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For those just tuning in, I'm Raxie! I'm returning to the boards after taking a hiatus for my wedding, honeymoon and Thanksgiving... all of which basically happened in rapid succession. It's been an AMAZING couple of months, but my brain, and my life, are in need of severe decluttering. Confession: I have a ridiculous case of Rangerbrain. I cannot. stop. wanting. to do. ALL. THE. THINGS. If I enjoy something, I try to make it so I can work it into my workout schedule (tried boxing at Camp Nerd Fitness and loved it? TAKE A BOXING CLASS! Decided rucking is great training for hiking? RUCK EVERY DAY. Went to a Nerd Meetup at the DC Spartan Race and decided it looked amazingly fun? TRAIN FOR 100 SPARTANS! Oh, and do it all at the same time!!!!). Seriously I am out of freaking control. OUT OF CONTROL! I am getting burned out and need to chillllll outtttt. I've basically made a list of all the things I want to do, and what is most easily attainable, while keeping in mind that going after a goal now doesn't mean I can't, for example, sign up for a spartan at a later date and switch my training over to focus on that for a bit. The idea here is I need to focus on something, not everything. After some brain storming I came to the conclusion that the two most important things to me right now are lifting and dance. I did ballet for 15 years when I was a kid, and then stopped when I went to college. Taking private ballroom lessons for my first dance at my wedding reignited my love of it, and I am completely obsessing over it. So I'm going to build a SIMPLE schedule around training to improve my dancing, and actual dance classes. I really want to get good at it and I haven't felt so great about myself and had so much fun in an incredibly long time. I will never be able to fully give up lifting because it is so fundamental to me and my training now, but I will *GASP* lower my number of lifting days a week from 3 to 2. (And I need to keep telling myself this is OK). It's going to be OK. So here's the goals: Fitness Goal 1: Dance! 2-3 dance classes a week, depending on holiday and work schedule. Fitness Goal 2: Lift! 2-3 lifting sessions a week, depending on dance schedule Fitness Goal 3: Accessory Work 1 Cardio Dance session a week 1 Ballet Barre session a week 3 ROM WODs a week Life Goal: Don't eat like an a-hole Declutter my belly. Self explanatory. Grading Post my plan for the week every Sunday or Monday. At the end of the week - did I do it or no? If I do it all 4 weeks, LEVEL UP.. If not, reassess and try again next time I know this is harsh, but I'm going super simple this challenge so I'll have to really slack to not meet my goals.

Hello all! Bulba and I are back after a difficult challenge last time, who saw us lose some steam and some of our spirits, so it is time to get back on track. But this time the goal will be US. It will be okay if we do not go very far in the forest. It will be okay if we don't do everything we had planned to do. (Many many thanks to @Manarelle for reminding us of that last challenge!) It will be okay if we ask for help. It will not be okay if we are not okay. So this challenge is all about finding the right balance to be okay and move forward in a positive fashion. Encouragement, celebrating victories, being grateful for all of the things we receive, enjoying the moment without guilt will be our weapons, and serenity and an even mind will be our goals! Actual challenge goals will be relatively consistent with our previous challenges, but much more geared towards building a happier life. 1- Visit every Pokemon Center - Prioritize sleep 2- Eat nutritious Pokebeans every day, and sweet Pokebeans from time to time - Focus nutrition on balance between reason and happiness 3- Speak to many people and learn from them - Continue preparing the exam, celebrating successes 4- Fight in the tall grass - Exercise, in all forms, making it fun to lift heavy things 5- Spend time playing with Bulba - Do something kind for ourselves. Every. Day. I will also simplify the accounting system because last time it was impossible to do... Goal details (note that this is obvious for most people... but since I was not able to follow these rules lately, I am writing them down to remind myself - feel free to skip this section entirely!) 1- Sleep Step 1: sleep. There is no step 2. 7 hours will be set as minimum, 8 hours will be the goal. 6.5 hours are tolerable. This means: in bed at 930pm, lights out at 945pm ideally. If not possible, then 1030pm and 1045pm In extreme cases lights out at 1115pm, even if the house is in disarray, dirty dishes are not done, Korean was not studied and I have not played or done anything relaxing. (I should print this and put it next to my bed...) This is where nights of six hours or less end. It just makes life miserable and not worth living given how physically difficult the remaining hours are. - 2 points for 7 hours, 4 for 8, 6 for 9 or plus, 1 for 6.5, 0 for 6. Weekly goal: 14 points 2- Food If I don't sleep I want to eat crap (doesn't everyone?). So let's not offer me too many opportunities to eat badly first by sleeping more (I see an emerging theme here). Food is key to lose weight and to train well (duh). And I want to do both. So I need to eat better. First I need to start tracking again. I have been holding on around 86.5kg, which is okay, now I need to start losing weight again and tracking is a great tool. - 1 point per day where I track. Weekly goal: 7 points Second, I need to make sure to eat protein and not too much carbs - I will play around with servings and see if I have to adjust (any nutrition suggestion around protein / carb balance is welcome!) Let's say 1 serving of protein with each meal + 1 in snack, and only 1 serving of carb per meal + 1 in snack - 1 point per each meal / snack done correctly (carbs + protein). Weekly goal: 20 points Finally, I need to stop feeling guilty when I don't follow these rules and eat pasta with tomato sauce or chocolate. - 1 extra point whenever I am able to catch myself guilt-tripping and manage to make it okay (because it is okay, really). 3- Exam prep So I have not dedicated as much time to exam prep as I would want to. But let's face it, I would want to spend 8 hours every day prepping this exam, which is not possible because 1/ work and 2/ boring. Also, commute. But at the same time, I have noticed I read emails (in Korean) faster and understand more of what is happening in meetings, which means I am progressing and this is also success! Especially since the exam is part reading and part listening!! (And I am already not bad at writing.) So I need to remind myself that work is helping me study. What I need to focus on is specifically vocabulary training, grammar studying and mock exam taking. all of which can be done during weekends, and with the first two being doable in 15-min increments. So small goals, because they will add up. - 1 point per workday when I spent 15 min doing vocab and 15 min doing grammar. Weekly goal: 5 points - 2 points per weekend day when I spent 1 hour doing exam prep. Weekly goal: 4 points - 1 point per hour spent speaking Korean with friends (really? really!) - 1 point per episode of Korean drama watched instead of Castle or Buffy or other things which do not develop my Korean power I can try to do more, but I do not have to. Because every email, every meeting, every lunch is actually studying. 4-Workout I hurt my neck and had to dial back on weightlifting and started missing my 3-minutes daily. I started inventing reasons in my head to lift and even games to trick my friends to do it with me. This is a serious clue that I want to lift weights! So let's do it, being careful not to hurt myself again (although my injury had nothing to do with lifting and everything to do with me being a klutz hahaha). - 1 point per day when I lifted for at least 1 song. It can be all different exercises, all deadlifts (I am in love with deadlifts even if my hamstrings hate me now). Weekly goal: 7 points Nothing else, because I already move quite a lot and need to stop being guilty when I don't exercise. Yes, I will 90% of the time still do 30-min biking in the morning, and two 90-minute dance classes per week. But if I am late I will only bike 20 minutes and it will be okay, because it is okay!! 5- Self-care I need to spend more time taking care of me, and less worrying about others. Others have themselves to take care of them (or should). So I need to do more things to soothe myself, especially during winter months with no light, gruesome commuting and uncertainty about employment (not very high probability, but high impact if it happens!!). So I should do something nice for myself every day. It can be small like taking 5 minutes to put on body lotion, it can be taking time for a nap or meeting friends on weekends, it can be just taking 15 minutes to read a book. I should just get used to doing it everyday, like the weight lifting exercise I love so much. - 10 points per day when I do something for me. Weekly goal: 50 points Because this is the single most important goal of all! So it is almost half of the expected points per week. Total goal 107 points per week (who decided that weeks would have 7 days making calculations so difficult??). I will do my best and if I can meet this goal it will be great and I will buy myself some new nice clothes which will FIT. And If I cannot meet that goal, I will try meeting it the following week!

