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A simple three week challenge you say? I can do simple. WATCH ME 1. Remaining in the training grounds. I want to be able to dedicate three hours a week to training at minimum. When I was at my happiest and healthiest, I had 9+ hours a week dedicated to this. That was just scheduled classes + open gyms and didn't even count other "on my own time" training that I did. I have a huge mental block around this, more than a physical one (thanks trauma) …that I want to take a more active role in helping people here who are getting into/have been into staff, and this is going to carry forward to all future challenges. I feel like it will give me more of a "Reason" to be training (rather than "just for fun") and I'd like to help people if I can (doing those gifs for @Elastigirl last challenge was really fun and got me to go out and try stuff when I wasn't motivated to move otherwise.) So I'm thinking, from here on out, if anyone is trying to learn a staff move that's giving them trouble, I want to leave this as an open invitation to ask me about it. I can't guarantee that I'll be able to fix it, as I'm certainly no expert and am learning myself, but if you send me a video of what you're trying to do (the tutorial maybe, or whatever video you saw of them doing it) I'll give it a shot myself and respond with feedback of what I learned from the video and we can brainstorm about what you're finding tricky about it. Even if I'm not capable of doing the trick in the end, we may be hanging up on different parts of the move and having another perspective might help. This starts with this challenge but is going to be an ongoing thing. I'll restate it every once in a while. For this challenge however, the goal is 3 hours a week training, and will include all physical/performance arts, not just staff and juggling. So also balance board, juggling other objects, acrobatics, and generally just exploring new fun ways to move my body + other objects in the space around me. 2. Don't snap in half I desperately need to be stretching every day. This habit is easy to maintain once I get it going again, but it something major happens I can fall off the wagon for months (which is what happened several months ago I got injured and was bedridden for just enough days to break the habit. And I've stretched like four times since then.) I'm hyper mobile and while this sounds like the opposite of a stretching issue, when your ligaments and tendons are looser than your muscle, it causes ALL sorts of joint problems and these past two weeks I have REALLY been feeling it. I feel very unstable and like any one of my moves might be the next to destroy me. So I need some peer pressure to get me back into the habit and I think a short challenge is the perfect time to restart a habit that's pretty self-sustaining once I get back to it. Don't let me half-ass this either. I will try to get away with it. If I say I "stretched for ten minutes" that means I did like two lunges and a few twists and called it a night. I need to hit all the major joints and the SHORT version of that takes 23 minutes. The long version is an hour (and is the far preferred version-- I feel very good when I'm doing this one daily) it's just hard to schedule in. I'm hoping that if I do the long form a few times a week and the short form the other days, it will at least keep me in fighting shape. Time to get flexy That's it folks! TWo gOaLs! I told you I could do simple!!

And maybe always has been? Hello friends its been like...actual years. How goes it. Knife to see you again. With the seasons changing and some of the crises of the last few years calming down a bit (literally covid-19 was like a 4 out of 10 of what’s been happening since I was last here,) I got the urge to work towards some goals! A little over a month ago I was up at 3am and was like “I need to learn to juggle knives” and since I had bought some dulled knives for our Roomba (and they came in a large pack) I dug those out and started messing around. I was, predictably, terrible. I couldn’t even throw them from one hand to the other or flip the knife one time in my hand and reliably catch it. No I don’t know how to juggle other things already. Should I have looked up a youtube video on juggling? Anyway I’ve been screwing with that for about a month and sent a progress video to my friend and he was like “I expect to see a Loki cosplay in the future now that you have the skills” and this was on the same day I took a ‘what superhero are you’ uQuiz and got Loki (and a scathingly accurate mental health commentary? uQuiz