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Four Mega Man bot bosses down, four more to go. On tap for number five--Air Man. This stage requires patience and timing. Some enemies are best avoided since battling them exposes our hero to environmental hazards. I'm sticking with my ongoing Mega Man 2 theme for the year, but I'm going to change things up a bit. Halfway through the Eight Bosses I'm feeling a bit lost. My workouts have gotten stale, my goals have been a little too concrete, and I've managed to grind my fitness endeavors in to a pretty useless rut. I like routine and boring consistency, but this rut isn't helping me any more. Moreover, I've been too exclusive with exercises that aren't progressing toward my ultimate goal. I am not a Warrior, even though I like being strong. I am a Ranger. And it's time to range out and make this body a little more useful. For exercise I'm going to dial back the barbells. It was fun pushing toward the 1,000 LB Club, but ever since I achieved that I haven't really had the drive to continue improving. Lately I've been tentative because of nagging aches and pains, and I'm no longer seeing the benefit of continually pursuing strength alone. I experimented with adding a bit of cardio to my previous barbell schedule but it wasn't working. Instead, I'm going to take a page from last year's highly-successful Challenge 15-5 wherein I lifted only twice per week and did non-barbell stuff on two other days per week along with deliberate rest periods. What I really want is a lean and strong body that can run relatively freely and do pull-ups for 3 sets of 10. I'm going to sacrifice (some) muscle mass while burning fat to reduce my body weight so I can push and pull it around my environment more easily, plain and simple. I'm still programming strength, but I've left the non-strength days more broad so I can be flexible. Activities will include sprint intervals, NF BBWW, hiking, bike rides, and monkeying around with the Minions on the playground. I'm going to roll with whatever the weather, my mood, and our collective calendar permit. I have been terribly inconsistent with my eating this summer. This challenge is an opportunity to bring that back under control. Some of my absolutist positions regarding particular types of foods (ice cream and diet soda, primarily) have been counterproductive, so I'm repealing prohibitions. Taking another page from Challenge 15-5, I'm going to raise my daily allowance and incorporate a maintenance day once per week in the hopes of stabilizing my appetite and fueling my workouts. I'm also going to attempt to focus on macros. Admittedly this will be tough since 2/3 of my food is planned and prepared by MFG. If nothing else then this challenge will be a good opportunity to log 4 weeks worth of protein and carbs to see how I'm currently living. I'm going to need to do some research to expand our repertoire--that's not a bad thing at all. My non-fitness life has been needing something of a jump start lately, too. I'm going to incorporate a Creativity goal in this challenge as a rut-buster (or at least a rut-decorator ). I'm leaving this pretty broad, too, since I have a fair number of interests and any one (or five) of them could take a spark of inspiration on a given day. Activities could include music (write a guitar phrase or learn a new song), drawing, woodwork, design (not related to my paying job) or construction, poetry (at which I'm terrible), or some kind of craft project with the Minions (they're big in to Perler beads lately). The point is to disengage my critical mind and just do something lovely for a little while. I'll think of it as seasoning my day. The last goal I'll focus on is sleep. I've been too loose with my bedtime goal in previous challenges--even my qualified passes weren't really helping me from day to day. This time I'm going to make a stronger effort to actually improve my life and not just tick the box on a spreadsheet. The only real obstacle here is MFG's sleep schedule--I'm hoping she'll work with me. Parallel to fitness items, I'm going to make a list of life tasks that need to get completed. This is more for the sake of organizing my brain than actually getting things done, so the list itself is the goal. Completing any agenda items will just be icing on the cake. This is an untracked and ungraded goal, but I may upload screenshots of my journal (can't call it a BuJo, sorry gals) for accountability's sake. METRICS Goal 1: Exercise - Complete two barbell-centric strength workouts per week. Hit all programmed lifts. - Complete two BW/HIIT/Cardio circuit-type workouts per week. Minimum workout length is 36 minutes. Log all activities. - Rest for 48 hours twice per week. - Increase pull-ups to a single set of seven reps by September 16th. I've been failing at this one for three challenges in a row, and it's time to make some actual progress. Goal 2: Eat - Sub-goal 2A: Calories. Stay within 4% of target for total kcal every day. Target is 2100 per day, except on Sunday which increases to 2700 for maintenance. - Sub-goal 2B: Protein. Get at least 180g of protein each and every day. - Sub-goal 2C: Carbs. Stay within 4% of 200g carbs every day. - "Junk" food won't be an automatic fail, but everything consumed in a single day must satisfy macro targets. Emphasis will be on maximizing clean whole foods prepared at home, moderating caffeine and dairy, and avoiding excess sugar. I have a feeling I'm going to be eating a lot of rotisserie chicken and microwave-steamed vegetables. - Weight loss. I usually avoid making goals for scale weight since it can be so finicky, but I need a concrete target to shoot for. By the end of this challenge I want to have shed six pounds from the end of the last challenge. That calculates to a target scale weight on the morning of September 18 of under 213.4 lbs. Goal 3: Create - Spend at least 20 minutes in the evening doing something creative that is completely unrelated to work. Target is 100 minutes per week, spread out over a minimum of four days. Goal 4: Sleep - In bed with lights out on time every night. That's 10:30 pm before work days and midnight on all others. - All media devices must be turned off and set aside to pass the goal. As usual I'll track challenge goals and exercise specifics with my standard spreadsheets, this time themed for Air Man himself (much better looking than the previous Wood Man files). I'll also continue my series of progress photos and scale weights during weekly check-ins. This Week Zero I'll audition the program and make any minor tweaks necessary prior to running it full steam when the Challenge kicks off on Sunday morning. Mega Suit Up! And we're off...

Three Mega Man bot bosses down, five more to go. On tap for number four--Wood Man. This one is always a fun stage. Last challenge fizzled at the halfway point then imploded in the final week. Family vacation was eventful and stressful, but we made the best of it. It wasn't terribly relaxing, but it was productive--we were able to give MFG's mom a lot of much needed help with various things in her life. I ultimately ended up taking two weeks off from all fitness endeavors to concentrate on other stuff, so I'm basically starting from the same place as last time; therefore I'm simply rebooting my goals: Goal 1: Workout - Warm-up and stretch at every workout. - Continue my barbell regimen. - Progress with my accessory work, i.e. pull-ups, dips, rows, etc. Target is for 7 strict unassisted pull-ups by the end of this challenge. Goal 2: Eat - Eat clean, whole foods that are high in protein, natural fats, fiber, and micronutrients. - Zero ice cream, period. No excuses, no rationalizations. None, zip, zilch, nada. I can't afford the hit points if I want to reach my goals. - Stay within 4% of 1,800 calories per day, and no more than 13,000 in any single week of the challenge. Goal 3: Drink - Predominantly water: no juice, milk, or regular sodas. All beverages must contain zero calories. - Diet sodas are permitted: caffeinated varieties in the morning or before a workout, caffeine-free varieties sparingly at other times. Goal 4: Sleep - In bed with lights out on time every night. That's 10 pm before work days and 11 pm all others. As usual I'll track challenge goals and exercise specifics with my standard spreadsheets, this time themed for Wood Man himself (they're so ugly, I kinda like it). I'll also continue my series of progress photos during weekly check-ins. Mega Suit Up! And we're off...

Two Mega Man bot bosses down, six more to go. On the docket for number three--Flash Man. Fitting since this challenge is going to go fast, I think. Weight loss is going gangbusters! Since getting back to running strict deficits 5 weeks ago I've lost 10 pounds, 7 of them coming from pure body fat. I'm taking Week Zero to eat at maintenance and let my metabolism recover a little before pushing another round of deficits for this challenge. With discipline and a little luck I should be able to drop another 8 pounds which would put me in sight of Onederland for the first time in several months. I'm excited for how this is shaping up. The caveat: we're going on family vacation for two weeks beginning July 1st. Those vacation weeks will cover Week 4 of this challenge and Week 0 of the next one--that's just good fortune for me, since I'll get to spend a maintenance week while MFG and I get to enjoy a sort-of second honeymoon. Unfortunately, I'm going to be away from my gym for the duration and without access to a local gym for a decent portion of the trip. I'm going to have to get creative with exercise when we're camping or sightseeing. With everything working as intended, I'm not making any changes from the last challenge: Goal 1: Workout - Warm-up and stretch at every workout. - Continue my barbell regimen. - Progress with my accessory work, i.e. pull-ups, dips, rows, etc. Target is for 7 strict unassisted pull-ups by the end of this challenge. Goal 2: Eat - Eat clean, whole foods that are high in protein, natural fats, fiber, and micronutrients. - Zero ice cream, period. No excuses, no rationalizations. None, zip, zilch, nada. I can't afford the hit points if I want to reach my goals. - Stay within 4% of 1,800 calories per day, and no more than 13,000 in any single week of the challenge. Goal 3: Drink - Predominantly water: no juice, milk, or regular sodas. - Diet sodas are permitted: caffeinated varieties in the morning or before a workout, caffeine-free varieties sparingly at other times. Goal 4: Sleep - In bed with lights out on time every night. That's 10 pm before work days and 11 pm all others. As usual I'll track challenge goals and exercise specifics with my standard spreadsheets styled after Flash Man. I'll also continue my renewed series of progress photos during weekly check-ins. When I lack access to a scale or mirror I'll do my best to estimate. This Week Zero I'm going for the 1,000 pound club with my barbell lifts. There's a special spreadsheet to track this week's exercise progress--I've styled that one after Bubble Man to give him his due. Mega Suit Up! And we're off...

Ten challenges complete since Jan 2015. Seven more to go this year, and lots of progress yet to be made. Here's the next baddie standing in my way--I'm calling him Ice Cream Man in my head. His life is about to suck. Last challenge I defeated Metal Man and got equipped with the Metal Blade. Now we're going underwater to acquire the Bubble Lead. It will take dexterity and discipline to complete this stage: the ceiling is lined with mines that detonate on contact. I have to stay low or risk exploding--that's the perfect analogy for my nutrition plan in this challenge. Weight loss is back on! I'm relatively confident that I've built my metabolism back up enough to support another round of deficits. Since I've been hanging out around 220 lbs. and 26% body fat for the last few months I'm definitely ready to bail this excess weight and get back down to Onederland on my way to 180 lbs. and 10% body fat by the end of October. My usual challenge goals will be in place with slightly modified targets to help support the cut. Goal 1: Workout - Warm-up and stretch at every workout. - Continue my barbell regimen. - Progress with my accessory work, i.e. pull-ups, dips, rows, etc. Target is for 7 strict unassisted pull-ups by the end of this challenge. Goal 2: Eat - Eat clean, whole foods that are high in protein, natural fats, fiber, and micronutrients. - Zero ice cream, period. No excuses, no rationalizations. None, zip, zilch, nada. I can't afford the hit points if I want to reach my goals. - Stay within 4% of 1,800 calories per day, and no more than 13,000 in any single week of the challenge. Goal 3: Drink - Predominantly water: no juice, milk, or regular sodas. - Diet sodas are permitted, but only before a workout (caffeinated) or a single glass with dinner (caffeine-free). Goal 4: Sleep - In bed with lights out on time every night. That's 10 pm before work days and 11 pm all others. Returning for this challenge: The Selfie Mirror (and deftona's favorite shorts)! I'm going to resume my series of progress photos starting Sunday morning. They're the most motivating thing I've done in this fitness quest, and I've been sorely missing them since I had to pack everything up in Iowa last October. Therefore it's been determined that on Saturday I'll find a good spot in the house to hang it up so that I can get back to documenting and comparing my progress on a weekly basis along with my weigh-ins. This Week Zero I'm getting a jump start on the challenge, so even though it won't show up in my (Metal-Blade themed) spreadsheet I'm already conquering my goals. In subsequent Week Zeroes I'll be eating at maintenance to keep the metabolism primed, otherwise every challenge from here on out is going to look exactly like this with a new robot boss to defeat. Mega Suit Up! And we're off...

The remedial portion of this year is over. I'm all caught up (at least strength-wise) with where I left off in 2015, and now it's time to start collecting upgrades on my way to becoming Mega by the end of the year. With 8 challenges remaining in 2016 I thought it fitting to tackle them according to a well-known and well-loved classic game: Eight bosses = eight victories with eight new abilities and armor to gain. First up is Metal Man. He's fast, he's nimble, and the entire stage is built with conveyor belts that are constantly changing direction; but he's got the Metal Blade and that's the weapon I want first. Plus, my current fitness regimen is built around iron so this is the most natural place to start. Since this is the first Robot boss I won't be able to use any new abilities during the challenge, but I will gain one at the end to use in my next challenge. In each successive challenge I'll add a physical/culinary/life skill to learn in order to defeat that particular boss' stage. Metal Blades are powerful, broadly effective, and can be aimed in any direction. Ability to gain: the two-minute prayer. New armor: a red or yellow shirt. Goal 1: Workout - Warm-up and stretch at every workout. - Continue my barbell regimen. - Progress with my accessory work, i.e. pull-ups, dips, rows, etc. Target is for 7 pull-ups by the end of this challenge. Goal 2: Eat - Stick to eating clean, whole foods that are high in protein, natural fats, fiber, and micronutrients. Avoid refined carbs and sugars. - Continue rebuilding metabolism with progressive calorie increases from week to week. Target is to be at (calculated) maintenance by the next Week Zero. Goal 3: Drink - Only water throughout the challenge period: I'm keeping this rolling at least through May. Goal 4: Sleep - In bed on time every night. That's 10 pm before work days and 11 pm all others. Goals are pretty much identical to previous challenges. I'm going to keep doing them until I get them right. This should be the last challenge of reverse dieting to rebuild my metabolism, so I'm going to work really hard on being disciplined, especially during the weekends where I've struggled the most in recent challenges. Week Zero (post Easter, no less) was a bit extreme, so I pushed back my composition measurements to Monday morning to coincide with the start of this challenge. I'll make that my standard from here on out. This morning's scale weight was 222.1 lbs, for a small increase after the holiday week. Yesterday was the annual health fair at work, and one of the booths was from the local med college with students who wanted to practice taking my blood pressure and reading my blood glucose. Pressure was higher than I'd like to see (it always seems to be these days) but non-fasting glucose was only 92 mg/dl! Given my family history of adult-onset type II diabetes this was extremely good news indeed, and doubly so after a week of eating Easter candy and drinking soda. The end of the last challenge coincided with the partial closure of my usual gym--they've severely truncated their hours. The good news is that our new facility is finally open, so I did a single deload workout last week to get familiar with the new setup. It's new and clean so there's a lot to like, but there are fewer power racks and only a single deadlift platform. Hopefully I'll still be able to get my lifts done in a reasonable time frame, especially on Wednesdays because we're finally making some friends through a small group from church that meets at 6 pm each week. At any rate, I'm pretty much back on track as of yesterday and intend to hit this challenge at full speed. Come Monday morning, I'll press start on Metal Man. He's going to wish that Dr. Wily had never created him.