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Hey Everyone! Things got slightly out of control last challenge. Not terrible, just out of control: Recently, I have received one of those signs from the universe - you know, when your wife, your counselor, your friends, some random people off the street, and small children say the same thing: YOU NEED TO GET SOME HELP FOR THINGS. So, my theme is about asking for help, and giving help to others. So, my fitness goals are pretty much unchanged, except that I will be on the forums more to give support when I can, and be a little less coy about my own stuff. Currently, I am really struggling with recording my food. I get a few days of recording in, then it all blows up. It's pretty clear that I have a lot more emotions about food than I would like to admit. Since food is 80% of the battle at Nerd Fitness, this is something I really need to work on. I also need to check in more often, so that I am accountable to everyone and myself. Details of the challenge are below the fold.

[Everything that happens in Dragon Age happens in Thedas, though there are some realms beyond it. It's basically like Middle-Earth in Lord of the Rings, or Tamriel in The Elder Scrolls. Fun fact: Thedas was originally shorthand for “The Dragon Age Setting,” and the nickname stuck.] And now you know where the name Thestas came from! "THE STArpuck Setting" see? (pronounced Thess-tiss) I'm super struggling to come up with a theme right now, though I feel pulled strongly to a D&D angle again. No doubt because this weeks art practice led to a sort of new subrace idea, which has me super juiced for all things creatively D&D-ish. I also am bored with my current 4 week/day/habit tracking method in my BuJo, so I think I might do a map tracker again. That was pretty fun. There are a few things I feel no longer need tracking, and that's hecka cool. There are also things that while I don't need to track, the visualization will keep me encouraged to keep at it. When it comes down to it, I just like coloring in little dots in my journal. This next bit of 4 weeks is going to be a challenge because, I am attempting to up my calories one more time (to true and proper maintenance) before I hop back onto the cut program starting in March. *GULP* I KNOW my weight might tick up a few pounds, but I should will NOT worry about that. So what am I doing here then? Exercise - 5x / week (No less than 2 lifting sessions per week.) Art - 5x / week (Going to try being less rigid on what TYPE of art happens, whether it be pencil sketching or tablet time... either counts.) Sleep Moar Better - 5x / week (Lights out, in bed, no screen on, by 11:20 on MTWFS - This allows me wiggle room on the two D&D nights per week that RUN until 11pm.) Self Care - 1x / week (Here's a new one! While I maintain myself fine, I don't ever get to pampering. This could be a night of fun sister mani/pedis, or a massage, or a bubble bath with candles and a book... something that focuses on luxury treatment for the Puck.) Selfie Sharing - 1x / week {An old one returned. In creative terms, I'm going to call this "Shattering the Mirror" because I see myself inaccurately right now. I've lost almost 20 pounds, I've trimmed and toned and strengthened, and I still see myself as really thick and fluffy in all my spots. I *feel* much better, but I can't break the visual hang ups. So I am going to force myself to look and see.) (Guys, what is the alt code for boxes, the ones below I stole from Rurik, and they make weird formatting!) Exercise ☐☐☐☐☐ Art ☐☐☐☐☐ Sleep ☐☐☐☐☐ Pamper ☐ Selfie☐ So, let's just get going then shall we? First thing we need is ... a character! Oh hello! What a cutie! Now... a name... (always harder) Sebastienne Delarieux (Tienne for short, Sebi to her closest friends.) And, finally ... an adventure... To the recipient of this note, whoever you may be, There is at your disposal, the opportunity to earn coin, prestige, even fame, should you oblige the offer herein provided. Take this signet ring to the city of Peramth, discreetly find entrance to the Gilded Cage, and present it to one Lady Nighthawk. She shall reimburse you kindly, and offer you your next task if you so desire. -V

More of the same. Despite dropping off here, I continued with middling success through the end of the last challenge, but don't yet feel like I'm making real progress. The goals aren't much different this time 'round, I'm still making my way along this long road. Goal 1 ~ Run 3x/week. 2.4k route at least 1x/week and 4.1k route at least 1x/week, with an eye to increasing distance. Bonus goal: map out and run a route of at least 5k. Goal 2 ~ Physio and Stretching Simply do it daily. I'm going to finally have some more space to do this in, hopefully by the end of week 1. Bonus goal: Try out the first week of GMB Elements, with the intention to fully integrate this into my routine at some point Goal 3 ~ FitPin Test Components Pushups and back extensions, at least 3x/week. Testing the actual FitPin counts towards both of these (though I do need to do multiple sets of pushups to really be able to call it training). I'm not sure I'll be able to make the back extensions work, I don't currently have the space to do them in, I'm hoping I'll be able to make something work once I have more space in the basement. If I can't, I'll need to figure out an alternative for this. Goal 4 ~ Bedtime Different times on different nights, depending on how early a day I have the next day. Before an early morning: 10pm; before a normal morning: 11pm; before a day off: 12am. Goal 5 ~ Meal Prep At least twice a week. I still need to do a better job of planning ahead on this, but I definitely do a good job of eating what I've prepare instead of takeout, for example, when it's there for me to eat. Goal 6 ~ FitPin Test I've decided that I'll do the other components of the FitPin Test every time I run my 2.4k route, since I have to test it at least weekly for the OPP's fitness logs. They don't actually take very long to do, so there's no reason not to, and more is better than less on this. Other Things I've got my journal set up, it needs a little tweaking for next time but it'll do for now. I'm hoping having a hard copy right there in front of me will help me keep on track (and help me when I report on here, since I often don't remember how things went after a couple of days). I'll post pics once I figure out how to do so. I also want to figure out how to be more active here, I dropped off because I barely had time to update my own thread, let alone keep caught up on others' threads. I've come to realize that I have to sacrifice bedtime in order to keep properly caught up around here, which is obviously less than ideal. I need to pull some extra time out of a hat somewhere, I think.... Some other one-off's I'd like to get done in the near future (for some of them, not necessarily before the end of the challenge, but I should get them done sooner rather than later): ~ Request an ROE from the government ~ Sign up for a course on CPKN (and actually do it) ~ Clean my room (this needs to be done soonish, ideally by the end of Week 1) ~ Purge books etc (they're in a box, I just need to get them out the door) ~ Purge papers etc (it's really a whole bunch of accumulated detritus from nearly 38 years of life, and a serious purge is long over due)

