patience and empathy for myself, but most of the time I still want to kick myself in the face. We will see how this goes, hopefully it works better than the last challenge! Woooo! *dives in* Also, I am starting my challenge tomorrow and counting two days past the official end of the challenge because I mixed up what day of the week it was. Oops.

Lifestyle goal 1: A game of chances: Be accepted into the university as a Physiotherapist: Okay so a few challenges ago I applied, and I'm awaiting response this thursday (30th) this is as the title describes a game of chances. around 1/10 will be accepted (as for last year) but I'm hoping the best.! Grades: PASS // FAIL +1 WIS will be granted Fitness goal 1: Same side Elbow to Toe both sides. To improve my hamstring flexibility I'm working towards the Toe to Forehead stretch. Follow the protocol 4x a week for the 6 weeks of the challenge. Grades: 6 Weeks = A (1) 4 Weeks = B (0,75) 3 Weeks = C (0,5) 2 weeks = D (0,25) 1 week or less = F +1 DEX will be granted Fitness goal 2: With practice Yuval succeed After this challenge I will go to the Nike Inspire Convention in Copenhagen, where I will have 2 workshops with Yuval on hands. I need to make my handstand as solid as possible before that time (video will follow within the first week, and then over time) I have my handstand program I will follow 5 days a week for the 6 weeks The program will be alternating between the following: Handstand + Mobility Handstand + Bridgework. Both will be including a lot of line work, and some L sits Grades: 6 Weeks = A (1) 4 Weeks = B (0,75) 3 Weeks = C (0,5) 2 weeks = D (0,25) 1 week or less = F +1 STR will be granted Fitness Goal 3: Now you see me - Now you don't! Okay so I have gained a lot of weight lately due to laziness and holiday. This have to stop The goal will be to improve the amount of clean days in my weeks. Week 1-3: At least 4 Clean days pr week Week 4-5 At least 5 clean days pr week Week 6, At least 6 clean days pr week The extra body fat are keeping me slow, and giving me an unnecessary resistance that I have to move and work with! it have to go! Grades A = All weeks completed (1) B = 2/3 groups completed (0,5) C = 1 group completed (0,25) F = FOCUS!! +1 STA will be granted For making everything simple this time after the reroll, I can also get 1 point pr challenge, and then the points from the mini challenges) I will update this soon! My main focus would be to get as close as possible to a good freestanding handstand In september I'm going to two workshops with Yuval, at an inspire convention in Copenhagen if you don't know him here is a little view https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsDXwr1jdbs

Greetings, being completely new I believe an introduction is in order. Let's start with the basics: I'm Michael, live in Hildesheim a little city in Germany, am 30 years old and primarily work as a yoga teacher (I do some IT consulting and sound bowl massage on the side). Besides that I'm part of the advisory council of a German Online Gaming Community (because sometimes that ist more interesting than gaming itself) and active in local politics (because I firmly believe that in order to change something you have to get involved first). Oh and I'm a member of a real life druid order. And a little bit of personal history: 2010 while still studying Social Pedagogics and Organisational Management I decided to start a 4 year Yoga Teacher Certification Training. Unfortunately I had severe trouble finishing my university studies due to psychic blocks and the knowledge that most of the necessary work was pretty pointless, which wasn't very easy on me mentally and had a negative impact on my Life as a whole. Fortunately the more intense yoga practise helped to offset this problem and after finishing the Certification in 2014 (I'm now a certified yoga teacher with the Berufsverband der Yogalehrenden in Deutschland [German Yoga Union] and the European Yoga Union) and I decided to stop studying and focus on yoga full time. Which I have been doing for the last six months, working in my family’s yoga institution and for the Volkshochschule (German supplementary education institution for adults) and did some IT Consulting & PC Service and sound bowl massage on the side. Last month I moved into a new apartment (still have to finish installing the kitchen sink and stove) and have some time to refocus and renew myself before yoga classes start again in September. This is especially important since I will be starting a new education (necessary to get my yoga classes approved by the German health insurance companies) at the same time causing me to be in school from 8 to 13pm and teaching yoga classes in the evening and afternoon afterwards for the next year. Therefore the next year is going to be quite a challenge in and by itself. Which leads me to the challenge and my main quest for the next weeks: Get back into a physically and mentally balanced state (which I have been working on for the last year). This translates into the following goals for this challenge: Daily yoga and meditation practise Daily walking or running outside (>30 minutes each day; >2 hours each week in the forest) 8 hours of sleep each day Continue changing diet towards a paleo diet (I'm mostly there but from time to time I slip into old habits, which I'll avoid from now on) Find a sustainable bodyweight training routineAnd as a side quest I decided to improve my mental flexibility by learning about something new each day (I regularly spend at least 1 hour each day learning, but mostly regarding work or Hobby related subjects, which does improve skills and knowledge but doesn't necessarily improve one's horizon). In addition to learning something new by sitting or standing comfortable at home I will also try to be more social (which can lead to new learning experiences as well).

