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Hello all! So glad to be here one again for another challenge after a long-ish hiatus. I'm here because this is a particularly challenging season is our hobbit hole and now, more than ever, is a rich time for personal growth and perspective... as well as an opportunity to start lifting heavy again, as always. In the past week, my we found out my mother in law's stage 4 cancer has spread further into her pelvis and spine, my husband was laid off from a large (very comfortable!) tech company is a massive bloodbath, and both children have been down for the count with RSV (no sleep, my friends). All of this various levels of challenging and also a moment where I realize I can be very Hobbit-like, at least of the Shire variety, in that I enjoy stability, regularity, and the known and, of course, the nature of life is that it is unstable, doubtlessly with surprise you in sometimes painful ways. Going to channel my inner Took. So, my main goals at this time is to explore this time of instability and find opportunity in the discomfort, continue to workout goals, make and effort towards writing my PNW small town urban fiction novel. GOALS: - write 5 things I'm grateful for each day - declutter basement - do something relaxing every day - spend some time each week working on novel WORKOUT PLAN: currently I workout doing beachbody workouts (it's convenient w/ a toddler and entertaining!) 5-6 days a week new plan: heavy lift day in garage, lower body focused upper lift day (bodi) DAY OFF (going to take nap time on Wednesdays to just chill) heavy lift day in garage/heavy lift day inside with dumbbells depending on day, lower body focused barre (bodi) barre/full body fun tinmes (bodi) Stay tuned for some hard work!! Life Lately: bright day at the beach house

Greetings, Nerds! There is a hint of fall in the air in Pennsylvania today, and I'm thinking about what sort of fitness goals I'm going to set for myself this winter to stay active once my summer adventures come to an end. And so I proudly reveal to you, my quest to master Middle Earth: On September 1st I will be starting my Walk to Mordor. Here is Steve's article on walking, including walking to Mordor with a document to track if you want to follow along: https://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/walking/. Once the Chin Up Challenge is done, I'll tackle the Lord of the Rings workout, which is awesome, and can be found here: https://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/the-lord-of-the-rings-workout-one-plan-to-rule-them-all/. The workout is designed to be done in three super sets, which looks insane to me. I'll be doing them as three separate workouts. Lastly, once I'm in a routine with the above two goals, I'll think about adding in some ring work to start working towards a L-Sit and truly become THE LORD OF THE RINGS! Thanks for following along, looking forward to saving Middle Earth with you all!

My dear Bagginses and Boffins, and my dear Tooks and Brandybucks, and Grubbs, and Chubbs, and Burrowses, and Hornblowers, and Bolgers, Bracegirdles, Goodbodies, Brockhouses and Proudfoots... In keeping with the official zero-week mini-challenge, I will be continuing the March toward Mordor, with the hopes of reaching Bree by the end of this round (135 miles). Accepted modalities of travel: 1. Walking (of course) The goal is for at least half the miles to be actually traveled in the preferred Hobbit manner. 2. Borrowing a bike pony from Tom Bombadil (with limits) I want to save this for if I am having trouble meeting my mileage goals, particularly since the mileage will be a significant increase from my current level by about 50%. No more than 37 miles permitted in this mode (from Tom's house to Bree). 3. Using a MAP After some internal struggle, I decided that my bodyweight-style workouts (MovNat Adaptive Practice -- see what I did there?) can count toward some of the miles. They typically involve climbing, jumping, crawling, balancing, amd other skills a hobbit might use to say, carry a heavy pack, scramble into a ravine to avoid a ringwraith, or climb out of a barrow to escape a barrow-wight. I can typically walk 3mph, so since this counts for movement over rough terrain with a heavy pack, I will count 2 miles per hour of MAP. This will likely add up to 6 miles per week, or 36 total miles. Second goal: Stay out of Farmer Maggot's crops (aka stick to calorie goals). I seem to do well with calorie restriction for a few days, and then cravings (or social events) hit me like a pile driver. I want to set a caloric goal of 1400/day for the challenge and stay within that guideline +/- 50 calories. Goal Three: find some place quiet where I can finish start my book. I plan to attempt NaNoWriMo this year, which means I need to spend this challenge in writing prep (character profiles, worldbuilding, and maybe *gasp* an outline). I want to spend a minimum of 2 hours per week WRITING, split up however is convenient. Research, however necessary, does not count, because I tend to research for years without writing a word. The Road goes ever on and on, down from the door where it began....

