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aka 'My First Ever Challenge' Hi! My name is Wepeel. This is me: I'm the bespectacled gentleman, not the baby girl - in case that wasn't clear. I'm just an average dude with next to no fitness ability trying to become Jason Bourne. I got married three and a half years ago and was, on my wedding day, at my lowest weight/peak-iest level of fitness since the advent of adulting. I've since put on 15 pounds (#marriage) and have slipped into complacency on the fitness front. It's time to get back on track. Often the thought of looking good at the beach or proving to one's ex that one is totally better off without them is inspiration enough to get one's ass to the gym. Not I! says the wepeel. I'm leik sooo totes an ENTP you guys; what gets me amped up is seeing/listening to/experiencing something awesome and then wanting to go and do likewise. So some of the things that get me cranked up enough to go embarrass myself in the gym/the park are watching the Bourne films (love them so much), wanting to be Luke Skywalker (or Rey, I have no shame), and watching my Dodgers play historically amazing baseball. But especially watching Bourne. Hence the title of my challenge: I'm going to Bourne the shit out myself. This is, of course, incredibly nerdy. But then, Nerd Fitness, right? My mate @Laghail has reminded me that it's easy to take for granted that a central concept of artistic expression is to inspire, or in-spirit, the work, and thereby the interpreter. Stated differently, Bourne is hella inspiring. I mean look at this guy: Over the long term, I want to get lean, get strong, reduce my body fat percentage, and increase the endurance, diversity and functionality of my workouts. This won't be fully accomplished over the course one challenge or even ten, but Challenge Numero Uno marks the first step towards the goal of Bourning myself awesome. So I've actually been pretty good over the past several weeks. Since 7th July I've been mostly sticking to my goal of 1,870 calories/day (logged in myfitnesspal) and have been exercising regularly (Couch To 5K, Freeletics Bodyweight workouts and full body workouts in the gym). I'm down eight pounds (though I currently have family in town and that is sabotaging my diet and exercise efforts, but only for a few more days). But I want to be more regimented and intentional about sticking to and expanding on my current efforts/successes. Soooooo here are my goals for the duration of this challenge: Fitness C25K 3x/week. I'm currently on Week 6, so I'm on pace to complete the programme by the end of this challenge, providing I don't miss a run. Freeletics Bodyweight workout 2x/week. I'd like to potentially move this up to 3x/week for the next challenge, but let's see how I get on first. Dumbbell Stopgap programme 1-2x/week. The idea is to get my feet wet with free-weight strength training, boost my confidence, and then possibly/hopefully move onto beginners barbell training for the next challenge or thereabouts... Diet & Nutrition Stick to my goal of 1,870 calories/day.* Log food dutifully into myfitnesspal. Reduce my daily sweets consumption.** Levelling Up Get to bed by 22:30 every weeknight; I'm aiming for a minimum seven hours of sleep each night. Find time to read everyday, even if it's just a page from a book. Spend less time with my smartphone and more quality time with my five month old daughter - she doesn't deserve half a dad and half a 6s. * Unfortunately I am starting this challenge smack in the middle of a weeklong holiday. My family are visiting from the States, and we're all back at my in-laws this weekend because my kiddo's getting christened. This means I will be eating as healthy as I can, when I can, but I'm not going to be trying very hard (ok, at all) to stay within my calorie limits until after the parentals leave on Tuesday. Probably not the discipline of a CIA operative, but we have no evidence that Jason Bourne would handle being a frazzled Londoner and father of an infant any better. We just. don't. know. If this is a problem for you, Also, I have two or three working lunches over the course of this challenge. Unlike having my family in town, I will be trying to order healthy, nutritional options and stay within my daily calorie goals. But you know how it can be. Even Jason Bourne has to adapt to setbacks sometimes. Life, oh lifeee, ohhhh lifeeeeee, oh liiiife. **I like sweets too much. A candid photo taken of me yesterday afternoon: And while I've been doing quite well over the last month cutting back on British sweet treats, eliminating them entirely seems untenable at the moment. So my solution is a few squares of dark chocolate after dinner. Also (for those in the UK), Wilko may or may not be doing their half price pick and mix over the August bank holiday weekend, so I may opt to insert a cheat day in there... I think that's it. A modest first step towards a seriously healthier, fitter me. I'm gonna shred some fat and get jacked, boy. Slowly and awkwardly, like a fit turtle. [How I see my future self] [How everyone else sees my current self when I'm working out in the gym or the park] The name's Bourne. Wepeel Bourne. Let's do this shit.

