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The first challenge of the year is so arbitrary but feels so momentous. I have a brand new plan for 2018 (psst, you can see it here) and I am determined to make this year successful. And that's what it will take, Determination. I know my motivation will wane, life will get in the way, and times will get tough. I will still be here, fighting. Historically, I do better with longer challenges and since this year starts off with a longer than the new norm I don't plan on wasting it. I've been here long enough that I have a decent foundation to work with but it could use a little work to support all the wins 2018 has in store for me. I've spent the time to work on these basic habits; it's time to put them all together. The first challenge of 2018 is all about fixing up the foundation and taking some big steps on my Roadmap. There may also be a touch of RangerBrain but I regard that as a positive thing. It usually correlates to a positive attitude. In order to accomplish so much, I've got to do this by the numbers. 2018 By The Numbers 1 - Heart Rate Zone test. Perform one Heart Rate zone test to determine HR thresholds. I am not looking at getting too sciency here. This is an area I don't yet know a whole lot about but I'm learning as I go. Plus I want to be able to use the equipment available to me, which is minimal so the less tech I need, the better. I'll use the test from this site, which is basically using a talk test and perceived exertion scales. But with this information I can program my new Fitbit with my own approximate numbers and try to train smart. 2 - Litres of water daily I've gotten a little loosey-goosey with this habit recently. 3 - Daily Bujo Tasks I know this system works well for me to stay productive but I've gotten out of the habit again. As a matter of fact, I realized a few weeks ago I didn't even know where my bujo was. I've since found it. 4 - YNAB Check ins I need to check in with my YNAB budget 4 times during the challenge. That is approximately every weekend. This makes it easier to stay on top of things financially so I know what I have to spend to stay within my budget. 5 - Variances 1 variance allowed per week so that's 5 total for the challenge. 1600 - calories I don't really mind logging calories. I tend to eat the same thing for most of the week so it's easy. I don't have to log though as long as I keep my meals compliant - which is mostly Paleo plus moderate amounts of dairy and limited whole grains. 7 - Hours of sleep I'd prefer a bit more than this. 8 feels about right and if I could stick with that I can just about manage to get up for work without an alarm. But that's a lofty goal and I'm focusing on my foundation habits. Consistently getting 7 hours of sleep keeps me healthy. 8 - Lift Days My schedule includes 2 lift days per week. The extended challenge has room for more but my focus is more on getting lean with cardio. 8 lift days will complete an entire 5/3/1 cycle and that's good enough for me. 10,000 - steps I got a Fitbit for Christmas and I am loving it. I had a tracker a few years ago but it kept falling off and I ended up losing it. Having the Fitbit has given me something concrete to aim for. 15 - cardio workouts My workout schedule includes 3 cardio days a week. With the extended challenge I have room for 14. 15 sounds better and since this is my primary focus for 2018 I need to squeeze in an extra cardio session somewhere. I'm not getting too technical here either, although it will help to have some HR zones to work with. I've been reading a lot about LSD (long, slow distance) vs intervals and HIIT. They all have advantages and frankly, at my level, any consistent cardio work will lead to improvement. So why not all of it? I have in mind including 1 long steady cardio workout, 1 interval, and then 1 higher intensity HIIT but anything will count. The X Factor There are a few other habits I'd like to work on but I don't have specific goals in mind. I need to keep them a priority so I'll report on them even though there is no specific quantity that is passing. X New compliant meals In order for my current food plan to work, I need more complaint recipes in my rotation. I have been falling back to my usual but that requires exceptions and then logging food. I'd like to get away from that. I tend to only cook 1 big batch dinner a week so that limits the opportunities to try new meals. X Pomodoros I have really been struggling to stay productive at work. I am lucky in that I am awesome and I can get a lot done at once so I can keep up, but at the same time it's a bad habit and I could be doing more things if I spent my time better. I've added the pomodoro timer to my Google Chrome and started using that to stay focused. I don't have a specific number of tomatoes per day since every day is different with various meetings. I work a 8ish hour day so the closer the tomotoes + meetings is to 8, the better. The rest of time I am getting some work done, but I'm also on NF, or something in between. Tracking: Week 2 1.9/2 litres of water OOOOOOO 8/7 hours sleep OOOOOOO 2265/10,000 steps OOOOOOO 1274/1600 calories OOOOVVO -/3 daily tasks OOOOO - - Week 3 2/2 litres of water OOOOOOO 7/7 hours sleep OOOOOOO 10,114/10,000 steps OOOOOOO 1456/1600 calories OOOOOVO 3/3 daily tasks OOOOOOO Week 4 .5/2 litres of water OOOOOOO 9/7 hours sleep OOOOOOO 6762/10,000 steps OOOOOOO ?/1600 calories VOOOOOO 3/3 daily tasks OOOOOOO Week 5 2/2 litres of water OOOO 7/7 hours sleep OOOO 3696/10,000 steps OOOO 1654/1600 calories OOOO 3/3 daily tasks OOOO