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I believe in focusing on only one major improvement at a time and minimizing the effort required to achieve it. My major focus is to develop Keystone Habits using Duhiggs method (From "The Power of Habit"). Keystone Habits are lifestyle changes which when implemented cause secondary improvements. If you are interested in Habit Development, I post quite a bit about this subject in my battle log (link in my signature). Previous KH’s: KH1: Exercise 7 days/wk. Kept every day since 11/17/16 KH2: No M. (Something private) Kept every day since 12/28/16 KH2 was something I had to give up prior to quitting smoking as one feeds upon the other. Although I have been successful in giving up M for well over 30days, it has a high cessation propensity (ease of regression) and I want another month before I create a no smoking KH. However, I am confident enough in quitting M to start another KH which is something else I need to work on. I also included some low effort secondary goals. These are intentionally created to be very easy to keep as my main focus is succeeding at my new Keystone Habit. In addition, I've created a list of some to do items which I will continue to update. Success for the challenge is not based on keeping these, I just wanted a place to remind me of some things I need to do sometime. Keystone Habit Development KH3 - No RR: RR stands for road rage. There are a number of things other drivers do that set me off and I want to control this as it is both dangerous and non-productive. The cue is obviously discourteous driving. The routine reminder will be a powerpoint on my passenger seat reminding me to engage the new routine. The routine will be a deep breathing exercise I utilized many years ago (10 deep breaths while repeating let it go) which I will implement whenever another driver annoys me. The reward will be safer driving on my part plus not getting into negative thought loops. Secondary Goals While I focus on only one large effort change at a time, I do have some very low effort goals as well for this challenge: KH1 - Daily Exercise: Continue to document daily exercise (low effort goal since I have been achieving this since Nov 17, 2016) KH2 – Continue concentration on No M (low effort since I’ve been doing this for one month) Diet - My current wt is 171-172 (it has fluctuated due to my recent cold) but my ideal wt is 165. No nighttime crap at least 2 times/wk. (low effort as I only have to succeed 2days/wk) Salads: In an effort to lose wt, consume 5 salads/wk. (low effort goal as I am already doing this) Inspiration: Read and post something inspiring 1 time/wk (low effort since I recently came across a lot of great articles by James Clear and post a fair amount of this anyway) Budget: Spend 1 min at least 5 days/wk updating my budget which documents expenses (low effort since I only have to spend 1min on it to succeed) VBA: Spend at least 5min 5days/wk learning Visual Basic with Applications (low effort since I only have to spend 5min on it each time and I have been doing this since start of Jan) Things To Do Work on career Update LinkedIn photo Get interview outfit picked out Write answers for targeted interview questions I know will be asked Get new picture taken for progress Start a credit card list - I've been signing up for a lot more credit cards lately just to take the introductory free money offers and I need to start tracking what cards I've taken, what I got, and when to cancel. Back up computer Make a system backup More later

This time around, I'll be tackling a morning routine. How I spend the morning really sets the tone for the day, so every day I want to think about what kind of story I want my day to have and let the morning routine help put me on that path. (Actually I just like Oasis and wanted to make it fit shhhh) For any new friends who follow this challenge - I am focusing on developing one new habit per challenge, for a total of 10 habits for the 10 challenges scheduled this year. I made some great progress on a morning routine last challenge, completely unintentionally. My mobility work has filled up my mornings in a lovely, relaxed sort of way that works really well. The problem is that depending on the day ahead, I don't have consistent mornings right now. On Monday-Wednesday I'm pretty consistent because I wake up and go into the office at the same time. But on Thursday-Friday I usually work from home, which means that I can sleep in, which means that I usually skip the full routine. And the same issue pops up on weekends, but not always. I've had trouble establishing morning routines in the past because I tried to be too restrictive. The morning routine can, and should change depending on the story for each new day. So my challenge this time around is to figure out how to: Have some sort of morning routines and rituals that set the tone for the day Allow for variation while keeping the essential habit in place Still get to sleep in enough on days where my schedule allows My laptop battery is almost dead, so I'll post more about what this means and how I can measure it later. I will also be continuing with some things that are not actual challenge goals, but that I will report on here: Continuing to track my walking mileage each week, as a continuation of last challenge's habit forming. 3 workouts + 2 runs per week Daily meditation Mobility work The 31 day yoga revolution challenge + Wednesday night yoga class (to the end of February) Aikido 2x/week 3 month shopping ban through March, with pre-defined rules and exceptions. This month is espcially important to me, because it will be my 3rd year doing Frugal February, though I've extended it to three months this time. I have to buy a bridesmaid's dress this month for a wedding I'll be in this summer, and pay aikido federation annual dues I bought a birthday present for my sister No eating out, unless it's social or on the road I can replace anything that breaks or runs out I can buy any gear that I decide I need for the winter Spartan race I'll be doing in March

