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Hello and happy Week One of the Autumn Vibes challenges. I spent Week Zero recovering from a cold that tried to kill me over Labor Day Weekend. Feelin' sorry for Cidran - he had the symptoms pretty badly last night. I managed to meet both of my unsaid goals this morning: I did some editing on my book, and for the first time in months I did a set of the NF beginner bodyweight exercises. Even with just one set, my shoulder got a spike of pain, so I also did Hinge stretches on my lunch break, and I'll do them again tomorrow morning. After my two-goal challenge last month, I really want a third challenge. It being the month of Bilbo Baggin's birthday (albeit not with the excellent party from last year), maybe I should feature my hobbit food goals of enjoying produce from raiding Farmer Maggot's fields. Surprise goal: I want to bike to the mall at least once a week. If I have the energy in the evening, that's good. If I have to go on the weekend, that's fine. And for doing so, I get to stop by Hot Topic and get a pin. 😉 Week 1: 💪 - success 📝 - success Tonight is game night sans a player, and I never told y'all how last week went. 😅

Far too long have my physical goals been so subdued that their back burner status has brought my boiling blood to merely a simmer! There have been excuses regarding creative endeavors, holiday festivities, significant loss of loved ones, and taking time to feel human in between the chaos. Well, now it's time for me to step into the chaos and attempt what I have never attempted before. What if I did all* the things? *We know I have too my hobbies to attempt doing "all the things" with any hope of success, so let's clarify: What if I did all the exercises? That's right, folks! Step on up to witness the audacious performance of a person whose athletic track record is not quite abysmal. She will attempt keeping track of not one, not two, not even three, but four (yes, you heard me - four) different exercises (well, technically three, since stretching isn't...). Yes, indeed, FOUR ATHLETIC GOALS! *dramatic pause for a smattering of concerned applause* I consulted with my husband, and he has not convinced me otherwise, so I shall now elaborate upon my goals: 1. Every day upon turning on my phone I will first click the Hinge app I installed to do a 15 minute stretching session paid for by my medical insurance (I installed it on Saturday on a whim thanks to the mailing they sent me). 2. Every other weekday (preferably before I turn on my phone so I can't get distracted after completing Hinge), I will do NF Beginner Bodyweight exercises. (I did it yesterday, and boy do my shoulders hate me already) 3. Every weekday evening (except Wednesdays due to game/paint night), weather permitting, I will go on a bike ride. I am happy to say Cid intends to join me on these. 4. The stretches. All the stretches. The ACNH warm-ups before NFBB exercises, the full stretches after either of my strenuous exercises, the leg stretches Ever taught because the biking is gonna kill me otherwise. Just stretching always so that my muscles know I am the one in charge here. I have no idea how well this is going to go. 😂 But the fact that I started Monday without writing up this challenge to tell you has me on the edge of my seat, excited to try, while also terrified of my precocious audacity.

Hello! I am back on here after being away for almost a year. I have had ALOT of ups and downs when it came to my health goals. I am currently in a downward slope...I have felt unmotivated to take care of myself and my health. I am currently at the heaviest I've been and need some encouragement and motivation. I know weight loss and reading my health goals has a lot to do with mindset...so I need help getting the right mindset. I want to be at a healthy weight so I can better take care of my husband, and have more confidence in myself.

The last week of the previous challenge was ... really bad all around. No nothing done! I fell out of all my habits and need to get back into the groove. 🎶 See what I did there? Since leading into the holidays is a tough time to crack down, I am keeping this super simple. EAT BETTER! I had been doing okay with eating 'normal' for 2 weeks after my trip. Then the last week hit and I got a stomach bug/weird ookiness going on, and I just ate total garbage. I will feel better if I am eating cleaner again. I should probably track calories to ensure I get my ass in gear, but this week and weekend is also b-day outings, so ... I have to give some flexibility. EXERCISE!! I skipped exercising for a week straight (partly due to stomach ookiness) mostly due to laziness and 'dunwannas'. I can't be that way. I must get into the warehouse 2x for strength and find some movement/cardio for the other days. Even if that means signing up for the walking track at the local park district by work. Those are the priorities! That's where my first effort goes. Music and art have been been an easy target for me for weeks. I am still super enjoying it and running with it, so I will do those and track them with my time log app. The food and exercise will get tracked here for accountability because I want to start getting my summer body ready now... and not wait till the last 'not happening' like usual lol. Strength⬜⬜ Move ⬜⬜⬜ Food ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ In other news, I got my new guitar! An electric guitar for some day soon (hopefully) music recording and song writing. My sister and brother in law decided it would be part of my Christmas gifts and paid for a chunk of it. I am hoping to get a video up showing my new rig 🎸but I need to find a way to make the sound not sound awful! Art continues with lots of inspiration being drawn from the Vampire: the Masquerade game still, so I'll try and post some of that here too. Plan for Week 1 Monday - Eat good, strength day. Piano, bass and art. Tuesday: Eat good, b-day dinner, maybe some post fam stuff creativity. Wednesday: Eat good, strength day. Guitar. Game night with peeps. Thursday: Eat good, 1/2 day, beat saber, music time, make dinner, Vampire game night. Friday: Day off. Eat good breakfast and light lunch (maybe the zoo?) 4pm Axe Throwing, 6pm Shabu Shabu! Saturday: Get some exercise, eat good, make dinner (for Thursday left overs) to boot. Sunday: Church, music, some hang outs, D&D To Do Stuffs

