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I decided that I wanted to just redux this challenge since I didn't even scratch the surface of the other one and I wasn't too set on the goals when I went back and thought about it. They were too vague and I don't want a work goal in there because I feel like it'll stress me out in the long run. The previous week was kind of a wash due to the ice storm that hit Texas, too, and my workout schedule was messed up because of it. I did manage to get a garage workout in with my neighbor. It was cold but I had a good time either way. Did some benching. Did some chin-ups. Did some rowing. There's been a lot of changes recently in my life. We are having to move because my landlord is raising rent by $700. We figured rent would go up but the house we live in is NOT worth the additional funds. We love our neighbors and neighborhood but can't justify spending that much more on a house that is due for lots of upgrades, has foundation issues, 1-car garage, etc. when other houses in the area going for the same rate are bigger and better overall. It's tough because we've been in our house for almost 3 years now and moving just sucks. Costco told me a couple weekends ago that they were taking away my Saturday off because someone in the department is flexing their seniority and wants Saturday's. This really messes things up because I've had Saturdays off since Feb 2020 and working 2 jobs makes that one full day off crucial. I'm deeply unmotivated to work at Costco as it is and now this...I'm trying to remain positive and level headed about these changes. It's tough. Other than those things, the wolfpack is doing well. Orin ended his basketball season with his 2nd grade team scoring 19 of the 21 pts they had and beating their opponent by 4 pts. He's a stud. Racer ended his basketball season with a win and scoring 9 pts, almost matching his season high. And this coming weekend is the last game for Orin and Declan for their 10 and under team. ALL. THE. SPORTS. I've been super proud of Declan playing basketball and trying something new. He's not really into sports but he goes to the practices and puts forth the effort. Heather and I are doing really good despite my work schedule. Atlas is growing like a weed. He's VERY chunky. Trixie is a handful but it's only because she just doesn't listen worth a damn lol. She's very smart and independent. Jamison is also doing great. He's a big kid at 5 years old. Now that I've laid down the life update - let's get to the goals: [POWER] 1x a week KB Metcon while wearing 20# weight vest Tu/Th get in 20-30min walk with 20# weight vest 20+ min nap M-F [WISDOM] Listen to one non-fiction book during the challenge Veggies with at least 1x meal a day 100+ oz of water - DAILY [COURAGE] Pack leftovers each day - 2x a week eating out maximum Apply at Sam's, HEB or check the Costco closer to me *EDIT* Stay with the challenge. Don't ghost the forums! Let's dive in! Wolf

"Alright, now go fix it!" Orthos pushes Red1263 into a cave and after he naivagates through it for sometime, he notices strange things around him. Rocks are starting to float? He himself doesn't feel anything different so he keeps pressing onward, making note that the floating rocks are getting bigger and bigger, until he comes across a chasm. In the middle of the rocky abyss, he sees someone floating on a platform , he's moving around, almost as if he's struggling. "Hello? I was sent here to help... you?" The figure sees Red1263 and then stretches his hand towards him, the figure says something but Red1263 can't hear him, after a brief moment Red1263 starts to float! "What the?! What are you doing?!" The figure's hands motion Red1263 to move towards him and Red1263 is pulled towards him at an accelerating rate! "You have to... Help me! Gahh-- It's... at... att.. Attack with Silent Cry! Gravity!-- No! Wait!" and with that incantation, Red1263 suddenly flies towards the ceiling! Crashing into the solid rock foundation, feels as if he is being squished underneath a giant's foot. "GAHH! What... are you... doing to me!?" "Land of Mercy, loosen your tight fists! Float!" The Figure chants! Suddenly the crushing force dissipates and Red1263 gently floats back into the sight of the figure. "I'm sorry. It's hard to restrain myself, I've been bewitched with a Confusion spell. You have to help me! Please! It's hard to... resist!" "OK OK! How can I help you? Just tell me what I need to do! And DON'T throw me again, or whatever it is you just did!" "Well, if I drain my magic and pour it into you the Confusion will e... err... Earth's Anger running through my arms! Earth Slash!" The Figure with clenched fists swings towards Red1263 causing his floating body to be launched into the wall! "Oh no! I'm sorry! It's just... I can't control myself I need to render myself unconscious! Quick! Take my Gravity magic!" Once air had gotten back to Red1263's lungs he was able to wheeze out a, "...I think I can help with knocking you out..." before feeling an unsurmountable power being transferred into him. Being engulfed in magic he's completely unprepared for, Red1263 feels his entire body grow heavier and heavier with each moment. He glances towards the Figure and sees that he's unconscious, his once red armor is now blue and... He forgot to tell Red1263 how to give him his power back! "Gah! I've... gotta... control this power... My body is... So heavy... I need to move! I've gotta over come this gravity pull! Goals! Pull-ups: "I know! I can get a grip on this power, this way!" Re-introduce Pull-ups on Wednesday when I'm at the gym; Endgoal: 5 Pull-ups consecutively Planks: "Gah! This power is pulling me to the ground! I need to hold myself against it!" Planks on Friday after the warm-up' Endgoal: 3 sets of 1 min plank Eating more greens: "Of course, I can just not weigh so much! Genius!" Salads and/or Greens with every meal! Endgoal: 10 lbs loss

It has been a challenging year for me and I am looking to get myself back focused on “me” . Up till June I was doing so well....lost 10 lbs even...now that is all back on my ass and I am feeling it.... I can not get into the Challenge proper until August 12th ( have a animathon conference to attend this weekend out of town) but I will jump on in and get myself on Track adn hit this hard on Monday 12th . Here is my game. 1 - Three weeks ( till end of August) of cleanse diet followed by the rest of the time testing food back in– this is a non negotiable as I have developed ugly dermatitis on my arms and I think it helps to eat better. 2- Consistency with my workouts – Holly shit sticks this gets hard for me... I will play a bit with this during this challenge but I am aiming to get up and do early AM workouts Monday- Friday My workouts are truly a mix of everything in my home gym deep down in the catacombs. I want to get stronger faster and just better in my overall fitness by next spring……For this initial challenge I want to work out being more consistent that is all, the training plan will come later. Even if I roll out of bed and do 10 push ups - for this challenge i will count that as a win Game Plan - I will update weekly Monday – Clean Eating & AM workout Tuesday – Clean Eating & AM Workout Wednesday – Clean Eating & Am Workout Thursday - Clean Eating & AM Workout Friday – Clean Eating & AM Workout Saturdays - Clean Eating & Rest/Active Rest Sunday – Clean Eating & Endurance Workout

