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It's been slightly over a year since my last challenge. The time since then has been difficult, so say the least. I've been lurking a bit lately but wasn't quite ready to jump in at the proper start of the challenge. But I'm nothing if not a rebel, so I'm posting this now instead. The pandemic has been hard on my mental health (which wasn't great to start with), but I've been doing a bit better lately. It feels pretty fragile, though, and I've been trying to find a way to push myself but not so much that I crumble. So, for the last half of this challenge, I'm focusing on the following: Exercise - right now I'm running 2x/week and doing an at-home prehab/rehab type workout 2x/week. The gym is a no-go right now (they're open here but I'm not convinced it's currently a good idea to be in one), so this is all I've got. By the end of the challenge I'd like to move to running 3x/week, with the other stuff staying the same for now, and purchase a 45lb Olympic bar for messing around with (I don't have the space or the money for a real home gym, but I've been playing around with some front squat and overhead squat mobility stuff, and I think a bit of weight might be helpful). I'd also like to think about a more serious home workout plan. I don't necessarily want to be doing it regularly by the end of the challenge, but I'd like to have something written down to maybe focus on in the next one. Nutirtion - my eating habits have gone to shit over the last year. For a while there I was subsisting on chips, mini eggs and cheese on toast, and not much else. I've gotten a bit better than that, but I know I need to eat better if I want to try to progress at my exercise, and especially if I ever get back to the gym. For right now I want to focus on getting a decent amount of protein in, most of the easy foods I've been eating lately are rather lacking in that department. By the end of the challenge I'd like to be eating about 120g of protein/day. This means I need to focus on meal prep, so I have easy stuff to microwave when I don't feel like making things and on my lunch breaks. This being said, my appetite has really waned over the last while, and I don't want to force myself to eat when I'm not feeling hungry. I won't be fussed if I miss the 120g target as long as I've eaten good food for my meals and snacks and not fallen back to the chips and mini eggs diet. Life Stuff - I've been trying to read more and I'd like to keep this up. I'm part way through book one of the Mistborn series (it's only ok so far, I've committed to finishing the first book but I don't know if I'll continue. Probably I will because I'm incurably curious and I'll want to know how it ends, but it's only moderately engaging so far), so I'd like to get this done by the end of the challenge (very likely to happen). And I want to apply for a job by the end of the challenge too (the official deadline is March 26, so that's just about perfect timing).

As the title suggests, it has been far too long since I participated in this forum, and since I actively tried to get my health and fitness under control. That ends now. While I haven't gone up in weight from where I had been back in 2016, I have noticed as I've carried around this extra weight these last few years, my joints are beginning to get more and more sore, and my breathing isn't as strong as it was. I've also just been scraping by in the life and career department, but that's a topic for another day. This challenge is going to bring me back onto the trail of hunting down my end goal, which has always been the same of 210 down from my current 305. To do that, I'm going to be getting back onto slow carb eating. I did this last year for a spell and ended up losing almost 30# before falling off the wagon and putting it almost all back on. This is an all or nothing, and it only works if I do the 6/1 days with it, which is made easier to stick to with the promise of a free for all day every week. I'm going to do a 5 minute basic bodyweight routine to start the year as well. This will include pushups, squats, hip thrusts, and probably lunges. My legs are quite strong because of the construction work I do, but they could be stronger and able to last longer, and my shoulders desperately need to be exercised and stretched. I always struggle with accountability, so I will be posting daily, even just to say "Hey look Ma, I made it!" Finally, on a life/mindset challenge, I'm going to be alternating days writing for a half hour from 2030-2100. Day 1 will be braindumping in a free flow style to get story ideas out and work towards finishing a book/story this (2021) year. Day 2 will be working on copywriting by practicing swipe files and basically just copying ads that caught my eye and titles that did too into a book to give my brain the feeling of writing those winning words. These will be the stepping stones and building blocks of my future as a solopreneur or freelancer, so I can spend more time with my family. If you made it this far, I commend you and appreciate you dedication to reading about my challenge, and I look forward to our journey together in this amazing world of Nerd Fitness.

