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A little late but here I am once again, ready to challenge myself move toward the prophesied land. In accordance with the prophecy I need to increase my balance and I really need to increase my strength in my arms. For the first time in a while I'm setting a goal for the end of this challenge rather than simply having multiple tasks to accomplish during the challenge. My current target is the handstand. Currently I can do a wall plank at around a 45 degree angle for somewhere in the area of 30 seconds. I am going to be able to do a wall handstand for a full minute within the next six weeks and if I finish early I'll try doing a free standing handstand for 10 seconds. Targets are subject to change if they are deemed too easy or too hard. Towards this end, I will be working on my wall handstand every single day no matter what even if that only means going at it for a minute, or even doing a single 30 second wall plank. This is goal number 1. My main quest, my end game goal is still conquering Mount Midoriyama in Japan on the Ninja Warrior course. That's way off though, perhaps years off which is why I'm setting minor targets along the way leading to the big one to keep me motivated along the way. Goal 2 is to work out seriously 3 times a week. My target here is being able to do a single set of 5 pull ups with an extra 30lbs hanging off of me. I know I can do 8 max with an extra 10lbs right now and I haven't tried increasing that in a while. I don't know if this is a realistic target but I am setting my sights high because I'm been putting up with doing good enough for too long and it's time for excellence. Goal 3 is stretching every single day like last time. This only requires about 30 minutes per day so I never have a good excuse for not doing it but I still haven't ever been able to keep it up consistently for even 2 weeks. I will change this. Goal 4 is eating a minimum of 3 decent meals per week that involve a decent source of protein and at least 2 decent fruits or vegetables. (There aren't many fruits or vegetables I wouldn't count, basically iceberg lettuce). Goal 5 is to spend at least 1 hour per week clearing out the clutter in my life, especially in my own room. Now I need to go to bed so I'll post some updates tomorrow.

Fourth Challenge [ January 14th – February 23th ] (I know that's not right, but for me it is Initiate Trials Where I came from... Where I went to after this.... BACKGROUND STORY William Waldgeist left the chamber with a smile on his face. He'd just finished the last part of his trial of the Force successfully. He didn't know it, because the examiners had told him. They were forbidden to do so, but each time the youngling had felt a spark of achievement. Others of his friends, who had done this trial before, had on occasion had the same feeling. On one side this made Bill happy, but on the other side it made him anxious. Younglings who were strong in the force were considered to be needed an even more harsh evaluation in the other two trials! --------------------------- High over the constant noise of Coruscant there was just silence when the High Council of the Jedi Order started it's session. Master Verra rose to give the other members of the council an overview over the first parts of this year's initiate trials to discuss how they should proceed. There was little disagreement and no open controversy, until she reached the end of the list: "William Waldgeist, Katarn Clan, youngling here at Coruscant. Finished with the trial of the Force, halfway through his trial of Knowledge, not started the trial of Self-Discipline yet." "He passed the trial of the Force with flying colors, all examiners - including myself - were deeply impressed by his immersion in and manipulation of the Force", Master Kil'Noan added solemnly, "now I know, why you have been so adamant about this boy, Grand Master!" Before Yoda could answer, fellow Jedi Master Sandrin Grell cut him off: "Great power leads to over-confidence and arrogance, which is an open pathway to the dark side! Can we be sure, that there is enough wisdom and self-discipline in him to balance that out?" Master Verra consulted his notes, before she answered: "His trial of Knowledge is going well so far, he is ahead of his peers. So, there is enough reason to believe that there will be wisdom to balance out his powers one day." "It will still depend on how this trial ends...", Grell stated, "he could still fail!" "And there is then the matter of his trial of self-discipline, of course", Yoda interjected, "this the crucial one will be! Not an ordinary trial but a rigorous one it should be." "I agree", Master Grell said a little surprised. The other council members signaled their consent, which Master Verra recorded in her trials notes. -------------------------------------------------- MAIN QUEST – Passing the Trial of Self-Discipline Goal 1 : Meditate and Fast (+2 CHA/+2 CON) Fasting as in intermittent fasting, I might experiment a little with different variants this time, though. Meditating as in I don't know yet. ;-) But I experienced a LOT of stress in the last months generally and the last two weeks especially. Technically the stress period isn't over, but things slowed down a little bit again. I want to use that time, to clear my mind and figure out some stuff about the future course of my life. Also, there has always been something on my mind (usually negative) and Grading: A - 6 weeks of IF + at least 35 daily meditations B - 5 weeks of IF + at least 29 daily meditations C - 4 weeks of IF + at least 24 daily meditations D - 3 weeks of IF + at least 20 daily meditations F - less than 3 weeks of IF + less than 20 daily meditations Goal 2 : Walk through middle earth (+3 STA) I saw this at ApfelStrudis last challenge and I had to copy it. Although since I saw The Hobbit last (and I actually read the complete book compared to LOTR); and that book comes chronologically first - I'll do the journey towards Erebor. Well, techically Rivendell comes first anyway. And I have no idea, how far I'll come anyway, but the following is an educated guess. Grading: A+ - Reaching the Trolls A - Reaching Weathertop B - Reach Midgewater Marshes C - Reach The Forsaken Inn D - Reach Bree/The Prancing Pony F - Not leaving the Shire Goal 3 : Hand-Standing and stuff (+1 STR/+1 DEX) Meaning not only handstands, but everything where I need to hold my own weight through my hands. Including especially crow stands and related stuff, since I managed to learn those (for a few seconds anyway) last challenge. If I can get access to paralletes or rings, that would count for this goal, too. Grading: Consistency measuring A - 35 days B - 29 days C - 24 days D - 20 days F - less than 20 days Basic life : Work out and eat right This is not a goal, there won't be any stats awarded for this. But I want to track it anyway. This is the essence of my healthy life, which I've acquired over the last year: 1) Only paleo food will cross through my lips, 2) Do my calisthenics workouts twice a week for every split, and 3) Go to every karate practice. LIFE QUEST – Passing the Trial of Knowledge Grading: same for each goal, consistency measuring again A - 35 days B - 29 days C - 24 days D - 20 days F - less than 20 days Goal 1 : PolSci Final Oral Exam (+1.5 WIS) Goal 2 : JapStud Final Oral Exam (+1.5 WIS) Goal 3 : DevPsy Module Written Exam (+1 WIS)