Hello my fello nerds, and welcome to the final challenge of the year! I'm excited to say that I have managed to get my exercise routine in place from when I started, and that I've maintained a good waking schedule through November for writing. Now it's time to fuse the two skills together into a major accomplishment of exercising in the mornings when I wake up, and enjoying that experience. I still have cantrip candles I can light, and I have music I can turn on, and I have plenty of preparation to use the tools I've practiced in order to stay on top of the tasks. It's gonna be good I think. I'm writing this in a sprint mode at my last write-in since I accomplished finishing my book over the weekend. ❤️ Now I'm going to take the next month letting myself feel human again before I delve into the world of reading and modifying a story into an improved form that can be shared with friends and developed further into better quality still. Sounds like the hard work of improving my physical health. 😛 I'm well on track for establishing my morning habits, and I'm looking forward to the coming months when I finally purchase a bike and start establishing the necessary strengths needed to use it for my commute. I'm glad I have my boss's approval prior to switching over since my safety and security is to be taken in regard prior to making that change. I also think there'll be a point at which I challenge myself to DDR because there's a cool set-up at the mall nearby, that in conjunction with biking to the mall, I can get in some hard-core cardio. But that'll probably be after Daylight Savings Time is back to bright mornings and evenings, and obviously after the bike because it's too far to walk and too near to drive. 😆 Regardless, the challenge for December is to be human again after a month of being a writing machine. I got to a total of 69k words before I was done composing my first draft. Cidran has seen me, but has also done his best not to interfere with my writing, so he's very due the opportunity to see me in the morning and the evening and know that he has my company, and not just my cohabitant presence. 😂 1. I will be doing the bodyweight exercises three times a week - preferably Monday, Wednesday, Friday. 2. I will be recording the exercises on the cool layout I've still got hanging on the wall, and that I finally dry-erased as a diversion from writing at some point during this month. 3. I will challenge myself to have a minimum higher than 5 reps to increase my strength throughout this month - even if it's 7, not 10, it's an improvement from baseline 5. 4. For my off-days, I don't have to walk, but I should do something active, even if it's warm-up, dancing, stretching, and/or GMB hip mobility or GMB movement exercises. I have plenty of options, so I should go ahead and make Tuesday and Thursday fun. That's about it! Thanks for your companionship, support, and enthusiasm this year! Let's finish big!!! Sincerely, Maerad

And I'm back! Decided to go with a Naruto theme since I'm reading the manga, again, and trying an approximation of Naruto's genin training! Starting Stats Age: 32 Height:5'4" Weight:214# Diet Eat at least 100g protein a day! I'm in a state of just not eating enough right now so I'm going to work on increasing my protein intake! I know this will come with calories so hopefully it'll bring me high enough. 7 days- A 6 days - B 5 days - C 4 days - D 3 or less - F Fitness Training! I'm on a working out 6 days a week. Alternating walking and calisthenics with biking or skateboarding on the weekend! 0 strikes - A+ 1 strike - B 2 strikes - C 3 strikes - F Side Quest Sleep Better! My sleep schedule is very up and down. I go to bed around 9 or 10 and end up just laying in bed or tossing and turning until midnight. Sometimes even til 2am which just doesn't work with my waking time at 7am. So during this time I'm going to try different methods to fall asleep faster. Scoring will be based on how many hours a night I get, averaged for the week. 8 hours- A 7 hours - B 6 hours - C 5 hours- D 4 hours - F

New challenge time! My goal is to lose 8 pounds for this challenge. It’s ambitious, but I’m ready for a push. Here’s the plan: 1. Giving myself more time a. Putting off scheduling additional doctor visits until next year. I’m in good shape, and nothing is urgent. I need a mental break from physical health checks. b. Saying “no” to social invitations when the time doesn’t work for me. I try to accommodate everyone else’s schedule because I’m a freelancer, but that’s how I get overloaded. I need to be able to say “That week isn’t good for me, how about the week after?” c. Getting Screen time down from 5 hours a day to 3 hours a day. Apple tracks this for me, and if I need to, I can set limits on my phone again so I’m not wasting time staring at puppy videos, which I usually do after I’m burned out from being too busy. d. Take Wednesdays off. No errands, no social calls, no appointments. Wednesdays are a day off. 2. Utilizing the extra time I’ve given myself a. Exercising Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. In the past, I’ve done shorter workouts six days a week but I find I'd rather exercise for a longer session and then wake up the next day and have more time to get other things done. b. Going on more walks and hikes. I’m aiming for 10 5 miles a week. c. Working outdoors and getting the yard to look its best. 😊 I have a short list, so it's not going to be too difficult. It's totally difficult. While the list is short, each item takes a long time, and I'm remembering this now. d. Planning more healthy meals and cooking them. Right now, I just sorta cook whatever we have and I feel like I can do better here. e. Stretching in the mornings and evenings. 3. Keeping up the Energy to use my time wisely a. Sleeping from 11pm-6am. 7am b. Cutting way back on sugar. I’d like to have something sweet once a week, but I’m done with candy, jams, juices, and pastries, and coffee on a regular basis. c. Also cutting back on processed foods like chips and blue boxed macaroni and cheese. d. Drinking loads more water, but not sparkling water. I learned its hard on my teeth, and I must protect my teeth! e. Journaling to process thoughts and feelings that are heavy and overwhelming. I'll track everything in my bullet journal, and post weekly results and reflections.

I read this thing on Twitter about FUN goals: Flexible, Uplifting, Numberless. I loved it so much. SMART goals are really good, and I still have smart goals, but right now, I need to focus on the journey, and I think FUN goals are more process focused and less results focused. For this challenge the plan is to: 1. Exercise every day. Doesn't matter what it is, just need to do something every day and then throw myself a parade. Which marching in a parade also counts as exercise 2. Read some books. This is the perfect time of year to read a good book and escape winter. I'll happily tell you what I'm reading! 3. Love my mouth. When winter blues hit, I immediately start slacking off on things like brushing my hair or flossing my teeth. This winter, I'm going to take ridiculous care of my teeth. I am armed with a sonic toothbrush, floss, mouth wash, a waterpik, and a whitening kit. It's a lot, but I've already started this month, and it's really contributing a lot to improving my mood.

