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Please forgive any lack of editing, as I just want to get this posted. A girl, a teenager and a woman went seeking the guru who would help them find true happiness. The guru lived at the top of a mountain, so the three set off on their journey. They knew it would take a lot of effort and time, but they thought they were ready. At first, they travelled through the foothills, and it was like a walk in the woods. The little girl skipped along happily, the woman seemed to be enjoying the pleasant surroundings, and the teenager hiked along with them dutifully and uncomplaining. The trail started to get a bit rougher, and the teenager tripped. She caught herself before falling, but grumbled and swore and actually walked more stiffly than before. The girl continued to prance up the trail, sometimes climbing tree stumps or hiding behind trunks, but sometimes she would glance nervously at the teen, then put a happy smile back on as if there was nothing to worry about. The woman tried to be encouraging and empathetic, but sometimes she, too, would get frustrated by something and tense up or otherwise react. This continued as they climbed. The teen trotted along as expected, except when something out of the ordinary happened. Then her reactions became unpredictable – sometimes swearing, sometimes throwing a stick or rock in frustration, or sometimes crying if she felt the problem was somehow her fault. The teen rarely hopped up on any of the fallen logs like the girl; she seemed afraid to do so. Often, after tripping or encountering another issue on the trail, the teenager would tell the girl where to walk or how to navigate the path so as not to have the same problem. The girl seemed to resent this, however. She would do what the teen asked, but with a pouty face. The rest of the time, the girl seemed to try to put on a happy face, but her play would falter whenever one of the other two expressed anger or frustration. Her attitude began to look forced, and she would peek at her companions nervously when she thought they were not looking. Gradually, the girl’s frolicking became more and more reserved, as if she was concerned that one of the other two would get angry at her. The woman alternated between encouraging the teen and girl on the path, trying to empathize with their feelings, and dealing with her own frustration and anger. In many ways, the woman reacted like the teen did to unexpected occurrences and obstacles, but she would stop herself fairly quickly and go quiet for a time before returning to her encouragement. Sometimes the woman would follow the girl in her play, but she hesitated before jumping up on logs or climbing branches, and her activity seemed stiff and reserved. Finally, the three came into a clearing. At the far side of the clearing was a ravine about 20 feet across, with a river at the bottom about 30 feet below. The only way to cross appeared to be a large, wide tree that had fallen across the chasm. The teenager’s face went stony, and she crossed her arms without saying a word, staying far back from the edge. The woman started to try to talk the teen into crossing the fallen tree, being encouraging, but subtle aspects of her body language said that she was nervous about the crossing as well. The girl promptly climbed up on the fallen tree and started to play in the branches on this side of the ravine. “Get down!†Yelled the teen at the same time as the woman cried, “Wait!†The girl froze. Composing herself, the woman went on. “How about you come play over here, farther away from the edge, until we are all ready to go across?†The girl opened her mouth as if to argue, then looked at the teen’s scowl. Her internal struggle was almost visible, as she tried to decide if it was worth making a fuss. Apparently deciding that peace was more important, the girl came away from the tree and sat on the ground, dejectedly fussing with some plants and sticks. The woman sighed and opened her backpack, searching the contents. She did not seem to find what she was looking for, and started to get very frustrated. She closed the pack angrily, tossing it a few feet as she did so. The girl seemed to shrink a bit more into the vegetation, though she barely moved or changed what she was doing. Then the woman closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths before returning to the teen. Just as the woman restarted her cajoling of the teenager, the sound of wind gusts overhead made them all look up. A majestic golden dragon landed in the clearing, between the three girls and the ravine. The dragon looked at them with compassion and sadness in its eyes, then spoke. “I have been watching you for quite some time,†it said. “It saddens me to see you – with all of the potential and strength you have – derailed by such minor obstacles. You spend so much time worrying that there is little room for anything else. You worry about whether or not you did something wrong, about whether or not you might get hurt, about what people are thinking, and about what might happen. With all the worrying, I am afraid that you will never be able to reach your goal, even if you are able to get across the ravine. There are always obstacles in life. You have the ability to overcome them, but is it worth it if you feel so bad in the meantime?†The dragon paused to let them absorb what it had said. The girl scuffed her feet, the teenager’s eyes started to water, and the woman tensed, but put on a brave face. The dragon sighed and shook its head slightly. “Do you like the way things are?†It asked. “No,†said the teen softly as the little girl shook her head, looking fearful. The woman bravely said, “of course not. That is why we came on this quest.†“I thought so,†said the dragon, “but had to be sure. You see, what you need at this point is somewhat simple. Simple, but not at all easy. It will be a lot of hard work, but if you are diligent, the rewards will be immeasurable. Do you want to proceed?†“Yes,†said the woman and teen. The girl just nodded. “Good. Here are the 3 keys that you need in your situation: Build physical confidence, Learn to see the silver lining, and Show love for yourself.†The girls and woman looked at each other in confusion. The teen spoke up, exasperated, “But how do we do that? What does it mean?†“That,†said the dragon, “you must discover for yourself, as it is slightly different for everyone. But I believe you can handle it.†The dragon smiled, and continued, “I will be watching your progress.†Then it launched into the air and disappeared over the treetops. “I still don’t understand,†huffed the teen. “That was almost worse than no help at all!†“I think I have some ideas,†the woman said. She pulled some paper out of her backpack and began to draw up a plan. ************************************* Translation: As those of you who have followed me in the past are probably aware, it is easy for me to get very critical and to focus on the negative and not the positive in things that are happening. Many years of doing this have had a far-reaching effect on my life. I have been working on fixing a lot of the baggage that contributes to this tendency for the last few years. Through that work, I have come to realize that all the characters in this story are aspects of myself – the little girl and teenager are the 2 most active aspects of my inner child, the woman is how I am most of the time now (trying to do my best with a fair amount of reason and empathy, but still worried, scared, and “ashamed†sometimes), and the dragon is my inner strength and wisdom – that part that I can tap into once in awhile when I stop caring about what everyone else thinks or what might happen and just focus on being who I am. With the understandings I have been able to develop and the work I have done over the last couple of years, it seems that what I really need now is to develop the habits that will help contribute to “true happiness†and let me spend more time being the woman (and the good parts of the little girl) and the dragon instead of being stuck in one of the negative parts of the kid modes. In updates, I will try to remember to put more than a passing reference to psychological mumbo-jumbo or the negative things I am having difficulty overcoming under a spoiler tag. Goals Each goal below shows how it will be graded, then has a list of the types of activities that count towards the goal. Because the focus of this challenge is developing the habit of positivity, I will not grade my challenge except for at the very end for the purpose of the guild report. All other self-evaluation will be focused on support, encouragement, and improvement, as outlined in each of the goal sections below. Goal 1: Build physical confidence (+2 STR, +2 STA, +1 DEX) This goal has 3 parts, each of which will be rated based on how many times per week I do activities from that category. Strength training: (4 basic parts- upper push, upper pull, lower, core) 0/need more support; 1/A good start; 2/Nice –keep it going; 3/Great! Really developing strength; 4/Wow- Amazing; 5+/â€I am the Dragon†What counts: BBWW, ABWW, Angry Birds, other BW workouts, gardening/digging, intense cleaning, massaging, kayaking, climbing, etc. Aerobic: (anything that gets my heart rate up) 0/need more support; 1/A good start; 2/Nice –keep it going; 3/Great! Really developing endurance; 4/Wow- Amazing; 5+/â€I am the Dragon†What counts: walking, c25k, Zombies! Run, cycling (normal or stationary), swimming, physical play with family, walking/hiking, etc. Flexibility: 0-1/need more support; 2/A good start; 3/Nice –keep it going; 4-5/Great! Really developing flexibility; 6/Wow- Amazing; 7/â€I am the Dragon†What counts: yoga, stretching, etc. Goal 2: Learn to see the silver lining (think positive) (+4 CHA, +1 CON) This is scored based on how many times per day I can turn to the positive instead of the negative (It counts even if I have to spend a lot of time talking myself into it). 0-1/need more support; 2/A good start; 3/Nice –keep it going; 4-5/Great! Starting to be more positive; 6/Wow- Amazing!; 7+/â€I am the Dragon†What Counts: Pollyanna-ing a situation as it happens (Asking what might be good about a negative situation) Removing labels and judgment from a situation to get rid of emotional charge Looking for another explanation (i.e., why might that guy have cut me off other than him being a jerk?) Practicing gratitude Translations (putting the positive intention behind an action into words for my brain) Naturally seeing what could be a negative situation as positive or neutral Goal 3: Show love for myself (+3 WIS, +2 CON) This one will be scored by week based on a points system (yes- another person on the points bandwagon). Everything has been assigned a point value based on how much it seems to help fill my emotional bank account, relatively speaking. I placed the middle of the scale according to how much I seem to need to stay stable, and the high end is a guess as to what I need to be happy. I am really not sure how this will work, since I have little experience with doing things for myself in a healthy way, as opposed to an addictive way. I will add to this list as I find more things that fit. 0-6 0-9 points/need more support; 7-13 10-19 /A good start; 14-20 20-29 /Nice –keep it going; 21-27 30-39 /Great! Really starting to appreciate myself; 28-34 40-49 /Wow- Amazing; 35 50+/â€I am the Dragon†What Counts: Points Activity 1 Meditation 5 Visiting with friends 2 Reaching out to friends – email/text 3 Reaching out to friends – phone call 3 Quality time with kid(s) 3 Fun with Hubby (not that, perv! Well, maybe. But I won’t tell you if it is that or just hanging out. ) 1 Self-appreciation (yes, telling myself/writing what I like about myself. Cheesy, but it works) 2 Talk myself out of negative mood/show myself empathy 3 “Speak shame†(see the work of Brene Brown) 2 Treat myself - Buy a small something for myself or make a yummy food for me, etc. 4 "Show up, be seen, live brave" (also Brene Brown) 4 Special activity for me (riding, meetings, work on my healthy pregnancy projects, etc.) Checking NF or Facebook does NOT count, as I tend to get too addictive with these activities. Ooops… Life Quest Most of this challenge IS a life quest, so I am not adding an extra one. I will be starting this challenge immediately, to give myself a chance to test the goals and make changes as needed. If I like these first few days, I will keep them as part of the main challenge. Otherwise, it will officially start on Monday. Notes: 6/10 - edited Self-love scoring to more accurately reflect how I am feeling after the dry run week.

