Search the Community

Which song reminds you of your chosen path, and gets you psyched to be completing quests? I myself follow an assassin/warrior mix, so I have two! For the assassin side: And for the warrior side:

Time for my second challenge already! Very happy with how the first one went. First draft for this challenge (may change/refine during the week): Fitness - Walking - On non-exercising days I have to go for a walk, especially on my lazy weekend days when i avoid leaving the house Food - Meal prep - Cook batch food every weekend, enough to cover breakfast and lunch (one meal = minimum success) for the working week Fun - Violin - Must practice 10 min twice a week (Bonus reward = 3x week) Life - Book reading before bed 10 min (aim every night, 5x week minimum) Bonus Life - Clearing out stuff - pick a different area every week as a bonus. This shouldn't be difficult, I have been doing bits and pieces, but need the extra push to get them finished. Clothes (donate excess) Comics (put up on ebay) CDs (create digital copies, keep remainder in car for road trips) Whichever of the above didn't get finished during its week Reward: If I go above and beyond with violin and manage 3x week practice then I earn one month's membership to fiddlevideo.com If I succeed with the minimums of the challenge, I get to buy myself a phone stand to take videos of my lifting. (Yes, I know it will only cost me a couple of dollars, but it's still motivating )

'Cause I'm back... In the true spirit of nine lives, I am getting my shit together over here. There is a true link between how often and involved I am over here on the boards and my quest for improved strength and mobility, so... my gift to myself (and you, lets admit) is this music-filled challenge thread. If nothing else, the playing of awesome music every morning as I post to my thread keeps me signing on (and dancing at my desk most of the morning). Goals will be simple. 1. Dance to a great song every morning, post it here daily for the greater good. 2. Workout 3 times/week. Can be yoga, weight training, bww, whatevs (but a real effort... don't be a slacker). 3. 3 meals daily, eliminate all unnecessary snacking (because that business adds UP). 4. Walk 2 miles, 5/7 days. 5. Limit alcohol to 2 glasses per week. 6. Keep up with all my nerd friends at least once weekly. I would also like to keep up my minimalism track as well as adulting all the things, so I will post about that here as well, but not goal related this challenge.

Yes, I'm doing another twenty one pilots themed challenge. I am still off in faraway lands doing cool things with lasers, and I'm still homesick and anxious and sad, and these awesome dudes are still helping me stay sane. And it just so happens that this beautiful song (one of the first songs of theirs that I fell in love with) has a few lines that relate directly to my goals for the challenge! PERF~ PRIMARY GOALS ~ i'm taking over my body ~ I am so done with dorm food, oh my lordy lord. There are so many delicious things and ALL OF THEM ARE BAD FOR ME. I am done letting food control me though! I'm taking aggressive control of what I put in my mouth. During zero week, I'm going to attempt Cold Turkey (mostly!)Paleo. Last challenge, I tried limiting myself to one dessert per day, but here's the thing - you can never have just one! I've found that going cold turkey has worked for me in the past, so I'm gonna give it another shot. Depending on how zero week goes, I may re-evaluate this goal. ~ it probably happens at night, right? ~ Everything here happens at night. Wanna go to a cafe? Wanna watch a movie? Let's go to a concert! Let's play a game! Let's go jam in the music room! I'm not used to having such a vast social life all of a sudden, and it's been really fun, but I haven't gotten to bed before 11:00pm in, like, 5 weeks. I'm tired all the time, and my mental health is suffering. The goal here is to be in bed, TECH OFF, by 10:00 (with the exception of maybe weekends). SECONDARY GOALS (not graded) ~ entertain my faith ~ Another reason, I suspect, that my mental health has been suffering is because I haven't been reading my Bible very much. Most weeks, church on Sunday and small group on Wednesday are all I get during the week, and that is NO BUENO! I'd like to read/meditate on a chapter of Proverbs every day, if possible, per a reading challenge that was issued by the church I've been attending. ~ time to move our feet ~ I have totally fallen of the exercise bandwagon, and it's really frustrating. I was doing so well during last semester! And then final exams rolled around, and ever since then I've hardly exercised at all. I'd like to have a physical activity 3 or so times per week at least, but ideally every weekday. I brought my yoga mat with me and bought new workout clothes before I came here and everything! Time to put them to use!!!

Revenge of The Loft It has been a while! Welcome back to The Loft! A simple a humble space for all those rebels out there who wish to level up their creative side! This group is here to offer inspiration and support for all the writers, musicians, and artists out there. In the past threads I have been blown away with all the interaction, advice and sharing that has gone on and I hope to have that continue this time around. For myself I will admit that life has thrown some curveballs along the way that I have been pleasantly surprised with or completely overwhelmed. I am happy to be back and to bring this group back for some awesome fun times! I'm not sure about doing weekly topics since I have had a hard time tracking and keep those up, but any and all suggestions are welcomed and nothing wrong with a few creative exercises to get those imagination juices flowing :). Anywho, hope to see ya'll around these parts! Let's share some art!