The challenge title's for @SymphonicDan Last challenge was a wash out, I went from being sick to being injured and most of the time I stayed inside my cave. But I did peek out of it once or twice and at least I tried as best I could. This challenge I want to remain outside the cave and actually, you know, challenge for once. So here's the dealio Every day I will: Practice one performance routine at home at least once I have 3 performances coming up and only know one of the choreographies at this point, and I haven't even started on polishing the movements. Right now I have a bit of a handicap in that I hurt my rib, but at the very least I can go through the choreo in my head. Eat one salad or smoothie My eating has been appalling lately and it's terrifying how few freggies I've been consuming. Need to rectify that and this should be a relatively easy way of making sure I consume at least some every day. Tidy for one single song My cave has been more of a dumpster than a home lately, I just haven't had spoons left over for adulting. But today I finally tackled the embarrassing mess and now I only need to keep it clean. I'm setting the bar ultra low, but every day I need to put on ONE song and spend that time tidying. Do abs or stretch With the performances I feel like I barely have time to train anything else, I haven't taken a technique class in weeks! I hope to be able to squeeze in some practices soon, but for now I should at least be able to spend a few minutes either stretching OR doing abs. Breathe Inspired by @zenLara, I'm quite tempted to try the Wim Hof method, but the light version for chickens. Because I'm not a cybort/wolverine and don't hate myself, I'm going to cherry pick the breath component and experiment with that. (I am intrigued by the cold water aspect as well, but I think I might try outdoor coldwater swimming in spring instead, Finnish style.) It's half an hour of stuff each day. I'm busy but I'm not *that* busy. I can do this, right? Right, let's do it! Starting tomorrow, I don't need a zero week, considering I've just had a zero month.

SOOOOO I was on a grand adventure on the East Coast when this started so I am still trying to figure out what the heck I am doing for this challenge. I will probably tweak this a bit as we go but my main goal here is: LIFE BALANCE- Make sure I have at least one free evening per week and one weekend day where I have at least 4 hours straight of down time. This..might be a challenge and will be not doable on the week when my show opens buuuut otherwise should be doable! Now to think up a few small measurable goals to complement! Also ...uh... I maybe just agreed to do a second and possibly third show that is going to be overlapping with my rehearsals for the play I'm doing (but the dance we are doing for the one is ALSO going to be in the other if we end up getting that one... director switch drama. Anyway!) Because I am terrible but also because I LOVE DANCING AND I CANT PASS UP A DANCE SHOW. I'm basically going to make half the dance rehearsals for now then transition to making all rehearsal once my play opens in mid-October! + New goal- Drink more water!!! - I realize I've gotten worse about my water drinking since being on vacation. (I was trying not to drink hoards because access to a public bathroom isn't always available every minute when wandering around doing tourist stuff! And also I hate having to get up to go to the bathoom a ton of times on flights if I can avoid it!) My goal is to: drink 3, 16 oz glasses of water (or about 6 cups of water) at minimum per day. I've been particularly terrible about this on work days, so my specific mini goal for weekdays is to finish my water cup I have on my desk at least once in the morning and once in the afternoon.

I have been wanting to do a Dark Tower themed challenge FOR EVER. This series is probably my absolute favourite of all time. I’m encouraged by the movie hopefully providing a wide availability of gifs so I'm finally doing it! I won’t be following the movie plot though, I’ll be sticking with the book characters and locations. This is going to be a 3 challenge long theme, with pre-planned variations and additions each challenge. This triple-challenge is all leading up to Mr. Raxie and I’s wedding in October, and then our honeymoon in early November! The first major thing I’ll be working towards is Mr. Raxie’s and I’s first dance. We started taking dance lessons last week I want to continue that. I also want to start taking group dance classes when I can because I remembered how much I truly love to dance (I did ballet for 15 years of my life growing up but it’s been quite a while since then) and every time we leave a dance lesson I feel so unbelievably happy and light. I want to get more of that feeling. A few weeks after the wedding is the honey moon! We were originally going to do something relaxing like going to an all inclusive resort or Disney or something like that and then realized that’s just not us, no matter how much we would love to pretend it is. So instead we are going to do a ~2 week backpacking trip across the Great Smoky Mountains via the Appalachian Trail! About halfway through we’ll be submitting Clingman’s Dome, which at 6,643 feet is the highest mountain on the Appalachian Trail and the third highest mountain on the east coast. It’s going to be really tough. I’m not concerned about being out in the middle of no where for that long as I feel adequately prepared in that sense, the terrain itself is just going to be hard as heck compared to what we are used to… so we are going to have to get really serious about training for that with as much hiking as possible between then and now, and rucking around the city when we can’t get out to nature. With all that said, I’ve got a pretty rigorous training plan for the next three challenges, and my challenges will include zero weeks so they are each 5 weeks long. Each challenge will be a leg of Roland’s journey to the tower with his Ka-Tet (for non-constant readers: the Ka-Tet is Roland’s tightly bound group of travelling companions through the series. They are so tightly bound they are essentially family and their destinies are entwined) and will be traveling towards a confrontation with one of the Dark Tower big-bads. The main Ka-Tet will come with me for each challenge, and each challenge will also have a guest member from the series for that challenge alone. Note: The characters that do and do not come with me, the potential deaths of big-bads, and how each relates to the locations of that particular challenge will have no correlation to book events, so it’ll all be pretty spoiler free.

Hello fellow Assassins (and other visitors!) ! My name is Asuka and I fell off the wagon a few months ago. I was unhappy at work, unhappy in life and eating cake to make it all get better. Did it work? Of course not! So I am now changing the way I work (and very soon changing jobs!), and ditching the cake to focus on making MYSELF (and not other people) happy. We all have things that make us happy when we do them and things that make us happy once they are done. So the goal of this challenge is to do enough of the first ones to "store" happiness to do the second ones and be doubly happy! And of course to get healthier while doing so! I will focus on 4 key goals, 3 daily ones and 1 long term one. 1/ Nutrition: The goal is to get back to a place where my stomach is happy without countless amounts of food. It will take a few weeks for my stomach to stop complaining about the lack of cake, but I am ready to fight it to be healthier! Happy doing: Eating Happy having done: Writing down what I ate, Eating clean, Not eating too much My daily weapons will be: Writing down what I eat and counting weight watchers points. I will also emphasize healthy snacks (e.g., fruits, protein bars) over cake (I need to stop talking about cake!) My daily reward will be: Eating 1 treat worth no more than 4 points (160kcal) (can be accumulated) AFTER I had a clean day of eating. Clean day is defined by accurate tracking, below 25 points total, and listening to feelings of satiety. 2/ Fitness: The goal is to mix happy exercises and super efficient ones and get back to a place where it is not so difficult to lift weights (because the muscle to fat ratio is better). It should take a few weeks for my body to get used to lifting again, as long as I maintain a good training schedule. Happy doing: Dance!, Stretching, Isolation Happy having done: Weightlifting, Biking My daily weapons will be: A mix of cardio and weightlifting. 3 sessions of 30-45min of each per week, MWS for weights and TTF for biking. My daily reward will be: For cardio it is easy: watching video games videos while biking. Yoohoo! For weightlifting, ENDORPHIN and pure motivation to get started. Also Memes (see below). Also enough stretching to make sure I am not too sore. And for every session of weightlifting: 5 full minutes of pure pride in the very fact that I did it. No matter how hard it was when it should be easy or how light the weights when they should have been heavier. 5 minutes taken just to congratulate myself that I did lift my butt from the couch and lifted weights on top of it. 3/ Well-being: I want to have a more balanced life, where I don't let work take over life and depress me to no end (or the point where I eat cake). I need better habits of doing things for myself and be h happy with 80% of things done for others (also because they don't care so much it turns out). Happy doing: Sleeping, Taking it slow Happy having done: Having slept 8 hours (not 6!), Having cooked healthy meals, Meditation My daily weapons will be: A strict deadline to go to bed (without it, I am useless) - let's say 11:15pm, to get to 8 hours, and a strict rule of no more than 2 episodes of whatever series OR 1 movie My daily rewards will be: Feeling rested (and needing less coffee), having more time for self-care such as face masks, scrubbing, etc. 4/ Life: I want to have a clean look and feel in my apartment and do active things which I like, rather than be a drone and binge watch re-runs. Unfortunately, when I am tired or depressed (see #3 above), I don't feel like being active, and more like being passive. And then all of a sudden it is 8pm on Sunday and I just watched life instead of living it. NO MORE! Happy doing: Reading mangas, Reading novels, Building nanoblocks, meeting friends, Watching TV Happy having done: Cleaning and sorting through my books, Moving furniture, Not having spent 8 hours mindlessly watching re-runs on TV My daily and weekly weapons will be: A little at a time: cut down large activities into smaller pieces (e.g., 1 shelf instead of 1 full bookshelf to be sorted) to do them on a daily basis and planning: I will start blocking out time for "active fun". Not TV, no work, nothing else at these times. My daily and weekly rewards will be: Actually doing things I enjoy and seeing progress in the things I want done. Also, less feeling of guilt because I am not doing these things. These are my goals for the next five weeks. I will see how well I did. As I am going on a 4-day vacation over 2 weeks (Sat to Tues), I will do my best to comp for these days. I expect to walk a lot, so it should be okay fitness- and well-being-wise. For the rest, I will improvise! As for a reward for the whole challenge (5 weeks, which should also be the last weeks in my current job, yay!), I will invest (exact amount to be determined!) towards an improved wardrobe which I actually LIKE to wear! As usual, I will track everything in an excel file (boring details in a separate post!) and will do my best to post here 2-3 times per week to share my progress and get energy from all of you! And to all: good luck for your challenges as well!!

