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So this is the quick view: To date Committed Reached Track ED 5 35 14% Weight change -1 5 -16% Personal diet recipes 2 10 20% Probiotic 4 34 12% Roadmap 0 1 0% Steps/Amerithon 5,048 Avg Steps (5250) Manuscript 0 10 0% Healthy, Not Boring 3 15 20% Fun 2 5 40% Forum 3 15 20% Week Avg Steps 1 5048 Here are the details for each of those things... Track Elimination Diet If all goes well, during this challenge I will reintroduce the following food groups/items: Chocolate, Walnuts and Pecans , Almonds, Cashews, Peanuts, Hazelnuts, Pistachios, Brazil Nuts and Macadamia nuts, Corn, Soy, Yeast, Eggs, Dairy and Gluten. My goal is to lose another 5 lbs during this period. I also plan to start making my own diet plan based on what I’ve learned. I'm going to call it the BASF diet. BASF is the chemical company that makes the awesome color changing paint. Someone else made this diet, but I need to make it better for me personally, so I'm going to BASF it. I can make a category for recipes that will work and feed that into my meal planner so it will be easy to do meal planning. I will track the number of recipes I tag to my BASF diet with a goal of adding 2 per week. Probiotic I’ve continued to have a problem, inconsistently, with bloating so I’m going to buy a probiotic and take it daily and record in my journal what impact if any. I will track this with my other meds, breaking out to morning, midday and night. I have been bad about remembering if I took the meds, so I need to record it so I know what I’ve taken. Roadmap Not sure how to track this. Now that I have the personas, I plan to create a roadmap for the next four quarters. Not sure how to break this down. For now we’ll just count it if I have a roadmap at the end of the challenge. Steps/Amerithon I have committed to increasing my avg step count to 5250. I will track daily and do the average weekly to make sure I’m doing better this time. Manuscript I still have 20 steps left to be able to submit my manuscript for critique. I would like to get through half of them in the five weeks. Healthy, Not Boring During the planning week I will come up with my goals for this. I want to be actively sharing and posting, at least twice a week. This week I will find content creators to reshare, and make a template for my own updates. Then I will share at least 3x a week, two from content creators and 1 personal update. Fun I’d like to do at least one fun item per week. This will not count whatever tv the family watches at night or my reading at lunch, if I do other tv/movie watching or reading above and beyond, it will count. Forum I commit to one weekly update on my own forum, and picking one person and commenting on their posts at least 2/week for 15 posts. Here's to making it better:

2018 Challenge 1 After mostly completing the Design Your Destiny workshop, I feel like I have a handle on what I want 2018 to bring me, so I'm ready to jump in, tie up some loose ends, and get this year started with a bang, so I'm diving right in. That will make it a six week challenge for me, so while this seems like a lot, I've got plenty of time to accomplish it all. Elimination diet I'm curious to see how food affects my body so I'm going to follow the elimination diet, not because I think I have allergies per se, but because I want to know what makes me feel good and what doesn't, I ordered the book but haven't gotten it yet, so this will become more specific when I have the book Follow the diet Record my findings Lymphedema Exercises I'm trying to manage my primary lymphedema (swelling of the extremities) so I'm doing specific exercises to see what effect they have, it's hard to find specific workout routines so this is all cobbled together based on a lot of internet research. Later this year I'll be working with a therapist for more devoted help I hope, so this is just trying to build the habits 1 yoga workout/week (6) (specific exercises identified as good for moving lymph, 20 minute session min.) 1 strength workout/week (upper/lower body Darebee workout, level 1) (6) 1 aerobic workout/week (6) (2o minute session min. again specific aerobic exercises identified) Breathing exercises - working up to 4 times/day, 1/day counts for this challenge Week 1 - 3 days/week Week 2 - 4 days/week Week 3 - 5 days/week Week 4 - 6 days/week Week 5 & 6 - 7 days/week Personas This is a work related task but it's become important to me that I treat my work the way I treat my own personal growth so I can see progress, so this is my starting point. FLY Lady Baby Steps (31) I am tired of CHAOS in my bedroom specifically, so I'm going to follow the program, but focus on my bedroom only to start with. With a master bathroom, a closet, a sleeping area, it's like a small apartment so I think I can make it work. The exact steps are in