Hey folks! Good to be back I've built up some good habits over the past few years doing challenges on and (mainly) off, but have found the weight/size creeping back up and not shifting as it once did. Coming up to summer I have a bunch of clothes that don't fit as they once did, and I don't feel like the strength and health is as on track as it has been. My weight was a fairly steady 11-11.5 stone for a good long while, but it's crept up to 12 stone in the last year, and then over in the last few months. Currently at just under 12 stone (168lbs) and wanting to get down below 11.5 by my birthday at the end of July. I started a Step into Health course through work which has modules of exercise, nutrition and stress management. It's helped me get a bit more focused, so I'm formalising it by putting it on the interwebs so I have to do it. Plus I miss y'all innit. Exercise plan, current habit followed by ~ what I'm adding Working days: - 20 press-ups with my feet on the bed ~ increase to 25 - 10 min jog around the block ~ sprint (or at least speed up) the last section on each run - 3x10 dumbbell reps of two exercises (bicep curl + lat flies OR bent over rows + military press) ~ dumbbells for curl & miltary upped in weight All days: - 3 min squat while teeth brushing (I try to hold the full amount of time, but sometimes have to stand and squat again) ~ lower squat and get length of time back on track Additions: + 10,000 steps every day (I usually do this during the week so need to get this sorted for weekends) + I joined (and paid for) a pilates course each Monday evening, so will have to do these! + I haven't used my pull-up bar in ages, so I'm going to add 15 'negative' chin-ups on days I'm not washing hair (alternate days) Food plan I track calories on myfitnesspal, and I've set it to 1600 per day. My problem is on days I go over, I go way over bcuz tasty. I've looked ahead and there are a few days that may scupper eating healthy - niece's birthday this weekend and going to Newcastle for a singing competition for the weekend of 12th May. I'm aware there are days I go over a few cals, so as long any rolling 3 days averages under 1600, that's fine. I'm allowing myself four separate days over calories within the challenge. Points and scoring I have a tendency to be quite harsh on myself and this is possibly not helpful for the long term (i.e. if I fail within one week I'll give up on the rest), so although I'm allocating points, final grade will be based on assessment of the challenge as a whole and essentially arbitrarily assigned by myself, though with feedback from others if they offer it! Complete full exercise plan for a week = 100 points Reduced run, missed dumbells, not 10,000 steps, missed negative chin-ups = minus 5 points for each Missed pilates = £10 lost, so I won't take points off too... Two weeks of 100 points in a row gets me 25 bonus points All four weeks gets an additional 25 bonus points Max exercise points = 500 points Under calories every day for a week = 100 points Day over 1600 but under 1700 = minus 5 points Day over 1600 but stayed relatively health = minus 10 points Day over 1600 and splurged = minus 25 points Two weeks of 100 points in a row gets me 25 bonus points All four weeks gets an additional 25 bonus points Max calorie points = 500 points Total possible points = 1000

After having a complete collapse of my final weeks of the previous challenge, I am coming back for more. Quests Lift: Do my lifting routine 3 days per week. Count: Count calories daily and stay at my goal. Cook: No fast food. This is what kills me, I stop and get something and get upset, blow off my workout, and eat like a fool for the rest of the day. Read: Reading from a book every day. Rewards Instead of rewards at the end of the challenge, I am going to be giving myself little rewards at the end of each week for hitting 90% or better. This weeks reward will be some sleeves for my Arkham Horror LCG cards.