I'm trying to look at these challenges as parts of a larger journey, rather than discrete units of success or failure, so despite falling off the wagon a bit in my last challenge, I'm still moving along the same long road heading towards the same distant goal. I've climbed out of the ditch where I lazed about for a while, and am moseying along once again. The Long Road continues, and so will I. Goal #1 ~ Running Run 3x/week. At least one run per week should be 2.4k, and be part of a FitPin test (more on that later). Bonus goal: map out a few routes that won't suck too much in the hill department but will allow me to increase distance. Pick one route of 5k or longer and run it at least once during the challenge. Goal #2 ~ Pushups and Other Things So, the OPP has changed their fitness requirements. I no longer have to do the PREP test (though I still need to if I want to apply anywhere other than the OPP), but I do have to pass the FitPin test within 1 week of being hired, so I want to know I can pass it relatively easily before I even apply (and, if I can pass the FitPin easily, I should have the fitness to pass the PREP with just a bit of practice, so it helps if I decide I want to branch out at all). There are 4 components: pushups, a forward fold stretch, a 2.4k run, and a weird posterior chain/core thing that I can't adequately describe. The running is being taken care of in Goal #1, and the stretch in Goal #4. That means this goal is about the pushups and the Other Thing (which is what I'm calling it now, I think the OPP call it the trunk extension). So I will work on pushups every other day. One session of pushups will be a single max set, and will be part of a FitPin test (more on that later). Bonus goal: figure out some way to practice the Other Thing on the regular....... it's an awkward thing to do (I mean, the exercise itself is awkward to perform), but I may have to summon up my 20 seconds of courage and ask the coaches at the gym, they were all more than happy to help with the shuttle run, so... Goal #3 ~ Meal Prep This is an on again/off again thing with me. Partly it's because I don't think ahead quite as much as I should, and run out of food with no real plan to make more, and partly because I get tired and/or lazy and put it off to the next day, and then the next day I get tired and/or lazy and put it off to the next day, and on and on until I have nothing in my fridge but 30g of moldy cheese, a couple wrinkly apples, and a single stale tortilla. This isn't the most concrete of goals, at least not at the moment. I think for now I'm going to tackle this by making a plan for my next meal prep as soon as the current one is done (eg. if I cook on a Sunday, once the cooking is done, I'll sit down and think about what I want to make next, make a grocery list, estimate how long my food will last, and then pick a day to shop that will give me some overlap, but not lead to spoiled food). Obviously the shopping day is flexible, if I badly over- or underestimate how long my current batch of meals will last me, I'll have to shop sooner or later, but I'd like to have an idea in my head of when I next need to head to the store. I think having a plan about what I want to make and what I need to get to make it will go a long way by itself, so that's my main focus for now. Bonus goal: simple crockpot recipes will be helpful here, I think, since I can just chop some things, throw it in the pot, and then go to bed/to the gym/to work/to whatever, and come back to a tasty meal. Even if I don't have time/energy to do a full meal prep, at least I'll have a crockpot full of food for the next day to give me some wiggle room. So I will find some new crock pot recipes, and try at least one during the challenge (suggestions welcome). Goal #4 ~ Stretching and Other Things My perpetual goal of physio and stretching. Daily, because if I give myself an inch and say 5/7 days per week or something, I'll take a mile and do it once and never again. Bare minimum: 4x physio exercises (3 for my posterior chain, 1 for my thoracic spine), plus quad stretch and calf stretch. In a perfect world it will also include butt/hips, hip flexors, extra hamstrings, feet and pecs. Bonus goal: find a way to work GMB's Elements program into things. It's not logistically possible at the moment, and getting this done during the challenge is a very long shot due to things out of my control, but I want to work towards this (more on this later). Goal #5 ~ Bedtime I often watch TV to wind down before bed, and occasionally play video games, and often come on here. This won't change, when I say bedtime I mean TV/computer off and I start reading a magazine. Usually I'm off to sleep within less than a page. So, on nights when I have to get up early, I'll do this by 10pm. On nights when I have to work but not until later, it'll be 11pm, and on nights when I have the day off, it'll be midnight. Most often this will mean Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday will be 10pm; Sunday and Wednesday will be 11pm; and Saturday will be midnight. Goal #6 ~ The FitPin Test As part of the new fitness requirements, I should be practicing the entire FitPin Test at least once per week. I asked the recruiters if I could practice each element separately (an ideal situation), but alas, they told me I should not (they didn't say 'cannot', but I want to try my best to do as they suggest). So, I need to figure out how to do this. Three of the elements are easy enough to do, I go for a run, then do a stretch, then do some pushups. It's the Other Thing that will be the difficult thing to fit in. I have an idea of for how to do it (ie. I have worked out the theoretical logistics), but it requires a helper, and I will not always have access to a helper on the day I will be doing this test. The most logical day to do this test would be my full day off, which is almost always a Sunday, but Tuesday afternoon would work as well, depending on appointments/other commitments, so we'll see how this one goes... No bonus goal for this one, just doing it is going to be hard enough. Other Things ~ Move forward with preparing the basement for my Imminent Arrival (my mom wants to make my current room a spare room for her to go to when she has a bad night, and I want to move to the basement so I have more room to contain me and my life). If I can get this done it's a win/win, but I might have to be the motivator on this one, which means I may have to learn how to paint a wall, since I don't think my parents will pay for that but want it done before I move down there, as well as the carpet being redone, but I think that one is beyond me. Being in the basement will also give me the space to practice the Elements program whenever I want and in privacy, which will make the bonus part of Goal #4 a lot easier to achieve. ~ Explore options for courses to take to help make my resume look better than it does. This could be in person or online. One resource is CPKN, which is a site that offers police-related online courses (sadly, none are free), but another thing to look at is improving my mental health intervention skills, or conflict resolution, or something like that. ~ Clean my g-d room! I've stopped making this a goal, obviously, but it'll need to be done if I'm going to move to the basement, so a head start on that wouldn't be a bad idea. At the very least, I can try to purge some old magazines and other junk that's accumulated here and there.