spoiler because it's 31 items and long... Submit manuscript to WOTA I need to finish this and call it done, even if it means I work on it every single day, which at this rate I may have to. Even if I don't ever write another story, I want to have finished this all the way through. So I have a lot of revision left. Critiques and more revision. Then FINALLY submission to the anthology, so wish me luck! Bonus List of Doom - complete something off the list PO Learning - substantive learning; an exercise based on an article/blog, notes from a webinar shared with team, etc. Idea to Draft class - complete a module Healthy, Not Boring - post or engage in group Tracking Habits 5 habits to track, step count goal (avg 4,500 steps/day) and one post in forums 3x/wk (at least one is a full update) It seems so much simpler on my grid! To date Committed Reached Elimination diet 0 33 0% Lymphedema Exercises 0 50 0% Personas 0 11 0% Baby Steps 0 31 0% Submit to WOTA 0 30 0% Bonus List of Doom 0 0 PO Learning 0 0 Idea to Draft class 0 0 Healthy, Not Boring 0 0 Daily grade Habit tracker Sole 0 0 Meds 0 0 Steps/Amerithon #DIV/0! Avg Steps Forum 0 18 0% Write 0 0 The last year was about getting in the habit of working on habits. This year is about actually solidifying the good habits and retraining the bad habits, and maybe leveling up a level or two. Onward!

It is time once again to regenerate. It's been a fun run in this body, but seriously it's time to go... but one can hope I'm going to end up with a much healthier model. Maybe ginger? This time around I'm going to try to keep it simple, we'll not be saving the world, just taking in the sights, getting acquainted with my companion(s) and see if we can survive. Step One: Nutrition After a regeneration it is important to get the right nutrition - I will be doing the elimination diet again this challenge. I was sooooo close last time I tried, almost made it to the end, and choked 2 days before the reintroduction phase and went wild on alcohol and sweet treats. This time in order to keep on track more, I will be posting my meals on youfood daily still, but also keeping a detailed journal about how I am feeling. I will also be making a reintroduction plan to make sure once I get to the end I know in what order I'm doing things. scoring for this: Each Meal posted on Youfood is worth 1 point with a maximum of 3 pts per day, with a half pt for snacks. bonus point at end of week for posting a meal plan on Friday. Step Two: Movement The doctor and his companions are always on the go, running... and running... and dancing... lots of dancing second goal this month is to move every day. on alternating days I'll go between bodyweight workouts designed to help get me ready for aerial silks when I can afford it, and dancing to kpop music. For bonus points I will post a Wednesday bridgeclub photo on Facebook, on Friday I will post a video of my kpop dancing progress. I think this challenge I will continue working on Dope by BTS as this one is seriously killing me. At least once a week I will have a rest day, which will consist of yoga/stretching for flexibility. Scoring: 3 pts for each completed workout (less awarded if not completed, but started), 2 pt for a bridge club photo, 2 points for Kpop Video. Step Three: Rest I just got news today that I will be starting a new job on Sunday night, and it's the first time I will be working 3rd shift. I need to establish a workable sleep schedule to be productive in everything else, so I will be making a goal to wear my cpap to bed every day, and will award myself points for how long I sleep, and bonus points for hacking my sleep. Scoring: 3 pts daily for sleeping 8 hours with CPAP, 2 pts for 6 hours with CPAP, 1pt if below 6 hours or without CPAP. bonus points for these hacks: .5 pt for each time an essential oil is used to aid sleep. 5 points for purchasing blackout curtains and clearing them with landlord. 5 points for purchasing mouth guard, 5 points for purchasing eye mask, .5 pt for using soothing music or white noise. BONUS LIFE GOAL: Cleaning House Each day I will be taking 20-60 minutes to deep clean one aspect of the apartment. We recently had a city inspection which did not go so well, so my landlord is breathing down our necks to get the place cleaned up. Each day I will pick a room or section of a room (such as a set of cabinets, or an oven or closet) to work for 20-60 minutes (depending on the size of the project) and really clean organize and consolidate. I'm tired of living in clutter. For accountability I will take Daily Before and After photos which will be posted once a week for tips, or if there's anything that looks like it may have been missed. This will be a passed goal if at the end of the challenge the apartment is inspection worthy, A/O passes a follow up inspection if we have one in this time.

