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Albertigog reached up to get a jug from the top shelf. As he lifted it a sharp pain shot through his back dropped the just smashing it on the floor. "I see you're still smashing my kitchen up with that back pain of yours." Talo entered into to the kitchen, the baker now looking much rougher than when they had first met mainly due to him shifting rocks everyday without the luxuries that was used to. "Sorry it's still not fully better yet. I'll go get the brush" Albertigog replied sheepishly, especially after the damage he'd caused one night trying to keep himself from turning into the wolf. "Ok but first we need to talk, it's been several weeks and you haven't quite managed to settle in. You made a good start but then something went wrong." "I know, I'm sorry I'll get back on track." "Good, so you can start taking healing that back of yours a bit more seriously, you gave up and have been sitting around for a few weeks and it's not helped (Challenge 1). Also you've been sneaking more than your fair share of the sweet foods we have left, I'm afraid you going to have to give them up completely to make up for it (challenge 2). You also need to be getting up with the rest of us, I've been at the pass for 2 hours already today, you started well but got lazy when you stopped exercising (Challenge 3). Finally you haven't really taken to looking after the horses, maybe you'll be better at helping the people at the town hall keep track of what going on in the town (Life challenge). "OK, will do and I won't mess up this time." So last challenge started out so well, but after some personal circumstances occurred, I had a hell of a lot on my plate, and ended up so tired that I gave up on the challenge. So this challenge is very similar to the last one, with the measures of success slightly tweaked. Challenge 1. Heal and get strong To do this, I'm going to spend at least 15 minutes a day doing some yoga/joint mobility exercises, the focus being on my lower back. Each week I manage to do this everyday will count as one point. In addition to my mobility, I'm setting myself some strength challenges, each one being worth one point. 30 consecutive dead hang pull ups. 15 second handstand 10 wall supported handstand pushups 10 consecutive over head presses with 25kg I know the weight isn't much but as part of my strength training I'm working on my lifting form with light to moderate weights to ready myself and my back for some proper lifting in the future. This gives a total of 10 points 8+ = A 7 = B 6 = C 5 = D Challenge 2. No more crap This is nice and simple as I think I over complicated it too much lat time. Anything I deem as unhealthy food is a no no. Everyday I manage is a point, any day i fail is no point. As this is the 4th morning of the challenge, that leaves 39 points in total. 34+ = A, 31+ = B, 28+ = C, 26+ = D Challenge 3. Get up. I made this a bit hard for myself last time. So again scoring system is if I manage it it's a point for the day, if not no point. Ideally I don't want to be getting up after 7, and would aim for 6 everyday, but from my experience last challenge I'm going to listen to my body a bit more. Therefore I will set my alarm each night for a time I think is appropriate based on how tired I am. Life challenge. Record record record. This is the big change and the one I think will do me the most good in the long run. Every night before I go to bed I'll record my exercise, what I've eaten, time I got up, and other things I want to keep track of not relating to the challenge. I think this will help me massively in being productive in the future, and help me with improve my fitness. I'm not one for fixed workouts, I like to play more than anything so tracking improvement is difficult, hopefully this will help. I'm on holiday with lots of other people for a week during this challenge, so I'm expecting challenge 2 and 3 to get a battering that week. Wish me luck!

