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I don't think I have ever been this excited to start a new year or a new challenge! 2017 was difficult and January was useful to take stock of where I am and what I want to do with my life. The answer is: do more of the things which make me happy, judge less, and be healthy. (Also, swear less.) I will try to maintain this momentum throughout 2018, so I am here setting up the basis for all the 2018 challenges to come! The quests themselves will change, but these 3 goals will largely remain the same (unless I reach one of them mid-year, then I will change!). It took a long time for me to identify these three priorities, and I intend to pursue them fiercely! I am falling short of a metaphor or a picture of someone I want to emulate. Because this is the year where I reclaim MY life and live it the way I want, without too much interference from others. So, let's say that I want to be, as often as possible, as happy as I am on this picture (or happier!). This is me and my sister at a k-pop concert last year - few other moments were as happy as that in our lives! (I am on the left, in case someone is wondering ^_^) Ultimate goals for 2018: 1- Be healthy, and not be ashamed of my body, specifically lose 22 kg 2- Stop judging readily and be more accepting of others and myself, specifically stop putting myself down 3- Use my free time to do things which I enjoy, specifically DO things with my hands on top of having intellectual hobbies For February, let's start with basics and establish good habits! Quest 1: Establish healthy living habits! - Note what I eat every day - No need to try to limit what I eat yet, just take note of patterns, feelings when I eat a bag of M&Ms (or want to) and be mindful of what I eat - Try and sleep 7 hours per day (this means in bed by 11:15pm, 10:45pm on Thursdays!) (I am currently around 6 hours, so 7 should not be impossible!) - Exercise a little every day (I currently exercise 5 days a week, but I am inclined to rest and not do anything physical on weekends) Quest 2: Flex my non-judgmental muscles! - Try to catch myself when I am being judgmental and instead try to understand others' point of view - Listen to Judgment Detox - Write down 1 thing to be grateful of every day Quest 3: Try out new things and see what makes me happy - Try 1 new restaurant or 1 new dish (cooking a new recipe is okay too) per week - Move furniture around a buy a piano and realize my life-long dream to actually learn how to play - Start my own online shop selling stickers and trading cards Side quest: stop swearing. Method: when I am about to swear, use another word. If I already swore, repeat the sentence without the swear word. Continue until extinction of swear words or sheer exhaustion. I feel like I am waking up from a loooooong slumber where I was on the sidelines, on the outside looking in. I learnt a lot, but did not DO much, because I was afraid of failing, because I should not, because I did not know how. I want to let go of this feeling and embrace failing, and be more active in life! More details tomorrow so I don't make this post too long!

Hi again NF artists, I almost finished my paper and I'm really motivated on doing some more art this month. In fact I'll be posting some pictures of the stuff I drew today, when I remember to take a picture. February is a little shorter so let's try to post 28 pieces of art. Not everybody has to draw 28 pieces, the numbers will add up. So let's work on this together. I don't mind, what materials you want to use. In the spirit of the Loft it can be crafts, drawings, paintings, sculpting, traditional and digital art - And of course anything artsy I couldn't think of at the moment. Just have some fun and challenge yourself to do a little more art then last month. If you haven't done any art for months, but want to get back into the creative prozess, you're right here. I'm going to mark this post for the guys and gals, who have been hanging around or have an artsy goal this challenge: @erosan, @BlackTezca, @Starpuck, @UnquietBones, @MrsFeanor, @Neeko, @Kelliestrasza, @StarRuby, @Pyrorazor, @StarRuby, @Rosie's Riveter, @RedStone, @Tash, @Volki, @MiaulinTheCat, @Lord Pakku, the Unhinged; @kellie.eugenia, @Miw_Sher, @LivingDeadGirl, @KaitSith, @Arkham edit: If anyone doesn't want to be marked every month, I'll take you from the list. If you know anybody else, who could be intrested, just give them a call. Looking forward to seeing some lovely art. And there will be some artsy topics to chat about again this month. I'm trying to find some new stuff this time. This time for real or I should stop promising that.

Hi there my lovely NF artists, I wish you all a good new year. But let's get right into business: We have been doing well in 2016, let's give our best in 2017. I didn't draw as many christmas cards, as I wanted to, but there are still a lot of birthdays to come and I still have to finish my art projects. I'm sure you have some projects just waiting to be finished, too. So I'm going to start more challenges this year. Let's try to post 31 pieces of art, that were finished this January. I don't mind, what materials you want to use. In the spirit of the Loft it can be crafts, drawings, paintings, sculpting, traditional and digital art - And of course anything artsy I couldn't think of at the moment. Just have some fun and challenge yourself to do a little more art then last month. If you haven't done any art for months, but want to get back into the creative prozess, you're right here. I'm going to mark this post for the guys and gals, who have been hanging around the Loft: @erosan, @BlackTezca, @Starpuck, @UnquietBones, @MrsFeanor, @Neeko, @Kelliestrasza, @StarRuby, @Pyrorazor, @StarRuby, @Rosie's Riveter, @RedStone, @Tash, @Volki, @MiaulinTheCat, @Lord Pakku, the Unhinged; edit: If anyone doesn't want to be marked every month, I'll take you from the list. If you know anybody else, who could be intrested, just give them a call. Looking forward to seeing some lovely art. And there will be some artsy topics to chat about again this month. I'm trying to find some new stuff this time. This time for real.