So, this is my first time trying one of the 4-week challenges. [I hope I'm doing this right - there are a LOT of links to sift through for what to do...] 4- Week Quests: Lose 5 pounds Since I plan on adding strength training back in, the scale weight will be only one measure of success, since my goal is recomposition. Scale this morning was 174.8 [dinner was a sodium-rich meal out]; scale average has been ~172.5 For the purposes of tracking weight lost, I'm calling 173 as my starting point. [Goal-without-muscle-gain is sub-160. At a solidly-built 5'9", this is the median of do-able.] 5 pounds doesn't seem like much, but even with a borderline eating disorder [lessons learned!], it took me 6 months to lose 20 pounds. My body does not shed weight easily. I intend to do this the healthy way this time around, and if it takes a month (or three or six), so be it. Get back to the gym regularly I haven't been since November 3rd. I love the barbell, but have trouble with the crowds. Since there's no way to get a power rack in my own Batcave, this is as much a mental challenge as a physical one. Initial goal will be twice a week (either before or after work) and ideally, three times a week. Dial my current Level 2-3 nutrition up to Level 5 See above re: recomp I am terrible about getting vegetables in. (I like them, but I'm lousy at making them a convenient choice.) I need to get better about resisting the empty carbs readily available at the office (cookies, bagels, muffins...) and make the conscious decision to eat pasta or bread as part of a meal. Hi, water. We're not friends right now, but we will be. Tea is already my BFF, after all. Currently, nutrition post-holidays is a huge challenge, so reaching Level 5 will be the hardest element of this whole 4-week session. (But nutrition is 80% of the equation, so...) "Liquid calories" in my case will not include protein drinks (because if I did, I'd set myself up to fail entirely before Week 2) I own several cookbooks (including Whole30) - might as well USE them! Get up before 6:30 am daily by the 4th week I'll be taking evening classes starting at the end of January, which means my mornings need to become viable for all my non-school, non-work tasks and goals. I have been slowly hacking my sleep here and there with amber light bulbs (LED/CFL!), f.lux software, and sleep tracking apps. The challenge isn't the early hour so much as the fact that I'm a terrible night owl, but also need 7-8 hours of sleep to feel rested. (Some people thrive on 5 or 6. I am not one of those people.) I'm posting in the Ranger category because that was my initial 'sorting' option when I first joined NF, but the more I dial in my Level 50 goals, the more I find that my ideal faction is something that pulls from Druid, Ranger, Monk and Warrior. [I'm still trying very hard to enjoy running. I may never, but I need to work at it more...] In my Level 50 journal, I'm arbitrarily calling it "Samurai" because the real samurai of Edo-era Japan were both skilled warriors and made up the lion's share of the cultured, educated elite - they had to have brains, brawn/stamina and a variety of skills on hand at any given moment. Since my goals are both to increase my physical abilities AND master more of my hobbies in Japanese language, culture and arts, this makes the most sense. (But Rangers are jack-of-all-trades, so... Ranger category for the purposes of this site. )

I believe in focusing on only one major improvement at a time and minimizing the effort required to achieve it. My major focus is to develop Keystone Habits using Duhiggs method (From "The Power of Habit"). Keystone Habits are lifestyle changes which when implemented cause secondary improvements. For instance, my Dec challenge was make daily exercise an automated habit. After I started this (Nov 17th), I started eating more salads. If you are interested in Habit Development, I post quite a bit about this subject in my battle log (link in my signature). I also included some low effort secondary goals. These are intentionally created to be very easy to keep as my main focus is succeeding at my new Keystone Habit. In addition, I've created a list of some to do items which I will continue to update. Success for the challenge is not based on keeping these, I just wanted a place to remind me of some things I need to do sometime. Keystone Habit Development KH2 - No M: I am ready to work on KH2 which is to Quit M. I won't discuss what "M" is (no its not meth or any other drug) other than to say that for me it is a prelude to quitting smoking (not part of this challenge) and is more of a psychological addiction. This will be my primary definition of success this challenge. I started KH2 on Dec 27. Success is defined by perfection on keeping this. Secondary Goals While I focus on only one large effort change at a time, I do have some low effort goals as well for this challenge: KH1 - Daily Exercise: Continue to document daily exercise (low effort goal since I have been achieving this since Nov 17, 2016) Diet - My current wt is 179 but my ideal wt is 165. Need to make some small diet modifications. Crap: Replace nighttime crap w/ healthy snack at least 1 time/wk. (low effort as I only have to succeed 1day/wk Salads: In an effort to lose wt, increase salad consumption from 5/wk to 8/wk. (low effort goal as variety in my eating is of low priority to me and I actually like the salads) Inspiration: Read and post something related to habit development on my battle log at least 1 time/wk (low effort since I recently came across a lot of great articles by James Clear and post a fair amount of this anyway) Budget: Spend 1 min at least 5 days/wk updating my budget which documents expenses (low effort since I only have to spend 1min on it to succeed) VBA: Spend at least 5min 5days/wk learning Visual Basic with Applications (low effort since I only have to spend 5min on it each time. It will force me to sit down and look at it which will automatically lead to spending more time on it.) Things To Do These are just some low effort things I want to get done. My success on this challenge is in no way defined by getting these done. Work on career Update LinkedIn account Update photo Update description Get interview outfit picked out Write answers for targeted interview questions I know will be asked Sign up for C++ class Put money in HSA Get current photo so I can see changes as I lose wt Start a credit card list - I've been signing up for a lot more credit cards lately just to take the introductory free money offers and I need to start tracking what cards I've taken, what I got, and when to cancel. Fine tune my budget spreadsheet Add more as I think of new things