Hi All! I'm gonna try and get things rolling again...because I've been out of it for a while it seems. I haven't been working out consistently. I haven't been eating clean or drinking enough water. And I've just been struck with a general cloud of laziness with a mixture of undisciplined motivation. But, that's just on the fitness side of my life. Other than that, I've been really busy. I mentioned briefly before about my involvement with a discord community called Your Anthem. It's ran by a good buddy of mine, William, and since discovering his YouTube channel covering content for Anthem over the summer, I've been heavily involved with the growth of the community. So much so, that I became the servers first moderator. It's a great community that reminds me a lot of NF, just more chat room structured than forum. Work has been busy too. I now have MORE responsibility because I took over another process on top of my other daily tasks and we recently moved back to the building I used to be in, so, I have the esteemed pleasure of walking 6 flights of stairs multiple times a day! I really missed the stairs when we moved the last time-it's a great little form of cardio. Aaannnnnddd...Heather is 9-weeks pregnant!! Yep, you read that right! The only downside is that she is severely nauseous. This puts a bigger strain on me because she's basically bed ridden most of the day and the cooking/cleaning also falls on my shoulders. We are keeping the pregnancy "hush hush" for the time being. We've made a lot of announcements the last year and don't want to make any more sad ones if we don't have too. We're just going to take this new pregnancy one day at a time. So, in a nut shell, that's whats been going on with me. Busy but still needing accountability from my NF fam. I'm going themeless for this challenge except for anything Anthem related. I'm SOOOOOO excited about the release of this game. I've never been obsessed with a game like I am with Anthem. If you were around for Watch Dogs 2 and thought that was bad, then you haven't seen NOTHIN' yet, lol. Goal 1: Consistency Get back to strength training 3x a week: 1 lower body, 1 upper body and 1 full body day. Nothing fancy just good ole fashion strength basics. Possible Points: +4 STR Goal 2: Hot Sauce Metcons are like hot sauce-a little goes a long way! Perform 2x metcons a week. Preferably after your workout. This can range from a kettlebell complex to sprints. Spend 10-20 min spiking the heart rate and activating the sweat glands. Possible Points: +2 DEX, +2 END Goal 3: The Fat Freelancer Fact #1: A fat Freelancer pilot can't fly. Whereas I've never been fat...I am losing my leanness and getting into more "dad bod" shape than "wolflean" shape. I'm up over 200# now and my abs are almost non existent. Time to focus on my diet and getting in plenty of H20. Possible Points: +4 CON Goal 4: Spead the Grabbit Love What is a grabbit? This "little" creature is a grabbit. Our Anthem discord started a community wide event that involves two warring factions: The PETG aka People for the Ethical Treatment of Grabbits lead my none other than muah. And the TRA aka The Tarsis Rifle Association. The PETG are out to defend the grabbits from extermination and the TRA is out to destroy them. It started out as an inside joke within the community and then William decided to turn it into a full-blown community wide event involving all the Anthem content creators out there and take to Twitter for a mud-slinging good time. I got tasked to run the PETG twitter handle with a good buddy of mine and so far, it's been a funtastic time! We even have Anthem's devs and designers involved in on the fun! It's cool because I'm getting to use all the skills I've learned from my years on NF, and that's knowing a good gif game goes a LOOOONG way :D. The goal is to see who has the most followers by the end of the month long challenge as well as who talked the best trash. Winner gets some professional artwork drawn for them. Like I've said, I'm having a blast with this! If you guys would like to support my side of the war (and ALL grabbits alike), then please go to @AnthemPetg on Twitter and follow me :). Like and retweet posts if you're feeling froggy ;). Possible Points: +3 CHA OK, so, there you have it folks. Short. Sweet. And too the point. I apologize for not being around as much and I'll do my best to keep up with other threads moving forward. I've missed you all! P.S. And @Raxie and @darkfoxx I'm sorry about our scheduled call the other day. I was having major phone issues. I hope we can try that again soon?! Wolf

