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Here I am again. I have goals and I thought it would be good to have some accountability to go along with them, so I'm back. This is a simple challenge for me - in theory at least. 1. November is NaNoWriMo so my first goal is to write - even if I don't quite have a handle on my story yet. Power through and get it done one more time. I can't start until 11/1 and must write 50,000 words of a novel by midnight on 11/30. I'll track my daily or weekly totals as I go along. It's going to be some kind of weird Western Fantasy thing, but I'm still lacking a bit on the plot - one week of planning to go, so I can track that as well. I've done some brainstorming the past couple days, and hey, today I actually names for several characters, so that's progress. 2. I'm determined to get into a strength training routine and I have found a Beginners Over 50 30-day Challenge. I started on Monday morning and I did Day 2 just a little while ago. Must keep going and not miss. Each video is less than 20 minutes, and I get Sundays off, so it's not too taxing. Just the right amount I'd say, considering how my arms and abs feel right now. 3. Tracking is also very important. I know that. I want to track at least 2 meals and 1 snack daily. I did that yesterday. Today I tracked almost everything I ate well before I ate it, and there's still time to get the couple snacks I missed. I'm using the MyFitnessPal app for this purpose. So that's it. I track my food. I work out daily. I write like the wind. What do you think?

The last challenge was derailed by a train of illnesses that my grandson brought home from day care. I managed to power through most of them, but COVID really knocked me on my butt for three weeks. Not surprisingly, my cardio fitness took a hit. Strength gains pretty much stayed even. Coming into the next challenge, I have loose goals, but I want to stay flexible .... really a big part of the rest of the calendar year (2 challenges?) will be in looking for some new tools and strategies .... and recommitting some that have worked well in the past. I am not going to score these challenges. Daily narration is enough accountability. The murder mystery gets to continue and ties in with this theme. 😉 Goals: Lose fat and build muscle. I'm going to ease back into WW. The investigation focus here is on figuring out how to track without burning out on tracking. Success measures: weigh 150 by the end of the calendar year (151.5 by Thanksgiving) and be able to do a pullup with only 20 pounds of assistance (30 pounds by Thanksgiving). I also will probably be changing gyms again. Write a draft of a novel. Yes, I decided to try NaNoWriMo. I want to write a cozy mystery novel with an older female protagonist. I may warm up with the continuation of the Wolves of Langston .... fanfiction. Investigations: Exercise snacks. On the days that LTL is here, it's difficult to get much of a workout in. We can usually get a walk, but strength training ..... those end up being rest days. But, if I have a plan, I could fit in some bodyweight strength training and stretching. Functional fitness (aka CrossFit) without the box. CrossFit.com, WodWell.com, 50 North fitness classes? The social aspect is almost as important as the fitness, but getting hooked and sticking with it without getting injured ..... Join the "senior center" .... which really has much to offer. It has a gym and a pool (and sauna and hot tub ....) and fitness classes and volunteer and social opportunities. As Rebel One has written, it is really tough to make friends as an adult. This is a possible vector. How to inject some fun into logging food intake?? How to create changes that will become habits?

My last challenge fell apart at the seams. I was sick twice, I decided to change what I did for exercise, and I just generally struggled to focus on my health. What I’m going to be doing now is taking an inventory of what I want to be doing and what I am doing so I can figure out the difference between them. For example, I’m reading a LOT of books right now and, frankly, I don’t know if I need to be reading them all at once. Maybe backing off on that would be an idea. Another example is that I want to do a NaNoWriMo this year. I never have, but I’m excited about the idea of it. I’ll put my notes for that under the spoiler below if you’re curious about my inventory: Just in general, I want to be as successful as possible with my NaNoWriMo, and also just want to get my life a little bit more in hand. I’ve bitten off more than I can chew a bit, and I need to scale back. The reading doesn’t need to be quite so frantic either, I actually finished my Goodreads challenge this year! It was one of my overarching goals for the year and I’m very proud of myself. Last time I finished it I only did so because I cranked through like 20 volumes of the My Hero Academia & MHA Vigilantes manga over the course of a couple of weeks. But yeah, anyway, to my goals. No, I don’t know why I did it this way but it’s fine. Track Yo Food I have to track all of my food 5 days a week in Fatsecret. 7 days is ideal, but I’m trying to get back into the habit, so 5 days is a good start. I’ve been slacking on this so hopefully the challenge will help me get back into it. Work Yo Body Work out 3 times a week. I bought Just Dance so I had something fun to get me moving and I need to use it. Prep Yo Meals If I don’t meal prep breakfast and lunch I struggle for the entire rest of the day. So every weekend I meal prep 2 meals. Eat Yo Veggies Eat a serving of vegetables every day. Not fruit, veggies. I always ignore the veggies and it’s probably not ideal. Doesn’t have to be this massive thing, but I need the nutrition as far as the vegetables go. Do Yo Tasks Each of these tasks is one that I need to get done during this challenge. They’re little one off things that I need to take care of, preferably before NaNoWriMo but possibly after. Finish Quantic PreRequisite classes (I have like 1.5 left) Finish Parenting Book Finish Meditation book Load up my prewriting for my NaNoWriMo novel that I’ve already done into Bibisco So that’s it, that’s my simple bare bones challenge where I’m hopefully going to scale back and prioritize a bit. Plus Ultra and Happy NaNoWriMo everyone!