you don’t need to go so hard.) I hadn’t thought about this character in like 6 years lol, but it keeps sliding into my orbit (especially since the new show came out, which I have Opinions™ on.) Since it fits all my goals for this challenge I’m going with a Loki theme. Skill Goal: Get to 10 reps with juggling three knives I am currently solid with 3 reps in a row. I have ONE time done 7 in a row. I think it was a fluke, however I believe that with solid practice, I will be able to nail 10 reps in a row at least once, even as a fluke, in 5 weeks. Method: Daily juggling practice, even just for a few minutes. Preferably for about a half hour a day. For reasonableness, I’ll call this a pass at an average of 5 days/week. Motivation (why I want it): I’ve been getting seriously into circus arts lately and a variety of knife tricks is just one of many things I’ve wanted to do since childhood. My eventual year-long goal is to hit 100 reps, which might be a long shot, but I’m taking it in steps. Fitness Goal: 360 Inward Dive Roll Ehhhhh sort of lol. So the roll itself is actually a long term goal. It’s well outside of my current skill level. Fitness Goal: 360 Inward Dive Roll Improve overhead strength so that I do not break my fragile little neck Method: This is a little more free-form than I usually like my goals, but I’m going to be working a variety of things. The Specific and Measurable part of the method is to do a full handstand workout each Monday. It’s a 30 minute routine that really works on the handstand strength, for holding duration and also HSPU work. The less specific and measurable part is when I’m messing around with my tumbling practice (Wednesday Thursday Friday) I’m going to squirrel around with some roll variations, getting my easy dive rolls dialed in, trying different ways to roll out of a handstand, ect. Not too much strength work, but movement exploration/making new neural pathways. Motivation: The 360 inward roll is one of the most advanced rolls in a list of rolls I want to know how to do, to throw into parkour stuff and tricking and just cool looking flows. I’m going to work my way through them piece by piece until I get to the “Final boss” lol. This video shows a lot of the rolls I want to get locked in: Life Goal: Mental Friggin Health Because we all know Loki is the poster child of a stable mental condition. Interestingly enough, I have just started the therapy that Loki actually needs lol. With all the latest Loki hype on tumblr I’ve been seeing a lot of meta, and many by actual psychologists that say he has all the diagnostic criteria for Borderline personality disorder (not narcissism, frell you Michael Waldren?) And I just got officially diagnosed with BPD this week (*worlds most pathetic party sounds* yayyyy…….) But while that sucks, I have been told that if someone takes therapy seriously and does the work, symptoms can be reduced to almost none in an average of 5 years. I am nothing if not a hard worker. So. Method: It’s a two-parter. 1. I’m supposed to do the mindfulness thing. Back on the headspace app I go. I need to restart this habit into something long-term and really focus on making it happen EVERY day. 2. Do all my therapy homework. It looks like this therapist is into that pretty often. Motivation: While I’ve always been hostile toward therapy, honestly I’m really ready to stop being everyone’s problem. So I’ll even try this. And any scientific endeavor is useless if you don’t commit to the experiment. Alright guys,

Hey there, Adventurers! It's been, what, a year? Two even?? And my physique sure shows! After my demotivating 7-month-long plateau, I stopped logging in and started a "maintenence" period with a halfassed fitness schedule -- which, when not maintaining a food log, roughly translates to "lol let's gain like 40 pounds back". Yyyep. A few months ago, an old friend contacted me in hopes of losing weight together. We haven't worked out together for a month or two (I need to text her! Why am I ignoring a potential squadmember!), but our efforts kickstarted me back into the fitness lifestyle and I'm down 17 lbs, inching my way closer to my goals once again! I remembered how much I loved NF, and after lurking a bit, I'd like to dive back in! I don't feel like waiting for the next challenge, so I'll use the remainder of this one as a springboard! Stats: F/20/5'8" Starting weight: 226 Lowest weight: 164 Restart weight: 198 Current weight: 181 Goal weight: Hella jacked Main Quest: Aesthetic-wise, I've been obese my entire life... now I want to be muscular! Fitness-wise, I have two things: I want to be a skilled poi