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What types of music do you listen to? What are some of the musical groups you like? Looking to add to my playlist!

So here I go again. Wow, it's been a long time. I'll summarize some major life changes: Getting close to a one year anniversary with my girlfriend! Over a year at my IT job Been off my medicine (depression, anxiety) for over a year So now that the good is out of the way, on to the less good. I got really out of shape again. After a photography-related accident, (fell off a cliff) I could not walk for 6 months. Needless to say, health and mental outlook suffered. I've been walking again since January, so time to respawn, reload, and destroy this challenge. 2019 Master Quests Lose 63 lbs. Eat Better Be Active Get Out of Debt Review/reduce spending Organize debts Contact creditors regarding settlements Become Much Better At Magic Education Practice Become A Much Better Vocalist Education Practice Perform a magic show Practice favorite effects till perfect Build a cohesive routine Research volunteer opportunities Build my photography business Do a few TFP photo shoots to build buzz Consistent marketing Prospective client engagement Whew! That's a lot of quests! I should probably just buy a quart of pralines and cream, a 2 liter of mountain dew and watch 14 hours of youtube videos right? #$CK NO! Let's break this *$%^ down into manageable pieces: S.M.A.R.T. Goals: Drink no more than one 21 once soda a week during the challenge (date night, movie, etc) Maintain 90% or better daily calorie goals Hit 5000 steps a day (average) Perform magic set for one open mic night

I will be spending a lot of time in the Monk's Temple for this challenge.

Hello everyone! I'm going to do an extended summer challenge in this thread that will run for roughly 7 weeks. This will include prep week, the four week challenge, and the two week summer vacation that the nerd fitness forums have planned. It feels a bit nostalgic for the old days of nerd fitness when we did six week challenges on these forums. I'm a thirty something single woman with a cat named Dragon. There's a lot going on in my life currently in terms of my mental health and recovery, and it can all feel pretty intense and heavy. I've decided to make my next challenged centered on something that I can always use more of in my life... PLAY! I don't intend to have any rigid goals, but will post regularly with my experiences and experiments in several domains of life. More may open up as we go along, but currently I'm thinking about these areas. Annyshay plays with her movement, food, friends, and imagination. Music, gifs, and other shenanigans as well as really intense and/or nerdy discussion is always encouraged and appreciated. Let's play!

I haven't been here for a year, but I'm back for the sake of the challenge accountability. I want to focus on diet this time around. I've started picking some of my bad food habits back up, and since January I've regained a couple of the pounds I lost in 2016/2017. I want to lose another 15-20 pounds instead of gaining more. This challenge is going to focus on improving my eating habits and losing weight again. Specifically, I want to cut down on sugar and stop snacking between meals. I've been better about fitness than diet. I haven't really had much direction this year, but I'm fine with what I'm doing. I'd rather spend my mental energy on my new job and on music than improving fitness. So my fitness goal is to continue as is: get at least 10,000 steps a day, do two strength training workouts a week (30-60 minutes each), and at a minimum get 30 minutes exercise every other day. Finally, I'm taking violin lessons after a long hiatus. Finding time to practice is hard. Extra challenges: Memorial day weekend, a week-long business trip, a long weekend trip, a going away party for a friend moving out of the country, and all the usual little celebrations and occasions when there's social pressure to overeat at least a little. I've got a list of other things that I'd like to do, but I want to prioritize weight loss and music right now. I'll mention the others and may use them for mini-challenges. No screen time for an hour before bed time. Get up an hour early to walk, do yoga, or otherwise work out. Speed walking workouts. I did a 4k speed walk race and finished with just over 9 minute miles, faster than I've ever run. I want to see if I can translate that to 5k walked in under 30 minutes. Make online dating profiles. Specific Goals: I'll be printing out a calendar to track my progress on paper. Diet: Sugar: Less than 5 g of added sugar in a day and no cookies/candy/chocolates is excellent, worth a sparkly sticker. 5-25 g of added sugar and a single small cookie/chocolate/etc is pretty good, worth a non-sparkly sticker. 25-50 g of added sugar or 200 calories of cookies/chocolate/etc is significantly more than ideal, but it's the most I can eat and still have a not-too-bad day nutritionwise. I get a black squiggly mouth face. I want to limit this to one in the whole month. More than 200 calories of cookies/chocolate/etc: I get a big red frowny face. Regular meals: Two/Three meals and no snacks: Sparkly sticker. Small healthy snack because I didn't adequately plan for meals and get distractingly hungry between meals: non-sparkly sticker. 1-2 snacks of fruit, vegetables, or something healthy and under 100 calories between meals for no good reason: black squiggly mouth face. More than 1-2 between meal snacks, too many calories, or junk food as snacks: big red frowny face. If I'm not eating regular meals because my schedule gets screwy, I may change this up. Tracking: If I track the day on the LoseIt! app, I get a smiley face. If I don't track, I get a frowny face. Fitness: Meeting minimum steps and workout goals: Smiley face. Not meeting minumum steps and workout goals: Frowny face. Violin: Practice 60+ minutes: Music notes. Practice 30-60 minute a day: Gold star. Practice less than 30 minutes: Squiggly mouth face. Don't practice: Frowny face.

