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HI! I am Deftona and this is my 24th challenge here on Nerd Fitness. I was going to sit out a few weeks of this challenge because EVERYTHING IS HAPPENING! in my life right now but I decided NAY, I SHALL PROCEED but I am going to be taking a Week Zero for the first time in a long time. Mostly because I am going on holiday for a few days to somewhere that has magical places to eat, but also because I am moving house albeit really freaking slowly, and while it's wise to set aside a couple of days to ensure this runs smoothly, I need to get my shit together at some point and I think this challenge will help me keep all my crap together. I am expecting to be incommunicado until I get my internet connected which will not be in time for the start of this challenge but maybe I can be that hipster in Starbucks who bogarts some free wifi. Who knows? Not me. Onto the challenge goals! Life, much like the Johnny Karate Super Awesome Explosion Show, is all about learning, trying, helping and having fun. And with that, there are Five Karate Moves to Success: make something, learn something, karate chop something, try something new even if it's scary to you and be nice to someone. Make Something With Carpenter Ron I want to do something every day towards making my habitat better. This could be unpacking a box, turning up the curtains or cleaning something. Every single day I am not at work, I want to be making my new home lovely because I plan to start as I mean to go on. Learn Something with Professor Smart Brain For this one, I want to learn a new fact every single day. About anything at all, but I have to report a fact every day. Karate Chop Something Every day I am not at my out of the home job (which is just a couple of days a week), I want to be doing some exercise. Given that my new dedicated gym room won't be set up immediately, a Darebee daily exercise will be sufficient but I am expecting to have the gym done by mid October at the latest so I will have access to my elliptical and my barbell. EEEEEEEEEK! Try Something New With Leslie Knope Since I am moving to a new area it will be nice to explore my immediate surroundings. Maybe check out the local library and pool, walk around the neighbourhood or do something like try a new recipe. It doesn't really matter what it is as long as it's new to me. Three new things every week. Be Nice to Someone I am slightly changing this. Not because I don’t want to be nice to people because I do, I just don’t want to be nice to people simply because I made it a challenge. So instead, this ‘someone’ is going to be my cat. And I am going to focus on giving her lots of fuss, attention and cuddles with lots of play time which usually involves her watching me play with her cat toys because I guess that’s funny to her, making her 31 and 36 year old humans play with her fuzzy cat toys while she watches us like we’re mentally inferior to her. And like this episode of Parks and Rec, I am going to end on John Cena. New challenge. Gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

Hi everyone! My name is Deftona and I have been hanging in these dark corners of the internet for a while. I usually track my progress in the challenges but since I am going to start a meta challenge that will run alongside all of my challenges for the next two years or so (wow, two years+ makes this project sound a little intimidating.... shoves fingers in ears lalalala) I thought a Battle Log to compliment this would be a sensible idea. Darebee has a range of challenges including a lot of 30 day programmes and I decided to run one of these alongside my usual cardio for my next challenge. The more I looked into them though, the harder I found it to choose one to do and the more I thought about this, the more I came around to the idea of DOING ALL OF THEM. So that is what I am going to do. I have listed them all in order in my Bullet Journal from the easiest to the hardest and I am going to complete them all. They are going to take longer than 30 days to complete because I got other shit to do but as long as I complete them in a reasonable time frame, I can consider them all aced. The first one on my list is Foundation Light and although it is probably aimed at people working below my personal fitness level, this thing is about completion so if I am doing it, I am doing it now. The challenge starts today, woo! My prize for completing this is:

Hi All! It's time for Round 3 of our PVP using the daily dares over at darebee. Every day, they post a bodyweight exercise challenge that usually only takes a couple of minutes to complete. This is an open PVP, so anyone can join at any time. It's a great way to try out a bunch of different bodyweight exercises! If you decide to join, declare what rank you're aiming for and sign up on this spreadsheet. Then, just keep track of how many dares you complete throughout the challenge. You'll get 1 point per dare and 1 point for each extra credit challenge. You must complete each dare on the day that it's posted for it to count - no going back to make it up if you forget! If you're not sure about what counts for the dare or extra credit, post here and we'll rule by what seems to make sense to the most of us. Because this is meant to be a challenge with a wide variety of exercises, we will not allow easier variations of the dares. Some days you might not be able to do an exercise, and that's ok! The person with the most points at the end of the challenge will be declared the Daredevil! Leaderboard Rocketbikeninja (67 points) - May 2016 Challenge is our current reigning Daredevil. Geek On Fire (53 points) - April 2016 Challenge Ranks Titanium: 60 points (30 days of dares + 30 days of extra credit) Gold: 45 points Silver: 30 points Bronze: 15 points Custom: A custom goal of your choice. Just make sure to state your specific target in the spreadsheet. We're starting the PVP in Week 0, but you should be able to achieve any of these ranks even if you don't join us until Week 1.

Going for the gainz TL'DR Lot's of backstory, passionate about healthy exercise, avoid overtraining, or bad form, path to lvl 25, and therefore towards lvl50... Will teach class 17th, start PT 20th, get started on license courses Sept, run OCR in Oct, wanna come with? My plan for this challenge is a bit different. The usual would be something along the lines of "caloric goal, exercise minimum, sleep minimum" While all of those are good, and I will probably get back to them next challenge (especially if this challenge busts out) I feel them not enough and at the same time too complex. So I'm going to go with this instead: Act like a grown up (eat well and with restraint, sleep more than you think you need, go to class, exercise at home) aka don't be a moron Make your weaknesses into strengths (shoulder PT taught me that abs and upper and lower back muscle are where I need to grow stronger) PVP the heck out of it I also noticed I have a competitive streak a mile wide. If I see someone do something I can almost do, I can rarely let go and not push myself to get there. When I know there's something I can't do yet (even if I only compete against my younger self) it's really hard to stay within my limits, and I failed a lot in the past, which bites me in my backside with my tender shins currently (case of too much too soon again) but I will find ways to use this competitiveness: The daily minimum activity that I have tried to implement has not taken hold since I had to stop my wall planks when I hurt my shoulder. So I will enjoy some PVP time with all of you fine rebels out there and see where I can land. And maybe I even can find someone to do some other darebee challenge with/against me throughout this challenge, I am currently at ab challenge day 9, and did my 1:20 plank in one go (never done this long a plank), trick: switching from forearm on the ground to on the hand when it was almost too much, and back down, but no disengaging the legs/abs! And I am considering their Age of Pandora Programm. That is my plan anyway, we'll see how far it survives past first contact with the enemy....

Lightning Warrior Princess! The first half of this year is all about preparing for my first Warrior Dash. What's the best way to prepare for a WD? TRAIN LIKE A WARRIOR!!!!!!! Goal #1: Warrior Dash The WD is the perfect beginner's obstacle course race. It requires a blend of strength and endurance along with a good dose of nerve. For this challenge I want to add more endurance work and cross training. That means any exercise counts; biking, jogging, Darebee, bodyweight, paddleboarding, etc. 5x a week for a total of 20 workouts (I will determine stat points later) Goal #2: Weekend Warrior Warriors work hard and play hard so I MUST do the same. I have a lot of play built into this challenge. I need to remind myself why I wanted to get into shape in the first place. To enjoy life and feel great! (a few CHA points can be gained from this goal) Rock on the Range Zip line or Ropes Course Waterpark My BIRTHDAY Rollerskating Rave Goal #3: Warrior diet Follow Banting (also known as Paleo-with-cheese). Focus on meat, fat, and vegetables!!! I will write down what I eat but I don't need to track as long as I'm following the Banting guidelines. This will be a good time to REALLY listen to my hunger and use "food to fuel my body not feed my emotions." I'm cutting myself a lot of slack here. I have a few events planned this month that will center around either food or bad behavior . I'm not going to hold myself to Banting during these events but I will for the rest of the challenge. (WIS and CON stat points will be rewarded for logging food and following Banting) Goal #4: Road Warrior If I want to have the heart of a warrior I have to face my fears. The fear I plan to tackle during this challenge is to teach my daughter to drive. I will take her out to practice driving and parking 3x a week. I really, really need to do this so I hope I can stick to the goal. Not sure what stat points to award for this one... maybe I'll make up my own! COU for courage.