After sleeping off the last one, it's time to get back to work. I will once again be at sea for the vast majority of the challenge, and certain dreaded pastimes simply cannot be avoided any more. I didn't do much running last time – successfully avoiding the treadmill entirely. As enjoyable as that may have been, I don't want to give my body any ideas. So to remind him who's his daddy, I've come up with this... Run 60 miles minimum, preferably not all at once. Use the treadmill, dammit! If I can do more, all the better. And yes, there will still be mountains. Push, Pull Push-ups - 720 total, same as last time. Pull-ups - 32 total, stepping it up. Stretch 10 back bending and stretching routines spread over the course of the challenge. Putting the back into "Back In Business." I've noticed doing yoga that posture and rounding my back is a problem for me. A few months ago, I found some video workouts that I think will help, but haven't done much with them yet. Now it's time. I'll be monitoring this one as I go, and if I don't think the videos are helping, I'll look for something else. Weights 29 points total. Sticking with the same routines, mostly using the ship's awesome adjustable dumbbells. 2 points for each complete workout, 1 point for a good-try effort, and 1 bonus point each time I manage to increase the weight for all exercises (I'm not bodybuilding here, so this doesn't really happen that often). ----- @Jormungand suggested last time that I put on some rockin tunes and get to it. This I can do. For fun, I searched my iTunes library for "back" and got around 175 hits. It pleases me to share a few... 1. On Your Way Down (feat. Allen Toussaint), Trombone Shorty, Backatown (2010)

Well, last week was kind of crazy, which is why I didn't start my challenge early. I basically had no nights off, and attended my cousins wedding on Friday. I ate more than I should have because they had extrordinarily good food, but I partly made up for it with the dancing, plus I'd been so stressed all week I was barely eating enough. But now I need to get back to eating right. My big, long overview: Exercise: So far this year, my exercise goal has been to attend two exercise classes per week. I've been doing this successfully, and it's now a couple of months since it's been leaving me with extra energy. I've been experimenting with adding in more activity, but I think it's time to get serious about that, and make it a real routine. On week days with no class, I want to do a 15 minute version of Pavel's Simple and Sinister kettlebell workout (10 minutes warm up, 5 minutes Turkish getups alternating arms (up to 5 each side) or 5 minutes of swings. One reason I'm adding this now is that I've finally reached the point where the 25 pound kettlebell I bought last winter is comfortable for 2 handed swings (Yay!). The other reason is that last challenge, I put some nice mats down in my apartment and set up half of my bedroom as a workout area. I'm going with 15 minutes because that's an amount of time I absolutely have, no excuses, and it means I'll be picking up heavy things every day. The only time I'm out of town this challenge I'll be driving, so I can take my weights with me. I also want to ride my bike to work every day the weather isn't horrible. Bonus points for extra biking. I started this last challenge, but had to stop because it was hurting my back. I've got a new bike that allows me to sit more upright. I'm still working out how to set up the seat and handlebars for the most upright posture, but I can now do 5 miles with only a little tightness. The bike is an Electra Townie, which has the peddles significantly forward of the usual position. It's not designed for long fast rides, but I bet I can cover 50 miles a week. Music: I'm attending a fiddle camp for vacation at the end of June. I need to get back in practice before then. Last challenge I set the goal of learning a tune every week. It didn't quite happen (learned 2 instead of 5), so this time, the goal is learning an unspecified number of new tunes, and picking up the fiddle every single day, even if it's just to air play for 30 seconds before I leave the house or go to bed. Social: I mostly hang out either with family, or a single friend. I need more variety in my social circle. I also want to start dating. So over the next few months, I'm making goals to expand my social life. Diet: Back to tracking! I've been having too many days where I eat cookies, cake, and chocolate. I need to start writing it down so I can see when I do that, and remember not to. My Goals: Exercise: 2 Kettlebell classes per week (established since February) 3-5 Short strength workouts on my own: every weekday with no class, weekends optional. 3-5 days: bike to work at least 3 days a week, and every day the weather is nice. Music: Pick up the fiddle every day, even if it's just 30 seconds of scales or long tones. Learn one fiddle tune per week. Don't forget the ones I already learned. Social: I'm in my 30's, and have been on literally 3 dates in my life. Goal: sign up for match.com, and go on at least one date by the end of the challenge. Also get the cell phone numbers of a couple co-workers I walk with every day at lunch. Cleaning: 15 minutes a day. I kind of fell of the wagon on this last challenge, and it shows.