Hello everyone! A lot has happened since the last time I did a challenge: 1) I graduated and earned my PharmD 2) I passed my boards and am now officially Dr. Borvatar Korra, RPh. 3) I moved to Iowa for a residency program to become a clinical pharmacy specialist 4) I have not worked out regularly in 4 months I'm excited about everything except #4. I had a really great community of lifting buddies, coaches, gyms, and a plethora of competitions in central Texas. In Iowa those things are... a little sparse. Luckily I found a gym that I really like and it has lots of great equipment. I've slowly been trying to make friends with some of the other powerlifters there, but is a slow uphill battle. This gym has a much different vibe, no coaching classes so everyone does their own thing, usually with headphones turned way up. Now that my husband and I are all moved in, sold our old house, and settled in to our new routine it is time to get back on the train to GAINZVILLE. Unfortunately I've moved back a few stops, so the goal this challenge is to establish a new training routine and rebuild lost strength. As I am a very goal driven person, I decided to sign up for a powerlifting meet in November! I do not anticipate breaking any of my records set last October, I want to show up, have fun, and use this deadline as the fire I need to re-establish a solid routine. Motivation has been a real issue, especially in a new environment with none of the community support I used to have. And then the other day I was thinking - of course I have a supportive community that hasn't gone anywhere - THE REBELLION! Silly me. I'm excited to be back, it looks like the website has undergone several changes it may take me a while to catch up. Challenge Goals: 1) Follow 3x week training program (SQ / BP / DL) 2) Start daily protein shakes again 3) Prioritize sleep (at least 7.5 hours 4/5 week nights)

Hi, so I've hard the worst year so far. I graduated out of one of the most premier colleges in my country with an engineering degree but I wanted to pursue writing/filmmaking/game design. So I quit my first job and joined a screenwriting gig and then moved to writing for videogames. Things were great but then the game I was working on flopped and I was laid off. Meanwhile, I had 4 string of flames that ended so terribly and iconically they can be part of a movie. Also, because I was so disorganised, I was dead broke. I had to move out of my home and live with my friend for a while. I went for several interviews and none worked out. Meanwhile, people kept talking how I was wasting my prestigious engineering degree. I had to leave town and go back to my parents where I'm currently stationed. Dad's giving his usual shit talk about how I'm a disappointment to the family so atleast that thing is still normal I guess . Due to severe depression, I lost all my gym gains and have ended up weighing 90 kgs (I'm just wee bit under 6 ft tall). I was ready to give up on life, but things changed when I took a flight for my last interview. I grabbed three books from the store there with last few bucks of cash I had. Those were: Mastery by Robert Greene 48 Laws Of Power by Robert Greene 4 Hour Workweek by Tim Ferris I had never considered self-help books before and these certainly changed my life. I realized I was giving an interview for a job I'd have hated. I did not want to get away from gaming industry. I called a few friends and luckily, one of them told me that he got his idea for a gaming event company seed funded and was actually going to approach me to be a content marketeer. But that startup won't be live till 2 months from now. I saw that as a great opportunity and decided to dedicate these two months to correct all my faults and turn everything around. I've been taking courses, polishing my speaking skills, practicing daily chores, everything. As for fitness, I was looking at fasting techniques and that's how I found this site. I've tried intermittent fasting with a bit of paleo diet involved. Sufficed to say, I've lost more than 1 kg already in a week! (not faking it) I'm tired of life just happening to me as I sit back, feeling victimized. I'm tired of this feeling of helplessness. I seek to have control. I look towards turning this year into my best by ascending and becoming another person altogether. I have never been more driven to give it back to the world. I'm glad to be a part of this rebellion. Thank you for having me!

Hello there all. My story is pretty short. Back when I was in high school ( late 90s ) I started body building. I was at the gym for 4 hours a day,6 days a week. I was fairly strong and thought i looked and felt the way I wanted . Then once I was in my second year of college i encountered a monster that I was vastly unprepared for. This monster goes by the name of ( Desk Job). He sneaks into your life and slowly but surely breaks down everything you worked so hard to get. About 16 years later I am now double what I weighed and feel as strong as a 19 year old cat. I have decided to do something about this. I don't want to be the man i once was, but I want to be better than he. Part of the reason i was so successful during my first attempt was being surrounded by people that had the same goals . That is part of the reason i signed up for NF. I am hoping that with your help, I will be able to get back what I lost and make that even better. I will be asking many questions since I have been out of this world for so long. The one thing that remains the same is the need for a support system.. I hope that once I am in a better place I can help others in the way that I was helped. Looking forward to knowing you all .