CLIFFS NOTES: Main Quest: One armed handstand Supporting goal 1: Improve strength and balance Supporting goal 2: Weigh less Supporting goal 3: Be flexible to avoid injury Life goal: Jedi Calm it was absurd, I thought as I wove my way through the spaceport like an invisible phantom. Three short years ago, I had been planted in an earth suburb, eating pizza and watching telly, the oddest thing in my life being a cousin who had died her hair blue. Now I was brushing against beings with blue teeth, blue fur, blue from head to toe, I’d even met a creature that was nothing more than a shade of blue that had to be refracted into a holding crystal to keep from dispersing everywhere. Everything was blasted wonko, and if I stopped to think about it for any length of time, my brain went sliding out my ear and I had to lie still for a while. This wasn’t to say that, apart from the nearly constant imminent death that had stalked me since leaving earth, it wasn’t the best thing that had ever happened to me. It was a rip-roaring ride, and I wouldn’t go back even if I could. But it was also a massive distraction just to keep one’s head above water, and I couldn’t shake the feeling creeping up my neck that I needed to DO something. That my new powers were for a reason, I couldn’t just scurry about aimlessly. To that effect, in my duffle bag, beneath a sweatshirt, a deck of cards, and a pack of pre-cooked bacon (for bacon, it seems, is a universal food group found on nearly all planets, at least the fashionable ones worth mentioning), was a book. A training manual. It said directly in the front that it was meant to be a part of an intense program of training, starting from early childhood and including many teachers and mentors. But I had none of those available to me; not only did I not know where to find them, being on the run from a band of murderous pirates made staying in one location to complete schooling rather inconvenient. But I could work through the book, doing my best, as I hopped ship after ship. I knew I could find the time- I would make the time- to do the excercises, to do my best until I could find a mentor. Maybe somewhere along the way I would find out why this path felt so important, and why I had the dark, pressing feeling that the pirates were the least of my problems.... Ok so I'm going through another chaotic move during this challenge, and last time that derailed me for a YEAR. I refuse to let that happen again. This time I'm making my challenge flexible to see how it works to keep me healthy and working my way towards my goals, allowing for all kinds of mess to break out and not ruin it haha. To that effect... POINTS! Stealing the points idea from RedCedar. I love this, and it should allow me to work towards my goals every day by doing at least SOMETHING that improves my health. Goal one: Increase my balance and strength: There is no chaos, only harmony 1 point for every two minutes spent actively trying to balance not touching the wall 1 point for every minute of planking 1 point for every “level up†in less fingers on supporting hand during strength work (balancing on one hand with 5 fingertips, 4 finger tips, 3 ect until I’m only on one arm) Why it's a challenge: Finding time to practice every day, finding a good place to be upside down in the house i'm house-sitting for the first two weeks of the challenge, and keeping it up when I'm on the road for the third and fourth week of the challge. Why I want to do it anyway: This is arguable the most important part of the progression towards one armed handstands: actually doing them. GOAL TWO: Weigh less: There is no death, only the force Ie I won't die if I force myself to eat right LOL Carbs over 30: -1 point for each carb. I am trying to stay keto here, for more than one reason. The big one being that I feel a lot better brain-wise on keto. When I get higher up in the carb universe, I can feel my ADHD going “WHAAAAA†Now I need some ways to gain food points. Also stealing from RedCedar, 1 point for every serving of veggies. and a whopping 5 points every time I try a new veggie that I’ve never tried before. 1 point for every 10 minutes of “extra activity†on my fitbit. This will encourage me to run in and out of stores and up and down stairs and generally just be more energetic throughout the day. Why it's a challenge: Carbs are freaking everywhere. I ate a chorizo the other day and I found it had 6 carbs per link becuase of added sugar (And I had way to many of them and was feeling sick, which was why I thought to look at the package.) I have to be more diligent about reading packages to look for not only hidden carbs but also preservatives and food dyes which also lurk in unsuspected foods. Why I want to do it anyway: iIn the interest of handstands, I will be able to support myself on my arms better if there is less of me to support. Also I was keto for 7 months this past year and I have literally never felt better, my ADHD symptoms were still there but SO managable. Like I didn't even know my brain could work like that. GOAL THREE: Stretching: There is no passion, there is serenity 1 point for every 15 minutes spent stretchingAutomatic 25 point bonus if I actuallly reach the floor in any of my splits, as that will be a first in my life. Why it's a challenge: I am very inflexible, and I keep losing track of stretching as something that is important. Why I want to do it anyway: Stretching helps prevent injuries and I feel better when I'm more bendy. Also splits and shoulder/uper back mobility are very important in ballet which I'm keeping up with, and I found that HOLY COW my upper back and shoulders are tight, like bending backwards at the barre I can't even see the wall behind me, only the ceiling, and everyone else is like folded in half haha. Life Goal: Jedi Calm:There is no emotion, there is peace 1 point for every ten minutes practicing stances and breathing1 point for every ten minutes of sitting still reading/listening to an audiobook Why this is a challenge: ADHD. Stuff to do. Distractions. Stress. Waking up too late. Why I want to do it anyway: 1. I want to continue rehabilitating my ADHD by adding moments of calm into my day-to-day life2. Time to find a center and figure out what the heck is going on today, better able to make desicions if I can see the big picture without a thousand little screaming voices in my head. 3. I'm headed into what I see being a fairly overwhelming situation up in the frozen tundra, and I'm going to need to find a way to be at peace.

