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Conquius Seeks the Cloud Giants Pt. 2 For my last 5-Week Challenge, Conquius Seeks the Cloud Giants, I started on the path to Certification in Google Cloud Platform. Along the way, I established my regular lifting habit. For this challenge, I'm completing my Certification, and expanding on my lifting routine. #1. Complete my Google Cloud Platform Course and Pass my Certification Exam | Reward: Level-Up! Complete Sections 21-25 of my Google Cloud Platform Course on Udemy (Weeks 1 and 2) Prepare for my Certification Exam by taking daily Whizlabs GCP Practice Tests (Weeks 3 and 4) Schedule my Certification Exam, and pass on the first try (Week 5). #2. Even Sicker Lifts | Reward: +1 STR Last challenge, I established my habit of lifting 2x/week. Bench and Squat on Mondays, OHP and Deadlift on Thursdays. The plan was get in, do my Core Lifts, get out. No warm-up, no cool-down, no accessory work. This Challenge, that changes. I'm introducing warm-ups, cool-downs, and accessory work, but with the caveat that a workout with none of those things is better than no workout at all. Thus, I'm introducing the following point scheme per workout: 2 Points - Core Lifts 3 Points - Warm-Up, Core Lifts, Cool-Down. 5 Points - Warm-Up, Core Lifts, Accessory Work, Cool-Down. The goal is 30 points over 5 weeks. Going above and beyond may (may) include rewards. #3. No New Stuff | Reward: +1 WIS The goal itself is self-explanatory, but I want to talk about the impetus for this challenge, give some caveats, and lay down some rules. Before I left on my bike trip last year, I moved out of my city apartment, and stored all of my earthly possessions (other than what I carried on my bike) in my parents' house. When I got back, I knew another move was on the horizon. I bought the audiobook version of Marie Kondo's The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, listened to it over a few days, and reduced said possessions by at least half. I spent the rest of the year very cognizant of my spending, because (a) I had just discarded most of my possessions, and had found myself in the mindset of buying only what I needed, and (b) I was unemployed. No income. When I moved at the start of this year, I had to buy a lot of stuff. Not re-buying stuff I got rid of, mind you, but I had to furnish an entire home office / guest room, build out my home gym (really just had to buy floormats), and various bits and bobs like rugs and decor to make my new place livable to the standards of my roommates. Once I was re-employed with a well-paying job, that spending continued. I bought new computer peripherals, fidget toys, office clothes I hate, bike clothes, bike accessories, et cetera. I wasn't buying myself out of house and home, but I felt like I had reverted somehow. I feel that I am more susceptible to advertising, and more prone to seeking gratification through buying things. On top of this, I like to think of myself as a conscious consumer. I understand that what we buy doesn't define our identity, but giving my money to an industry (when I have a meaningful alternative) is tacit approval for that industry and what it does. I disapprove of animal agriculture for how it turns animals into faceless commodities and destroys the environment; I disapprove of fast fashion for exploitative labor practices and mass-producing clothes that shed microplastics; I disapprove of Amazon for the mistreatment of their workers, union busting, and profiting off of immediate gratification. The list goes on. As such, I want to align my purchasing habits with my personal ethics as close as humanly possible. There are some areas in my life where I'm really good at this, and there are some areas in my life where I have room to improve, namely clothes, electronics, and bike gear. Whenever I talk about "ethical consumption" with one of my roommates, she returns to her adage, "You have to draw the line somewhere", and she's right. Unfortunately, she usually follows it up with "I don't have the time or money to risk spending $150 on jeans that might not fit, just because they're ethically made. I need jeans now, so I'm going to buy the $30 stretch jeans off Amazon." I don't love her decision, but I don't begrudge her for it, either. She and I are in different financial positions. I do have the money, so over the next five weeks, I'm going to give myself the time, and push up where I draw my line. Additionally, I'll be looking into online resources for purchasing secondhand clothes and gear (looking at you, Patagonia Worn Wear and REI Used Gear), and in-person resources such as local thrift stores. So the challenge is this: No New Stuff. I'm drawing my line in the sand, and holding my ground against hyper-consumerism and immediate gratification. I can purchase obvious things like food and household goods. I can purchase anything needed for the continued regular function of my bicycle (e.g. new tubes). In the case of the catastrophic failure or destruction of any of my possessions, (e.g. my tent bursts into flames), I can replace it, so long there is an immediate need for it, and I try to find a used or secondhand replacement first.

#1: Complete the GCP Associate Cloud Engineer Course and Angular Heroes (+2 INT) This one's all about upskilling. I've got access to a GCP Cloud Engineer course through Udemy. My goal over the next 5 weeks is to complete all of the video content and schedule an exam. (Updated 4/11/22) My goal over the next 5 weeks is to reach Section 20 out of 26. (+1 INT) Next challenge, I will pick this back up, complete the remaining 6 Sections of Video Content, and schedule an exam. Additionally, I want to complete the Angular Heroes tutorial in order to re-familiarize myself with AngularJS (I haven't touched Angular since about 2015). (+1 INT) Angular Heroes is being set aside for this challenge. Progress: 100% 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ #2: Resurrect my Homebrew D&D Campaign (+1 CHA) My Homebrew D&D Campaign has been on a 2-year Hiatus due to the COVID Pandemic. In short, we really don't like playing online. Now that we're all vaxxed, boosted, etc, we're ready to play in person again. There's only one problem - I now live a 2hr drive away from all of my players. My goal over the next 5 weeks is to write enough content to get the party through the end of the next two arcs, which I'll call The Shattered Lands and The Efreet. Stretch Goal is to come up with a regular play schedule that gives us enough play time for the story to stick between sessions, and run an actual game. Progress: ~60% (this one's hard to quantify) 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩⬜⬜⬜⬜ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ #3: Sick Lifts (Maintenance) (+0.5 STR) My other 2 goals for this challenge are way more important to me, so in short my Lifting Goal for the next 5 weeks is maintenance. My routine will vaguely resemble the IADJS (I Ain't Doin Jack S__t) Template from 5/3/1 in that I will get in the (home) gym, do my core lifts, and get out. Goal is to hit all of my workouts. 2/week x 5 week -> 10 workouts. Progress: 100% 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Reward - Circlet of Superior Concentration If I complete Goal #1, I'm buying myself a new gaming headset with ANC. I've settled on a Steelseries Arctis 9. It'll help with my focus at work, and in my further studies, along with being a good headset for PC gaming, PS4 gaming (whenever I get my PS4 fixed), and for wearing on the metro.

For my 5 Week Challenge, I'm pursuing the following goals: 1. Meditation Station Clear a space in my office to put my yoga mat down. Complete a meditation each morning before getting on my computer. [Constraint] meditation can be no more than 5 minutes. Meditation can be guided or quiet. Find a good source of guided meditations. Spotify? 2. What is Superfluous? Background: One of my lessons I took from my cross-country bike tour is how to identify what is superfluous. When I moved out of my old apartment, I realized how much stuff I had accumulated since graduating college. Currently, the majority of my possessions live at my parents' house. My goal is to reduce the amount of stuff I have by about half over the next five weeks. Utilize the Marie Kondo Method of tidying up and letting go. Identify a good location to donate your stuff to. Clothes Find what doesn't fit, or hasn't been worn in more than a year. Donate. From what's left, decide how many of each article of clothing you need. Donate everything else. Books, Games, and Movies Books <No Strategy Yet> Movies If you haven't watched it in the past year, donate. Games <No Strategy Yet> 3. LeetCode it up Complete the Dynamic Programming Course from YouTube [Constraint] Can not watch more than 1 chapter per day Practice with LeetCode [Constraint] Can not attempt more than 1 problem per day EDIT: Forgot I have a major project I need to tackle over the next 5 weeks (What is Superfluous?) Replaced my workout quest with it since I'm still getting lots of exercise on my bike. Thank goodness for Week Zero!