The theme is Star Wars / Mandalorians since my primary fitness motivation right now is my Mandalorian costume build. I feel a bit guilty every time I look at my helmet, it reminds me that I need to get back to shedding some pounds. I've definitely been packing the weight back on, largely due to too much take-out/snacking from school related stress. It's basically summer and, while I won't be super thin, it would be nice to drop a few pounds before people start dragging me along on trips to the beach. I disappeared during the last challenge and am going to reuse my theme for this new attempt. 1. Prepare for Battle - Foundational Fitness For the duration of this challenge, I will be working my way through the Darebee Age of Pandora Program. I have specifically chosen this because it requires a more rigid workout schedule (and this seems to be where I am struggling most). Modifications will be made as needed to accommodate my cardiac condition. Mostly this means that lots of isometric exercises are off the table and need to be subbed for other options. Apparently some people do more than one of these workouts in a day... If I think I can do it, I am allowed to do this also in order to accumulate more points. Point System Per workout - 2 points + extra .5 points for each increasing level of difficulty 2. Fit into the Smugglers Compartment - Become more Flexible Since biking consistently was turning into a huge fail, I'm replacing my second fitness category with a series of options. I may only do one of these repeatedly, or I may dabble. We shall see. This is more about encouraging fitness related activities of some kind than actually developing a growing skill set in one area. Possible Points Biking for 30+ minutes - 2 Stretching for 5 minutes - .5 pts Doing a zombies run mission - 2 Extra Darebee workout/stretching exercise/weapons practice - 2 pts + extra .5 points for each increasing level of difficulty Fencing Practice - 3 3. Eat Like a Warrior I had great success with the Whole 30 two challenges ago, and then consumed far too much ice cream over the last month. My diet is still far better than it has been in a long time, however I need to pay close attention to my habits and continue to encourage healthy eating. I'm sticking with Paleo for this challenge. Points are all or nothing for each day. If I slip up and eat a cookie, I don't get points for that day. Hopefully, this will curb my desire to eat well all day long and then have cake for dessert. There will be one exception to this rule: anything that came in my latest care package (mostly chocolate) is fair game and does not break this rule. I also expect that it may take me 2-3 days before these food goals are achievable since my fridge is completely empty and I need to go grocery shopping/meal prep. I'm also turning 21 this challenge. This means that there will most definitely be some days where I will not be eating 100% paleo. Possible Points Proper eating - 1 pt Food Journal - 1 pt 4.. Maintain the Starship - Life Goal (broken into Mini Goals) Challenge Mini-Goals and Related Points: Costume Related Finish my Mandalorian helmet - 5pts Finish my holster setup - 3pts Complete the belt rig - 3pts Assemble girth belt - 2pts Other Submit my Capstone report - 5pts (one time only) 1 hour room/apartment cleaning - 2pts Complete major assignments more than 36 hours in advance - 1pt Daily update - 1/4 points Apply to an internship - 1 pt Acquire internship - 5 points This challenge is all or nothing, so the progress bar is a sum of all points, in all categories, so far. I'm placing the minimum at 125 points since I believe this is roughly the point where I would have to do the majority of my workouts, lots of random exercise activities, eat properly, and accomplish at least a few of my life goals. If I reach 175 points, I will consider some type of prize.

The theme is Star Wars / Mandalorians since my primary fitness motivation right now is my Mandalorian costume build. I feel a bit guilty every time I look at my helmet, it reminds me that I need to get back to shedding some pounds. Ok, so some of you may know that my last challenge didn't go very well. I've been trying the same general things for the last few challenges and, aside from the Whole 30, most of them aren't working out as I would like. My plan this time around is to mix things up a bit and structure things differently. I now have an overall 'points system' and have allocated possible points for completing various tasks. Points are generally done based on the difficulty of the task or the amount of time required to complete it, however sometimes the perceived difficulty was affected by my known reluctance to do something, was related to consistency, or just designed to encourage general motivation for prioritizing certain things. 1. Prepare for Battle - Foundational Fitness For the duration of this challenge, I will be working my way through the Darebee Age of Pandora Program. I have specifically chosen this because it requires a more rigid workout schedule (and this seems to be where I am struggling most). Modifications will be made as needed to accommodate my cardiac condition. Mostly this means that lots of isometric exercises are off the table and need to be subbed for other options. Apparently some people do more than one of these workouts in a day... If I think I can do it, I am allowed to do this also in order to accumulate more points. Point System Per workout - 2 points + extra .5 points for each increasing level of difficulty 2. Fit into the Smugglers Compartment - Become more Flexible Since biking consistently was turning into a huge fail, I'm replacing my second fitness category with a series of options. I may only do one of these repeatedly, or I may dabble. We shall see. This is more about encouraging fitness related activities of some kind than actually developing a growing skill set in one area. Possible Points Biking for 30+ minutes - 2 Stretching for 5 minutes - .5 pts Doing a zombies run mission - 2 Extra Darebee workout/stretching exercise/weapons practice - 2 pts + extra .5 points for each increasing level of difficulty Fencing Practice - 3 3. Eat Like a Warrior I had great success with the Whole 30 two challenges ago, and then consumed far too much ice cream over the last month. My diet is still far better than it has been in a long time, however I need to pay close attention to my habits and continue to encourage healthy eating. I'm sticking with Paleo for this challenge. Points are all or nothing for each day. If I slip up and eat a cookie, I don't get points for that day. Hopefully, this will curb my desire to eat well all day long and then have cake for dessert. There will be one exception to this rule: anything that came in my latest care package (mostly chocolate) is fair game and does not break this rule. I also expect that it may take me 2-3 days before these food goals are achievable since my fridge is completely empty and I need to go grocery shopping/meal prep. I'm also turning 21 this challenge. This means that there will most definitely be some days where I will not be eating 100% paleo. Possible Points Proper eating - 1 pt Food Journal - 1 pt 4.. Maintain the Starship - Life Goal (broken into Mini Goals) Challenge Mini-Goals and Related Points: Costume Related Finish my Mandalorian helmet - 5pts Finish my holster setup - 3pts Complete the belt rig - 3pts Assemble girth belt - 2pts Other Submit my Capstone report on time - 5pts (one time only) 1 hour room/apartment cleaning - 2pts Complete major assignments more than 36 hours in advance - 1pt Daily update - 1/4 points Apply to an internship - 1 pt Acquire internship - 5 points This challenge is all or nothing, so the progress bar is a sum of all points, in all categories, so far. I'm placing the minimum at 125 points since I believe this is roughly the point where I would have to do the majority of my workouts, lots of random exercise activities, eat properly, and accomplish at least a few of my life goals. If I reach 175 points, I will consider some type of prize. Progress Bar (first 100 points) - Updated on 4/1 [progress=green]2[progress] Still updating and adjusting things.

