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I have free time at work... so I'm using it write the new post. Work = Rec and Park Internship where I get to try out the "manager role/admin duties". I'm a Rec and Park undergrad finishing up my degree with this internship. Will be working until Fall, but getting my degree in August (yay!) Internship is going great, like seriously "perfect Internship I couldn't even dream of level". Especially during crazy pandemic still continuing. Downside, I'm no longer in a physical job. Upside I am taking advantage of a normal job routine, and live in a place where its quite a bit less stressful. So taking advantage of the situation as I'm getting this groggy after work, continuing weight loss... I just passed the 20 lb milestone, for 2021! This challenge is definitely going to be a grind on creating habits (may finally have to read the habits book...) Keeping at if even if my job blew out my brain a bit... Routines: This is a hate/love relationship right here... Morning and Bedtime routines. Hoping to find a good "routine" to check off of every morning and night. No screens after 8: Find I tend to go to bed faster or finish things up when I put the phone away at 8. YNAB: Doing something on the app once per a day gives me a point. A budgeting software I tried on and off for years. I was on the fence for this goal, but honestly this is a goal to get handled where I hope to master. I have some money habits I would like to get in check, especially as of the many unknowns after graduating this August. No Screens with meals: This was on top of my list from my Naturopath... I can do this, it is not as hard as it was 5 years ago (where my mind was my enemy). I just need a reward... Going to add eating and driving, since I realized eating a pack of nuts and lara bar before driving home might do me better than driving home. Bonus: Working out: I have Ring Fit, I have trails I need to walk on my own time... just making the time to do it will help. Meal Prep: I'm actually giving myself a point for every meal I prep in advance. Allowing myself frozen dinners, but getting this in would hit my goals better. Myfitnesspal: I don't hate it as much as I used to, find it less stressful then YNAB actually. Right now using it for "checking in" tool. ' Since I'm earning full time pay, my hope is to turn my goals into points... that I can cash out when I hit a goal. First goal: Oats Overnight... started eyeing them for breakfast or a bed time snack. Will see if I like them.... Also I actually need to watch this show.....

I'm learning an uncomfortable truth: though my mood is loads better, all the other symptoms of depression still remain. Low energy, difficulty focusing, little interest in things. My improved mood is a godsend, cos I would not survive if I still felt as bad as last fall. But now, among other things, I need to cultivate some self-discipline, cos I've never really learned to do that... And now is the time when I really need it, while I'm trying to succeed in school instead of just scraping by AND trying to put some distance between myself and that terrifying darkness. So, no matter how many times I fall, I'll keep on trying. Cos I have to. For the sake of my health and well-being. FOR THE SAKE OF MY HEALTH - batch cook on weekends - work on homework a little every day once it's assigned - exercise 2 times per week - do some chores for 5 minutes every evening m-f - maybe some kind of journaling goal? TBD Reward for meeting exercise goal: Spiderman Compression shirt, or possibly a new backpack.

Hello! I am a mom with a toddler that is usually sitting on me, hanging off me, having me read books out loud, or trying to pull me down the hall... play breaks are frequent, but short...so I will try to keep up here with my small bites of 2 hand time. I'm also still figuring out how NF works and fits together. So here are my goals for this challenge: Eat & drink healthier: - Eat only AIP+ when at home, outside I can have non-AIP snacks but not anything sweet. - Come up with a batch cooking meal plan for each week with 4 meals, 2 days of cooking. Stronger: - See a trainer at the Y once a week before (probably) quitting--or other significant exercise once a week. Ship shape mom life: - Strictly follow toddler meal schedule, after putting it up for spouse. Okay, Mister is giving me looks, so I am done!

How auspicious that @Sylvaa poked me the same day the new challenge starts! I will be back later to actually post my challenge.

I'm back from vacation, I (hopefully) have found some new motivation, and I'm ready to get back in the game. I also haven't really improved much with the parkour over the last 6 months, and I'm finally in a mental place where I'm ready to step up my training. Goal 1: Learn to Zig Zag I have been slacking on getting cardio workouts, which in turn makes me less agile when doing parkour. I HATE cardio, but the goal is to force myself to do that at least 3 times/week. Parkour class counts. So does HIIT or shadowboxing. I might even *gasp* go for a jog. Goal 2: Work that dragon ass I've struggled A LOT with knee and hip pain over the last few months. When I did some research and some physical tests, I found that I have an anterior pelvic tilt along with relatively underdeveloped posterior chain muscles and overdeveloped quads. I've already started on the road to fixing this, and I'm already seeing progress. I have stretches for the hip flexors and calves that I need to do. I also have great exercises for helping activate the glutes and hamstrings. I also have started really trying to fix my squat. I had assumed that poor ankle mobility and short calf muscles were the reason I would fall backward or tend to shift weight to the balls of my feet when doing AtG squats. But now I have other avenues to explore. I can actually do a good form squat if I'm front squatting a light dumbbell. The goal is to accumulate time over the week in a deep squat as well as stick with the physical therapy-esque stuff. I will start with a goal of 15 minutes per week in deep squat, and see how that goes. Goal 3: A Girl must Cook I got lazy. And then went on vacation and ate out for a couple weeks. And for whatever reason, it seems harder to cook when the kids are home. But I need to clean up the diet a lot. The goal is to do at least one batch cooked recipe per week and eat out at most once per week. Goal 4: I drink and I know things. While it would certainly be *fun* to have a goal of drinking, it doesn't fit with my goals. The thing I need to drink is protein, and the thing I need to know is how much protein I've been getting. My muscle recovery has been poor, but I also have been much lower with the protein intake than I ought to be. The goal is to track protein and drink a protein shake each day that I lift or do parkour. Bonus: Be mighty like Brienne Work on upper body strength by doing pull ups and grip training work. The goal is to start doing a GtG approach where I have to do a pull up or hang on something anytime I go under the pull up bar or go down to the basement.

