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Everything has a tendency to feel fresh and new and exciting when a new year dawns, more so when a new decade comes upon us. The temptation to throw every hoarded goal out there for people to see is overwhelming. ...but I picked this year to be very, very quiet. Recovery is first and foremost in my mind, both physical and mental. Admittedly the latter more than the former, but the former does help massively with the latter. the goals [opening tasks] Some things need to be done no matter how much I dislike the idea, and that is to figure out where I am with just about everything. Measurements, photos, and any other data I think I might need. All needs to be collected and put in the battle log during zero week. food I've managed to create a somewhat successful weekly meal prep habit and I am confident that will hold. The next thing to tackle is my depression eating, or rather, depression lack-of-eating. Hot having anything other than a quick snack or even nothing at all isn't a good thing at the best of times, and it's outright damaging when you're working eleven hour shifts six days a week, sometimes more. So to begin with I have two targets to hit daily: 2000 calories 2L water That's it for this round. Observations will be made. Adjustments will happen next time. fitness Having racing out of the picture for the next twelve months means I get to set my own pace and spend a lot more time on building from the ground up. Which I need. I'm sure at one point my body was fairly well put together, but I have broken it a lot since then, and neglected it even more so. So, again, going for very simple things, focusing more on habit building than anything else. Fifteen minutes daily mobility Four yoga sessions weekly Two workouts weekly A single walk weekly That, at least, I know I can fit into my schedule no matter how hectic work gets. wellbeing The goals are, again, very simple, as is the why of it all. I'm not in a good place. Actually, I'm in a fairly awful place, and it's incredibly difficult to keep pulling myself up and out of every awful place I end up in. It's tiring. I want to get back to a place where I can believe life has something to offer other than hurt and misery and isolation. It's going to take time, but I think I'm stubborn enough to stick it out. Nightly meditation to clear my mind Morning meditation to calm any fear or anxiety present Daily positive affirmations (do not need to be unique ones every day) Do something creative daily Talk daily. Even if I feel like I have nothing to say, even if it's only a bare bones account of my day and not much more. Whatever it takes to keep from silence Ten minutes of cleaning/daily household work Very much back to basics, focusing on both what I enjoy doing and what will help me maintain balance in my day to day life. Admittedly this whole thing is somewhat frustrating. Being set back by a major breakdown isn't exactly a new thing, but I usually don't have plans that I'm on the verge of putting into action when it happens. Part of re-working this challenge and actually going ahead with it is to help myself realise that holding onto the guilt and the anger over it is at best useless and at worst self-destructive. Ideally, I'd like to be ready to push on with my original plans at the end of this cycle, but I'm acutely aware that this challenge covers a period of tricky and often turbulent time for me. So I'll settle for holding steady. Really, I'm continuing my festive theme of survival. Got to get a handle on that before I can do anything else. So that's what I'll do.

metanoia (n.) the journey of changing one’s mind, heart, self, or way of life Or all of the above. It’s another step along the way to become the person I want to be, the kind of person I know I can be, if I give myself a chance and enough support to grow. A large chunk of this journey has been moved to my battle log as it’s more a day-to-day, goalless kind of thing. Though that does technically mean I have to find myself some goals for these challenges. Like so: Goal One: The Pistol I used to be able to do pistol squats. Only a couple on each side, but still… My progress in that area has reversed drastically over the years. I can just about wobble to the ground on each leg, but it is a very shaky wobble and I cannot rise up on either leg without ending up on the floor. As far as I recall, I managed to figure out pistols the first time around through brute force and ignorance. There will be a fair amount of that this time around, but there will also be some specific mobility and balance work. I can do this, I just need to help my body remember how. Aim: Do a whole pistol squat on at least one leg (more likely to be the right leg) by the end of the challenge (ambitious, not the end of the world if it doesn’t happen, but I’m determined to make sure it does!) Goal Two: Downward Facing Dog My heels do not now, nor have they ever, touched the ground in the downward facing dog pose. All signs point to my not-so-great mobility and general lack of flexibility. This is where the specific mobility work mentioned in the first goal comes in, and I’m hoping that since there are two outcomes resting on it that it will encourage me to actually get it done properly. Aim: Three times weekly leg mobility practice Goal Three: Vegetables Seriously. I am not getting enough in and it has a noticeable impact on my insides and my energy levels. This is basically a repeat of my food goal last challenge. Aim: Five to ten portions of vegetables daily Side Project: Guitar Something to force me to have some fun, even on the days I feel like crap. I can kind of play guitar. Very badly. I’ve wanted to improve for ages but have never actually made it a priority. Until now. I’m committing to ten minutes a day, five days a week minimum. Doesn’t matter what I’m doing so long as I’m playing for ten minutes. And that’s that. Keeping it simple goals-wise in an effort to help myself actually stick to things (as well as continuing the things I’ve tried to incorporate into my life already), especially when life gets rough and the stress climbs higher. I’m going to also aim for five small updates per week to try and keep me a little more social and connected.

A Bit About Me: This is my first challenge as a Druid as I was previously a Ranger, but Druid fits in with my needs better now and it’s been a couple of years since I’ve done one of these challenges. My health hasn’t been great and for 10 years I was unable to eat normal food without getting very ill, I have finally this year gotten to a point where I can eat like a normal person without getting ill at all woo!!! And now it’s a matter of getting the rest of my health sorted. My beautiful dogs Winston (French Bulldog) and Hank (Beagle x French Bulldog) help with my stress and moods but I need to put more effort in managing this myself as well. The Challenge: Nutrition Quests After Work Snacking & Desert: I have a tendency to overdo this massively and it feels like just have no control and I think this is why my weight is climbing: Don’t overdo it e.g. instead of eating 2 rows of chocolate, a packet of chips & ice cream in one sitting only eat one of these things in one sitting and don’t overdo the portions. Treats are ok but not all the time and try to choose healthy options e.g. instead of always reaching for something sweet and super calorie dense every day try to add better options like air popped popcorn etc. Fitness Quests Walking: I like walking but I just don’t do it anymore and I want to make it a part of my everyday life: 3 days a week aim for a minimum of 5 minutes. Before or after work stop further away from the front entrance instead of right in front of it. Yoga: I have been told that exercising in a gentle way will be more beneficial for me and I thought Yoga would be a perfect fit: 1 day a week at the minimum but hopefully more. Done by either printed routine, an app or a class that I can follow/attend. Level Up Your Life Quests Meditation: This would help me so much and is what my body really needs, it would help my body to learn to not to run on stress and hopefully lift my mood: 3 days a week using my Calm app. If I feel like I just don’t have time 1 minute breathing exercise counts. Exercise Physiologist Stretches: If I don’t do these my chronic pain will never stop/get better: 2 days a week at the minimum.

