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Hi Everyone! Last challenge was about doing the minimum to try and sustain myself while Dave was overseas. I didn’t manage my goals but I came out of it intact and well, so I am calling it a win. This challenge Dave will be gone about three weeks, so I will need to embrace that again and look toward meal prep to keep away the peanut butter sandwiches and Supernatural to get (and keep) me moving. I have noticed that I am starting to slow down as the days shorten and the leaves drop here and I crave cozy burrowing rather than movement and the elongation of muscles. I have often been nicknamed “Bear” in my life and I feel that energy strongly in the fall: consume and get ready to rest. But hibernation is not the world I live in, so I must build the world and habits I want to winter in. Nourish: -Eat breakfast. Include some protein from dairy, nuts, seeds, eggs, or meat. Peanut butter does not count for breakfast. -Pack something to take to work. This doesn’t have to be a whole meal, but needs to be something other than simple carbs. I was doing well with my veggie boxes over the summer but now that the weather has gotten colder I want something warm. Time for soup? -Cook the GoodFood meals (3) each week without them going to waste. -Eat fridge leftovers so they don’t go to waste. -“Game snacks” only on Fridays. -Bake something from my new cookbook once a week. Den: -Set up my SAD lamp at my desk and have my first cup of coffee in my office in the morning with the lamp on. -Wear cloud socks while at home for cozy toes. -Keep the dishes done so the kitchen is more pleasant to be in. -Update the Oculus to Meta so I can play Supernatural. -Continue recycling the living room boxes to reclaim that space. -Exchange the box springs and get the old one to the dump. -Figure out the top-down camera for D&D combat now that I have the articulating arm. Move: -Play Supernatural for 15 minutes a day 3x a week. More often and longer is better, but the challenge is getting the headset on lately. -Wear my FitBit and aim for 30 minutes of movement a day by its calculations. This can be Supernatural, walking, yard work, vacuuming, etc. -More work on the house while Dave is gone: decluttering, tidying, nesting. -Fine Motor: Host Paint Nights on Wednesdays. I am hoping to take more pictures this challenge as well as I find that they really help me to stay motivated. Thank your for being here! I appreciate your support! ❤️ Sax for tax!

For those who are new or behind, my main goal is weight loss, for health reasons as well as I want to look good naked, and fit in clothes I used to. I love 5Ks and kettlebells, I'm struggling with this goal because it doesn't get easier when you get older. I work from home, (3 jobs) as an accountant, so making sure I have enough movement in my day as well as not eating "all the unhealthy things" is important. It's very easy to lose track of how much time I've been sitting trying to solve an issue. Not having "all the unhealthy things" in the house also helps. Checking in to hold myself accountable is key to this being successful, I don't want to have to post bad news here. I struggle to get enough sleep so that shall remain on the list until it's no longer a struggle. I've been a workaholic as long as I can remember, mostly because of past experience and not wanting to have to count on anyone for things I need. D (my wife for those new here) and I have had many conversations about this. She understands my feelings because she's the same way, but we also know the importance to our relationship for us to be able to depend and count on each other. This is a very long winded way of saying that we need to remember to step away from work and have some fun, riding our motorcycles are a huge part of this for us, and for right now our every 4 week trips to FL also count towards this. The Plan...making a few changes that I feel are needed Cardio - Treadmill 3x a week, and one kettlebell/strength workout a week - I'm going to start getting up at 5am and working out again, bonus this time is I don't have to drive to the gym Update - Post in thread three times a week. - self explanatory Track - Sleep (7 hours a night) and Food (Just track) - sleep is important, you would think going to bed at 9:30 that 7 hours would be easy! Tracking food is a pain, I dread entering it in MFP, so if I do I do, but I will continue to put it on my spreadsheet Extra - Rides, 5k's, events, and life events go here - because fun makes life worth living Done - 🌈 Not Done - ❄️ Upcoming Events 4/10 - Spring Sprint 5k Unfortunately skipped this one, D wasn't feeling it 5/21 - Terrain Race 6/5 - Atlanta Pride Run 6/12 - Summer Sizzler 5k 9/25 - Fall Finish 5k 12/10 - Mud Girl Run

I had a good run and still am feeling mentally and physically well. But there's things I want to build up better again: get back into running after 6 months of injury. have a 12 week running plan I want to follow. Its pretty daring to start in October when the wheather gets real shitty, but it would be nice for my mental and physical health as well as the dog-childs happiness. Have looked at lots of plans and will only run twice a week plus a third day with a short bodyweight program. my budget has been so small that I asked friends for help often. its slightly better now with my project friendship point income but still!! I want to learn to live within my budget even if that means I cant eat keto! Last month I spent 40Euro on vitamins alone and even if I felt awesome thats just not acceptable. Either I can dial down my keto costs or I have to try other forms of healthy eating after all. experiments are needed. This time I will try the 4 envelope strategy of putting my weekly money in 4 envelopes and only using the money that is in there. maybe I can set apart a "fun fund" of 50 euro to do spontaneous stuff. also my goal is to save 30 euros in October to build a emergency fund. prep food on weekends. I dont feel like cooking healthy meals every day. next possibility to prep is on Tuesday when I get paid. do sober October. I have had drinks again and am fine with that but would love to try a whole month sober. If thats too hard I will aim for maximal dry days. I started a great online meditation course and didnt have time to follow it really. ist a 21 day course Want to use the next 3 weeks to build in meditation and the audio listening into my morning routine. seems like a tall order for me to get this done. Its 3 weeks only and I can try out what sticks. There will be no self punishing! Only honest effort and self love! I missed you! ❤️

Last challenge got a little rough about halfway through, but I got a solid framework built to work on I think. Explanation on the proposal I submitted, TL;DR I asked for more help in the team at work So, that's staying exactly the same. SQ1 - Doing yoga before work (4/week) I'm going to try to get this more consistent this round, basically. I had about a 50% rate on this one last challenge, but on the days i've done it I have definitely noticed a difference. SQ2 - Food prep on days off (2/wk) Prepping a lunch to go with me to work for the following 2 days basically so that I don't have to worry about that the days I'm working, since the last thing I feel like doing after 10-12 hr shifts is typically prepping food for the next day. SQ3 - Getting cardio in VR/AR (2/wk) With the fact that Ohio is no longer a frozen waste land, I'm adding Zombies, Run! and Pokemon, Go! into the mix here. (Zombies, Run! is only walking right now, with chases turned off since my knees are in no mood for running more than a few yards yet) Just like last time, I'm counting week 0 (this week) for the challenge, so the totals will be out of 6 weeks.

