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After years away from this place, i am back. This used to work so well for me years ago, i feel like it will again this time. I have a lot going on... New job since january. That i adore! And now we are missing some staff so it's a bit hard and stressfull. Time management is important and it's not my strenght. I just finished my 5 year cegep classes last week in building mechanics. Still waiting for my last exam grade to celebrate. Graduation ceremony is may 21st. I want to steadily build my doterra business. Very slowly, but consistently. As a side huslte, to gain more leadership. The goal is not to replace my job sonce i love it. Just to build something i love that uses other strenghts i have. I have 2 boys, 12&7 and an awesome partner i don't want to neglect. And this week i am starting an online 200h yoga teacher training until august. This has been a dream of mine for years. And it will take a lot more time and commitment than i initially expected. But i am all in. So, balancing all that, with my level of energy and my chronic illness (cystic fibrosis) is the current challenge. My main quest: - do all my treatments daily in the morning - sleep enough (~8h) - move a little every day: yoga for YTT in the morning; walk during lunch - meditate daily to unwind and destress (being mindfull, do some cardiac coherence breath between quotes at work, mindfull knitting a project at night) - date night weekly, quality couple time - spend quality time daily with the kids, 100% present. Doesn't have to be long. Side quests : - ytt: do all required reading, practices and study for the week - make lunches, no take out - 2 contacts/follow ups a day with doterra, caring for existing clients

For this challenge, I decided to return to a challenge I posted almost two year ago. Much has changed since then, but as to the purpose, I feel this would be an excellent way to work through getting rid of some bad habits and restore some habits that have been lost. As before, I will be using some inspiration and heart from some of Tolkien's heroes. As this challenge progresses, I will be channeling some of the traits of some of my favorites, specifically the race of Men because I find myself identifying most closely with Tolkien's human characters. Because some bad habits have returned (spawned mostly as a result of too much downtime and being in a strange place emotionally as a result of some career changes), it is once again fitting to work through a challenge that themes these temptations as the pull of The One Ring. And so it begins. Goal 1: Resist The One Ring "Not if I found it on the highway would I take it I said. Even if I were such a man as to desire this thing, and even though I knew not clearly what this thing was when I spoke, still I should take those words as a vow, and be held by them. ‘But I am not such a man. Or I am wise enough to know that there are some perils from which a man must flee." -- Faramir For this goal, I will be channeling Faramir, who is without a doubt my favorite of the characters who successfully resists The One Ring, even though he had reasons outside of the Dark Lord's power to take it from Frodo. I also identify with Faramir's struggles to make his father proud, to know that he isn't the favored son, and his choice to be peaceful and merciful by nature: “I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend.” Without getting into specifics, this goal focuses on recognizing when and why these temptations occur: what triggers them and what is the best way to resist them. Faramir's quote above also brings to mind scripture: "But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses." -- 1 Timothy 6:11-12 learn about these temptations and what hidden damages lurk within them set boundaries and barricades against temptations; arm and fortify yourself against the "attacks of the enemy" be brave and stand strong when you can, but have an escape plan if you get lost, call out to your fellowship of brothers to help you find the way again fast and pray to build discipline celebrate victories and milestones, but remain resolute and do not lose your temperance Goal 2: Build Strength, Wisdom, Courage, and Heart to Become Who You Were Meant to Be "But I am the real Strider, fortunately. I am Aragorn son of Arathorn; and if by my life or death I can protect you, I will." -- Aragorn For this goal, I will be channeling Aragorn because of his strong heart, his wisdom, and his courage, which grows as he breaks free of the shame of his father and steps into his destined role as heir to the throne of Gondor. Aragorn is aware of his flaws and weaknesses as a man, but he strives to do good by serving others. He faces peril, inspires others into battle, and fights courageously for his fellowship. None of this would be possible if he had allowed himself to get weak or distracted or lose his self-control. He is also faithful to the cause of defeating evil and to the love of his life. He is watchful and alert, wise and intelligent, humble and modest by nature but also mighty and proud when necessary. Some aspects of this goal will look familiar if you have followed me for some time. awaken before dawn pray/meditate/study scripture & other books of wisdom fast daily (intermittently) eat whole foods (mostly plants) drink at least 64 ounces of water daily daily breathing exercises (I really need to get back to this; it clears my head and may help stave some of the temptation triggers) read at least 20 minutes every day spend at least 30 minutes outside every day strengthen the body (Darebee workouts, bodyweight, cinderblocks, log, sandbag, resistance bands, etc.) spend time with my queen; this includes going to bed with her and not staying up late Goal 3: Rebuild Your Heart and Your Kingdom "For he was a gentle heart and a great king and kept his oaths; and he rose out of the shadows to a last fair morning." -- Aragorn, speaking of King Theoden Theoden is a good example of someone who, as he grew older and more tired, allowed himself to become misled and lost sight of his true purpose as king. It corrupted him and led to the usurping of his kingdom by evil forces. Once he is set free of this spell, however, he steps into his role as king and, in spite of the bleak outlook, fights for his people and for the good of all Middle Earth. For this goal, I am both literally and figuratively referring to my "kingdom" (as in my home, my domain) meditate on/reclaim my purpose as husband and father (as "king") spend time with children; hug them, play with them, go on adventures with them keep my house in order: clean daily, keep the yard clean and mowed, make necessary repairs And that is it for now. If I think of some other goals, I will add them and try to think of characters that embody those goals, as well.