For almost a year now, I’ve been on the quest to travel to foreign lands and find the healing herb that can save my husband. For the last half of that journey, I’ve been sitting in a horse-drawn carriage, eating my way through the enchanted cotton candy forest. I can see daylight break through the pink clouds of sugary hell, so it’s time I prepare myself for the rest of the journey - I’ll be no use whatsoever in my current state once I get out of here and actually have to walk and possibly even fight monsters. Oh the horror! [My husband got really sick last year. He’s had three surgeries and is taking medication, but so far it’s not gotten any better. My apprenticeship ended in December last year, and I’ve not been able to work since then, in parts because I had to stay home and take care of him/be his translator at local doctors’ offices and hospitals, and because I haven’t been able to find a job. I tend to embrace laziness in times like these instead of using my time to better myself. Aka eat my way through cotton candy forest while letting the carriage do the moving for me. That needs to stop now.] Main Goal: Get ready to leave cotton candy forest [stop being lazy and get back into the habit of actually doing things] Life Goal: Find a good side quest line to replenish the funds for my journey. All that sitting and eating hasn’t exactly helped replenish my little chest of gold, and my benefactor has forgotten about me! It’s time I help someone herd their kittens or farm some crab meat to fill up my chest again. [Check job adverts. Send out applications. Ideally, find a job. But mostly, don’t give up hope and keep putting myself out there.] Diet Goal: Cleanse my body with the orange potion of gut health All the cotton candy has wreaked total havoc on my body and the wizard I’ve met along the way has given me a big cauldron full of orange potion. It looks quite vile, and I need to gulp down a lot of it at a time or it won’t work. But I gotta be strong clear out all the remnants of sugary webs the cotton candy spiders have spun in my body. [Drink fiber at least twice a day, ideally three times. Before meals. Add laxatives to one drink per day. I started that to help out my husband, since he has to do it and that’s one small way I can support him, and noticed that it makes me feel a lot better, so I want to stick with it.] Fitness Goal: Shake out those stiff bones and get out of the carriage! I’ve been sitting for so long, I don’t even remember what standing up feels like. Or walking. And dear god, don’t even get me started on running or pushing the carriage out of the sticky cotton candy puddle it’s currently glued to. I’m going to have to start moving if I want to make it out of those forest - especially if I want to continue with my quest! [I’ve been lazy. I haven’t exercised properly in forever. Rather than setting myself two different fitness goal, my goal is to move. Every day. In whatever way feels good that day. I’d rather have a five minute dance party with myself and make that count than getting frustrated with myself for not doing a certain workout on a certain day and giving up because of it. Any movement counts, but I want to focus on the following especially!] Train like a warrior! [strength training at the gym] Run circles around the carriage! [go for a walk/run/any combination of the two] Dance among the stars! [have a dance party with myself - e.g. dance a couple songs on Just Dance or turn up the music and dance around the house while doing the laundry] Stretch like a cat! [Do yoga or any other stretchy thing that looks good to me, like floor ballet] Seek guidance from my coachmen and -women! [Attend a class at the gym] There is no one way for me to start moving again and fight my way out of this darned forest. The only way I can continue instead of returning home without the cure is to just start moving and not stop, and to take tiny steps on days where the big ones seem like too much. TL;DR: Life goal: Actively try my best to find a job Diet goal: Drink fiber drinks Fitness goal: Move every day I am still tweaking my workout. I am aiming for a full body workout rather than split workouts at this point, because chances are I’m not going to be going to the gym every day all of a sudden, so I want to make the most of it when I do. I would appreciate any advice you have on how to improve that workout! Right now, I’m going for lower weights/more reps so I can get used to the movements and learn to do them correctly with lower chance of injury. I’m planning to change that up once I’m more comfortable with the exercises. Gym workout plan: Warm up on bike/run a couple laps 3x10 shoulder press (machine) 3x10 chest press (machine, the one that’s sorta like a bench press but without having to have someone spot you) 3x10 butterfly (machine) 3x10 triceps pushdown (cable machine) 3x10 wide-grip lat pulldown (cable machine) 3x10 1-arm bent-over rows (each arm) 3x10 (decline) crunches 3x10 deadlift 3x10 glute bridge variations (add weight, incline or lift a leg - or all of it!) 3x10 dumb bell lunges 3x10 inner & outer thighs machine If any of you have suggestions, recommendations or advise regarding that routine, please feel very free to let me know. I would appreciate it! I'm going to the gym with a friend today and will do each of those exercises so he can check my form and give me advice and help where I need it before I just try it all on my own and screw up my back. I'll add my starting weights to it afterwards. Time to channel my inner Xena and escape this sweet, sticky forest!

Solidarity, rangers! I'm back, rested up from my last challenge, and itching to jump back into things again. High summer here, so perfect time to focus on fitness, while also being a badass at work and, I hope, cultivating a happy/ confident/ resilient attitude so I can fully enjoy all the awesome things about my current life. Last challenge wasn't perfect for me, but got me into some really positive habits that I'll keep up, and build on. And while I'm no Queen Bey, she's my model for this challenge... Anyway here's Wonderwall, ah, my new goals: Physical Stuff--(To track the success of these ones I'll also take some weight and body measurements) Kettlebell routine: 5 days/week. Scores 1 point/day, bonus points possible for >5 in a week Hot yoga: 5 days/week until my membership expires end of the month. Scoring as above. Tracking food and water: Every damn day for this one! 1 point/day. This goal encourages, but I guess does not absolutely require, batch meal preps for brekkie and lunch. Daily 500 cal deficit: Totally hangs on tracking food. 2 points/day. Mental Stuff-- So mostly, my colleagues and students are great and I love my job (especially in summer, haha) but we all get the occasional hater. To avoid bringing bad moods home to my awesome husband, kids and dogs, I propose the following, End-of-day Dance party: As little as 5 minutes counts, or whatever I need to shake it off. Probably do this at home, only to be done in the office under great duress and extreme circumstances! 1 point/day to max of 5/week. Squad Goals: Do something social at least 3 days per week. Invite a colleague to lunch or a grad student to coffee, hit the departmental social hour, anything goes here really. 1 point/day to a max of 3/week. Booze: Gah, wine and beer are EVERYWHERE in the summer but really mess with my sleep and next-day moods. I have two big celebrations coming up next week, will allow 1 glass for each, but otherwise am off the sauce. I'm signed up for a kombucha making workshop tomorrow so we'll see how that is as a sub Let's do this!