Hello, all! This is my first challenge with the Assassins, but my, what, seventh with NF? So I will give a brief background for those who I haven't met, yet. I joined NF March 2013 with 50lbs to lose and not much in the way of fitness except a running habit that constantly left me injured. I hopped around throughout a few guilds, namely Adventurers, Scouts, and Monks on a quest to find that perfect combo of training that actually would get me fit and (almost more importantly) not make me cry. In the course of my explorations, I lost about half of my goal (20-25lbs, depending on the day). So, I probably have another 25lbs I'd like to lose. Every guild has been great and I've made a lot of friends, but in the ongoing evolution of me, I decided to run with the Assassins for now. Why, you ask? The sort of fitness I enjoy the most involves flexibility and fluidity/grace of movement, e.g., gymnastics, dancing, martial arts, parkour etc. I can currently do none of these. My journey starts now. Main Goal: Lose Weight I plan to tackle this with the classic(ally boring) two pronged approach: diet and fitness. And in keeping with the suggestions from the NF article Are You Boring?, I am going to stick with what has been working for me mentally instead of changing up my routine every other challenge, with the idea that being boring will secretly develop exciting results. http://youtu.be/bjqGDfQA5zA Goal 1: The Böring Diet No grains and limit sweets to natural sweet additives (honey or real maple syrup) once a week. I've had great success with this plan in the past, I just got majorly sidetracked with the holidays (starting for me with my vacation in October. Oy!) Goal 2: The Böring Routine This means walking 3 hours/week minimum and 2 yoga sessions per week (minimum). Goal 3: Getting to the Good Stuff I'm starting a Hard Hat Challenge to spend 5 minutes every day mastering the handstand. I'm hoping that chasing this shiny will keep me from being too bored with the same old, same old. Plus, it would just be freakin' cool. Aaaaaaaand...we're off!

Hello! I thought about waiting for this challenge to finish in order to start the next one as my first challenge. I figured that I could just work stuff on my own and be fine. BUT! I just realized that I've already started slacking on my life quest! So, without further ado, on to my challenge! Main Quest: Do a freestanding handstand! Goal 1: Do 5 minutes of handstand progressions a day. I've already been doing this for a 1.5 weeks or so. Currently at 60, 42, 30 second wall handstands. I can't believe I went from thinking that I could never get close to even doing a wall handstand, to doing just that after reading just one article! Goal 2: No more desserts! I don't have much control over meals since I have to eat at a chow hall for the next couple months, so I'm limited to what the menu of the day is. What I'm not limited to, however, is dessert. They have SO. MANY. DESSERTS! I need to stop eating them! Goal 3: Work on front-split progression stretching every day. "But Raevn, how does being able to do a front-split help in doing handstands?", you may ask. I don't know! But what I do know is that doing one would make me feel pretty awesome, and feeling awesome makes working on other things much easier! I'll also be taking advantage of free gym access for the next few months by continuing my starting strength progression that I was working on a couple years ago. I started with some lighter weights last month, and have already made it back up to my old max's, with the exception of deadlifts. Looking forward to seeing where I'll be a few months from now! Life Quest: Try to make conversation with at least one person every day. This one is a biggy for me. I've always had some pretty crippling social anxiety, but I'm much better nowadays than I was before. BUT! I can tell I've been falling back into old, bad habits of becoming a loner yet again. So... no more of that! For now, I don't care about how long the conversation lasts, what we talk about, or if they ignore me. All I care about is that I got back out of my shell and at least tried to talk to someone. Scoring: Weekly scores by how often I did each goal. A : Every day of the week B : Six days of the week C : Five days of the week D : Four days of the week F : Anything less My Motivation? I want to live long enough for the chance of awesome sights like that becoming part of ho-hum everyday life.

Main Goal: Become world champion in kettlebell sport. (shooting for the stars!) Where I'm at: Since joining NF in june last year I went to my first international competition, finished my kettlebell-trainer degree + physical tests, set up a small group training, found 12 people crazy enough to train with me and won the dutch national championships. Unfortunately lately I've been struggling a lot and my challenges have been suffering. Therefore this challenge will be focused on getting back on track! Goal 1: 90% of success is showing up! Though it's been an important step to plan and obsess over my training setup, now it's time to just show up and do the work. #do the work 7 days a week, #get used to RPE for logging, #do handstands for fun Goal 2: gotta make weight! Currently I weigh 72kg but I would like to compete in the -68kg. The challenge will be getting there without going absolutely bonkers/crazy/obsessed. Oh and without sacrificing any training or muscle. The plan; #start tracking intake, #100 grams of protein, #shoot for 1700-2000 calories. Goal 3: consistency and support yo. Best training results coincide with good challenge participation and regularly updated threads. The goal is; #update thread 5 times a week. #use it to log training, not just chitchat Finally got a new phone, it has a slowmotion camera!

Basically, follow my training plan for the Semi du Cep half marathon on 9 March. Complete Whole42. Photo document all food eaten. No logging. Handstand work every day, including inverted posture work during Monday yoga. Complete mini body weight workouts M-F and Sun. Wear more black. No stats. No badass points. I'm on a mission to unlock prestige class: ninja. A hybrid scout/assassin with sensory skills and strong genjutsu. Whole42 Meal Plan: week 1 brekkie: bacocauli omelette, coffee w/ coconut, green beanslunch 1: tuna salad pepper cups, avocado, brusselslunch 2: mexican meatza cakes, raddicchio, zucchinisupper 1: choco chili n fixinssupper 2: brats, sauerkrat, sauteed shrooms n leeksPWO: beet salad, boiled eggs week 2brekkie: ham egg cups, coffee w/ coconut, sauteed zucchinilunch 1: spicy almond baked sole, bacon brussels sprouts, lunch 2: pulled pork salad w/ avocado and veggsupper 1: beef and eggplant bake, green beanssupper 2: sambal roasted chicken, ghee soaked cabbagePWO: pikant sardines week 3brekkie: brekkie meatloaf cups, scrambled eggs w/ peppers, coffee w/ coconutlunch 1: sardines, mashed cauli, green beanslunch 2: chicken stirfry lettuce wraps w/ cashews, green beanssupper 1: shredded asian chicken cabbage bowl w/ avocadosupper 2: bacon, mushroom, and beef chili, sauteed zucchiniPWO: cashews Repeat for weeks 4-6