Acute systems failure due to known glitches with the 202.0 program. Please reboot your system and apply the 202.1 patch. (More details on 202.0 crash here) So far, the 202.1 patch & update is working much better on my end - I'm halfway through a 30 days of yoga series (which is probably the longest I've continued a workout series in years), am back on a 4*10hr shift schedule which is making food prep much easier for me to handle, and I got myself a Fitbit which is a very bossy little helper that also helps keep me on track. So now that last month didn't (entirely) suck, time to hop back in here. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Main Quest: Reclaiming my health I'm moving from aiming for my time, which got entirely away from me last year due to gestures broadly, but that's mostly because I actually have gotten back to a 2 days on/one day off schedule, which should help. SQ1 - Doing yoga before work (4/week) I'm really lucky with my work in that if I go in a bit later than I want to get there, I don't get in trouble - only downside is that if I go in later, I work later to make sure I get in my hours. So last month, I decided that I didn't care if it made me "late" for work, I was working out before I went in with some yoga. Which I haven't done perfectly, due to some muscle soreness from not being used to doing things like downward dog, but on the days I have I've noticed a lot of improvements in my brain, and even on days when I haven't I'm noticing differences in things like my posture. SQ2 - Food prep on days off (2/wk) Prepping a lunch to go with me to work for the following 2 days basically so that I don't have to worry about that the days I'm working, since the last thing I feel like doing after 10-12 hr shifts is typically prepping food for the next day. SQ3 - Getting cardio in VR (2/wk) Because @Starpuck has created a monster, and also because right now Ohio is... awful. Legit, I am NOT going outside into -10 F or colder windchills right now. Plus the stuff on VR is a little easier on my joints than hitting pavement right now, eventually I want to play the rest of the way through Zombies, Run! - but that might wait until a) winter lets up a little bit, and b) I get a bit of weight off and feel a bit better in my knees especially. Which, right now I have P L EN T Y of options on VR between Beat Saber, Swordsman, BoxVR and Vader: Immortal dojo playing -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hopefully this will give me a decent launching off point to start getting healthy again; I'm sitting at about 250 lbs right now and my joints and breathing H A T E me right now. Btw, for anyone who feels like it - I made an Insta for food & workout accountability, since it's easier for me to update on mobile than here is (Tapatalk does not like my phone... no idea why, but it won't let me do things) https://www.instagram.com/p/CLCxj7PpgHe/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link I'll be starting with this as Week 0, and damn it's good to be back.

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

Hi Nurds. Since we have an all-guild mashup, I'm going to go ahead a re-re-introduce myself. I'm Chris Tarly. Up until the beginning of last challenge, I was known as Curl Brogo (among other names, check my sig). I joined NF 6 friggin years ago as an overweight grad student. Over those six years there have been many trials and tribulations over weight loss, becoming a massive beefcake, then anxiety and depression, and getting through days with jobs I hate and family members who annoy me (I did the move back home thing a few years ago, it was not fun). I've spent a lot of my time with the warriors, but now I challenge mostly with the adventurers. Now I work as a machinist and I'm writing a Fantasy novel, while trying to not turn into some kind of obese potato shaped slug. Onto the challenge. Here's the big deal... I'm switching to night shift! On day shift, which is scheduled (loosely) for 5 am to 5 pm, I tried to get extra hours by going in early, then burning out because I'm not a morning person at all. And right now I need 45 hours just to make ends meet. I'd prefer to be getting 50+ so I can have a savings again. Now I'll be scheduled to come in at 3pm. I have to get 10 hours normally, but I'll have Fri, Sat, Sun evening off unless I want overtime on Friday. I'm optimistic. I used my long weekend to push my sleep schedule back. I like it. I might never again need an alarm clock. But this is a time to build awesome new habits. Goal 1: Exercise 3 days a week -- kettlebell and barbell complexes Weather permitting: go on coffee walks around the neighborhood. 1 pt. per workout +1/2 bonus point for coffee walking 15 total points. Goal 2: Stick to macros 2376 calories, 201 g Protein, 60 g Fat, 258 g Carbs Always bring a lunch (dinner haha) to work. 1 point days on target (within error of +/- 200 calories, 20g for Pro/CHO, 10g for Fat) 1 point for bringing dinner to work. 33-36 total points. (depends on how many days I actually work) Goal 3: Keep Writing I stepped up and tried NaNoWriMo this year. I kept at it but didn't make it to 50,000 words. But I started a fantasy novel that I'm keen to see through to the end at my own pace. I don't see myself getting to the end of this book until I hit nearly 150,000. Add 300 words minimum to word count everyday... no matter what* Add 6300 words minimum to pass (2100 / week) Add 12600 words -- awesome! (casual congratulatory) Add 18900 words -- excellence! Reach double the current word count [78,194] -- awesome! (formal literary) Word Count: 39,097 excludes plagues, family emergencies, and apocalyptic phenomena I feel like I should have one more goal, but I think that's because I usually have a sleep goal, and now I don't need one. Ha ha!

This is the last challenge before the challenge that includes the kettlebell sport world championship.. and it's a busy challenge in it's own right, I've got our own annual competition coming up (april 6th) a training camp hosted by yours truly right after and a terribly timed weekend away with family before all that. What's kettlebell sport you ask? Well.. doing this (first jerk, then snatch) for 10 minutes, for as many reps as possible without putting the bell down. Or switching hands more than once on snatch. What needs to happen is making sure my head doesn't explode from all the organisational stress, making sure that it's all actually sorted on time because I'll be going away AND I can't afford the all nighters anymore since having a child. I also of course have to put in the training hours, get some sleep to recover AND it would be really nice to get down to my competition weight this challenge so I won't have to worry about it in the last couple training weeks... UGH. Here is the plan; 1. Eat around 2000kcal a day using a rough guesstimated head count (I'm good at that, comes with the dietician job) actually meal plan and meal prep! I need to go from 78/79 kg to under 75 kg 2. Start preparing for bed before 23:00 no phone in bed, last challenge proved that this helps do some laundry before bed as part of the prep 3. Training Keep up the volume but keep a lot of freedom (this is necessary for me to actually do it) snatch 3x a week, jerk 2x, squat 2x, deadlift once, extra cardio 2x, GMB P1 2x Keep a running lunges and 'anything pull' counter Side project; Read up on diastasis recti and pelvic health (to improve my knowledge as a trainer and possibly maybe hopefully stop the peeing 6x every training session)