Briniel finds her focus Last challenge, I learned a lot of new things. I found out what works and what doesn't, learned a lot about procrastination, about bullet journaling, about what makes it difficult for me to stick to my goals and what makes it easy. This challenge I want to build on what I've learned and focus on what works for me. I contemplated adding lots of new stuff (new workout routine, new diet plan, new rangerbrain), but I think it would be nice to have a challenge where I just do what I've been doing so far, strengthen the habits I've made and kinda build the foundation from where to try new things. So, I will continue what I've been doing because it is working and because I believe it's the right path. I have set up another habit tracker for next month which includes all my goals. Last challenge I felt like my goals were all over the place. Some in my habit tracker, some on my challenge spread in my bujo, some only here on NF, some only in my head... so this time I will focus them all on one page so I can see at a glance what I need to be doing. I'll walk you through it: The top part is my housekeeping tracker. At the end of the month there will be checkmarks (me) or x-es (boyfriend) between all of the dotted lines. I added things that I want to do once a month at the bottom. The bottom part is my habit tracker. I divided it to include both daily tasks and things that I want to do 1-5 times a week. do my miracle morning (details can be found here) do a darebee gravity HIIT workout (I will probably adjust these in the end because they get a little rep-heavy towards the end, which I really didn't like with the last of their programs that I did, changed this to HIIT, because gravity was a little rep heavy from the beinning , star: did more than one workout) do the daily dare (star: with extra credit) drink more than 3l (raised from 2,5l last challenge) avoid added sugar and white flour (avoid, not cut out, so there's some wiggle room here; half-filled: had a little snack/treat but no complete outside the rules meal) eat veggies with two meals (half-filled: veggies with one meal, star: veggies with all meals) be outside for the sake of being outside (half-filled: went oustide only because I had to bike somewhere or had errands on this part of the river) play with the cats 2x (half-filled: played once or when they weren't really in the mood, star: had a clicker training session) write down my spendings in an excel spreadsheet Then there are things I'd like to do regularly, but not daily do one hour of job hunt work (this could include finding open positions, writing applications or getting info on further education, 5x/week) read for work as part of TMM (5x/week) volunteer at the local donation center, by collecting garbage at the river or by other means I can think of (at least 1x/week) call my parents, grandma and/or brother (at least 1x/week) meet friends in person (at least 1x/week) and host a social event at my place (2x/challenge) declutter some area of my flat (I've got a long list of things that need to get done and want to cross of 6 things by the end of the challenge) practice singing (additionally to any lessons or rehearsals, 2x/week) floss teeth (every other day) do some sort of physical activity for at least 30 minutes (workout, running, biking, inline skating, badminton, swimming... could be anything, 4x/week) So this is a lot of stuff, but it's all stuff that I've been successfully doing last challenge. This time around, I will focus on moving forward - my priority is the job hunt. I've been making more and more progress here every challenge, but it's time to give this my all. I know there's a lot more that I can do and I will go and do it. I will work on this as much as I can. I don't know whether I'll have a job by the end of this, but I know I will have done all I can. on what's been proved to work - I will use my habit tracker daily. I will figure out something for the pomodoro timer which was a great tool last challenge to tame the monkey. I will also remember to enjoy my time off, whether I've already done everything for that day or not. on being in the moment - what bothered me most last challenge were half-assed bricks - when I wasn't really productive, but not really relaxing either. So there won't be any more of those. I will either focus on work or focus on play, but I won't do any multi-tasking. This includes eating in front of screens or using NF/fb at work. When I work, I'll work. When I sit, I'll sit. When I relax, I'll relax. There was a quote about this somewhere, but I can't find it right now. When something goes wrong... when I find myself losing focus, when my thoughts wander, when I loose ground... I will use buddhify to refocus. It has lots of different meditations for all kinds of situations. I will sit down for a few minutes, take a little time off to remember why I'm doing this and what my focus is and continue being awesome

Hi All! Let's do a PVP using the daily dares over at darebee. Every day, they post a bodyweight exercise challenge that usually only takes a couple of minutes to complete. This is an open PVP, so anyone can join. This is a great way to try out a bunch of different bodyweight exercises! If you decide to join, declare what rank you're aiming for and sign up on this spreadsheet. Then, just keep track of how many dares you complete throughout the challenge. You'll get 1 point per dare and 1 point for each extra credit challenge. You must complete each dare on the day that it's posted for it to count - no going back to make it up if you forget! Edit: Because this is meant to be a challenge with a wide variety of exercises, we will not allow easier variations of the dares. The person with the most points at the end of the challenge will be declared the Daredevil (or another glorious title of their choice)! Ranks Titanium: 60 points (30 days of dares + 30 days of extra credit) Gold: 45 points Silver: 30 points Bronze: 15 points I'm starting this in the middle of Week 0, so there are a few days of wiggle room to get ahead.

Much like the repetitive nature of the Final Fantasy 13 games... Lightning returns with a repeat of the last challenge (with some important changes) MAIN GOAL 135 lbs with an Athletic build and functionally fit _____________________________________________________________________________________ GOAL 1: Cutting Calories Based on my current weight, height, and activity level I need to consume approximately 1500 calories a day in order to lose .5-1.0 pound per week. Since I want to lose fat and not muscle I need to eat approximately 1 gram of protein per lean body mass. I will use carb cycling to keep my metabolism running. Choosing higher carb meals (150g or less) on strength training days and lower carbs (under 100g) on all other days. 1 cheat meal allowed per week. 1 cheat day during Shark Week. The change made here is that I'm not going to use my weight as the gauge for success. I'm losing inches which means I'm getting leaner. The scale just isn't the right tool for this job. +4 CON +1 WIS GOAL 2: Strength & Sweat To maintain my current lean muscle I will perform 3 days of strength training each week. I'm switching to a Push and Pull split and I've upgraded my body weight exercises. To shed fat faster I will do at least 2 sessions of HIIT lasting 20 minutes each week. +3 STR +2 STA GOAL 3: Restore & Replenish 4 Cups of water a day. +2 CON 3 days of stretching/foam rolling a week +1 DEX LIFE GOAL: MOAR numbers! Brand new goals here... Get quotes from contractors on renovating the kid's bathroom. Must speak to 3 contractors. +1 CHA Complete homeschool records/transcripts for both kids for this school year. +1 CHA