BODY I just realized how out-of-shape I am when I was out of breath I was while I was cutting weeds in the yard. I almost passed out from the heat after mowing the lawn the other day, and I have to deal with what reminds me of the beginnings of an asthma attack from my youth. This is bad. I also recently did blood tests, and I have a horrendous cholesterol profile (high LDL, low HDL), high liver enzymes, terrible kidney health, constant borderline hypertension, and total Testosterone of like 300. Though it's tempting to "hack" my T levels to get teh gainz, I'm thinking the best way would be to get healthy first. I just need to let go of my ego, disassociate, and assess and coach myself as I would as a new person I'm working with. Client Profile: Male, 33, married, sedentary, former athlete, has not exercised at all in 4 months, has access to kettlebells,and a nearby gym. Medicated for major depression, currently unemployed and highly stressed (which leads to entire days of productivity shutdowns). Mostly eats takeout, has substituted diet sodas instead of regular. Takes daily vitamins and meds 99% of the time. First steps: Exercise: Tracy Reifkind's 15 to 20-minute swing workout twice a week, after a quick priming warm-up and hip + shoulder + t spine mobility. Nutrition: Eat a serving of vegetables each day. MIND I scheduled a Technical Admissions Assessment for a coding bootcamp two weeks from now, so the pressure's on. I think if I total 40 hours I'll be as ready as I can be for it, so a little over 3 hours a day starting today would be reasonable, though I tend to get in the zone sometimes. So the Program Minimum: Swing twice a week One serving of veg 3 hours of coding ======================================================================================================================================= 13 JUL, Mon - 2h 47m 14 JUL, Tue - 1h 21m, veggies, workout 15 JUL, Wed - veggies 16 JUL, Thu - veggies 17 JUL, Fri - veggies 18 JUL, Sat - veggies 19 JUL, Sun 20 JUL, Mon - workout 21 JUL, Tue - veggies, coding 22 JUL, Wed - veggies, coding 23 JUL, Thu - veggies, coding 24 JUL, Fri - veggies 25 JUL, Sat - veggies

Well I got instant-killed last challenge by a sudden bout of depression. I guess the good thing I'm getting out of this is the realization that I am not who I used to be, and that I should treat myself as a different person. I can't just skip breakfast and get abs again, or do a 40 kg TGU on a whim. That person lives only in our memories; this guy has to start from scratch. CODING I've got a scheduled course going. It's good to have structure. I also have a total time tracker for time spent coding. I want to target 35 hours of coding a week, which is roughly an extra hour on the weekdays. It's not seeming as confusing as it initially was. PROTEIN Mistake last challenge was having a large protein jump AND the hour workout, which were both huge adjustments starting from nothing. I need to treat myself like a complete newbie, so I'll start with a double-scoop protein shake in the morning. HANDSTANDS Handstands have been my main nemesis, in gymnastic movements. I can't seem to get it, but I also haven't put in any regular practice for more than a few weeks, like, ever. I'd like to make it as painless as possible, and establish an MED of 10 HS Tuck-ups, and 10 Wall Facing-Away Partial Handstands. WEEK 1 Sunday, 10 - did not start. I just banged my hoe all day. Monday, 11 - 2.5 hours of code, check on the protein, no handstands. Tuesday, 12 - 8 hours of code (system did not log 2), protein was in, only got the 10 HS Tuck-ups done. Wednesday, 13 - logged 5 hours, drank protein first thing, but no HS. Thursday, 14 - barely got an hour of code in. System logged 8, so I have 5 to make up for. Got the protein, got the HS. Friday, 15 - 2 hours of code. Protein check. HS missed. Saturday, 16 - 6 hours. Protein check. HS missed. WEEK 2 Sunday, 17 - 3 hours code, drank protein, missed HS. Monday, 18 - 3.5 hours code, drank protein, did HS. Tuesday, 19 - ??? Wednesday, 20 - ??? Thursday, 21 - ??? Friday, 22 - ??? Saturday, 23 - ??? WEEK 3 Sunday, 24 - ??? Monday, 25 - Handstands Tuesday, 26 - missed HS and protein Wednesday, 27 Thursday, 28 Friday, 29 Saturday, 30 WEEK 4 Sunday, 31 Monday, 1 Tuesday, 2 Wednesday, 3 Thursday, 4 Friday, 5 Saturday, 6 WEEK 5 Sunday, 7 Monday, 8 Tuesday, 9 Wednesday, 10 Thursday, 11 Friday, 12 Saturday, 13

Hey, I'm back. Hit a rough 6 weeks, which followed the two months of things just not going my way. But after wasting spending like 3 straight weeks playing Fallout and Wasteland, I'm back. I've got my priorities straight, and I'm getting ready to grind. The pressure is up, and no matter how much I dislike it, I seem to work best under pressure. CODING - 7/18 The plague has revealed how unreliable my unimpressive source of income is. I always planned on betting on myself, and staying a full-time fitness professional, but it might not be the best time to do so. I also realized I put all my eggs in one basket and have no other skills. The wife suggested that I apply to a coding boot camp and get into tech. I'll keep training people, but more semi-professionally. That way I take my own advice, and do it purely for the love of it and not because I've been eating instant noodles for 3 weeks. Task: 1 hour of coding daily COACHING - 2/18 So I got fat. I haven't tracked a macro in years, my training is irregular, and I can't even finish S&S. My T-levels are apparently low, and I feel like butt all the time. I don't know if it makes training hard, or it's because I'm not training. In any case, I joined an 8-week 1stPhorm Transphormation Sprint as a participant. I uploaded photos of my dadbod, and I have someone coaching me to call me out on my BS. I'm in such horrible shape, I did like 5 Front Lever Negatives last week and I was sore for 4 days. I drank a double scoop of whey and had a headache and felt like I needed to puke for the next 12 hours. Unacceptable. Task: 160g of protein, 1 hour workout daily SOCIAL DISTANCING - 2/18 Okay, I do this anyway. Aside from sharing memes on Instagram, I haven't interacted with people other than my wife since we were locked down. I realized I'm always so self-absorbed in my challenges that I forget to support the other people who are here supporting me. Task: Reply on another person's thread daily 18 days left on this challenge...

Jumping in mid-challenge. I'm going to throw down my basic goals for the month here and try not to fret about how disorganized I'm being (but secretly actually fretting about it). I had some progress during the last challenge (going to Muay Thai 3x a week now, yay!) and some setbacks (screwed up my glute med so I can't do half the stuff I want to do, boo!). So I'm just going to maintain as much as I can of what I was already doing, with an emphasis on actually, you know, *achieving* the other goals. Mostly that means prioritizing because I suck at that and end up chasing after whatever shiny urgency flits across my field of view. Because productive procrastination is my forte! too...many...rocks!! Exercise Muay Thai 3x/week - this was achieved last challenge, I'm just going to keep it up. A little PT each day - because if I don't fix this &$^%# glute I can't *do* any round kicks, or slapping knees, or most of my conditioning drills for Muay Thai, so ya, I'm motivated. Diet 6-8 glasses water a day - I don't really need food goal. I've been doing my tracking and protein and whatnot for so long it's second nature now. But I have slipped on hydration. Life Coding - OMG I just need to do this already. 15 minutes a day. Which is a laughably small amount but I just need to kick my own butt into gear on this one. Priorities, people. Declutter - I need to toss, donate and sell stuff. Preferably sell, because the hubby and I have gotten serious about paying off our debt and have a plan in place. But every bit extra we can bring in helps. And that's it. I'm going to keep cutting down the number of goals each challenge until I finally get a working baseline. I am a bit dense and it takes me a while to get the whole 'start small' thing, but eventually I'll beat my head against it long enough to drive the point home!