Elastigirl sat in her favorite chair, reading a good book, sipping tea, and enjoying some dark chocolate. She thought she heard a small noise, looking around and seeing nothing, she resumed reading. Then she felt a small breeze blow over her, startled she looked up from her book but still she saw nothing. Puzzled, she got up from her chair so she could investigate. That was when she heard a voice coming out of the shadows “Did you think your training was over? It has not even begun. There is much to learn.†. Elastigirl strained her eyes trying to see who was speaking, “who is this, and where are you?’ Hearing a noise behind her, she spun around “Here, “ said the voice She gulped as she saw who had been standing in the shadows, it was none other than Batman,the Dark Knight himself . Elastigirl stammered,†I am ready for more training, but uh, why did they send you? I usually get my missions delivered by bird†The Dark Knight stared silently at her for a moment then he said quietly, “And weren’t you just complaining how outdated that method was? Elastigirl decides the best answer is to say nothing and wait for further instructions. The Dark Knight continues, “I wanted to save Gotham, but I was powerless to do so, much as you are now†I was willing to undergo the training necessary to save my city. Do you have the will to act? If so follow me†Elastigirl nods, ready to do whatever necessary to train. She also secretly hopes that the training mission will involve at least one ride in the Batmobile. The Dark Knight steps out the door silently, and he and Elastigirl disappear into the night. Elastigirl’s Ninja Training: Goal # 1: Ninja- assassin Leanness They never show the food and diet control part in the montages, because, well let’s face it, that’s the boring part.* But really no training montage is successful without it. You can workout all you want, but if your eating is out of control you will never be assassin lean. If I want to be a true ninja-assassin I need to get my eating back under control, after some holiday laxness. *exception to this is the Rocky montage where Rocky awesomely slurps down raw eggs. 1) Week 1 30 grams net carbs/week 2 35-45 grams. /week 3- week 6 between 40 -60grams 2) Journal at end of day and how I feel (hungry full energetic…) 3) Once a week measure and record : weight, blood pressure, waist Points= 5 CON. There may be a couple evening where we eat at a friend’s house, and even if I am low carb during the day, I still may have to go over a bit, and that is fine. Ungraded from old challenge to continue working on -Keep walking 4 days a week-15 minutes Water-first thing in am,after exercise,tea and/or in afternoon, water while prepping dinner, herbal tea and/ or water in evening Goal #2 Patience and Agility: A Ninja understands that invisibility is a matter of patience and agility. 1)Deadhang: be able to hold a deadhang for 30 60 seconds consistently with effort level of 6 8 30 seconds with a 6 effort 2)Handstand: be able to hold a wall handstand for 60 seconds consistently with effort level of 6 POINTS= 2 STA,2 DEX Goal #3: Mind Your Surroundings 1) Mind Surroundings: Focus Do my workout quickly and with focus, no web surfing during workout POINTS = 4 CON Fitness plan to get there: Kettlebell Rite of Passage including deadhang practice Mon-Wed-Friday /daily handstand practice Mon-Friday /Tuesday and Thursday kettlebell TGU’s/ walking Life Goal: Theatricality and Deception are powerful agents: Unfortunately I do not have a supply of cool defense weapons discarded by the military at my disposal. As an Ninja trainee- I will practice with what I have- Mr. Incredible and I use to play computer games together frequently but we have neglected this lately. Neither one of us have played Portal, and the dark months of winter are a great time to renew our skills. No super specifics of how much time, once we start, I’m sure we will play plenty. This goal is just for fun. Had some serious goals in previous challenges, now we need to exercise our play muscles. POINTS= 2 CHA Side Goal: We are going to Disneyworld/Florida in spring, so I need to get busy planning it.

This challenge will be almost a replay of the previous one for me. During this challenge I will have a 2 weeks vacation which I will spend skiing, hiking and visiting my parents and family. I want to keep the daily practice also those time, but if instead of doing my kata I end up rolling on the floor with the kids, I will consider my deal done for the day (both handstand and kata). Daily rain The only part where I succeeded was the daily kata practice, which I will make "more difficult" this round. This time I am raising the bar to 5 kata or 10 minutes of single techniques (or short combinations) practice + 2 CON, + 2 DEX, + 2 STA The roots in the sky Same as previous challenge, every day I am dedicating 5-10 minutes to handstand + 2 DEX, + 1 STR Seeds I am re-adjusting the teaching side of this challenge: it should depend only on me if I can succeed or not, not on my students. I am reserving 30 minutes 4 times each week (but the 2 when I am on vacation). If nobody show up I have the books of Trias Sensei (founder of Shuri ryu) to read, to strengthen my knowledge of the theory behind the stile + 2 CHA, + 1 DEX, +1 WIS Changing leaves (life quest) Last time I failed in getting in touch with a local lawyer, so here it is +2 WIS As last time, there is a spreadsheet for me to track my activities

Hi all Assassins! I've been thinking about joining this guild for a while and after 4 challenges as an adventurer the time has finally come!! I love calisthenics/ gymnastic workouts, climbing/bouldering, slack lining and some parkour. Any kind of help from you will be very appreciated and of course I'll try to give as much help as possible to you!! here is my main quest and I will soon post my challenge goals! I'm still thinking about which goals I want to focus on but one of them will be for sure hand balancing. I've been training for a while but very inconsistently so now I really want to get better at hand balncing! Main quest: Optimize and improve my health and fitness level. Motivation: Be a superhero with endless energies and amazing abilities;)

Not only is hand balancing awesome, it just might be a necessary survival skill in the event of a Clown Apocalypse! Sign up here

Got to the WOD last Wednesday and it included handstand push-ups. The coach asked what I was going to do and I said "scale" -- either box press or feet on the wall. He asked if I could do a (supported) handstand and when I said yes, he said, "why don't you try a handstand push-up first?" and put down two abmats to make it easier. I got inverted and tried a handstand push-up but came down too fast and collapsed at the bottom. Coach said: "get yourself stable on top before you come down..." and I did it! Woot! The WOD included 5x HSPU each round and 5RFT; I figured I would do 1x HSPU each round and scale the rest... but when I reached the HSPU in the first round I went into 20s berzerker mode and... got 5x HSPU! Woot Woot! After repeating that performance in rounds 2 and 3, there was no turning back... so I blasted out 5 HSPU in each of rounds 4 and 5 to finish the WOD -- reaching for RX, 2 abmats of assist. One of my Fitness Goals for 2014 is to get an HSPU. I'm closer than I thought... need to drop to 1 abmat and then none... Woot!