In my continuing effort to reclaim the glory that was me & fitness circa 2016, I'm throwing some more spaghetti at the wall to see if I can get something to stick. Because YET-A-FREAKING-GAIN I was reminded recently (of course when waxing rhapsodic about my Nerd Fam trying to rope in a new recruit) that a: I was kind of a little badass back then, and b: I had my shit under so much control diet and exercise-wise that it was easy. So easy, I was Queen of the damn side challenges. So ... ummmm ... yeah. I AIN'T THAT ANY MORE. And on the one hand *channel hippie "I'm ok, you're ok" self* It's ok, But on the other hand, *channel me circa 2016* You know what works - head down & suck it up, buttercup. This shit isn't easy, but all humans can 1000% do it. Your bullshit excuses as to why you're a special snowflake are BS. And you know they're BS. I've more or less decided to break up with Soflete - we all knew that shit wasn't sustainable, but I wanted to give it a good run. DH is still in love with the programming, but even he's chilled a degree or two to make room for SUP. Things I learned from my time in the gym (Soflete and before that, with a trainer): Re-discovered that I hate being in the gym for more than like :45 at a clip I am waaaaaayyyyy too practical to be comfortable with dropping a shitton of cash on a trainer Said trainer was a damn waste of time physical-wise, but did help with things like injury prevention and my 'too much'/'hit the gas' gene I like lifting heavy things as much as I knew I would There is a way to lift heavy things that doesn't injure me That doesn't mean my ass gets a carte blanche to forget that I have legit ass chronic wrist and lower lumbar injuries I can build something more sustainable (thx basic-ass but actually legit just non-sexy NF weightlifting guide) So, what kind of spaghetti am I throwing at the wall this cycle? Back to yoga. My body just feels better when I'm working in that arena. And, my local bougie studio just lowered their prices pretty heftily per class - so, there's less of an excuse there. Aaaaaaaaaand, at least for now (who TF knows what's going to happen in May - Ramadan - and June - beginning of Summer), there are 3 classes being held at convenient times for my life. 2 11am classes on days I don't typically have anything planned + 1 5pm class on a day I do. So I bought a 10-class pack, and I'm back on the mat. Planning on also adding in 2 days a week of strength training when my body readjusts to being bendy, since yoga alone does not melt the lbs off how I want them to go. And working on not eating like an asshole (still), and trying to see if I can do that in a framework that doesn't exclude food groups or involve time on My Fitness Pal. Which I love and all, but I'm trying to see if I can be trusted yet to have some sort of natural balance. (spoiler: thus far, hellz to the no if I want to actually lose the 10 lbs I'm up). In Support Of Spaghetti Goals 1. Yoga 2-3x a week; work in weight training when I can, but when I do - 2x a week. 2. Travel is happening this cycle - and maybe new puppy homecoming, too - so life is going to continue to be cray. This travel is a real vacation for the both of us, so there will be tons of hiking and walking involved - for travel, just avoid foods that hurt. 3. Continue attempting to not eat like an asshole - avoid foods that hurt, limit my time being shitfaced to my 1 wine lunch a month + maaaaaaaybe either my monthly game night, or 1 other outing. Continue taking pics of my meals, trying to only eat when hungry, and eating enough to make me full but not bursting - despite the starving children in Africa I'm murdering by not having a clean plate (80s kid, yo - that shit was on TV) 4. Continue working to build and maintain my local network of support and peoples 5. Look further into the $ making things I've got kicking around in my head 6. Do something other than sit on the couch and watch YouTube if I'm home all day (see 4&5) And that's about it - 6 quasi-goals that really only boil down to 2 concrete goals + 1 general purpose 'be less lazy' goal.

Boy has it been a year. There was a point last year where I really felt I had my fitness identity figured out and I knew what *I* needed to do for success. But I had some mental health and relationship issues to take care of first and that blew everything else out of the water. It's been really tough to get my head back in the game, so much so that I had completely lost track of what was starting to work before. This year has brought a few ups, and many downs. But my head is finally in the game and I feel ready to make some progress. I think I've blown enough of the cobwebs off of my fitness brain and I'm ready to . . . Kick Names and Take Ass While trying to get my head on straight I started assessing all the underpants I've collected since starting NF and tried to do some decluttering. I'm left with the underpants that work and make sense for me. It's a constant balancing act between what works and what works AND I can stick to. I still don't have a full picture of what all those underpants looks like together, but it's getting less foggy. So before I ramble anymore, on to the goals! Food Goal: Here is what I have learned from collecting underpants... I know I need to find a way to strike a balance between being too restrictive and then not being restrictive enough. I enjoyed doing the Whole30 because of the 'freedom' to eat without logging. Eating real food just makes me feel better and makes it more difficult to go off the rails. Paleo speaks to me but I'm not willing to cut out all the foods that are restrictive with Paleo or Whole30 long term. Until my spiral, I was able to find a good balance between logging food and eating Whole30(ish) Logging food is beneficial, maybe (and hopefully not) permanently, but it works. I finally took a look at some of Michael Pollan's food rules and they speak to me in the same way but are less restrictive. Eat Food. Not Too Much of it. Mostly Plants It occurs to me that the Paleo-ish I've been striving for is really just clean eating and Pollan's rules line up quite well with that ideal. So that's what I'm aiming for. Ideally, my goal would be to eat clean 80% of the time, and only log food if I venture into non-Food (processed food). But since I'm also in the healthy living program at work, I''ll stick with logging my food all the time. 1 point for eating at least 3 freggies a day 2 points for at least eating with a deficit (preferably over 750) 3 points for either eating clean all day or staying under MFP calorie target.(I haven't actually decided what this limit should be. Last time I was really successful it was around 1500 but that was tough to stick to. I've been at 1900 for awhile and it seems to be just under maintenance.) Fitness Goal: More underpants.... Being more active daily can only be good My workouts need to have a higher intensity. This brings results and keeps me motivated Do what you enjoy. I enjoy playing with sledgehammers and barbells* Never miss 2 days in a row Rest is also beneficial Consistency is key Ideally I'd like this to be a good old fashioned rucking and sledgehammer challenge. I'm still working on getting a good tire to have at home. I don't have access to the one at fancy gym now. But really anything goes as long as the intensity is there and it's something I enjoy. 1 point for at least doing something 2 points for at least getting 8000 steps 3 points for either getting 10,000 steps or doing a workout. Rest days also count as 3 points for purposes of point streaks but only up to twice a week. Low intensity workouts (along the lines of yoga and housework) can count once per week Chain Bonuses: I really like this aspect of my past few challenges, I just need to not be lazy. I want that 1,000,000 points but I want to earn it. Since I'll be challenging for 35 days, I've adjusted the points accordingly. The MN State Fair is during this challenge and don't think there is any clean food in sight, it just won't stay on the stick. So I'm counting the fair day as a freebie for the food goal. To balance that out, I can count one of the driving days as a freebie for the fitness goal. *not a euphemism

A very busy April through May made challenging, and even hanging out here with any regularity or focus, a pretty daunting task. So I sort of loosely hung out, updating my own thread just to keep somewhat in the habit- but otherwise fell off the NF boat! But I think I am ready to return. There's nothing too out of the ordinary planned until mid to end of July so I think I can get back into a good routine. Which actually - is not to say that my past weeks have been terrible. I weighed 5lbs on Thursday of last week, than I did on the Friday before my vacation started in April. And I did this without tracking cals in or out, just getting outside to walk and run whenever I could, and eating normal work foods and snacks and not pigging out when I ate out. So I think I am kinda doing the Intuitive Eating thing (though I never did finish the book and at this point, can't really see myself cranking out the last 80 pages or so.) Anyway! ON TO NEW AND BRIGHTER THINGS! I just finished Acen weekend, so my anime mood is very high! But my D&D floon never leaves. However, it is also summer-ish and so ALL OF TEH OUTSIDE GLORIOUSNESS! First ... a message from our sponsor, the 3 H's of Full Metal Alchemist. Hohenheim, Hughes and Hawkeye. So yeah that turned out awesome and fun! One of my all time favorite characters from one of only a handful of anime's that have earned a 10/10 rating from me! Now onto what the heck we're doing here this challenge. Step 1) Do the Challenge! * Like, make up some goals. Track the goals. Show up and post about it. And follow your herd! Step 2) Do things that make you gooder! * Don't stress about perfection. Do the little things every day that add up. Step 3) Profit. Goal #1 Exercise and Body Goodness I love the feeling I have when I am not being a lazy poof. The trouble is, I am not super good at talking myself up and into action, when the poofness has hit ultra levels. Basically, suns out guns out is quite accurate for me, and I am often motivated to get outside, walk, run, bike, do something! But when it rains or is cold and cloudy? So Goal #1 is to NOT be like Mustang on a rainy day. Be like Hawkeye. My strength training has really slacked off - to the point that I am going to have to start from scratch. Rather than do the things I was doing and likely feel terrible about lost progress... AND because I will want to be able to be outside in the sun even if it's a "strength day" - I am going to get into some full on body weight, calisthenics, yoga, etc training for my strength. That's where you peeps come in. I need some suggestions on what where who and why. Overall Goal: 5x a week, do stuff. Be move-y, bend-y, lift-y, pull-y, push-y. Just get out there, with intention and do things that keep the body in a state of progressing, rather than regressing. Goal #2 Food are friends, not fish. Wait... what? Keep up with the UN-war on food. I've been doing really well with just being a person who eats because that's what persons do, and not going bonkers. I still have the places and times and moments that are super hurdles. (Do not bring Jewel brand soft baked cookies near me. Just.. don't.) There's not a great way to track this because as soon as you start reporting in with any detail on what you did or didn't eat... well you're back to treating food like a THINGUS, instead of just a thing. So this goal is more just me admitting up front, that I am working on this, and the updates likely won't be more than 'Food was on fleek' or 'Had a hang up at this moment, will adjust next time by <insert ideas>.' Goal #3 Keep learning. Never stop playing. Be silly. Art and D&D and other avenues of creativity and brain happy activities. Do them. As often as you can, and want to. But don't force them past the healthy level of routine building insistence. I am really still enjoying art, and want to continue to get better. I've gotten and have always been, lazy in regard to taking next steps on educating myself in this. I mean, Raxie loves to dance, and can do a lot of dancing on her own, and she's glorious at it ... but she seeks lessons and instruction to improve her technique- which will allow her to be better even still on her own! So I need to start poking at resources that will REALLY REALLY show me how to do what I'd like to do. That might even involve finding a class at a community college, or an online course that I ACTUALLY SIT THROUGH AND DO! Art 4x a week - because that's not a crazy goal, and because sometimes I can talk myself out of it easily, even if I would super enjoy it once I settle down. If I absolutely have a brain day that sucks, and feel no creative juice... don't force it. D&D prep will be a thing to, but more of an: Eh, when the ideas strike roll with it. But don't over burden yourself with prep so that it becomes unfun. Reading. Do it. You have come to really enjoy it. Don't fall out of this new habit. Goal #4 Get super serious about Finances. Goal : Become a Home Owner This is terrifying and exciting. But the thing I can do right now, that won't induce stress comas, is get the finances into a pseudo mortgage situation and see what becomes feasible livable and where my monies are going. This task will have side tasks that are mostly one and done, but will be tracked here. Basically... get ready to jump the nest. Hopefully, less dramatically than this. ^