Well, last challenge had one win, several losses. I'm pretty okay with that. This cycle: maintain, 3 workouts a week. Bonus - add an extra. I'm reaching the misery equilibrium where being sore is normal. I'm starting to recover well enough to push harder or add another workout. Tai Chi - time to go introduce myself. It seems like the norm is to find people face to face - phone calls and texts are not going to work. Oh well, adventure time! Goal is to make first contact and start classes! Food prep - once more unto the breach dear Nerds! Eat more meals I cook than I don't - simple challenge, but oddly difficult. Life - I have a major life choice coming up with no clear right answers., I'm basically at the stage in my career where I have a lot of "chose your own adventure" options. I have one, maybe two assignments left until I retire and start another career. I think I'll keep following my own star, but I don't even know which options are open right now. By most standards, I've been successful but I'll always feel that one more thing, just out of reach, needs to be done. This is the last or second to the last roll of the dice and I want to make it a good one. More to follow. - Murphy's Roommate

So, I skipped last month because I was starting to burn out on tracking ALL THE THINGS. So I tracked mostly none of the things (kept up with weight lifting tracking tho), and now I'm a little more refreshed after vacation (and a little over sugared tbh, 'cause birfday). And now I want to solidify some progress! Fun stuff this month: - I'm doing Aerial Silks for the first time on the 22nd! I'M SO EXCITED - PixelPop festival is at the end of the challenge. I don't have a booth this time, I'm going to go JUST to go! Fitness So, when I started at the Academy I was kinda miffed that rangering was "running AND lifting!" And I was all "Meh. I don't run." I later understood rangering is actually ALL THE THINGS, and also ...I started running Schedule: Sunday: PT Weight lifting Monday: Run Tuesday: Weight lifting Wednesday: Run Thursday: Weight lifting Friday: Run Saturday: Rest (or something) Goal for weight lifting: I'm aiming for intermediate levels according to this. Right now I'm at 210lb on deadlift, 170lb on squat, and 85lb on bench. So bench needs to come up to get an intermediate level. I want to get to competition levels, but I don't know if I'll actually compete or not. S: Increase bench M: To at least 100lb A: Yup R: To get into intermediate level T: In the next month We've been watching a lot of One Peice lately, Zoro is my fav Goal for running: We're planning to do a 5K in late September, and need to start ramping up our training! I'm basing my speed off my husband and he's not doing super great (his endurance started super low though), so I want to be encouraging but I don't want him to get frustrated. S: Increase run time M: Sustain two 10 minute runs A: Maybe? R: To prepare for the 5K at end of September T: In the next month Fun fact: I'm Haku. Food We're in a bit of a budget slump, so more eating at home is better. I'm learning how to bring lunches to work! That makes me an adult, right? I've also stopped tracking my calories and trying to learn more mindful eating. It's a little scary, but I have some good habits in place (no more than 10g sugar per hour, protein primary, carb secondary, fats on gyms days, yaddiyadda). So seeing how that goes. The plan: Lunch: Bring food to work 4x per week Dinner: Have dinner at home 3x per week (I haven't been tracking this so much yet) S: Increase food prep M: As above A: Yup R: To better my food intake and budget T: In the next month Current cooking skill: Probably won't burn down the house Looooife I'm taking Japanese, but we're on break! So I need to practice, because we're increasing in difficulty after summer break (read: kanji!). I'm also helping out with multiple events at the Japanese Festival labor day weekend, and desperately need to practice Rakugo! The plan: Practice at least 2x per week (at least once Rakugo and seiza, at least once terminology and kana) S: Practice Japanese - rakugo, seiza, words, kana M: At least 2x per week A: Yup R: To have a solid foundation of my Rakugo story, feel comfortable in my kana and words, and seiza for 20 minutes (or die trying) T: In the next month Rakugo! Bonus gift for seiza:

This challenge is going to be a bit of a regrouping challenge. I spent last challenge with the druids - developing good sleep habits and learning some yoga by doing 30-60min of yoga videos every day. It went really well, and so now I feel like I can stop focusing on sleep for a while (finally!) and I will wind back the yoga so I'm doing a more sustainable amount (short sessions 5x a week). It is surprising how much extra flexibility I have already! I also know my strong points and weak points now. So my yoga for this challenge will be targeted - my shoulders are really bad it turns out (previous job + powerlifting would have caused this), so I will focus on those muscles and do some rolling with a cricket ball too. Quests for this challenge: Complete all planned fitness activities Improve food prep skills *Bonus for fun* Work on epic quest / lifestyle design Quick overview, I will flesh out the details a bit more for each quest in my next post ps. I am a bit of a lurker on other people's challenges - if you are working on something similar let me know, I will come have a look

earth: build something Shit is going down, but I am not. I have just started a new chapter of my life and even though I’ve been hit with a bit of an emotional sledgehammer, it’s a stumble, not a fall, and as long as I keep moving I will get through it. So I devised a plan that would keep me moving, and from that plan I cobbled together a challenge. Admittedly most of what I’m doing will be tracked using my battlelog, but there were a few things that I picked out as especially important that I achieve ASAP for one reason or another, and that’s where the challenge has come from. One: Snack Prep This is for work, mainly. For the moment, the variation of this challenge at least, I don’t have a shift over seven hours, which means I don’t have a break over fifteen minutes, which means I cannot follow my original plan of having lunch/dinner during work hours if needed. I can’t eat fast enough for that! But neither do I want to be going out onto the shop floor and making impulse buys, no matter how healthy they may be. So the solution is to prep something that can be quickly and easily consumed and is not a pile of crap, basically. And maybe not just a piece of fruit either, because I want to be more creative than that. Success will be defined as a snack for every shift. Two: Zombies, Run! I mean, it’s not that long until the Spartan Sprint, and like the name implies, there will be some running required. It does mean I do need to be able to run a little. So, twice a week, I will do just that. Why only twice instead of three times like the app recommends? Illness, basically. Thank you stress for letting that one in… Should I regain full function of my respiratory system, I may considering upping the running days. Success will be defined as two running days per week, eight total. Three: Meditation I need to get control over my mindset, now more than ever. Meditation is one of the things that I have found that genuinely helps, so I need to utilise it far more than I have been. Every day, in fact. Success will be defined as at least ten minutes of meditation daily. Four: Days Out Things seem to be working a little differently with shifts at the new store. Instead of five sets of five hours to make up twenty five hours, I’m getting four sets of six or seven hours until they adjust the rota (there was a little confusion as to what my base contract hours were). This means three days off per week. That’s three opportunities to do something. I have no idea what at this point. I’ll make my plans at the beginning of each week. Success will be defined as three sets of plans made each week, followed by adhering as closely to those plans as circumstance will allow. Five: Green Fingers Not only do I have my small collection of cacti and succulents, but I have developed a very tiny herb and veg garden. I want to keep these plants alive, and I would love it if I could persuade my chilli plants to produce edible chillies within the next couple of months. I am, however, out of practice. Success will be defined as following a daily maintenance schedule (also, making said schedule). Overall These are not SMART goals. These are ‘do something I can cope with’ goals. But I’m still going to throw in some rewards should I pull off a successful challenge. Three goals aced? I get to make an addition to my herb garden. Four goals aced? I get to make an addition to my herb garden and my veg garden. Five goals aced? The above, plus something. I don’t know what that something will be yet. Let’s see what happens.