Hello, all! I was on here a long while ago working on my fitness and am returning several years later (and several years older - welp!) from an entirely different country and with completely different goals, ready to work on myself again! 😄 Back then I was in my late teens and concentrated heavily on cardio and studying to great success, but I also had far less to contend with back then. I'm quite a changed person now, with a job I love in a city in England, an intolerance to lactose that I was free of as a youngster (boo), and an only slightly detrimental work ethic (total workaholic, need to work on that) - plus a newfound desire to work on self-care since I seem to let that fall second to just about anything to do with work 😂 The preliminary goals I've outlined for myself are going to be: Eating nutritiously and healthily and not just whatever's there/quick. Exercise for mind and spirit. It used to be such a powerful tool for my mental and emotional wellbeing, and I hope I can refind that now! To learn a new skill that's personal to me. I'm leaning towards learning BSL currently as I feel quite strongly about it. Self-care and to utilise my free time in the evenings or days off not just to 'rest for work tomorrow' but to do things for me. The biggest challenges, I think, will be exercising (as this is practically a foreign concept to me now) and studying (something I haven't had to do in, really, any capacity since, well, since I was a student! Haha!) I'm planning on digging up the old Nerd Fitness bodyweight exercise videos I used to love following. I'm also a huge lover of kpop and dancing as somebody who used to be a dancer, so hope to learn a few of the dances as a fun thing to splice into a routine. And now that gyms are starting to re-open I plan to find some classes I can go and attend, namely beginner Pilates as I'm very flexible but have never done anything exercise-wise with it, which seems like a shame! I'd absolutely love to meet some people here and get chatting, so if you're open to it feel free to shoot me a message and lets be friends! I've got today and tomorrow off of work and my plan is to sift through the forums to remind myself of how the monthly challenges work and pick up some tips, and then plan to sketch out something of a routine for myself - so exciting! Thank you so much if you read so far! Its so great to be back again. 😄

New challenge time everyone!!!!!! I only just clued in today...no one told me 18ck made sure to tell me :') lollll GOALS MOAR WALKING 🐴 1 walk per week MOAR KETTLEBELLS 🐴 2 KB workouts per week FOOD CONTROL ACTIVATED 🐴 Track full day of calories 🐴 2000kcal goal per day (+/-300) 🐴 90-115g protein daily I also plan to work on the Spring Cleaning Mini Challenge for decluttering and I joined the Weight Loss PVP which runs until June 7 for accountability. And that is it for my challenge!

I'm new and here for a place to describe what I'm doing, express my thoughts about it, get some feedback, and ideally participate in a community. Areas for exploration Physical Be consistently active, following my plan. Since I'm trying to do too much, figure out what's carved in stone and where I can be flexible. Dumbbell workouts three times a week will likely be foundational. See what happens when my planned hikes and weighted pack walks collide with my new jogging habit -- do I decrease my weekly urban hike? Kick jogging down the road? Leave the backpack behind? Take walks and do gentle yoga as often as they're needed. Diet Find easy ways to increase protein intake at all meals. Make better choices overall. Cook regularly and happily. Say yes to Gatorade on long walks. Rest Get quality rest. Take sufficient rest between demanding activities. Recuperate with baths, hydration and healthy food. If I need to take a week off again, focus on yoga and walking rather than sitting on the couch watching Star Trek. Improve sleep hygiene: decrease drinking during the week (glass of wine with supper yes, "one more dram" at ten o'clock no), screens off by 9:30, read before bed. Create room for prayer and meditation before bed. Build a habit of getting up on time. To Do (Zero Week stuff, hopefully) Sort out the indoor/outdoor shoe issue. Inventory and replace socks. Look into new jogging pants since the ones I've been working out in have holes in the butt. Probably get a new hiking hat. Prowling dragons If there is a sudden increase in my workload, I will either shorten my strength workout or go for a walk or do yoga on my break and do my strength workout after work. If self-esteem issues around exercising in public flare up, I will build up time gradually and do longer runs before work; the early morning dog walkers are generally chill. If Bad Thoughts attached to running flare up, I will express them in a neutral venue and judge how seriously I should take them; it might mean scaling back or letting jogging go for now. When unresolved issues that decide to be relevant when I try something new flare up, I will distract myself with more interesting thoughts (what even is the relationship between Neo-Platonism and Merkabah mysticism anyway?). Weapons True Names (being able to describe the problem helps tame it), a plan (make it easy) Virtues curiosity, self-awareness, courage

I had this all typed out, then a storm blew in and I had to pull the internet cable out, lost everything I've typed, and now have to redo it. Storm is brewing, but no more thunder or lightning. Sshhh... I'm quietly slipping back in to the old stompin' grounds. This challenge I'll try to get back on the exercise wagon and I might do some Dear Diary-writing for stress relief. With that said, I have three 'types' of exercises: warm ups, metabolic, and outside. I'll start with exercising twice a week at least, grow that habit again, then slowly add in another day of exercises. Warm Ups: (for warm ups before metabolic, or on its own on in between days) 10x Reverse Lunges --> Reach --> Twist (this one is also good for sitting damage) 10x High Knees X Elbows 10x Walk Out Plank 30x Jumping Jacks (also known as Star Jumps) Metabolic with Dumbbells: (try for twice a week eventually - First three exercises is from this video) 10x Squat - Thrust - 4 Rows (almost like a burpee with a dumbbell for the row, and no pushups) 10x Squat - Overhead Press 10x Hand - Release - Pushups (this seems very easy, will probably double) 10x Wood Choppers (each side) I'm not sure what weight I'll use for the db's, but I want one set to tire me out so it will probably be more than 2x5kg. Maybe start on 5kg (in each hand) then increase systematically as I haven't done weight bearing weights exercises in a long while. Outside: (Once a week, either tires or walk in the street) 10x Walking Lunges @ ~12m a stretch 10x Tire Pull @ ~ 10kg (tire = 7kg + dumbbell inside) over 10-12m distance 10x Tire Flips @ ~ 20-25kg small, old tractor tire I had in the garden. It isn't heavy and I can manage 10 flips well enough. OR Walk 3x down then up the street in front of our house. Yes that steeeeep one. -- 00 -- << >> -- 00 -- Then the Dear Diary part... basically to catch up or just to vent a little when stress takes over. Today it will be to catch you up on what happened these last one, two months, just a quick-quick rundown: Those are the big things that come to mind. As you can see I don't have a theme, I don't have anything special or fancy or colourful... I just want to get by, get it done. Little fuss as possible. Take one day at a time and do my best with it. I'll love ya' and leave ya' with that. XXX

