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Ok, so no theme this time. I thought about a Friday The 13th thing, but finding appropriate/fitnessy memes sounded exhausting. So: dragons. Dragons are always good. Plus, this way I get to search for dragons every morning before jumping into work. Booonus! Deviant Art, here I come! Overarching Goal Hasn't changed - still trying to get my body comp where I want it through tight-ish metrics + building strength to be able to do all the OCR-related things I want to do. I realize I *could* accomplish this goal faster by adhering to stricter weekend metrics and incorporating more intense workouts, but I'm lazy at heart - let's just stick to doing what I can do and to upping the baseline intensity level, rather than attacking a heavy-duty something all at once and fizzling out because no one's watching/my program has ended/I lose interest. Goal 1: Fitness I actually didn't do bad on my 'choose your own adventure' workout schedule last challenge, much to my shock. So … I'm going to go down that track a little further. I still want to work on doing an unassisted pull-up, I think the Spartan 30 challenges are kind of fun, the Spartan daily WODs are good for me (but intimidating), I love me some nerdy bodyweight routines, HasFit is fantastic, and I want to continue on with the mix of cardio/bodyweight/light weights/specific movements/yoga I'm already doing and see where that gets me. I'll be pulling from: Spartan WODs, HasFit, Neila Rey, and other places as I see them - my yoga class, for sure. Upcoming Races: Merrill Down N' Dirty OCR - October 5 Color Run 5k - October 18 Goal 2: Metrics Metrics make me happy and they work for me, so I'm sticking with them. As a refresher, my metrics are: 100 grams or under of carbs, 70 grams or over of protein, under 100 grams of fat and around 1500 calories. Water is the recommended by FitBit 64 ounces, and on the weekends I like my step count to be over FitBit’s recommended 10,000. I track food with My Fitness Pal and exercise, sleep and water with the FitBit Flex. Weight and BF are tracked with my FitBit Aria scale. FitBit. I also use a combo of FitBit + Runkeeper + Zombies, Run! To track my workouts, though I'm thinking of dropping Runkeeper and who knows what will happen when iOS8 and the new Apple Health comes out. I'm sure I'll be jumping at least some of these ships in favor of that, if it's as awesome as advertised. Goal 3: Get Your Shit Together I need to. I'm a grown-ass adult with responsibilities, short people that might notice if I no longer exist, and family members that totally don't want to deal with the headache of slogging through my shit should I croak unexpectedly. I should have a will made out. And know where all my important documents are located. To this end, the goal is to fill out the Get Your Shit Together stuff + enter all my other important crap into Evernote so I can actually find it (like my marriage license and the deed to my house - which may or may not be in a box at the bottom of one of my closets. Maybe I'll finally get that fireproof box my hubby has been wanting for years. UPDATE: GYST LIST Week 1: Will Week 2: Living Will Week 3: Life Insurance Week 4: Money Week 5: Details Week 6: Personal Items Other Goals Whittle more things out of the house - I'd like to clear enough off of a bookcase to get rid of it. This is going to take action, rather than planning. Continue the leaving my house on weekdays to at least think about being social trend.Work on the damn scarf I've been knitting for 2 years now. Finish before Spring? Continue streamlining my wardrobe/getting rid of shit I don't need/getting things that are too big for me altered so they're not wasting space/get the shoes I need cobbled cobbled.Drag the clothes I'm donating out of the closets they came out of out the door and to the donation place. Even if that means I have to backpack clothes out in batches every week on the way to the grocery store. Quit being lazy. This is a nebulous goal - more of a goalposts goal. I'll be reporting on progress, but won't be including this in my overall grading scheme. You know what? Screw that. This is a real goal. Worth up to 5 points. Internal dialogue edit: This is not a hard goal to accomplish in the grand scheme of life. Quit being lazy, dammit. Risk Internet failure less than a perfect grade. Now drop and give me burpees.

Sorry I don't have a fancy theme for this challenge. If anyone wants to suggest one, by all means, hit me with it I figured it was more important to get this posted than to delay it for "pretty-ification" So, I stepped into the realm of getting a personal trainer the other week. It feels so weird to have one, to have sat down for a consultation/talk and really got my brain picked and examined AND got to butt heads with a great smart guy. This challenge is really about me following direction (from someone I signed a waver form with lol). I'm kinda nervous about this and I'm really realizing just how stubborn I can be! This challenge is defined by the goals we set (and might change) depending on how my body reacts and such. I talked to Cody (mine and my wife's personal trainer) and purchased some sessions with him. I don't think I'll have the extra income to get more sessions after the initial four, but I am going to do my best to implement what he teaches and shares this challenge. He asked me what my main motivations were, so I shared them... he knows them now... no turning back, right? The goals I shared were the following: 1. Be healthy and around for my kids (best. motivation. ever.) 2. Do a real pull up (because it would be bad-arse!) 3. Do a Tough Mudder (because I'm crazy?) 4. Get more comfortable in the gym (told him about the mental struggles I've had and still do to some extent) 5. Get comfortable with lunges again (used to be in fencing in freshman year of college and loved it) I know they're all over the place, but he said they were good things and was impressed. Fun part is that I've got a trainer who's girlfriend is a HUGE nerd (and fitness) person. I really hope by the end of this time with him I can convert his girlfriend to Nerd Fitness lol. His exact words were "I believe my girlfriend loves Link more than she does me." He also told me one of his own goals is to do AMERICAN NINJA WARRIOR, so that's pretty cool. Main Quest still remains, do a real pull up. Two "Simple" goals yet again. 1. Workout I'm working out 4-5 times a week. (3 workouts 1-2 cardio days)Doing my best to do what is prescribed. (not a clue what he's got in mind yet)I already know he wants me to do warm-ups on the stairs machine.... I think that's to get me more used to lunges and such (and to make me use something I've never touched in my life lol) 2. Food Metrics! Follow prescribed/adjusted metrics as best I can.Calories 2,500Carbs 250Protein 188Fat 834:1 egg ratioPic logging with Metal_WeaverTrack food on gym site as best as possibleHe said I wasn't eating enough to lose weight. Which after looking at things, it makes sense. I've basically been starving my body even as I push it. If I don't fuel it properly, it will go into starvation mode and hold onto everything. In this area, he kept mentioning low-fat foods and while I can't follow paleo to the letter of the law, it still made me cringe. I will do what I can to eat reasonably and still try and avoid so much of this 'low fat' stuff. If that means I have to cut out cheese (<has a moment of silence for this loss>) for this or do his suggested 4:1 ratio on eggs to egg whites... then I'll do it. It's just one challenge and I need to show some trust and willingness to listen to his advice. I know he's the type of trainer that's not going to harp on the food thing, so that's reassuring. I'm also going to keep pic logging with Metal_Weaver throughout this and doing my best to log things on the gym site so Cody has a good idea what I'm eating. Oh and I did get to pick his brain on warm-ups. He equated it to studying for a test the night before the exam. If you study all night and then don't get much sleep, you're going to perform worse on the test than if you actually got a full night's rest. Same goes for warm-up. It's to get the blood flowing, but it shouldn't be a separate workout all in itself. Overall, his take is that it's a mental thing to get you ready to workout. so that's good to know. I've also asked him to show me stretches to aid in whatever we're doing for the day, so if there's any pre-stretches that would make an exercise better I'm hoping to pick them up Note: Also, this month, August 16th, to be exact, I hit my 35th birthday. (My dad also has his birthday on the 24th.) So, that'll be something to both look forward too, but also to plan ahead for on how I'm going to handle the celebration. (I think if my parents give me cash for my birthday, I'm going to go up to the gym and get some more sessions lol) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This section is a reminder to myself that I have come a long way and yet the journey isn't over. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Previous 9 Challenges: BlamedCat Wars: Episode 1: The Fatman MenaceBlamedCat Wars: Episode 2: Attack of the GroansBlamedCat Wars: Episode 3: Rehinge of the PithBlamedCat Wars: Episode 5: The Return of Three Dead NighBlamedCat travels to Mt. KoltsBlamedCat trains on Mt. KoltsBlamedCat's Second Rite of Ascension Challenge!BlamedCat's Return - Lets have a dark match!BlamedCat's Enough is Enough (Let’s get down to business) Challenge

This challenge is Batman themed, in honor of Batty's 75th. Overarching Goal: Building A Better Bat My continuing and overarching goal for this entire NF journey has been to build a better/more healthy/more fit/whathaveyou version of me. What does that look like? I don't know. There's the image in my head and then there's the more modest and realistic goal - and I'm guessing reality is going to lie somewhere in-between. (vaguely - 15% body fat & guns ala Linda Hamilton in T2) To achieve this goal, I've leveled up my food (mostly and some cycles better than others), I've participated in a couple of muddy obstacle courses (and plan to do more), "run" a "real" 5k (also plan to do more), followed a few fitness-oriented programs, and have made working out a priority 4-5 times a week. I still have a ways to go, but I think I'm on the right track - I just need to keep this trajectory going + add some more specific challenges into the mix. Goal 1: Fitness - aka be capable enough to escape the Joker whenever Always fitness. I like my 4-5 days a week workout schedule, so I'm sticking to that. The Spartan WODs seem to be working well for me so far, so I think I'll continue down that path with yoga worked in on the days I don't want to do the WOD/can't because it's raining or something. This is dangerously close to one of those pick your own adventure plans that I suck so horribly at, but since I've been able to keep it up for a week, maybe I can keep it going? I would also, ideally, like to work in one of my other side goals here - like being able to do an unassisted pull-up - but we will see how drained this kinda intense workout plan makes me. Goal 2: Metrics - aka Sciiiience! Like Poison Ivy? (go with it) Metrics make me happy and they work for me, so I'm sticking with them. As a refresher, my metrics are: 100 grams or under of carbs, 70 grams or over of protein, under 100 grams of fat and around 1500 calories. Water is the recommended by FitBit 64 ounces, and on the weekends I like my step count to be over FitBit’s recommended 10,000. I track food with My Fitness Pal and exercise, sleep and water with the FitBit Flex. Weight and BF are tracked with my FitBit Aria scale. Although I don't eat cow dairy any more, this was too great not to share Moving on. Goal 3: Socials - Like With Superfriends & Shit Ok, so I'm not really talking about social media here, but stick with me I feel the need to force myself to be more social. Mostly because my comfort zone is warm and snuggly … also because I realize that snuggling in my comfort zone doesn't really get me what I want in life. I'm not 100% sure what that is, mind you, but it most likely involves someone paying me for doing something I find more fulfilling than what I'm currently doing. So I should probably speak to humans. In meatspace. Life Side Goal - Get My Wardrobe Dialed-in Like Harley Quinn Wardrobe restructure. I've been really into building a minimalist wardrobe lately and think I might be ready to make the jump. Sites like this and Pinterest are fueling this current obsession. My need to purge crap from my house is also driving this desire. Diet Side Goal - NaNa NaNa NaNa NaNa I'm pretty dialed in here. More 'Batman Does Not Eat' shenanigans here. More Bats And More Bats Starting Measurements Neck: 11.5 inches Under Bust: 29.5 inches Waist: 26.5 inches Hips: 38.5 inches Arm (left): 9.5 inches Thigh (left): 19 inches Body fat (calipers): 19.6% Weight (at wake up): 119.3 lbs

I dunno .. because it’s time for Dr. Who .gifs? This challenge will encompass the final realization of the Big Picture Goal I’ve been working toward for months and months, as well as one of the two ‘back home’ vacations I have planned for this Spring/Summer. The Big Picture Goal I’m sticking with my overarching goal - Mudderella. Mudderella is on the 10th and I need to continue what I’m doing in order to be able to finish without dying. Allons-y! Goal 1 Fitness, per usual. I will finish my HasFit Hero 90 program 2 weeks into this challenge cycle, and after that I will be increasing my interval training using Zombies, Run! and creating my own program based on the HasFit platform - incorporating 1 day of yoga with 2 days of Zombies, and 2 days of strength training per week. Goal 2 Stick with my moar metrics agenda. It’s an oldie, but a goodie. Goals are the usual 100 grams or under of carbs, 70 grams or over of protein and 1500 or so calories. I’m still tracking food with My Fitness Pal and exercise, sleep and water intake with the FitBit Flex. Metrics make me happy. Goal 3 I should probably throw a creativity goal in here … I need to paint some tea towels for my brother’s wedding - and I also would like to finish something — like throw pillow covers, or the dress i started working on 2 years ago. Or that scarf my poor hubbs didn't get to wear this year because I am a slacker. Life Goal More culling and organizing. Everything fits in the new place just fine thanks to last cycle's cleaning/organizing goal, but I think I’m ready to move toward the type of house look I actually like - minimalism. I have a bunch of stuff I can jettison that I'm only really keeping out of some bizarre sense of 'these are the things people have' and 'I've had this thing for 30 years!' It's time to unload some crap, while keeping in mind that I don't need to get rid of all the things. And those damn DVDs. I still haven't finished addressing building a user-friendly spreadsheet for those damn DVDs. Diet Side Goal Let’s not fall completely apart while on vacation, shall we? I’d like to avoid going crazy this year and feeling like utter shit halfway through the trip because of the amount of crap I’m pouring into my body. This is a pass/fail goal. Gratuitous Time Lord Imagery And just for funsies

Ok, so I have no real idea where I’m going with this analogy business, since Castamere is a ruined castle in Westeros, and not a land with hills - but bear with me. I’ve had a lot of crap to deal with lately and my brain is broken. This challenge cycle feels like 1 part autopilot (since my goals haven’t really changed in awhile), 1 part maintenance (since my schedule has gotten all screwed up and life keeps throwing hammers at me), and 1 part open waters (why? dunno - Spring, maybe?). The Big Picture Goal I’m sticking with my overarching goal - Mudderella. This challenge cycle is the last before the big day (May 10) and I really need to stay the course in order to be able to finish without dying. Goal 1 As always, fitness, first and foremost. My goal is to continue on with my HasFit Hero 90 program and kick ass at it. I’m hoping against hope that my building’s gym will be completed by the end of this challenge and I’ll have even more facilities at my disposal. For now, my old standby of living room & free weights it is! Goal 2 Stick with my moar metrics agenda Goals are the usual 100 grams or under of carbs, 70 grams or over of protein and 1500 or so calories. I’m still tracking food with My Fitness Pal and exercise, sleep and water intake with the FitBit Flex. Metrics make me happy. Goal 3 Dump the baggage. Downsizing and moving has let me know in no uncertain terms that we have too much shit. A lot of it is shit we don’t really need. I need to weed through some - a bunch - of it and get rid of stuff. Mementos included. Editing needs to happen. LSQ Going hand in hand with the previous goal, I also need to tackle some better organization and finish my DVD matrix from the last challenge. Something simple and spreadsheety is fine. It just needs to get done. DSQ My diet is pretty good, but I’d like to carry on the wealth of inspiration I had during Whole30 last challenge on. This goal is to focus on making inspired meals with an eye toward blog worthiness. I would be happy with 2 recipes per week that are good enough to post - I usually hit 1, and really want to work on staying out of a flavor rut. Whole30 Recap Starting Measurements (taken 02.24.14) Neck at narrowest: 12.5" (up 1/2" from last cycle start) Bust under breast: 30.5" (down 1/2" from last cycle start) Waist at narrowest: 26.5" (down 1" from last cycle start) Hip at widest: 39.5" (down 1/2" from last cycle start) Thigh at thickest: 21" (up 1/2" from last cycle start) Arm at widest: 11.25" (up 1.25" from last cycle start) Weight at wakeup: 118.7 lbs. (down 5.2 lbs. from last cycle start) Height: 5 ft. 2 3/4 inches (5’2†for measuring purposes) According to the FitBit scale, my BMI is: 21.72 (27.3% fat) - mid normal range (down 1 full point from last cycle start) According to calipers, my BMI is: 19.6 - lean range (down from 23.4 at last cycle start)

Prologue: Who is this Guy? So, hello everybody! I'm not a person who normally posts on a board, but I'm also not a person who normally sticks to his fitness plans long enough to see results. Therefore, time to change. My name is Scrum and Villainy (Scrum for short). It's my Derby name from roller derby, where I am the Head Non-Skating Official for a top 20 WFTDA league and I also help out with the nation's number 2 MRDA league. My basic job is making sure all the stats are gathered during a bout. I am what they call a Derby Nerd. That being said, I'm a life long nerd. My older brother had me into TT RPGs before I can remember (D&D, then TMNT, then onward). I started LARPing when I was 14 in what would later become the Camarilla. I have played M:TG at tournaments, WoW for the first 3 years starting with beta, Starcraft in a Korean PC Bang, and my first computer game love (Ultima IV) I played on a Commodore 64. I am a fan of Lovecraftian Horror, semi-classic sci-fi (Ender's Game is my favorite book of all time), board games (History of the World will always have my heart), turn based strategy, statistical analysis, critical jurisprudence.. you get the picture. I'm a nerd. A little over five years ago my life sort of fell apart. I lost my job, my relationship, and went through my savings. It took me over four years to find work I could survive on, and by that time I was a host of bad habits, bad self-esteem, and bad health. There were days I didn't know where I would sleep or what I would eat, so when I got back to working I started eating all of my paychecks. I paid rent, but most of my money went into eating out, drinking with friends, treating the people who had treated me. My weight (which had yoyod over the previous years) has settled down higher than I care. My clothing, which hasn't been supplemented in years, is a little tighter than I was comfortable with and becoming thread bare. In short, I am still lost. For years I've wanted to be healthier. I have done little changes in my diet for a bit, maybe go to the gym regularly for a couple weeks, and then I drop off. There are excuses, good excuses, for why. Aren't there always? In truth, I've been in bad need of getting my head screwed on straight. For the first time in my life the majority of the people I interact with are in pretty damn good shape. They drink, party, eat burgers, a couple even smoke (luckily one bad habit I never picked up). They are real people. But for most of them most of the time they are the healthiest people I've ever met. And what more, they'd like me to be. They keep asking, "So Scrum.. when are you going to come skate?" I usually say its as soon as I get skates, but the truth is I know I'm in no shape for it, but how long will I let that excuse go on? Behind this are those deeper goals. I’d like to be a father, and I would rather have positive healthy habits established before having children. I’d like to live a long life with my friends and my hobbies to enjoy this world. And, of course, I’d like to look good naked and possibly even in a costume. Main Quest: The Taming of Ouroboros Ouroboros, the Dragon Who Consumes His Own Tail, protected Ra during his trip through the underworld, and is a symbol that out of every death is a birth, and every retreat is a return. My quest is to tame this (conceptual) beast, marking my own return. The wyrm stands also as a reference to the circular nature of the roller derby flat track. I will know I have achieved this goal when I get certified for contact by my local derby league. Chapter One: Take One Level in Badass (Accepting the Call to Adventure) Quest A: Ubiquitous Capture (Wisdom) If I'm going to make it to my goals I'm going to have to be wise as to how I work. I like numbers (in case you couldn't guess), and I know I'll have to gather them all if I want to feel in control of this. To this point I will take body measurements weekly (on Sunday), a front and side photo (again on Sunday), and I will keep a daily record of what I eat, how I work out, and my daily bank account balance. This quest is about control. Metric: My weekly grade will depend on how well I keep track of my metrics. As with all task, there will be a maximum of 100 points achieved each week, earned in the following manner. Weekly measurements: 25 points, minus 5 for each day late. Photos: 25 points, minus 5 for each day late. Daily Record of Food: 35 points, minus 2 for missing a meal, 5 for missing a day. Exercise Log: 10 points, minus 3 for any day missed (minimum 0). Finance Log: 5 points if done every day, 0 if a day is missed. Quest B: 100 Push Ups (Strength) To be successful in derby you have to be strong. One man on the local men’s team embodies this – Neil Death Experience. I’ve seen this man knock another down with a flick of his shoulder, or ‘assist’ one blocker by jettisoning him towards an opposing jammer to knock them out. He’s a beast. I am a long way from being a beast. So I will start with the 100 push up challenge. Tomorrow (Saturday, August 3rd) I will perform my calibration test. Metric: My weekly grade will depend on how well I stick to the schedule laid out in the 100 push up challenge. There will be 100 points to be earned for doing every day the challenge asks for, reduced proportionately for each day missed. I will post the schedule at the beginning of each week. Should I not be ready to move up a level at the end of the week, 10 points lost. Quest C: Zombie 5K (Constitution) From paying attention to the stats in derby I have noticed something. The team that wins is the one that holds it together the longest, as measured by endurance. If I want to be successful at this sport I have to stop being winded by a 60 second run. Therefore I will engage in the Zombie 5K training to train up my endurance. Metric: Like Quest B, my weekly grade will depend on how well I stick to the schedule laid out by the Zombie 5k training. There will be 100 points to be earned for doing every day the challenge asks for, reduced proportionately for each day missed. I will post the schedule at the beginning of each week. Should I not be ready to move up a level at the end of the week, 10 points lost. Sidequest: Conquering My Own Personal Tribble (Intelligence) As I mentioned above, I have had a tendency to eat all of my pay check lately. To combat this I will work on planning my meals (which should help with Quest A) and eating out less. Metric: 50 points each week for planning out my meals and buying the needed groceries. The other 50 points are earned based on the number of times I ate out that week: 1/week – 50 points, 2/week – 40 points, 3/week 20 points, 4/week 10 points, more than 4/week – 0 points. Drinks out with friends count as eating out, while a meal out while on a business trip does no. This weird curve accepts that I am likely (for socializing) to be called on to eat out once or twice during a week, but I should really try to keep it under control. Grade Score GoldA 90+ 15B 80- 10C 70- 5D 60- 1E 0- 0 Loot As a gamer I respond well to treasure, so I decided to incorporate this in my quest. There are two types of treasure in this chapter of the quest – store items and quest items. Store items are things I want to pick up – sometimes they will make me more effective at one of my quests (equipment), sometimes they will help me out otherwise (miscellaneous magic), and sometimes they are vanity items (customization). This is what I spend my quest reward gold on. Not wanting to be overly clever, or to over spend, I am currently translating each gold into a dollar. Items which are most definitely in the store are new running shoes (equipment), a good cookbook (miscellaneous magic), and a new bowtie (customization). I hope that anyone out there who follows this will help me with advice on what sort of items the store should be stocking. After all, we all love to look through the magic item lists! Quest items are those things needed for Derby. We might consider this a gear set, and they will include Pads, a Helmet, and (of course) Skates. Through the next weeks I will put together a A, B, C tier set (A being the best, and again I would love input and help) and, at the end of the 6 week challenge, should I get a C or better average, I will pick up the appropriate level set. And so it begins… I know I got this on here a little late (but still in the first week). The challenges for me will begin on Sunday of this week and move forward. I hope you have as much fun following this as I hope to have posting about. Motivations toughen up to play with friends longevity to love life longer habits to be a good role model look great naked