Hi. I'm back. I haven't really gone anywhere, just took a break. But now I'm having issues remembering and keeping track of the things I want to be changing, so here I am again. For the time being, my mission is to become a morning person. A good deal of my issues stem from my tendency to stay in bed until the very last minute every morning. Well, no longer! It's time I get hard-boiled about my commitment to myself and my health. This challenge will focus on making the most of my mornings. Goal 1: Get up! Alarm is set to 6AM on weekdays and 7AM on weekends (to try to keep my sleep schedule consistent). I will be using the Distant Alarm tactic to make sure I stay up when the alarm goes off. I'd do a gradual time increase for my alarm, but since the Husband's alarm needs to be set for the same time, I think I can Ranger myself through. Goal 2: Eat breakfast! Breakfast is important; therefore, it is the meal that I will focus on this challenge. Breakfast should be composed of animal protein and starchy carbs (for optimal thyroid function). I will aim for about 40-50g of protein, 35-55g of carbs, and 20-30g of fat. I may end up having a protein shake to help get those numbers up, but the bulk of the meal should be food that requires chewing. These are the key ingredients that I'd like to include in a morning routine. Morning people (mostly) have morning routines. I want one. I'm making it a priority. Goal 3: Move! My hips are still suffering from lack of mobility and uneven strength. I will be spending time every day doing a PT routine for my hips, legs, and core that involves some resistance training and stretching. Goal 4: Eliminate! I'm going to continue tossing out 1/4 of refined sugar cravings, to rewire the brain. In the words of the two men that are one detective...

I do not have a fancy theme this time around. Maybe I'll think of something and add it later, but right now, I'm going with simple. Last challenge went really well, overall. This time, I'm going to keep pretty much the same goals with only a bit of tweaking. Eat better some more: Upping the total meals cooked at home to 10 per week. Going to keep dinner set at 2, but add 2 lunches as well. I'm also avoiding wheat, to see if it has any effect on my asthma. Bonus points for eating paleo, but I'm not going to try to track that. Get in shape: Formerly "get bendy." I still want to work on my flexibility, but some of the yoga stuff I'm going for isn't exactly focused on that. However, I like what I'm doing, I think it's working, so I'm going to stick with it for at least one more challenge before I switch this up. Clean the House: Didn't quite get all the rooms picked up/deep cleaned. I've got about 3 weeks until we're likely to have some company, and I would like to have the house fully cleaned by then. Setting the due date on this one at 11/10. After that, daily maintenance. Fancy status tracker: Eat better some more: Lunches - 0/8 Dinners - 0/8 Total Meals - 0/40 Get in shape: Workouts done 0/22 (subject to adjustment if practices get added/subtracted) Clean the House: Finish cleaning the house: Not Done. Daily maintenance 0/10 (cuz that's all the days left in the challenge after part one that we won't be traveling on) I'll come back and edit this so it looks pretty later on. I'm also going to keep posting my zero week updates in the last challenge thread, so look there if you want to see what the costumes end up looking like.

Well I'm just going to come out and say it, because I bet others are dealing with this too. My biggest obstacle to levelling up and staying on a fitness plan is masturbation. I know it sounds like an awful excuse, but it's something I struggle with. Often in the morning, instead of getting right out of bed and doing my morning routine, I'll be lulled into snoozing and jerking off instead. Ugh, I sound so lame saying this. But does anyone else have this problem?

7/10/2016: I'm back from 5 weeks in Europe on holiday.: The abbreviated summary: - Had a great time in Yorkshire with my father in law and my wife's BFF. Awesome walk on Ilkley Moor and pub lunch in the Cow and Calf. - Spent a day with my wife buying the perfect new suit for the upcoming wedding in Italy - Caught up with some old friends in Scotland and had an amazing time: Sightseeing and eating/drinking well in Edinburgh, Speedboat ride on Loch Lomond, heaps of pub lunches, darts, 10-pin bowling, blackjack at the casino, go-karting, archery (so fun! Got a bullseye and won a bottle of whiskey!) - Wonderful time with my brother and his family, saw my nephews and my niece. - Parents have lost it, upsetting few days. - Travelled to London, 2 days before the wedding in Italy. Left my suit on the train!!!!! Brand new with tags on, no surprise it wasn't handed in. - Went surfing with my oldest friend in Newquay, Cornwall. Awesome time was had. - Still had receipt for suit, re-ordered it online and got it delivered to a local store near my friend's house. Phew. - Packed suit in case so as not to lose it. - Flew to Milan, met my wife in the carousel, she had flown in from Vienna. - I am last person standing at carousel, it stops. No bag. No suit. Wedding in 1 day. This suit is cursed!!!! - Had a nice day in Milan with our friend who lives there. Case showed up at 3am. Phew!! - Fantastic wedding in Lake Como - Florence was a dump, not sure what ll the fuss is about. Amazing architecture but awful unfriendly people and stinking sewers. - Awesome scuba diving in Elba, best ever viz I have dived in (30m+). Awesome wreck dive at 12m. - Got ripped off by 3 taxi drivers. Long story but very unpleasant experiences. - Rome was generally over priced, constantly had to watch your back and your pockets, super busy, everyone tries to rip you off everywhere. Amazing buildings. Very unfriendly towards foreigners. Terrible food except for an amazing Indian Curry (top 5 ever). - We saw a cafe with all the european flags hanging, pretty cool, except oh there's one missing, must have fallen down. Which one is it? The Union Jack......Brexit clearly having anti-English effects already. Maybe that was why everyone was so unfriendly. - We couldn't wait to leave Italy, in fact we renamed it Shitaly. Flight was cancelled, pandemonium at the airport. Thank god we were business class and got put on another flight 3 hours later, everyone else had to go into some crappy hotel overnight. - SO AWESOME TO BE HOME IN OZ! Travel is full of ups and downs, we had some fantastic times and some awful times but above all we have some memories and we appreciate our home a lot more now than when we left. Any positives from this? - I haven't missed a single training session - My nutrition has been 85% on track. - One of the girls at the gym is opening a new Crossfit box 1km from my house - I'm feeling strong and in pretty good shape. - I realised the only thing that has held me together the last 7 weeks has been my training and I'm so happy to have it in my life. My attitude towards training and nutrition has shifted and I'm pretty focused right now. Whoah that was a brain dump!