Welcome all! I’m a married parent of 4 kids aged 0-8. I’m ultimately an adventurer at heart, though I train similar to a lot of Rangers (and I’m something of a Druid Paladin which is also something of an equivalent to a Ranger). I love hiking, exploring, traveling, and other fun things with the family. Since shortly before joining Nerdfitness, my physical training is typically built around injury rehabilitation (which happens a bit more often due to autoimmune arthritis) and training to be able to travel, explore, and play with my family. I have a pretty effective Disney World training system, and try to ensure that at any point I’m strong enough to carry my whole family somewhere. That has become more difficult as the years go on but I can still do it for the most part. I am also an enthusiastic suburban homesteader bent on establishing an orchard and vegetable garden, so things can get pretty out-doorsy depending on my goals. My needs mean I do a variety of types of training, and my earliest two physical training goals were “run fast” and “be able to competitively play any sport I come across.” I prefer to avoid gyms and do a lot of body weight training. At the beginning of the year, we welcomed baby 4 into the family, my cat was diagnosed with feline dementia a few months ago, we adopted a kitten (our third cat and Rex’s first), and I’ve returned to work from my parental leave. At the beginning of this year, we started shopping for an existing business with a professional kitchen to give a physical location to our small cottage bakery. I’m not at liberty to discuss more at this time, only to say it’s a thing that we are working hard on. The fruit trees and bushes are all doing well. Deer chomped my kumquat tree, my serranos, and my Carolina Reapers (just the tops and clearly with regret) but they’re recovering and I’m still crossing my fingers that we’ll get some fruit from them. The Ranier is dead, but a replacement will be here in August or September. The berries are exploding again, now that the sun is in full force and we’re home to water them regularly too.. The fence is DONE (functionally, though I still have work to actually do when it’s not a trillion degrees outside). Healthwise, we’ve been living the keto lifestyle for a little over 5 months, and we’ve found it to be incredibly easy to stick to 99% of the time, meaning we’re seeing more success and I’m burning less willpower on food-related stuff. I am past my arbitrary goal weight, and I’m focusing hard now on maintaining around this weight while achieving my goal composition. The last time I was this weight was before I met Jessie and when I was in my student teaching (yeah, before the wrestling coach gig!) That is, one of the best shapes of my life. I want to be lean and strong, not skinny and weak. (Tried that and hated it). I have been focusing hard on my calisthenics since shortly after the start of the last challenge and when testing today, I hit a new pull up record of 10 last challenge. I can do 7 solid pull ups with le bebe in a harness and that’s basically my starting weight at the moment, though he’s getting bigger faster than I’m losing weight; in fact, I’ve hopefully reached my minimum and I’ve shifted to building muscle for a while. My plan is to work on bulking up for a while and after I add a good chunk of muscle I’ll return to cutting my body fat. It’s within the healthy range and bordering on the fitness range. This may mean I have to add gym time with heavy weights or make more or my own weights since I think that’s what will put muscle on the best. Goals: 1. Sleep. As best as possible. I’m a nonfunctional mess without sleep and can sacrifice it for a few days ok but then I have to make it a super high priority to regain it. With le bébé getting older this is easier but teething means there are still rough nights. 2. My basic calisthenics routine with Woody and Rex and Bo Peep. I’ve been hitting the upper body he’s but I need to get back into my lower body and core. Currently I’m at 10 pull ups and ?? push ups. I need to do a max push up test here. I’ve been doing the 25-push ups a day challenge in July so I hope that’s translated to progress. Woody was doing those with me but had a rough scooter accident where he sprained a wrist and that threw it off. Woody, Rex, and Bo Peep started dance last night and start swimming Saturday so we’ll be at the YMCA twice a week. I’m still doing the calisthenics but since we booked a Disney trip in December and are traveling on a vacation with my family in a few weeks, I’m back into DW Prep mode. I’ll be doing all the usual loaded carry exercises plus step ups, courtesy of my friends who answered my panicked call when I realized I no longer have a 15-story building’s worth of stairs to climb. 3. Take one concrete step forward per day- at least one tangible, visible thing to make life better. This ranges from things as small as “dig out the replacement toaster” to as big as “reorganize the playroom.” I don’t have to complete the bigger ones as long as I make progress. 4. Take one concrete step forward per day career-wise. I need my job but I’m not satisfied in it and otherwise need a change. I need to hone/adapt skills and look for other opportunities. -> Currently, this involves working towards dramatically expanding a part-time business into a full-time business, which would have Jessie running that business full-time and likely have me also working it full time within the next few years. I’ve also continued to interview elsewhere to help give us options. I really want the business to work though. 5. It’s watering time. It’s hot and dry now. We scrapped the one planned bed and I moved the blackberries. We’re going to nicely finish what we have before we add more. 6. Therapy. I have a new diagnoses and new medication that have been, it feels, pretty life changing. I finished intensive therapy that was also insanely helpful prior to that and I am continuing with less frequent sessions. My goal is to better learn how to manage ADHD and how to be a more connected, present, and supportive husband and father. I think I have been progressing well. I feel healthy. I am excited about how this has gone. There’s a lot going on. I’ve started a lot more regular D&D sessions with the kids. We’re a good chunk of the way into the Lost Mine of Phandelver. I’m seriously considering a TikTok channel detailing their exploits because they’re a lot of fun- a regular human fighter (who will likely become a Paladin) played by Woody,, a Dragonborn Barbarian who will 100% be multiclassing Druid played by Rex, and a higher level Tibbit multiclassing Druid and Rogue played by Bo Peep, who is a volatile sometime-companion and sometime-ally who can also wild shape into a dog. They love it and so do I. I told them we’d start a TikTok channel to tell their story, and if I manage to get that off the ground I’ll let y’all know- I did post one intro video but haven’t posted about the actual sessions.

Welcome all! I’m a married parent of 4 kids aged 0-7. I’m ultimately an adventurer at heart, though I train similar to a lot of Rangers (and I’m something of a Druid Paladin which is also something of an equivalent to a Ranger). I love hiking, exploring, traveling, and other fun things with the family. Since shortly before joining Nerdfitness, my physical training is typically built around injury rehabilitation (which happens a bit more often due to autoimmune arthritis) and training to be able to travel, explore, and play with my family. I have a pretty effective Disney World training system, and try to ensure that at any point I’m strong enough to carry my whole family somewhere. That has become more difficult as the years go on but I can still do it for the most part. I am also an enthusiastic suburban homesteader bent on establishing an orchard and vegetable garden, so things can get pretty out-doorsy depending on my goals. My needs mean I do a variety of types of training, and my earliest two physical training goals were “run fast” and “be able to competitively play any sport I come across.” I prefer to avoid gyms and do a lot of body weight training. At the beginning of the year, we welcomed baby 4 into the family, my cat was diagnosed with feline dementia a few months ago, we adopted a kitten (our third cat and Rex’s first), and I’ve returned to work from my parental leave. At the beginning of this year, we started shopping for an existing business with a professional kitchen to give a physical location to our small cottage bakery. I’m not at liberty to discuss more at this time, only to say it’s a thing that we are working hard on. We have several new fruit trees, including a kumquat tree, and they’re all still alive. My Ranier cherry tree is alive but hasn’t woken up and I’m not entirely sure what to do about it. I have to replant an apple tree that sunk as well. The berries are exploding. The fence had an incorrect section sent (another return and replacement!) and this last piece should ship soon, meaning that I’ll finally be able to finish the darned fence. Fingers crossed. I hope. This never should have taken more than a day or two but here we are lol. Speaking of dragging projects, our bathroom remodel snowballed. It’s almost a ground-up remodel of the small bathroom now. But it’s gonna look good. Healthwise, we’ve been living the keto lifestyle for a little over 3 1/2 months, and we’ve found it to be incredibly easy to stick to 99% of the time, meaning we’re seeing more success and I’m burning less willpower on food-related stuff. I am past my arbitrary goal weight, and I’m focusing hard now on maintaining around this weight while achieving my goal composition. The last time I was this weight was before I met Jessie and when I was in my student teaching (yeah, before the wrestling coach gig!) That is, one of the best shapes of my life. I want to be lean and strong, not skinny and weak. (Tried that and hated it). I have been focusing hard on my calisthenics since shortly after the start of the last challenge and when testing today, I hit a new pull up record of 8. It’s probably not an actual strength record since I could previously do 6 but at 25 lbs heavier, but I’m on the way. I can do 5 solid with le bebe in a harness and that’s closer, so I’m expecting to hit an actual strength record soon. Goals: 1. Sleep. As best as possible. I’m a nonfunctional mess without sleep and can sacrifice it for a few days ok but then I have to make it a super high priority to regain it. With le bébé getting older this is easier but with teething on the horizon that adds a potential complication. 2. My basic calisthenics routine with Woody and Rex and Bo Peep. I’ve been hitting the upper body he’s but I need to get back into my lower body and core. Currently I’m at 8 pull ups and 35 push ups. I recently read a study of endurance athletes that suggests full keto adaptation occurs at about 6 months and the performance dip corrects. I’m still doing the calisthenics but since we booked a Disney trip in December and are traveling on a vacation with my family in a few weeks, I’m back into DW Prep mode. I’ll be doing all the usual loaded carry exercises plus step ups, courtesy of my friends who answered my panicked call when I realized I no longer have a 15-story building’s worth of stairs to climb. 3. Take one concrete step forward per day- at least one tangible, visible thing to make life better. This ranges from things as small as “dig out the replacement toaster” to as big as “reorganize the playroom.” I don’t have to complete the bigger ones as long as I make progress. 4. Take one concrete step forward per day career-wise. I need my job but I’m not satisfied in it and otherwise need a change. I need to hone/adapt skills and look for other opportunities. -> Currently, this involves working towards dramatically expanding a part-time business into a full-time business, which would have Jessie running that business full-time and likely have me also working it full time within the next few years. I’ve also continued to interview elsewhere to help give us options. 5. It’s watering time. All but my peppers are planted or died sad deaths on the patio, but we have 1 solid bed. The second needs to be installed, I have a pile of clay dirt to deal with, a ton of weeding to do, and I gotta keep everything alive since the heats of heck have arrived. 6. Therapy. I have a new diagnoses and new medication that have been, it feels, pretty life changing. I finished intensive therapy that was also insanely helpful prior to that and I am continuing with less frequent sessions. My goal is to better learn how to manage ADHD and how to be a more connected, present, and supportive husband and father. I think I have been progressing well. I feel healthy, though I’ve been pretty amped up the last few days during the remodel chaos and whatnot. There’s a lot going on. I’ve started a lot more regular D&D sessions with the kids. We had a few false starts and some practice sessions but they’re finally getting into the Lost Mine of Phandelver. I’m seriously considering a TikTok channel detailing their exploits because they’re a lot of fun- a regular human fighter (who will likely become a Paladin) played by Woody,, a Dragonborn Barbarian who will 100% be multiclassing Druid played by Rex, and a higher level Tibbit multiclassing Druid and Rogue played by Bo Peep, who is a volatile sometime-companion and sometime-ally who can also wild shape into a dog. They love it and so do I. I told them we’d start a TikTok channel to tell their story, and if I manage to get that off the ground I’ll let y’all know.