I have ALWAYS, ALWAYS, wanted to be Batgirl. Not just any Batgirl, but 1960's Barbara Gordon librarian-by-day and badass-by-night Batgirl. I used to watch re-runs of the old Batman show when I was little and found a hero in Batgirl. I would ride my bike around the neighborhood pretending it was a batcycle and I was catching bad guys. So, I'm calling upon this dream to be my motivation for the challenge. _____________________________________________________________ Goal # 1: Get a part-time job as a Library Assistant. I have an interview this week for a library assistant job and an application out for a similar position. If I don't get either of these jobs I will continue to track openings and apply for any that fit my schedule and skills. In the meantime... I'm getting ready to start a new freelance business as a writer and transcriptionist. I have a little work lined up and am just waiting for the library interview before I move forward. Either way, I will be adding 15-20 hours of work per week to my challenge. A+ = 20 hours a week of work including time spent applying for work/freelance opportunities Goal # 2: Boff! Thwack! I've come up with a schedule that will allow me to fit in 4 workouts a week. I'm going to use Startbodyweight.com for most of my workouts; adding in kettlebell deadlifts with each strength session. I can always sub-in 100 KB swings and 3 sets of TGU's if I want to. 3 strength workouts & 1 anything goes exercise option Goal # 3: Rock the unitard! Batgirl's outfit leaves little to the imagination. If I'm going to rock the unitard I have to eat and drink like a crime fighter. So, I'm going to follow Primal/Banting with a focus on no sugar and no grains. 6 days a week: No grains and No sugar 7 days a week: 4 cups of Not Coffee 1 Food Prep day a week

On the agenda for this challenge: Dog sitting three lovely dogs from Feb. 19 - March 9 Continue preparing for my return to England for a PhD Hopefully get my passport and visa back so I can schedule my flight Goal 1: Sleep hygiene Screen curfew at 8 pm (7:30 pm if I still need to shower before bed) all the nights. Meditate for 10+ minutes before bed 6x/week. Exception: *After* I get ready for bed, I can Skype my boyfriend for a total of three hours past my curfew, summed over the week. Watching a show/movie with him during this time is allowed, but other internet browsing is not unless it's something that needs to be done for my return (e.g., paperwork for our flat). Each curfew infringement past 15 min --> I have to subtract one hour from that extra time with my boyfriend. Goal 2: Food prep Prep my food for each day the day before at least 6x/week. Bonus: prep for 2-3 days at once so I only have to meal prep 2-3 times/week. For me this means 1. Portion out my meat (and cook more meat if I need to). 2. Weigh and microwave sweet potatoes. 3. Cook free-choice veggies. 4. Optional: portion out some coconut oil. 5. Bonus: add food to MFP once it's portioned out. Goal 3: Mobility Mobility? What's that? Recently I haven't been doing any mobility outside of my gym sessions, which is suboptimal. Spend a total of 1.5 hrs/week on mobility (yoga, stretching, foam rolling, lax ball work, etc…) outside of gym sessions. I'm allowed to multi-task when working on mobility (what do you mean it's weird to foam roll while Skyping?) LUYL Goal Work 15+ hrs/week. Work = finishing school paperwork, reading the literature in my field, working online courses, learning maths, organizing my research-related papers and notes, conversations with my supervisor, etc. Ideally I'll work up to 20 hrs/work, but I'm not going to stress about hitting that number since I'll also have the dog care as a job (+ house sitting for my mom who is also on holiday until March 1). It's been a while since I've completely aced a challenge, so it's past time to break my streak of mediocrity. Towards this end, I also have an unofficial goal to post my workouts and regular updates this time around! And maybe one day I'll be properly active on the forums again...

Last challenge, I got ready to perform in Edinburgh's Samhuinn Fire Festival. It's currently... 7 and a bit days to go till the performance date, so this post is mostly me fantasising about having things to do that aren't costuming and rehearsing. More detail will follow when the challenge actually starts (which will be the 2nd of November for me). Goal 1: Lifting. The Edinburgh Nerd-Up in October was fantastic, and at the lifting session I hit a new deadlift best of 70kg. I've not touched a barbell since because I'm terrified of wrenching my back before the festival, but in November I'll be free as a bird to completely screw my spine over. Not that I plan to. But I'll be able to lift without fear. So, the usual: Lifting 3 x per week. Goal 2: Eat right - 1600kcal/day - 5 freggies - 2 litres water - Do food prep once a week Life Goal 1: Prep the Barr Cave Everything is chaos in my flat right now. I'm moving house next summer and it's time to gut the place. - Sell, donate or chuck everything I don't need or really want. (KonMari that mess.) - Get everyone who has stored their stuff at mine to take it back Life Goal 2: Set up two Etsy shops I have lots of items I've made or painted that I'd like to sell. I want one account to get rid of that stuff. Then, I want to start a small craft business. So, nice and restful, this challenge. Not daunting at all. No. Definitely not. I'm going to go back to costuming now. See you in November!

Oh dear! But I'm here. I just got back from a road trip vacation in British Columbia (which was a blast). I had thought about making my thread before I left, but was feeling super indecisive about my goals. Now though, I'm feeling so refreshed and re-energised after not worrying about anything for a whole week, and I'm ready to get back to it! Goal Number One: Don't eat like an asshole. It's not even fun anyway. This is really my biggest priority going forward, because I need to get this nonsense under control. Part 1: No eating out. Buying food at work / bailing on making supper and getting take out is expensive, never good for me, and always regretted. - Exception - I have to go out of town for a work thing during the last week of the challenge. Hopefully only for 3 days, but possibly longer. I will be super prepared and have awesome food for breakfast and lunch, but we'll be going out to eat as a group for dinner. I can still avoid eating like an asshole during this though. And at least the expensive part is negated, since I'll be reimbursed. Part 2: Cut out the wheat. I'm not actually gluten intolerant or anything, but eating bread etc is a slippery damn slope that leads to cravings, bingeing and just way too much carbs in general. I used to be awesome about really barely eating any and that's somehow turned into like a daily exception. I want to get way back to a Primal style diet, and this is the first step. 1 variance per week permitted. Part 3: Minimise alcohol. Not that I drink too much, per se, but more than I need to. And again, alcohol is expensive, and we're trying to get our finances back on track as well, so this is a good double whammy. I'll allow exceptions for social situations, (hanging out with the husband does not count as being social) and one freebie. Part 4: Meal prep! This supports parts 1 and 3 as well. A little difficult to grade, but I will say that as long as I do at least one protein and two vegetable batches per week, and post my meal plan for dinners on here, we'll count that as success. Since my diet goal is so expansive, I'll keep things simple elsewhere. Goal Number Two: Move it. Get 6 workouts done in the next three weeks. Kettlebells, yoga, whatever. Goal Number Three: Watch less TV. It's been getting mindless again lately. I have better things to do. No more than 4 hours per week, and at least two totally TV-free days per week. Alrighty, folks, so what we have here is a road map to eating like a goddess, giving my muscles the time of day, and getting more productive crap done. It gonna be a good three weeks.