After completely flaming out on my last challenge, I am rejoining the rebels and getting back to basics to wrap up the year. A bit about myself. I teach middle school math, enjoy playing board games, and 2016 has been the busiest year of my life (bought/remodeled my first house, got married, first overseas trip, and first baby on the way). I have lost about 85 lbs over the past 2 years and would like to lose about 60 more, but have plateaued for awhile do to inconsistency. For this months challenge I am going to focus on some basic things that I know I can do that have been successful for me in the past. Quest Chart Calories - everyday, no matter what, chart my calories on Lose It! and stay under my limit. Workout - I need to be more consistent about this (in the past month, I only worked out a couple of times) so I will work out 4 times per week - 3 lifting sessions, 1 session with my trainer. Avoid the Drive Through - I have been on a major fast food binge - I need to cut it out entirely, it's too expensive, unhealthy, and (in all honesty) gross. LUML - Paint - I love painting miniature soldiers - the focus and stillness of it is a perfect comedown from a long school day. I have 4 Guild Ball teams that I have recently purchased and my goal is to paint at least 4 days each week. Goal My goal this challenge is to lose 15 lbs. That may some like a lot, but most of that is just bloat from my last month of relative inactivity.

Hey everyone, Oh my god. It's been a good 20 months or so since I was back here. I had a baby in December 2014, she's now 11 months old. Here we are I am still the weight I was when I had her- no lie. Probably a few pounds off, but not much. My life has changed quite a bit, to say the least. And now I want to focus on losing some weight. I am trying to watch my caloric intake. I am not at the point of a complete diet overhaul because I am breastfeeding. I am going to start slow, so here we go! Goals: 1. Log at least 5 days per week into MyFitnessPal (raraohlala, if you want to friend me) Grade scale: A: 28-33 logged days B: 20-27 logged days C: 14-19 logged days D: Less than 13 logged days 2. Take two walks per week that equal about 10k steps- probably at the mall, with baby in tow. Grade scale: A: 10-12 10k days B: 7-9 10k days C: 4-6 10k days D: 3 or less 10k days 3. Try to stay within (no more than 200 calories over) my calorie limits on MyFitnessPal as best as possible. Grade scale: A: Average of 1800 Calories through entire challenge B: Average 1900 Calories through entire challenge C: Average 2000 Calories through entire challenge D: Average more than 2000 Calories and I stopped caring Life: Do research on how to pay for school. Bonus: Check in with you all at least once a week. I need to get batteries for my scale and will report numbers later. I'm excited to be back. I love this community and hope to get to know you all!

Hey there, rebels. I last posted back in late April, when I had begun seeing a nutritionist, and my cat Mike was sick with toxoplasmosis (probably - it was never confirmed what he was sick with). Since then, Mike got well and then sick again, although unrelated to the last - he had to have surgery for a broken ball joint. That was 2 weeks ago. He's recovering really nicely. Also, the contract with my nutritionist ended. I learned a lot. I mainly learned the value of mindfulness regarding what I eat. I'm returning to Nerd Fitness now because watching Jessica Jones has made me realize I have an affinity with other surly loners like her - Rocket Raccoon, Toph Beifong. But ultimately, they need Trish, and Groot, and the Aang Gang in order to be their best. I need community. I need to be better at humbling myself and admitting weakness when I'm going through a time of not getting enough exercise (like right now), and not eating like I should (also like right now). I need to talk my cravings out instead of being really good at making excuses for cheat meals. I also discovered green smoothies, and I need a community to share recipes with, especially quick fix meals for busy times. So I'm back, and wanting to engage more deeply this time, because anyone can crankily step away from others and hide all their problems. It's much more rebellious to admit to it and be vulnerable. (I'm watching Guardians of the Galaxy right now, and it's at this exact scene).

