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Wow. The end of the last challenge went through my life like a meat grinder. Mediation Workshops, threats of nuclear war, Personal Relationship Crumbling, Charlottesville. Thank goodness I have the NF community and the habits I've built with you guys over the past few years. One of the things that I know is that we will do it together, and we will go farther than we ever could have imagined. #Writing: After attending the Tinker Mountain Writers Workshop, I applied for and got accepted into the Queens University MFA in Creative writing. This means that I have to read and write every day. I started a scheduled structure, and stick to it mostly. I need to continue it so that it is a solid habit. First submission due: September 1. I also need to submit a piece to a contest or so, since it would be a wonderful thing to get a cash award, and the validation wouldn't be awful. But the writing is the thing. Feel free to check out my progress in my tracking spreadsheet (two tabs). Also, I have a paper on American Exceptionalism to write that I got an extension on, and that needs to be swept up. #Writers Life #Mediation certification: I took all the required training seminars last challenge, and will spend this challenge getting the required practicums -- observations and co-mediation -- taken care of. Hopefully the court certification will be finalized by the end of this challenge. #FingersCrossed. #Communication with Vivian. My daily calls with my daughter were suspended when we went to court on July 6. This hurts, and she was in tears over it. The appeal hearing was moved to the end of October (two challenges from now, I think, but maybe three -- this is how I measure things). I'm now limited to calling on Monday and Wednesday. I wrote her a Garden Report and included a garden word search along with the pictures I took and mailed it to her, and thus began a habit of mailing her something most days. Harvey mails some days too. It's our way to stay in touch now. I send a puzzle or coloring page or whathaveyou. And then I'm going to write my pen pal, who is in prison. #SnailMailRules #Employment I interview for a position to teach GED classes at the regional jail. This resonates with me in ways that don't really make any sense, but in a very positive, contributory way. Part time. I'm thinking of it as a work-study component to the writing classes. #WishMeLuck #Self-care Nightly sleep I need to take care of myself by making certain I'm getting enough rest. If I'm worn out and exhausted, I can't be a good student / parent / friend. I need to be in bed no later than 9 p.m. Daily Sauna or hot bath Meetings A few meetings a week, especially on Wednesday, then therapy on Thursday and then the Friends Meeting every Sunday. Water reestablish the habit. Walking. My steps fell to hell as the office job progressed. I went from a ten mile a day habit to barely a mile, and lost the habit of walking thirty minutes every day as well. I'm hoping to put it back. #FinancialPlanning with the attorney: Financial worry is soul-crushing. Bankruptcy filing in Monday, August 14. #Acceptance leads to #balance. #Balance leads to #harmony. #Harmony leads to #peace.

So. I've set up plans to meet my goals for this challenge. I found a running partner - we're running her neighborhood every Monday after I get off of work. I'm thinking the gym should be on Tuesday and Thursday every week. For a while I was going M, W, F and then alternating, but with a 50+ hour work week I got thrown off. I've decided to also slightly alter my nutrition goal. I'll give myself one day a week to not be as strict, that way I have a built-in day to not feel guilty if I'm offered something not inline with my goal or go out to eat and can't really weigh or measure out my serving size. Still learning how to eyeball some things. I also have a solid plan for my loan to be paid off early next month. The early payment is part of a larger goal to reduce my debt and increase my credit score. As part of that I actually disputed one of the collection accounts I have and it was removed! I was so excited when I found out today. I'm on track to better credit and better opportunities.