Now that my life is almost at a turning point (brace yourselves... final exams are coming), it's time to prepare for the next part of my bigger journey somewhere else. And which place would be better to do so than the famous city of Free Haven, probably the largest settlement in Enroth with a huge variety of both weapon and armor shops, various other places of interest and, of course, magic guilds for almost every kind of magic. Therefore, the three parts of my recent challenge will each relate (at least in some way) to one of the three schools of self magic. Since these schools also teach their skills to everyone who is able and willed to learn them, they also mark the fact that most of all this comes from an external source (Darebee)and isn't even remotely created or modified by me. It's new territory, so the time for change will come... soon enough, but defintely not yet. Part1 - Body... the magic of healing As the name of this kind of magic indicates, it is all about healing, raising and maintaining your physical attributes and resistances. Aside from keeping my yoga routine (the surya namaskara is one of the best ways to wake up and get alert in every sense), I will be doing 2 Darebee programmes (since they don't interfere but instead should work well together)... more precisely, the ones called "Total Abs" and the "30 Days of HIIT". They also seem to be helpful for a long-time goal I wanted to have reached at the beginning of April 2016 which, sadly, didn't happen as planned. Part 2 - Mind... the magic of knowledge Since the finals (at least the written ones) are dated for the next 2 weeks, my first specialisation/goal is to get through them with acceptable results, giving my best for every single question in every single subject. Being prepared also counts as does preparing for the later oral exam and meditating to focus on what I know, need to know or hoepfully will know sooner or later. Depending on what day/week it is, there will be more specific examples of what I do or want to do for this. Part 3 - Spirit... the magic of life One of the main sources of life and survival is the food we eat. For the following ~4 weeks, my diet is based on the Darebee Ab Diet as far as possible. Our budget is a bit tight so we'll have to stick with what we have for at least until wednesday afternoon... though I will still try to make something mentioned by the cheat sheet out of what we have. After that, my rule of following said diet will be far more strict (except for birthdays/family celebrations of any kind... for obvious reasons) Lifetime Goal - Determining the next steps on my path While there will be a few more weeks of classes after the finals are done (for weird reasons no one understands), it would still be helpful to prepare for what is coming after that. Being almost 100% certain about studying at the Uni, the things that need to be determined are the subject (either History, Chemistry or Biology as major), the place and what those places want. Even though this seems to be most important, there are enough suitable emergency subjects that don't have any special requirements so, as far as my mates who are already studying or did so before have told, in case this gets screwed up completely, I can register for one of those. As always... g'luck everyone

Fairly similar fitness goals to last time, slightly different food and life goals. Fitness: Bodyweight/weapons Challenge Goal: Complete a Darebee Workout a minimum of 3x a week (any workout, as long as it looks fun). Fitness: Biking Challenge Goal: Stationary Bike Workout 2x a week (30 min minimum) Food: Resist the cupcakes, and related unhealthy food. I'm finishing up my Whole 30 on the 1st and will be weighing in on the 2nd. After that I plan to indulge a bit. My cravings are basically gone, though I still wouldn't mind a bit of ice cream and pizza every so often. The trick is going to be balancing the occassional cheat meal with my forward progress. I'm going to try placing a heavy emphasis on food tracking and nightly accountability. I also plan to Challenge Goal: . All the Things - Life Goal! Lots of mini goals. I still don't have a summer internship, so my top priority is to apply for plenty of jobs (prefereably ones that involve plenty of real work and not exclusively getting coffee for others ). Mini-Goals: Stay on top of Schoolwork (manage my weekends!) Read at least one book for fun Apply for at least 15 intnerships (top priority). Starting Weight Before Whole 30 (2/1/16): 186 pounds Current Weight: TBA Let's do this: -Finalizing tommorow or Tuesday

This is where I get serious about what I want and what I have to do to get there.... MAIN GOAL 135 lbs with an Athletic build and functionally fit _____________________________________________________________________________________ GOAL 1: Cutting Calories Based on my current weight, height, and activity level I need to consume approximately 1500 calories a day in order to lose .5-1.0 pound per week. Since I want to lose fat and not muscle I need to eat approximately 1 gram of protein per lean body mass. I will use carb cycling to keep my metabolism running. Choosing higher carb meals on strength training days. 1 cheat meal allowed per week. 1 additional allowed during Shark Week Track daily because the Numbers Won't Lie!!!! +4 CON +1 WIS GOAL 2: Strength & Sweat To maintain my current lean muscle I will perform 3 days of strength training each week (Upper Body and Lower Body split) To shed fat faster I will do at least 2 sessions of HIIT lasting 20 minutes each week. +3 STR +2 STA GOAL 3: Restore & Replenish 4 Cups of water a day +2 CON 3 days of stretching/foam rolling a week +2 DEX LIFE GOAL: Data Science This challenge is really ALL about numbers! I'm taking a data science class and need to buckle down and put more time into it. 2 days a week = +1 WIS

I am typing this up in a rush since I need to be at a friend's in an hour for study purposes and likely won't be able to check in for the weekend. So, this will be my first guild challenge. Well, I hung out with the Adventurers two challenges ago, when it was still slightly less defined in its purposes, but that challenge was cut short by moving countries and never saw an end. So... I am really excited, this is a big step. Tags system based on: http://rebellion.nerdfitness.com/index.php?/topic/77949-incipient-order-of-taggers-lets-hack-the-tag-system-for-good/ I love the idea, go support htem. *SPACE SAVED FOR INTRODUCTORY BLURB* Overall Goal: Incorporate fitness in my daily life. Like many technomancers, I spend hours at a time sitting in front of a computer, a trait that is exacerbated by the fact that my particular trade involves 3D modeling and animation, which means hours at a time can easily mean 10-14 hours depending on the project I am currently working on. I have already started feeling the effects, and I don't think anything but daily exercise is going to counteract them. [Goal 1] : Balancing Include 10 minutes of handstand practice and support practice in my daily routine. I have been ignoring this part of the Reddit Recommended Routine that I am currently following. I had planned to include it in my daily routine rather than as a workout, but that has not happened yet. For handstand, I will start with crow practice. Moving on to handstand once I manage to hold a crow for 30 seconds or more. [Goal 2]: 30 Days of Change I have been focussing on bodyweight strength and building up a routine for the past couple of months, now I wish to incorporate running into it. I really love the feeling running gives me, and I have sorely missed it. To build this up, will be following Darebee's 30 Days of Change. POSTPONED: due to an excessively charged timetable, I will be waiting to finish Foundations before doing hits one. [Goal 3]: Eat Your Protein I eat realtively healthily thanks to a lifetime of conditioning in the form of my mom. However, due to family history, we don't consume much meat, and this combined with being tight on finances these months, means I am not getting nearly enough protein as I should. Since getting enough protein is something I find hard in first place (the idea of eating meat at every meal, which would be the easiest way, is just... really foreign to me... I don't even eat meat once a day, and red meat is even rarer) and i am not used to working meat, tofu and fish (which are luxury good here) in my budget, I will start with hitting a protein goal three days a week. In short: eat 103g of protein at least three days a week. [Life Goal]: Discipline Beat procrastination and distraction. I have come up with a reward system where I give myself points every time I get to work when I should and don't muck about or procrastinate my tasks. I can then spend these points to award myself time off, holiday, etc. (Aside from scheduled rest days and breaks that are already in my schedule - I DO have those, do not worry) The point system goes as follows: Points Gained: 1 pt: every hour I work on a scheduled task without distractions 0,5 pts: every hour I work on a scheduled task but have other stuff going on int he Background; e.g; Facebook or Better Call Saul. 5pts: waking up without snoozing. Rewards: 25pts: Small Reward (watch one episode of a favourite series/muck about for an hour) 100pts: Big Reward (Day off, Spa Treatment, etc.) 1000 pts: One Week Holiday. Easy enough, no? Ah! But there is a catch - every hour I procrastinate, my opponent; the Evil Monkey that is also harassing Briniel, gets 5 points. And if at the end of the week the Monkey has more points than I do - well, I haven't decided wet what will happen, but something will happen! That is all, see you all soon!