This challenge is going to be a little different from my previous challenges, which usually involve riding further, lifting heavier, eating cleaner, and lots of lame jokes. If you followed my last challenge you know I was in a fairly serious bicycling accident mid-challenge, involving my face, a concrete curb, a broken cheekbone and various bits of frankenstein-like stitchery (awesome addition to the scar collection, I must say), and then I had to really bust my butt to get it back together in time for my big cycling event over Labor day weekend. Which - with the love and support of the Nerds- went magnificently. So while it’s nice to know that I am able to put the hammer down when necessary, I also feel like I deserve a bit of a recovery/comeback phase. Also, I was just kind of tired and burnt out when I originally wrote this out the week before I fucking KILLED IT before I succeeded on my metric ride, and I was really nervous and in a dark place. I’m really jazzed up again now and looking at this recovery phase as a positive idea to help me take a great leap forward, not just because I want to hide under the bed. I have four goals for this challenge: Workouts: In the gym, I have worked out a new lifting program, that involves less weight, more reps. I put on a lot of mass over the last two challenges and I want to lean out some. 3 days a week on the new program, can cut back to two if I get busy. For the bike, 2-3 bike rides a week, with a CAP of 60 miles/3 rides total for the week. Oh, I said it. I want to work on shorter rides done better, rather than long rides ending with me begging for death. Also, I swore I’d never do an event ride longer than 40 miles again, and I am sticking to that particular gun. At least for now. It just takes too much time and actually takes away from the enjoyment of the activity. I’m going to get a professional bike fitting, too. It’s pricey, but I’m worth it. Food: This will be the big experiment of the challenge. I usually just count carbs and only eat twice a day. This time I'm going to try eating 4-5 meals, but smaller, like a bodybuilder. I’ve had a really hard time accepting that idea. And I say that as someone who loves to eat. But we'll see what happens, especially since it will help me get my nutrients. - As an addendum to this goal, I want to start cooking again. I am actually a really good cook and I collect cookbooks, but I had gotten into the MUST BE MAXIMALLY EFFICIENT AT ALL TIMES mindset and was doing a ton of prep cooking, meal replacement, etc that didn’t make me any healthier (edited to add: actually, it probably did) and made me feel like a cyborg, and frankly I just kind of miss puttering in the kitchen. (I did appreciate the lack of dishes, however). So I am going to go back to that. I am anticipating some long evenings sequestered with Mario Batali more than I care to admit. I'll probably do a mix of meal prep and then fresh cooking. Paleo Recovery: Be the caveman. Well, cavewoman. I’m one of those Paleo weirdos, and I want to implement some Paleo stuff that I think will improve recovery. Three ideas: increased sleep, hopefully including a daily nap (finally, an excuse to nap!), 1 hour outdoors per day to get some sunshine and Vitamin D, and no electronics (and hopefully a firepit/candlelight) an hour before bed. I’m super bad about dicking around on the phone/ipad until right before I go to sleep. Leopard print clothing, pet mastodon and bone thru nose will be optional. See? Bad jokes already! Which leads me to my fourth goal: DON’T FUCKING OBSESS. My last few challenges have been great (two of them have been really super successful) but I feel like I need to step back and ease up a tad. Even professional athletes have an off-season. And let’s face it, there’s no shoe contract riding on this, nor will having abs suddenly make me a better person or solve all my problems (except the problem of my pants won’t fit). There’s no expiration date on my ass self-improvement. If it takes me two more challenges, or four, or whatever, to get super fly, then that’s just that much more time to hang out with you fine people and make bad puns. (That part of my old challenges will continue. Sorry) Finally, I want to give myself a small treat each week, in the “Treat Yo’ Self†vein. Something small, inexpensive, but luxurious - a manicure (I never get manicures), a soak in the hot tub at the korean spa (I have a gift card that’s been languishing in my wallet for months), a book, an outdoor yoga class, some nice pens… you get the idea. Just something small and treat-like. Can’t be food, that’s the only rule. Food is not treats, food is food, and not to have good/bad ideation attached to it. That way madness lies. So I guess technically that’s five goals, but I don’t want to put pressure on the “treat†idea. ummmm… think that’s it. Follow along if you like, and I will reward you with occasional kitten pictures.