Hello all! Sliding into the challenge a week late, again. A lot has happened in the past 3 weeks: between going to a wedding, packing up, moving, buying and building furniture, work, and all sorts of stuff, I didn't really plan out a challenge until like... yesterday. The good: I am about 95% moved into my new apartment! There are some small things that I need to get from my parents' house still, kitchen stuff, mostly. (My roommate and I don't have a microwave, so I'm bringing my old university one back with me!) I'm keeping up with my mobility training as well as my Polish practice. The bad: My knee is still painful at times and because running and even walking for extended periods of time still hurts, I haven't been able to run anymore. I still need to get to the doctor's-- I just need to fill out the paperwork. Work has also been stressing me out lately, because I have so much to do and almost no time to do it! Because I'm the "pretrial and arraignments" attorney, I'm in court basically from 9-4:00. Not counting the hour lunch where I get some much-needed socialization with my coworkers (and even then, there are days where I do work at lunch), I get maybe an hour of desk time a day. I've actually started taking work home with me so I can do legal stuff in comfy sweats on my couch or at the kitchen counter. I actually wrote an 17.5 page motion and memorandum over the weekend. 7 pages Friday night, 7 pages Saturday morning, and another 4 over the course of Sunday evening and Monday evening. I need to figure out how to find the time to get things done so I'm not at work from 7:30 a.m. until at least 5:30 each night! It probably won't happen, but it's stressing me out that I have so much to do and no time to do it all. And that brings us to this challenge. Despite my knee being injured, there's still plenty of things I can do! Perhaps this challenge would have been better off in the Rebels' territory, rather than here in Ranger land, but I like y'all too much to want to leave! My overall focus is "recovery." Hence the title of the challenge! I need to do recovery work-- not just my knee, but also in other aspects of my life! I want to recover my workout habits that have basically dropped out of existence over the past month, and I want to do some emotional/mental/spiritual recovery as well. I'm trying to split this into 3 parts: Mind, Body, Soul. We'll see how it goes! Mind: - Keep practicing Polish every day-- either Duolingo or Rosetta Stone Mini Task: redeem that Rosetta Stone groupon I got for my birthday! - Read at least one book this challenge. I just started reading Never Have Your Dog Stuffed by Alan Alda, so that's going to be my book to finish this challenge Body Just because I can't run right now doesn't mean I can't do things! I can still do upper body stuff. I let depression and a bad mindset set me back with push-ups and pull-ups, and while I can't do pull-ups right now (a hex bolt for my pull-up bar got lost in the move! And I don't want to use it until it's 100% secured because I don't want to risk it, and me, falling), there are other things I can do! - Do push-ups training 3 x a week. My goal is to get back to 5 sets of 15-20 knee push-ups by the end of the challenge. Today's sets were 7-10-10 - Do handstand training at least 2x a week. Didn't do any today or yesterday, but I will try to do some tonight! - Keep up mobility training every day. I'm hoping to make mobility training a more regular thing in my life. I like doing it in the morning as a good start to my day! - Mini task: Fill out the new patient paperwork and drop it off at the doctor's office so I can go get examined and get a referral to get my knee looked at! Soul Work has been getting overwhelming and stressful, so we're going to do some self-care work this challenge! - Journal: yes, I keep saying it, but it's actually helpful when I actually do it. The goal: journal 2x a week - Knit: it's something relaxing to do that's not work, and I can sit and watch TV while I do it. That totally counts as me time, right? - Cleaning: a clean home is a happy home! Spend 5-10 minutes a day tidying up somewhere in the house. - Find a place: I'm hoping to start regularly attending services at my local Universalist Unitarian Church! I was raised Catholic, but somewhere along the way, I realized Catholicism just... isn't a good fit for me. Because of that, I've really struggled to find a home for my spiritual practice, and I think it's been leaving a hole in my life. Praying at home is one thing, but... having a place of worship with other people is something that I did love about Catholicism. I just don't feel at home in the church anymore, though, so that's why I want to find a new space! And after doing some research, I think UU might be a good fit-- I agree with their basic tenets and principles, and I like the mindset that some aspect of truth can be found in every religion. Unfortunately, can't go this weekend because I'll be going home to visit my family (where I will inevitably be dragged to Catholic church for Sunday, or maybe Saturday, services despite the fact that I do NOT want to go!!). But hopefully starting soon I can make this a regular habit and join in the community there. Okay, that's all for now, folks! I'll check in soon.

Okay, a big part of the reason I've not been around for a couple of challenges is because it's been filling me with quite a bit of stress and anxiety to explain everything that is going on with me right now. Things have progressed to a point that is no longer the case but quite a lot has happened so I'm going to just dump it all out there. Don't be afraid to ask questions! Physical Ups and downs happening in the physical department. I've gotten really frickin strong! My bench press has gone over 200lbs (92kg) and my deadlift PR currently sits at 190kg (approx 419lbs). Kind of really happy. On the other hand my running has suffered quite a bit because of what this challenge is going to focus on: injury. I'm currently injured. I've been feeling a pain in my left calf. Pretty low level whilst running but when I stop running it really really hurts. So I've been taking a lot of rest recently in order to try and get rid of that happening for the two big races of the spring season (which happened over the last 2 weeks). In a quirk of fate during RRDW, a race that was an easy 13 mile ocr that I was running with @iatetheyeti, @Rhovaniel, @Charlie_Quinn and @Jarric. I was taking it very easy and just enjoying myself. I took a bad step while going up a mound and felt the calf in my right leg (the one that hadn't been hurting) snap. I went down got back up and found that I could no longer walk without excruciating pain. Sincerely not the kind of pain that I could have carried on with. So that was my first DNF. My sincerest thanks to Yeti, Rho and CQ for getting help and getting me out safely , Yeti and Rho for coddling me in camp that night (and going to get me waffles!) and to @Jarric for the lift home. Despite this and being unable to walk for 2 days it healed miraculously fast and I ended up running a race a week later. I didn't think I would be running that race at all and I was able to do it relatively pain free. Nonetheless I also managed to sprain my ankle in the last few miles and there is that going on as well. So no running this challenge at all. I will probably start using the bike at the gym at some point. Goal 1: Do rehab exercises every day. Mental To anyone following my challenges recently it'll come as no surprise for me to say that my mental health went downhill very fast. I hit rock bottom about 2 weeks ago and was forced by a concerned Ranger to go and see my doctor. So I was signed off of work for a little while and given medication. The anxiety medication has had the side effect of fixing my sleep issues. I'm feeling better than I was now. Far from good but better. Goal 2: Talk. Update here every day even if I don't have much to say. Nutrition This has taken a nosedive as well. Right now I don't have much energy to expend to this topic so I'll keep it simple: Goal 3: Eat one healthy meal a day.