Revenge of The Loft It has been a while! Welcome back to The Loft! A simple a humble space for all those rebels out there who wish to level up their creative side! This group is here to offer inspiration and support for all the writers, musicians, and artists out there. In the past threads I have been blown away with all the interaction, advice and sharing that has gone on and I hope to have that continue this time around. For myself I will admit that life has thrown some curveballs along the way that I have been pleasantly surprised with or completely overwhelmed. I am happy to be back and to bring this group back for some awesome fun times! I'm not sure about doing weekly topics since I have had a hard time tracking and keep those up, but any and all suggestions are welcomed and nothing wrong with a few creative exercises to get those imagination juices flowing :). Anywho, hope to see ya'll around these parts! Let's share some art!

Return to The Loft Welcome back to The Loft! A fun little space where we can share our love of creativity and help inspire each other to keep pursuing our passions. Whether you're a hobbyist, full time artists/writer/crafter or simply curious and wanting to get started, this is an awesome group for you! We had a lot of fun last time and I was really excited about how much interaction, activity and discussion we were having! I'm really happy that so many people had a good time with this group and I hope to keep that momentum going as we move onto the next challenge! I plan on using this thread not just to share art (though please if you have any art, writing, photos, videos, etc that you want to share, they are more than welcome here), but also to share tips and tricks, pose some topics, and just overall have a great time. We are here to level up every aspect of our lives, especially our passions! The doors are once again open! Please step inside and explore The Loft!

Well I fell down over the past coupld of months, so now I have to get back up and start pretty much all over again. That is what this challenge will be about for me. Getting up getting back on track and getting consistent and getting my weight off. Steve’s article on being strong nerds with the link to the Henry Rollins ‘Iron and the Soul’ really touched a nerve for me. I need to do this so I can feel like Henry did in his article. I need to do this so I can say look at my success over my body, my laziness, my self. I need to do this so I can be the example my six kids need me to be. I need to do this for my Rebbecca, so she has the best me as her partner. I need to get back up off the dirt and start again, because I AM NOT A LOSER. Losers lay in the dirt whining, winners get up and fight again. I AM GETTING UP. First Goal: Get up and Walk I have stopped walking consistently. I am not even making my 10,000 steps per day. I have a perfectly good driveway walk, 1.5km [just under a mile] in length. Hel I used to walk 5km per day. Last year I had even started running. I need to get this back. This goal will be in two parts. The first is the number of walks up my driveway. The second is the average number of steps per day [calculated over a week]. At the moment my weekly step count daily average is a measely 6500. That has to go up. I am also struggling to get any walks in at all. There are four points up for grabs for me here, two for Constitution and two for Stamina. Critical Hit: 4 points 6-7 walks/week 10,000+ average daily steps Hit: 3 points 4-5 walks/week 9,000+ average daily steps Dodge: 2 points 2-3 walks/week 8,000+ average daily steps Block: 1 point 1 walk/week 7,000+ average daily steps Miss: 0 points No walks Less than 7,000 average daily steps Second Goal: Get up and Workout I have to get up and rebuild all of my strength. I am getting to fat for my 92/36 jeans. I am too fat for my xl/2xl t-shirts. This is due to me not working out regularly anymore. I need to get up and workout. I have recently started doing a morning body weight routine, this consists of 20 incline push ups, 10 lunges and 20 squats. I want to extend this into the a full BBWW, with rows and a plank. I want to keep this going as a daily routine. I do need to add extra to my weekly routine. I love burpees; they have to be the ultimate bodyweight total body exercise around. I plan to use them as a Hiit workout. Over the past couple of weeks I have been doing just this, with 4 sets of 30 seconds [which works out to 4 burpees per set] once per week. I want to do this three times per week. I also need to do a strength workout. I want to do this twice a week. I love using the kettlebell and my hammer. So I have created a simple routine to use both of these tools. This routine will consist of Hammer Wielding Maniacs as a warm up followed by; Hammer Kisses, Grave Diggers, Wood Chops, Goblet Squats, Kettlebell Swings and Turkish Get Ups. This also has four points available. Two for strength and two for stamina. Critical Hit: 4 points 4-5 total workouts any combination per week Hit: 3 points 3 workouts any combination per week Dodge: 2 points 2 workouts any combination per week Block: 1 point 1 workout any combination per week Miss: 0 points No workouts. Third Goal: Get up and be creative I have started getting back into going to the markets and selling my crafts again. But I need more stock. That means taking time out to make stuff. Which means time engraving glass, wood burning and shaping faux bone pendants. Not to mention putting the pendants on necklaces. This is a time-orientated goal. Time spent doing my crafts rather than selling or researching. I will also post pictures of items made each week. There will be three points available here. All going towards wisdom, as using my time well is an act of wisdom. Critical Hit: 3 points 3+ hours per week Hit: 2 points 2-3 hours per week Dodge: 1 points 1-2 hours per week Miss: 0 points Less than 1 hour per week Life Goal: Get up and start building garden beds. The next six weeks is the right time [in my area] to start getting garden beds ready for planting winter crops. I want to build and set up one garden bed per fortnight. That is three beds made for this challenge. I don’t need to explain the importance of home grown veggies to everyone here on Nerd Fitness. I do need to post pictures of each garden bed made as proof of completion. H’mm where to allocate points here? Dexterity could work for the ability to make the beds, as could Stamina. Charisma for the benefits of doing something for my family would also count [my Bec would be very happy]. Constitution for the benefits of home grown food, wisdom for the application of knowledge of the importance growing food. Strength for the lifting and carrying of beds and fertilizer and so forth.. Bugger it. I am going with one point for dexterity, one point for wisdom and one point for stamina. Critical Hit: 3 points Three beds made Hit: 2 points Two beds made Dodge: 1 points One bed made Miss: 0 points No beds made. Which will leave me with one point to attribute to whichever attribute I wish based upon the completion of the challenge.

