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TLDR: ⏹️ daily photograph of to-do-list (doing optional), ⏹️ daily 2L water, ⏹️⏹️ gym 2xweek. Long: I am keeping things relatively small this challenge, mostly wanting to get back in the habit of regular check-ins. Looks like I’ve been AWOL since Feb/March, so a brief update on the life stuff that’s happened since then/thereabouts. Health: I have been diagnosed with ADHD and been taking meds for it after coming off the old anxiety meds, they help very much and while I am the same person much is different about how I go about my day-to-day. While I still get RangerBrain(TM) it is now less fueled by chaos. Being hydrated is important for my meds to function correctly. The meds are still affecting my appetite but no longer to concerning levels, I am able to lose weight now (unclear if from new meds side effect or old meds had a sticky-weight side effect), and have been slowly trending down since March at a sustainable level. Once ‘healthy’ weight is reached I will have to take care to eat enough to maintain, and currently I have to take care that I eat enough nutritious food because I am full quickly. My shoulder is almost entirely healed, I cannot sleep on that side still, and I have to take care when doing things at extended range (outstretched) but otherwise close to ‘normal’ and no longer seeing the physio. My personal trainer sold his gym last month and moved interstate which is so sad (for me! He’s living his best life lol), so I have signed up for a ‘fitness passport’ which allows me access to lots of different gyms. I have specifically joined the one at my work, so I can prioritise working out when I am on campus. I may increase my in-office days to two this challenge, or I may find another closer-to-home gym to get my second weekly workout in, yet to be seen. Work& Study: I started a new job as a manager in HR in March. I like my team, they like me, it is going well. It is also one day in the office and the rest WFH which works very well for me. I have finished my permaculture design certificate, and cert 2 in Auslan, and am now taking a break from studying. Love & life: Mx and I are still going strong, semi-regular river walks and snorkeling when the weather permits. Mx has also been assessed for ADHD and will be starting meds soon. We have made some new friends with a couple and Mx plays magic with one of them one evening most weeks, we sometimes go birdwatching the four of us, and Mx is running a DnD campaign for the four of us plus Mx’s sister. For challenge purposes I will likely refer to them as BirdFriend (they/she/he), MagicFriend (he/him) and Sister-in-Law (she/her). Our decade long campaign is currently on hiatus as one of the members (Best Lady) is finishing her placement for speech pathology. Both cats Mischief and Mayhem are doing well, though Mischief still needs to lose some weight. CHALLENGE GOALS PROPER Goal the first: take a photo of my ‘do-to-menu’ each evening. I don’t have to do all the things on the list, I don’t have to share the photo with anyone, but I must take it. It is a modified version of the daily, weekly, monthly and seasonally lists from UFYH. Goal the second: Twice a week go to NewGym. This can be the gym at work, or any of the gyms that take the fitness passport. If I go Zumba-ing with Best Lady, this also counts. If I do a massive birdwatching walk, or a big snorkel/swim I may substitute for one gym sesh. Goal the third: drink 2L water each day. I have a cute water bottle with measurements on it and the weather is warming up, so this should be achievable. THAT’S IT! Looking forward to following along with old nerdfriends and new and wish you all the best for your respective challenges!