Ok, this challenge is going to be simple and straightforward. I probably will not do anything with the run-on story. And I will be online less than I have been for the previous 9 months. We moved. I am really enjoying being back in my home town in Minnesota. I love the new house. Life is good, but it is also really busy with unpacking and decorating, new jobs, and tons of fun things to do. I don't think I really fully grasped how limited my life (especially social) had become. I have already auditioned for (and made it into) the Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra's Chorale!! It's a complete change in my life!!! And I hope that this will curtail emotional eating and drinking and make it easier to get out to exercise and just MOVE more. Moving to the city where I wanted to live marks also a new direction/philosophy in my life. I'm not waiting to be rescued anymore. Last challenge, I got a wake up call and realized that I'd become very passive. I was always waiting to be noticed and asked to take on roles and activities that I wanted. That shit is DONE. Auditioning for the chorale was another step in saving myself. Boom! I'm on a roll. So, here's heading for 33% body fat by the end of the challenge as my main, overarching goal. How?? 1) Strength Training. I have a set of free-weight and body weight workouts for 3+ days per week. That's process stuff. The GOAL for the end of the challenge is to do a pull up/chin up with only 25 pounds of assistance. Having shifted gyms (along with cities), I am looking at options and may have to ask one of the trainers for help. There is an assisted chin up machine at the location I visited yesterday, but it's different than the one I was using. (+3 STR) 2) Running 5Ks. I like running and am working through the C25K, ZR5K, and ZR apps to keep building up stamina and speed. I'm planning on the Harvest Run for October 11th but won't sign up until after I find out how my mom's surgery (back) goes on October 6th. (+2 STA, +1 DEX) 3) Cleaning up diet using the Anti-Aging Diet (Elizabeth Somer) guidelines. Eating fruits and veggies and whole grains and low-fat calcium sources and protein. Not counting calories this time - just working on eating cleaner and avoiding sweets and alcohol. I do have a way to track 6 objectives per day and will report on those daily. (+2 CON, +1 WIS) 4) Sign up for and go to TKD classes. I have a studio in mind and have to go see Master Chris about joining. I never have a weight problem when I'm doing martial arts a couple times per week. (+1 WIS, +2 DEX) 5) Do a chapter (plus exercises) in the Staging Your Comeback book (Christopher Hopkins). I would like to look very stylish for my daughter's wedding ... tentatively slated for next fall (?). But I think I also need to start looking like an adult now that I'm out of grad school and am teaching. (+3 CHA) Short and sweet!

So I've been getting back into rock music lately. Songs like Three Days Grace's Never Too Late and Sixx:A.M.'s Life is Beautiful have been kicking my mental butt because I had abandoned my goals and dreams to get healthy and have been wallowing in stress, excuses and absolute garbage (food). So I decided today that "Maybe I'll turn it all around, 'Cause it's not too late, It's never too late." (boom ba doom da doom, ba doom doo doo-doo boom ba doom da doom, ba doom doo doo...) It's time to "Open my eyes and see that life is beautiful" and stop focusing on all the stress that's surrounding me right now. AND IT'S TIME TO STOP FEELING ALONE AND GET BACK TO THE AMAZING NERD FITNESS COMMUNITY THAT I MISS SO DEARLY!!! What happened?! Ohmigosh... ******************************* Main Quest: Compete in the Tough Mudder 2015 The decision has been made. This is my task. Preparation Timeline: Approx 14 months Milestone Quests: Along the Way (in no particular order): - Weight: 299- - Weight: 249- - Weight: 217- (this was my weight when I was 19) - Fit into sz 20 pants comfortably - Take swimming lessons / attempt to conquer my fear of water - OHP 135 lb - Squat 135 lb - Deadlift: 205 lb - Do a BIG GIRL push-up. From the Floor. With Good Form. - Hold a 60 plank. - Progress in pull-up training to starting w/ back on the floor - Do an assisted pull-up - Do a BIG GIRL chin-up. With Good Form. (palms facing) - Do a BIG GIRL pull-up. With Good Form. (palms away) - Jump rope for 1min w/out stopping Short Term Goals (for the next 6 weeks) 1) Mine? ... NO! Stop being a seagull and eating any food that comes my way. Cut out the garbage. - What: No more junk food. We all know what they are. And if there's any grey-area... don't eat it! - Accountability: Reporting on success or failure. Let's face it: I suck at tracking my food... so baby steps. 2) Sleeping Beauty I work hard. I play hard. I train hard. Time to sleep like the champ I am. - What: Get more sleep. Simple? HA! Set a bedtime (11pm) and stick with it. - Accountability: Daily reporting on when I got to sleep and if my goal was not met, why. 3) Lift The Heavy Things Not a real original title, but it's to the point... - What: Get to the gym. Two times / week to make goal... but aim is three times/week. In the MORNING. I will follow the Barbell Battalion lifting schedule cause I lurvs me some cold hard iron. - Accountability: I'll whip up a g-drive spreadsheet and post the link once I get it made. 3) Back to Basics (changed 6/24/14) Basic training all over again. DROP AND GIVE ME 20! - What: Beginner Bodyweight Workout. 3x/wk. No excuses... just DO IT! - Accountability: Report on my thread after EVERY workout with details & progress. 4) For... um...? - What: update my forum thread at least every other day. I have Tapatalk on my phone... so no excuses on this one. - Accountability: OK - I'm really opening myself up on this one. If you're reading this, you're invited to message me on g-chat ANYTIME. PM me on here to get my e-mail address. ******************************* OK! Enough fluff 'n stuff.... Time to get back to life and DO THIS!!

