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First and foremost, thank you in advance for all your help and support. I look forward to repaying you all with a little entertainment in the future (see Life Quest). Disclaimer: This may be a tad depressing, but it has a happy ending : ) Background Story: (The Beginning) When I was in high school I was a nationally competitive gymnast. Needless to say I was in fantastic shape. However, I lived in a home that had a healthy food regiment and didn't really eat out. Leaving for college, however, did a number on me. Junk food, soft drinks, and alcohol. It was a hard time balancing a small budget, having no car, and eating healthy, but I generally was physically active enough to retain most of my fitness. I had a great time, but towards the end things got very dark. (The Fall) Junior year my girlfriend at the time cheated on me with my best friend. To add insult to injury it was while I was in the same house, after I had bought them both dinner, when I had gone to bed early to get back to work early the next morning. Treason once I could handle, but twice? I was in a dark place for senior year of college. (Rock Bottom) My drinking became a problem as I numbed myself to the world around me. The numbness caused me to hurt others who did nothing but care for me. Then when I was sober enough to realize that, I felt even worse; I drank even more. I had met the woman I am currently with and, while I did not know at the time, plan to be with for as long as life allows. I nearly lost her to all my idiot actions that year. I knew that if I was ever going to be worthy of such an incredible person, I needed to change. (Hope) I decided on a sort of reinvention of myself. My first priority was academics and peace of mind. I decided to go to law school far away (in Michigan) from my college (in Florida), to eliminate anyone that could draw me back into that darkness. In short, it was a success: I got the grades; I got the girl (she's ended up coming to another [better] law school in Michigan); and I got the new life I wanted. (If you want to know more about what it takes to succeed in law school, feel free to PM me). (Start Loop) Yet, because fitness and health was not a priority, I was gaining weight and my shape was worsening. I didn't change my diet, nor did I stop drinking. Like a typical New Years resolutioner I bought an exercise system (Rip60) last year and finished it with pretty good results, but I was still The Fork Outrunner. Having run out of workout DVDs I fell off the workout boat and my bad eating/drinking habits caught up to me yet again. (Repeat) I've started and stopped 1) P90X, 2) Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and 3) Running since then... Main Quest: I want to break this cycle: Get fit, keep eating/drinking. Stop working out, keep eating/drinking. Get out of shape again/gain weight. Repeat. In short, I need discipline. I suppose this is my initiation into the Ranger's guild. 3 Specific Goals: 1) Eat better, drink less. My plan is to go paleo and booze-free weeks with weekends limited to a finite number of drinks/cheat meals. In order to accomplish this I will post proposed weekly food regiments and hold myself to them. Success or failure in this is going to be pretty dependent on accountability. Please help me construct reasonable meal plans and devise punishments for failure to adhere to them. 2) Improve Cardio. I'm constantly moving from one place to another so I never have a gym membership. Winter in Michigan is a runner's nightmare with black ice and below zero temperatures. I cannot afford to buy a treadmill and then proceed to move it everywhere I end up going. Therefore, jump rope. I'm doing the workouts in the Rebel Fitness Guide with jump rope as my cardio, and as my supplemental exercise on off days. I can barely do it for a minute straight, so my goal will be ten minutes of coninuous jump rope by the end of this challenge. I will post weekly bests along with my meal plan. 3) Improve Flexibility. While I'm quite happy with the warm up and cool down of the Rebel Workouts, I used to be a competitive gymnast. I'm frankly ashame of how inflexible I have become in relation to my past. Therefore, I will add my old gymnastics/martial arts flexibility regiment to my workout and off days. I will also post weekly bests on my splits in order to be held accountable. My belief is that each of these can be done regardless of my access to workout equipment, and will ensure that I can not fall off the boat. I will set alarms on my phone so that I can never forget. Side Quests: 1) Become a better cook with Paleo recipes. Try at least one new recipe each week. Report the results. 2) Game while standing. When I game I will try and remain standing to avoid sitting all day when I'm not exercising. Life Quest : I want to finally finish developing my magic routine and perform it from start to finish for an audience. I've been casually practicing magic, putting hundreds of dollars into it as a hobby, and never having more than a few isolated tricks to do. My goal is to develop, perfect, and perform a full 10 minute routine. I want to finish this by the end of this challenge and post a video for all of you to enjoy/critique. Motivation: I've always had a fascination with the jack of all trades (aka Batman). Being the best I can be at a variety of things has always brought me pride and pleasure. It is a point of pride then to be not just a Computer Engineer/Patent Lawyer/Archer/Magician but a fit Computer Engineer/Patent Lawyer/Archer/Magician. Being the best I can be, is being the happiest I can be.