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Last challenge went pretty great for me, but after finishing the Whole30 I made a series of poor eating choices. I certainly don't feel like the Whole 30 was negated, but I'm feeling a bit bloated and my skin and digestion are making their displeasure known. Fiance is on board with continuing to eat mostly Whole 30 (WHAT YAY), and I'm thrilled that we're on the same page. Me and fiance. Eating semi-W30 together Overarching Goal: GET LEAN (<25% body fat) GOAL #1: Wake up at 5am every weekday, 7am on weekends. I've been inspired by a blogger to start waking up earlier. I recently had the epiphany that when I don't take melatonin or Benadryl before bed, I feel alert after 7-8 hours of sleep. Last week I found myself naturally waking up earlier and feeling energized (!!!), so want to try out making it a habit. I've called exercise my keystone habit, but the trouble with that is I tend to work out in the afternoon -- at that point work has worn me out mentally, the SADs may have kicked in, and the couch is calling my name. GOAL #2: Gym/Run/Walk daily I'm floundering a bit post-Spartan because I don't have another race until May (and that's just a marathon relay, so ~6mi). The yoga studio I love is running a promotion (3-month membership for 2-month price), and I'm tempted to sign up. For now I'm going to pay attention to what my body is craving, and get my daily dose of endorphins. GOAL #3: Fine tune eating The first two weeks of the challenge I'm going to try allowing non-W30 food every day -- that's allowing a bit of rice, legumes, even gluten, dairy, alcohol. Can I do daily moderation without just going nuts? Not sure. The second two weeks I'm going to try a mostly stricter system...maybe 5 days on, 2 days off. Focus on having a vegetable and protein at every meal.

Okay, I've officially got the Nerd Fitness sickness, as I CAN. NOT. WAIT. to start my next challenge on the 8th. No, I must jump in...today. I am currently doing a strength & conditioning program that is a combination of Strong Curves and general crossfit madness, and I THINK - after many fits and starts and revisions - I have got my program designed to give me the benefits/results I want. At any rate I have it where I really, really like it, and the good workout you do is better than the perfect workout you don't. Right? Riiiight. So since I don't need to tweak that a whole lot, my challenge this time is to add several small, "biohack" style tweaks to my daily routine to see if they give me any benefit in body composition/energy/Jedi Mind Control ability. Challenge ONE: I have 4 biohacks: Lemon juice or cinnamon before meals: reportedly helps keep blood sugar down. I have a family full of diabetics so I keep a close eye on my blood sugar, I even bought a glucose monitor and stick myself on the regular to keep track of my stats. Pushups & Bodyweight squats before meals: supposed to train your body chemistry to direct the fuel you ingest to your muscles, instead of fat storage. 9 hours of sleep daily: to improve recovery, reduce cortisol, and iron the pattern on my pillow into my face. cryotherapy: two cold bath soaks per week. Helps reduce inflammation, stimulate metabolism. Plus it's summer in Georgia; this sounds delightful. (Tim Ferriss readers will recognize these as being directly stolen from 4-Hour Body.) Challenge TWO: Implement a morning routine I tend to lose track of my day in the morning, and then everything goes to hell in a handbasket. So I'm going to implement this routine at least 5 days out of 7: Get up at 6:00 am Same breakfast daily: 2 hard boiled eggs, small piece of lean meat, half an avocado or some fruit. 15-20 minutes mobility work (yoga, stretching, hand eye coordination work - i.e. tossing a tennis ball around) into the office for some early work. Challenge THREE: Write an Ebook This one is a little different, since it's not fitness related, and it's also sort of stolen from Elsfaire, who is posting about a most excellent pregnancy book she is writing and you should totally read, even if only your cat is pregnant. I have been playing around with two eBooks, a tour guide to movie locations in Atlanta (a ton of movies get shot here) and one on spiritual retreats in the Southeast, that I think people would find interesting and I could sell via amazon. When you don't have an actual deadline, however, it's hard to tie yourself to the chair and write, so I am committing to writing 100 words a day on one of those two projects and I will post updates here. I expect you all to shame me mercilessly if I don't make my word count. My workouts will stay the same. Just for grins, because I've never posted it before, here's my gym routine. I go twice a week, and I ride my bike two or three times a week. day one: deadlift military press hip thrust (voted most embarrassing move to do in a public place, by... me) step-up wall ball KB Swing crunches balance work - this is new, I'm trying to add some movenat-like stuff to the regime. Will update. day two: back squat bench press glute bridge back fly box jumps monkey bar KB swing/run combo (frequently followed by gagging) clamshells or crunches Okay, that's enough for now, I think... carry on

Yeah, I'm going a bit goofy with this challenge's theme. But I got a hashtaggin' partner in crime, klaymates and we are here to rock the next 6 weeks! I'm pretty much following up with my last challenge's goals, but with a little more planning with the extra food consumption and sleeping... #mainquest: #strengthgains #riseandgrind! Wake up at 7am every day (weekends are exceptional)Get enough sleepAbsolutely no skipping morning classes#nomnomnomnomnomnomnom Eat 90% primal (exception with rice and oats)Add to grocery budget, cook more foodWhat I'm thinking: Cook a load of rice, meat and vegetables for each week and just eat that (For treats, thinking banana bread, avo pudding, anything that I can enjoy, get my calorie intake up enough, easily pack for school and not feel too guilty about.) Suggestions are welcome!No more lattes, coffee only 2x/weekNo more crappy cakes/sweets/desserts unless made homemade with no sugar#isitworthit?lemmeworkit! Lift 3x/week (alternating days between squats/BP/DBrows and squats/OHP/deadlift)Over holidays: attend Muay Thai 1-2x/week#lifedecisions Continue improving GPAGet 80%+ on all 3 final exams#prechallengerewire Mini-quest: Got a bet going on with a friend who thinks I can't go 2 weeks without my daily coffee. November 3rd - 16th, no caffeine, only drinking water and milkI'm currently on day 3, after doing a necessary all-nighter on finishing 2 lab reports... aaand I'm doing pretty well. So I got this. Having a tolerance break might do me some good anyhow. I'll update on whether I complete this or not by the time we actually start this challenge.