Third Challenge [ November 11th – December 22th ] Endangered Initiation Part II Actually started this on on Monday, November 4th. So, this challenge will last 7 weeks for me, with the first (unofficial week) being known as Week 0. Where I came from... Where I went after this... BACKGROUND STORY The two old Jedi stood on the high gallery and looked down on the training younglings in the great hall. “He has made some respectable progress, I give you that, Grand Master! But there are still weaknesses in him, that will prevent him from passing the Initiate Trialsâ€, the Jedi Seer said in a low voice. “Know that I do, but point out those to him I will later today! Assume they will be fixed, what do you think?†“Hard to see, even his near future is.... Even if he passes, many masters will refrain from taking him on as a padawan because of his past and the long time he took to face the trials. But some may and then I daresay he will pass his Jedi Trials, as well eventually, and become a knight!†The Jedi Seer looked sternly into the contemplating face of the Grand Master, before he added: “Success and failure are strangely intertwined in his fate, he may become one of the greatest or worst of our order, or maybe even no member at all! †The Grand Master sighed: “So, not only my sight is clouded here, but the force itself refuses to reveal his destiny.... Nonetheless, thank you for your help! Continue to specially guide this one, I will, until the trials or thereafter, when his path will be apparent.†--------- “Of course, you can speak to him, Grand Master!†The lightsaber instructor bowed low, before she shouted into the hall: “Waldgeist, you're practice is cancelled, you have a visitor!†The practicing younglings stopped at once and one of them left the circle to join the Master, calm on the outside, but bursting with agitation on the inside. “So, William Waldgeist, some time it has been, since the last talk, that we had. Fare how did you?†“I'm goo..., I mean, I have improved. But....†“Wondering wether it is enough you do?! This feeling memorize well, youngling, for you will need it all your life to push past the limits others and you yourself will impose on you!†Slowly the Grand Master walked around William, watching him carefully. “But, your thoughts now are focused on the trials, as well they should be! Spoken with your teachers and observed you myself I have. Improved you have enough, that the Council will order your trials somewhere in the next 6 monthsâ€, the Grand Master said in a clear voice, concealing the discussions that had led to this result. Many of the other members of the High Council had been of the mind, that William would maybe never been ready for the initiate trials and should be handed over to the responsibiliy of the Reassignment Council to become part of the Jedi Service Corps immediately. His diplomatic skills and the weight of his word as Grand Master and Master of the Order were the only things that had prevented this decision. But the price has been to fix the date of the trials in the next months, knowing that the time for preparation may not be enough. “I'm ready?â€, he asked with overboarding joy. The old Jedi cautioned him: “You can be, by then. But only if on the path you are now on you stay and focus even more on your goals!†“I will, Master!â€, the proud initatie said and bowed. “More there is, though..... Some flaws remain, made even more obvious by your improvement. All of them we cannot fix in the time you have left, but on the most important we have to focus on!†The Grand Master threw away his crane in a swift motion and without ever breaking eye contact with the youngling stood on his hands. “Both feet on the ground may work as a metaphor but for the movements of a Jedi it is not enough. Become a circus acrobat you will not by the time you're trials happen, but certain basics you will need. Know that you've failed here before and that this is something many a initiates struggle with, I do, but conquer this fear soon, you must!†The initiate wasn't surprised, he'd actually expected a pointer here and had already started to make plans, that would lead to improvement. “More flexible you've become, but still a major problem this remains, so concentrate especially on this as well! Shoulders and wrist are indispensable parts of you body, focus on them, you must!†MAIN QUEST – Mastering the Pillar of Self-Discipline (=Leaning Up/Body Recomp/Functional Body) GOAL I – Kill the dead weight (+2CHA / +1CON) “A Jedi with the force he flows like a leave, not a dead rock he is, blocking its current!†Basically this is a continuation of the last challenge(s), dropping fat by dietary means while not loosing (too much) muscle on the way. My usual nutrition (by now) is almost completely paleo, that's my base line and starting point. I'm also used to up to two 24 h IF sessions a week, but not gonna use them much this challenge I think. Aaaand last challenge I managed to half my sugar intake from about 120 g a day to about 60 g (take that sugar demon, hah!). If you look down, you'll see I'm about drastically reduce my sugar (all carbs actually) intake again and right from the beginning instead of slowly over time. Abtacha pointed me towards the carbnite concept/ketolysis in general, and I searched around for them and similar ideas in the depths of the internet. Long story short, I constructed/calculated the following macros for my personal use/need on (non-)training days, as well as more general guidelines for the refeed day/carbnite window. Since getting enough veggies(/fruits) in with that concept might be a little hard, I'll also be monitoring these. Goal is therefore to hit these macros with a margin of error of +/-5%. Revised after Week 1 Non-workout day: Workout day: Carbnite: Calories 1.685 2.055 3.600 PROT (g) 120 135-150 130 FAT (g) 125 155 60 CARBS (g) <30 <30 630 Veggies/Fruits 5 portions a day 5 portions a day 5 portions a day Grading: A – Hit macros on 36/49 days B – Hit macros on 34/49 days C – Hit macros on 30/49 days D – Hit macros on 26/49 days F – Anything less than D GOAL II – Body Control (+2STR / +1DEX / + 1STA) “Without control over his own body and mind, to be a Jedi is impossible!†Also a summarized continuation of my workout goals from last challenge. That includes Calisthenics, Gym, Karate each twice a week. Grading: A+ – A conditions plus passing green belt examinations in december A – Working out at least 13 times in each category B – Working out at least 12 times in each category C – Working out at least 10 times in each category D – Working out at least 8 times in each category F – Anything less than D conditions GOAL III – Weakness Elimination (+2DEX / +1CON / +1STR) “Mind what you've learned, save you it can from failure at the trials ahead of you!†A couple of things, that I lack or need/want to work on, as I noticed during the last challenge. A general part of this is my flexibility/mobility, bodypart-wise the focus is on shoulders and wrists and last but not least skills-wise acrobatics basics (really basic stuff like falling and rolling, but also the first steps towards the handstand) To tackle those weaknesses I want to incorporate them into my nightly routine, which worked out pretty good last challenge. Now I'll just have to invest 15 (or 20) minutes instead of 5, which should be still manageable. Nightly Routine: Karate (Kata, Stances, Kicks) Rolls (Parkour, Forward, Backwards) Handstand Progression Stretching (Hand-to-toes, ….) Shoulder/Wrist mobility Grading: A+ – A conditions plus wall handstand for about 30 seconds A – 7/7 days a week - 40/49 in total B – 6/7 days a week - 36/49 in total C – 5/7 days a week - 30/49 in total D – 4/7 days a week - 24/49 in total F – anything less than D LIFE QUESTS – Mastering the Pillar of Knowledge (=study/research/write) “A true Jedi is not fooled by informations other give him, he seeks knowledge out himself!†Grading for those will all be the same. One point a day if I actually did something, partial points possible, but higher bar than last time: A – 6/7 days a week - 36/49 in total C – 5/7 days a week - 30/49 in total F – anything less Thesis Finish Quest (+2WIS) Nothing new here as well. Just a closer deadline..... While the survey is running, I need to write extensively on all the chapters not dependend on the survey results, e.g. theory and methodology. After the survey's finished, the time for analysis and interpretation has come. Psy Class Mini Quest (+1WIS) 15 Minutes a day investment for either developmental or personality psychology/diagnostics. Be it reading a chapter, watching an online lecture, summarizing either one, making study cards etc. I want to be able to kick those exams' asses in March, so gotta prepare now! Oral Exam Prep Mini Quest (+1WIS) After I submitted my MA thesis, the oral exams will be the next dragons to battle in order to graduate. For the moment only two things to do here: 1) finding topics (and get them approved, but that is already done for 2/4 professors) and collect relevant literature, and 2) prepare 60 pages of original Japanese literature, learning new vocabulary, new kanji including reading and maybe even some higher grammar (that I don't know yet or forgot because of not using it). 15 minutes a day should be attainable, as well, I think.