A dungeon crawl is a type of scenario in fantasy role-playing games in which heroes navigate a labyrinthine environment, battling monsters, solving puzzles, evading traps, and looting any treasure they may find. I thought this an appropriate theme for this challenge because I often struggle in Sept/Oct as the sun vanishes, the days get shorter and the schedule gets busier. I have pinpointed my trouble areas, now it's just a matter of navigating them. And to quote one of the Twitter folks I follow: The goal of DnD is not to level up in order to overcome a challenge. Its to solve challenges in front of you with the tools you have in place. I will conquer this dungeon with the tools I have in place, and by doing so, gain experience and level up as a side effect! Goal 1: Battle Monsters In order to handle the monsters I will face in this dungeon, I need to be well trained. That said, too many battles in a row will leave an adventurer exhausted, so I need to plan smart. Lift 2-3x / week Move 2-3x / week With hockey starting, I will not have a static schedule. I would love to get into 3 lift days a week, but it's really hard to juggle when I might end up with 2-3 hockey nights on one weekend. (Not likely, but could happen.) I also know that getting to the gym for a lift session on the weekends fails 80% of the time, so I cannot count on it. Therefore, the strategy on this monster is this. Non hockey Friday = Lifting on MWF If hockey on Friday, then lift TTH. Bike, run or dance on the days that do not include lifting. Goal 2: Solving Puzzles The biggest puzzle in this dungeon is to figure out how to stay consistent so I can lower my BF% some. This means tracking calories, and playing with the numbers - even when the data I collect doesn't immediately shout out the answer to the problem. Sometimes you get info from several chambers before you get the answer to the riddle. Track calories daily, even if they are grossly over. 7x/ week Cook at friends house for two meals there a week. 2x/ week Goal 3: Evading Traps This is about evading the weakend trap! The subgoals here may change from week to week as I find out what works best, but here is the starting plan. Avoid the honeybadger polymorph trap on game nights. 2-3x/week -- Above accomplished by the following. 1) Have sandwich makings and healthy snacks at Q's house for game nights. 2) Plan meals by Wed, so I know what I am eating, at what time on Sat/Sun. 3) Allow and plan for, one 'fun' meal per week. Limit fast food Iced Coffee's to 2x/week. Goal 4: Document the Journey for the Archives This is added in to account for the art goals and habits, as well learning to juggle the various commitments I've set up for myself. Sketch daily. 7x/ week Practice on tablet. 4x/ week Art lesson. 1x/ week D&D Prep. As needed, but at least 2x/ week Church Group. 1x/ week (Mondays.) Additional goals, that I don't want to make weekly due to stress inducement! Keep at the nightly teeth routine. Get the budget sorted, for real. Use Good Budget - limit money spent, track where it goes. Weekly plan out the weeks events, schedule and plans for food so it is not tossed aside due to 'last-minute-itis'.

STARPUCK JOINS UA ACADEMY This anime is full of wisdom and motivation in all the right areas for me. It's also been a while since I plotted out a challenge where the goals are meshed into a theme, and I am feeling like this could give me an extra boost in getting back into the routine of it. A recurring theme for me (came up in the anime's I've watched, and now our church sermons too) is Endure. If I were to take a moment to be completely honest with myself -in an eye opening, epiphany kind of way- I've been kind of a quitter lately. And by lately, I mean the last couple years. So here are some quotes that I am going to be embracing, and building upon through this challenge. Midoriya once said, "I'll have to work harder than anyone else to make it. I'll never catch up otherwise!" He has to work harder to do things that come easy for other students. This hits so close to home for me because I have often said that I need to work so much harder to be fit/not overweight/healthy, etc than 'the normal person'. I watch my hockey teammates chug beers and Doritos after games and not gain a pound, whereas I can gain an inch from just smelling a pizza. It might in fact be harder for me. The options remain the same: do it anyway, or give up. Which leads to the next quote, by my all time favorite character. I want to become healthy, strong and fit. I want to do active things my whole life. I want to be a bad ass chick! Well then - I need to stand up and remember that, and push forward and never give up. This is a hard one to admit. I am the ultimate planner -/ dreamer -- but I fail at being a doer. My dreams end midway because I go through all the trouble of dreaming them up, but leave them on the shelf as 'dreams' rather than goals that I am working to. This is usually because I end up being too afraid to pursue stuff. Fear is a problem that needs facing and as All Might has said, "I smile to show the pressure of heroes and to trick the fear inside of me." So this first post I suppose is mostly just me sorting out my feelings on the challenge and what I need to tackle. Unfortunately, a lot of the things in THIS post aren't very quantifiable, so the next post is going be specifically about what I feel I need to do, to train myself, and to keep going without giving up, and yet still do this in a way that is sustainable for the long haul. (This one ties right in to the single most profound comment I heard in yesterday's sermon: God's best for us, comes through our times of moving through fear.)