Last challenge was a complete failure, so I need to take some time off from Epic Questing to get my head back in the game. My mental fortitude took an ass kicking last challenge and without working on my Wisdom stat I don’t feel like I’ll be able to keep levelling up effectively. I just want to have fun with this one and stop stressing so much! I also miss the druids and now that spring is here I want to be mindful enough of the outside world to truly enjoy it. MAIN QUEST: DIE HAPPY Simples. Current quest: Cheer the f*** up. Step 1 - One long meditation session a week. +1000 points I get stressed trying to remember to do so many things a day, that I figure I'll just give myself one session to remember to do and be done with it. I should try to make it over 20 minutes but to be honest, as long as I'm meditating I'm winning. Step 2 - One long yoga session a week. +1000 points Same thing as with the meditation. I get so stressed and guilty about not doing everything I should that I freeze and do nothing. Should be at least half an hour of yoga, but any yoga is pretty much a win right now. Step 3 - Keep a log of how I feel day-to-day. +100 points p/day I'm getting better at noting what changes my levels of happiness and affects me greatly, but if I can actually see it and write it down I can then work out what I need to do to avoid dramatic mood swings and dips in motivation. Some things I could log; -work hours -weather (if it affected actions/mood of the day) -positives / negatives about the day -sleep quality (time awake, / sleeping, feel upon waking) -foods, if they had an effect on my body. -different moods throughout day, what changed them. !! Bonus Missions !! These are things I should do but don't always feel like doing and I'm not going to guilt myself into doing them. I want to create triggers for good decisions based on how I'm feeling or what I'm not doing. - Extra meditation or yoga sessions during the week. +20 points per session - Use bodyweight exercises to release anger. +100 points - Be creative if I'm sitting around fidgeting. +50 points - Attempt to talk to someone in my social circle about how I’m feeling / what I’m thinking. +200 points - Get out of the house. +50 points - Clean something, anything if feeling bored. +100 points - Say something nice to myself. +10 points per nice thing - Add a serve of steamed vegetables to any meal. +20 points per serve of vegetables

THE JOURNEY CONTINUES... Installment three. MAIN GOAL. Lower bodyfat percentage. ADDITIONAL GOALS FOR THIS CHALLENGE. Stick to personal trainers 21 day Paleo meal plan. Blog about it. LIVE IT. Work out 6 days a week in some fashion for at least 30 minutes. Drop the self-depreciation. Seriously. LIFE QUEST. One craft project a week with my children. One main craft project for myself for the duration of the challenge. MOTIVATION. This weird and oddly humbling feeling that I discovered whereby it's okay to live in the moment and not sweat the small stuff. It's given me so much more momentum than I thought it would. BEFORE STATS.

Do you write, paint, draw, play an instrument, sing, create yummy dishes, throw pottery, dance, act, sew, craft, do something else creative or combine some of the above? Rangers aren't just jacks-of-all-trades in fitness. A lot of us carry that trait over into our more creative work and play, too, either as "Renaissance" men and women when we create and succeed, or alternately as dabblers, dilettantes, and dreamers when we don't follow through on our projects. Let's inspire and encourage each other on to Leonardesque greatness in our fitness and our creative goals!