My goal for 2015 is to be able to do one pull up, well. I'm a 32-year-old woman, 1.7m tall and 70.7 kg. I haven't done a pull up since . . . maybe middle school? Maybe elementary? I've been doing bodyweight on and off since September, and am much stronger and lighter than I was. I am still stuck on what I call "modified jackknives" in my pull up progression, though. (http://www.startbodyweight.com/p/pull-up-progression.html) I use the middle bar, and am in a more or less 90° "sitting" position midway between fully extended arms and the full pull up. I might be able to do a jackknife, too, but I'm working out at a park, so there's no chair to use to test it. Anyway, I'm not getting to progress to the next step, eccentric pull ups. This six weeks I am continuing my bodyweight work, but want to add something to my ranger mini-challenge that will help me reach my goal. Any advice on what,other than push ups, pull ups, and horizontal rows, I can do to move toward my strength goal of doing a pull up? Moose is my mini-challenge "spirit animal".

Last round I had a delicious "un-challenge" that clearly showed me how much I treasure exercise and using the muscles and joiynts of my body every day. Really, if I do too little for just a few days I don't feel good any more and that is relatively new for me, but of course totally good 3x pole training per week are going well, but not enough (?!?! when did that happen??) Spontaneous craziness had me sign up for an aerial hoop course over the next 5 weeks as well as (meaning hoop class on Wednesdays and pole class on Thursdays, plus 2x training at home on the pole) I am both super excited for it and a little terrified. But I'm sure it'll be great fun But as I do need some form of exercise every day and maybe not always full, full power I decided to tempt myself with little goodies spread out. Thanks to the game of pawns mini from last challenge I learned that if I do little snippets of something spread over the day, I can do a lot more than I would have thought and that, too, does feel realllllly good. Sooo this time I will make this "un-structure" my structure for 5 weeks and see how I go with it. Hopefully I will grow with it, gain strength, balance and flexibility with it and let it all bloom into a luscious garden of human heaven on earth In order to plant this garden I will: A, loosen the soil (+ 3 STA) do anything that gets me to loosen up from sitting or standing too much such as jumping jacks, rope skipping, trampoline, non-habitual dancing, quadrupedal movements,... aiming for 90 minutes/week and ideally doing something every day B, plant the bulbs and seeds (+ 3 CON) do things that get my hands on the ground such as headstand, handstand, cartwheels (or attempts of them), down dog, crow pose,... aiming for 20 minutes/week and ideally at least 2 min a day C, let them grow (+ 3 STR) get them to go UP by doing things like pull ups, chin ups, leg raises, push ups, sit ups, bulgarian split squats,... will count in units, 1 unit being 8 pull ups, 10 chin ups, 15 leg raises, 30 push ups, 30 sit ups or 20 bulgarian squats each leg aiming for 10 units/week and of course ideally at least one day D, let it unfold and bloom (+ 3 DEX) this means stretching, either active or passive and relaxing into the stretch totally counts as well, point here is to give time - you can't rush the unfolding of a rose bud either - so at least 1 min per pose aiming for 30 units/week