Greetings and salutations to all of my companions on this road to health! Its been a while since I've been as active as I want, so I am going to make my first goal to: 1. BE ACCOUNTABLE: Come on the forum at least 4-5 times a week and read up on peoples progress, update my own progress, and not be too hard on myself. Now for a little about me. Hi my name is Crafty and I am an alcoholic.......wait, scratch that, wrong forum. lol! Seriously though, I am currently working on getting my certification as an EKG Monitor Tech. I will be reading patients EKG strips that basically can tell me if I the patient is ok, or if they need a nurse ASAP! My mom had a heart attack back in January and I've decided that more than anything I want to be able to help people. This is just the first step to much more certification and schooling. I'm loving it!!! The heart is a fascinating muscle. Like seriously, I can't believe how amazingly complex and yet super simple it is. In my studies I've been discovering just how your heart health can be affected (good and bad) through what you eat. Now, I have lost and gained weight plenty of times before. I have been on every diet, program, etc out there and while I lost weight, I never felt "better" health-wise and stereotypically gave up and gained it all back. I mostly just ate less. Now I am older and wiser and to be frank, I really don't want to have a heart attack or any other chronic illness. My mom went through hel. Surgeries, medications, therapy, omg the list goes on. I want to be healthy and happy in my 80s and 90s, not dead by 50 (or on 20 meds and miserable feeling like I'm 70). Among the other things that I've researched, I have been watching all the healthy eating documentaries on Netflix. Its fascinating and has helped me to strengthen my resolve. My BIG PICTURE goal: To transition to a healthy diet based on plant-based calories. Basically I'm going to work my way up to becoming a vegan. I have a bad track record with my follow through, so I'm going to break it down by weeks and change my goal eat week until I am 100% clean vegan eating. I'm very excited about this, but also scared. Growing up I've been a typical fat American - I hated fruits and veggies, loved soda, junk, and meat. And what's worse, is I've noticed I'm passing these horrible habits along to my two boys (2 and 3 years old). The fear of failure is all too real. Thus, the weekly breakdown. Small changes, am I right NF peeps?! I also work for a hotel at night and have to make the breakfast each morning. I HAVE to handle bagels, muffins, sausage, donuts, omg this list goes on and on. What can I eat that the hotel offers for vegans? Bananas, oranges, and oatmeal in a packet. The struggle is real people! But I'm going to be healthy dammit!!! The main goals I hope to accomplish by the end of this challenge are: 1. Limit meat to dinner only 0-3 times a week. (Lets be realistic, a self-proclaimed carnivore cannot change overnight!) 2. Minimum 10 cups of water daily. (I'm actually already doing this, but it seems like a good goal to keep me positive!) 3. All meals must have 2/3 plant-based foods. (The more fruits and veggies i can pile on the better!) 4. Twice a week I will allow 1 serving of a processed food (ie-I've been craving doritos like a mad woman. the smallest bag available would be ok.) 5. Try a new fruit and a new veggie each week. (I have a very narrow experience with these and need to force myself into trying new things. yay!) 6. Limit sugar intake to less than 50g daily. (Defeat the sugar beast that has had his claws in me all my darn life!) Ok, that about sums it up. Now to post my goals for the first week! Hi ho Silver! Away!

This time around I am settled in Florida and ready to commit to a challenge. I know I know, this sounds like a broken record the past few challenges. This time I am serious! A big issue is I have a GORUCK Challenge in a week from Friday on the 28th. I have been rucking but I have not been lifting much. I am going to break this challenge into some themes for catching JAWS and assign point values to the categories. Boat In order to catch JAWS I need to have a solid boat. For me this will be my daily home habits. Things like taking the trash out, doing dishes, etc. Some are daily some are weekly on specific days, I track them in habitica so nothing new. Each day I do all of my dailies I earn 5 points. If I do the unpack 15 minutes daily I get a bonus 2 points since I need to finish off unpacking. Strength and Endurance In order to battle JAWS and reel her in I need to build strength and Endurance. To earn points here I will workout daily, 3 rucks and 3 lifts per week with a rest day. Daily sit ups, push ups and stretching included. 10 points for all finished and 2 points bonus for stretching. Bait My Cats, I have a smaller house now and I really need to scoop the poop twice daily. Also they need some food and water and occasional brushing. Daily get them all done, 5 points. Keeping it Together Random tasks. 1 point each, try to do at least one daily. Things like fixing house stuff/boat stuff etc. Food/Drink Each day I don't drink alcohol is 2 points. Each day I eat correctly(2k calories < 100 grams of carbs and one day a week at 150 grams) is 1 point. That is it, each day is potentially worth 27 points + additional random tasks. 33 days counting today. That means I could max at at least 891 points. I am really hoping to just see what percentage I can get of possible points. Obviously the higher the better but I would think 80% would be passing.

This challenge I'll move on. Quite literally: we're going to move in with my MIL Not forever, just until we'll get the key to our new house at the end of December. We'll stay with my MIL for 6 weeks. Which will be a challenge on its own Not that I don't like my MIL, she is great and sweet and amazing. And it is beyond kind that she'll let us stay with her for so long. But still, it won't be my house. I'll have to adjust. Last challenges I've been working on "food freedom". Not letting my life be determined by food or my weight. And I've succeeded. Finally! But now it's time to take better care of myself. Give myself permission to eat healthy. Even if it's inconvenient at times. My sons almost always eat healthy. I just make the time to feed them right. I should do the same for myself. I'm worth taking care of. I won't need to make a challenge fitness wise: I'm still addicted to zumba and I'm loving the dancehall/hiphop/urban fusion classes I've been taking. I'm actually sad when I'm not able to go The plan Moving Week 0: nothing. The boys have the week off from school, so I'm just going to be doing stuff with them. Week 1: Decide on a new school for the boys (they'll start after their Christmas break in January), announce to the world when we're moving where Week 2: Sort through toys and clothes. Donate/sell stuff we won't be taking with us. Go through the shed if I'm feeling brave... (it is the biggest mess you've ever seen ). Buy boxes/wrapping paper and such. Week 3: Start packing. We'll be moving to my MIL at the end of this week Week 4: Settle in at MIL's house. Clean old house. We'll turn over our keys at the end of this week. Eating Clean Week 0: Find clean recipes that won't take up too much time to make, or can be made in bulk. Find pre packaged clean stuff. Also: I need to be able to make it at MIL's house, where I don't have my own kitchen stuff. Week 1: Focus on eating clean lunches (breakfast and dinner are pretty clean as is). Week 2: Focus on eating clean snacks Week 3: Is there any way I can clean up my food somehow? When is it difficult for me to eat clean, and how can I fix it? Week 4: Clean pepernoten, is there such a thing? And how can I get some?