Welcome everybody! I'm a 26-year-old British guy who likes gymnastics, climbing, calisthenics, circus, weightlifting, ... and generally try to do too much. Last August I quit my job as a software engineer to go travelling around the world, volunteering for charities, learning new skills, and generally chasing excitement Brief summary of my journey since starting at Nerd Fitness: Jan 2014: joined the forums and planned to learn backflips outdoors by February. Hahaha that did not happen, but gymnastics and weightlifting did Jul 2014: reached 10 seconds for handstands and recorded my progress [video] Oct 2014: bought gymnastics rings and went through a phase of training lots with these Aug 2015: reached so far my peak in gymnastics and made a compilation [video] in the Summer Aug 2015: moved house and got lazy Challenged with the Warriors and I don't think I even made it to a gym haha Jan 2016: decided that I needed more excitement and that in 2016 I was going to get it Aug 2016: quit my job and backpacked around Slovenia and Eastern Europe Sep 2016: competed in the Mental Calculation World Cup in Germany Oct 2016: studied Spanish in a language school in Valencia Nov 2016: competed at Memoriad in Las Vegas. Flew to Nicaragua to volunteer as a volcano tour guide for 3 months Feb 2017: backpacked around Nicaragua and Guatemala - both really nice destinations May 2017: spent a month in Barcelona learning more Latin dancing and learning to how to create websites - currently working on HyperBirthday Jun 2017: visited Edinburgh and continued working on projects I like colour-coding things This month I'm going to Oxford (UK) to teach an Engineering course to some pre-University students, and should have plenty of time to work on other projects My last sort-of challenge in Edinburgh was overly negative - "do these things otherwise you lose lots of points!" - and I respond better to more positive challenges, so this time I'll just be accumulating points. And using overly-complicated challenge scoring systems Goal #1: be prolific: I'm always impressed and astonished at NF'ers like Raptron who seem to do crazy amounts of stuff every day. Like 2 workouts, 3 social engagements, a full-time job, baked a cake, read everything on NF and caught a plane. With her bare hands. Meanwhile sometimes all I've done is eaten 4 bowls of cereal and refreshed Facebook 30 times. I'm getting better, but I'm not in the same league as Raptron yet, so I'm going to keep working. Also hai Raptron So generally, this challenge I'm going to focus on doing lots of interesting things and not wasting my time. For the first 25 days I'll get points for the following: fitness work: max 3 (e.g. if I do a serious session of something, that would get me 2) social activities: max 3 (course-based fun activities count) sleep early: max 2 (before 0000: 2 points; before 0030: 1 point) eat well: max 2 good tutor: max 2 don't waste time: max 2 get work done: max 6 (1 per full hour) That's 20 points per day, and I think realistically 15+ would be an excellently productive day. Total: 500 points. Goal #2: fitness goals: here's that thing where I make a list of fitness goals and fail to accomplish any of them 10 points per achievement. There will be 20, but some get added later when I see what equipment is available in Oxford. Total: 200 points. Also I'm open to suggestions for goals! 8 ring dips 12 ring dips 12 ring pull-ups 3 clean ring muscle-ups pretty au batido 7-second static handstand 10-second static handstand 20-second walking handstand 25-second walking handstand clockwise circle walk in handstand consecutive opposite circle walks in handstand complete figure-of-8 handstand walk 30 push-ups 40 push-ups go climbing play a new sport ab workout video #1 ab workout video #2 ab workout video #3 sightseeing run Goal #3: productive goals: basically the important items from my to-do list. Total: 300 points. project: fix HyperBirthday on mobile (15 points) project: implement hyperbirthday.com/result/<date> framework (30 points) project: add SEO blog post to HyperBirthday (15 points) project: add another blog post to HyperBirthday [#2] (10 points) project: add another blog post to HyperBirthday [#3] (5 points) project: add another blog post to HyperBirthday [#4] (5 points) project: add full moon counter to HyperBirthday (20 points) project: TimeGhost to HyperBirthday (20 points) mind sports: create reusable presentation (20 points) mind sports: detailed strategy for names & faces event (5 points) mind sports: detailed strategy for ordered pictures event (5 points) mind sports: detailed strategy for arbitrary nouns event (5 points) mind sports: trial MSO calculation paper (15 points) piano: finish composing the intro/verse for Sahara (5 points) piano: compose the instrumental section for Sahara (20 points) piano: write manuscript for Sahara (15 points) dance: create a salsa/bachata routine and use it (20 points) fitness: create two set workouts for this challenge and do both (20 points) travel: some progress towards September plans (week 0) (5 points) travel: some progress towards September plans (week 1) (5 points) travel: some progress towards September plans (week 2) (5 points) travel: some progress towards September plans (week 3) (5 points) travel: have travel/life plans until Sept 30th (10 points) travel: have travel/life plans until Nov 15th (10 points) travel: have travel/life plans until Dec 31st (10 points) So that's 1000 points in total. I think 200 will be very easy and 800 almost impossible, so after 200, every 60 points gives me another stat point. Good luck everyone!

Thanks to Tank, this challenge has a loose theme built around moving and changing. And Madagascar, though I've never *gasp* actually seen the whole movie. I have, however, seen the song referenced I'm sure there will be more of these. Ok. So ... since I'm moving in 20 days, this challenge is going to be all about change. Again. I feel like change is all I ever freaking do lately (or at least for the past year - first blowing up my life to take a coding bootcamp, then the fallout of that, and now I'm moving boroughs - life has not been status-quo for quite awhile now). And with this change, knowing myself, I need to focus on a few things: 1. Be nice to myself. Change freaks me out. 2. Be nice, but not *too* nice lest we subsist off of pizza & hoagies for weeks in the new place. 3. Allow myself to not freak out about shit during this move. It's okay. It's all for fun. Life is long and all that. Goals this cycle are a rollover from last - shoving new things into the mix now when life is getting ready to be flipped upside down yet again is a recipe for disaster. As a refresher: Goal 1: Work Out However this happens, it happens. I'm still aiming for an hour-long yoga class 2x a week - 1 hot; 1 not. As it's been, Wednesday is not-hot yoga - Friday is hot yoga. My not-hot yoga instructor is leaving any day to have a human, so this may or may not throw an additional monkey wrench into my plans. Also: move week I'm not forcing myself to find a class if I can't handle life. Goal 2: Macros I've been mostly keto for the past few months, and am sticking to that. It's working well for me. I need to remember during move week that I feel like absolute shit if I go off the rails (especially if I then eat way too much). This is going to be tricky to remember in the face of new delivery options. Goal 3: Job Stuff The ultimate goal is to find a full-time one. In the meantime ... Continue teaching 2x a week (and figure out if I'll have the opportunity to continue in future classes - plus when those will be). Continue my 5x a week CSS coding exercises until that challenge ends. Pick my Daily JavaScript challenge thing back up when CSS ends. Dedicate 5 - 10 hours a week (aim for 10) to writing copy for my old boss. Continue to do a nominal amount of work for the free company until we launch and/or start making money. Ideally, start on the Version 2 revamp. Continue to submit 10 applications a week and go on any interviews that garners. Attempt to add some weeknight networking meetups in place of Wednesday night yoga (and move Wednesday night yoga to another time) after teacher has bounced. Goal 4: Minimize Move day is the 27th. Until then, pack and minimize. Minimize and pack. When in doubt, throw it out.