Hello, 2022! [Preamble] 2021 was quite the year. We spent our first full year in the Forest which has been an experience! I also (unexpectedly) went back to full time work for the first time in nearly 10 years, and for the first time at all since I became a mother. I changed my eating habits and lost extra 10lbs that had been following me around since before the pandemic started. In many ways 2022 will be about continuing and carrying on, but instead of just finding my feet in my new reality, I want to get some forward movement, too. [About Me] I’m a 42 year old American woman living in the forests of England with my British husband (Mr) and pre-school son (Enting). I work in gamedev and when I’m not doing that, I’m tending to my garden, doing needlework of some sort, playing games (of various sorts), and exploring our local woodlands. [Goals] My fitness goals are pretty simple: Reach Mordor Finally finish my (tracked) journey to Mordor. I’m 1000 miles away! I’ve been wanting to complete this challenge since the early 00s (when it was called the Eowyn Challenge), and I’m sure I’ve been “there and back again” several times over, but I’ve never managed to track the whole thing. I want to finish my walking route to Mordor by November 2022. My goal for this challenge is 25 miles a week. Eat PAI Continue with PAI. For this challenge, I want to build up to an average score of 75 (and actually maintain it). Eventually, I’d like to get up to 100, but I’m building up to it. Maybe next challenge… Down Another 5 I’d like to trim down another 5lbs, although not necessarily all of it during this challenge. This will be done with increased activity and continuing to watch my portion sizes/limited snacking. It doesn’t sound like a lot, I know, but I’m now in the range where I find losing weight (let alone keeping it off) to be really difficult! My goal is to weigh less than I did at the start of the challenge. Tracking will be done with a minimum of weekly updates, and of course will include plenty of Owlshire photospam. [Challenges] It’s likely that my husband will soon need to start commuting part of the week to his studio and I’ll be regularly solo-parenting which will require some routine adjustments. My household has a tendency to catch every germ (except, so far, Covid) that comes through the Enting’s preschool. I do not exaggerate when I say this happens about every other week. This tends to knock down my fitness goals since I become housebound looking after people even if I’m not sick myself. I’d really like to work on alternatives for when I can’t go for long hikes in the woods—which is my preference, but can’t always happen. Admin note: I always start on Week 0, and I track from Monday-Sunday.

[Preamble] Hi rebels! I’ve been on a challenge break, but recently started doing a Daily Weekly Battle Log/Epic Quest with some longer term fitness plans. I thought I’d join the holiday challenge madness and see if I can do a bit more! [About Me] I’m a 42 year old American woman living in the forests of England with my British husband and pre-school son. I work (remotely) on the narrative side of gamedev and when I’m not doing that, I’m tending to my garden, doing needlework of some sort, playing games (of various sorts), and exploring our local woodlands. [Goals] My fitness goals are pretty simple right now: Reach Mordor Finally finish my (tracked) journey to Mordor. I’m 1100 or so miles away! I’ve been wanting to complete this challenge since the early 00s (when it was called the Eowyn Challenge), and I’m sure I’ve been “there and back again” several times over, but I’ve never managed to track the whole thing. I want to finish my route to Mordor by November 2022. My ongoing goal is 20 miles a week, but for this challenge I’d like to stretch it to 30 miles a week. Eat PAI About this time last year, @oromendur introduced me to PAI, which wasn’t working well for me as a satifying metric early on, but I’ve decided to start tracking it again. For this challenge, I want to build up to an average score of 75 (and if I get there before Christmas, maintain it). I’m also shatteringly close to reaching my weight loss goal for the year, so hopefully I can hit that, too! Tracking will be done with a minimum of weekly updates, and of course will include plenty of photospam. Admin note: I always start on Week 0, and I track from Monday-Sunday. Week 0 is going to be an odd one—I’ll tell you more about it later!