Swifts are here! I impatiently await their arrival every year, and it's been a bit sad that it took them so long to come, but considering it was still snowing a couple of weeks ago I guess they were right to wait. Following what caracterizes swifts -nonstop flying, they can fly uninterruptedly for 10 months- this is going to be a movement challenge. A free movement challenge, no pretensions. Because a swift will just fly, without thinking of achieving results. So, I'll move as much as possible and it could be anything: self-defence lessons? Yes. Feeling like picking up my parallettes again and doing a workout? Sure. Weights? Why not. Running in the country? Lovely. Yoga, silat tables, walks, handstands, biking, exploring... anything goes, the final purpose being to spend sitting as little time as possible. Secondary purposes: - Keep on the WH thing, no hurry, no pause. - Keep reading. Let's go! Clarification: I know that bird is a swallow, but apparently it is impossible to find any swift gif/animation

Time to join the Rangers: Arcelas the n00b Carries On: Post-New-Year’s-Resolution Challenge Questline: Lose 48 lbs Complete all scheduled workouts Rewards/Penalties based on percentage of workouts completed 80% or higher: Maximum effort Deadpool workout t-shirt 79% or lower: I have to wear a plain white t-shirt to the gym, with things written/drawn on it suggested by Nerd Fitness Complete all daily food journals Rewards/Penalties based on percentage of journals completed 80% or higher: Super whey tasty chocolate protein powder 79% or lower: I have to buy, cook and eat a spaghetti squash (literally the worst-tasting thing in the world to me) Questline: Become Much Better At Magic Read and practice chapter 2 of “Royal Road to Card Magic” (30 minutes a day) Practice a coin trick (2 hours per week)

Greetings from Arcelas the n00b! If you are reading this right now, it means I have successfully posted it. 2018 (The year we all become murlocs) Quests 4 Week Challenge Quests: Quest Line: Lose 59 lbs. Hit my daily step goal of 10000 steps. 5000 the first week, then add 1666.66 (repeating of course) steps each week until 10000 is reached Quest Line: Get Out of Debt Cook as many meals on Saturday and Sunday as possible to reduce dining out spending by 50% (dropping from $220/mo to $110/mo) Quest Line: Become Much Better At Magic Read Royal Road to Card Magic: Chapter One and watch the accompanying videos Quest Line: Become A Much Better Vocalist Complete KTVA Streaming Lessons Vol 1 and practice 30 minutes a day 3 days a week OK Rebels. Let's do this!

You know when you hear a little bit of a song or a catchphrase from a to show that you haven't heard in years, so long that you'd forgotten that you'd ever even forgotten it in the first place, and BAM! You instantly remember the whole thing? And then it starts to drive you nuts coz you can't remember who the actors were or how the second verse went... Well that happened to me today. The bf says to me, in a semi-singing way, "Wake up in the morning wanting some breakfast" and instantly I'm transported back to my youth and this tv ad: Which then had me racking my brain to find the real lyrics, so off I went to Google and found this: At which point I still had no fecking clue what the lyrics were and had to go and google them too. I'd love it if people would post up some old songs, or TV ads or programs (or anything else of the like) that are a real Blast from the Past. I though it would be quite fun to see or hear all those oldies that we'd forgotten about. Anyone want to join in?