Soo.... After last challenge, my newbie challenge, I chose assassin as my guild. But it was a super hard choice, as I have a lot of yoga going on, have for a long time, and finding balance has always been one of the key focal points of my life. So this time I'm going to post here, because I feel like this challenge I need to bring in a little more zen, and a little less badass. A few things are happening in the next few weeks, most of which are awesome, but all of which are hectic, different, and prone to pulling me off balance. 1. End of the school year, YAAAAAAHOOOO!!!! 2. Ten days of personal development training in London. 3. 12 days with my inlaws. 4. 3 international flights alone with a toddler. 5. Going to visit my family in Canada (which will be awesome, and I'll get to be with them for a month). The background to this is, I'm a international school teacher in Shanghai, and my family lives in Canada. This is BY FAR not my first flight with the toddler on my own, but international flights are tedious enough on my own when I can quietly get bombed and watch bad movies, when I can do neither, it's a slow version of hell with a 25 lbs kid on my lap/running up and down the aisle. While in London my in laws will be flying in from Germany to care for the kid when I'm in class, which is fantastic for everyone. Then I go back to Canada and see my family with said kid, his dad/my boyfriend will eventually fly in for 10 days at the end, which is also great. But, it's a lot of moving around, a lot of being fed, a lot of times when I'm not necessarily going to be able to choose my own food (MIL is German, her food is awesome but heavy) a lot of jetlag, and a lot of disrupted schedule. When I'm back in Canada I can go to my dad's awesome gym, my brother's awesome MMA club, eat awesome healthy food. So...that. But that will be at the end of the challenge. That will be the prize. So, next 6 week, with the toughest being the mid 3, I'm going to prioritize BALANCE. Workout goals: - 3X a week: BWW/yoga workout. I'm going to try and get a prasara yoga book when I'm in Canada, but I'm totally comfortable with the workouts I've been doing and I'm going to keep on doing them. Also, I have two Barre PIlates classes left on my card that I'm going to use next week when I have a little extra time when I'm not working and the kid is at daycare. - 1 min where I do all the FULL pushups I can, with whatever time left in that minute in plank. Last week I did 15 pushups, then two days later only 10. - keep on working on my headstand to scorpion. Pre kid, this was not an issue, now it is. Pre kid I did 5X a week 90 min Muay Thai classes, I was buff. So this is taking some work, but I'd like to get back there, mostly because it's fun. - keep working on handstands as much as my shoulder allows it - prioritize backbends in yoga flow. I need to stay open to this whole thing. Especially when I'm in London. Other goals: As chez as it sounds, I have the Omvana app on my ipod and it's really working for me. It gives me 5-20 min meditations that i can just throw on while I'm on the bus to school, or on the plane, whatever. I'd like to do 5X a week. Create a packing list/what to buy list. Basically just get through the next few weeks as organized as I can possibly be. This part is obviously also going to require some flexibility and going with the flow. ENJOY the training. I'll be doing another section of my masters degree. I had a fantastic time two years ago when I did it, I had to take a year off when I had the kid, and I'm pumped to be going back. The location is outside of London in a converted manor house on what is now a golf course and convention center. So it's beautiful and kind of looks like Hogwarts. I'm really hoping I can get a bike and go back and forth by bike, it will be about a 30 min trip so that will be a great way to sneak in some more movement. Food: Keep it balanced. I'm actually in reasonably decent shape with this one right now, it should be OK. When I'm in England though, that will be harder. Not because good food is hard to come by, not at all, just because I won't be the one cooking all the time/choosing what I can eat. We'll have to play that one by ear. MIL can't be offended. Also, I'm a little tiny bit worried about what she will want to feed the kid, but you know, grandmas are for spoiling, and I am very prepared to let that go. Besides, he could use some fattening up. He's so freakin active that it's hard to keep weight on him anyway. Oh also? In England? Gluten free english muffins. I'm saved a lot by the fact that GF food in China is very expensive and often shit quality, so I just don't go over bready when I'm here. But there??? Granted last time I was there I was pregnant, but I ate a lot of english muffins and peanut butter. Both delightful in moderation. Grading...um? Yay or Nay? I don't really want to focus on this part, I just want to keep my eye on the prize. If things go awry, well I really have to keep my focus and let shit go. So that's it. I'm sure I'm leaving something out and I'm a day late posting due to random internet issues at home. It's not overly complicated at all, I don't even know if it's challenge worthy, but I want to stay focused and not get caught up and I could use some support in that area. Happy Challenging!!! P.S. "Balance. Timing." Were the only 2 words my old thai boxing instructor knew in English. He said them a lot. He was a million years old and could kick anyones ass. I remember him fondly.

I figured I'd get a bit of advice here, as I'm sure a lot of you might have different perspectives from the one yoga instructor I tend to interact with. I have really good flexibility and balance, but the "balance" part only applied to my feet. One foot, tiptoes even, generally no problem. The moment I try to do a hand balance, though, I might as well just cry and call it quits. Between lack of upper body strength and old hand injuries, my attempts are pathetic. I desperately want to get myself up into a stable crow pose, though! I think I may make this my first 6 week challenge once the new cycle starts later this month. I'm going to try to work on shoulder and arm strength in a variety of ways (weights and bodyweight training), but I'm wondering if anyone has any tips at how to work up to this particular balance, and recommendations for exercises I can do! (Next up, if I can get crow to balance - flying lizard!)