Goals: Fitness: I’m very happy with how my fitness goals have been going this year, so I’m only giving them minor tweaks. 1) Keep up the momentum. I’ve been doing 2 kettlebell strength training classes per week since February, and I’ve made a lot of progress. I want to keep doing that. Bonus points for doing an extra workout at home, or a third class. 2) Don’t drive unless it’s raining. I live 1.25 miles from work, or 1.5 miles if I avoid the busy road. That’s a 20-30 minute walk, a 12 minute bike ride, or an 8 minute drive. I want to bike or walk every day that it’s not raining, minimum 3 days per week. The second half of last challenge, I was trying to bike 2-3 times a week. The flexibility to choose between walking or biking will make it easier. 3) Start running again. I tested my foot hiking last Saturday, and was able to do a significant distance before I had any pain at all. I want to start running again. I’ll begin with 1-2 minutes, and try adding in 1-3 minutes per week. Diet: Back to Tracking. I’ve been slipping more and more, which means I need to go back to tracking and healthy cooking, and possibly clear out all the junk food that’s accumulated in my kitchen. 1) Track everything I eat for all of week 1. 2) Eat healthy: Macros: ~40-50% fats, 40-50% carbohydrates, 10-20% protein. No more than 50 g added sugar. At least 1 fruit or veggie per meal. Ideally 5-10 per day. Music: Learn fiddle tunes! I’ve had a writing goal all year and have had mixed success, mostly failing. I think the main problem is lack of energy after sitting in front of a computer all day at work, using my brain. So I’m mixing it up. I’m signed up for a music (fiddle) camp at the end June, and I am seriously out of practice. I need to get back into playing regularly. I’ve been to this camp before, and they mostly play Irish/Scottish/New England style music. I learned to play in Nevada, where the fiddlers play a mix of blue grass and Southern old time. I need to learn more tunes I can play with people here. 1) Play at least 10-15 minutes per day. 2) Learn 1 new fiddle tune per week, from Irish/Scottish repertoire, preferably tunes I’ve heard at jams. Week 1: The Silver Spear. 3) Go to the Saturday night Irish jam nearby. I can’t do this coming Saturday because I’m singing in a choral concert, but I can go on the 14th. Cleaning: I’ve been getting used to having an apartment that I can get acceptably clean for guests in half an hour instead of 2 hours. I’d like to improve it further. I also want to seriously rearrange my apartment and buy a new sofa if I can make the space for it. 1) Clean for at least 15 minutes a day (up from 10). 2) Set up the pegboard I bought in my kitchen. 3) Continue reorganizing, clearing out unused stuff, etc. Random Bits: Track My Progress: I kind of skipped this in April, which hurt me on the cleaning and writing. I need to put up a new tracking calendar for May, and fill it in with smileys and frowns for each goal. Post more often: I enjoy it when people post in my challenge thread, so I usually try to post on other peoples. Last challenge, I was only logging in about once a week. I want to spend 1-3 hours per week on the challenge forum, posting in other people’s threads and updating my own. Buy a dial timer: I’ve got a lot of goals that would benefit from this. I’ve been using my phone, but a dial is simpler to use.

RESPAWN!!! Wow, y'all spiffied up while I was gone. Keeping this challenge pretty loose, so hopefully I can actually complete a challenge without falling off the face of the earth again. Quest #1: Getting Strong, Yo (me doing the OHP) Starting Strength 3x per week Reset my Starting Strength program on Friday, so I have baseline work set numbers to start from. Squat: 55lbs OHP: 20lbs Bench: 25lbs Deadlift: 55lbs Starting Measurements: Weight: 140.4lbs Fat %: 28.5 Bust: 36.75" Waist: 34.25" Hips: 37.5" Rewards: +5 STR Rogue Fitness sweatshirt I've had my eye on for the nights when the garage is a little chilly for working out Quest #2: Pretending to be an adult This quest involves choosing to do some adulting every day. Examples: fold some of the 4-5 loads of clean laundry kicking around, pull weeds, clear clutter off the kitchen table so we have a place to eat dinner all together... Basically any type of activity that doesn't fall into watching stupid YouTube videos or the next quest. Rewards: +3 WIS Either a new porcelain travel mug to replace the one I broke or a new lunch box/bag to replace the one that's wearing out on me Quest #3: Do something creative every day Things that fall into this category: - Art journal - Learning my new tablet & digital program combo - Practicing the ear training exercises my vocal coach assigned - Learning the song my coach & I are working on (is there a way to embed the youtubes in the new forum set up?) Rewards: +2 CHA I'm thinking maybe some artist grade watercolor supplies (Arches paper & tube paints maybe)

