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Hi guys! I'm excited to start Yoga with Adriene's newest yoga journey tomorrow, January 1, and I'm looking for acountabilibuddies to take the journey with me: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1URy0H0PsuY7q3kg2DknUaCAsiq0pDgdCBAhlJ3d0RnU/edit?usp=sharing I'm using Owaves, a daily schedule app, to set aside time every evening before or after dinner to do the latest video. Feel free to use this thread for comments, questions and remarks as well as using the spreadsheet to track your progress. See you on the mat!

Happy New Years, NF! I'm back. I'm fired up. And I'm taking on a persona that once struck fear in the hearts of monsters and men alike. Wild Wolf. It was a name that @DarK_RaideR helped me come up with years ago. And under this alias, I was in the best shape I'd ever been in. And I want to get back to those roots. Not only strong in body, but in mind. It's going to be tough but I play Life on hard mode anyways and if I'm being honest, I've been full of excuses lately. I've had "reasons" to not go to the gym or push myself. I've had "reasons" to half-ass my way through the daily challenges I face. But this version of me is not me at all. It's a ghost of what my potential actually is. And I'll be damned if I don't reach or grasp that potential and harness it to it's fullness! The last challenge of 2019 went well, I just didn't have time to update. Yeah, I wasn't completely perfect on my "no sweets" goal, but I was decent..lol. I worked out some, not a lot. But, I did manage to grab the Holidays by the reindeer reigns and sleigh Christmas break with the Wolfpack . (See what I did there?) Raise your hand if you've seen The Witcher on Netflix yet?? Raise your hand if you've played ANY of the video games?? Raise your hand if you've read the books?? Well I've done all three! The show...well it was nothing short of amazing. The game. Well, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is considered one of the best games in the last decade, maybe ever. And the books, well, they're are just as good. (Actually, the first book, titled The Last Wish is the book I was reading to Heather when she was pregnant with Violet. I know, I know...it's not super appropriate for a little princess, but she would have been a warrior. I'm sure of it!) I'm a fan, if you can't tell. And, being a fan, I consider myself a Witcher. Maybe not as hardened, experienced or badass as Geralt of Rivia, but this is a yet type of situation. And, this is not the end of my story, but the beginning. A story of trials. I story of battling personal demons. A story of redemption. And 2020 is the best time, dare I say the perfect time to become the monster slayer I was always meant to be. There's a lot that the show doesn't cover. Specifically being: How does one become a Witcher? Simple.The Witcher Trials. Trial One: Trial of the Grasses. Trial Two: Trial of the Dreams. Trial Three: Trial of the Mountains. But before these trials, there is The Choice. The Choice involves dietary changes and grueling physical training. Young witchers are taught sword skill, monster lore and herbalism. This... THIS is where my Witcher journey begins. Goal 1: Sword Skill A witcher is proficient with swords. Two to be exact: A silver one for slaying monsters and a steel one for slaying humans and non-humans. Geralt displays exceptional sword skill in both the game, the show and the books. He simple wields a blade like a true master. I want to follow in the White Wolf's footsteps and become a master swordsman. Sword Skill translates to gym time. I went on a 4 month streak of going to the gym consistently in the middle of 2019 and saw some fantastic results. Then I tweaked my elbow and fell off the map, losing a lot of the muscle mass I had worked so hard to gain. I'm not gonna lie...it sucked balls lol. Time to get back in the gym and build up that consistency once again. My new gym is a hardcore gym goer's wet dream with equipment I haven't ever had access too and I'm going to utilize it to my full advantage. The goal: At least 3 days a week. Shoot for 4. Utilize the weekend days as days off and time to recoup for the next week. I'm going back to a PPLFB method (Pull, Push, Legs and Full Body) split week. For each day I go, it counts for 1 point. Obviously a perfect challenge would consist of 20 points going 4 days a week. So this point totals will be broken down as: 20 points = A 18 points = B 15 points = C If I get an A, I get a GR or Goal Reward. This has yet to be determined. Possible Stat Points: +2 STR, +2 DEX, +1 STA Goal 2: Monster Lore Half the battle is knowing thy enemy. What is my enemy? Procrastination, laziness, complacency. Really, anything that holds me back from achieving my goals and standing in the way of becoming the best ME I can be. Everytime one of my enemies succeeds in derailing me, I take away 2 points from already gained points. So, if I skip a gym day because I'm just being lazy, I take away from that weeks total points. If I decide to binge a bunch of chocolates then I take away from my eating goal. It's very simple. Study my foe. Learn it's weaknesses. And destroy them, one sword slash at a time. Possible Stat Points: +5 WIS Goal 3: Herbalism aka Diet Without a solid diet, all my hard training just won't pay off. IMO, diet is 90% of the success of your workout routine and I plan on this new year being devoted to eating healthy and fueling my body the correct way. According to The Choice, a witchers diet consists of mushrooms, mosses and herbs. The focus of this goal is getting in my veggies on a consistent basis. I tend to eat anywhere from 3-5 meals a day and I will get one point for each time I have veggies with a meal. A perfect day would consist of veggies at lunch and dinner with breakfast being a bonus. Points will look like this: 70 points = A 50 points = B 35 points = C Possible Stat Points: +3 CON, +2 CHA When you break down my challenge, it's actually pretty cut and dry. That doesn't mean it'll be easy. I need to be on the top of my game and your support is and will always be appreciated more than I could ever express. So, toss a coin to your witcher, o' valley of plenty, and let's do this! Wolf

Disclaimer: This has been a hell of a year!! Plus, keeping it positive here Secondary Disclaimer: Really, I'm going to really respawn this time This is going to be a respawn of Intergalactic (and sometimes inter-dimensional) proportions I have been on a roller coaster of a year and with 40 right around the corner, it's time to really get back on the ball and get myself in shape in all ways. This is something I really need to commit to in a major way. So, without further ado, here comes the challenge!!! This challenge (and for several more to come afterwards) will be themed Star Trek (Next Generation and beyond). Why? Mostly because I've figured out my answer to the whole Star Wars/Star Trek debate and yes, the winner is Star Trek for so many reasons. So, with a definite rewatch of ALL of TNG, DS9 and Voyager (maybe Enterprise but I've seen it recently enough), we are going to start this one with becoming the embodiment of our favorite acting ensign of the 1701-D, Wesley Crusher (plus I just freaking love Wil Wheaton!). He learned much of what he knows and believes in because of the positive role models he had so what I will do is try to embody some of the traits that they have including: Being Stronger like Worf! Worf, even in his earliest days aboard the Enterprise, was very stalwart and strong learning what he could of the ship as a junior officer then to his promotion to Chief of Security. Pushing his boundaries, becoming better than he was before, usually with his calestetics programs on the Holodeck. In that respect, I need to make sure that I am making myself stronger. Less physically frail, less weak in the knees (literally), and able to do more on a day to day basis. So straight up, what I need to do is take just 10-15 minutes daily to do some kind of activity. Initially I'm looking to do things that will focus on the arms and core. Daily, I can do it!! Being Smarter like Data! Data, oh my wonderful mechanical man!! He was smart clearly due to his positronic brain and being an android though new experiences were always some of the best teachers. This plan will focus on getting back into reading and not of the fictional variety. Technical magazines, non-fiction of various subjects (history, technology), that is what I will delve into with this goal. I plan to find a book to read through the entire challenge and magazines as I can but at least one a week. Being Emotional Braver like Troi! Troi has always worn her emotions on her sleeve considering that she feels the emotions of just about anyone and anything out there being a Betazoid. Even in the throws of some of the most terrifying adversaries and entities she has been stronger than the largest Klingon and braver than the most daring Starfleet officer. I have had quite the emotionally baffling year so my goal is to be more aware of my emotions, my feelings, and my effect on others in my life. In a more concrete way, I will show my gratitude on here in the form of a devotion to someone or something that has been transformative for myself, whether it be something that I've done within the year or more recently (needless to say, especially to my friends here, we've got a lot of catching up to do). Three times a week should be sufficient for now. Be in Command (of my life) like Picard! Captain Jean-Luc Picard, what can we say about him and Wesley.... besides an inescapable amount of "Shut up Wesley"s? Outside of some underlying father issues, quite a bit actually. Commanding officer, father figure, teacher, mentor, personification of a proper officer. Quire frankly, what I need to do it take a more firm command over my life in so many aspects along with the fitness. So, my overall goal will be to do this in increments and a different aspect each month. This month I'm going to go right for the financial jugular and start hitting the finances. Now, unless I decide to just copy and paste every single statement and bill I have, this is going to take some work. The plan starts like this: Beginning tomorrow, I will need to be more conscious of my spending habits which will include fast food purchases, entertainment decisions, the whole enchilada. I will provide baselines for all my financial data shortly and then give updates for my (hopefully really good) decisions. At least twice weekly updates will come about. The challenge starts tomorrow... ENGAGE!!!

January is typically seen as a month of new beginnings. For me, it's going to be a month of going back to the basics and easing back into "regular" life after a month of feasting and eating all of the things. Over the course of December, I gained ~3 kgs, 2" around my waist, and 1" around my chest. This extra weight must be lost. This month I'm doing another fitness challenge. This one is only going to last the month though. While the Push Up and Pull Up challenges had some great results, 10 weeks was a bit too long for my tastes. The New Year Fitness Challenge starts off slow with a simple timed fitness test and slowly ramps up in difficulty as the month progresses. It touches on a wide variety of exercises (cardio, yoga, body weight, etc) instead of just one. In addition to the fitness challenge, I'm also going to work on getting back to my personalised NF diet, as follows. Week 1: I will drink only water between noon and 6pm every day. I can drink caffeinated drinks (tea, coffee, diet soda) before noon and between 6pm-8pm, but only one drink per hour. I will drink no alcohol during the week and will only have 1 bottle/can/glass per day on Fridays and Saturdays. Week 2: I will eat zero foods with added sugar. Snacking between meals is allowed, but only healthy snacks (i.e. fresh fruit and veggies, crackers and cheese, etc). I will allow one exception to this which is our nightly pudding, but I will not allow myself to go overboard with it (small servings is the key here). Week 3: I will eat only my two main meals per day with no snacking between meals except in one circumstance, which is if my blood sugar level drops too much and I need to eat something to keep myself from shaking or passing out. Each meal will contain at least 2 veggies and 1 serving of protein. Week 4: My carbs intake will be reduced to no more than 4 servings per day. I will not eat any foods made from white wheat flour. While whole grain is acceptable, most of my carbs should come from other flour sources (rice, nuts, pulses), rice (preferably not white rice), and potatoes (sweet potatoes are preferable). As always, I am allowing one variance day per week where the above rules are relaxed. This will usually be Mondays (games nights). There are also two non fitness related tasks that I'm setting for myself during January. These are to apply for at least one job per week and to crochet 3 granny squares for the blanket I'm making Paul each week OR sew 8 squares together into a row.

Hey guys! I'm Linsanity and this is my fourth challenge! Up until now, I've been training with the adventurers. This time though since I've established some good exercise habits and discovered that I enjoy both running and strength training, I figured I'd join y'all! My main goal is to lose poundage! I've lost 15ish since I first joined NF, but I've still got a ways to go. I want to get down to the 140-145 range soo I've got another 25ish lbs to shred! SUB-GOALS Goal #1: EXERCISE 5 days per weekCombo of running and strength training each dayI plan to run a 5k twice a week and do 4 quarter mile sprints on the other days before strength training. I haven't quite nailed down the strength training routine but it will likely involve some combo of squats, pushups, and burpees. Fortunately, I have no morning classes this semester so I'll be spending my mornings at the gym! Goal #2: EAT Whole30 every meal every day for the first 30 days [at least]Create food photo collage each weekRead whole30 success stories 4 days during the weekThis will be difficult for me, not gonna lie! I have eaten Paleoish during some of the past challenges, and really enjoyed it, but I cheated a lot on the weekends. Over the holidays I didn't participate in the NF challenge and ate SUPER poorly! Cookies on cookies on cookies! I noticed over Christmas that all the sugar I was consuming severely dampened my mood and made me feel more depressed than usual during pms. I also gained back 1.5 inches that I had lost back in October. YIKES!! Tuesday I go back to my apartment at school where I'll be buying and making all my own food. So, as long as I don't buy anything bad, I won't be eating anything bad. To keep me from buying non-whole30 foods I plan to take pictures of everything I eat and post a collage of the meals each weekend. I enjoy taking pictures and fooling around in photoshop so this will be fun! I also plan to read at least one whole30 success story four days a week to keep me motivated. Seeing how far people have come really inspires me, and will help me hold strong when times get tough! I have really strong drive and determination so I know I can achieve this goal. It's gonna take dedication and confidence, but it is possible and it is doable! Goal #3: COMMUNICATE Check-in on NF 5 days + a weekChecking-in means either posting on my challenge or posting on others challenges 5 days + per week. Last challenge I hardly checked in at all, which actually made it more difficult for me to keep up with my goals. Reading encouraging words and reading about others' breakthroughs is super inspiring and motivates me to keep pushing for my own fitness goals! Side Quest: DRAW Aim for 1-2 hours of sketching per weekI enjoy drawing, but have gotten out of the habit. I want to be more productive with my time and improve my skills. Also, I feel that drawing might be good stress reliever. After the first week or two I'll decide whether to make the goal one hour or two. I want to make this goal very easy to achieve so I can start to get a habit in place. I plan to figure out stat points and post starting measurements later in the week. I will take progress measurements after the first 30 days and at the end of the challenge. PS: Soo tomorrow I'm going skiing which I am SUPER excited about!!!! BUT I don't know what food options will be available or if they will be whole30 approved. I plan to do the best I can; but dairy might happen if cheese is on the salads. Tomorrow i'm prepared to give myself some leeway though! Best of luck everyone!

Another challenge and I'm ready. Back to crossfit, and adding another day each week. Adding a yoga session once a week to help with flexibility and range of motion. Tracking my food and water intake....something is off on my diet and I intend to find out what it is. I am making a point to get my sleep schedule back on track. I use the mornings for meditation and journaling and errands. If I don't get up on time I am rushed out the door and often skip crossfit in order to give myself time to get ready for work. I will be reading 6 books minimum to keep up with my yearly goal of a book a week.

New year; new challenge. New outlook. I kind of crashed and burned over the holidays, with my new work responsibilities, and the stress, and the everything. My exercise routines and good eating all went out the window, I am ashamed to say. Though, I only gained back 5 of the pounds I'd lost. Time to get back on track. For this challenge (and the year, if truth be told), I am not going to worry about what the scale says. I care only about doing the fun, assassin-y things that attracted me to this guild in the first place. My friends want me to join a new gym with them. It's a little out of my comfort zone, but I'm leaning towards doing it anyway. First thing's first. I need to go back to eating healthy food. My idea of healthy is somewhere north of Paleo -- more Mediterranean influenced, I guess. Lots of veggies and fruits, quality meats (minimally processed), nuts and whole grains, and healthy fats (olives, avocados, and the like). Limited dairy -- I feel better when I don't give it up entirely. Definitely light on the processed sugar (none would be ideal). Next, I need endurance. Cardio seems the best choice for this, whether I like it or not. I need to walk or do some sort of cardio at least 5 days a week. If I do join the gym, then maybe I'll use some of their shiny cardio equipment to change up my routine a bit. It could be an adventure! Strength. I'm fairly strong -- working retail will do that to you -- but more in a moving boxes around, let me help you carry that to your car sort of way. I want to work up to doing more than 3 standard (flat ground, on my toes) push ups in a row. I'll do this by either doing my three, and repeating for several sets, or by doing several reps and sets of an easier version (incline, or on my knees. This year's epic quest involves being able to do 25 toe push ups in a row. And pistol squats. And mastering the pull up. Ah, the pull up. Yeah, I'm nowhere close -- but that won't stop me from working towards it. I'll continue with my dead hangs (in the back stockroom at work, if I have to). And I'll find a way to resume my inverted rows that doesn't involve pulling the flimsy kitchen table down on top of me. Yeah, that happened. If anyone has any hints for using actual gym equipment to help me get closer to a pull up, please don't hesitate to chime in (hint, hint). Core strength will involve planks, mostly. I was up to a minute at a time, before everything fell apart. Likely, I will have to work my way back up to that again. I may (or may not, this challenge) look into other core exercises for variety. My instincts are telling me to concentrate on one thing at one time, though. This is the mantra that got me sanely (mostly) through the holidays, so I might just stick with planks for now. If I am going to be going to the gym with my friends, then I will probably end up doing some actual lifting, as well. They lean more towards the "warrior" mindset when it comes to working out. I'm certainly game to try, especially if it makes me strong enough to try handstands (a future goal of mine) or generally makes doing my actual job easier (always a plus). Besides, I was thinking I wanted to try weighted squats (easier to do with actual weights, I imagine). For my life goal, I am going to work on writing a little bit every day. (Yes, ShadowLion - more author stuff. XD ) I'd like to finally finish my current work in progress and go on to the next big project. Well, that's it. I don't think I've bitten off more than I can chew (I hope). Let's have a great challenge and a great year, everybody! TL;DR: I'm back. I'm going to eat better. Do cardio stuff. Push ups, dead hangs. Maybe inverted rows. Weighted squats. Going to work my way up to 1 minute planks. Write every day. Dance the Macarena... Oh wait. Maybe not that last thing. XD

This will be a reversed New Years Resolution. Instead of dreaming on New Years Eve about what we want to achieve next year let's achieve one awesome thing by New Years Eve: the ability to handstand (better). Goal: Improve your handstand Mode: Open for everyone. How to take part in the PvP / Grading: Work on your handstand ability everday for 5 minutes (including rests). Since this is mostly a skill and adjustment thing, everyday practice is possible (and recommendable) here.The Grading will be on consistency, every day of handstand practice will be worth 1 point. Winner will be the one with most points, obviously... You can report you progress here (thanks to Hatter). How to join: Post a description of your current ability in the thread now (and at least one other on December 31st or thereabout quoting you first post with the count of your workout days and a description of your handstand ability by then) and I'll add you to the list of participants. List of Participants: -Waldgeist -Mad Hatter -Abtacha -Elastigirl -Batwoman -Melyssa -Mdowning -Cavilie -iatetheyeti -badwolf1138 -Windcatcher -Harika -18ck -Mathieu *Gamer unleashed* -Gneiss Assassin -quietmuse -Lindsey_M -MaxCurtis -MyLittlePony -klaymates -Zebarah -Paradigm -BlackWidowEowyn -Haevyn -QuirkyDM -Ignis Fatuus -