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IT'S DOCTOR WHO TIME! The Doctor is a Time Lord. He is able to travel in time and space and, along the way he helps people in need. Well, I’m in need of a reset and I’m hoping the good Doctor can help me with it. Let’s go back in time and start from scratch. Strength to do what is right (STR +3) I used to be really diligent about weight lifting but I have strayed. It is time to get back to being a badass. Big muscles won’t grow themselves. Challenge: Lift 3 times a week (Mon, Wed, Fri) 12 days = STR +3 9 days = STR +2 6 days = STR +1 I don’t need a sword! (DEX +3) Instead, I have arms and legs to do my bidding. Unfortunately, I’ve neglected their conditioning and now I have to catch up. A lot. Since I am grossly out of shape I now have to make sure I participate in as many kickboxing classes as I can. Challenge: Kickboxing 3 times a week (Tue, Thur, Sat) DEX +3 = 12 days DEX +2 = 9 days DEX +1 = 6 days Bonus, if I do at least 12 days a month, I get $20 from my insurance I’m down with extra money! I like bananas. Bananas are good. (CON +3) In order to lose the pudge I’ve gained over the past 3 months I have to really clean up my diet. No more crappy food, we’re going full on clean eating. Primal diet, here we go. Challenge: Keep strict Primal for the entirety of this challenge CON +3 = 4 cheat days or less CON +2 = 6 cheat days or less CON +1 = 8 cheat days or less I am accounting for the fact that I have a cheesecake challenge going on this year and I don’t plan on taking a break from it. Let’s hope a tiny slice a week doesn’t derail change If you see water on Mars, run. (CON +3) I have an incredibly hard time drinking enough water every day. I live in an arid state so I still dehydrate myself on regular basis. It’s time for a reset. Let's hope this reset will help make this better. Challenge: Drink a minimum of 90oz of water per day CON +3 = within 90% of the goal CON +2 = within 80% of the goal CON +1 = within 70% of the goal This will require some detailed tracking. I am hoping it will help get me in gear. Why do dreams have to fade so quickly? (CON +3) This is always the most difficult one to accomplish for me because I am super addicted to watching things. Once I get on YouTube, it’s at least an hour that gets wasted and I get easily addicted. Let’s hope I can make a change. Challenge: Go to bed by 10:30 on work night and by 11:30 on off night. CON +3 = 6 days/week or more CON +2 = 5 days/week or more CON +1 = 4 days/week or more Hello Sweetie! (Extra Credit) Cheesecake challenge continues! I have religiously (almost) made a cheesecake a week for the past 8 weeks and I’ve made some really interesting recipes. This trend will continue here. As a note, this isn’t a part of my challenge, but it will be a good place to keep things in order. I’ll be making the following: Cookie Dough Cheesecake Mint Oreo Cheesecake Cheesecake Brownie Swirl Low Carb Coconut Cheesecake

I feel like I should apologize up front because this challenge will be rife with images of shirtless Stephen Amell doing salmon ladder. If sexy half-naked men aren’t your thing, I’m sorry. Only not. I mean, really... Oliver Queen, a man who came back from an island with amazing skills, improved body, and a really bad case of caveman beard. He trained with functional movement that Assassins are so familiar with and his body became a fine-tuned instrument of awesome. Push the boundaries like Laurel [+5 STR] There was going to be a picture of Laurel here, but then I got distracted... Originally this goal was supposed to be all about kettlebell and trying it out, but due to unforeseen life circumstances I have no access to it. So, let’s do some other strength training: push ups! I did a challenge like this before but it fizzled out 2 weeks in because I didn't allow myself any recovery time. I will be smarter this time. Challenge: 100 push ups per day, 5 days a week. Score: However many days a week I get, that's how many points I'll assign myself at the end. Off days: Thur, Sun Have abs of steel like Sara [CON +4] I mean, g'daaaamn! I've always thought my core strength wasn't all that great, but clearly I had no idea how much worse it could get. After being away from kickboxing for the past 3 months, my core strength is mostly gone. It's been replaced with a horrifying gut. Let's fix that!!! Challenge: Do a core workout, 3 times a week (Tue, Thur, Sat) 4 sets of: 20 leg lifts 20 flutter kicks 20 sit ups 20 Russian twists (weighted, if I can manage) Score: [+3 CON] - 3 days/week [+2 CON] - 2 days/week [+1 CON] - 1 day/week Pull up like Oliver is watching [sTR +4] What was I doing again?... I've regressed a bit in my pull up work, though I have been doing a lot of TRX body rows. I am almost at the floor level! That being said, I need to get back to actual pull up work and doing negatives. Challenge: Do pull up training 3 days a week (Mon, Wed, Fri) Sets will be 5x5 negatives. Score: [+4 STR] - 3 days/week [+3 STR] - 2 days/week [+1 STR] - 1 day/week Explore the world like Thea [WIS +3] Go outside, see fun things! Or something... Look at me, I'm attempting a life goal again! This may end poorly, but I refuse to give up on myself. I want to do something fun and creative once a week and I would like for it to be photography-based. I used to photograph