In my challenges so far the focus has been on trying to master a narrow choice of skills - handstands, backflips and Spanish. I've had some good progress, but there seem to be a few dangers with focusing too narrowly: even the most well-intentioned training can fail to produce success on a specific skillthere's a risk of overtraining (haha maybe not with Spanish, but seriously I can feel I've stressed out my sternum with excessive handstands this year)adding more variety to a narrow choice of hobbies makes it all extra funTherefore, the theme for this challenge will be variety! My motivation will remain to become proficient at gymnastics/tricking and related interesting Assassin skills. You know how in some video games they have those bonus levels, where you just run around like some beserk Supermarket Sweep contestent collecting extra point or lives within a short time limit? Well this challenge for me is going to be like that. I have 43 days and a checklist of items to collect. I'll never get them all, but the challenge is to get lots of them I'm going to have to take it easy with the handstand-type skills, so the minor injury in my sternum disappears rather than becomes a major problem. for that reason, I'm taking a three-week break from anything of the sort. Challenge #1: Make as much progress as possible with a variety of acrobatic skills! Rules: each item selected is worth 0.25 stat pointsthere are 4.00xSTR, 6.00xDEX and 3.00xCHA availablemaximum possible loot: +3 STR, +4 DEX and +2 CHA (and I'll be astonished if I get anywhere near this!)I'll mark each one with an 'X' if/when I achieve the goal __slackline: a friend bought one and so I have an opportunity to learn this! So far I can only balance for a few seconds and taking a step makes me fall off DEX (X) : walk a full 10 metres without falling off CHA (X) : + bonus points for doing this DEX (X) : consistently change direction without falling off __frontflips: currently doing them from a springboard to a crashmat but they look more like a forward roll that somehow avoids the ground, so I need to work on actually jumping before the flip DEX (X) : get some height so these are landed consistently on crashmats DEX (X) : no longer need springboard for this move DEX ( ) ; can consistently land onto the thinner mats CHA ( ) : + bonus points for the item above DEX ( ) : can safely land on thinner mats without needing prep beforehand (only counts if it's safe) CHA ( ) : can safely land on grass CHA ( ) : + bonus points for the item above __hopak: there's this crazy move some Ukrainian dancers do that requires some insane leg strength and I want to learn it: STR ( ) : learn to do this half-decently STR ( ) : able to keep this going for 20 seconds __cartwheel: embarassingly, I never learned to do these, and when I try them my feet only go to shoulder height. Time to learn them! DEX ( ) : some definite progress DEX ( ) : can sometimes do proper straight cartwheels CHA ( ) : can consistently do proper straight cartwheels DEX ( ) : can do these properly on both my left- and right-hand side __round-offs: cartwheels with extra movement! DEX ( ) : decent examples on the tumble track STR ( ) : can do these well on hard surfaces DEX ( ) : can do these properly on both my left- and right-hand side __backflips: I've been practising these for ages and still need a spotter to make it around safelyDEX (X) : any definite progressDEX (X) : no longer need spotters on the tumble track!CHA (_) : + bonus points for the item aboveDEX ( ) : safely unassisted on a hard surface (only counts if it's safe!)DEX ( ) : + bonus points for the item aboveCHA ( ) : safely unassisted on a hard surface without needing any prep beforehandCHA ( ) : + bonus points for the item above __handstands: had myself balancing for 4-5 seconds before taking a break to avoid over-trainingSTR (X) : 5-second holds again after taking a breakDEX (X) : 6-second holdsCHA ( ) : 7-second holdsDEX ( ) : 8-second holdsSTR ( ) :10-second holdsCHA ( ) : + bonus points for achieving 10-second handstandDEX ( ) : comfortably handstand into a forward roll (I only pirouette or bridge flop out of handstands so far...) __front handsprings: I can do poor handsprings on the tumble track. I should learn to do good onesDEX ( ) : considerably improve at doing theseSTR ( ) : have good form and powerful front handsprings on the tumble trackDEX ( ) : become able to do these without the tumble track for supportCHA ( ) : become sufficiently consistent at these that they can be done on grass __backwards walkover: going from a bridge to a handstand and going over the other side... I've never tried this!DEX ( ) : some useful practice of kicking up in a bridgeDEX ( ) : some useful practice of backwards walkovers from a raised position (to make it easier)CHA ( ) : able to do this moveSTR ( ) : + bonus points for doing a backwards walkover __muscle-up: I can do 5-10 pull-ups with good form. Next step is to learn a muscle up:STR (X) : some decent practice of the different componentsDEX ( ) : learn to do a "kipping" muscle-upSTR ( ) : able to muscle-up with less leg swingingSTR ( ) : able to muscle-up with good form __L-sit: tried this for the first time last week and it's haaard to even do a cheat version... This will be awesome for training my core:STR (X) : 10-second tuck holdDEX ( ) : split-second L-sitSTR ( ) : 5-second L-sit __plyometric pike jumps: jump up and touch your toes with straight legs on every consecutive jump. Excellent leg, core, and active flexibility exercise.STR ( ) : able to do 20 consecutively __powerlifting: in my first challenge I wanted to get to a combined strict press + bench press weight of 100kg, but abandoned this because of an injury. I'm now at 41kg (90lb) strict press and 56kg (123lb) bench press and have a small plateau to fight through in order to accomplish this:STR ( ) : improve at all (98kg total)STR ( ) : succeed (100kg total)STR ( ) : + bonus points for achieving 100kg Challenge #2: consistently do conditioning exercises 5 times per week. I must do 3 conditioning exercises each day for this to count. Suitable examples include:gymnastics, weightlifting, capoeira class etc,pull-ups or variations in the parkcore exercises such as V-sit sit-upsplyometricsanything else suitable (grip trainer doesn't count as I found it to be ineffective)+3 STA: A: 30 times in 6 weeks B: 28 times in 6 weeks C: 24 times in 6 weeks D: 18 times in 6 weeks __Progress: week 1: ___+_++ (3) week 2: +_+++++ (6) week 3: +_+++++ (6) week 4: +_+++_+ (5) week 5: __+_++_ (3) week 6: +_+++_+ (5) (B) Challenge #3: explore food! I eat pretty healthily, and also in huge amounts. Especially vegetables and porridge. However, I don't know how much I actually eat in terms of macronutrients, so I'm going to find out, by tracking everything I eat for a week and calculating the following macronutrients: carbs (all)carbs (sugar)fatsproteintotal caloriesI'm also going to experiment with Intermittent Fasting to see how that works. There are several ways of doing it, so I'm going to briefly try two contrasting ones, and report back with my experiences. +1 CON, +1 WIS: track macros A: accurate track for a week C: something less that is still useful to me tracked macros on 01 May - 07 Mayanalysed it for conclusions and posted results to this thread (A) +1 CON: try IF A: try two ways C: try one way tried "skipping dinner" fast on 30 Apr - 01 May (19 hours, successful)tried "skipping brunch" fast on 9 May - 10 May (14 hours, didn't work so well)tried "skipping brunch" fast on 16 May - 18 May (16 hours, felt lame afterwards) (C+)