I'm sticking with keeping things very simple and foundational. Yeah, I'll still post about the PARKOUR!!!, but even with parkour, I'm going to work on some fundamentals. I'm not being boring. I'm just training like a Jedi. I'm going to make a spreadsheet and check the boxes each day to keep myself honest. A lot of these are just the bare minimum, and I hope that I'll often feel inclined to do more. 1. Darebee Strength protocol workout every weekday. These are short and simple, but they certainly facilitate doing strength work every day. I'm currently up to Day 7. 2. Yoga mini session every weekday. These can be NF Yoga minis, 10-15 minute youtube videos, or even short arm balancing sessions. 3. Parkour fundamentals: a) 5 PK rolls every weekday. It seems like whenever I lapse in training these, I revert to aikido rolls. Rail walking for at least a couple minutes every weekday. I lost my mojo after falling while doing 180 degree turns and dislocating my elbow. I want to comfortably walk, go into QM, stand from QM, turn, and all of that while on a rail. c) Grip training. I stopped climbing, and now my grip kind of sucks. The goal is to hang on my hang board at least a couple times every weekday. 4. Boring evening snacks: Less junk and less booze in the evening. My current habits are so bad that I'm not going to be super strict with this. I just want to improve. I'm allowing myself fruit, veggies, cheese, nuts, and a very modest amount of sweets. I'm cutting back on the empty carbs and booze. The goal is only 1 evening of unhealthy snacks per week. 5. Parenting like a Jedi: Read the book "Taking charge of ADHD" (currently on hold at the library). Look into webpages and other support. Hopefully, the knowledge therein will help me be a bit less exasperated and dark-side-ish and more like a Jedi. Bonus: Coding fundamentals: By the end of the challenge, I hope I have my project cleaned up and ready to launch. I'm about 90% done, but I have a lot of profiling, implementing best practices, and cleaning up to do. So, once again, I have boring fundamentals on my plate.

New year, new challenge! I had so much fun on the last one, that this one is going to be mostly the same, just a little...better. Diet Goals Eat at least 1 fruit AND 1 vegetable each day. This is just a bit more ambitious than last time, where it was one or the other Drink 8 cups of water a day. Again, a bit up from the 6 cups of last challenge. Fitness Goals Kickboxing 3x/week. This stays the same. Physical Therapy 2x/week. I just started this for my new(ish) hip issue and my very old shoulder problem. This is already scheduled. PT exercises 5x/week. On the days I don't go to therapy, I need to do my at-home exercises. Bodyweight 2x/week. Notching this down a bit, because I tried to do too much last time and failed. Life Goals Coding 1/2 hour per day. I need to make this a priority; as in, this gets done each day even if other things have to slide. House decluttering/outstanding projects; 15mins or 1 small project per day. Not gonna wait until spring to do spring cleaning. Okay! Going to keep tracking my coding bricks on Monkey Tamers United, my calories/exercise on Loseit.com, and my bodyweight workouts on my StartBodyweight spreadsheet. 2017, here I come!

For once, I'm keeping things short and sweet. I need to focus a lot more on being more organized with my life and being more efficient with my time, and a lot less on chasing shiny things. Of course, I'll still be posting about parkour and my normal stuff, and I'll still be eating right + exercising. I just don't want to make that a huge focus. Goal 1: The morning routine - Each morning, right after sending the kids to school, I will complete the following morning routine before letting myself get distracted by other things: -Brief (or longer, if I feel like it) yoga flow -Take care of any dishes or laundry that need to be done -make the daily to-do list Goal 2: The To-Do list: Each Monday, I will make a List of the things I'd like to accomplish that week. Also, every day during my morning routine, I will make a list of things I want to accomplish that day. This list will hopefully keep me focused on the important things. Goal 3: Decluttering and purging: Each day, I will declutter some area in the house and throw away as much as I possibly can. I have too much random junk, and the only way to bring a bit of order to the house is to start throwing things away and stop decluttering by relocating things from one part of the house to another. Goal 4: Coding and piano - Each day, get at least something accomplished or spend some time with each of these. No slacking and no excuses. Goal 5: Batch cooking or complicated cooking project - At least twice/week. This should ensure that I'll have healthy food without necessarily requiring a huge time expenditure per meal. Goal 6: Stay connected - I've been feeling a bit less connected to NF over the last many months, so I'm going to make a huge point of posting at least every day in my thread, and posting in at least 3 other people's threads each day. I'm also going to try to stick with the mini challenge and any PVPs people post.

I'm back..... It would be dramatic if I had actually completed a challenge (I think this is my 7th or 8th time attempting to finish a Nerdfitness challenge). This time, however, I started early with a thread to get some discipline and a little dose of willpower in the mix. (That thread is below) I was able to get a full week in! Now, let's try to go for the gold. My ultimate objective is to complete a Nerdfitness challenge. My goals for this challenge are: 1, Nutrition: Collect at least 100 recipes for a mini-Paleo book within 30 days. (Starts Wednesday, August 24). 2. Fitness: Complete 2,200 pushups by September 31 (If I don't, PromiseorPay.com will donate $25 to charity.) 3. Fitness: Continue my 30-day challenge of at least 15 minutes of yoga a day 4. Professional Development: Complete 20 minutes of coding and 20 minutes of professional writing each day. (This is still being worked out). I will begin posting here as I transition from my pre-challenge thread (the one below) to this one. Time to Get. After. It.

I think that I have started and stopped at least 4 NerdFitness Challenges so far. I've come back to this site (or attempted, rather) at least 5 or 6 times. I'm back again, but this time, I decided to do things a little differently. I want to march quietly. I'll be updating this thread starting August 15th with updates on my goals. The overall mission is to complete 4 weeks of accountability with NerdFitness. I may join in other challenges and the like, but my main focus will be on this thread. Since Nerdfitness is the first site that I came across after I nearly gave up on life, I feel that I need to do this. Here are my goals: 1. Nutrition: Drink no soda for 30 days 2. Yoga: Complete 30 days of yoga (must be at least one 15-minute session) 3. Nutrition: Record my daily intake on MyFitnessPal.com for 10 days 4. Professional Development: Complete at least 400 minutes of coding and writer's development (specifically the 1K Writer's Challenge)

I didn't do the best job on my last challenge, so I've basically decided to do it over again. The Fairy Glen is another destination I want to check out in the Highlands. It's not too long, but I figure I'll use all the motivation I can get. While I’m trying to get ready for all the UK fun, I’m also trying to get ready for a timed 5K in September. This will also contribute to fun and adventure in the UK. Goal #1 - 5K Training Walk at least 3 days a week Improve on my baseline time. I took a slow, easy 5K walk this morning as a baseline. The time was 1:14. Goal #2 - Hill Training Hill walking at least once a week I’ll probably just walk to the top of the hill in my neighborhood and back down. Rinse and repeat for 30 minutes. Goal #3 - Foods Intermittent fasting (Lean Gains seems to work well for me) Eat all the food between Noon and 8pm Meal Prep Prep lunches for the week so I'm not starving when I get home and eating all the food all night long. Weekends Stick to Lean Gains schedule. No pigging out on whatever is around Goal #4 - Feed My Brain Complete SQL Course at Khan Academy

Happy New Year! This year is going to be AWESOME! Now on to the challenge... Complete my morning and night time routine at least 5x a week I am experimenting with a new morning and night routine. I have always had healthy teeth and I generally have good brushing habits, but I have been noticing that my teeth have not been looking so great. I have been doing a lot of research lately about natural oral hygiene and want to give some of it a try. Every morning: Oil pulling, relax with kitty while waking up, workout (strength, yoga, elliptical, etc depending on the day), brush with homemade tooth powder, floss, homemade mouthwash, wash face, get ready for work. Every night: repeat teeth routine, wash face, get ready for bed, stretch, read Healthy Meals My husband and I have been struggling to plan meals lately. We love to cook, but we often do not plan ahead, so come meal time we are stumped about what to have. We are experimenting with planning a day ahead. The goal is to cook 5 days out of the week, but hopefully we will be able to do all of them. Mastering the Pullup For those of you following along. The last few challenges have been focusing on push ups. I can happily announce that I can now do 5 push ups (15 in a full routine)! When I started NF I could not do a single regular pushup! Now I am aiming a little higher. It's time for PULL UPS. My plan is to work on pull ups 3 times a week. Right now I can pull myself up half way and hold it (couldn't do that when I started NF!) Seeking Knowledge and Improved Skills Complete a combination of 30mins of skill advancement 3 times per week. This can include studying programming, practicing clarinet, juggling, etc.