FATE / STARPUCK : ZERO The last few challenges have seen a change in how I see myself, and how I approach life, fitness and food. A GOOD change! I'm also fresh off of ACEN and my anime floon is high, so this seemed a fitting time to delve back into some anime themed challenges. TRAIN LIKE SHIROU Shirou got dragged into a war he wasn't even aware of, but chose to stand up for his ideals nonetheless. If he had any hope of surviving, let alone being a hero of justice, it meant he had to work hard and gain some combat skills. He also had to rest after exerting himself too much, because a mage without mana, meant a weaker servant! ACTIVITY GOALS: 6x / week Like before, this can be any type of intentional activity, though I want to make sure at least 2x a week it is strength training. Starting in June, I will have the potential for up to 3x hockey / week though I will probably opt out of that. I may end up doing 2x a week for the whole month, depending on when Coed games line up. LEGITIMATE REST DAY 1x / week When summer whips up, I can sometimes get into a streak of having zero rest days. I'm not suggesting I sit and do nothing, but one day per week must NOT have any "real" training. Leisure hikes, bikes or walks are okay. But once every seven days, there must be no run or hockey or weight training. PRACTICE LIKE RIN Rin was born and raised to be a mage, to become the heir of her family's legacy. While she is a compete magus when we see her, it was a long, hard process for her to gain that level of skill. She studied and practiced throughout her childhood, and pushed her boundaries endlessly. ART GOALS 4x / week I should really be pushing to start implementing tutorials, or skills practice. I have made a lot of progress, but I think the next wave of improvement will only come if I start LEARNING things. The reason I am not changing this goal to reflect that need, is because I don't see it as strongly feasible during the summer months when I get uber busy. So for now, keep up the routine and practice. D&D PREP WORK 1x / week My game is going well enough and I am actually enjoying life as a GM. I do want to get better, so I need to make sure I am investing time every week into either prepping my specific game, or reading rules books, watching tips, etc. COSTUME WORK 3x / challenge My brother and nephew will be going with me to Comic Con in August. I have a really good start to a Rebel Legion worthy Jedi uniform, but I am unhappy with how it fits, and the lack of colors. I have material for a new Obi / Tabard set, but no sewing skills. In order not to get rushed last minute with this endeavor, I need to start doing this now. I will practice on crap material, until I am comfy enough to sew the tabards an obi in the new color. CONQUER MY ARCHER "If you cannot defeat your enemy with the weapon you do have, then imagine one with which you could." Archer is ... a complicated character, and I will not go too much into it in case this is on your list to watch. (Recommended!) This goal is about defeating my own biggest nay-sayer... AKA, ME! AFFIRMATIONS 7x / week Daily affirmations in journal. My 'wake up' routine. I want to start expanding what's written in them now, talking myself up more and ... most importantly, start working on developing some courage. PUCK LOVE, BOLD EDITION 1x / week One RANDOM picture per week, posted with complimentary self talk. IE. No taking pics that I look at and go, "Gee that's my good side." Snap pic, post, talk nice. BEYOND THE BOUNDARY 3x / challenge Engage in an activity that is decidedly beyond my routine comfort zone. Do it without backing out. I will need some advice and suggestions on this one for ideas! EAT TO PERFORM 7x / week Not the ACTUAL program, but I am aiming to up my calories to no MORE than a 500 calorie deficit per day, and may in fact, aim for something closer to a 250 calorie/day deficit. I want to add good, healthful calories to the mix, so it may also turn into a bit of a cooking challenge. I'll have the house (and thus the kitchen) to myself for part of it, so it will be a real test. The goal will be to eat 1800 calories per day on a normal activity day, 2400 calories on a hockey day, and 1700 calories on a rest day. KEEP UP NIGHTLY REGIME 7x / week Not a solid habit yet. Must keep this on the list until it's set in stone. ODDS AND ENDS - Buy tickets for Wizard World - Plan August trip. - Research new bike. - Buy new bike for August trip. - Clean out closet. - Go through clothes, recycle, toss, etc. - Finish leather pouch for Jedi costume (requires a snap install) - Research suburban Improv Class * - Clean up PC, files, pics, etc. Alright, it looks like a lot on the plate, but it's really mostly the same as last time with a few new twists. Also, most of it can be done first thing in the morning, or during my already established routine. I'm riding high on the coattails of last challenge, so let's do this! "I am the bone of my sword. Steel is my body, and fire is my blood..."