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

AND DEADLIFTS!!! A new challenge is upon us, and I have decided to not go so crazy on themes and stuff this time around. Ok, I lie a little... there's still gonna be lots of D&D talk, and references to Critical Role, and general badassery that's often inspired by games and stuff, and of course gifs! Something I have struggled with since- ...forever, is consistency. And for serious, just tonight, it dawned on me; "Starpuck... you can't have an epic character, if you keep changing campaigns. You'll just keep hitting level 5 and then starting over." So this challenge is going to be about grinding out some starter mobs and figuring out which quests are worth digging in on, and which ones are are pulling me away from the end boss. Goal #1 - Nom like Nott "I find the pitcher of cucumber water, I dump it on the floor, and I eat all the cucumbers." ~Nott Goal: 5 servings of produce per day, every day. I'm going to be delving into Intuitive Eating this challenge, but something I want to work on is getting my produce in. I've improved HUGELY over the past few years, but I'd like to really get a solid habit of reaching for fruits and veggies first. I'm fond of veggies, but I haven't found too much I like in the way of fruit. Suggestions will be welcome! Goal #2 - Train for Adventure "I'm a Ranger; we don't min-max, we just kick ass." ~Starpuck Goal: 5 workouts per week; aiming for 3 lifts. Strength training is important for a bunch of reasons, but also because I think it really gives me a boost of confidence. I'd like to focus my workout efforts on the lifts, but if a schedule comes up that it makes sense to have only 2 lifts, but 3 other workouts I'm gonna just roll with it. Goal #3 - Hone skills, keep the mind sharp. Goal: Plot time for artwork (4x/week) and D&D prep (2-4 hours/week). I would like to take my art hobby to the next level. That means I need to keep the practice up weekly, as well as push myself out of my comfort zone. I'll be looking for books or tutorials, and possibly, look into purchasing a more "grown up" program. Art 4x a week needs to be maintained. Sketching practice counts. D&D work I'd like to put in 2 hours on off weeks, and probably by necessity a bit more on weeks I have a game to run. Goal #4 - Study my Spellbooks Goal: Read through Intuitive Eating Because, let's be honest guys... 2+ years of counting calories isn't actually getting me anywhere. Is it too much, too little, the wrong kinds? Who knows! Clearly, ancient mankind did not need such formulas, so the body must know how to do this on its own. If nothing else, I am confident the book will help me address where my poor connections to food are, and give me insight into fixing that. I am going to try to read 15-30 minutes before bed on weekdays, and see if that also doubles up and helps me sleep better. That's it. Keeping it simple and not too crazy. These are all things I've been mostly doing. But this time it's about doing them with consistency and conviction. So, let's get rolling!

Hi, I'm still new to the druids. I posted one challenge as a druid, and I wasn't successful. I'm returning again. Trying hard to be successful, so I'm keeping it simple. I have one goal for this challenge and it is to be true to my meal plan for 5 out of 7 days of the week. Ideally this will be seven days. That is my hope. I know its not much, but I need success more than I need lofty goals right now. I struggle with depression and things have been very hard recently. That's why I need to be successful. Hoping for some encouragement.

In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort. My inspiration for the month of October starts with the gentle hobbit folk of the shire, and then makes a gentle tour through the copyright protection of the generic halfling people, before tumbling over the cliff that is Belkar Bitterleaf. This pint-sized, chaotic evil hero has brought more good into the world with his a-moral ways that ten paladins, and this month I'll be copying him the following ways: Murder - Belkar is an expert at taking lives and also, at taking lives. Like him, I'll be trying to murder three things, a 455 squat pr, a 305 bench pr, and a 515 DL pr. Streaking - Pantsless o'clock and being a consistent sumbitch are both Belkar's specialties. Like him, I'll be tracking my streaks of consistency on language, journaling, meditation, mobility, and calories counting. Loot the room - Belkar be getting the loot all day erry day. The mrs and I moved in April and we're still maintaining a mountain of boxes in one room. Like Belkar, I'll be opening treasure chests (or uhaul boxes) this challenge at a rate of four per week.

So, for this challenge, I am keeping almost everything the same. I'm going to GenCon next week (Aug 16 - 20), the solar eclipse is on the 21st, and then classes start for me, and so anything I do from Aug 16 - 25 will be a bonus (with the exception of meditation). I am de-scoping a little bit, but I'd rather do that than make unrealistic expectations. Some other minor changes are: When I get all of my workout stuff ready the night before, the morning stuff goes more smoothly. I am planning to update my challenge four days a week. If I can do more, I will, but I think it's better to de-scope. I am planning to do legs up the wall on Mon and Wed night as part of my recovery. Foot pain while teaching is an obstacle for my NF challenges, so I will be proactive, and get out in front of this. Edit - I forgot to mention - since Aug 16 - 25 was not required, that means 10 days of the challenge are "bonus points" for me - So, my goals under the spoiler should be scaled by 18/28, in order to be consistent.

Kinda fell off the map a bit there, because reasons (life reasons, mainly, June was an exhausting month, and so far July's been only somewhat better). This challenge will be nothing new. My weeks will continue to run Monday-Sunday, so I don't actually start 'til tomorrow. I'm only sorta feelin' it this time, but I don't want to drift off into the sunset quite yet, so I'm posting one. I'm not going to commit to updating every day, but I'll do my best. I find it always takes more time than I imagine it will, between posting on my thread and catching up on everyone else's, and I end up using it as an excuse for skipping things like stretching and physio, and for not getting around to looking up things I need to. I might just have to play catch-up only once or twice a week, we'll see. Goal 1 ~ Crossfit 3x/week. Ideally Monday-Wednesday-Friday. My first two weeks of proper classes I was successful at this, and then the holiday week (last week) messed it all up. This week I'm back on the train. Goal 2 ~ Running 2x/week. 1 interval session and 1 long run, at least 5k, but I need to do one 10k by the end of the challenge, just to see if I can, and how long it takes me. I've got new shoes on the way, so the 10k can wait 'til after they arrive and are a bit broken in (they should come early next week, if Canada Post does it's job, and the last ones broke in quickly, so it shouldn't have to wait too long), I'm in fairly dire need and I don't think my feet could handle that distance in the old ones. Goal 3 ~ Taking Care I've been incredibly lax in my stretching and physio. I need to to this every day, even though it feels like a lot it's not actually. I need to do this before I turn on the tv and/or computer in the evening, since I usually get sucked into that and choose laziness. Goal 4 ~ ETP Keep hitting numbers. I've been good for stretches and not as good for stretches (but never terrible, so far). This will require continued meal planning, which will be easier with my weekends being actual weekends again and my work schedule being considerably more regular. Goal 5 ~ Sleep Up with the alarm, to bed at 11 on work nights, midnight on non-work nights. This is a perpetual challenge for me, so here it is again... Goal 6 ~ Police Stuff I started my fitness log for the police a while ago, so I need to continue with that every day (and get a binder to keep it in, before I start losing pages). I never got around to checking out the website with the free (?) courses I can take, so I need to do that too. I also want to look into ASIST training and/or a mental health first aid course, and I need to requalify for regular first aid sometime too. Not all of these have to be accomplished by the end of the challenge, but I need to at least look them up and see if/when/where they might be offered. Extra Credit After reading Elastigirl's thread, I've decided to just barge into her 30 day pushup challenge and do it too. I'll do at least 10 every day of the challenge. Doing them as part of a crossfit workout is fine, and will probably result in more than 10 that day, but if I don't do them in the workout, or it's a non-crossfit day, I'll do 10 at some point anyway.