So this challenge most definitely isn't just an excuse for me to gush about Faramir... but there will certainly be gushing. He's a skilled fighter but he prefers scholarly pursuits and is kind and gentle. He welcomes Aragorn to the throne even though it diminishes his power as Steward. He doesn't allow his father's blatant favoritism to corrupt his relationship with his brother. What I'm saying is, the world would be a better place if we all tried to be more like Faramir. For this challenge, I'm trying to be more like him in two areas: Resist the One Ring "I would not take this thing, if it lay by the highway. Not were Minas Tirith falling in ruin and I alone could save her, so, using the weapon of the Dark Lord for her good and my glory. No, I do not wish for such triumphs, Frodo son of Drogo.” My One Ring is my phone. Over the summer I made a lot of progress in not wasting time doomscrolling or playing mindless games, but there was lots of backsliding last challenge, which kills my evening routine particularly. The rule for this challenge is going to be no phone time after dinner, answering texts or phone calls allowed, but no social media or games. Part of the reason I backslid last challenge is because evenings I didn't feel like reading I'd end up on my phone instead. So to help combat that, I'm going to take up crocheting again (and possibly try some knitting.) It gives me something to do with my hands that is easy on my eyes and is also a productive hobby. Actually, part of the problem is it's too productive, as I got away from it because I was running out of people to give scarves to. We have a sadly high number of students with pregnant girlfriends at home, however, so I'm going to look into making baby stuff to send home with them. Technically we're not supposed to bring stuff in for the boys, but that's more to prevent favoritism and contraband and all that. As long as I run everything through official channels, it shouldn't be a problem. And if it is, there's plenty of other places I can donate stuff, but this has a more personal touch to it. Know What I'm Fighting For “I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend.” Another part of the reason I didn't do so hot last challenge is because I lost my focus. All summer I didn't do much, but it was purposeful. Fall came and I lost that sense of purpose, so for this challenge I will spend some time introspecting on what my long term goals are and why I'm pursuing them. So basically, figure out my Big Why, in NF lingo. Also, instead of putting up a big to-do list and then feeling bad if I don't get it done, I'm going to pick one thing to do, put a reason down with it, and then focus on that until it's done and it's time to pick a new thing. First goal is going to be to clean my room because I think a lot of my head-fuzziness and feeling a bit out of control directly stems from letting my bedroom turn into a disaster. I'm going to start with "the chair" (why does everyone have one of those chairs that just accumulates stuff?) because that's where the mess always grows from. If I can keep it under control, it makes it much easier to keep everything else squared away. So those are the two big goals, but I'm going to try to keep my Middle Earth garden from previous challenges in shape too. I even have a Faramir quote for that: Then Faramir laughed merrily. 'That is well,' he said; 'for I am not a king. Yet I will wed with the White Lady of Rohan, if it be her will. And if she will, then let us cross the River and in happier days let us dwell in fair Ithilien and there make a garden. All things will grow with joy there, if the White Lady comes.” In the spirit of the challenge, I'm going to strip back most of my routines here and rebuild them with definite reasons for why I'm doing everything. Athelas: My morning routine is so much harder now that it's dark when I wake up. My goal here is to hit the snooze only once (might eventually go to zero, but we're taking baby steps.) The reason is that gives me more space for the rest of my routine once I'm ready for it and because Gingersnap does really well through the night, but she really needs to go outside and get some attention first thing in the morning and it feels mean to keep getting her hopes up and then dashing them by hitting the snooze. Also going to put making my bed as part of this challenge because it's already an established habit and an easy win first thing in the morning is nice. Old Man Willow: Last challenge I scrapped my evening routine because it wasn't happening and simply went with a bed time of 10:30, which went pretty well. I'm going to widen that out to a goal of going to bed any time between 10 and 11, which gives me some flexibility with my evenings but also adds in some structure and routine, which is something that helps me out and also because I am still training a puppy who absolutely thrives on routines. Adding in brushing my teeth before bed because dental hygiene is important and I'm going to be really mad at myself someday if I need expensive dental surgery because I was too lazy to brush my teeth. White Tree of Gondor: I am super stoked for the revamp of the NF bodyweight workouts being rolled out next month in NF Prime. We'll see how things are looking November 8th, I might jump on them right away, or might save them for a future challenge. For starters here I'm going to shoot for yoga/some sort of stretching 3 times/week. My back has been really tight lately, mostly I think due to barn building, but I might be having mattress issues as well. Currently debating if a topper will help or if I should just bite the bullet and replace the whole thing. Laid down with a heating pad for a while last night and it felt so much better, made sure to sleep on my back and woke up pain-free for the first time in a little while, which was really nice. But it tightened back up on the way to work, which stinks. Might be too much sitting in the office as well, so I'll have to be more conscious to move around more. Haven't been wearing my Garmin lately, but I'll either have to bust that out or set an alarm to tell me to get up and walk. (that goal started really clear and then got kind of fuzzy. I'll firm up the move-at-work goal by the end of zero week.) Party Tree: Gingersnap's puppy classes are done for now and I'm waiting for the next round of classes to get announced. Eventually planning to do agility with her, I think she'll kill it. Not sure yet if I'm going to try taking her to competitions or just playing around with a local trainer. Either way, we'll both get exercise and have some fun and will hopefully also meet some like-minded people I can hang out with. I'm also still working on finding a church where I can build a Fellowship because spiritual growth really does take a village. I really like the ladies at the Thursday Bible study, but they're a very insular group. They have not been the least bit unwelcoming, but they all work together, or with each other's husbands, and all live within like one square mile of each other. The same is true of East Main as a whole, after 3 months I still don't feel like anyone really sees me there on a Sunday, and the couple of Sundays I went elsewhere, no one seems to have noticed. Last two weeks I went to Grace Anglican, and the liturgical service is something I was looking for in a new church. Not making any hard decisions now, but I am going to keep exploring Grace Anglican, and possibly a few other churches in the area. Not everyone at the Thursday night study is a member of East Main, so I'm not completely crossing them off the list either, even if I end up going elsewhere. Did not make it down to my friend Bud last challenge, partially due to truck problems but also just procrastination. However, I literally just paused typing this up to text him, so that's already being addressed. Two Trees of Valinor: Spending time outside is good for my health physically, mentally, emotionally, pretty much every way. I'm reminding myself of that because as the weather turns, this is going to have to get more attention from me, but for now it hasn't been an issue. As it gets colder, I also need to make sure my water intake stays up because it's the building block of life and also because drinking more water means drinking less sugary stuff and leaves me feeling lean, mean, and ready to go.