Welcome, my fellow nerds, to my eighth step in a healthier direction! I've been keeping my focus on small habits to practice consistency since my history of falling out with exercise stems from losing momentum. I also want to avoid burnout, so I'm doing my best to make my goals fun. Apparently (based on the length of what I've composed here) more fun means more details? lol XD For context: I've been playing various iterations of Animal Crossing for 15+ years, and last fall Cid gave me the Switch version New Horizons. I anticipated the immediate obsessive reaction I would have to playing it, so I postponed until I finally started it a little over a week ago. One of the new features I like in this new version is the Nook Miles+ Rewards that give you a bonus reward for doing the first five tasks, and if you want to continue playing, more rewards without a bonus will spawn as you complete the tasks in hand. Ahead, I've got a list of the Nook Miles+ Reward challenge names from ACNH, a list of the exercises done in the plaza of ACNH, and all my numerous wordy thoughts on how I intend to adapt the challenges into my own goals so that if I put them all on Index cards and shuffle them into a deck I'll have a random draw of which five goals will get a double point bonus for getting done. XD I'm sharing the list of the tasks so that anyone can pick as they please. My picks are whichever I can pair with my personal goals. If you join me in this ACNH-themed 5-week challenge, you are neither limited to my selected tasks nor to my interpretations of what I do to accomplish them. Tbh, I am not entirely sure the list is complete despite being found online since I noticed a few missing, and tacked them on at the end. Even so it's pretty long. The first thing that made me consider this theme for my 5-week challenge was the stretching that can be done as a daily activity in game. I want to scale back my goals so that I have a daily goal to do that warm-up first thing in the morning, and/or last thing at night. I don't have the ability to do it in the video game because I don't have the joy cons, but I do have the ability to do the exercises without the game giving me credit for it. So I've compiled the list of stretches used in the little exercise. That being said, I already know I'm including the "Stretch to Refresh" challenge because it's already a goal I want to accomplish every day - even if I don't pull the index card. It can be a warm-up for other exercises, but I am going to consider just doing these warm-ups their own goal in attempt to promote motion. I will keep track of my daily streak in my attempt to do the stretches every day. My next thought is the fact that my coloring project I originally included as one of my crafty options for my Artificer goals *never* got touched in all of January. But I *do* want to color and draw. My solution is to disguise it in a less daunting facade. I'm using "Chop Down a Tree" as a goal to sharpen one pencil. That puts me in the place where I can use said pencils. In the same theme, "Plant a tree" would be a challenge to draw something, and "Plant a fruit tree" would be to color something. I could also include "Chop 10 Wood" as a journal prompt or letter-writing assignment. "Talk to 3 neighbors" immediately goes into the ranks with little creative thought needed. So long as I make contact with three friends by the end of the day, this goal will be met. To be honest, that's a very necessary goal at this time. I can try spreading it out to one per mealtime if reaching out to three at once seems daunting. I'll include the DIY project challenges, but strangely enough, not for my quilt. XD I'm thinking "Make 3 DIY projects" could be writing for 30 minutes (maybe in sprint mode), and "Customize 2 things" could be editing for 20 minutes (or contemplative writing). That way I get started on the second draft. It's not going to revise itself. XD I *do* want to include my quilt as a goal, though. I think it'd be a good match with "Pop a Balloon" (because needles and pins are sharp?), and the goal could be to get a thread's length of quilting done. "Sell 10 Seashells" fits with an activity I've already been spending some time doing: sifting through my phone's gallery, trying to delete the excessive hoards of saved images. I'll also apply "Sell 20 Weeds" to this task because I move files around while I sift through them. "Sell 20 weeds" is moving 20 images to trash or folders, and "Sell 10 shells" is moving 10 to trash. Another aspect of sifting through my folders of pictures is sharing them. "Sell 5 fruits" can be sharing 5 pictures with friends. "Sell a hot item" could be sharing a picture on Facebook. I feel like the goals for catching bugs and fish would be a funny way to get points for eating fruits and vegetables. The goal of catching 5 fish would be to have an abundance of vegetables at my meal. The goal of catching 1 fish could be to go and get an unusual veggie (we almost always have carrots, onions, or bell peppers, but we do like plenty of other veggies that a diverse array is viable... potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, celery, asparagus, salads, corn, etc.) Likewise, for fruit, catching 5 bugs would be to have an abundance of fruit, and catching 1 bug would be to get one that I don't usually have on hand (I love so many fruits, that it's basically anything except apples which I almost always grab for an addition to my lunches). "Water 8 flowers" should definitely be to use my enormous Hufflepuff cauldron mug for my water. XD That thing hydrates like magic. But I don't know what "Planting 3 flowers" would be in that sense, so it may not make it into the challenge. That fine - it wouldn't be the only challenge that I liked but didn't have a goal to align the challenge with. I haven't made any of my index cards yet. 18 things to do is a lot, but I wonder if I might just get standard points for each task until I have made the index cards? Can't get a x2 bonus until there's an index card to pull? I've already had a few days to make them, but maybe I'll get them made this week, or slowly as I go, or I'll never have them made to pull and still get ridiculous point counts despite having no bonus. XD I'm basically just trying to make something that sounds fun. It looks like I put a lot of effort into pairing my things with an existing list, but I really am just going with whatever sounds reasonable to me. I hope it doesn't come across as too zany or hard to follow. And to avoid the broken link emojis, I'll just be keeping track of the Nook Miles I earn? I'm hoping taking credit for a lot of small successes this month helps me keep doing things I like. Have a beautiful day! Sincerely, Maerad