This isn't my first challenge, it's actually my second, but there was a long gap in between so I decided to post here. There was a lot going on the last few months, but thankfully I've stuck to my fitness goals and am ready to start questing once more! A brief intro: I'm 23 years old, Licensed Massage Therapist and Chiropractic Assistant. 5'9, 139lbs, Not a very big dude Last year I was diagnosed with Ankolosing Spodylitis which is an immune disorder that starts as inflammation of SI joints and progresses to fuse the vertebrae together. The best prescribed treatment for this is a diet low in inflammatory foods and movement. That was when I decided to start Crossfit and it has improved my health by leaps and bounds. I still throw up constantly and crap out on the WoD from time to time, but I go and I push myself to the limit every time! The Big Deal: I'm planning to do battle frog in the middle of the year. I'm going to do the challenge where you do as many rounds of the course as possible. My training begins today! Quest Log Diet: I'm still pretty underweight so my diet goal is to bulk up. I got a Fitbit Surge for Christmas and I've been using that with MyFitnessPal to measure my caloric intake vs output. I have it set at a 2,800 cal goal but I may up that to 3,000 because of how much I burn on a given day. 2,800 is the bare minimum on average. I even ended the new year by consuming 4,000 calories and burning 3,300 with 103 minutes of activity including Crossfit & weight training. I will post links to all of my accounts so others can follow if they wish. I want to end each day with about +500 cal than I expend. Exercise: For this 4 weeks challenge, I decided to go with a minimum of 3 days a week at Crossfit (which I will allow to be supplemented by a 1 hour Barracks workout for 1 day a week, because my schedule is ever fluctuating and I need to stay fluid). I am also going to do 2 hours of yoga a week to keep my muscles healthy and flexible. Financial: My lease is up in June this year and I won't be able to renew. I have 60k in student loan debt with 2 different companies. This is not ideal haha! The goal here is to save up $500 a month until June to be able to afford the move. I need to be able to do this while paying my current bills, including the loans and credit card. I have a good start though! I prepayed all of January's bills last year so I can start saving early. My level up Life Goal: My employer just got us all a great healthcare plan that I plan to use to the fullest. I'm going to get my physical and see a nutritionist to develop a plan to help me bulk up properly and train my body to be the body of an athlete and a ranger! This also includes staying regular with my rheumatologist to control my AS. Sorry for the basic layout of my Challenge but the new year rings in much work and I'm pressed for time. I will not be able to post here much but I will keep my twitter page updated. I will try to link my twitter, myfitpal, and fitbit here when I figure that out!

Okay. A bit of backstory: For this past six week challenge (currently in week 5) I have been participating in a program run in a gym not quite near me, but close enough to get to on public transport (I don't have a car.) The program is designed for people to be able to lose 9 kilograms (almost 20 pounds) in 6 weeks, and it coincidentally lined up with the six week challenge here on Nerd Fitness. I've been doing really well on the challenge. I've been following the prescribed nutrition plan and going to the required five fitness classes per week. I've even been going more than required because I want to get as much as I can out of the program and I know I may not be financially able to stay on at the gym after the program finishes. I'm really enjoying the classes and working out, but more than that is the community aspect. There is a facebook page for the gym that's limited to people who still go there and it's really active. It's really easy to strike up conversations with people because so many of them are on the same journey, and the nutrition plan is pretty easy to follow because there is so much support, meal prepping advice and ideas for what to eat up on the website and the facebook page. So with all of this support, why wouldn't I continue with this awesome gym and these awesome people? The number one reason is finances. I'm a student and I'm struggling a little at the moment. I'm trying to save to go overseas next year, because I feel stuck in my hometown and I want adventure and to see a whole new world. (Part of that plan also includes going to Camp Nerd Fitness!) Rent is going up in December and although I have a job, and I'm contracted to certain hours which means I do have enough to pay rent and bills and eat and go to the gym, I would have to rearrange some things to continue on with this gym. I would probably only continue on for six months, as there's a program in place for post 9in6 program goers and this includes a kind of discount, and I think I could afford it for that amount of time. The only other thing is with my boyfriend. With this intense course, uni and my job, it's been really hard to find time for us to hang out. I really want for us to have a healthy relationship, but this is eating into it and I don't know how much more it will bite into my time. I want to take care of my health and fitness, but I also love my boyfriend. He's been super supportive of me so far, but he's definitely interested in having more time for us to hang out and spend time together. I know that once uni's over I'll have a bit more time on my hands, but Christmas is coming up too and I'm just not quite sure what to do. Any advice people can give would be super helpful. Even writing it all out like this really helped. Cheers.