I’m Ann of Vries, often Adventurer and occasional Ranger. I decided it was time to do my semi-annual “holiday” to the Rangers Guild. I’m an American currently living in London with my British husband and 2 year old son (more on him later). However, this urban status is to be short lived as we are in the process of purchasing a woodland property in the magical Wye Valley/Forest of Dean and expect to move there this autumn/winter (move date TBD). (You may not have heard of the Forest of Dean, but you’ve probably seen it. A lot of movies and TV shows have been filmed in its faerie tale woodland.) Meanwhile, I’ve been on a pilgrimage of my own to follow my heroes the Fellowship of the Ring on their Walk to Mordor. During the last challenge, I just missed my goal of arriving at the Trollshaws (211/221 miles). For this challenge, I will put my chin up and continue my journey. The recent months have been difficult—there’s been the global pandemic crisis, of course, and myriad challenges caused by Lockdown restrictions in the UK. My husband was unemployed at the beginning of the pandemic but thankfully found a new contract in the midst of it and has been working from home—which presents its own challenges. (He will eventually be commuting to the Midlands part-time and working from home part-time, probably starting early next year.) Oh, and there’s all of the issues of moving house as well, which isn’t easy even during the best of times. But then there is also my toddler, the Enting, who is in the throes of the Terrible Twos and can foil my attempts at lengthy walks and... well, anything and everything else I’m trying to accomplish! The Challenge: Find the Entwives There are a great many tasks involved in any moving of home, and this one of course is no different. We need to keep on with the solicitors, get the building survey done, go through our things, decide what’s going with us and what’s going away, set up a removal service once we have a date, etc. Part 2 of this search for the Entwives is to Find Joy in Growing. The Terrible Twos have been pretty hard on me. I want to remember the joy of little Entings instead of spending this time always feeling exhausted and frustrated. Beyond Rivendell I’m about 100 miles from Rivendell, but I intend to get much further beyond it. My goal is 205 miles—which should take me just past the “6 Days Past Rivendell” milestone on my Walk to Mordor app. This is based on an average of 6 miles a day starting in Week Zero. These miles are taken straight from my Fitbit—they include any puttering about, errands, long walks, chasing of toddler, etc. I stick to challenges better when the record-keeping is easy and straight forward. Learn from the Rangers They say that you’ll be chasing your toddler until you’re exhausted and in a way that’s true, but I’ve found that doesn’t seem to include going on long walks which has always been my principle form of exercise and was fine when he was littler and less mobile since I could just put him in the carrier or buggy and go as far as I wanted. Add in Lockdown restrictions/social distancing in a big city, husband working from home, preparing for selling/buying/move of homes, and I’ve found my weight frustratingly ticking up. I need to find alternatives I can do in a shorter time frame—preferably that don’t require much (if any!) kit change, new equipment, or set-up since I just don’t have time for that (and I’m trying not to buy things when we’re about to move). This is an exploratory goal. I aim to try different things over the course of the challenge with intent to choose one (or some) to continue with by the end. They don’t have to be formal “exercise.” One idea I have is just playing “tag” with my toddler in the park. (Suggestions welcome!) Maintain or Lose I want to either maintain my current weight (which is admittedly a touch higher than I prefer), or make progress on it going down. I’m already a pretty “clean” and healthy eater, so I feel that weight gain is mostly about my activity level. Ever on we go....

We're going with a supporting character this time for the Ranger Mini, one of my favorites, Sam Gamgee. He wasn't the most dashing, or the strongest, or the smartest, but he was awesome. Very Rangerly with that pipe. More details will come, but for now, declare your intentions to join the mini by declaring your four feats for the challenge. A Cooking Feat. A Strength feat: A Climbing Feat: And a Combat Feat: Week 1: Week 1 is here, it's time to Fight! Sam didn't take crap from anybody, especially not giant eldritch unbeatable spiders. Honor Samwise by completing your combat feat this week. Week 2: Well done on the fighting. We need to recover our strength from combat and prepare for the weeks ahead. Time to refuel with the cooking feat! Week 3: Now that we have some energy, lets go get that strength feat! Week 4: Well done on the first three weeks. By process of elimination, today starts climbing week!

Accept that that's exactly what this Accountabillibuddy group will do! This group is for those nerds out there who 1. have walking as part of their current challenge and/or 2. are fans of the Lord of the Rings. (While I'm not a huge fan myself, I didn't think a Wizard of Oz group would be as popular. ) According to our own Nerd Fitness blog here, one can walk to Mordor. With help from this website, we know that it's about 1779 miles from Hobbiton to Mount Doom. Our goal, between the members who join, will be to walk the first 458 miles from Hobbiton to Rivendell, between us, for this 6 week challenge. That's about 65 miles for 6 weeks, or about 11 miles per week per person if we only have 7 members. Future challenges may continue from Rivendell to Lothlorien, etc. but they say the journey begins with the first step so let's make it to Rivendell first! Frodo and Sam couldn't have gone all that way alone, the fellowship was key to their ultimate success. So we shall be encouraging others here as we strive to reach Rivendell by October 26th. Rules 1. Sign up in the official Accountabillibuddy spreadsheet here. 2. Follow this thread and other members threads by clicking the red 'follow this topic' button at the top right of your screen. 3. Post a short introduction about yourself, what your walking challenge is and how it pertains to the Lord of the Rings. 4. Spreadsheet to track our walking is here. Members 1. elinox = Follow the Yellow Brick Road 2. deepforest = deepforest continues her quest for more stamina & better health 3. deerskin = Deerskin is heading to Tom Bombadil's! 4. Seriousleigh = Seriousleigh - Night shift madness 5. Amdhiel = Amdhiel's Perpetual Quest - Challenge 1 6. Targilnar = Down from the door where it began 7. davidized = Getting Back on Track