All of my life I've wanted to learn languages, and I've finally decided to go for it. I'm working on adjusting my eating habits, getting into shape, losing weight, and now I want to work out my mind as well by trying to learn a new language. I've tried to learn a new language before but I haven't been able to 1, stick with it or 2, find a method that works. I'm a very visual learner, but I can't seem to get a handle on a new language. The top five languages I want to learn are Russian, Arabic, Farsi, Korean, and Chinese. Does anyone have any advice/tips/tricks/suggestions/HELP! that they can give me? I would be VERY thankful for any comments you send my way.

The phone rang in my pocket. “Wait. What?! I have my phone in my hand! What’s ringing in my pocket?†My thoughts began to cloud my mind. Was I going crazy? “Hello?†I said, with fear in my voice and my heart racing. “You’re going to do exactly as I say, and maybe, just MAYBE, you’ll get out of this alive.†“Who is this? Why should I do anything you tell me to?!†I started to panic. This was out of this world. “I’ll answer everything later, for now, turn left and waitâ€. This was the beginning. This was how I met the killer codenamed Bourne. The first time I was with him face to face will be unforgettable. It started by asking me why “them†were after me, and as I proceeded to ask “who’s them†he thought that I would answer if he showed more, dedication. That’s why it will be unforgettable. It’s really hard to forget the barrel of the gun aiming at the middle of your eyes. The after successfully explaining that I did not know who was he talking about, and after a change of pants and underwear for me, he explained while drinking in the hotel room. Treadstone, Blackbriar, they were after me. And he told me he would teach me how to survive. “But why are you willing to help me at all?†I asked, again with so much fear in me that I could not see his face clearly. He said that there was something he could gain. By helping me survive, he would have found another ally and both of us could figure out what Blackbriar/Treadstone wanted and how we could prevent it. And so my training began. The thing was, we could not be always together for that would raise suspicions. So he told me that when we could we would meet for some one on one training we would meet, however, I would have to develop some skills on my own. So I started, turning my fears into skills. Overall Mission: Defeat Treadstone/Blackbriar Goals: Escape Blackbriar (running and general Fitness) (+2 STR; +2 STA; +1 DEX) Gather Information (Studying) (+5 WIS) Blend (Language learning) (+5 CHA) Each week I will get a target for every goal. I have to report to Bourne everyday telling what I did and what I didn’t (I report to you people and you’ll tell me what I can do to improve). First Week Targets: Escape Blackbriar: Run 40 minutes + 20 pull upsThis is a personal goal of mine. Both of them. The 40 minute run is something that I still can't do no matter what. I'll try to blend my Parkour training in there, so it will be a more dynamic training. On the days that I am not running I should be doing some sort of general fitness training. Mainly Bodyweight (obviously). Gather Information: So far I still haven’t got a specific target. I still haven’t got an exams scheduled so… I’ll leave his one blank for now. Blend: get to lesson 30 of Pimsleur’s Norwegian.I’m currently at 17 but at the beginning of the challenge I’ll be at 20. Sometimes I have to listen to two lessons. Hopefully, by the end of the challenge, I will be albe to read news in Norwegian and who knows, listen to radio or podcast in that language. My daily reports will be small, quick and objective. If I start to make it hard I will never be able to it regularly and everyday. If I ever skip one I need you guys to make me try harder. See ya soon (23!)