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This is not fun. This is not ending the year in a blaze of glory. This is the hard work that needs to be put in, and long overdue hard work at that. There are no more excuses to hide behind. This challenge will run from week one right through until the next zero week begins, however long that may be. Burpees EVERY Morning What better way to get the heart pumping and the blood flowing every cold, cold winter morning? Going to be working it a little differently until I get a good gauge of how certain bodyparts react to it. Zero week I’ll be starting with five and adding one per day, then come week one I’ll be starting with six and adding one per day. Week two, starting with seven adding one, and so on. Grind, Grind Away The hard work part. Every week must see two bodyweight workouts, two runs, and yoga on at least three occasions. No excuses. Broccoli and Other Stuff Not that I need any encouragement to eat broccoli, the stuff is amazing. No, what I need is some structure to my diet and to filter out the crap that keeps slowly creeping in. I have taken steps to ensure I will have good ingredients available to me, and I will create a meal plan that stretches maybe three or four days in advance for two meals per day. The third, or any other meal, can be a more relaxed affair. Dairy is to be avoided. If I want cheese, it has to be the lactose free kind. If I want pizza, well, gotta make that myself. If I want chocolate… ...that’s allowed. Twice per week only. I do have a more detailed plan for this handwritten in my challenge notebook (I missed having one of these and so resurrected my formerly forgotten practice of doing so), so I’ve got the rules I need to stick to, what constitutes ‘relaxed’ meals, and so on. Fifteen Minute Method I seem to recall this working out for me before, so I’ll do it again. Fifteen minutes every day spent doing some domestic rangering. Week Zero This is a prep week, and as of writing this I’ve done not too badly in following my prep list. I’m pulling together some decent food options to ensure I stay on track with my dietary goals, the flat is almost in a habitable state, and I’ve rearranged my gym set up to reflect the types of workouts I will be focusing on for the next few months. It is important that I keep on track with the prep so that I can start out strong. And to finish... Tracking is important here, not just to keep myself accountable, but for the simple fact that if I don’t write down what I do and how I’ve done it, I’m going to forget. And I can’t build on blurry memories. I’ve set up a couple of notebooks for offline tracking, and every day I will condense and make coherent those notes for an update here. I will also endeavour to be more social on here as that’s something I struggled with last time. Weekly success will be judged as it comes, and finishing with a 75% overall success rate will earn a new piece of running kit.

Hi all, my first post here and my first challenge. As it happens, the Wing Chun school near me is taking on beginners on Mon 9th January, coincides pretty nicely with the start of this challenge, huzzah for convenience! Anywho, this challenge is more about trying things than committing to things, with that in mind it's broken down into 4 parts: Wing Chun 3 levels to this: 1. Call and say i'll be attending the class. Completed (03/01/17) <- I'm English, so that's 3rd of January 2. Actually Attend the Class 3. Attend all beginner's classes over the 4 week challenge. Activity This is primarily the trial and error portion of the challenge. The Wing Chun School only allows beginners to train 1 night a week for the first 6(?) weeks, after that you can train when you like. So, it seems to me i'm going to need some supplementary activity, I have 3 Workout types in mind: yoga, bodyweight and free weights. I'll be trying each of them out to see which I like best, each will be done for 1 week ( 3 workouts). 1. Perform 3 workouts in Bodyweight Training 2. Perform 3 workouts in Free Weight Training 3. Perform 3 workouts in Yoga. Ranked in the order of likelihood i'll actually do them Diet I actually really rather enjoy healthy foods, i LOVE veggies, fresh fruit, meat and fish so my poor choices, diet-wise, tend to come from being too lazy to cook when I get home from work. In this challenge, i'll be attempting to eliminate that problem by preparing meals in advance ^^ 0. prepare 1 week's worth of meals Completed (02/01/17) 1. Prepare 2 week's worth of meals 2. Prepare 3 week's worth of meals 3. Prepare 4 week's worth of meals Will likely be done on Sundays due to having more time and the looming threat of Mondays spurring me into some form of action or another. Other Stuff i've been meaning to do but haven't gotten around to, stuff will probably be added as I think of it. 1. Find a consistent conversation partner I have a number of partners i message on a regular basis, but i'm looking to find someone I can actually speak to in Japanese once a week or so. I have a Japanese friend I'll be Skype calling this weekend, must broach the subject of making it a more regular thing Hoping to stop lurking around the Monk forums and actually post stuff, the antithesis of my usual forum activity but hell, maybe that'll be another new thing I do