Hey, everyone, I got inspired by this awesome post of an awesome super villain. I want to be a villain too, but I must start somewhere. Phytomancer is my name, for I am a plant user in profession. I am making my way up to be a mad evil scientist to challenge all the superheroes in Nerdfitness universe. Long Term Quest: Become a mad scientist supervillain: I must be smart, strong, seductive, and super creative! By the end of 2014, I must 1. Publish the two journal articles I am writing 2. Have a 32" waist (for I am a small Dwemer- Now, 35") 3. Have a strong thesis question for my PhD Program 4. Finish a fictional novel 5. Master 2 of 4 elements of Badassery (Earth: lifting, Fire: Martial arts, Air: Run, Water: Swim) 6 Week Quest 1. Eat paleo-ish lunches 4-5 meals a week 2. Produce the first draft of an article 3. Put 10,000 words of fiction between now and the end of this challenge 4. Do 3x7 clean pull ups (Now- can complete, but not very clean) 5. run a 7 min mile, TWICE during this six weeks (currently about 7.30, plus minus 15 sec. Best stat at 7.09 ) Side quest: Tag Marathon on Apr 25 How am I achieving this quest? Through Evil Minion Training and philosophy 1. A minion must be nimble and strong: You will be the first to get hit by superheroes if you're not fast enough. I practice Muay Thai, run short distance, and lift 3 times a week to achieve this goal 2. A minion must be frugal: Of course, being a minion does not pay well. I will pack my paleo lunch and avoid store bought dessert in this six weeks. I will learn some new recipes and try them for fun. 3. A minion must aspire to be a greater villain: You can't be a minion forever. I must learn my craft to be a renown mad scientist in my field. I will complete a publishing quality of journal paper. 4. A minion must not despair: Being a minion is a hard, stressful path where you and your friends suffer everyday. A minion must keep positive outlook. I will think of stuffs I am grateful for and share them frequently. I will write creatively. 5. A minion must keep records: A minion must learn to write everything down. I will keep a daily battle log at least 3 times a week. Wish this minion his luck, so he may rise to challange Nerdfitness city one day!

Agents May and Romanoff are my inspiration. Two ass kicking chicks who don’t need any help from anyone. As I continue to transform my body into a martial arts powerhouse I will focus on my weaknesses and prepare for becoming a full agent. I will become my own cavalry. Balance: Balance is important to an agent, and to a fighter. You never know when I will be walking along the edge of a building high over New York City. Strengthen my legs: Bad knee problems are not for agents. No. We jump, kick, climb, run. Strengthen my body: Strength overall is something I need to work on. There are no weak agents. Pull ups, press ups, planksanity. I need to do it all. You never know what an agents day will be full of, need to be prepared for anything. Stamina: Running, why is it always running? Towards danger or away from it. I need to keep up with the cardio. Agents ride bicycles right? There’s always stairs to run up too. How I will accomplish these goals: Each workout will be done at least twice a week. Balance circuit Cable machine circuit for legs Angry Birds Workout 30 Minutes of Cardio Walk up at least 3 floors of stairs at work I can pass/fail weeks by not reaching this minimum. At the end of the six weeks I need to have done at least 12 of each workout to pass. Life goal: Free the mind. Get lost for a few hours each weekend in a video game. Even finish some games for once. There are skills to learn from games. Tactics, stealth, fun times. Every hour of game play is a point, two points a week to pass my life goal. Spreadsheet for Points tracking and Angry Bird tracking here As part of being in the Knights of the GSPC i am setting myself two "boss fights" two goals i have to smash along the way. Mini Boss Challenge Core is key. Balance, strength - they rely on having a strong core. As part of my agent training you must be able to do a 60 second plank. I need to pass this within three weeks to continue my agent training Big Boss Challenge Agents test is big and bad. By the end of my challenge i need to be able to do the following - so i can proceed with my training and goal of becomming a SHIELD agent. 3 pull ups 90 second plank 100 squats

HAI! xo I'm fairly new to Nerd Fitness. I signed up for the Academy and was majorly confused because apparently there are two forum communities: Academy and Rebellion. I coughed up a difficult $100 for the Academy, but I like the vibe of Rebellion more so here I am! (Here's my intro "Hi, hi" post<--) I'm exhausted from work and dreading waking up at the crack of dawn tomorrow but I'm even more excited to start my challenge!! (I realize that I'm starting in the middle of a challenge already in progress but I couldn't wait until the 14th!! Sorry, administrators ) MAIN QUEST: Achieve balance and inner peace while improving health and fitness. MISSION #1: Complete beginner body weight workout at least 3x/week.MISSION #2: Meditate every morning and night.MISSION #3: Drink at least 8 glasses of water a day.MISSION #4 (I know the rules said 3, but I couldn't help myself, I hope this isn't considered cheating): Taiji Zen at least 2x/week.)MISSION #5: Yoga at least 2x/week.LIFE QUEST: Get driver's license and buy a car. My race is a half human/half spirit dragon (I know this is like totally random and off the wall, but it's actually inspired by a graphic novel I hope to publish one day. I figured making my main character my fitness alter ego would inspire me even more!). My class/profession is a druid with aspirations to evolve into a monk. MOTIVATION: I want to live the longest, healthiest, and spiritually balanced life possible so I may experience the world at its entirety.

I'm going to be a Jedi! I figured since Steve calls himself a Berzerker as a Warrior/Ranger cross class, then I'm going to cross class Ranger/Druid/Monk and become a Jedi. Right now, I'm in the Druid phase, working on my meditation and building my body into a strong foundation to launch back into Ranger and Monk activities. I'm gearing up for the Star Wars Workout for the next challenge, so I'm working pushups, Rocky situps, and planks into my morning Yoga to build up strength and stamina. I'm doing gentle, stretching Yoga in the evening to unwind and prep myself for sleep so that I get all the rest I need. I'm meditating before each exercise routine to clear my mind of worries and stress from the day so that I can be completely focused on my goal. We all know what happens when you're not focused during a workout! Challenge Quest: Build strength and stamina needed to become a Jedi. 1 - Warrior Yoga/core workout every AM (+2 STR +3 STA +1 CHA) 2 - Cobra Yoga/stretching every PM (+3 DEX +2 CON) 3 - Meditation before each workout (+4 WIS) Life Quest: Pay off $1000 of medical bill debt.

Hey all, I've been sticking to a whole body weight routine 3x a week (), and since today was a rest day for me, I decided to add in some sort of accessory exercises (in my view that is). I was looking to add in things on the rest days such as balancing, stretching and explosive power. Since my knees and ankles have been injured frequently, I needed to bring back the basics for them. I simply just came up with this for today. I know its not perfect, and it does burn out my triceps pretty fast. Link for current routine One legged balance (Tree pose in yoga) - 5 sets for max hold Hand Stand (against the wall) 3 sets for a set time (Today was 30 secs) Hindu Pushup - 4x 6reps Beginner Bridge (Glute Raises) - 2 sets of 30 secs Straight Bridge (Body raised by arms) - 2 sets of 20secs Back Bridge - 2 sets of 10secs Squat Jumps - 3sets of 12reps (I squat first then jump explosively - my knee felt better after these curiously) Interval Cardio - 20-30mins I do feel the routine might be a little long and is also all over the place, please could you give me your thoughts on tweaking. Much appreciated!