Posted April 12, 2013 Jammer: "I'm not really cut out for this, sir." Apollo: "Me neither. Sometimes you gotta roll the hard six." Jammer: "What does that mean, sir?" Apollo: "I don't know. It's something my dad says. Just don't shoot until I tell you to." BSG - Season 2, Episode 2 Pretty fitting title and saying for my 2nd 38th challenge. My first last challenge I approached sort of half-assed, quarter-assed so now I gotta RE roll the Hard 6. (See, I just mixed gaming with BSG.) Fitness Goals Strength Train: 3X / WEEK Sweat!!! 3X / WEEK Eating Healthy No honeybadger moments. Life Goal Budget Related: Keep track of ALL purchases in BuJo. Collect data, find trends. The above goals were what I did on my second challenge back in April 2013. Guess what weight I was when I started? Yup. Same as I am today. I guess in one sense, keeping within the same 5-8lb spread for 4 years isn't so bad in the long wrong, right? Anyway. By the end of that challenge? These were the results. So, I am going to go back to the beginning. While I am not currently doing C25K, or plan to, I will still utilize the 3x a week SWEAT as motivation. Also- those 'strength' days were largely play ground workouts, that lasted no more than 45m. I have a gym in my warehouse now- rings, pull up bars, and weights. I am set up for success on that front. The food? I opted for not tracking calories and just eating cleaner. I likely UNDER nourished that first time around, but I am smarter now, more experienced. My TDEE has not changed over the last four years. When I am strength active I burn about 2200 a day, when I run or bike, it hits about 2400, and when I hockey I can tip to 3000. I can easily adjust my intake based on those well established averages. I have a vacation starting on the 18th, and then a very crazy ten days. I will make the best choices I can, given the surroundings I am in. I will not stress and nitpick over every calorie into my mouth because that makes me macroniacal. Hockey season is starting up too, so that will also help. And, a big difference between then and now? My gif game is a lot stronger! ROLL A HARD 6 YOU SAY?

Last challenge was all about the self-love, self-care and recovering from stressing myself out. That, combined with the fantastic week-long vacation in the Rocky Mountains that I just returned from was seriously successful in getting me into a good headspace and ready to tackle this whole health and fitness thing with renewed vigour. This round is going to be pretty straightforward and back to the basics - Eat well, exercise and sleep. Winning formula. Also I'm doing a 5 week challenge; eff this week zero nonsense. Goal One: Eat clean. Which means Vegetables, Meat, Fruit, Nuts, Seeds, Healthy Fats, and limited non-gluten grains, dairy, legumes and condiments. I'm not going to define what "limited" means at this time, but I'll be reporting all food stuffs here so I'm keeping an eye on it. Anything with gluten counts as a variance. Also any significant amounts of sugar, condiments not withstanding. Also any other nonsense that I can't exactly think of at the moment. Chips, I guess. Ugh. Including tortilla chips. Damn, I love those things. Sub-goal of weekly meal planning and attendant grocery shopping. : 3 pts per day for eating like a reasonable person. 5 pts per week for meal planning. Target 25 pts per week (that means one allowable variance for those of you keeping track). A : 125pts B : 100 pts C : 75pts D: 50pts F: <50pts Goal Two: Quit the booze. It's time for a break. 1 pt per day but this is pass/fail. A: 35pts F: <35pts Goal Three: Bike 25 km per week. This equals about 3 bike commutes per week, but it's okay if it's not through biking to work. Rollerblading also counts towards this. A : 125kms B : 100 kms C : 75 kms D: 50 kms F: <50 kms Goal Four: Workout 3x per week. Like yoga or kettlebells or some video or whatever. Just do a thing. A : 15pts B : 12pts C : 9pts D: 6pts F: <6pts Goal Five: Go to sleep. And then get up. Applicable to workdays. I did this one a couple challenges ago, and it was super helpful, but I've gotten out of the habit. The deal is: in bed by 10PM. Lights out by 10:30PM. Up by 6AM. 3 pts per day, 5x per week. A : 75pts B : 60pts C : 45pts D: 30pts F: <30pts And to add some incentive to all of the above - each "A" earned every week scores me $2. At the end of the challenge, I will use whatever I've earned to buy some new athletic gear!

Since I'm focusing more inwards this challenge, I decided to hop on over to my Druid buddies! Hi!!!!! This Heathen Mama has a Master Plan to start eating like a Viking! This challenge will be 100% diet based for me. After much research I keep coming back to the Nordic/Viking Diet. The paleo diet that I have tried many times before is far too restrictive for me and my carb-loving self. I do well for about a week and then end up going carb crazy and derailing my progress. So instead I found that the Viking Diet allows me limited carbs in the form of root veggies (potatoes, etc) and whole grains. I'm going to stick to this plan for the length of this challenge and see what kind of differences I see and feel. My goal is to keep it super simple and set myself up for success. If I do well following this, then next challenge I may add some other things. Here are my goals for this go around: 1. CARBS - From Whole Grains (rye, barley, oats, oatmeal), root veggie (potatoes, onion, parsnip, carrot, broccoli, sweet potatoes,etc) and fruits as desserts (focus on mainly berries, apples) 2. WHOLE FOODS ONLY- Focus on real whole foods. Proteins should consist of fish about 3 times a week, chicken and lean meats otherwise. Root veggies and fruits. no fast food, no processed food. no junk food, no sweets (except for occasional treat of dark chocolate 72% or higher). Based on previous trial and error I found that I LOVE stews. Healthy and filling when done right. Going to break out my crockpot about twice a week for easy, filling meals and plenty of leftovers. I love stews, casseroles, pot pies, basically anything that is like "all in one" meals. I hate cooking, so it helps! 3. DRINK HEALTHY - Drink 10 cups water daily, herbal tea and black coffee - no soda or energy drinks. I'm allowed alcohol 2-3 times a week, but stick with low cal low carb beers or wine. 4. FOCUS ON KEEPING PERCENTAGES IN BALANCE- the Nordic diet, based on what I've found, should be about 30% healthy fats, 50% carbs, 20% protein. veggies and fruits should make up 2/3 of my plate, with protein only being 1/3. I'm not going to focus as much on calories for the time being, but focus on eating until comfortable and keep the percentages within that general range. To succeed I'm going to set aside time to cook in advance with larger portions with allow for easy leftovers and work meals already packed up and portioned to go. I'm also a creature of habit, so work to create set meals that I can rely on. Example would be having a set breakfast of a fruit and oatmeal sweetened with cinnamon and a tsp of honey. That way I don't have to worry as much about WHAT I'm gonna eat. I know what I'm gonna eat and know that it follows the Master Plan. *muahahahaha devious laughter ensues!* I'm going to try to be good about taking photos of my foods as well to document and hold myself accountable. Skal!