After parting ways with the insulting Archer, Red exits the forest and gazes upon a sight that causes him to pause. An old castle, it appears ruined and withered by nature and time, but there was something... unearthly about it. Suddenly Red gets a flash of pain and an image appears in his mind. "Whoa! What was that?" He pondered. 'An old enemy...' a voice echos, it was from the Fire crystal he obtained earlier. 'One that has beaten you before...' "The pain, it feels unholy, almost like... Death." He then remembered the last time he felt this way. "The Lich." The Fiend of Earth. Red faced him earlier only to have been completely demolished by his magic and now he finds himself staring down the path that leads straight to it once again. "What do I do?" 'Fight or Flee...' The voice echoes. "I cannot make the same mistakes I once did, I'm different from the last time I fought that monster!" Red proclaims out loud, more so for himself than the crystal, 'Fight or Flee...' the voice responds. "If I am to beat this creature, I'm going to do this right!" 'Then fight...' A light shines from the Fire crystal as Red steps forth into the first level of facing the Lich, his Kingdom of the Decayed. Nearby villages, consumed with a purple fog that chokes the life out of anything it touches. it's settled down enough to simply cover the ground, and anything that decides to lie in wait for unsuspecting travelers... "If I am to stay strong in this mist, I must train myself and prepare for what lies ahead" Since I got this new job, it's difficult to plan anything beyond a week, because I never know when I'll be working nor at what times until I get the new schedule that comes out on Friday, with that in mind, I found Darebee's latest workout addition, the Combat HIIT it's for 30 days (just long enough for this challenge) and the short workouts fit perfectly with the unpredictability of my work schedule. I will do all of the exercises every day (either before or after work) without missing any. I'm also modifying it by putting in my Muay Thai training where applicable (i.e. When it says Punches, I'll be throwing MT Combos, etc) Str +1, Sta +2, Dex+2 "There's so little here that even remotely resembles life, I better make sure I don't consume anything contaminated." I've slacked on the Water, I'm drinking it here and there, but definitely not enough, at least, not as much as I should be drinking. Time to get back on that habit. 36 oz (1.06 L) every day! Wis +2, Con +1 "What was that?... There it is again!... Or was it over there?... I need to steel my mind against the shadows and tricks of the mist." ​​This goal I'm going to take up the habit of meditating, I'll start with 5 minutes every day using Calm.com. Wis +2, Con +1 "... I probably should've put out that fire before I left. Huh, now that I think about it, there are still a couple of things I still need to take care of." ​​Starting on the 4th of Jan, My university has opened their Post-Bacc program. This is a program where one can re-take courses that they didn't do well in and get a higher grade in it. I need to complete every step of their requirements and get into that program! Classes start in the Summer. I need to do this, no matter what. A list of things to be done will be posted later on. Wis +2, Sta +2 ​​Research the program itself and make sure I know the rules and requirements, and especially deadlines Order Transcripts Obtain a Letter of Recommendation from a previous Professor Update CV

The Theme is Disney, which means princesses, though I admit that I imagine myself as a bit more of a Meg/Mulan then a Cinderella. Anyways, I figured a Disney theme would open up a whole world of Gifs for me to exploit. I may have gotten a bit carried away... Fitness: Bodyweight/weapons Challenge Goal: Complete a Darebee Workout a minimum of 3x a week (any workout, as long as it looks fun). Fitness: Biking As any kind of heavy weight lifting is out of bounds (lots of bodyweight things are kind of off limits too), I need to come up with some activities to burn more calories. My cardiologist says biking is okay as long as I stop if I'm really struggling. I enjoy biking, but need to really up my workouts to compensate for the lighter bodyweight work. This challenge is only going to involve stationary biking 2x a week since I'm still trying to work out my school schedule. Once that's locked in, I'll up the number of biking workouts. Challenge Goal: Stationary Bike Workout 2x a week (30 min minimum) Food: Less of this: More of this: Food tracking went fairly well last challenge and I plan to continue tracking throughout this challenge. I did notice a reoccuring issue with my food choices and have decided to do a Whole 30 to work on controlling the impulse to eat junk food. Start Date: Feb. 1st. Today is day 3 and everything is going well so far. Challenge Goal: Complete 26 days of a Whole 30. All the Things - Life Goal! Clean the things! Unfortunately, I can't do this with my apartment. I need to finish organizing and get everything all set for the rest of the semester. Clean and neat = less stress. Read! I have a ridiculous load of reading this month and need to stay on top of things. Solution: Calendar everything out and accomplish as much as possible over the weekend. Also, read at least one book for fun (audiobooks count). Mini-Goals: Clean and organize apartment. Make it my space by putting up posters, decorating, etc. Stay on top of Schoolwork (manage my weekends!)Read at least one book for funFinish my master calendar for the semester Starting Weight 2/1/16: 186 pounds

So I'm out of the chrysalis and getting ready to fly! GOAL Lose 5lbs, since that's approximately 4% of my current weight. That should take me down to 122lbs by the end of the challenge. Keep myself sane while being mostly unemployed.QUESTS Eat 1200-1400 calories per day. I'm sad to report that I will not be following the mid-70s Bowie diet of milk, cocaine and peppers. Mainly because I'm intolerant to peppers.Substitute juice/soda with water. And drink more water generally.Complete Darebee's 30-Day HIIT Challenge Complete Men's Health 3 Week Home Dumbbell Workout, and don't eat estimated calories back!!!Read something that isn't on a screen for at least 30 minutes a day, because my life's turning into this:Finish Berklee's songwriting MOOC. Alright! No need to take the piss!Engage with art once a week - movie/literature if poor; art gallery or theatre if already in town or if I suddenly have enough money to travel into town especiallyAnd just for lols, complete Cassy Ho's Journey to Splits STATS Weight: 127lbs Waist: 28" Hips: 36.6" Abdomen: 31" Bust: 34" Overbust: 32" Underbust: 28.5" Thigh: 20.5" Calf: 13.5" Neck: 13.5" * I am neither thin, white, nor a member of the British aristocracy, but I am missing David Bowie something rotten.

“She realized that no one else’s version of perfect would ever be right for her. So she made her own. It fit her beautifully. It moved in all the right places. There was room for light, and space to grow, and lots of open spaces for opportunities and spontaneity and little gifts that only she would recognize.†– M. H. Clarke Challenge Quests Room for light: read the bible or some other faith based book. 10mins daily. 1xp per practice Space to grow: C25K weeks 5-8. 5xp per week. Open spaces for opportunities: darebee daily dare. 1xp per dare. Open spaces for spontaneity: weekly playtime - doodling, puzzling, make something w/art supplies.15+ mins. 5xp per playtime. Little gifts: try a new recipe weekly or if I'm eating out try something new I've never had before! 5xp per gift. in terms of preparing myself for the memorial day MURPH (which is my long term goal), this month I am focusing on the run.

