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(revisions of Quest: 10/10, 11/5, 11/11, 11/17, 12/5) Granny Nogg is an old hedge witch. You wouldn't know that fact by looking at her, however. After all, she's a witch; she can make her appearance to be anything she likes. Currently she likes looking half her age. It makes up for all the difficulty she had as a young hedge witch, trying to gain respect for her skills in spite of looking like a twelve-year-old. Granny wears a crisp white blouse with billowy sleeves, a corset to show off her trim waist, and layers of long skirts over knee-length knickers. Those knickers are magical (Bag Of Holding), and can hold just about anything, including her battle log. This log book is as wide as her forearm, and bound in soft Where's-My-Cow hide. The edges are a wee bit tattered and the black-and-white spotted leather cover needs some oil, but Granny's quite fond of it. Traveling has been her pleasure and her duty for many a year, visiting the villages that surround her forest home. Returning from a visit, Granny seats herself on a stump and pulls out her log book to record some details. She licks her pencil and begins to write: My Age: 49 (In calendar-type linear years. I'm too polite to state my actual age in mixed company.) Gender: I'm a Granny. Not a Grampy. Height: Assuming one means heels touching the ground, I'm 5 foot 8. Without my hat. Weight: 160 pounds, more or less on any given day. Main Quest: To be able to complete the Beginner Body Weight Workout (BBWW) 3x a week. To complete this quest I will: Quest 1: Work at the BBWW 3 times a week, increasing the following reps:squats: Currently I can do 3 sets of 10. I will increase my reps by one rep each week until I can do 3 sets of 16 squatspush-ups Currently I can do 3 sets of 10 wall push-ups. I will increase my reps by one rep each week until I can do 3 sets of 16 wall push-ups GOAL MET IN 4TH WEEK!lunges: Currently I can do 3 sets of 5 lunges. I will increase my reps by one rep each week until I can do 3 sets of 11 lunges per leg dumbbell rows: Currently I can do 3 sets of 10 dumbbell rows with a gallon jug of water. GOAL MET IN 4TH WEEK WITH 10 LB. DUMBBELLS!plank: Currently I can do 3 sets of 10 second planks. I will increase my plank time by one second each week until I can do 3 sets of 15 second planks. GOAL MET IN 4TH WEEK!jumping jacks: Currently I can do 3 sets of 30 jumping jacks. This meets the criteria for the BBWW so my goal is to just continue with this number of reps/setsMeasurement: A= completing all elements of the quest 3x a week. B= Increasing reps for squats, push-ups, lunges, and plank by 75% AND being consistent about working out 3x a week. C= increasing reps for squats, push-ups, lunges, and plank by 50% but not being consistent about working out 3x a week. D= increasing reps for squats, push-ups, lunges, and plank by 25% but not being consistent about working out 3x a week; F= giving up. Str=3 Quest 2: Post to the forums 3x a week for encouragement and accountabilityParticipate in the Level 1 Rebels forums and encourage other rebelsPost to my battle log at least 3x a weekJoin and Participate in an Accountabilibuddies group (Done! Joined the CutLasses -- if you're a girl who likes talking in Pirate, please join us!)Measurement: A= participating at least one post/comment every day 3x a week in my Rebels forums, posting to my BL at least 3x a week, and post/comment every day 3x a week in my Accountabilibuddies group. B= participating 2x a week in the Rebels forums, BL, and Accountabilibuddies. C= participating 1x a week in the Rebels forums, BL, and Accountabilibuddies. D= participating -1x a week in the Rebels forums, BL, and Accountabilibuddies. F= giving up. Cha=3 Quest 3: Respect my body so I get the most out of my workoutsEat paleo at least 5 days of the week (link to my food diary is in my sig below, so I won't be posting a food log. Food diary is public for accountability)Drink at least 8 glasses of water a day, 5 days of the weekGo to bed before 11pm at least 5 nights of the weekPost progress photos at least once a month to the Before/During/After Shots! album, "Granny Nogg's Progress"Measurement: A= Eating paleo 5x a week, Drinking 8 glasses of water 5x a week, bedtime before 11pm 5x a week, posting at least 1 progress pic during the challenge. B= eating paleo 4x a week, drinking 8 glasses of water 5x a week, bedtime before 11pm 4x a week, posting at least 1 progress pic during the challenge. C= eating paleo 3x a week, drinking 8 glasses of water 5x a week, bedtime before 11pm 3x a week, posting at least 1 progress pic during the challenge. D= eating paleo 2x a week, drinking 8 glasses of water 2x a week, bedtime before 11pm 2x a week, posting no progress pic during the challenge. F= giving up. Con=2 Life Quest: To complete all customer orders by December 15 AND to complete my instructional video by December 1st. To complete this quest I will: Spend at least 6 hours a day, 4 days a week, in the studio working on customer ordersSpend at least 5 hours a week working on the video (basing it on availability of video team) GOAL MET IN 4TH WEEK! Measurement: A= completing all orders by December 15 and get video turned in. B= completing all orders by December 19 and video gets turned in on time C= rushing at the last minute and spending 14-hour work days to complete orders by December 19, and video gets turned in a few days late. D= rushing at the last minute and spending LOTS of money to overnight packages to customers, and video gets turned in two weeks late. F= giving up. Wis=2 What's my motivation: To be strong in my senior years, having healthy lean muscles that protect my bones. I also wanna look awesome naked. Not just for a 50-year-old grandmother. But just awesome period. Granny Nogg's Motto: "Those are not my monkeys."