Here we are again. This is my 16th challenge... can you believe it? Anyway... The other day I ate like a pig. Not ONE healthy thing all day. So yeahhhh... that will be on the list for a bit. The second thing I need to look at is rest, both as "rest days" and "me-time" as well as "night sleep". Life has been a hell of a busy time lately. But the end is in sight. The weekend of 0 week I'll finish my theoretic course to become a trainer, then I am just 5 course weekends of practical hands on training (in early '17) away from getting my licence. Similarly I have been training for my first obstacle course race. Okay, per definition it's a mud run, not a race, but I'll call it race, for simplicities sake. The race is on Oct 8th, and I am VERY MUCH excited about it. I have not gotten as strong as I would have liked to become by now, but there is a direct correlation between how much I put in and how little I got out. So that is only fair... if unfortunate. I am in the mood to DO ALL THE THINGS. But I know better. I'll do the ranger thing without the overload, this time, I hope... Plans for this challenge: write down food - might not be in-app everything measured and concrete calories and macros and all that hassle. Just write down what you ate, snacked on or otherwise stuffed in your face. Keep lists. stop eating like a dickhead - one veggie or fruit each day, no excuses, no processed substitutions. One. Each. Day. Also skip the salt and drink your goddamned water, for crying out loud! Keep training and resting and enjoy the ride. I mean what more is there? Soon my friends from Australia and the Netherlands will be here for a weekend, I will clean like a maniac (I'm human afterall). I will train, both running outside as well as fitness and belly dancing classes, peer pressure is my saviour! I will rest when I can, I will keep logging my sleep (not awesome atm) I just brushed off a minor cold, so I am taking the hint of taking things less serious and rest more. I am not sure how to measure this though. And enjoy the ride? When do you ever meet online friends in person for the first time, run your very first mud run / OCR? Enjoy it! Take lot's of mental pictures, real ones too. Live the life, be present in the moment. Anyway, I will post this up, since you nice folk are so very patient with me, let me tell you again how grateful I am for your companionship, support, insight. Morag. Gratitude Wasabi - yummy. FlyLady - even though I have to regularly start over again and again... difficult to find a third item here today... I think relationships. Both romantic as well as platonic. So many so-very-different people connect and interconnected in so many different ways, it's amazing, breath taking, awe inspiring. Wonderful. It makes you wonder.

>> Citizen Balsquith, Big Brother has been watching you for some time now << >> We know that you are trying to be a good citizen but we have noticed that you are falling behind in some areas << >> Big Brother is your friend, therefore he will be paying especial attention to you in the future << I have enjoyed failing abysmally to slay some dragons over the past couple of challenges (actually enjoying much more success than the results would suggest), but it has occurred to me that I have lost track of many things and without knowing where I stand it makes it difficult to make positive changes. Therefore, in this challenge I will be doing a lot of tracking and if that goes well and highlights anything interesting I will make some changes. The goals of this challenge are: 1. Big Brother knows that you hit the snooze button! - Get up to alarm everyday 2. Big Brother wants to see your commitment to being the best citizen possible! - Make a daily task list 3. Big Brother knows exactly what is in your stomach! - Food logging daily 4. Big Brother knows that you didn’t need to spend that! - Track expenditure daily 5. Big Brother knows why your German is not improving! - Practise German daily 6. Big brother is always watching you! - Bad habits – record when tempted

So I'm continuing what I've been doing since I re-spawned at the end of August. So far counting all my goals daily has been helping while keeping it slow enough. (Can't find the one with a quote). So continuing on with my goals... Kind of wish I could theme it, but all just going directly at it (the easiest way possible). Trying to avoid adding goals, but the main goal is getting ready for school in January and being hired with extra money in my pocket by then (with a job that I'm able to do and enjoy, instead of the latter). So that's what I'll figure out how to get that out for actual "SMART" goals setting. Since it is one of those "temp:" goals as when needed. Main Goals: Journaling: 29 out of 64 Journals (longest streak) Reading (20 mins): 0 out of 35 Days (20 mins daily) Longest streak: 20 days (gradually going up from 10 mins a day - 20 mins a day) Screens off at Midnight: 13 out of 48 (longest streak) Poison Be Gone (Days w/o Pop): 12 out of 47 (longest streak) (trying to beat my 3 month streak that I did back in 2014 before NF) Weekly Goals: 1 hour weekly (Scheduled for Tuesdays or Thursdays) enter/confirm money transactions: 1 out of 6 weeks Taking Note What I'm doing Toward 2nd job searching (working less this month, so this will be nudged up a bit) (to be tracked when figured out) Only two goals has been missed 1 day each so out of the last 21 days, I only missed 2 habits. Enough to keep a watchful eye (1 night staying on the computer too long, 2nd one was yesterday I missed a day of 20 mins of reading). But yeah! Marching on! With little duckling steps.

October 8th, 2016 All these people are sooooo young and fit and wow.... scary obstacles too.... but I have the ticket hanging on the fridge. I'm going. Fear be damned. So better get the training on track, summer lull is over. It's time to move! Details will follow. love you folks.