this is also a repost of my respawn, but I plan on posting the updates daily here too. So I'm starting a respawn, but trying something entirely new, so as not to go insane (you know, insanity is trying the same thing over and over again and expecting different results, right?) So I'm starting this respawn by 1 actually posting my plans, for some accountability, 2 following the academy plan after 3 starting wih an elimination diet to really find out what will work for me, what has been sabotaging me, and also to push myself to be more creative, and resourceful in my cooking and prep. So as a first step, here are my before pics: Here are my starting measurements: Weight: 268 lbs Neck: 16.5" Chest: 47.25" biceps: 15.5" waist: 48" Hips: 51.25" Thigh: 27" Calf: 19.5" Here is my big why (in two parts, one is my big why overall, and the other is my big why on why I am doing the elimination diet. ) The Big Why My big why for this journey to being healthier, happier and stronger is to feel comfortable in my body. I want to be confident that I am not a hindrance to my dreams. I also want to pass my confidence with my body to any children I have and may have in the future. I do not want to see them have the same unhealthy relationship with food that I did, or same self-consciousness that led me to not follow my passions and dreams as fully as I should have because I did not think I could because I was “fat” I also just want to feel in control of my eating. When I give in to my eating habits I feel out of control and feel like a failure. I am tired of feeling like a failure. I want this confidence back: The big Elimination Diet Why: I am doing this elimination diet for several reasons. I want to get to the bottom of what causes me illness, or pain. This way I can tailor a nutritional plan just for myself and give myself the biggest chance for success. I also want to reset my eating habits, start clean, and build a sustainable basis. I also want to experiment with several new combinations of food. I want to discover more about myself during this journey. This is not a weight loss diet, this is not a fad diet. This is merely a science experiment to really teach me the consequences of not sticking to the lifestyles I will have chosen. I also want to prove to myself I am stronger than my struggle, I CAN DO THIS. I can stick with something. I can.

So I'm starting a respawn, but trying something entirely new, so as not to go insane (you know, insanity is trying the same thing over and over again and expecting different results, right?) So I'm starting this respawn by 1 actually posting my plans, for some accountability, 2 following the academy plan after 3 starting wih an elimination diet to really find out what will work for me, what has been sabotaging me, and also to push myself to be more creative, and resourceful in my cooking and prep. So as a first step, here are my before pics: Here are my starting measurements: Weight: 268 lbs Neck: 16.5" Chest: 47.25" biceps: 15.5" waist: 48" Hips: 51.25" Thigh: 27" Calf: 19.5" Here is my big why (in two parts, one is my big why overall, and the other is my big why on why I am doing the elimination diet. ) The Big Why My big why for this journey to being healthier, happier and stronger is to feel comfortable in my body. I want to be confident that I am not a hindrance to my dreams. I also want to pass my confidence with my body to any children I have and may have in the future. I do not want to see them have the same unhealthy relationship with food that I did, or same self-consciousness that led me to not follow my passions and dreams as fully as I should have because I did not think I could because I was “fat” I also just want to feel in control of my eating. When I give in to my eating habits I feel out of control and feel like a failure. I am tired of feeling like a failure. I want this confidence back: The big Elimination Diet Why: I am doing this elimination diet for several reasons. I want to get to the bottom of what causes me illness, or pain. This way I can tailor a nutritional plan just for myself and give myself the biggest chance for success. I also want to reset my eating habits, start clean, and build a sustainable basis. I also want to experiment with several new combinations of food. I want to discover more about myself during this journey. This is not a weight loss diet, this is not a fad diet. This is merely a science experiment to really teach me the consequences of not sticking to the lifestyles I will have chosen. I also want to prove to myself I am stronger than my struggle, I CAN DO THIS. I can stick with something. I can.