Welcome! I’m the married parent of 4 kids aged 0-7. I’m ultimately an adventurer at heart, though I train similar to a lot of Rangers (and I’m something of a Druid Paladin which is also something of an equivalent to a Ranger). I love hiking, exploring, traveling, and other fun things with the family. Since shortly before joining Nerdfitness, my physical training is typically built around injury rehabilitation (which happens a bit more often due to autoimmune arthritis) and training to be able to travel, explore, and play with my family. I have a pretty effective Disney World training system, and try to ensure that at any point I’m strong enough to carry my whole family somewhere. That has become more difficult as the years go on but I can still do it for the most part. I am also an enthusiastic suburban homesteader bent on establishing an orchard and vegetable garden, so things can get pretty out-doorsy depending on my goals. My needs mean I do a variety of types of training, and my earliest two physical training goals were “run fast” and “be able to competitively play any sport I come across.” I prefer to avoid gyms and do a lot of body weight training. At the beginning of the year, we welcomed baby 4 into the family, my cat was diagnosed with feline dementia a couple months ago, and I am still on parental leave though I return to work next week. I’m not particularly looking forward to it, but C’est la vie. A couple of months ago, we discovered some nearby bakeries for sale, a way to give a physical location to our small cottage bakery, and are intensely investigating those. Timing has taken longer than we hoped but we’ve also figured out what we’re definitely not doing. That’s the whole point of due diligence though. We have several new fruit trees, including a kumquat tree. I look forward to getting those planted and to finishing my fence, whose remaining pieces are currently being shipped. Healthwise, we’ve been living the keto lifestyle for a little over 2 months, and we’ve found it to be incredibly easy to stick to 99% of the time, meaning we’re seeing more success and I’m burning less willpower on food-related stuff. I am a pound away from my arbitrary goal weight, though I’m still far off of my goal composition. The last time I was this weight was before I met Jessie and when I was a middle and high school wrestling coach. That is, one of the best shapes of my life. I want to be lean and strong, not skinny and weak. (Tried that and hated it). I have not been as dedicated to my calisthenics the last couple of months, so I’ve gone a little backwards but a lot less than I was fearing. But I’m not doing too bad for a guy who is just starting to sleep through most of the night due to infant care and who hasn’t really had the opportunity to run alone. Goals: 1. Sleep. As best as possible. I’m a nonfunctional mess without sleep and can sacrifice it for a few days ok but then I have to make it a super high priority to regain it. With le bébé getting older this is easier but with work starting back up next week, that adds a complication. 2. My basic calisthenics routine with Woody and Rex and Bo Peep. I need to get back into this as a regular practice, which I think will be easier with a workday and the associated schedule. Currently I’m back down to 4 pull ups and 28 push ups but I’m not as concerned about being able to build back up since I’ve been off, and I hear keto can reduce general performance as well. 3. Take one concrete step forward per day- at least one tangible, visible thing to make life better. This ranges from things as small as “dig out the replacement toaster” to as big as “reorganize the playroom.” I don’t have to complete the bigger ones as long as I make progress. 4. Take one concrete step forward per day career-wise. I need my job but I’m not satisfied in it and otherwise need a change. I need to hone/adapt skills and look for other opportunities. -> Currently, this involves working towards dramatically expanding a part-time business into a full-time business, which would have Jessie running that business full-time and likely have me also working it full time within the next few years. 5. It’s planting time. I have a raised vegetable bed to dig in, (and the veggies are protected on the porch), drainage to install, and permanent cinderblock sides to install. I have anti-deer fences to put in around my fruit trees as well, and I started a bunch of seeds last challenge. Also, one of my experimental seed fruit trees actually survived but I’m growing it larger before installing it in the back yard. I also have my grandma’s Japanese yellow rose to place, and I am building a small, raised pot in the front next to the garage for it. I also want to finish off the fencing (connecting neighbor fences to our house and installing a gate) so I can let the dogs out/delegate that job to someone else. Half of this job is done. An error in parts ordering meant I had to return and replace several parts to enable the usage of two gates. In addition, the beds and yard all need to be weeded to keep said weeds from totally taking over. 6. Therapy. I have a new diagnoses and new medication that have been, it feels, pretty life changing. I finished intensive therapy that was also insanely helpful prior to that and I am continuing with less frequent sessions. My goal is to better learn how to manage ADHD and how to be a more connected, present, and supportive husband and father. I had some big conversations with other family members that I think have been really helpful with our relationships, too. There’s a lot going on. I’ve started a lot more regular D&D sessions with the kids. We had a few false starts and some practice sessions but they’re finally getting into the Lost Mine of Phandelver. I’m seriously considering a TikTok channel detailing their exploits because they’re a lot of fun- a regular human fighter (who will likely become a Paladin) played by Woody,, a Dragonborn Barbarian who will 100% be multiclassing Druid played by Rex, and a higher level Tibbit multiclassing Druid and Rogue played by Bo Peep, who is a volatile sometime-companion and sometime-ally who can also wild shape into a dog.

Welcome! I’m the married parent of 4 kids aged 0-7. I’m ultimately an adventurer at heart, though I train similar to a lot of Rangers (and I’m something of a Druid Paladin which is also something of an equivalent to a Ranger). I love hiking, exploring, traveling, and other fun things with the family. Since shortly before joining Nerdfitness, my physical training is typically built around injury rehabilitation (which happens a bit more often due to autoimmune arthritis) and training to be able to travel, explore, and play with my family. I have a pretty effective Disney World training system, and try to ensure that at any point I’m strong enough to carry my whole family somewhere. That has become more difficult as the years go on but I can still do it for the most part. I am also an enthusiastic suburban homesteader bent on establishing an orchard and vegetable garden, so things can get pretty out-doorsy depending on my goals. My needs mean I do a variety of types of training, and my earliest two physical training goals were “run fast” and “be able to competitively play any sport I come across.” I prefer to avoid gyms and do a lot of body weight training. We recently welcomed baby 4 into the family, my cat was recently diagnosed with feline dementia, and I am still on parental leave. We discovered some nearby bakeries for sale, a way to give a physical location to our small cottage bakery, and are intensely investigating those. I am off work for this whole challenge. I am also halfway through an intensive therapy round that seems to be helping quite a lot, as well as possibly having been egregiously misdiagnosed for most of my life. This challenge, we are going forward with business/kitchen buying due diligence, we move back into full planting mode at the suburban homestead, and we are continuing with eating a ketosis diet that has been quite helpful for us. I am working back into my calisthenics routine and may or may not start back with running. I am also continuing to work through the house, organizing and cleaning Goals: 1. Sleep. As best as possible. I’m a nonfunctional mess without sleep and can sacrifice it for a few days ok but then I have to make it a super high priority to regain it. With le bébé here and being off work, this is a lot easier than it was. 2. My basic calisthenics routine with Woody and Rex and Bo Peep. As well as spending some individual time with each kid exploring the neighborhood area, Just Dance sessions, and running or walking stairs or carrying sandbags up and down them. We started geocaching at the local park as well as fishing, thought the Mickey Mouse rod requires repair. 3. Take one concrete step forward per day. This had a great effect on my mental health last challenge and also helped me to do at least one tangible, visible thing to make life better. This ranged from things as small as “dig out the replacement toaster” to as big as “reorganize the playroom.” I don’t have to complete the bigger ones as long as I make progress. 4. Take one concrete step forward per day career-wise. I need my job but I’m not satisfied in it and otherwise need a change. I need to hone/adapt skills and look for other opportunities. -> Currently, this involves working towards dramatically expanding a part-time business into a full-time business, which would have Jessie running that business full-time and likely have me also working it full time within the next few years. 5. It’s planting time. I have a raised vegetable bed to dig in, another to level, drainage to install, and permanent cinderblock sides to install. I have anti-deer fences to put in around my fruit trees as well, and I’d like to start a bunch of seeds. Also, some of my experimental seed fruit trees may have actually survived and those I need to get into the ground at the back of the yard. It’s too early now, but I also have my grandma’s Japanese yellow rose to place somewhere too and a second decorative pot to put in with paver stones in the front. I also want to finish off the fencing (connecting neighbor fences to our house and installing a gate) so I can let the dogs out/delegate that job to someone else. 6. Therapy. I have a lot of goals for the therapy. I won’t accomplish all of them in the three remaining intensive weeks BUT I’ve already come a long way and I believe I can get the framework I need to live a happier, healthier, and more interpersonally effective life. It’s actually fun and rewarding, particularly in light of my personal discoveries and the fact that I was able to get my sister away from a doctor who was awful and caused a bad situation for her over and into my doctor on short notice. My little sister is one of my favorite people and she deserves quality care from a doctor who validates her. For tomorrow, we have a meeting re: the bakery to sign paperwork and gain additional due diligence paperwork. I want to take care of the shoe problem or what is necessary for the raised bed as well. It’ll be a busy day. In any case, that’s going to require sleep so I bid y’all adieu.

