Search the Community

Last episode I was battling a few insidious creatures whose primary goal was to bring distraction and inertia to my life. I had success with one, but I knew the other would be a more lengthy battle. So, here we are today and I've decided I must bring the battle to the critter itself. To do so I must hunt it out, quest for its hiding place. This is a change for me. Usually I let things come to me or external requirement drive my responses. This little bugger . The Ignoraminx. (To recap: A wily animal that sneaks around the edges of thought. It gently sings the alluring suggestion that learning is hard work and unnecessary. It values idling in what you already know and convincing its victim that education efforts are pointless. Maybe just give up that thing that requires education? That sounds easier. ) If I seek it out, rather than letting it come upon me unawares, I should be more able to defeat it instead of just outmaneuvering to survive. Method: I will finish another CE class within the first two weeks of the challenge, then turn my efforts to the work related education I've been avoiding. (4 focused times per week) I have to strengthen and train as a hero as I hunt. I can only be as able as I have trained myself to be, both in body and mind. Therefor a proper hero's regimen must be scheduled. Method: I'm revisiting the DB Hero's Journey again. I have wedding v2.0 at the end of May. Prior to v1.0 I did the same program and was thrilled with the positive effects on my posture, but two years of slumping at a computer or on the couch or under generalized stress heaviness has had some effects. Since this is my second time through HJ I'm upping the level a bit by doing two weapon's instead of one. Bonus this does tie in quite well with the NF body weight program and my pull-up goals. One tweak. I will likely switch up their cardio days for running days. (At least 4 times per week) But I must not lose the skills I fought hard for last challenge. I must maintain my focus of advancing and mastering the creative skills I've learned. Method: continue to practice Tunisian crochet and pick one new sewing project to plod away at. (goal is 4 times but the bar is low) Finally, the surprise twist that came out of nowhere which turned out to be very important. Finding a new keep to call our own. Method: paint one bedroom ceiling and patch/paint the other. I should have time for this. Get the paint needed for bedroom walls. Start if time, but don't over-stress myself. 1 hour will be spent each weekend day by each of us, purging and paring down stuff, and packing stuff that is rarely needed.

Since I am re-watching season one of The Witcher, finally watching season two, and listening to an audiobook version of Blood of Elves over the next few weeks, I thought it appropriate to theme this challenge after The Witcher. As has been my trend lately, I will break my challenge goals into two parts: Physical and Mental. Physical: For this goal, I am returning to a training plan I followed a few years ago: the Primal Blueprint plan. The university gym is closed this week, so I need a schedule that is flexible and does not require the gym but still asks for strength workouts as well as cardio and HIIT workouts. I will continue to use Darbee as a source for workouts while intentionally choosing workouts that match the Witcher/fantasy/warrior theme. Also, I plan to do most of these workouts outdoors in nature whenever possible. I will link a video below that shows a Witcher workout and explains a few of the reasons why it is always a good idea to train in nature. Monday – Sprint Tuesday – Lift Heavy Things/Bodyweight Exercises Wednesday – Move Slowly, Play or Rest Thursday – HIIT/WOW Friday – Move Slowly, Play or Rest Saturday – Lift Heavy Things/Bodyweight Exercises Sunday – Move Slowly, Play or Rest My diet during this challenge will be similar to the Darebee Modern Hero meal plan: 1/2 plate fruit/berries/veggies/mushrooms/healthy fats, 1/4 plate protein, 1/4 plate healthy carbs. Additional physical goals: morning stretches, "grounding" every morning, cold shower daily, 10,000-12,000 steps M-F I plan to mix this up by lifting heavy objects such as cinderblocks, logs, sledgehammer, etc., doing bodyweight exercises, and using the gym, as well, for dumbbell and kettlebell . I can also use the "Move Slowly, Play, or Rest" days for such things as yoga, tai chi, stretching, etc. Mental: For this goal, I am returning to my morning routine of prayer/meditation/scripture reading, as well as breath work. It does not have to be Wim Hof breathing but does need to be some kind of breath work. 0445 wakeup pray/meditate/read scripture at least 5 minutes of breath work The video below is a discussion on how to "train like Geralt" by training in nature and using such things as clubs, the Gada (mace), and kettlebells. It also discusses using hybrid moves and meditation.

Keeping it simple this challenge. I started the Darebee IronBorn workout program last week, so I am 7 days into that. I am also using the Power Up program as a warmup and have been regularly completing the Darebee Daily Dare, as well as the Easy Arms Challenge. So my goals this challenge are simple: complete IronBorn complete Power Up complete Easy Arms Challenge I am aware that IronBorn is a Game of Thrones reference, even though I haven't watched Game of Thrones, nor have I read the books, so my reason has nothing to do with GoT. I started IronBorn for two reasons: 1) my upper body needs a lot of work and 2) my teaching position was cut, so after May I will not have access to the campus gym and wanted to start a program that uses dumbbells. Yeah... that's news I perhaps haven't announced yet. They are cutting the teaching positions at our program. We will be on transfer, which means we aren't losing our jobs as teachers, just our current teaching positions. There are four of us who have to either find a teaching position at another school or we will be placed at a school with an available position. This may feel like an ending, but... Honestly, I guess this is the "nudge out of the door" I needed to start looking for school administrator positions. It sucks that our solid team of teachers has been broken by bureaucratic bullshit (our supervisor actually said, "It's not personal. It's about money and budget."). So... I really need to keep things simple this challenge. The main go is to stay consistent and not skip a day. This weekend I did not have access to the gym, so I modified the program. For day 6 I was able to use cinderblocks instead of dumbbells, and for Day 7 I borrowed Day 8, which is an ab day that doesn't require dumbbells. Basically, every four days you get an ab workout. Well, I'm going to save some of those for weekends. If I can do the same movements with a cinderblock then substitution won't be necessary. I also started watching Reacher on Amazon Prime, and while I have no plans to bulk up as much as Alan Ritchson, it did motivate me to get serious about building some upper body lean muscle. Ritchson was always fit (not something I can say), but he has put in the work and clearly it paid off. In an Instagram post from 2020, Ritchson said, "There is no substitute for hard work; no powders, no goos, no fancy shoes will get you where you want to go without it. If you want to lose weight or lean out - put out more than you take in and make your heart beat harder than it did yesterday. It’s that simple. Doesn’t matter how you get there. If you’re trying to bulk or add strength, put more strain on your muscles than you did yesterday. It doesn’t matter how you get there. It’s my suspicion that most people ask for 'the secret' because 'not having it' gives them an excuse to wait. But what you need, you all already have. It’s not sold in stores. The only way to get it is to start doing it. Work." In January of this year, Ritchson posted: "... Move something that fatigues your body and heart most days of the week. But here’s a fun fact - hypertrophy and strength training are two different things. Usually they compliment each other. High weight low reps (think - 4-6) will increase strength. Some growth in size (hypertrophy) will occur. But not as fast as if you did lower weight and higher reps (think - you can’t do more reps than 15-25 each set for 4 sets). Body weight exercise like push-ups, pull-ups and dips can add plenty of size if you don’t have access to a gym. All you really need is you and the discipline to push... Just be patient and do the things today the you ten years from now needed you to do. Don’t expect the you two months from now to be the you you want to be in ten years." Solid advice. I would like to say that my efforts paid off, that I am doing the work, the work that me from ten years from now needs me to do. But first I need simplicity and consistency.

