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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....

(With apologies to @oromendur) I'm Ann of Vries, aged 39; a diarist, a fiction writer, a fiber artist, a LARPer (also TTRPG, board games), a traveler, a hiker, and a first time mother. I’m madly in love with my partner, Mr of Vries and my son, Rowan of Vries. I live in London, after having emigrated from Seattle three years ago. I love it here, although I’m still trying to find my tribe (outside of the House of Vries, of course). I've been spending a lot of time with the Rangers Guild of late, but as @Sciread77 says--once an Adventurer, always an Adventurer. Although in many ways my adventuring goal of late feels more like "coming home" (or maybe it's "finding home") that is still part of that pesky heroic journey. (Also, I love you Rangers, but I cannot keep up with your forum.) I blinked, and suddenly I went from having a sleepy newborn baby to an energetic toddler! Being a curmudgeonly wizard who wants to sit cosy in my tower with a book and maybe I’ll go out tomorrow or next week or next year, I’m finding it a stretch to keep up with this little creature of chaos that wants to eat five times a day, frolic out of the house, get into mischief, and generally enjoy every moment of life… right now! I feel like I’m living with Merry and Pippin rolled into one cute package. Or maybe, I should see it as the pair of us being Merry and Pippin. I could fight that, but it’s not a very fun way to live, so if you can’t beat them, join them. As such, I’m heading back into the Shire for this challenge, except.... This Challenge Starts with a Proper Adventure! Part way into Zero Week into most of Week One, we’ll be taking Rowan on his first trip to America. And his first plane flight. 10 hours each way. Yikes! We’re on our way to Austin TX to spend a week with my paternal family. Talk about an adventure! I don't have specific goals for this trip except enjoy the time with my family. Once we’re back from that, the rest of the Challenge kicks into full swing. Frolic and get into Mischief Today Summer is coming, the weather is great, so lets get out, get active, and have some fun! Enjoy playing with my little hobbit. Get out at least once a day—to soft play, the story centre, park playgrounds, playgroup, etc. (Usual free pass for illness or particularly inclement weather.) Play with him at home, too! Clock in 10k+ steps a day. Eat Well Today Much like the hobbits, the House of Vries enjoys gathering around the table and eating good food. Cook healthy, diverse meals for the family on the weekdays (Mr cooks on the weekends). There may be food writing. I’ve been going through one of my “rely on sugary coffee drinks in the morning because I’m tired” phases. (This is the only way I like coffee.) I want to cut down to one sugary coffee drink in the morning, ideally eliminating it entirely, except on the worst of days. I can drink all the tea (as I don’t add sugar or milk to my tea) and fizzy water I want. Live Well Today Gratitude lists don’t really help me much, but I still need to remind myself I’m living a charmed life. I haven’t always. There’s been some really difficult times in my life. But right now? This chapter? A bit challenging, but absolutely charmed. So love it and live it to its utmost. At the minimum, mentally note things that are going well each day. Ideally, write them down. Going out all the time for toddler activities cuts heavily into getting any housework done, though, and we like having a tidy space to live in. So I want to utilize 5 minute tidies to try to keep up so everyone can get to the fire exits in case of emergency! 2-3 short tidies a day. Love Well Today The first year with a baby had our marriage functioning in basic survival mode most of the time. Now that Rowan is getting older, I want to spend more time with my husband and work on higher level aspects of our relationship. Make better use of the time after Rowan goes to sleep. Play games together, at least once a week. Make time to talk, at least once a week. Try to get some walks in green places in, at least once this challenge. (Ideally, more.) Be a Wizard, Sometimes We’re currently negotiating with a childminder, which should start in early June and will afford a few hours of “me time” a week. (Final schedule TBD.) I want to make good use of that time—working on my writing, my knitting, other enriching activities, and also on some family projects that fall by the wayside chasing my little Merry!Pippin around. At least 20 minutes of “Wizard” activities during a nap time during the week. At least 1 hour on childminder days (once he’s in full attendance). Now, let's get on this adventure!

"Merry, Merry," Annyshay shook him gently. She was on the edge of throwing the remnants of his own ale in his face, but he shook his head and seemed to snap out of it. "I'm not ready to talk about them yet," Merry breathed. Annyshay had never seen Merry scared. Ever. She was quite inclined to trust his judgment here as ever, "whatever you say, cousin. Drink your ale." "Yes, quite." After a few more swigs on both sides, Merry's face lit up a bit. "You may have noticed some... changes, since our return," he began by way of introduction. Annyshay was noncommittal in her response, "mmmhmmm." "Well, I imagine the four of us riding in on ponies in armor covered in insignia and other marks not before seen in the Shire was quite the spectacle," Merry continued to fish for a reaction, but Annyshay just held his gaze. "In any case, I'm sure it was obvious pretty quickly that Pippin and I were the only two hobbits of our party that had grown taller in addition to thinner." "My first thought was certainly that you all needed at least a week of home cooking before you would be fit for pleasant company. Your bones were sticking out all over the place!" "Surely you noticed that I grew," Merry threatened a pout, "me and Pippin that is?" "It may have crossed a few people's lips, aye" Annyshay conceded. "Well that is as good a story as any to show how different things can be outside of the Shire," Merry prattled onwards. "Indeed if I manage to tell it right it should come back around to the ash and my concerns that something is amiss in the Old Forest." Annyshay took a noisy slurp from the end of her pint. Merry, ever the good host returned to the barman to get a half pint for each of them. Annyshay raised her smaller glass and Merry reciprocated the gesture before taking a large swig and settling himself in to spin a good yarn. "You see, Annyshay," Merry continued to preamble, "this story is all to do with Ents." "Ents?" Annyshay assumed that Merry's thinner frame made it more difficult for him to hold his ale however tall he may have grown. "What in Middle Earth is Ents?" "First off," Merry put down his glass and became his old self for a moment. He was clearly confident in whatever story he was about to unfold and thought that it was something Annyshay best pay attention to. His whole appearance reminded her of many previous lectures. "An Ent is a who, not a what." "A who?" Annyshay nearly choked on her beer. "Now you're really pulling my leg." "By the Master's wine cellars," Merry responded solemnly, "there are many creatures you've not heard of here even from Bree." Annyshay just stared at him, unsure what to ask next to get to the meat of the tale. "Yes, Ents," Merry pressed on fortified with more ale. "Ents are the Shepherds of the Trees. Probably the oldest creatures in Middle Earth, except maybe Tom." "Is Tom a what then?" Annyshay scoffed. "Your ale's gone to your head Merry. Talking nonsense, you are." "No no no," Merry waved her protests away. "Just listen to me. All will become clear in due course." "Well, you're stringing me along something awful," Annyshay protested. "Get on to the tale, ya scamp!" "A skeptical audience, I see. Well, all the better," Merry took a bit more liquid sustenance before he finally got down to business. "To really understand this story, you must be patient, cousin. There's a lot you have to learn Annyshay - concerning Ents."

"Lady Anny of the Shire, they called me once", Annyshay extended her hand to the young but unnaturally tall Brandybuck covered in strange regalia, "before all this nasty business. I hear we owe you a great debt for leading the militia, Master Meriadoc. You have my thanks." "And you have mine, Lady," Master Brandybuck returned the compliment. "I know what it takes to hold a people strong through a seige. You remind me of dear friends I have left in the world of the Big People." "I wish them well. I suppose we are all rebuilding after this Great War of the Ring. The Battle of Bywater will go down in our history books, but I wonder if the wider world will even know." Annyshay looked wistfully over her beloved homeland and her eyes caught on several small fires that continued to burn following the battle. "You might be surprised how much the wider world has learned about hobbits in this war," Master Meriadoc replied with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. "Once things calm down, those are some stories I would very much like to hear over a half-pint down the pub." Merry extended his hand with a warm smile. "That would be a pleasure."

Welcome to Fair Middle Earth, my fellow Hobbits! should you accept the challenge - I urge to consider carrying the RING OF POWER through most of Middle Earth. Now the purpose here isn't just to wittily drop LOTR references (tho' that would be nice- who doesn't like a Great LOTR reference)? but to revel in the challenge of walking ALL the way to Mordor in 2018. 3405.5miles! .... I see there is nice little history to this challenge (https://rebellion.nerdfitness.com/index.php?/topic/93325-walk-to-mordor-and-back-again-2017/) congrats to all those that slogged along most of that way in 2017. Lets start it again! so anyways. I myself would prefer something of a text based approach: I shall check my distance and glory in my current destination...

For this challenge, I am keeping the same four big goals from my last one, but I have adjusted to allow more flexibility where I need it. My last challenge was rigid and quantifiable (I even had a spreadsheet that never got filled out, ha) but what I’m finding is I need a plan that is flexible in positive ways and allows me to work around weeks where I have tons of grading, lots of stress, or a million things come up. I need the challenge to work for me and to help me achieve things, and I think my goals in the last challenge were a bit lofty and rigid. The big change for this challenge is after 0 week I will have worked up to the proper dosage of the medication that has been prescribed to me for both my ADD and my anxiety, so part of this challenge will simply be observing the impacts of that. Instead of continuing the circus theme (because I am hoping life will become less of a circus) I have decided to call upon the Fellowship to get me through this challenge, because let’s face it, I need all the help I can get. Goal 1: Eat Like A Hobbit Hopefully in this one I will be channeling more of the home cooking of Samwise and less of the “I ate three lembas” of Pippin. Will there be second breakfast? YES. I am going back to the idea of small meals all day because that seemed to work really well in the first challenge, and skipping lunch makes dinner a binge and I just feel gross all night. GOALS 1600-1800 calories a day (5/7 tracked) 4-6 smaller meals every day (5/7 completed per week) Plan out lunches a week in advance BONUS: Cut down coffee creamer consumption by half by the end of the challenge, eat my lunch every day for a week, drink 2 full water bottles during the school day Part Two A: Lift like a Dwarf Calling on Gimli for the Strength portion of this challenge. I truly love Body Pump. Hubs jokes and calls it lifting Zumba (truth) but I can’t help myself. And while I eventually want to branch into just lifting, I think my love for this class is what keeps me in the gym despite all the stress and crazy that is the rest of my life, so we are just going to stay the course. Will also attend kettlebell/bootcamp when my schedule allows. I am also adding the choice to get up and do an in-home bodyweight workout (darbee: Athena’s Playbook) for days that I need to be at school earlier than 7:45 but want to get a workout in (usually why bootcamp gets skipped). Part Two B: Gain Elven Endurance Legolas is my inspiration for this portion of the challenge. I need to get on the bike. I need to start training for my ride this summer, but instead of setting a mileage goal, I am going to set an activity goal of 5 active days per week, including the biking, classes, and body weight workouts. 2 days a week must be weight training, one must be a bike ride, and the other two are up to me whether it be biking or whatever. I will be aiming to go a little farther each week. I was able to do 5 miles in 30 minutes last time I was out, so that will be my baseline. GOALS: 5 Active days per week 2 BP, 1 biking, 2 my choice BONUS: Go up in weight on any BP track, bike three times in one week Part Three: Plan like A Ranger Obviously couldn’t do a LOTR challenge without Aragorn. But seriously, he is fearless in the face of stress and a great strategist-- just what I need! School and my issues with organization, efficiency, and stress management are not going to go away, so this piece of the challenge needed to stay on the table with added flexibility to accommodate the ever changing needs of my schedule/classroom. I am not limiting grading days this time because in the next month I will have 90 essays to grade (⅓ 2 pages, ⅓ 3-5 pages, ⅓ 6-8 pages) so a little every day is the plan GOALS: Create a grading schedule for SR and JR papers and stick to it. Weeklies: Lesson plans, grade book Organize Cartlos and my corner once a week BONUS: Organize my file cabinets, pass back any assignment within 48 hours, grade something the day it is turned in to me Part Four A: Healing with Arwen Every Fellowship needs support, so for my mental health category, I called on some supporting members to get me through this challenge. Sometimes we all just need a river full of raging water horses to wash away our troubles, hence I called upon Arwen here. The meditation will continue, and meds will be taken daily. Journalling will accompany what will hopefully be daily updates. Also adding sleep to this one this time as I have been getting less and less lately. Part Four B: Relaxing with Bilbo I really miss writing, so who better to call on than someone who has finished a book! Ha! I also want to cut down on my netflix consumption and go on a few more mini adventures with hubs during this challenge, so he seems like the perfect fit. GOALS: Finish reading the book I started at the beginning of last challenge Meditate x10 across the challenge Write once a week Take meds daily (I had to set an alarm on my phone...there is a reason my birth control is an implant, ha) Start a journal beyond NF to track how the meds are working Date/Adventure Night! x3 across the challenge Average 7 hours of sleep a night. AAAAnd here we go... Happy Challenge Everyone!!!

Hey y'all! First time challenging with the assassins, though I've been doing challenges with the warriors since the start of the year. I'm starting to do more work with gymnastics rings so it felt apt to do a challenge with the assassins (I'm going to follow the Rings One program from GMB after 06/25, currently finishing out a lifting program - Juggernaut - while adding the rings exercises to my training days). And because I'm 1) a huge Tolkien fan and 2) a fan of being on the nose, this challenge will be Lord of the Rings themed!!! (when I get around to adding gifs) Quick intro about me: Competitive ballroom dancer, but by day I work at a bank Based out of Dallas, TX For fitness I generally enjoy lifting weights and recently have enjoyed adding some bodyweight stuff I *hate* running, and I figure that my dance practices are enough cardio so I don't bother with any in my workouts I *love* just about anything sweet (especially homemade cakes or cookies - grew up with my mom being an awesome baker) How I feel anytime I run. I'm not patient enough for creative writing, so instead of a preamble, time to dive into the goals for this challenge: Prepare for battle (dance competitions): I've got two competitions coming up (06/02 and 06/24) and I'll want to do the following to prep for them: Hit calorie targets every day - I want to cut a bit of fat in general, and especially before competing in a pretty vain sport-art; I'm going to start at 2,300 for a target and see if I need to adjust up from feeling underfed Train every workday - I'm pretty consistent at this, the goal is to just have a box I can check pretty much every time Have a focused dance practice 3 work evenings a week - I'll also be training every weekend with my partner, but since she lives in Houston and I'm in Dallas, it's on me to practice during the week too. Every one of these should start with a 5-10 minute mental toughness / visualization exercise (from the book "10-minute Toughness"). Thoughts like this are why I need to cut. Kick *** at work: I enjoy work more when I'm pushing myself to produce better results, so that's what this will focus on. Stay focused - only check in with messaging threads / forums on my phone from 9-9:30 or 12-12:30 Do self-development work every day - I'm lucky that my office is big on making room for people to grow in their skills and careers, but to make the jump I need to actually do the work for myself (even if it means staying late, getting in early, or taking some stuff home with me) Have a pleasant interaction with 1 coworker / day - Possibly as a result of introversion, possibly a result of being too formal at work, I've gotten a reputation for being "unapproachable" and "intimidating" (not words my friends use to describe me outside of work). Goal here is to slowly correct the perception. I'm slightly friendlier than this guy at work. Most of the time. Recover: I need to make sure I take care of myself physically and mentally: Sleep 7+ hours every night - self-explanatory Stretch or do ankle rehab every night before bed - also self-explanatory Go to 1+ social thing every week - it's easy to not make time for friendships with such a packed schedule, gotta make sure I don't fall into that trap I have an ugly but effective tracking page made in my "Bullet Journal" - I feel weird calling it that since I just use it for dance notes plus to-do lists, but I do carry it with me everywhere. Will share pictures later - along with adding gifs, hopefully.

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!

Welcome friends and visitors! My name is annyshay (Shannon IRL for new Camp Nerd Fitness - CNF - friends). I'm a thirty-something single physician currently subspecializing in Infectious Disease (aka germs and how to kill them) for children and adults in Minneapolis. I joined the Rebellion in 2012 and have been leveling up in various ways since then. Work and depression recently conspired to undo much of my progress related to body composition, but these forces of darkness could not undo my Fellowship of Rebels or the mental and emotional progress that I made over the last 4 years. I respawned in June 2016 and have continued to struggle with stress, cookies, and staying active. Luckily, I'm returning from the MAGIC of CAMP NF with renewed Character, Ability, Mind, and Purpose. I have many celebrations, stories, and lessons to share along with boatloads of gratitude for this amazing community, but the specifics will have to wait until I catch up more on sleep. Never the less, out of these experiences I've chosen to rebuild my foundational habits in line with my quests and eventual Level 50. Also, I plan to process and repackage my CNF experience in order to share as much as possible with all y'all. Plus, it's not annyshay's thread without bonus rambles! Main Quest (see Battle Log link in signature for more details) - Visit the Southern Water Tribe Joint Movements I was able to attend "Moving with Longevity" with Jonathan Mead on 2 of 3 mornings at CNF. This meditative movement through the full rang of motion of my joints was revealing and liberating. Basic mobility is a foundation I want to lay for decades of future healthy movement. I plan to complete this series every morning immediately after my morning bathroom visit and before my shower and breakfast. Journal Amy Clover is an amazing Jedi that I plan to add to my Jedi Counsel after attending two classes with her - "Rising Above Emotional Eating" and "Create Your Hero Toolkit". She reminded me of the power of journaling and encouraged me to use it as a tool for approaching those times when I am no longer hungry but want to eat. It's a way to identify the real, raw needs that I am trying to palliate with food. No screens One CNF quest (there were MANY) was to remove one obstacle that doesn't support my journey. This is a clear choice for me, since screens in the bedroom only lead to disordered sleep. Busy, stressed, badass Shannon needs excellent sleep. Simple and hard. I'll be aiming to post every day even if things get nuts at work. I know you've all got my back, and I can't wait to jump back into the challenges together!

It's an awesome theme, I promise. Stay with me. Old friends, welcome. New rebels, be welcome as well! Annyshay is a hobbit. She likes to have quiet time in her hobbit hole drinking tea with her Dragon (my orange fluffy cat's name). Annyshay is a very busy doctor and does not get as much time in her hobbit hole as she would like. Also, Annyshay tends to use sitting and sweets more than is good for her, especially when her crazy work stresses her out. Last challenge, Annyshay respawned and started from the beginning working on excellent habits with the help of the Nerd Fitness Academy. What better foundation for a healthy body is there than hobbit feet? Main Quest: Be Resilient and Radiant Goal the First Level Up with NFA Diet. After all, healthy feet are made in the kitchen. I've got a consistent habit of tracking my calories in My Fitness Pal going. Next goal is two weeks of Level 3, which is "no liquid calories". I've been on a roll since Friday and I plan to keep it up! Once I beat that level, I'll set my sites on Level 4 (details to come once we get there...). Goal the Second Walk This has gotten significantly more exciting now that Pokemon Go is out. Planning to catch 'em all and walk all the steps! Goal the Third Self care for my feet. My plantar fascitis is acting up again. No more of this shenanigans. Alphabet tracing in the morning, lacrosse ball, and whatever other kindness and love I can give my feet will count towards this goal. In addition, I'm working on maintaining lots of other things... meditation, good sleep habits, etc. I'll probably go on a ramble from time to time talking about more parts of my journey and as always, you can follow my weekly process in my battle log. Be welcome here, rebels!

Home is now behind you, the world is ahead. A page has definitely been turned in my life: I have a new apartment (Fort Foxy) in my hometown where I’ll be returning this autumn, an internship in a new town for the summer, a new apartment (Internship Headquarters) in this town where I’m working this summer, new daily routines, new people, a new bank card, new workout pants (yay!), and a whole new hairstyle.......! Needless to say, I do feel slightly shaken up with all these changes after a long feeling of being slightly stuck in my life. I wanted things to change, and now that they have changed, I feel slightly scared. Right now, I’m sitting on a mattress on the floor of this new apartment in this new town that feels very unfamiliar. What I need right now, is some courage. The kind of courage the hobbits have: the courage to keep going, even when things get rough. No need for huge battles or sword fights: just a will to silently keep taking one step forward at a time. And have love for nature and food, of course! to something.”“Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something. Even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn’t. Because they were holding on to, Sam?”“What are we holding on “That there’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo. And it’s worth fighting for.” I only have one goal to follow this challenge: Eat like a hobbit! Hobbits are known to have several delicious meals every day! I’m going to follow this “eat a small portion of food often” pattern, because it works for me. I do like to eat, and eating more often helps me to regulate my blood sugar. A plan I'm going to follow is as follows: Breakfast: 6-7 AM, 400 kcal Coffee/tea break: 10-11 AM (9-10 on Fridays), 150 kcal Lunch: 11.30-13 PM, 400 kcal (lunch break is 30 min, I can decide myself when to have it) Snack: 4 PM, 250 kcal (at work, before I go home) Dinner: 6-7 PM, 450 kcal Total: 1650 kcal a day. One portion of ice cream allowed on Fridays! The goal is to maintain weight around 70 kg (I don't currently have a scale here with me, though, so weight won't be tracked as often), or let it start go under. Last challenge was a success in the sense that I ate more, and managed to maintain weight for the whole month + my body had the possibility to recover from a straining winter. We're still in a slight recovery mode after the move and starting my summer internship, but life has definitely calmed down for now: no moves, no organizing a dozen things involving apartments... I'm basically on holiday This challenge is about getting used to a new life and finding the courage to keep going, no matter how small steps I'm taking with my hairy legs! I'm keeping it simple, because I'm a lazy tracker an prefer to see the changes in the mirror, on the scale and in the way my clothes fit Have an awesome challenge, everyone!!

I'm going to join the challenge from now until 3/27. Better late than never! I've been quite busy with various adventures lately, however, I'm back. I've been spinning my wheels in terms of my health making small tweaks to my movement, eating, and relating habits. It's not addressing my underlying apathy. Some times, I get so sick of the "effort" and willpower it takes to make healthy choices. I've let this slump last too long, since it turns out the "effort" is worth it. I feel, look, work, and play better when I make consistent investments in myself - regardless of how busy I am. Actually, my self investments are more important when my life gets crazy. This isn't about good and bad choices (read Lara's excellent thoughts and progress with moral licensing over here) This is about taking care of myself. Why? When I take excellent care of myself, I become resilient, radiant, and ready to take better care of the other people in my life. So, I'm going to focus on stopping the spiral that's been running me into the ground: Stress --> Sugar --> Suck --> Stress --> So on and so forth... No more! Behold, goals! Stress: Continue my meditation habit (20 minutes once per day), and add at least one other session for at least 2 minutes per day. Sugar: Whole 21 (9am 3/6 until 9am 3/27) Suck: Focus on listening to my Father instead of on my own self judgments. Bonus: Stuff - working on getting rid of it. You know, with all my free time. That's it. Let's do this thing!

This is my first challenge, so the Rebel camp seems like a good place to start! * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Challenge This month, I'm building habits so solid even an Uruk-hai couldn't bust 'em. I've realized I've had a lot of good interests, athletic experiments, and even a couple fun hobbies (or wanna-be future hobbies), but if I don't get better at regularly investing time in the ones that are important to me, I won't get very far. So, as befits a first challenge, this is going to be a "back to basics" kind of month. To that end, these are the habits I really need as a foundation for EVERYTHING I want to accomplish in the future: basic protein/nutrition, regular workout times, and time for prayer/meditation/reflection. The only exception is my running goal. Two weeks after this challenge ends, I'm running the DC Rock 'n' Roll half marathon. I've never run a half marathon before, so this is kind of a crazy thing... Regardless, I need to top out at about 13 miles max with my runs at the end of the challenge period if I want to survive. Gazelle mode, activate! The Goals Diet/Fitness: - Get my rear to the gym/trail each afternoon for my preset workouts (either Stronglifts weight training or my running plan). Both are written out... I just have to do them! - Increase protein intake on a daily basis (I'm still not sure how much I need, total. Expert advice welcomed!) - By the end of the challenge, run 13 miles in one session. (!!!) Life: - Prayer/meditation at least 20 minutes a day. I really need this one. This month is all about getting better at being dependable, so if you guys can keep me honest and reliable with my workouts, that would be amazing. I'll link up XP counts for each goal sometime soon, once I figure that out. For death and glory! For Rohan!

I enjoy long romantic walks to the fridge....well it all counts in this PvP!!! This is a walking PvP that will be running during the current 4 week challenge from Jan 4 to Jan 31 2016 5 levels: Titanium - 128 km's (80 miles) Gold - 96 km's (60 miles) Silver - 64 km's (40 miles) Bronze - 32 km's (20 miles) Copper - 19 km's (12 miles) PVP Rules 1. Pick a level above that will stretch you but you think you can make. During the challenge walk that many km's in 4 weeks. 2. Sign up in this sheet and track your km/miles during the 4 week challenge. 3. Specify after your name either (walking) or (pedometer) depending on if you will be tracking either just specific "I'm going for a walk" distances (walking) or I will track steps by wearing a pedometer/fitbit/etc. (pedometer). It's easier to get more mileage using a pedometer so we want to keep you accountable to hit those higher medals 4. Any amusing walking gifs are most welcome Anyone is welcome to join in from any guild, including recruits Theme song for this PvP, it applies to those late night fridge visits

Annyshay was raised on stories that her Gaffer told. Folks in those stories had plenty of opportunities of turning back, only they didn’t. Annyshay wants to be like the characters in her Gaffer’s stories. Her own story started a few years ago as detailed in her Quest. She wants to be strong, wise, and compassionate. Luckily, she joined the Rebellion and is working to become the hobbit she knows she can be. For this challenge, she will focus on nourishing herself with the healthful habits that she continues to build and refine. Goal The First = Nourishing Eating 5 experiments from Eating the Moment per week No screens while eating Goal the Second = Nourishing Movement GMB Integral Strength for the second time supplement with yoga, walking, and play time Goal the Third = Nourishing Sleep 30 minutes of light in AM electronics off at 8:00 Life Goal = Keeping Track document headspace and habits in spreadsheet newly dubbed the "Red Book" weekly review of my life (more organized and structured) report intermittently on trends Also, HAPPY NEW YEAR, REBELS!!! Let's make it great!

Hi, fellow Hobbits, friends from distant lands! I just arrived to middle earth, from the old Númenor, a little wet journey. I want to introduce myself, I'm Eddy Turambar, son of Manuel, heir of Isidoro... As you can see, i like LOTR, and I'm sure I'm not the only one ;D Hope to make some new friends and to give something in return, maybe a ring of powah! May the light of the Valar be with you.

So I just completed my entry for yesterday in My Fitness Pal, and it gave me an error message that said 'You are likely not eating enough'. When an program that is clearly designed to help people lose weight tells you that you aren't eating enough, LISTEN! (In my defense, I've been feeling like I'm getting a cold, which kills my appetite. But still. I really need to eat more than 1,000 calories a day.) Okay, so I'm ElvenEngineer. I'm a 22 year old female grad student in civil/structural engineering. Contrary to the above, I am not trying to lose weight. I am quite comfortable at 135#, size 2 pants, and size 4 shirts (because biceps - duh). My problems with eating are that I forget about it. No bueno. If I track MFP throughout the day, I'm better at knowing where I am, and am better able to hit goals. My goals this challenge will be focused on food. Because who doesn't love food? You know who does love food? HOBBITS! I promise there will be gifs. Many gifs. (I think I always promise this. I might fail on the gifs.) Quest 1:Track in MFP. Like seriously. It isn’t that hard. JUST DO IT SILLY. No calorie things, though I would like to be 1500+ every day. At least.Track ALL the food for 5/7 days= A [+4 STA]Track ALL the food for 4/7 days= B [+3 STA]Track ALL the food for 3/7 days= C [+2 STA]Track ALL the food for 2/7 days = D [+1 STA]Track NONE of the food = F Quest 2: Get at least 75g of protein a day. Bonus points for >100g. Eat ALL the protein for 5/7 days= A [+4 STR]Eat ALL the protein for 4/7 days= B [+3 STR]Eat ALL the protein for 3/7 days= C [+2 STR]Eat ALL the protein for 2/7 days= D [+1 STR]Eat NONE of the protein = F Quest 3:Try one new (dairy-free) recipe a week(ish). I will be buying a cookbook to make this easier.Cook 6/6 new recipes this challenge = A [+4 CON]Cook 5/6 new recipes this challenge = B [+3 CON]Cook 4/6 new recipes this challenge = C [+2 CON]Cook 3/6 new recipes this challenge = D [+1 CON]Cook <3 new recipes = F Life Quests: -Toast Masters meetings [+1 CHA for each meeting attended (Max +3)]-Don’t slack off on thesis-Keep putting 20%+ into savings-etc. etc. Dairy-free reasoning: Basically, it makes me feel bad. I haven't had a migraine since I cut it out, and I am feeling generally better. Good enough for me! I'm not vegan, I eat meat. I just don't eat/drink dairy. No, I haven't gone to the doctor. I might, when I have free time (which is non-existent). Rather than spend time specifying what in dairy my body doesn't like, it's faster and simpler to just avoid it altogether.

In keeping with my LOTR theme, I am heading over the Pass of Cirith Ungol, across the Plateau of Gorgoroth, and up the slopes of Mt Doom. The "journey" theme appeals to me, as I will once again spend a third of this challenge on the road. In real life, I'm conquering the schiznit of muscle tightness+patellofemoral pain syndrome (runner's knee... although from what my foam roller tells me it might be my IT band), 2 weeks travelling for work, 1 week trip to Peru. To get through it, I'm stripping away the excess and travelling light for this trip. My goals are minimalist: write one sentence in French every daydo one yoga pose every dayreach my FitBit climb goal (25 floors) every day (hey, Frodo and Sam climbed a lot of stairs!)The idea here is to lower the barrier to entry. Starting is the hardest part. Rather than saying I'm going to spend 30 minutes on mobility daily, I'm going to start with one yoga pose. My success will be judged by a couple of threshold activities write an entire work email in Frenchrun 5 mi (If I don't MWod/Yoga/PT, this won't be possible)Under #134 and feeling strong (I'll have to measure before Peru)

For right now, this is a placeholder for the Challenge. It's Bye Week Challenge time right now! I confess, I could read/watch The Two Towers and only follow the journey of the Three Hunters across Rohan. Not that Frodo and Sam aren't important, of course. I just love the idea of running across Rohan. That's right, I'm headed to Edoras. I have a lot going on at the moment, and indeed throughout the challenge. A half marathon on July 12, my sister's wedding at the end of June, the fitness challenge that my gym launched last week (and will run though the length of the challenge), and travelling to Quebec (I'm on a layover at Chicago O'Hare right now), Detroit, and central Oregon in the next 4 weeks. So here we go! 1. get ready to run! I've borderline blown out my knees in the past few weeks, thanks to shortened medial somethingorother muscles after heavy squats. I've packed my softball and my running shoes with me, but the big deal will be doing hard core mobility work every day. (Getting my milage back up is a given!) Let's hunt some orc (+DEX, +STR, +STA) 2. The "beach body challenge" kicked off at my gym. Here are my baselines: 5:18 Fran 18% body fat (#117 lean mass) #142.8 Body measurements (my coach has them) We're following the Zone block plan, although one of my coaches gave me a "flexible dieting" book that I burned through. I think I will incorporate elements of that into the "block" idea of the Zone. Right now, I've been impressed by how little the zone gives you to eat. Yes, I calculated my needs based on my lean body mass. My goal is, using MFP, to stick close to a Zone plan/ratio for at least the first 2 weeks. I'll tweak the plan after that point, depending on what way I'm headed. The ultimate goal is to improve on all of those stats! I won't get final feedback until after this challenge ends, but should be able to tell whether I'm making progress in 6 weeks. If I hit #137 at the end of the challenge without losing muscle, I'll consider it a huge win. So far, I've managed to get my protein in every day (+CONS) 3. Daily language practice. I'm tempted to pick up Spanish, thanks to my upcoming Peru trip, but I'm currently en route to Quebec, und ich vermisse Deutsche... but the language of the challenge is FRENCH! (+CHA, +WIS) (just imagine the Eorlingas spoke French, although I always imagined them speaking some germanic Scandi language )