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I was wondering what to title my challenge and I decided I'm doing the same challenge I've done for quite a while, so I'll just slap a theme over the inital post. I doubt I'll stick with it much past zero week, but here we are. For those unfamiliar, Pucca is a Series from South Korea. Seasons 1-2 are available on Tubi, a free streaming service (with ads, but they are tolerable) and season 3 is on netflix. Season 1-2 Intro: Season 3 End Credits: There are apparently not a lot of Gifs easy to find. Goals: Eating and Cooking: Pucca lives with her Uncles in a Noodle House called Goh-Rong. The uncles use good ingredients and cook with passion for their craft and love for the food and their customers. I often talk about cooking on here, and I do hearby warn thee not to read my thread while Hungry. I also have been working on learning Intuitive Eating for a couple years now. I'll try to cook 5-7 times a week to feed myself and my family. Kettle Bells: Pucca is essentially a One Punch Man type character in that there may not be an upper limit to her strength. Indeed, by the end of season 3 villains are terrified of her. I can get stronger by maintaining consistency with Kettle Bells. Done properly, they let you get in strength and cardio at the same time. Yoga: Many Pucca Charcters are more Martial Artist than Yogi, but Yoga is a goal. I'll do the Yoga program on the NF Journey App. That's it, I'm not gonna overcomplicate things with more goals.

Guess who's back?! (No, not Slim Shady....) It's been at least 6 months since I last took part in a proper challenge (holy crap, it's been so long!). I realize this one is coming a few days late, but I've had all kinds of shit going down lately and I'm slowly catching up. There's a lot to fill you all in on, but I'll do my best to give you as brief of a synopsis as possible before moving forward with my challenge goals. For those who don't know or remember me - HI! I'm your friendly neighbourhood Ranger-Cyborg who has a hankering for adventure, crafting, video games, and overall badassness. Last you guys really saw from me was a month or two after my second ICL surgery, where I had my contact lens implants replaced (hence the cyborg bit). Thankfully, everything is going great on that front! At the time, I was getting back into the crossfit game, doing some urbexing, and had recently purchased my replacement car after hit and run totaled my previous one. My boyfriend and I were living on the Massachusetts coast line and trying to get our collective 'stuff' together - sorting our individual mental health problems, improving the living situation, and doing general growing up/adulting. The present... I am continuing to go to therapy for depression and anxiety after starting last spring; it has been incredibly helpful, but opened up a lot of old wounds that never properly healed. Long term, this is good, but it has made me question a lot of things in my life. I became (and still am to some degree) unsure of my surroundings, priorities, and, most disturbingly, myself. It's brought about A LOT of introspective thought and having to figure out what's really important to me. I'm still working on it, it's not a done deal, but pieces are coming into place. I have a better idea of what path I need to be on. As for my car, I'm still loving the hell out of it, and she runs and drives like a dream. Even with the snow, ice, and low temps we've had recently, she's been swell! Now, onto some major changes. For starters, my job has been sucking the life out of me, and I've been looking to move on for a few months now. It's gotten to the point where I am just so apathetic about my work and it takes all of my effort to even get out of bed in the morning (granted, depression doesn't help with that). Luckily, a friend knew of a position that was opening at her company and offered to pass on my resume. Long story short, I should be receiving an offer letter in my inbox any day now Received the offer today - JOB ACCEPTED!! Time for the next steps Secondly, Shaun and I are no longer together. I came to the realization during my introspection that I wasn't happy in my relationship and hadn’t been for a long time. There were a number of factors involved - some had been there since the beginning, and others had come up over the last year. Ultimately, I ended it, but it's turned into a bit of a nasty situation. In any case, I have moved in with my college friend for the foreseeable future. Even with this big bad thing slowly settling itself in the background, it's brought about some good things too - I'll be closer to my new job, I have unlimited access to my friend-turned-roommate's 3 kitties (Max, Momo, and Goober), and I've made new friends and am working on strengthening my pre-existing relationships. I've also started seeing someone else, which has been an adventure in and of itself (especially since I was not expecting to get into anything new for a while, nor was I looking for it. It just kinda...happened). Lastly, due to my move, I am no longer participating in crossfit. It’s not something I want to give up completely, but I’m going to have to hold off for a bit because of the way my finances are right now. I’m bummed about it, but I gotta do what I gotta do. I think that’s all the big, or at least the most prevalent, stuff that tends to show up in my posts. So, shall we move along to the goals?

Overview / Motivation: I think the 'aches and pains' thing has been an underlying theme here and there for a while. In this case, I'm not only thinking about the physical aspect but also the mental part as well. I've been keeping up with a pretty consistent regime of working out (and finally incorporating more cardio than I have in the past - trying to balance out my prior 100% lifting approach) with the mental aspect as well - continually learning and exploring new concepts in leadership, motivation and growth. All that said, I'm still feeling physically beat up most days, and mentally uninspired (related to work mostly). I want to make this challenge the first of many to start shifting my mindset at work since I do have a great job with high potential growth, and being more mindful about ways to improve the way I physically feel - whether that be more yoga, stretching, massage, foam roller, chiropractic work, physical therapy etc. My goals below are consistent with my recent ones, but I look forward to tweaking or augmenting going forward to get me feeling the way I know I can be feeling. Main Quest: Hit the following benchmarks in strength and stamina: Bench Press 250 lbs. Squat 250 lbs. Complete 20 Pull Ups Side Quests: Average 3 Weight Training Sessions / Week Points Potential: STR +3 Grading: A= Average > 90% B= Average > 80% C= Average > 70% F= Average < 70% Run 4 miles per week Points Potential: STA +4 Grading A= Average > 90% B= Average > 80% C= Average > 70% F= Average < 70% Average 3 NerdFitness Yoga Sessions / Week Points Potential: DEX +4 Grading A= Average > 90% B= Average > 80% C= Average > 70% D= Average > 60% F= Average < 70% Life Quest: Read & Explore: You Win in the Locker Room First: The 7 C's to Build a Winning Team in Business, Sports, and Life by Jon Gordon & Mike Smith Points Potential: CHA+4 A= Average > 90% B= Average > 80% C= Average > 70% F= Average < 70%

Overview / Motivation: Continuing on the same path from the last challenge since I am still seeing strength gains in my program. I ended up finishing Life as Sport during the off-week - I read through it start to finish and took notes, but didn't dig into any of the exercises. I wanted to run through it again, but actually stop to work through each of the exercises and build out the Life is Sport strategy and mentality. I think it will be very valuable for me. Looking forward to getting after it! Main Quest (revised for 2016): Hit the following benchmarks in strength and stamina: Bench Press 250 lbs. Squat 250 lbs. Complete 20 Pull Ups Side Quests: Average 3 Weight Training Sessions / Week Points Potential: STR +3 Grading: A= Average > 90% B= Average > 80% F= Average < 80% Run 4 miles per week Points Potential: STA +3 Grading A= Average > 90% B= Average > 80% C= Average > 70% F= Average < 70% Average 5 Planks / Week - hold for 2:00 Average 2 NerdFitness Yoga Sessions / Week Points Potential: DEX +4 Grading A= Average > 90% B= Average > 80% C= Average > 70% F= Average < 70% Life Quest: Read & Explore: Re-read Life as Sport by Jonathan Faver & execute on all the exercises Complete Chapter 1-7 Enjoyment Exercise Chapter 2 Exercise - Review current goals Chapter 2 Exercise - Create my mastery map Chapter 3 Exercise - Identify my Power Values Chapter 4 Exercise - Complete Composure Experiment & Practice Chapter 5 Exercise - Complete Visualization Exercise Chapter 6 Exercise - Create my personal mantra Chapter 7 Exercise - Create my pre, during & post game routine Points Potential: CHA+5 A= Average > 90% B= Average > 80% C= Average > 70% F= Average < 70%

I’ve debated over and over how to start this log, and, to be completely honest, I still don’t know how. Introductions have never been my specialty, but I suppose I could start by telling you a little bit about myself. I started my Nerd Fitness journey in October of 2014. I had just moved into my first apartment with my boyfriend and was ready to get myself on track. Or so I thought. I wasn’t happy with how I looked, my recent-ish weight gain, lack of strength, and incredibly sedentary lifestyle. During a google search, I came across an article of Steve’s - I don’t remember which one for the life of me. It was the name of the site that drew me in first (‘Nerd Fitness? I’m a nerd...I should do this!’), and then I wanted to absorb as much info as possible. All of it made sense to me, it was just a matter of applying it. A week later, I signed up for an Academy membership and started going through the modules located therein. Since that time I’ve had fleeting encounters with Paleo, Whole30, and various fitness plans. In early 2015, I discovered, joined, and started following the NFWA facebook page (which has since exploded to enormous proportions after the closing of the NFA forums). After some time I decided to give the forums a try (again), but waited until the latter half of summer to join a 6 week challenge. I’ve started 3, but have since withdrawn from my third. The Rangers have become my home, and I have made more friends in the last few months than I have in the last few years. I’ve been influenced, supported, and motivated by them more than anything else, for which I am thankful In here you will find: -My Crossfit journey -Workouts -Food porn -Goals -Random thoughts/life occurrences -Geekery -All the gifs -Much, much more Now,

In 2016, I will bench press my bodyweight <period> Last challenge, I got some of my shit together so I can make progress on this. Goal 1, Bench... Use it: I'm gonna run a cycle of 5/3/1 with a bench, or bench assistance exercise every workout. I'll start with the deload week since I haven't lifted in like forever. Goal 2, Breakfast Burritos in the Blue Buick: I spend 45 min driving each way from work. Eating in the car will help me make time for the gym. So this goal is all about batch cooking and meal prep so I can save the time I have outside of work... especially car friendly food like sausage and eggs wrapped in tortillas. edit: I'm not kidding, I do in fact drive a Blue Buick, same color as this font even. Goal 3, Bendy reloaded: I slacked off at this last challenge. I need to stretch (edit) and practice one yoga pose on two of my breaks at work. And do an NF Yoga routine once a week. LUYL: Blog: Write a draft of my introductory blog post.

While I know New Years Resolutions are, at best, poor goal setting form, and at worst, a self-defeating waste of time, boy I am I ever a sucker for a fresh start. It's totally arbitrary and illogical, but I figure that I might as well harness the excitement, eh? I decided to look back on the last few New Years. Back in 2013, I started the year at 169 lbs. Right before my first NF challenge. Whoa. I've been doing this for 3 years. And while in those three years I have not quite had the revolutionary success that I dreamed of... well, I've started each New Year a little lighter than the previous one. 2014 was 158lbs. 2015 was 156. And I rang this year in at 153. It's not much, but it's in the right direction, at least! And I'd rather be flirting with the 140s than the 170s. Of course, it's not all about the weight, now is it? I've made some incredible friends on these boards. I've fallen in love with Kettlebells, and my overall fitness level is so much improved. I can definitely still do a chin up, and almost do a pull-up. I freaking biked to work more days than I didn't last summer (after basically not using a bicycle since I was a child), and plan to beat that this year. 2015 wasn't the best year of my life. I lost my brother-in-law, and my Grandad. December ended on a particularly bad run, and depression and anxiety were edging in on me. But I am turning this new leaf with a vengeance. I want to be athletic. I want to be muscular. I want that incredibly adorable black skirt I bought to FIT. And goddamn it, this is the year. Goals: Workouts: Back to the usual schedule. Kettlebell classes start up again this week. I got a couple workouts in over the holidays, so at least I won't completely die this first week back. Kettlebells 2x per week Additional workouts 1x (NF Yoga) A : 12pts B : 10pts C : 8pts D : 6 pts F : <6pts Eat Good Food: Mostly Paleo, if metrics fall in line, I'm likely doing ok. 1300-1800 calories Carbs: <100g, Protein: >80g 1 point per item per day. Target 18 points per week. A : 72+pts B : 66pts C : 60pts D : 54pts F : <54pts Pushup/Pullup Work: I wanna be a badass. And being able to do this stuff is a prerequisite, I'm pretty sure. I can do like... two, maybe three pushups in a row. Right now I can do one chin up, maybe two in a row when I'm feeling particularly beastly, but not regularly. I can barely do one pull up from standing (ie, not full extension). 3x per week: 4 sets of max pushups (start with regular, go to knees as needed) 3 sets of 10 eccentric pull ups. Continue with random chin ups and pull up as I pass the bar in the hallway. A : 12pts B : 10pts C : 8pts D : 6 pts F : <6pts Life Goal: READ. I've been seriously missing out on reading lately. Part of it is that I'm just so awful at returning library books that I am scared to check them out in the first place. But I just straight up need to get better at that. My mother in law also has a pretty decent library that I have at my disposal. I usually just read books I've already read before to get me to fall asleep at night... and while I don't think there's anything wrong with re-reading, I'm a bit pathological about it. Therefore I'm stipulating that I need to read books that I haven't before. Once I get into a book, I won't have any problem reading it often, I just need to get one! Read 5x per week. No time limits, no certain amount read, just do it. A : 20pts B : 16pts C : 12pts D : 8pts F : <8pts A'ight. Let us do this shit.

Overview / Motivation: 2015 ended pretty flat due to a few reasons that don't really matter now. Now that the challenges are 4 weeks a piece, I feel better about starting slow and refocusing on good habits and consistency. I'm also rethinking my main quest goals since they have been focused on pushing significant weight (for me at least), but is that really what I need? I still want to target a goal for bench and squat, but less than originally planned so I can focus on some better goals. Coming off of 2015 I am definitely packing some extra pounds and stiff as a board, so I think that is a good place to start and begin transforming myself into a better version of myself. So with all that said, it's time to re-envision who I want to become in 2016 and use the spirit of the New Year to be 'reborn'. Time to get after it! Main Quest (revised for 2016): Hit the following benchmarks in strength and stamina: · Bench Press 250 lbs. · Squat 250 lbs. · Complete 20 Pull Ups · Reach 180 pounds Side Quests: Average 3 Workouts per week – 2x Body Beast Total Body Workout and 1x Run (at least one mile) Points Potential: STR +2, STA+1 Grading: A= Average > 90% B= Average > 80% C= Average > 70% F= Average < 70% Reach 10,000 steps per day Points Potential: CON +3 Grading A= Average > 90% B= Average > 80% C= Average > 70% F= Average < 70% Average 3 NerdFitness Yoga Sessions / Week (2 Weeks of NF Yoga Water and 2 Weeks of NF Yoga Fire) Points Potential: STA +5 Grading A= Average > 90% B= Average > 80% C= Average > 70% F= Average < 70% Life Quest: Complete 5 Days of Journaling, Affirmations and Visualizations / Week Points Potential: CHA +4 Grading A= Average > 90% B= Average > 80% C= Average > 70% F= Average < 70%

Quest 1: YAYOG four days a week. I have gotten used to doing YAYOG during the last two challenges and I still like this kind of training, so I’m going to keep it as my quest number one. I’ve finished the 10 week basic program of the YAYOG app. However, I had to adapt many of the arm exercises to waay easier in order to able to do them . Therefore I will just repeat the basic program, this time trying to minimize the changes I have to make to the exercises. Quest 2: Yoga on one day a week. I still love yoga, so that will be quest number two once again. Quest 3: no sweets after dinner For quest 3 I want to focus on food, more specifically on my current habit of eating sweets. I’ve been quite bad with that the last few weeks so I am challenging myself to not eat any sweets after dinner from now on.

This challenge I want to take a step back from focusing on working out to see what kind of progress I have made. Some of the things I have measured before but others this will be the first time recording stats. I believe this will help me in the long run to A) address some weaknesses and know where I started. So to do this I will be focusing on 4 key areas: 1) Yielding Yoga (+4 DEX +1 STR) I have access to the NerdFitness Yoga program so I will be doing yoga at least 2x per week. I also will complete the flexibility benchmark both at the beginning and end of the challenge. I feel like some areas I am pretty flexible but others I am not so this will help to figure out where I need more work. 2) Running 'n Row (+2 STA) With the work gym being open, I have taken up rowing before workouts to help build up some stamina. I love just jamming the tunes and rowing for 20-30 minutes. My measurable here will be number of meters in 30 minutes. Right now my best is 6800-ish. I was going for 7000m the other day and it took 30:27 so I didn't look closely at what the exact number was at 30 minutes. Part 2 of this is that I have my Tough Mudder race at the end of week 2! Surviving that will automatically earn me 1 of 2 stamina points. 3) Body Bio-metrics (+2 CON) Right now I am hovering around the 180 mark. I have seen some progress recently from hovering around 185 so I want to keep the momentum going and get down to 175. I feel like the addition of rowing in the morning is going to aid greatly in this goal but we will see. I also want to do an update on my body weight calcs so I have a better idea of where I am at with that. 4) Power Posing for People (+4 CHA +2 WIS) The WIS component of this will be finishing How to Win Friends and Influence People. I started it last challenge but didn't finish. The other half will be working on posture, specifically around others to project more confidence and feel like others want to be around me more. I listened to a SpartanUp Podcast today on this subject and it encouraged me to pursue this more.