GREETINGS REBELLION!!I am Wraiven but those whom know me well call me Mitch Jnr. I have been working on leveling up my life and developed my quest log in a way to grow, not only for me but for the benefit of those all over the world. Since I can remember I have always been a very giving person and gathered joy from tasks that not only helped me be a better man, but also to help others grow too. Since my Father (Mitch Snr) passed away started really struggling with depression and anxiety in recent years and it's truly effected my growth and attitude towards what I always believed of myself. It could be chemical or it could just be my mind trying to avoid the pain of failing... But that's not gonna happen! Since joining the Rebellion I decided to dedicate a whole year to trying to change some lives and it's really had an Impact on me too.17 has always been my favourite number soooo I decided in 2017 I was going to do a Charity Challenge called 'Songs and Smiles' to help raise funds for Kids with Cancer, Mental Illness and Poverty/Famine. This requires me to do a song a day to bring smiles and provoke thought/nostalgia every single day and then people could share and possibly donate if they could. A simple premise but alot of people seem to like it. So far we have raised over $5000 and had 250,000 views on Youtube.My Dad always wanted to help kids with cancer because when he had it he always beleived he had lived and they deserved a chance to aswell, so I am doing this all in his memory and I hope all of the rebellion can join me too and become a SMILE SAVIOUR!DONATE: http://bit.ly/2iRw2vO GOFUNDME: http://bit.ly/2jXoQ5f FACEBOOK: http://bit.ly/2hFp6UY TWITTER: @MitchJnrMass <3 Mitch Jnr

GREETINGS REBELLION!! I am Wraiven but those whom know me well call me Mitch Jnr. I have been working on leveling up my life and developed my quest log in a way to grow, not only for me but for the benefit of those all over the world. Since I can remember I have always been a very giving person and gathered joy from tasks that not only helped me be a better man, but also to help others grow too. Since my Father (Mitch Snr) passed away started really struggling with depression and anxiety in recent years and it's truly effected my growth and attitude towards what I always believed of myself. It could be chemical or it could just be my mind trying to avoid the pain of failing... But that's not gonna happen! Since joining the Rebellion I decided to dedicate a whole year to trying to change some lives and it's really had an Impact on me too. 17 has always been my favourite number soooo I decided in 2017 I was going to do a Charity Challenge called 'Songs and Smiles' to help raise funds for Kids with Cancer, Mental Illness and Poverty/Famine. This requires me to do a song a day to bring smiles and provoke thought/nostalgia every single day and then people could share and possibly donate if they could. A simple premise but alot of people seem to like it. So far we have raised over $5000 and had 250,000 views on Youtube. My Dad always wanted to help kids with cancer because when he had it he always beleived he had lived and they deserved a chance to aswell, so I am doing this all in his memory and I hope all of the rebellion can join me too and become a SMILE SAVIOUR! DONATE: http://bit.ly/2iRw2vO GOFUNDME: http://bit.ly/2jXoQ5f FACEBOOK: http://bit.ly/2hFp6UY TWITTER: @MitchJnr Mass <3 Mitch Jnr

What a difference a couple key changes in my life is making! I'm still having tough days or moments emotionally, but regular sleep, exercise, the new work schedule, and cutting out alcohol are all working together to put me in a better state to handle those difficult times. I'm feeling good about this next challenge. Need to do some thinking about how I'll structure it, but my overall focus for September and the start of October is cutting weight as I train for this Spartan Sprint at the start of November. I think fitting into a pair of size 8 jeans I've had tucked away in my drawer is a good metric for my progress (with the added reward of having a new pair of pants going into the fall). I can currently squeeze myself into them, but the goal is for them to fit comfortably. Pictures would probably be a good way to document progress. I'll take a start picture going into the challenge, maybe a midway one(?), and then one at the end. *fingers crossed* This will give me a little extra push when my motivation is waning.

Do you play an instrument? Are you just learning? Or are you a well seasoned musician looking to broad your horizon? Or do you love to sing?! This thread is to join in and learn a song together. What ever you play, We'll pick a song (Maybe we'll all vote on a song) and let's practice! The challenge is: 1. Pick a time during your day and listen to the song. Example: After work in your car, during a work out, and/or in the shower (just don't take your device in the shower with you), etc, etc. 2. Pick up your instrument once a day for 5 minutes minimum. 3. That's it!! to join: Announce your instrument in bold letters. and how long have you've been playing. I'll post different versions of the song from YouTube and maybe at the end of this challenge we'll have learned a new song! This challenge I'm going with 90's Seattle scene. Any one up for the challenge???

Leaves and sticks crunched under Achaedia's feet as she made her way through the forest. She was sure it was here. The directions she had been given would indicate she should be coming upon the rebellion any time now. After a year-long absence in which she had married the love of her life, purchased a dwelling on the outskirts of Rata Sum, and graduated from University as a Master of Synergetics, she was now ready to return to the fray. Achaedia the Warrior Part II: The Liftening Goal 01. Strengthening Achaedia will research and select a workout program as a means of getting back into fighting shape. The ideal program will combine interval training for cardio with power lifting for strength. Once the training program has been selected, training will commence. Goal 02. Hydrating Achaedia will increase her water intake by 25% a week, with the first week serving as a baseline. Goal 03. Musicking Achaedia wouldn't call herself a bard by any means, but she used to be known to tickle the ivories every now and then. In the month of June, Achaedia will do warm-up exercises on the piano at least 3x a week. Bonus Goal: Gainful Employment An asura's got to eat. She will procure a part-time job in order to earn gold during the summer when the progeny are out of school.

Last challenge was my first since last fall, and was partly to help me get over the winter blues. This challenge I’m building on that and adding in music. Goals Fitness- Walk or take my bike to work every rain-free day. It's about a mile and a half, or 5-10 if I have extra time and take a long route for the fun of it. (+1 per day, +2 per longer ride) Run 3 or 4 C210k workouts a week. Running isn't my favorite, but it's convenient and I like being able to run. I’m on week 7 now. Also, I’m signed up for a half marathon in November. (+2 per 30 minutes) 10+ minutes of strength training every day, not including warmup. This will usually be half or all of Simple and Sinister kettlebell routine. Take the mountain bike onto trails at least twice a week. I'll also be looking for a group to ride with. (+2 per ride, +5 for finding a group) Cleaning- Last time, I gave myself the goal to set a timer for cleaning. It didn’t work very well, partly because I felt undirected. This time, I’m going to set myself an area and spend a minimum of 20 minutes a day until it’s acceptably clean. This is in addition to a required 10 or 15 minutes to maintain whatever I’ve already done. (+2 per area completed) List of areas: (To be taped to the front door.) Kitchen counters Kitchen cabinets Kitchen floor Living room shelves (by radiator) Living room shelves (by door) Living room furniture Living room floor Living room bike storage Living room workout area Bathroom cabinets Bathroom floor Bathroom shower/toilet/sink Hallway closet (high) Hallway closet (low) Bedroom shelves Bedroom floor Bedroom furniture Bedroom underbed Bedroom closet (high) Bedroom closet (low) Mending/alteration pile (30 pounds down = Badly fitting clothes!) Diet- Last challenge, I lost 1 pound. Could have been better, could have been worse. I'd like to lose 2 this challenge. Keep in the range of 1500-1700 calories a day, and track it in the LoseIt! app. (+1 per day) If I burn more than about 500 calories in exercise, eat back the extra. Starting weight: 141 (+2 per pound lost). Music- I’m signed up for a folk music camp in June, but I haven’t really played much since attending last year. As an extra challenge, I’m switching from my main instrument (fiddle) to flute (which was my main instrument 15 years ago) because my apartment’s walls are like paper and the flute is quieter. I’m less self-conscious about playing it, which means I actually practice it. Goals: Play at least 15 minutes a day. (+1 per day) Do 1-3 lessons from the Flute Basics class at the Online Academy of Irish Music per week. Number depends on difficulty. (+2 per lesson) Attend local Irish session. (+5 per session) Keeping track- I'll print out a calendar and note progress on it. (+1 per week) Bonus stuff- Bonus points for applying to jobs. +1 per application sent, +50 per job offer, +100 per good job offered and accepted. Budgeting. I’ve never had any trouble saving money, but I decided last week that as long as I’m in the habit of tracking my food, I may as well track my spending as well. +1 per week of tracking all spending in an app. This ties in with my cleaning goal because I’ve got a budget item for storage furniture so that I can actually keep my apartment looking nice. Sewing. It’s under cleaning as well, but I’ve got a big pile of clothes I’ve shrunk out of, but that I still like well enough that I don’t want to give them away. I need to start altering those so they fit.

First challenge time! Yay! Can you feel the antici...pation? My Overall Goals: Lose at least 16kg to get back to my weight before I landed in the hospital Keep my platelets at a safe level consistently (between 80,000-150,000 per liter of blood) Get a job performing at Universal Studios Japan Look fantastic for upcoming weddings, including my own! An explanation behind these goals, for anyone who didn't see my forum introduction: I have Hashimoto's hypothyroid and polycystic ovaries, diagnosed as a teenager for both, and despite having a healthy diet and lifestyle I have struggled with my weight for most of my life (as in, I did competitive karate 3-5 times per week for 10 years, avoided soda, wasn't a big chocolate person, loved produce and seafood, and yet never got below a BMI of 24 or a size 8). in 2012 I hit my goal of getting back within my healthy weight range and feeling strong and fitjust in time to move to Japan, and I kept myself at that level for almost 2 years when I landed in the hospital with a serious case of idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, or dangerously low platelets. A healthy person has around 150,000 platelets per liter of blood and I was down to less than 1,000 and was literally bleeding to death internally. I was bedridden for a month, under strict medical observation for another 9 months, and on a fairly high dose of prednisone during that time as well. By the time I was off of the prednisone and observation, I had gained 9kg and lost almost all of my strength; I couldn't exercise, I could barely stand to be out walking around to run errands like usual much less do yosakoi dance training or intensive exercise like before, and the withdrawal symptoms were so bad I could barely move some days. It took at least another year to get past that, and another year before I had a handle on what diet helped keep my platelets at a safe level and was approved by the doctors to exercise more than just daily activity levels and basic stretching. I'm still not allowed to exercise outside without someone there in case I injure myself and can't stop bleeding, and I get exhausted super easily. So I've gone up 16kg in total since hospitalization. The ITP is chronic and will never go away and it has taken a while to accept that, but now I think I'm finally at a point where I can start living with it instead of being held captive by it, and I want to get on that with a group of like-minded geeky types who support each other with our different challenges on our journeys! So...that's the why behind the goals! This Challenge's Goals Lose some weight, any amount Stick to my platelet boosting diet Prepare songs for Voice Kobe's competitive open mic night Which leads to my challenges... Challenge 1: Attend at least 2 aerials classes per week I usually make 1 class per week but May I have more free time so I'd like to try to increase that! A bit worried because April 29-May 3 I am out of town, which means I only can go once the week of April 23-30, and May 3-7 is Golden Week so I don't know if the classes will be cancelled or not. Challenge 2: Do body-weight strength training at least 3 times per week I never tried strength training outside of what we did in classes as warm-ups, so I'm starting very slow with a beginner body-weight workout, maybe 3 sets of 8-10 reps per exercise for about 20 minutes to start. Challenge 3: Eat at least 1 fruit or vegetable serving with every meal I already do this most meals, but not all, so I just have to push myself to get something in with every meal, not just 3/4 of them! Challenge 4: Practice my new music at least 4 days a week I used to practice a lot but the last 3 years I've only done voice work and sporadic practice while I recovered from being sick, so I need to get back into it.. I'm not really planning on doing week 0 since I spent a few days doing the planning worksheets, but I'm tracking it anyway just to get in the habit. Spreadsheet time! https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1qsXaDLCN-YDY37wFC1bKEJCbEEqGdmaZqcuk1mRt218/edit?usp=sharing Here's hoping this goes well!

I had so much fun with the Rebels during my respawn challenge - and my life is still weird enough - that I think I'll hang around here a little longer! Thinking about my last challenge, I was reminded more than anything of one of the big themes of the lovely Undertale - "Determination". If you haven't played the game, it's more than just gritting your teeth and carrying on; it's a force that lets the characters come back from the brink of death, and even rewrite their own stories and those of the other characters in their world. For those who weren't following along for the last one, I was basically respawning on the tail end of a nasty few months with depression. It went really well (thank goodness), and I'm doing better than I have in a while, maybe since around this time last year. I was working on rewriting my story, as it were. I wasn't sure whether or how to do this challenge, since I'll be leaving next week for my annual week-off-the-grid on retreat, which I expect to be a wonderful time. The tricky thing about those trips away is that they tend to mess with my routine when I get back, so I think that's going to be my focus for the challenge: staying determined (especially once I get back), and locking down the benefits that I'm starting to see from the new and renewed habits I built last month. Also, y'know, it gives me an excuse to post about Undertale. Thus, the goals: Cooking with Undyne I've been eating a lot of good food the last several weeks, but my cooking has been getting a bit repetitive. We can't have that; cooking is one of my favorite hobbies! This challenge, my goal is to try two new recipes per week (aside from the week I'm away) and post photos and instructions where applicable. Yum! Showtime with Mettaton One of my favorite parts about last challenge was getting into a solid routine of practicing my guitar, and seeing lots of progress. I even learned, recorded and posted a song (?!). In addition to keeping up with this habit, I'm going to make it a goal to complete three online technique lessons per week either in guitar or mandolin, which I'm hoping to start learning in the next few weeks. More bonus achievements like last time (and extra ratings for Mettaton) if I record another song for posterity. Training with Toriel It's important to be ready for when the monsters attack. I've been doing lots of crosstraining to get ready for a couple of upcoming races (a 10k on April 1, and a Tough Mudder in June), and I'm still in the process of getting comfortable with a more regular workout routine again. I don't want to set any particular goals yet for the mix of running vs. weights or outdoor adventures, since I had fun doing lots of each last challenge, but I want to aim for at least four workouts per week. Tea with Muffet Finally, I need to keep working on rebuilding some of the social connections that fell by the wayside when I was fighting my way out of my cave of misery. This goal is to do something social with at least two friends during each week, or at the minimum track them down for a proper phone/Skype conversation. (Thanks to everyone who keeps following along!)

With my senior recital and graduation rapidly approaching (my recital hearing, which is more important than the recital itself, is in 5 days), I don't have a lot of time or energy to devote to a proper assassin's challenge, so I'm taking up some desk work for a while. /failed attempt at sort of themeing Goals: > 10h practice clarinet per week outside of rehearsal and lesson (%) > keep evening checklists of things to do before bed and do them. I must Tame my Monkey! (No more than one thing left undone every night) (P/F daily) > do something for bio outside of class 5 days /week (P/F) > do something for Spanish outside of class 2 days /week (P/F) > no late work! Also no more incomplete work. (%) > accumulate 25 points in Darebee Daily Dare thing (P/F) > pass recital hearing (P/F) > earn 94% or higher on next biology test (P/F) > earn full marks on next Spanish presentation (indigenous cultures; rehearse, do not read) (P/F) > Tame the Monkey (my score > Monkey at end of every week) (P/F *5) > limit phone (especially this) and laptop usage during the day and before bed. Things like using airplane mode or turning it off altogether during bio, practice, rehearsals, etc. Because EMFs are poison. > tennis ball rolling 3 days /week (% EC)

I'm back. So, the last five months or so weren't pretty. Long story short, got a year-long internship that I thought would be great and turned out to be hellish, had a bout with several months of serious depression/anxiety (a new and not-at-all fun experience for me), turned into a hermit, watched my health and fitness crash and burn. Great times. But, slowly, I've been recovering, thanks in part to the support of some good friends (h/t to @Treva and co.), and this month I've been on the upswing. Still, I really need to repair the damage that was done by the psychological paralysis and inactivity - my runs, strength, and flexibility all suffered a lot, and my appetite probably dropped by about 40% or so. Therefore, this challenge is simply a respawn: to get back on track with health, workouts, and general quality of life. No enormous challenges this time around - I'm just focusing on the respawn, and I'll be happy to do that in the company of fellow Rebels. Thus, the goals: Stretch 10 minutes per day - I'm super stiff right now from how little I was able to workout beyond some basic running and occasional hikes, and any time I try to do much else athletics-wise, it's painful. So stretching and mobility work needs to be a bigger part of my routine than it was. (Ideas and resources welcomed!) Make it to the gym twice a week - Not a huge goal, but I basically failed completely at getting any strength training in from November to January. I need to make it a habit again and break through the mental barriers keeping me away. Sleep! Get in bed by 11:00 - My sleep routine got pretty screwy for a while. Lately I've been doing better about this, but I need to make it a priority to manage my time and get to bed by 11:00 at the latest. My early mornings are always good for personal development and reading time. Extraordinary Barding: Pick up my guitar at least daily - I was once again reminded that one of the hobbies I'd most enjoy improving is my musical ability - guitar in particular, and hopefully mandolin in the future. This needs to be more intentional if I'm going to make progress. BONUS: Extra barding achievements (TBD) if I record a video of myself playing any songs. Oh, and if any of you have good stories or tips from recovering after something similar, I'd love to hear 'em. Again, this is a new challenge for me. Thanks for all the support so far!

As I woke up from the strange dream I had, I remember looking up and see the Mentor looking at me. "A good rest I hope?" he asked. He always smiled, and I was terrified of that. I always the idea that he was constantly scheming, aware and patient. Even when he scolded me he did it so calmly that I felt he had both the knowledge and the skills to kill me in a way that I would only know when I laid to rest that day. "I'm sorry Master, I should've been aware", I responded getting up. To this day I remember his words, no matter how many years pass by. He said "It is okay because I had not planned your demise. But I could have other plans". That stayed with me. It was a warning to be ever mindful. I boy that helped me. On that day he also told me that I had a mission. A new target. I was only to engage after fully studying my target. So... I prepared... and Packed... Sequence 1: Chase and Escape (+3 DEX;+2 STR) Same as before, Parkour training once a week. No excuses. Even though I am not fully healed, I have to at least move a bit. Some sequences, some small challenges, technical stuff. Since this didn't work before, this time let's give it an extra notch: I have to release a small video of my training session. Must be at least one minute. Pre-challenge challenge: Get an A5 notebook and call it: Parkour Spellbook and Visions (as inspired by the Tricking Spellbook) Sequence 2: Follow your Target (+2 WIS) Also, same as before, Track the food. Right now I just want to build up the habit of tracking my intakes. I'm not even going to freaking tailor my food after every week, let's keep it simple and JUST. TRACK IT. I've already set up alarms to remind me to track it on My Fitness Pal. Bonus: Take healthy snacks. Boiled eggs, protein bars, fruit, anything "healthy" goes. (+1 CON) Sequence 3: The Mentor teaches, the Apprentice listens (+2 WIS) Back to meditation as it is a practice that I am not keeping and I've proven to myself countless times that it is beneficial for me. Everyday I must meditate for at least 5 minutes. My alarm is set up to 23h (11 pm). Bonus: Do NOT use any technology after it, since it seems to be messing my sleep schedule and quality. (+1 CON) Sequence 4: A Friendly Competition (+2 STR) I'm going to try and embrace my Sith personality (although I consider myself more like a Grey Jedi) and use the Mini Challenge to do some daily callisthenics and try to out-work the other guild members. Not to be THE BEST, but to be BETTER. Sequence 5: Entertain the Crowd. (+2 CHA) I haven't played guitar in ages. And I miss it. So, for this challenge I'm going to consciously practice guitar every other day. I need to learn AT LEAST one segment of a song (intro, verse, chorus, etc) per practice session. Pre-challenge challenge: GET THOSE STRINGS. My acoustic guitar has all the strings torn and degraded, I need to buy new ones until Sunday to start the challenge.

Hello to everyone, i'm always searching for new workout music, so i thought that this might be a good place to share & discover new music! So, this is the idea : those who will partecipate to this topic will share a song / instrumental and will rate the song above your post! No discrimination here, you can share any kind of music / genres Let's start!