so much, but it's kind of gotten by the wayside. I need to change that. Challenge: Once a week, go out and spend at least an hour look at the world through my lenses. Post at least one photo to my challenge thread. This will be hard, but I'll be glad I did it Score: There are THREE Sundays in this challenge, so let's do a point of WIS per day accomplished. Go the extra mile like Barry Allen Only, you know, I'm the one making it. Just like Barry isn't really part of Arrow Team, though he makes an occasional appearance, this section isn't really part of my challenge. At the beginning of the year I decided to challenge myself to a cheesecake a week and I'm doing well so far and here's the continuation: Triple chocolate Red Velvet Sugar Cookie Nutella Cheesecake I will try to post pictures, though I promise nothing

Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before. YES! I am finally going with a science-fiction theme! It’s fitting because I will be doing things I don’t normally do: take care of myself I get incredibly high-strung on daily basis, I work out like a beast, and I rarely take the time to stretch and relax. This challenge, I am looking to change that. Meditation (+25XP) I don’t ever do this, yet I know how good it would be for me. It doesn’t have to be anything crazy; just sit down alone in a room and breathe for at least 15 minutes. Music is optional, but it usually helps me unwind so I will try my best to have it. Brownie points if I do this right before bed (I hear it helps with sleep). Challenge: Meditate for a minimum of 15 minutes every day, a minimum of 5 days per week Score: 5-7 days - +25XP 3-4 days - +20XP 1-2 days - +10XP Get rid of knotted muscles (+25XP) Another thing I am horrible about? Rolling out my sore muscles. As I’ve said many times before, I work hard and I play hard, which usually results in some epic knotting (usually at the right hip joint). I am not going back to kickboxing until mid February, so I want to take this time off and fix my body to where I can kickbox again and not feel like an old person Focus areas: two tennis balls along the spinefoam roll along the IT bandLAX ball along both hands, esp. the right at the wrist and forearm Challenge: Roll out with a foam roller for a minimum 30 minutes 3 times per week Score: 3 times - +25XP 2 times - +20XP 1 time - +10XP Stretching (+25XP) Thank goodness I don't wear this stuff. Aerialists on the other hand... As a martial artist, it is important that I have good mobility in my joints. There are a multitude of different exercises I could do, but I will stick to the most basic ones, the ones I already know will help me improve in the long run. Challenge: Stretch every other day for the duration of the challenge (13 days) Exercises: Cheechoe stretching routinespigeon stretches (both legs) front splitsside splits I will measure the height of my splits at the start and end, so I can track my progress [side splits height] [left split] [right split] Score: 11-13 days +25XP 8-10 days +20XP 5-7 days +15XP Any less and I’m not even trying, clearly Don’t eat like an asshole (+15XP) Is gagh Paleo? Proper and balanced diet is a constant struggle for me. I have a huge sweet tooth (milk chocolate covered almonds are the bane of my BF%) and any time I don’t have diet on my challenge, I lapse horribly and I gain back a whole lot of fat. Considering we are right after the holidays, I figured this would be an appropriate time to get back to my beloved Paleo. Just to be clear, I do modified Paleo where I still eat/drink dairy (mostly milk and sour cream) and an occasional potato. Challenge: Keep Paleo 85% of the week. Score: 5 cheat days or less - +15XP 7 cheat days or less - +10XP Get enough sleep (+10XP) I love Q. He's one of my fave a-holes It’s January, this should be easy! As I’ve mentioned during my previous challenge, it takes me a lot longer than 6 weeks to form a habit so I’m putting this here to make sure I continue forming a good habit. I hate being a zombie at work so let’s get to it. Challenge: Get a minimum of 7 hours of sleep a night Score: 6-7 nights - +10XP 4-5 nights - +5XP Extra brownie points if I get to bed before 10:30pm. Go the extra mile I am one of those weirdos that loves to bake. A friend at work linked an article with a cheesecake bonanza so I chose to challenge myself to a cheesecake a week. I figured making them on a Sunday and taking them to work the next day would be the best course of action. It also means I am starting off my challenge with a cheesecake. Darn Here are the first 4 recipes: S’more Cheesecake Blueberry Swirl Cheesecake Caramel Apple Crisp Cheesecake Oreo Cheesecake This is not a part of the challenge and I’m not assigning it any points. This is just for funsies I will do my best to post pictures and maybe a link to my food blog. I already know I'll be making adjustments to the recipes. I'm a baker after all! Note: Cheesecake is not, never was, and never will be considered Paleo In case anybody was wondering. Rewards: Starbucks Carmel Macchiato - My usual reward Massage - I already booked the thing since my massage girl is really good and super busy. She specializes in sports injuries and I’m hoping she will do something about my right hip flexors. I figure that after a month and a half of stretching and rolling, her job should be easier.