So my profile hasn't changed and I've failed my own quest I mean epic fail.. Here's why It happened, intention good, planning well it's there but not in stone.. My weight was 14.4 and My jeans are tight I've got 36 year old muffin top.. So why have i not got anywhere... I'm lazy I've got my Gearfit2 ( anyone know how to add buddy please help and add lol). I eat well and BAD in less that exual measure more on the bad. So here goes I'm going to do three exercise a week nothing more unless I want to. I'm looking to use a kettle bell for my sheild, weight body weight or exercise as my sword arm strength. And streacthing flexibility bands for my Bow arm I means what a ranger otherwise right.. big High Five So I'm going to spend the day and chisel my life goal into stone.. It's shall be with sword held high, war cry in my lungs and conviction in my jaw and a my eyes bright with determination RESPAWN.... RESPAWN....RESPAWN........ PS I'm login Mondays and Fridays minimum,,, and if in three month and I'm still going with Your Help (please fellow rangers/respawners) I'll do the same for you well all be here in three month with a sore hand from all the HIGH FIVES

I considered just taking another break from NF for this challenge, since I'm really busy and will be on vacation for the last week and a half. But, it's better for me to be present in whatever capacity that I can than it is for the whole thing to be out-of-sight, out-of-mind. The theme this time will be figuring out my priorities and sticking with them. For the last many months, a huge problem for me is that I'm not making the time to take care of things that ought to be priorities, and then all of those things just slip through the cracks. Priority 1: Taking care of fitness - I'll be getting at least one decent workout per week at parkour class. But it has been entirely too easy to let the rest of the week fall through the cracks. I want to continue improving at parkour, which means I need more jumping power and more pulling power. My back has been funky these days too, and I've been entirely too lax with the prehab. The goal is to give myself at least 20 minutes each day to do something fitness-wise. And also, at least twice per week, do pull ups in volume, chair one legged squats, split squats, calf raises, and some sort of jump (squat jumps, box jumps, whatever). Priority 2: Cooking & Cleaning - 15 minutes per day of cleaning, no excuses. I'll set a timer and do what I can. Also, I need to batch cook at least one meal each week, so I can eat something healthy without needing to devote excessive time to cooking. Priority 3: Family - Continue helping my daughter with her science olympiad stuff. Also, I'm going to make a point of not blowing off my kids when they want to play games with me. Yeah, if I'm truly busy, the kids can deal, but if it's more that I just would rather be doing something else, I'm going to make a point of being more involved with them. And that's it. Short and sweet for once.

Hello again!! Entering into my 2nd challenge here. I'm going to continue on the same path with some adjustments to keep things fresh. Diet Today is day 30 of no sugar which is an amazing feat for me and my major sweet tooth. So naturally I'm going to keep killin it. Family time * 1x family game night * 1x family theme dinner ( get 16 yr old son involved with the cooking) * 2x cribbage battle with husband (tv is too easy to fall into watching all evening after dinner ) Exercise I currently do 2x strength training at YMCA and 1 x NF body weight and 1 class per week * add a booty workout 2x per week at home * do strength training every other day ( so one week 3x, next week 4x workouts) * increase leg press to 165lbs and chest press to 40lbs Mental I will keep picking one/ two weekly motivational quotes to set the tone for my day. * work on creating a personal affirmation Now that I know my way around the forum better I will check in more often

At the end of last challenge the troll was left with five life points. As I said in my last challlenge the troll will regenerate half of its lost life points, the troll lost 11 points so it will regenerate 6 points during zero week. Bringing the troll up to a total of 11 life points. My week zero has been pretty poor with lack of sleep and dealing with my still unwell family. I have done bugger all in reality. Not a good place to be starting from, but I have been worse. I am still on five life points as I stated in my previous challenge to show my weakened state, after being injured by the troll. Now to my goals. Goal One: Highland Broadsword This is still my focus for my fitness. I will also be adding the monthly SCA combat training to this goal. Attending that is equivalent to three training sessions at home. I want to do 2-4 cateran sessions plus 1-2 SCA combat training drills per week. I have found a youtube clip showing the basics of the SCA heavy combat training that I was shown last month and I will use that as my basis for the SCA drills. Goal Two: Runic Meditation It is time to continue with the next four runes; Ing, Daeg, Oethel, Ac. I still need to bring this back up to five times per week to be benefiting the most from this practice. If I perform a monthly Blessing that counts as a critical hit for the week. It is time I stepped up my religous ritual practices. Goal Three: Workouts I really need to increase my strength to deal with fighting in heavy combat. Not to mention my endurance. I am also having lower back pain from tight muscles and poor posture, so I need to start stretching regularly as well. I plan to stretch as part of warming up/down before any strength workout. The Ithilien Ranger workout stays, even one set is better than none here. It may be short but it is intense. Goal Four: Doing Stuff This has been great for my relationship with my Bec. It has also reminded me to enjoy my kids. Now I need to use it to help me become more crafty, after all I have training shields to build, and training swords for the kids. I also have some ideas for products for my market stall that I need to buckle down and work on. My Bec has started playing around making armour (yes she loves all forms of crafting, this is just a new way to test her skills). However it left me feeling somewhat inadequate, incompetent and useless. Now I am non of these things, I need to put my skills to work to make stuff to show me that I can, and do, use my skills to make some cool things. Garden/House maintenance I need to put in more of an effort here. Appreciating the kids, including making stuff for them (like the aforementioned swords and shields). Doing stuff with/for Bec, date nights are still an automatic critical hit. Doing her hair, watching a movie together, a coffee downtown, any shared activity that builds our relationship (excluding shopping and housework). My crafting time. I want to be spending between 2-10 hours being crafty, whether it is stuff for the SCA, for the kids, or stuff for the markets, I want to soend more time doing this than random computer crap. The scoring will be the same as last challenge; 5+ sessions per week is a Critical Hit on the troll and is worth two points. 3-4 sessions per week is a Hit on the troll and is worth one point 2 sessions per week is a block/dodge or miss as the troll evades my attack and is worth no points 1 session per week is a block/dodge or miss as I evade the troll's attack and is worth no points 0 sessions per week is a hit by the troll on me and I lose one point.

