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During the last challenge I built some good habits, including walking at least 20 minutes every day. I've found some good solutions for getting past hurdles which previously got in my way, such as using the Wii Walk It Out game for making indoor walking more fun than a treadmill. These were exciting major breakthroughs for me! For this challenge, I want to maintain those habits and start focusing on the next most important ones. Main Quest Backpack the Washington state portion of the Pacific Crest Trail in August of this year. It's just over 500 miles, and will take approximately 4-5 weeks to complete. To fulfill this Quest, I need to develop: A strong back for carrying a load: I will follow the Back Rx exercise program as outlined in the book. (I failed miserably at this during the last Challenge, so this will be my main focus this time.) Strong legs for hiking up and down mountain trails: I will continue to follow the 10,000 squats program (2 days exercise plan, 1 day rest). (According to "Crossfit Foundations", the squat is the primary foundational exercise to begin to develop maximal fitness. Last challenge I completed 28 days of the 110 days in the program, and had 9387 squats to go. I'm going to start where I left off and keep plugging away at it. My form still needs major work--need to go deeper and keep torso more upright.) Endurance for walking every day: I will walk at least 40 minutes every day. (Last time I built a habit of walking at least 20 minutes every day, so I'm doubling it this time. I actually expect to walk quite a lot more than that. With the Wii I can easily do 60-90 minutes a day without even thinking about it. For the PCT hike, I plan to average about 15 miles a day hiking 6-8 hours per day.)Diet Side Quest Continue to eat according to Whole30 as much as possible, and develop a repertoire of family recipes. (Last challenge I completed the Whole30 and the recommended reintroduction of food groups. My strongest reaction was to dairy, though cultured dairy--yogurt, hard cheese, etc.--seemed to cause only mild bloating, if any reaction at all. I felt so good using the Whole30 eating plan that I've decided to use it as a maintenance program to help me get down to my goal weight. I will avoid non-Whole30 foods as rigorously as possible, allowing small variances when eating out. It's very difficult to eat perfect Whole30 when eating out, but 95% is doable. It has been a huge relief to find a way of eating that is healthy and allows me to maintain good energy all day while at the same time not being complicated or making me feel deprived. Now I need to focus on maintaining the habit.) Life Quest Finish writing my locavore cookbook. (Last challenge I worked at formatting at least one recipe per day into my book manuscript. I didn't do very well on that goal toward the end of the challenge, but I made enough progress to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I just want to get this project off my plate and wrapped up.) Tracking This time I'm trying out Joe's Goals for a tracking tool. (See this post for details.) If I do everything as planned, my perfect daily score would be 5. This is a real time image, so should be an accurate picture of where I am every day. Note that the chart shows a whole week, even if some of those days haven't happened yet. And here's a progress bar for the 10,000 Squats Program (I won't finish during this challenge, but it will show how I'm doing). Every 10% is 1000 squats: 14.55%14.55% Motivation My first two motivations are the same as always: First, I believe the negative effects of physical aging are largely the result of years of unhealthy habits. If I was 25 and my knees ached, I would try to change any habits causing that problem. Instead, when we are 65 we just say, "Yeah, I'm getting old." I'm not willing to take that approach. I'm going to see just how healthy I can become by the time I'm 65 (I'm 62 now). So my first motivation is: "I want to be radiantly healthy." Second is a mental/emotional/spiritual motivation, and the reason I chose backpacking for my Main Quest. When I first left home and went out on my own, I used to backpack a lot. I felt so free. Carrying everything I needed to live on my back, I could go anywhere, do whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. I want to feel that sense of freedom again. My lack of fitness is the only thing stopping me. So that's my second motivation: "I want to feel completely free." Recently I've identified a third aspect of my motivation. As I've been working toward my Main Quest, I've realized that as much as anything this project is about getting reacquainted with myself. I've gone through a lot of experiences and transitions since I was actively backpacking in my twenties, and I haven't really taken much time to consider how it has affected me in the long term. I've been too busy simply living my life, adapting and reacting to circumstances as I go. How have I changed in the process? What have I learned? How am I different or the same as I was then? Who am I now? Who do I want to be? "I want to rediscover and fully express the core of who I am." And so the goddess' path into wisdom continues...