Okay, so I typed this up the day this challenge began and I did start, but I didn't post this for whatever reason. But here it is; my declaration of independence! I'm 21 and 140lbs. I've always been doing some kind of sport and therefore didn't really pay a whole lot of attention to what I was fueling myself with. The title reflects my finally taking a hold of that "freshman 15" so to speak... after joining the military I had my first long term food responsibility and I didn't have recreational sports to rely on for fitness. Thus... I put on an inch or two around the belly. I still felt strong but I finally realized that I must consciously make an effort in my diet and in my fitness to be capable of performing anything to the best of my ability. The following is my grading criteria for the next 6 weeks, but I hope to make this challenge a stepping stone for a more conscious lifestyle. My goal is to be fit for my homecoming to my family from Deployment and be comfortable with my body without feeling hungry constantly. Main Quest: Start Paleo, progress further into yoga postures and lose a few inches. Goals: 1. Go to the gym and workout at least 4x per week A = > 5x per week B = 4x per week C = 3x per week D = 2x per week F = < 1x per week 2. Complete a yoga session 3 times a week A = 3x B = 2x with addtl practice C = 2x D = once F = Not at all 3. Reduce intake of foods that fall outside of the Paleo diet to 3x week at most A = < 1x a week B = 2x a week C = 3x a week D = 5x a week F = > 5x a week Life Quest: Meditate for at least 15 minutes a day A = > 6x a week B = 5x a week C = 3x a week D = 2x a week F = < 1x a week Gym regimen and weekly grade out updated daily here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AveGObWP-XrjdHVUeTF3RG5WYlRZWjNDeng4MFJFUVE&usp=sharing Motivation: so that I can say honestly and with confidence the following about myself... I feel strong I am spiritually centered I am not embarrassed about my body I am one in mind, spirit, body, and soul.

This will be a reversed New Years Resolution. Instead of dreaming on New Years Eve about what we want to achieve next year let's achieve one awesome thing by New Years Eve: the ability to handstand (better). Goal: Improve your handstand Mode: Open for everyone. How to take part in the PvP / Grading: Work on your handstand ability everday for 5 minutes (including rests). Since this is mostly a skill and adjustment thing, everyday practice is possible (and recommendable) here.The Grading will be on consistency, every day of handstand practice will be worth 1 point. Winner will be the one with most points, obviously... You can report you progress here (thanks to Hatter). How to join: Post a description of your current ability in the thread now (and at least one other on December 31st or thereabout quoting you first post with the count of your workout days and a description of your handstand ability by then) and I'll add you to the list of participants. List of Participants: -Waldgeist -Mad Hatter -Abtacha -Elastigirl -Batwoman -Melyssa -Mdowning -Cavilie -iatetheyeti -badwolf1138 -Windcatcher -Harika -18ck -Mathieu *Gamer unleashed* -Gneiss Assassin -quietmuse -Lindsey_M -MaxCurtis -MyLittlePony -klaymates -Zebarah -Paradigm -BlackWidowEowyn -Haevyn -QuirkyDM -Ignis Fatuus -

Hello! This is my first challenge as a guild member, since successfully still being here at the end of the last challenge. I am so pleased to be an assassin. I am even wearing a black shirt. It has a white kitty on it, but that's just a decoy so people will underestimate how deadly I am. My main goal, possibly a longer than 1 challenge goal, is to do a handstand (the 'inverted' part of the title). I wasn't sure this was an attainable goal until I read the NF guest post explaining how to build up to it. Grading Full handstand: A Wall handstand (flip up): B Wall handstand (walk up): C Part-way up the wall: D Straight arm plank: E Supporting goals Eat cleaner and greener. Last challenge I ate clean and green, which helped me to feel good a shed a few pounds. Between challenges I've been lax, so it's time to step it up a gear and cut the unnecessary sugars and fats. Plus, if I'm lighter it should be easier to hold myself up. Do yoga when I wake up. Last challenge I failed to go to bed early. Last night I thought that if I wanted to do a little yoga when I woke up, I should probably not sit up watching American Dad. So here I am, an hour of sleep and 2 minutes of yoga better off. Doing downward facing dogs every morning will make my arms and shoulders stronger, while improving my state of mind (that's the 'introvert' part of the title, more about mental health and stress reduction than social introversion). My side quest is to knit lots of scarves to give to my family for Christmas!

Last challenge I (like all other smart assassins) looked forward to reading Devyn's thread. At the end of each of her adventure posts, she would say what items she collected on her adventure. And I thought," I wanna collect stuff!" Since we get to write our own challenges, I decided that this time I get to collect stuff. Deciding what to collect was my next decision. Mario Kart always makes me happy, and what is more fun than racing around a track, and collecting items that speed you to victory! Goal # 1-Lightning –jolting me into action and minimizing the winter blahs Don’t let winter defeat me! Walk 15 minutes a day 4x a week Do light box for 10 min a day 4x a week Earn 1 lightning bolt each time I complete 1 of the above tasks. PRIZES 46 lightning bolts= 2 STA, 2 WIS, and a new tea Goal #2 Turbo Boost Plan meals- must plan meals for the next week on the weekend Use recipes from Paleo cookbooks- 1 x a week- Earn 1 mushroom each time I complete 1 of the above tasks PRIZES 10 mushrooms = 3 CHA and a new cookbook Goal #3 Invincibility and max speed 100 gram Protein and no protein powder, Sunday is excluded Earn 1 star each day I complete both of these tasks- I need to do both of the tasks for 1 star PRIZES 33 stars= 4STR Life goal: Place computer downstairs in evening ( this way it won’t be a banana peel that I slip on in the morning) and unable to retrieve it until 10:30 am Earn 1 coin for each day I complete the task PRIZES 38 coins= 3 WIS and a new item of jewelry BONUS ROUND: If I earn 7 coins in a week, I win my choice of a mushroom, star or lightning bolt to be added to the other goals. SIDE QUEST Handstand PVP PRIZE= Bragging rights and Glory

My long-term goal is still to be awesome, as defined several months ago. Continuing with my quest, I still have several issues that keep coming up, so will address them this round, hopefully making some better habits. Physical Goals Eat low-carb. I define low-carb as anything below 100g of carbs per day, with 60g per day as the target to allow some overshoot. My goal is 100%, but I will count it good if I do it 80% of the time. I have been doing better lately, but not there yet. +2 STA, +2 CON, +1 CHR Work at learning a handstand. My long-term goals include a headstand, but handstands are more impressive. Steve just posted an article on how to gently pull it off. I will practice for 5min per day during the challenge. With any luck, I should be able to do it by the challenge end, since my major problem is dizziness inverted, not strength. +2 DEX, +2 STA Start tracking my workouts again. I used to track repetitions and weight, but my old PDA died and I have yet to find another app to do it well. I have a shiny android phone with a nice display (Nexus 4). I will find an app and start using it. +2 STRLife Quest I love playing my mandolin and violin, but don't do it enough to stay sharp. I will practice music for thirty minutes at least three times per week. Goal is five to seven times per week, but life has been a bit too complicated lately to make this realistic. +2 WIS, +2 CHR