FATE / STARPUCK : ZERO The last few challenges have seen a change in how I see myself, and how I approach life, fitness and food. A GOOD change! I'm also fresh off of ACEN and my anime floon is high, so this seemed a fitting time to delve back into some anime themed challenges. TRAIN LIKE SHIROU Shirou got dragged into a war he wasn't even aware of, but chose to stand up for his ideals nonetheless. If he had any hope of surviving, let alone being a hero of justice, it meant he had to work hard and gain some combat skills. He also had to rest after exerting himself too much, because a mage without mana, meant a weaker servant! ACTIVITY GOALS: 6x / week Like before, this can be any type of intentional activity, though I want to make sure at least 2x a week it is strength training. Starting in June, I will have the potential for up to 3x hockey / week though I will probably opt out of that. I may end up doing 2x a week for the whole month, depending on when Coed games line up. LEGITIMATE REST DAY 1x / week When summer whips up, I can sometimes get into a streak of having zero rest days. I'm not suggesting I sit and do nothing, but one day per week must NOT have any "real" training. Leisure hikes, bikes or walks are okay. But once every seven days, there must be no run or hockey or weight training. PRACTICE LIKE RIN Rin was born and raised to be a mage, to become the heir of her family's legacy. While she is a compete magus when we see her, it was a long, hard process for her to gain that level of skill. She studied and practiced throughout her childhood, and pushed her boundaries endlessly. ART GOALS 4x / week I should really be pushing to start implementing tutorials, or skills practice. I have made a lot of progress, but I think the next wave of improvement will only come if I start LEARNING things. The reason I am not changing this goal to reflect that need, is because I don't see it as strongly feasible during the summer months when I get uber busy. So for now, keep up the routine and practice. D&D PREP WORK 1x / week My game is going well enough and I am actually enjoying life as a GM. I do want to get better, so I need to make sure I am investing time every week into either prepping my specific game, or reading rules books, watching tips, etc. COSTUME WORK 3x / challenge My brother and nephew will be going with me to Comic Con in August. I have a really good start to a Rebel Legion worthy Jedi uniform, but I am unhappy with how it fits, and the lack of colors. I have material for a new Obi / Tabard set, but no sewing skills. In order not to get rushed last minute with this endeavor, I need to start doing this now. I will practice on crap material, until I am comfy enough to sew the tabards an obi in the new color. CONQUER MY ARCHER "If you cannot defeat your enemy with the weapon you do have, then imagine one with which you could." Archer is ... a complicated character, and I will not go too much into it in case this is on your list to watch. (Recommended!) This goal is about defeating my own biggest nay-sayer... AKA, ME! AFFIRMATIONS 7x / week Daily affirmations in journal. My 'wake up' routine. I want to start expanding what's written in them now, talking myself up more and ... most importantly, start working on developing some courage. PUCK LOVE, BOLD EDITION 1x / week One RANDOM picture per week, posted with complimentary self talk. IE. No taking pics that I look at and go, "Gee that's my good side." Snap pic, post, talk nice. BEYOND THE BOUNDARY 3x / challenge Engage in an activity that is decidedly beyond my routine comfort zone. Do it without backing out. I will need some advice and suggestions on this one for ideas! EAT TO PERFORM 7x / week Not the ACTUAL program, but I am aiming to up my calories to no MORE than a 500 calorie deficit per day, and may in fact, aim for something closer to a 250 calorie/day deficit. I want to add good, healthful calories to the mix, so it may also turn into a bit of a cooking challenge. I'll have the house (and thus the kitchen) to myself for part of it, so it will be a real test. The goal will be to eat 1800 calories per day on a normal activity day, 2400 calories on a hockey day, and 1700 calories on a rest day. KEEP UP NIGHTLY REGIME 7x / week Not a solid habit yet. Must keep this on the list until it's set in stone. ODDS AND ENDS - Buy tickets for Wizard World - Plan August trip. - Research new bike. - Buy new bike for August trip. - Clean out closet. - Go through clothes, recycle, toss, etc. - Finish leather pouch for Jedi costume (requires a snap install) - Research suburban Improv Class * - Clean up PC, files, pics, etc. Alright, it looks like a lot on the plate, but it's really mostly the same as last time with a few new twists. Also, most of it can be done first thing in the morning, or during my already established routine. I'm riding high on the coattails of last challenge, so let's do this! "I am the bone of my sword. Steel is my body, and fire is my blood..."

I am Rhovaniel. One day, I will earn my place amongst the Dúnedain. For now, I am a Ranger in training, and I have much to learn. I have something of an unsettled challenge ahead of me. I have my holiday in the Lakes, where I hope to do more challenging walks than I have done previously, my driving test, and I’m in the middle of de-cluttering my house. I am also determined to nail my nutrition. So much so, that I am going to try to avoid unhealthy desserts (fruit, yoghurt, home-made stuff made with healthy ingredients don’t count for this) completely, except for one, maximum two days, in the Lakes. One is my birthday, and who doesn’t treat themselves on their birthday, and the other will probably be in the second week of the holiday, maybe. Other than that, I’ll do my best to stay away. Either way, my schedule may change but my busy-ness is far less than it was in previous months, so I’m going to return to narrative for this one! Zero Week Goals: 1. Drink nothing but water, and lots of it. My aim here is for 2.5 – 3 litres a day, with no other drinks. No juices, definitely no fizzy drinks, etc. (The fizzy includes sparkling water, sadly. This one is more to try and control my IBS than anything else, but the health benefits are a definite bonus!) 2. Track everything, and keep it clean I need to get over my calorie counting aversion, but I also feel that if I rush headlong into it, It’ll fail just like all the other times. So, this week I simply need to log everything I eat, starting today. It also needs to be way healthier than I have been eating. I’m going to batch cook some eggs and roast some sweet potatoes in a bit. My aim is to make each dinner ½ vegetable, ¼ carbs, ¼ protein. Lunch is going to be trickier, but I just need to be sensible. Eat some salads, or smaller portions of leftovers. Breakfasts tend to be a shake (BlendActive is a godsend, so little clean-up makes it super easy), or porridge. Either one is fine. 3. Plan my activities in the Lake District I go away for the second half of the challenge, and rather than our usual, ‘let’s wake up and see where the day takes us’, I’d like to have at least 5 planned walks so that we don’t end up either having a lazy day or meandering around trying to decide where to go. Martin tends not to want to walk all the time, so one or two of those planned walks will be ones I feel I can manage solo, if he decides he doesn’t want to do much that day. Which also means they have to be places I can access without a car from where we’re staying. Luckily, Keswick is quite central. I got places to choose from 4. Do not, I repeat, do not miss a workout The last challenge, at least two weeks went by where I missed one or more of my workouts. BreakPoint is in 6 weeks, and more than that, the Lake District isn’t a beach holiday. I’m going to need a Ranger’s body as well as a Ranger’s mindset (I mean, come on, I’m gonna be walking up fells and mountains and round beautiful lakes and stuff. The place is practically a Ranger’s Paradise). Rewards and Penalties: I’m adding in some rewards this time around too, so it’ll hurt more if I don’t complete my goals (and give me extra incentive to complete them, of course ) Penalties: One Goal missed in a day: 10 burpees. More than one Goal missed in a day: 20 burpees. Total Failure of a day/missed goals more than 2 days in a row: 2 sets of 20 burpees and forfeit the second dessert variance. Rewards: Still working on these. But as I will be away, and thus without access to a gym, for two whole weeks at the end, if I manage a perfect week on all goals, I get to buy either a kettlebell or a set of dumbbells to take with me on holiday so I can still do some strength work. If I get another perfect week, as a bonus I get to buy a foam roller so all that hill walking doesn’t ruin my legs. The rest I have yet to figure out…