Now.... Let's try this AGAIN!! Plus, last time that I checked, I'm a badass!! Maybe not like Spezzy or Steve, but I'm a badass none the less. Time to remind myself of that. So now, let's get back to what I know. I know what I like and what I like consists of being a hero and technology. So who better to model this next challenge than the most technical, most badass.... OK, more like most chaotic, most unstable yet more compassionate heroes out there: Iron Man!! How does one become more like Iron Man?? Let's take a look at the pieces that are Anthony Stark: Yeah, I Can Fly Alright, maybe not fly but the next best thing. I need to get these feet moving. So, we're going to try one, maybe two, approaches to accomplish this. Ramp up my walking goals. Normally I've had my step goal set for 8,500 daily and I really didn't care what I got on my days off. Now we're going to try this: 9k on working days, 6k on off days. Simple Pass/Fail. I've been wanting to do a 5K for the longest time, especially since joining up here. We'll see how the first week goes with the challenge and see if this gets added. Flight Stabilizers OK, I really couldn't come up with a better name for this one (I'll take suggestions though) but what I need to do is get my arms stronger, my upper body more primed for greatness. So, primary focus for this goal: Strength Training. Now, I'm more than likely not going to end up at the gym deadlifting massive amounts of weights but we'll do what we can here. I've got bodyweight stuff I can do (considering I have a considerable amount of bodyweight to work with ) along with working with my kettlebell, medicine ball, and might even consider getting some weighted gloves and some shadowboxing. Anything to get my arms working at least 3 times a week. Proof That Tony Stark Has a Heart Now, we know that I do indeed have a heart but it's more about fixing my core. Both literally and figuratively. Primarily, I'm going to take care of the core by making the core harder, stronger and more resilient to what life is throwing out there. So that's going to consist of two things: Most obvious one is to actually do core workouts. Crunches, flexibility moves, anything that can my abs, chest, and midsection engaged and better functioning (with hopefully the added benefit of less mass in the same areas). Again, 3 times a week is the focus for this. Besides working out, that core of mine needs to have better fuel in it. I've been experimenting a little bit with taking lunches to work, making my own food. What I need to do is keep working on the food. Better choices in while keeping the bad choices very far at bay. This is more of a subjective bonus goal, something I need to do for me. Jarvis, You There? This is one of my usual, standby goals but there is a damn good reason for it: I need my Rebels!!! And I need you guys BAD So, how am I going to get support... give it in return I'm here, every day. It might be only a like or two on some days but I need to give meaningful support and assistance on at least 5 days each week. I love this community and I have been absent for too long, worrying about just myself. I need you and you all probably could do with a little more me in your lives Now... Time to Get Moving!!! Because I Am Iron Man!!!

WHAT'S UP REBELS!!! Last month's challenge ended in a complete flop... but that's okay. I knew I had set the bar higher than would be advised, and I tried my best. I failed, but I learned from it. Let's do this again guys, and this time we're going to fly through it like falcons or something cool like that. Rad. THIS TIME AROUND I'm going to focus more on getting into focus, which to me means less worrying about exercise and more getting my brain into check. Of course, I'll still be hitting the gym and whatnot, but my challenge will be focusing on focusing. I'm thinking probably yoga/meditation as the main points. So let's get to it! - READY PLAYER ONE - My Main Quest: Lose to 175 lbs: I considered making yoga my main, but decided to keep this one instead of yoga. This is the same main quest as last month. I'm keeping it as my main quest for two reasons: 1) so I can do the dang thing and 2) because even though I'm teaching myself new things during each quest, my underlying goal is still to lose weight. My birthday is still a while off, but if I don't buckle down I won't reach my goal weight by then! So I'm keeping my main goal as weight loss. COMPLETION = 25 EXP!DAILY Training: Yoga! Either from my DDP Yoga dvd's or from a youtube clip, I want to do yoga at least twice a week. I'll probably be going with slow, stretch-type yoga (as opposed to hot yoga). I wonder how many times I can type yoga before you guys start to get annoyed. Yoga. COMPLETION (8 DAYS) = 25 EXP! ; -3 EXP per day missed.Meditation! Same as yoga, I want to do at least two meditation sessions per week. Meditation takes too long to type out to see if I can annoy you by saying it a bunch of times over like I am with yoga. Yoga. COMPLETION (8 DAYS) = 25 EXP! ; -3 EXP per day missed.Skill School: Sunday Food Prep: I say 'food prep' because I'm not going to make all my meals that day, I'm just going to prep the ingredients, AT LEAST THREE CONTAINERS PER WEEK. Again this is a repeat task from last month (unlike yoga and meditation, which I didn't do last challenge). I've knocked the container count down by 1 per week, because I failed this last time. Hopefully I'll be able to manage it this time around! 12+ CONTAINERS = 20 EXP ; 7-11 CONTAINERS = 15 EXP ; 6- CONTAINERS = 10 EXPSide Quest: Dance Dance REBELLION! I miss dancing, so this challenge I want to make a point of learning new dances because putting it in here gives me an excuse to learn new dances! Yoga doesn't count as dancing, although some yoga is like dancing and yoga instructors are sometimes dancers. No experience points for this one, just happy points! If you have suggestions for dance tutorials post them in the thread!! I'm planning on just watching videos made by my old line dancing teacher, but I'm always open to new suggestions! Yoga.