Last challenge I realized something: I have been doing a spectacular job of figuring out things that DON'T work. Which is great, but it's not really getting me closer to my goals. So, I have decided to take a slightly different approach this time. And also go with a slight Exalted theme, because why not? Earth Aspect: I need a solid foundation to build healthy habits on. I also want to build the same foundation for my kids while they are young, so they don't have this same struggle when they're grown up. Like the Earth-aspected dragon blood, I will be rooted! Goal: Put dishes in the dishwasher after every meal. Run the dishwasher when it's full, and wash the stuff that needs to be cleaned by hand at least once a week. Also spend 15 minutes every day putting away laundry/toys/misc "stuff," and/or vacuuming/sweeping/mopping/dusting. Dishes washed: 0/4 House cleaning tasks: 0/28 Wood Aspect: Like the wood dragon nurtures the plants, I need to nurture my body. Goal: Eat food prepared at home at least one day (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) each week. Using pre-marinated meat counts, frozen or boxed meals do not. Days cooking: 0/4 Water Aspect: Go with the flow, adapt to the situation. I need to work on my flexibility to get better at roller derby, and also to help avoid injury. Goal: I will do at least 15 minutes of stretching or yoga on non-practice days (so, shooting for 5 days a week). Days of yoga/stretching: 0/20 I think that's plenty of goals for now, so Air and Fire will have to sit this one out. Maybe next challenge? I plan to use Zero week to try to work on some meal planning, and also to prepare for derby assessments on Sunday. Really, at this point there's not a whole lot more I can do to try to get ready, so I will make my zero week goal to drink enough water so I'm not going into assessments somewhat dehydrated! Days drinking at least 8 cups of water: 1/7

Hello Surface-Dwellers! Well, I have not been successful my last two challenges and was knocked off my path by a deluge of poor choices. Interestingly enough the Deluge attempts to thwart Aquaman's initiatives in Aquaman Rebirth #1. Thus, I myself will take on the Deluge in an attempt to gain complete control of my fitness life. My goal is to get back in the habit of regularly going to the gym and lifting. This is what I like, it makes me feel, I like feeling stronger and I like knowing that I can push myself in this way. Thus, to defeat the Deluge I will: Lift at least 3 times per week using the Stronglifts 5x5 program. Do a cardio activity at least twice a week (bike, run, swim, 1 mile or more walk with my dog, mowing my lawn with a push mower, etc.) Tame the wild shrubbery around my shed. Self-Care - because it's important to re-charge - finish the book Star Wars: Scoundrels OR beat (i.e., just finish, not necessarily 100%) Lego Star Wars The Force Awakens. Deluge is a terrorist organization within Atlantis and can be defeated with diligence. I will give it a health of 25. Each activity done will deplete his life by 1 health. However, if I fail to meet a weekly goal (i.e., I only do cardio once in the week), then he gains 2 health points back. If I do MORE than the weekly minimum, I deal him an extra 1/2 health point of damage. Here we go!

Intro Background/Story Post, Another post is being made to list off my main goals. Challenge: Since the beginning of the week I've been brainstorming ideas for this challenge (reason Ugh became a being). I'm still not sure how to add a story part of it (since I like that type of stuff). But I'm thinking of things, also to help keep 'active, but not overwhelm me, or bore me'. While also taking note of my anxiety, reasoning working out at my apartment community room & gym was a lot of anxiety helping the Ughs out. I know I The base goals: Fitness - 2 Goals: 10 mins walking with the Sun & 10 mins of doing Pilates or Yoga Daily Finally changed up the plan for good since March: The sun is my new walking buddy (before I waited until darkness, than my imagination decided to make it difficult). I have no excuses for walking, since its pretty much like taking medication (do it or regret it after sunset). After just 3 days, Pilates and Yoga are making me aware of muscles that body strength training hasn't. (Also keeping time low so I have few excuses). Bonus: Walking with the Sun for at least 20 mins Double Bonus: Full hour/3 mile walk Nutrition - 1 Goal: "6 pack or less?" (I'm keeping it basic, Try to eat/drink at max 6 servings of heavily processed carbs/sugar (not counting kool-aid.)There will be days I eat less, and days I will go over. I'm trying to find just above moderation, so I can continue it later on). NF Forums - 1 Goal: "For the Record" Number 1 goal is to come back on the forum daily, and keep note what I did. Luckily with this outline it will be simple enough. Daily Bonuses! Like my favorite games, there are things that happen routinely to gain extra gold. Some new quests by story line or so on. Or for me, extra preventive measures to keep the Ughs at bay. I'm using Habitica to keep everything "on track". I'll record my daily Gold amount on game, and level. And if I bought anything (paying with my movement to have some time with the Ughs). For my Dailies, are the above goals for the basic. Any goals I want to do routinely (walk more, read other people's posts, wash the dishes, write, ect.) that can help get me goal. Along with the to do list. This I'm kind of calling my base point with the Ughs, there are 4 things I "need" to do to help avoid the leader of the Ughs for giving me a visit (depression). I'm trading in gold such as: 100 gold for 1 hour episode on netflix/hour of gaming. I've been doing most of my Netflix time and Facebook with the forums (had to block FB on two of my browsers, w/ 5 mins a day). I'm also thinking of keeping track for each 1,000 gold. And translate that to a dollar. Could be a way for me to "earn" some real money. Idk, I will keep track of the gold like I said with my daily posts.