HEAD OVER HEELS: a love story Hello, my darling nerds! Every year, as winter approaches, my joints stiffen. But not this year! Where previous challenges have focused on strength training, this challenge is all about flexibility and acrobatics! Although I doubt one-finger handstands are anywhere in my near (or very, very far) future, hand-balancing is the name of the game for this challenge through the holidays! My inspiration for last challenge was Starbuck from Battlestar Galactica, for this one, it's the unstoppably cheerful Ty Lee from Avatar. STRENGTH! STR +3 Continuing with last challenges theme of "strength, grace, power" I'm going to have to continue to muscle up! Can't balance on my hands if my arms aren't strong enough to take the weight! This means lots more pushups and also just a lot of hand-balance practice! I'm going to be turning to youtube and other online sources for a variety of ways to improve arm strength toward hand-balancing poses, so please, if you have ideas or suggestions, post away! A: 10 pushups 4x per week, practice hand-balance 4x per week. B: Miss 2-3 days C: Miss 4-5 days D: Miss 5-6 days Fail: Miss 7+ days GRACE! DEX +3 As I mentioned earlier, flexibility is key! I'm hoping to begin attempting some awesome hand-blanaced yoga poses. I'm still a leetle weirded out by yoga as a concept, but "twisting my legs into cool shapes in the air while balancing on my forearms" is a challenge I can get behind. I hope, by the end of this challenge, to be able to perform one new, awesome, legs-in-the-air yoga form. A: Hold and photograph awesome legs-in-the-air form of my choice, stretch/yoga 6x per week. B: Hold and photograph awesome legs-in-the-air form of my choice, miss 2-3 days of stretching/yoga C: Miss 4-5 days of stretching/yoga, fail in form. D: Miss 6-7 days of stretching/yoga, fail in form. F: MIss 7+ days POWER! CHA +1, CON + 2 Ok, so the picture doesn't apply. I just liked it, so sue me. This goal is all about food! I've fallen off the wagon considerably when it comes to eating clean. My meals are great, but my snacking is atrocious. Quitting "bad" food cold turkey has proven unsuccessful, so I'm going to wean myself down. Most important is to get back off dairy. I know I'm allergic, I know I shouldn't eat it, BUT I LOVE CHEESE. Sigh. So, dairy products, sweets, processed foods, etc, all count as "treats" for this challenge. I'm not going to include alcohol this time because I really don't drink that often anyway and when I do, I'm out with friends. I'm staunchly against my health regimen interfering with my social time. A: 2-3 treats per week B: 4-5 treats per week C: 6-7 treats per week D: 8-9 treats per week (but at this point, who am I fooling?) F: 10+ treats per week WORDS! CHA +1 Always the words challenges with me! Well, November is National Novel Writing month and as per usual, I'm participating. So, the challenge is to complete and hit wordcount every day! RUBRIC! Freakin love Duality's rubric, folks, so we're using it again! Strength! 0/4 0/4 0/4 0/4 0/4 0/4 | 0/24 Grace! 0/6 0/6 0/6 0/6 0/6 0/6 | 0/36 Power! 0/3 0/3 0/3 0/3 0/3 0/3 | 0/18 Words! 0/7 0/7 0/7 0/7 0/7 0/7 | 0/42

Hi All... Been lifting for a few years but very inconsistently and never got much out of it. I've always struggled with motivation... Anyways, recently I've taken to running and been very consistent and along with an improved diet I've lost around 4 kg and with visible results my motivation is on a high. I've found it hard to loose weight and gain muscle at the same time (Too much to think about) so now I'm doing one and then hopefully the other. Starting weight: 78.5 (now down to 74.5) Aim: 69-70kg Height: 172cm (to put my weight into context) Once I'm down to around 70 I'm planning to start lifting again but my cunundrum is about what ration of lifting/running I should stick to and looks like my diet will have to change to. Or does it? Please could someone provide an example of keeping both up with 'working out' hours restricted to 8-9hrs per week. Or just generally if this way of doing things works... Input please! Thanks!

I'm a wishful Roller Derby girl trying to make that dream a reality. That and a deferred half marathon put me at the starting point of a daunting yet intriguing journey. I choose these goals because they scare me. And we should always do what we are afraid to do. At least that's what Ralph Waldo Emerson says. Cool cat. Main Quest: Get better, faster, stronger and start putting my body back into whack so that it is not susceptible to injury so easily. Main quest will be accomplished in the following ways: 1 Strength training : I have definitely caught the powerlifting fever. I will be tracking my every exercise in my "I lift things up and put them down" notebook. I have ambitions of deadlifting triple digits by the end of this challenge. 2 Improving Balance : Do my chiropractor-ordered stability exercises 4 times a week (to be tracked along with my strength exercises) 3 Flexibility : I'm notoriously bad at remembering to stretch before or after my workouts. I've had muscle/joint strains in the past due to this bad habit of mine. Super important for me to stretch after every workout. Life Quest: Finish designing and finally publish my portfolio website. As a graphic designer, the fact that I don't have my online portfolio up and running on the internet is nothing short of a crime. Six weeks is more than enough time to gather my necessary resources, hole myself in the library for an hour after work everyday or so, and get this monkey off my back. { Also, as a personal quest of accountability, I will be posting my workouts and stats daily on a blog I created just for NF challenges. Feel free to follow if you like. It's more of a way of keeping track of measurements and food for me, but I'll also post useful links to stuff I stumble upon since I'm researching a whole lot on powerlifting and the works. } I'm super motivated to take on my first challenge. I've been training regularly at a gym since April now, and between then and now have come across some speed bumps, as we all do in life. We can't forget ourselves and our health, especially when things get rough. Coincidentally, I've had a significant life event/family crisis this past weekend that has really shaken me, but I was so glad to still make it to the gym on Saturday. The heavy weights drove my focus away from the anxiety and uncertainty of what was happening in my life at the moment and had me focusing on not losing control of the 30 lb dumbbells in my hands. In short, weight lifting keeps me sane. What I'm most excited about in joining this challenge is the prospect of kicking my procrastination habit. In true nerd fashion, I think of this as moving away from the Dark Side, or any villainous situation basically. You know how villains just sit in their caves, poring over a blueprint, or a map, or some kind of battle plan, just scheming away, cackling and rubbing their hands together in sweet, evil anticipation? That's me. Poring over my to-do list, or my life goals. Meanwhile, the good guys are already jumping into action because, well, the city is in chaos, the Bat signal is in the sky – they don't even think twice about it. It's time to move. Jump in the Batmobile and save Gotham. Do work. Get s*** done! It's time for me to be a superhero.

