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I’m a huge fan of Orphan Black. Can we say holy awesome kick ass women!? So for this challenge I will be drawing from the show, as well as doing a rewatch of the series. I hope I've done this first post right. Season 1 (Sarah) Quest 1: Run a 5K and 5 miles in order to escape Prolethean dirt bags. Couch to 5K (run 3 times a week) Drink 3 glasses of water a day Vegetable with every meal (breakfast isn’t necessarily necessary) Season 2 (Helena/Alison) Quest 2: Make a meal worthy of Helena’s appetite with Alison’s homemaking skills twice a week. Find cookbooks Make a meal plan for the month Do not waste food! Leftovers are your friend Season 3 (Felix) Quest 3: Strength train 3 times a week to get a hot clubbin’ bod. Drink a recovery smoothie after each strength training sesh Do a 30 plank every morning and every night Do 5 pushups every morning and every night Season 4 (Cosima) Quest 4: Find an apartment in Seattle and activate full geek monkey mode. Go to 2 viewings a week Start Tuesday and Wednesday mornings by looking for apartments for 10 minutes Spend time in Seattle having one little adventure a week And as far as the Academy goes, I would like to make it to Level 4 by the end of the challenge. So there it is...Welcome to the trip, man.

As you may or may not know, I'm a huge Orphan Black fan. I find so much inspiration in such strong women. So, let's do this accountability thing and kick some ass.... Some information about myself: I collect ball joint dolls I'm vegan, but in a completely chill way, I will never judge or condemn Orphan Black obsessed...did I say that already Game of Thrones obsessed Currently kicking disordered eating to the curb Gender queer lesbian Harry Potter nerd to the max Now to this accountability stuff....I have lots of goals I'm trying to accomplish, some fitness related, some not. Here's what I'm going for: 1. Continue doing my Jillian Michael's workout dvds until I find something different. I know it's kind of cheesy that I do these but I love Jillian Michaels and feel totally inspired by her. Doing workout dvds isn't my ideal, but for now (being afraid of the gym or any running outside activity) it works. I also walk a lot and try to get my 10,000 steps in daily. 2. Save $300 a month I just went through a major breakup and I'm dealing with the aftermath by living with my parent's in the podunk city I grew up in....it's killing me. So I'm working on moving to Seattle, but this involves money. 3. Move to Seattle See above. 4. Get some abs This has been on my to-do list for years and years. I can never seem to make it happen. So, it's always my goal...I just don't know how to get there yet. 5. Cook an elaborate vegan meal at least once a month I don't cook a whole lot, and since the breakup I've been eating so shitty, a lot of microwaved vegan goodness. I'd like to move away from all the processed fake meats and such. I think that's a good place to stop. I'm going to try to update everyday. Sometimes this might just be a place for me to vent or talk about my day. Not necessarily always about fitness...you've been warned! Take care lovely people!

Some of you may remember me. Yes, it is I of kettlebell and Hero's Journey fame. This will be my first Four week challenge...and I find them pretty weird...but I'll try? *Ahem* Moving on: Welcome to Clone Club. We don't use the "C" word For those of you who don't know Orphan Black...wow. You've been missing out. So this brit girl Sarah arrives at a train station, ostensibly on her way some where. As she gets off the train, she sees a girl who looks just like her commit suicide. Sarah, being the thrifty sort, picks up the girl's bag and steals her identity. Jokes on you Sarah, turns out the girl was a cop. Oh, and your clone. I could go on and on about how well Tatiana Maslany conveys each of the clones. They're all very different people--it's really amazing. But then I wouldn't get to talk about me...and that's why you're here... right? Right? As I've technically missed a week (though I have been operating under these challenges) I'll deduct points. 11.25 points to go around this time. Challenge 1: Helena or Hardest to Kill +5 STR I thought a lot about which Sestra would represent the STR part of these challenges. All these girls are strong, Sarah has survived being handed a pretty bad hand in life, Alison gets the job done, no matter what it is, Cosima holds everyone together...but in the end, I had to pick Helena. I mean she is physically the most fit to kick tail. And while her hold on sanity is somewhat...tenuous, she has survived unthinkable things. So, just what am I doing that deserves 5 STR points?? Stronglifts baby. That's right. I'm actually in my sixth week but a few of those weeks only had two workouts (sometimes your body just needs to recover and when your rest day isn't a rest day...). I feel invincible, most of the time! But, all those workouts won't do a think If I'm not-- Challenge 2: Alison or All together now +2 CON, +2 WIS eating like a grown up. Jeez louise, I've had some days when I...well my eating habits suddenly turn atrocious. This challenge will require Alison's verve. I just need to get the thing done. And as the, sometimes resentful, clone caretaker, Alison is usually the most concerned about her loved ones leading a nutritionally balanced lifestyle. My Fitness Pal anyone? Yup, I'm gonna track every bite I eat. This is the harder version of this challenge--usually I cop out and say I'll just make sure I'm on track calorie-wise. Not today. This gonna suck at first. But I'll do it. I really will. Challenge 3: Cosima or Completely Bendy +1.25 DEX To say Cosima is the most flexible of the main house Clone club is putting it mildly. Every single one of these ladies is bull headed and head strong, but when it comes to the clone club crew, Cosima is open to everything and willing to bend (very rarely true of the others). Plus, doesn't Cosima just sound like the name of your friendly neighborhood local Yogi? Yes, this is the one with the stretching.5 min a day? Let's see how this goes... Challenge 4: Sarah or Something more +1 WIS/+1 CHA This is an either or type of deal. But the idea is to do something at least once a week that will improve my future. Language learning? Letters of Continued interest to Law schools? Applying for Jobs. All of the above. And why Sarah? Well she'a bit of an odd duck in that she's the only one with a biological child. And everything she does is for her daughter. Protecting the future...ehhhh? geddit? I might do a bonus challenge to earn back those points I missed. Like a feel good, get out of the house and do something, make something new challenge. Will keep posted!

Hey fellow rebels. I've been super mega busy lately, things should calm down Wednesday but for now I'm just going to get this challenge up. So last challenge was a rousing success for me. Things were totally freaking unbelievably insane from travelling nonstop for work and some other things. INSANE I TELL YOU. But I used my training program to stay focused and grounded during stressful times. I also think I actually really started my health journey last challenge, even though I've been trying (and moderately succeeding) to do these challenges for over 6 months now. I learned I had to be doing this from a place of self love, and that I have to always remember how good I feel when I treat myself right. I've just got to do it. And making myself do it during the flurry of travel really kept me sane and destressed me. It also helped pull me out of the depression I was kind of sinking into. All in all, I feel great. And I want to keep this momentum going. I'm going to seroiusly switch up something huge in my life for this challenge. Two things in fact, both food related. I'm going to officially stop counting calories. Completley and totally stop. This is crazy for me. I've never not counted calories. I'm kind of really freaking out about it.... Previously I've counted them but set a ridiculously high limit for myself, just to make sure I'm not completely out of control, but when I have it down to a number based system I end up hurting myself. I'm like "oh this pizza only has 1200 calories in it. If that's all I eat all day it's fine" Nope... not OK. I'd rather just judge my food on what it is. And that brings me to the other thing I'm switching up. I'm going to grade myself for my food intake based purely on whether it was "healthy" or not. I know when I'm being healthy, and I know when I'm not. I can spot a healthy meal from a mile away, I can feel it in my stomach almost instantly, I can usually smell it. I know gluten and dairy are no nos for my tummy, and I know I'm trying to avoid soy. I know when I'm BSing myself, and can now be honest with myself and admit it. I don't need to micrcomanage my diet any more (or at least I hope so!) and am just going to try to eat the healthiest I can possibly eat this challenge. No stressing about calories, and no micromanaging every single meal. I'm also going to be listening to my body more when it comes to exercising. I'm cutting my strength training down to 2 days a week, and replacing the third with a wild card. Every week I'll see how I'm feeling and pick whatever exercise I want to do that weekend. It could be another strength session, but it could also be pilates. Or hiking. Or even a meditation session if I feel so inclined. So here's the spreadsheet: Quick explanations: Move pretty self explanatory Strength 2x/week Yoga 2x/week Zombies, Run! 2x/week Random! 1x/week Stay Moving I sit at my desk all day, and do watch a fair amount of TV. I want to stop sitting so much basically. So I've set an alarm on my phone to remind me to walk around and do little desk exercises throughout the day, I'm in the office an average of 3.5 days a week, so I'll try to complete all my deskercise goals that many days a week. I've also purchased a mini elliptical stepper thingy that I will be using 100% of the time during TV commercials and if I'm watching Netflix I'll set a timer to make sure I'm doing it for 5 minutes every 15 minutes (which is the average commercial set up I think). . I watch TV probably most days so I put I need to do this 5 days a week. I might adjust this when I have more time to think about how to actually grade this... maybe deduct points for whenever I watch TV and don't do it? We'll see... I'm going to grade this like I grade eating out. Start at 100% and dock points when I don't do what I plan on doing. Take Care I need to take better care of myself externally. And have more me-time. Nightly Routine: Wash my face, floss, brush my teeth and moisturize every weeknight Weekly Routine: Relax, take a bath, light a candle. Face mask. Monthly Routine: Add a hair mask, a foot mask and a bath bomb to one weekly routine a month. Live it up. Eat Healthy Self explanatory, eat healthy every day. Also stop eating out so much. Eating healthy is positive points I earn, eating out are negative points I dock from a starting 100% when I do it. Keep Clean Staying in line with my listen to my body/intuition goals, I'm going to clean every day... but I'm going to pick what I'm going to do the day of depending on the state of my apartment. Grading Based completely on level of effort, numbers based solely on excel's rounding to the nearest 0.25 calculation (using the MROUND() function if anyone was interested): >87% = A >62% = B >37% = C >12% = D <12%= F Possible points and point types are in the spreadsheet. Sorry this is so all over the place and not at all organized. I swear it makes sense in my head. I'm so excited to be a normal person again on Wednesday and be able to hang out with you nerds via the interwebs again. I also am going to get back to keeping my battle log up to date, because I mega slacked on that last challenge and it makes me sad. So that's that. *Edited to fix spreadsheet errors, update TV stepper grading info and to add grading percentage numbers to letters info (and more gifage because that was seriously lackingand not up to my usual standards)*

I feel like I’ve forgotten what it is I’m supposed to be doing. I need to revisit the basics, make them habits again, develop a solid foundation again. To do this, I shall spend this challenge with my favorite clones. First up, shut my mouth. I spend way too much time talking about what I need to do/should do/could do/what I know works. Instead, I’m going to shut up and just DO IT Fitness Quest: CrossFit CrossFit at least 2x a week Grading 11 - 12 CrossFits = A 9 - 10 CrossFits = B 7 - 8 CrossFits = C < 6 CrossFits = F +2 STR +2 STA +2 CON +2 STA Fitness Side Quest: Run Not for points, just for fun. Once in a while I have to get my run on at work to get somewhere in a hurry. I think to myself, "this isn't so bad. I actually kind of like this. I should do this more often." So, I think I will try to do this if I can find time. No C25K or anything, but a leisurely walk/run kind of thing whenever I can. Food Quest Continue with the primal. Moving up to 2 indulgence meals a week instead of 80/20 Food Side Quest Not for points. I just need to pay attention to my sugar intake. I let this get away from me when my dad died, and it got completely out of control. I’ve began getting it under control, I just need to stay on it. By staying on it I mean try eating fruit or sweet potatoes when craving something sweet. Sweet potato = paleo candy Enough with the Science Monkeys Daily: Scoop (cat and dog) poop daily Clean up dishes in sink Pick up after myself Grading will be based on average per week of how much I get done. +2 WIS +1 CON Life Quest: Dollars I did really well with this last challenge and am getting caught up. However, there are so. many. concerts coming to town, plus the fact that we’re passing on DragonCon this year and IT’S KILLING ME!!! I know it’s for the best, and if we suck it up now, we can do all the things next year, but I just want to whine and throw a fit right now. Plan for dollars is the same as last time with the added bullet of practice some acceptance, dammit. Don’t spend money on crap I (we) don’t need​ Track ALL money out (make sure I’m (we’re) not 5 dollaring myself (ourselves) anywhere) Don’t steal from Peter to pay Paul Practice some acceptance. You’re being a big girl. Live with it. Grading will be subjective based on how well I do or don't do. Grading +2 WIS Side Life Quest: Be on time I tend run a few minutes late because I’m goofing off (usually). Luckily, I have a boss that doesn’t really care, but I do. I would really like to get better at this. No points for this, just something I’d like to work on. And Finally... I didn't check in very much last challenge. I didn't update my thread and I didn't drop by to see my buds very often. I would really like to improve on this. After all, we’re so much stronger together. That’s kind of the whole point of the NF community, right? Sometimes I just don’t feel very social. I’m not sure what to do about that other than to at least like a post just to say “hey, I’m here and still rooting for you!†when I don’t actually feel like saying it. Stats: TBD I've got to get off of here before day shift gets here (tee hee), but I'll be back to edit and add later.