I'm going a little backwards. My week zero I am being super strict. Don't throw things, but it's my "detox" week. I'm not going to take detox tea that gives me diarrhea or anything - I'm going to hardcore clean up my food. Then, for the actual challenge, I'm going back to more reasonable goals, so that I'm not setting myself up for failure. I can do one week. I CAN DO ONE WEEK. Spreadsheet here

The last few months I've done the bare minimum exercise. My gym buddy hasn't had time for the gym, so I haven't gone. My hiking buddies haven't had time to hike, so I haven't gone. That changes this month. I've also noticed how boring and repetitive most of my cooking has gotten when I'm not hunting for a new recipe. Finally, a goal I set for 2017 is to rebuild a social life, since I am tired of feeling lonely all the time, the way to fix that isn't sitting on my couch thinking about how lonely I feel. Goal 1: Hit the gym 3x a week No more waiting for the gym buddy. I'm paying for the membership, I should use it. There is no reason I can't go 3x a week or more. Goal 2: Hit daily step goals As I did last month, I'm setting the goals as 10k on non-work days and 15k on work days. Goal 3: Cook a good variety I've noticed I tend to make the same 8-ish meals over and over. This month let's see if I can cook at least 15 different dinners. Then next month we can up it to 20 and so on. Goal 4: Start rebuilding a social life Instead of spending my weekends at home in my PJ's, let's go see people. We'll say 4 social events for this month. Yes, I'm setting this one very low. That is because it terrifies me and I want to start small. Challenge Spreadsheet

I'm back, I'm recharged, and I'm hopefully ready to kick some ass this challenge! So I can avoid making some of the mistakes from the last 3-4 months, I'm keeping things very simple. Goal 1: The Daily grind I'm not quantifying how much, but I need to do pull ups, push ups, and arm balances every day. Some days, it might be a single pull up, some counter push ups, and 5 seconds in crow. It has been entirely too easy for me to either feel too burned out to try anything or to get wrapped up in other life stuff and fail to set aside the time. This forces me to at least do something every day. I'm also hoping to make some progress in the arm balancing transitions PVP thing (even though everyone else seems to have abandoned it). Goal 2: Cooking for picky little eaters I'm sick of cooking 3 different meals each night, so I'm refining my normal crock pot goal such that I have to find and try recipes that my kids might actually eat. Yeah, that means the recipes will be much more boring, but in the long run I hope I can get them eating healthier foods. The goal is to try one kid friendly crock pot meal each week. Goal 3: New yoga excitement I've had huge motivational problems with yoga over the last many months. I think at least part of this is that I'm fairly bored with my normal app and need to try some new videos and workouts. So, the goal is to hunt for cool looking yoga videos on youtube and try at least 8 of them by the end of the challenge. If any of you have any recommendations for favorite videos, I'm very open to suggestions. And....That's it! I'll still be doing my usual parkour, recording tons of piano stuff, doing a lot of coding, playing around with martial arts stuff, etc., but I'm not going to force any goals.

Balsquith battles the passivity My last challenge did not go all that well. Or rather, it went well at times but as it was mostly just collecting information it felt like it was never going at all. This challenge I will actually utilise a little bit of the information collected in my goals: Goal 1: Nutrition – Batch cook 2x per week. I kept a food log briefly last challenge and the approximate findings were that: 1. I probably don’t eat enough generally 2. I make poor choices when I go food shopping at lunchtime Therefore this challenge I will be doing some batch cooking to prepare some breakfasts and some lunches. I don’t expect this to be perfect, but it will at least mean that on several days of the week I have a good (ish) food choice (I will be aiming to go vegetable-heavy) Goal 2: Exercise – Short run 2x per week. I used to enjoy playing Ultimate Frisbee but have kind of lost touch with this over the past few years. As I don’t run at all anymore I will be starting my road back to Frisbee with a couple of short runs a week. Goal 3: Injury rehab – Stretching daily I have become somewhat injury prone of late (or maybe I am just noticing it more) and am convince that this is due, in part at least, to overall poor mobility causing problems to arise in other areas of the body. I will be addressing this by some targeted stretching using GMB’s focused flexibility. Goal 4: Learning – 30 minutes (or more) daily I am not dedicating any time to improving myself, which is a poor showing given how easy it would be to carve 30 minutes out of my day to do this. I have a few things that I want to work on in this time, but the goal will be purely for freeing up the time to learn.

For once, I'm keeping things short and sweet. I need to focus a lot more on being more organized with my life and being more efficient with my time, and a lot less on chasing shiny things. Of course, I'll still be posting about parkour and my normal stuff, and I'll still be eating right + exercising. I just don't want to make that a huge focus. Goal 1: The morning routine - Each morning, right after sending the kids to school, I will complete the following morning routine before letting myself get distracted by other things: -Brief (or longer, if I feel like it) yoga flow -Take care of any dishes or laundry that need to be done -make the daily to-do list Goal 2: The To-Do list: Each Monday, I will make a List of the things I'd like to accomplish that week. Also, every day during my morning routine, I will make a list of things I want to accomplish that day. This list will hopefully keep me focused on the important things. Goal 3: Decluttering and purging: Each day, I will declutter some area in the house and throw away as much as I possibly can. I have too much random junk, and the only way to bring a bit of order to the house is to start throwing things away and stop decluttering by relocating things from one part of the house to another. Goal 4: Coding and piano - Each day, get at least something accomplished or spend some time with each of these. No slacking and no excuses. Goal 5: Batch cooking or complicated cooking project - At least twice/week. This should ensure that I'll have healthy food without necessarily requiring a huge time expenditure per meal. Goal 6: Stay connected - I've been feeling a bit less connected to NF over the last many months, so I'm going to make a huge point of posting at least every day in my thread, and posting in at least 3 other people's threads each day. I'm also going to try to stick with the mini challenge and any PVPs people post.