It's been a while since I've been consistent and intentional with focusing on my health and fitness goals. There are many reasons for this - shoulder surgery this autumn, the pandemic, feeling guilty that I want to change my body even though I love myself, the list goes on and on and on....but I'm ready. I'm done wishing that I had started taking the steps to reach my goals. I'm done starting over again and again and again. I’m done letting other people’s opinions determine what I do, or don’t do, with my body. So, I’m using the time during this holiday challenge to hone myself for the new year. Challenge Quest #1: Paleo Prep I'm not as bad as I used to be, but still have a lot of room to improve. I am moving to a paleo approach to eating, so the weeks leading up to the first challenge of 2021, I will be cleaning things up to make the transition that much easier. I'm already mostly gluten-free but will be removing all grains, aside from white rice from my diet. I will also be removing added sugars, and mostly removing alcohol - I will be completely cutting out alcohol for the first challenge of the new year. Challenge Quest #2: Cardio I am so slacking here. Big time. I'll be bringing strength training into my routine with the first challenge, but I want to build up my aerobic fitness. I'm terrible about holding my breath when dancing and doing more intense cardio. I'm going to do thirty minutes of cardio everyday. This can be any kind of cardio - low-intensity steady state, HIIT, dancing, yoga, whatever. Just thirty minutes of getting my heart rate up every single day. Challenge Quest #3: Hydration I love drinking water! I really do. But I can be really bad about staying hydrated during the colder months of the year. I have a beautiful 64oz water bottle that I carry around my house with me, I will be aiming to drink two full bottle everyday. Side Quest: Physical Therapy I need to stay consistent with doing my daily PT exercises for my shoulder. I've been slacking a bit, and I can't do that. I have a lot of exercises to choose from, but I need to do at least ten minutes every day. I'm getting started a bit late, but better late than never!

x

This challenge is inspired by the quote above. Start of the Challenge: September 26, 2016 FITNESS GOAL: Bike for atleast 1KM a day. Extra credit: (1) do 1 set of: 10 squats, 10 push-ups (or as many as I can), 30-sec one leg balance (each), 30-sec plank or (2) Jog uphill and back for a total of 10 minutes. Frequency: everyday, preferably early in the morning Off days: (1) if I'll be sick (learned this from the previous challenge) (2) not in the province/home DIET PLUS GOALS Even though I don't have any diet/nutrition goal, I just stick to the format I had from last challenge. [1] Sleep on/before 10PM Extra credit: 7-day streak Frequency: everyday [2] Drink atleast 2 liters of water. Extra credit: 7-day streak Frequency: everyday ACCOUNTABILITY GOALS [1] Post on the forums Extra credit: everyday Frequency: 3x a week [2] Post on blog. Extra credit: 3x a week Frequency: once a week LEVEL UP YOUR LIFE GOAL Get a job. End of the Challenge: October 23, 2016 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I have a vague level up your life goal again. Anyways, this is all for now. I will share to you how I track my progress in all of my quests and I also need to figure out how to score this thing. I'm all alone in our living room, and the dogs are howling and barking outside this time of the night, it gives me the creeps. *shivers*

My ultimate goal is to fit comfortably into UK size 14 trousers. To do that, I need to drop a dress size and I want to do this by losing fat. I feel like I've got a good grip on workouts and food / diet so this challenge is about getting through a stressful time at work by making good use of my spare time, looking after the basics whilst still indulging my creative side. 1. 200k steps! STA+2 CON+1 CHA+1 Strap on the pedometer, get up and walk around. A = More than 221k steps B = 211k steps to 220999 steps C = 200k steps to 210999 steps F = Fewer than 200k steps. 2. Powerpoint! WIS+4 My employers have provided me with an advanced course in Powerpoint, all paid for, but I need to find a few hours a week to learn it, practice it and take an exam. I aim to take my exam by the end of May. A = Learned, practiced and exam date set B = Still practicing, nearly there C = Still learning, not sure whether I could pass the exam but I will take it F = Nowhere near ready, will have to defer the exam. 3. Hydrate! CON+2 CHA+2 My body is showing signs of dehydration. This needs to change, since the weather is getting warmer and more water is needed. Also I'm aiming to lose fat and variations in hydration can affect measured body composition. I will be recording the amount of water I drink and making sure to drink when I am thirsty. My target is 3.5 litres per day. I'm treating this like a 30-day hard hat challenge for the whole of the 6 weeks. Pass = Never miss 2 days in a row Fail = Miss 2 or more days in a row. 4. Dolly garden! DEX+3 Does that sound rude to you too?!? My home storage facility (*coughs* - dollhouse - *coughs*) was built in June 2012 yet two of the rooms still are not decorated. Being an unconventional type, I want one "room" to be a garden. It needs paint, wallpaper, flowers and a fence at least. At the moment it's just a dusty white box which is full of random stuff. A = What a beautiful dolly garden! B = Mostly done but needs a little more work C = Shows signs of improvement but looks like a building site F = Still dusty and full of random stuff.