Hello, all! Last challenge, I got some bad news and found out that I wasn't accepted to OCS. It's a bummer, but I did find out that I was very close to making it. This means I have a really good chance at making it in with the next selection board! In order to do that, though, this challenge is going to focus on resetting my mindset, recentering my goals, and rebuilding my strength because I pushed my body a lot last month. In fact, I pushed myself so hard that I gave myself shin splints! Which... ouch. Not fun. I'm going to try and make this challenge a little less complicated than the last few though, and just stick with the "reset, recenter, rebuild" theme. Also, I have a Spartan race May 12! I want to make sure I'm ready as possible for that. I think by sticking to my goals I should be able to do that. Reset: This is the recovery portion of the challenge. I pushed my body too hard, to my detriment, last month. I need to make sure I'm taking time to recover, or in other words, reset my body back to where it was pre-shin splints/burnout. The goals: Daily exercises for my lower-body targeting shin splints. This will include a lot of the stretches that @Xena recommended to me during the last challenge! Also important is hip flexibility. How I'll keep myself accountable: I'll need to check off a box every day in my bullet journal saying that "yes, I did these." I'll put in a habit tracker to keep myself accountable Foam roll a minimum of once a week. Full-body foam roll, no excuses. How I'll keep myself accountable: another check in the bullet journal! This one won't be in the habit tracker, but will be a box in my "to-do list." Recenter: Self-care is something I struggle with, and I've noticed that when I don't do it, I tend to spiral into dark gloomy places and just don't do as well. The goals this time? Self-care and journalling. Self-care: take half an hour to do something that brings me joy that isn't exercise (gasp) or watching Netflix each week. Bonus points if it's something creative like finishing one of my craft projects (or mending the jeans I've been putting off mending for months now). How I'll keep myself accountable: another box on my to-do list for the week! Journalling: When I started journalling a couple of months ago, I noticed that it really helped! And then, of course, I kind of stopped. The goal is to get back to consistently journalling at least 3 days a week. How I'll keep myself accountable: a row in my habit tracker! Rebuild: I need to rebuild the basics, even while I'm letting my body recover. Push-ups: I would like to be able to do a minimum of 40 consecutive push-ups even while tired and sore after a long day of PT/after a tough gym session. I want to get as close to 40 push-ups by the end of the challenge as I can How I'll do this: Do [X] amount of push-ups a day, 6 days a week! Sundays are rest days, and will have no push-ups. Week 0, Tuesday- Saturday: 50 push-ups a day Week 1: 50 push-ups a day Week 2: 60 push-ups a day Week 3: 60 push-ups a day - NO PUSH-UPS THURSDAY-SUNDAY BECAUSE SPARTAN RACE Week 4: 60 push-ups a day How I'll keep myself accountable: A special row in my habit tracker each week Pull-ups: not just for the PFT, but for my Spartan race that I'm running in May! (But mostly for the PFT and OCS.) The challenge? Do either the workout my OSO gave me or do an Armstrong workout 3xs a week. That's it. Just 3. Also flexed arm hang practice 3xs a week! How I'll keep myself accountable: Well, I'll be at the gym 3xs a week already! I'm going to just keep doing what I've been doing for the past couple of weeks Special exception: I'll be doing only 2 days of pull-ups on Week 3, to make sure I'm well-rested for my spartan race! Running: with shin splints, I can't do as much running as I would like, and definitely can't do any sprinting until probably after the race. I can, however, make sure I do 2-3 miles 3 times a week. Hill training is okay, slow runs are okay, even a 5k is okay as long as I'm taking time to make sure I can recover. Bonus challenges: Sign up for an intro/free cross-fit class! At the OCS Prep Day I did this past weekend, the PTI I survived met said that a great way to build endurance is to do CrossFit. As such, a bonus challenge I'm setting for myself is to sign up for an introductory/free crossfit class at a local crossfit gym. Ideally, I'd be able to get a couple of weeks of free classes by trying out different gyms to see how this goes. Try to do a handstand a day. This is just for fun. I've gotten pretty good at doing minimally-supported handstands, where I'll have a foot lightly touching the wall for balance, and I can even hold myself up without any support for 2-3 seconds! I haven't done handstands in a while though, and would like to get back to practicing those again. No need for a habit tracker, as this is just for fun. Well, that's it for now, I think!

POP QUIZ: what's the difference between being a truly successful (potentially mad) scientist and just messing around making things explode here and there? THE QUALITY OF YOUR NOTES. I was here last in June (oh god so embarrassed) and since then I've still been super busy, still been going to cross-fit 5x a week (I KNOW I LACK MODERATION OK), tae kwon do 2-3x a week, and eating not terribly. Over the last couple of months though I've said to myself: SELF, you know what would make you a more effective human being? if you were keeping better notes. * I don't know how much food I need to keep fueling my body at my current pace (I am moving at a rate of approximately NO MODERATION). * I don't know really how much stronger I'm getting, every new PR feels like a snapshot totally independent of time and space (but it is totally dependent on gravity, I will have you know) * I don't know what my body is supposed to weigh. I know I'm on the soft side - and I've been having a cookie bulk over the holidays as is appropriate - but with all the weights I've been lifting I need to find my new normal idea for how heavy I ought to be while living here with planet earth gravity. I'm up from when I started crossfit but also up from when I started the cookie bulk even more. I need a challenge to get data to support my FUTURE GOALS, which are: show off my new muscles a little big by debulking (post cookie bulk), see if it's possible to fit in some running, and oh also yoga. I'm pretty solid on showing up to my regular workouts but not so solid on the supporting habits that will get me looking the way I want to look and performing the way I want to perform, so this challenge is focused on rebuilding those habits. Goal 1: Finish this challenge. ok, that sounds preeeety self explanatory but I went back and checked and I started and did not finish 5 challenges in 2018. That's right, every challenge I started, I did not finish. I also didn't finish my last few challenges in 2017. Now, 2017 was a pretty rough year for me personally, and 2018 was hard for me as well (as it was for many of us), but beyond basic chemistry and thermodynamics, being healthy is really about having good habits, and you all are my good habit. measurable outcome: post here several times a week. write up challenge in my hobobujo and update / track against those goals. TAKE BETTER NOTES PART 1. Goal 2: Find your food balance. Take better notes part 2 - LOG FOOD. I've used the loseit app in the past and am comfortable with it. I'm going to try not to worry about calories, but rather, log everything I'm eating so I can start to pull apart that thermodynamic calculation of how much I need to be eating to power my body. When I first started at crossfit I pretty much ate avocado toast every day and it went pretty well for me, but the cookie bulk in December has for sure fluffed me up. I am also going to try not to eat like an asshole, so I can get a pretty clear understanding of what my natural food budget looks like right now. measurable outcome: log the things every day. Goal 3. More recovery activity. I've been hitting crossfit hard, and tkd hasn't been the most gentle pursuit either. I need to do more stretching and flexibility work. I would like to work in more walking and yoga into my already ridiculous schedule. I have a subscription to Do Yoga With Me and they have a Flexibility for Busy People course that I should be able to work in. I can walk at lunch, it's not horribly snowy and icy yet this year. And also, I have a few hundred dollars in my flexible spending account that I have to use up by March, so prioritizing chiropractic and getting massages are a big part of this too. measurable outcome: aim for 5 recovery activities every week. backstory. I'm karinajean, 41, live in NY state, commute to NJ about an hour each way where I manage projects and clean up hazardous waste. I joined the NFA in October 2013 and transitioned over to the big scary boards (ahem, these forums) in April 2014. Since I discovered NR, I've lost about 25 lbs, tore my ACL / had it replaced with a cadaver ligament and rehabbed it, ran a bunch of running things, took over instruction for a class at the dojo, started with some weight lifting, and have increased by weight by about 20 lbs (note NOT all clean muscle). CURRENTLY I practice tae kwon do several times a week, take weapons and boxing classes in addition, and have a long-time overarching fitness goal of doing good form push- and pull-ups. I accidentally started doing crossfit in February 2018 and have been attending classes regularly since then. I have a crazy mean (yet super sweet) cat and live with my husband full time and my younger stepdude 1/2 time. the 2nd stepdude is In college out of state. I motorcycle, knit and spin, and am endlessly ignoring how messy the house and yard is. I'm an ASSASSIN because I like doing all the things, and because I want to be able to do push-ups and pull-ups -- these seem like very efficient movements that will exercise my upper body and core, and if I can do those and run and do martial arts (NINJA) I will feel totally strong and fit and capable. The MERMAID comes in because I saw it in a dream when I was a very young child and I believe it to be true. also kittens. you see how it goes.