FIX'ER UP This is a follow on from last time where I went to the Moon through House Flipper the game. Well, I'm back on Earth, but instead of fixing houses in the game, I'll be starting to fix things around our own place. Seeing that it is now winter and all, the season for fixing. So I'll be fixin' myself up, as well as fixin' the house up. Same formula with a little tweak here and there: Bible study every day Weighing/Measurements (preferably on a Sunday/Monday morning) Cleaning (the house): floors, dusting, wiping, washing... Fixing: I actually have June-July-August for this Clean windows; Wash curtains (I did a lot of curtains about end of last year, only had front rooms left to do); Fix dining room table (Brandt) - I have to sand and re-varnish, etc. Varnish front door frame, and other wood surfaces as needed; Paint security gates properly (I painted the rusty spots a month or so back); Paint garage door; Replace window putty around glass, and repaint (two weeks later after putty dried); Sleep: In bed by 21h45. Exercise: At least twice a week (Tuesday and Thursday, or as possible) Jump Rope 30x Walking Lunges (10x15m) Pushups 10x Tire Rope Pull 10x15m~ Russian Twist w. tire 10x Sit-Twist Stretch Tire weight is 7.7kg

I got a little buried under work last time (or two... or three) I tried to do a challenge, so time to give it another try. It would be a lot to try to explain here, but long story short I went from functionally being the only person doing my job (it's a 2 person job and the other person wasn't interested in actually working) to literally being the only person in my job for a few months, which also meant I was pulling some crazy long weeks. This is thankfully no longer the case, and the person working with me now is doing a fantastic job so far and eager to help out, meaning I get to have a life outside of work again! (...now I just need to get my mind to understand that I don't have to work nonstop, because brains are complicated and annoying) Unsurprisingly, my main goal remains the same: RECLAIMING MY TIME (honestly most of this challenge is basically going to be a repeat of my Grumpy Cat one, hence keeping with the silly cat theme. There's also a lot of overlap of the quests because of their relation to time) Quest 1 : Sleep (4 points/wk) Kinda hard to claim time when I'm tired and want to sleep most of my not-work time. I went to a doctor last year right before things went crazy and he gave me some things to try to do to improve my sleep that I want to start doing this challenge: Going to bed near the same time every night (I'm going to be aiming for between 11:30 and midnight) Getting up at the same time every morning, when my alarm goes off - this one is DEFINITELY going to be a struggle, I tend to snooze and I absolutely hate getting up in the morning Exercising 4-5 hours before bed, this is the window the yoga class I want to go to falls into, and I can try to add swimming or walking on days without yoga too with my Y membership that I really need to use one point per day I'm up before 7:30am, I'm not expecting myself to be able to roll that back all days hence not doing 7 points on this one Quest 2 : Food prep (6 points/wk) I've had issues with eating a lot of fast food because I haven't always prepped food ahead that I can eat/want to eat when I've gotten busy, so I need to prep food ahead for both work and outside work so I don't wind up eating more Burger King due to lack of preparation. Get meals made ahead - lots of Instant Pot recipes left to try Make sure lunch and breakfast are packed ahead the night before a work shift (when I actually prep ahead, I throw a frozen breakfast sammich in my lunch bag and leave it in the fridge so I can just run in the morning) Reduce eating out to 1-2x / week, preferably an intentional meal rather than just hitting a drivethru because I didn't have anything better available. 1 point for packing ahead (4 work days/week, 'cause 10 hr shifts) 1 point for batch cooking ahead 1 point for staying under 2x eating out/wk Quest 3 : Schedule outside of work (especially exercise, 4 points/wk) (not Pusheen, but adorable and my cats would never let me do it) So... I'm still enrolled in that yoga class that I have NOT been able to go to for months, some of which was because of it being cancelled for a month because of lack of enrollment (I just had them roll mine forward a month each time that happened) and some of which was the fact that I was still at work when the class was happening. I do also want to get exercise in on other days as well per sleep doc's recomendation, not to mention it helps my ADHD as well and I would definitely get a lot of physical benefits as well. I do also want to get some other things I've neglected back on my radar as well, like crafting and gaming. Attend yoga classes (M,W) work on setting up schedule for exercise besides yoga (T,H,F) - likely swimming at the Y or doing a Zombies, Run! session as a walk set aside time weekly for at least one of the following: solo gaming, painting minis, knitting, playing music 1 point for making a yoga class 1 point for making a non-yoga workout 1 point for planning for and following through on one of the above activities Life quest : Japanese (2 points) Like most other things on my challenge, this got shoved to the back burner (and then promptly dumped off the stove entirely) due to lack of time and energy. Use Duo min 5x/wk Study 1 lesson/wk from my text books (I think I was on the second one when stuff went crazy? I'll be starting back at one though) 1 point for Duo 1 point for studying from the text books So, hey NF community, I've missed you folks. LETS DO DIS!

Hi All, I'm back for the 2019 Holiday Challenge and I'm wanting to go back to the basics: walking, snacking, sugar & cleaning. Nutrition Quests Limit the amount of sugary products per day – I will get the hang of this sugar beast at some point… Baked goods (biscuits & cakes) = No more than the size of my palm or Loose goods (chocolates & lollies) = No more than half the size of my palm or Packaged goods (ice cream & chocolate bars) = No more than one package size Slow down after work snacking – I have a morning and afternoon snack at work but also find myself hungry or fake hungry out of habit when I get home but I usually end up eating something way too big to be classed as a snack and this would definitely be helping me not lose weight and actually gain it. Don’t eat anything that doesn’t fit into one of my Tupperware snack cups or Don’t eat anything that doesn’t fit onto a single rice cake Fitness Quests Walking – I was walking in the mornings but it’s now too warm and it was only a short walk, but I used to do some real walking daily back in my early 20’s and miss the amount I used to walk. Walk to the dog park after work while my dogs get taken their by car, I’m not sure but the walk may take 20 minutes max or less I want to work up to walking 5 days a week there and back but start with 3 days a week one way Level Up Your Life Quests Daily Cleaning – I have really let go here and when you have two dogs one of which malts it’s required, I also don’t want to waste my weekends cleaning either so I think if I do a little every day than that will work. 10 minutes per day minimum Check my (Habitica) app for my list of daily to do’s Check (Flylady) website’s Flight Plan and Daily Focus for more daily to do’s

Well, I'm still here. The weather out here has taken a turn for the awesome, and we've had a very snowy fall. I have a very interesting road ahead of me now. A substantial portion of my bandwidth is going into getting this house buying thing across the finish line. The above is the view from the window. Yes, in Colorado deer are everywhere. There are issues with the inspection, and I'm hoping the Seller can meet with me near the middle and get us across the finish line. This will be fairly vague, but I'll keep you updated with the effort. Pending any luck, I'll be closed before the challenge ends. Exercise, foam rolling, and diet. This is just an on going battle. Getting away from microwaving my food, sitting on my posterior, and not taking care of myself is just a perpetual annoyance. Good news is I have been taking advantage of the weather and going for walks in the snow. My goal is simply daily activity, foam rolling, and eating right 2 days a week. Start easy. Faith. A touchy topic, but I would be remiss in not listing the biggest struggle I'm in. While I was in Korea, I ran into a sequence of men who were excellent examples on the faith. A lot of my questions were answered, and I made the decision to take my faith seriously. This means altering 20+ year old behaviors. Fret not, I'm not becoming some holy roller, the more I experience, the more I know that humility is one of the virtues I need to work on. I don't know what the metric is to measure this by, but this is where the majority of my effort is going for the foreseeable future. - Murphy's Roommate

Running with the Dogs Tired Elize sank down to a shady spot under an Acacia tree, next to her three canine companions. They were deep in the African bush. The dry, dusty African bush. Her assignment was to find and stop the Malicious Monkeys Troop that has been infected by Maltazard. Her three companions each had a very special ability: the first with the wisdom of the ages, the second had the curiosity of the young, eager minded, and the third had the strength of the loyal protector. She herself was half human, half elf, with the lanky athleticism of the elves, their acute hearing too, but the strength of the humans. What she lacked in agility, she made up for in tenacity. She'll keep going at her task. Her blond locks was cut short, standing every which way. Her fingers had tunneled through it so many times, ruffling the locks to make a little bit of cool air to dry off the rivulets of sweat streaming down her face. Rosy, the curious Maltese canine, had been sniffing, leading them along the scent trail for hours. She was still nose to the ground, hunting for that whiff of odour that would give them a new trail to follow. Warily Elize made a cup with her one hand, filling it with water from the flask, for the companions to drink from. They were all weary and hot. The other canines noisily slurped up the precious liquid. They had to catch the monkeys and rid them of this new virus before it infected the other animals, driving them stark raving mad, sending them on rampages around bush and camps alike. It was one thing looking at the devastation that a troop of monkeys rushing through a camp could cause, quite another watching a herd of elephant, or rhino! They had to tranq the lead monkey, known locally as The One with the Evil Eye. Rosy took a noisy drink of water as well, before slumping down between Missy and Zuzu, chests heaving, tongues lolling pink against the dry, yellow grass. Just a quick respite before they go on. Late afternoon found them nearing a stand of trees on a small hillside. In the hollow below huge boulders formed an enclosed area. It was the third time that they passed this place, in as many hours. The MM Troop seemed to be running in circles from a stand of fruit trees (which were planted by migrating humans years ago), to a water hole in a slowly meandering stream, back to a copse of thorny, num-num bushes full of sour red berries, spread out around another rocky outcrop close by. This rocky, cave like area they were at now, would be ideal as base camp. Elize quickly gathered dry, broken branches for a campfire later that night. Upon closer investigation they found a small trickle of clean, fresh water dripping off the rocks in a shady spot, forming a small pool, before slowly disappearing under another rock slab. This would be a mighty fine spot indeed. As she made camp, securing the area, then settling in to make dinner, Elize heard the soft, distant sounds of African drums beating the air. The doof-doof rhythm had a calming effect right at that moment, but she knew from experience that when the rhythm changed, became faster, louder, it sent out a totally different message over the African bush. --------------------00-------------------- I woke up to someone playing this drum sound in our street the other morning. Probably a driver by, sharing his music. It gave me the idea for the theme, and if you know Jumanji, then you know that at one stage monkeys caused a lot of trouble. We are used to Vervet monkeys causing all kinds of mischief in our area. We have two troops living here, swinging and traipsing through the trees, screeching loudly to chase the other troop away when spotted. They do have a couple lookouts who are always on duty. One particular troop is very naughty, habitually stealing food and fruit from our neighbour's kitchen, tearing open bags of pet food, lounging and defecating on their stoep furniture. They even swam in their pool at one stage! Our neighbours don't have dogs. Our three dogs (Missy, Zuzu, and Rosy) are constantly running (not Zuzu so much though) out of the house chasing monkeys that dare come too close. I'm not really going to hunt down and tranquilise the monkeys (that's against the law anyway), but I'm going to try and 'run with the dogs' once a week, for a bit of extra exercise, and to try and get Zuzu a little more active. Otherwise it is business as usual: My challenge will be about de-stressing (personal me time), doing monthly finances, exercising, and watching my food intake. I have been reading the book "Kick your Fat in the Nuts, by T.C. Hale, and he was so friendly as to send me a personal email pointing out some causes for health issues I told him about. I listened to radio broadcasts from his show on various issues (skin problems - Rocco, Adam, and Brandt, gout - Brandt, acid reflux - me, and other minor ailments), to help balance your body and get the 'machine' working right, before attempting to loose weight. After Brandt and I discussed it, we decided that we really didn't want to get too deep into all the nitty-gritty of bodily functions, but to just focus on probable vitamin, mineral, deficiencies and such for now. In general we are healthy, and most of our problems are gone, except for small issues. So... De-stress: Meaning personal time breathing, OR lying down, OR sitting outside to relax, OR pray/talk for at least 10min. at a time. Just let my mind go, no reading, no games, no chatting, except when praying/talking to Father. At least 3x per week. Finances: Do monthly finances. At least August's and September's. Burpees: Twice a week at least (Tuesdays, and Thursdays), but third time on Saturdays would be tops. Every burpee in which I do a full push up, counts towards my pushup count to reach 200 cumulative over these challenges. I am currently at 121 full pushups. Walking: Try for at least the long one of the two walks a week - long one on Wednesdays, and short one on Thursdays. Dog run: Yep... try for some old fun (obstacle) training at home on a Friday afternoon. Get Zuzu running around with us a bit. Get me to lift my butt and moving every day for 10min. but especially with Zuzu. Food: Gluten-free, low on starch, carbs, and sugar: I can have one piece of special coconut oil chocolate treats, once a week. Fruit are not a problem as long as I don't have more than two a day. I'll be using my old Banting portion sizes. Water/Tea - have to keep this here. Equal to 2Lt/day. Coffee: no more than 4 mugs a day (back to small mug size). Only one mug with cream, the other with milk. Measurements: Weigh in first thing on a Monday morning, and take down measurements.