and ideally at least 2 or 3 every day E, give water and rest (+ 2 WIS, + 1 CHA) inspired by other's early up challenges and enough sleep during night hours I will go for 5 days/week of bed time before 10.30 pm and rising at 6.30 am or earlier also have been generously given some colloidal gold, which seems to be quite a powerful support for all kinds of good things in the body, so I'll see if I will turn into a golden dragon then and have a spoon full every morning before breakfast plus as plants like things really fresh, clean and pure I won't have any alcohol over this challenge either Plants respond very well to kind words and attention, so my bonus will be to feed myself with nourishing questions throughout my days: If I wouldn't HAVE to do anything today, what would I love to do? (and do at least one of those things, it IS possible any day!!) How can I be happy while this is in progress/while I do this? What do I want to celebrate first/soon/today? What amazing thing could happen today that I have yet no clue about? What am I excited about today? What would I love to have happening for me right now? Apart from this, I WILL keep up better with my updating *super determined* and have already printed a spreadsheet for tracking my gardening activities (thank you SymphonicDan and Elizevdmerve!) And I WILL lurk less in the shadows of your threads and speak up more, maybe dropping some magical flower dust while I am there What else... won't do any before and after pics this time, can do it next time again, it's not all that important. I can see that I am getting slimmer and stronger so that is what counts, I am happy. Oh, yes rewards! Depending how well I do on my gardening I can unlock different stats and eventually rewards as follows: A status reward 0 - 90 min done hard as rock 91 - 180 min for very tough plants only 181 - 260 min for tough plants only 261 - 330 min for pioneers of all kinds 331 - 399 min for bountiful mixtures massage from hubby (his suggestion, so yay to that ) 400 -450 min soil of Eden another massage from hubby B 0 - 24 min done scarecrow 25 - 40 min leprechaun 41 - 55 min bulb buddy 56 - 70 min dances with earthworms 71 - 85 min master planter new yoga mat 86 - 100 min rooted in heaven barefoot shoes C 0 - 10 units witch of the waste 11 - 20 units droplets of green 21 - 30 units sprouting strength 31 - 40 units fields of growth movie night out (for assassiny inspiration) 41 - 50 units fields of gold new pole shorts and top D 0 - 34 min broomstick 35 - 59 min bud baby 60 - 94 min blooming rose 95 - 120 min wind in the willows special body lotion (something yummy, not sure yet what) 121 - 150 min bendy as ivy extra spa day with hubby E 0 - 9 days sleepy and hollow 10 - 13 days breaking dawn 14 - 17 days morning glow 18 - 21 days morning star shine chocolate pralines (because chocolate!!!) 22 - 25 days shining bright restaurant night out with hubby For accountability and extra motivation I will put my stats into my signature, so you can all see right where I am at This program is quite ambitious for me at present, but that is deliberate as firstly I had a yummy unchallenge AND a lazy, laaaaaazy two week holiday just now. Secondly some of the rewards do cost quite a bit of money and I want to feel good having "earned" them. Last and foremost, I do want to get stronger, more nimble and keep a good balance overall and if I really do all these things, chances are gooood

