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Last month's focus was on daily exercise w/ a goal of losing 5lbs. Results: Exercised daily from Jan 1 - Feb 4. Wt dropped from 191.6 to 182.8 (probably about 7lbs of true wt loss) An unintended result of starting the daily exercise habit was eating a daily salad. So I'm keeping focus on that as well. This challenge: Habits - I'm not ready to start any new habits. I want to further embed the ones I already have created. So this months keystone habit (KH) focus will simply be to keep the following: KH1) No M (That is a private one, and no, it's not meth) - 0 occurences since Nov 1, 2017 KH2) Daily exercise (Some form of exercise daily, cannot include home projects, Placeholder w/o acceptable as needed) - Kept since Jan 1, 2018. KH3) Salad minimum of 5 days/wk (I count wraps and BLT's as a salad since I pile on the romaine, spinach, and tomato) - Kept since Jan 1, 2018 Exercise - Cardio/core focus. I alternate each day w/ either strength training or cardio/core focus. Since I can't do each at high intensity and exercise every day, my main focus this month is cardio/core. I'll be doing less exercises on strength days. No goal relative to cardio/core. I routines of different intensitys for all my workouts and I'll be doing the higher intensity cardio/core w/o's. Goal 1 - Lose 5lbs. My "ideal" wt is 175-178. I feel my best around this wt and I find 5lbs of loss per month to be a reasonable expectation. Goal 2 - Complete 4 Solid Works training modules. This is job related. Each module is a little over 1hr long, but there is practice required between modules. Also, its not a goal or habit requirement, but I thought I'd maintain a "To Do" list just to keep myself motivated to get things done I keep putting off. To Do: 1) Log HSA expenditures for 2017 so I can write them off on this years taxes.

Duhigg's habit formation process has been working extremely well for me. So far, I have achieved: KH1: Exercise 7 days/wk. Never missed a day since 11/17/16 KH2: No M (Something private). Kept everyday since 12/28/16 KH3: No RR (road rage). Kept everyday since 02/07/17 Although the above habits were difficult and all required a lot of effort, they pale in difficulty next to my biggest demon, which is smoking. KH4 will be the keystone habit of NOS (no smoking). I quit smoking on Mar 7, 2017 and I will be using this challenge to keep my focus on ensuring that I do not start again. With smoking, its all or nothing, and smoking once is total failure. Keystone Habit Development KH4 - NOS: No Smoking Secondary Goals Although the Keystone Habit development process mandates working on only 1 major change at a time, I will be including some low effort secondary goals as part of my challenge. These are either past KH's that I just want to monitor as a way to continue embedding the habits in my mind, or shorter term projects that I have already been doing for some time. KH1 - Daily exercise KH2 - No M KH3 - No RR Salads 5/wk min (low effort, I already eat more than this, just want to make sure I don't slip off) Night time crap - No goal, just log result here regarding how many nights/wk I do not eat crap. Just doing this to get the subconscious working on this issue. VBA - Spend at least 5min 5days/wk learning VBA coding In order to avoid confusion, please note. For changing lifestyle habits, I strongly believe in working on only 1 major focus at a time. The secondary goals included above are designed to be very low effort. The first 3 are previous KH's that I have already worked on for between 1 month for the most recent to 4 months for the oldest. However, in order for a habit to become as automatic as brushing your teeth every morning, it can requires months of monitoring to ensure the habit becomes a fully embedded routine in the brain.

Well, I'm up to 177lbs and the new year is closing in. I lost my job due to restructuring a couple months ago so I cancelled my gym membership. Now I've got to get a home workout up and running. I installed a pullup bar, bought a mat and some dumbells, and now need to get an indoor routine put together. Usually takes me about a month to get in the groove so this challenge will be about getting my routine put together. For those familiar w/ my battle log, I'm a big believer in using Duhiggs method of habit formation. My first KH is to exercise 7 days/wk. My workouts will consist of 4 routines choosing whichever one I feel like: 1) Indoor freebody and dumbell training. 2) Walking or "old man parkour" (basically fast walking on a trail with a few very short jobs and some crazy stuff like walking on logs, swinging around trees, etc thrown in) 3) Any sports 4) Placeholder (10 freebody squats. Only purpose is to keep my mind programmed to accept exercise as a daily part of life). Success will be judged on the following: 1) Work out every day using the above (no letter grades, failure means less than every day) 2) Have a basic routine developed. I will be logging my diet, but I'm not making it part of my challenge.