about me lover of cookies, bikes, music, llw, and lounging. liker of many other things. This is me cramping my way through the Santa Monica mountains at the inaugural Malibu Gran Cookie Dough/Phil's Fondo. Would be nice to do more epic rides like this without my legs trying to kill me. about this challenge Focusing on 3 things. Doing more of what I love, improving my physical health, and improving the living part of life. Freewheel Burning Double my mileage and climbing from last year 2015 completed: 797mi + 5180ft climbed 2016 completed: 2240mi + 63533ft climbed 2017 goal: 4500mi + 128000ft climbed [500mi + 12.5k ft climbed this challenge] - 100mi + 2.5k ft climbed per week --> Week 1: 9/100mi[9/100] 184/2,500ft[184/2,500] --> Week 2: 51.4/100mi[60.4/200] 2,802/2,500ft[2,986/5,000] --> Week 3: 28.5/100mi[88.9/300] 351/2,500ft[3,337/7500] --> Week 4: 33.1/100mi[122/400] 1860/2,500ft[5,197/10,000] --> Week 5: 44.4/100mi[166.4/500] 2,622/2,500ft[7,819/12,500] 'Till I Collapse Go to gym 2x a week, core workout 3x a week - SS workout at the gym, Posture correction workout from Tom Danielson's Core Advantage ideally done before a ride but any time acceptable --> Week 1: 0/2 0/3 --> Week 2: 0/2 1/3 --> Week 3: 1/2 2/3 --> Week 4: 1/2 2/3 --> Week 5: 0/2 1/3 Ham N Eggs Eat more veggies - 3-5 cups of vegetables a day - 1 vegan/vegetarian meal a week --> Week 1: 2/7 1/1 --> Week 2: 3/7 1/1 --> Week 3: 4/7 2/1 --> Week 4: 5/7 2/1 --> Week 5: 4/7 3/1 Got to Give It Up Declutter enough to make cleaning room a non-issue - Pare down wardrobe - Get all books/DVDs/etc on shelves neatly - Get rid of unnecessary papers/letters/etc - Pare down random things - Vacuum & mop --> wardrobe: Complete! --> books/DVD/CD: In progress (Move from wire shelf, Bookshelf, Entertainment center, Bedside, Current reference) --> papers/letters: Complete! --> random: Not yet started --> clean: Bonus Do Yourself A Faver Read 12 books this year - Finish reading Land of Second Chances: The Impossible Rise of Rwanda's Cycling Team for the first book of the year --> 171/276

After a roller coaster half a year life is finally settling into something resembling a routine! I've got a real job, my own place, and am learning how to be an adult all on my own. It feels a little like going off to college right after high school, everything is kind of exciting and scary and sometimes I have trouble focusing on the things I should. So, I'll be taking baby steps as I return to challenges. Main Priority: Get my work schedule under control over the course of this challenge. My work is largely self-directed, and while I've taken measures to keep myself on task, I still find my work hours dragging well into the night. There's no good reason for this. I could easily finish my work every day, but I get distracted and put off tasks. I have a little catch up to do the first half of this week with a freelance job I took on, but by the end of this week (and for the remainder of the challenge) I want to be done working by 5PM. Weight loss: My weight has stayed right around 175 for the last 2-3 months. Honestly, during all the craziness of the new job and apartment hunt I am happy to have maintained the 50 pound loss and continued my training. Now that I have more mental space though, I'm ready to say goodbye to these final 25 pounds. This first week I want to make daily tracking a requirement. I'm not even going to say I have to hit some weekly number, just get back into tracking everything that crosses my lips. Depending on how this first week goes, I might add a weekly limit for the official start of the challenge. Get Creative: I've had such a difficult time focusing on anything the last few months. It's been almost half a year since I finished a book, which is just crazy and so unlike me! As I get my work schedule under control I want to use some of that recovered time for creative pursuits like writing and music. I got a fancy pants keyboard a couple weeks back and have declared that no sheet music may enter my home while I learn to play by ear. For this challenge I want to establish a daily habit of practicing music theory and experimentation on the keyboard...let's say 15 minutes of keyboard practice a day to start. It would be great to work in some creative writing, so I'm shooting for two 30 minute writing sessions each week. No specific jiu jitsu challenges this time around. I still train a ton...if anything I train a borderline unreasonable amount. So of course jiu jitsu talk will happen on this thread, it just won't be a specific part of my challenge. It's good to be back!

Good Afternoon Rebels! I need some suggestions for Music for a play list. I just downloaded the App “Zombie Run” so that I can have another thing to motivate me run, hike, etc. It is also a little themely with Halloween right around the corner. Music I am looking for is some Zombie Apocalypse butt kicking music. Let me know what you got?

Last challenge I concentrated on starting to lift, stretch and log my walking/swimming/biking miles and was moderately successful. This challenge I'm sticking with the lifting as I want to focus on some consistent goals between now and the end of the year (plus the lifting is just starting to get noticeably harder), I've joined a yoga class so will build on the foundation that is giving me (1 class per week) to try and stretch more everyday. I'm still logging my miles for my walk to Mordor, too, but I'm also adding in that I'm going to learn to play Bass guitar properly. I last played Bass 10 years ago after gigging in local bands with mates for years...but I never once took a lesson, or played a scale or read a book on how to play. I've decided to take lessons, possibly even sit exams (!) and learn to play 'properly'