After a restful period with the druids, Waanie longed back to her old home in the assassin's den. She missed the action, the weird movements and, mostly, the black clothes. The route she had taken from the den to her current home was just the easiest and most straightforward road. However, she had heard of many side roads. Some were said to be dangerous, some held beauty beyond belief and others even held treasures. Because the druids had taught here that she has plenty of time to get back, she decided to take some of these meandering paths. The first adventure she wanted to make was to climb the waterfall. Of course, she could walk around it, but the view was said to be amazing and there would be a treasure that only the strongest and most skilful climbers could reach. Quest 1: Successfully climb a top-rope route with difficulty 5b) I can now climb about half the 5a)'s, and most of the other half I can finish with one or two breaks in the middle. It's time to move on to more difficult routes, even though it's scary to start a new difficulty. In order to reach this goal, I will climb twice a week. If my partner is unavailable, I will do bodyweight training instead. Secondly, she wanted to see the dragon. Adventurers had spoken of a huge, dangerous and steaming beast that loved looking at tricks people could do with their body. She would even give them something from her hoard if she was sufficiently impressed! Since Waanie had learned some nice poses from her time with the druids, she thought this could be a great experience. However, she would have to learn some new poses to truly impress the dragon. Quest 2: Master the side-crow, the half-moon pose and the downward-facing dog Climbing basically covers my strength-work, but I want to learn more awesome things I can do with my body. I therefore chose an arm-balance, leg-balance and stretching pose that I do not manage to do yet, but should be able to master in a relatively short time. I will practice the balance poses twice a week, and the stretch five times a week. If I master one of the poses, I will replace it with a pose from the same category. Lastly, there were very wild stories about a big meadow with the tastiest fruits and vegetables anyone had ever tasted. However, only seasoned cooks were allowed to enter. If the warden would not like at least one of the dishes she brought, she would not be allowed to eat any of those great foods. Quest 3: Cook at least one meal with legumes and one dinner without meat every week Legumes are healthy and can be very tasty with the right spices. Meat is not very good for the environment, and there are plenty healthy alternatives. I'm not often cooking with legumes or without meat, so coming up with good recipes is the real challenge here. Hopefully, this will lead to some new quick and healthy recipes that I can cook regularly on weekdays. Will she be able to complete her journey?

HEllo Rebellion! I've been over at the Academy for a while and I am back for a challenge. I am borrowing my 3 goals from previous challenges. Excited to be back, say hey when you get a chance 1. Hang, Bend or Balance 10 minutes every day. 2. 10,000 steps per day. 3. #100HappyDays I like doing crow, I need to improve my grip strength, and balance can sometimes get overlooked in workouts. For this part of the challenge, I'll be testing out new ways to hang, bend or balance. Minimum of 10 minutes a day. I have a pedometer I've never used so let's count steps. 10,000 is the recommended daily step total so that will be my goal. #100HappyDays list 1 thing a day that makes me happy. I have an album to post pictures so most days that is where I will post. June 20-27 I'll be hanging, bending, and balancing in Yosemite. Most likely I'll be quiet for that week, but hopefully I'll have pictures to share when I'm back home.

Main Quest: To be happy, feel happy, and enjoy my life. I want to be happier in 6 weeks than I am now. Diet and Fitness Goal 1: "I'm a grown ass woman, I do what I want" Work out 3x a week. This has no schedule, no specific routine. Just do what I feel like doing. What qualifies as a "workout?" I have to put on fitness clothes and do an activity specifically for my body (i.e. not walking to the store to buy food). This could be yoga, could be bodyweight stuff, etc. Diet and Fitness Goal 2: Eat what you want This is probably an un-challenge, but I'm not going to track. Not going to count. Not going to eat vegetables 2x a day. All I'm going to do is observe and eat mindfully. Pay attention to the food I'm eating, pay attention to how it feels before, during, and after. Leave the judgement out of it, and eat what feels good. I have a feeling that this might end up being more vegetables than chocolate anyway when I really sit down and think, "what do I want to eat? what feels good to eat?" but that's not really the point. I believe there is a place for every kind of food and I don't think any food should be off limits. The point is to really stop and enjoy the food I get to eat. So how am I going to track this un-tracking? Every day that I remember to stop and enjoy my food, I get a 1 pt. Diet and Fitness Goal 3: Stay the fuck off fitness websites/InstaTwitFace Or more importantly, stop paying attention to what other people are doing for their fitness. And stop feeling that jealous envy for your old coworker who had a baby, joined cross fit, lost a ton of weight and now appears to be living it up. Don't compare your life to someone else's highlight reel. If I find myself on InstaTwitFace and thinking something like, "hmm maybe I should try that workout that she's doing", I'm going to immediately close the window and go walk around the office. Same if I find myself on some website looking at a pushup progression workout program. Side Quest: I hate my job More in the backstory post, but basically I need to learn new skills so I can either move out of my current position, make my life easier in that position, or get a new job entirely. First new skill is coding. First coding language is python (which we use at work anyway for a lot of programs). Currently ~40% complete with the python course on CodeAcademy.com. Hoping to finish the course by the end of these 6 weeks. If I finish, then I need to start the next course of my choosing. TL;DNR Main Quest: Get happy! Goal 1: Workout 3x week! Goal 2: Enjoy food! Goal 3: Stop stressing about what other people are doing for their workouts! Side quest: Learn python!