I've recently got into reading comics so this challenge I'm going for a comic book theme. I'm sticking with Marvel Universe characters as it's the one I know most about. I was going to just choose one character to focus on, but Ranger-brain took over and I couldn't decide which one so each goal is assigned to a different character. Goal 1 Spider-Man No introduction required for Peter Parker's alter-ego. The dude who got bitten by a radioactive spider and can climb up walls. Go to the climbing wall once a week I've only just got started with climbing so this goal is a nice and simple one. I just want to spend a few hours each week doing a combination of top rope and bouldering. Goal 2QuicksilverPietro Maximoff. The mutant with superspeed. Quicksilver's body is adapted towards the rigors of high-speed running. His cardiovascular and respiratory systems are many times more efficient than those of a normal human being. Pietro's physiology grants him greater stamina when compared to an ordinary human, allowing him to operate at peak capacity for at least several hours before he begins to grow tired. Run a minimum of 60 Kilometers in the month of JanuaryOne of my goals for this year is to be a better runner. I'm not looking for quicksilver like speed, I am more focused on becoming a better, more efficient runner. As with most things in life, you get better at running with practice, practice and more practice. I use Strava to track my running and every month they run a monthly distance challenge, so I'll be tracking my progress on there and I'll post screenshots of my Strava activity here. As this goal is distance based, it doesn't matter how many times a week I go out for a run (though I'll try to do 3 times a week), as long as my mileage totals 60k or over by January 31st. Goal 3Ms MarvelKamala Khan is a nerdy superhero fan who never felt like she fitted in. After the Terrigen Mist's awoke her inhuman abilities, Kamala discovered she could shape-shift, stretch, deform, expand, or compress her entire body into any contiguous shape she can imagine for a variety of uses. Do yoga twice a weekI've been doing Nerd Fitness yoga for just over a month now and so far have stuck to the Water series but I think I'm ready to move up the the Fire series. I may occasionally do one of the water videos if I feel I need to take it a bit easier or for post run stretching. Level up your life goalMs Marvel & Spider-Man Peter and Kamala may spend their time saving the world in their superhero guises, but in their real life they have to tackle school work instead of super-villains. Spend at least 3 hours a week on Coding courseI have a few coding courses that I purchased in November that I haven't really made a start with. I don't have a lot of time to devote to this at the moment, which is why I'm starting small and just aiming to do 3 hours a week.

Sleep Okay, so last challenge I got a job, which is extremely exciting. It has also influenced me to mess up the streak of good sleep I was getting. This challenge I want to lock that down again. I've got the same bed time in mind, 11 PM, and I don't plan on changing when I wake up either, 6 AM. Of course, morning shifts will require getting up earlier, but normally that won't need to be adjusted. Food There's always room for improvement with my diet, so i'm going to continue to strive for reducing the amount of sweets and junk that I eat. Indulging once or twice in a week isn't anything to freak out about, as long as I remain consistent with the rest of my eating. I'm not focusing on building muscle anymore, so i'm going to simply not stuff myself. Just a few minutes ago my mother asked if I wanted anything from Greek Style Chicken, to which I responded, "No, thanks!" That's a pretty good start. Aam Ka Jutsu (Americanized Karate) I'm going to continue my 20,000 kick goal from last challenge. That's 10,000 side-kicks each side. The challenge is influenced by the Bruce Lee quote in my signature, I decided to take it literally. I just broke 6k I believe, which is cool. I feel that my kicks are improving, and i've got plenty of time to work on them! I'm still going to try to fit in martial arts work, even if it's only 15 minutes 5 days a week. Coding For the Future Getting a retail job is great. It means that I can have a bit of money coming in, and hopefully get enough to pay for another semester at community college before transferring. I need to also work on the long term goal, which is to find a position as a software engineer. Most of my skill is in web development, and i'm trying to make myself a strong full-stack developer. So, i'll be looking for positions that require knowledge of things like WordPress, PHP, MySQL, JavaScript, Grunt/PHPUnit/QUnit, CSS, etc. Currently, I have several projects that I can devote my time to, which will help me show that I know what i'm doing. Yesterday, I spent some time working on my main project, a WordPress plugin. In addition to progressing in the process of refactoring one of the main systems. I also handed over my Grunt (automation program) scripts to my teammates, so that we can make testing a little bit faster. Currently the script only utilizes syntax checking, but I plan to extend it to handle tests for our various features. There's a lot of work to do before that happens, so i'm going to continue to devote time to that. I have two iOS apps that I want to work on, one by myself and the other with a friend. I also have one or two posts that i'd like to write for my personal blog. They'd be on the topics of proper user security and form validation, and why I decided to integrate automation into a large, already existing, project. The post on form validation and user security will be used to offer constructive criticism of web sites and companies that put limits on users' ability to create strong usernames, passwords, etc. For example, some sites limit passwords to 8 characters that are alpha-numeric only. That's something i'd like to address, without pointing names or calling fingers. Chilling I'd also like to continue the goal to talk to a friend every week. It's not my strong suit, but i'm working on it. In the interest of staying sane, i'd also like to plan to make some time for playing a game for an hour or so every week. If it doesn't happen, that's alright, I have to prioritize. However, if i've got everything that needs to be done out of the way, I should give myself a little bit of game time. This isn't something i'm going to track, i'm just putting it here as a side note. ------ Thank you for reading this far. Have some programming humor: Hail Hydrate!