I really don't feel like writing all that much right now, oddly enough. ... Feel like I should have some great big setting out on a quest origin story, but I am drawing a blank. Here's to me working on becoming the Paladin I am. I have no idea how to proceed. 1. Hero's Journey - Do on Level 1 (+2 STR +1DEX +1STA) 2. Modern Hero Diet - Do also, Level 2/3 ( +2 CON +2 WIS) 3. Life Mini Goals (last challenge continued): 3a. Wake up 15 minutes earlier (+1STA) 3b. Morning & Night Routines (+1 WIS) 3c. Reading (+1 WIS +1 CHA) Read at least a chapter a day or 30 minute 3d. Crafts (+1 WIS) Practice a craft/art skill for an hour a week 3e, Chores (+1 CON) Use days off to complete chores. 3f. Good Deeds (+1 CHA) Volunteer at SPCA once a week for 2 hours. At Stake: (+2 STR) + (+1 DEX) + (+2 STA) + (+3 CON) + (+4 WIS) + (+2 CHA)

The theme this time around is Galavant and there will probably be some gallivanting (and possibly mayhem). The four weeks of this challenge promise to be exciting and slightly insane what with finishing my Christmas break, moving back to school, and kicking off the new semester. While I’m normally fairly busy, the beginnings/ends of semesters tend to be especially chaotic and stress-inducing. Since this challenge is only four weeks long, I’m going to keep this round fairly standard and work on rebuilding and reinforcing old habits. The themes and goals are basically the same as last time around since I still have a long way to go before I complete those goals. The second season of Galavant is also running at the same time as this challenge, so brace yourself for knights, music, and madness. I’ll try to minimize spoilers from the second season, but the first season is fair game. So, I'm like this: 1. Foundational Fitness I had mixed results with my training last challenge. For the first month it was going amazingly well and then I ran into some health issues. I visited my cardiologist last week and have been given orders to the effect of: less weights, no isometrics, be careful. He sort of suggested lifting weights of less than 5lbs in order to achieve 'tone' (makes face). Needless to say, I was not happy since he basically feels I should stop all bodyweight exercise and take up running/biking. I expect that I'm going to continue with my bodyweight workouts, though I'll probably have to phase out some of the more full-body exercises and add more cardio (i.e. no more transition planks since I know those cause problems). Biking is apparently acceptable, so I'll be spending a lot of time on the gym's stationary bike once I get back to university. Challenge Goals: Darebee Workout a minimum of 3x a week (any workout, as long as it looks fun).30 minutes of walking/biking at least 2x a week 2. Food; Eat it Don't light the vegetables on fire; eat them instead. Honestly though, the holidays have done a number on the eating habits I was working on last semester. There is quite a bit of room to improve. Until I move back to college I have minimal control over what is being served most meals/where we eat out. I am 100% in control of breakfast and need to do a better job with controlling what ends up on my plate during other meals. It's amazing how much harder it is to resist temptation when I can't simply keep certain foods from ending up in the fridge. To help my self-restraint I'm going to continue tracking my food intake in my food journal and review it nightly to look for areas to improve. Challenge Goal - Track food intake in my food journal without fail. Hold myself accountable for my eating habits. - 26 days possible. 3. Limit the (caffeine) Drinking Challenge Goal: - Cut caffeine by the end of Week 3. I was making progress with this and then finals week + no sleep happened. Diet soda is not healthy. It needs to go. 4. Put the Armor on Properly - Life Goal (broken into Mini-Goals) Lately I've been feeling a bit hard pressed to keep up with everything and I'm tired of feeling this way. I want to catch up on my workload and get back in control of my life. Goals will be added as I come up with new ones. Challenge Goals: · Prepare the Armoury - Continue work on my Mandalorian Armor. I had to halt progress on this during finals week and haven't been able to get much accomplished since. There's still 2 weeks before I return to college, so I have some time to get this done. · Find Work - Apply for a minimum of 16 internships for next summer (avg. 4 per week). I really need an internship, preferably one that pays. This mini-goal is a priority. Ultimate Goal - Weight Loss I have confirmation that we are going to Hawaii for 8-10 days this summer. This will most likely be in August and I want to be closer to my ideal weight (currently this equals 160lbs.). My motivation so far has been personal health, better fitting costumes, and now I can add an upcoming vacation to the list. Challenge Goal: - Lose 4 pounds Current Weight: N/A

When I started my first challenge, I didn't see the point of battle logs. In my mind i thought you already have your challenge thread, why not just keep that active until the next one starts, then transition over. During my time here people have told me that they use their battle log to keep track of all of the things that would clutter up their challenge threads with too much detail. That made sense but didn't apply to me, i write long and rambling posts and probably give way too much information. A medical condition (gallstones) forced me out of this current challenge cycle, now I'm glad this section is here. During the week between challenges and the first few days of this challenge, I have either been in pain, in the hospital, or at home recouperating. So working out has pretty much been a no-no, but i had plenty of time to work on my other goals, but i did nothing. This week I decided to just go for a 5mile walk each day instead of working out, to let my body ease back into it. I went out Monday, but couldn't be bothered yesterday and took a 4 hour bath instead. today i didn't feel like walking either. I decided that i need to go back to making myself accountable, even if no one ever reads this, i need it to be here to keep me on track. With that decision made I decided to start Darebee's 90 days of Action Looking at the routine it looked simple and easy, i decided to go for the full 7 sets of level 3. The routine is simple, but I definitely didn't find it easy. I'm happy that i underestimated the routine though, because that made me decide in advance to do 7 sets. Had I just started doing sets and seeing how I felt I probably would have stopped at 3, there is a small chance I would have pushed to 5, but don't thing i would have carried on to 7. I did the routine as it is written, the only thing I wasn't sure on was whether it was 10 lunges, or 10 lunges per leg, so I did the 10 per leg to be on the safe side. i used the sites timer to give myself 30 seconds break between each set. Unfortunately I didn't think to time how long the full workout took me, it would be nice to know how long I was at it. During my last challenge cycle I did the Inhome parkour fitness program from the Tapp brothers. It was a good course and I plan on doing it again, it kicked my arse at times and made me really work. But today's workout pushed me harder than any of those training days and made me sweat more. So I think this Darebee program is going to prove to be worthwhile. I usually end each post with a motivational/inspirational picture. This one doesn't quite fit, but this week has been a bad one for all of my family (I ended up in hospital twice, My nan died, My brothers girlfriend almost lost an eye in a work accident-she's healing now and my dad's elderly dog died-It hit him and his wife harder than they thought it would) and I wanted something that would be a reminder that we can't always control what life throws at us, we just control how we deal with it and move forward.