I'm a very driven hobbit who works harder and harder until she accomplishes her goals. Often I push a bit too hard... until I fall completely to pieces. Last challenge ended with the threat of falling to pieces. I don't want to go there. Maybe if I take enough time to stop DOING new stressful things, I will enjoy BEING the hobbit I am. Maybe it's time to simply be my whole hobbit-y self. Maybe it's time to refocus on the things that I know are good for me. Main Quest: Lighten the Load At the end of this challenge, I plan to hike the presidential traverse in New Hampshire with friends. I'm going to use this challenge to care for my body as a whole and hopefully drop fat in order to tackle this challenging new hike! Starting Stats (7/14/2014) Weight - 177.5 lbs Caliper Body Fat - 26.1 Body Fat Calculated - 27.2 Waist - 38" Hips - 41" Chest - 38" Thigh - 25.5" Arm - 14" 1) Whole Mind [+4 STA] - Meditate 6 days per week I need to get my mind back in the right place. I've been flirting with meditation for a while and finding that it really helps me to be aware and accepting of myself in the moment. I'm commiting to follow the plan outlined in Full Catastrophe Living and use the matching app that has the guided meditations. One week down, seven more to go. 2) Whole 60 [+4 CON] Last challenge showed me that I will game any food system that I come up with. Also it's too easy for me to "get behind" and give up on posting photos of my food. I started a whole 60 (my longest yet) on 7/14, which means that I'm currently finishing up day 12. Sept 11th (the first day of our hike) will be day 60. Perfect! I already feel so much more at home in my skin. Anybody wanna be good food buddies? 3) Whole Body [+3 STR] - Bodyweight Training 3x per week. I love doing bodyweight stuff at the playground (or at home when it's raining). Plus, this will give me the functional strength that I need to lug my pack through Mordor the Presidentials. Side Quest - Foam Roll [+2 STA] Time to get my IT bands ready for the mountains. No more excuses. Life Quest - Make Music [+2 CHA] - 3x per week This is good for my soul, mind, and mood. Sounds like the perfect supplement to a challenge searching for wholeness. Ready, rebels?

Hi, I'm a 24 y/o programmer from Belfast. I had heard about NF a long time ago (back in the age of University) but never committed to making real changes in my lifestyle. But I'm here now and ready to get stuck in to upgrading my life. Main Quest : Walk from Bag End to Bree before Christmas (135 miles) Quest 1: Walk for at least 20 minutes 6 days a week - if I want to make it to Bree, I'll need to walk just over a mile almost every day… not that far, but building habits is not one of my strongest attributes. Measurement: A = 20 min for 28 days, B = 20min, 20 days, C = 20min, 15 days Quest 2: Make up at home, and eat a healthy lunch in work at least 4 days a week - I've been spending a fortune on sandwiches and microwave meals, no more! Measurement: A = 19 days, B = 15 days, C =10 days Quest 3: Visit a different (outdoor) place every Saturday of the challenge. I spend at least half my life playing games and watching rubbish on the TV… time to go see what's out there. Measurement: A =5 different places , B = 4 different places , C = 3 different places Life Quest: Complete this first challenge. I'm one of those 'starts well but never finishes things' kinds of people. As a life quest, just making it to the end of this challenge will be a push, but I'm sick of not following through on lifestyle changes (I managed to make it through a 5 year undergrad degree, I must have staying power somewhere!) so here we go! Motivation: I'm getting married in just over 8 months and want to get into the routine of a more balanced lifestyle before everything changes again! So stepping into this challenge, there's no knowing where I might be swept off to

Hello everyone! This is my first ever post so forgive me if I seem a little lost, but I am extremely excited to be here! I'm horrible about introducing myself, but I'll give it my best shot! My name is Tess411 and I'm 18 years old. My fitness journey began sophomore year of high school when I decided that being overweight wasn't really for me, ha. I'm 5'2 so not only was my weight making me lethargic, but every little pound I gained was reflected back on me 10-fold. Most of my issues were due to poor eating habits-not for lack of activity (I played varsity soccer during high school, I still love it but unfortunately hardly play anymore). Not going to lie, I had some major self-esteem issues when losing weight and lost it in an unhealthy fashion. It took me basically a year to get over my "I'm fat" mentality and get over the numbers (because without the strength to back it up, who needs numbers,right?). Fast forwarding to the present: I'm currently 100lbs (working on gaining some weight through lifting) and have no strength. While I look like I'm in shape, I'm not even close. I'm hoping to work on more weight-lifting strategies so I can embrace my new motto that one of my friends turned me onto, "Strong is the new Skinny." (I love this saying!) Ready to get over my unhealthy past and finally start living for me, rather than my body image! So here I am, a total newbie to lifting or anything that's not cardio, haha! MAIN GOAL: Complete P90x (1 week in) MISSIONS: Play kickball & soccer in my sorority's leagueDo 10 pull-upsLearn basic weight-lifting exercises and track my progressLIFE QUESTS: Find a new job related to my major (Nursing)No fast food!Randomness: Wondering what ya'll think about P90x? I've tried to start twice before (third time's the charm!) and I want to know what everyone else thinks about it? Thank you guys so much, I can't wait to get more active on this site and hear about your progress as well! Don't be a stranger! :] Btw, can anyone guess the quote from my post's topic? I'll love you forever. Haha!