My whole childhood/teen years I was told many things, such as the following (with the best of intentions); "Oh, you're a great drawer, very artistic!" "You should be a designer!" "You're a good student, you could do [insert higher education purpose here]" "You're not even trying!" "You can do anything!" Which was great. Except inherent talent didn't do shit when I didn't have the push to improve, to excel, to better myself. People assumed I was doing well and left me to it. Well, instead of excelling, getting great at everything, I slacked. Got lazy. I did things to benefit myself in the moment instead of thinking ahead. I was a child, you don't think of your future when you're still in school. Ain't nobody got time for that! I learnt things for long enough to pass the test on them, then promptly forgot them - and that's disregarding the fact that sitting in a class or reading wikipedia is not my way of learning at all. Once I hit high school, and hormones, I slowly mentally slipped into the spiral of "oh well, I can't do anything well enough to make my mark on the world. I'm 15, I should know what I want to do with the rest of my life by now; like every other person in my age group planning the rest of their schooling lives and possibly the rest of their whole life. Having no plan, I gave up. I never really thought ahead to the rest of my life because for a long while I never thought I would actually make it to adulthood. I'm 22 now. There's no way I thought I was going to make it this far. I doubted every move I took, and was constantly strangled by self hatred, doubt, loathing, and the wish to be anyone else. As well as a healthy dose of, "Oh well, this is it, I'll start getting used to it now." Screw you subconscious. Looking back now I was probably suffering some variation of Depression or Anxiety but people just thought I was different; and instead of being offended I took that and wove it into my self-image. Tried to control the darkness. (We all know how that ended, hey Gollum?) (Shut up, Lord of The Rings is on TV.) Anyway, I did make it through school and did try to use some of my natural talent to shape my life, even if I had no idea of where I was actually going. Picking a vocation on a whim is great and all, but going straight from high school to trade school pretty much just extended high school for me, although the skills did sink in a bit more because I was taught as I participated; learning web design while typing the code myself; learning to drive the Adobe suite while I clicked through procedures as the teacher did. Again I excelled and got the "You don't even have to try" treatment, so again I stopped trying. relied too much on my basic instinct. Having no clear picture of where I wanted these skills to take me left me just doing things because they were in the course and had to be completed; and I was spending too much of my parent's (and later my own) money on a class so I had to complete it. Basically, the idea of making a living drawing silly pictures and making web apps was a trendy idea at the time and I was going with the flow, thinking it would be a future-proof way of utilising my natural creative instincts. {insert childish raspberry noise here.} Fast forward a few years after a failed attempt at freelancing, attempting to juggle freelancing with casual waitress work, then having hospitality slowly creep into my life like an insidious parasite until it was all consuming, fighting back and slowly taking back some of my life, mixed with news of people my age going onto success and great things; here I am, typing this, feeling a tad empty and achivement-less. I've just fought back from my latest dark period, remembering that I am happy with who I am and I just need to learn how to improve; and it doesn't matter how long it takes me. I am a continuing member of The Rebellion, and while I had some successes in my last few challenges learning the basics of diet and exercise, I also lacked a clear mission to aim for - an ongoing problem of mine it seems. Now after my latest emotional crash I’ve come back to re-direct my life before it sails merrily down Shit Creek. I don’t want to count calories, I don’t want to lift mountains. I want to be comfortable just being. I have a battle log, an epic quest; I can comfortably say I have a plan. My name is Tegan. (But you can call me Teagarden. Or Tea, if you’re the nicknaming kind). I love fantasy. Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, zombies, magical creatures. I love craft. Crochet, sculpting, blogging. Many other things. I love gaming. PS3s and any game tolerant enough to support the Macintosh computer. I love coffee. And Tea. I love food. I find life both exciting and depressing. I struggle to find a work/life, and happy/serious balance. I will have the skills needed to take on any challenge life throws at me. I will be physically fit enough to enjoy life without pause. I will use my skills for good; helping people, and spending time doing things I love to do. I will have a way to sustain my life doing a job that I enjoy going to. I will get out of bed each and every day with a purpose. I will fail. But I will get back up. Again, and again. I will die happy.