Darkfoxx 21: Darkfoxx Goes To School This challenge is going to throw me some curveballs. I’m going back to school 2 nights a week for front-end web development: the first schooling I’ve attended since getting my undergrad in 2002. So … I need to re-learn how to be a student, and need to get re-acquainted with fitting homework into my schedule. This is throwing major elbows into my RUCK ALL THE THINGS and DO ALL THE OTHER THINGS plan. Plus, I’m starting this zero week off sick - the first time I’ve had to deal with an actual sickness in over 5 years. My body is unhappy about this development. Overarching Goal For This Cycle Do the things, but keep schoolwork in the forefront of my mind and time commitments. I have no idea how this is going to play out - my undergrad degree was in Communication, so I could basically BS my way through it. Coding: not so much with the latitude for BS. I also need to keep some sort of physical training goals on deck, lest I get completely sidetracked. To that end, I have at least 1 5k to do in short order (Patronus 5k) I’m supposed to be doing Tough Mudder on the 7th, but if it’s too cold I’m not making myself go through it. 50 or over is my threshold. I have the Turkey Trot 4 miler on Thanksgiving And some more rucking to throw in before it gets too cold out. and rucking. RUCKING. I have distance in the can; now I just need to work on speed (and more mileage totals per week). Plus, RuckFit looks amazeballs. And Beer Yoga! And the RP dealie! So .. looks like I’ll be busy, no? Goal 1: Work It Out Sill aiming for 4 - 5 days during the week + 1 good activity weekend day here. I’m also throwing in an archery date night. I don’t know how this is going to happen with class, but I aim to regulate my schedule by Official Week 1, so more coming here. If nothing else, I can poke around some RuckFit workouts, work on a couple Beer Yoga poses (sans beer), and work on pull-ups. *cough* Wolf *cough* And the role play game … I’ll have to think of something there. Not sure of the deets yet, but I have a feeling I won’t have to sit this one out. Goal 2: Macros SSDD. For those of you that are new to me, here’s a recap: I haven’t really deviated from this metric plan in over a year, and don’t see any reason to start. For those of you that are new to me, my metrics are based on those outlined in the Primal Blueprint by Mark Sisson. My metrics are as follows: 100 grams or under of carbs, 70 grams or over of protein, 100 grams or under of fat and around 1,500 calories. This plan seems to work for me, and if I stick to it, my weight stays where I want it and my body stays fueled without being sluggish. That said, I have recently begun carb loading for races and eat whatever my body is screaming at me it wants post races (generally a bigass steak and/or a face full of carbs). This seems to be working well, and I’ll be sticking with it. I also shoot for 64 ounces or so of water (2 refills of my water bottle + a coffee), and track my general activity and sleep with a Misfit Flash. I’m on My Fitness Pal and Fitbit. Goal 3: Minimalism I did so well here last challenge, I want to keep the ball rolling. I have 1 book shelf left to purge during Phase 1 and I FINALLY got my last batch of crap back from the digitization place. I need to label those pics/files (plus the last batch of pics) and get them squared away + deal with the physical copies. I also aim to pile all my sentimental crap into 1 place - probably my bed - and massively purge until I have 1 bin left. This may need to be done in 2 stages: 1 bin for photos; 1 bin for crap. I also need to see to it that my donation pile actually leaves the door, and the boxes I’m building of kid stuff actually make it to my sister (for her upcoming baby girl) & brother (who isn’t yet spawning). Goal 4: Craftsy I have a bunch of crafts I need to do: My sister’s baby blanket Tank’s cross-stitch Wolf’s cross-stitch Monthly Triceratops cross-stitches Holiday cards + more holiday cards Ranger Card/Gift Exchange Holiday cookies Process the pictures of munchkins I just took Goal 5: School Aim to be valedictorian of school, dammit. Goal 6: Badges This went over so well last challenge, I need to keep these going. And I want to re-vamp the styles so they’re more tiny friendly. Goal 7: Mini Challenges & PvPs Do them. If nothing else, this will force me to get my workouts in - I may disappoint myself, but I try damn hard to make sure not to let my guild mates down. Goal 8: BIOHACKING You thought I forgot about this one, didn’t you? I’m twiddling my thumbs, waiting for my data to get back from 23andMe and have been taking the 999999989 quizzes on the site to maximize my contribution to the greater good. TWIDDLING MY THUMBS.

Continuing with the simplistic goals this challenge, i'll be focusing on sleep, exercise, and work. Sleep: Sleep is fairly self-explanatory. I want to get to bed before 11 PM. That's the latest I should be staying up. I'll do my best to avoid sticking myself in situations where I have to stay up past that. Life is ramping up--albeit slowly--and sleep is still something that I struggle with. This challenge, i'm aiming to be even more consistent with getting enough sleep. I even have a +/- habit on Habitica for getting to bed on time. Since i'm in a party now, it really motivates me not to be the one that damages everyone! Exercise/Food: Exercise wise, I am essentially just practicing Aam Ka Jutsu. Even with school work getting in some martial arts work every day has been working nicely. When i'm pressed for time, I can focus on one area for 10-15 minutes and be absolutely exhausted (the good kind of tired). Then, when I have more time, I can spend a good 30-45 minutes having an actual class. I thought of trying something a little crazy, but entirely doable for this challenge. I'm up for doing it, because it struck me as something that would be loads of fun. In my signature, I have this quote: "I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times." - Bruce Lee I figured, why not do 10,000 kicks (I mean side kicks)! I want to improve the speed of my kicks, my endurance, and my balance. So why not? As I was sharing this idea with family, it became clear to me that i'd essentially be cheating if I split the kicks between each leg. To remedy that, i'll set the goal to 20,000 kicks. 10,000 each leg! If I do the maths... (20,000 kicks) / [(6 weeks) * (3 challenges) * (5 days a week)] = ~111 kicks per leg each day. Granted that I can do 111 kicks per day, i'll have done 10,000 kicks each side 18 weeks from now. I haven't yet done that many kicks at once, I can do 120 total without too much trouble. However, that is perfectly fine. I'll work up to it. After class today, I did 60 side kicks each side, so that'll be my starting point. I'll add 10 to that tomorrow and work on up to 110-120. As a little discipline exercise, i've been ending my workouts by standing in ready stance and working on my breathing. I'm going to keep that up, I think. Okay so this challenge's goal with exercise is going to be doing some form of Aam Ka Jutsu 5 days a week. That will include doing a set of side kicks each day. Food wise, i'll just keep up what i've been doing. Now that i'm not lifting, i've reduced my servings slightly, and i'm not eating when i'm not hungry. I feel that my body's been responding fairly well to the changes. I've been noticeably better at having less-healthy meals intermittently while sticking with the healthier homemade foods. Work/Job Hunt: I'm finishing up at my local college and i'll be transferring in the fall of 2016, hopefully. The issue is going to be money. The solution is to get a job. So i'm making that part of my challenge. Every week i'm going to aim for apply to at least two places. It doesn't matter if its a retail job or a web development position. Part of getting a job where I want to, in the web development industry, is going to be showing that i'm actively improving my skills. Therefore, i'll also make a goal to work on a project, regardless of what it is for at least an hour a day. Not Being A Hermit: I'm not awesome at being social, but i'm going to try making a habit out of talking to at least one person a week. ------------------------ TL;DRbed before 11 PM, get up at 6 AM weekdaysget martial arts work in 5 days a week; work up to 220-240 kicks a day; practice resting in ready stancecontinue to eat healthy and drink enough waterfind at least two jobs a week and apply to them; work on projects to show that you know your shiztalk to other hoomans each week If you actually read all that...wow. I'm impressed. You might be shocked to learn that my walls of text have actually gotten shorter over the years. 0.o Regardless, you're awesomesauce. Grab yourself a refreshing bottle of water and get some sleep. Or if you're starting your day, the picture below is for you, have a fantastic day! To be continued...