Apfelstrudi’s main quest: Visit Tom Bombadil As per that website that figured out how far Frodo actually walked, it is 98 miles from the Shire to Tom Bombadil’s place. I’ve always had a soft spot for Tom Bombadil and really want to pay him a visit and then get rewarded with loads of madness adn weird stuff, so off I’ll go! However, since the next 6 weeks will most likely be not very calm for me (I’ve got nanowrimo and other RL stuff going on), I’ll need a little help getting there - just like Frodo and his companions had ponies throughout some of their journey, I’ll have something that drives me further without actually walking, running or swimming. It’s not a bike, it’s not a horse, nor is it a bird, a plane or superman. Nope! It’s all the other things I do for this particular challenge! By completing certain steps in my other goals, I’ll automatically gain a few meters on my goal, because unfortunately I won’t be able to run 25km a week - especially not since I’ve still not been able to do a 5k run without a break! That will all be explained further down though! So let’s get to the specific goals! (Stretch goal! Reach Bree =135 miles) 1) Zombies, run! or Get your stinky, hairy feet out of my hobbit hole Yeah, I know, the hobbits weren’t exactly chased by zombies. But darn it! We don’t have any nazguls in our neighbourhood and the nazguls in the city are all elitist and weird and won’t get to the suburbs for my lazy ass, so I’ll have to do with zombies. And I promise I'll make that face during every single run because I bet I look equally terrifying and weird when I'm out of breath. Rules here are pretty strict - I go and run and add the distance I’ve run to my journey, no shortcuts, no nothing. I want to go back to running three times a week. I really miss it and it tends to make me super happy. There are a few things I have to get over here: - It’s cold and dark outside and I’m a wuss. I bought reflective arm bands and one of those head lamps so I can be seen properly (and can see where I’m running in dark corners) and not be as scared. I also have pepper spray, just in case. - I get sick when I’m exhausted. It’s like a wave of nausea and dizziness that’s abruptly stopped my last run, and I’ve not run since. Gotta get over that and get back out there! Important note that I nearly forgot! I don’t have to run all the way. Walking will move me towards my goal as well, of course. It has to be walking specifically to walk, though. No “Hey it’s 100m from my car to the supermarket, I’ll count that towards my goal†or things like that. (+2 DEX +2 STA) Reward: If I finish this successfully (either finish the 5k program, run 5k or just feel successful about it), I get to buy the zombies run season 1 game. 2) Stretch, b*tch! or Climb that mighty steed without a step ladder If that guy had stretched properly and got all bendy he wouldn't have needed to get all up there but could've just gotten his leg up. But he didn't - and so he ate dirrrrt. Simple as that! Since I run an average of slightly below 10mins per km, every 10 minutes of stretching (proper stretching, not just sitting there in child’s pose!) will let me advance 1km further down the road towards Tom’s house. I’ve really gotten into stretching during my last challenge and can already see results, but I’m still stiff! So I’ll continue with that, as often as I can. If I’m good with it, this could probably give me 10km per week, which isn’t too shabby! Additionally to stretching, I can do other forms of workout (archery, bouldering, BWW, etc.) and will make up the stats I get for it on the go! (+2 DEX, +1 STR) 3) Clean things! or A shiny visor looks so much better on you Simple as that, clean! Whatever it is that I clean, if I do 15 minutes of it, I get 1km closer to my dear Tom. (+1 each CON, WIS, CHA) Reward: If I clean every day and/or the boyfriend sees improvement in my cleaning habits, not skills but habits, then he will get me an amazon voucher so I can buy new books! (It seemed weird to reward myself with cleaning supplies, so he came up with that). Life quest! Be a pretty little princess Get in control of my laundry. Ho boy! I’ve got so much of that. I think I’ve explained it before - we’ve got a really small apartment and a really small rack to dry out clothes on. That and my forgetfulness makes sure that we always have a big laundry pile and only the top of it gets in the machine, because yanno, washing one load per week should be enough, right? Yeah, I’m sure you see that this can’t work. That being said - we cleaned out our laundry corner, divided it all into different bags according to what it is, and we already got rid of all the towels we had, so now it’s just the rest of it. I want to try and wash 4 loads a week, each load will give me 1km, so I can gain 24 km if I do this right. Why 4 loads? Well! It’s winter, so things need some time to dry, usually 2 or 3 days. If I wash every 2 or 3 days, I can use 2 days per week for doing the laundry. Our laundry rack can hold one big and one slightly smaller load of laundry - so voilá! (+2 CHA - obviously I’ll be more attractive with a pile of clean clothes that I can choose from, and not just wahtever is currently clean has to go with those green pants that are the only ones not in the laundry bin!) Reward: A sports bra! My boobs seem to be too tiny for sports bras, which is just stupid because they get crazy annoying during runs and other workouts, too. So I'll find a good one, not just a cheap 5€ bra, and have fun with that. Diet goal! Have enough food for your journey This is a teeny tiny diet goal that I want ot put into effect while I’m still trying to be all paleo (cause luckily that’s become a habit by now!). It’s super simple - I want to cook in my crockpot once a week. For every portion that I get out of it (I’m used to cooking in the crockpot, but not a whole lot of food but only food for 2 people!), I get 1km. (+2 CON) Reward: A crockpot! I found some that are pretty cheap on amazon and I can turn this reward into a christmas wish. (I don't actually have a crock pot, I do all my crock potting in a dutch oven!) Mini-Challenges! As inspired by aisle4b's current challenge, those aren't my actual goals. I won't get stat points for them but perhaps another km here and they're. They're here to support me in my goals, RL and to make me feel better about myself. As with the guild minichallenges, I don't have to complete them, but they're cool and I get extra for it! Be thankful! Every day, write down what I'm thankful for on that particular day. I often have trouble getting all depressed and 'zomg my life sucks', but that's a perspective-thing. If I manage to write down what I'm thankful for every day, then I get 1km towards Tom Bombadil by the end of the week. Do what the Flylady says! This goes hand in hand with my cleaning goal, so that will automatically count towards my cleaning time. However - those daily missions are things that you don't usually clean in your everyday cleaning craze. So if I follow it every day, I'll get 1km further by the end of the week! Meditate before going to bed No minimum time here, I don't mean the religious kind of meditating either. This can be relaxing yoga, breathing exercises, letting my mind wander while listening to soothing music - anything that calms me down and helps me get tired! I tend to read before falling asleep, so I'm always doing something, looking at a book or looking at my kindle app, so what I mean here is a few minutes of eyes closed relaxation that's totally focused on myself, not something I'm looking at. Same procedure as the other mini-challenges, 7 times a week = 1km by the end of the week. Do something sporty and unusual! I don't mean unusual for everyone but unusual for me. This can be anything from hiking to climbing to swimming. Something that's not routine for me and not my usual workout. I'll get 1km for getting off my bum and going out to do something that doesn't involve sitting in a bar or cinema or other activities you'd expect now that it's cold outside. Craft something! Christmas is almost here and I don't have money to buy expensive gifts. I also don't want to buy expensive gifts when I can make things for my family and friends that are just as cool and have much more love and thought behind them. So, for every craft I complete, I'll get a step further. However - since crafts can take minutes or hours or days or even weeks, I'm not putting a distance here but will use my common sense to determine it - would suck if a huge embroidery would take me as much further as sticking goggly eyes on something. Moar crazy-dance! Totally stolen from Hatter. However, I won't get stat points or km for it. But it's a thing that makes me happy and that I don't do nearly often enough, so mini-challenge it is! Also gotta be fit for my dance-off with Hatter. *coughs* Go to church! It's been ages since I last went to church. This won't bring me any further, but I just found out there's a ... I don't even know how to translate it. Free christian community in our city. I used to go to those as a teenager and would like to see what it's like here. Not getting anything extra here - except a cool sunday morning of course! Shelter time! Go to the shelter and take one or two dogs for walks. It's always fun but I've not done it often enough lately. It will get me to leave the house, move around outside and have a cute little doggy to have fun with. Next best thing to having my own dog! Super duper hooper! Use the hoop I bought and do some hooping!