It can get pretty lonely and boring for the Princess of Neptune. While peaceable times are wonderful, there isn't much to do while out at her planet, making sure no threats are coming to threaten the Silver Millennium. Michiru decided it was time to get herself back in tip top fighting shape, with a little help from her friends, the rest of the Sailor Senshi. The pretty soldiers in sailor suits spent a lovely day together, over the course of which they brainstormed goals with Michiru, and promised to help keep her on track. Each senshi would assist with one objective. SAILOR MOON! Usagi-chan loves her junk food. LOVES IT! Sometimes her sailor suit gets a bit tight though, so over the years she's learned to dial it back and eat in a more balanced manner. Goal: Log all food on MFP, do not go below 1200 or above 1700 SAILOR MERCURY! Ami-chan is so smart and studious. She is rarely seen without her nose in a book. She will be encouraging Michiru-san to read more. Goal: Read books five hours per week, divided between the days however works SAILOR MARS! Rei-chan is a Shinto priestess and serves at her grandfather's temple. She will be helping Michiru-san to get back in touch with her spiritual side. Goal:Do something spiritual once per week. Can include reading from a book, meditating, or performing a small ritual (New Moon 9/1, Full Moon 9/16 SAILOR JUPITER! Mako-chan is such an amazing cook! She's going to reach Michiur-san a few tricks this month so she can broaden her kitchen repertoire. Goal: Try three new recipes over the course of the challenge and/or three new foods. SAILOR VENUS! Minako-chan is a social butterfly. She loves singing, games, and so much more. She's going to encourage Michiru-san to have some fun! Goal: Do something social once a week. Can include: WoW (if grouped), D&D, board game night, Friday Night Magic, group hikes, karaoke nights, etc. SAILOR URANUS! Haruka is so active and athletic. She will help Michiru to stay active! Goal: Do something active every day. Can include: 10k steps, 30 mins walk/hike, 30 mins bike, 30 mins gym SAILOR PLUTO! Setsuna is the Guardian of Time. It just makes sense that she'll help Michiru stay on task with schedules/calendars/all that fun stuff that can get lost in the shuffle of day to day life. Goal: Stay on top of things like mail/bills/scheduling workouts. SAILOR SATURN! Hotaru-chan has dealt with many health problems and has learned the value of self-care. She's going to assist Michiru-san in remembering that she cannot take care of others or be a good Guardian Senshi if she isn't taking care of herself. Goal: Take better care of myself. Shower more often, brush teeth twice a day, use lotion, etc. I'm working on a "points" system to earn money to spend at a concert I'm going to on 9/16, since that's almost the end of the challenge. I haven't finished this points system yet, and it's stressing me out to try, LOL! I think instead, if I get 75% success rate across all goals, I'll allow myself to buy some nice souvenirs. Ready, set.... GO! RESULTS! List of goals: Moon: Log all food on MFP, do not go below 1200 or above 1700 Mercury: Read books five hours per week, divided between the days however works Mars: Do something spiritual once per week. Can include reading from a book, meditating, or performing a small ritual (New Moon 9/1, Full Moon 9/16 Jupiter: Try three new recipes over the course of the challenge and/or three new foods. Venus: Do something social once a week. Can include: WoW (if grouped), D&D, board game night, Friday Night Magic, group hikes, karaoke nights, etc. Uranus: Do something active every day. Can include: 10k steps, 30 mins walk/hike, 30 mins bike, 30 mins gym Pluto: Stay on top of things like mail/bills/scheduling workouts. Saturn: Take better care of myself. Shower more often, brush teeth twice a day, use lotion, etc. Week One Summary Week Two Summary Week Three Summary Week Four Summary

So, I am totally failing at being creative and thinking of a cool challenge theme. Therefore I'm just gonna be random! I'm mostly using the same goals, because they are working for me! Nutrition Challenges Track ALL THE THINGS! Good eating, bad eating, exercise, pedometer.... it all goes into MFP. I've also found it's helpful to track BEFORE I eat/drink - then I can decide if it's really worth it to have those cookies. Drink LOTS OF WATER! I've gotten into the soda habit a bit more again outside of work. That needs to stop. I'd also like to reduce my daily work soda - right now I buy those 1.25L bottles of Diet Mt Dew and drink one every day. I think I'd like to make one of those last two days. I'm going to gradually cut down over the course of the challenge, with a goal being that at the end of the challenge, I'm buying 2-3 a week instead of 5-6 a week. And more more soda outside of work! If I need caffeine, coffee or green tea. Fitness Challenge Do something active EVERYDAY! Options include (but are not limited to): 10k steps, 30 minutes on my gazelle, 30 minutes biking, or a trip to the gym Level Up My Life Challenge Watch some NEW THINGS! I tend to rewatch the same few TV series over and over. I'm not going to completely eliminate that, but the rules are that I can only rewatch something if: 1. it is background noise for cleaning 2. it is background noise for grinding in WoW 3. it is background noise to help combat insomnia If I am actually watching TV to pay attention and watch it, not as a distraction from something, it must be something I haven't already watched. I know this goal is silly, but I gotta get out of my rut! This will probably also help me to read more books, since I won't just turn on the same crap to watch over and over. LET'S DO THIS!! Log everything on MFP Week 1: Week 2: Week 3: Week 4: Gradually decrease soda Week 1: Week 2: Week 3: Week 4: Something active every day Week 1: Week 2: Week 3: Week 4: Diversify my leisure watching Week 1: Week 2: Week 3: Week 4:

This 4 Week Challenge’s theme will be… Things I learned during the last challenge: What I’m doing new this challenge: Goals Must be done same day for points = Running o 2x a week o Track and post all runs on Fitbit / Fitocracy o Report run on 4WC thread (mi/mm:ss) Weightlifting o 2x a week o Track and post all workouts on Fitbit / Fitocracy o Report run on 4WC thread (mi/mm:ss) Hike/Bike - OPTIONAL o May be substituted for other exercise goals o Track and post all hikes/cycling on Fitbit / Fitocracy o Report hikes/cycling on 4WC thread (mi/mm:ss) Domestic Rangering o Prep all lunches throughout challenge (nightly OR weekly) o Track M-F meals daily on MFP throughout challenge - Report daily calorie total on 4WC thread o Clean kitchen after dinner o Layout workout and work clothes every evening prior to bedtime o Go to bed at 20:00 every night Scoring Method · 1 pt - Exercise accomplished · 1 pt - Lunch prepped · 1 pt - Calories tracked · 1 pt - Kitchen cleaned · 1 pt - Clothes laid out · 1 pt - In bed on time · 1 pt - Goal met & recorded on 4WC thread

As those who followed by last challenge know, my depression has been getting worse. I have decided to make simple, achievable goals this month. This will keep me on the right path, and won't set me up for failure! I couldn't think of a cool theme this time, so, just basics. Goal One Track all my food on MFP Con +2, Wis +2, Cha +1 Goal Two Exercise three times per week Str +1, Sta +2, Con +1, Cha +1 Goal Three Do not drink soda except at work, and if used in mixed drinks at my brother's bday party Con +2, Wis +2, Cha +1 Summary: Goal 1 = stay in MFP range, Goal 2 = exercise 3x/week, Goal 3 = no soda outside of work Week One (5/8-5/14): Goal 1: 86% (went over the limit 1 day) Goal 2: 100%+ (exercised four times!) Goal 3: 100% Week Two (5/15-5/21): Goal 1: 100% Goal 2: 100%+ (cardio/long walks four days of the week. Squats 5 days of the week for the Mini. Got some form of exercise every day of this week, Sun-Sat!) Goal 3: 100% Week Three (5/22-5/28): Goal 1: 100% Goal 2: 100% Goal 3: 100% Week Four (5/29-6/4): Goal 1: 86% (went over the limit 1 day) Goal 2: 100% Goal 3: 86% (had soda at home one day)