I celebrate my 57th birthday during this challenge and I have been doing a lot of thinking about my goals and plans in light of that. That has included not only a review of the past year, but a longer look back over the course of my life thus far. About a year ago, I attended a startup weekend that sent my career in new directions and I have started my own company since. In the meantime, I spent a couple of challenges working to get "fire fit" again, but struggled with injuries and did not achieve my goal of attending Wildfire Academy this past spring. That kind of took the wind out of my sails and I took a time out on that goal to reevaluate, redirecting my energies towards becoming more resistant to injury and establishing small, solid habits in the interim. Lately, I have been back fighting the black dog (depression) once again. I have reached the conclusion that one of the main drivers of that is that I have not put the desire to get back into firefighting to rest. No matter how much I tell myself to let it go, leave it to the youngun's, that I'm too old to be out there again, I can't shake it. It's crazy, I know. I've tried to think up lots of alternative ways to work in related fields. The software development I'm doing is an obvious fit for training simulations, for instance. It's not enough. Looking back, the best things I've done have come from following those crazy intuitions, hunches, gut feelings, and inner nudges that won't go away. They may or may not lead me where I think I am going, but they have always led to somewhere interesting and worthwhile. So, I have resolved to go on faith that there is something to all this. I have come up with a new old plan. I will train towards qualifying again and save towards attending the 2016 Wildfire Academy, with no idea if I can do it. I will just move in that direction on faith and see where I end up. I am stalking my future self, with a few faint tracks on the ground ahead of me. My prey is elusive, unpredictable, difficult to catch. It may or may not be where and when I think it is. But what better huntress is there than a ShadowLion? With that as my challenge theme, here are my challenge goals: 1. Build the strength, endurance and flexibility to catch my prey (DEX -1, STA-2, STR-2) I am re-implementing my previous "40 Weeks to Fire Fit" program, slightly altered to incorporate my hard-learned lesson of needing to listen more closely to my body before increasing training volume or intensity and to give myself MORE recovery than I THINK I need. Fire Fit Returns Durability (DEX-1) ___/24 Comprehensive set of warmups, mobility/stability, and “prehab†exercises for an older female athlete. Bone-builders (including jumping exercises); spine/shoulder/hip/knee exercises to maintain joint health; dynamic stretching to increase ROM and overall flexibility; specific exercises for identified weak areas including head/neck/spine alignment and bi-lateral muscle balance, ankles, wrists/hand/grip, pelvic floor, and elbows. I MUST warm up before every exercise session. Kelly Starrett will be my guide to Becoming a Supple Leopard. ShadowLion will become a Supple Leopard Endurance (STA-2) ___/18 Phase 0 - 4(+) week pre-conditioning program utilizing exercise biking, walking, and other low-impact cardio to build my aerobic base. Then, start: Phase 1 - ~ 8 week program of walking transitioning to walk/jog intervals. Success will be being able to walk/jog in intervals for a distance of 5K, with an average heart rate of 145 or below, and a peak HR under 155. Goal time: < 45 minutes. ENDURANCE GOAL It helps to have a concrete goal. That will be to make the whole distance at a speed/intensity appropriate to my current endurance level. I can make sure that those who have made the ultimate sacrifice are remembered. I've never done a Fun Run/Walk/Race before and this one seems like the one to start with: 9/11 Heroes Run Strength (STR-2) ___/18 Phase 0 - 4(+) weeks of a pre-conditioning program utilizing exercises from “Durability†section below. Focus on getting elbows to withstand pushups and pull-ups by dropping back and then gradually progressing from wall pushups and lightly weighted rows; establishing base of low set and rep numbers on the other exercises. This is early stage stuff while I establish my top priority right now, the base aerobic levels of my endurance program. Then, start: Phase 1 - ~12 week assisted exercise program of knee-pushups; assisted pull-ups, grip hangs and rows; modified dips; lunges and variations. Additionally - squats, planks, sit-ups, burpees and variations. This will kick things up a notch and prepare me for an increased focus on strength training in Phase 2. I plan to build some serious muscle in the coming months... 2. Fuel my body for the hunt. (CON-2) ___/28, ___/8 I will fuel my body with high-quality, nutrient dense foods with an eye to supporting efforts to increase endurance and muscle mass, while trimming off excess weight. The dietary regimen I will follow will be a plant-based whole foods diet. I am still deciding how far to go with this goal. At a minimum, I will continue to log my food and target a moderate calorie intake. I may go further. I am considering the Engine 2 Diet. Alternately, I will go with one meat free day per week and one new recipe per week. Edited 07/24/2015 Week 1 will be preparation to undertake 28 days of veganism, based on the Engine 2 diet. Weeks 2-5 will be following E2 at the "Firefighter" level. Week 6 will be evaluation and the setting of new goals. I do have two meals per week where it is very difficult to make my own food choices, so I reserve 4 lunches and four dinners as exempt over the 4 week period. I expect that the remaining 76 meals should give me a pretty good idea if I want to continue the diet further, as will my "gut reactions" to the exempt meals. ShadowLion Emphasizes the Savory Over the Sweet... 3. Be a healthy, happy and balanced ShadowLion. (CON-1, CHA-2, WIS-2) Continue to ensure that I get plenty of sleep, maintain an healthy den, enjoy the company of friends, and keep creativity and fun alive in my life. Sleep CON-1 ___/6 49 hours of sleep per week. ShadowLions need plenty of sleep Maintain my den CHA-1 ___/36, ___/6 To have a healthy environment to relax in, I will do a daily clutter patrol of at least 10 minutes and a weekly home improvement task of at least 30 minutes. ShadowLions need a place to relax Spend time with my tribe CHA-1 ___/6 One social activity with friends per week. ShadowLions are not solitary creatures Stay Curious WIS-1 ___/36, ___/6 Make time for play. Every day. Create things. Just for the fun of it. At least once per week. ShadowLions are curious Sisu WIS-1 ___/36 Continue meditation and daily journaling habit. Maintain daily and weekly planning and goal setting, task management. ShadowLions are focused and determined 4. Establish and guard my territory. WIS-2, CHA-1 ___/3 I am continuing to establish my business, define my brand and build my portfolio. Define my range WIS-1 ___/1 I am starting to have work come to me and not all of it is work that I should probably take on. I need to better define the scope of my business and the kinds of projects I want to specialize in. This challenge I will contemplate my mission, skills, talents, and dreams to produce a statement of business scope that better reflects the direction in which I want to go. Mark my boundaries WIS-1 ___/1 I will be taking an online class concerning trademarks, copyrights and other legal aspects of owning and operating a business that deals heavily in intellectual property. This will be completed by the end of this challenge. I will also establish a schedule of what I need to do to implement what I learn and begin doing those things. Secure my territory CHA-1 ___/1 The server administration that I did this past challenge opened my eyes to the fact that I need more knowledge of computer security. I will complete an online course on that this challenge and apply what I learn to my clients' and my own websites. Territory is not to be taken for granted And, in a nod to challenges past (and the inspiration of "Nerdhammer")

Hi all! I haven't done a challenge since last December when injury and excuses got in my way and I let all of the good habits I'd tried picking up slide. I've been trying to get back into things a bit the past few months and came back to NF a few weeks ago (if only in Battle log form). Anyway, I would like to try doing challenges again and I also want to make sure that I don't bite off more than I can chew this time. I'm also moving over to the druids (I was in scouts) because I've been doing yoga and I've been making this sort of the centre of my routine. So, here are my goals (for now, I might rethink them and tinker a bit before the challenge starts): Main Goal: Develop reasonable and healthy exercise habits to help me avoid injury, feel awesome and have fun! Quest Goal 1: Bend it like a yogini? Do yoga at least six days a week. I'll be doing at least 15 minutes each time, but vaguely following the 30 day yoga challenge I've been sort of doing lately with longer routines three times a week. Measurement: A = 29+ yoga sessions, B = 25-28 yoga sessions, C = 21-24 yoga sessions Stats: +2 STR, +3 CON Quest Goal 2: Walk before running. One thing that I've been a bit sad about is that I haven't really run lately. I'd like to get back into it, but I also know that when I was running, I was being lazy on my days off. So I'll be working through the couch to 5k (which may or may not be complete by the end of the challenge, it's hot and I might end up having to repeat weeks) three days a week and walking at least 30 minutes at least three different days a week. Measurement: A = 29+ days of running or walking, B = 25-28 days, C = 21-24 days Stats: +2 STA, +2 DEX Quest Goal 3: Playing with poi! This one is less fitness and more fun, but it leaves my arms sore and tired so I think it counts. Anyway, I would like to improve my poi skills so I will work toward learning a new trick each week by practicing at least half an hour a week. Weeks 5 and 6: One hour a week. Measurement: A = 192+ minutes of poi, B = 168-191 minutes, C = 144-167 minutes Stats: +1 DEX, +2 CHA Life Goal: Keep a 3+ item streak on Free Code Camp or code a little every day. Obviously I can't actually measure by streak because it would be pretty discouraging if I miss a day in the middle. So I'll go with counting days in which I do 3 or more items on Free Code Camp during the challenge. I'll also add in spending time on other coding projects and education here since I somehow forgot how terrible my internet can be at home, but it seems that some days it might not be possible to follow much of the Free Code Camp programme, but I have other resources I can use when that's not available. Measurement: A = 33+ days, B = 29-32 days, C = 25-28 days Stats: +3 WIS Anyway, I look forward to the challenge and getting to know you guys here! Weekly totals for all quests Week 1 Quest 1: 7 yoga sessions (A+) Quest 2: 6 days of running or walking (A+) Quest 3: 46.5 minutes of poi (A+) Life Quest: 7 days of 3+ items (A+) Week 2 Quest 1: 7 yoga sessions (A+) Quest 2: 7 days of running or walking (A+) Quest 3: 40.75 minutes of poi (A+) Life Quest: 7 days of 3+ items (A+) Week 3 Quest 1: 6 yoga sessions (A+) Quest 2: 7 days of running or walking (A+) Quest 3: 33.5 minutes of poi (A+) Life Quest: 5 days of 3+ items (B ) Week 4 Quest 1: 6 yoga sessions (A+) Quest 2: 7 days of running or walking (A+) Quest 3: 48 minutes of poi (A+) Life Quest: 7 days of 3+ items (A+) Week 5 Quest 1: 5 yoga sessions (A-) Quest 2: 7 days of running or walking (A+) Quest 3: 60.25 minutes of poi (A+) Life Quest: 6 days of 3+ items (A) Week 6 Quest 1: 6 yoga sessions (A+) Quest 2: 7 days of running or walking (A+) Quest 3: 127.5 minutes of poi (A+) Life Quest: 7 days of 3+ items (A+) Overall totals (final) Quest 1: 37 yoga sessions (A+) Quest 2: 41 days of running or walking (A+) Quest 3: 356.5 minutes of poi (A+) Life Quest: 39 days of 3+ items (A+)