Right. Last challenge was ok. A few slips, a few trips, and a general kind of 'scraped by' feel to it all. Not fantastic, but not awful either. This challenge is basically going to be about keeping the momentum going while not folding under increasing pressure from work. Things are going to get worse before they get better, and right now we're about to jump into the worst of it. Goal One: Physio Pt. II As before: three times weekly, slow increases in weight when required, record sessions, sensible workouts. Also, book an appointment with a doctor ASAP. booking now means I might actually get to see someone before the end of the year. Goal Two: Structure, Structure, Structure Work is about to be very not fun. I'm looking at one day a week off maximum, long streaks of seven, eight, and nine days on, and a generally stressful time all round. That means trying to plan a workout schedule the way I usually do is going to be impractical, so I'm switching it up a little: M/W/F = General workout days. When possible, do before work (except in the case of opening shifts) T/T = Run days. Again, do before work when possible S/S = Restish days. Mostly yoga, also walking and any other activity deemed 'light' Why this structure? Because I'm not doing anything particularly strenuous or challenging right now, plus this structure is likely to help me keep track of time better. That's a real issue right now thanks to stress and anxiety, and while I can't really fix it, I can make an effort to manage it better. Goal Three: Food Stuff Mostly the same as last time with a couple of adjustments thrown in. Junk still needs cut and good things still need added in, and I really need to get a clue about how much energy I'm using verses how much I'm actually putting in there. I suspect those numbers are not going to match up well at all. Cut the junk. No exceptions. At least three portions of veg daily. Two litres of water daily. Track calories. Goal Four: The Unfuckening Pt. II Again, mostly the same, but with a few tweaks. Fifteen minute daily tidy One daily cleaning activity Ten minutes of organisation daily Make at least half an hour of time every day to unwind, guilt free ***Edited to add SAD protocols, because this is the time of year that calls for it: Whenever there is sunlight, take a walk (this might end up being a daily thing regardless as the sun doesn't tend to come out after October) First get some vitamin D, then take it daily (also, set reminders on phone and have visible written notes) Nightly meditation, five to ten minutes, focusing on all of the positives of the day (even if that positive is 'got out of bed and did a thing') Zero Week I'd originally planned to jump right in but I'm actually due a housing inspection relatively shortly, so really I do need to do something of an emergency deep clean. While I'm at it, I might as well take the chance to set myself up for success. I have a fairly lengthy list of what needs done and when, but the major points are as follows: Deep clean the flat Food prep (three days full prep for work, partial prep for home) Set up reading corner Bike repairs Payday stock up and month-long budget That's not to say I'm neglecting the physical side of things, and I'll certainly be making the effort to stay on top of my food goals during zero week, but a housing inspection takes priority. I need to keep these people happy at all costs! So there it is. It's not the most exciting way to end the year, but at the moment I'll settle for getting there in one piece.

I figured that since I created a character with NF's character thing and a forum account just in time for the start of the next challenge, I might as well make what I'm doing an "official" challenge (and by "official" I mean "I'm going to post it here and work on it, but not do all the grading stuff the instructions say, because mental health is a thing for me at the moment"). Right now, my main goal is correcting the hormonal issues I've had since forever. I've been working with a holistic doctor for the past few months and have a solid plan in place for going forward. The main challenge right now is to finish implementing that plan and sticking with it for the next several months/year or so to really see results (tweaking as necessary). Diet Challenges I'm starting from a pretty solid "Paleo-ish" foundation, which is nice. No drastic changes necessary, thankfully. My goals right now are: Drop nightshades, legumes Significantly reduce dairy intake (will eventually drop it altogether, but I've already found I'm going to need to do this one in phases for the sake of my sanity) Maintain a more strict AIP-esque plan (hence the above) for a couple of months to help pinpoint the cause of some of my out of whack test results (including hints of autoimmunity) Fitness Challenges Here again, I've got a decent foundation. I've found a 4-day/week workout goal works for me (without the whole thing collapsing if I miss a day for any reason), and I'm having all kinds of fun with my new gymnastic rings. What I do need, though, is a decent lower body routine. The buggered-up discs in my lower spine have said "hell no!" to weighted squats of any sort. So this challenge's goal will be to find a routine that hits at least all the major lower body groups, without aggravating my back and laying me up for weeks again. This will involve picking a new exercise on each lower body day (or maybe once a week) to try and evaluate exactly which muscles it hits and how my back reacts to it, until I've got a set of stuff (and possibly alternative exercises) for a full lower body routine. *Bonus - I've thought about toying around with explosiveness exercises again. While my main focus will still be on the basic exercises and getting them down, if I get that together early, I plan to try out a couple of explosive exercises. Domestic(ish) Challenges I'm currently unemployed, and while I have a solid lead, I also need to better embrace my current "temp job" as "housewife." I literally have a Kanban board for chores. I need to suck it up and do some of them. I feel better when the house is tidier, though I'm getting overwhelmed by the combination of the number of things to do and the fact that we have crap for storage which is half the reason the mess keeps happening (and without a job, I can't do what I really want to do and get organization stuff to make the space we do have useful). It's also hunting season, and in that sweet spot where I can take my bow and bring back just about anything I can find (and if nothing else, the time...well...being a ranger...would do me good). So, my challenges are: Restart the daily dishwasher cycling habit I had going for a while Use the unfuckening tactic to work on tidying up and spend 5-10 minutes cleaning something, finding homes for stuff sitting out, or one other thing on my to-do list Find a way to address the whole "camping in freezing temperatures" thing (with the resources I have) and go on at least one hunting trip before this sweet spot window closes

I'm not entirely sure how long I've been away for this time, but my most recent race weekend has convinced me that it's time to come back. And this time I'm going to try and make it stick the best I can. I missed this place. Besides, pulling a full turtle act like the one I did is not the smartest idea at the best of times, and my time away definitely doesn't fall into that category. Shit happened, as it tends to do. Now is not the time to dwell on that though, now is the time to adjust and move on before the bog that is failures past swallows me whole. And in spite of all that I'm actually feeling more positive than I have done in a long time, and it's that which has given me the extra push to come back and try again. Goal One: Physio I broke myself again, mostly through my own stubbornness and a little stupidity, and while the pain is gone I know it's going to take a while yet for me to be properly recovered. As such, I absolutely need to stick to my physio. Not my usual 'do it for a few days then everything will be fine because no pain', but actually stick to the plan for the full eight weeks. Right now I'm on week two, and it's already getting tough to stick to purely because I don't want to. Given that the alternative is paving the way for re-injury, though... Aims are as follows: Three times weekly SLOW increases in weight for the exercises that require it I must note down when I do every session, and I must note down when I do not, and the excuses used Travelling is not a valid reason to skip a session, so for the weekend I'm travelling I must stick to the plan (albeit without the weighted exercises and ones requiring resistance bands) If we're being sensible about physio, we're also being sensible about working out around it. No deadlifts, no pull-up practice, nothing that will put any strain on my shoulder Goal Two: 50km In total. Over four weeks. So... something like 12.5km weekly? Tiny, tiny numbers, all things considered, but I have been neglecting just about every aspect of my fitness. What's more, this is more about getting myself back into some kind of routine rather than pushing for distance. Guidelines are: At least two runs per week, at most three 5km minimum distance At some point during week four do a timed 5k Goal Three: Diet Overhaul As well as neglecting my fitness, I let my diet slide right the way down to the bad end of the scale. This year I discovered depression eating and made six portion cheesecakes vanish in a single sitting uncomfortably often. And then I wondered why I gained weight... This is the heaviest I've ever been and I don't much like it. Rules are: Cut the junk. No cheesecake, chocolate, sweets, cakes, basically everything I make at work, and no fizzy drinks At least two portions of veg daily Two litres of water daily Goal Four: The Unfuckening As well as neglecting my fitness and diet, I have, surprise surprise, also neglected just about everything else in my life. I need to figure out something that gets me into a routine so I can fix all that up as well. This time around I'm focusing on my home environment (which looks like a bomb hit a skip...). Aims are: Ten minute daily tidy. Just set the timer and go. Doesn't matter what, so long as something gets tidied Do one daily cleaning activity. Wash the living room floor, polish a mirror, clean the cooker, anything along those lines. Just one Five minutes of organisation (because some parts are technically tidy, just horribly organised, and that needs just as much fixing, but any more than five minutes right now and I'm more likely to distract myself and end up creating more mess) That's it. Little things, teeny tiny baby steps for a slow and hopefully fairly sedate challenge. This has got to be a proper recovery, and that means going as slowly as I can right now. No matter how frustrating. I need to keep reminding myself that this whole mess, injury and illness and all, will only happen again, and worse, if I don't do this properly. When I've finished this course of physio then I can start working on bigger things to meet what few goals I still have right now. And on the other end of this recovery act, this whole process should serve as a way to slowly bring me back to actually looking after myself, both through fitness and diet, and ultimately should have a positive impact on my mental health too. It's just keeping on with the baby steps and continuing to hope that I can actually make it all work.