I am excited for my third challenge, my first with the assassins! Since I just celebrated my 51st birthday during the off week, this challenge will be an assortment of birthday gifts for me. Main Quest: What I want for my birthday is to be a strong, agile, well-fed, financially secure assassin! Quest 1: Strength, endurance, flexibility – important assassin qualities. This means getting my sweat on! Recruit workout 3x/week Walk 3x/week for 36 minutes Yoga 3x/week A = 5 weeks successfully completed (+3 STR, +3 STA, +3 DEX) B = 4 weeks successfully completed (+2 STR, +2 STA, +2 DEX) C = 3 or fewer weeks successfully completed (No stats) Quest 2: To be at peak performance, an assassin needs to be well-nourished. Cooking meals at home really slipped for me during my previous challenge because I was often just too tired. Having backed off a bit on the amount I’m exercising, I hope to have more energy to devote to planning and cooking meals. It’s better for my physical and financial health. A = Cook dinner at least 3x/week for 5 weeks (+3 CON) B = Cook dinner at least 2x/week for 4 weeks (+2 CON) C= Cook dinner less than 2x/week for 3 weeks (No stats) Quest 3: Successful assassins have good awareness of their environment and the resources available to them at any given time. Keeping track of my income and expenses is something I struggle with, but clarity about my finances is important to achieving financial stability. I plan to devote at least 5 minutes daily to entering my income and expenses into Quicken so that I always know where my money is. A = At least 5 minutes/day, 6x/week for 5 weeks (+2 WIS) B = At least 5 minutes/day, 5x/week for 4 weeks (+2 WIS) C = Less than 4x/week for 3 weeks (No stats) Life Quest: Assassins like to explore their surroundings. I have been cocooning at home for the past few months, a necessary, if temporary, state. But now it’s time to start getting out into the world again and making the most of the rest of my year in Texas. I want to get out and interact with places in Austin I haven’t yet been since we moved here last fall, at least 4 times during the challenge. Pass/Fail, (+1 CHA for being adventurous and possibly meeting new people) Motivation: My life has been small and safe for the past few months and I really needed that time for healing and integration of what went before. But now it’s time to start participating more fully in life again and doing more of the things that make life fun. Being more physically and financially fit will help me have more fun.

Interestingly enough I am making the most money I have ever made in my entire life and I am more broke than I have ever been. I bought the book (Dave Ramsey) Total money makeover. My friend (not sure who she is going to be when she joins NF so I am gonna call her D… until I know her name here) and I are going to read this book… 1 chapter in the week between challenges and then 2 chapters per week for 6 weeks… there are also worksheets to work though… I intend to get my finances in order!! I am taking 6 months off in 3 years (in order to hike the appalachian trail) and I have to have a significant amount of money set aside… also I am not getting any younger here!! I have to prepare for a fabulous retirement!! I have made a spreadsheet with the plan here Chapter/homework week 0 The total money makeover challenge worksheet: major components of a healthy financial plan week 1 denial debt myths worksheet: consumer equity sheet worksheet: income sources week 2 money myths two more hurdles worksheet: monthly cash-flow plan worksheet: recommended percentages week 3 save $1,000 fast the debt snowball worksheet: allocated-spending plan worksheet: the debt snowball week 4 finish the emergency fund maximize retirement investing worksheet:irregular-income planning worksheet: breakdown of savings week 5 college funding pay off the home mortgage worksheet: pro rata debts week 6 build wealth like crazy live like no one else (I am expecting people to put their name as a column header and then an X as each item is completed) I understand that different editions of the book may have the chapters in different orders so I have listed them without chapter number and in the order they are in my book... I am hoping that we can read the book and discuss it here and do the worksheets... we can cheer each other on and give advices as long as we all understand that we are not professionals and we don't give professional advice!! of course I am not expecting you to share your worksheets or your numbers or whatnot... this will be talking about the advice in the book and finding ways to work it in our lives (because honestly I don't care about how much you make/spend ) I will edit this post to list participants: alienjenn Heidi Elastigirl MaidofRus Bekah TheLovelyMissBeans