I've been racking my brain trying to come up with a solid challenge theme, but not having much luck. I even considered just sitting this one out while continuing to work on my overall goal of building strength. However, I find I am more consistent when I have a challenge thread. So here's my five minute write-up: Goal 1 - 4 workouts per week - 2 upper body, 1 lower body, and 1 sandbag-focused Goal 2 - Practice bodyweight skills every day (pistols, handstands, one-arm push-ups) Goal 3 - Play music for 5 minutes a day, either banjo or upright bass Goal 4 - No phone/screen time after 10 PM, except for Kindle Goal 5 - Finish reading 3 books

Let´s get real! Welcome to my second challenge, grab yourself a place in the moshpit, unlock your bra´s and get ready to throw them on stage...this is Sex Bob-omb featuring BarbarianBassBro! For those not getting the reference, stop reading, watch "Scott Pilgrim vs the World" and continue reading again. For those to busy or lazy to do so, in short: It´s a comic-based film about a nerdy guy, that plays bass guitar in a rockband called Sex Bob-omb and struggles with success, girls/their ex-bf´s and himself. Perfect description of myself As the story goes on, Scott realizes he needs to level up his life and get shit done. There are enemies to deal with and goals to achieve, so let´s do this: Quest Nr 1) Workout to beat those nasty Ex-BF´s and get the girl you want! Okay, there´s no Ex´s BF that trys to crash me hard and to make "gettin´laid on regular base" a challenge goal sounds weird and all it does is increasing pressure on your social life. At least it refers to it this when you think around some corners: Workout, feel better, look more self-confident, success in life (and look better when going naked on stage). Getting your crush or at least some groupies from the last gig ( ) is just a natural achievement from loving yourself. And working out makes me feel really great! Stay constant at working out, lift shit 3 times a week! Quest Nr 2) Get superpowers by sticking to your diet! Gelato and chicken aren´t vegan! Hell no, I´ll not go vegan. I´m fine with paleo-ish and I see only one reason to go vegan: getting psy-superpowers like that white-dressed a$%hole. And he lost it, because he didn´t eat straight. FU! I´ve read some real great articles and finally reached about 20% body fat, so I´ll do a body recomposition: loose fat and gain some muscles via noob gains. I´ll get my superpower with the help of tracking my stuff daily, stay at a 20% calorie deficit daily and get at least 2g protein per kg of lbm (lean body mass) Quest Nr 3) Improve on your weapon of choice! Oh my lovely lovely bass guitars...you´ll never cheat on me! <3 Just as my alter ego I need to battle in a musicians setting too. Band rehearsals need to be more effective, I need to train my technique and "cardio" at playing and we´re still lacking a singer. Let´s get shit done here! Play at least 1,5 hour bass guitar per week to improve (rehearsal not included), help structuring the band rehearsals and be active at searching a singer for your band! Quest Nr 4) No bad excuses! At first Scott tried to avoid confrontations and things he felt uncomfortable with. If I wanted to make my mother rage when I was a teenager, I just needed to say stuff like this: No more "No.....not yet" for this challenge! Getting shit done at instant!!! Doing dishes, looking for some important papers, answering letters and so on. Write about at least 3 things daily, that I did instantly! Okay my dearest groupies and fellow mosh-pit user, let´s rock this challenge! As usual I´ll think about extra-rewards and a special reward for doing iiiiit:

Main Quest: Get some balance in my Life After spending one month with the Adventurers, I'm back with the Assassins. However, I've lost control of a lot of things. My house, my schedule, myself. Last month I didn't take care of myself at all and stressed out so much I'm surprised I'm not in a straight jacket. With things picking up faster with my business than I anticipated and an anticipated two month break from future travels, I'm taking this 4-WC to calm down, focus energy on myself, hone my skills, and literally take time to smell the flowers. Finding Balance and Energy In April or May I'll most likely start the open water training portion of my freediver training. To get prepared I'll be doing the 30 day yoga challenge. I'm sure this will help me learn to control my breath and focus on my self, tune into body, and relax; all important things in freediving. This will go past this 4-WC but, only by 4 days, so it will be fine. Maintaining Flow and Power I HAVEN'T SWAM ONCE IN ALL OF FEBRUARY, WTF!!!I love swimming and I love training, so I'm pretty sure this decreased contact with water has been a big factor in feeling like I'm out of control. I'm hoping extending my goal and getting in 500m of swimming a week will make me a very happy mermaid. Paying Tribute to my Temple After the disaster that my diet was last month (eating two pints of ice cream in one sitting....weekly), I will be on a strict diet. 
I've had many ideas on how to go about this, but I think if I just focus on eating paleo dinners 4x a week, that will be a good start. Playing Music for my Soul I love music. I love my piano. I have barely touched my piano since we moved to Japan. By bringing more music into my life I think I can find more peace and get more creative thoughts flowing. I plan to devote 4 hours a week to practicing one music piece. Creating a Living Space I've been neglecting my home. Like really badly. I want this month to focus on getting into good habits and keeping my home clean and organized. I feel this will not only help control my stress levels, but help me get prepared to devote more energy into my business. The goal is to take at least 30 min everyday to do SOMETHING in the house. Side Quests With any good quest, there's always side quests to complete. These little add-ons will not give me any attribute stats, but will instead contribute to my XP. These are things I need to work on often throughout the year. Quests are as follows: Linguistic Mastery III Learn 280 words and review at least once a week Gold Keeping III Save $42 this month Knowledge Expansion III Read 2 books this month

Ack, new challenge started and I haven't set mine up yet! D: I'll make this spiffy later I guess. QUEST: Eat a balanced vegetarian diet, get a decent amount of exercise, do yoga, and generally focus on keeping a clear mind and becoming integrated. Goal 1: Vegetarianism If you've watched Avatar: The Last Airbender, you'll know that airbenders are vegetarians. So, uh... me too. :} To achieve this, I'm going to order produce from the local community centre, watch vegan/vegetarian YouTube videos for inspiration, and occasionally track my nutrition to make sure I'm getting enough iron (but not every day, because calorie counting turned into disordered eating once upon a time, so I don't want to enter that unpleasant little spiral again). I'm also going to read Intuitive Eating, to cultivate a healthy relationship with food. Yay. ^,^ Goal 2: Yoga It's hard for me to do yoga when I'm not in a good place mentally and emotionally. Sometimes forcing myself isn't good, but I'm going to aim to do yoga multiple times a week, since, generally, it does help clear my mind. Good stuff for computer desk jockeys. x.x To achieve this: select a video a day in advance and do it. If I find that I just don't got the energy to next day, I'll do a minimum of 5 minutes of meditation instead. Goal 3: Other exercisey stuff. I developed Achilles tendinitis in December, so I've got to take it easy and find alternatives to the exercises I used to do. :[ At least I still have biking! So: one day/week, I'll try a new workout on YouTube! Life goal: Music I wanna learn to make electronic music, so I'm going to practice that every day. Again, laying out a plan in advance = bueno thingy. So tomorrow, gonna make one cool drum loop. Wahoo.

I'm a newbie, so let's see how my first challenge goes: Endurance Goal: Run 3k without stopping. I am using a couch to 5k-esque running program, and am currently running 5 minutes on, 1 minute off. Strength Goal: Hold a plank for 2 minutes. I can currently go for 30-45 seconds. ​Diet Goal: ​Have one serving of veggies at lunch and dinner. Life Goal: Practice my oboe 3x a week. If I'm doing anything wrong forum-wise, please let me know; I don't really know how this works Let's do this!

fitness goals Follow Darebee's 30 days of gravity workout. This will go 2 days over the 4-week duration of the challenge. I'll start today so the finish day will coincide with the end of the NF challenge. I'm looking forward to this. I've incorporated some Darebee exercises in my routines for the last few months but this will be the first time I've followed one of the programs. Drink at least 64oz water daily Weigh myself at least weekly My last challenge I focused on strength training and as something of an experiment I made a conscious effort to not weigh myself at all. I really increased my strength over those six weeks and interestingly lost almost two pounds. However, I've put on weight over the past three months and I know myself well: if I'm looking at the scale at least once a week I'll lose weight because it makes me even more conscious of my food input (and yep, I track using MyFitnessPal). So the goal is not to specifically lose weight for this challenge, only to track my weight, which I believe will result in a loss. cook dinner at least 4 times a week I'm really good at making/bringing healthy lunch and snacks to the office, but I've let my evening cooking slide a bit over the last three months. In retrospect, it's been a clear case of "cook fatigue." I've gotten tired of cooking, especially as I felt drained from the anxiety of doing well at the new job. Time to reinvigorate that, get some pre-cooking done on the weekends so I'm ready for the week ahead. life goals Just as Fall 2015 was beginning I was laid off from the dayjob. The startup I was working for was floundering in rising debt and dwindling revenue and simply couldn't afford the IT manager any longer. Since I knew I'd (unfortunately) have more time on my hands, I did the next NF challenge and made it part of the life goals to basically "find a job, dammit." I got a job offer a couple of weeks after that challenge ended, and I'm currently finishing up my first two months at the new job. That goal necessarily eclipsed all other life goals at the time, but I want --- need --- to revive those. The primary goal is to exercise my musicianship. I'm currently involved in a fun music project that has me orchestrating and composing for a very nerdy indie film that will see a release at the end of 2016. The demands on my spare time for that project will wax and wane, but the bulk of my involvement should be finished this month. With this in mind, my goal for this challenge is to do something as a musician at least three times a week, which can be anything from this list: work on the film project work on new/original compositions play any instrument (guitar, fiddle, mandolin, etc) record new songs I don't really need to set a minimum time for any of the activities in this list because once I start I quickly become immersed and lose track of time. If anything I'll have to put a cap on the session time so I don't stay up too late and hose my chances of rising on time for morning cardio. So those are my goals for the challenge: a handful of fitness goals, and a personal/life goal to do something I love three times a week.

Resolutions. Goals – this time I’m srs bsns. Every New Year I make resolutions, and every time I drop them early, or not even start them at all. This year, after doing my pre-challenge-mini-challenge as a warm-up I’m determined to keep the accountability up, and start smashing some goals. I have three main goals, one life goal and one NFR goal. “A dream written down with a date becomes a goal. A goal broken down into steps becomes a plan. A plan backed by action makes your dreams come trueâ€- Greg Reid. (MG1) Exercise Points: All exercise counts toward the main goal of 50pts 100+ points by the end of the challenge (100pts was my goal when I thought this would be a 6WC, I’m leaving it at 100 to strive towards, but if by week 2 it’s impossible I’ll mod it down). Gym Class=2pts, Bike Ride=1pt per 30mins, Swim=1pt per 5 laps, Walk=1pt per 10,000 steps. We don’t have a car, so I expect much of my points will be made up of walking-points, however I would like to hit the gym for some classes twice a week if possible. I have the month of January free at my gym as part of a sign-up deal, so I intend to utilise it as much as possible (equally for the gym and for the sauna, mmm, sauna). I also have the option of a ‘fitness assessment’, which I will be using to log all my beginning stats. (MG2) Adulting: At 23 it’s time for me to get my act together, daily I will do 15min chores, 30mins of ‘study’ (at the start of this challenge that will be music study, learning my brand new gui-lele, and to habit-prep for 8th Feb when I will swap to studying for my uni class – MGNT804). I will also continue the mini-challenge goal of putting $50/week into savings (paid fortnightly on 14th and 28th). Bonus: I will keep a bullet journal. (MG3) Food Glorious Food: In the mini-challenge I beat my lemonade addiction into submission and increased my water consumption drastically. With this win under my belt I will hopefully begin tightening it. I am what I eat, so I will be changing up what I eat. I will eat 5 freggies/day. I will note down everything I eat. I will make lunches at home. Bonus: I will take a photo-log of what I eat. (*Life*) Clean up Australia Day: Officially Clean up Australia Day is the 6th March, but having one day per year to combat the litter situation isn’t good enough in my books. I will pick up one piece of litter every day and on the weekends do a 30min trash-bash. (NFR) Participation Medal: Follow along with 3 Rangers, follow along 1 newbie. Rewards~ I will reward myself with a foam rollie if I achieve 50%+ of my goals and a session with a personal trainer if I achieve 90%+ of my goals.

Light Day, 18th of Snowfun 426 Today, my journey from my hometown of Hargoth begins. My family cried as I packed my things, but they have been supportive. It surprises me because they had always been afraid for my safety. When I was a child, my mother would always tell me I'd end up in a ditch somewhere. I don't know what makes ditches so dangerous, but that's what my mother always told me I'd end up. I am Devyn, Half-Kender. My father is full kender. He grew up in Hylo, but his grandparents were among those at the destruction of Kendermore. Because of that, he is an afflicted kender. My mother is human. She comes from a small town of people who have always been very protective of their homes and very protective of their children. Few people ever leave. My father went back to Hylo when I was very young, so I was raised by my human side. I have lived a very sheltered life and because of that, I've grown soft and weak. It'd taken me a long time to answer the call of Wanderlust. But I can ignore it no longer. The afflicted kender and human in me has taught me to fear the outside world, but part of me can't ignore the call to adventure. I made the decision to discover my true kender roots. I will travel the continent of Ansalon. On that journey, I will learn what it is to overcome fear. I will become strong and antifragile. I will learn about new places and different kinds of people. And on that journey, I will record what I learn through my favorite medium: Art. I will write, draw, sing, whatever I feel I need to do to reflect back to the world what it has given me. Today, I've spent most of my day packing for the journey. I've packed food, clothes and supplies. Hopefully, I have enough to last until I get to Korval at the base of the mountains. I guess part of the point of a journey is to learn these kinds of things. Then over the mountains and to the great city of Palanthas!

Happy New Year! This year is going to be AWESOME! Now on to the challenge... Complete my morning and night time routine at least 5x a week I am experimenting with a new morning and night routine. I have always had healthy teeth and I generally have good brushing habits, but I have been noticing that my teeth have not been looking so great. I have been doing a lot of research lately about natural oral hygiene and want to give some of it a try. Every morning: Oil pulling, relax with kitty while waking up, workout (strength, yoga, elliptical, etc depending on the day), brush with homemade tooth powder, floss, homemade mouthwash, wash face, get ready for work. Every night: repeat teeth routine, wash face, get ready for bed, stretch, read Healthy Meals My husband and I have been struggling to plan meals lately. We love to cook, but we often do not plan ahead, so come meal time we are stumped about what to have. We are experimenting with planning a day ahead. The goal is to cook 5 days out of the week, but hopefully we will be able to do all of them. Mastering the Pullup For those of you following along. The last few challenges have been focusing on push ups. I can happily announce that I can now do 5 push ups (15 in a full routine)! When I started NF I could not do a single regular pushup! Now I am aiming a little higher. It's time for PULL UPS. My plan is to work on pull ups 3 times a week. Right now I can pull myself up half way and hold it (couldn't do that when I started NF!) Seeking Knowledge and Improved Skills Complete a combination of 30mins of skill advancement 3 times per week. This can include studying programming, practicing clarinet, juggling, etc.

2016 Road Map These are my big goals for the next year, there is a lot I want to accomplish so I reserve the right to alter them as life happens Mental Health Live In the Moment- take things second by second day by day maintain good habits Meditation at least 5x per week, preferably daily Inspiration Gratitude Positive Self Talk falling in love with myself Physical Health Exercise Pilates 2x per week Lifting 2-3x per week walking- as active rest yoga? Eat your Freggies Sleep Water Creative Health: Writing write another book this year (Camp NaNo) finish second draft of 2014 Nano by april (Editing from Jan-March) finish third draft by june (March-May) finish 2015 Nano (May-June) Drawing 1 per challenge Music Write an EP 3-4 songs I like Become proficient at guitar, this means: able to play songs change chords well know all the notes on the frets Return to School: Financial Aid for School tax returns (by april priority deadline) fafsa (by april priority deadline) CSS profile (by april priority deadline) Finalize return to Wes (May-June) email dean email advisor pick classes Learning: Read 20 new books this year Take 3 coursera courses to get used to studying and classes again Fluency in French?

We are the Renaissance Rebels... We're having a Creative Revolution and you're invited! Do you have a creative quest among your challenge goals? Then join this ragtag, eccentric group of nerds and level up your health and fitness habits and your creativity. Sure, that's a lot of balls to juggle over the course of six weeks, but it's a lot easier and more fun when you've got buddies! Post a reply below to introduce yourself. We're happy to have you! Renaissance Rebels BlackTezca Jakkals JMitch Kilo Luciana Valerosa Culming QuietRiotGrrrl Robkashikoi roseofmay scrawlcreatelive ShadowLion Silverwitch spookyfoot Terinatum WoodNymph WushuWarrior

Greetings! The last challenge (and my first completion -- WoOt!) went really well for me with regards to strength training. I'm far from warrior status, but I'm really appreciating the body weight exercises, hence my decision to throw my lot in with the assassins guild for this challenge! Fitness Goals Main quest:Increase strength! The goals:3 weekly strength sessions, at least 30 min each 3 weekly HIIT sessions, ideally on alternate days from strength sessions Do after-strength stretches! I always do warm-ups, and never do stretches after my regular strength sessions. I'm using this 6WC to get in the habit! Increase reps on one-legged push-ups (my current record is 7 on the first set, 4 on the two following sets). Ultimate target is 3 sets of 10. Life Goals I've been feeling a huge pull to make playing music a bigger part of my life. I'm a lifelong musician, but the playing ebbs and flows depending on what else is going on at the moment. I thought it would be cool to use the 6WC format to get myself to play more, and maybe even get a gig here and there. Thus one of my goals for this challenge is to create a profile on gigtown.com (an online talent agent of sorts), complete with sample recordings and a pic. This obviously won't guarantee me gigs, but it puts my hat in the ring. As the saying goes, you can't win the lottery if you don't buy a ticket. The next life goal for this challenge is a big one, and it's not optional. As we entered the sixth week of the last challenge, the company I'd been working for succumbed to some dire financial difficulties and I was laid off. Similar to the musician goal above, I can't make a company hire me, but I can set up conditions to make it possible: send out resumes regularly, work with a head hunter, network with others in my profession (I'm an IT guy). With that in mind, here are some measurable life goals for this 6WC:Music: record and master at least 2 demos (covers, not originals) and upload them to gigtown.com, along with a photo of me and my guitar. (Yeah, this is one HECK of a step outside of my comfort zone.) Employment: make at least 4 job contacts a week. This can be any of the following: sending a resume out, applying for a job, interviewing for a job, meeting with a head hunter, cold-contacting companies. Scoring of this goal: if I am offered and accept a position, I'm calling this goal 100% successful.I'm still mulling how to assign stats to these goals, but I'm happy with the goals themselves for the moment. I'm looking forward to leveraging the 6WC format to level up my body and my life!