Knightfall Everyone can be broken. Everyone will meet their match and break like a wave on a cliff but it's not the fall that is important. The story isn't that a human can be broken that even the indomitable can falter. The important thing is what happens after. The choice to stay lying on the ground. Beaten and broken. Or to stand and and fight on. Okay, okay so a Batman themed challenge isn't the most original thing I could have come up with and it's not the first time I've done it either! I'm in a little bit of a creative slump, so I decided to go with an easy one to warm myself back up to the idea! The fall is both physical and mental. Anyone who followed the end of my last challenge will know that I recently picked up a running injury which has really kicked my legs out from under me, so to speak. However my bigger concern right now has to do with my eating habits. Over the last few months they have been getting worse and a lot more erratic. I've had serious weight problems for more of my life than I haven't and I can recognise when my eating behaviour has gone from troubling to down right destructive. Battling Bane! Right now food is a huge destructive force in my life. I struggle to emphasise how much of a problem it is for me. So here goes. Spoilered because talk about eating disorders and whatnot gets a little deep and goes a little long. TLDR: It is imperative that I control my binge eating. I usually don't advocate an all-or-nothing approach but I do find that this is what works for me. I need to track all my food. Plan in advance what I am eating and stick to the plan. My exact calorie counts aren't worked out yet but I'm going to stick with 2900-3000 for this week and adjust depending on my activity levels. The moment I go off plan things spiral out of control quickly. I want to add something on top of this and I'm essentially asking for a volunteer. If and when I feel the impulse to binge eat. Talk to someone about it before I pull the trigger. I've been feeling a little bit of a hypocrite recently when I've urged people to talk about their problems while I've refused to do this little thing. People have offered this before but I always feel horrible about adding my burdens to theirs. So I'm asking explicitly if there is anyone who honestly wouldn't mind if I sent a half hysterical message about wanting to eat an entire loaf of bread because thats the only thing thats edible within grabbing distance. In an ideal world I would never need to send that message but I've been getting myself into that state a lot recently. Onto much less difficult subjects: Recovery: I'm injured. I don't have a plan other than not running right now but I am seeing the physio on Thursday afternoon and I should have a better handle on what I should be doing from there. If all goes well I have a half marathon race on September 2nd but I am prepared to skip it if needed. Getting in Bat Shape! Meanwhile to focus on what I can do! In week 0: Monday: Cycle workout Tuesday: Lifting, Benchpress Wednesday: Cycle Workout Thursday: Rest Friday: Lifting, OHP Saturday: Sunday: TBD but I have a race entry for a looped event. Still hoping to be allowed to do 5 or 10k The general shape after week zero will be to have 4 lifting sessions and 3 cardio sessions per week but that is subject to change and I'm waiting for the physio appointment to work out the details. My focus this time round will be more on strength with the cardio sessions being much lighter than normal. However Squats and deadlifts are still very much TBD. Greasing the Groove: Finally I want to improve my pull-ups so I'm adding a little GTG type of work into this. 5 Pull-ups per day over the course of the day. May increase or decrease after each week.

My old gym turned into a box. I'd stopped going there when I got hurt last year but I always thought of going back to it when I felt confident enough. I made a stress fracture on my knee, at the head of my left tibia. A few days later, trying to walk on that knee with Law textbooks in my backpack, I injured my spine, lower back, on the connective tissue. I believe it was due to being a total noob and jumping form couch to free weights to beach rugby in a six month interval. Yesterday I was walking by the gym and saw it was empty! All the machines and weights were gone! But at the very end of it, a few women were practicing snatchs with empty bars. I got in and stroke up a conversation with the only man around, the one who had been resting lol. Turns out they set up a box there when the previous owner moved to another neighboorhood after greener pastures (my own neighboorhood is saturated with conventional gyms). The guy sounded like he really knew what he was doing. He sounded like a good physical educator. He told me in crossfit they'd teach me the foundations of fitness and gymnastics movements and get me properly strong before going to the weightlifting movements. And the thing is I covet gymnastics and love weightlifting. But I'm afraid I'll get hurt again. Crossfit looks so violent! With WODs and pushing and five workouts a week... I'm afraid my body won't be able to cope with that. I still feel pain on my back and knee every once in a while. Everytime I'm PMSing at least. Should I stay home and work on my push-ups and isometrics holds until I feel more confident... or should I take the leap?

I'm back and ready to do a full, real challenge. Dedicating this one to my favorite "kind of gay" witch. I've been dabbling in some "magic" lately to try to reach my goals, so in the spirit of that, it's going to be a magicky sort of challenge. GOAL 1: MENTAL BANISHING SPELL A while back, I talked about how I was looking into the idea of compounding success. Since May 2nd, I've been tracking the habits I built in previous challenges, combined with a few habits I want to build. I've made it into a game and so far it's working. Really well. It's a game of "How often can I cheat and how often can I weigh myself?" to satisfy all the stupid, impulsive pieces of my brain that will never not be obsessed with food and weight. While those parts of my brain are occupied, I get to satisfy my love of tracking (seriously, I track every book I read, every show I watch, every anime episode, EVERYTHING), and I get to actually gradually change my lifestyle, get healthier, feel better, and work on weight loss as a component of those things rather than the only thing. Spoiler tag has the deets. GOAL 2: RITUAL OF RESTORATION I went to the doctor (my new doctor, she's awesome :D) about my ankle. It's definitely an aggravated ligaments/tendons issue. I'm doing daily mobility exercises and RICE. I want to make sure I keep this up until it's healed, so my "exercise" portion of the challenge is entirely dedicated to recovery. GOAL 3: CAROLINA'S GRASP My previous challenges focused a lot on mental health, but I don't need much mental health TLC these days, since getting off the pill magically [sic] transformed my mental health over the last few weeks from always struggling with severe anxiety, mood instability, and depression, to I'm alright y'all. It's like my previous doctor was an asshole or something. I'm also [pretty much] done with graduate school, which is a huge load of stress off my shoulders. What I do need to do is find a job. So weekly job hunting and associated duties are going to be part of this challenge for me. See ya next week!