Goals to be added later. But basically, I'm trying a shiny new program (Power Hypertrophy Adaptive Training) and I'll be aiming to find maintenance or a slow bulking calorie intake over the course of the challenge. Also will be tackling work goals and things to support my development as a dancer. Goals are now added!!!! Be a real adult: Clean my apartment 1x / 3 weeks (wash countertops, sweep, vacuum, mop, and all those other things I appreciate when they're done but don't do very often) Sleep 7+ hours every night Serve all food into a bowl or plate (using rational judgment to follow the spirit of this one - so I'm not going to make myself spoon out peanut butter to then spread it on crackers, cause that's ridic; but I'm also not going to let myself sit down with a spoon and a jar of peanut butter and call that acceptable) Work like a boss: Stay focused for the duration of every workday (gentle grading on this one, but tougher than last challenge) Keep a warm, confident aura throughout the workday (I've gotten feedback I come across as prickly, which I don't hear at all from folks outside my work life) Do something for personal development every day (currently experimenting with timeblocking / planning each day at the start then holding myself to that schedule - so far it's been pretty effective) Train and Eat like an Athlete: Track all foods, log the calorie totals and weights into a google sheet I'm building to help me find maintenance calories - continue to eat near maintenance once found Follow the lifting program - 5 days a week, MT RFSa (will write up more details in a separate post...later) 3+ solo dance practices every week - these don't necessarily need to be highly physical reps - I'm currently spending a lot of time writing out my routines and all the quality details I know need to go into each step; unsurprisingly, nerd me should find this highly useful for then putting more quality into my dancing more consistently Stretch every night - at least two different stretches (currently playing around with two separate stretches for increasing my foot point and getting my feet to roll towards my inside edge - I naturally roll to the outside of my feet which is bad for aesthetics and function as a dancer) Be a well-rounded human: Do something social every week Duolingo language practice 3x / week Rewards: 90%+: 1 new pair of workout shorts (all of mine are perfectly functional, I just like the feel of new stuff that's a good length for lifting and has pockets) 95%+: New dress shirt and polo from athletic fit menswear company (State and Liberty - one of the first places I've found that explicitly designs for a V-shape torso; haven't tried them out yet but have high hopes)

I'm back in the challenge game after a long time away! My goals this challenge are focused on getting stronger for dance class, transitioning from Whole30 to Paleo and getting cosplay done before August's whirlwind happens! No sweetened caffeine! This means no soda, no sweet tea or sweet coffee drinks. (I already abstain from juice or sweetened flavored waters). Whole30 was a great impetus to get off the Diet Coke habit - now to stick with it. (This does not include ciders, wine, possibly beer depending on my reintroduction gluten tolerance) Dance class @ least 1x/week I'm scheduled for at least 2 days of class/week, but work intervenes more than I'd like. I'll only get better at pole, by going and practicing on the pole! Complete Asylum!Lenny costume by end of challenge Confirm 3 additional costumes are DragonCon-ready by end of challenge TBD are: Additional Rococopunk patches, Toph wig repair, Bunny Hutch Moogle conversion and KLK!Mako outfit resizing

Hey y'all! First time challenging with the assassins, though I've been doing challenges with the warriors since the start of the year. I'm starting to do more work with gymnastics rings so it felt apt to do a challenge with the assassins (I'm going to follow the Rings One program from GMB after 06/25, currently finishing out a lifting program - Juggernaut - while adding the rings exercises to my training days). And because I'm 1) a huge Tolkien fan and 2) a fan of being on the nose, this challenge will be Lord of the Rings themed!!! (when I get around to adding gifs) Quick intro about me: Competitive ballroom dancer, but by day I work at a bank Based out of Dallas, TX For fitness I generally enjoy lifting weights and recently have enjoyed adding some bodyweight stuff I *hate* running, and I figure that my dance practices are enough cardio so I don't bother with any in my workouts I *love* just about anything sweet (especially homemade cakes or cookies - grew up with my mom being an awesome baker) How I feel anytime I run. I'm not patient enough for creative writing, so instead of a preamble, time to dive into the goals for this challenge: Prepare for battle (dance competitions): I've got two competitions coming up (06/02 and 06/24) and I'll want to do the following to prep for them: Hit calorie targets every day - I want to cut a bit of fat in general, and especially before competing in a pretty vain sport-art; I'm going to start at 2,300 for a target and see if I need to adjust up from feeling underfed Train every workday - I'm pretty consistent at this, the goal is to just have a box I can check pretty much every time Have a focused dance practice 3 work evenings a week - I'll also be training every weekend with my partner, but since she lives in Houston and I'm in Dallas, it's on me to practice during the week too. Every one of these should start with a 5-10 minute mental toughness / visualization exercise (from the book "10-minute Toughness"). Thoughts like this are why I need to cut. Kick *** at work: I enjoy work more when I'm pushing myself to produce better results, so that's what this will focus on. Stay focused - only check in with messaging threads / forums on my phone from 9-9:30 or 12-12:30 Do self-development work every day - I'm lucky that my office is big on making room for people to grow in their skills and careers, but to make the jump I need to actually do the work for myself (even if it means staying late, getting in early, or taking some stuff home with me) Have a pleasant interaction with 1 coworker / day - Possibly as a result of introversion, possibly a result of being too formal at work, I've gotten a reputation for being "unapproachable" and "intimidating" (not words my friends use to describe me outside of work). Goal here is to slowly correct the perception. I'm slightly friendlier than this guy at work. Most of the time. Recover: I need to make sure I take care of myself physically and mentally: Sleep 7+ hours every night - self-explanatory Stretch or do ankle rehab every night before bed - also self-explanatory Go to 1+ social thing every week - it's easy to not make time for friendships with such a packed schedule, gotta make sure I don't fall into that trap I have an ugly but effective tracking page made in my "Bullet Journal" - I feel weird calling it that since I just use it for dance notes plus to-do lists, but I do carry it with me everywhere. Will share pictures later - along with adding gifs, hopefully.

After a successful tracking chalenge last month, this time, I'm focusing on bigger, greater goals! This time with a reward (other than the happiness of seeing the scale tick back ^_^). So let's push our inspiration: This is Valkyrie. She comes from the Marvel Universe. She KICKS A**. Who would not want to become like her? GOALS - How it all starts 1- 4 weeks, 4 kilos lost. No excuses, just hard work () 2- Maintain exercise schedule: 3 weight sessions, 2 full dance sessions, 1-2 dance practices, 2-3 biking sessions 3- Continue nutrition tracking and good habits 4- Meditate or write in my journal daily POINTS - A necessary evil 1- 10 points per kilo - MAX 40 points per week (to stay healthy) 2- 3 points per weight lifting sessions, 1.5 for dance, 1 for biking, extra point for practices towards pistol squat (at least 10 on each leg) - MAX 20 points per week 3- 2 points per day (14 / week) + up to 6 points weekly for bonuses (for weeks with no desserts, no bread or other special things that are otherwise allowed) - MAX 20 points per week 4- 2 points per day when it is done (14 / week) + 6 points if done every day - MAX 20 points per week Total 100 points per week, 400 points for 4 weeks (I MULTIPLIED IT IN MY HEAD!!!) REWARDS!!!!!!! - What we look towards Out of a MAX of 400 points: - >360 points: the 5 tshirts I want to buy (probably in 1 size smaller!) - >280 points: 2 t-shirts -<= 280 points: a strong word of encouragement and the right to start again in 5 weeks I will try to post 2-3 times a week to talk about progress. Now let's go fight! "A day may come, when we lose. But it's not today. 'Cause today, we FIGHT!" Rap Monster

Planning out this next challenge: I have a set of tap shoes that I really want to put back into action. Watch this space for future developments!

This is ME! (Actually, this is Rey Ayanami from Neon Genesis Evangelion ㅋㅋㅋ) I am starting again, after a previous challenge which ended really well! For this challenge, I am focusing on AWARENESS, not perfection. (Thank you Mana for reminding me of this when I needed it!) I will likely make mistakes, get off the wagon, fall sometimes, and also DECIDE to do the wrong thing. This is all fine. All I want to focus on for this challenge is to learn to be AWARE of these things, and DECIDE to eat out if I want to, rather than eat because I am bored. Real goals (not SMART) - *In order of excitement* A- Successfully finish learning my choreographed song B- Start losing weight C- Get back to good habits Funnily enough Goal C will help with Goal B, which will help TREMENDOUSLY with Goal A. There is nothing more enraging than a tiny girl with no muscle doing the choreo better than me because I have to move all my body... NO MORE!! In my last challenge I was able to start establishing good habits again, so I want to continue on, but build on that goal and learn and be more aware! Challenge Goals (SMART): 1- Continue following the 3 basic rules (stop eating at 10pm, in bed by 11pm, exercise every day) 2- Note down everything I eat the week before the chalenge (that's now!), and then count calories (or WW points) by time the challenge starts (no restriction yet - just awareness!) 3- Substitute 2 cardio workouts for weightlifting workouts (with or without stretching as a warmup) 4- Start following more nutrition rules, aiming for 2 more per day 5- Add 1-2 dance practice workouts (~30min in the evenings) Example of additional nutrition rules: - No eating 1 hour before or after a meal (because it can wait or I'm not really hungry) - Pass on the caloric beverage post meal even if my colleagues all have cappuccino - Avoid snacks in the afternoon that are not fruits or protein bars - Avoid very unhealthy snacks such as bread and butter, substitute avocados or peanut butter or fruits - Avoid desserts - Try to go carbs-free for certain meals (e.g., on dance class days to jump higher!) And I finally found a nice body inspiration! As I am living in Korea, any girl higher than 100 pounds is considered fat (i don't want to think what they think of me *shudders*). But I managed to find a body inspiration. She's Korean American and she is a singer and dancer, but she has a body that illustrate her love for life an food! I will look up to her as my inspiration: Ailee is mostly muscle, and a little fat because she is human! But her endurance on stage is incredible... And with this, I successfully complete my previous challenge, and start this one with happiness and inspiration!