Back in action, my focus word for 2022 is Dare. To me this means doing the things instead of thinking about doing the things, or planning to do the things. I've done a lot of thinking and planning and dreaming. None of that is actually taking off the weight I gained during COVID or getting me in better shape. I need to 'just do it'. But I don't want to be all 'Nike' about it, so I picked 'Dare' instead. I DARE YOU TO FLY! Specifically, Firefly, a simple workout that I found on DareBee. It's not too complicated but gets me moving and used to exercising regularly again, that's the plan anyway. I plan to do it 3 times a week. Bonus for additional days! I DARE YOU TO EAT THAT! Specifically, veggies, since I'm sure I don't eat nearly enough of them. My plan is to track and make sure I get at least one serving of veggies daily. Bonus points for eating more! I DARE YOU TO TRY IT! Specifically, try one new thing every day during this challenge. How is this possible? Well, most things won't take long to do or involve leaving my house, hopefully. I've found some lists of ideas, and I want this last challenge to be something fun for me. And also something that will get my off my cellphone/youtube/games/ass/whatever at least for a few minutes. I DARE YOU TO STREAK! Along with my major goals I also want to work on some simple habit streaks. I have a couple ideas but I'll work up everything in more detail, maybe in a spreadsheet, later.

I have been wrestling with the urge to read the LotR series again, so what better way to motivate me than to theme my challenge after LotR. I could use some inspiration and heart from some of Tolkien's heroes. As this challenge progresses, I will no doubt be channeling some of the traits of some of my favorites, specifically the race of Men because I find myself identifying most closely with Tolkien's human characters. . Lately, some... temptations have arisen, so it is also fitting to work through a challenge that themes these temptations as the pull of The One Ring. And so it begins. Goal 1: Resist The One Ring "Not if I found it on the highway would I take it I said. Even if I were such a man as to desire this thing, and even though I knew not clearly what this thing was when I spoke, still I should take those words as a vow, and be held by them. ‘But I am not such a man. Or I am wise enough to know that there are some perils from which a man must flee." -- Faramir For this goal, I will be channeling Faramir, who is without a doubt my favorite of the characters who successfully resists The One Ring, even though he had reasons outside of the Dark Lord's power to take it from Frodo. I also identify with Faramir's struggles to make his father proud, to know that he isn't the favored son, and his choice to be peaceful and merciful by nature: “I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend.” Without getting into specifics, this goal focuses on recognizing when and why these temptations occur: what triggers them and what is the best way to resist them. Faramir's quote above also brings to mind scripture: "But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses." -- 1 Timothy 6:11-12 learn about these temptations and what hidden dangers lurk within them set boundaries and barricades against temptations; arm and fortify yourself against the attacks of the enemy be brave and stand strong when you can, but have an escape plan if you get lost, call out to your fellowship of brothers to help you find the way again fast and pray to build discipline celebrate victories and milestones, but remain resolute and do not lose your temperance Goal 2: Build Strength, Wisdom, Courage, and Heart to Become Who You Were Meant to Be "But I am the real Strider, fortunately. I am Aragorn son of Arathorn; and if by my life or death I can protect you, I will." -- Aragorn For this goal, I will be channeling Aragorn because of his strong heart, his wisdom, and his courage, which grows as he breaks free of the shame of his father and steps into his destined role as heir to the throne of Gondor. Aragorn is aware of his flaws and weaknesses as a man, but he strives to do good by serving others. He faces peril, inspires others into battle, and fights courageously for his fellowship. None of this would be possible if he had allowed himself to get weak or distracted or lose his self-control. He is also faithful to the cause of defeating evil and to the love of his life. He is watchful and alert, wise and intelligent, humble and modest by nature but also mighty and proud when necessary. Some aspects of this goal will look familiar if you have followed me for some time. awaken before dawn pray/meditate/study scripture & other books of wisdom fast daily (intermittently) eat whole foods (mostly plants) drink at least 64 ounces of water daily WHM breathing daily (I really need to get back to this; it clears my head and may help stave some of the temptation triggers) read at least 30 minutes every day (LotR, of course) spend at least 30 minutes every day in nature strengthen the body (I'm using Hero's Journey from Darebee for this) spend time with my queen; this includes going to bed with her and not staying up late Goal 3: Rebuild Your Heart and Your Kingdom "For he was a gentle heart and a great king and kept his oaths; and he rose out of the shadows to a last fair morning." -- Aragorn, speaking of King Theoden Theoden is a good example of someone who, as he grew older and more tired, allowed himself to become misled and lost sight of his true purpose as king. It corrupted him and led to the usurping of his kingdom by evil forces. Once he is set free of this spell, however, he steps into his role as king and, in spite of the bleak outlook, fights for his people and for the good of all Middle Earth. For this goal, I am both literally and figuratively referring to my "kingdom" (as in my home, my domain) meditate on/reclaim my purpose as husband and father (as "king") spend time with daughters; hug them, play with them, go on adventures with them keep my current house in order: clean daily, keep the yard clean and mowed, make necessary repairs work on the other house, as well, at least twice per week; be assertive but clearheaded when any obstacles arise And that is it for now. If I think of some other goals, I will add them and try to think of characters that embody those goals, as well.

