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I did my first challenge in the newbie forum since I'd been gone so long. After much thought about what I'm trying to accomplish physically and mentally, I decided to join the Rangers. I've been working through the NF Academy mindset quests, and my big why (at the age of 42, when "look good naked" is nice but not necessary) is that I want to play hockey again. I got a taste of a sport I really enjoy, that didn't feel like exercise even though I was dripping with sweat afterward, and I want more. At this point, though, my body is not in a place where that's a good idea - I'm carrying too much weight, it's hard to find gear that fits me properly, and my feet hurt when I skate. So now it's time to work on getting a body that can play rec league hockey without being in pain or being winded after a 1-2 minute shift. My goals last challenge were designed to ease myself back into accountability. I succeeded at walking 50 miles over the course of the challenge, and I also packed up a bag of clothes to donate (3 bags, one of which went to my neighbor for her son), but the "make better food choices" kind of fell by the wayside after the second week. I want to focus more on that this time around. I'm still working on my final list of goals for my challenge, but so far what I have is: - Track food daily, no excuses - Exercise at least 5 days a week I got my bike fixed a couple weeks ago, yaay! I'm looking forward to working some biking into my exercise plans. I still plan to walk a few days a week, but I really do want to get back on my bike, which is my favorite form of outdoor exercise. Waaay back before my youngest was born, I would do a 10 mile round trip ride every morning before work and it was wonderful. School starts in a few weeks, hence the title of my challenge. Both my kids are moving up to new schools (middle school and high school) and in our school district, that means school starts about an hour earlier for both of them - which also means I need to get up earlier. I've been sleeping in a bit this summer, and I need to get back to a point where I'm getting up early, both to help them get out the door in the morning, and to get myself to work earlier. Which also means going to bed earlier. So the LUYL goal this challenge is definitely going to be schedule related, i.e. go to bed earlier/get up earlier type thing. When I figure out how to phrase it, I'll post it here.

Introduction: Hail people of Rebellion! I am Simon. I am currently in healty shape, but I want to push myself to be better. I guess I'm starting here because I have been losing time to exercise with schoolwork piling up. Quest I: 3 x week; Complete a workout. First draft: [10 regular pushups - 10 situps; 10 wide pushups - 10 reverse sit ups; 10 diamond pushups - 10 crunches. Repeat starting four times, primacy on form] Quest II: 2 x week; Run 1.5 miles Master Quest: Find a career that I love and can make a positive difference in people's live. Currently: Get to Medical School Thanks guys -S

Oh boy I hope I'm doing this right... Hello all!!!! I'm Erica, I'm a college student and I'm a wee bit chubby. I'm pretty new - new enough that this is the first challenge that I could join - and this'll be my very first challenge! I suppose I'll start with the basics: Main Quest: Lose some serious poundage and tone some rock hard muscle. I'm currently at about 230 give or take (I've lost around 6 pounds already!) and my first major hurdle is to drop below 200. By the end of September, I'd love to be 200 or lower. That seems doable, but if it's totally not I suppose I'll just have to adjust my goals. Three Steps: 1. Do Beginner Bodyweight Workout at least 3 times per week 2. Rollerblade for at least 30 minutes at least 3 times per week 3. Stay within my caloric deficit 6 days a week My first two steps are pretty easy considering I do them already - I just want to keep up the consistency. I'm not sure if I should be pushing harder than that for my first challenge so if anyone would like to chime in, I'm all ears! My third step is a little harder in that it's been very difficult avoiding temptation food-wise. I've been cutting down on my carbs toward a paleo/primal diet although it is slow going when I live with my parents during the summer and my mom wants to make pasta salad for dinner... it also doesn't help that I work at Dunkin' Donuts and we live about 10 minutes from DQ!!! I know the cheat day isn't really approved by Steve, but I hoped that this way I could at least focus all my cravings into one day instead of torturing myself trying to just go cold turkey. Life Quest: Learn most (if not all, in this time frame) of my lines! I go to school for theatre and I've been cast in the first show this coming fall. I'm very excited, but I've also been putting off learning the mountain of lines I have. I haven't had to learn this many lines since high school so although it's not a new skill I'm a bit rusty! Which leads me to my motivation... Motivation: BOXERS AND A STRAPLESS BRA That play I mentioned? Yeah well in the play, one of my costumes consists of only a strapless bra and a pair of boxers. Although I'm not sure exactly what my director will have me wearing, I want to be prepared for the worst I have dabbled with fitness on and off for years, losing 40 pounds the summer before my freshman year, but I eventually gained it all back and I think it's finally time for me to pick a path and stick to it. This is exactly the kick in the butt I needed and I am going to take full advantage. I'm building on my naturally muscular frame and slimming down the pudge in hopes that I will feel fierce walking out onstage in next-to-nothing. I want to make a statement, to others and to myself. It's my time, stop the clock! (had to sneak a pacific rim reference in there sorry...) All corny statements aside, I'm ready. BRING IT ON!!!!