This will be the first time (I recall) not taking a break during Week Zero. I'm rolling with the same basic habits that I was working on last challenge (and practically forgot to keep tracking). I've added a few more ways to gain bonus points, but they're not really required. Just some things I would like to work on once the basics get easier. Eat Well: Continue brown bagging lunches on work days. Bonus points for eating at home on the weekends and in the mornings. Sleep Well: Be in bed by 10:30pm. Bonus points for staying up after alarm in the mornings. Move Daily: Continue to attend regular Mon & Wed classes consistently. Bonus points for any extra training. Love Daily: Track all food and drinks (including water). Bonus points for any time spent on the KonMari list. EDIT: Goals edited for a bit more simplicity and focus. Also, it's kinda dumb, in my opinion, to focus on getting up at a specific time when you don't go to bed at a specific time first, to make sure you get enough sleep.

What's up, nerds? I'm back for another go. A little background for those who don't know me: I train for strength in the powerlifting lifts, but for the moment I don't compete. This will likely change once I establish more order in my professional and personal life. I train for health, looks, confidence, and the thrill of it. I am a disciple of IIFYM - no paleo, clean eating, or what have you. I'm an engineer, so I take an analytical approach to fitness. I finished my first challenge, but got really busy toward the end and never wrote up my reflections on it. In a nutshell, I learned the following: My self-made programming is working, but I've made a few refinements, eliminating my "bodybuilding" accessory days in favor of incorporating OHP and barbell rows back into my program. I started with StrongLifts 5X5 and what I do has evolved out of there. I want to increase my knowledge and wisdom regarding strength training and programming. I've been eating too much and have been sloppy with my cheat meals. This was particularly true after the conclusion of the challenge I did back in May. At my worst I was 219lbs at 5'10. A nasty past week of stomach bug brought me down to 208, which I've been holding at for the past two days even after bringing my calories back up. I look a lot better and oddly enough, didn't get much weaker. I am seeking to lose more fat. I may have mild insomnia, so my sleep goal was futile. Things have improved since the last challenge, but I am not going to force a sleep goal. I will get into bed when my daily tasks are complete and sleep as it comes to me. Having three gym memberships is awesome and I've learned how to take advantage of the strengths of each one at their least crowded hours. Main Quest Increase strength in the powerlifts without becoming too fat. "Too fat" for the moment is a self assessment of how I look and feel. I aim to make it more quantifiable in the future. Quest Goals 1. Training - Perform the following lifts each week: Squat 1: Performed at the beginning of the week - Sets of 4 if I just increased the weight / Complete a 5X5 before increasing the weight 5lbs. Bench 1: Performed at the beginning of the week - Sets of 4 if I just increased the weight / Complete a 5X5 before increasing the weight 5lbs. Squat 2: Performed after Squat 1 and Bench 1 - Doubles if I just increased the weight / Complete a 5X3 before increasing the weight 5lbs. Bench 2: Performed after Squat 1 and Bench 1 - Doubles if I just increased the weight / Complete a 5X3 before increasing the weight 5lbs. Deadlift: Performed on the weekend after a rest day. Start with triples until I can work up to a 5X5 before increasing the weight 10lbs. I haven't been deadlifting that much, so I just came up with this - I will make adjustments as necessary. OHP: Performed during the same training session as one of the bench days (depending on equipment availability). 3X6-8 trying to increase the weight by 5lbs as I can. Barbell Rows: Performed during the same training session the other bench day. 3X6-8 trying to increase the weight by 5lbs as I can. 2. Macros - Track daily with MyFitnessPal. Two cheat meals, not days, allowed per week: Pizza Wednesday at work and one per weekend. Calories: 2900-3100kcal Protein: At least 200g Fat: 25-30% of my daily calories Carbs: Unrestricted as long as the above are met Adjust as necessary based on strength, appearance, knowledge gained. 3. Reading - Read three books this challenge: The Art of Lifting by Greg Nuckols The Science of Lifting by Greg Nuckols Gorilla Mindset by Mike Cernovich 4. Nail Biting - Stop doing it. I'll be photographing my nails at the end of each week to keep myself accountable.

Back to Basics Under the spoiler: Reflective Blurb and Previous Challenge Recap My last challenge was pretty tough, littered with issues outside my control and obstacles I was not expecting to deal with. I lost quite a few of my habits and am having a hard time getting back into the game. It is quite frustrating - it feels like I was thrown all the way back to the beginning of the game instead of the last checkpoint. Of course, this is not entirely true. I have numbers to prove it, after all, but it still really feels that way. Anyhow, the good part is that, much like games, going down the same route again in life means you already know it and are aware of the difficulties pitfalls, and in the spirit of viewing failure not a failure, but as an experience I can learn from, I will try and use that to my advantage. And for this challenge; that means going back to basics: Challenge Goal: Re-acquire those habits it took me so much effort to build. Goal 1: Do a modified Reddit Recommended Routine 3 times a week. Modification: Swap Bodyline Drills with this core routine 2 times a week:http://strengthrunning.com/2012/01/the-standard-core-routine-video-demonstration/ Goal 2: Go swimming at least 2 times a week, for a minimum of 40 minutes per workout and 600m total distance. Goal 3: Lose weight by eating under 1400 calories. Important: Leave room for modification in case this is too little calories. Life Quest: Still working on this one. I know more or less what I want to achieve, which is better goal/task prioritization, but I am not yet sure how to structure it. That is all. Let the challenge begin!