Greetings, young pupils. I understand you wish to lean more about how to be a master bender. Well, in order to master bending you must prove you are disciplined in the daily practice of training your body and mind. To prove yourself worthy of learning bending skills and to learn which of you is worthy of reaching the Avatar state, let's have a friendly competition, shall we? Every day, you will complete a "Daily Dare." There are two levels of difficulty: normal and extra credit, which usually consists of completing the physical challenge in one set. To prove yourself a capable student with enough discipline to learn bending skills, we will use a scoring system based on completed dares. Each challenge completed equals 1 point; extra credit adds an additional point. Just record your name, your goal, and your daily dare progress on the scroll that the monks have provided for this challenge. The more challenges you complete with extra credit, the more bending skills you will unlock. The totals needed to unlock are: 15 Points: Air Bending 30 Points: Earth Bending 45 Points: Water Bending 60 Points: Fire Bending You have 35 days to complete this challenge, beginning October 28th and ending December 1st. At the end of this challenge, the bender who has unlocked all four bending skills and has the most points will be deemed worthy of becoming the next Avatar. Good luck, young pupils, and have some onion-banana juice before you go.

I’m very excited that we’ve expanded the challenge to 5 weeks instead of 4 because I like the longer challenges. Honestly, I’d prefer back to 6 weeks ago, but I’ll take 5! Main Quest To live a healthy and balanced life by exercising and trying to eat healthy. My motivation I've successfully dropped weight by counting calories so my diet will mostly be staying the same with 1200 calories per day M-F and then blow meals on the weekends. In September I’m going to Yellowstone! We will enjoy a bit of hiking and a lot of walking so I need to be in good walking shape for the trip. Also in preparation for Yellowstone, my husband has agreed to do another Darebee fitness workout with me. He even suggested we try two of them at once so we’re going to try Epic 5 AND 30 Days of Yoga! I need a jump start on more Darebee fitness workouts because they were easy to follow and gave me something new to do, so might as well jump-in headfirst! Because Yellowstone will immerse me in nature, I’m back with the Druids for this challenge. Smaller Quests 1. Walking We will be spending a lot of time driving through the park, however, there will also be opportunities for hiking. I want to get into better walking shape, so this part of my challenge will be focused on getting in more miles than ever before. Scoring: x/40 miles in 5 weeks (8 miles per week) Reward: +5 STA 2. Epic 5 Epic 5 is 5 minutes of working out, per day, from Darebee fitness. This seems like it should be easy to fit into our busy schedule, even on dive days. That being said, the exercises also seem like high intensity so I doubt those 5 minutes will be easy! Scoring: x/31 days of Epic 5 Reward: +5 to DEX 3. 30 Days of Yoga I enjoy doing yoga and I think doing another Darebee fitness routine that is yoga-based is going to be great. Scoring: x/30 days of yoga Reward: +5 to WIS

INTRO 'Olo, you lot! Welcome to my quiet little corner. I am Haniya (pronounced Hun-nee-yah) a Nerdy, Sporty, DND[currently watching Critical Role]loving, Comic book enthusiast with a penchant for arts, Video games, Books, Disney movies, music and Mystery Murder shows [Stranger Things, Sherlock, Killing Eve, The Umbrella Academy and Elementary anyone?] also Neil Gaimann because good omens is a fantastic show and is worth fangirling about. Today I have entered as a ranger to challenge myself. Hopefully, my experiment will help me build my habits and my body. I feel like my true self best fits in this sneaky, lean, strong and dangerously cool class because strength and stamina are the two things that I ideally want and we all wish to master. Hence, here I am and here I go! BACK STORY TIME: WE all know how our health is the MOST important thing in the world--physical, emotional and mental as well--especially when you've been obese half your childhood. Its hard to get back on that health horse when like half of your house hold isnt primed for it at all. Regaining my good healthy self has been a massive struggle, no less a bumpy roller coaster ride of high and lows. Well, I've been at it for quite a while with the NERDS--actually listening and enjoying the company of the people--thus, naturally, I come running back to thine fine health, happiness institute of fittitude! [Gedit] Even though i hate typing, i do try to update as often as I can. Well, anyways! I live in Pakistan (south east asia) where carbohydrate is as important and as common as air and I am not joking! OUR DIET AND CUISINE IS JUST FULL OF IT AND EVEN IF YOU TRIED, YOU JUST CANT SHAKE IT OFF AND IGNORE IT! BUT. I. WANT. TO. CHANGE. MYSELF. I DON'T WANT TO BE ADDICTED ANYMORE AND THAT'S MY MAIN MISSION HERE! BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY! I will go slow this time and not overwhelm myself as much as I am prone to so I'll just go over the basics of my mission. Cus. I. Can. And. I. Love. To. Sound. Very. Official. OH, SHALL WE MOVE TOWARDS MY BASE OF OPERATIONS?! *drumroll* OP 1: Take control of the wheel, agent! As the new agent of SHIELD, it is your duty to physically take care of what you put in your body. Filling in the shoes of Natasha Romanoff is going to be a hard job, recruit, so I suggest you take those shoes seriously and work hard! *There we go, guys. Big shoes to fill* So, clean eating and portion control is the key. Refined sugar and fried stuff is your ENEMY. IT'S YOUR HYDRA! You must defeat the bad side! *telegram* Recruit! We are not that cruel, you know, so we are allowing you a two day cheat treat. Aren't we cool?! Of-course, we are, we are SHIELD! OP 2: Find the lost Tomb of Rorustan You want to be the next Lara Croft? You want to go on adventures and move mountains like her, yes? Change the course of time and history like her? Then, you got to train like her! Her strong and Charismatic body took years and years of hard work and perseverance! Can you keep up? *CanI?* Journey to the lost tombs, human and bring forth power! My objective is to run and do body weight exercises (darebee and skipping rope) 3-4 times in a week with two days rest period. Walk for 20-30 mins daily. CAN YOU HEAR THE SPIRITS TALKING? YES! I DO! I CAN HEAR LARA CROFT! MASTER, I CAN HEAR HER WHISPERS FROM THE INSIDE, SPEAKING OUT TO ME (awksslipawaytoyonder) OP 3: Bend it like Korra! Before she was the avatar, Korra knew nothing of her powers and how to control them but with the help of her teachers and peers, she blossomed into the strongest being we know today! Want to Bend it like Korra? *Heck Yeah* then you must dedicate some time to your education; to learn and grow like the avatar. Daily one or two videos that'll inspire you or give you knowledge about the world and beyond. Study spanish: Duolingo and Memrise streaks, audio lessons from Pimsleur and YouTube video lessons. Dont forget to make notes in your notebook. Meditate to calm your souls. A clear and tension free mind is a happy mind! TAI CHI PRACTICE! Watch David Dorian Ross videos and practice along. New videos everyday to build your 103 long form practice. OP 4: "Be as flexible as Kamala Khan" SUPERHERO BY DAY, REGULAR GAMER CHILD BY NIGHT! Balancing your hero and human life takes a lot of work but you have to do this in order for the world to make sense plus, fun time is fun time! So, here are my humanly duties towards a good future:- Journal writing: habit tracking, Spanish progress and recording my days key features as bullet points to make my life easy Updating nerd fitness with my journey in the form of ratings A-F [A being super awesome and F Epic Wamp] and supporting new people and their journies! *POWER RANGERS, METAMORPHOSIS! Oh, wrong fandom* Read more books by adhering to the 50 books a year challenge: Give 1-2 weeks maximum to my current read by reading everyday for 20-30 minutes Focus on your hydration: Minimum 6glasses to up to 8 glasses. More water! LASTLY NEVER GIVE UP! Speaking of giving up, we all need some kind of push on our behinds, right? That's why I have certain ideals. Certain role models that I look for inspiration and motivation when I am feeling particular down in the ditch. These forces of good are there when i need them the most, to guide me through my epic quest I call life. Someone who I want to be: Inspiration Dice I have so many role models that I look up to! People who have proved to be gigantic and so bad arse--who don't need to be reminded of their worth! People who are amazing enough to inspire and motivate us all to follow our dreams and challenge our limits. They teach us that being kind, resolute, strong and brave--in the face of danger--is the most noblest of things you can do. So, so talented, so powerful and so stupendous. I want to be them and I am honoured to call them my idols: Lara Croft, Black Widow, Korra, Ellie Goulding, Aveline De Grandpre, Aloy, Merida, Captain Marvel, Avatar Aang, Dr 13 and Yasmin Khan, Neil DeGrasse Tyson, Jim Kwik, Shuri, Okoye, Kamala Khan etc. I am not promising here but i will try to keep you guys up to date with my daily shenanigans and what-nots. Apart from that, I want to THANK you for YOUR precious time! And I might need you guys to help me with this challenge because my focus on them has been very rocky but I am ready to CHANGE MYSELF FOR THE BETTER! I SWEAR ON MY PRETTY LITTLE HANDS THAT I SHALL TRY MY HARDEST! *CUE RICK ROLL SONG* p.s: i love DND even though i am a complete beginner so talk to me about it or if you are looking dnd players then lets band together! I am all for an epic dnd session!