Hey NF community; as a music lover I thought this would be a good idea to see the diversity of music fans on the forums (and if anyone had similar intrests) So, what bands have you seen/going to see/ or plan on seeing? As for me, I haven't seen many: The Quireboys (A rock band for the record ) Wolfsbane The Murderdolls The Defiled Black Veil Brides With One Last Breath Buried In Verona Motionless In White (On their first UK tour!! ) Betraying The Martyrs While She Sleeps Motionless In White (again) Asking Alexandria And I hope to get to far more concerts once I get a job.

We're Back! We are the Renaissance Rebels... We're having a Creative Revolution and you're invited! Do you have a creative quest among your challenge goals? Then join this ragtag, eccentric group of nerds and level up your health and fitness habits and your creativity. Sure, that's a lot of balls to juggle over the course of six weeks, but it's a lot easier and more fun when you've got buddies! Post a reply below to introduce yourself. We're happy to have you! Renaissance Rebels BlackTezca Dantilla greenjasper irmintrude greeneyes Jaex Jakkals JMitch Luciana Valerosa Culming Neva NikaNika RangerDanger Scrawlcreatelive ShadowLion Viscura WoodNymph

Hello! My NF name is Cleatorus, same as my WoW handle, and I am working on my second challenge. I would consider myself a Mountain Dwarf type at 4'11" and 167lbs. I am looking to be a warrior/ranger hybrid for strength and stamina. I want to be an adorable nature-loving, hiking, gardening person as well as a strong self-sufficient badass. I have let depression and stress eating keep me from living a healthy adult life. I used to play ITG/DDR constantly to keep in shape but after getting married and having a child my dance game routine has fallen to the wayside. I feel that my depression has gotten worse as a result of my unhealthy life. I work as a patent assistant at an Intellectual Property law firm so i'm at a desk all day. Luckily, we have a free membership the the Sport&Health downstairs! I used to get embarrassed even thinking about going to the gym but thanks to NF i've found the courage to go in on my lunches tu/thu/sometimes fri. I have been using the beautiful riverside park outside of my office as a place to run or just get moving under the sun. I have been getting into hiking and gardening as outdoor activities to be more active without scaring myself into being inactive again. I joined NF to be accountable to like-minded, accepting, individuals and to reach my lifestyle/weightloss goals. A summary: Current favorite music: Blues/indie rock I enjoy a lot of different types of music...from Drum and Bass (current favorite: camo & krooked) to alternative hip-hop (c fav: Deltron 3030) to pop (c fav: Marina and the Diamonds) and the list goes on. Sorry Country fans, I got burnt out on country in my early years. Current favorite game: Transistor or Hearthstone imo, Bastion is better than Transistor but i'm not done playing Transistor so i'll give it a run through before my final verdict. The games I cycle through: Castlevania: SOTN, Pokemon, BlazBlue, MvC, MvC2, Spyro series, WoW, Skyrim, ITG/DDR, Bastion, Minecraft...I think those are the main ones. Of course there's the massive steam library of my husband that'll I might maybe one day get around to looking at. Current favorite book: Ready Player One by Earnest Cline Much loved books: American Gods by Neil Gaiman, The Black Jewels Trilogy by Anne Bishop, Hobbit & LoTR, and many many more... I am a Disney nerd. My favorite Disney movie is Beauty & the Beast but the one I watch much more frequently is my feel-good go-to Mulan. The Pebble and the Penguin deserves an honorable mention, even though it's Don Bluth and not Disney. I like Halloween. A lot. I am obsessively getting into veggie gardening and chicken raising. I have collected, but do not anymore, pokemon plush and video game figurines. I am hoping to find a local D&D group to join. I haven't played before but I would like to start! I will be starting school back up in August to finish my law degree. I would like to do public interest law and do some good in this world, help someone, protect someone, be super without the super powers! And thus, here I am, Cleatorus.

I know, it seems sacrilige to even consider anything that doesn't go 140 bpm, but I don't roll like that. I find myself distracted and annoyed when I'm listening to fast or "pump-up" music when I'm lifting. I like me some Van Morrison radio when I'm slamming irons. Also been enjoying some Hozier radio. Anyone else? Am I all alone in a world of trip-hop flex funk?