Main Quest- Move beyond the recommended routine found on /r/bodyweightfitness. Complete the recommended routine every other day. Limit sweets intake. (Pastrys, soda, candy.) Cardio three to four times a week. (Running, jump rope, boxing.) Life Side Quest- Write a story. Try to submit a page a week. While I am working on this challenge I will be writing a narrative day by day to go along with with my posts here. Something to try and grab your attention and keep your attention over this six week challenge. Links: Recommended routine - http://www.reddit.com/r/bodyweightfitness/wiki/kb/recommended_routine Story - http://rebellion.nerdfitness.com/index.php?/topic/62939-port-idles-an-assassins-birth-book-one-chapter-one/

Hi there ! Ellith here (aka Sophie), ex-recruit ready to kick some asses ! So, since I'm a huge World of Warcraft fan (still playing), the name of the challenge and of the quests are taken from the game . Took me some time to find them but here they are ! After a good 1st challenge as a recruit, here I am, joining the assassin . This looks like a cool place to stay and I want to focus on building strength with weight lifting and body workout and I want to increase my flexibility and balance by doing yoga (and I want to manage some awesome poses like crow pose, headstand and handstand !). I also got my weight loss as a goal but I don't want my main focus to be on this so I don't stress much about it. I know the result will come, if I trust the process (as someone awesome told me ). So here are my goals for this 2nd challenge ! Main goal : I want to feel go in my own body, want to stop hating it and instead love it for what it helps me do, by June 18. I have a festival and want to enjoy it without thinking that my thighs look big or that I need to stop breathing every time a cute guy is passing by . Goal for this challenge : I want to keep building good habits (with gym and food), build strength and flexibility and stop focusing so much on weight but instead focus on my accomplishments. So I will weight myself once on Monday and will not use it before the day right after the end . Quest 1 - Training and Discipline I managed to build a good workout habit with my 1st challenge and I will keep working on it on this challenge in order to build strength (I will manage to do a chin-up, one day, I know it !) and lose weight. I have a great trainer who made me some great workout plan which combine strength training with cardio in a circuit. The goal is to do this 3 times a week and, if I can, add some cardio only session in between (I have to train for a 5k in september). Workout 3 days/week (cardio/strength) Grades : Gym : 3/week = A 2/week = B 1/week = C Rewards : I don't know how many points we can give ourselves for this challenge so I will complete this later. It will be a mix of STR and STA. Quest 2 - Challenge to the Black Flight I took yoga classes for almost a year about 2 years ago and really liked it. I stopped (don't remember why) and now I miss it and feel like it would be a great complement to my program. I also want to master my own body and manage to do some bad-ass poses like crow pose (almost got it last time) and inversion. So my goal is to take at least 2 Yoga classes per week (in a studio or at home) and train for handstand and planks (spartan plank challenge) everyday. Grades : Yoga : 2/week = A 1/week = B Daily training : 6-7 times/week = A 4-5 times/week = B 2-3 times/week = C Rewards : Will add points later, but it will be DEX. Quest 3 - Even Thieves Get Hungry Like I said, weight loss will not be my main focus but I still have to eat right so this will stay a part of my challenge. I will keep with the plan the nutritionist gave me since it's working and I'm not starving, and will keep logging everything into MFP. The goal is to eat under 1500kcal daily for 6 days a week and log all of it into MFP. Grades : 1500kcal and MPF : 6/week = A 4-5/week = B 2-3/week = C Reward : Don't know the points, will be CON. Life Quest - Clean Up in Stormwind I'm a messy person, always have always will be. But now that I feel like my life is finally getting in order, I know that I need to do the same thing with my house. So the goal will be to clean-up the house (always harder the 1st time) and keep it that way. The goal will be to clean up once a week. Grade : This is a pass/fail goal so A if pass, else it's nothing. Reward : I guess this will be WIS. Optional life quest - (need to find a title) I'm almost done for this session class (my final exam is on April 23rd) so I want to take the time I will have to finally learn how to play the guitar. I don't know how to organize this one but it will probably be "train at least 1 hour 3 times a week" or something like this. I still need to figure this one out. So this is it for my second challenge . Feel free to give me advice if you think some things need improvements ! Really excited to start this one !