2018 was a giant shitshow for me, and I'm hoping that I'm finally ready to get my life back in order. I'm at my heaviest, weakest, and least healthy that I've been since I started on NerdFitness. Bleh. I know my habits have been awful, but I'm also not sure how much of the low energy and other issues is from the Tamoxifen. My main goal for 2019 is to have vastly fewer doctor visits and medical procedures than 2018. But, since I don't have control over that, here are the goals I actually have the power to make happen: -Test for Level II in Aerial Silks -Lose 15 lbs -Regain my dead hang pull up -Get some sort of data science professional certification -Conquer at least one of the piano songs that I've always wanted to be able to play. -Fix my sleep health issues, so I'm properly rested and energized each day. To meet these goals, I'm going to start small and think more like a noob for this challenge. That means, I'm going to focus mostly on movement every day and healthy eating, with the hopes that I'll lose some weight. Goal 1: Yoga or Darebee each day that I don't have silks or parkour. It doesn't need to be really challenging, and it doesn't need to be more than 15 minutes. I just need to get back into the habit of sweating every day. I'm not planning to push myself to pick challenging workouts. One of my problems over the last 6 months has been picking things that I used to be able to do but were currently too hard for me, get frustrated, and then abandon the workout partway through. Instead, I'm going to stick with easier workouts and finish them. Goal 2: 25 km of walking per week. Yeah, it's cold and nasty out. I still need to just suck it up and do my walking. Goal 3: Engage the pressure cooker. I just got an instant pot for x-mas, and I've already tried a few amazing recipes. For this goal, I'm going to try 2 new, healthy recipes each week. I generally end up with a lot of leftovers, so this ensures that I have a lot of healthy food available all of the time. Goal 4: Limit the treats and sweets. I'm only allowed one serving of sweets each day at a single designated time. At all other times, the junk food is off limits. For now, that's it!

And so begins the hero's journey. Starting January 1st, for 60 days I will be participating in the Darebee Hero's Journey fitness program, a role-playing program that presents challenges, opportunities, and threats accompanied by exercises that must be completed in order to continue on the journey. This will serve as a prequel to an even greater challenge, Age of Pandora, an immersive post-apocalyptic fitness quest. In addition, I have set some short-term and long-term goals. Short-Term Goals: * complete Roadwork 30 Day running program * complete a Darebee daily dare every morning (goal: at least 50 in a row), as well as an Epic Five workout * be able to complete 50 push-ups in one go * complete the Hero's Journey followed by Age of Pandora * continue Wim Hof breathing, exercises, and cold showers * continue daily prayer/meditation * post to Nerd Fitness and Darebee regularly (at least three days/week) * work on Duolingo daily Long-Term Goals: * finish Educational Leadership Masters degree * train in a martial art * learn how to properly shoot a gun (possibly concealed carry training) * run a Spartan race and/or a long trail race (at least 25k)