Draft in progress, but here's a start! Dancezwithkittehz found herself perched above the most curious rabbit hole. Naturally she dove in headfirst! "After such a fall as this, I shall think nothing of tumbling down stairs!" Next, Dancezwithkittehz followed the white rabbit to a most peculiar place. What was IN those tents? And when she went inside . . . . Dancezwithkittehz saw the most amazing things! She knew she had to stay. This challenge is going to be very aerial centric (plus other adventures I'm sure because it's ME we are talking about. Oooh look something shiny to explore over there...) Goal 1 - Do the "scary" stuff (aerial skills): for me this is inverted climbs, doing ANYTHING up high, and especially drops. I will be doing aerial at least 3 times a week so I need to work on at least one scary thing each class and by the end of the challenge I need to have an inverted climb down AND at least one drop. Goal 2, Choreography! - I am choreographing a solo for our showcase in September. I also have like a BAZILLION-LEVENTY-MILLION dance choreography ideas. I need to be ideally choreographing at least a phrase a week, and if I am not choreographing I need to perform the hell out of something every week (doesn't matter if this is just in class and if it's aerial or dance, but I need to get in the flow zone and ooze performance-y goodness out of every pore.) This should involve videos and please pester me!!! Goal 3, coding and ear training - I know I know way not directly related to my theme, but these are things I really really want to work on. Every day would be great but I know how absurd my schedule is especially early in the week so, 3 times a week minimum! Coding I can work on at lunch at least (I am working my way through a combination of Learn Python the Hard Way, and Code Academy section on Python.) For ear training I just got EarMaster 6, which I have to be at home to work on unfortunately. Goal 4, Chase rabbits - dancezwithkittehz needs to be able to keep up with that pesky rabbit (and be ready for her planned spartan trifecta next year!) so she needs to be running again. I would be happy with running at least once per week! LIFE Stuff: Debt paydown! (ongoing goal) - put a rents worth of money towards credit cards since I want to move out and be renting in the next year or so. Re-arrange batcave - DECLUTTERING NEEDS TO HAPPEN NAO. I need to do dedicated decluttering time once a week (most likely on weekends.) Cleaning in general also counts

Hey all! Really excited to have finished my recruit challenge and officially join the ranks Main goal: Lose 30 pounds. I have many main goals, though overall I'd like to lose the weight I gained from last challenge and then some. Quest 1: Bring my armor and hp to high levels. Take little beatings from attackers. (+3 CON) To achieve this, I'll replace junk food with healthier snacks. I bombed this last challenge as it was set for breakfast/dinner. I need to start smaller and just eat healthy snacks through the day. I'll keep up with good meal but I'll be focusing on snacks this challenge as that was my downfall. To grade this I'll focus on the times I do cave in to junk. A: 0-5 trash snacks B: 6-10 trash snacks C: 11-15 trash snacks Quest 2: Become more flexible and strong (+2 STR +1 DEX) Increasing my strength and flexibility for handstands and flagpoles are big goals of mine. This challenge, I'll be trying yoga, more specifically, power yoga. I'll spend 30min a day going through videos as well as progressing the crow pose (thank you Nymeria for your help!). I tried crow and I can hold it for a few seconds, so I hope to increase that each week as I get stronger on the holds.\ Since I'll be doing yoga daily, grading goes as follows: A: 0-5 days missed B: 6-10 days missed C: 11-15 days missed Quest 3: Be more agile (+2 DEX + 1 STA) For cardio I'll be getting back into an old favorite of mine: Sprints. Oh sprints sprints are a love hate. I'll ease into them since I haven't done them in a while, but I will do them 3x a week, with a rest day between. I will start with sprinting 25 yards, walking 25 yards back, sprint 25, walk 25, rest. This is one set. 3 sets each session. Each week, I'll increase sprint yards by 5 and reduce walk yards by 5. Should I plateau, I'll repeat the current sprint/walk ratio for an additional week, but I WILL complete the 3x a week. A: 18 sprint sessions B: 15 sprint sessions C: 12 sprint sessions Life Quest: Keep coding fresh (+3 WIS) I'm taking a semester off from school to reduce stress this fall. As a result, I won't be having any programming classes. I'll use codecademy to learn some new languages (html/php right now) and refresh my memory with languages I've learned (Java). Since it is summer and I'm taking this light, 30min a day daily. I think I'll do an hour next challenge as I get more accustomed to programming again A:0-5 days missed B: 6-10 days missed C: 11-15 days missed This challenge will be very exciting! First time yoga, learning poses, coding, sprinting, and ASSASSIN!!! Wait.... Ummm official greetings now? haha I'm Krazi3man. You can call me Chris if you'd like. Some goals, aforementioned, are to be able to do handstands and advanced calisthenics like dragonflags, flagpoles, pistol squats. I like watching action anime (naruto, sao, hunter x hunter, etc.) and comidies (HIMYM, Family Guy, etc. Crude stuff) I have a very wide array of humor, though dark and twisted make me laugh the most >.<) I like to read. I can be pretty anti-social but once I branch out and get comfortable, I'm pretty goofy and weird. I hope to be of motivational help to others in here Oh, and I wear black. I LOVE wearing black.

Hello everyone! My name is Meg. This is my first challenge as a Ranger. I almost didn't do a challenge this time around, but I decided I really do need the emotional support that only my fellow Nerdians can provide. Big changes are coming in the CoderGatherer household. My husband was recently accepted in to a master's degree through the University of Iceland. The semester starts in August. Long story short....we're totally going! While I couldn't be happier for my husband, I am getting a little overwhelmed with all that we have to do to prepare for our year long adventure. For starters we have to obtain residence visas, find a job that will let me work while I live in Iceland, reduce our possessions down to the bare minimum, find a safe home for our hound, and get physically fit enough to survive without a car. Needless to say, overwhelmed. But no matter! I've decided to take a step back and focus on what's important. At this point in time, I'm using my username as a guide. This means getting back in to coding (atleast 1 hour a day), eat atleast one paleo meal a day, and move more (5 bodyweight workouts a week). Working on coding 1 hour a day, +3 INT Eat one paleo meal a day, +3 CON 5 bodyweight workouts, +3 STR (what I feel like when I do push ups) Get all the paperwork together for Iceland, +1 WIS I look forward to meeting you all and cheering you on in this challenge! Good luck on your challenges!