Salt. You'd never know that you could smell salt. Not unless you sail. Not unless you are out here. On the seas. Blue skies meeting blue waves as far as the eye can see. Barely a cloud in the sky.. It's the best time of year to sail. Usually. It should have been easy for us to navigate these waters. The Besparie never sail these straits this time of day. They usually stick to a very strict schedule. This ship just had to be different. It just had to be today. My name is Shawn. I've been on these waves for as long as I can remember. I've seen a lot of good sailors, good men lose their lives to the Besparie Dominion. They are merciless and take no prisoners. If you have the misfortune to come across one of their warships all you can expect is a watery grave. "Move it boys they haven't seen us yet!" Shane yelled from the crows nest. Our lookout had never sounded more scared. He's been my friend since boyhood and he's not much of a fighter. That's why we keep him in the crows nest. Away from the blades and powder. "Maybe if you got your ass down here we could get this ship turned around before they turn it into a funeral pyre!" I yell back pulling the wheel as hard as I can to port. "He's too much of a coward. You know that. He'll just get in the way." That was the Captain Marcus Barthalmew Port. He took Shane and myself under his wing when he found us picking pockets in Hyenas Port. "Come on Cap'. I'm not that fuckin' bad." Shane yelled sliding down the rigging. "You call me Captain, or you'll need to be asking the Besparie for a ride." Port growled limping down to the main deck. "What's his problem Shawn?" "I don't know Shane maybe the fact that we're about to get spotted by a Besparie Trident." I yell pushing him toward the cannons. "Man the cannons. We're going to need a miracle to make it to Port Idles."

Challenge 12 – Mistr stays on target My goals were good for the last challenge but my execution was spotty at best. This time I am going for consistency. Life goal I've been inconsistent about focusing at work. When I'm at home I can pick from a long list of tasks. If I don't feel like cooking, I can clean or sort things or work on projects. I've gotten better at taking breaks to do fun things between tedious chores. At work I tend to find excuses to surf the net when I want to avoid a task. Knowing better is not helping me change the behavior. The really idiotic part is that most of the "dreaded tasks" aren't that bad. Once I get going I can get them done and feel good about it. Goal: Sleep 8 hours a night. The evidence keeps mounting that I am more productive with more sleep. And getting to bed is where I get in trouble. Target: Stop doing tasks by 9:30pm on work nights. In bed before 10:00pm. In bed by 11:00pm on weekends unless at a special event. Tally by week: A = 9:30 or earlier, B = 9:31-9:45, C = 9:46-10:00, D = 10:01-10:15, F = 10:16 or later for stopping activities (shifted one hour later on Friday and Saturday). Bonus points for going to bed early on weekends. Balance Balance is my ongoing multi-challenge goal. I have learned that to-do lists make me crazy. I never manage to get to all the things and I get stressed out. Instead of a to-do list I am going to have a pick list. I will choose tasks based on the time available and my priority order at the moment. One of the pick lists will be my creative projects. The list of cooking and cleaning chores is never-ending. An important aspect of balance is making time for the fun stuff. I need to make enough time for fun things during the week so that I don’t feel the need to stay up until all hours on Friday night to unwind. Followed by feeling behind when I need to sleep in on Saturday morning. Been there. Done that. Doing fun things is a much healthier option than eating chocolate to deal with stress or boredom. In any case, I can’t eat while I am spinning or knitting. Target: Pick at least two tasks from different categories on evenings I am home. Weekend days when I am home pick from at least three categories, including a creative project and a dreaded task. I can skip either on the weekend if I made significant progress during the week. Tally by week: number of sessions in each category. These should come out roughly even when adjusted for time. Log at least once a week, preferably more. Post for accountability. Food Last challenge I managed to lose 1 pound. Really I found and lost several with a net of -1.0. My weight has fluctuated around the same point since September. This time I want to blow this goal out of the water. My goal is 6 pounds lost to get to 152. That would match my low end weight in my early 30s. I am going to an event at the end of the challenge where I will see old friends and acquaintances who I have not seen for 10+ years. I want to be in my best possible shape. My exercise program is already where I want it. That means any change has to be 100% diet. Targets: No white sugar No white flour No snacks between breakfast and lunch No food after 8:00pm This means I need to plan ahead on days when I go straight from work to aikido. I will make granola bars, pack hummus and veggies, apples and cheese or actual meals to eat in the late afternoon. Additionally, cooking ahead helps on regular evenings. I am a much happier camper if I can reheat something for dinner and relax for half an hour when I get home. Having to go straight from work to cooking uses up my willpower for the evening. Last challenge I started keeping an idea list of things to cook. This turns out to work well for me. I have trouble thinking of things to cook when I am hungry or tired. Writing down the ideas reassures me that I can make things that I will like eat. I have been keeping up fairly well on batch cooking for the week. I can turn this up a notch and have plenty of tasty food. I will allow exceptions for special events. Going out to eat because of poor planning does not constitute a special event. Going out to eat with friends counts, but I will stick to the plan as closely as possible. Left-over pizza that the guys bring home from gaming is right out. I will allow good quality chocolate with sugar on one day each weekend. Good quality = Lindt, Callebaut, Godiva, local artisan chocolate. Log every day, accountability at least once a week. No stat points this challenge. There may be photos if things go well.