I'm hoping to carry over from a successful challenge in hopes of another. I'm still a long way from where I used to be but for the first time in a long while, I'm happy with where I am now and the progress I am making. The format from the past couple of challenges has served me well but I still have not perfected the streak. I plan to stick to the same format until I earn the 1,000,000 bonus points for a perfect streak... or until I realize I can't... and well, admitting defeat is not an option. Only this time around, I'm just going to make it more difficult. The goals are a bit tougher and there are less streak savers to help me achieve success. Food Goal I got further and further away from eating 'clean' but using it as a guide helps me stay under my target. I'm going to stick with what works only I've trimmed my MFP calorie target. Last challenge it was set to 1900 though I rarely got that close to it. So I've shaved that down to 1800 just to eliminate the temptation. The points are the same though I will admit that I haven't put that much thought into the 1 and 2 point goals since I am aiming for 3 points every day. 3 points for staying under calorie goal or eating 100% clean 2 points for maintaining a deficit of at least 750 calories (per Fitbit) 1 point for eating at least 3 freggies Fitness Goal I was pretty consistent last challenge but I'm still not putting that much effort in. My 'workouts' are bare minimum and barely deserve to be called workouts. I've been feeling the urge to pick up the plates again and start lifting but I'm holding off on reinstating my fancy gym membership until my office moves across town in November. I can go for walks, rucks, or do some tire swinging but I have really been struggling with pushing myself. I need something prescribed so it's back to Darebee. I'll follow Athena's Playbook for the entirety of the challenge. My challenge begins today and will end on the last Friday of the challenge, 32 days. That means I can skip only 2 days in order to complete the 30 day program. I will juggle the workouts as needed for time but I plan to complete 1 every day. 3 points for completing the Athena workout of the day 2 points for getting at least 8,000 steps 1 point for doing at least some activity Chain Bonuses: The streak has motivated many workouts and I'm more determined than ever to get the 1,000,000 point bonus. Bonuses are tweaked a little for this 32 week challenge. There are less streak bonuses and they only add a +1 to whatever my score is, rather than an automatic 3 points. Achieving at least 1 point for either goal awards the following points: 7 days = 1 bonus point 10 days = 3 bonus points 15 days = 5 bonus points 21 days = 15 bonus points 27 days = 25 bonus points 32 days = 100 bonus points Achieving at least 2 points for either goal awards the following points: 3 days = 1 bonus point 7 days = 3 bonus points 10 days = 5 bonus points 15 days = 10 bonus points 21 days = 25 bonus points 27 days = 50 bonus points 32 days = 1,000 bonus points Achieving at least 3 points for either goal awards the following points: 3 days = 3 bonus point 7 days = 5 bonus points +1 Streak Saver 10 days = 10 bonus points 15 days = 20 bonus points +1 Streak Saver 21 days = 50 bonus points 27 days = 500 bonus points +1 Streak Saver 32 days = 1,000,000 bonus points

So things have changed for me - and I have the opportunity to take some time to really figure my shit out right now, so I’m taking it. I’m considering this a Time of Adventure. I still want to focus on getting back in the habit of working out 3-5 days a week. It’s been really hard, but I know I can do it. Trying to be gentle with myself as I get back there, but the frustration has been real. This challenge is heavily reflective/me-centric with working out mixed in. My husband and I have chosen a trial separation, and so while I have this time on my own to figure my shit out, I don’t want to waste it. So there is def a theme here that is working out, but working on me, too. I’m including passive goals -- things I hope happen because I am actively working on the main goals. Should be a fun little progress check. So let’s go on an Adventure! Hard Work Sucks Running for Weight Loss 3x Per Week Use the Running for Weight Loss app 3x per week to get back into running and practice consistent intervals. 3 points per week, 15 points total Passive Goal: Lose 5 pounds during this challenge Show Off Your Muscles Two cross training workouts - anything that isn’t running. Could be a Darebee, could be yoga, could be a bike ride, could be kickboxing… just something to add work to other muscles to balance out run training. 2 points per week, 10 points total Passive Goal: Fit back into my size 8 jeans. Unacceptable This castle is in unacceptable condition. CLEAN IT. While the space is mine, I want to pick 1 project and a week to clean things up. Ideas are: deep-cleaning the bathrooms, reorganizing the bedroom, decluttering the craft room, cleaning the yard, deep-cleaning the living room, watching the window screens, vacuuming the everything, rearranging things, cleaning the basement workout room, etc. 1 point per week, 5 points total Passive Goal: Rearrange the living room to include a reading corner I Am… Complicated Spend time every day reflecting with meditation or journaling. While we are away from each other, I want to focus on really getting in check with me and where I am at. I’d like to do this through a combination of meditation and journaling. I want to check in with myself daily to make sure I’m using this time wisely. 7 points per week, 35 points total Passive Goal: Being able to sort out what I truly want from this time. Get A Life Get back to your hobbies. One of the things I have felt over the years is that I have given up my hobbies or set aside things I want to do because reasons. Stress, life, depression… so while I am on my own, I want to get back to some of these things to see if they are really hobbies I want to keep with me. I want to pick one thing a week to work on and see how I feel about it. Ideas include: getting my guitar restrung and practicing a few times a week, working in the uke a bit, trying more needlepoint or embroidery, hula-hooping, practicing my German with Duolingo 1 point per week, 5 points total Passive Goal: Figuring out which hobbies are still worth my time.

All around us, it was as if the universe were holding its breath . . . waiting. All of life can be broken down into moments of transition or moments of revelation. This had the feeling of both. G'Quon wrote, "There is a greater darkness than the one we fight. It is the darkness of the soul that has lost its way. The war we fight is not against powers and principalities – it is against chaos and despair. Greater than the death of flesh is the death of hope, the death of dreams. Against this peril we can never surrender." The future is all around us, waiting in moments of transition, to be born in moments of revelation. No one knows the shape of that future, or where it will take us. We know only that it is always born in pain. Big Why I have respawned more times than I can count. And I think the main reason is that my big why wasn't strong enough, or big enough, or revisited often enough. I always start out strong but then something happens to disrupt the routine, or I get distracted, or lose focus, and it all comes crumbling down again. I was having a deep conversation with my partner and he said, "I wish you could just be happy with yourself the way you are, and I think you would be happier overall if you just accepted yourself as you are, instead of constantly trying and failing." I understand what he was trying to say, but I think there is a fundamental part of me that says, "You could be better." It says, "You weren't always like this, and staying this way is a failure." There's a logical part of it that says, "A healthier lifestyle would be good for your mental health because endorphins are a great remedy for depression," and "Most of your depression and insecurity comes from being unhappy with the state of your health and appearance, your inability to buy clothes, the loss of looks you once had under pounds of extra flesh, and being too unfit to do things you used to be able to do so easily." So, while I appreciate that he was saying what he said from a place of love and with the hope that I would love myself as much as he loves me, and be happy with myself in who I am now, I think that I will respectfully disagree. I deserve to be in the best condition I can be. I owe it to myself to look after my body. When I know what the right choices are, it makes no sense that I keep making the wrong choices. SMART Goals/Quest list This is a master list; I won't work on them all at once but I will work towards these big goals with the challenges. Nutrition: 1. Eating planned meals according to macros: 33P/29C/38F 2. Weighing and tracking food on MFP for at least 30 consecutive days 3. Phasing out carbonated drinks (including diet soda) in favour of water, tea and black coffee. 4. Cutting down on sugar and processed foods over time. 5. Reducing take-out meals to 3 times a week. Mental: 1. Getting control of my depression through meds and therapy. 2. Improving self-care such as brushing my teeth at least twice a day for a month. 3. Meditating every day for a month. 4. Overcoming social media addiction. 5. Updating progress here at least once a day. 6. Using my bullet journal to manage my time effectively. 7. Doing deep thinking about relationship stuff to improve our communication. 8. Tidying the apartment for 30 minutes every day. 9. Completing a konmari of the apartment before we move to Ecuador. 10. Quit smoking. 11. Developing real life, sincere friendships. Fitness 1. Exercising every day (30 day fitness challenge app). 2. Building a regular workout routine (on paper and in practice). 3. Developing a yoga practice routine on my rest days. 4. Spending at least 30 minutes outside each day (once I have left China and its air pollution). 5. Swimming at least once a week. 6. Do a 2 minute plank. 7. Do a pull up. 8. Run a 5k. 9. Climb a volcano. And if anything pops up to throw me off track, I will be prepared. After all,