I’m starting to look at fitness from a Warcraft perspective. Ultimately, the goal is raid progression (for me, anyway). You want to beat the newest content and be ready for the next patch. In order to be successful, you need to understand the mechanics behind your class – and how to utilize those mechanics. This is me – er, well the WoW version of me. Phedre. Baller Frost Mage who achievement hunts like there’s no tomorrow. If I weren’t a progression raider, I’d probably be in a guild that solely focuses on achievements (and yes – that is really my guild name. Pirate Hookahs xD) Starting quests to get into the end game content are usually simple. Things like establishing who you’re ultimately going in there to take down – and who’s your point of contact. Opening up the zone is easy – defeating it is another story. Now, let’s buff up and zone in! - What are mages famous (infamous) for? WATER. I’m making solid progress on the nutritional front, so let’s add to that. This challenge I’m setting a water intake goal: Ultimately I’m trying to achieve 72oz of water a day. It sounds like a lot! But, when you factor my Starbucks cup I keep at work holds 24 ounces, that’s three cups. That’s nothing. But this sets a good foundation for the next part of my quest chain. - Just like in real life and the ultimate quest for fitness and health – what you eat matters in Warcraft! Foods can provide stat buffs and it’s a no brainer. Better quality foods = better buffs = better raid results. Raiding happens only a few nights a week – so plan accordingly! Make sure you’re prepared to go into that battle with the right buff. I’m moving toward a paleo friendly diet. I felt much better when I was following a quasi-Paleo lifestyle (but keeping in dairy, because I don’t have adverse reactions to dairy). Full conversion seems a bit too daunting right now, so aim for 2 days a week (this is breakfast/lunch/dinner/plus any snacks). For this challenge, I’m making it a goal to eat clean with 2 full meals per week that are Paleo friendly. - Ahh the raid queue, bane of all progression raiders. As far as challenges go, last month I was on LFR. LFR (Looking for Raid) is sort of the training wheels of the raid encounters. You get the basics, but as you progress in difficulty, the bosses get harder. More hit points, more side effects that could threaten to wipe the entire raid if you’re not paying attention. This month - I’m moving to Normal mode and I need to ‘know the fights’ to succeed. I’m focusing on the progress I made from January’s questline (abbreviated w/late start, but good start nonetheless!). I’ve used the time off between then January quest ending & our new quest starting to solidify a routine instead of a vague ‘strength’ Mondays and ‘cardio’ Fridays. Right now, I'm cautiously optimistic that I can make my workouts work with my trainer's HIIT workouts being used the following Monday (So what I did Wednesday will be what I do this coming Monday) and then the treadmill at work has a setting for beginners that starts at like, 20 minutes. I figure that's a good place to start - and I can adjust from there as I get into better shape. - In order to be a successful raider, you need to make sure your screen isn't cluttered up with unnecessary junk, Clearing up your UI so you can keep an eye on targets, adds, or (for healers) your friendly name plates, can make a measurable difference in your performance. Need I say more? I need to clean up the clutter around me & prepare for the ‘raid’ that is my life xD – De-cluttering desk space, and finishing cleaning up my professional stuff. I've been lazy in switching jobs, so I need to consolidate my HSA/FSA accounts, drain the HSA if I can’t transfer the funds, update my financial records like my 401k, add all sorts of logins to my master file, etc. [This is the building block toward one of my epic questlines – getting all of this sorted out = time to focus on creating the budget I need for my 2020 trip to Europe and my 2017 trip to the Caribbean]

A New Year, A New Beginning 2016. I can't believe we are here already. With a new year and a chaotic end to my 2015, things have come to the surface that has really made me WANT to reevaluate my life. What it is, what it isn't, what I have and don't have, but most especially, what do I really want. I know what I want, I want to be happy. Can't phrase it any other way, I want to be truly, blissfully, uncompromisingly happy with my life. And with these new 4-week challenges, this will be a perfect challenge to get myself in a better place before my 39th birthday How am I going to do this... let's figure this out: 1. Redesign the Breastplate -- OK, I know I've attracted some perv nerds so get your heads out of MY gutter LOL This goal is going to focus on working on this junk food gut and get that work helping me form my exercise habit. I'm going to focus purely on upper body workouts instead of trying to go with both halves this time. Three times a week sounds like a solid amount of time each week to work out, as for the variety of those workouts, those are coming. Ok, let's be real!! Three times a week I've been trying to do since challenge one and I have gotten varying results. But has a habit actually started.... not so much. So we're going to go this route. Since I decided to participate in the Assassin Mini, that's where I'm going to start. I need to fully try to participate in the Mini for the four weeks (to be decided by special tribunal). Pass/Fail 2. Lighten the Gauntlets -- With big, bulky gauntlets it's hard to grab onto things like proper liquids for drinking. The holidays and visiting my parents does sometimes lead to poor drinking habits so I need to get back on that. So this is a straightforward goal, get more water in, keep more of the crap out. 64 ounces of water minimum daily consumption and all other drinks need to be avoided, especially the deceptive ones that look like they are no calories but are full of sugars and such. 3. Ventilate the Helm -- Having the brain overheat doesn't lead to thinking very clearly. So we need to get this helmet ventilated so that I make fewer poor choices with my eating habits. At this point, I think I'm just going to map my intake with MFP, if something else comes from that I will integrate it now or next challenge. 4. Bracing the Leggings -- I need to get moving this year. In so many ways. Moving physically, moving mentally, moving emotionally, and moving for my happiness. So, for starters, this challenge, I have one and only one life goal, to use my legs and get myself out of the most toxic relationship that I have. I'm reminded that there is so much more in the universe and what I am and have been experiencing since my late 20s is highly toxic. It must be cut out of my life immediately. This will be a straight up pass/fail goal. Now, where is my hammer and anvil?!?