So new year, new goals. The big thing looming which I have been looking forward to for a long time and was one of the main reasons I started my fitness journey is a Spartan Race. I intend on running in the Boston Sprint race in the middle of June. That means that I have 6 months to get into fighting shape for that event. In order to do that, I have 4 overarching goals that will continue up to the Spartan and beyond likely. Drop weight, definitely below 300lbs for race, stretch goal of 280lbs Continue strength training specifically upper body and core Learn to run - minimum 5k distance, stretch is 10k Don't get injured The next few series of challenges will be smaller sub-goals that will contribute to the greater cause hence the part 1 of this challenge. For this current part challenge, I am going to make strides towards all of these 4 main goals with a setup that has them as sections my challenge goals will fall under. Weight/Food Track, track and track again - Track 7 days per week - I seriously do so much better when I track everything. When I only do like 5/7 days in a week, I am not mindful enough on those brake days and end up just putting back 5000 calorie days like they are nothing and ruining progress. No skipping out on little snacks here and there. Everything that goes in my mouth goes in the tracker. Hail Hydrate - Drink 100oz of water per day - Staying hydrated helps me cut down on cravings and hunger. I cover this most work days with my 40oz nalgene at my desk. I easily drink three of those per day when working. But looking at weekends, not sure I had more than one or two glasses of water per day over the weekend. Need to change that. Strength Training Keep Calm and Lift On - Keep up current strength work - Two times per week FIT classes with the bench press and deadlift focuses. Use weekend sessions for overhead, squat, and other supplemental exercises and conditioning. Up and Up - Integrate more upper body work - Looking to increase upper body strength with certain movements that I am not currently comfortable with. Things like pull-up and dip progression as well as grip strength will need improvement if I have any shot at doing things like monkey bars or rope climbs. Not sure how to really grade this yet. Abzzz - Do core work 3 times per week - Looking to build up some core strength more than what I get from squats or other main lifts. Adding in some small ab sessions at the end of workouts or at home on rest days will suffice for now as supplemental work. Running C25K - Do C25K 3 times per week - Feel like a good intermediate goal for Spartan would be a 5K race. There is a race near St Pattys Day that I am leaning towards doing. Starting C25K now would be a good prelude to that. In the balance of training...I would sacrifice a lifting day for a run for this challenge...gasp! Injury Prevention They See Me Rollin' - Foam Roll 3 times per week - Foam rolling seems to significantly help out with knee soreness. Interesting discovery is that tight hips may be a culprit to the knee pain. Trying to change a bit of the focus to hip flexors and glutes to see if I can work out those spots to relieve some knee stress. Sup? - Take supplements every day - Currently stacking Glucosamine to help with joints, Max Adrenal for hormonal support, and Max Capacity for focus and strength boost. Previously max capacity was just a preworkout but going to go with that as a daily from now on as the focus is helpful regardless of the gym. Working with an expert with range of supplements, she recommended that as it continually builds over time so the occasional preworkout usage does not ever reach top potential. Hope you all join along for this journey. Its going to be quite the trip...Sparta is approximately 4700 miles from my front door so its going to take a while...buckle up!

Red finds himself backed into a Corner with a mountain on one side and the horde of Zombies on the other side, his energy failing and the horde seemingly endless Each swing taking more and more strength from him, he wonders if this is where he'll meet his end, eventually his sword becomes too heavy to hold and he embeds it into the ground as the zombies get closer and closer. Then the ground begins to crack, and the weight of the approaching Zombies starts to cause the ground to give way! Red falls in to a pit! Landing with a hard thud, he stands up only to find himself in an ancient temple. Yet, there was no time to observe his surroundings and he soon learned that he wasn't alone. Heavy breathing filled the air as something very large began to approach him. "Well, well. It's about time..." 'That voice... I know that voice!' "Is that you, Lord Bahamut?" A loud huff was his only response, "I have been waiting for a very long time for you to get here." "You... You have?" "Yes, but you weren't ready then... But now it seems that you are... This will not be easy... But I can assure you, you will never be the same again..." Red realizing he's been out of energy and breath queried, "Uhhh...What are you talking about?" In a sudden flash the Dragon Lord changed. He was slimmer, more colorful, his scales shone like brandished steel. Despite all of this, he still emitted the same ancient air of thousands of years of living on this earth. "This is what I mean, it is time for you to finally complete a Crystal." Within his newly sharpened claws, he revealed a completed Air Crystal. Shining with knowledge as old as Life itself. "Hw-- Wh--- I don't understand. How did you-- Why did you do this?" Red spoke in shock. "Simple, because it is time for you to change, and you can't without the knowledge embedded in this crystal. So I have brought it here for you." Red was stupefied, he reaches for the crystal and then suddenly, he is hit with the Dragon Lord's tail, knocking him back "FOOL! DID YOU REALLY THINK I WAS SIMPLY GOING TO GIVE THIS TO YOU?!" Red, getting up, muttered to himself, "The thought had occurred..." "Change comes with Trials and Tribulations! You must TAKE the crystal from me!! Only then can you obtain the knowledge that you seek!" Shadowboxing - Bahamut is the toughest son of a Dragon you'll ever meet and if I am going to find any way to beat him, I need to take every chance I can find and attack! Shadowboxing whenever I have the free time. So far, it's as follows: M: Between School and Work, During work break T: Between Classes, Between School and Work, Work break W: After classes Th: During the 2-3 hour break between classes F: Before work, During Work break S: Before Work S: Before Work Within these breaks, I will aim for at least 5 minutes of shadowboxing. It might be a problem if I'm not wearing proper attire. Also Whenever I get out of class/work early, that's another opportunity to throw in some shadowboxing Clean Eating: Dragons don't get tough just by eating whatever comes their way. I need to watch what I eat, especially since I'm going to be busy with projects and school! Sleep: Projects, Midterms, Exams, Quizzes, Presentations, and overall Studying will keep me from going to bed on time, This goal is to make sure that I don't forget that I'm not a robot and need rest. Also, I'm going to try to keep up with the rest of you nerds!

November 2016 Challenge Hello Druids, for those of you who don't know. I'm Waldgeist, a 29 year old German guy. I've been mostly rolling with the Assassins but I feel that for my current situation this is the better place for me. Whats going on right now (the prologue, if you will): I moved to another state/city and enrolled in a university course to pursue a 3-year degree in 'Physical Activity & Health', because I was not happy with were my work life was headed. I had realized that I can't sustainably work an 9 to 5 office job, but I love working with people and teaching them/helping them to get better. Therefore, I decided to not just complain but make an actual change. The journey so far wasn't easy, there were times I thought I wouldn't make it, but I did and my new life officially started last week. Also I am living completely alone again for the first time in three years, which I don't mind but that gives me more options to live healthier. There is a lot to do, like get a part-time job, make new friends, finish moving (most of my stuff is still in my hometown), explore the city/college, not to mention the obvious, study, work out, eat healthy and don't let life get to stressful at the same time. Theme: This will be the Jedi Academy books including I Jedi (though they are no longer canon, they still have a special place in my heart). Main goal: Establish routines in a new environment Quest 1 "Study the the Force by its elements" GMB Elements I've done this programme before and it is a perfect base to establish an active practice routine. Goal is to do at least 3 sessions per week, bonus points if i do the recovering days in between sessions, too. Quest 2 "A Jedi must control his body as well as his mind" Flexibility This kind of overlaps with the first quest, since there is flexibility work in there, too. But I don't want to limit myself to those stretches. Goal is to do at least 4 sessions per week. Quest 3 "Working out with Keiran Halcyon" KB/bodyweight Workout Don't have my equipment right now, so this might be limited to push-ups and squats only for a while. Anyway, twice a week is the Goal here. Quest 4 "To be One with the Force" Relax As I mentioned above there is a lot going on right now, which means I need to remind myself to relax, be thankful, not to worry too much etc. Daily would be perfect, but I know myself so every second day shall be the Goal. Quest 5 "Jedi do not desire a luxurious life" Do IF & Eat clean My budget isn't that large anyway at the moment, so this shouldn't be too hard. After all, healthy cooking is way cheaper than eating unhealty pre-made stuff and not eating for a day (aka IF) is even cheaper, even if you eat a slightly bigger meal at the end of the fast. Goal is daily healthy eating with one or two IF days a week, but a small treat a week or two won't be counted as unhealty.