I love to learn, and I always learn best by making mistakes (I'm not going to go into MAKER lingo and call it failure, because around here, failure is only when you give up). Having successfully kicked my work candy snacking habit with the tactics of the Rebellion (and some more brain wire knowledge), I've re-evaluated my basic healthy habits and have a simple plan to steadily make those changes stick. Here we go! Main Goal: To decrease body fat percentage by 5% through good habits and to build up a Ranger attitude of self-love and confidence. Eat Well: Consistently bring and consume lunch during the work week. Bonus points for having lunch at home during weekends. Sleep Well: Alarm times for challenge: Week 1 - 6:30am; Week 2 - 6:20am; Week 3 - 6:10am; Week 4 - 6am. GET UP. Bonus points for getting up by 8am on weekends. Move Daily: Consistently go to class twice a week (Monday and Wednesday). Bonus points for attending samba classes, open gym Fridays, and any extra classes. Love Daily: Journal daily, including food, sleep, and activity logs. Bonus points for sharing logs on the battle log (minus the Dear Diary stuff). That about sums it up. See? It can be easy! And to embrace my authentic self, here is some Star Wars funnies! Because it can't be one of my threads without Star Wars OR funnies.

I am sorry to report that again I have not had time to sit at the PC and write things out. Which is kinda annoying even for me. Cutting to 1200-1400 cal / day - log every day 1.5L water every day at least Fitness Conditioning and Play class (FKS) 2x a week when possible homeworkout when not weightroom at the gym as soon as spring break is over 2x per week Continue working towards OCR in early October and Trainer Licence starting in September. sleep 7 1/2 h per nite. Sorry for the cliffnotes version, I just need to put them out there so I can't procrastinate, more detailed write out soon. PS Oh, and pool day 1x per week, plus figure out when to do the second one now that Tuesdays don't workout anymore.

The Work Hi everybody! I'm Teri and I'm a NF-aholic. I've been on the wagon a bit these past few months, but I can't help it, I'm back! I need accountability and a place to write out how I'm doing. And having you all as my witnesses is very comforting and it keeps me connected to people. Many of you know, I'm going through some serious crap. I have divorced my parents (Wednesday) and the fallout (not the game unfortunately) is yet to be known. I beg empathy from you so that I may get through whatever comes and keep myself safe and cared for before others. Okay, except maybe B as he's basically my boy (nephew through ex). And he's no boy, he's 29!! Okay! I have spent the last year moaning and groaning, for good reasons mind you. But it's time to move forward, however minutely, and make progress on my habits. I have made so many decisions these past few months that my head wants to pop off just for a breather. But alas, I haven't found a cure for getting my head back on so I am left with only head-staying-where-it-is options to cool my beating migraines and frayed nerves. These goals are not new or unknown to me. I have wanted these things for a long time. I have done well with water before so that is a hopeful front runner in this challenge. I hope it gives me incentive to push forward on the others. Small exercises know as PT are things I've never invested myself in enough to gain more than a rudimentary benefit from. I do just enough so I can get back to running and my deadlifts. Well, time has been reaching for my heels and has managed to trip me up enough that I cannot progress without making PT my main goal. I need the muscles in my buttocks to engage when I walk and do stairs. I need my erector muscles in my back to protect my deteriorating spine. And I need to find a solution to my heel pain. When I get these into a daily routine that doesn't hiccup more than it runs smooth, I can work on running the trails. Or at least walk without pain for more than a half mile. Self care habits come and go depending on my mood. Well, that needs to change. I need to be in tune with my body's needs so that I don't skimp on caring for it. I'm not looking to be perfect, just more or less in the zone. My VA application is to get more coverage for my back and neck. As I am getting older, more things will go wrong with my body as it breaks down and I want to be cared for as much as possible. Goal #1 Drink water!! avg 7 cups per day -- 80% for an A (+3 on STA) only water counts Goal #2 Do the small exercises!!! avg 4 times per week -- 80% for an A (+4 on STR) pool, gym, or at home for min of 30 mins Goal #3 Make the self care decisions!!! avg 2 per day -- 80% for an A (+3 on CHR) teeth, shower, dishes, cook, skin care, etc. Life Goal Finish VA comp App!!! all or nothing -- 100% for an A (+4 on WIS) all evidence logged and app sent to VA Okay, ONWARD!!

*Mandokarla: having the *right stuff*; showing guts and spirit; the state of being the epitome of Mando virtue - a blend of aggression, tenacity, loyalty and a lust for life If you focus on results, you will never change. If you focus on change, you will get results. This made such a huge difference in every aspect of leveling up my life last challenge, so it's here to stay. For good. I'm keeping the general format and grading scale the same for this challenge (grading will start next week). General goals will stay the same, but I'm upping the ante for a few of them. Hopefully, they're small enough changes that it won't push me back. Gotta keep that Rangerbrain in check. Oh, and in light of the recent development on my quest to become a member of the Mandalorian Mercs, I'm sure you can guess this challenge's theme. Main Goal: Reach 35% body fat through love and awesome. Haili cetare (lit: Fill your boots/Bon appetit): Eat well. Bring prepared lunches to work every day. Continue to minimize consumption of heavily processed foods and maximize consumption of whole foods. Nuhoyir (lit: slumber): Sleep well. Aim for at least seven hours of sleep and GET UP when the alarm goes off, not a half hour later. Verd ori'shya beskar'gam (proverb: A warrior is more than his armor): Move daily. Whenever I'm sitting still for longer periods of time, use movement Pomodoros (25:5). Don't forget to take care of problem areas (stretching hips and wrists). Train outside of regular classes. Shereshoy (lit: Lust for life - uniquely a Mandalorian word, meaning the enjoyment of each day and the determination to seek and grab every possible experience, as well as surviving to see the next day): Love daily, myself and others. Continue working through my sewing projects and begin work on my Mando kit pieces. Spend time with the Husband. And don't forget to reach out to friends and family every now and then. Haat, Ijaa, Haa'it (lit: Truth, Honor, Vision; said when sealing a pact)