Boring backstory I have been recycling the same goals for the past several challenges, changing my focus each time on a different aspect. But really what it comes down to is all of my goals are related and tied to each other. My food choices fuel my workouts, my workouts take time that I used to spend on other necessities and free time, the less efficient I am in getting my To Do's done takes away time from leisure, which ends up costing me sleep so I can unwind, and the lack of sleep affects my food choices and my workouts. This challenge I am trying to focus on all these aspects and balance everything in such a way that I can meet my goals and live my life at the same time. I am hoping that finding a way to balance these will help ensure more win and less suck. It's getting closer to my summer races and events so I want to try and lock down the foundation so I can focus on training for those events. Main Over-arching Goal: My goal is still to lose bodyfat and gain strength. I still haven't been to Onederland but my ultimate goal is somewhere over that rainbow. Main goal for this challenge: Make progress on fat loss and running time/endurance. I don't care how much progress but I'm tired of maintaining. I had this intricate points system all worked out for this challenge to facilitate this balance and accentuate the ties between my goals but then I realized that every weekend this challenge I have trips and plans that have a high likelihood of derailing my goals. So I simplified the points and will work around the weekends to mitigate the damage. For this challenge Wonder Woman will be borrowing some web weaving skills from other heroes and using the lasso for defensive maneuvering. I am hoping have a solid web during the week will be my safety net for the weekend. The Woven Web I'll be focusing on 6 habits this challenge that will work together to weave the web. Each week will be scored based on percent of goal achieved and recorded on the chart below. I'm not really expecting 100% on all of these goals but by tracking them using the web-like chart will be an easy way to track my success for the 33 days of the challenge and also allow me to quickly identify weak points. It is unlikely that any of these goals can be 'made up' at a later date if I miss them so any misses just go down as misses and I'll just see how many there are. I can track the number of successful days and shoot for as many as possible. I am also hoping this chart helps me to turn any misses around quickly so that I can save the following day and not get stuck in a downward spiral. Goals Eat Well (Macros) CON - Hit MFP macros every day* Lift STR - Lift 3 times a week Sleep DEX - Get 7 hours of sleep a day Conditioning STA - 3 cardio days, most likely 2 runs and 1 ruck Demolish Tasks WIS - Set 3 daily tasks and accomplish them each day. This should incorporate FlyLady, personal tasks, school and scout tasks. Leisure CHA - Find time to do some leisure activity at least 5 days a week. (TV before bed on my own doesn't count as this is part of my routine, but setting time aside to watch something with LordShello or the kids counts or watching a movie, as do other quality time activities with them or self care things like pedicures.) *Variance days may be scheduled in based on Winning the Weekend and this will be incorporated into the goal. Winning the Weekend Since there are pitfalls every weekend this challenge, I will be setting unique Weekend Protocols for each week's pitfall. This will allow me a little wiggle room as far as workouts and diet and also force me to make plans to accomplish as much as possible and prepare for the pitfall in a sensible way. Though I may not be able to get some workouts in, I will continue to score that goal with the same set goal as listed above; the food goals may be relaxed a bit. Weekend #1: May 6-8. Mother's Day Weekend. I am travelling to my mom's for the weekend. Weekend #2: Girl's Weekend. The boys will be off camping. When it's just Peach and I we can get a little wild. Weekend #3: Mom's campout. I will be camping with my son's boy scout troop. Weekend #4: Memorial Weekend. Perhaps won't be a huge pitfall but I better make plans to ensure this. Side Quests There are some other things I'd like to keep up with. I'm not sure how they fit in the scoring system. Maybe I'll make a reward system for these... For the daily tasks I still have a tendency to put off some things. I started the 3 daily tasks as part of the PVP for last challenge but when I am thinking about what to do each day, I will forget about big tasks that need to get done and then I'll remember them later and they never make it into the rotation. So I'm making a list. Ideally, the Demolish goal will incorporate these tasks but in the event that they don't they will be documented here and I'll get some kind of bonus point for getting these done. I also have some specific rucking goals I'd like to get to. Ruck WOD Ruck with coupon Long Ruck KonMari Get passport paperwork done. Student Loan paperwork Write Final Export class data for Canvas transition backup laptop and send it for repairs Wonder Woman is taking a break from villain PVP's. I feel like this is already a lot to balance and there isn't really any room to make additional goals. Plus I've signed up as a villain in Rurik's challenge and I'll have to battle for Pancake Glory in the Doodlie PVP. The Villain Face-off's will resume at a later date.... In the meantime, villains are scheming....

I'm an assassin at heart who loves to mess around with climbing, contortion, aerial and handbalancing. I feel like I'm in a great place when it comes to training, buuuut not so great when it comes to eating to support the training. So this challenge is all about food and mindful eating and thought the druids might be a good place for it. I love food and I love to cook, but my relationship with eating is a rocky one, even disorderly at times. Sometimes I forget to eat. Sometimes I binge. And then there are periods when I effortlessly eat really yummy, healthy food that makes me very happy. For the past few weeks I’ve been in a bad eating like a jerk phase and I gained weight in a very short amount of time which frankly feels gross and so very unhealthy. But enough is enough, and now I’ve reached a point where I feel ready to tackle my eating habits. Not to lose weight or even for performance, but for my physical and mental health. The hard goals Goal #1 Keep a food journal I’m not talking about calorie counting, but I will track my food together with notes on how I feel both mentally (mood, stress levels...) and physically (hunger, tiredness levels…) before and after the meal. I will also be keeping track on any strong cravings. This is a pass or fail goal, but I only have to keep it up for as long as it’s interesting. Goal #2 Max one portion of dessert or snacks per day And as long as it’s made from scratch! I sometimes fall into the bad habit of getting crappy chocolate or other unhealthy thing straight after work to boost my energy levels, when really I need real food and rest. This goal is really about preventing that, but disguised as an incentive to bake more cookies. Goal #3 No eating out This means zero takeaway and going out for work lunches max 1 day/week. The fun goals! Goal #4 Experiment with food Try 4 new “mystery” recipes or flavour combinations that I’ve never tried before. Ideas are always welcome! Goal #5 Grow food I've never grown anything in my life, but got this fix idea that I want to start growing food on my balcony. Last challenge I started by researching how and when to plant, and I planted some seeds on my window sill. This challenge will be about setting up the rest of the balcony, and be patient enough with my little ones to not murder them because they are growing too slowly.