Main quest: In a few months time I'd like to be in Rivendell fresh and healthy. I have a history of making my goals too large and judge myself too heavily so for this challenge I'm trying something a little different and make some more attainable goals of... Specific goals 1) Walking to Bree and the Prancing Pony (135mi/217km - about 5k a day) I may walk, bike, run,rollerskate and other woman powered activities. 2) Do the Beginner bodyweight workout 3 times a week and 3) Eat a healthy dinner 6 nights a week Life side quest I'm working hard to overcome some mental difficulties which I've struggled with for years. I'm finally at a place where there is light at the end of the tunnel but my life is still not where I want it to be. In this process it's been hard to keep up with things that interests me. A few weeks ago I went on a trip where my passion for reading and culture in general was rekindled. With a lot of enthusiasm for life in return. Reading (no set amount) and museum visits or other (at least once a week - can be grouped if necessary)

I attempted the last six-week challenge, but failed. =( But I have learned from my failure, and can now create an even better plan! Main Quest: Create a habit of exercising! Goals: 1. Stretch enough to place hands flat on floor with legs straight. (I'm not too far from this, so it shouldn't be too hard. I can currently place my fingers flat on the floor. (I'm double jointed, so I do mean that.)) 2. Pack a lunch 4/5 of the time instead of eating fast food garbage. 3. Do some form of exercise, doesn't matter what or how much, every day. My volleyball class counts. Life Quest: Do your homework religiously. (I'm a college kid.) My motivation is to better myself. My motto is "a little better every day", so I'm just working on that. Oh, and it's hobbit-y because I'm lazy and enjoy comfort, but can put up with a lot. I plan to do much dog walking in this quest, and hobbits did much walking. I'm currently very hobbit-y, and thus my quest is hobbit-y. In addition, I can be a lot like gollum, lurking creepily and arguing with myself, and he was a hobbit. More hobbit connections!