So, here is my thread for work between challenges. I'll keep track of any exercises and other work I do between challenges, and ruminate on ideas for the next challenge. So far, I know I'm going to include financial health in the next challenge. Some of the things I'm already doing - limiting how often I buy coffee, taking breakfast bars with me when I'm on the run, etc. But the big thing I'm going to do is try to figure out which bills fall into which pay period, and figure out from there how much free money I have each pay period. And, to keep track of that, I'll use either play money or actual cash to track the free money - when it's out, I have no more. The end. Another thing I'm going to do is track my food every day, but give myself 6 passes. If I say I only need to track 4 days/week, I'll only do that, but I also don't want to set myself up to feel shitty if I go to a party or something. 6 passes is one pass per week, and I don't have to use them every week (because what if I have two parties in a week - I don't want to use them foolishly). The next thing I need to do is figure out why I'm not losing weight. I had even higher fitness goals this time and I didn't lose any weight. I maintained, but no weight-loss. I even focused more on eating healthier, which I neglected last challenge. I'm bummed and a little frustrated. But there has to be something I'm missing if I'm not losing weight and working so hard. A couple of things I'm thinking of - one is to cut down alcohol. I like having a glass or two a few nights a week, but those are empty calories. Another is to cut out snacking altogether, but that will be really tough. I get hungry between meals, and if I don't keep something around, I'm afraid I'll eat candy or end up bingeing. And lastly, I may use a calorie tracking app. I really, really don't want to do this. I have a very unhealthy emotional relationship with food, and calorie tracking brings up a whole lot of my hangups. So... I'm wavering on that. It might be the only realistic way to get a handle on what I need to do to see some progress. Finally, I'm toying of the idea with trying to use a theme for future challenges. I was thinking of using Tarot, and focusing on Pentacles/Coins for next challenge (perfect for finances and Earth, which is strength, stability, etc.). I thought of this once before, and then I had a nice title for next challenge that had nothing to do with Tarot, but I've forgotten it. So I'm back to Tarot. We'll see. (Yes, Chris, this is thanks to you.) Forgot to mention - did my 1 hour belly dance video today. The stuff that was super difficult last time was much easier this time. I'll get those moves down!

Morning routine. Sounds like a good idea right? You get up, do something to help you wake up or be productive and then you are ready to start your morning. I've been (eep!) meaning to start one but haven't yet. My morning brain always seems to override my I-should brain and I end up staying in bed after I wake up, not really resting and being very unproductive. So I thought I'd use the week between challenges to kick start a morning routine. (with the help of my fellow nerds of course) here are the guidelines... create a routine it should take less than 5 minutes to complete it must be started within 15 minutes of you waking up in the morning declare your routine in this thread and put your name on the spreadsheet mark off each day you complete your routine on time with a "done" if you are late completing the routine mark the day with a "late" if you miss a day leave it blank this will last until the end of this 6 week challenge you can change your routine from week to week if you want feel free to join late (the more the merrier) good luck! Here's the sheet... https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AtPXpPnkIz8EdHh0VXpvZ0FkOGh3T0pIaW4zeVlJb2c