I'm returning to doing challenges! I gave up after failing challenges and not focusing my goals properly. But I have just finished reading Steve's book and have the motivation to make a difference to my life again! So here we go. Goal: Get to the gym Reason: I haven't been to the gym much recently (thanks to illnesses, injuries and people dying). I need to reintroduce it as a habit in my life. I enjoy getting stronger and want to be able to do awesome things with my body. What: Go to the gym three times a week following the StrongLifts programme to get my lifts back to what I was achieving in 2014. Simple as that. How: Plan when I'm going to the gym into my week. Bonus points: additional physical activities (stop sniggering at the back) like yoga, walks, etc. Motivation: Being awesome and ready for anything life throws at me. Zombie apocalpyse? Survived. Need to save the galaxy? Sorted. Goal: Prepare lunches for work Reason: It is cheaper, healthier and less limited. I calculated how much I was spending buying lunch and tea on work days and it amounts to over £1000 a year. That doesn't include additional treats! Plus the amount of calories eaten and choice of food (as a veggie) just isn't worth it. What: as it says on the tin. The day before I start work I will prepare enough lunches for the week that are relatively low in calories and consisting of lots of veggies and protein. I will also spend time trying to find new recipes to keep the variety up. How: reminding myself of how much I'm spending on food and what it could be spent on. Motivation: Think how many awesome adventures £1000 a year could provide. Goal: Reduce time wasting Reason: I kill the time between getting home from work and going to bed, or my days off, by sitting on the sofawith my iPad and browsing Internet and social media. No matter how bored of it I am I keep doing it. It is easier than finding something to do. Even things I want to do. What: every night after work spend 30 mins with no internet usage. On non work days this will be two hours (broken up in to however it is needed) and does not includetime spent on other parts of my challenge i.e. Gym, food prep. Time should be spent either working on epic quest (e.g. Writing, learning, planning) or other things that need to be done (otherwise known as adulting) How: Every week I will write a to-do list for the week of things that need to be done and I will work on my epic quest list. Bonus: for every extra 30 mins per day Rewards: paying for CrossFit beginners classes if I consistently achieve my goals (it ticks off my goal of trying new fitness things and summoning courage of going into completely new social surroundings). If mostly achieved a new piece of workout gear.

Lightning Goes Commando! What the Whaaaaaat???? It's Boss Battle Time! There is a 3-headed Hydra waiting in the wings and Lightning needs to level up her battle Paradigms before taking on this final challenge of the year. The Hydra has a Seasonal Depression head, a Holiday Food head, and a Holiday Stress head. It's an ugly beast and must be prepared for and taken down! In order to beat the boss, she needs to build her Commando paradigm, Medic, and Synergist. Commando Paradigm is all about dealing damage so Lightning will be following GMB's Integral Strength program. She will follow the program/s suggested warm ups, workouts and active rest days for a total of 5x a week. She will also practice for battle by participating in at least 4 Assassin Minis. Integral Strength - +3 STR & +1 DEX Assassin Mini - +2 STA The Medic Paradigm keeps Lightning full of HP and free from status ailments. To level up this paradigm and prepare for the Holiday Food attack from the Hydra, Lightning will continue with her low carb Banting/Paleo diet, drink water, and prep her food. Food Prep 2 main dishes and 2 vegetable side every week - +1 CON & +1 WIS Keep carbs below 75 grams 6x a week with one free day - +1 CON & +1 STA Drink 16oz of water every day - +1 CON A good Synergist Paradigm protects Lightning from status ailments using magical elements. Too keep the nasty Hydra from unleashing its Seasonal Depression attack she will Meditate or use a sun lamp 5x a week and take her medication EVERY DAY. To keep the the Holiday Stress head from hitting her too hard she will read the book :Dealing with Difficult People or the book Dealing with People you Can't Stand. Seratonin Boost (meditate/sun lamp) 5x a week - +2 CHA Medication - +1 WIS Read - +1 CHA Now... LET's ROLL!!!!

Slow and Steady, for there is No Race. I remember using this saying a lot last year, to remind myself and others that the journey is the thing. There are in fact thousands of starting lines and finish lines in life. There was never meant to be just one of each. GOAL ONE -- GET OUTSIDE and MOVE IT, MOVE IT. Week Zero :: Walk in the Morning, at least 5,000 steps, each day. Week One :: Walk at least 9,000 steps daily THEN ADD listed activity each week with a 5,000 separate step count on hiking/running days Week Two :: Hike 2 times. Week Three :: Run/Hike 2 times. Week Four :: Run/Hike 3 times. Week Five :: Run 2 time and Hike 1 time. Week Six :: Run 3 times. Grading: A= 80% adherence, B= 70% adherence, C= 60% adherence, D= 50% adherence +3 DEX NOTE:: Run/Hikes have no minimum or maximum requirements - once I'm out doing it, I'll be golden. GOAL TWO -- LESS DEPENDENCE ON CANDY Week Zero :: No large packages of sugar foods like: packages of cookies, pint of ice cream, a whole cake (even if it's a tiny 7"er). Did alright, although I did consume 1 pint of ice cream, 2 packages of cookies, and a binge night. Week One :: Only 3 items per day. Week Two :: Only 2 items per day. Week Three :: Only 1 item per day. Week Four :: Only 4 items per week. Week Five :: Only 3 items per week. Week Six :: Only 2 items per week. Grading: A= 80% adherence, B= 70% adherence, C= 60% adherence, D= 50% adherence +3 CON GOAL THREE -- MEAL PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTING Write out meals (with three "easy backup meals" per week). Successfully adhere to the list as each week dictates. Grading: A= 80% adherence, B= 70% adherence, C= 60% adherence, D= 50% adherence +1 STR and +2 STA GOAL FOUR -- PLAY MY GUITARS Practice guitar everyday - acoustic/electric/both for a minimum of 45 minutes per day. focus on these areas. 1. Warm up each time. 2. Work on strumming techniques and time strumming (in order to play a whole song through without stopping). 3. Work on finger picking accuracy. 4. Work on Chord progressions accuracy. ***** Learn intro to Blue Guitar by The Moody Blues! I'm gonna tape it and play it here on the last day of the challenge! ****** holy shite, that just came out. Will somebody hold me to that, please? Grading: A= 80% adherence, B= 70% adherence, C= 60% adherence, D= 50% adherence +2 DEX and +1 STA GOAL FIVE -- HOME & BUSINESS FILING complete 2 - two hour blocks of each type of filing (business and home) EVERY WEEK (total of 8 hours of work per week) Grading: A= 80% adherence, B= 70% adherence, C= 60% adherence, D= 50% adherence +2 WIS and +1 CHR **** A FUN TIDBIT FOR YOUR ENJOYMENT**** Tonight, I have found another starting line. A very powerful one. I will create my memoirs, my stories, my journeys. It may take 5 years or 20 to get it all outside myself, but it will happen. I can write and do decent collage work, but I'm gonna have to learn to draw. As far as I can tell at this point, it will be a graphic novel set to a musical score and short animations.