Steve's article about "Doing Things You Suck At" poked me to get off my seat and write a challenge thread again. One of the things I suck at is sticking with things and keeping up a challenge thread. I reckon I can make my attention span at least 6 weeks long - it's time to give it a go again. Background “All this has happened before. All this will happen again.†I've been here before, both "here" in the Rebellion and "here" in my fitness journey. I completed my third challenge right before Christmas then somehow just trailed off after the new year. I was in the process of kicking rear, adding weight to my workouts, and making progress, but then somehow I got bored and disillusioned. With nothing on my horizon to work towards, I quit. I accomplished a GoRuck Light this last weekend, which was the motivation for my last challenge. Over 8 miles rucked in 5 hours, with at least 30 lbs on my back (my ruck) and often with much heavier weight - I was pretty impressed with myself. This is the point of a hard event, it seems - to push your boundaries of "unreasonable". I did struggle in the PT parts of the event more than I anticipated. The only training I've done in the last 6-8 weeks has been rock climbing and rucking/running, so this shouldn't have been such a surprise. I'm signed up for a GoRuck Challenge in August, ten weeks away. Instead of 5 hours and 8 miles, this will be 10-12 hours and 15-18 miles. A bit more difficult, you might say. While I was able to "gut through" the Light, such a thing will be quite a bit more difficult in the Challenge. Main Quest Over the next two challenges, I need to get my ducks in a row and be in proper conditioning to make it through a long event without undue suffering. Main Goals 1. Three workouts/week (weeks 4-6: 5 preferred) (+3 STR, +2 STA) Weeks 1-3: scale Beginner Bodyweight Workout to regain lost ground Weeks 4-6 (and next 3 weeks): start through the GoRuck 6-week training plan 2. Ruck 2x/week (+4 DEX, +1 STA) A "RUCK" is a walk or run with a weighted backpack. The minimum for this challenge is my current baseline: at least 3 miles/day with at least 20 lbs (4 bricks + work paraphenalia). As the challenge progresses, I'd like to increase distance, and I _will_ increase weight up to 6-7 bricks (25-35 lbs) 3. Yoga 2x/week The last challenge I did aimed for yoga 4x/week. While I liked my practice, I didn't like the time commitment and how I felt when I got inevitably behind. Therefore, I'll scale back to 2x/week this time. I've been using the guides from DoYogaWithMe.com, and I've really enjoyed them. Being several months out of practice, I think I'll go back to week 3 of the beginner course and see how it treats me. I left off somewhere around week 3 of the beginner-to-intermediate course, and might catch back up quickly, we'll see. Goal 1 Grading: A: 3x/week B: 2x/week C: 1x/week F: none Goal 2 Grading: A: Ruck! Ruck! C: Ruck! F: No ruck. Goal 3 Grading: A: 2x/week C: 1x/week F: Oops, I forgot Life quest: Goal: 3 efforts (at least 1-2 hrs) spent on organization or home improvement. Examples: Cleaning garage, taking unwanted piles to Goodwill, etc. Ordinary housecleaning and yard work don't count. Life Quest Grading: A: 3 accomplishments B: 2 accomplishments C: 1 accomplishment F: Oops, I forgot Challenges: - Week 1 is a recovery week from the GoRuck. Only 1 workout required for full credit. - I'm on vacation from the end of Week 2 to the end of Week 3 - out of my usual routine. All these workout and forum things I have to remember how to operate...better get on it!