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After 8 months and gaining 10 pounds, I'm back and ready to start my journey to health over. A series of old injuries flaring up, carpal tunnel surgery, recovery, and over work has taken me out of the game, with bad results. I'm the heaviest I've been, but I'm also more determined then every to make it better. I already made a respawn post with more details (here), but I'm already starting to make progress into getting healthier again and hopefully this challenge will help. Onto my goals! Goal 1: Go to the gym 3 times a week (with weeks starting Monday). Even if I can only get a 20 minute work out in, it's better than nothing. I do have a couple super busy weeks during this challenge, but I should be able to make this happen. Goal 2: Eat at least one salad a week. This may not seem like much, but I've been eating a lot of meals on the road and have been getting very few veggies in my system. Obviously, this is an issue. One salad a week is a small, but hopefully helpful, way to start making that a habit again. I plan on eating many more than 6 salads over the course of this challenge, but I want to start with goals that I can definitely achieve. Goal 3: Eat a protein-based breakfast every day. I'm already pretty good at eating breakfast, but sometimes it's cereal or the dreaded McDonald's drive-through. In between eggs and protein shakes (both of which I enjoy), I should be able to make this happen. I just got two blender bottles so that on my super busy mornings, all I have to do is through it all in a bottle and go. Not a part of the challenge, but as part of my respawn is also doing 50 squats a day during the month of January and 1 minute of planking a day during February. So far I've been about 50/50 with this, but the only days I've missed have also been gym days, so I'm not beating myself up about it. There you go! I already accomplished all three of these goals today, so I'm off to a good start and hopefully will keep my momentum up.

Challenge 12 TIME 2 HOP 2 I feel pretty good about my performance last challenge. I am lookin' to add bodyweight exercises, mostly on a form check/practice level. I will get back to the gym regularly and keep up my running. To keep this momentum going, I need to be more flexible with my schedule and ensure that I'm taken care of as much as the pets I care for in my business. I am also looking to find new foods (mostly veggies) to add to my dwindling list of foods I eat. Without the sugar junk food, milk, white bread, and greasy fast food, I need to find foods I like and will actually cook/prepare and eat. For those of you who have followed me through the high brush and rocky crags of my challenges, you know this is my sensitive spot. But it has to be attempted… calculated… and learned from. That's all there is to it! HA!! Goals 1. Eating:: I tracked food last challenge and will continue that route, I like seeing it. This challenge will be finding and trying new foods that are lower in Sat Fat and Sodium than my usual go-to foods. Plus, I will again track, but not grade, all my attempts at cooking and my experiments with recipes in order to create a healthier menu to choose from. Food porn promised. +3 STA and +1 CON 15 veggies or more = A 12-14 = B 9-11 = C 6-8 = D <6 = F 2. Gym time:: get to the gym regularly to do weight workouts and long and interval runs on the treadmill. I will have to play around with times which was part of the difficulty last time. +2 DEX and +2 STR 18 or more times = A 15-17 = B 12-14= C 9-11 = D < 9 = F 3. BW exercises: do bodyweight exercises. Track exercises -on this thread- and how they are coming along regarding form, number, and sets. Form check vids likely. +3 STR and +1 DEX 12 times or more = A 9-11 = B 6-8 = C 3-5 = D <3 = F 4. Keeping a home:: I need to take complete ownership of my 'no longer new' place. I still need to find a place for everything, a living room set up that's comfy and inviting, a cleaning routine that is adhered to, and decorations to make it feel like my home, not a hotel. I will make a schedule (paste it here when it's done) and tweak it by the end of week two, and then keep to it for the rest of the challenge. Maybe even post before and after pics. +2 CHR and +1 WIS 21 or more days = A 17-20 = B 14-17 = C 7-13 = D < 7 F Okay, that's me. Gonna step on the gas and steer myself to open pastures and high mountains, free and happy! Good Luck to All.