I'm about to embark on full paleo next challenge. The plan to support my goal is to bulk prep on a Sunday as I find if I have something ready in the fridge I will eat that for breakfast, if not I end up with something rubbish from a cafe near work. I'm looking for ideas for recipes I can cook in bulk (5 or so meals), I'm not fussy about eating a dinner meal at breakfast or a breakfast meal at dinner etc. The main thing is to be able to cook in advance stuff that I can reheat easily in the microwave and that will keep for 5 days or so. Ideally simple to cook with not too many ingredients, all ideas gratefully received! P.S. Nuts are ok but not too many, stuff like fake granola that's full of nuts and faux sugar (honey etc.) are off the menu!

DON'T BE CALM! BE RELENTLESS! This will be my third challenge. I am really excited that I stuck the last two out. They went pretty well but I feel I could have done better on both. This challenge I am aiming for 100%. I am wondering over to the Rangers Guild for a bit of training this time around. Don't mind the Assassin in your midst, only here for training.... swear... Keeping up with the strength training and flexibility but also adding some endurance training. I have come from being severely obese to within 25lb of my goal weight when I let myself slide into bad habits, a nasty injury and gained back about 50lb. Last year was not pretty and I am bound and determined to get the weight back off and then some. So...... I signed up for a Spartan Race in June. My first ever.... And its a Super... I'm more than a little intimidated by this. BUT I have some time and have been getting amazing advise from Veteran Spartans and am eating up all the info they can give me. I feel I really needed this DEADLINE. This impending date looming over my head to get me to really buckle down and do it. I keep saying to myself “Yea I'll do that... but whats the rush I can start tomorrow.†Well I can't do that now. Not if I want to finish this race. And I don't just want to finish it I want to rock it. Even if it takes me 6 hours and I'm broken and bleeding by the end I want to do it all and feel I gave it my all and then some. I have 124 days and a few Challenges to get to where I want to be so today is the day to get started! MAIN GOAL: Recover lost upgrades (skills, strength, flexibility, endurance) to loose 15lb in this challenge! Battle 1: Prep My Food Weekly and Follow Through Daily! (WIS +4) I am rocking my workouts and really feel good about my progress there but my nutrition has been spotty at best. I am giving myself too much leeway and not planning ahead well. Battle plan: I will need to do regular planning weekly. Shopping, preparing and sticking to a regular regiment. I am going to try to tighten up on what I eat. Really stick to the same thing to get my brain to click into the fact that junk food is NOT going to help me reach my goals. Shopping and food prep on Sundays for all meals and snacks. And sticking to said plan for this challenge and beyond. I feel like I should have some ability to stray a few times but that always seems to set off a trigger to make it a full cheat day and I just cant afford that right now. Battle 2: Burpees........ (DEX +4) Spartan Races have tons of insane obstacles and if you can't complete one you have to do 30 burpees. Now me and burpees have a love/hate thing going... I know they are an incredible full body workout that is beneficial to add to any workout BUT I really HATE doing them! Going to have to suck it up if I want to finish this race. I know I won't be able to complete all the obstacles so I better be prepared to do a lot of burpees. Battle plan: Complete a 30 day Burpee challenge. I found a great progression for 30 days. At the end of the 30 days I think I will push farther for the remainder of the challenge. Adding a few more each day and see where I end up. My goal is to be able to do 150 by the end of the 30 days and 175 by the end of the challenge. Battle 3: Running/Jogging/Sprinting (STA +3) Running is another love/hate. I really hate knowing I have a run today but once I do it I feel amazing. I want to gain back the progress I had made and enjoying doing runs again. Battle plan: Finish the 5K challenge and start 10K Challenge. I will be finishing up the last 4 weeks of the C25K program and start the 10K. This will be every other day. MUST stick with it! Life Quest: Life Battle 1: Giving Back to NF Forums (CHA +4) I came to NF to meet like minded people that can help me reach my goals and I have met a ton! TY! BUT It is my turn to give back. I am posting on my challenges but rarely post on others and that hardly seems fair. Going to check in more often and try to keep up with the threads. Battle plan: Post at least 3 responses a day. I love to help others and love to share what I have learned with anyone who needs it. I will reach out more often to engage with others. Scoring: Scoring will be on the following grading system. I will be using the Daily Success app ( https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dancingdroid.dailysuccess&hl=en)on my phone to track daily progress. Battle 2 36 days of Burpee Challenge. 6 days a week for 6 weeks A= 36-29 days B= 28-22 days C= 21-15 days D= 14-8 days F = 7-0 days Battle 1 and Life Battle 42 days of following Daily Food Prep and Daily NF Posts A= 42-37 B= 36-29 C= 28-21 D= 20-11 F= 10-0 Battle 3 18 days of Running/Jogging/Sprints three days a week A= 18-15 B= 14-11 C= 10-7 D= 6-3 F= 2-0 I'm really excited! I just need to keep the run going and not burn myself out. I think this is a good battle plan to get where I want to be. Don't be calm! Be RELENTLESS!