Titles a bit lame, but I felt like taking a walk down memory lane and posting a f***ton of gifs / memes from my favorite TV comedy, Parks and Rec. Challenge 1: Food Going to attempt a cut this challenge. Eat 2400-2600 calories per day, at least 150g protein, and 80-100g of fat (last one is a total guess). I'll call it a success if I get each one 5 days out of each week. One way to hit that protein goal! Challenge 2: Dance and Accessories Do a mental toughness workout before each dance practice (3x per week) Do Pilates at least 3x per week - I feel better when I do this consistently, so I need to do it Bike to work 5x during the challenge (incl. zero week) - it's about 10 miles round trip, and I've done it before but I let the habit slip, hoping this'll jump-start me getting back into it (it's ok, you can accuse me of being a fake warrior I promise I'm still lifting, just not including it in the challenge because it's habitual Because my goals include dancing and biking. And because the world needs more dancing Ron Swanson. Challenge 3: Faith One of my goals for Lent (this challenge conveniently ends on Easter*) is to get into the practice of praying the rosary (Catholic prayer meditation, for the curious). Given that, I'll be aiming to pray the rosary (or part of one) every day. I've never been good at this, but want to because I feel much calmer and more centered after taking the time to wholly focus on my faith. Success will be hitting this at least 6 days a week. Best pic I could find on-theme for this one. Side challenges: Life Shit Finish R programming basics in Swirl (copied from last challenge) - I'll settle for halfway (there's about 15 modules in the course) Do a mental toughness workout at the start of each work day; end each work day filling out a short retrospective on the day and digitizing notes from the day - I'll be happy with a 4/5 success rate here Keep food and entertainment expenses within budget this month - I've been letting them creep over and making excuses (I'm not going into debt for it, just not saving as much as I otherwise could) Allocate at least 8 hours for sleep each night - ...not what I'm doing for the third bullet. *I always treat challenges as running from Monday - Sunday, splitting a weekend is always odd for me.

From Muddy Princess to Raising Superheroes... ok, I've always been trying to raise my two superheroes. This challenge I'm just (again) putting a conscious effort into it, specifically about health and fitness. I scandalously borrowed the title idea for this challenge from Banting's children's recipe book: Raising Superheroes. I'll be using some recipes from this book as well. Apparently I have a cape somewhere... While raising the next generation of superheroes I need to take care of myself as well. So although I'll be focusing on what The Boys are eating, drinking and doing in the background, here I'll mostly note my own feats of heroism w.r.t. health, exercise and sleep, to be the best Superhero mom I can be. Who am I kidding? I can't help but chat to my Rebel friends about all that is life. Health: Water & Rooibos: At least one bottle of water and/or some Rooibos. Coffee: No more than 3x mugs per day. Healthy Lunch: Yes/No. Breakfast and Dinner are mostly sorted, but lunch can be a bit much on the nerves especially if we are busy and The Boys are Hungry! Have lunch prepped and ready to take-and-go. Exercise: Only one morning with organised sport, which Youngest will take part in. Super Mom will have to save the day by getting them fit and strong! Mondays: BW Strength @ Home with The Boys. A walk during the afternoon would be an extra (not compulsory). Tuesdays: Youngest @ Playball; Oldest and SuperMom Walk; SuperMom and FriendC Walk. Wednesdays: Dance with Youngest +- 30min session. Thursdays: Self Defense with The Boys. Following our friendly neighbourhood Spiderman's programme. Thursday Rehashed: XBox Kinect game or OFF Fridays: BW Strength @ Home without The Boys. This is when I pull the irons out. Sleep: Every superhero has "kryptonite" and mine is lack of sleep. I must try and get at least 7hrs sleep in every night. Evening routine: 20h00 Boys shower. Then Oldest tells Youngest some bedtime stories. I tidy the kitchen, take out meat for next day to defrost, etc. etc. I shower. Say final good night. Lights off. 21h00 I must go to bed! 21h30 LATEST! EDIT: It keeps throwing out my images! What evil super villainy is this?

Yes I know this should have been the title for part 2.0 but whatever. JUST THOUGHT OF IT WOO and I am bored of using the exact same challenge title! This will be mostly the same set up for goals although I am thinking I will substitute the exercise goal with something else since that should not be a problem as we get closer to the show..... So, this challenge marks the entry into HOLY SHIT AAAH crunch time for the dance production I am working on. I am done wearing choreographer hat mostly BUT we have like....10+ more dances and transition scenes etc. to get done in only 6 weeks and only 6 of those are actually on the schedule already so yeaaaaah.... My weeknight and weekend downtime goals will likely have to be reduced in final weeks of this challenge (or HEY maybe we can get this shit scheduled now so I can maybe average out 1 day per week instead of 2 days per week to ZERO but hey, I don't get to decide the schedule unfortunately!) Goal 1: EXERCISE Maintain exercise plan for maximum happiness but NOT into oh hey where did my life go? territory. Parameters: work out at least 3 x per week (Brainstorming how to revise this to account for me likely getting 5+ days of dance rehearsals by the end of challenge. Open to suggestions!!) Goal 2: DOWNTIME & FRIENDS (Yes left shark has nothing to do with this but whatever. LEFT SHARK FOREVER!) Have AT LEAST one evening off during weeknights in order to hang out with friends OR cook stuff/ downtime whatever I need, and at least one day a weekend with at least a 6 hours IN A ROW chunk of downtime/friendtime. GOAL 3: ADULTING Dedicate at least 2 hours per week to adulting pursuits! (Does not need to be in a row.) Cleaning, reorganizing, meal prep, anything adulting related is fair game!! GOAL 4: To be decided? Or maybe I should be more minimalist because AAAH BUSY hmm... No Goal 4 because busy! Life Goal- BALANCE! Maintain balance!!! I shall strive to be self aware of if the above plan is NOT working and make alterations if necessary. (Alterations WILL be necessary this round as mentioned above.)