So Moros is marching on. The goal this challenge is to firm things up. Last challenge got away from me some, partially due to several trips, but I want to get things back to consistency. So, the challenge is exactly the same, except that I've added one tiny thing: When I post my report to the forum, I need to discuss how to de-bug my exercises better. I need to come up with better strategies that work for me in the evening, when I am tired, and distracted, so that I do my mobility work. I really need to focus on this. Full details in the spoiler: Edit - so, as a basic reward, I will get some new gym shorts (since mine are looking more and more sad). Maybe a new water bottle also. If I really do well, I will buy some Go-Ruck plates. Eventually, I would like to try rucking, and their packs look really, really durable. Edit 2 - Adjusted the challenge to reflect that I won't be doing mobility work after Yoga - it's too much to do both on the same evening.

[posting from my phone so forgive my typos & grammar] Life story; CURRENT GOALS 1. Get out of bed when your body wakes up. When I'm on work time I generally need to be out of bed by 6am to have enough time to cruise through my morning routine, but I've often woken up earlier then my alarm and tried to sleep more and made myself feel worse when I do finally get up. I'm going to make a point of hauling ass out of bed when I wake up if it's within a few hours or so of my alarm going off. 2. No screens in the morning before work. This is well-known to be counter-productive. I try to lose myself in social media or pinterest to avoid thinking/getting anxious about going to work and then I feel like shit physically and mentally. I can do anything else with this time; read, write, draw, crochet, exercise, etc... I'm constantly feeling guilty for not spending time on any of my many hobbies and the morning time is supposed to be great for productivity. As a well-known night owl, we shall see. 3. Track food; Stay within +-500cals of 2000calorie target and aim for 100g of protein. I've neglected my food tracking because I was stuck on the couch for 3 months and feeling sorry for myself. And the last two weeks I've been on holidays; no one needs that sort of stress on holidays. For those interested in how I decided on 2000cals; 4. Burpees in the morning. I have not historically loved burpees. But they work literally everything. And if I can get through burpees before doing anything else I can tackle anything else that the day throws me. Thats the plan. And I need to work on cardio and strength for derby. I still have my gym membership so I still plan to use it, but I need a baseline of exercise to focus on. I am late to this one but better that then not starting at all. I plan on starting this on Tuesday the 6th because I won't be home until then. *hi fives self* Go team!

So, I've been having a tough time getting back in the saddle. It's not that I haven't been active. I'm still doing parkour class at least once/week, and I've been walking a lot. But, I've had a ton of adulting to handle in the last many months, and I've really found it difficult to set aside any time for real workouts. The plan for this challenge is to do a few small things every day, just to get back into having good habits. I've also been stuck in that unfortunate place where I've hit a huge plateau in parkour and don't feel like I'm improving, so my motivation is low. But the low motivation is causing me to work out much less, which is in turn really counterproductive for breaking through that plateau. 1. Put on workout clothes every day.... and then do something. Yeah, it sounds like a dumb goal, but one of my problems is that I often feel like workout clothes = need to do a full workout when I just don't have time. But then I feel like I can't do a quick yoga session or hand balancing, or whatever in my "normal clothes." So, I end up just taking a walk and not doing anything else. 2. Make a to-do list every day. It just helps me stay much more organized and productive. 3. At least spend a tiny amount of time researching how to teach piano lessons and vacation stuff every day. I've played since I was 7, but I know nothing about teaching. Lessons out here cost like $40 per half hour, so I'd rather try to teach my own kids than pay for lessons. Also, I'm the person in charge of planning our vacation in late July, so I have to get cracking on that. 4. Tea + reading every evening. No alcohol in the evening. No screen time after 10. My sleep has been exceptionally shitty lately. Before I see a doctor about this or try drugging myself, I really need to fix these horrible evening habits. 5. Post something somewhere on NF at least every day. I need the motivation boost from being here, so I really need to stick around this challenge!