I've had digestive problems for many years. I have been actively trying and failing to solve them this year. I am currently feeling pretty discouraged and at the end of my rope as far as finding a way to eat food without getting sick, so I'm asking anyone here to please give me advice. Since May, I have adhered 80-90% to the elimination diet protocol outlined in the book Digestive Health with Real Food. For the past 19 days, I have stuck to it 100%. Despite those efforts, eating still makes me sick and I just want to be able to eat and not be sick. So much. Things that I currently put in my mouth: Water Bone broth I make myself using water, salt, and fancy organic bones Plain animal proteins (nothing aged, cured, or smoked) Two cooked veggies (zucchini and carrots. The diet also allows green beans and spinach but I am not eating those right now) Two healthy fats: ghee and olive oil. The diet also allows the following things that I am not eating right now: ginger (gives me heartburn), fresh herbs. Medications: B12 (for an unexplained deficiency), birth control (to help with endometriosis), antihistamines, and the painkiller tramadol as necessary (usually 3-5 days per month). That's IT. I don't put anything else in my mouth right now. I really thought that eliminating dairy, grains, sugars, and FODMAPS would help, but it hasn't. I tried as many probiotics as I could get my hands on to no avail. I don't even know what to do anymore, I just know that I am extremely fed up with getting sick. I get sick at a minimum every other day, sometimes every day. It is painful and inconvenient, and I feel sad and super frustrated. I am trying so hard to be good to my body, and I just wish I knew what it needed. I have been scoped from here to Sunday, and all the doctors can tell me is that I don't have cancer or an IBD. Things that come up are gastritis and IBS, but without a plan for what I can eat without having symptoms, those are not useful diagnoses. Other medical stuff that may or may not be relevant: I have an inflammatory condition called endometriosis that should not, according to my doctors, be related to my GI problems. I have persistent eczema, severe pollen and food allergies and am unable to eat nuts, raw fruits, raw vegetables, and some cooked fruits and vegetables due to allergic cross reactivity (it's called oral allergy syndrome). I have an unexplained B12 deficiency. My ideas: 1. Something I'm ingesting is still making me ill. It's either food, water, or medicine. Tweak those things, rotate them in and out, maybe get a water softener. 2. Do a 3ish day bone broth fast wherein I only eat bone broth to see if I can stop getting sick. 3. Go back to eating the unhealthy foods that don't make me sick (mostly bland and easily digested carbs like white rice, bread, and baked goods--I've been tested for celiac, and I don't have it). 4. Go back to the doctors and persist until they come up with some kind of plan or something that will help me. 5. Could there be an undiagnosed health issue causing this? I have some unexplained weirdness, maybe it could be related to my GI issues. Get a better GI doctor and persist until there's a plan to rule things in or out. What should I do? Pick a number from my ideas, or come up with your own! It's like the least fun Choose-Your-Own-Adventure ever! What ideas do you have? Throw anything you've got at me, I'm desperate. Encouraging words welcomed here or over in my challenge thread. Thank you from the bottom of my discouraged little heart.

I am back to assassin. I know I know, I'm a distracted nomad class hopper. But I just love all the people! I have some other 'stuff' going on in my life that I'll discuss from time to time, but these are my main goals/focus for this challenge: BADASS WOMAN Part of my level 50 involves reducing my consumption. I have made good progress - I need to make more. Now that the weather is nicer, I need to work on my garage. Goal is to have the main area organized/cleaned out by the end of the challenge. I got a slap in the face with my last bodpod scan. I NEED to do resistance training to see body composition changes. I have started a new kettle bell routine that I am really enjoying. Goal is to do 3 KB or strength workouts a week. I have been focusing on increasing strength in a different ways with my eventual goal being handstands. I saw significant progress with headstands in my last challenge. I need to spend 5-mins a day working on handstand related things (wrist strength, headstands, wall planks). Goal is a freestanding headstand by the end of the challenge.SIDE QUESTS I need to spend time working with my dogs. Because my puppy is such a good girl, I don't work with them as much as I should. I must work on training my dogs 3x a week. This includes going for walks or working on basic command training. I