Hail. I come seeking membership. I've been an (inconsistent) adventurer for some time so I think it's finally time to throw in with a guild. As my name would suggest, I move around a good deal, so the concept of the world as my training ground and equipment-free training agrees to me. Additionally, this thread is serving as my challenge thread, my first as an assassin (I completed one as an adventurer). Main Quest: Move my own weight fast and repeatedly First Quest (6-month time frame): 8 miles in 56:00, a 7:00/mile pace Six-Week Challenge Goal 1: Run 5 miles in 37:30, a 7:30/mile pace. Current pace 8:14/mile. Six-Week Challenge Goal 1b: Drink no more than one gallon of milk a week Second Quest (6-month time frame): 20x consecutive pull-ups / chin-ups, ea. Six-Week Challenge Goal 2: 10x consecutive pull-ups / chin-ups, ea. Currently 4x consecutive, ea. Six-Week Challenge Goal 2b: Attend to my financial books weekly, as opposed to monthly. Quest (6-month time frame): Clean-up my eating habits Six-Week Challenge Goal 3: No grains 1) after breakfast during week-days, 2) on the weekends, except for a single beer Side-Quest: Organize the house, make it a home. Six-Week Challenge Goal: Each week complete 2x tasks to make my house a home. Examples: hang pictures, organize book collection, organize music collection, make improvements to my computer network.

Back again, for another go at really succeeding at this challenge. I did better on my second try, but not as well as I would have liked. The diet goals I set for myself went fairly well- I don't even think about drinking sodas anymore, and while it's driving my family bonkers, I'm not eating as many carbs as I used to (I come from a household where a meal has to have a protein, a veggie, and a starch.) The fitness goals....not so much. Weather and location kind of killed the running goal, and stress killed the fitness one. But I'm nothing if not stubborn, so here we go again. Main Quest: Lose Weight Goal 1: Continue phasing unnecessary carbs out of my diet. Nothing to be done about family breakfasts involving potatoes or pancakes, but eating the cookie someone brings me JUST because they brought it for me is out of the question. Goal 2: Work out. It doesn't matter how. Curves visits, gym sessions, swimming laps at the pool, long walks, short hikes, lifting weight in the garage, yoga, wood chopping. Just working out, for at least 20 minutes at a time. 3 to 5 times a week, may or may not include parts of Goal 3. Goal 3: Hike, Walk, or Run. At least twice a week, working up towards three times a week as work schedules and the weather allow. I want to get some good hiking done before the snow gets here. Fitness Side Quest 3 hikes in the Taos area. Hiking down the Gorge doesn't count, no matter how much I like doing it. Possibles include Vallecitos, Serpent Lake, Williams Lake trail, Devisadero, Gold Hill, Indian Lake, and just legging it off into the llano behind the house like I did when I was a kid. Note: don't get caught climbing over the gate into the llano this time- take the cliff path into the hills instead. Life Side Quest Get the butterfly garden quilt sashed and pieced. This is a Christmas present, and a big one…it needs to be finished early so I can get the little gifts going. Starting with: A stack of squares and rectangles of fabric that I sloppily sewed together four years ago that have to be picked apart and ironed6 yards black quilters cottonPlaylists cobbled together from friends and coworkersBeginnings of a healthy snack collection (dried fruit, nuts, jerky without nasty preservatives, seeds, homemade fruit leather)Wide open spacesCliffs to climbMountains to exploreCanyons to investigateEgg dishes to propose to the familyDinner ideas that involve no extraneous rice or pasta 'because you can't have sauce without that'Smoothies

LiveWriteGrow here, laying out the plan for this challenge round. I kind of failed epically on the last challenge, for reasons that were mostly silly, but I've been talked into trying again by Stooshie, so here we go again, yeah? I'm supposed to be doing a 5K with Stooshie in December, so I need to up my running and generally improve my health. I'm not aiming for anything drastic....slow and steady is the name of the game this time. Challenge One: Make good use of the running programs I have. I have both Zombies,Run! and Get Running, and I intend to work on that at least three days a week. (3 days largely because I CANNOT night run where I live. As it is, I have to hike up a dirt road and climb over a gate to hike into a massive hunk of empty land to borrow old dirt roads in the desert. Not doing that at night and don't always have the time in the morning to make it every day. Challenge Two: General fitness. I have a program I've dabbled in for body-weight exercise and flexibility, and I really love how it works and makes me feel. Every day I don't get a running session in, my goal is to get one session from this program completed. If I can't access it, 30 minutes of some kind of strength or flexibility training will do. Challenge Three: My diet is kind of...whatever I can eat. For this challenge, I'm going to cut soda from my diet and do what I can to limit carby foods. I can't cut them due to family meals and my lack of ability to change what's served, but I CAN cut breads, poatoes, and such things from my everyday food choices. Life Level Up: I've been severely neglecting my writing everywhere except roleplaying with a few friends. Rather than aiming to finish any specific project, which was a road to epic fail before, I'm aiming for a 7000 words a week goal. Written on any project that doesn't deal with roleplaying. So there you have it! Here we go!