The door opened for the first time in months. Years? It was hard to keep track in the darkness of the cell. Well, maybe cell. For all he knew, it could be a wine cellar, a regular cellar, or even an underground phone booth. It really was awfully dark. As the bright sunlight seared into his squinting eyes, his hand slipped slowly to the jagged, broken piece of 1x4 he had broken from the floor ages ago. It had taken a long time to sharpen it to a point by rubbing it on the rough stone walls, but time had never been at a premium in the darkness. Stone walls? That should have tipped me off, he thought. Not a phone booth. Dummy. He prepared himself for a leap, though he was almost completely certain he wasn't up to fighting his way past anyone more dangerous than a punch-drunk mallard. “Oh, put that away,†said a thin, creaky voice above him. In the glare, the voice was far more defined than the silhouetted body from which it issued. “I know you've been down there ages, and you've never known who or what was eventually going to open this door, but how much damage do you think a sun-blinded man in a hole can do to a person standing four metres above him? Besides...you have been here before.†“Fair point,†said the man in the hole. Then, to the voice's surprise, the former captive pounced. The voice's training kicked in, and in seconds, the man known as Daikaiju Jothra was laid out on the ground, gasping for breath, and wondering how his makeshift weapon had ended up the in the hands of an old man. Once he regained his composure — not to mention his wind — Jothra practiced his shouting. “I'll eventually care who you are, but I think first I'd like to know why I've been trapped in a big hole in the ground, and who's going to pay for it!†The shape at the top of the pit had slowly been forming itself into a bearded old man. His robes were old and worn, but immaculately maintained. His dim grey eyes seemed ages younger than the rest of his face, flashing from under the floppy brim of his cartoonishly pointy hat. His left hand held a familiar-looking brown sling pack. After a pause, conveniently long enough to allow even the slowest of readers a chance to finish reading this paragraph, he finally spoke. “I am here...from the Rebellion.†“That's great, but I told you--†“My fellow elders and I have been seeking you for a long time. You have disappointed us, and let yourself fall into your old ways. But we still need you to complete our mission.†The old man made a strange, strained expression, and the man in the pit suddenly found himself rising, as the floor below him moved improbably up to ground level. “You were lured here by Ogrod the Dreaded, the dictator and ruler of all Lodbrok. Again. The way I understand it, he had an easier go of it than he did the first time he locked you in a hole.†The man in the no-longer-a-pit stared a seething stare. The old man sighed. “Do you care nothing for the planet Lodbrok? What of the time and resources we spent rescuing you one year ago? What about the training? What of all of our hopes and dreams? You have failed us all, as much as you have failed yourself!†“Have I, now?†the former pit dweller sneered. “Who do you think you are? And just who do you think I am?†“Your name is Jothra! You were once a strong scout on your native world, before Ogrod managed to snare you in this trans-dimensional interplanetary trap! When you were once freed, you showed potential, but you spurned it for a life of sloth and ignorance, and became ensnared in exactly the same net again! Now you are free — again — and this time, we are not sure how to proceed. Are we to drag you, kicking and screaming, to a training prison? What say you?.†The old man handed Jothra the sling pack. “This is your satchel, of course. It is the same one we rescued from Ogrod's vaults last time. It is mere luck that lives weren't lost in its recapture. It is empty at present, just as you...†Jothra did not try to hide his scornful sneering as the old man's words trailed off. The old man's brow creased in worried confusion. “Your timepiece is on your right wrist.†He pointed a bony finger to Jothra's wristwatch. “You...you are right handed.†He looked down at Jothra's left shin. “...And where is your scar...the one from the bicycle crash? It should not have faded so soon, unless...†“Good job, Holmes,†Jothra sneered. His right fist connected with the old man's right eye. Jothra grabbed the bag, since it seemed like a waste to leave it with a future dusty corpse, and strode shakily away. He would need to regain his strength to do what must be done. “You're forgetting! There is one other thing!†shouted the old man A piercing, animal scream came from somewhere much too close to Jothra's left ear. He dropped the satchel, and turned just in time to see a dark black maw with jagged white teeth around its edges. Then he was done seeing things for more or less ever, with the exception of the inside of a giant carnivorous lizard. “Run,†said the old man, grabbing the bag, and fading from sight. * * * “You are sure?†asked another old man. “Yes,†replied the old man, addressing all seven of his bearded, old man colleagues. In the middle of the round table sat Jothra's satchel. “But how is this possible?†queried another old man. A throat cleared. All eyes swivelled to the most ragged but robustly healthy of them all. “We know that it is possible, because that is what we have before us,†said the haggard old man. “The evidence is clear. The man we found and released today was not Jothra. He was the Evil Jothra that Ogrod created shortly after we first found the real Jothra last year. Somehow, Ogrod was fooled into burying his own minion in a deep, dark prison, and throwing away the key.†There was silence around the Rebellion Old Men Council's planning table. This situation was not one for which they had prepared. Never in their wildest dreams had they imagined that the man they had found in the prison could be anyone but Jothra. Now they all shared one question, and they dared not voice it, because they knew that no-one at the table had an answer. Where the hell was the actual Jothra? I disappeared from NF a year-ish ago, but I've been busy since. I've lost 25 lbs., and increased my leg strength and stamina an awful lot. I've earned my Alberta Permanent Teaching Certificate. I've gone on an Alberta and B.C. National and Provincial Parks crawl. I've scrambled a moderate peak. Most recently, I cycled 95 km from Vulcan to Lethbridge for a pizza. Now I am back because I want to keep working. Ride bicycle. Complete Darebee's Hero's Journey bodyweight strength program. Read books. "Conquers the Underlying Symbolism of Everything" is a reference to every exercise in the Hero's Journey program representing a fictional action in a continuing story. Also, it gave me an excuse to use a clip from the old Muppet promo reel. 1.) Main Quest I've lost weight, and increased my stamina. Everything is easier now. I want more. My three goal-achieving-type-little-goals-that-add-up-to-a-bigger-goal-goals: i.) Ride a bicycle three days a week. My road cadence has moved from generally-high-60s to generally-low-80s, and it's made life better. Road bike until snow, then winterized MTB or stationary bike (I call it the Modified Thunderbolt Grease-Slapper, because it has been modified to hell and back). Easy scoring: __/18. [+3 STA | +2 DEX] ii.) Run the Hero's Journey workout from Darebee every day. I should be able to do this during my lunch break while the kids are gone. If this goes well, I may try the Pandora workouts when my 60 days of Hero's Journey are up. Easy scoring here, too: __/42. [+3 STR | +1 DEX | +1 CHA] iii.) Maintain a minimum activity level, and watch how much I stuff down my food receptacle. No Adjective Dieting for me. I'll meet a Fitbit Charge HR-recorded 12,000 steps a day (a step up from my previous base at 10,000) maintain a calorie deficit. __/42. [+2 CON | +1 WIS] 2) LIFE SIDE QUEST Read every day. Internet doesn't count. [EDIT: reading at school doesn't count either.] __/42. [+1 WIS | +1 CHA] I'm going to determine scores based on percentage ranges, more or less like on my childhood report cards: A = 86-100% | B = 73-85% | C = 66-72% | D = 51-65% | F = 0-50% 3) MOTIVATION This same post-it is still on my door. It's been there since I very first found the NF forums. I will post today's results later on tonight. Good luck, everyone!

