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Current Weight: 223 Goal Weight for 2013: 200 Goal #1 – Defeat level round one boss, Starbucks! Last Challenge: In my last challenge I bombed this section. I just started drinking coffee and coke like a mad woman. Its crack I tell you. It happens when I get nervous and anxious. So I was able to start drinking 6 cups of water BUT the caffeine still has a hold of me. But this time I am not going to straight into the high level boss caffeine, nope! I’m starting off at level one, Starbucks. How and Why: Continue drinking my water like I have been. I’m up to six cups of water. Who cares that I have the gold card? I spend roughly $1200 on coffee! Instead I will have two choices #1) make coffee at home as it’s cheaper or #2) don’t drink coffee and go for water instead. I have the following cheats (as in going to Starbucks): Cheats: Week 1: 3 Week 2: 2 Week 3: 2 Week 4: 1 Week 5: 1 Week 6: 0 Grades: A = 30 Days B = 27 Days C = 24 Days D = 21 Days F = Below 20 Stats: +1 Sta, +2 Con Goal #2 – Strength Configuration Part 1 (45 Push Ups, Non-Stop)! How and Why: I want to apply to the FBI academy but I’m afraid that I am too weak to get through the physical examination. I want to start working on being able to do push ups. I can’t do a single push up at the moment but I will be starting up high using a table before I get to the floor. So these pushups are off a table. My grade will be based on how I do the Monday morning that I am supposed to report in: Week 1 – 1 min, 30 seconds rest for 3 reps Week 2 – 1 min, 20 seconds rest for 3 reps Week 3 – 1 min, 10 seconds rest for 3 reps Week 4 – 2 mins, 30 seconds rest for 3 reps Week 5 – 2 mins, 20 seconds rest for 3 reps Week 6 – 2 mins, 10 seconds rest for 3 reps Grades: A = 42 B = 39 C = 36 D = 33 F = 30 Stats: +1 Sta, +2 Str Goal #3 – Stamina Configuration Part 1. How and Why: Again another FBI fitness test is based off of the sit-ups but in one minute (I need 57). Right now I can’t even do a sit up. It hurts way too much as my spine curls out not in. So right now the only thing I am focusing on is trying to get the motion down without hurting my back too much. My grade will be based on how I do the Monday morning that I am supposed to report in: Week 1: 10 seconds of sit-ups Week 2: 20 seconds of sit-ups Week 3: 30 seconds of sit-ups Week 4: 40 seconds of sit-ups Week 5: 50 seconds of sit-ups Week 6: 60 seconds of sit-ups Grade: A = 30 B = 27 C = 24 D = 21 F = 18 Stats: +1 Str, +2 Sta Goal #4 One Does Not Simply Step Into Their Doctorate Program Currently I am working towards submitting my PHD proposal. It may or may not happen this year. I am scared. So I am adding a bunch of things I need to do to get that moving along. Sign Up for the GRE (.5 Con) Finished! - My test will be November 1st! E-mail professor at Georgetown (.5 Cha) - Happened on June 25th and He wrote back! E-mail professor at Berkeley (.5 Cha) - Happened on June 26 E-mail professor at Oxford (.5 Cha) - Happened on June 26 E-mail professor at Brown (.5 Cha) Happened on June 26 Find Jeff (.5 Con) Finished! He will not respond but I did find him. So instead I will say find an internship. Update: I have sent my resume along with a cover letter Read a book a week. (.5 for each book) Update: I've read two books. Stats: +1 Con, +2 Cha, +3 Wis

Where I'm at: 5'7" (170cm) 180lb (81.6kg) Bench weight: ?? Running time: ~1 minute 30seconds Max push ups: 3 General Long-term goal: Become a badass Ranger! 6 Week Challenges: 1. Establish my bench press starting point and increase it by 15 pounds (+4 STR) 2. Work my way up to doing 10 push ups in a single set (+4 STR) 3. Run 3 minutes without stopping/walking (+2 DEX, +2 STA) 4. Finish the html/CSS lesson series I'm working on (+3 WIS) The Plan: 1. Purchase a barbell and weights and establish what the highest weight I can lift is, then lift 3 times/week. Each time I can do 10 reps at a weight, increase the weight. 2. Do 3 sets of 3 push ups each day for one week, then 2 sets of 5 and one of 3, then 1 of 7 and 2 of 5, then 1 of 9 and 2 of 7, and finally 3 sets of 10 pushups. 3. Play the Zombies, Run! 5k game 3-4 times/wk 4. Work on lessons a minimum of 5 days/wk This will be my first 6 week challenge, starting me on the path from Adventurer/beginner to Ranger. I'm super excited, and I really hope to make some new fitness friends in the process! ETA: tags