Right. Here we go. My last complete challenge was roughly a year ago (oops) and quite a bit has happened since then. Unfortunately, I managed to undo all of my progress and have even gained some additional weight. It's dissapointing, but it is what it is. Time to start over and make permanent changes. For now, I'm going to set a 6 month goal (not 100% sure what it is yet) since it corresponds to the end of the year and should give me enough time to really see some level of transformation. The theme this time around is Star Wars in general though it will probably center around Mandalorians. 1. Prepare for Battle - Foundational Fitness For the duration of this challenge, I will be working my way through the Darebee Age of Pandora fitness quest. Challenge Goal: Complete Age of Pandora Bonus: Sign up for the local gym and visit at least 2x a week to work out. The summer heatwave is coming and a gym membership will help my fitness quest since it's air conditioned. 2. Fit into the Smugglers Compartment - Become more Flexible I am ridiculously inflexible and it's kind of sad. Flexibility is great for all kinds of things, including fitting into smuggling compartments and infiltrating enemy strongholds through air ducts. Challenge Goal: Stretch for 5 minutes daily 3. Eat Like a Warrior This time around I'm not going to be strictly Paleo, but I expect to be fairly close by the end of the challenge. I'm also aiming to track my food intake in a journal and possibly start experimenting with a food scale. Challenge Goals - 1. Track food intake in my food journal without fail. Hold myself accountable for my eating habits. 2. Cut caffeine by the end of Week 3. Diet soda is not healthy. It needs to go. 4. Maintain the Starship - Life Goal (broken into Mini Goals) Challenge Mini-Goals: Clean the Crew Quarters - Finish organizing my room and make sure it stays clean. Find Mercenary Work - Apply for a minimum of 40 jobs. Just graduated from University and it's time to find a job. Ultimate Goal - Fit in the Armor Same as last time. Lose 8 pounds throughout this challenge in order to "fit" in the armor. Challenge Goal - Lose 8 Pounds Bonus: Lose 10 Pounds - Prize TBA Side Quests Engage in Skirmishes - Participate in the Assassin Mini-challenge Join a Squad - Follow some other challenges and chat with members of NF

Last year was a rough year. This year I had planned to make a comeback, then I overcommitted and my schedule has been really busy. I've been waiting for too long and I don't want to do it anymore. I've tried a few different ways of working on my 2017 Roadmap despite my schedule with varied success. This time it is going to work. This is the last challenge with the crazy schedule and I want to position myself for an epic challenge next time around. I'll be working on 2 things and 2 things only - Food and Fitness Food - Whole30 I'm taking the plunge. I've been curious about trying it before but wasn't sure I could do it. I know I can do it now. I eat close to paleo already but my habits are littered with too many small variances that I don't even notice anymore. My habits are my worst enemies. They add up to barely maintaining my weight. I am hoping to kickstart some weight loss but most importantly I am hoping to get a refresh on my food habits so that I can get back to 80-90% paleo next challenge. This will start Wednesday of Week 0 so that the last day will be the last Thursday of the challenge. Fitness - Athena's Playbook I've struggled to find and make the time for fitness. I've managed to find small pockets of time but with no clear direction or schedule for fitness I haven't been able to use it well. Darebee to the rescue. Athena's playbook is a general fitness 30 day challenge that seems to fit the bill perfectly. It incorporates upper body, lower body, abs, cardio, and yoga. I can schedule the easier days around my schedule and as long as I at least do level 1 each day, it's a pass. I can do more if I have the time but it's not required. I will be taking Tuesdays as a rest day since it is the busiest day. I will start immediately on Monday and should finish at the very end of the challenge. Skipping a day is allowed if necessary but it will have to be made up to pass.

This game was amazing and I am using Aloy's journey as a structure because in August I have my very own Proving coming up in the form of a vacation with my skinny fit sister. I CAN DO THIS Quest 1: Surviving as an Outcast: in order to survive without a tribe Aloy needed to learn to hunt, gather cook and care for herself. I need to relearn some of that too. I want to revamp my diet so that I can lose weight. I am very unhappy with how my body looks and with the exhaustion and general discomfort that carrying all this weight around with me entails. I want to have more freedom of motion, more options at the clothing store, and less self consciousness in my skin. Challenge Goal: Lose 4% of my body weight - Log food on myfitnesspal daily - Pack my lunch for work 5/5 days Goal 2: Train for the Proving. Aloy trained for her entire life to be fit enough to win her way back into the tribe. My Proving is taking a different form. In August my sister and I are going to England. I want to be able to keep up with her on hikes and tours and I want to be comfortable on the plane and on rides or buses. No matter what I need to raise my endurance and cardiovascular health by then. Challenge Goal: Complete Darebee: "Foundations Light" daily Goal 3: Becoming the Seeker. In her role as a Seeker for the Nora, Aloy has to go outside of the sacred lands and learn about new cultures. I need to broaden my language competency to make me a more versatile and employable therapist. I want to become fluent in Spanish. I was fluent in college, so methinks it will come back faster than picking another language to focus on. Challenge Goal: Do one Duolingo Spanish lesson daily Goal 4: Collect the Histories of the Metal World. I love stories and I have been writing in some from or another almost as long as I can remember. Depression did a pretty good job of eating all my creative juices in the past 10 years and I know that if I will ever complete this dream, I have to get back in the habit of writing again and I need to rebuild my skills. My goal is to take a stab at NaNoWriMo in November. Challenge Goal: write at least 100 words from a writing prompt 3 x per week.