Stribs breathed a sigh of relief as she emerged from the mines; the hype had been rebuilt and all would be back to normal soon enough. She could already feel the hype intertwining itself with her aura once again, and the feeling settled her mind and her tired body. She took a shortcut through the woods, off the path, enjoying the quiet of the forest juxtaposed with the invigoration of the hype that now raced through her veins. She wandered down a ravine where some wild flowers were in bloom, taking in the first signs of spring after a long winter of the grind. She thought about wandering further, but changed her mind when she noticed how dark it was getting, and how loud the rustling of her steps had become walking through the tall weeds and flowers. She should probably get back home; it was best not to be caught out alone after dark, hype or not. As she climbed out of the steep ravine, a low ringing rumbled in her ears, and goosebumps raced across her skin. She calmored clumsily over the edge, looking for the direction of the path and quietly reminding herself to work on pull ups, but the ringing and the chill remained. She shook her head, rubbing her arms with her hands, but the goosebumps only spread, manifesting themselves as a pit in her stomach. She took off at a jog toward the path back to her house, finding it quickly, but not slowing as the hype was replaced with a feeling of dread. She finally slowed as her house came into view, but picked up the pace again when she noticed something different about her door. When she reached her home, she saw a torn piece of scroll had been stuck into her door with a knife. She ripped it off, recognizing the handwriting almost immediately, despite there being no signature. She let it fall to the ground, entering her house long enough to grab her pack and stuff it with her water skin, her sleeping mat and some food. Then strapping her bow to her back, and stuffing her daggers in her boots, she left without even locking the door. She thought for a moment about heading back to the guild hall, but she shook her head, starting off in the other direction, stopping only to pick up the note from the ground before bracing her body for a long jog that it wasn't even close to trained for...the words “they’re coming” pounding in her head with each step she took. Soooo, Stribs is in some deep shit. Four monsters from her past are after her and she has to fight them off in order to survive. The time for training is over and the real battle has begun. Each beast will have a certain number of hit points (they will increase week by week as we are looking for improvement, not perfection), and in order to vanquish each week’s beast, Stribs has to earn more points than the beast has. GOALS: (33 points possible per week) DRINK 162oz OF WATER OR UNSWEET TEA A DAY 1 point day (81 oz equals .5 because that is still improvement from the 40 or so I have been getting) 1600-1800 calories a day (aim for 1600 on non gym days and 1800 on gym days) 1 point a day Get 6-8 hours of sleep a night 1 point per night Do my school and home dailies 2 points per day (1 per location) The rules and other things that matter to my scoring, but maybe not to you. I actually started yesterday, because I am apparently a traditionalist and weeks have to start on Sundays. I got my 4 points yesterday, and am close to my 4 today, but we will see. The main struggle I see in this challenge is spring break that falls week 2. But we have 2 weeks to really make progress before then, so we will see. I didn't make any gym goals this go round (beyond to help with healing potions) because the gym is a habit. I no longer need reminders, and these things I have picked are seriously lacking or ignored in my life. I am REALLY REALLY stoked about this challenge as I already have each week planned out and mapped out. (that was the issue with my last narrative challenge...no planning...so i only wrote the one time...but I have a really really good feeling about this Happy challenge! Now to follow some threads!!!

Hello Everybody, (insert bashful image here). So, my last challenge sunk faster than the Luisitania. There was a whole lot of (redacted) to deal with, as well as some good news - my son is getting married! So, I need to re-focus, and "go back to kindergarten." My goal is pretty simple - systematically rebuild my healthy habits, and add one-by-one until I'm back to where I was about a year ago. I'm not starting completely at ground zero - still doing Yoga and meditation consistently, but a lot of the ranger-specific stuff is not being done yet. That will change. Details will be below the fold, but I'll clean it up more later. Hope everyone is well.

The Viking Village is now behind me, and I'm aboard Libera, the library ship of the seven seas. It's a large ship with a lot of crew, and it's heading towards Summer Islands in a few months. I decided that sailing with them would be safer for me than navigating the sea alone, and I can also gather some gold by working as a librarian. My own ship is being towed by Libera, and I still spend my free time there. In addition to working at the library, I have been given the responsibility of taking care of the ship's two dogs and a cat (there are more aboard, but the caretaker of these three was taken by a kraken a couple of weeks ago - I need to check the safety regulations of this ship). The dogs are named Savannah and Peregrin, and the cat is named Cannoball. I have been given clear instructions on how to care for all the animals. What all the animals need: ~: 30 minutes of walking on the deck every day :~ +1 point ~: regular meals with healthy ingredients :~ +1 point for every homemade lunch/dinner Savannah Savannah is highly intelligent, and needs to learn something every day to keep her from being bored. ~: study for (at least) 15 minutes every day (any subject will do) :~ +1 point for every 15 minutes ~: read 10 pages of fictional text every day :~ +1 point for every 10 pages ~: complete one drawing a week on Photoshop to learn new techniques :~ +1 point for every drawing Peregrin Peregrin is a laid back dog, who doesn't worry about much. Nevertheless, his previous owner was abusive, and now he thinks he's a bad boy. Peregrin needs to be convinced that he's a good boy. ~: change the negative ideas :~ I'm unworthy -> I deserve the good things in my life ~: remove restrictions, add High Quality Content to life :~ drawing photography reading adventuring socializing etc. ~: journal 5 times a week :~ +1 point for every journal entry Cannonball Cannonball is still young, and I need to help her build up a good foundation for her life as a ship cat. ~: prioritize sleep: go to bed when you start feeling tired :~ + 1 point every time I do this ~: do a bit of yoga daily, and a longer practice when you have time :~ +1 point for every yoga practice, +2 points for a long practice ** I am glad to start taking care of these lovely animals, and I hope that we'll have a good time together!

My arm hurts. It didn't hurt bad at all right after the surgery*, and I thought I had gotten off super easy. Now the nerves are starting to heal, which is GREAT, but also neuropathy = ow. Okay, moving on ... I am seriously recovering WAY faster and better than I had any right to expect. I was back in the gym 3 days post-op. Can't do anything with barbells yet, living on leg press and one-armed DB/KB stuff, but at least the habit remains intact. And if I keep progressing the leg press, theoretically I shouldn't lose too much on my squat. I hope. Anyhoo. 2018 BIG GOALS Build a library (I have a bonus room in my house that has been designated "library" since we bought the place over a decade ago. But it has really always been just the junk room.) Finish the bloody novel! (Bad habit - start a book, get about 25% through it, get a "great idea," start a new book. Stop that. Finish one.) Pay off half of student loans (Self explanatory, right?) Lifting/fitness goals TBD - depending on my recovery rate and how far back I have to start over from. I would like to do my first competition this year. This challenge: Write every day - I'm trying the Julia Cameron "Morning Pages" thing again, but if I fail at that I will fall back on 4theWords (streak = 444 words/day) Write down everything I want to buy that isn't clearly grocery or fuel, put it into Want or Need column, limit "want" spending to <20% of discretionary income (this should impose a mandatory cooling-off period of at least a few minutes actual thinking before I impulse buy just everything that Amazon/Etsy/et. al. shows me.) Go to gym at least 2x/week, 3x is better, do whatever my coach sez because she has a lot of experience rehabbing injuries/surgeries like this Participate fully in my gym's upcoming 3-month Transformation Challenge whenever it comes along Re: 3-Month Transformation Challenge - the coach/nutritionist that owns my gym does this every year. It involves three months of sticking like glue to a personalized nutrition plan (customized for age, gender, goals, etc.) My gym-mates who have done it before say that it is not at all torturous, there are reasonable accommodations for cheat meals and eating food that actually tastes good, and it is super effective. They haven't released any details yet about this year - like, for example, the start date! - my coach says it usually starts around the second week of January to allow everyone who traveled for the holidays to get back into the groove. I need to do *something* about my food. I cut my calories back for the surgery/recovery period since I am not training hard and I didn't want the combination of reduced activity + holiday eating to result in too much BF gain, but a lot of those fewer calories came from cookies and truffles, and I am feeling a little bit like * if you missed my ultra-whiny last challenge ... I had damage to my ulnar nerve at the elbow (funny bone) that was making my hand numb and tingly all the time. While my surgeon was in there anyways fixing that, she went ahead and did the carpal tunnel surgery that I also kind of needed but had been putting off. Surgery date was Dec 19. Recovery prognosis: 12-15 weeks, should be good as new. I'm really enjoying not feeling like my hand is always "asleep."