Our Story So Far: An introverted, cosplay-fanatic girl joins a nerdy fitness website, and starts learning how to eat healthy, how to work out, and how to connect with people again. Things go well for a year. Our heroine loses more than twenty pounds and has learned to love many strange new and healthy foods, and has also discovered a love of hitting things and getting sweaty. At the start of the year, our heroine faces her greatest boss battle yet: divorce. It costs money, and time, and emotional energy. She watches her social circle drift away, disconnect, or be visibly taken from her. She feels alone and isolated. She struggles with food again for the first time in two years. She stops going on walks, or sitting outside. Staying in and watching Youtube is the only thing that feels safe. Then, she hears about this crazy Camp thing. It sounds like a major investment...in herself. But she does it. She goes to camp and learns to smash boards with her arm, and kill sentries with a bow, and climb waterfalls in her bare feet, and open up about dark, inky emotions. She finds hugs, and love, and acceptance, and support. She realizes she needs a new name, something to embody this new avatar, this new person she's become after all this pain and loss and growth. In a sense, she's still 'everanything', because now she's a hero, and a survivor, and a holder of space, and a teacher, and a fucking badass magical girl. Our Cast of Characters: Merrin: Me! 30 years old, foodie, recovering junk food addict, soda free for 1.5 years, lover of avocados and bacon, fond of teaching, passionate about sewing, bubbly introvert, depressive, baker of cookies. Rebecca: The name for my Depression; the Monster I frequently try to kiss on the nose. Ifrit: Boyfriend! Main supportive force, disliker of avocados, expert bacon cook, incredibly weird, incredibly intelligent, introvert, archery master, stealer of snuggles. Part-Time Spare Spoons Puppy: only the best and sweetest and smartest dog ever, tolerant of hugs, fetcher of rope, murderer of sticks, giver of snuggles. I have so many things to apply from camp, but I'm going to start off slow. Well. Slow-ish. Camp-Style Cooking: I've never eaten so healthy in all my life. Fruit at breakfast? Salad at lunch? Yes please! I'll be aiming for two healthy meals a day. Smashing Boards: I loved all the movement and strike patterns from Theory of Power. I want to incorporate them into a boxing-style workout. Goal is 2x a week. Deku Tree: Meditation is really easy when you have a beautiful place in which to practice it. While my yard needs work (and I do have a tree where I could build a tree house but it's getting cold here so maybe next summer) I do still have a hammock, and the hum of the highway is relaxing. Goal: minimum 5 minutes 3x a week. Dammit Clover: When necessary from meditation or if it's just been a hard day, I will take at least ten minutes to write out my thoughts, and incorporate new journaling techniques as needed. Body Movin': a goal in three parts. Daily walking, no set time minimum. Daily stretches, shoulders, hips, and back with the most focus. Dancing when the mood strikes me. Killing Sentries: I will need to test out both the longbow and the compound that belong to Ifrit, and see which feels best weight-wise for me to shoot. Then, I'll set up some targets on our fence. Goal will stand at 1x per week until I assess how much and which muscles this utilizes. Goals are set to start Friday, because I came home with camp crud.

I've realized this last challenge was an excellent exercise for me in maintaining balance soooo I am going to keep mostly the same goals for this round! NOW WITH MORE CAT GIFS!! :D!!!! Goal 1: EXERCISE Maintain exercise plan for maximum happiness but NOT into oh hey where did my life go? territory. Parameters: work out at least 3 x per week Goal 2: DOWNTIME & FRIENDS Have AT LEAST one evening off during weeknights in order to hang out with friends OR cook stuff/ downtime whatever I need, and at least one day a weekend with at least a 6 hours IN A ROW chunk of downtime/friendtime. GOAL 3: ADULTING Dedicate at least 2 hours per week to adulting pursuits! (Does not need to be in a row.) Cleaning, reorganizing, meal prep, anything adulting related is fair game!! GOAL 4: HEALTH I still never got around to scheduling my dentist appointment before the end of summer...sooo I am keeping this goal just with one thing.. MAKE THE DAMN DENTIST APPT ALREADY!!! Hahhaha Life Goal- BALANCE! Maintain balance!!! I shall strive to be self aware of if the above plan is NOT working and make alterations if necessary.

Howdy Y'all! This has been in many ways the summer of slack, not the least of which not participating in challenges, or commenting much on forums. It's been pretty status quo in terms of health and habits, so still some things to clean up, and some habits to get back into. Hence the reboot. Nothing fancy this time around, and, apologies to Sarakingdom, no planned Pratchett quotes (although I may have to find my inner Vimes at some point). So - Sleep: Get out of bed when I wake up. If it's before my alarm (damn you, summer sunrise!), tough noogies. Start winding down at 9, in bed by 11 at the latest most nights. BTW's - sleep masks are at times useful. I discovered that this summer since I don't have black-out curtains, and there are bright street lights on my street (bedroom on the street side of the house). Suburi: Do it in the am. Wake up, pick up a weapon, swing it. Repeat. Use kata as suburi formats, working on smoothing out. Contact a couple of different locations about setting up a class. (this might be deferred 'til later in the fall). Stress: This is a biggie at the moment. There's some transition at work - we're reviewing and updating a lot of training materials, handbooks, etc., and developing some roles to create better consistency between three shops (two right now, a third will come online in the spring next year). On the plus side, I'm working with a lot of great people. Still. Stress. There's also some transitional stuff going on in my personal life, which isn't necessarily helping (as transitions are want to do). So... Stretch, daily. - Nothing radical, but I tend to tense and shrink in when stressed. Stretching counters that. Go for a walk. See sleep and suburi Food: Get back into the habit of cooking good food at home. Speaking of - anyone have any good recipes for grilled veggies? The next two weeks are supposed to be hot (actually hot - mid 90s), and I'd like to a) have some veggies, b), not heat my kitchen (no A/C). Anything with zucchini is a no, because I can't stand the taste of it (makes me gag, seriously - I don't know why, just can't stand it). Dance: Start up lessons again (especially a group class, since they are a little cheaper) Go to actual social dances. So, again, no goals per se, but working on habits and routines. Seems like a good way to cap off the summer and head into fall.

ALMOST NEW CHALLENGE TIME! This last challenge hit some setbacks in the form of a giant adorable old man kitteh sized hole in my heart (lost one of my dear furbabies.) This challenge I am focusing on how to keep up with all of my various exercise shenanigans WITHOUT totally overbooking myself/ with actually leaving some time for downtime and for socializing...not that I don't get social time when I AM working on a dance show etc., but it is only with dance-fam people and I neglect every other relationship in my life. These past few months I've actually been hanging out with my good friends who aren't just dance people and it has been AWESOMEEEEEEE. And I'm like OH YEAH I HAVE OTHER FRIENDS YOU GUYS! Also, I am seeing someone and I have good feelings about how things are going, so yeah leaving time for that is important! Important note: I am too lazy to pick just ONE theme so expect the theme to be silly shit I find on the internet that suits my mood at a given moment. Buaahahhaha. I am still playing around with specific goals so expect this list to change a bit but: Goal 1: EXERCISE Maintain exercise plan for maximum happiness but NOT into oh hey where did my life go? territory. Parameters: work out at least 3 x per week, including at least one lifting day, aerial day (trying to get this back in my life!) and dance day. Goal 2: DOWNTIME & FRIENDS Have AT LEAST one evening off during weeknights in order to hang out with friends OR cook stuff/ downtime whatever I need. and at least one day a weekend with at least a 6 hours IN A ROW chunk of downtime/friendtime. GOAL 3: ADULTING (I am aware this picture is in no way related to this goal but it made me LOL soooooo....) If you looked at all at my last challenge you know I have a big list of stuff to get done and regular adulting type shit to maintain! Dedicate at least 2 hours per week to adulting pursuits! (Does not need to be in a row.) GOAL 4: HEALTH This could be included under adulting but I have a few specific things I keep neglecting to get around to. In the duration of this challenge take blood pressure once per week, AND actually go do your damn bloodwork (yes I really didn't get to this last time. Oops.), AND schedule dentist appointment for cleaning before the end of summer sessions/ when work will get crazier. AND bonus points for me if I do an eye appointment as well (less crucial and I don't have particularly bad eyesight but I try to do this every few years AND I like to have some prescription shades around for if I am driving a lot. I can do fine with non-script but I have good insurance sooo let's do this?!) Life Goal- BALANCE! This is the overarching goal I am trying to achieve in all the things above, but my specific mantra this round shall be to do my damndest to maintain balance. I shall strive to be self aware of if the above plan is NOT working and make alterations if necessary.

'Cause I'm back... In the true spirit of nine lives, I am getting my shit together over here. There is a true link between how often and involved I am over here on the boards and my quest for improved strength and mobility, so... my gift to myself (and you, lets admit) is this music-filled challenge thread. If nothing else, the playing of awesome music every morning as I post to my thread keeps me signing on (and dancing at my desk most of the morning). Goals will be simple. 1. Dance to a great song every morning, post it here daily for the greater good. 2. Workout 3 times/week. Can be yoga, weight training, bww, whatevs (but a real effort... don't be a slacker). 3. 3 meals daily, eliminate all unnecessary snacking (because that business adds UP). 4. Walk 2 miles, 5/7 days. 5. Limit alcohol to 2 glasses per week. 6. Keep up with all my nerd friends at least once weekly. I would also like to keep up my minimalism track as well as adulting all the things, so I will post about that here as well, but not goal related this challenge.