As you all have become aware, there's a chance I can be attending school in the Masters of Science: Orthotics and Prosthetics program at a VERY prestigious (and expensive) university! So as a (religious) man who believes that things happen for a reason, and with my application not guaranteed, I have 2 roads before me: Get Accepted into the program, Then I will be attending school full-time, work part time, and exercise sometime, and this challenge will be me trying to balance School, work, NF, and personal health Don't get accepted into the program, Then I'll be resuming my last challenge (as it got interrupted by this momentous opportunity) after the 23rd of Sept, (the application deadline), and on the first week of Nov, I'll be going to Charlotte, NC for Machine Tech training. In either case, I have 5 days to finish the application (which consists of 5 essay prompts) and get everything in before the deadline. Which means I'll be MIA until then. So the question will be... In or Out ?

So I just found out today that I have officially become labeled the "health guru" at my office, a little nicer than health nut or fitness freak at least. I definitely think that it is important for everyone trying to get healthy to ignore the naysayers who are just unhappy that they have not stuck to the regimen that you have or have the discipline that you have cultivated over time. Don't let them drag you down with "sorry, we don't have any kale flavored ice cream" (yeah I actually heard that one). Take that win, laugh with them on the jokes, and keep it up. I am taking this as a win, since I know that I am not always sticking to my healthy eating, but clearly I am doing well enough that it has drawn attention.

What is Blitzball? The aquatic sport is played on spherical stadia filled with pyrefly-infused water. According to the Final Fantasy X Scenario Ultimania the sphere pool utilizes pyreflies to congeal the water into a sphere. Blitzball players can stay active underwater for extended periods of time because they are supported by the pyreflies contained in the water. The objective is for the player and their team to kick the blitzball into the opposing team's goal, while the opposing team simultaneously defends their goal and attempts to steal the blitzball to make an attempt at the player's goal. The verb for playing blitzball is "blitzing" or "to blitz” I am getting back into playing Gaelic so I am theming this challenge off the coolest fictional sport I ever saw-Blitzball. It was introduced in Final Fantasy X (10) and I always wanted to play it in real life..prolly more than most sports lol. It combined elements of basketball, swimming and soccer. Well, Gaelic is a lot like Blitzball, minus the cool underwater sphere. I’m still very raw at this sport and relying heavily on athleticism right now but I’m hoping to refine some skills at my position, midfielder aka halfback. I won’t be scoring much, but I can get all the “highballs”, make sweet passes and juke a couple people out in the process. My goal this 4WC is to get faster and build my endurance. Heather is also getting back into Gaelic. We joined up with the co-ed summer league going on right now and Heather will be joining Nichole’s team (since I’m on Drew’s). Her and I will have one day a week where we go practice at the enormous fields down the street from us. We’ll work on pure basics to refine our skills or techniques in Gaelic along with the weekly scrimmage on Saturday. I don’t know if it’s every Saturday but I think it is. Crazy fact #1-I will be participating in a sprint triathlon on the 24th...so in less than 2 weeks. YIKES!! I’m doing it with my father in law. He asked me this past Sunday if I wanted to go so I said yes. This will be interesting to say the least. 300m swim--->9 mile bike ride--->5k run. He’s gonna get a bike for me to borrow but I have everything else say for a swim cap which I’ll need with my luscious locks ;). I’m going to order some Hammer gels and endurolites for myself and my father in law cuz I know I’m gonna need em. This will be cool cuz this will be the first time him and I have done ANYTHING like this. Should be fun. And it will test me..so look out for me to prolly like it overall, lol. So there’s that. And Gaelic is going on until the Fall, so I’m gonna stay healthy to keep playing and upgrading my skills. My challenge will have me start as a beginner Blitzball midfielder and work my way up by gaining skills and upgrading my stats. For me, passing (PA), endurance (EN), speed (SP), attack (AT) and hitpoints (HP) will be my “5 Key Factors”. 5 Key Factors Passing (PA) will include hand passing and kick passing. Accuracy and power are my main attributes here. Patience too. I forget how much space I can cover with one dribble and a solo kick to myself. I was estimating around 30 feet once I got moving. Judging distance to decide which pass to perform is crucial as well. I can’t kick pass to someone only 15 ft away-it’s not efficient OR very accurate. Practice passing drills 1x a week, both kicking and hand passing Practice “soloing” while in full stride Endurance (EN) will obviously help me stay on the pitch longer but also break tackles and get up field for the score more efficiently. I am the Wolf after all, and wolves are known for their stellar endurance and ability to run and track prey for MANY miles. Endurance also allows me to go after what the players call a “highball”. When a ball is kicked from the goalie out to play and I can go up and grab the ball up high and come down with it. This is a basketball skill outright and I have always prided my ability to leap :). Grabbing “highballs” is also a skill that a lot of players don’t possess so I need to strengthen that skill with my endurance to jump for days. Get in a long walk/ruck 1x a week Speed (SP)..well we all know speed kills and that’s what I want to do. Foot speed, straight away speed, cutting speed and lateral speed are all important. Combined with my ability to keep running, I can use my size and speed to gain momentum on offense and take advantage of a slower opponent. Speed to the ball is crucial due to the fact of how fast paced Gaelic is and controlling the ball with a “solo” at full speed is crucial to getting to the next level of the pitch and into scoring range. Sprints 1x a week-can be combined with passing drills. Work on catching highballs and moving 25-30 yards upfield afterwards Jumping rope and other plyometrics 1x a week Attack (AT) is my ability to defend and strip the ball-this is also called a “tackle” in Gaelic.. Being a glorified midfielder/halfback is not just smooth passes and swanky speed but I need to be able to defend and strip the ball from my opponent. Getting my attack up (strength and dexterity) will be getting into the mindset that this is NOT basketball and I can reach in and slap and manipulate so long as I’m not over the back and not holding. Be aggressive and be relentless. KB workouts 3x a week GtG pull-ups Hitpoints (HP) is keeping myself in one piece. I’ve done a good job recently and my shoulder feels better every day. Hitpoints in Blitzball is the ability to execute a trick shot, pass or tackle called a technique. These techniques range from ones like Venom Shot to Wither Pass but I’ll get into those more a little later. For now, the better I eat, sleep, and move, the more it will translate to Gaelic or Blitzball in the case of my challenge and the more dominant I will become. Shoulder rehab every other day (with band) Foam rolling and lacrosse ball rolling my feet-work on increasing the strength of my fascia. Check out this article, this one and this one 4-week crawling program for shoulder strength Wim Hof breathing method-practice each morning To be successful at Gaelic, I need to work on mastering the “5 Key Factors”. Once I can harness those and establish myself as an capable midfielder, then I can worry about trying to score some goals. For now, assisting my teammates to score is fine by me :). Hustle points are usually the best points, IMO. Techniques are important in Blitzball. They allow the player to get past defenders easier, make passes that render opponents asleep and even shots that can drop all stats in half. Now, with Gaelic, I cannot do that unfortunately but I can learn these techniques in the world of Spira, which is where my Blitzball journey to legendary begins… This challenge will follow the rise to stardom of my fictional Blitzball midfielder, Ryver. It will follow his triumphs and his failures. He will go from a complete beginner to a bonafide, badass blitzer. I’m excited about this and may even make it a 2-parter, not sure yet. This challenge will have lots of running, kettlebell swinging, pull-ups, rucking, Gaelic football, swimming, sleeping, eating clean, eating lots and praying/bible study. I still plan to go to that every week. Speaking of praying-I’m praying I survive my first triathlon. That’s gonna be intense! Wolf