dancer. This will require a lot of practice, endurance, flexibility, and hitting myself! I also want mastery of my body. "Mastery of my body" has a lot of interpretations, but to me, it means I have the strength and flexibility to do all sorts of things -- pull ups, spontaneous handstands, climbing stuff, balancing on stuff, etc... Fun, skill-oriented things my body has prevented me from being able to do! So, without further ado... Let's hop back to it! ~Rhyme's respawn half-challenge~ Diet goal: Stop sneaking bites of junk! I have a bad habit of nibbling on junk food because "it's only a bite, I don't have to log it!". Eventually this turns into "Uuuh I bet that entire family-sized bag of Doritos was probably like 200 calories, I guess I can log that in..." *pushes this morning's food log under the bed* Anyway, that needs to stop! If I really want junk food, I have to weigh out a portion and log it in before I eat it. I'm super lazy, so this is typically enough to deter me! If I want to sneak bites of something without logging it in, I better be in the mood for spinach or berries! Fitness goal: Work out three times a week! I've been working out pretty steadily, once every other week or so! ...No? Not buying it? Okay.jpg Let's up the ante a bit! "Work out" can mean anything active; for me, this typically means a fuckaronditis version of Stronglifts, but going on a walk counts, too. However, there is one thing I won't count towards this goal: Fitness goal: Work on poi fundamentals three times a week! I spin poi pretty often, but I tend to stick with things I know. I'd really like to get better so I can do more free flow. I'll start by working on some fundamentals, namely, planes and reels. There's no particular skill goal this time, just work on it three times a week! Life side-quest: Get to work on finals! I have a tendency of put off things I don't want to do in hopes of enjoying my free time instead... but then my free time is tainted with the anxiety of my looming responsibilities. This is especially true during finals week. No more! This time, I want to be prepared. Let's get things ready AHEAD of time. No more sleepless nights! For this challenge I will work on something related to classwork every day! Life side-quest: Get to know the Rebellion! Guys, I have a confession. I have a terrible, terrible lurking habit. I, like, never post on websites I browse. EVER. One of my previous challenges involved forcing myself to post, and it made a noticeable difference -- I had a LOT more fun than when I posted whenever I felt like it! I'd like to recreate that result and make myself more accountable to boot. For this challenge, I will post at least once a day! Time to get outside now -- the weather is great and there are walks to be had!

WOLVERINE TAKES IT ALL OFF INTRODUCTION I have three big events coming up in the next couple of months: a camping trip, a vacation in Las Vegas, and Pretty Panty Party IV*. All of these events will result in my being in various states of undress in front of largish groups of people and when I strip down I would like to look like Ryan Reynolds in Blade Trinity (handcuffs optional), which is impossible. I'll settle for Ryan Reynolds' younger, shorter, more average looking, but infinitely more awesome brother. *Pretty Panty Party IV is an annual event (the fourth!) in which my friends strip down to their elaborately decorated skivvies, drink too much, and perform ridiculous "choreographed" dances for cheap prizes from the local dollar store. It's ridiculously awesome. MAIN QUEST Reduce bodyfat and increase muscle mass while maintaining a weight of 136 lb. (+/- 3 lb.). GOALS Fully embrace chaos. No set training routines, no strict eating plans, no boundaries. As long as the goals are met and the mission is achieved, no #$&% shall be given. +1 WIS +1 CHA Train 5+ days per week. Pretty simple. I hope to workout every day, but @!$# happens. No set routine. No set workout time. No rules. +1 STR, +2 DEX, +2 STA Set calories for initial weight loss, then adjust to balance body composition and performance desires. Initial target = 1800 calories per day on average. Focus on protein and fiber (veggies!). Adjust target when necessary. IIFYM. +3 CON, +1CHA Read technical book for work. 342 pages of dry but worthwhile content. Read it in a day or spread it out over the six weeks. Don't matter. +3 WISSIDE QUEST Complete 5 hours (combined total) of planks, hollow body, and Superman holds by the end of the challenge. +1 STA STARTING STATS Height: 5 ft. 7 in. Weight: 142.6 lb. (142.77 lb. 7-day average) Chest: 37.5 in. Waist: 29.75 in. Bodyfat: 12.05%