Met a fellow former Infantryman during my SFG 2, and I thought about the things I spent 5 good years of my life doing. I should be able to do them at least relatively well, except I don't know anymore because I haven't tried. I think I'll Infantry the f-- up for a bit. Shoot > Modern martial arts--handgun fundamentals. Achieve a Marksman rating for the pistol on the Winchester/NRA Marksmanship Qualification Program. Move > Road March. Cover 20 total miles with 20+% BW load. Communicate > Talk to each of my parents at least once.

During my last challenge I established some strong workout habits by giving them major priority and it was awesome. Daily exercise is truly magic for me Working out a lot took lots of time, but I got confirmed again that where there is a will there is a way.... Now there is a lot of things I'd like to get done with and for my family, some of them uncomfortable, some of them urgent and important, all of them would improve life quality for us, lots of things I'd like to get done for our house and garden and last but not least again for the most important home I have - my body, so this challenge will hopefully see me do it all: Lucky fire dragon takes good care of her lair and family 1. Taking good care of my dear ones Not sure yet how to structure this best, was thinking of points but ended up with a list instead, will include the regular things in my weekly spreadsheets and cross out on the list right here Regular tough and tender love: - check both A's and T's homework every single school day (total of 10 due to holidays) - make sure T practices her drums and recorder daily (total 28) - read a short section in diary of a whimpy kid with A daily to improve his English skills (total 28) - tidy up T's room with her once every week (which is a major adventure for both of us and I am hoping doing it more often will improve that. I told her I will give her an hour for that every weekend - more tomorrow as we will have to sort through a lot of things then - and if we don't need the full hour because she kept it neat herself we can play a game instead or go roller blading hope that helps as incentive) total of 4 - study with A for his school 2x 30 minutes every week (total of 8) List of other goodies and/or necessities to be taken care of this challenge: - get R good sun glasses - take R to skin doctor for funny toe nail - sign R up for driving lessons - cancel the saving contract we have running for her in order to fund said driving lessons - take R shopping for clothes - look through A's clothes and take him shopping - look through T's clothes, hand on what's too small, try out waiting things, shop if need be - get A's bike lights fixed - get T's bike lights fixed plus new bell for bike (don't what it is about those lights, ugh) - go roller blading with T (at least 3x throughout challenge) 3/3 - play with A on trampoline or go roller blading and him on waveboard (at least 2x throughout the challenge) 2. Taking good care of house and garden - Tend garden and/or unclutter something in the house for 100 min / week (which one it is will be depending on weather and urgency) - plant strawberries on balcony with T - wash and clean car inside and out - get summer wheels on - sort through own clothes and hand on things not worn any more 3. Taking good care of my body and mind Adapted Goal - Continue daily exercise first thing in the morning, for week 1 I will do: - follow Integral Strength Training by GMB (currently 3 sessions per week) - Ring workout is optional whenever I want to (and have strength left from IS and pole ) Continue pole training 4x / week Add rope skipping 3x/ week Add 5 min hula hoop every day (only when the mood strikes) Walk at least 3000 steps every day (I know that is ridiculously little for most of you here, but for me it can be challenging on many days as I work from home and spend most of my time in the house) Journal or meditate 10 min/ day Keep up French lessons with Memrise, Duolingo and/or other means - no time goal here, as mini challenges pushes me plenty as is 4. Taking good care of my skin and nails These usually get so neglected with and it's time for them to get spoiled a bit more and shine so they get their own goal... 5 minutes/day taking care of either nails or calluses (can even be just one or two nails as long as something gets tended) For most of my life I used to bite my nails super short and while I don't do that anymore, they don't get much care yet either. I cut them short now and don't smoothen them afterwards, the nail polish I put on my toes in February is still on in remnants... you get the picture. It won't take that much time to do better here and a little bit every day will go a long way. My hands have developed some calluses from the hoop and ring training (funny enough pole doesn't create any) and one tore open a few days ago. Fortunately I discovered that I had bought one of those rough stones to use on callused skin a long time ago (when I intended better skin care as well lol) and found out that smoothed all the rough edges on the torn callus perfectly so now it won't rip any further, yay. So treating the calluses from time to time with that stone will probably prevent them from getting ripped in the first place, or at least I hope it might. 4 peeling massages over course of challenge This will be a whole new experience, I have never ever done any peelings before Somehow turning 40 made me think of all kinds of new stuff, like I gotta turn into a classy lady or something lol, but I think it will be real nice for my dear skin 4 salt baths over course of challenge 4 nights with wet socks (socks soaked in warm salt water, dry woolen socks over plus towel and wham comfy detox cleanses overnight ) can also be replaced by a salted 15 min foot bath Spending at least 10 minutes / day outdoors Come rain or shine, I have to get out there. Am pale like a sheet at the moment and won't wait for perfect weather to change that. Plus oxygen... never to be underestimated!! This can happily be combined with goal nr 2 (gardening time) What else is new? Oh yes, I got a fitbit charge hr for my birthday so I am now all distracted by checking how my heart rate is doing, how many steps I've taken, what it counts as exercise and can't wait to see what it thinks of pole training (have slacked this week zero, but Sunday will tell!!) and I guess it would give plenty material for more challenges.... but considering how full this one is right now (and believe me there was more that could have come in lol, but I'm shshing it ) I decided to wait on that... As is I'd be one suuuuuuuuuper proud fire dragon if when I managed all of the above this coming challenge!! Won't beat myself up if for some reason I don't but boy would it be cool if I did it, squeeeeeeee What helped me last time tremendously was @mr_willes pushing me on in a PvP that had us report on each other's threads how far we were along with our workouts. So if anybody would like to try that out, I'd love to do that again! But be warned, I might not be as nice to you as you know me I can be quite competitive when it comes to it. In the end I'd love to see both of us have straight A weeks though, of course. That is the very best feeling for sure. Let's do this thing For tracking: homework check T 10/10 homework check A 10/10 music training check T 11/28 get room shiny T 4/4 study with A 6/8 read dwk with A 5/28 roller blading fun T 3/3 waveboard fun A 3/2 tend garden (or unclutter house) 100/100 100/100 100/100 100/100 meditation 20/28 Integral Strength 10/10 pole training 12/16 > 3000 steps 27/28 nail / skin care 23/28 peeling massage 4/4 salt bath 5/4 > 10 minutes outdoors 24/28

Lessons learned last time around, here we go again! Build Arms - Weighted chin ups 1x/wk (or more), 500 push-ups/wk (+Dex, +Str) I love chin ups. Currently I'm at 5-5-3 for chin-ups with an #18 KB on a belt. I'd like to add one rep every week. The push-ups are a continuation of what I did in that challenge earlier this year. Yeah, I know they're more of a chest thing... but I'll do some handstand holds/lowers to make up for it. Some day, I'll be busting them out like this girl Get running - at least one run a week, aiming for 3 miles. (+Sta, +Dex for trail runs) I'm going to need to really work on my PT to make this feasible. I was just up to 3-ish mi last time I went... but I think this will be a good foundation for building distance. Build off what I learned from the last challenge about what I should be eating. (+Wis, +Cons) At some level, it's all "IIIFYM." Truth is, I'm a carboholic. Not a Carbivore, like I thought. I don't need sugar, but I crave it. When I get a little bit in my system, I spiral out of control. I need to continue to build up my toolbox for figuring out how to deal with that, especially in social situations. I'm going to target 50g carbs/day, max 100g. That's what I found to be good the last time around. It's also consistent with the stuff on Mark's Daily Apple website. Avoid sugars (light on the fruit, occasional dark chocolate), avoid bread and super-starches, eat hordes of protein, and fill in the rest with yummy fats (butter, coconut butter, almond butter... bacon!). Log DAILY on MFP! The Checklist Schedule the "girl's weekend" for my little sister's bachelorette party Hit ketosis for a day (or two) Have a Solomo sandwich Hike a new trail Get the gun Go Shooting. Visit my grandparents (Oh, Canada!) I was successful in posting on NF more than 40x during the last challenge. I'm over 1000 posts lifetime! Goal: hit 1100 posts by the end of April.