Hi, Moros is back again. This challenge is similar to the last one, except for the following things: 1. I am doing the whole-body mobility prescriptions in Deskbound Sun - Fri. They are 10 minute exercises to loosen things up. 2. I am upping Yoga to two times per week 3. I am also practicing the "bracing sequence" - basically aligning while standing several times a day. This is so I get in the habit of doing it. Pretty much everything else is the same. Details below:

Deffy Goes For Gold Yes I have picked a theme so uniquely British and of the 1980's it is quite possible nobody will get the reference. I think even I am technically too young to remember this, it just has legendary status in my house because as my mom never tires of reminding me, as a 2 year old I was obsessed with Henry Kelly and nobody knows why. But I digress. The aim of this challenge is to amass coinage and earn some good old fitness loot. Doing certain tasks earns me a pitiful amount of money that will add up over time and I can buy myself rewards and fun stuff with the earnings. I have made it so things I am automatically doing (like eating 5 a day, reading my ten pages and drinking approved fluids - things I have an intact streak for all year) aren't worth anything, I have to overachieve in these areas to earn for doing the things. All sums are paid on a daily basis and nothing can carry over (so if I eat 8 portions of freggies one day and 2 the next, I earn nothing each day for that task) Things worth money are: Eating 10 portions of freggies [10p] Drinking 2 litres of water (it has to be water) [5p] Following my skin care routing both morning and night [5p] Each 500 cal deficit in a day (has to be a whole 500, no rounding up) [5p] Each 30 minutes of cardio (again, no rounding up) [5p] A Darebee workout (must be completed on the hardest level for points) [10p] Eating the meals I have scheduled [5p] Applying body lotion (all over or nothing) [5p] Face mask [5p] Yoga session [10p] Stretching properly both pre and post workout [5p] Daily Dare [5p] Completed the weekly to do list (payable once per week) [25p] Stick to monthly budget (payable once per month) [500p] Per unique milestone (5p) But as well as not earning the bonuses for doing the tasks, some of the tasks are worth penalties for not doing them: Exceeding maximum calories (-25p) Per missed task on the to do list (-10p) Not eating the scheduled meal (-10p) Exceeding the monthly budgets, even by a penny (-750 points) I also have a section on my spreadsheet where I can award extra money on a discretionary basis for good stuff. Big weight loss milestones will be included here but other stuff can be too. The Loot! Currently on the list of "shit I want" is: a dehydrator, a breadmaker, a squat rack, new healthy cookbooks, fitness gear and a sports bra. There is also fun stuff on the list like Sims expansion packs, and some self care stuff like Lush bath bombs and fancy shampoo. The idea is, if it is on the list of loot then I cannot buy it with regular money, it has to be Going For Gold money. I have been trialling this format since Wednesday and it's working really well so far. I have already amassed a lofty £2.55 (please, no begging letters) and this is just the pace I wanted to earn the loot at so I think the amounts are pretty much bang on. It's working to motivate me well and I am excited for the format to continue so............ New challenge.... goooooooooooooooo!

I was in the Assassins Guild quite some time ago, but I've been an Adventurer since then. Last night, however, I watched Assassin's Creed - because Fasbender! And since I know I need to change things up with my challenges, if you all don't mind, I've returned for this round, and maybe longer. I want to Assassinate my challenges and I want to be the boss of my body... Wait no, that's not quite right. 'Want' and 'need' are purposeless words, like 'try'. A great being once said 'Do or do not, there is no try.' If I say I need to, or want to, do something, but then don't take the steps to achieve that something, then what's the point? I'm forty-seven years old, sneaking up fast on another birthday and a big hiking adventure trip to Glacier National Park, both in August. I've been stagnant with my weight-loss for too long and I've never really been committed to it, or to improving my fitness consistently. This needs to change. During this challenge I WILL BE the master of my body, I WILL OWN every bite of food or ounce of liquid I consume, and I WILL HAVE FUN! Stay tuned for more details, once I figure out what those details are. And in the meantime, please enjoy some Fasbender. I know I always do.

Hello, hello. I have been a member since 2012. In university I had a routine that kept me consistent and motivated to workout. Now that I've been in the real world (aka working for a living) I am finding it much harder to keep a consistent and sustainable routine. Would love a partner to help keep me accountable (and I am happy to help in return). Hiking is my favorite but I also dabble in yoga, running, bodyweight and gym workouts (part of my struggle to be consistent). Would also love someone who will geek out with me. Star Wars and Dragon Age are always personal obsessions favorites Few additional details: 25 year old female, US (Eastern Time Zone) - Relatively "in shape" aka I am inconsistently active. Animal lover. Extra extra credit for any fellow animal lovers (especially fellow dog owners)

It's been a while since I've worked on a challenge and I'm still feeling the high of CNF, so I want to try and capture the momentum I've felt the last several days and propel myself towards my goals. I'm terrible at keeping up with these things but I also tend to want to write novels, so I'm going to try to keep it simple. I had an amazing time this past week and absolutely feel a renewed commitment to my own health and fitness. I'm especially thrilled that my boyfriend came to camp with me. I think we've got a good foundation that we can now build on. My goals for this challenge: Powerlift at least 3x per week Buy two meals or less per week Track all food during the week

Busy day but I'm posting quickly before bed... I'm back for my third start. In the past I've gone strong for two weeks and then fallen off. I t's not even a conscious decision. I lose focus, stop paying attention, get distracted, and then get angry at myself and have difficulty getting back on track. So this challenge it's about staying on track and really paying attention. I'm sticking just to the basics, no frills. I feel like I really need a win under my belt to prove to myself that I can do this. And I can! I have before. Food - Track everything on MFP. This is my most inconsistent practice and this is the challenge where I clean it up. - Make smart choices, starting with cooking ahead. This always keeps me on track. Exercise I've been doing pretty great on this. I found a routine that works for me at the gym. It includes Stronglifts, running/walking, spin class, and swimming. I like the variety it provides. I have an accountability buddy now, too, and we report in every morning and night with our planned workout and to report in that we've finished our workout. Lifestyle - three things hanging over my head are getting done during this challenge, before school starts in September - Car insurance claim cleaned up - Renew AAA - Switch cable companies As a bit of an incentive for myself, I got a new gym bag (a backpack rather than a duffel - so much easier to carry with my work bag) and some shower gear since my gym has nice shower facilities and I like showering there. Something as simple as a nice soap is so enjoyable after a hard workout.