Whoops, I originally posted in the wrong challenge sub forum... I decided to migrate over to the Rangers side of the house as I think it’ll be good fit for this challenge! I am very excited about this one; the last one really motivated me and kept me focused (I’m an instant gratification kind of person, so that’s a big deal). Love this community! So, for a quick overview… I am active duty Navy and have been in South Carolina for several weeks for school and it’s been sort of a “vacationâ€, if you will, from my life and work(ship). It has been very easy to fit in workouts because my schedule is very cut and dry and I have no other distractions (i.e. boyfriend, dogs, roommate, beer. ..Skyrim doesn’t count.) . The overall idea here is, upon my return, to adapt working out to my constantly fluctuating ship schedule and to, in general, make better use of my time. I am the type of person who always wishes they had more hours in the day as I lay on the floor daydreaming for 2 hours after work. Enough of that! Here are my goals… 1. Pass the Navy Physical Readiness Test with an overall Excellent! The test is coming up May 20th. In order to pass with an Excellent I need to accomplish the following: Curl-ups- 87 w/in 2 minutes (Not my strong point…) Push-ups- 39 w/in 2 minutes (Definitely not my strong point but they set the bar pretty low…) 1.5 mile run- 13:15 (My strong point, hurray!) I will accomplish this by: A. Adding the “100 push-ups†sets at the beginning of my lift days (M,W,F). I will have to deal with the loss of gains I may have in OHP and Bench. B. On rest days (T, Th), I will time myself for 2 minutes and do sit-ups till failure and the P90X Ab Ripper X video. I would like to do the timed curl-ups every day, maybe every morning, but twice a week will suffice for now. C. At least one day every weekend I will run 1.5 miles. 2. Continue the SL 5x5 program! As I will be returning to my ship, I simply want to maintain consistency here. I will go to the gym even if it’s packed with giant meatheads that intimidate me. I will go to the gym even if I’m at work till its dark outside and I’ll get stuck in traffic. I will go to the gym even if I’ve been invited over to a friends house after work/have something “better†to do. Also, I will maintain proper form and ask for help if I feel like I’m slacking! 3. Fuel my body the right way! I will maintain a healthy weight by eating a balanced, clean diet full of variety! Specifics: A. Define “cleanâ€: Keep the majority of meals simple and with at least one meat/protein and one veggie/fruit per meal. I will stray away from anything frozen or boxed. B. Meal plan! I will make a flexible plan for meals for the entire week every Sunday, and buy groceries according to that. I’m going to set myself up for success by pre-marinating and freezing meats, pre-slicing frequently-used veggies, and divvying up snacks into baggies for grab-and-go. C. Juice during the weekdays! I am going to convince my bf to let me adopt his juicer and then make one green concoction every morning! I should pre-assort veggies and fruits according to recipe so I can do this quickly in the mornings. Also, I’d like to primarily use veggies/fruits that I don’t care to eat raw…i.e. ginger, pears, grapes, beets, kale. Since it’s his juicer, I should expect to be making 2 green concoctions every morning… 4. Less procrastination…more domination! A. Get my damn motorcycle license! Call and make the appt, get it approved through my command, go to said appt, pass…That’s all there is to it!! B. Make one piece of art per week. This can include drawing, painting or completing some kind of craft. Get those creative juices flowing! I’d like to post what I do here maybe for accountability…we’ll see. Overall: Juice each morning. Eat clean. Craft once a week. Get my bike license. M-Pushups/ Lift T-Curl-ups/Abs (along with divisional PT) W-Pushups/ Lift Th-Curl-ups/Abs (along with command PT) Fri-Pushups/ Lift Sa-Active rest (or run) Sun-Active rest/(or run)/ Meal planning & grocery shopping (Excluding duty days) Wish me luck and I am open to feedback!