Hello everyone, I am Mathieu , i have decided to do my second challenge with you My first one was all about running, this one will be different and about strength and balance. Main Quest: Develop good workingout habits, just being proud of my progress and continue to fit in my new (much smaller) pants Gain functional strength, develop flexibility and be a good example for my sons. Goals: 1- Do at least a 60 second wall assisted handstand I can already do a maximum a 30 seconds of wall assisted handstand. I will do the 28 days handstand challenge. 2- Do bodyweight 3 times a week I will do at least 3 bodyweight workout series per weeks for the duration of the challenge. i plan to start with the beginner bodyweight workout grom Nf, but I can also do something else if I want to try something different. 3- do at least one hour of running every week it can be a one hour long run (never did before), or two 30 minutes run (did often in the last challenge) I love zombies run and will continue the missions I have started last challenge:) Side quest: work at least 4 hours per weeks in the basement to do my ''motricity room''. A place where I can workout, and were my kids can run and play kinect. I have bought a house two years ago and the basement is not used much because there is a lot of job to be done there. me and my girlfriend have differents work schedule and I don't usually take the time to work on the house when I can. I have no idea if I can do all the work I want to do during the challenge, but i guess with 4 hours a week may be it will be usable by the end of it Motivation: As I have said before I want to feel great with my progress and also be a good example. For my friends (the gamers unleashed), for my family, for future me also. I have lost a lot of weight over the summer just by cycling and having fun, I want to continue get in better shape and do new things and see new places

I need grounding. Few months ago I started a hormonal treatment which is changing a lot my inner balance. It is a good change, but still it puts me out of balance. And for a monk balance is everything . I still aim to become a fully fledge assassing one day, but for the moment I go back to my roots, and since I have been a monk all my life before I joined the rebellion, for this challenge I am back here. Grounding is a continuous exercise, a state of mind, so also my goals will be "continuous", more on building the daily habits than doing some heavy training few times. I'll check my "done" on this spreadsheet Seeds My Sensei died last May. After that I formally joined a new school where I have been training randomly for the past 8 years. I am learning the new style. I also have 2 brand new sort-of-students, two colleagues who discovered that I used to teach karate and asked me to teach them something. They are my "guinea pig" to whom I am teaching the new style. And yes, they agreed on that We work on technical stuff, nothing strenuous, just half hour before work or after lunch. My goal for this challenge is to dedicate at least half hour to them every day. Part of the task is also to keep them motivated so they are also willing to keep training. I take a partial break from the challenge while I am on vacation (15-18 November and 12-16 December) + 2 CHA, + 1 DEX Daily rain New style means new kata to learn. My challenge will be to practice at least 3 kata each day. I could be the same repeated 3 times, or 3 different ones, depending on the feedback I get from the sensei. Since in the school there are also many drills for kyu ranks that I have to learn, I can swap 1 kata with 3 drills. + 2 CON, + 2 DEX, + 1 STA The roots in the sky A couple of weeks ago there was a post on the blog about learning to do a handstand. I joined the 28 days program last week. My goal for this period is to keep my 5-10 minutes of daily practice. Good to work on a different kind of balance (plus, I think it is a cool skill to have) + 2 DEX, + 1 STR Life quest: talking sticks I should go to the dentist for a checkup. And I must speak with a local lawyer to get some documents recognized in the country where I live at the moment. The difficult part for me is to pick up the phone and call them. So my goal is to get an appointment with my dentist and with the lawyer + 4 WIS (2 point for the dentist, 2 for the lawyer)

Elvish monk/scout with eyes set on ranger- I want to do it all. Main goal: Become a super hero! What real nerd doesn't want that! For now though, I’m just a lowly sidekick for hire. You know, when Batman has a wedding to go to and needs his tux but Robin is too busy “fighting crimeâ€. I’m the guy they call. But that’s how you get started in this job- there’s entry level positions in every profession and if it means spending three hours with a sandblaster in Avengers headquarters after the Hulk cleaned out the all-you-can-eat Hot Burrito and Clam Bake Buffet, that’s called paying your dues. Sure some of the other heroes decide to take the fast track, but that inevitably involves horrible scarring, watching your family being murdered or having the rest of your race killed and being stranded on an alien world. I don’t know if I could handle horrible scarring. The real plan is to become a super hero. Well, at least the closest version I can be. All those cool things I see those guys do- I want to do that. Or at least the real world equivalents. Like running fast, lifting heavy, martial arts and whatever else looks like it would be cool to do. At least until I can figure out how to get an enchanted weapon, learn magic, come from another planet or be affected by lethal radiation without it being … lethal. Goal A: Hit the weight room 3/week. (+1 STR) I've just started doing heavy lifting and I’m excited about the progression. I've never been strong; I’m skinny, fast and even good at body weight exercises due to only weighing 130 lbs. But not strong. I want to build a solid muscle base to work off of for future goals. Grade: A: No sessions missed B: 1-2 sessions missed C: 3-4 sessions missed D: 5-6 sessions missed F: More than 6 sessions missed Goal B: 5 second handstand. (+1 DEX) This is one of those cool things I've always wanted to do. The day The Beginner’s Guide to Handstands came out, I started following the instructions and practicing. I'm not able to do a handstand now, but I've got 6 weeks to get my arm strength and balance up enough to figure it out. Grade: A: 5 second handstand B: 3 second handstand C: 1 second handstand D: kick up to wall F: Still doing hand walk up wall Goal C: Full front splits. (+1 DEX) This is another one of those "always wanted to do" tasks on my list. I'm 4 days into the 6 weeks to the splits program. My kicks in sparring have gone down over the years, and they used to be one of my strengths, so I want to bring some respect back to my kicks. Grade: A: Both legs full front splits C: One leg full front splits F: Neither leg full front splits. Life Quest: Take care of finances. (+1 WIS) Tony Stark and Batman afford all those cool toys with money. I like money and cool toys, so I need to take care of this. I have a credit card that was cancelled in August because of a security leak, but I still haven’t switched all my automatic payments over. They’re all charitable donations, so my bills are getting paid, but I should still take care of it. My financial planner has been asking for more details on my accounts for over a year and I just keep shuffling it off. Finally, I’m overpaying income tax because I’m not having my RRSP contributions accounted for on my pay cheque, so I’m using my credit line until I end up getting bonuses or my annual, huge income tax return. I need to take care of all of these things. A: Take care of all this junk. B: Take care of all but 1. C: Take care of all but 2. D: Take care of all but 3. (the financial planner tasks count for 2 items) F: Sat on my butt and got nothing done. Alright, True Believers, time to start training ... right after I give Cyclops his annual eye exam.