(summary only) - will fill in some more later. Hello everybody, My work goes into high gear now. From now until December, my time and energy are much more constrained, so I will have to fight extra hard to keep my progress. So this challenge will really be about continuing to do the things I am currently doing, and improving my ability to "adapt, improvise, and overcome" - to borrow a line. The first week of the challenge, I am likely to be working 80 or so hours a week, so anything I get done today through Saturday will be a bonus. For the remaining three weeks, I will have the following goals: I think that's it for now. I will add more stuff later on.

One of my biggest enemies to productivity is schedule changes. I find that as soon as my schedule changes dramatically I neglect my new good habits and return to my old bad habits. And these next two weeks my enemy is returning. I just finished my summer internship at my church and will be going back to college after a 2-week lull. So my schedule is changing twice over the next two weeks.This means that I need to be extra careful to keep up the good habits I have been starting to form with my last challenge. I'm mainly going for consistency this challenge instead of trying to do more. 1. Drink 1.5L of water a day. At work I brought my water bottle with me wherever I went. I will continue doing this at home and at school. 2. Workout 3 times/week. Although over the next two week this will be easy with all my free time, this won't be the case when I go back to school. Working out while being stressed with homework and exams will be the challenge. 3. Spent 10 minutes in prayer and Bible-reading every morning. As a Christian this is super important for me. Yet these I seem to neglect the most during major schedule changes. 4. Find 5 healthy snacks I enjoy. In my last challenge I had troubles substituting unhealthy snacks for healthy snacks. I think it will be easier if I can build an arsenal of healthy snacks to combat the unhealthy ones. If you have any suggestions for healthy snacks let me know! Since I have several things I would like to get done over the next couple months, I will add in my personal to-do list for accountability. One of the big things is that I'm getting married in February! And with all that excitement comes a lot of planning! We are going for a short engagement (we got engaged in July) so we have to get going on getting it all ready! We have already done a bunch of planning over the past month and a half but still have a lot to do. Here are what we hope to get done over the next month. Wedding To Do's: A. Buy a suit. I'm going to use a suit instead of a tuxedo at my wedding. I don't have a suit yet and want to buy one so I decided to buy the suit for my wedding so that I can use it afterwards. I will need to look online for what kind of suit I want and then I will have to go out and buy it! B. Plan table center-pieces. We have been looking around at how we want our tables to look. We just need to make some decisions and try it out to see if we like it. C. Decide on our honeymoon. We have to decide where we want to go and what we want to do! D. Find a musician. We want someone to play the guitar at our wedding. We have a lot of musical friends and hope to get one of them to play for us. E. Decide on wedding favors. We need to look around for what we want to give our guests as a thank you. This needs to be done early in case ordering takes a while. F. Decide on Groomsmen gifts. What will I get my men? Not sure yet so I need to spent some time thinking about that. Non-wedding To Do's: G. Complete my book summary. One of my teachers for next semester is giving us the option to complete one assignment early. We have 18 pages to make a summary of our 500-page textbook. I want to complete this before school starts so that I don't have to worry about it during school. H. Complete 2 more Inkscape Tutorials. I want to learn about graphic design so a couple weeks ago I found the application Inkscape. I have completed 2 tutorials already (pictures to come) and hope to do 2 more this month. For each tutorial I complete I also have to use what I learned to make something else (i.e. I can't just duplicate exactly what they did but have to also make my own artwork). I. Woodburn a design on wooden coasters. I have also been learning the art of pyrography. I really like the minimalist design and want to try out a design on wooden coasters. This will require going out and buying a set of wooden coasters, making a design, woodburning it, and then applying a finish to it. I realize this is a lot to do but I do have 2 weeks of spare time. I will aim to do at least 1 post every week with updates but I hope to do it more frequently than that.

Challenge Reflections What Went Well: 1. My challenge quest tracker helped me stay accountable and motivated to fill in those little squares! 2. Meal planning made eating healthy mindless and easy, and easy to track since it was all planned out. 3. Getting up early in the morning to run or cycle or whatever makes me feel good and I enjoy having some Me time before my day starts (especially since my evenings are usually hanging on the couch with my mom watching TV). 4. Drinking 100 oz of water a day makes me feel well and healthy. Where Things Fell Apart: 1. Feeling like I HAD to strength train 3 times a week made me not want to, and I didn't do a single strength training session after the 2nd week. 2. I quit tracking my food and did some major emotional eating after I started my job. 3. Trying to exercise 5x a week once I started work was daunting and I gave up. What I'm Going To Do This Time: Physical Challenge 1. I going to make a quest tracker, because it makes me happy, but I'm going to give myself a little extra leeway than I did last time. 2. I will exercise 3x a week, doesn't matter what it is, for at least 25-30 minutes. 3. I will track my food, because I didn't for about 2 weeks and I started gaining again. 4. I'm going to continue to aim for 100 oz of water every day. What I'm Going To Do To Level Up My Life: 1. Laundry 1x week: The Whole Shebang (wash, dry, PUT AWAY, darn it!) (My room is unbearably messy, and it's almost entirely because I let my laundry pile up.) 2. In bed, phone off, by 9:30 every night, so I can get up early enough for a run and a cup of coffee before work. 3. Create budget and initiate Dave Ramsay's Debt Snowball to eradicate my debt so I can move to Ireland and be with the love of my life. 4. I'm going to have a riding lesson every week (as long as it's within budget) and play soccer when the games are before 9 pm, because I enjoy those things, even if the pull of the couch is strong. Current Challenge Quest Tracker: