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Get in, nerds, we’re aiming to understand and heal diet fatigue, and design diet cycles (cut, actively maintain, bulk, intuitively maintain) that don’t produce diet backlash. So many of us have dieted successfully only to find that, in the period after the diet, we experience extreme hunger and disinhibition and regain all the weight much more rapidly than it came off. With each new attempt we seem to have even less endurance and willpower, and each new diet is shorter, more distressing, and less sucessful. We might even become anxious at the thought of any further restrictions, and start hoarding food or bingeing. Sometimes it feels like the only option is to eat everything, forever, in a mild panic. Other times (or possibly at the exact same time) it seems equally urgent that we start a strict, rapid diet that will definitely, for sure, totally one zillion percent be different this time because we are more desperate than ever. Renaissance Periodization has a term for this; diet fatigue. It’s not a character flaw, or a shortage of willpower. Rather, it is a powerful set of phsyiological and psychological changes that occur due to dieting and weight loss. These changes are currently being studied and described by researchers and we will likely understand even more about it in the future. RP’s book The Renaissance Woman drew my attention to the concept of diet fatigue as a variable that MUST be managed in order to design a successful diet, and although every diet book or article mentions “sustainability” without explaining how the fuck you’re going to sustain being hungry for the rest of your life, this is the only book I’ve seen attempt to really design a programme to manage it, other than Intuitive Eating, whereby you manage diet fatigue by never dieting ever again, but you also never reach your body recomposition goals unless by luck. If we think of diet fatigue as a concrete constraining variable, then it becomes clear that we cannot simply push through with willpower and diet infinitely, any more than we can do infinite training and get infinite performance improvements. The problem, of course, is that dieting is needed to lose weight, but dieting causes the diet fatigue that causes the diet to fail. But hopefully, just as with stimulus vs fatigue in training, we can find that sweet spot that gets results while keeping diet fatigue low enough for success. I’m going to write up my notes on the book’s suggestions for this, and try to start designing my own diet cycles based on their recommendations. The book has some powerful recommendations for healing profound diet fatigue that I particularly want to share my notes on. If anyone is reading or listening to anything interesting that relates to the topic, this is the place to share notes. I think we can also use this space to tell our dieting histories and start planning our way out of the dieting backlash, and to review and adjust our plans as they proceed. Anyone is welcome to join. The focus will be cycles of cutting, active maintenance, bulking, and intuitive maintenance, since dieting indefinitely is not feasible for managing diet fatigue. I’m going to suggest that we stick to two important guidelines here, which is that if you're going to try another diet here, you must plan a cutting phase with an end date, and you must plan the phase after your cut. Whether it’s going to be active or intuitive maintenance, or bulking, you should be able to say what you’re going to do for the three months after dieting, even if it is just weighing yourself once a week or once a month. I have no flipping idea if this is going to work, but the concept of diet fatigue seems useful and my hope is that this is the missing piece that can explain the failure of diets past, and help guide diets future. If it doesn’t work this thread will stand as a monument to our failure and I’ll just make another art challenge thread, possibly with bats. Or pandas, since bats are unclean vectors of plague. Good work getting through this intro text. Have a (diet?) fatigued red panda to reduce your panic.

Hi Everyone! I'm paring down the goals this time around to two: 1) Eat real food, not peanut butter sandwiches; and 2) Play Supernatural for a minimum of a half hour three or more times a week. I'm really struggling to stay organized and invested in self-care with Dave being gone. I'm eating out more and sitting a lot, so need to shift my focus. Dave is home October 6th, which coincides well with the timing of this challenge. To help me stay focused/accountable, I want to take more pictures this challenge. Photos of the food that I cook, and selfies after I play Supernatural (their app has a cool thing that puts your scores on the bottom of the selfie and I like it). I don't know if I will post them all here, but I might post some as I enjoyed that part of Everstorm's challenge a lot. Things to do today: -bank deposit for work ✅ -mail parcel for work ✅ -cook ground beef and kale (chili?) -buy more protein bars -buy produce for shakshuka -clean out the fridge -take the garbage out -Supernatural -get clean Thanks for being here! Looking forward to cheering you on as well. Sax for tax!

This is a short cycle, but I’m determined to roll into this new year on track. At the start of this challenge, I’ll be on vacation celebrating my 40th(!!!) birthday with friends in a place I never imagined I’d actually get to visit. I plan to OD on junglescapes, Insta-worthy healthy food, yoga, boutique shopping and (hopefully) some culture. While I’m put, my goal is to maintain or increase my yoga schedule (a solid 2x a week - hoping for 3), and look into which other classes I might want to get into. Word around the campfire is that more friends are moving on, so I need to do what I can now to mitigate that shit. I will also continue to try and not eat like an asshole, aim to finish at least 1 more sewing project, will continue working on dog training, and hope to spend more time outside and off my couch. It is the “good” season, afterall. It would be a shame to miss it. Holiday 2019, let’s do this!

It's not about the fact that you stopped, but about starting again, as many times as you need to. Been thinking a lot about body image, mental health, and how exercise ties in so closely with both of those things. My story so far ... I joined Nerd Fitness and was successful in losing the 20lbs I'd wanted to lose for years. But I stopped working out nearly two years ago because my knee was hurting so much and my physiotherapist said she'd show me how to do squats properly. She never did. I went through a rough break up ~six months later and didn't have the mental health benefits of regular exercise to help me through it. I went on antidepressants (third time in my life) and worked on looking after my emotional and mental health. In the last six months I've gained back the 20lbs I lost when I joined Nerd Fitness and started working out regularly. I'm off antidepressants and am looking at exercise to help with body image and mental health, trying not to focus on the weight, but on strength and sustainability. Indefinite dieting is ridiculous, so I'm not worrying about calories but am generally trying to stick to the No S Diet (no snacks, no sweets, no seconds, except on days that begin with S). I've got the BBWW in my back pocket, and also have a sledgehammer for the Shovelglove workout. Last challenge I got myself a gym membership so I can work out during the day, since I'm often too tired to work out by the time I get home in the evening. I've got a log book to help me keep track of what I do, especially when I go to the gym. I've already mucked it up (I didn't put in the sledgehammer moves, oops) but that doesn't matter! I make it work for me. And so! Once again my plan is pretty much the same as last time, but after this long I'm happy with it. The Plan: Stretch M/W Exercise 2x per week. Any additional workouts are a bonus. I'm doing the thing again, and that feels good.

Despite being disappointed by my last challenge performance, overall I've made some great life changes, so I've decided this challenge is going to be more about setting myself up for success and holding on to the habits I've been developing thru the last couple challenges. Quest #1 - Food Avoid eating a giant bowl of carbs as a meal Vegetables or fruit with every meal Healthy snacks (yogurt, nuts) instead of garbage snacks (CHIPS CHIPS CHIPS) Quest #2 - Exercise Do physical activity at least once a week (gardening totally counts) Quest #3 - Writing Work on my novel at least once a week for 1-2 hours. Quest #4 - Money Spending hiatus! Don't purchase anything that isn't a necessity. (Exception: date night with the husband) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I suppose I could start implementing these quests now, but I use Week 0 to indulge in a little frivolity. Hence yesterday's McNuggets & Unicorn Frapp. Has anyone else tried the UF at Starbucks? I thought it was delicious, I might try to replicate a healthier version over the summer.

I had a pretty great challenge last round! I've made really great progress on getting good sleep on a regular basis. I'm stretching fairly regularly. I have an art project in mind and a due date (a gift for my parents' 40th anniversary in April). I have specific exercises I want to add back into my daily routine (i.e. desk pushups). So this challenge's goals are identical to the last one! I will keep logging in my paper logbook, and report my numbers on a weekly basis. Goals Sleep more than 7 hours 7x per week Stretch 3x per week Make art 1x per week Try something new/old each week (lift, swim, sledgehammer, run (UGH), etc) Disclaimer: I'm a queer, genderqueer (they/them pronouns), poly, kinky, social justice tank. The photos I share here will be SFW, but if you follow the link to my Instagram page, you will probably see things that are not.

Happy New Year, Happy ZERO Week, Happy New Challenge! Right into things, then: 1. Use my fancy schmancy new spreadsheet to track ALL THE THINGS. Daily weight, daily calories. 2. Lift 3x per week, good ol' 5x5. Log here. 3. Find maintenance. I anticipate that will be 2380, but am still on the hunt. Once found, stay there through the end of this challenge. 4. LUYL: spread more positivity. This can be here, through positive posts to others, at work, to myself, or randomly at any other time. So...don't be Randal when he's like this:

I tried to prioritize ukulele practice last challenge, but it just didn't happen. I'm not ready, and I've got too much else on my plate. I still want to learn, and my younger kid wants to learn, too, but I don't have the spoons. So I want to focus on how to replenish my spoons in a sustainable way. Partly inspired by this blog post, which says: "The painful self-care I am doing now is coming to terms with the fact that I have built my life around performing only the best parts of myself for other people, or performing for myself to project an image of who I would like to be." This one's also great: "Every parent I know will jump through hoops of fire to ensure their kids get enough sleep, but it stops there. For themselves, they view sleep as an indulgence. They brag about how little they get. “I was up till midnight working.” “I got up at 5:30 a.m. to make muffins for the bake sale.” “I never get more than 5 or 6 hours of sleep. I have too much to do.”" A friend said to me on Facebook today that self care is like parenting yourself. I want to feel good more often than not; I'm tired all the time. I never feel like I have enough time to do anything. I'm not burnt out like I was in the spring, but things could still be better. So this challenge is to REALLY ACTUALLY DO SELF CARE, AND DO IT RIGHT. This challenge I will: Get at least seven hours of sleep five nights per week (which went decently last challenge!) Stretch, foam roll, and do physio on my knee on alternate days (really necessary) Keep my nails painted nicely and my hair colour vibrant (because having nice nails that aren't bitten and amazing hair helps me feel better) Clean or organize something around the house every weekday BONUS: Sledgehammering, meditation, or hula hooping gets me a gif party extravaganza. Here's my kanban board in the kitchen, which lists all of the cleaning/organising things to do around the house. Sorry it's sideways! Daily tracking will be in my battle log. Standard warning: I'm queer, genderqueer (they/them), poly, and kinky. I keep this pretty SFW, and anything otherwise will be tagged as such and put under a cut. The photos I share here will be safe, but if you follow any links to my Instagram page, some are a little less so! Enjoy!

So, clearly I took the red pill. Let's see about that rabbit hole! Alright then...the goals: 1. Stay within the weekly calorie goals until I hit maintenance. November 28 - Dec 4 - goal: 1880 daily calories Dec 5 - Dec 11 - goal 1980 daily calories Dec 12 - Dec 18 - 2080 daily calories Dec 19 - Dec 25 - 2180 daily calories (Allowable eat like a jerk day on Christmas - track but don't include in the average.) Dec 26 - Jan 1 - probably 2280 calories, although I reserve the right to change any of these if maintenance happens sooner than I think. Please, please, please don't let it happen sooner than I think. Also, this goal is a tiny bit scary for me. And by tiny, I mean "irrationally and a really lot". 2. Continue lifting. Believe that I can do it. (4 x per week - stop giving myself permission to split sets in parts and do the entire set AT ONCE - a small allowance allowed the first week as I continue to come out of this cut - however certainly by the 2080 week I should be adequately fueled. Maybe. I think? I reserve the right to modify this goal if I truly need to, though.) 3. Do my accessories. I did really well the last week of the previous challenge on this. Accessories are typically 3 lifting accessories and shadow boxing or other hiit. These are all good for me, continue to do them. LUYL goal: Whelp. There are plenty of adulting things that need to be done (Christmas decorating, clean my house, clean out two (TWO!) separate closets), but they will happen when they happen. Let's go with do one extra adulting thing each week that needs to be accomplished. Tell you guys about it. (Wait...that should totes be a yoga goal. Nope. The oracle tells you what you need to hear.)

Last challenge I actually managed to improve my sleep! WOO. I definitely noticed a difference. I need to keep working on that. I also started back on stretching and some fitness stuff, and that feels really good. I want to keep that going, too. Same goals, keep on going. This challenge I will: Get at least seven hours of sleep five nights per week Do something creative five times per week (ukulele, art, writing, photography, baking) Do something for my body five times per week (stretch, meditate, sledgehammer, hulahoop, walk home from the subway, get a massage, do my nails) Daily tracking will be in my battle log. Standard warning: I'm queer, genderqueer, poly, and kinky. I keep this pretty SFW, and anything otherwise will be tagged as such and put under a cut. The photos I share here are SFW, but if you follow any links to my Instagram page, some are a little less so! Enjoy!

Earlier this month I got to spend five days at a beach house in Grand Bend on Lake Huron. It felt like coming home. I've called myself a mermaid for years, and here was a whole community that felt like it was just for me. I loved the pace, sitting around flipping LPs on the record player, watching the waves, feeling the breeze, being myself with my friends, and enjoying everything about the aesthetics, too. I used to wear the kinds of clothes I ended up buying while I was there. I know fashions come and go, and it was great to get back into the things I was so comfortable in as a teenager. Coming back to my roots, but as an adult with a vastly different perspective. I love being a hard femme goth shark mermaid. Last challenge was about self care, and so is this one. I set some really lofty and ultimately unrealistic goals in regards to frequency, but I'm not being very strict with myself. I'm the one accountable to myself, so I'm going to forgive myself for not being perfect. This challenge I will: Get at least seven hours of sleep five nights per week Do something creative five times per week (ukulele, art, writing, photography, baking) Do something for my body five times per week (stretch, meditate, sledgehammer, hulahoop, walk home from the subway, get a massage, do my nails) Daily tracking will be in my battle log, as usual. Standard warning: I'm queer, genderqueer, poly, and kinky. I keep this pretty SFW, and anything otherwise will be tagged as such and put under a cut. The photos I share here are SFW, but if you follow any links to my Instagram page, some are a little less so! Enjoy!

EG was a rather ordinary hobbit. She was short, with rather large hairy feet, and spent a good deal of time with her nose pressed into a book. Her favorite books were fantasies and adventures. She loved to read about heroes on dangerous quests, finding treasure and slaying dragons. Sometimes, she would even imagine that she was one of the heroes in the story. Of course, she knew that she never really would go on a quest. After all, she was a hobbit. Hobbits stayed home. Why else would they have such cozy homes? Let others do the adventuring, hobbits weren’t that sort. At least that was what she thought; until the day that changed everything. The day was rainy, and gray. The perfect sort of day to sit beside your fire, drink a cup of tea, and read a good book. Which was exactly what she was doing, when she heard a knock on the door. Not expecting company, and right in the middle of the most exciting part of the story, she ignored the knock. “Rap, rap , rap” the knocking continued. Frowning, she turned her chair away from the door, burrowed her head into her book and continued reading. “THUMP,THUMP’ the knocking grew louder and more insistent. EG sighed, whoever was at her door was obviously not going to leave. “I suppose I have to answer it” Opening the door to reluctantly greet the persistent visitor, she saw in front of her a tall man, with a large pointed hat, and a long flowing gray beard. He had a cart, on his cart were various kitchen utensils, pans, pots, spoons, and some odd objects she couldn’t identify. Rather peculiar looking for a tinkerer she thought, and definitely not the normal tinkerer that usually came through the Shire. The tinkerer smiled at her, “would you like to buy a new spoon, or perhaps a bowl to replace your broken one?” EG wondered how he knew she had broken her bowl the other day. Ah well, strange looking he may be, she did need a new bowl. Looking over the bowls he had, she chose a good, sturdy, practical bowl. “Just a moment, she told him, let me go get your money and I will pay you” Turning toward the kitchen, she walked over to her coin jar, dumped out the coins and then went back to the door to pay the tinkerer. But he was gone. There was just the open door, and no sign of the tinkerer. Stepping outside, she peered down the road. That was odd, she didn’t see him anywhere. “You’d think he’d want his money” she muttered to herself. With a shrug of her shoulders, she closed the door, and headed back to her cozy fire. It was then that she noticed something laying on her table. EG was a very tidy hobbit, and did not just leave stuff lying about on her table. And yet there was something on her table. Some sort of paper. Looking down at it, she saw that it was some sort of document, and by the looks of it, it was very ancient. Curious, she grabbed her glasses to get a better look. Its worn edges were all curled up on the ends, and the writing on it was very hard to read, as if faded by time. Studying it closer, she realized it was some sort of map. Yes, there were the mountains that were to the North, and beyond that the swamplands, and in the South, the giant cedar forests. But what was that past the mountains? Now thoroughly intrigued, she slid the light over to the lamp to get a better look. Yes, there was a trail marked on the map, and at the end of the trail was a large X. “No doubt about it,” she thought, this was a treasure map. Sitting back in her chair, she pondered it for a moment. Where did the map come from? Did the strange tinkerer man leave it? And more importantly, should she follow it? She let her mind wander off in a daydream about her going on an actual quest in search of treasure. Just as she was beginning to think how fun the adventure sounded, her tea kettle whistled. Shaking her shoulders, and nodding a bit sadly to herself she thought , “ Adventures are for others, hobbits are the type who stay in their comfy homes and drink tea, not go off on crazy adventures searching for buried treasure” With a regretful gesture, she rolled up the map and placed it by the door. “There”, she thought “, I will give it back to the tinkerer when he returns, and perhaps he can give it to one of the heroes in the stories I read about.” I decided I felt my hobbitish this challenge, than superhero. My hobbit on an adventure goals: Follow the map Track Water- 64oz a day Food- map is a little fuzzier here, more room for wandering, eat Paleo-ish, track some of the times on MFP, and big important one; remember right now I am trying to gain muscle so if I am hungry listen to my body and eat more! Remind myself that it is fine if I gain a bit of weight, just keep the waist measurements about the same. Climb the mountain Morning routine: wake up at 7:30 drink 12 oz of water read Bible/pray kitchen clean start workout no later than 9:30- most of the ones in the list are habit by now, I just need the accountability to keep it going. But, I still tend to spend too long on the computer or reading before starting my workout. I tried to get the 9:30 habit going last month, but it was a busy month, and I have little motivation. Thought about giving myself a reward, but wasn't really jazzed about anything. So- drastic measures- punishment. I HATE burpees. Give myself 5 minutes grace, and then for every minute after 9:30 that I start my workout I owe 2x that amount of burpees. Burpees must be completed before playing on the computer. Explore We are taking our big vacation in October, but Mr Incredible and I would like to get away for a couple of days, and Dash has some vacation time and so we would also like to go somewhere with him. Plan some trips, and put them on the books Bonus- For a long time I was doing handstands. Then I got stuck on trying to kick up into a handstand and got frustrated. Now, I am stronger, and more flexible. I would like to play around with them again. 3x a week of trying whatever method I want of getting into a handstand( GMB has some other ways besides kicking) This is a bonus because my ring work is first priority, so if my shoulders are too whumped from that, then this goal gets bumped.

Edited to add my disclaimer: I'm queer, genderqueer, poly, and kinky. I keep this pretty SFW, and anything otherwise will be tagged as such. The photos I share here are SFW, but if you go to my Instagram page, some are a little less so! Enjoy! It's time to switch things up. I'm maintaining well at just over 140lbs, even while I was eating whatever on vacation. I'm biking thanks to the nice weather, stretching every now and then, spending time with people who lift me up, and generally feeling pretty good. With that, I'm going to focus on two things from previous challenges. UKULELE and SLEEP. My husband plays electric bass and my older kid has requested to play drums at school next year. Both the kids like joining my husband on percussion (djembe or tambourine) while he plays, and we just got my friend's old drum kit. My younger kid has been writing their own songs, and they both love to sing. My husband did this to our basement yesterday: Isn't it great?? Obviously it's a work in progress, but EEE! Excited! So I've got to really learn how to play my uke after all this time. The goal is to practice five times per week for at least twenty minutes, and to learn four songs, starting with Stairway to Heaven because I love the opening bit. There may be videos. NO PROMISES. Sleep goal is at least seven hours, five nights per week. I may add in a cleaning goal, but I'm worried that will be overambitious.

I dialed it waaaay back last challenge, and I did pretty well. I'm in a much better place now than I was four weeks ago. Keeping on keeping on. Rebuilding, making my life sustainable and happy. Challenge goals: Mind: be kind to myself, meditate, look after my emotions, ask for help when things are hard, share. Body: move my body, stretch, get outside, get in the pool. Work: write (fiction and cover letters), submit (manuscripts and resumes), learn (video editing software, website building). Content warning: I'm a tree-hugging queer nonbinary polyamorous kinky hippie. I do the weird stuff. Questionable links will be marked.

Wow 4th challenge already this year! The first quarter went by fast. I just read Steven Pressfield's War of Art and I'm most enamored of his discussion of "territory". According to him our territories have 5 qualities "A territory provides sustenance, A territory sustains us without any external input, A territory can only be claimed alone, A territory can only be claimed by work, A territory returns exactly what you put in". I have some territory in my life. Dance has always been one. Strength training has been recently annexed. Sitting down to learn a new thing is my territory, although definitely the part with thorny roses since it's constantly a battle to actually sit down but its worth it. The things in that area I'm most focused on now are jewelry making which is a scary dream and accounting which is me sort of sneaking up on the dream my proving that I could run a business. But life has a way of trying to steal back what I've claimed, via unimportant urgent things and tiredness. So this Princess is defending her castle and land. (Image here) Train Warriors Strength training, dance and yoga. Learn to power clean. Build Moat Read book on setting boundaries + self esteem (Image here) Practice Financial Wizardry More accounting classes! And also a Web design class aimed at working on my portfolio eventually. Stock up on supplies: Reduce restaurant bills to under 250 by cooking for leftovers on Sundays and Wednesday (Image here) Make friends with a Dragon Jewelry making class, more soldering practice. Yay fire! (Found on pinterest, artist here)

Still figuring out specific goals for this next round. Please entertain yourself with this for now! NOW UPDATED! NOW WITH ACTUAL CHALLENGE GOALS!! It should be of little surprise to anyone who has followed me on here for any amount of time that I keep a full plate... PLATES!! of things to do at all times. Sometimes I end up feeling I have that one too many plates stacked and I get super stressed out and overwhelmed. An excellent example -- this week would have been nuts anyway, but then LIFE HAD TO GO AND HAPPEN and someone hit my parked car last week. That added stress off AAAH CAR MY BABY WAAAAAH and WHEN WILL I HAVE TIME TO FIX THIS on top of my already intentionally crazy schedule... this week has sucked. Hard. Inspired by this past week of ARGH AAAH SO MUCH TO DO AAAAAAH OVERWHELMED... the theme of this challenge will be maintaining my fitness schedule (albeit more moderate amount of exercise than I would like...) while making sure I fit in time for self care. The dance show I am working on is happening on Mother's Day weekend -- we are getting into super crunch time! So focusing on my sanity and self care are KEY!!! GOAL 1 - CHILL TIME - I need down time. Like bad. Clearly I don't get this if I don't plan for it. I would ideally love an actual full DAY of downtime at least once per week, but given rehearsal schedule I will settle for at least one solid chunk of 4 hours of no planned activities (including social activities!) once per week (no. sleeping does not count. Hahahaha.) GOAL 2 - MAINTENANCE - I am getting a TON of physical activity with craptons of dance rehearsals but I still need to make sure I fit in some dedicated strength training in there somewhere. At least twice per week work on strength training. It doesn't have to be all of these in each workout, but it'd be good to try and touch on each thing at least once per week -- PUSH, PULL, CORE, SQUATS. With my current level of stress and ACK I am keeping it to just these two things right now!

Okay so pretty much a natural continuation of my last challenge but with a competition and holiday dropped in! The big things happening in April are: I compete again on Sunday 17th of April. It's a big one because I need to hit a qualifying total (525kg at 83kg) to qualify for the Scottish Classic this year I have two weeks off work from Monday 18th of April (SOOOO HAPPY ABOUT THIS) I go on holiday to Spain for a week on Thursday 21st of April I should also break the 500 lb mark in the deadlift either tomorrow in or competition itself. I don't normally pay any attention to weights in lbs but a couple of people commented that my 225kg deadlift in February was just under 500 lb so time to break that! Update: with challenge goals! Deadlift 230kg/507lbs This is another step along the way to hitting a triple bodyweight deadlift, which is one of my medium to long term goals. I've done 225kg with ease in competition so this one should be something of a gimme. Qualify for the Scottish Classic The Scottish Classic at the start of June is basically the national competition for unequipped lifters in Scotland. There's the British Classic, which is a level higher, but I'm a ways away from qualifying for that. So qualifying for the Scottish Classic is a good interim goal. I need to hit a total of 525kg or higher when I next compete on the 17th of April. Continue to log my weight every day Even though it's only of interest to me, I've found it very useful to make a note of my weight on NF each day and it also encourages me to post every day, which is good. Relax I've had a really stressful couple of months at work and I need to unwind a bit. I've been playing a bunch of old video games in my spare time to relax so I'm going to keep that up. I've also got a holiday the last two weeks of April. I have two weeks off work and in the middle of that will be going to Barcelona in Spain, then heading to the coast for a couple of days. The plan is to be more or less off the grid for that week.

The last couple of challenges have been mainly about setting a good balance between life, work and the gym and lifting in competition for the first time in powerlifting. Now I want to start addressing more specific things to help set myself up properly for hopefully qualifying for the British Classic next year. 1. Maintain my weight I need to maintain my weight between 84kg-85kg to easily make weight for competition at 83kg without needing to do anything crazy. I'll record this through daily weigh-ins and will use weekly average to measure how things are going, since my weight is always up on a Sunday and Monday. I'm not going to track macros on the forum this time because I find it really tedious. 2. Bench, Bench, BENCH!!! I am really bad at bench press. To the point where I am embarrassed by it. As a competitive lifter, it essentially means that I start at a 20kg to 25kg handicap to other lifters and while my deadlift makes up for it somewhat, it's a liability when it comes to posting a competitive total. I'm never going to be a great bencher but I need to improve my weakness somewhat and get up to at least a 120kg-ish bench by the end of the year. I've benched 105x2 touch and go but haven't done over 95kg in competition conditions. I have the potential strength to do more at the moment but am held back by technique so I'm working on this with a few of the other people I'm train with, three times a week. The other thing I need to do is get more confident about tacking heavier weights so I want to attempt at least one 95%+ lift every week of this challenge. 3. Starting towards a triple bodyweight deadlift One of my long term goals is to pull three times my bodyweight. My coach believes that this will go this year - I need to hit 247.5kg at 82.5kg bodyweight and I've already done 225kg with perhaps 10kg more there - but it will still be a big milestone. Difficult to track this one as I'm unlikely to deadlift anything much over 200kg during this challenge but it's more a statement of intent than anything. 4. Play through my gaming backlog Something I have been doing for the last month or so is enjoying replaying some classic videogames and playing stuff in my Pile of Shame for the first time. Partly it's that I spend too much money on games I play for a few hours and then don't touch again. Another aspect is that I've discovered that I just enjoy older games more and am hugely enjoying playing through them. So for this challenge I want to keep this up and try and finish a few classics. A week or so ago I completed Metal Gear Solid 2 for the first time (I made it insanely close to the end back in 2003 and gave up in frustration on one particular boss fight). At the moment I'm playing through Metal Gear Solid 3 HD and The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD. Once those are done I will have Ico, Shadow of the Colossus, Zelda: Twilight Princess, Okami and Metal Gear Solid 4 on my plate so I'll see how my mood takes me.

This is sort of a maintenance challenge for me. I'm competing in powerlifting for the first time on Sunday so I'm pretty much fixed into a routine for the initial week. After that it's going to be about keeping up the good things from the last challenge and focusing on maintaining a good, stable balance between lifting, work and life stuff. Goals! 1. Compete! I am competing in powerlifting for the first time on Sunday 7th of February. IPF-affiliated 83kg class. Planned lifts are mainly submaximal as I'm aiming to go 9/9. 190kg squat, 100kg bench, 220kg deadlift. 2. Maintain! I started out the last challenge aiming to maintain weight and have ended up losing nearly 1.5kg. This is good because it means I will easily be able to compete at 83kg but it does mean I need to be eating more to maintain. So my goal after this week will be to find my maintenance calories and try to get my weight sitting steadily in the 83-84kg range. 3. Log! The last challenge showed that there's some room for improvement around my food logging. So alongside daily weigh-ins, I will post my target vs. achieved macros every day. Except Saturdays 4. Train! I have two sub-goals here, both of which will be difficult to measure during the challenge but I will be starting to work towards them: Squat 200kg+ in competition in AprilImprove my bench press technique and set up and bench more in competition

The last few months have been HARD. Between preparing for a wedding and the subsequent comedown, work stress, trying to make progress in the gym and cutting weight, I managed to really wear myself down towards the end of 2015. I've had the Christmas and New Year break to recharge, reflect on the last few months and consider my priorities going forward. Some things have changed - I've decided I need a break from dieting and am looking to hold my weight steady for a couple of months before getting down to 83kg for a provisional competition in April. So I'm no longer working with a nutrition coach and need to get used to managing my own diet again. Generally though, I need to find a better balance and make sure other areas of my life don't suffer too much when one part gets intense. GOALZ 1. Manage my own nutrition, be accountable and don't become a fat mess So yeah, I have to manage my own nutrition again. My TDEE is something like 2500 calories per day, give or take but I will probably do 6 days of 2350 calories (175g carbs, 185g protein, 100g fat) and 1 day of 3400~ish (400g carbs, 185g protein, 120g fat) for dat cheat day goodness. I'll log my daily weigh ins in my thread and post a nutrition summary each week. Macros subject to change depending on how things go. 2. Actually do some goddamn mobility work I am really bad for saying I will do mobility and not doing it. Twice a week. That's what I'm going to do during this challenge. It's not much but it's better than nothing. 3. QUALITY TIMEZ I've noticed over the last few months that I have neglected to make time for doing the things that I enjoy by myself/with my wife. I aim to do two of these kind of things per week - play a videogame for longer than an hour, watch a movie, go for a walk together etc. 4. Do two non-gaming related social things during the challenge When things get stressful or I have a lot of commitments, I tend to revert to hermit mode and try and shut out the outside world. Time to snap out of that and spend time with friends. My regular Thursday night p&p RPG session does not count. 5. Actually finish a challenge I have a really bad habit of starting strong and then falling off the challenge wagon hard. Not this time buddy. 6. Get ready to compete So yeah this isn't really a goal for this challenge but I may as well put it down here. I'm doing my first powerlifting competition on 7th February a week after the challenge ends. I'm sure I'll spend some time getting ready for it during these 4 weeks!

So….it’s that time again, guys and gals. Fall is in the air, the holiday season is just around the corner, a new challenge is up and ready to roll...oh, what’s this? I’m not in the Assassin’s Den anymore, I’m standing in a strange...courtyard thing. Huh. Well, there’s that. I feel introductions are in order, as this is my first foray into the mist-shrouded lands of martial arts-dom. I am a 28 year old tiny tank who lifts like it’s going out fashion whilst dwelling with the Assassins and living the dream of being a true Warrior by way of the Monastery. Can a tank be a Monk? We’ll surely find out. I come here humbly to ask for the assistance of those who know the spirit of martial arts and have lived this dream a long time before I even thought about pursuing it. * coughs * All that is to say this is a new thing, halp plz. Yoga is as close as it’s gotten as of a month ago and...lolnope. For first challenge with the Monks, I’m going for a simpler format while getting a feel for this new training that also cements what I already know are Things to Do. Those who’ve followed me in the past will be well familiar with the drill in that respect LOL. And with that, let’s get right to it! CYAN - SHINKENDO - (STR+1, DEX+2, WIS+1) If only I could have the sword skills of Cyan...I aspire to fight with such skill and honor as a man who knows loss and presses on to save the rest of the world from Ruin in spite of seemingly having nothing left to live for. Shinkendo is my art and I have a whole three classes under my belt, it is once a week each Saturday morning bright and early. I will be practicing at a minimum twice a week. Additionally, I will be posting my lifting exploits here, which includes the technique specific addition of grip-work to help bring my forearms/wrists/fingers up to snuff. Can’t be wielding the bokuto with wussy fingers. Shinkendo practice is defined as working weak links and reviewing material for 15 minutes as of Week 0 - time will increase as I adapt Grip work is defined as follows: - I will take the deload opportunity to start afresh with Double Overhand Deadlift grip for as long as I can manage it at 3x3 - Plate pinches for time, baseline as determined by Week 0 - Dead hangs for time, baseline as determined by Week 0 The grading: Shinkendo - 4/wk - 4 = A, 3 = B, 2 = C, else F Grip Work - 3/wk - 3 = A, 2 = B, else F - failure to complete one aspect of grip work is failure to complete any grip work EDGAR - MOBILITY - (DEX+2, CON+2) Ah, the King of Figaro. Figaro Castle is known for one big thing: Mobility. Its ruler is an engineer of remarkable skill in creating Tools that own the competition. Seriously. Just try going up against him. Yeah? Didn’t think so. This quest is all about the mobility. Here I will record daily adventures PVC and ball rolling, stretching, and all things rehab. This includes what I’m mobilizing, the custom patented Hit Parade (what’s sore, tired, hurt, cranky, broken on my person), with special focus on the Migraine Report to help me figure out what/when/where/why they are occurring. This is a serious mission to resolve a 3 year mystery! Don’t ask why I waited 3 years to fix this, I haven’t a clue, either. But this ends now! The beginning of each week, I will re-evaluate my situation re: systemic tightness and fatigue. I suspect I have worn something out or knotted sufficient muscle up that I'm fighting dysfunction under the bar and during regular life. If I still hyperextend after these issues are addressed, I will need to implement remedial work to correct this: - reset squats to empty bar (Cyan) - BW squats - Dead bugs http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/detail/view/name/dead-bug - Planks - Leg Raises No grading necessary for the aches/pains journaling, I have already committed it to routine. The grading: Daily Mobility - 7/wk - 7 = A, 5 = B, 3 = C, else F Hit parade/Migraine Report - NA Bookmarking this for http://rebellion.nerdfitness.com/index.php?/topic/70717-urgan-storms-in-with-section-9/?p=1681892'>future reference. SABIN - DIET - (CON+1, WIS+1) You can’t expect to kick ass without serious dedication to the proper diet...EATING (almost) ALL THE THINGS. Sabin knows this all too well--even on a ghost train, one must take great care to consume the proper number of calories. Suplexing a train requires a lot of a person. I’m on a recomp roll, and I want to continue the trend of eating at maintenance to see how far I can carry it. For me, this looks like a target of 2500 calories on average (a minimum of 2250 calories daily will be necessary to make this happen). All other macros will be logged as follows: Calories/Carbs/Fat/Protein Running Avg of Calories Sugar can take a flying leap this challenge, I am not concerned with it this time. I want to try to get as close to 2500 I can average out to see if I gain at these levels. I may adjust the target mid-challenge, this is fine, the only thing I must do is log the macros. The grading: Maintenance - P/F - Either I log my macros or I do not. There is no partial credit. GOGO - MIMICRY - (CON+2, WIS+1) The master of mimicry: Gogo is a mystery by and large, but what isn’t a mystery is how useful he/she is on the battlefield simply with the ability to copy the previous action, no matter how esoteric the technique. Nothing esoteric here: I just want to repeat prior challenge goals of enforcing a workday curfew and weekly measurement scheme to track how well my Sabin goal is working. Bedtime is at 10:30PM Sunday - Thursday; Wednesday I take my weight, Sunday I take weight and measurements. The grading: Curfew - 5/wk - 5 = A, 4 = B, 3 = C, else F Measurements - 2/wk - 2 = A, else F TERRA - CLEANING - (WIS+1, CHA+1) Terra begins the game with all the questions in the world about herself, and few answers. As the story progresses, she fears and doubts herself, but searching deep within she discovers who and what she really is--a hero fit to save the world from Ruin and Kefka for both of her peoples. I am not wracked with doubt, but I am riddled with closets full of stuff that is poorly organized and junk that shouldn’t even be in my life if I’m really honest. This quest is all about clearing out all that is unnecessary from storage. Any recess with junk in it is fair game, but the main targets this challenge are the three closets attached to each bedroom in our house. Pretty simple, right? The grading: Cleaning - 3/challenge - 3 = A, 2 = B, 1 = C, else F Starting Stats: Weight: 111.0 lbs Waist: 23.1" Hips: 32.0" Biceps(L/R): 10.3"/10.1" Forearm(L/R): 9.3"/9.1" Thighs(L/R): 20.0"/20.0" Calves(L/R): 12.0"/11.9" Sounds good to you? Let's do this thing! Setzer, take us out!