In my continuing effort to reclaim the glory that was me & fitness circa 2016, I'm throwing some more spaghetti at the wall to see if I can get something to stick. Because YET-A-FREAKING-GAIN I was reminded recently (of course when waxing rhapsodic about my Nerd Fam trying to rope in a new recruit) that a: I was kind of a little badass back then, and b: I had my shit under so much control diet and exercise-wise that it was easy. So easy, I was Queen of the damn side challenges. So ... ummmm ... yeah. I AIN'T THAT ANY MORE. And on the one hand *channel hippie "I'm ok, you're ok" self* It's ok, But on the other hand, *channel me circa 2016* You know what works - head down & suck it up, buttercup. This shit isn't easy, but all humans can 1000% do it. Your bullshit excuses as to why you're a special snowflake are BS. And you know they're BS. I've more or less decided to break up with Soflete - we all knew that shit wasn't sustainable, but I wanted to give it a good run. DH is still in love with the programming, but even he's chilled a degree or two to make room for SUP. Things I learned from my time in the gym (Soflete and before that, with a trainer): Re-discovered that I hate being in the gym for more than like :45 at a clip I am waaaaaayyyyy too practical to be comfortable with dropping a shitton of cash on a trainer Said trainer was a damn waste of time physical-wise, but did help with things like injury prevention and my 'too much'/'hit the gas' gene I like lifting heavy things as much as I knew I would There is a way to lift heavy things that doesn't injure me That doesn't mean my ass gets a carte blanche to forget that I have legit ass chronic wrist and lower lumbar injuries I can build something more sustainable (thx basic-ass but actually legit just non-sexy NF weightlifting guide) So, what kind of spaghetti am I throwing at the wall this cycle? Back to yoga. My body just feels better when I'm working in that arena. And, my local bougie studio just lowered their prices pretty heftily per class - so, there's less of an excuse there. Aaaaaaaaaand, at least for now (who TF knows what's going to happen in May - Ramadan - and June - beginning of Summer), there are 3 classes being held at convenient times for my life. 2 11am classes on days I don't typically have anything planned + 1 5pm class on a day I do. So I bought a 10-class pack, and I'm back on the mat. Planning on also adding in 2 days a week of strength training when my body readjusts to being bendy, since yoga alone does not melt the lbs off how I want them to go. And working on not eating like an asshole (still), and trying to see if I can do that in a framework that doesn't exclude food groups or involve time on My Fitness Pal. Which I love and all, but I'm trying to see if I can be trusted yet to have some sort of natural balance. (spoiler: thus far, hellz to the no if I want to actually lose the 10 lbs I'm up). In Support Of Spaghetti Goals 1. Yoga 2-3x a week; work in weight training when I can, but when I do - 2x a week. 2. Travel is happening this cycle - and maybe new puppy homecoming, too - so life is going to continue to be cray. This travel is a real vacation for the both of us, so there will be tons of hiking and walking involved - for travel, just avoid foods that hurt. 3. Continue attempting to not eat like an asshole - avoid foods that hurt, limit my time being shitfaced to my 1 wine lunch a month + maaaaaaaybe either my monthly game night, or 1 other outing. Continue taking pics of my meals, trying to only eat when hungry, and eating enough to make me full but not bursting - despite the starving children in Africa I'm murdering by not having a clean plate (80s kid, yo - that shit was on TV) 4. Continue working to build and maintain my local network of support and peoples 5. Look further into the $ making things I've got kicking around in my head 6. Do something other than sit on the couch and watch YouTube if I'm home all day (see 4&5) And that's about it - 6 quasi-goals that really only boil down to 2 concrete goals + 1 general purpose 'be less lazy' goal.

I used to have a different log, but it's been so long that I literally don't remember what I called it. Since I'm restarting everything else, I might as well restart this too. I'm in Alaska. I'm 31 years old. I'm about to graduate university with a degree in Elementary Education (because nothing gets steps in like chasing first-graders.) I've got a pretty stocky build - being the type to put on both muscle and fat easily. So.....that's the brief. Motivation / Perseverance is a tricky thing for me. I have some fitness goals, but nothing dire will happen if I don't achieve them - and without that sense of impending doom, I don't especially care about keeping to personal commitments. Nobody is affected but myself. I'm not loot-oriented (well, I am, but being in charge of my own loot...hasn't worked.) I'm very mildly vanity-oriented. Which is where the respawn comes in. Since I graduate in 8 weeks, and photos are inevitable, I've set myself an 8-week goal of dropping 12 lbs. That'll get me to 165 lbs. There's a midpoint goal (in 5 weeks) of participating in the Fairbanks Beat Beethoven Run - where people who run a 5k in 31 min or less get a free ticket to any one performance by the Fairbanks Symphony. I don't do much running or cardio, other than as a warm-up, but I do love the symphony here. So I'm researching how to best train for that. That's where I'm at. I've got the goals, I've got the little paper calendar with stickers to track days I work out and weekly weigh-ins to check progress. If all goes well, my graduation photos will look like something I'll actually want to share.

It has been a year and few weeks since last I visited. A lot has happened since then. One major move from the Rockies to New England and a massive change in career and lifestyle. What drove me here? What else but a job my husband took. It's been an interesting, albeit stressful, year, gaining 40 pounds along the way. I finally got back to some semblance of eating healthier in November. It's been going great and I have lost 21 pounds by eating a ketosis diet! Yaay me! I'm here again to take the next step as I have plateaued so I'm looking for motivation, success stories and an exercise plan to regularly follow as much as I can given my wacky work schedule as an assistant volleyball coach. Outside of tossing balls in the gym, I've been pretty sedentary. Time to get off my lazy butt and work out regularly and get to that next mile stone --- another 20 pounds. Eating is nailed down. Somehow, I managed to dig deep and work through most of the rough mental days that would have ordinarily led me to eating fast food, ice cream, and mindless snacking. I haven't been perfect. A snack here and there, a meal, a whole day, a whole week even, but always managing to reel in the mindless gnashing and getting back on track sooner, and for much longer than in the past. I'd say 80% of the time I've been right on target. I finally found that discipline I needed. It's not easy. It's a constant battle, and I know now it will never ever go away. It is a demon that lurks just beneath the surface and I have to fight it always. Part of this shift was a mental resignation to accept the process of what it takes to lose weight, to know my goal, but to focus on the present. One big motivation was looking at the scale everyday. On a ketosis diet, the weight melts off. It is amazing how much weight you see falling off your body in the first week, sometimes two weeks! 8-15 pounds sometimes! Once the initial 'cleansing' passes, the weight levels off to a more normal level 1-2 pounds a week what I think is actual fat loss. Those first two weeks are critical to keep the motivation going, at least for me. Instant gratification that I'm losing weight!! I ramble.... Time to start exercising. One of the perks of working for a university is free access to the weight room, and exercise classes. Time to take advantage of this benefit. I've signed up, I only need to show up. First week Complete at least 2 body weight sets four times a week Morning yoga daily complete one spinning class First 2 body weight sets completed tonight. woohoo! Next Yoga in the morning Tuesday morning spin class Check out my actual journal for progress should you be interested.

Hello guys, rookie here asking for advice. I'm currently standing at 5'9ft, weighing 164 lbs, waist measurement of 34 inches and quite some stubborn body fat around my chest and belly (skinny fat build), 23 years old, male obviously. I'm trying to slim down to a waist measurement of 32 inches and possibly tone my body out. As of this writing, my current exercise regiment consists of the following: PART 1 1.) 10 jumping jacks, quick jogs in place for 10 seconds, 10 push ups, 10 body weight squats done successively three times *10 second rest 2.) 10 jumping jacks, quick jogs in place for 10 seconds, 10 inclined push ups, 10 body weight squats done successively three times *10 second rest 1.) 10 jumping jacks, quick jogs in place for 10 seconds, 10 wide push ups, 10 body weight squats done successively three times *10 - 15 second rest 1.) 10 jumping jacks, quick jogs in place for 10 seconds, 10 diamond push ups, 10 body weight squats done successively three times *15-20 second rest 1.) 10 jumping jacks, quick jogs in place for 10 seconds, 10 archer push ups on the knee side by side, 10 body weight squats done successively three times *30 second rest PART 2 - Done with a barbell with 15lbs plates or 30lbs 1.) 3 sets of barbell shoulder rows, 10 reps each. 10-20 second rest per set 2.) 3 sets of bicep curls, 10 reps each. 10-20 second rest per set 3.) 3 sets standing overhead press, 10 reps each. 10-20 second rest per set 4.) 3 sets floor press, 10 reps each. 10-20 second rest per set PART 3 1.) 3 sets leg raises, 10 raises each. 10 second rest per set 2.) 30 second plank I aim to do this set of exercises everyday or at least 5-6 times per week. I exercise first thing in the morning on an empty stomach due to time constraints. Sleep is no problem for me as I usually snooze off about 9-6 hours per night, averaging on 8 hours. As for my diet, i've been extremely restricting my meals. Usually just having a glass of warm milk for breakfast, a small meal like a tuna sandwich, oatmeal with bananas or a small serving of fried tofu blocks for lunch and a small meal for dinner. I'm not too confident about my competence to count calories but my estimate has my calorie intake restricted at 1,000-2,000 calories max. With all this, i'm aiming to lose two inches off my waist and get myself a bit toned. I would like to ask the more experienced folks here if i'm on the right track or if i'm doing anything wrong. A little bit of history, way back in 2017 I managed to slim down my waist from 39 inches to 35 by restricting my meals and jogging daily. I regained a bit of weight early last year and shed it off by doing body weight exercises and restricting my meals in the same manner as i'm doing now once more however, I didn't get toned, only skinny fat. By the end of last year, I regained some weight again, going from a waistline of 32.5 to 34 hence here I am at it once more. I'm also a bit concerned about the effects on my metabolism and health my constant weight loss and maintenance endeavors may have. Hoping for the forbearance of the members of this forum for some advice. Thanks in advance

Good Morn, Noon, Eve, one and all! This nerd has a goal to obtain! To become healthier person for my family and for myself. I want to be able to play with my kids and feel good marrying the king I love; for the latter, I only have 6 months to achieve this goal. I am an extremely self-conscious Queen with many mental and physical wounds to overcome. A mother of three; to two handsome princes, and a darling princess. I weigh in around 180lbs at 5'2" tall. My goal is to lose 50lbs to get back to my pre-baby weight of 130lbs. In order to do this, I have taken upon myself the Diet of Keto as well as plan to combine this with cardio and compound exercises. I don't have access to the Arms and Armory so I will have to train at home. Any and all advise is welcome. Thank you.

Back to the Island of Basics... Where There be Dragons 1. Pray - Read - Talk Spend proper, peaceful time with Father. At least 15min. every morning before exercises. 2. Be good about food and water You cannot have one without the other: just keep an eye on what and how much I eat, BUT drink at least 1x bottle of water/day. 3. Sleep, wonderful sleep Even fierce dragons need their sleep: before 22h00 every night. 4. Train like Astrid and Fishlegs, with passion. Put some passion back into training: LEGS- Monday, Wednesday, Friday Squats 3x10 X-over lunges 3x10 Deadlifts (start 28.5kg) 3x10 Plank2Pushup core - start 3x5 ARMS- Tuesdays, Thursday, Saturdays Pushups 3x10 Shoulder presses (start with bar @ 6.5kg) 3x10 Inverted rows 3x10 Abs wheel 3x10 5. Do finances studiously! As required... Finalise slips. (Aug-Nov). If finance-work felt like activity sheets, I'd have no problem doing them. Change my attitude about doing finances, and GET IT DONE! -------------------------------------------------------- IN SUMMERY -------------------------------------------------------- 1. Pray - Read - Talk 2. Be good about food and water 3. Sleep, wonderful sleep 4. Train like Astrid and Fishlegs, with passion 5. Do finances studiously! No, we haven't seen the 3rd movie yet, we are waiting for the dvd to come out. I have no problems with spoilers.