No, I won't leave, I want to try everything, I want to try even though I could fail~ In case it's not become clear over the last year and a half of being here on NF (wait, what? wow) I really, really love Disney. I worked there a decade ago as an intern, and it's kept a hold on me ever since. I love Zootopia for giving us a main character who gets told 'No' at every turn of her path. 'No', her parents tell her. 'No', says the academy. 'No', says her new friend. But our beloved Carrots does. Not. Quit. She doesn't care if she might get hurt, or look foolish, or make mistakes. She wants to keep going. I do, too. I've tried several things over my challenges, and when goals or activities don't work, I try not to let the failure hold me back. I just look to see what the next thing is that I want to try. Of course, successful framework helps even out any potential mistakes, so I've also got several goals on here that have really worked in the past. Eat Like an Animal: stick to paleo 2x meals a day at minimum. Don't Be Clawhauser: 1 sweet snack a day. Back-Up Tigers: one five minute dance party per day, at minimum. ZPD Academy Climbing, poses, inversion 2x week at minimum Suspended for accident recovery. Push-ups, lifts, rows, planks 2x week at minimum Yoga/stretching 1x minimum Go On Patrol: scooter ride 1/x week minimum Performing Arts Sewing 1x week

Coping with final Weeks... Better late than never...that has sadly become my motto over the last few months..6 1/2 months, to be exact... Anyhoo...I successfully completed the last 4WC (YAY!), and now for a new one... I ended the last Challenge with the Glucose Screen...and during the break, the results were "abnormal"...so I had to do the 3-hour Glucose Tolerance Test...it will probably come back "abnormal" as well...they have you drink 100 grams of pure glucose (sugar) within 5-10 minutes, then see how long it takes your body to process it. First of all, the stuff is NASTY!!! Second, I don't consume that much sugar in an entire day, much less all at once!! And to make matters worse, what passes for "medical professionalism" in the Navy skew their data criteria..according to the AMA (American Medical Association) and the ACOG (American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology) have "normal" range set as between 140 and 180 (blood glucose levels)...however, here, they say there is no "window"...it MUST be less than 120 to be considered "normal"!! So this may come back to bite my butt this Challenge, and I'll have to make some adjustments... This Challenge will be very similar to the last one...tracking my weight gain, being active, eating right, relaxing, and preparing for what is to come within the next 10 weeks (or so)...however, I'm adding drinking more water...I've noticed that I've been a little lax in that capacity, so I definitely need to work on that... I will also continue the same weekly increments I set up from my Lessons with Dr. Frankenstein 4WC at the start of the year, since those weekly increments keep me on track with my physical progressions. Although each of my weeks actually "start" on Wednesdays, I'll keep with the Sunday through Saturday schedule of the 4WC...so each of the 4 weeks will begin in one progression and end in the next...confused yet? I sure am... Once again, I'm not focusing on much of a theme...I don't have the time, and can't come up with one cute or clever enough... For now, I'm putting down some bare bones...I'll figure out grading scale (do or don't, pretty much), point allocations (based on new NF format), and rewards (besides getting healthier!) and add them in as necessary. I will try to update daily..hey, the key word here is "try"... Quest 1: Controlled Weight Gain... Although technically, I'm well under the "recommended" weight gain..(5 pounds in 29 weeks), but the Dr. says no worries...I'm healthy and the kid's healthy and that's what matters! However, I do need to make sure that I don't gain more than about 1 pound a week and definitely don't loose any, either!! So I'm just going to monitor my weight (which does fluctuate a bit due to occasional large meals and random bathroom inadequacies...) to make sure I don't gain too much too fast nor loose any. <1 point for each week on track> Week 29: 130.5 pounds Week 30: Week 31: Week 32: The Plan for Next Week: I'm going to weigh myself every morning when I get up...after I go to the bathroom (mainly cuz the kid ain't waiting for me!) and before I eat... Quest 2: Don't be a slug... As I get bigger, and the fatigue gets worse (and life gets in the way...), it would be easy to just be a bum and stay in a comfy position...However, that won't do me or the kid any good... I need to get up off my fat ass and do SOMETHING!! So, several things I had planned (hoped?) to do last Challenge didn't happen (or didn't happen as much as I would have liked...). However, some new things are coming about to make it easier to be more active... First of all, Bon O'Dori season is upon us..and once again I have signed up to participate! This will be my third (and final) year to do it (we will PCS before next Summer), so I'm going to take full advantage! Dance practice starts on the 14th, and will be every Tuesday, with performances in late July and August. This will be a once a week goal. <1 point> Second, the Outdoor Pool is now open on weekends, and will be open everyday starting on the 17th. This will (hopefully) inspire me to do better at my "Buoy Training"...I just hope they let me on the water slide! LOL! My goal here is to do this at least once a week. <1 point for each session> Last, but certainly not least, @Alexandrite sent me a great Prenatal Yoga video that she said did wonders for her! I plan to use it at least once a week! <1 point for each session> Last challenge, my goal was to clock at least 15 miles per week on my pedometer (non workout related), but I didn't do so well. It seems that using the handrail for balance (which becomes more and more "off" the bigger I get), or pushing a cart, or carrying something (a bag, arm purse, etc.) seems to keep my pedometer from registering those steps (my pedometer is part of my wrist watch). I've also noticed that when I'm sore or tired, my gait is a little off (I start to waddle more), which also throws off my pedometer... So this round, I may lower that goal to 10 miles per week (non-workout related), until I figure out how to account for all those steps my pedometer isn't counting... <1 point for 10 miles> So as it stands, I have three activity goals per week, plus 10 miles of "extra" walking on the pedometer...and of course there's always room for "extras", like outings, and I do want to work on doing my Belly Dance...I know it will be helpful in the weeks and months to come...I would like to at least try to do some modified Barre and Pilates, since they are both highly recommended. <1 point for each "extra"> Bon O'Dori Practice: <1 point each> Buoy Training: <1 point each> Prenatal Yoga: <1 point each> Extra: <1 point each> The Plan for Next Week: I'm going to attend the first Bon O'Dori Practice on Tuesday, do the Prenatal Yoga video, do Buoy Training (either at the indoor or outdoor gym), and keep up the pedometer tracking and extra walking. This Saturday, we have the JATA BBQ Party, so I figure between Friday and Saturday, I'll be doing a lot of moving and lifting! Quest 3: Necessities... As always, this one's easier said than done...I'm already pretty good about eating healthy and taking my meds with my meals...but I do forget sometimes...or I just don't want to eat when I'm feeling particularly queasy... And when I do eat, I can't eat much..no room with my tummy's downstairs neighbor vying for more living space! LOL! This may also get "evolved", depending on the Glucose Tolerance Test results... <1 point each day that meals and meds are covered> I need to increase my water...recommended is at least 64 oz per day...or 1/2 your body weight in ounces (which puts me currently at 65 1/4 oz). I do have limited precious space in my belly these days...so I may have some trouble getting all that water...much less increasing the amount as I gain weight!! My water bottle is my buddy...I carry it with me pretty much everywhere! It holds 20 oz, is very durable (metal) and keeps my water COLD!! So if I aim to drink three of them a day, that'll give my 60 oz of just water...I think that's pretty darn close enough (especially since we aren't counting tea, juice or milk...)! <1 point for 3 water bottles consumed (60 oz)> And speaking of the gizzard denizen...that's where sleep issues come into play as well...apparently my bedtime is it's party time!! Hell, lately, ALL the time is party time!! LOL!! We've been pretty lax about our bedtimes lately...especially during the week! So my goal is to go to bed at least 8 hours before I have to get up...so since the "regular" alarm goes off at 0600, I need to be in bed by 2200 (10 pm)...but I'm going to try to shoot for 2100 (9 pm), which will give me time to get into bed, situated and comfy (which gets more and more difficult as the days go by...)! <1 point for in bed no later than 8 hours before wake up/alarm> I've been OK about resting, putting my feet up and taking naps when I have the time...it does help...some. But I would like to get better about relaxing, resting and doing little things to pamper myself while I still can...like soaking in a tub, doing my nails, etc. <1 point each pampering activity> Food & Meds: <1 point each> 60+ oz of Water: <1 point each> 8-hour bedtime: <1 point each> Pampering: <1 point each> The Plan for Next Week: I'm going work on drinking more water, try to start fixing dinner earlier so I'm not eating so late, go to bed earlier each night (Hubby needs this one too!)...I will set my phone alarm to remind me when to start cooking dinner as well as gear for bed... I'm going to try to soak at least twice, and see if I can still reach my toes to give myself a pedicure (my toe nails are becoming talons!!)...and, of course, sit and rest with my feet up if I feel too tired or at least every evening after dinner to help reduce swelling in my feet and lower legs before I go to bed... Life Quest: The Clock is Ticking... Here's another repeat...and just like last Challenge, this one's interesting...this will include multiple aspects of preparation...laying the proverbial ground work so that either the action is one that can make life easier later or will provide proper information to be utilized at the appropriate time... One way to prepare is by registering for / taking a class, watching a video or reading a book/magazine/article about what's going on now, and how to prepare for what all happens in the coming stages! I do read the daily articles via the Baby Center and WTE apps on my iPad...but I'm not going to count each article, just that I've read them for the day. Maybe an "extra" point if I am able (and do) actively utilize the information. <1 point each "educational" activity> Another is meal prep...basically stocking the freezer with pre-prepared meals that are "heat and eat"...when I cook a meal that is freezer friendly, make a double or triple batch and freeze the extra for later. And since I cook healthy and from scratch, I know these will be exponentially better that what one might find in a store's freezer section!! I also means that when life gets painfully hectic (in more ways than one) once I get closer to the 40th weekly increment, I won't have to worry about cooking...or relying on Hubby's cooking! LOL! Towards the end of the last Challenge (end of May), our deep freezer had an "accident"...and we lost pretty much EVERYTHING...including ALL the pre-prepped freezer meals I had already done!! So, my ultimate goal is to have at least 30 pre-prepped freezer meals prior to Week 40...that's 10 meals per month (June, July and August)!! <1 point each meal prepped and in the freezer> One more preparation is in regards cleaning and organizing...We've got too much stuff here and our spare room is PACKED!! So for starters, I need to clear out clutter...sell, give away or trash what we don't need/want/love and ship home what we won't need in the next year. Next, organize the "stuff" we do need/use...especially the things that will be useful around the 40th weekly increment and after... I definitely got behind on this between the Freezer Fiascos and PCSing friends "gifting" what they couldn't (or didn't want to) take with them...so now I have even MORE to deal with!! <1 point for each decluttering/organizing activity> I still need to re-examine our budget (with Hubby) and plan for the upcoming expenses...and purchase what needs to be purchased in advance so it can be set up with time to spare before it becomes necessary...I like to have a little wiggle room (read relaxation) before the "have-tos" set in and take over! <1 point for each pertinent fiscal activity> ...and then there's the garden...this will be our last season in this house (PCS due by next Spring)...so I need to downsize what I've got. I also need to stay on top of my succession plantings and weeding so that by the time the 40th weekly increment comes along, it will be pretty much self-sustaining with minimal effort...just harvest and enjoy! And, like most everything else, I'm behind on... I may count the physical gardening as part of my activity "extra", and only the downsizing and organizing here...we'll see... <1 point each garden activity> Prep Work: <1 point each> The Plan for Next Week: There's still sooooo much to do!!! Take photos of stroller and model info... Follow up with company on the stroller/car seat research... Register for July Childbirth Class Confirm date and register for private Breastfeeding Class in July... Discuss and adjust budget with Hubby... Research Breastpumps... Order Breastpump... Add at least one Freezer Fodder Meal to the Weekly Menu... Finish Beef Bone Broth & Freeze... Package and Freeze Chicken Bone Broth... Clear off DR table from friends' PCS "gifting"... Remove JATA "Summer" party supplies & decor from storage room, distribute at BBQ, and trash what no one takes... Work in garden (doubles as activity)... Post sale items on Base Craigslist... Work in Project Room to clear some space... Work on Calendar Pages... Continue NF updates... Finish NF Character Sheet... Support the Assassin's Guild: ~ No Power In The 'Verse Can Stop Us ~ Mini Challenge I may not be as able-bodied as I used to be, but that doesn't matter...I'm here to support my guild!! This Mini's theme is Firefly..which is amuising since Hubby and I just started re-watching the show! LOL! These are always a do or don't, which includes posting and updates as necessary. I'm just hoping I can keep up!! So this week's mini is to choose berthing (sign the "crew" roster) and learn the ship's layout by wandering around (walk or run for a crew cumulative of 100 miles). That's easy enough...I don't know if I'll have the time to go for any formal walks (no way I can "run" while smuggling this beach ball! LOL!)...but I'm sure I can put a dent in the crews required mileage!l Welcome Abooard the Assassin's Pride! Week 1 Mini: Find a Berth and Settle In - Walk/Run: Week 2 Mini: #2: - Goal: Week 3 Mini: #3: - Goal: Week 4 Mini: #4: - Goal: Et Al... No PvPs or Accountabillibuddies, but I have been able to sign up for the Guild Mini this time!! I'm also going to try to be better at lurking, um, I mean, supporting...yeah, supporting Alexandrite and black_daquiri. They are great at giving me pointers and suggestions to help me along the path they have tread before me, I want to do my best to cheer them on as they go the road ahead! I also want to do a Weekly Inspiration...perhaps a little less Fibro, and more to remind me that all this "suffering" is worth it...