New Challenge, new Game so Welcome to: Schaengel vs. the World But first: Do you want to help me? While having fun? And also maybe get better at something yourself? Sounds awesome? How about joining my PVP for this challenge https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1E67yxY5Kh6tlC_zGlU7YJleIQ67jAepJ6RUGwe-UH0s/edit?usp=sharing Quest 1: “And I will walk 500miles Part 2” this one will continue so no scott pilgrim theme ;/ Follow the training plan (meaning between 3-4 runs per week) Go bouldering once a week Boxing 1-2 per week Adding up to training on every day...if I can't make it to bouldering or boxing (because of IMPORTENT things) 20 crunches, 20 push-ups, and 6 30sec planks over the day can coun't. Skipping running is not in the cards this challenge. Background (short version for long version read last thread ): I'm going to run a marathon. It will be in Cologne Quest 2 "Bread makes you fat" (Clean eating again): So I should eat low-carb. I like low carb and it worked for me in the past...also bread makes you fat. So this challenge will have two parts: Part 1 track what I'm eating everyday! Part 2 eat carbs responsibly, meaning if there is a chance of eating no carb eat without carb. If I can eat good carbs instead of bad carbs I eat good carbs. Quest 3 Hydration, the right way: I noticed that I'm really, really bad in keeping hydration the right way and noticed myself eating to realize 20minutes later, that it is actually water I was needing. Also I relapsed back to drinking bad stuff so the plan is. Drink enough water and/or tea per day (3,5l per day) If I have sugar free softdrinks I will match 1 part softdrink with 1 parts water (so if I drink a bottle of softdrink I have to drink a bottle of water after that) No (alcohol free) beer. I'll give myself 4 free passes on the beer so I can enjoy the weekends a little Quest 4 "Get shit done" I noticed that somehow motivation is an issue for me at the moment...and that's just plain stupid because there are so many great opportunities waiting. I also noticed that I am more motivated when I start my day productive. So the plan is to build myself a morning ritual. Write a list with the 3 things I need to do the next day (must be possible to be done at home in the morning) 1. Get up & make coffee 2. Quick cleaning of the basement (max 10minutes) 3. Do list item 1 4 Do list item 2 5. Do list item 3 When done I'll allow myself to start the computer Okay, new month new challenge. Let's be awesome again together

Main mission: To get back into a positive and healthy lifestyle Life has been busy with two puppies and a new job. I am spending less time on my mental well-being and physical health. I want to use this challenge be a catalyst of a healthier mind and body. I have finally found two forms of exercise that I really love. I have been indoor bouldering and doing yoga a couple times a week, as well as some strength training. My ultimate goal weight is 115-120 and I want to decrease body fat, so here's to hoping! Goal 1: Fitness: Workout at least 180 minutes per week Make it to the climbing gym at least twice per week and at least one yoga sessions per week. I would like to do one day of strength training per week and work on the doodlies body weight stuff. A - 180+ minutes B - 150 - 179 minutes C - 120 - 149 minutes D - 90 - 119 minutes F - <89 minutes Goal 2: Clean eating No dairy, no processed foods, limited grains. Mostly paleo A - 6 + days B - 5 days C - 4 days D - 3 days F - 2 or fewer days per week May come up with a third goal related to Fitbit. Life Quest: Post in this thread at least three times per week Life gets busy and I stop posting (though I continue to do the challenges). I want to keep everyone updated and post gifs and all that fun stuff. A - 3 posts per week B - 2 posts per week C - 1 post per week D - no posts

Hi all. After an absolutely horrible job which derailed all my progress; I am back and ready to get healthy again. 1. Since I am still having health issues; I am going back to basics with my fitness goals. A. Walk every day. B. Exercise 3x/week 2. Herbology: finish studying the immune system. 3. Health/Hydration A. Eliminate bread from my meals. B. Drink 64oz of water a day. 4. Get Creative: keep working on my craft projects.

Arrr.. . I felt like sticking with pirates, but I'm branching out and recruiting a bunch of famous pirates to help me with my quests. This will be a 5WC, since I prefer just continuing along with things, so the points are intended to encompass that. Main Quest: Parkour all of the things!!! Climb all of the things!!! Balance in mind-bending ways! Play with weapons! Sail to new horizons! Loot, pillage, plunder. Pirate #1: Edward Kenway (parkour)- Naturally, I'm turning to Assassin's Creed and the Pirate Edward Kenway to help me with my parkour. My goals with this are twofold: One of the bits of feedback I received at my rank testing was that I was trying to go too fast, and as a result, I was adding stutter steps right before most of my vaults. Also, now that I have full open gym, I want to expand my horizons a bit by trying new things or new configurations for skills, rather than just recycling things that I've already done in classes. So, I get 5 points whenever I do parkour class or open gym and work on slow, smooth flow runs without adding stutter steps. I get another 5 points for doing class or open gym and trying some new skills or new moves. I also can get 5 points for taking my parkour outdoors and trying techniques in new ways (vaulting over benches or picnic tables in ways I've never before tried). The goal is to reach 100 points by the end of the challenge. Pirate #2: Guybrush Threepwood (strength) *well, he says he's a mighty pirate. Who am I to argue? Really, none of the pirates are overly strength-y, and I wanted to include some monkey island goodness. I want to get stronger for both parkour and climbing. And so far, my approach has been very haphazard. Ideally, I will insert some combination of these exercises at the end of parkour sessions, climbing sessions, or yoga, so I can increase my strength: Pull ups, Flag progressions, Dragon Flag negatives, toes-to-bar, one leg squats, HSPUs, plyo push ups, cat hang pull ups, and dips. Obviously, sometimes my muscles will be so trashed from climbing or parkour that I won't be able to do anything. In that case, I can get credit as long as I at least try to do the exercises and verify that there's nothing left in the tank. +5 points for every day I go climbing, do parkour, or do yoga and then after that do a strength mini workout. +5 points for each Darebee workout (providing it's primarily strength based). +5 points for every full strength workout. Edit: + 7 points for every day in which I completely fry out all of my muscles, whether it's just from a full strength workout or whether it's from parkour/climbing/yoga classes + a supplemental strength workout. Goal is to reach 100 points. Pirate #3 - The Dread Pirate Roberts (Discipline/ Diet goal) The Dread Pirate Roberts is a disciplined swordsman in full control of himself and his body. So, I'm turning to him to help me rein in my diet. Vacation was great, but it left me with the tendency to eat entirely too much, drink entirely too much, and consume way too much sugar. Easter and the abundance of candy in the house isn't helping with that, either. So, the plan is to eat relatively healthy meals every day, with only one modest dessert (100 calories or less) per day. But I also get 3 variances/week, where I can eat out, have an alcoholic drink, have a less healthy meal, or have a bigger dessert/sweet. I get 20 points/week for full compliance, but -5 points for each additional variance. And situations where I hang out with friends, have an unhealthy meal, extra sweets, and hit the booze can easily count as multiple variances. Goal is 100 points. Pirate #4: Captain Jack Sparrow (Adventure/Life goal) I need more adventure in my life, and I'm recruiting Captain Jack Sparrow to help me sail to new horizons. Last challenge, I intended to create my own adventure guide, with all of the local hikes, day trips, weekend trips, etc. within a 4 hour driving radius that I'd love to do. Normally, a large part of my goal would be to actually get out and do at least one of these adventures, but I am pretty bogged down in the next month with birthdays and other big events. But I'll do the best that I can. I get 2 points for every entry into my adventure spreadsheet (each entry can be a hike that I want to do, a nearby city + attractions that I've researched, a climbing spot that I want to try, or an event that I'd like to attend, along with the distance, estimated time needed, and other data). Since learning languages is helpful for exploration, I'm also getting 1 point for every 50 XP in Duolingo. And since reading is an adventure of sorts, I get 10 points for every book completed. If I do manage an actual adventure, I get 10 points for every new place explored. The goal is to reach 100 points. Bonus goals: Bonus #1: Ship maintenance - Keep my ship tidy by doing the flylady mission for each day (or a 15 minute substitution if the mission isn't relevant for my house). Bonus #2: Ranger Mini.

Hey everyone I am jumping in at the end of this challenge and will continue with it in next months challenge. So here we go. Fitness quest- get back into a workout habit, hitting the gym or yoga class 3-4 times a week. Diet quest- Super smoothie everyday Lifestyle quest- Miracle morning routine everyday