I believe in naming my challenges! It feels like a chapter in a book, making it seem much more significant to the book that is my life 1. Improve my leg strength on a horse (riding and weight training) 2. Learn how to mediate and center 3. Give up all soda 4. Balance my finances better What does that break down to? BUILD: (STR, DEX) Increase leg strength while riding -Ride at least 4 times a week. Finishing each session up to eventually go without a bridle on my horse, steering and balancing with leg strength alone. RENEW: (STA) Learn Meditation -Spend at least ten minutes a day learning and practicing meditation. ELIMINATE: (CON) Remove all carbonated beverages from diet -Quit soda cold turkey. No exceptions. Not even mixed with alcohol. Nope. Nada. Zilch! DISCOVER: (WIS) Improve Financial steering -Taking a class on budgeting at the end of the week. Look ahead at least two weeks and plan out finances! Think I can do it? My goal is to combine my love of archery with riding, like a Katniss Everdeen on a horse.. but centered and calm, like a true elf. And of course resourceful in the midst of limited resources - like any good Ranger should be!

Tough, not hard. That's my motto for this challenge. OKAY!! Word play out of the way... I'm on a mission! Here are my objectives: 1) There's ALWAYS room for-- "NO" (or: Metal_Weaver vs. the Sugar Demon, round 2 - FIGHT!) Cut processed sugar-foods COMPLETELY out of my life. This includes cookies, cake, candy, chocolate, and any other "food" that is primarily sugar. Graded weekly. A = 6 or 7 days out of the week B = 4 or 5 days out of the week C = 2 or 3 days out of the week Changed March 11 (2013) -- Revised Goal 1) for the remaining 4 weeks of the Challenge: Eat strict Paleo from waking through 5:30pm and from 6:30pm till bedtime. Meat, veggies and fruit. I'm going to reserve nuts for a treat since I have a tendency to binge on those. The content of dinner will be mostly out of my control, but my goal between 5:30 and 6:30pm will be to be mindful and try to achieve as close to Paleo eating as possible. No bread, small portions of pasta & potatoes, etc. I'm aiming to not eat anything from 6:30 till bedtime, but if I DO eat, I want it to be Paleo. -- I've done the first portion of the day Paleo before, so I know I can do it again... the real challenge will be from 5:30 on. A = 6 or 7 days out of the week B = 4 or 5 days out of the week C = 2 or 3 days out of the week At Challenge recap, I'll be counting the total # of days spent sugar-food-free/Paleo.Epic Win = 42 days = A+ (+1 Sta, +2 Con, +1 Wis, +1 Cha) & a Trinket of Awesomesauce failed on the 2nd day 36-41 days = A (+1 Sta, +2 Con, +1 Wis)24-35 days = B (+1 Sta, +1 Con)12-23 days = C (+1 Wis)<12 = F2) The road goes ever on and on (Start the long journey to becoming an Assassin) I want the world to be my playground. I want to move freely about my surroundings without feeling awkward or limited. I want to traverse (almost) any obstacle this urban jungle-gym can throw at me. Watch as an assassin is born! Work out for at least 30 minutes using body-weight exercises 3 times per week. It's as simple as that. I will track the particular exercises I do (ex: planks, squats, push-ups, inv rows, etc) on a spreadsheet (yay Google docs!) for accountability. I'm going to allow myself some creative room. Our fearless leader has put LOTS of great body-weight circuits together to keep us from getting bored, so I plan on exploring those in this challenge. 18 body-weight workouts over the next 6 weeks will result in +2 Str, +2 Sta, +1 ChaLess than 18 will scale down accordingly.3) Bellydance, Zumba, DDR, Gangham Style... doesn't matter. Stop being shy about getting down with the groove and GET MOVING! 3.1) Watch, participate, and complete the Belly Dance how-to instructional/fitness DVD my sister got me. 3.2) Watch, participate, and complete at least the Basic Steps of the Zumba DVDs I have. 3.2.1) BONUS FOR ZUMBA: go to at least one class at K Sabrosa (local Zumba classes that are easily affordable) 3.3) Hook up the DDR pad and get my step on at least twice during the challenge. 3.4) Watch, participate, and attempt at least twice to dance Gangham Style. Just because it makes me giggle. 3.5) Watch & participate in at least two self-teaching YouTube vids on either hip-hop or tribal fusion bellydance moves to aid in the grooving to my fave dubstep songs. Completing all 5 objectives will result in +2 Dex, +1 Str, +1 ChaCompleting all 5 obj AND the Bonus will result in an additional +1 Wis (for learning how to do it right)Partial completions will be evaluated at Challenge Recap4) Do or do not. There is no try. Check at least 6 points worth of things off my to-do list. No stat attributes since the list varies in necessary skills. This is my "level-up my life" goal though. I NEED to achieve this goal (along with the other goals set out w/in this challenge) to successfully level up 2. --- Here's to a great challenge! --- ... Wait a second Joy... how does ANY of that have to do with being tough, not hard?! Oooh, so glad you asked! I often make things hard on myself by trying to restrict my crazy thought processes into a mold, pattern, or theme. Well, I decided that instead of making this challenge hard and restricting myself on what I wanted to prove myself capable of... I was going to allow the creativity to flow and prove just how tough I can be. To me, "hard" = unmoving, "tough" = untearing. There's a HUGE difference. Like the proverbial young sapling that bends in the gale versus the brick wall that falls and crumbles... I want to be flexible and tough enough to take what life gives me without breaking. And plus, my dad used to complimented my purple-dyed hair (in my teenage rebellion) with a "you look so tough!" Still makes me smile. Props: BlamedCat's Grumpy Cat post, , Yoda