Greetings, Druids! I’m Shepherd Fox, 25 years old, 170 cm / 70 kg, a booty appreciating adventurer. … Now that we’re clear on that, I’m here to adventure outside my old guild, Adventurers, and see what the Druids have to offer! To give you a quick picture of myself: Where do I come from? Overweight since childhood, my story has all the tragic components: bullying, self-loathing, loneliness, not belonging anywhere. But it also has its positive sides: I’ve always had a strong will to survive, even during the most depressed moments, and had faith in the idea that one day things will be good. I found NF sometime around 2012. I started with reading the blog, and slowly made my way to the boards. Later in 2012, I had a breakdown, which turned my life around. In a good way, though: during my recovery, I found healthier ways to think about my fitness, and found some pretty amazing people here on NF. During the past two years, I’ve lost 20 kg (from 90 kg to 70 kg), and I’m now 5 kg away from my ultimate goal (65 kg). Where am I now? After a long, stressful winter, I’m in recovery mode. This challenge is all about supporting that recovery, and creating a good foundation for my health. I do yoga (usually at least 20-40 minutes) and walk and/or bike every day (I don’t have a car). I enjoy strength training, especially with kettlebells. This hasn’t been as easy to keep up after catching the flu pretty often this winter, but I will always return to the gym Where am I going? In addition to my ultimate weight goal (65 kg), I’m going towards a healthy, calm attitude towards life. The world is such a huge and confusing place, but things usually turn out to be so much better than I could have expected. I’m learning to trust that whatever happens, happens for a reason, and things will turn out OK in the end. If things are not OK, it’s not usually over yet. … and yes, of course I want to be able to look in the mirror and go “dayuuuuuuuuum!” That already happens on good days, though, thanks to all the lovely Rebels who have taught me to appreciate myself. You’re the best. Goal 1: Fail to Plan, Plan to Fail I’ve counted calories and kept a food log in the past, and I have a pretty good understanding of how much and how often I should eat. I’m turning the plan upside down: instead of keeping a log of what I’ve already eaten, I will plan my meals ahead: sensible portion sizes, nutritious food, some treats (because you’ve gotta be realistic with this stuff). I’ve done this in the past, as well, and it should contribute positively to both my diet and finances. To pass this goal: Plan the meals for next week every Sunday! Goal 2: A Whole New World What makes eating healthy easy? Preparing food that tastes good! I tried one new recipe every week in January, and found many new favourite recipes. It’s time to bring this back To pass this goal: Try one new recipe every week! Goal 3: Learning to Dance Again With a winter filled with sicknesses and other plagues, it’s time to get some fun activity going. I study at university, so sometimes I’m bound to sit still for long periods of time writing or reading. Getting up every now and then is awesome, so that’s what I’m gonna do! To pass this goal: Dance to three songs every day! ** I don’t like counting points or percentages, so I’m simply going to follow this plan and judge the score by the effects it has on my body, well-being, weight and bank account I look forward to having a great challenge with the Druids! all the gifs: naturegifs.tumblr.com