Well 2017 has been a nice year, but also a struggle. I've done two challenges since getting back on NF and I'm ready to start the new year strong!! I wish to use these few days before January 1st to set a baseline for my goals this challenge. So here are my goals: #1 Intermittent fasting I don't know what my baseline is at the moment, hence my statement above. I also don't know for how many hours to aim. It's gonna be between 14-16 hours probably. I wish to focus on eating 3 meals and no snacks regardless. Some sweets here and there on occasion so I don't falter. If I go 14 hours it'll be like 9-19 feasting and that sounds really normal to me. Sooooooo I need to figure out my eating schedule as it is right now and then adjust. #2 Drink 2 bottles of water Different from my previous drinking goal, I wish to focus on drinking 2 bottles of water regardless of other intakes. So no more counting mugs of tea and glasses of water. I have a bottle and I need to empty it twice each day. #3 Walking This is still a 1 time a week goal. Other exercise goals are for later. #4 Therapy exercises I will keep this goal till I'm nailing it XD I will be happy if I get a 25% on this one #5 Take medication Most importantly laxatives. But also my supplements. Let's see how I do this time [emoji3] As always I'll be tracking things in more detail on my Google sheet. (Link in my signature) I made a handy progress sheet to see how I do over multiple challenges ^^

“This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.” Winston Churchill “Ends and beginnings - there are no such things. There are only middles.” In the Home Stretch - Robert Frost ================= This year I’m fully embracing the battlemage archetype in order to better pursue my two main quests: Re-enter university, and this time be fully prepared for it. Build race fitness, create a body that can handle anything thrown at it. But we can’t just leap right in and start swinging swords and throwing fire about the place. No, this battlemage is tired and beaten and completely out of motivation. I’ve been working to build discipline, and so far progress has been questionable as during the last challenge I didn’t have a clear idea of just what it was I was striving towards. I haven’t really had any clear idea of where I was going for a while now. But that has changed. I know where I’m going. I may not know quite how to get there, but I know how to start, and I know that as I go on the next step of my path will become clearer to me. I am a person who has a routine to improve her mental health and help build discipline. I am a person who tracks her food intake so as to get a better understanding of how to fuel herself. I am a person who runs come rain or shine. I am a person who is the master of her own body. [sidequest] I am a person who walks daily for physical and mental benefit. With that, I enter a whole new stage of my life. Chapter three. Nowhere near the end, but definitely not the beginning, not anymore. There is solid ground beneath my feet, the fog on the path ahead has lifted a little, and I find I can move forwards with a confidence I haven’t felt in a long time. [Edit for zero week] Funnily enough, I didn’t intend to start this challenge until the 1st, but the build up to Christmas was fairly horrific. Retail Christmas is not a fun time to the year. As a result I’m feeling fairly beaten down and will need all the accountability I can get to stay on track with my prep work for kicking off the challenge properly. Mostly this involves cleaning up and organising my flat. Again. I find it very difficult to actually maintain this, especially when my mood dips. My work schedule for zero week is as follows: Monday and Tuesday: off Wednesday: Midshift Thursday: Backshift Friday: off Saturday: Backshift Sunday: Open This means I have three full days to dedicate to the task, two days where I can put in at least a couple of hours (mid/open days), and two days where work consumes all and the aim will be to take care of myself first and foremost. I’m not setting specific goals for zero week, but I will post daily updates to track my domestic rangering progress.

Long story short. Back in May, a cracked molar became abscessed, was pulled, and is now being replaced by an implant. I should do a Bionic Woman challenge for next year. But that’s meant that I’ve been losing a week here and there. Add the usual crud that goes around this time of year, and I’ve been having more “off” weeks than “on” weeks lately. However, with the infection gone and the screw firmly planted in my lower jaw, I am feeling much more energetic (funny how having a chronic infection cleared up will have that effect!), and I want to get “in” on the last challenge of the calendar year. It’s back to basics time, I’m afraid, but I’ll try to be amusing throughout. 1) Run, run, run, and run some more. The GOAL for the challenge is to run the Jingle Bell 5K and stay on schedule for the ½ marathon in May … and maybe for an OCR next summer. Because I like to run. Only other runners will understand. 2) LIFT, DAMMIT!!!!! GOAL: to be able to do the NF Academy Level 4 Gym workout --- all sets and reps. Because …. Maybe an OCR next summer. And because it is good for me and will help me be able to keep up with grand kids. Someday. Maybe. (Current grandchild has four paws and makes a great running partner.) 3) Cut out 250. Calories. Per day. GOAL: to record daily what SMALL changes and swaps I made. I’m not going to count calories … just work at finding the consumption that isn’t contributing to my health, workouts, or enjoyment. Yeap, you read that right, I am not demonizing eating “fun” foods, but I aim to be conscious of the times when I eat foods other than for fuel, and adjust what I really don’t find all that valuable. We just had Thanksgiving here in the USA, and we did NOT have turkey. Or sweet dressing. Or two kinds of pie. Or gravy and mashed potatoes. Or a ton of appetizers (at least, I didn’t) during the football game. Hubby and I (and our neighbors - who had us over for dinner yesterday - and our daughter and son-in-law) sat down and asked the question : Do we really enjoy the traditional meal. The answer was a universal “NO!” So we changed it up. I am using a book (Mini Habits for Weight Loss by Steven Guise) as a guide for establishing new habits and strategies. I know that Steve has written a bunch of good articles on the subject too. 4) Meditate. GOAL: 20 Minutes every day. Time to streak!!! 5) Finish my micro-biology simulation for research. Symbulation (stage one) is almost done, and I think I can polish it off before Christmas.

Action absorbs anxiety. My cousin used this phrase recently, and it's a concept I apply all the time, but I'd never heard that phrase before and it's been stuck in my head ever since then. I moved away from my home of 4 years in NY a little under 2 months ago, and it's been a struggle to adjust to being in a new place. I'm staying at my boyfriend's place, but he's the only person I know here. I don't have any friends or family, and I work from home so I don't even have work people to socialize with during the day. Plus, I just had wrist surgery so I haven't been able to go to my usual activities like Aikido. I miss having friends, even just friendly acquaintances, who I could regularly see and spend time around. I miss knowing how to get around. I miss having a familiar grocery store to go to. I miss a lot of things. I knew exactly what I was getting into when I made this decision, but the struggle is still there. I've been doing a pretty good job of exploring the area and getting out. i did some yoga classes for a bit before I had the actual surgery, I've made a list of different parks and such to explore and I've gone to explore them. I've found doctors, etc. But the anxiety's obviously still there, and it builds up when I don't take enough action. So, this challenge is all about taking action. A little background -- I've been focusing on one habit per challenge this year instead of tackling a bunch of things at once: So for Challenge #9, I want to continue to take action in different categories. I'm not sure I can really call this one habit, but whatevs. 1. Fitness I can't do a whole lot with my wrist recovering, sadly including running. So instead, I want to focus on the things I can do. There are two categories. A - Walking. I get 1 point per day that I walk 60 minutes, and I get a second point for any additional 30 minute increments. B - I get one point per other fitness activity I do. I'm aiming for 4/week. I have a weekly stretch video and a yoga video (with slight modifications) that I can do. I can also do some workouts made up of squats, lunges, dead horse crunches, bicycles, flutter kicks, russian twists, etc. since none of those things should bother me too much. I'll be flexible about which ones I do. 2. Food Since I won't need any extra energy for the low intensity stuff described above, it's actually a great time to focus in on diet. If I end the day feeling like I made mostly good choices and with a net positive effect on my waistline, I get one point. If I make a good decision in a restaurant (which is a huge problem area for me) I get an extra point. 3. Work Working from home can be challenging. It's harder to get into the swing of things. I've been working on a project with very few intense deadlines, so that makes it even more challenging. I get work done, but I always sort of feel like I should do more. It's kind of embarrassing because I've always been a hard worker, but between an old manager who never assigned me work and working from home, I've somehow accidentally overridden my good habits with lazier ones. So. I get one point for the morning and one point for the afternoon. I earn these points by doing more than I have to - either helping someone out, or getting ahead on something, or whatever. 4. One-Time Tasks I have some one off things that always need to get done. For example, I'm planning to go to the DMV on Monday to register my car, since that's kiiiind of overdue. Also, there are places I want to explore in the area. This one's harder to score because it's not necessarily something that I need to do daily and the target score will flex depending on my to do list for the week. I'll write out the list later and decide the scoring requirements week by week for that one. 5. Recurring Tasks This can be anything from doing my laundry to doing some extra tidying, etc. I'll get one point per day that I do a recurring chore. I can get extra points for extra tasks. Bonus Points Any time I take an extra action specifically as a way to handle and manage anxiety, I get a bonus point. This can happen across any of the above categories. Rewards I'm planning to figure out some sort of reward system for this challenge. There's a base score I'm aiming for in each category, and then bonus points I can earn in most of them. So I'll create some reward tiers and each extra tier I hit will earn an extra reward. TBD.