The Second Confluence: (+100 points to whoever gets the reference ;D) Hi guys, this is my second challenge and it feels awesome to move on from the Recruit forum, woo! (see my first challenge here if you're curious) I'm hoping to tackle a few problems that came up in my last challenge revolving around food and some ineffective SMART goals. I also want to continue my Corpse Bride t-shirt saga, and will post up progress photos every two weeks, donning this miraculously stretchy shirt of mine (see below). Starting Measurements: Bust: 40" Waist: 34" Hip: 40" Thigh: 27" Upper Arm: 12" Starting Weight: 179 pounds My Main Quest: To quit food binging. This was a problem I wasn't aware of until halfway through my first challenge. I had "upped my game" after two weeks of success, overwhelmed myself and became on the verge of giving up altogether. While I fought through this, the rest of my challenge was littered with binge nights, usually twice a week. I want to beat this by catering my challenges towards this goal, and hopefully set myself on the right path to true nerdy awesomeness. Day 1 photos (taken from Day 42 of the previous challenge): Quest 1: Complete three exercise routines a week. I've recently discovered NR neilarey.com, and after a lot of consideration I've picked out these three workouts to complete - The Uncharted Workout, Lara Croft and Power 10. These should help strengthen a variety of muscles over the next six weeks and also ramp up the difficulty from the BBWW I completed previously, which became quite easy towards the end. I'm also hoping to complete at least five deep push-ups before the challenge is done too. A = completed 18 workouts [+3 STR], B = completed 12 workouts [+2 STR], C = completed 6 workouts [+1 STR] Quest 2: Eat less. Part of the binging problem was the portions of food I had. A common phrase I hear is that "All food is good for you - in moderation". While I think some foods are just inherently bad for you whichever way you look at it, I do agree with this statement and I want to keep a better eye on my food portions these next few weeks, specifically for dinners and snacks. I will make the effort to correctly portion out both my snacks and meals every day with scales before eating them (or looking at the back of the packet to see how much a portion is), so I don't eat anymore than I need. By Day 42, I want this habit to be well ingrained into my head so I don't deviate from this again. Measurement: A = 35-42 good portions [+3 CON], B = 28-34 good portions [+2 CON], C = 21-27 good portions [+1 CON] Quest 3: Have two cups of tea or a pint of water every evening after dinner. This sounds easy to do and hopefully will be, but the secret plan here is to fill my stomach up with liquid rather than food and stop me from snacking as much during the evenings. Note that I'm not banning snacking completely as I hope this quest will work well in conjunction with quest 2 and limit the quantity of my snacking. I also don't want to outright ban myself from eating certain foods, but instead develop a better and healthier relationship with eating over time. Measurement: A = 35-42 hydration [+3 WIS], B = 28-34 hydration [+2 WIS], C = 21-27 hydration [+1 WIS] Life Quest: Start and complete a Games Design Document for a game idea I want to develop. The idea in my head is extremely vague right now, but if I complete a decent GDD in the next six weeks, then I'll have a concept that can be developed further. I've done a few GDD's during uni, so I know the general structure of the document, what content needs to be included and to what depth. With any luck by my next challenge, I'll have a game to start creating! Measurement: A = 100% GDD [+3 CHA], B = 75% complete GDD [+2 CHA], C = 50% complete GDD [+1 CHA] Motivation: I want to become the fitter and healthier me and set myself up this way for the rest of my life. Plus it never hurts to be stronger than the average person! I also want to be able to cosplay more often and I refuse to do this without better physique. If I'm gonna nerd out, I'm gonna do it properly. ;D So now that's all typed out, do you know what time it is, Adventurers...? Time to kick ass.

