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Happy New Year everyone! I hope the holidays were good for everyone. I sure have had a great holiday season, and am excited to take on 2016. This year could either see much change in my life, or a lot of the same old same old, I don't honestly know which way it will go, its all dependent on what will happen with my husband (The Mastermind), who is working on his PhD. Either way, I want to make the most of the year ahead, and I have big plans to do so. The biggest of my plans is that I signed up to run the Detroit International Half Marathon in October, EEEK! So that is the current fitness quest I am on. Other plans include exploring and soaking up all there is to do and see around the area where I live, because if The Mastermind finishes his PhD we will be moving, most likely. So without further adieu, this is what I have planned for the first 4 weeks of the year! 2016 Take 1 - Love thyself Step 1) Rehab that ankle! I will do my physical therapy for my sprained ankle everyday, first thing in the morning. The motivation, you cant run a half marathon on a sprained ankle, plus I need to develop good workout habits in the morning. The PT only takes like 10 minutes and its so simple there should be no excuses! 42.8%42.8% 3/7 as of 1/10 Step 2) No spend soda/Starbucks! I will not spend any money on soda or Starbucks. I have to break this bad habit. I got a good start with my 2 week vacation back home for Christmas (still here actually). So I'm already caffeine detoxed and on a roll. The caveat here is that I can still drink said beverages if someone else buys them for me, like Saturday morning dates with The Mastermind, but those are rare so its not a big loophole. 100%100% 7/7 as of 1/10 Step 3) "you are so used to your features, you don't know how beautiful you look to a stranger"- unknown Since I gained all this weight I have struggled with my body image. I spent last year avoiding photos like they were the plague. I have bought minimal clothes in the last few years because I hate looking at the large sizes and getting frustrated when things that used to look good do not. This body image issue reached a critical level when my mom offered to buy me pants that fit for Christmas and forced me to try on a bunch of clothes. It was such a demoralizing experience for me. So I have decided I need to work on my body image, and learn to love my body no matter what it looks like. This is a 2 part quest, part 1 I will clean out my closet and only keep the clothes that fit and that I look good in today. The others will either be packed up for the future me, or sent away. Part 2 will be more challenging, I will go shopping once a week and try on some clothes that I need to complete my much smaller wardrobe and must buy one piece each trip. Closet Clean Out 33.33%33.33% 5/15 as of 1/10 Shopping 0%0% 0/4 as of 1/10 Scoring All three quests will be pas/ fail. Step 1 and step 2 are obviously a daily pass/fail, step 3 part 1 is pass/fail for the entire challenge, while part 2 is a weekly score. I think I will just go for a completion percentage and see how I do. If I accomplish everything there may be some pampering for me for my birthday which is at the end of the challenge.

Main Quest:To build up a solid foundation of habits to propel me towards my ultimate goal of being a master of my own body weight. Mission #1: Convict Conditioning New Blood program (+2 STR, +1 DEX, +1 CHA)Two workouts per week, alternating with pushups/leg raises on one day and pullups/squats on the other.Mission #2: 0 to 1650 swim challenge. (+3 STA, +1 CON)Had difficulties with this last challenge mostly due to sickness and other unexpected circumstances.Will continue starting at week 3 of the plan. Mission #3: Recovery. Lights out by 10pm each night. (+2 CON, +1 WIS)To support recovery on my workouts and a fresh, clear mind for work and training.Life Mission: Study Android Development 8 focused hours per week outside of work. (+2 WIS, +2 CHA)I have long neglected my career training. This will be a first step to getting back where I should be.I will likely have a lot of time to work on this at work, so my goal is based on personal time spent versus an amount of material covered.Grading:Mission #1 (in days): A = 12, B = 11, C = 10, D = 9, F = 8 or lessMission #2 (in days): A = 16-18, B = 14-15, C = 12-13, D = 10-11, F = 9 or lessMission #3 (in days): A = 27-30, B = 24-26, C = 21-23, D = 18-20, F = 17 or lessLife Mission #4 (in hours): A = 44-48, B = 39-43, C = 34-39, D = 29-33, F = 28 or less Rewards per goal: A = 100%, B = 75%, C = 50%, D = 25%, F = 0% Motivation:To be a Master of my own body weight and an example of health to my wife and kids.

So you've had to spend a week begrudgingly tied to the couch with a bottle of cough syrup and a box of tissues as your best friends, and now that you are feeling better are trying to jump back into routine. I myself am coming off a sinus infection and have a 5k this weekend that I promised to run...with my boss.. What do you do to shake that last bit of cold out of your system so you feel like new again and do you try and start right back into your routine, or ease into it?