I'm so excited about everyone's challenges and the energy they're bringing to the forums. I've been through almost a year here making small steps of progress toward better health and mobility. Long rambling tangents of where I'm coming from: And I have three goals to track! 1. Write 1667 words every day (starts April 1) 2. Do a mobility exercise every day (bonus points for biking and/or DDR) 3. Eat a fruit, a veggie, and a portion of mixed nuts every day (bonus points for ones that I don't already eat on regular basis) Gotta go get ready for work! Thanks for being here! Sincerely, Maerad

Happy New Year, Rebels! I will be challenging myself to give attention to the four aspects of my own activities in the same way that my story needs to have some balanced perspective of its four protagonists. Barbarian/Ekaterina: ⚡🌩🌥☀ I need to be doing my bodyweight exercises because I want to continue improving my strength before the time comes for my efforts to be rewarded with my original long-term goal of buying a bike. Ranger/Varsha: 🌳🌿🌱🍃 I need to keep a daily activity level going as well so it's not as hard to get up and do my exercises on my body weight exercise days. I know I don't want to walk, but maybe I can do more GMB movement exercises to improve my mobility. Wizard/Paige: 📚📕📖📋 I have written a book that must undergo my own scrutiny and revision before it's ready for sharing with outsiders for spotting problems I'm too close to see. I want to use the first long weekend to read it for the first time like a reader who's seen nothing but a back-cover synopsis. Fingers crossed that I'll find a lot to love about it. 🤞 Artificer/Alidavai: 🛠🔧🔨📏 I have crafts that are partly done, and I want to give them time and attention in order to make progress and potentially finish them. This includes the rainbow scarf which now has about 75-80% of a skein left to add, the next bite of my pixel quilt for which I need to prepare the four nibbles' pieces, a drawing of Ekaterina that's been waiting nearly three months for me to continue coloring it, and a Vox Machina puzzle I got for Cidran that I suggested we should do together the next time the table gets cleared. I want to pick up one of these tasks every night instead of getting stuck on my phone. I've got four emojis for each so I can attribute a rating of 0%, 50%, 100%, and 110% when I go above and beyond. (Why are the barbarian's emojis stormy weather? Because she's a storm aura barbarian! 😃) That sums up my goals for this challenge. I'm excited about this, and hope my guild choices inspire others I've seen use these five-week challenges for non-athletic goals. 😉 Thanks for your company and support in this coming year! Sincerely, Maerad

Hi! I'm writing a novel this month. For those of you just tuning in, this is not new. I've done this most years around this time, but I think this is the... 2nd ever time that I walked in with a really concrete idea of what I wanted to do and where I wanted it to go. (the first time was a sci-fi riff on Ragnarok meets A Yankee in King Arthur's Court. I would definitely not write it the same way this time, but I should probably go back to it someday since it's the story that taught me the most). As you might imagine, though, that's my only official goal. As if the other stuff is going to be put on hold; it won't be. But keeping all the plates spinning with this new wrinkle going on is going to be challenge enough, I think. Goal is 50,000 words. I will provide my word count here as my goal for the challenge. I do note that the challenge cuts off on 11/26. I might carry past it. I might not. I don't know if I'm going to finish the draft before I get to 50K, so if I do, I'll consider the challenge a success. Had tournament this past weekend! Best showing yet - got to medal contention and went the distance on that match, even winning points, which is the first time that's ever happened. I still didn't win. It was fine. I showed growth, and when I went to class yesterday I was recognized along with a bunch of other people for having gone out and done stuff. Yesterday was also our last day in the old building. They're going to the new building tonight; they're still capping class sizes, and I thought I'd have an errand tonight that it turns out I don't, so I reserved a spot on the waitlist. Might not make tonight. That's okay if it happens. Also, last night was Halloween! Went to hang with my friend for Sci Fi night; the Halloween tradition when that happens is for us to sit outside with Adult Beverages and pass out candy along with treats for the adults. This year, the entire cul de sac got in on it and it wound up being more of a block party than anything, especially since there weren't that many kids on account of inclement weather. Today is the first day. I will update with my word count later.

I did not intend to challenge this round, because Brain™ has been locked into super-scattered-fugue mode for a few months now and I'm having trouble committing to anything further in the future than lunchtime. But it's NaNovember, and that always does a few things for me. Most important, it gives me a ready-built excuse for mental drift (sorry, what did I miss? I was trying to figure out how Hazel dies ...) It reminds me that all writers pretty much struggle with the same things I struggle with; fair defense against the What Is Wrong With Me demon. It puts me back in the headspace of "heck with it, it's story!" and lets me beg off the pressure to try and write something that other people will like. Also, I've done NaNoWriMo every year for the past 12 years, it would feel weird to not do it now. I don't always 'win' (currently batting about .500) but I always do it. And I very, very often say that I'm not going to do it 'this year' and then cave and create a new project sometime after Oct. 27. This is one of those years. Fitness-wise speaking, walking is what I have the bandwidth for, so walking is what I shall do. My Apple Watch says that I am currently averaging <4,000 steps per day, so I plan to increase that by 1k/ week until the end of this challenge. 8,000 per day seems like a fundamentally doable goal, considering that I am lucky enough to work on a highly walkable campus and live in a fairly walkable neighborhood (with an exuberantly walkable dog!) That's it. Write and walk. If I do any GMB workouts, then that's bonus points, but it's November so best if I don't get too attached to other outcomes. (Good advice for all the year, but somehow easier to take during NaNoWriMo) I'm still timeboxing and it is working pretty well, so there's that. I have very specific things to do with my Creativity blocks for this month.

Hey all, I've been off the challenge boards for a while, and I'm weeks late to this one, and this isn't really going to be a proper challenge either because there's just too much going on. But I figured it wouldn't hurt to share some spreadsheets anyway, for my own accountability purposes. So, uh, have some spreadsheets Standard NF spreadsheet If this were a real challenge there would be some narrative explanation surrounding this spreadsheet, and maybe some Tolkien-themed window dressing if I were feeling motivated. But it isn't so there isn't. Feel free to enjoy whatever glimpse it gives you of my disordered brain School progress spreadsheet I started massage school last week. I feel like I've been hit by a truck (and the third class hasn't even started yet). The program is one thousand hours of instruction in total. I feel like I'll be counting every minute, so this spreadsheet is my attempt to give my (excruciatingly slow) progress some visible tangibility. It's not that I don't like the work -- I think I do, or at least I think I will once my body adapts to the new physical demands and develops the basic skills necessary to do this well. But the adjustment to vocational student life has been even harder than I expected (and I didn't expect it to be easy!). I am struggling mightily with the requirement to schedule my life like a real grownup person after so many unstructured years, and it doesn't help that the evening classes four days a week start before my dinnertime and extend past my bedtime. AND it's not going to get any better until after Christmas. Ugh. NaNo spreadsheet I've officially announced my fifteenth (!!) NaNoWriMo project over on the National Novel Writing Month website Honestly the whole reason I'm bothering to type out this thread instead of continuing to lurk here on the forums is to connect with other folks doing this crazy November thing. I've seen several threads mentioning NaNo -- if you're doing the thing, send me a buddy request! I'm thisamberlife over there. I would love to cheer on your progress and commiserate a bit. Most of my IRL friends think I'm a weird combination of crazy and stupid to spend so much energy on this every year. I mean, they're not wrong...but they're not helpful either... Anyway. That's me this time around. I kind of hope to get myself together enough to post a proper hobbity Yule challenge next time. We'll see how this one goes Good luck to all!

Hello fellow nerds, I have returned. Felt like taking a mental break. Was on NF on a daily basis to post for the last month - sometimes twice a day, and felt like maybe I needed to slow down. I also have determined that walking in the morning makes my feet already hurt by the time I show up to work, thus making standing for 6-7 hours absolutely miserable. This connection has been discovered by my doing almost zero exercise this week... 😅 Yesterday I was feeling so good and had some spare time so I did walk around the park a bit! I have almost no idea what I'm doing this month aside from NaNoWriMo, and even that itself is daunting because I don't know how it's going to go. I'm using week 0 as a chance to breathe before getting into a new thing. I don't know what to do about my walking problem, and I don't know how easy I should take things in order to focus all my energy on getting words in for each day. I'm so nervous about it all, and I don't know how to reconcile that since all my physical challenges have been within my means in order to improve. This is just a huge challenge to face a daunting project in daily portions... But I don't know how hard it will be because I've never done it before. I feel like a couple weeks ago, I was really confident about this, so I may need to contemplate what changed - possibly my focus because I had a week to cram for my friends' D&D session on Saturday. It went well. I had an instigator to burst into a room full of ghosts and nearly start combat with them, except I let them be chased off by one of the spell-casters. They caused a scene in the ballroom which played out hilariously, and they fought some giant spiders in a library - hurting several of them badly enough that they fled, and killing those that couldn't run fast enough. They also found clues regarding a red-lit trophy room that helped them discover that secret portals had been carefully composed in red chalk to hide them in plain sight. With holidays coming up, we won't be playing again for a few months, but they sound excited to continue the game. The way I currently am thinking, I think it'll be good for me to kick off my month of NaNoWriMo at a local event on the 29th. Maybe it'll be all prep and encouragement, and that may be exactly what I need. Starting week 1, I'm going to try sitting down for half an hour (with what lyric-less music I can find to play in the background) to type for half an hour. Current dilemma is whether that will be in the morning or the evening. If I'm really skipping exercise to see if my body will stop screaming at me for a month (except maybe warm-up and stretches bookending the writing session), then it could take my morning routine's place, in which case I might get extra words in by continuing to think about it over the course of the day, and adding more in when I get home. If I don't have it figured out by week 1, I'll at least be trying out the pattern to get back into prep mode, in which case I can confirm that it's what I want to use for this challenge. Fingers crossed for this one, 'cause I don't see how it's gonna end. Maerad

It's gonna get busy in here. I don't even have time to come up with an original title. Hi. I'm Stronkey Kong. Been here doing this thing 9 years. I'm still fat but making the best of it I guess. How's that? WORDS: I'm doing NaNoWriMo this year. I need to hit 1667 words daily to hit 50k by the end of November. I'm going to track my daily and total word count for November. And (despite some lame planning and number crunching on my last challenge thread) I'm going to strive to hit that 1667 minimum every day. I also have two writing events to attend. The first is a NaNo write-in at the local writing center on 11/5. The second is a writing class, same place, on 11/15. Nano is win/lose, but I can grade myself on word counts and EC for events. In the end, I'm just trying to get myself on a working routine with writing. WEIGHTS: Still following Greyskull. I'm gonna go back to MWF, base program, but with both front and back squats and M and F. Deadlift day, W, also has barbell rows programmed in. WALKS: I want to walk with coffee and audiobooks on at least two of the days I don't lift. WINTERIZING: I have to get the house ready for winter. To-do list style: plastic on windows finish the bathtub painting so I can get it all indoors rake leaves -- if I time it right, all I need is 40 min of leaf raking for the whole season) get HVAC contractor to look at my furnace depending on their answer, raise hell with the gas company. Last challenge I was really all about scheduling and time management, and that helped, or at least I was able to figure out what will work best for this challenge. I work 10 hour shifts, M-R. On those days I will exercise in the morning, and write in the evening before bed. On F, I often go into work for OT. I will continue to do so except on 11/15 which is my writing class. These days I only work a partial, 7-8 hour shift so I can fit in extra weightlifting and writing on both ends so no big deal. On weekends I plan to do extra writing to get that word count up, like aim for 2000 words to get ahead of days where writing gets constipated. Winterizing will be a weekend thing mostly.

The creepy guy in the corner turned out to be a Ranger named Strider. He doesn't look like much, but he did save us from the Riders, so I guess I trust him. Bree has become too dangerous to linger; Strider has offered to lead us into the Wild in search of Gandalf. This challenge sort of falls at an awkward time, so I am going to divide my goals into 2 phases to match what real life will look like. I will basically be in survival mode because NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) is coming! Health goals will be dialed back a bit, with more focus on self-care while I attempt to write 50,000 words in 30 days. I will be including zero week both before and after the challenge to make a 7-week super challenge. Phase 1 (Preptober): Into the Wild: Move 30+ minutes a day. Each half hour counts as 1 mile traveled toward Weathertop. Movement can include really anything, and should probably include some deep cleaning before November. Second breakfast: Make ahead and freeze food for breakfast, lunch, dinner, afternoon tea, etc to minimize food stress for November. I am not trying to prep 90 meals or anything, but 30 meals or so would be a good start. Write: Flesh out character profiles for antagonist and supporting characters; nail down Act 2 plot holes Phase 2 (NaNoWriMo November): Into the Wild: No change. Movement may shift to more outdoor activities to reduce stress/inspire. I don't expect to reach Weathertop. Midgewater Marsh is a practical goal. Second breakfast: While I will be continuing to keep an eye on my caloric intake using results from last challenge, in light of the stress of WriMo and the numerous birthdays, holidays, etc in this period, I have decided to turn back the dial a bit. I am bringing back the popular eat the rainbow challenge. Eat 10 servings of fruits/veggies per week. Write: 50,000 words in 30 days means I need to write as close to 1700 words per day as I can or 11,700 words per week. 🥵 Here we go!

Hello everyone, here I am rocking up late YET AGAIN to another challenge, to post YET ANOTHER thread which I am as likely to ignore as anything else, but whatever. Even if nobody reads this, typing it all out is a valuable exercise for me, even if all it does is provide a bit of narrative structure to the spreadsheet that actually does the tracking GUYS IT'S ALMOST NOVEMBER AND I AM KIND OF PANICKING BECAUSE I HAVE NO [BLEEP]ING CLUE WHAT I'M GOING TO DO FOR NANOWRIMO THIS YEAR I mean, that's not really all that unusual (I often sit down on November 1st and start typing and that's the first I see of the story) but it is not usual for me to be anxious about it. I think it's probably just the unending stress of these really crazy times (and even discounting the pandemic times are unusually crazy, even in my crazy life). So, anyway, I intend to ease back a little on the challenge front to give myself space for NaNo exploration this month. Last challenge was considerably more successful than my lack of updates indicated. I squeaked out passing grades every week -- which hasn't happened in quite a while, to be honest -- and I also got to go on a proper Adventure™ up at Great Western War during Week Four (an SCA event -- see this post for pictures of me in armor and a link to cool drone footage of a battle). I'm feeling okay about my trajectory right now. I don't want to lose any momentum, even if I am restructuring things a little, so I'm going to try and keep a steady state as much as I can. Spoiler for the plan: So, that's the challenge. Long and overwritten as always, and late as usual, but it's better to have one up than not. Here we go!