Quest 1: Lose 150 Lbs. I am very unhappy with how my body looks and with the exhaustion and general discomfort that carrying all this weight around with me entails. I want to have more freedom of motion, more options at the clothing store, and less self consciousness in my skin. Challenge Goal: Lose 4% of my body weight Log food on myfitnesspal daily Pack my lunch for work 5/5 days Goal 2: Get fit for my Sister Trip. In August my sister and I are going to England. I want to be able to keep up with her on hikes and tours and I want to be comfortable on the plane and on rides or buses. No matter what I need to raise my endurance and cardiovascular health by then. Challenge Goal: Complete Darebee: "Foundations Light" daily Goal 3: Become fluent in Spanish. This will be a career asset for me, and I was fluent in college, so methinks it will come back faster than picking another language to focus on. Challenge Goal: Do one Duolingo Spanish lesson daily Goal 4: Write a Novel. I love stories and I have been writing in some from or another almost as long as I can remember. Depression did a pretty good job of eating all my creative juices in the past 10 years and I know that if I will ever complete this dream, I have to get back in the habit of writing again. Challenge Goal: write at least 100 words from a writing prompt 3 x per week.

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

Grandkai Getting his Groove back Last challenge didnt really end well for me. I had some stuff i wanted to do then but i just didnt get through it with work being a pain in my ass. And of course the holidays. This challenge im going to focus on a few goals: 1) Life: Get back on schedule; 2) Fitness: Start a bodyweight program 3) Nutrition: Cook something new on Saturday 4) Hobby: Complete a game 100% Goal 1: Life, Get back on schedule I made a schedule for every week depending on the type of shift i have. And i have put those tasks into a Habatica account where i will keep track of once that i completed. Goal 2: Fitness, Start a bodyweight program Last challenge i decided to do something as a workout but in the end it didnt really feel good. So i decided to start a bodyweight program from Darebee again. Ill be performing the 30 Days of Gravity workout during the challenge. With a few small changes. Goal 3: Nutrition, Cook something new on Saturday To get healthy isnt something that just happens over night so to slowly eas myself into it im going to cook something new (mostly paleo) every saturday and switch it out for something that i used to eat every week. Goal 4: Hobby, complete a game 100% I have about 118 games and only 9 games completed at 100%. So for this month im going to complete atleast 1 game to 100% and the game i choose was: Everyday im going to play a bit to get further with the game and to get all those achievements.

I start 2017 with a semester to go in my History degree and very little idea of what I’ll do once I graduate. In all likelihood, I’ll apply for a History Masters and end up in academic History for lack of a definite career plan. And, maybe it is what I want to do. But right now, I know myself too little to know what I want, and what will keep me fulfilled and happy. But, in me is still the same burning desire to write fiction. It’s been dampened down now with the pressure to choose a career and with the stresses of university. But I know that I can awaken the spark, and find joy in writing again. I just don’t know if I will ever write professionally, and I guess I’m at the point now where I feel the need to know myself better, and know what path I want to take. I don’t expect to have life all planned out, because life takes unexpected twists and turns, and change is a good thing. But I turn 25 this year and I still feel like a teenager pondering her choices in the career’s office. And I’d really like to feel more sure of my direction this year, so this challenge, you can expect two things: 1. A lot of me kicking ass. Time to show my demons that I’m in charge, not them. 2. A return to narrative. I have my creative writing class, but it’s stalled and I have to get a handle on it. My return to narrative is my escape, my chance to write whatever and rediscover the passion and joy. My 2017 Goals are: 1. Lose around 10kg. Weighed in worse than expected at 73.7kg. Unacceptable. Weigh ins will be every week for this challenge. (starting on either the 9th or 10th, when I get back home.) Not to frighten myself but because I need to learn how my body works, how my weight fluctuates, etc. I’ll do my best not to read into the figures until the end of the challenge. Hopefully the overall trend will be downwards. 2. Get strong – strength workouts 3 times a week. 3. Get more endurance – start running again, add in climbs if possible. Probably be the stair-master given how flat it is around where I live. 4. Write a diary every day. Get the writing habit and have something to look back on on 31st December, 2017 5. Read at least 12 books for pleasure this year. Not for any course, no history stuff, nothing for work counts. Pure pleasure. 6. Find my path: I need to work on the career thing. Really, need to figure out what I want to do. Maybe that’s history, it probably is, with the age-old dream of professional author to the side of that. But I don’t know for sure. Sometimes I do, sometimes not. This challenge then, has the following Goals: Diet Got to get a handle on this. I eat too much, and the wrong things. Enough now, Rhovaniel. Eat the way a Ranger would eat. (No, put the wild plant down, you have no idea what it is and if it’s poisonous. Let’s try the basics, shall we?) 1. 2,100 calories a day. Track on MFP. 2,400 on variance days and workout days where I feel the need for them. 2. Chocolate is the enemy, and I will slay the demon. None in my house, none in my mouth. At all. Even on variance days…. (Really? Oh, come on… Yeah, yeah I know. Gotta break the addiction. Fine.) 3. I suck at cooking, but pre-packaged food isn’t going to make me healthier. I will have 3-4 recipes/options per non-variance meal to choose from. At least one of each will be an on-the-go, or at work option where I have only a microwave, kettle and toaster. I will experiment with meal prep for work, but it does involve a degree of organisation (something else I lack...) Exercise 1. Running 1 x week, minimum. If my lungs play up with the cold, then I will square my shoulders, grit my teeth and get on a treadmill. Goal is a 5k each week and hopefully watch my times improve. 2. Stairmaster, or maybe a brisk walk on the treadmill with elevation 1 x week, maybe. This goal may or may not stay in place, as it’ll be before or after a gym strength workout. Before as a warm up probably. 3. Gym workouts 3 x week. Probably back to the Academy, but they want you to start doing pull up progressions in Level 3… and I have not explored the side of the gym where there may be stuff to help with that. We’ll see, but either way, there will be strength training done. The only thing is that I was feeling like the Academy wasn’t working for me, so for last couple of months I haven’t used it. I need to find a programme I’m happy with, or give the Academy another shot. Maybe the gym workouts with Darebee’s 30 day Ab Challenge thrown in, because damn it I will get stronger and nail push-ups. (well, that’s a thought out goal…yeah, yeah I know. I'm trying.) Life 1. Finish at least 1 fiction book in this challenge cycle. 2. Go to the careers office at uni. Look in more detail at Masters. Explore my options. Do something to further my career plans (or at least, start to form them) at least three times in any given week. 3. Keep diary every single day. Sorry that was a lot to take in. I’d like to make a table to keep track of it, but not sure how I’d incorporate it on here. My narrative will hopefully somewhat follow my goals, and how well I do dictates how well Rhovaniel does in narrative…