MAIN QUEST: Continue self-improvement, become a Triple Threat (act, sing, and dance awesomely), and don't burn out! Every third challenge, I burn out, and I spend the challenge after that licking my wounds and trying to get back on the horse. Not this time! I will continue the hard work I’ve put in instead of taking a step back, because Reborn would expect no less from one who is to become head of the Vongola Family, so why should I expect any less from myself? QUEST 1: EAT TO SURVIVE REBORN’S TRAINING [+3 CON] Reborn’s training is brutal, and it’s impossible to survive without the proper fuel. Not only do I need to make sure I’m eating enough protein, but I need to make sure I’m eating enough, period! I’m at the point now where I should be looking for my maintenance numbers since I’m basically right where I need to be in order to do so, so that’s going to be a primary focus of this quest on top of making sure I get the protein intake I need. (Taken from starsapart’s quest for maintenance a few challenges ago, modified for my needs.) Eat at least 75g of protein a minimum of 5 days/week. A = 5x/week | B = 4x/week | C = 3x/week | D = 1-2x/week | F = Nope Calculate average daily gross calories at the end of each week. If my measurements decreased, I will increase my minimum calories by at least 100 calories. If my measurements stayed the same, I must be eat within 50 calories on either end of that range. If my measurements increased, I will evaluate and adjust accordingly. A = Followed the criteria 100% | B = Short of the minimum by 25 | C = Short of the minimum by 50 | D = Short of the minimum by 75 | F = Did you even try?BONUS OPPORTUNITY: If I eat at least 95g of protein (my estimated lean mass being ~95lb), I earn $10 towards Japan spending money. QUEST 2: A WELL-ROUNDED MAFIA BOSS [+12 TBD] Reborn trains Tsuna with some of the oddest regimens that covers a wide range of skills – basically, in the KHR world, a "mafia" boss can’t be any less than the best in strength, dexterity, stamina, constitution, wisdom, and charisma. And so, taking a page out of stillskies’ book from last challenge, here is a grab bag of assorted things in order to improve all manners of necessary skills in my own life! Of course, I have a few rules in place to make sure that I stay consistent with the habits that I feel are still too raw to rely upon without a challenge to motivate me. The Rules: In order for the fitness points (STR, DEX, STA) to count in a week, I need to exercise 5x/week for at least 30 minutes. This does not need to be traditional workouts/exercises. In order for the non-fitness points to count (CON, WIS, CHA) in a week, I need to make sure that on Monday morning at the latest my budget is up-to-date. Ideally, I’ll have it up-to-date Sunday evening. Attribute points will be distributed at the end of the challenge based on total points accumulated in each category. Mini-challenge participation will grant me 5 points in the appropriate category each day I contribute (for example, if the challenge is to earn +1 STR, it will be 5 points in the strength category when I do it). If the mini is particularly involved, I can earn 10 points in the appropriate category; alternatively, if I’m one of the top five contributors if it’s a quantitative challenge (top three in a team if we do teams), I can earn 15 points (only once a week). Clarification: if I'm both top three in teams and top five overall, then it will be 30 points. In order to successfully complete the challenge, I need to accumulate a total of 2,500 points. Number subject to change based on my progress throughout the course of the challenge. For every increase I need to do, I will earn myself $50 towards my upcoming Japan vacation. BONUS CHALLENGES And here are some extra things I'd like to pay attention to and reward myself if possible that didn't make it into the grab bag itself. Twenty Pull-Ups Challenge: I’m participating in the PVP for the Twenty Pull-Ups Challenge, and damn it, I’d like to be able to do a pull-up before I turn 30 besides! That gives me 15 months to do a pull-up. So every time I do this, I will earn myself an extra +5 points towards strength, up to 3x/week for 15 bonus points. I will most likely spend the entirety of the 8 weeks in the -2/-1 Week but hey, it's the effort that counts! Pirouette Drills/Tap Basics: So I suck at pirouettes, and this is not okay. I may not be able to move up to the intermediate jazz classes for a while, but if anything is going to hold me back, it’ll be my pirouettes. So, every day that I work on the drills, I will earn myself +10 points towards dexterity. (Added on Day 02: Because I need some serious help with tap basics, if I work on it at home, I will earn +10 points towards dexterity. If I do both pirouette drills and tap basics, then yes, it'll be +20 dexterity points.) Conditioning: I want to spend quality time with my exercise band and the foam roller and work on my grip strength. Every day that I do conditioning exercises with the band, roll out my muscles, or dedicate some time specifically to grip strength, I will earn +5 points towards my stamina. Why stamina? Because this will keep me going stronger, longer! Clarification: +5 points each conditioning exercise. Meal-Planning: A lot of stress that comes from making sure I meet my macros comes from a lack of planning, and so I will plan out my breakfasts and lunches for the work week every Sunday to make sure that no matter what I eat for dinner, I know I’ll be making my minimum counts on protein. If I make a plan, I will earn +20 points towards constitution for the week. If I stick to it, I will earn an additional +30 points for the week. Adjustment: for every breakfast and lunch during the work week I eat according to play, I will earn +3 constitution points up to +30 points. Focus: I am… really bad at staying focused at work. The Adderall helps, but I have to pull my own weight in this regard, too. The goal here is to devote only the last 15 minutes of any given hour towards non-work distractions, and at the top of the hour, I’m back to doing something productive again. If I miss that :45 mark, I miss it and I can’t make it up. And if I really need a distraction, I take a brief walk to either get more tea, or a glass of water, or just walk around the building some. And if I have nothing to do? I FIND something to do that’s work-related, even if it’s just reading documents. I earn myself +15 points towards wisdom for every day that I manage to stick to these criteria. Hygiene Routine: I am AWFUL at taking care of myself before I go to bed. I usually just do one or two things (usually dental care) and then hit the sack. I need to be better about this. And so, every night I commit to a full hygiene routine, I will earn +10 points towards charisma. What is a full hygiene routine? Brush my teeth, floss, wash my face, moisturize. If I do a full facial, I get an additional +10 points. WEEKLY RECAPS Day Zero | Week One | Week Two | Week Three | Week Four | Week Five | Week Six | Challenge Complete! REWARDS (non-stacking) I'll be going to Japan at the end of December through mid-January, and Japan is expensive, so this is the money I'm going to allow myself to withdraw from personal savings. Non-stacking, because let's not go insane here! This is the money for food and shopping and sightseeing adventures. I'm already budgeting for travel and hotel costs. This will be on top of the money I allot myself via bonus money in the above quests. 100% of total points achieved = $500 towards Japan spending money 90% of total points achieved = $400 towards Japan spending money 80% of total points achieved = $300 towards Japan spending money Starting Measurements and Pictures Waist @ narrowest: 26.875" Waist @ navel: 30.625" Hips: 36.25" Thigh: 21.75" Calf: 14" Est bf%: 23.35% (as of 9/7/15) Weight: 124lb (as of 9/14/15)