I'm jj. If you don't know me, I'm an amateur aerialist and a mom. <insert continuing adventure story of acrobat/performer/treedwelling assassin here> Don't quite have the creative fortitude to deal with writing my continuing story today, sorry, it's one of those days that has required a lot of me on the parenting front, so I'm just getting my goals down for right now. MAIN QUEST: To execute a really amazing aerial performance! This may take a year or so to do with my current apparatus focus (straps and/or straps moves on an aerial hammock), but that's OK, since I'm in it for the long term and I love my training. Main goal #1: Complete my modified training schedule for GMB Rings 1. I've written out a schedule that stretches the program to 6 weeks which both allows for me to continue circus work without overtraining and allows for the fact that I'm a girl and may not make super fast progress with such a demanding program. I'm tackling this specifically because many of the rings moves translate pretty closely to stuff I'm trying and failing to do on straps. I need an overall more novice progression for my home training and then one day a week when I work hard and fail on the straps under quality coaching. Main goal #2: Keep a paper training log. Yeah. So I've been around the fitness game for a while and NF for several years and I should know better, but I do not keep a training log. Never have. Since R1 requires some basic logging of technique and perceived exertion, I figure it's as good of a time as any to try keeping a training log (of all my training: rings program, recovery days and circus training) to see if it helps me out any. Main goal #3: Work on my knees. I have hypermobile knees (they lock out at >180 degrees). In P.E. or yoga classes or dance classes or wherever I've gotten a lot of weird ideas from people about what to do about my knees. Well... a couple of weeks ago I came across a technique video on yogaglo.com from Jason Crandell about dealing with hypermobile knees and for the first time ever someone was saying something that made physical sense to me. So one goal for this challenge is to simply work through that video once a week for the 6 weeks of the challenge to really absorb how to keep my legs engaged and straight without locking back my knees (which locks my femur into my hip). I'm hoping this will eventually allow me to have better control and alignment of my legs while performing... not to mention walking around. :-D I have two side quests: Life side quest: To do 30 minutes of yardwork 5 days a week. We just moved into a new house and lots of things were neglected by the previous owner, who was quite elderly. It's time to get to work on the yard. Rather than being overwhelmed by the hugemongous task of getting it cleaned up (some of it is going to require some professional help), I'm just going to do it like I got strong, bit by bit, day by day. I will allow a pass on outside yard work on days when it's either pouring rain or our green bin is full... but those days I'm going to spend the time doing research on what I want to do for plantings and landscaping. Fitness side quest: Juggle more! It's fun! It's silly! It's cross training for my hands! I did a slapstick comedy playshop last week and found a local contact juggling/body rolling teacher who I'd love to work with. She only teaches once a month (and not every month), which is cool, because it's not a huge time commitment. So my final side quest is to just put some time in with my juggling props on a low key, semi regular (not strict, not measured) basis. OK... now back to my kiddo who is FINALLY playing quietly instead of sobbing about random things all day. Fellow assassins, I look forward to an excellent challenge with y'all! -jj

I'm joining the Assassins after having a bit of a hard time with the Scouts. Not their fault. I was well on my way to running my first ever 5K, and then I had a foot injury that sidelined all that. Running is not something that I can do at the moment. But there's lots of other interesting things I'd like to do. Like a frog stand, for example. And I did some rock climbing last winter and enjoyed that so I'll see if that's something my foot can handle again. Plus I've secretly always loved this guild, and that alphabet challenge you had last time out looked wicked fun. So here I am. It's late and I didn't realize the new challenge was starting already, so I'll have to wait until tomorrow to get my thoughts and my goals in proper order. The Bounty Hunter thing will hopefully make sense once I post my goals and whatnot. But for now, hello! And also, goodnight.

Main Quest: Create a healthy lifestyle that I am proud of. I want to look good, feel good and know that I am doing good things for my body the majority of the time. Three Goals to Achieve my main quest: Eat at least four servings of either fruit or veggie a day. (CON +3) Track everything I put in my mouth as follows: 7 days on, 9/23 off 8 days on, 10/2 off 9 days on, 10/12 off 10 days on, 10/23 off (WIS +2, CHA +2) 2 sessions push-ups/crunches/plank and 2 sessions of either an aerobics class or one hour workout per week (STR +2, STA +2) Life Side Quest: Beautification. I have to admit that for at least 75% of my life I am slummin' it! My primary hair do is the bun/pony tail. I have been eeking the last bit of foundation out of my basically empty bottle for two weeks now. I would like to get into doing pretty things with my hair/make-up/clothes. I'm not trying to buy myself something new all the time, although that will count, but maybe try curling my hair or a new way to do my eye shadow. You know.. actually trying. 4. Do something with hair/make-up or clothes once weekly. (WIS +2, CHA +2) Why are you doing this challenge? Because God gave me this awesome body, and instead of abusing it I want to take care of it and strive for excellence. Because you can't have a completely sound mind without having a sound body, and you can't have a sound body without creating healthy habits. Because I want my husband to think I'm hot without any effort . Because I want my daughter to love herself and know she is beautiful, and the best way to do that is to live it out in front of her. Because I want to show my daughter how to eat healthy and be active instead of just telling her. Wednesday morning weigh-ins weekly, measurements and pictures at 3 and 6 weeks. Weekly challenge reviews and grading. A - 100% B - 75% C - 50% D - 25% F - 0%

Assassins, hear my rallying cry. My older sister, IrishAmazon, is rejoining the online Nerdfitness community for this challenge, which is great. But she is doing it to test me, to push the boundaries of my badassitude and to claim renown as Swolest of Them All. As her nemesis, Viper Pilot Extrordanaire, Boulder Monkey, High Inquistor of Cats, Pharoah of Phunk, and Captain of Team Me, I cannot allow this arrogance to grow unhindered and unchallenged. Worst of all, she's not even an assassin. Pfft! The winner of this challenge is awarded a prize, in the form of foam roller or lifting straps. Needless to say, I cannot wait for my new foam roller. On to my goals. The first fun new element for me this challenge is that I have started lifting. I will most likely be lurking on the Warriors forum for tips etc but because I am an assassin first and foremost, here is where I stay. Also because to balance out my lifting I will continue to utilize rad and balance intensive BW moves as well bouldering the crap out of everything I can boulder. I also learned how to jumprope (!) for the first time ever and I am developing a pretty cool dynamic warm-up that involves jump-roping, jump-squatting with weight, push-ups, and so on. Main Quest: Raise It All Up I want more upper body strength. A lot more. It will help my climbing exponentially and with the combined power of my already Super Glutes, make me nigh unstoppable; help me get closer to real pull ups, and also, super developed shoulders are hot, and I am super vain. So there. 3 Goals: 1) GAINS: Eating. According to IIFYM, I need to be eating between 2155-2371 calories a day. I know I'm not right now, so that has to change. I will reach this goal by continuing to meal prep for work, and starting planning dinners ahead of time (I rarely eat enough dinner). I am reinforcing this by only allowing myself to buy food while I'm out at work once a week (coffee doesn't count). 2) Workout 3 x Week: Pretty straight forward lifting programming; press/squat day, deadlift/bench day, bodyweight circuit day. Stick to this programming, don't miss a workout. I will add my workout stats at the end of every week (to prove I did them!). 3) Climb 2 x a week. I haven't been making as much time for climbing, so this is a priority. If I miss a day one week, I make it up the next. Will record my climbs as frequently as possible. Side Quest: Save up $250 for passport. I have been putting that off for ages and I HAVE to get it soon, because there is a small chance I will be somewhere in Europe next summer. Should not be too hard, I just have to do it. And I realize this is a week late, but I wanted to give IrishAmazon a head start, seeing as she has been out of the game so long. Muahahah. Which reminds me, we haven't come up with a concrete scoring system yet, which we should do, eh? Ready, set, go! Starbuck

Holy waves, just tried paddleboarding for the first time today, and this activity which I thought would be either super hard or maybe a little too boring is neither. I am smitten with the glory of this watersport, and did you know there is such a thing as paddleboard yoga??? Not sure if this is exclusive to the west coast, or if others have tried their hand at the craft of walking (or at least standing) on water, but I would love to hear some stories and experiences. So far, seems like the ideal and most symbolic way to find a little balance. Recipe for perfect paddle: - drag the paddle blade just toward the front side of the board before pushing back, and you stay straight every time! - sunrise, no wind, friends, or a dog to join you (yup, they can board too) - try a little downward dog on the board -- what a trip!