HEAD OVER HEELS: a love story Hello, my darling nerds! Every year, as winter approaches, my joints stiffen. But not this year! Where previous challenges have focused on strength training, this challenge is all about flexibility and acrobatics! Although I doubt one-finger handstands are anywhere in my near (or very, very far) future, hand-balancing is the name of the game for this challenge through the holidays! My inspiration for last challenge was Starbuck from Battlestar Galactica, for this one, it's the unstoppably cheerful Ty Lee from Avatar. STRENGTH! STR +3 Continuing with last challenges theme of "strength, grace, power" I'm going to have to continue to muscle up! Can't balance on my hands if my arms aren't strong enough to take the weight! This means lots more pushups and also just a lot of hand-balance practice! I'm going to be turning to youtube and other online sources for a variety of ways to improve arm strength toward hand-balancing poses, so please, if you have ideas or suggestions, post away! A: 10 pushups 4x per week, practice hand-balance 4x per week. B: Miss 2-3 days C: Miss 4-5 days D: Miss 5-6 days Fail: Miss 7+ days GRACE! DEX +3 As I mentioned earlier, flexibility is key! I'm hoping to begin attempting some awesome hand-blanaced yoga poses. I'm still a leetle weirded out by yoga as a concept, but "twisting my legs into cool shapes in the air while balancing on my forearms" is a challenge I can get behind. I hope, by the end of this challenge, to be able to perform one new, awesome, legs-in-the-air yoga form. A: Hold and photograph awesome legs-in-the-air form of my choice, stretch/yoga 6x per week. B: Hold and photograph awesome legs-in-the-air form of my choice, miss 2-3 days of stretching/yoga C: Miss 4-5 days of stretching/yoga, fail in form. D: Miss 6-7 days of stretching/yoga, fail in form. F: MIss 7+ days POWER! CHA +1, CON + 2 Ok, so the picture doesn't apply. I just liked it, so sue me. This goal is all about food! I've fallen off the wagon considerably when it comes to eating clean. My meals are great, but my snacking is atrocious. Quitting "bad" food cold turkey has proven unsuccessful, so I'm going to wean myself down. Most important is to get back off dairy. I know I'm allergic, I know I shouldn't eat it, BUT I LOVE CHEESE. Sigh. So, dairy products, sweets, processed foods, etc, all count as "treats" for this challenge. I'm not going to include alcohol this time because I really don't drink that often anyway and when I do, I'm out with friends. I'm staunchly against my health regimen interfering with my social time. A: 2-3 treats per week B: 4-5 treats per week C: 6-7 treats per week D: 8-9 treats per week (but at this point, who am I fooling?) F: 10+ treats per week WORDS! CHA +1 Always the words challenges with me! Well, November is National Novel Writing month and as per usual, I'm participating. So, the challenge is to complete and hit wordcount every day! RUBRIC! Freakin love Duality's rubric, folks, so we're using it again! Strength! 0/4 0/4 0/4 0/4 0/4 0/4 | 0/24 Grace! 0/6 0/6 0/6 0/6 0/6 0/6 | 0/36 Power! 0/3 0/3 0/3 0/3 0/3 0/3 | 0/18 Words! 0/7 0/7 0/7 0/7 0/7 0/7 | 0/42

Time for round two. Better late than never. Intro: This is onlineannoyance, I live in the great northwest United States. I made a decision about my weight and lifestyle when I hit 275 lbs and 25-30% bodyfat in February; I decided that I wanted to be healthy and energetic instead of unhealthy and lethargic. I first noticed NerdFitness in June and have really enjoyed reading along with other peoples' success in for their health. Last challenge i decided to join in and I ran into some trouble with time. I was able to keep up with my challenge, but for the second half of the challenge I had difficulty keeping up with posting on here. I will do my best to post more frequently this challenge. I also was not involved with many other members challenges last challenge, I want to change that for this challenge and get to know some of you guys better. Main Quest: Last challenge was about cementing good habits to replace bad habits; this challenge is about continuing those habits, dealing with some extra needs for those habits, and adding on some extra fun. Specific Goal 1: Maintaining the Heavy Iron I had some issues with getting enough recovery for doing weights last challenge, this challenge I have adjusted to a routine with less volume of each exercise that I think should allow me to continue to build muscle while cutting fat. +4 STR Grading: Number of lift days, A > 16 16 >= B > 13 13 >= C > 11 11 >= F Specific Goal 2: Long strides towards success I successfully completed the C25K program last challenge and have continued to keep up doing 30 minute runs with 5 minutes warmup and cooldown. I am shifting this to twice a week for this challenge to help with my weightlifting recovery time. For some weeks, one of my runs may be replaced by refereeing multiple games of soccer on the weekends. +4 STA Grading: Number of runs, A > 10 10 >= B > 8 8 >= C > 6 6 >= F Specific Goal 3: Bend but don't break One difficulty I faced last challenge was my lack of flexibility making proper form for squats and deadlifts difficult. I also have not been a terribly limber person ever in my life. I have decided to take a swing at that this challenge and have made a stretching regimen that I plan to perform 3 times a day. I may adjust this or change which stretches are involved as I find out what works and what doesn't. +3 DEX, +1 CON, +1 WIS Grading: Days stretching, A > 38 38 >= B > 32 32 >= C > 26 26 >= F Side Quest: I saw the guest post by Chris Salvato a while ago about handstands. I have tried to learn to do a handstand in the past and have failed. I looked through the information on his site and have emailed him and I want to make the handstand challenge my side quest for this challenge. Ultimately I would love to be able to do a freestanding handstand pushup, but first I have to get to a handstand. The progression involves slowly making your way up to handstands starting with wall planking and going on from there and involves doing a bit of practice every day. +1 CHA, +1 DEX, Grading: days practiced, A > 38 38 >= B > 32 32 >= C > 26 26 >= F Motivation: During my last challenge I managed to lose about 13 lbs and managed to drop a couple of inches of my beltline. This challenge I want to continue restructuring my body in a healthy manner. Hope to get to know a few of you better through this challenge