Fitness Goals (+4 STR): Pull-ups Starting point: currently at 20 lb one-arm dumbbell rows (3 sets of 10-12 reps) Current plan: continue to do dumbbell rows each upper body workout until I reach 30 lbs (hopefully in 2-3 more workouts), then switch to bodyweight rows on the smith machine. Once I get to assisted pull-ups, I can work on those at home every other day. A if I can do one unassisted pull-up (+2 STR) B if I can do one slightly assisted pull-up (+1.5 STR) C if I can do 4 sets of 20 bodyweight rows (+1 STR) D if I move up in weight on the dumbbell rows F if I don’t do anything Push-ups Starting point: currently at 4 sets of 10, 10, 5, 5 push-ups off my coffee table Current plan: progress to 4 sets of 20 push-ups and then move to the floor for “real†push-ups. On the current schedule, adding 5 reps to 1 set per workout, I should reach floor pushups by March 17th and have 11 days to improve on floor push-ups after that. A If I can do 4 sets of 20 push-ups (+2 STR) B if I can do 4 sets of 10 push-ups (+1.5 STR) C if I can only do 4 sets of 5 push-ups (+1 STR) D if I don’t make it to floor push-ups but I’ve made progress on coffee table push-ups F if I stop progressing Note: All my workouts include back exercises (like back rows, lat pulldowns, Olympic bar rows, etc. as well as chest exercises like dumbbell bench presses, dumbbell chest flyes, etc. So I’m working on those muscle groups outside of doing pull-ups and push-ups. I do push-ups every other day at night and I do upper body workouts on a flex-week schedule: Week 1 is M/W/F, Lower/Upper/Lower. Week 2 is M/W/F Upper/Lower/Upper. Diet Goals (+2 CON) I'm going to do my diet plan on a point system (using positive reinforcement instead of negative). 1+ pt for each day I avoid office goodies (this allows me to redeem myself for a previous meal slip up, like that burger I had yesterday, but it depends on whether or not there are office goodies to resist) 0.33+ pt for each meal that contains a fruit/veg and protein. An ideal meal for me is 1 cupped palm of carbs (optional), 1 palm of protein (approximately 4 oz), and 2 cupped hands of fruits/veg. I eat "meals" 3x a day, so one day gives me 1 full point. I need to get some blueberries up in my morning oatmeal! 42 points are possible for the meals, so I'll break it down like this: A - 40+ pts (95%) +2 CON B - 35+ pts (83%) +1.5 CON C - 30+ pts (71%) +1 CON D - 25+ pts (60%) +0.5 CON F - 0+ pts (0%) +0 CON Level up your life goal (+2 WIS): Book a vacation A if the vacation is totally booked, flights, hotels, activities, etc. B if the vacation destination and dates are finalized (this involves lots of discussion with the man) C if the vacation destination is narrowed between a few choices F is the vacation falls through If it's booked or planned (A or , that's +2 WIS. This is particularly difficult because my significant other/travel buddy is essentially on-call at his job, so planning what we're going to do this weekend can be difficult. Beast Mode/Berserker Challenge (+1 CHA): Stairmaster: I’m going to get my butt on a stairmaster (not the one with the paddles, the one with the stairs that go in a loop). I got on one at a gym a long time ago and nearly passed out because stairs are not my friend (apparently) and I think I was conflicted with pride (no, I will not go slower!) and it has turned me off of stairmasters since. But they’re a great way to get an intense workout. 20 seconds of courage to walk over and get on one. If I make it for 10 minutes, yahoo! If not, hop off before it’s unpleasant and/or decrease the speed so I learn it’s not a torture device. Then perhaps, I’ll do it again! Smith Machine: I'm scared of most unfamiliar gym equipment, so learning how to move the bar on a smith machine for bodyweight rows is going to require 20 seconds of courage to walk up to it and fiddle around until I figure it out. I also still feel like an outsider in the weight area because I'm a woman, so here's to "manning" up and getting over myself!

First of all, I don't speak Spanish, yet, that'll be a goal eventually. This is my first time participating in the 6 week challenge, and it couldn't have come at a better time. I'm currently applying for a position at my college that will challenge me both physically and mentally. It's like frosh week, except it's 5 weeks, and there's no partying, it's simply beasting the freshman (it's a military academy). For this position, I need to write the most exceptional brag sheet. Currently, I need to work on my fitness in order to get in, so here we go. Goal 1: Do 60 consecutive push-ups (+3 Str, +1 STA) My current push-up count is around 30-35 push-ups. The minimum standard to pass the college fitness test is 28, while the "maximum" is about 80. Therefore, there's definitely some room for improvement if I want to achieve a higher score. I've been looking into push up workouts such as the 100 push-up challenge, but I haven't had much success with that system. I was thinking about merely doing my max reps each morning before doing anything else, but I'm unsure as to whether that would be overtraining or not. Goal 2: Cut out high-sugar deserts (+3 CON) For Lent, I've already stopped eating wheat products, and I've been maintaining that for the past 2 weeks, even when I went home for a week off (they love wheat products). I've already begun slowly cutting down on high-sugar products, with the occasional slip with a desert or a chocolate bar here and there. I think it's time to cut it out entirely. Once I adapt to this after 6 weeks, I won't mind the occasional "treat-yo'self" desert, but for now the focus will be living without it long enough to make it a habit. I'd say that compared to about 2 years ago, my desert consumption has dropped to about 10-15% what I used to eat. My goal is to reduce that percentage to 0%, thus cutting all deserts from my diet. Goal 3: Do full back squats without heel support (+2 STR, +2 DEX, +1 STA) To be honest, I have pretty terrible mobility. The shoulders, thoracic spine, and the hips are by far the worst of the bunch. Mobility is one of those things I ignored for the longest time, especially during my teen years; now I regret not improving it. When I do back squats, I need a board or some weights in order to raise my heels so that I can lower myself as much as possible. I read that it's not bad, but that I need to increase my mobility. At the moment, I use a 1.5 inch board to support my heels. I plan on decreasing the height by one quarter inch a week, which coincidentally means I should not need any supports by the sixth week. I'm following a modified Stronglifts 5x5 workout, so I do squats 3 times a week. Goal 4: Pay off my credit card (+1 CON, +1 WIS, +1 CHA) One of my biggest problems for the past few months was paying off my credit card that I abused during my freshman year (not on alcohol of course...). Since about October, I've already payed off about $700. I now have $300 left to pay off and enough income to pay it off in 6 weeks provided I cut my expenses, which I have been doing pretty well. This overbearing debt has been a burden for too long, dragging me down and robbing me of doing what I want to do with my life, such as starting to do some rock-climbing, and flying. The closer I get to zero, the more excited I get to finally get this out of the way. Not only that, but I'm getting used to living with little spending money, so it'll make it much easier to save up for trips in the future. If you have any suggestions, especially regarding the push-ups, squats, or attribute points distribution, I am all ears. Merci beaucoup! (As opposed to Spanish, I can speak French) - Plantem, TDV EDIT: Thanks to Laureleye, I updated my Goal #2 in order to follow the SMART system. EDIT2: Accidentally called Laureleye Renegade... Now it's fixed and I hopefully won't make that mistake again.

I always assumed it was without stopping but I've heard from some people that as long as you don't come out of the push-up position or rest your chest on the ground it counts as consecutive. how do you guys define "consecutive push-ups"?