I am writing this post secretly at work while simultaneously eating lunch, tracking down the mayor for an interview, researching rare diseases and writing the latest in a litany of stories for today's newspaper. So, little wonder I need this challenge. Thank you, Nerd Fitness. My Main Quest To cultivate balance in my life, and level up the amount of guilt-free time I spend on “me,†instead of on work -- hang on, my boss just gave me another assignment -- and on others. Basically, to be more awesome in all the parts of my life instead of just one, and to nurture a feeling of presence instead of a constant to-do list. No biggie, you know, just re-wire my brain. My Three Goals 1. Do 3 workouts and 1 group meditation each week Ideal structure: yoga 2x week, power workout 1x week, group meditation 1x week – if the group needs to be my teddy bears, then so be it. BONUS: 10-minute private meditation every day. 1 point per workout, 1 point per meditation, with a bonus point for every 7 private meditations Possible workout points: 18 Possible meditation points: 6 Possible bonus points: 6 Possible total: 24+ 2. Commit to a gluten-free, caffeine-free, protein-rich diet I know, I know, Paleo is where it's at, but baby steps. While I’ve aimed to be gluten-free for a year now, the cheats are harder when I’m held accountable. Also, coffee stokes my anxiety like none other. It’s time to love this body and treat her right. 1 point per each day that goes by without gluten, 1 point per each day that goes by without caffeine Possible gluten-free points: 42 Possible caffeine-free points: 42 Possible total: 84 3. Score back “me time†by waking up between 5:30am-6am every weekday No more bookending the work day with 30 minutes to roll out of bed and into the office (reverse and repeat). I can do anything I want with my mornings, whether that pulls me to have outside time, write poems, read, meditate, cook, create or play. 1 point per every week day that I wake up by 6am Possible points: 30 Possible total: 30 Side Quest Clean my mess! Nothing like a messy house to promote a messy mind – and to make you think you’ll never get through it. I challenge myself to one task each week day towards the mountains of boxes, clothes and things I have accumulated because I’ve been too busy working to deal with them. NOTE: this task not to exceed one hour per day, and this is not what “Free Me†mornings are designed for. If, by the end of six weeks I have achieved sorting just one spot of mess each week day, I will be looking for things to clean.

Well, I squeaked into day 1 just in time, and even managed to achieve today's goals! Thanks to my amazing friend (in real life) TheHalfie for telling me about Nerd Fitness long enough in advance that I had ample time to procrastinate about completing my post until the last moment! (This might be something for next challenge.) But I'm thrilled to be here and give six weeks a chance to retrain my habit patterns. With my new goals in place, I'm off on my mission to find balance. Here's the July 29 rundown. WIN: work up at 5:30am. (That'll be a point thanks.) WIN: yoga workout (yup, that's another point for day 1) WIN: No caffeine and NO gluten (boom -- 2 points) Side quest: totally unpacked my bags from a weekend away. Side quest score. 4 points, and priceless satisfaction. Ok Day 2, I'm ready for you.

Last challenge I got really stressed out. It was my 6th challenge in a row and I ended up scrapping it on purpose on week 3. I had to cut myself a break, or I was going to lose my mind. A lot of stuff about my life changed. I gave up paleo. I gave up running. I started walking. I started eating whatever I want, and wouldn't you know after 9 months of clean eating, what I want is mostly clean food. Huh. I gave up body-comp, size, and weight goals. I realized I like my body the shape that it is. I also realized I spend a whole lot of time screaming at my body that it's terrible and it better shape up or else, and no time acknowledging that my body is healthy, it works properly, I can't remember the last time I had an illness of any kind, and I can do the things I want to do with my time. All this time, while I've been berating it, my body has been quietly doing what it does so I can do what I want to do. Who knew. My ultimate goal for the next 6 weeks is to live my life as it is right now, and find all the little nooks and crannies of happiness that are already there. I have chosen 2 goals instead of the traditional 4. I do not have a diet goal; after 9 months of strict paleo, my dietary habits are pretty much above reproach. I can trust myself around food. I am not running or doing bodyweight exercises right now. I need a break from them for a short while, so I have chosen to walk and do yoga instead. If you sleep for 8 hours and work for 8 hours, that leaves 8 hours left on weekdays (and more on weekends) to do whatever you want. When the walking and the yoga sessions are done each day, I will be spending the rest of my hours getting outside and into the community to enjoy summer 2013. And blogging about it. This is my 7th challenge. I will be settling back into the shadows to heal and recover, getting mentally stronger and physically more balanced. I am planning to resume traditional 4-goal challenges with challenge #8 (which I'm already planning, and it's going to be epic). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [sambieWlks] Chapter the Seventh: Now Goal 1: Walk 1 mile daily I measured a one-mile loop on the back roads by my house, and I want to walk this circuit each morning. If I miss a morning walk, I can do it later in the day. Scoring: Tally (42 days = 100%) XP: +3 STA, +3 CON, +2 WIS Goal 2: Complete the DoYogaWithMe 6-Week Beginner Program I have been using DoYogaWithMe's free online videos for several months now and I love them. I just discovered they have a new 6-week introductory program that combines their tutorials with the routines in an organized progression. I'm not a super beginner with yoga, but the structure and content of this program really appeals to me. And, most of the routines are ones I've not done before, so I am really excited to dive in. Scoring: Total Weeks Completed (6 weeks completed = 100%) XP: +3 DEX, +2 CHA, +2 WIS Bonus: Participate in the weekly mini-challenges in the Assassins' forum. Secret goals: Accomplishing these goals are like getting a chipmunk to eat out of my hand*. Right now, I'm sitting veeeery still with a pile of birdseed in my hand and the chipmunk is RIGHT THERE MAN. I'm already doing these goals on autopilot; the last thing I want to do is Make It A Big Deal and jinx the streak. So shhhh don't look at these goals directly in the eyes, don't make any sudden movements, don't make a lot of noise, and hopefully they won't run away. **Meditate daily. 1 minute will do, 7 minutes is better (my current level), 10 minutes is great. **Take my herbs and supplements daily. I hate swallowing pills. It's such a big to-do, and herby supplement pills always seem to be the size of a baby carrot. But, gots to do it to get the benefits. *Based on a true story - when I was little I found a chipmunk hole in the ground and I wanted that chipmunk to be my friend. So one day I sat on the ground next to the hole, dumped a bucket of sunflower seeds on my legs to completely cover my lap, and waited. I sat more still than any child has ever sat in the history of children and/or sitting, and I was rewarded with a chipmunk sitting on my leg eating seeds. Until my brother snuck up behind me and yelled ON PURPOSE to scare it away. Brothers. Man. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- These are the weekly updates you're looking for: Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6

Wondering if anyone knows of any yoga videos or work outs that don't include the hippie B.S "energy" "flow" "chakra" ect. I'm trying to get more into yoga but I get distracted by all that nonsense. I guess what I'm looking for is non-spiritual yoga. Thanks.

Hi, I'm really new here! I've recently found it had to find a particular balance in my life, considering all I have to do. I'm a student, majoring in graphic design at my college. I work part time at an animal hospital, I try to work on as much personal art as I can in my spare time, I have a wonderful, beautiful boyfriend, and I'm trying to reach my fitness goals. I've always believed in having a particular balance of things in life, and not letting certain things overrun other things that might be important to me. The thing is, all of the things I listed are very important! How would any of you suggest giving everything an equal amount of attention without burning myself out completely?