That's right, the Conquer The Fort Mud Run is July 12 which happens to be the end of week 5 of this challenge. I've completed 4 obstacle races in the last 3 years and I have slowly been getting better at it. I rarely have issues with the obstacles but the running is the part that really slows me down, especially the 1st-ish kilometer until I get in my zone. I like trail running but have never made running a real priority. Now I can't just focus on running this challenge. I have to make sure I keep working on getting stronger in order to master any obstacle that is set in front of me. Also, in order to run and get stronger I have to eat properly to make sure I have the fire power to keep going. I also need to read books...because books are COOL! Soooo..........for this, my second challenge (1st with the Rangers) here are my goals. Goal 1. (STA:3 DEX:1) Increase my stamina. Run 3x per week It doesn't matter what kind of running as long as I get out there and do it! I am thinking hill sprints, a long trail run, and a 2-3km speed session (intervals?) of some kind. I am thinking Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday mornings. I was going to do evenings but it's "Sunny and 75" most evenings now and I don't want to run at all then....just barbecue. Goal 2. (STR:2) Get my barbell exercises under control. Lift 3x per week I have simplified my gym workouts over the past two weeks so I can focus on my bench press, deadlifts, OHPs, and Squats. I've been doing barbell workouts for about 2 months now and I've been doing most of them with improper form. I love weightlifting and want to get really good at it so I can lift really heavy things, so I need to really work on form. Goal 3. (CON:2 CHA:1) Eat groceries first 6/7 days per week. I go grocery shopping and do my food prep for the week every Sunday. I need to work on not buying latte's and junk food snacks. I need to work on saying "no" to going out for lunch or finding the newest food truck (that does all things barbecued). I am going to write down everything I eat in my journal everyday. I am not worrying about calories or weights, I just want to be a little more conscious of what I am eating. Ok so re-writing this goal....sort of...it just feels to broad or open ended or something for me. I am going to grocery shop 1 day each week (Saturday or Sunday) and I won't buy ANY food/snacks for the remainder of the week, allowing, for example, pizza Saturdays or wine and cheese Fridays. Does that make sense? Only 1 big grocery purchase per week and 1 extra food purchase per weekend. 6 days must be "extra food purchase" free. Goal 4. (WIS:1) Finish Total Recall and get started on The 4-Hour Work Week. Read 3 hours per week. I got these books for Christmas, along with others that I need to finish reading before I move to New Zealand. I've started reading Total Recall and am enjoying it. I need to read first and play games later. I am excited to work through this challenge with you all! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- So I am going to use the space below to keep track of my goals and post weekly updates and things. Week 1 Completed Goal 1 Running: 2/3 Goal 2 Weight Training: 3/3 Goal 3 No buying extra food: 5/6 Goal 4 Reading: 3/3 WEEK 1 UPDATE! Week one went really well, learned, changed, and realized many things. Goal 1 Running: I got 2 out of 3 runs in. It was a full week and I did some form of intense activity Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday morning. I needed Thursday to rest from my three days in a row and I needed Sunday to recoup from my long run. In order to get my three runs in I am going to do one in the evening once a week. I will aim for Wednesday night so that I still have 2 full rest days per week. Goal 2 Weight Training: 3 out of 3 easy peasy because it's my favorite thing! Week 2 will see me adding some more weight to each exercise. Goal 3 No buying extra food: 5 out of 6. Since I have one day I am "allowed off" that would have been Friday. I lost a day because I bought Subway for lunch on the trip home this weekend. I forgot the watermelon in my fridge and was super hungry. This week I don't plan on buying any foods during the work week, I may plan to do something for Saturday or Sunday but as of right now I am NOT planning to. I think I get more upset with myself when I have "unplanned" food purchases. If I plan to buy lunch one day I am ok with it, but if I plan to NOT buy lunch then end up doing just that I feel like I fail. So I need to plan a little more in order to be prepared! Goal 4 Reading: 3 out of 3. Got all my reading hours in and am really enjoying the book so far. It will be easy to get another three hours in this week. At the end of week 1 and the beginning of week 2 I am feeling good about my goals and progress. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Week 2 Completed Goal 1 Running: 3/3 Goal 2 Weight Training: 3/3 Goal 3 No buying extra food: 4/6 Goal 4 Reading: 3.05/3 WEEK 2 UPDATE! So week to went really well in most areas, except my food. I got all three runs, and gym sessions in as well as my "required" reading. I am most happy with getting all my runs in because this is the fitness area I need to work on most. Food, it's such a pain in the ass! Well my lack of willpower is anyways and it's really not even that. After work lunch on Friday, I got pizza on Saturday and drank some beers with a friend from out of town and my cousin. So -2 for goal #3. I am going to really work on goal 3 during week 3 because I want to build better habits! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Week 3 Completed Goal 1 Running: 3/3 Goal 2 Weight Training: 3/3 Goal 3 No buying extra food: 5/6 Goal 4 Reading: 1.5/3 So week 3 was fairly successful. I docked myself a day for goal #3 because even though I was still eating homemade foods, I didn't buy or make them. and there was still pancakes and a few other non-healthy things. I am not upset about it, I enjoyed the food and had a good weekend but it didn't correspond with my goal so I am docking myself points. Reading....I just didn't make it a priority. I had my book with me all weekend but I made visiting and socializing a priority over reading. I would have liked to get more reading time in but I am not going to stress about it. Overall I am really happy I got all my runs in, that was a major achievement for me. Weight training is always a given, as long as I have access to a gym I will lift weights. I really have to work on my healthy eating and my reading over the next couple weeks. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Week 4 Completed Goal 1 Running: 2/3 Goal 2 Weight Training: 2/3 Goal 3 No buying extra food: 2/6 Goal 4 Reading: 0/3 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Week 5 Completed Goal 1 Running: 3/3 Goal 2 Weight Training: 3/3 Goal 3 No buying extra food: 2/6 Goal 4 Reading: 0/3 Wow week 5 was almost as bad as week 4. My food sucked for most of the week....because I was lazy. I did get my runs in and my weight training sessions. No reading though.....because I was lazy again! I did have some epic wins regarding other things I did like my mud run! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Week 6 Complete Goal 1 Running: 2/3 Goal 2 Weight Training: 3/3 Goal 3 No buying extra food: 4/6 Goal 4 Reading: 1.5/3 It's done and over. Week 6 was tough, I was lazy, procrastinated, and allowed things like my birthday to lead me off track. Yes I know it was my birthday and blah, blah, blah, what ever. I didn't need the ice cream and doughnuts. Just ice cream would have been fine. It's a work in progress. Running was good. I missed my #3 run because I took Monday and Tuesday because I was lazy and made excuses. And I didn't read because of the same reasons. I've just had a lazy excuse filled week. Although I did have some great moments at the end with all the burpees and pull ups and running and stuff. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Challenge 1 Completed Goal 1 Running: 15/18 (83%) (STA:3 DEX:1) (STA:2.5 DEX:1) Goal 2 Weight Training: 14/18 (78%) (STR:2) (STR:1.5) Goal 3 No buying extra food: 22/36 (61%) (CON:2 CHA:1) (CON:1) Goal 4 Reading: 9.5/18 (53%) (WIS:1) (WIS:0.5) Ranger Mini Challenge: (STR:1) So it's done and over. This challenge wasn't too bad, but it didn't end up how I wanted it to. The same thing happened this challenge as last challenge, the first three weeks were great then I lost my mojo and started not caring as much as I should. I want to be hard on myself and to complain to the world about what went wrong and why. But it doesn't really matter now. The root of the problem is that I am lazy and don't have a lot of willpower. The solution? Just keep trying. You learn little things as you go, and even though I don't really have my "where and why" yet I want to (and will) get there eventually because......just because.

Trying to make sure I eat healthy while I work. Since I'm low on time, I spent this weekend making a large batch of the following: spaghetti squash (baked) sweet potato (baked) collared greens (wilted on the stove top with onions, garlic, evoo) pork chops (pan fried with onions and garlic) put a bit of each into a tupperware, and that's what I'm eating for the foreseeable future breakfast is the same thing every day- yogurt, grapefruit, spinach it was delicious tonight. I enjoyed it, and I feel great. my concern is that having it for lunch tomorrow, and then dinner will drive me crazy by wednesday afternoon thoughts?