I haven't been happy with my progress the last couple challenges, no excuses. It's time to double down and get back to basics. I'm going to focus on Lifting, Running, Hydrating, and Recording. Main Quest: a ) Finish this challenge as intended. b ) Under 200 Lbs by 30th birthday (12/04/14) Mini Quests: 1. Workout more frequently [sTR +3] [DEX +2] 6am workouts alternating with running & lifting. Angry birds workout with added dumbbell workouts. Success is dependent on getting to bed early. A = 5 workouts B = 4 workouts C = 3 workouts D = 2 workouts F = <2 workouts 2. Hydrate [WIS +1] [CON +3] Drink 1+ Liters of water each day. Cut out all juice, booze, creamer. Coffee & Tea are permitted, but no more than 2 per day. A = 5 days B = 4 days C = 3 days D = 2 days F = <2 days 3. Record Keeping [WIS +2] [CON +1] Track food/drink on MFP A = 5 days B = 4 days C = 3 days D = 2 days F = <2 days 4. Clean house [CON +1] [WIS +2] All dishes done before bed + 15 minutes of clutter clean up. A = 5 days B = 4 days C = 3 days D = 2 days F = <2 days Starting Stats Weight Waist Hips Chest Biceps Legs Calves Neck

Mission: Mother Nature with Muscles​ ​Requires mastery of biology and ecology. Requires strength, stamina, and agility. ​Execution: Obj "Ostrich": Run 3x weekly. Note: In the case of tropical storms, may accommodate runs with a 2:4 two-week set. Obj "Holy Anole": Pushups 3x weekly. Require no less than 30. Size of set discretionary. Obj "Armadillo": Core workout 3x weekly. Secondary Obj "Seeds of Knowledge": Pass Biology 6-12 FL Teaching Certification Exam. Note: Pass/Fail. Also, in the case that certificate grades does not come back by end of challenge, P/F will be evaluated by completing the XAM workbook and pretest. Tertiary Objective "Root in Ever Flowing Waters": 64 oz fluid per day, excluding diuretics. Harvest: 2 Str, 2 Sta, 1 Dex. 2 Str. 1 Str. 3 Wis. 1 Sta, 2 Con. Total: 14 Motivation: Integrate nature into the daily lifestream of myself and others (learning and teaching). Be an exemplary human mentally and physically.

DING! WeyrCat is now Level 6. Gains: 3Str, 2 Dex, 2 Sta, 2.9 Con, 2.6 Wis, 2.2 Cha. (=14.7 points spent). Last month my husband challenge me to start running again. I spent a long time "off" due to a combination of injury, the malaise that comes from thinking you might never better, and then re-injury from overdoing it. SO. I started really slow, at really short distances, but I'm running three times a week now! My challenge is largely centered around maintaining that. Run 3x, any distance, 2Sta/3Str. I put on some weight thanks to not running and getting close to the end of my bachelors. So, I'm also working on that. Calorie Deficit (weekly*500*7), 2Con/2Cha. I am, again, attempting this water goal. I do alright when I'm not at the computer, oddly. Unfortunately I spend a lot of time at the computer. Water 8x8 (daily), [Tea counts, coffee doesn't,] 2Con/1Sta/1Dex. These are what I'm really focused on. I probably won't add more quests for points, but am constantly trying to tweak little things too. I don't post as often as I should or want to, so I'm working on that. I'm a married Labrador-mommy, in college Full time+, and for the next couple weeks am a one-woman-show. Not sure if that will make things easier or harder (heh, less to clean but have to do ALL the dog-time). SO. On with the show! ---------------------------------------------------------- Updates: Goal Development Week: (May28-Jun02): IP: Run 3/3, H2O 4/4, Deficit 4/4. SCORE: 100 A *This week is 4 days long because I did not solidify the goals on the first day of Preweek. Week1 (Jun 03-09): Run 3/3 Deficit -6000/-3500 Water 7/7 100% A. Week2 (Jun 10-16): Run 3/3 Deficit -5500/-3500 Water 7/7 100% A. Week3 (Jun 17-23): Run 3/3 Deficit -3700/-3500 Water 7/7 100% A. Week4 (Jun 24-Jul 01): Run 3/3 Deficit -3550/-3500 Water 7/7 100% A-. Week5 (Jul 02-08): Week6 (Jul 09-15):