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After my last challenge I realized that biking all the time has gotten me into better shape, but at the same time has also geared my body into the same repetitious movements over and over that really are only working one aspect of my form. I want to obtain complete control over my own body. This is mostly inspired by a rereading of Musashi's Book of Five Rings (Go Rin No Sho) which I did as a pick me up in the last week of the challenge. Musashi often talks about how a warrior cannot separate his normal life from battle, both in body and in mind. I kind of want this to be my over arching sub goal for this challenge, and even though he speaks of becoming a warrior, Assassins need mental and physical discipline even more so! So for the next few challenges, I'm going to try and model my quests off of his teachings and see if that helps me. Main Quest: Slight change, my current main goal is to be under 18% body fat by my honeymoon. I realized that the weight number itself doesn't bother me, it's the stuff hanging off the sides that does. "In all things concerning the body in the martial arts, make the every day body the body for the martial arts ,and the body for martial arts the every day body." Starting Weight: 209 lbs Start of Challenge Pic: (coming tomorrow) Quest 1:I want to become completely in control of my body, so my first goal is to start off with 3 body weight exercises a week, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. That totals up to 18 BW workouts, and I aim to hit all 18. I'll be using the Angry Birds Workout combined with some dynamic stretching from Ido Portal to increase my mobility. Measurement: A = 16-18 workouts total, B = 13-16 workouts total, C = 10-12 worksouts total F= Aything less Stat Points: DEX - 3, STA - 1 Fun Goal: Increase Wall Handstand time! Currently I'm at about 12 inches from the wall and go about a minute, so pretty soon I'll be working on my kick up! I just want to keep track of how I'm doing here just for fun. Quest 2: I've got a problem. I do pretty great at eating healthy, but it ends up being a mad rush. I want to start planning ahead better and knowing my menu for the week without causing stress with last minute meals. So my challenge to myself is to plan each week and have everything ready by Sunday night (skipping week 1, sadly). Measurement: A = 17-21 healthy meals a week, B = 13-17 healthy meals a week, C = 8-12 healthy meals a week, F = anything less Sub Goal: Plan each week in advance with grocery lists and pre cooking on Sundays. (5 planned weeks) Stat Points: CON - 3 Quest 3: Musn't neglect powering up the heart and lungs for better cycling! I really fell in love with the Viking Warrior Conditioning last challenge, and am going to continue to incorporate it into my weekly training while downgrading it to two sessions a week. Measurement: A = 11-12 sessions, B = 9-10, C = 7-8, F = Anything Lower. Stat Points: Str - 3, STA - 3 Reward for all of these: Getting to look good in this clothing optional hot spring: Life Quest: Track all spending. Sometimes money seems to disappear because I forgot I spend a little here and here and here, etc. I'm budgeting, but I could be succeeding a lot better. Measurement: A = Solid and consistent money tracking., B = Missing a few days, C = Spotty and inconsistent. Stat Points: WIS - 2 Motivation: I want to be in great shape physically and financially coming into this marriage. My fiancee is in much better shape physically and I'm super competitive!