Hi and welcome to my Newbie ramblings....I found this site less then 48 hours ago so please bear with me if I am doing this wrong. I am a 33 year old busy as mother of two..a 14 and a 4, who not only juggles children but also Chronic Fatigue Syndrome as well as hurling around an extra 25 kg of fat that I need to remove. I have always battled with my body image and emotional eating which I used to balance with obsessive amounts of exercise so I didn't gain to much weight but after developing Glandular Fever at 25 and never fully recovering the excessive exercise part had to stop, however the emotional eating has carried on.....Over the last 7 years I have gained weigh and lost it and while I always though I was huge I never really was until lack of sleep, excess stress and a CFS relapse happened when Amber was about 15 months old. I was the heaviest I had ever been when pregnant with my youngest but with the combination of gentle exercise and the Paleo diet I managed to lose 22 kgs within 9 months after having her. I dropped from 89 kg back down to 67 kg which was still heavy for me however I have gained every single one of those kgs back on and have been battling with losing it again for so long that I am scared that I am stuck with it forever. The reasons being are firstly because I am a carb/sugar addict who reaches for these not only because the are quick and easy when life is busy but also because I crave them for energy due to my CFS and secondly I cant exercise like I used to and a 30 min walk at 3 km an hour is alot for my body to deal with at present...anymore than this and I end up in a flare. Weights and HIIT works outs which I love are the worst for causing this. My other battle is that I am a black and white thinker...All or nothing so a little exercise and moderate food changes are hard for me as my brain classes them as 'not worth it'.....So I am here to complete this challenge, challenge my own thinking so i can hopfully move past the black/white thing and to start making moderate changes to my eating, exercise habits and lifestyle which I hope will in turn help me lose weight, which should have a positive effect on my CFS which sets me up to be able to exercise a little more(here's to hoping).....Now all I have to do is...JUST DO IT! My Main Long Term Goals To lose 25 kg so that I feel fit, happy, confidant and healthy again, (to achieve by end of 2016). To eat 80/20 Paleo again as this helped my CFS and moods more than anything else ever has . To join the gym and be able to walk at least 25 km a week again..... To be fit and healthy enough to ACTIVELY do stuff with my family regularly. Challenge One: Rebel- 30th March to 30th April--------> Change of plans I will start on the 4th of April instead as I have just realized that I need to put somethings in place to make this achievable Diet Swap morning coffee and smoke for Hot water and a vege/protein filled breakfast Drink more water Eat more vegetables(aim at 5 servings a day) Fitness Complete the NF bodyweight workout 1x a week Walk to pick Amber up from daycare 4 x a week Lifestyle Aim at an earlier bedtime every night...10.30 pm is a good place to start I will measure my achievements daily and I will give each mission a achieved, half achieved or not achieved. Current weight and goal weight to come as are daily up dates The photo is of me but when I grew up or at least get smaller a little I am going to be Harley <3

For this next 4WC I am going to be spending one more month nailing down some good habits and foundation strength before I switch back to lifting weights more heavily. Goal 1: PowerYoga\Flexibility training 4X a week To be a true Shinobi I need to flexible and able to move my body with complete control and fluidity. Goal 2: Water!!! at least 100oz a day can have one cup of tea or coffee a day (no energy drinks) A Shinobi's body must run at optimal efficiency I need to flush out the amount of crap I have been eating and drinking...sorry NOS energy drinks we must part ways... Goal 3: Posture. A Shinobi is mindful of himself and his surroundings at all times Not really quantitative just need to remain mindful of the way I sit and walk because I slouch waayyy too much and it isn't helping my back and neck any. Goal 4: For the Clan I want to make it a family habit for me, my wife and our two kids to go for at least a 10-15 min walk everyday to unwind. We used to go for walks all the time and now it seems like we spend a lot of time inside watching movies or messing with our phones. So I want to bring back the family time and get our asses outside again. Also I want to plan 1 family night a week where we either go out somewhere or we have a game night or something fun. Goal 5: Foam Roller Simple roll it out at least 10 mins a day, mainly my back. Goal 6: Lifting Make time for at least 1 day a week where I can throw some stuff around. It is more of a stress relief day than a GAINZ day Goal 7: Walking In order to be a good Shinobi I must be able to travel long distances and build up the legs. I must walk for at least 30 mins 3X a week, preferably outside but I will allow some treadmill time. SO there we go. Now lets do this

This challenge is about making the most of opportunities as they come up. I have a lovely foundation behind me so far this year, and some ends to wrap up, or items to put in place this round. I would like to make the most of my energy and my choices so that I am flexible and available to make use of opportunities that come my way. I'll be continuing with the near-daily gym visits. More than ever I have seen how beneficial they are to my emotional well being and balance. I have a good rhythm with my partner on this front, and it grounds me. We do T'ai Chi once or twice a week as well, and really like it. Vivian, now 5, has become a bit of a gym rat too, and days when she doesn't get in the pool are a bit gloomy for her. The thesis and conference paper final edits need to be completed and submitted and done and dusted by mid March. I'm looking forward to it, and wondering where the universe will lead me once it's all wrapped up. The onerous task weekly list will always be a part of my life, as will the gratitude and affirmations journal.

G'day all, I'm Dan, the new Nerd Fitness Rebel Family Correspondent, Steve has granted the very important (and very awesome) task of writing about all things family for Nerd Fitness (you can check out my first article here). I'm a father from Adelaide, South Australia with two (soon to be three) amazing kids. I work as a fatherhood specialist in a large non profit organization, where I help other dads become the best they can be. In my work I run prenatal classes, playgroups, fatherhood courses, provide counselling and opportunities for parents and their children to bond. I'm super excited to be writing for Nerd Fitness, but I really want to know what all you parents (or parents to be) would like to read, or learn more, about? Through my work, qualifications, and life experiences as a parent, I have a wide range of knowledge relating to parenting, sleeping, eating, child development, mental health, sensory issues, pregnancy, pre and postnatal health, relationships, and much more. So let me know what you Rebel Parents would really like to see on the Nerd Fitness blog. I promise I'll try to keep the dad jokes to a minimum ('Dead-lifts'? More like, 'Dad-lifts'! Amirite?!)...I'll show myself out. Also, feel free to get in touch, either just to say 'G'day!', or ask a question at any time. -'Down Under' Dan.

I hope this is the right place to post this: I am MissLyssa. I want to be Super Mom Super Mom, to me, is a mom that can take care of the usual business (kids, work, house, etc) and still take care of herself adequately. I do pretty well at the Super Mom business, but I need some improvement. I have decided that I am not yet ready for a 6 week challenge, but I am ready for small changes. I had a baby 3 months ago and have a 4 year old as well. My main goal for the moment is to get down to 160 pounds by April. That's about 2 pounds down per week as I currently weigh about 197. This number is not set in stone though since I would rather weight 150 pound and be strong then to weigh 130 and have no muscle. My plan in short: Paleo for breakfast and lunch. Dinner is not always my choice, so I can be lenient here. Beginner Body Weight Workout: Monday, Wednesday, Friday Intervals: Tuesday and Thursday I will use this thread to keep track of my progress. If anyone has advice etc, it'd be appreciated. THANKS! ~MissLyssa