Note: Edits have been made because I decided I would try the real-life role playing again. Let's get to it. I've done a 5k before, I've done push-ups before, but that ability has deteriorated over time. I also need to continue to improve my diet. And most importantly, I need to find something that I have a passion for. Goal 1: C25K (again) I've done the C25K program before, just about a year ago actually. Completed it, hurt my back lifting a window AC unit, aggravated it on a hilly mud/obstacle run, stopped running until about April. I was doing the Zombies, Run! 5K app, but despite loving the story and the character of the app, I just don't like the program. So I'm starting C25K over, which I have done and like, while simultaneously re-running the missions from the original Zombies, Run! app, which I did the first time. I'll be going for a run every other day*, first thing in the morning, lest it get too hot outside. By the end of the challenge I should be up to week 6, though my grading will account for the possibility of necessary repetition of a single workout or a week of workouts. Finished Week 6, A; Week 5, B; Week 4, C etc.. Reward +5 STA Goal 2: Bodyweight Strength Training I want to start getting into consistency again with improving my strength through bodyweight exercises. Minimally, I want to do 1 set of upper-body training (probably push-ups or pull-ups), 1 of lower-body training (bodyweight squats, squat jumps, or lunges), and 1 of core (leg lifts, sit-ups) to failure. This will be done every other day, on the non-running days.* Grading here is all about consistency. An A can only be achieved through fully following through with the schedule. A full letter grade will be taken off for each missed day, until F. Reward +2 STA +2 STR Goal 3: Cleaner, Closer-to-Paleo Eating (4 Cheat days left) I am not good at avoiding fake foods. I never have been. My diet rarely involves more water than soda and alcohol. I would rather eat a bag of chips than any kind of fruit or vegetable you could think to stick under my nose. I grew up believing with glee that bread, rice, and especially pasta should be the foundation of my diet, usually skipping fruits and vegetables and making cheese and meat my next two candidates for things I would maybe consider eating. I've been working on a change in general, but I need a kick-in-the-pants, stick-to-it plan. For the six week challenge, water is the only thing I can drink. I don't need to drink my calories. I am also eliminating cheese and anything that I might refer to as "junk food," i.e. most things at the school vending machines. I have six allowed treat days during which I can diverge from this, with the hope of using at most one per week if I use them all. On these days that I select, I must report here what I had that goes against the guidelines, in what quantities, and for what reason. If I don't, it's a strike. If I have any beyond six, it's a strike. A letter grade reduction for this goal will be made for each strike. Reward +3 CON Goal 4: Seeking Passion I posted a bit ago on the pub forums on my panic over grad school, my research job over the summer. Sure enough, the more I do my job, the more I'm convinced that something about what I'm doing is not for me. I have no passion for it. But what do I have passion for? Good question. I would quit my job if I had a dream to chase, but I don't. Weekdays for now might just be mostly 9-5, making money, riding my bike to school, making dinner, cleaning the house, blah blah daily grind. But I have the weekends! So here's the goal: Every weekend of the challenge, I must work on something I believe I could have a passion for. I will report back not only what I did, but how I felt while doing it, how I felt afterward, and whether I think further pursuit is warranted. Working on the same passion candidate for any number of the weeks is allowed, assuming I haven't definitively decided that thing is not my passion. Possible pursuits may include, but are not limited to: -Drawing, both in pencil-paper and digital form. -Writing stories or working on a book. -Teaching something to someone. -Starting a blog, or vlog, or something like that. -Designing a program centered around something I care about and beginning the implementation in code. -Studying material from a field in which I have taken no classes or few classes. Doing something of this nature and making a post about it for every week will warrant an A. Miss one and I get a C. Miss two and I fail. Reward +3 WIS Where I Am Now I'm 22. I am female, 5'5" and somewhere in the 190-200 pound range, firmly in the category of obese (and yes, I know BMI is BS, but for me there is no change my weight is due to muscle). I have been riding my bike to and from work for about two weeks now. It has made me a lot more conscious of my nutrition, my energy levels, my hydration, and my fitness. I've been drinking generally less soda (but haven't cut it out completely yet) and more water, eating more fruit and vegetables, eating less bread and cheese, and actually being consistent about putting on sunscreen. I am actually living on my own by myself for the first time this summer, so instead of moping about it and getting scared and lonely and depressed, I am trying to embrace the opportunity for independence, to understand what makes me feel good without having to consider other people. I get to be selfish, which might be good because I tend to be a bit of a doormat. Speaking of which, bonus goal: don't be a doormat. Don't accept people pushing you around, don't say you agree with things that offend you, be assertive. And my current "character" stats, I'll be a shifter: STR: 2 DEX: 2 STA: 2 CON: 3 WIS: 3 CHA: 3 Okay, that's all. I've not done great on previous challenges, so any comments as to feasibility would be really appreciated. *After a pattern of workout-break-workout-break-workout, a 2 day break may be taken without penalty.