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It's official. I have completed one whole year of challenges. It is time for a Nerdversary. I have had resounding success. I've lost 80 pounds, improved many habits, and made the most excellent of friends. I have, however, been struggling the last few challenges. All challenges are successes if you keep coming back for more and you learn something from them. So this challenge I want to make sure I act on the lessons learned. I chronically underestimate myselfDeveloping good habits do not mean the bad habits are gone. They lurk.Being too restrictive on calories or restricting too long may not lead to successI need to push myself moreBut I also have to be patient and live by the slow and steady mantra. I also feel like I have not been as committed to my goals as I was in the beginning. I love the hyped up energy and extra motivation at the beginning of each challenge but none seem to match the first couple. The best way to share some of the attitudes from the first challenge and address these lessons is to revisit that first challenge. So this challenge I will be shadowing my original challenge but modifying it to my current level. I am hoping this not only brings attention to how far I've come but also keeps me from forgetting how much I can push myself to accomplish more. All the while believing that I don't have to rush because a whole year passed by and all those fails and slips still got me here. Goal 1: Find the Tardis One year ago my goal was to walk 5K three times a week. I had to work up to that too. I started walking a mile and half and hated how tired I was from that. I will be running my first official 5K at the end of week 5 of this challenge. I may not be fast and I may not be able to run the entire distance but the thought of running last year was not even a possibility. For this challenge I will train for the 5K three times a week. Scoring is based on the number of times a week but I will also be tracking a calculated 5K time. At the end of each day's training I'll extrapolate the average speed to calculate a full 5K time - unless I actually run 5K then I'll use the actual time. We did just buy new bikes for the family this week so I want to include some rides. I will allow 1 substitution a week but no more than that. +3 STA, +1 DEX Goal 2: Sonic Screwdriver In my first challenge I was doing the Angry Birds Workout and the goal was to do 15 during the course of the challenge. This works out well since it can be scaled. But I also have some PT exercises to work on. In my last challenge I only did my PT and my strength suffered. I need to be easy on upper body but I can work on core and lower body. I will try Angry Birds once just to remind myself of my improvement. For this challenge my goal is to train 17 times. I would like to workout 3 times a week but I'll allow one free pass. This includes PT exercises and then either a lower body or core workout from Neila Rey. +2 STR, +2 DEX Goal 3: CICO 3a:This is an added goal for this challenge. In my first challenge I was working on making better choices but I didn't make it a goal. I have had many food goals in other challenges and some without. I have learned that I am not ready to remove the training wheels. I need this to be something trackable and scorable. However I have been too restrictive in the past and recently this has led to overeating at the slightest excuse. I recently got a fitness tracker, the UP2. I've been keeping an eye on the calories out calculations and I'd like to use that to at least maintain a deficit. This will allow me more calories per day so I won't feel so restrictive but at the same time there is a limit. Calories out will be calculated using my UP2. According to my research, the UP2 has about 15% variance. To err on the side of losing weight I will assume it overestimates so I will be using 85% of the calories burned as my calculated TDEE. Calories in will be calculated using MFP. I have been tracking for several challenges now but this time I will try to be more precise, given the constraints of using MFP. +1 WIS, +1 CON 3b: I don't particularly buy in to the carbs are the devil drama but I do know that I am more successful with fat loss by limiting my carbs. This is probably particularly beneficial to me since the carbs I like are the processed ones. And I have a tendency to abuse potatoes and have lost most privileges. I will also be tracking carbs as a percent of total calories. I would like to keep my calories from carbs under 30-35%. I am hoping this works better than tracking actual grams since I will be teaching myself to allow more calories in a healthy way. +2 CON BOSS LEVEL I started my NF journey right about the time my family met up for our annual meet up at the Minnesota State Fair. At the time I really struggled with food choices and I had concerns about getting derailed at the beginning of my journey. I feel pretty confident now that I won't be completely derailed by this event though I will probably backslide a little. However, this year I will be running my 5K at the fair, in the morning of the first day. Food choices at the fair will be easier since many of the junky fried and super sweet foods don't sound good anymore or I am aware of how terrible they will make me feel. I am not really into feeling terrible. But on the other hand, I don't want running the 5K to make me feel like I have a free pass. Well, registration did come with a free coupon for a malt... but I will probably need to share that. For this Boss Level I just want to remember mindful eating and remember my lessons since the last time. As with any game you play over again, I am expecting it to be easier to defeat the boss this time around. I have learned it's tricks and patterns and I will be ready to defeat it. +1 WIS Life Quest: Money, Moola, clams, bucks, greenbacks, loot This summer we have been bleeding money. It's time for a transfusion. I plan to stick to the budgeted saving plan during the course of the challenge. That's about $300. +2 CHA