My first 3 challenges this year were all about prepping for kayak season: lose some wt (dropped from 178 to 168), develop core, general strength conditioning and flexibility through daily exercise (everyday except 1 since Dec 28, 2015). I also wanted to quit smoking (quit Mar 11) and improve my career work performance (developed and used a daily planning spreadsheet every workday since Jan 22). My first major kayak trip this year will be around the 3rd week of April, and I feel I am physically well prepared for it. So far, my battle log has dealt with how I am changing my life through habit formation (Duhiggs process). I've already created and kept the major habit changes I wanted to develop at this point. I've now added a new section which focuses on achieving a "bucket list" of desires/goals I want to achieve. The quests below align w/ the 4 desires I am currently focusing on. Stronger - Get Lean and Mean Quest 1 - The Lean Part: cut the crap. I have a target date of May 30 to reduce my wt from its current 168lb to less than 165.0 (must hit in the 163's 3 days in a row). I've already created the habits of eating a salad 6 days/wk and protein shake 7 days/wk. For this quest, I have 3 objectives: (Vacation days are exempt for all of these) 1. No crap (cookies, candies, cakes, ice cream, etc) after 8pm 6 days/wk (w/ the exception of 2 jelly beans) 2. Eat crap a maximum of 2 times at work during the entire time period of this challenge. 3. Max of 1 small bite size candy per day from the candy bowls at home. Things to track - daily crap intake Quest 2 - The Mean Part: lots of pushing and pulling. I have 2 strength targets by June 30: 10 perfect form bench presses w/ 135lbs and 4 perfect form pullups. I'm currently at 5 perfect form + 3 sloppy 135lb bench presses and 2 sloppy pullups. For this quest, I have 2 objectives: 1. Brutal chest/tricep focus w/o's w/ a goal of completing 7 perfect form bench presses w/ 135lbs 2. Brutal back/bicep focus w/o's w a goal of completing 2 perfect form pullups in a row. Things to track - w/o intensities Faster - Breath Easy Quest 3 - Continue NOS. To reach my full potential at the fasted pace, I have to be able to be able to breath easily. NOS stands for "No Smoking" and my quit date was Mar 11, 2016 (using Wellbutrin to assist). Continuing NOS is my overriding priority right now. Even though its been 16 days since I quit, I need to continue daily focus on this or a trigger could easily derail all my efforts. Things to track - Days of NOS Smarter - Be an even more nerdy engineer Quest 4 - Build a Dynasty Dynasty is a modeling program used where I work to simulate hydraulic systems. I've wanted to learn this for many years to further my technical growth, but I've never done so. I have set a target date of Oct 30, 2016 to be able to create a basic Dynasty model and simulation. For this challenge, I have 2 objectives: 1. Sign up for Dynasty modeling classes at work. 2. Spend a minimum of 8 hours this challenge learning the basics. Things to track - Hours spent on program and my progress

I have been having trouble with the Customize Your Batcave quest. It seems easy, but I have a small home and put into place most of the suggestions before I had even heard of Nerd Fitness. I am looking for suggestions that maybe out of the normal as I am working toward a full life level up. Maybe ways to help making cleaning easier and messes more difficult to make... does something like that even exist??? ANY ideas would be great - looking for that kick start. If there is a board that already talks about this (I can't seem to find one) I would love to hear about that as well! This is also the time where I wish I had gone to Hogwarts - although I would have probably never have mastered cleaning spells either... or be rich enough for a (well treated) house elf. Support S.P.E.W.!

I won't lie; eating Good Food was REALLY difficult during the last challenge, even after a successful W30. I've been stewing on the role of mindset in my quest to get healthy for the past few weeks, and I believe that's where I need to improve in order to make these changes stick. Inspired by those Rangers who've been taking a flexible, minimalistic approach to goal-setting, I'm following suit, in a way. My goals are a return to regularly scheduled programming; the foundation of my healthy habits, but the means have changed. I will aim for a minimum instead of a maximum and be counting any and every effort in my goal areas. While aiming to do all four daily seems daunting, they encompass a lot of effort choices on their own, and in my tracking spreadsheet, I've edited my formulas and formatting to account for a 70/30 compliance rating. As long as I'm hitting 70% compliance, I'll be RANGERING. My main goals have also evolved into smarter, more manageable pieces. I'm hoping that these changes will allow me to start shifting my mental focus from being too hard on myself for failing (and not being perfect) to appreciating my efforts and progress. Main Goal: Reach a healthy body composition by taking care of myself and my health. My current target number is 35% body fat. Goal One: Eat well. Do the best I can. Minimize consumption of grains, sugars, and Big Fast Food. Maximize consumption of veggies, proteins, and good fats. Find ways of making a sub-par situation better. Every effort counts. Goal Two: Sleep well. Give myself 8 to 9 hours in bed to sleep daily. I'll also be working to improve the quality as well, continuing my use of the Sleep Cycle app, remembering to wear my orange glasses, calming down after late classes with a bath, and maybe investing in some Natural Calm, but those aren't requirements. Goal Three: Move daily. This can take the form of Capoeira training, heavy lifting, bodyweight & endurance training, stretching, or yoga (or anything else that shows up). I should also be stretching at work, using Pomodoros to remind myself not to sit constantly (when my work flow slows). Goal Four: Love daily. This includes loving myself AND other people. Doing things for myself, like meditating, journaling, sewing, reading, writing, coloring, etc. This also includes spending time with the husband; gaming, model building, and all the other stuff we like to do together. We both need a bit more love in our lives.