THE SETUP I know the next challenge doesn't start until November 11 but... I can't resist College. Senior year. A director friend, M. Doyle, asked me to play a part in a student film she was working on called Project Delta. Despite my shyness and lack of acting experience I said yes. Best decision ever. Because of the excitement around the project and the fact that I had to look good on camera while doing fight choreography over multiple takes, I consistently exercised and was in pretty good shape. It turns out that nothing in the world gets me motivated like being in a film does. From this base I have two slightly divergent reasons that I'm really motivated this time around. DIVERGENCE ONE: HATTER Doyle and I are turning the story idea behind the film into a webcomic called DELTA that she's writing and I'm illustrating, and because I've been looking at the characters so much recently I've decided that my character, Hatter, is kind of tired of being trapped in my body. I want to become more like her. Physically. Because I definitely do not want the violent homicidal tendencies and insanity DIVERGENCE TWO: TAKE OVER THE WORLD I saw Doyle recently and she mentioned another film idea she's been thinking about in which I would play the villain... again (Type cast much? Haha! I promise I'm not actually evil...). The outfit I would wear would be of the tightly-fitting variety so if/when this film happens I'd like to actually look good in the costume. It would also make a rocking awesome GLaDOS costume so I will be using it as such, meaning that I have until February to shape up as much as possible. SO THE POINT OF ALL THAT IS... I'm slim and at peace with my pear-shaped body, but I'm the consistency of a well-worn throw pillow. I'd like to be stronger, gain some muscle mass (and definition, but it's more important to me to be strong and healthy than "toned") so I will not only look good but will be able to do physical activities as needed without feeling like I'm going to keel over and die. GOALS 1) HATTER HANDSTANDS. No real reason for this except I would feel super cool if I was able to do a handstand. And Hatter would love it. She's such a goob. (Yes, I talk about my characters as if they're real people. It's normal.) I started working on this back during my Project Delta days and worked up to being able to do a wall handstand for about 10 seconds but I haven't done any for a while so it's back to square one. Success means I can hold a wall handstand (or close to one) for at least 30 seconds by the end of the challenge. STR1 DEX4 2) SHAPE UP FOR WORLD DOMINATION. I started doing some light weight training this week so I'm going to keep that up every other day and increase the intensity as I feel comfortable. I'm focusing on my arms and abs mostly. I've made walking a habit so I'm not as worried about my legs. I will keep track of how many reps I do and how heavy the weights are so I can track improvement. I will consider myself successful if I feel good about my improvements by the end of this challenge. STR4 3) FUEL UP ON PREMIUM. I have a gluten intolerance and a couple of other food-related problems. My family is supportive, but it's too expensive for us all to go gluten free and they sometimes forget that I need to eat differently, leaving me to scrounge the fridge while they're eating fancy lasagna or breaded chicken with broccoli (which I love but my esophagus does not). I've wanted to take charge of my own meal plan but our house is tiny and there's not enough room for me to have a totally different food area for my stuff. I've decided the best way to handle this is to take over all the meal planning for the whole family. That way I can control what is eaten, reduce and provide myself alternatives for gluten-containing meals, and help out my very busy mom at the same time. I will be successful if I can make a healthy and relatively inexpensive meal plan, and cook at least three of the major meals for the whole family each week. CON3 WIS1 SIDE GOAL. I've never been consistent with reading my Bible except when I was in college and brought it with me to study between classes. I'd like to make it a habit again, so I aim to read and study at least 15 minutes a day every day. I know 15 minutes isn't much, but I need to start somewhere and it's better than what I'm doing now! WIS2 A PRESENT FOR YOU! I also wanted to share a Level Up Tracking Sheet that I designed and have been using for the last three challenges. It's really helpful to me so I figured someone else out there might like to print it out and use it. It was too big to download into this post so you can find it here.

Hi all, My main quest is to be able to do a freestanding handstand in six weeks time, generally following the schedule by Chris Salvato (http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2013/10/24/how-to-handstand-better-than-luke-skywalker). Also, I'm reading some other books/websites on this, for example www.goldmedalbodies.com en Chris Barrett. Right now - which took me about two weeks - I can hold a wall handstand with my hands some 50-60 centimeters from the wall for about 30 seconds. My three goals are basically handstand pratice and core strengthening exercises: 1. push-ups to 50 (I can now do about 25) 2. sit-ups to 100 (now about 50) 3. do handstand practices at least 2 times a day for about 5 minutes each time As I'm new here, I hope this more or less covers the information I'm supposed to give. Please do not hesitate to contact me! Good luck in your challenges, Adriaan

THE SETUP College. Senior year. A director friend, M. Doyle, asked me to play a part in a student film she was working on called . Despite my shyness and lack of acting experience I said yes. Best decision ever. Because of the excitement around the project and the fact that I had to look good on camera while doing fight choreography over multiple takes, I consistently exercised and was in pretty good shape. It turns out that nothing in the world gets me motivated like being in a film does. From this base I have two slightly divergent reasons that I'm really motivated this time around. DIVERGENCE ONE: HATTER Doyle and I are turning the story idea behind the film into a webcomic called DELTA that she's writing and I'm illustrating, and because I've been looking at the characters so much recently I've decided that my character, Hatter, is kind of tired of being trapped in my body. I want to become more like her. Physically. Because I definitely do not want the violent homicidal tendencies and insanity DIVERGENCE TWO: TAKE OVER THE WORLD I saw Doyle recently and she mentioned another film idea she's been thinking about in which I would play the villain... again (Type cast much? Haha! I promise I'm not actually evil...). The outfit I would wear would be of the tightly-fitting variety so if/when this film happens I'd like to actually look good in the costume. It would also make a rocking awesome GLaDOS costume so I will be using it as such, meaning that I have until February to shape up as much as possible. SO THE POINT OF ALL THAT IS... I'm slim and at peace with my pear-shaped body, but I'm the consistency of a well-worn throw pillow. I'd like to be stronger, gain some muscle mass (and definition, but it's more important to me to be strong and healthy than "toned") so I will not only look good but will be able to do physical activities as needed without feeling like I'm going to keel over and die. GOALS 1) HATTER HANDSTANDS. No real reason for this except I would feel super cool if I was able to do a handstand. And Hatter would love it. She's such a goob. (Yes, I talk about my characters as if they're real people. It's normal.) I started working on this back during my Project Delta days and worked up to being able to do a wall handstand for about 10 seconds but I haven't done any for a while so it's back to square one. Success means I can hold a wall handstand (or close to one) for at least 30 seconds by the end of the challenge. STR1 DEX4 2) SHAPE UP FOR WORLD DOMINATION. I started doing some light weight training this week so I'm going to keep that up every other day and increase the intensity as I feel comfortable. I'm focusing on my arms and abs mostly. I've made walking a habit so I'm not as worried about my legs. I will keep track of how many reps I do and how heavy the weights are so I can track improvement. I will consider myself successful if I feel good about my improvements by the end of this challenge. STR4 3) FUEL UP ON PREMIUM. I have a gluten intolerance and a couple of other food-related problems. My family is supportive, but it's too expensive for us all to go gluten free and they sometimes forget that I need to eat differently, leaving me to scrounge the fridge while they're eating fancy lasagna or breaded chicken with broccoli (which I love but my esophagus does not). I've wanted to take charge of my own meal plan but our house is tiny and there's not enough room for me to have a totally different food area for my stuff. I've decided the best way to handle this is to take over all the meal planning for the whole family. That way I can control what is eaten, reduce and provide myself alternatives for gluten-containing meals, and help out my very busy mom at the same time. I will be successful if I can make a healthy and relatively inexpensive meal plan, and cook at least three of the major meals for the whole family each week. CON3 WIS1 SIDE GOAL. I've never been consistent with reading my Bible except when I was in college and brought it with me to study between classes. I'd like to make it a habit again, so I aim to read and study at least 15 minutes a day every day. I know 15 minutes isn't much, but I need to start somewhere and it's better than what I'm doing now! WIS2 A PRESENT FOR YOU! I also wanted to share a Level Up Tracking Sheet that I designed and have been using for the last three challenges. It's really helpful to me so I figured someone else out there might like to print it out and use it. It was too big to download into this post so you can find it here.