Every time I fail a Nerd Fitness challenge, it's because I've forgotten about it in the happy chaos that is my life. So, time to fix that! 😂 Goal #1 - Find a tracking method : I have bought an Arc planner and a hole punch so I make my own sheets. I will be experimenting with various bullet journaling layouts, both for daily/weekly/monthly/yearly tracking, but with a focus on finding an easy habit tracker that will nudge me to remember my daily goals. Goal #2 - Go Doggie Walking! : I have a working car now and the weather is decent, so time to make sure I get Bucket out to the park! Unfortunately the park opens and closes with the sun, so I may have to check in with work and see if they are okay with my taking a long lunch in order to make it work on the weekdays. 🤔 But at the minimum I want to take him out at least once on the weekend. Goal #3 - ALL THE STAIRS : My knees do not love the stairs... and the only way they will get better is if I practice. The basement and second floor also need cleaning/decluttering, so I figure I'll make a goal to do at least one 'extra' set of stairs a day. Sidequests: - I need to go through all my clothes and donate things I no longer need or that no longer fit. I'm to the point where I have to buy new jeans and working remotely means I don't need a full set of 'work' clothes... so lots of things to donate to Goodwill! 😁 - NaNoWriMo prep and NaNoWriMo : write ALL the words! (Actually this goal is more 'go to ALL the virtual write-ins!' and me being more social) 🐇📚 - It looks like work is going to be less work for the near future, so I need to sit down and plan out things to code/learn on my own. My development team is losing members, so in theory there will be more work for me to do, but if not-- time to hit the books! 💻 - Poke around at coming up with some sort of 'these things need to be cleaned every X days' layout for the various areas of the house. I'm very haphazard right now and it would be nice to be a little more organized about it. - Focus on making more art/writing so I can hit my goal of breaking even this year with the creative microbusiness! 📚🎨 - Continue to work on hasing out my 2022 plans (and future NF goals!)

...on Asgard Yes it’s another Loki themed challenge. I have so many gifs I didn’t get to use lol. Last challenge I didn’t do so great in some of my goals, and even the one that I smashed, I’m not content to let it stagnate. So much of this challenge will be carried over, with adjustments to my methods. 1. Training grounds Loki isn’t only proficient in daggers. I'm itching to get back to some staff work, but I also haven’t lost a microt of my love for knives, and I’m stoked about my new bow. Having goals in all of these areas would be too much to focus on, so I’m making one simple overarching goal that contains them all. Goal: a collective three hours per week weapons/props work 2. Learning halls This is a two parter. For the first week of the challenge I’ll be attending an intensive 6 day course. Zero week I’ll be studying for it, and although I usually don’t count zero week, I’ll be tracking how much I study to keep me on track. Then week one, the class itself is going to count for this. I have lots of books that have been sitting on my shelf begging for my attention and I’ve been neglecting them due to making myself too busy. I know I’ll be a happier person if I get reading back in my regular habits. Also, NaNoWriMo will be starting and I’ll be half-heartedly participating in that (not pushing for the 1200/day, but ramping up the volume and putting some effort into it) After the class is over, the goal will be: read or write 1 thing per day. I’ll post a snipit of what I wrote, and try to share something I learned from what I read, if I learned something. 3. Harness my powers I will do the friggin mindfulness!! I remain dedicated to making this a daily habit. If I have NOT done it when I post my daily update, I will take ten minutes to do it BEFORE I post. This is the new rule. Everyone is allowed one free swing at me if I don't do this. Pinned to the first page for easy location, the table of code names for the people in my life: That being said,

So I was roaming the barren, arid cultural wasteland... Wait... Perhaps I'd better introduce myself. Hello. I hope you don't mind me appearing like this in the middle of a challenge and in a different group. I am a former Scout from the UK. I can go away if you like but I hope you won't. I will try and behave myself. So anyway I was roaming the barren, arid cultural wasteland aka Twitter when I encountered an old friend and comrade-in-arms from back in the day, @fearless 2.0, who took pity on my dilapidated state and suggested I return to nerd fitness in search of my lost mojo. In the next 4 weeks I commit to... 1 Move once a day - running, substantial walking, combat or bodyweight exercise in the home, whatever, preferably with family 2 NaNoWriMo - I can't do a full novel but I will write a short story in Portuguese over the course of a month. It probably won't be very good but it'll push the boundaries of the language I'm learning. 3 Eat better - paleoish, no booze And as a bonus, since we are starting a month of lockdown here in the UK soon, come up with a routine I can follow to give a bit of structure to my day. I kind of have one of these already, which I've been following since March but it's got a bit vague and I need to just prune it and refocus.

NEW GOALS (version1.0) I start my new challenge tomorrow, because Ive achieved what I wanted during the last weeks. And I cant wait for the new forums to open. fearless: the "spicy writer" challenge starting 10/14 and ending on November 30th. I will write/research daily. I will participate in NANOWRIMO 2020 as a rebel ( details and numbers of words to follow ) I will go to Cross Fit 2 or 3 times a week ( 1 session of cleaning included ) I will stretch/ foam roll / do PT after each Crossfit day (details to be determined) I will try out new spices while cooking ( influenced by the blog. have bought asian and Mexican spices and want to create new go to meals with them) let the new round begin!

Hello nerds! I'm annyshay! Here are my goals for the next 6 weeks... Pass my boards Win NaNoWriMo Go Deeper with Health Coaching There's been a lot of upheaval in my life in the recent past from moving across country to the death of my Grandpa to a lot of traveling, but things are starting to mellow out just in time for... my boards and NaNoWriMo. Hehe. That's right, within the span of this challenge, I will be taking two sets of medical boards and trying to write 50,000 words in one month. So, I want to try to lean on my community here a little bit harder instead of just phoning in my updates. So, I have overarching goals and will give narrative reports within those about what's going on for me at the moment. I hope to continue to post consistently and wander among other nerds threads a bit more than I have been doing lately. We'll see how it goes, and everything is open to tweaking as necessary to help support my goals. Sound good? Let's do this thing!

I'm doing NaNoWriMo... National Novel Writing Month. I decided to do this two days ago so I'm kinda pantsing it. Right now I'm fleshing out an idea I've been tinkering with in my brain for months, maybe years. It's going well. Then 12 am Nov 1 I start writing like mad to produce 50,000 words before 12 am Dec. 1. All those who accomplish that goal.... WIN! This adventure takes place in the Southcoast Cities where a disgraced 'wizard' flees his home country seeking allies to aid in thwarting the imperialistic ambitions of the increasingly corrupt Astral Governance. Goal 1, Win NaNoWriMo 1) Pre Nano -- novel prep and practice and refine keeping a daily writing schedule. 2) NaNo -- just write. Keep track of word counts, and just get to 11,667 words each week. Goal 2, Fucking Don't Die 1) Do one thing each day that is not NaNo, but also isn't dying. Like, get a chore done, or do something fun during a break. 2) Also, work a min. 45 hours per week. Writing isn't paying the bills... yet.

Hey, y'all! Hi. I think (knocks frantically on wood) that we are, for the moment, kind of over it with the destructive weather events and significant life stressors. Post-lightning-strike, post-Florence, post-Michael situation: We have considerable damage to the house, more than we realized at first, but it is livable and fixable and our homeowner's insurance company helped us as much as they could as quickly as possible. With everyone else in the region so devastated, many much more than us, and then Florida needing even more critical help just a few weeks later, I have absolutely zero complaints about how well we were treated. The claim is now resolved, and repairs start next week. On top of the home repair sitch, we are implementing a new curriculum in one of the schools I manage, which effectively triples my workload. And the hubs and I had to move out of the master bedroom - so we are living in the guest room, most of my clothes are in the Hobbit Hole, but all my shower/skincare/makeup stuff is still in the Master Bath ... my routines are a bit disrupted. NaNoWriMo is less than two weeks away and I'm a Municipal Liaison again this year. I have not been to the gym in ... I don't exactly remember how long. I went once since Florence. Couple weeks ago. And my digestion isn't working right. Common stress response for me, but it means that my foodz consumption has been, kind of, a lot of chicken broth, saltine crackers, and "now I'm feeling sorry for myself so I'll deal with the bloated discomfort" junk food. So - for this challenge, I'm gonna need to lean back into the basics. Eat decent food, pick up some iron, manage my stress, learn how to sleep. Food Track The Foods. I did that thing where you get your nutrition completely dialed in and it's all working great and you think "yay, now I don't have to worry about that anymore" ... has that ever worked for anyone? Not me! The wheels have completely fallen off. And I don't know if it is stress, or an actual medical thing, or what (I have a doctor's appointment next month) but lately I have been feeling very bloated and sometimes mildly nauseated after eating. So tracking should 1) help me be more conscious of what I am putting in my face and whether it is nourishing me or just temp-fixing a boredom or self-pity problem, and 2) help me pinpoint if I feel worse after particular foods or food types Input Power Challenge Goal: Track every bite through challenge period. I use MFP. Accountability post here at least 3x/week. Input Power Victory Threshold: Complete tracking at least 24 of the 28 challenge days. Input Power Loot: The Adventures of Tom Bombadil Workout I started off Hurricane Florence with a resolve to at least keep up with 3x/weekly home workouts (suspension trainer/bodyweight work). That lasted through the first week. The stress, the fatigue, the week without power (sleeping without no air conditioning when you are not acclimated is no joke, y'all), the constant vigilance against looters - frankly fitness was a low priority. I did do a fair bit of physical labor - fence repairs, tree cutting, and debris hauling mostly - but it was sporadic. And now that I'm back to my mostly sedentary desk job, I have to pretty much start from scratch to re-establish the habit. I am not quite dumb enough to just jump back into my previous programming. Y'know, lest I die. Also, new curriculum implementation = seriously limited gym time. I'm starting back close where I was five years ago as a complete beginner, with Nia Shanks' "Minimalist 3x3" program. It's a ten-week program, all large compound movements, 3 exercises per workout (basically a Push/Pull/Legs scheme.) Focus - get in the gym and out of the gym in under an hour while building up basic strength in the main lifts. Increase Hard Drive Capacity Challenge Goal: Actually go to the gym and do the thing three days a week for all four weeks. Post here for accountability. HD Capacity Victory Threshold: Complete 10 of 12 scheduled workouts. HD Capacity Loot: Rings , so I can transition back into the NF Rings program that I had just begun to play with before le hurricane. Sleep I am a lifelong insomniac, but there are things that help. If I do them. Hubs and I are setting up our regular mattress in the Hobbit Hole so I have a place to retreat to on my sleepless nights. Whether he is snoring, or I just can't shut down the brain, it helps if I can move to another room. Headspace just added a huge pile of "Sleepcasts" - basically guided imagery sleep meditations - that have helped a lot. My big problem now, new since the hurricane, is just not putting myself in bed and turning out the lights when I should. Being a NaNo ML has compounded the problem. I get caught up in reading - or sending - "just one more" e-mail or forum post or ... well, y'all know how that goes. Power Conservation Mode Challenge Goal: In bed with lights out by nine every night. Power Conservation Mode Victory Threshold: 23 of the 28 challenge days Power Conservation Mode Loot: A new shade of fountain pen ink OGSiP (Other Goals Still in Progress) Having power and internet out for so long broke my streaks on Duolingo, YouVersion Bible, Headspace, and 4theWords. Insane situations with unexpected home repair expenses and travel have thrown our EveryDollar budget tracking and meal planning habits into chaos. Sad Gemma is sad. But we are rebuilding. Current status: YouVersion: 3 Duolingo: 30 Headspace: 30 4tW: 29 EveryDollar budget and meal planning: having a (belated) midmonth budget and meal planning meeting with the hubs tonight to try to limit October's damage so we can be back on point for November. Peripherals Challenge Goal: Just keep all that going. I'm not setting a victory threshold or loot for this, because I'm so attached to watching streak numbers go up I don't need an external reward. But the last day of this challenge coincides with my birthday (52 is the new 25, if you hadn't heard). Happy birthday to me = once we move back into our bedroom I am making the trip to Ikea to buy my Hobbit Hole bookcases!

***I stayed at Level 28 because I didn’t complete my #28 challenge. Main Quest To live a healthy and balanced life by exercising and trying to eat healthy. My Motivation I've successfully dropped weight by counting calories so my diet will mostly be staying the same with 1200 calories per day M-F and then blow meals on the weekends. I've managed to put on some muscle in an effort to become stronger by weightlifting and I’ve discovered that I love lifting heavy things! I’ve fallen out of what was my normal exercise routine so I’m getting back into because I need the gym again as my annual physical is November 16th. Since it’s been awhile, I’m going back to the basics by walking and doing easier weights to start with. And for this challenge, I’m doing a duel-theme: Halloween (my favorite holiday!) and NaNoWriMo. Smaller Quests 1. “Who’s Hunting Whom?” -Van Helsing = Walking I’m getting back into exercising slowly, but I know from past experience that walking can be a great workout. And Van Helsing does a lot of walking while tracking creatures across Transylvania. I plan on walking in the mornings before work and then on alternate non-weightlifting days at the gym over my lunch break. Scoring: x/30 miles in 4 weeks (7.5 miles per week) Reward: +3 CON & +3 DEX 2. “Stay Fit, Keep Sharp, Make Good Decisions” -Ghostbusters 2 = Weightlifting It’s been awhile since I had a weightlifting routine, so it’s time to get back to lifting all the heavy things! I’ve missed it, so it’s time to reset and lift stuff again. I like it, it makes me feel better about myself and it’s got practical, real-world purposes. A Ghostbuster has to be lite on their feet and in shape to haul around those heavy proton packs. I want to achieve the following: Bench press: 55lbs → 75lbs Squat: 45lbs → 65lbs Barbell curl: 15lbs → 25lbs Deadlift: 60lbs → 80lbs Pullups: 2 → 5 Scoring: /5 Reward: +3 STR & +3 CHA 3. “I Put A Spell On You” -Hocus Pocus = NaNoWriMo I’ve participated in five NaNoWriMo’s and won twice now. While NaNo only starts on November 1st, this challenge only goes part-way through November, so I will continue this miniquest until November 30th. I’m hoping it will motivate me to work towards win #3! And hopefully, if I win, my new story will put a spell on readers! Scoring: /3 Reward: +3 STA (+1 for every 16,666 words written through November 30th)

Hey yo! Is anyone else participating in NaNoWriMo this month? I'm off to a late start, but I'm working on catching up today. You can add as a buddy on the official site: christinewyrd is my username. Good luck, any fellow writers!

Druids rock! Last challenge I rediscovered how much I enjoyed Tai Chi, discovered that ending showers cold is awesome, and generally enjoyed doing something different. This go around - Maintain Tai Chi 2 to 4x a week, schedule depending. My job has suddenly added a lot of travel, with vastly more on the horizon. Maintain ending showers cold. It really seems to fire up my day, and I like that. Add - practice Tai Chi (moving meditation and standing meditation) on days where I can't make or don't have class. Add - ice exposure. I dropped out the ice baths last challenge, have to get going on those this evolution. Add - running. I need to get my run times and weight back to reasonable numbers. Tomorrow I need to see what my mile time actually is now. Nanowrimo. Challenge- accepted! This should be an epic challenge. I have some huge life changes on the horizon - this is all prep for it, one way or another. - Murphy's Roommate

So, there I was, promising myself that I wouldn't overcommit, wouldn't take on too much at once, wouldn't, y'know, lose my everlovin' mind trying to do everything all the time ... I even sat out last challenge, because I just had TOO MUCH going on. I did manage to *finally* certify as an instructor for the class I most want to be able to teach, so that's cool. And I've taken the first preliminary steps towards starting my own business, which is a vaguely dragonesque thing to do (in the sense of "super-scary but kinda groovy at the same time.") But some of my previous good habits fell off by the wayside. I had my nutrition super-mega-locked-on, I thought, so I quit worrying about it ... and now there's bodyfat in places that much of the bodyfat had previously left. I broke my 200+ day meditation streak on Headspace. And somewhere along the way I completely stopped prayer journalling, even though I found it valuable and was really enjoying it. Oh, yeah, and, this challenge runs halfway smack-dab into the middle of National Novel Writing Month. Of which I got suckered into being a volunteer for this year, instead of just a participant (see above re: overcommitting, taking on too much, etc.) So officially a terrible idea for me to get too ambitious about anything else, challenge-wise, lest I sail right off the edge of the map. On that same NaNoWriMo note - I just don't hardly ever write anymore. I get so caught up in the myriad things I like that I put off doing the thing I love. That's why NaNovember is so important to me - at least once a year I make writing my #1 priority. Start/reboot: Track The Macros! /28 Prayer journal /28 Write 2k words/day /28 Keep on keepin' on with: weight training 3 days/week with Starting Strength coach /12 maintain mediation streak (Headspace - currently back up to 50 days) /28 maintain French practice streak (Duolingo - currently at 86 days) /28

Okay for accountability sake, I'm just posting here. To let myself know I will reward myself with writing my challenge out, when I turn in my letter to help get emergency funds. Writing to people gives me anxiety, and this challenge will be about different parts of writing. So accountability to get this letter turned in within the next 24 hours would be appreciated. (Finished much later than I wished, but at least have it done now and will reap the rewards). (Also returned to Adventurers, after I had a realization during one of my hikes. I have an incentive to help keep being mindful and taking care of myself when I have adventures to look forward to. No matter how big or small they may be....) Week 2 goals: Daily:(Goal is 7/7 each) -Write my to do list daily in my bullet journal (Life Skills) -Track emotions/skills/urges in bullet journal section (Mental Health) -Write 444 words daily (both nonfiction and fiction) (Hobby Skill) This week's goals: -write a quick rpg snipit to add to my challenge... (Due by I have ideas laid out, just need to put them together now) (Due by October 30th) (Hobby Skill) -Move to new apartment (due by November 1st or 2nd) (Base Lvl Up) -Finish/Turn-in application for major change: (Due October 30th) (Career) -Finish categorizing my bullet journal to new section (Due November 4th) (Life Skills) -Study 15 mins x5 of IT (Due November 4th) (Career) -Study 15 mins x5 of RPLS (Due November 4th) (Career) -Do 30 mins x5 of IT Lab work (Due November 4th)(Career) -Return Rental on Time by 5 pm Halloween (Life Skills)

Autumn Adventures Apologies in advance to any friends on the other side of the equator. It's finally starting to feel like autumn around where I'm at and my enthusiasm for this time of year is huge. Autumn is by far my favorite season. The leaves start changing colors and turning the landscape into fiery awesomeness. Some of my favorite produces are in season again (broccoli, apples, various squashes, brussels sprouts, kale). The days start getting crisp and cool - perfect for hiking in the morning and coming home to a nice cup of hot tea. (Hopefully the temps actually spend some time in fall and don't go straight from summer to winter.... the weather this year is weird...) And I also love how the creative community just explodes in enthusiasm for month-long awesomeness such as Inktober and NaNoWriMo. This challenge is themed to keep me on track with good habits, while also allowing myself to have fun indulging in some creative hobbies. So last challenge.... was all about floundering around and trying to figure out long-term goals. I do have some details kicking around inside my head - but I want to work a bit more on turning those vague impressions into words that make sense outside my own head. This challenge.... I want to continue with some good habits that I started earlier this year - and kind of got stuck in the mud with around early July - and prioritize them against my enthusiasm for the ongoing creative stuffs. Goals: Drink at least 2 Liters of water daily (ongoing since January) 5 a day fruits and vegetables (extra incentive - $2 for every day I hit this goal towards something cool - maybe a fountain pen?? or a bonsai tree??) Take time to explore outside - at least 2 adventures in nature / week Finish Inktober strong Start NaNoWriMo strong