Hi! 0gravity here to start a battle log. This log will be filled with lots of bouldering and bodyweight training. It will also be filled with detailed food logs. Also with an account of poisons imbibed, as one of my main goals is to free myself of habitual substance use. So I'll start with yesterday because I haven't posted it here yet. Daily weigh in 195 lbs Starting measurements: height 74" neck 15.5" chest 42.5" waist 32.5" hips 38.5" thighs 22.25" calves 15.75" arms 15.5" forearms 13" body fat 12% according to US navy calculator Here is a before picture, taken with no flex or pump in not the most flattering light, will have to find a better spot for progress photos EXERCISE Ran two miles with the dogs Had a bodyweight workout - started with the lowest progressions from CC and Start Bodyweight, and a little from GMB handstand tutorial, for pushing and legs only. They were pretty easy so I went through the second level as well Wall pushups 5 sets x 8 reps Shoulderstand squat 5x8 Knnes bent low dips (on paralettes) 5x8 Kneeling plank 5x15s Kneeling side plank 5x15s each side Kneeling elbow plank 5x15s Kneeling elbow side plank 5x15s each Knees bent hollow hold 15s, 15s, 30s, 60s Short bridge 5x15s Standing calf raise 5x15 Standing reverse calf raise 5x15 Incline pushups 5x8 Jacknife squat 5x8 Straight leg low dips 5x8 Kneeling plank 5x30s Kneeling side plank 5x30s each Kneeling elbow plank 5x30s Kneeling elbow side plank 5x30s each Straight leg hollow hold 60s, 60s Straight bridge 5x15s Standing calf raise 5x15 Standing reverse calf raise 5x15 ~15 minutes of stretching including standing pike, sitting pike, active pike, standing straddle, sitting straddle, active straddle (hard), half straddle, forward lunge, forward split (working towards), wrist series, standing lat stretch Volume = high, intensity = low FOOD Breakfast 1030 (resting): Two slice bacon 3 eggs 200 g chicken 25 g cheese assorted vegetables P=92, F=38, C=low Dinner 1830 (PWO) 275g chicken 9 oz beans 5 tortillas vegetables a couple spoonfuls chocolate mousse P=111, C=108, F=16 POISON caffeine 960 mg (I'm serious) Nictoine 18 mg (again, I'm serious) Alcohol 0g Benadryl 50mg

Hello my name is Theatresara and I am a workaholic. This fact has driven the better part of my past year, especially the past few months. I've lost track of how to take care of myself, how to say no to work, and what it means to actually have a relationship with the people in my life except for the ones I work with day in and out. Because of all of this, it's back to basics for me. I need to not obsess over going paleo or working out all the time or anything like that. Right now, it's all about the small steps to build habits that'll stick with me, even when I'm working 100 hours/week. Theoretically, my life has currently taken a turn that will help with all of this My spring is a lot lighter than my fall and winter was (in fact, by the time the challenge starts, I may only be working one job! I can't remember the last time that happened) and I'm once again gearing up to run around a mountain portraying a frontier woman and a Shawnee maiden for four months (which requires a high level of fitness). MAIN QUEST: To build small habits that will last past the end of the challenge to make a better me Goal 1: Eat salads three times a week. My eating habits need to improve drastically. Lack of money lately has driven me to a very carb-heavy diet and I need to change that, but slowly. By eating three salads a week, I'll start to change my diet without a drastic, hard to maintain goal that costs a lot of money. I also will not judge myself for what I eat for my other meals. Feeling bad about food only leads to giving up and eating poorly. Goal 2: Stretch every day. This has been a goal before and I quickly fall out of practice. I have a ton of back and shoulder pain and stretching helps so much. Plus, if I do it in the morning, it's a good way to start my day positively. Goal 3: Some sort of cardio three times a week. I need to start getting back in Tecumseh! shape because that show involves a lot of running in rehearsals, onstage, and backstage. As there is currently quite a bit of snow on the ground and forecasters say there may be more coming, I'm not going to specify running, or even a certain length of time. What's important is that I start moving and start building up my endurance. If that means dancing around a room for 15 minutes, great. If that means taking advantage of a nice day and going for a long run or hike, even better. However, sex, while technically cardio, doesn't count (and yes, I need to clarify for myself because I'm that good at justifying things to make them count for my goals) Life Goal: Read everyday. I love reading. It's been one of my favorite activities for as long as I can remember. Lately, the tv (yay olympics!) and computer have taken over my life and, while I'm not going to stop either, I need a bit of a break from electronics. So, I'm going to commit to reading every night. I'm rereading A Song of Ice and Fire, have Shakespeare's Star Wars next on my list, and have several books relating to Tecumseh that I want to read or reread before I leave in May, so this particular goal should be super easy. As a bonus goal, I'm going to attempt to participate in all physical mini challenges. I see no reason why I shouldn't be able to, so if you don't see me chiming in, someone let me know about all the awesome things Assassins around me are doing!