All right nerds, I need food ideas. I have a little one who is cute as can be...but boy does she have a sensitive tummy. To make a long story short; because I am nursing right now I can no longer eat the following. Dairy (substitute almond milk and earth balance cheese sub. Are too depressing) Peanut Wheat Beans Broccoli Cauliflower Cabbage Brussel sprouts Chickpeas Or anything really spicy. I am really struggling to find recipes that my whole family can eat while mixing it up. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Hi, I’m Daule (so obviously not my real name, just a contraction of my username). I’m 28, and I have two daughters - one two and a half years, the other two and a half months (yes, I gave birth barely three months ago!). I found nerd fitness years ago but was happy to set my own path back then … now that I have way less time, and more motivation, I decided to join the forums to track my progress and set out my goals here. Main quest: To be fit enough to at least defend myself basically in a street fight/attack, and in doing so reduce my body fat to 22% (from around 32%). ETA: My current bodyfat is about 30%, so I think 8% is a reasonable reduction to a healthy and achievable number. I currently weigh about 62.5kg, and my pre-pregnancy weight was 54kg. However, while I weighed less, I'd lost weight without really moderating my diet or exercising, so my guess is that my bodyfat percentage was just as high, maybe a smidge lower. Not that I'd be upset to have that body back I'm also 5'3" so on the shorter side. As much as I want to lose weight, it's the fat which is more important, which is why I don't have a weight goal. Also, just to be clear, I am in no way looking to fight people - I just want to have the confidence to defend myself if I ever need to. As a petite woman, I'm likely to be a pretty good target for attackers, so I want to make sure that I'm not a victim if I can help it. I hope that in training in strength and speed I can also build functional, practical fitness that not only helps in an attack but improves my well-being overall. Sub-quests: For this six week challenge, I’m going to continue on my current path (I'll detail that in a later post) 1. cook three different veg protein-filled clean meals for the first time (0/3)2. krav maga kickboxing class once a week, or if not, an extra personalised workout (0/6)3. the baby wearing workout or dauntless workout three times a week. my personalised workout. Given time restrictions a workout can be split across days, as long as all exercises are done it counts as one workout. I'll detail this workouts in a later post too, when my baby isn't about to cry! (0/18) Motivation (warning - it’s quite detailed ): There are a few elements, two of which inform my username. First, my (step)father died (two months after my mum unexpectedly passed away) in August, after a long battle with cancer. He was a huge role model for nearly twenty years and I admired him a lot. He used to be a boxer and was in many many street fights. From when I knew him he never picked fights but could easily take care of himself and was never afraid of anyone. He had a brilliant, laid-back attitude to life, always made me laugh, and always made me feel safe. I really want to be more like him. He used to call me the evil little dwarf, which then became little evil (I called him big evil), and it was a moniker I wore with pride. This part of my life is about saying goodbye to him as a person, and living on and carrying his self with me. The second source of inspiration is that when I look back on my life, all my role models have been women who could kick arse. Gabrielle from Xena, Buffy Somers, River Tam, Lisbeth Salander, Arya Stark and most recent, Tris Prior (from Divergent). I love that they could take care of themselves, as much as any man, and it's something I admire and aspire to. The third inspiration is my two girls, Arya and Aemilia (yes, I named my firstborn after a Game of Thrones character). I want to be a strong role model for them, and teach them to be able to look after themselves, too. It's the most recent inspiration - Tris - who kind of powered up my desire to really follow this goal again. In and of herself she's not the best role model in a literary sense, but I found the Dauntless approach to life, the training regime of going from Abnegation to Dauntless and just the idea of a group of people with the same approach to life really enjoyable. I actually was more disappointed with the second and third books, and was then looking for another book with a similar drive but just couldn’t get anything, so needed to create something that worked for me. I suppose it doesn't hurt I love black clothes, and already have several tattoos (including an image on my wrist which is a hidden tribute to my stepdad). In addition to this, my husband is very overweight due to the medication he takes for his mental illness, and I want him to be fit, healthy and strong too. I convinced him to attend a private Krav Maga training class (it took a LOT of convincing), but he actually ended up loving it and eager to go again (note: my husband has NEVER been eager to do anything physical - neither of us are “sporty†types), so that’s both a great motivator and something we can do together. So that feeds into things. Race: Deep dwarf - short, slightly stout and prefers the darkness Desired class: Monk (krav maga, boxing and street fighting/defence)

Some Assembly Required Challenge Number 6: still plenty of work left to do on the Year o' Fitness. Through the first five I've taken great strides toward transforming my old squishy body into something strong, resilient, and capable. Along with physical fitness I've also been developing daily life habits to improve my mental and spiritual well-being. I haven't been perfectly successful at all of my goals, but the continued effort is really taking root and helping me become the Ranger I want to be. Now it's time to put it all together. Fitness Quest Goal 1: Thor's Mindset I'm making it a priority to stay in touch with my God by reading His book and spending time in prayer for the first 15 minutes of each day. This challenge I'll read through the gospel of John. 42 possible points. Goal 2: Hulk's Strength Lift heavy things—get stronger. Run—get faster. In this challenge I'm continuing with my barbell program, but I'm incorporating HIIT sprints to my week so I can build speed and endurance for continued improvement on the soccer field. Rest days are planned again, too, so the only off-days are Sundays, when I'll actually be playing soccer. 36 possible points, with up to 6 extra credit available for exercise on off-days. Goal 3: Ironman's Intellect Make a plan, execute the plan. Mostly this involves planning and tracking my food. I'm calculating my intake for a programmed deficit of 1/2 pound per week. As usual I'll lean pretty firmly toward Primal eating, and I'll organize my macros around my activity levels (i.e., higher carbs on lifting days). I'm not interested in losing weight (other than off-week bloat), but I'm still in cut mode to keep burning the last bits of body fat. 42 possible points. Goal 4: Captain America's Virtue Bedtime discipline continues to be needed. The plan spreadsheet will track bedtime, which is to say I'm under the covers with all lights and devices off at the scheduled clock time. 42 possible points. Measurements I'll track everything as I have before with one exception: I'm not getting on the scale again until the end of the challenge. For the sake of my spreadsheets I'll use weekly estimates during the challenge and then replace them with interpolations at the end. Here's the start table, and as you can see my scale weight took a serious leap in the off-week. Life Quest – Lead, Love, Protect As I get more comfortable and habitual with my physical fitness I want to start leveling-up other areas of my life. This time around I'm going to place emphasis on my Dad skills. To improve my fatherly attributes, I'm programming the following three sub-quests: SQ1: Lead – we're a pretty traditional family, so Dad is the head of the household. In this role I vastly prefer to operate more as a team captain than as a king. Still, I'm responsible for providing this team with direction and purpose, and I'm on the hook for making sure we function together as a family. The Minions are old enough now that I think we can start doing a weekly family meeting to discuss issues in the household and work together to sustain and improve our family dynamic. Goal is to meet on Fridays at 7 pm for no more than 45 minutes, which also includes a family board or card game. 6 possible points. SQ2: Love – It's been said that the best thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother. MrsFeelgood and I have no family within 1,000 miles of where we live, and all of our local friends are also large homeschooling families with young kids. It's been difficult for us to find babysitters; in the last ten years we've probably gone on a date-night less than 20 times. In this challenge I'm going to try and find a more reliable sitter so we can have at least two date nights. 1 point for finding a sitter and 2 points for actually getting out of the house on two occasions. SQ3: Protect – there's less here to work on since protecting my family physically and financially has always been foremost in my life. Sometimes I've been a little too cavalier with their emotions, though, and I think that's a prime area to focus my attention for this sub-quest. To help me understand them better, I'm making it a goal to read a parenting book during the challenge and see if there are practical recommendations for improving my interaction with the kids when they're being difficult. 1 point available for this one. _________________________ I was deliberately undisciplined in the off-week, and I've grown quite squishy for it. It will feel good to get back in the swing of my fitness routine. And away we go...

Though I never stopped tracking the leveling-up of my life, I wasn't commenting on the NF forums. My old battle log is now inactive. Here comes some more! Me? I'm a family man, physician assistant, sci-fi novelist, and triathlete. I have sucked at all of those except the PA at one time or another, but visualizing myself as a video game hero changed my perception, and I changed my level of success.

