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For those unfamiliar, Iroh as a character from the show Avatar the Last Airbender. He was a wise peaceful man, whose past as a general was full of victories and skill. I personally thought he was a great thing to aspire to, so I will take those first steps in this challenge. My challenge is broken down into three manageable parts each one focused on a different aspect; body, mind, spirit. Since training one without the other leads to imbalances and weakness, I want them all to get better. The Body: Enjoy what is good, as often as possible. Reason: One of the major parts of Iroh's personality is his love of food, tea especially. I am a line cook, so I know how to cook quite well. But I continually find myself not eating or eating things that make be feel terrible afterwards. So this part of the challenge is to fix this and have my body running on good healthy food. Plan: When I cook and have the time, I actually eat very well. Including a massive amount of vegetables. However it is when I am rushed or looking for quick energy that I eat terrible things for me. So the plan is as such. Begin to carve out time for two meals a day, one in the morning and one in the evening, with small snacks in between. My work has plenty of options for snacks, so it is chiefly the meals at home I need to focus one. The main battle will be when I need something fast before leaving or heading to bed. So for the mornings I will be making sure that I start making up overnight oats, or keeping fruit on hand. Ideally granola as well, even though it isn't perfect. For the evening making sure there is sandwich materials on hand and making some dressing ahead of time, as given half a chance I will eat a large salad and a sandwich leaded with veges. In addition on my time off actually cooking larger meals. Forgetting to eat is a goal. Also no more dairy as I am lactose intolerant. Measure of Success: I will measure this with a weekly grade of fifteen points. Two for each meal a day and one for getting good things at the grocery store. At the end I will tally the points and see how I did. 100%: A, 90%: B, 80% C, 70% D, and Failure after that. Reward: By doing this I will feel better, as I will have a constant supply of energy and not be going up and down constantly. In addition not eating dairy will stop bloating, which makes it easier to move and breath. The Mind: Study both deeply and widely. Reason: Iroh was known not only for his skill in certain areas, but also in the breath of his knowledge. He continually learned about new things, and applied them to his own interests. As such I will make time each day to read. Plan: I enjoy reading so there will be no need for it to be forced, it is mainly finding the time. I will set aside the last half hour of the day before bed to read each night. In addition I will count any time reading articles online towards this, if only because it is still reading. Measure of Success: I will be using a similar method as above, giving myself one point a day every time that I read. I will also give myself the option of reading articles for halg an hour a day to gain an additional point. This way if I don't read one day, I can double up to make up for it for a short while. 100%: A, 90%: B, 80% C, 70% D, and Failure after that. Reward: Reading is good for the mind, and I genuinely enjoy it. By reading both books and articles I let myself learn more deeply about one topic, while still keeping up to date. Plus it gives me a way to relax at the end of the night. The Spirit: Many arts are better then one. Reason: Iroh knew many ways of bending and incorporated them into his bending. I have been doing Tai Chi on and off for various reasons. While it may not be the style that speaks most to me, it is a very useful one. Plan: Every day I will do ten minutes of Tai Chi. I have not worked out when in the day is best, so the fist week will be trying various times of the day. Ideally I would prefer the morning, but we shall see what works out. I have a basic form that I know and will do that, with a few minutes of breathing meditation beforehand to focus. Measure of Success: I will tally how many days I did it at the end of the challenge, with the same break down of success as before. This one however will not reward extra practice, as it is more about establishing a routine. Reward: Tai Chi helps with the little aches and pains I have, as well as giving me a way to relax and center myself. In addition the concepts behind it seem like they would be useful in other martial arts. Any questions or comments are appreciated, I love good feed back! Especially as it may help me further refine or trouble shoot.

Howdy Rebels! I am totally new to all of this but I am also super excited to be here! A Little About Me: First off, I'm from the beautiful Aotearoa / New Zealand / Middle Earth , so all my measurements will be in kilograms and centimeters I'm an undergraduate student living a pretty sedentary lifestyle at the moment. I love Waka Ama (Outrigger Canoeing) and I love to dance. But being overweight and unfit puts a bit of a curb on my ability and enthusiasm to do these things (I know, vicious cycle). I haven't always been overweight, but I've never been skinny. At 17 I was about 60 kgs (which, now, would be amazing!!), but compared to my other friends at Waka Ama... I was big! So my plan for my first challenge ever is to keep my missions small and manageable. And hopefully this will be the key to my success! Starting Stats: Gender: Female Height: 168 cm Weight: 115 kgs Pant size: 18 (uncomfortably) so who am I kidding? It's 20 Motivation: I want to live fully! I want a full life where my body is my vehicle driving me towards my goals and opportunities, rather than a burden and a hinderance. I want my body to be as sharp as my mind so I can pull of sweet moves in laser tag. I want to run around all day and create my own entertainment rather than living vicariously through people on t.v. Main Quest: I want to go down one clothing size: pant 18, top 16 Missions: Take a walk 5 mornings a week 100 continuous squats Run 3 km Life Quest: Sing Love on Top by Beyonce It sounds like a really weird life quest. But I also love to sing and with a bit of confidence, training and weight loss I think I could improve my voice enough to nail this beast of a song. Finally: (Warning: This is where it gets cheesy ) Why is my username Tiroh? Well if anyone has seen Avatar: The Last Airbender they would know that Uncle Iroh is epitome of BAMFness. And when he gets thrown into prison he resculpts his body back into a fine-tuned fighting machine in order to escape. Like Uncle Iroh, I too will escape this prison (of my own design) and reclaim my former glory!