Week zero, here we are. And where, in fact, are we? That's right friends, it's a Daredevil challenge! This comic means a lot to me - it's one of the comics that I discovered on my own, in middle school, and it really got under my skin. Daredevil taught me that hypersensitivity can be an advantage, it doesn't make you weak and fragile, it just requires you to work hard, stay balanced, and have a clear head. When the world floods in on you from all sides, you need structure and purpose, and then you can become someone extraordinary. He was also a hero who used words and smarts as often as fists, and had a full, meaningful life outside his vigilante activities. Balancing the self-control with rage, aggression, etc. Anyhow, all that to say that this one's real close to my heart, and I spent a hell of a lot of time during middle school teaching myself how to do things blindfolded, and hitting myself in the face with makeshift weapons. Here is the challenge! 1. Training I've been having pretty good success with five bodyweight workouts per week, so I'll keep on with that, with a few changes. First of all, I will do at least one workout blindfolded each week - this is something I have done before, and I really love it. I'll also continue with handstands, folded into the routine. I also want to start upping my workouts - for the past six weeks I have kept myself at the "level 1" for all the neila rey workouts - that's three rounds for the regular workouts and five rounds for HIIT. I think I can do more now. Let's start with four. I'm also thinking about starting to get organized about training my side rolls and cartwheels... 2. Study Matt Murdock isn't just a punching kind of hero, he's also a talented and hardworking lawyer who understands the power of the word. He worked hard for that knowledge and skill, and so will I. I'm applying for graduate school this fall, for an MFA that will be a really important step towards me breaking into being a professional author, and give me two years to do my work, to learn and study and hone my craft. I have a lot of work to do to get those applications ready, but most immediately I need to get my portfolio into shape, and i need to take the GRE. So, that's 30 minutes editing per day, plus 10 minutes GRE study. Also I need to sign up for the GRE. 3. Fuel I'm getting real tired of all this dead weight on my body. Need to be able to move and fly. So, I'm cutting white breads, including pasta, anything battered, cake, whatever. Continuing to track all food. I would say that part of this challenge is cutting back on booze, but it actually looks like that's been taken care of by budget concerns. Yay? 4. Embracing Silence I have been so overstimulated lately - comic bingeing, video games, constant audiobooks and podcasts, and not only is it interfering with my general productivity, it's cluttering up my headspace, dragging energy out of me, and I just plain don't like myself in my lotus-eating phases. So let's start with a hard and fast rule of only music allowed after 10pm, and I'll be trying to see other places where I can create a little more silence. Hopefully I'll find an equilibrium, dedicated times, places, amounts for media consumption. I'm also going to put a little more juice into my meditation practice, be a little more deliberate, give myself less wiggle room to slip out of it. LIFE QUEST: Micro adventures! Once a week, I will embark on some kind of micro-adventure! Visiting a new island? Going to a concert or a theater production? Kayaking for free on the Hudson? Finally walking across the Brooklyn Bridge? Dare-devil indeed... I will be using this week for it's actual purpose, which is of course test-driving the new challenge parameters, and probably all this will change a little in the next few days. WEEK ZERO GO!

"Fighters who work on form, flexibility, tendon strength and muscle density end up being in total control of their own body. Ultimately that is what being a fighter is all about. If you do not control your body, there is no hope of controlling anybody else’s long enough to beat them. " -Neila Rey Big Why: I want to be able to take control of my body and work with it, rather than struggle to fight against it in order to get in shape. I need discipline and force of will to achieve my goals. Goals: I decided to switch back over to the assassins, firstly because it's the most awesome guild in the rebellion, and secondly because this challenge, I want to focus on martial arts. I've never done it before, so I'm going to work my way through the Darebee (Neila Rey) Fighter's Codex, paying attention to form and using the videos to perfect that. Fighting improves my dexterity and strength. I'll be doing it at level 2, since I did the fitness test today and discovered that's slightly above where I am. I should push myself. Goal 1: Complete the 60 Day Darebee Fighter's Codex. Reward: CON +1, STA +1 Assassin: An assassin needs to be able to defend herself and overpower her enemies. I'm also taking myself to the fight rather than waiting for it to come to me, so I'll be making an effort to hike at least 60 mins 3 weekday mornings, as well as continuing to go hashing because hashing is awesome and I love it. Unfortunately, I'll be spending a lot of time in Seoul in June, so I might not make the official hashes. If I miss a hash, I have to do a 10k hike/walk on Sunday afternoon/night. I will probably follow the route I did yesterday: For tracking purposes, I'll use MapMyRun or MapMyWalk or whatever to track the walks. I figure that's constitution and wisdom; con because my old trainer used to say, in his thick French accent, "Cardio is good for ze life" and wis because I need to use my brain to navigate and plan hikes, and tend to make bad choices and go the wrong way. Stamina to make it through those 10km hikes. Goal 2: Hike 3 mornings for 60 mins, and all hashes if possible. If no hash, then hike/walk 10km. Reward: DEX +2, STA +3 Assassin: An assassin may stalk her prey over long distances, and needs to be able to track them. The reason I'll be missing things is not a fitness thing but a life thing. I didn't get around to getting my driver's license until it was too late, so I've signed up to do it here, in Korea. This has actually worked out pretty well... In South Africa the waiting list between doing the written test and doing the driving test is so long that the whole process can take about a year. But here, I'll have it all done over the course of three weekends. Sweet. That way, when I go to Mauritius in August, I'll be able to rent a car and give Beardy and I a little more independence than we'd have if we have to rely on lifts. Wisdom because it's a knowledge skill, and Charisma because I'll be able to be more sociable if I have my own wheels. It will also help with future job efforts in Europe or wherever we go next year. Goal 3: Get driving license. Reward: WIS + 1, CHA +1 Assassin: An assassin may need to commandeer a vehicle to cover greater distances, or flee the scene of the crime. And for my last goal, something that is not necessarily a priority but should be done, I need to catch up my 12 book lag in reading 100 books this year on goodreads. I must write a basic review for each book I read during the challenge. Wisdom because books make you smarter, and charisma because my reviews help add to the discussion about them. Goal 4: Read and review enough books to catch up to my reading challenge on Goodreads. Reward: WIS + 1 CHA +1 Assassin: An assassin needs to be able to disguise herself as one of the crowd. By reading books and studying the behaviour of others, she can act accordingly. Knowledge is power. Finally, I need to stick to my diet and keep eating whole foods. I'll track them on MFP. A win is any day under the calorie goal, with enough fiber. Goal: FEED Reward: CON +2, STA +2 Assassin: An assassin chooses the best ingredients to fuel her most important weapon; herself. So, recap: 1. Fighter's Codex. CON +1, STA +1 2. Hiking. DEX +2, STA + 3 3. Driver's license. WIS +1, CHA +1 4. Reading. WIS +1, CHA +1 5. Diet. CON +2, WIS +2

I took a break, got back on track, and now I'm ready for the kick up the butt that I need. I'm heading over here to the Scouts because this time round I'm doing more riding/running stuff, particularly hashes, cycling and walks. SMART goal: I want to hit 75-8kg by the end of the challenge, on my way to squeezing into my wetsuit at my upcoming family reunion. Because... My oldest sister was put up for adoption as a baby, and she tracked us down somehow (despite us moving to another country more than 22 years ago) and I'm going to meet her in person for the first time in August, and I want to be at my best when I do. To measure my success or failure - I have a particular pair of jeans that I want to fit into, rather than obsess over numbers. It's achievable, if I stick to my goals. Goals: 1. Complete the Darebee Hero's Journey (I'm 38% of the way there already - why fix what's not broken?). After that, complete a Neila Rey/Darebee workout every day for the rest of the challenge (balanced out with leg days, arm days, core, rest/recovery and cardio day), or start another one of her programs... I'll decide when I get there. (STR +3, DEX +2) If I miss a day, I must make up for it the next day. 2. Go on every hash during the challenge, regardless of illness, hangover or weather. (CHA+2, STA+3). They happen every second Sunday. I may flip a coin for the running or walking trails, but must jog at least 1/3 of the walking one, and run as much as I can of the running one. PASS/FAIL. This will probably be easier if I stop drinking, which comes into goal number 3. 3. If it's not paleo, don't eat it. Stick to the diet, drink lots of water or tea. No ordering take out. No fast food. No bread. No ice cream. No beer. Concession: rice (half a bowl) is OK if inescapable, because this is Asia. (CON+2, WIS +2) Measuring: logging food with a weight watchers app. 6 cheats allowed before failure. Water is being logged with plant nanny. Bonus Quests: 4. Early to bed, early to rise. Go to bed before midnight and wake up at 9am each day. (This is early for me, because I work from 2pm to 8pm) (CON +1) 5. Couch 2 5K (zombies) I'd like to start this again. Now's as good a time as any. (+1 STA), pass/fail for completing the at least 4 weeks during this challenge. So that's it. Let's do this thing.