Introduction: Hi I am Manarelle and this is my second challenge. I started using the Rebellion's guide to bodyweight training four months ago when hours of cardio were doing nothing for my knee problems or my weight. I got from 200 lbs to 175 with cardio and cutting out snacks, but I hit a plateau mid-2014, and got discouraged. I got through my first challenge, but recognized that (as usual) I was trying to do it all at once. Since I have a full-time job and take online classes toward my Master's degree, my schedule's already a little full, so I need to back up and identify just a few important things to keep myself in balance. (Especially since spring is supposed to be coming soon and that means gardening!!) Main Quest: Keep a healthy balance between work, school, and hobbies. Quest 1: Workout 3 times a week, either HIIT or BBWW Measurement: A = 3 times a week, every week, B = 3 times a week, most weeks, C = 2 times a week. Quest 2: Log my food. All of it. Even homemade. Measurement: A = every day, B = 6 days a week, C = mostly 6 days a week Quest 3: Use the Irish dance warm-up and stretches when I work out to improve balance and flexibility. Measurement: A = 3 times a week, every week, B = 3 times a week, most weeks, C = 2 times a week. Life Quest: Make 1 skirt that I really like, and can wear to work. Measurement: No grades, just pass/fail. Motivation: In an effort to keep it simple I'm not going to mess with points yet, but since I'm quite familiar about working to keep a GPA up, here goes: Mostly As: Treat myself to a professional massage Mostly Bs: Treat myself to a day at the range. Mostly Cs: Treat myself to some quality bath stuff. One step at a time!

Eat, Sleep & Be Merry Completely Reworked Goals on 2/24/2015 Wow. For the last year, I have been really pushing hard. It’s time to stop, regroup, and restore. I’m a hardcore minimalist, and this challenge I’m keeping my goals lean and trim: Eat. Eat well. Last challenge I noticed that I wasn’t eating, not because I was full or because I was mindfully fasting but because I couldn’t be bothered. Wait. What? I love food. But I left it until late in the day, and we all know that 50-75% of our calories should come before dinner. And I know that carbs, especially in the evening, are a real drain on my energy and my health. Sleep. Lights out at 11 p.m. Yes, really. If I’m not rested then there is no way that I can perform, and it’s beyond stupid to expect anything different. The Joy of Quiet time. Every day. Be joyful, and be still. They aren’t as mutually exclusive as we tend to assume.