I DID IT! I CONVINCED MY FAMILY TO BECOME PALEO! Well, my brother at least. Mum doesn't want to give up her morning granola or cheese sandwich. Lol. But she will stop eating sugary/processed foods! ^^ I consider this a great milestone, certainly for my brother. He's 16 years old and I believe that deciding to go Paleo at that age is certainly a very brave and difficult thing to do. (But he insists on the 80/20 rule, haha) Excited as I was, I immediately started with the paleofication of our home! With that, I mean the kitchen. I'm still immensely shocked by the amount of junk still in our cupboard, definitely regarding how relatively healthy they both already ate. Very proud of my family

Working on a show, as usual, has taken its toll on my family life. It was a busy six week rehearsal process, and we have two weekends of shows left. I’m planning on taking Hoop 3/4 at the aerial studio, but I want to use this challenge to focus my energies on playing with my son and taking care of our house, rather than on feats of strength and endurance. Not, of course, that I won’t continue to work out, and eat right, but that I’ll be doing those things while focusing on my own family life and home. 1. Man of Steel Six days a week, mixing it up. I’ll run, ride, lift, dance, do aerial and yoga, and generally try to have fun. Long runs pushing the trailer (or rides pulling the trailer) with Superboy (previously known as “the apprenticeâ€) and Supergirl (aka, Mrs. Mediaguy) are encouraged. Just for fun, I’m going to track my pull ups. Right now I'm doing 5 sets of 5 in a workout. I’ll see how far I can take that by adding one to one or two sets a week. +3 STR, +3 STA, +2 DEX 2. Kryptonite The only time I’ve ever tried to track my calories I lost a lot of weight. Now, I’m not really interested in losing any weight as I’m hovering between 160-165 lbs, which is a great weight to be at for a 43 year old dude. So, I’m going to see about getting my protein up, my carbs down, and being consistent about tracking my foods. Starting in week one, I’ll track the food by estimate using MFP, while I research what macros should look like for an endurance/strength based athlete. In week two, I’ll start cooking and eating for those macros. I’ll also order one of those nifty kitchen scales. Desserts etc are fine, but only if they fit the macros. So no bingeing, and no days where I'm over my caloric goals (for maintenance, not weight loss)--those are kryptonite to me! +3 CHA 3. Fortress of Solitude Stay in at least three nights a week. No rehearsal, no classes, no meetings, no gaming. Just working on the house (cleaning, repairs, whatnot), cooking, and generally making it better, plus being available and present for the family. +2 WIS 4. Superfamily. Make dinner, go on a date, go on a hike, go on a bike ride, or simply do something fun with my lovely wife, Supergirl. Watching TV doesn’t cut it, even if Game of Thrones just started back up again. Of course, she’ll be out of town for ten days during this time, so those days won’t count. Same goes for Superboy. Read to him, bathe, play, whatever. We haven’t been playing together a lot lately and it’s had an effect on our relationship. So, put him to bed three nights a week will be the goal for that. Hikes with all three of us? Pure awesomeness. +2 WIS

I know my energy levels and mood will improve once I begin to clean up my diet and lose fat, and that exercising is a natural mood-improver, but I was wondering if there is something that would give me more energy, even on off days. Before I began working out, when I was at home, I would always feel tired, lazy, sick, and pretty much dead from the neck-down. It's not surprising when I considered that I spent most of my teenhood at home playing games most of the day. I was homeschooled, so I couldn't really be a part of a sports team, and at the time, I didn't think about my fitness all that much, and didn't think there was much to do outside except chores, getting hot, and getting bit by bugs. When I went to college, I felt a little better, and was excited about being there, so I ran around a lot. Then once I got into my second semester, and the newness wore off, I kind of just, went back to my usual behavior pattern. Also, I have a history of staying up late and cutting hours to get some time to myself to play games and for...*other*, reasons, since the only time someone in my house isn't up is usually between 2:00 AM and 5:00 AM. So, I've noticed that when I eat 2 scrambled eggs, 2 pieces of toast, a banana, and drink a protein shake, then when I go to the gym and drink a GNC PUREDGE Complete Amino energy supplement (did I get that right?) 30 minutes prior to running on the treadmill or lifting weights, and then drink a protein shake after the workout, and then go get a cheeseburger and a small fry with water with my mom at lunch time, I've noticed that I actually feel really energized and great afterwards! I actually feel like chasing my baby sister around the yard, and helping my dad with outside house work, and talking to this girl I like. You know! Until I don't. Next, I get tired shortly after coming home in the afternoon. Then I don't feel like doing anything again. Then, on the day I couldn't go to the gym and had to lift weights at home, I followed the same dieting, and I felt great after I worked out! Especially when I walked for a bit and listened to music. But then I went back inside and went back to not doing much of anything but playing games, babysitting, and doing chores. I had energy for a good few hours, but I didn't feel as great for awhile. And then this Saturday, I felt like shit. Mainly because I tried to cut hours (to 6, I think) to give myself time to workout in the morning, but then I spent too much time preparing my food and doing some research and ended up not going out to workout until about noon time, when it was getting really hot and windy, and was about to rain, and my dad wanted help with the garden. I didn't have much time to eat lunch because of the weather and my baby sister, so I tried settling for a protein shake, a banana, and a tablespoon-and-a-half of peanut butter for lunch, but I found myself eating a few potato chips and 3 Oreos at around 2:00 PM because I didn't feel completely satisfied, and I was having a hard time finding a fresh fruit besides bananas, which I was trying not to take too many up from my family. Also, I didn't know when we would be back home from the theatre. So I didn't workout that day, and me and my family ended up going to the movies. I wanted to drink water, but nobody wants to pay for water, not even me. I wanted sweet tea, but they didn't have sweet tea, and my dad was determined to get everyone a drink, so I got a Sierra Mist instead. Then my baby sister got my Sierra Mist instead, and I got a Pepsi, which I have been avoiding since college. So then, I figured we wouldn't have dinner tonight unless it's at the theatre, so I just went and got 4 Whitecastle burgers for my dinner, and then we went home where I ate some sausage, peas and carrots, and some macaroni and cheese. So THEN, this Sunday, I was really feeling like a piece of shit because I've been trying hard to keep a good, steady diet for a week now, and that one Saturday just threw me off entirely. I decided that if I wanted to get some exercise in on Sunday and burn some calories, I would need to get up at 5:30 AM and make exercising the absolute first thing I do in the morning...Which lead to me only giving myself 6 hours of sleep again because I was trying to do some job searching late at night, spent too much time on it, and got frustrated. And some nights, I just seem to have a hard time going to sleep. Usually when it's hot. So I did the beginner bodyweight workout routine for 3 circuits that I saw in one of the main articles by Steve, since it wasn't a weightlifting day. It certainly gave me a workout, and left me sweating, and feeling a bit sore in the legs. And then I walked for about an hour, and then by about 8:30 AM, I went and got a protein shake, two hotdogs with buns and some macaroni and cheese, because it was close to lunch time, there were no clean skillets available, and I had to be ready for church by about 11:00 AM. Before going, I tried that Amiibo stuff again to see if it would work on improving my mood and energy levels. I also made sure to take some Mega Men Energy & Metabolism vitamins like I have been every morning for the last week. Prior and while performing the workouts, I wasn't really feeling my best, but I forced myself and found the energy to do it. Usually when I have energy, I feel like doing something that requires a lot of movement, but it seems like it's when I don't have energy is when I'd rather do something slow and productive like lifting weights, which maybe gives me energy to do bodyweight workouts? After the meal I had after working out, I felt full and tired, and when I got to church, I just felt really excited and happy to see familiar faces and be in such a welcoming atmosphere (unlike college), but now I'm back home from church, and I honestly feel like doing nothing but going to sleep. So, what's going on with me? Is it a combination of not eating right or not sleeping right, or is it something personal? I feel like I know the answer to this, but I always like to get feedback, since I'm not always right. Then again, I think I am more right about myself than even most professionals, but I could be wrong there. Oh, just give me some input! Also, is it bad to use a little bit of whey for flavoring in water and milk? Because I've got some of the best-tasting whey I've ever had, I didn't even think it was going to taste so great!