Yesterday, I had surgery to repair my torn PCL in my right knee. I want to document my recovery journey here since the NF community is so supportive, and I'm excited to get moving toward a better, faster, stronger leg! Going in to the procedure - I was told that aside from a total knee replacement, PCL surgeries are the most painful that you can have. The procedure was arthroscopic, so my knee wasn't opened up - just a couple incisions for the cameras and tools. They did drill a hole through my tibia to be able to insert the ligament graft. Everything went well - the whole procedure lasted about 2-2.5 hours, and then I was in the recovery room for another two. The procedure is outpatient, so I was able to go home yesterday afternoon! I've been pleasantly surprised at how little pain I'm in. The pain I do have is easily assisted by the medication given by the doctor. My leg is probably doubled in size - the repaired knee has surgical dressings, an ace bandage wrap, compression stocking, cold therapy sleeve, then a giant locking brace to keep my leg locked in an extension. All those together have made finding clothes that will accommodate the size quite difficult. The next two weeks are about rest, ice, and more rest. I go back to see the doctor in two weeks, and after that, physical therapy will begin. We can remove the surgical dressing tomorrow, and I'm allowed to shower on Friday (without getting the wounds wet). I'll be in physical therapy 2-3 times/week for the next 6-7 months. There's a long road ahead, but it will be so good to finally have a knee that is stable and works! More fun post-surgery updates to come.

Planned goals (copy and pasted from last challenge thread): Sleep like it's your job: I am so much more pleasant, productive, and energetic when I consistently get ~8 hours of sleep; this year I've really discovered that it's a cornerstone habit for making good choices throughout the day Fuel like an athlete: Eating veggies, fruits, and plenty of carbs will be a cornerstone of my athletic diet; don't need to track but do need to find some way to ensure I'm eating a proper diet (likely will be number of fruit / veggie servings consumed) Work like a boss: More subjective than past work goals, but I want to hold myself every day to a standard of delivering results like I already am at the level I'm gunning for in the next promotion cycle Recover every day: no matter what it is, I need to do something for mobility's sake every day - can be stretching, dynamic mobility work, foam rolling, ankle rehab exercises, foot stretching, etc. Well-rounded every day: Carve out 10-15 mins every work day for language practice and carve out time for two mental toughness workouts (for dance and work) and a short bit of prayer. Yes, this goal is a lot, and it'll probably take more than one challenge to get all of them regularly happening daily.

Well I've been at this fitness and working at thing for about 4 months and I finally hit the point where I feel like my body needs a break. I have been working out consistently 3/4 times a week for about 4 months and I finally hit the point where I felt like I was starting to hit lower numbers of reps and a general fatigue. ill take this next weeks workout slots for strength and fit in some yoga and stretching , while keeping up my off day 15-20 min jump rope and hand balance practice. im also going to lessen my calorie deficit. i definitely feel like I'm more aware of how my body feels. also I hit 219.2 lbs(down from 286)this morning.:)

Whoa! What? Who is this rebel tucking her tail and returning to the rebellion? Oh, it's Angela The Geek! Holy crap, guys... It's been like a really, really long time. It's been over a year since I started and didn't finish a challenge. Well, I'm back! And lots of stuff has happened in the time that I've been gone. Where to start... 1. I spent most of 2016 going in and out of the Emergency Room and Hospital. I went to the ER over 25 times in 2016, and added a few more times in 2017 to get up to a whopping 32 ER visits. It impacted my training for weightlifting, my work, and my personal life tremendously Basically what was happening is that I would get an intense pain in my stomach that would cause me to start vomiting, and then I couldn't stop. I would vomit 4-5 times per hour and dry heave when there was nothing left in me to throw up. When I eventually got to the ER, it was like starting over every time. The only thing that stopped the vomiting episodes was really heavy IV drugs, but they were always reluctant to give them to me, so they would give me everything else and I would spend hours suffering, before they finally gave in and gave me the good stuff. Sometimes they refused and sent me home anyway, then I would be back in less than 12 hours, and the whole process would start again until they gave me the right meds. My first diagnosis was Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome, which isn't actually an illness, but a symptom of something else going on. It took seeing a GI specialist, then a Neurologist to determine that I have Abdominal Migraines. They are as terrible as they sound. Luckily, the neurologist prescribed a daily anti-migraine med this year, and I haven't been to the ER since February! 2. In the middle of all of that going on, I had surgery in July to correct De Quervain's tenosynovitis in my left wrist. That put me out of training for 6 months. 3. Finally got back to training full time for weightlifting and then started having issues with sciatica. Spent a few months trying to work through the pain, then finally went to the doctor and got an MRI on my back. Turns out I've re-herniated my lowest disc and now it's pinching my sciatic nerve. Apparently, it's not supposed to look like this: SOOOOOOOO where does this leave me??? Getting back surgery at 35 years old. I'm scheduled to get surgery on July 26. Looks like it will be a 4-6 week recovery and then I'll hopefully be able to very slowly get back under a barbell. In the meantime, I'll be doing some swimming to try to not get too out of shape. MY CHALLENGE GOALS 1. Finish classes before surgery I am almost done with school! This semester I have three classes, and I've finished one so far. My term ends August 31, but I would like to get the other two classes done before my surgery. I have a study plan that sets me up to do this, I just gotta stick to it. 2. Stop eating like a weightlifter while I'm not lifting This one hurts my ego the most. I've spent the past 5ish years getting stronger by eating more. Now I'm doing nothing and still eating a lot. Gotta knock that off. This will be achieved by logging my food at least 5 days per week, and attempting to stick to my macros. Since I'm not training, I'm trying to eat lower carb, so that's what I will be focusing on. 3. Full recovery from surgery This is the most important goal. I probably won't be 100% recovered by the end of the challenge, but will be almost there. I'm going to be off work for at least 4 weeks, which means I have no excuses to not do my recovery PT and swimming. Recovery PT will be 7 days a week, swimming will be 3-4 days per week. This requires me to actually leave the house and go to the pool, which will be important to keep up my spirits while I'm stuck at home for a month. I am very much a homebody and would stay home 24/7 if I didn't force myself to leave the house. So, there it is. Short and simple. It has to be though, because I don't want to start another challenge and not finish it. I'm notorious for that. I'm SO SO SO SO happy to be back. I really need the support of my nerds to get me through this challenging time and to help me start back from square one with my lifting. I love you guys!