Barking up a different tree... I'm taking a leaf from how I'm feeding our dogs and cat (balanced raw), because macro-counting and I don't mesh. My main aim for this challenge is to check how much I eat. Too much, too little, just right? I think I'm getting the balance of macros mostly right, most of the time. I want to eat what I feel like, without guilt of following some or other 'diet' with no subconscious guilt talks about why I should swap my batter-covered fish for plain fish... I still like a bit higher protein and fat to carbs though. But back to the dogs... When you work out how much to feed dogs and cats, you go on a formula of 3-3.5% for working dogs (1-2hrs serious work+30min. play per day). [2.7kg food - way too much for me] 2.5% for some exercise (30min.-1hr per day) [2.25kg food - still too much], and 2% for a sedentary lifestyle (<30min. exercise per day) [1.8kg food - little bit too much for me still], 1.5% for this human's experiment [1.35kg food - just right?] Dogs/cats are NOT fed this low, ever! I added this for myself as I found 2% a tad too much still. Now I'm not a dog, I'm built differently, my body works differently, and the amount of exercise I do with my not so compact and sleek body, is very little compared to what they pull off with their bodies. Think of a sausage dog jumping onto a bed 3x his height! No way can I jump 3x my height/length. I just like the uncomplicated way of measuring balanced food eaten. So I'm starting off on LESS THAN SEDENTARY amounts. Thus aiming for: 90kg body weight at 1.5% I should be eating less than 1.35kg of food per day. This does not include water, black coffee or tea. I'm literally plopping my plate of food on the scale, weigh it, and let my little spreadsheet do the calculations for me. Thus far I had one day with 1.41kg of food (I felt it was a bit too much) and another day with 1.18kg of food (weight of plate not included ). In the meantime I'm trying to make peace with the fact that I'm a woman with some big muscles, and a good, strong and able body. This is not a scientifically formulated experiment. Do not try this at home! Now on to the other topics of the day... Those who checked in last time, may remember that we've started our boys on an exercise routine 3 mornings a week (Mon/Wed/Fri). Between hubby and myself we try to help them w.r.t. form and encouragement, while doing our own routines. Youngest (Rocco) has taken to it like a dog to a bone, while Oldest (Adam) wasn't as enthusiastic at first. But it seems both are now keen enough, and both are excited about our upcoming hike (10-12Nov It will be their first, and our first as a family - if the weather permits) and some future Waterra obs.course races (family fun, not big league). Anyway, on to this challenge's goals for myself: Bible study (5x/week); Exercise (BW - Mon and Thurs)(Walking Tue, Wed, Fri afternoons); Dry fire practice (Wed); Food (as explained above)(7x/week); Water (1-2bottles of 750ml every day, min.); Sleep (<21h30 every night). See, nothing new. I'm just struggling to get my exercise in on a Monday morning if I do bible study first, because I tend to leave my own routine to help the boys, and obviously don't get my exercise in then. And space is a problem if we all train at the same time. If I can fit in a big chunk of my routine before Rocco gets up (5h30), it should work. The boys need to exercise before they are allowed on the computers that day. Exercises: BW - Mondays and Thursdays Joint Circles (warm up) Jumping Jacks (Star Jumps) 20x Push ups (try for full - improving every week) 4x5 Abs Roll Out 3x10 (left, straight, right) Goblet Squats 2x10@10kg X Lunges 2x10 Inclined Pull Ups 2x10 Sit-Twist Stretch Shoulder and Chest Stretches Touch Toes Stretches (Yeah! I can touch my toes again!) Walking - Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays Tuesdays: walk during lunch time (12h00-14h00) with hubby in the plantations behind his office block. It's normally around 5km serious hill work. Wednesdays: walk during boys' Lego course (13h00-14h00) on flat farm road, mainly in the sun. Work on speed, maybe a slow jog *gasp*. Fridays: walk with boys and dogs (new) (14h00+) in the field close to our house. Not sure of distance as I've never walked here before. Hubby and the boys have and they tell me there are sometimes farm goats and some cattle grazing there, which we have to be careful of, but otherwise it should be safe enough. The rest of my days are still the same: home school - mornings, finances - afternoon or evening, household chores - during the day, boys' extra murals - afternoons... I've had my say... Your turn!

I’ve been hit or miss with challenges lately. Mostly it’s getting online to update and just being too lazy to turn on my computer or feeling overwhelmed with updates. I need to get over that. This challenge I’m going a little more complicated but nowhere as complicated as I have in the past. I want to work on a lot of stuff and since I’ll be starting another new job halfway through the challenge I figured I’d really stress myself out. I need to find a good way to deal with stress anyways so I’m going to force myself to get it together. No Duh! routines (Points per each subcategory = 5 for all, 3 for some, 0 for none) MORNING : 5 mins stretching, brush teeth, hair, makeup, get dressed AFTERNOON: NF check-in, cleaning, workout, Bujo EVENING: clean face, brush teeth, get an outfit ready What’s your Damage? (Points per each subcategory = 5 for all, 3 for some, 0 for none) DAILY: Straighten Bed, Put away dishes, clean off counters/tables WEEKLY: Vacuum, Trash, Bathroom, Laundry, Sheets (bi-weekly) MONTHLY: Clean out Fridge, Microwave, Wipe baseboards, Scrub tub and toilets Grindage! WEEKDAYS: Paleo M-THUR except for special occasions, 2 coffees WEEKENDS: Try for Paleo except for special occasions Toooh-tally bitchin’ budget (5 points for the initial budget, 5 for sticking to the budget for the whole week, 3 for sticking to some, 0 for none) Create a budget and stick to it. Pay down debts. Bodacious bod exercise plan (5 points per exercise) 8 days of exercise for at least 20 mins