Backstory I have not been seeing the progress I’d like. As far as fat lost, I’ve gone a little backwards. Overall I am making better food choices but I am just not consistent with it. My variances have been too frequent and too large. I keep undoing any progress I have made. I’ve got a solid workout schedule in place but diet is 80% of the success. And I am not succeeding in that area. So this challenge will focus on diet. I’m not giving up on the workouts. I still have 3 planned events for this year that I need to train for. But it’s still early enough in the year that I can focus on specific training for those events next challenge. Though running will start to make an appearance during this challenge. Eat right. Lift. Ruck. Run. Sleep. Fight Villains. Repeat. Bulletproof Bracelets Eat Right. I just recently bought these new containers for batch cooked meals. I absolutely love them. I’ve been batch cooking for quite a few challenges now but we usually just store each item separately in larger containers and then for dinners everyone serves up their own plates and we eat. But I’ve found that we either run out of food too early in the week and then scramble to come up with something mid-week or we overcompensate and make too much food. Part of the problem is there is no governing the portion sizes. I log my recipe on MFP and then say it makes 6 servings. But there isn’t a reliable way to know that my plate is 1 / 6 of the whole. So now I will plan each week’s meals ahead of time on the weekend. Sunday is batch cooking day, and then all meals will be pre-portioned in the new containers. I’ll know exactly how many I need for me and the rest of the family. It may not be glamorous, but it’s effective. The Plan. Each weekend I will prepare the menu for the week and batch cook all the meals and plan the macros for the week. This should make it really easy to stick to it and allow little room for excuses. And my portions and food logging will be more accurate, allowing me to make better decisions. My current macro goals are 1600 calories on most days, 1700 on recovery days. Protein should be at least 100g but preferably in the 120’s. I don’t have a specific carb goal but it should be lower than the protein for any given day. Macros are subject to change but only as part of the weekly plan. Variances are allowed but with restriction. Variances must be planned ahead when I make the weekly menu. 1 spontaneous variance allowed for the entire challenge. Another tweak: The menu will consist of 3 meals and 1 snack per day. This still leaves room in the macros for more. I don’t have to use them but I suspect using them will alleviate cravings down the road. I will prepare a list of pre-approved snacks that can be added, on the fly, on any given day to accommodate hunger or energy levels. Each snack has the macros predetermined so I can easily select one that fits the day. And everything must be measured. Amazonian Strength Lift. 3 days a week. I have a trainer for the time being and he gives me 2 new workouts each month to move into my rotation. Currently I am on a nice schedule with 1 upper body day, 1 lower body day, and 1 full body day. But this is subject to change. I am also working on accessory work for a combination of personal projects - Best Ass of the Midwest (P:BAM), pullup, and shoulder rehab. At the moment the shoulder rehab is the top priority. Lasso of Truth Ruck. or Run. The plan is to ruck or run three days a week. I am thinking the best combination now is to run twice during the weekdays and then a ruck on the weekend. But I will fiddle with this ratio a bit I’m sure. Bonus Points: 1 Ruck WOD during the challenge, 1 Ruck with coupon during the challenge, 1 Long Ruck (4 hours?) during the challenge. Tiara Sleep and a Few Other Things. This is where I focus on all the other aspects of my 2016 Roadmap and just trying to be a better adult, have more fun, and be happy with myself. I’m still working on being more productive. The format from the last challenge was a good start but it didn’t really work for me. I’m still planning on making a list each week but I need to make a distinction between adulting things that need to get done and things that I would like to get done as part of my roadmap. The latter are typically enrichment activities that I need to make a priority in order for it to become a habit, but they aren’t necessarily To-Dos for the week. I’ll continue with the pomodoro method but rather than dedicate 1 pomodoro to each task category, I’ll just pick 2 or 3 things each day from the weekly task list that need to get done and work on all them for a tomato. I’ll keep working with the goal of 5 for this challenge until I find out what works best. I’ll also track pomodoros for enrichment activities (reading, duolingo, music, art, etc). Perhaps a goal of 2 a week would round this off nicely for a total of 7 pomodoro’s a week. The evil monkey and the Dark Playground metaphor from this article is still helpful. If you haven’t read it (including part II) I think you should. Plus I’ll refer to it and it will only make sense if you do. Konmari. I have most of the books and movies done. I still need to do my Philosophy books and some of the cookbooks in the basement. Then I’ll be starting on the kids’ clothes. Villain Face-Off Battle This is where the magic happens. If you are new to this, other NF rebels sign up to represent a villain. Each week I randomly roll for a new villain who brings with them a particular skill set that I must defeat. When a new villain is selected, each of us set our own goals in the given categories and compete for the week. The closest to reaching their goal at 100% wins the week. I get 1 stat point for each villain I defeat or that ends in a draw. I really dug the new format for last challenge where you guys get to pick your own villains (or in some cases good guys or somewhere in the middle) and then select the goal category as you see fit. Afterall, each villain brings a unique battle and Wonder Woman is prepared for them all! If you are interested, please sign up here. Try and stick to DC villains, though exceptions have been made. Then select two of the goal categories to be your specialty. I am being pretty strict on food already so you will notice that food is not one of the categories. I’ve tried to spread things out a bit to replace it with a different category so there is more variety.