need to get my customary BodPod scan. I am hoping that my elimination/anti-inflammatory diet along with restarting strength training will help me see a big jump this time. I have to have my forth BodPod scan completed. Cancelled due to life being too awesome to care MOTIVATION PROGRESS Week 1 Summary: Work on Garage: 2/3 Strength Workouts: 3/3 Headstand Work: Done. Dog Training: 2/3 Week 2 Summary: Work on Garage: 2/3 Strength Workouts: 3/3 Headstand Work: Done. Dog Training: 3/3 Week 3 Summary: Work on Garage: 1/3 Strength Workouts: 1/3 Headstand Work: Done. 3x free standing Dog Training: 3/3 Week 4 Summary: Work on Garage: 3/3 Strength Workouts: 2/3 Headstand Work: Done. 3x free standing Dog Training: 3/3 Week 5 Summary: Work on Garage: 3/3 Strength Workouts: 2/3 Headstand Work: Done. Dog Training: 3/3 Week 6 Summary: Work on Garage: 3/3 Strength Workouts: 3/3 Headstand Work: Done. Dog Training: 2/3 6 week challenge summary: Overall I wasn't feeling it this time. I'm not sure what my problem is. I have made strides in my self esteem and life, which is never a bad thing. Goal is to have the main area organized/cleaned out by the end of the challenge. Fail. Goal is to do 3 KB or strength workouts a week. Mostly Pass. Goal is a freestanding headstand by the end of the challenge. Nailed it. Nailed this so hard. And it feels fucking amazing. SIDE QUESTS I must work on training my dogs 3x a week. Mostly Pass. I need to get my customary BodPod scan. I am hoping that my elimination/anti-inflammatory diet along with restarting strength training will help me see a big jump this time. I have to have my forth BodPod scan completed. Cancelled due to life being too awesome to care

"There can be miracles when you believe. Though hope is frail, it's hard to kill. Who knows what miracles you can achieve? When you believe, somehow you will." The Curly-Haired Warrior turns up her ipod tunage, ties her running shoes tight and takes a last swig of water. She's about to go hard. She ain't going nowhere but up, and she certainly isn't going home (until she's tired). This is her first full challenge, and she's determined to make it a good one. GOALS: 1. fuel the body. Eat a minimum of one portion of vegetables for lunch and dinner two portions of veg per day. [changed because of mini-challenge 1] doesn't include potatoes."portion" = at least the size of my fist.Final score = /42 STA 2 / CON 2 2. use the fuel. feel the burn. a) jog/ stumble/ crawl the 5k route in my local park at least once each week and record time. improve time each week twice by the end of the challenge (suggested by GoodDoug) anything counts as long as I don't walk the whole thing.Grading a) A = 5/6, B = 4/6, C = 3/6, D = 2/6 A = 2/2, B = 1/2 Minimum for each part must be met for each grade boundary (so to get a B overall I must improve at least once) STA 2 / DEX 1 / STR 1 3. you can't put petrol in a diesel car. stick to my food elimination diet plans. During the majority of this challenge I'm going to be doing a pretty (ok very, extremely, crazily) strict food elimination diet. It seems to be pretty daft not to include this as part of my challenge. [starts 22/4/13] Every meal eaten in accordance with the food elim diet = 1 tick. Total /105 A = 100%, B = 97%, C = 95%, D = 92%. It's a food elimination diet. I can't mess this up! CON 4 4. count the pennies. levelling up my life one pound at a time. Week 1: record groceries bought and the cost of each. List everything, paying particular attention to any foods that get thrown away. Week 2: set a reasonable budget based on findings. Stick to it. Carry on recording. Week 3: review budget and change accordingly. Week 4: plan meals for week and only buy what I've planned for. drop budget by 10% Week 5: plan meals as before. drop (original) budget by 20%. compare food prices of market, health shops, supermarkets etc. Week 6: get smart. using findings, plan not just what to buy, but where from. drop budget by 30%. A = all stages followed, budget decreased by 30% B = all stages followed, budget decreased by 20% C = more than 3 stages followed, budget decreased by 10% D = at least 4 stages followed but no budget decrease F = budget increase (!); less than 4 stages followed WIS 3 READY TO POUND THE PAVEMENT. LET'S DO THIS.

Hi, I'm interested in doing an elimination diet in the near future to start building myself a diet geared towards my individual responses to food but I was wondering... I don't have access to grassfed meat, wild caught fish, organic food and organ meats so is trying to do an elimination diet without all these types of food pointless? Will the chemicals present in the 'less-healthy' foods throw off my responses during the elimination diet, or will I still be able to make the same diet as if I were eating the organic and healthier produced foods. Thanks!