(That title tho XD) I signed up with this website a couple years back. I found the concept intriguing and the articles insightful, but I never went along with any of the programs or suggested topics at the time due to how busy I was. I'd occasionally read the article sent to my email and really enjoyed that information. Then came along Rising Heroes ("Hello friend, I am here to kick your butt into high gear! Come along for the adventure!") To which I said "Why the hell not?" I'm starting this new year with not only trying to get fit, but to stay fit for the rest of my life. Being a receptionist at a desk over 40h a week for the past 6 months has already test my ability to stay healthy, with digestion problems and asthma hindering my every move. But I want to change that. So! without further ado, here we go: Yesterday, I completed Day 2 of Darebee.com foundation program. On Sunday I did Day 1. I skipped Monday because I was incredibly ill. I also started a physical journal to write down any notes I want to add or write down when I'm not near the internet.

How? How can I be Vikingr and an Assassin?! Follow the nine, honor the gods and dedicate yourself to the cause. Freedom of mind, freedom of body. Move swiftly, strike hard. No mercy. Gain discipline. Own your life. Goal: Review the Code Review the 9 every night and evaluate how I lived to these virtues. Goal: Train Everyday Random workout from the filtered Darebee following this: (L2-L3 means that I aim to do it at LvL 3 but I'm possible only on LvL2) Sunday: Strength Workout (L2-L3) Lower Body Monday: Ab Work (L2-L3) Tuesday: Strength Workout (L1) Full Body Wednesday: Ab Work / Stretching (L2-L3) Thursday: Strength Workout (L2-L3) Upper Body Friday: High Burn / HIIT Workout (L1) Saturday: Strength Workout (L1) Full body Goal: Track and adjust meal plan Main focus on tracking because apparently I suck at tracking my food. Goal: Parkour? Going to try and train more again. On the weekends, by the morning, I'm going to train. If I can extend the training to the whole day, it's bonus, but if I can't I'm going to be happy just by training Sunday and Saturday.

Grandkai Training as Bladedancer There's something to be said for the blade. A knife won't jam. A knife won't run dry. A knife is very, very quiet. Leave the noise and fire to others. There's work to be done, out there in the dark, Monsters that deserve death, delivered quickly, sometimes silently, and without mercy. Goal 1: Finish the Hero's Journey program Last challenge i started the Hero's Journey program from Darebee and after a week off between challenges in this challenge im going to finish it. Goal 2: Train the handstand. Everyday in the morning ill practice the handstand for 5 minutes. Little goal: Become a better Bladedancer In Destiny i mostly play a Nightstalker and in this challenge im going to train to become better with blade dancer. Gonna play a lot of Crucible and goal is to.....Average a K/D 2.0 Well thats all for this challenge, not a whole lot but just enough for now.

I wish to be reborn. Not a restart for sure, but I need to rediscover myself and my world. So in that sense: "Haven't forgotten the brotherhood, I hope?" + 3 STR, +2 STA I never truly forgot my brotherhood, the Assassins. That said, this time no Parkour goals. I've started Darebee's Strength Protocol in LVL II and I intend to finish it. So, since this whole Assassin's Guild is about bodyweight and Callisthenics, I thought It was appropriate. I'm currently on day 7 (tomorrow it's the 8th day) "It doesn't matter how hard you hit, what matters is how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward" +3 CON Keep tracking my intake of food, and have 2 eggs and a piece of meat a day. This will hopefully improve my protein intake. This goal is suitable to changes throughout the challenge, according to my calorie intake and overall well being. "The gods are not here to serve me or you. They have their own agendas and plots. But one can ask for empowerment to conclude his own agenda and plots." +2 WIS This time I'm going to change a bit this meditation thing. Instead of the traditional Asian meditation, I will simply take 15 minutes (or more) to be completely by myself, no phone, book or computer near me. I will find myself and renew my beliefs alone... "Information is key. Those who know have power. Ask Odin himself..." + 3 INT STUDYYYYYY. Everyday I have to take at least 20 minutes to study. There's always something to study. If no exams are near, I am to search for information for my Master's Thesis, and if I can't do that for some reason, I will search for a technical book of my craft (Chemistry) and Study it.

Lots of you know I'm a distance runner. The past couple months I've been struggling with some lower back pain that I've been managing/treating/beating-into submission. For various reasons I couldn't complete several of my challenge goals last time. So I'm recycling three of them and thinking hard about the fourth: 1. Run 92 miles. This should be no big deal. As a bonus, each week that I log more than 25, I get to run an extra ZombiesRun mission. 2. 250 pushups. I'm going to take zero week to make sure my tricep is ok. If yes, I'll do these in sets of at least 5. In week 1 I get 1 minute per set. This will decrease by 5 seconds each week. I can take the full minute any week for a set bigger than 5. 3. 50 negatives (chinups). In zero week, I'll test this out a bit and see if my tricep is ok. I would like to start the challenge with an assessment on the gravitron, but I'm going to skip that out of caution. 4. Spend 1 hour per week learning about and working to manage some work-related stress (and perhaps aspects of my life/psyche that make me more vulnerable to this stress). This is really where facing the siege comes in. I need to kind of wall myself up in my castle and figure out what changes I want to make and where to direct my energy. The actual challenge activity each week could be working through a book I've recently bough (t"The Compassion Fatigue Workbook"), reading other resources, journaling, meditating. Some of this could be deliberate self care...like finally taking time to go to the doctor or getting a massage. That "counts", but at least some time each week should be spent reading, writing, reflecting or otherwise trying to "treat" this condition. Figuring out how to "refill the well". A bonus component of this goal is to end the challenge with at least one actionable idea I will try to pursue to help others at my workplace with the same problem. Could be as simple as buying a second copy of the book, putting it somewhere accessible and letting people know it's available. Could be writing a blog post. Could be putting together a webpage of resources I've found useful. I've been talking with some of my peers. I'm not entirely sure the problem is widespread, but I can't possibly be the only one. Bonus goals: I'm doing the Daily Dare PvP. It's a different bodyweight exercise every and and is a lot of fun. Everyone is welcome!! I'm tracking calories, and for every week that I average under 2000, I get to download a new i-tunes song. (weird that a <$2 expenditure is so motivating)