The Introduction Hello, dearies! If you can't tell from the above gif, I have been watching a lot of Once Upon a Time lately. At first I thought of it as a guilty pleasure, but then I started to realize that this show is actually quite good. Modern takes on fairy tales, not only having kick-ass strong female characters but the entire cast essentially being strong female characters, having Disney characters being gay, amazingly creative costuming and makeup, and overall incredibly imaginative plots that totally switch everything up that you thought you knew about fairy tales is completely inspiring from all angles. I love how they address a lot of the issues with fairy tales and make fun of themselves too. (At one point, in reference to Beauty and the Beast someone says "not that I'm saying you should love someone who is keeping you prisoner, what kind of message would that send to girls everywhere?"). So refreshing. And don't even get me started on the villains. The characters and backstories they create are so imaginative I have a lot of respect for the writers who take something so old and used and turn it into something so fresh and exciting. Also, Snow White's character is SUCH A FRAKKIN RANGER IT'S RIDONKULOUS. So anyway, the more I thought about this the more I realized that in all honesty, fairy tales are quite nerdy. In fact, fairy tales were possibly one of the first things that were ever nerded out about. I started looking into the origins of modern fairy tales and discovered that the Brothers Grimm were some of the first fantasy nerds to really make a name for themselves. They didn’t *write* fairy tales. This would have made them authors, not necessarily nerds. But they were obsessed with the fantasy stories of German folklore, they not only wanted the story, but they became cultural explorers, researching at a collegic level the cultural affects and representations of folklore. They developed a methodology for collecting, recording, validating, and researching folklore. They not only were nerds, but they opened up a whole new area of study for others to nerd out about in the future. And at its core, they were fantasy stories! If that’s not nerdy, I don’t know what is. Also, for a lot of us fairy tales were the first kind of fantasy we were exposed to. Think back to the first time you heard a story that took you away to another place. When you were a tiny child, whether it be a movie, a radio broadcast, a TV show, a book. Chances are it was some sort of fairy tale (Disney-version or otherwise). As you grow up, you transition to stories that fit your likes, dislikes, and age. But at its core, fantasy and science fiction stories are really all their own kind of fairy tale. So here I present to you without further ado, a throwback from a way old school nerdom themed challenge with a modern twist – Once Upon A Time in Raxie’s Enchanted Forest.

I'm back! Last challenge my life took a turn for the crazy. My classes started getting really time consuming, I got more responsibilities piled on me at my job, I went on vacation, and my family life got a little hectic. All this resulted in me, for the first time since joining the rebellion 17 wonderful/crazy/difficult challenges ago, having to step away from the forums for a few weeks and settle back into my life. I missed you all terribly, there were so many times I’d be like “oh I can’t wait to tell the nerds!†and then I’d remember I had to use my time doing other things. NF has become such an engrained part of my life it was really hard for me to just take a beat and work things out on my own. But I did, I have finally gotten used to the new pace of my life which seems it is here to stay, and am feeling refreshed from both my vacation and my challenge hiatus. So I’m feeling super motivated to tackle this new challenge. This challenge will be focused around my weekends. I have noticed that a lot of times I am unsuccessful during the week because I am not taking advantage of my weekends adequately. So I’m going to make all of my goals weekend oriented. If I set myself up for success, it’ll be hard to fail. I am definitely guilty of wasting entire Saturdays away doing basically nothing because I am not planning it out. I plan my weekdays every week now it’s time to plan my weekends too for MAXIMUM SUCCESS! Main Mission One: Move Weird I will utilize the weekends to do some fun movement that I don’t have a chance to do during the week. This can be an intense mobility session, restorative yoga, a hike, a ruck, or anything else of that nature. Main Mission Two: Homework I will do all my homework every weekend no matter what. I will not leave it for the weekdays. This has been something that’s been holding me back on weekdays a lot. I have plenty of time on weekends to do it, I’ve just got to get it done. Main Mission Three: Laundry Self-explanatory. I’ll wash, dry and PUT AWAY (seriously Raxie, put your damn clothes away) at least one load of laundry every weekend. Food Mission: Batch Cooking Every weekend I will prep all of my meals (breakfast, lunch & dinner) for Monday-Friday of the upcoming week. I will post pictures here of my success each week for accountability and because nom. Life Mission: Nerd Fitness Because part of the reason I had to step away from the forums last challenge was due to not enough time, I will make sure to dedicate a chunk of time every weekend to catching up around here and commenting on all the threads I am following. And there it is. I’m gonna ranger my weekends for serial! Oh also, PS – I recently crossed something off my 2016 yearly goals. I paid off my credit card! Wohoooo! It’s crazy how it really wasn’t hard to do once I decided to do it. Making the minimum payment each month was so easy, but once I forced myself to buckle down, stop charging to it, and live a little more frugally to put more money towards, and also not spending my tax return on things but instead on my future by throwing a large chunk towards this as well… I was able to 100% pay off all 3 of my cards, not just my Discover card which was actually my goal of the year. Feeling really great about this.

hello fellow rebels, i am in need of assistance, guidance, and creative ideas. Primarily for the concept of "meal planning" and "batch cooking". we have been eating paleo for over a month and love it but our main issue is the frequency of how often we end up cooking things or end up starving until we have time to cook things. I work the grave yard shift and she works swing shifts during the day, so a good portion of our free time together is usually me cooking but there are weeks where we hardly see each other let alone able to cook for each other. i have been trying my hand at cooking things in bulk, and still trying to get a handle on how much i actually eat in a week. TO THE POINT! i want to expand my skills with bulk meal planning and batch cooking, i want to know about recipes that can last for days in or out of the fridge, creative ideas and recipes, i also want to know about epic fails and things i shouldn't try. the tools of my trade are: the basic stove and oven, grill and foreman grill. crock pots and everything to cook anything with them. a fridge with limited space because of an additional roommate that devours everything in sight and im looking to buy an additional deep freeze.