So far this year, I have accomplished the following: Current KH's KH1- Exercise daily - Missed once twice since Dec 27, 2015 KH2 - Salad 6 days/wk - Missed three times since Dec 28, 2015 KH3 - Protein shake every morning - Never missed since Dec 28, 2015 KH4 - OE1 - Office efficiency 1 - Create daily to do list at work. Missed twice since Jan 22, 2016 KH5 - M-less - Never missed since Jan 31, 2016 KH6 - NOS - NO Smoking, Never missed since Mar 11, 2016 2016 achievements: 1) Counting the 3 KH's started in the last 3 days of 2015, I created 6 new habits, including NOS, in the last 4 months. 2) Increased bench press strength from about 2-3 reps at 135lb to 10 reps at 135lb (although need improvement on form). Also 145lb was my 1rm at start of year and have increased that to 175lb. 3) Got started w/ Dynasty training 2016 disappointments: 1) Weight is too high. Started year at 176, dropped to around 166, now currently around 174. 2) Pullups are not where I'd hoped. I can do 3-4 if I don't go all the way down, and the 4th is pretty sloppy. 3) NOS has created some bad side effects. May - a complicated month May is going to be rather complicated challenge/schedule wise. There is a 5 day vacation with family, prepping for daughter to move out , prepping for son to start college away in the fall , and a host of son and daughters HS and college graduating functions. Also, although I'm getting close to 2 months of NOS, it's still a struggle at times. I don't want to get overwhelmed and create an environment of so much stress that I give in to smoking. Disturbances in the force: NOS has created some issues in my life which desperately need resolved. 1) Web surfing too much at work to distract myself from thoughts of smoking. 2) Wt has gone from 165 around the start of NOS (Mar 11) to 175lb today. I've been eating more crap food, with an especially large amount at night. Nicotene is an appetite suppressant and I can really tell the difference in my food cravings w/o it. 3) I'm not getting many projects done at home. This is partially due to NOS as I've been watching more TV than usual, especially right after I get home when I take a nap and watch some TV. My challenge is on the next post.

Combat roll - a white water kayak term for successfully completing an Eskimo Roll under duress in a rapid (as opposed to flat water). I'm into white water kayaking which gets harder to do every year (I'm 55). My MO is generally to spend 4 months getting in shape (flexibility, drop wt to 164, general strength conditioning) in preparation for kayak season which starts around mid-April for me (when there is still ice on the banks). In the Jan challenge my wt dropped from 176 to under 173, then if Feb it went from 173 to 168. During those 2 challenges, I also increased my flexibility through stretching and general strength through wt lifting. Main quest for this challenge: Round out my kayak season prep w further wt loss, increased back strength, and improved cardio. Goal 1 - Big 3 - Same as Jan and Feb, no need to change what works. Protein shake for breakfast everyday, salad 6 days/wk, and exercise every day. I've yet to fail at these this year Exercise will consist of any one of the following: A) Wt lifting 3/wk + 14 stretching exercises - B ) Core + flexibility - 5min tread + 4 core exercises (lying crunch, seated ab machine, decline situps, machine twist, back bends) + 14 stretching exercises. Add 1 set of pullups which might only be 1 rep. C) Sport - type depends on season but I like variety (indoor wall climbing, kayaking, hiking, skiing) D) 10 freebody squat placeholder - a couple times a month life throws a curve that takes up all time so I use a placeholder which consists of just 10 freebody squats. It has no significant physical benefit but is just to remind my brain that exercise is now a daily habit. The salad will count as completed on the 1 day/wk I don't eat a salad as long as it is the only day I did not eat a salad. Goal 2 - Back strength focus during everyother wt lifting workout My lifting routine for Feb was: 5x5 cable pulldowns 5x5 bench 5x5 shoulder press 20 sitouts 1x10 plate lift/press/reverse curl 15 stretches. Kayaking (and pullups) require a lot of back work. So I'm changing my routine to: On strength w/o days, alternate the following 2 routines: Routine 1 - same as above. Routine 2: - starting Feb 28 Cable pulldowns 4x5x77.5, 1x5x120 Bench 1x5xbar&95, 3x5x120, 1x5x135 Seated low cable row 1x10x60, 1x10x75, 1x10x90 High machine row 1x10x90, 1x10x180, 1x5x180 Pullups 1x2 EZ curl bar 1x50 15 stretches Goal 3 - Wt loss I don't usually set wt loss goals, preferring to set the goal as diet changes. But I need to drop 4 lbs this month to reduce my stomach slightly more (stomach fat reduces the ability to roll well). So my goal is for my 3day average to drop 1lb/wk. Goal 4 - Cardio improvement - NOS NOS stands for NO Smoking. I intend to quit this month. The first 3 days is the most painful so I got a prescription for Wellbutrin and you take that for a couple weeks before quitting to diminish the side effects of quitting. So I have to quit at some point during the 3rd or 4th week. There, it is stated, and therefore it will be. I'm not into failure. Edit: Goal 5 - Add floor straddle progression to core w/o's Read this on starsaparts thread yesterday where there is a link showing how to do it. Awesome core exercise. Added this on 3/3. Edit Again: When I did this the second time, I noted some pain in lower back. The next day the pain was more intense. I've noticed this on stretches where you bend the spine and now make sure I don't over bend the spine. So I am dropping this goal from the list. Grading: I'm not into the "well at least I tried" mindset. I'll be grading each category weekly. If I missed any category on any day, the week was an F. If I kept every category, I got an A. Pretty simple.