Survival of all or none My second challenge overall. I am not aiming to do any fancy leaps this 6WC - but still it seems I'm unable to slim down this huge list of mine. On top of that comes that I overdid things last challenge and had a painful experience with my shoulders, slowing me down on that end, which -in a way- is a blessing. QUEST#1 Do one thing at a time aka Hack down Ze List of Doom In August starts the new application phase for the 2016 apprenticeships. I have a heap of hurdles to clear until then so getting the list of doom under control is the major thing for this challenge, while actually applying for apprenticeship jobs will be the center piece of the next one. This is a big thing for me. When I graduated school I went straight into procreation, which is fine, it means I'm now 31 and expect to be done with diapers for the forseeable future. Yay. It also means I never learned a trade and although I did go to uni for a little while I never finished a degree. So starting out applying with ~12 years of homemakerdom, an 11yo, and a 4yo child, and a hubby who's working full time shift work, I realise I'm not the most attractive applicant for any potential employer. I have a list, it's a huge list - but it's possible to tackle it, if I DO ONE THING AT A TIME. In the July-August-challenge there will be a "however many applications per week" "Interviews per week" and a "Find a firm to train with" But this challenge is all about the necissary preparations: ☑ Daycare ☠strike and sick time daycare replacements, ☠brush up the resume ☠practice writing tailored-to-the-firm-I'm-applying-with-letter of applications ☠practice daily schedule -working on it was free at nine today ☠autodidact stenography if I can -- seems unlikely ☠have a counselling appointment at the family center about how to set up contingencies ☠where to apply for funding for said contingencies ☠figure out if I am going to aim for a parttime apprenticeship (fulltime=3 years 40/week including school) or a variation thereoff with less hours per week (but longer overall, obviously) ☠a councelling thing with whoever knows which lawfirms actually take on apprentices ☠set aside work outfits ☠interview outfit ☠application photographs ☠and, and, and... (everything added on later) ☑ Student Loan Paperwork - done Maintain Changes Quest #2 One raindrop raises the sea —> optimize and with that reduce necissary maintenance on the past gained changes —> monitor the consitency of the following habits: one personal habit - going strong5 minutes handstand challenge (reached 60cm distance need more endurance)Danish and Spanish each 10xp twice a day (Duolingo Link)walk every day (max 3x as little as 10 minutes) - failed 3 times how do I get back on it now?!workout every other day (incl. doc's exercises) - failed Fri (but yoga) AND Suneat Paleo 6 days a week (dairy and legumes allowed) - decent if not awesometrack weight and other measurements every Monday morning - gaining weight. Blegh!bed at 2200 - yeah, I wish! I'm cheering if I get to bed before midnight (and sleep before 1). No wonder I feel like crap all the time. level up the workout QUEST#3 Weapons are enemies even to their owners —> level up to Advanced Bodyweight Work Out - on hold until strong enough. I am hindered in my progress by my own impatience. I have now rested (no workouts) for nearly a full week. Finally painfree I started yesterday with working on the Beginner's Body Weight Workout (BBWW) substituting the b.o.rows and push ups with the five exercises my doc gave me. Since I am trying to gain momentum with my workouts and not ground myself again, the current Quest #3 is "train without pain". I am not pushing myself to get to the AdvancedBWW this challenge as originally planned, even though I want to —I so want to— but it's unrealistic. So this challenge is to workout every other day, consistently. Without my muscles doing the knotting and seizing up they did now. I'll be playing it by ear. Add one after the other, but slowly. I want to start practicing my wall planks and bend over rows and incline push ups again, and eventually inverted rows, but I don't want to fall on my face again, just because I'm impatient... So, consistent changes. Let's do it! WEEK I+II Quest #1 - Do one thing at a time list: ☑ Daycare ☑ Student Loan Paperwork Quest #2 - One raindrop raises the sea maintenance 9/14 Not good with bedtime, walking or working out - feel like crap because of it Quest #3 - Weapons are enemies even to their owners Workout 3.5/7 Ranger Mini: Week 1 Endurance Feat: Plank: 21/21*[30s] Wall Plank: 14/14*[20s] 1*[30s] Week 2 Combat Feat: Kill the workouts. Sleep on time. Essential tools for success: SplenDO to-do-list app Duolingo app ~0.5m free wall, and a small towel to dry off hands between sets Timely app stopwatch and timer functions Food&workout logging notepad/diary Netflix (temptation bundled to do chores like dishes, ironing or folding) Zombies , Run!³ - some entertainment for walking, running or cycling Week 1 Doing fine so far, since I have no real big challenges going on fitness wise, "only" maintenance I'm struggling a bit with finding my footing. Shower broken, threw a wench in my mood and days. There's to hoping that they fix it on monday. Half a point for workout today sunday week 1: I was not feeling up to doing a full workout, actually felt like curling up in a ball of sad-woman-in-pain, but I didn't I did my handstand practice YAY wall planks, even though 12 seconds was the most I could hold, then I went and did the remaining 15 times 30s horizontal planks. Spread out as 3 sets of five within 5 minutes each set. Ok, but I did them, then I did more chores, because that's what my life is all about atm. Tired. Too much on my plate. Forgot the walk. dang. tomorrow: Scale date + maybe a repaired shower. Week 2 Gained 100g in the last week. I feel like I fell of the waggon and am still clinging to the side, dragging myself through the dirt, for I'm neither letting go nor pulling myself up. I did some walking around today. I've not had a good start so far. The start itself was awesome, but since friday things have been falling apart at the seems. There is a pile of reasons. But I don't care to reutter all of them, I will do the following: make the small kid go to bed at 7, bigger one at 8.workout when the kids are in bed, a bit of sweat will make me find sleep easierdo bathroom routine myself at 9-9:30; bed at 10, until I caught up with my sleep deficiency.Put clothes out in the evening ⇨ alarm ⇨ hop into clothes ⇨ do my walk before small people or hubby or anyone wakes. Optional: do vocab practice outside while walking.NO FEELING BAD FOR RESTING - Tiredness is a signal, shouldering through is stupid.Combat Feat for mini quest: Sleep and Workout. No sense in adding things to my plate when already things are falling off it left and right. But focusing on one or two things: Tension & Relaxation, and keeping them ON the plate. That I'll do. WEEK III+IV Quest #1 - Do one thing at a time list: ☠Quest #2 - One raindrop raises the sea maintenance x/14 Quest #3 - Weapons are enemies even to their owners Workout x/7 Ranger Mini: Feats WEEK V+VI Quest #1 - Do one thing at a time list: ☠Quest #2 - One raindrop raises the sea maintenance x/14 Quest #3 - Weapons are enemies even to their owners Workout x/7 Ranger Mini: Feats Ranger Mini-Challenge: the first expedition Old: Scaled for health:

Nothing fancy this time around, the overall goal is to keep on keeping on. Silks 1st performance done! Had a blast and learned a lot. Video is exceptionally helpful in pointing out weak points on this apparatus. Current class session runs until the end of November, then it looks like some schedule funkiness at the circus gym and my teacher is going to be gone for most of the month of December (!?). I'll have to ask about that during next class. Goal: Do silks. Love it. Work on neatening up form (pointed toes; straight legs and arms, or purposeful bending; no extraneous movements; etc.) Flexibility I need to work on this more and don't (ever) so here we go! I tweaked my right hamstring the week before my performance and it's still giving me occasional trouble. Gentle stretching/foam rolling will probably help. Eventually I'd like to get my front split on each side on the ground (not just on the silks when I'm thoroughly warmed up and have gravity to help) so we'll work toward that. Maybe I'll even throw in some yoga on occasion. Goal: Stretch well on every workout day. Bonus points for random evening stretches in front of the TV. Calorie Counting I need to get back into this. While I'm not overly fat at the moment, I'm carrying around a couple more pounds than I'd like. Getting back into the calorie counting habit is the first step toward getting rid of them. No calorie goal here, but I tend to automatically eat around 1600/day when I track, so It'll likely be around there. Goal: Just track what you eat, FFS! Home Work I procrastinate hugely when it comes to house work. If it doesn't HAVE to be done on a regular basis (laundry), I generally put it off until what could've been a 5 minute weekly maintenance task has become a 3 hour heavy duty project. Sigh. Adulting is hard. Goal: Spend 15 minutes each day just doing something to declutter/clean/whatever. Laundry doesn't count towards this. Everything else is fair game. 15 minutes doesn't sound like much, but I really need remedial steps on this one. That's it. As I said, nothing fancy, mostly maintenance with small tweaks toward "better."

So the last challenge went fairly well. I stuck to my training goal, I figured out that bulking is far too stressful for me at the moment and I tried to get the proper promotion, even if I failed at the first hurdle. I'm now looking at alternate routes to a smaller promotion and trying to work out what I want to do with my life. My unit head (manager's manager) asked me on Thursday what I saw myself doing in five years time and I just didn't have a clue. I really don't know what I want to do at all. I've just been stumbling along with no eye on the future because I was just happy to have a job. I'm now taking some time to work out what I want to do. Main Goal This year is about levelling up my life. It's about getting a higher powerlifting total (aiming for 250kg by June, ideally 275kg this year). It's about building muscle mass. It's about getting that gorram promotion! Task 1: Stronger Body Increase my 1RM on all three of my competitive lifts. I'm hoping to hit 1xBW bench, 100kg squat and anything over 100kg for deadlift. I'm carrying on with Russian Masters on squats. Final week is in two weeks time and then I'll probably start another cycle (or do whatever I'm told to do, really). I'm still doing 5/3/1 on bench, but going with a closer grip as that seems to help avoid my shoulder issues. I should hit my last session of the current deadlift programme in the last week of this challenge. I'm taking form videos of every session and need to root out my issues. Task 2: Stronger Discipline I'm terrible at getting to bed on time. This bit is simple but actually probably my most challenging task. I need to get to bed before midnight Sunday to Thursday and before 1am on Friday. I'll give myself bonus points for getting to bed before 11pm and let everyone yell at me if I go to bed after midnight on a week night. If you see me in chat after midnight on a week night... tell me off! ETA: The first 9 days of the challenge but still aiming to get to bed around midnight. Task 3: Stronger Ambition I don't think this will be an easy one to mark, but it's something I need to do. I need to work out what the f*** I want to do with my life. Perhaps I do need to do a "normal" job in my organisation for a while to work out what I really want to do long-term, because I don't know if I can really do what I want. I really have no idea of where my strengths lie and I have tendency just to toddle along until I'm told what I'm doing is good or bad. So the task is to look at my options, work out a clear plan of training, speak to my managers about what I can do in the office to get more experience and get started on moving on with my life. Bonus task: Stronger Social Media Presence I really need to post more often to my blog. I'm going to try to do at least once post a week as this is getting silly!