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"This battle isn't going very well, Doc. Any suggesti..." "Mega Man!? Rock! Come in my boy" A final shot took out the Blue Bomber. Time to try it again. I have been largely absent from the boards recently and I could give excuses until I was blue in the face (see what I did there?), but I wont. I'm ready to continue. I have a few goals for this challenge and as an added bonus, I have inspired my family to start one as well, albeit offline. Joining me offline is my mother, my step father, Pizzazz, Jitters Junior and Jitter Bug. It's going to be a great year! I'm going to workout 3 days/week 0/3 Weekly 0/12 4WC I will only have one serving of dinner each night 0/7 Weekly 0/28 4WC I am going to practice guitar 3 days per week with a minimum of 15 minutes per practice. 0/3 Weekly 0/12 4WC BONUS LEVEL! RAK at least 1/week. I want to keep up the mojo from the Christmas season and keep giving back. 0/1 Weekly 0/4 4WC I'll add more fluff as work allows this week. I'm pretty busy and loving it. Let's do this!

"Climb to the top of the world" System reboot initiated. ProtoJitters online. Battle program found. Initiate protocols. ... Initiation failed. Upload previous missions. ... Upload failed. Install into new chassis. Installation complete. Powering on. It's time for me to get my head back in the game. I'm going back to my old goals that I failed spectacularly at on my last challenge. I will see this through. "And as you stand tall, you will see..." I will be following a simple workout routine for the next 6 weeks. I will continue my search for inner peace through meditation in the mornings. Most of all, and without a doubt the most difficult for me; I will get my eating habits under control, specifically, portions. "That when you fall..." Work out 4 days per week. No matter what. My family has helped me in the past with my workouts, they will help propel me to the man I can be. Too often I say I can't because I'm watching the kids or I have some obligation that prevents me from doing this. No more. 0/4 - Weekly 0/24 - 6WC Meditate 5 days per week. This is usually not a problem, but for some reason, I fell out of habit. Time to go back to my roots. 0/5 - Weekly 0/30 - 6WC Portion Control. Grading is subjective and difficult, but I will do my best on this. I should not be finished with my meal and going back for seconds before my wife and kids are done with half of their plate. I will try to limit my intake as well. To give you an understanding of my capabilities, 3 Chipotle burritos is no problem for me to finish. I was one quarter of the 36" pizza challenge team that finished in just over 13 minutes (the team gets 30 minutes) and had some of our friends pizza after. I can eat. I don't want that anymore. Why? Because I can't be there for my family if I'm dead. Pass/Fail 0/21 - Weekly Pass/Fail 0/126 - 6WC Bonus Level: Glass work. I will finish at least one piece each week. After this challenge is over, I will have two weeks until my next craft show in Two Harbors. I need to be well stocked for it.0/1 - Weekly 0/6- 6WC "You will fall from a height most men will never reach" I will stumble along the way, but it will not stop me. I will beat this. Recently, I fell into the habit of drinking Red Bull again. It's something that I struggle with every day. Caffeine addiction is tough. So, Naxius and I made a deal. She goes to a one cup/day max and I go Red Bull free for this challenge. Added bonus. Pass/Fail 0/0 - Weekly Pass/Fail 0/0 - 6WC

Trogdor was a man… I mean, he was a dragon man! Or maybe he was just a dragon… But he was still TROGDOR! MAIN QUEST: Build Better Arms I have a shoulder injury. I have weak upper body strength. I want to be able to do push-ups without being on my knees. I just want to be stronger, in general. My arms also wouldn’t mind looking all sexy and toned like. That’s going to be a pleasant side effect. The goal is to focus on my arms with the new resistance bands I got, as well as getting in my cardio Goal 1: Burninating the Countryside… I’ve long wanted to do some Neila Ray workouts, so this is finally the time. I’m between programs, nothing is inspiring me… so let’s just play a bit, shall we? Monday – Buffy Workout Tuesday – Catwoman Workout Wednesday – Night’s Watch Workout Thursday – Harley Quinn Workout Friday – Mocking Jay Workout Saturday – Hold My Beer Workout Sunday - Rest Goal 2: Burninating the Peasants… I am partaking in the Great Cycle Challenge - an amazing fundraiser for the organization I work for. I bought a bike... I set a goal... I hope to fundraise to meet my modest little goal of $500 to support leading edge research to help treat and cure pediatric cancer. If you can, I'd love your support! My goal is to ride 100 miles in June. We'll be 8 days in at the start of the challenge, but no worries. I haven't ridden a bike in over five years... so 100 miles in June will certainly be a challenge. It's fantastic cardio, though! I'm really excited about this one. Goal 3: Burninating All the Peoples… Build an arm workout plan with resistance bands… and then do it. This is TBD right now. I'll update with the actual plan soon. Life Side Quest: And Their Thatched-Roof Cottages! Duolingo 3 nights a week for 30 minutes for German for a stronger BRAIN! I have been losing so much of my German that I need to do something. I'm going to start light with Duolingo and then hopefully this will get me back on track to use my Rosetta Stone again (level 4). I don't want to lose my language skill. I love Germany! I love the language! I am such a Germanophile it isn't funny. I own three dirndls, for Pete's sake! This will be all kinds of good for my brain.

"Climb to the top of the world" System reboot initiated. ProtoJitters online. Battle program found. Upload previous missions. ... Upload failed. The latest newsletter from Steve had a link to an article he wrote about putting fitness first and being selfish about it. For those of you who are not new to my challenges knows that this is not me. I have a huge problem not putting others first; especially my family. To me, they take priority in my life, even if it means that I suffer. "And as you stand tall, you will see..." This challenge, I will break that cycle. I will find a way to keep them as a priority, and make improvements for myself. I will do this for myself, and for them. We all deserve it. We booked a trip to Wisconsin Dells in late July, and I will not be embarrassed by the way I look. By my actions, perhaps, but not by my body. I will be following a simple workout routine for the next 6 weeks. I will continue my search for inner peace through meditation in the mornings. Most of all, and without a doubt the most difficult for me; I will get my eating habits under control, specifically, portions. "That when you fall..." Work out 4 days per week. No matter what. My family has helped me in the past with my workouts, they will help propel me to the man I can be. Too often I say I can't because I'm watching the kids or I have some obligation that prevents me from doing this. No more. 0/4 - Weekly 0/24 - 6WC Meditate 5 days per week. This is usually not a problem, but for some reason, I fell out of habit. Time to go back to my roots. 0/5 - Weekly 0/30 - 6WC Portion Control. Grading is subjective and difficult, but I will do my best on this. I should not be finished with my meal and going back for seconds before my wife and kids are done with half of their plate. I will try to limit my intake as well. To give you an understanding of my capabilities, 3 Chipotle burritos is no problem for me to finish. I was one quarter of the 36" pizza challenge team that finished in just over 13 minutes (the team gets 30 minutes) and had some of our friends pizza after. I can eat. I don't want that anymore. Why? Because I can't be there for my family if I'm dead. Pass/Fail 0/21 - Weekly Pass/Fail 0/126 - 6WC "You will fall from a height most men will never reach" I do this to be a better man. For my kids, for my wife and now, for myself. I deserve this. I will not let one failure deter me from my goals. I will stumble along the way, but it will not stop me. I will beat this.

...You see what I did there? With the title? And the theme...? I think I deserve a pat on the back. Go ahead. Pat me. For this challenge, I return to the Rangers, simply because my focus isn’t solely on martial arts this go. I have a bit of variety planned, and the Rangers were who I started with, and where my heart belongs <3 MAIN QUEST Boost my personal confidence and build muscles while reducing my daily stress levels to encourage a healthy overall change to my health and mind. Goal 1 Complete 3 Les Mills COMBAT workouts a week. The hubs and I will workout together 3 days a week with COMBAT. I will focus on my form, particularly with my kicks, where I continue to struggle. Goal 2 Track daily for 6 weeks in My Fitness Pal. I will log in every day and log what I eat to the best of my ability, working toward increasing my protein intake and reducing my carb intake. Goal 3 Complete 3 Les Mills PUMP workouts a week. This is where it gets hard. I have to be a self-motivator again, as I will be doing PUMP on my own three days a week. It so much easier when the hubs comes home and says “LET’S DO THIS!†than when I come home and say “Oooh, yay!! Couch!†SIDE QUESTS Life I need to find things to keep my ass off the couch as winter approaches. Because… Winter Is Coming. I have a few tasks I want to complete as life goals in this quest – I want to go through my closet and remove what I don’t wear and donate it. I want to reorganize the kitchen cupboards. I want to do a basic cleaning of my house every Sunday. If those three things are accomplished in these six weeks, my life side quest will be complete. Fitness I’ve got PUMP and COMBAT covered, but I want to also work on Hoop Dance more than just the one day a week I attend class. My goal will be simple. To have ONE additional day a week that I take the time to practice what we learned in class each week. This might get hard, since I have low ceilings and it is getting cold outside, but I will do my best to at least practice turns and isolations. MOTIVATION My motivation… is me. It sounds odd, but I started losing my confidence in myself in the last month or two. It was going so well. I was losing weight, building muscle and I felt awesome! But it was important for me, I think, to realize that those things didn’t make me a better or worse person. Having gusto and determination and a good heart filled with positive energy do… and I build all of that up through working on my physical self to that I can vibrate that on a more – dare I say – spiritual level. My motivation is believing in myself. That I can, and I WILL, do what I put my mind to.

Main Quest: Ready myself for the races. Run twice a week. I have four races coming up this year. I am actually doing well, all things considered. I haven’t run since January, and since October before that, and I was able to kill a mile in 13:41. My best yet. The goal is to keep training. I want to see a 13 minute mile, straight by the end of the season! (2 points per run) T25 6 days a week. A huge factor in my motivation lately has been the progress I’ve seen with Focus T25. I’m down in inches, I’m down in weight, and I’m feeling pretty stellar. The goal here is to keep that motivation and run with it. It’s a great cardio workout as well as muscular workout, so this will be my gym for the next 6 weeks (and then some). (1 point per workout) Shakeology DAILY. I have been a morning shake drinker for years, and now I’ve got Shakeo. I’m frankly loving the stuff, and I can tell when I’m not having it. This is my diet side. I need that nutrition, daily. The nutrients keep me running and jumping and skipping and smiling and they motivate me to stay away from the other crap. Plus, this stuff has killed my cravings for junk, so I don’t crave that McDonald’s or Cheeto reward anymore… Gotta keep that up for sure. (1 point per day) Side Quests: Life – Get organized I am sick of thinking I’ll get that craft room organized tomorrow. It’s always tomorrow. No – it’s going to be today. I am going to get those boxes sorted and ready for good will. I am going to set up my old computer to make an office/yoga space. I will post weekly progress shots. (0 points for nothing. 5 points for part way. 25 points for completion) Fitness – Get back into yoga I love my aquafit class, but I miss yoga. With T25, I have seen increased flexibility in my legs, but my hips are still a HUGE issue. This goal will be focused around my HIPS specifically. I need to do yoga 3 days a week, but I will be happy with one. A class at my gym – my friend’s class – online videos… It needs to happen. I will post a starting shot of my hip flexibility and we will measure progress by the end of the six weeks! My goal is to work on three specific positions: Frog, Pigeon, and King Pigeon. (1 point per yoga work out, 3 points max per week) And last but not least… My motivation is… My progress. I am finally seeing some, so I’ll be damned if I let it slide!

Got your attention? Good. Hold me accountable. Kick my booty. Because my milkshake sure doesn't bring boys to my yard... GOALS 1. LOG REGULARLY OH MY GOD NIKKI WHY AREN'T YOU LOGGING YET 2. START ACADEMY. YOU PAID FOR IT. DO THAT SHIT. 3. STOP THE NEGATIVE SELF TALK. DON'T DO THAT SHIT. For those that know me, I'm prone to stick around for a week or two and then vanish. I hope not to do that this time. This challenge fits nicely with a 'Body Transformation Challenge' I am assisting with at my gym. If I don't do this now, I don't do this ever. Hold me accountable. Be gentle. Be awesome.

I admit I'm never very good at these things. But I'm still here, so that counts for something... Thank you to everyone who has stuck by me during my failures here at Nerd Fitness. You keep me coming back for more. --- Body Workshop A body I've built myself. A better, stronger me. Parcourse once a week. Gym three times a week. C25k three times a week. Mind Workshop A mind to withstand all that is thrown at it...even that within. Read and finish one self-improvement book during the challenge period. Learn something new (juggling, no excuses). Practice meditation, nightly if possible. Soul Workshop A soul that forgives and accepts. Pay it forward once a week. Practice self-forgiveness. SUPPORT MY FRIENDS IN THEIR CHALLENGES.

“We must try to contribute joy to the world†I believe it is time to revive the robot. All systems look to be operating within acceptable limits and the processer is indicating the upgrade was a success. Open it up and let’s see what he can do. Carefully, the A.I. disconnected the cords and the door to his capsule was slowly opened. The sound of air rushing into the vacuum sealed casing was more than a little unnerving. Almost like the machine was taking its first breath. In a way, I guess, it was. We had created something beyond machine, though not quite a man; or so we thought. All of our previous efforts had resulted in failure. Some minor, some disastrous, but all failures none the less. There was no way to prepare myself for what we came to know as Jitters. Am I alive or is this another dream sequence? You are very much alive. No doubt you are still processing your surroundings, I assure you; this is the waking world. Welcome. I am X-51; creator of your mechanical body and the processor inside of your brain. Why does my previous programing not come up? Have I done something wrong? Am I to be destroyed? Quite the contrary, my boy. You have been given an upgraded program. You retain the memories of what you have done in your previous chassis, but your processor has been upgraded to allow you free will. You no longer have programing, save for what you want. This is a unique chance that will likely never be recreated. We do not know what happened when your processor was upgraded, but we do know that you can make any choice you wish. This is a strange feeling. I must admit to being more than a little apprehensive about being able to choose. What if I make the wrong choice? What if I hurt someone? What if I cannot be the man everyone expects me to be? How will I know? You cannot. That is what makes this life fun. You don’t know what will happen. Not really. You can look back and see what has happened before and expect the same results, but things change. People change. Knowledge changes; but through it all, you must decide for yourself the best course of action. We no longer control you. So, not as your master, but as your potential friend, I ask you; what do you want to do first? I still feel weak. I would like to become stronger. I feel lethargic. I wish to run. I feel like I can do more for people. I will help those I can. Then what are you waiting for? There is a world out there waiting for you. Do what you will, my boy; but please remember to check in once in a while. I will become the man I wish to be; not the man everyone expects. Good or bad, this is who I am. I still feel weak; I recently started lifting. I lift 3 days a week, and I must say, it’s kind of fun. One lift that I am still learning to love is the deadlift. The first goal will be to do a deadlift twice a week. Tiny gods judging me from my desk protect me. I will have a Wednesday and Friday/Saturday deadlift routine. Monday's are just not a deadlift day. 0/12 I feel lethargic; I haven’t run much this winter, kind of like every winter. It’s icy out there. I have a few races this year, so I will run 3 days a week, counting a race as a run day. Rule one: Cardio. A couple of the rec centers have indoor tracks which will be nice while this snow melts away. Melt already! 0/18 I feel like I can do more for people; I will commit 6 Random Acts of Kindness during this challenge. This goes beyond holding a door for someone. They will need to go above and beyond and it will be done because I can. Things like stopping along my way somewhere to help pull someone out of a ditch, win something that someone desperately needs and give it to them or completely refuse payment on a crib that the new parents need and I had taking up space. All of these were my practice run in the past few weeks. I will admit now, I am doing this because I believe these acts can change the world, even if it's for the recipient and that is the world I wish to live in. 0/6 Life Quest! I enjoy the interactions I have here on the forums. There is no doubt the interwebs have connected people in many great ways. However, I still long for the days of being unplugged. So, as my life quest, I will meet at least one member of these boards in the real world that is not from MN. MN would seem too easy. This will be a challenge. 0/1 Player One

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I will be meditating everyday between now and the 3rd. I've been forgetting to take the time for myself recently and I need to get back on that. I will post here on occasion. Okay, probably a lot. I get bored at work; especially when it's end of the calendar year. I hope to be well rested/focused by then.

I am going to check in here for the next week and a half. Goal is to get to the gym five times between now and Jan 3rd. Gotta start building up the habit again before the next challenge! Let's do this, mini challenge! ALLONS-Y!