Not sure I'm nerdy enough for a challenge cause I don't know how to add bars, keep points, and don't have a cool character to create, but I'll give it a shot. I'm into white water kayaking which gets harder to do every year (I'm 55). My MO is generally to spend 4 months getting in shape (flexibility, drop wt to 164, general strength conditioning) in preparation for kayak season which starts around mid-April for me (when there is still ice on the banks. Around end of October, kayak season ends and I let my wt increase from 164 to 176 (which is where I am now). I'm not sure how I'm going to balance logging in the challenge w/ my Battle Log. I like the battle log since it keeps a never ending history but I'll try adding stuff here for 1 challenge and see how it goes. Main Quest for this challenge: Create the foundation for getting back in shape by committing to some essential daily habits. This month is just about getting the habits formed as part of a foundation. My weight always takes care of itself when I get the habits in place. Goal 1 - Protein shake Protein shake for breakfast - This will replace the donut I've been eating every morning on the way to work. Started this Dec 28. Goal 2 - Salad Eat a salad 6 days/wk - Salads are a great way to replace some processed crap at dinner or lunch w/ something that's actually healthy and low in calories (romaine, spinach, tomatos, grapes, mandarin orange, cottage cheese). Started this Dec 28. Goal 3 - Exercise Exercise 7 days/wk. I did this for 5 months straight in 2015 (0 days missed) and felt great. Of course, not all w/o's are the same intensity. I'll use the same plan as 2015 which was to choose one of the following everyday: A) Intense wt lifting 3*/wk (my intensity) - basic wt lifting like bench, pulldowns, seated pulls, shoulder press, lift and press, etc Core + flexibility - 5min tread + 4 core exercises (lying crunch, seated ab machine, decline situps, machine twist, back bends) + 14 stretching exercises C) Sport - type depends on season but I like variety (indoor wall climbing, kayaking, hiking, skiing) D) 10 freebody squat placeholder - a couple times a month life throws a curve that takes up all time so I use a placeholder which consists of just 10 freebody squats. It has no significant physical benefit but is just to remind my brain that exercise is now a daily habit. Goal 4 - Life Stop reading CNN news when I get to work - OK, I've got the bad habit of checking out CNN news on the internet when I get to work for about 20min. This extends my time at work and the bulk of the info provided is the latest rant by some politician (I won't say any names but everything about him is the best and he is glad to tell everyone that daily). This habit needs to change. Goal 5 - Side Quest Skip smoking 1 day just to show myself that it is possible and my world won't collapse. Just 1 day. Quit later. Here is what I'm prepping for. This is my friend and I on the Wolf river in Wisconsin: