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I tend to do a special Valentines themed February, to be hot and shallow and go to a lot of parties. (Mostly shallow, as I still largely aspire to either of the other two.) Some years it's a Casanunda challenge from Discworld, but I think I'm in Trek mood this year. So I'll do second edition of last year's Vulcan Valentine's challenge. 1. Strength training Dating on Vulcan requires a lot more combat than you might expect. So physical training is important. But what will not do is upsetting the delicate hormonal balance that keeps you from killing half a dozen people with sharpened hockey stick. To keep cortisol down, the goal is minimum effort, but lots of consistency. Low and slow. I'm still into isometrics. I haven't managed enough consistency to really know for sure if they're as efficient as the claims say, but they're Good Enough, and they're the workout I will do, so that's fine. I will count anything. The goal is consistency. But I do want giant muscles eventually, cuz I have people to beat with a lirpa. Also bonus points for my stupid daily walk for my stupid physical and mental health. It's boring, but it's a good daily vitamin of movement. Goal: be strong, do an exercise 2. Rest Dating on Vulcan requires quality sleep. I need to stick to a sensible bedtime. I also need to work hard to keep my chronic sleep deficit down. Under seven hours is the target zone. Under ten hours is pretty decent. Under 17 hours is sort of a yellow alert, not great. Anything over that, I am in red alert. I also need to baby the most annoying sinuses on the planet. I also need to do a yoga nidra meditation to practice sleep during the day. (I need remedial sleep lessons, guys.) Goal: 11pm bedtime. Keep sleep deficit under ten hours. Keep my sinuses happy. One yoga nidra session. 3. Emotional Management I've been reading a lot lately about emotions stored in the body, usually in the form of some kind of tightness or stiffness, and also in the form of different modes of nervous system activation that don't always respond to modern stressors correctly. (Emily Nagoski talks about both of these in some of her Burnout talks, and the yoga nidra-adjacent folks also talk about it, and various ADHD people have been touching on it from a different angle. It's just showing up everywhere I turn.) This is likely me, and probably a more effective approach than trying to out-reason various behaviors and emotions. Meditation has left me with a certain distrust of using the mind to master the mind, because it's just not that smart, and the only thing that's made a really noticeable difference in ADHD symptoms and so on is frequent rest breaks. There are various recommendations, but it's generally low intensity movement and rest aimed at helping stress responses shut off and undoing some of the physical symptoms they leave behind, so the body stops taking cues from them. Both my previous two goals count towards this, in part. But also, it turns out my fave yoga evening cooldowns are probably ideal. Also, there's mindfulness and metta meditation I'd like to get done; metta is definitely on point here, and mindfulness is just helpful in a foundational sort of way. I, uh, also need to remember to actually do the rest breaks I plan to do. If my day is going badly, I'm likely to start skipping them, but if my day is going badly, skipping them is probably the reason why. I have to treat them like a job. Goal: Get emotions out of the body. (By doing something extra that is not covered already, and, like, meditating and stuff.) 4. Vulcan Is a Hot Planet Vulcans play a darned good eyeshadow game. Also, it's easy to forget what sassy clothes horses Vulcan can be. Like, that bling, guys. They out-bling a lot of planets. The traditional Valentine's challenge includes various wardrobe, makeup, skincare, or bachelor pad modifications for increased hotness. (This is not totally shallowness, because I get stuck in utilitarian ruts and stop paying enough attention to that stuff. Caring appropriately for the aesthetics of one's body, clothes, and environment is purely logical, and not frivolity at all. Logic.) Goal: One style or hotness upgrade per day.

The Way of the Jellyfish I’m looking to be able to absorb and go with the flow, no matter what plot twist or power surge comes my way. And, speaking of power surges, I saw meaningful discharges over the course of the last challenge, in the form of messages I sent out and messages I received from my body. Electric fences pack a huge wallop. Conflict is inevitable; combat is a choice. When we are in a position of power, we can choose to act from a place of agency and authority, in elastic response to, and in harmony with, the ocean of chaos and outrage around us, without losing our boundaries. This is the goal. It will require detangling how I have woven the story of my Self with threads (and at times knots) of others, unwinding my habits, tendencies, and fears. This will not be easy or simple, and it will likely be the beginning of a lifetime of weaving who I am in the world. The Details The spreadsheet is much slimmer this round. Constitution: Acupuncture. Rest. This is enough. Strength: Go to work. Do PT. Dexterity: Emotional Balance. Public Transit. Wisdom: Debt Payments. Emergency fund. Taxes. Oh My. Intelligence: Finish the Overdue Paper and turn it in. Charisma: Connect with others. Cultivate a genuine support network. Beginning Stats Constitution 2 Strength 3 Dexterity 4 Wisdom 4 Intelligence 3 Charisma 2

Last challenge was about embracing the stillness, and as we enter the final days of the year, the nights seem to be gobbling up the daylight, and the thin sunshine buffeted by wind, rain, and and a cold that crawls through the cracks. I have a list of things that need to be buttoned up before the end of the year. My focus this round is to go slowly, making time and space for what supports and sustains me. I've found that when I do this, and go gently, all the rest falls into place. Happy Solstice, friends.

When the stockings are hung by the fireplace, and the snow is falling, and the mince pies and sherry have been left out for the Hogfather, and everyone is settled in for the end of the year, there is only one question left: have you been naughty or nice? That's it. That's the challenge. Along the way, I'm going to lean into hibernation. A week of meditation retreat, a week of extra sleep, a week of intermittent fasting (and feasting). I'm going to lean into all the martial arts/meditation "soft is better than hard" and "do less" mottos, and treat every under-performance or attention failure as a reason to rest more. I'm going to try to solidify my evening workout and metta meditation before bed. What I'd like to add is consistency with a daily walk, preferably first thing in the morning, and for mindfulness meditation. And I'm going to aim for a lot of holiday cheer. As close to a fatal dose of winter hygge as I can manage. Mandatory hot cocoa. table { --palette-red: #7b0a0a; --palette-cream: #e5d5bb; --palette-tan: #b2a288; --palette-lgreen: #668c6f; --palette-dgreen: #213c18;} table.plan { border: 2px var(--palette-dgreen); Border-top: 50px; Border-bottpm: 50px; background-color: var(--palette-lgreen); Width: 100%; Color: var(--palette-dgreen); } .plan tr:nth-child(even) { Background-color: var(--palette-cream); } .plan tr:nth-child(8n+1) { background: var(--palette-dgreen); color: var(--palette-cream); font-weight: bold; text-align: center; } .plan td:nth-child(4n+1) { Background-color: var(--palette-dgreen); color: var(--palette-cream); font-weight: bold; text-align: right; } .plan td:nth-child(4n-0) { font-weight: bold; text-align: center;background:var(--palette-dgreen); } table.tally { border: 1px solid var(--palette-red); Background-color: var(--palette-tan); Width: 100%; Color: var(--palette-dgreen); } .tally tr:nth-child(even) { Background-color: var(--palette-cream); } .tally tr:nth-child(9n+0) { background: var(--palette-red); color: var(--palette-cream); font-weight: bold; text-align: center; } .tally tr:nth-child(9n+1) { background: var(--palette-red); color: var(--palette-cream); font-weight: bold; text-align: center; } .tally td { } .tally td:nth-child(4n+1) { Background-color: var(--palette-red); color: var(--palette-lgreen); font-weight: bold; text-align: right; } .tally td:nth-child(4n-0) { font-weight: bold; text-align: center;background:#7b0a0a; } Day Plans Hogswatch Cheer 🎄 M28 Winter clothes Digital job Fix Christmas lights Xmas movie Warm socks next to the bed T29 Wrap early gifts Schedule Doctor Who Xmas specials Xmas movie W30 Online zendo hours Get dates for events Redo work schedule Xmas movie Th1 Winter clothes Start all the yule logs Xmas movie F2 Find winter boots Get out lights Xmas movie S3 Garden task 12/5 prep Xmas movie Su4 Seasonal baking Find a timer Restock the hot cocoa stash Xmas movie Plans Hogswatch Cheer 🎁 M5 Date to watch Xmas movie Batch of eggnog week T6 Start meditation week Time scarcity week Xmas movie W7 Th8 F9 Finish project A S10 Su11 Seasonal baking Plans Hogswatch Cheer ⛄ M12 IF week Test morning routines T13 W14 Th15 Date to watch F16 S17 Su18 Seasonal baking Plans Hogswatch Cheer 🎄 M19 T20 W21 Th22 F23 S24 Su25 Hogswatch #1 Plans Hogswatch Cheer 🕯️ M26 Day off T27 Annual review Annual plan W28 Th29 F30 S31 Hogswatch #2 Su1 Tracking template:

Hey all. I've been feeling really unmotivated and unambitious lately. Considering my problem is usually trying to do EVERYTHING, it's very weird for me to not be interested in doing much of anything. So I've identified a few things that I believe may be contributing to my overall lethargy and this challenge will be all about working to get back to my usual energized self. Restorative Slumber Sleep seems like the logical place to start, but my quantity of sleep is good. I do think I'm overdue for a new mattress, but that isn't in the budget at the moment, so instead I bought a new pillow instead and splurged for what is supposed to be a good one instead of grabbing the cheapest one at Walmart. I've only had it about 3 days, so it's a bit soon to tell, but I do think I'm sleeping better. Rested Vision I'm almost certain that eye strain is contributing to the problem. I have tried to reduce my screen time, but I spend a lot of my work day on the computer, and there's not a lot I can do about that. So I'm also looking into blue light filtering glasses to see if that helps. Restful Space Last challenge was supposed to be all about cleaning my space up, and I made progress, but there is more work to be done. A quiet space=a quiet mind, so I'll keep plugging away at this. Rejuvenated Spirit I have gotten lax with my devotional time. I think I'm going to take this challenge to do a word study on rest in the Bible. Restful Hobbies Some activities leave me feeling much better than others, and I need to get better at making time for the ones that don't leave me feeling depleted. Specifically, I'm prioritizing music, writing, and homesteading. Rejuvenation A lot of nights I skip or truncate my skin care routine, and that needs to stop. It takes less than 5 minutes and I feel so much better when I stay on top of this. Active Recovery I'm not pushing exercise this challenge, because I've noticed the more I try to force myself into it the less likely I am to actually follow through, but I do want to keep moving. So the goal this challenge is to walk or do yoga 5 days/week. It's probably going to be more walking than yoga, that's mostly to act as a backup on rainy days.

A reoccurring theme I've noticed in my challenges is people commenting, "Wow, that's a lot". And then I always hit a wall at some point and only meet half of my goals. So I'm going to try to ease back a bit, because the whole point of these challenges is to build new habits, and I'm not doing that if I lose steam half way through and have to start over again every single time. I took my first vacation, ever, this past week, and I have felt so much better that I realize I really need to take more time for myself. This is basically what I've been trying to do for the past couple of challenges. But I only seem to actually workout a couple of times a week. Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Work Work Work Work Work Jujitsu (AM) Church “ “ “ “ “ “ “ “ “ “ Cardio Resistance Jujitsu (PM) Life Group Errands Cardio Resistance Endurance or Speed Hams (RDLs) & Chest Yoga Abs Yoga Endurance Hams (RDLs), Lats & Delts I do want to workout everyday, because trying to fit in all of my workouts into just a few days, historically, has also been a disaster for me. So I'm attempting to make some changes that should be more feasible. Thus far, I've noticed that, try as I might, I can't get myself to do any time of long, involved workout on Saturdays. And they only sometimes work for Sundays. I really want to take my weekends off to catch up on errands, housework, and just let myself rest and detach. So I think I'm going to change the Saturday workout to a light yoga and core work day. Sundays some time of light cardio at home. Wednesdays are supposed to be Jujitsu, but my instructor is having scheduling issues and we've been on weekday hiatus for the past six months. I want to leave that day open for Jujitsu, but I also want to just go home after work, so I think I'll change that to a bodyweight, or Martial Arts drill day at home. But because of other obligations in the week, taking out Wednesday and the weekends, really messes with having a balanced schedule. My court schedule recently changed, and I'm heavily considering taking Fridays off, or at least Friday afternoons off. Which would let me get my errands done early, which would leave my Friday evenings available for workouts. ...... I'm thinking. Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Work Work Work Work Work Jujitsu (AM) Church “ “ “ “ “ “ “ “ “ “ (?? Off?) Resistance Cardio Jujitsu (PM) Life Group Errands?? Rest Cardio Hams (RDLs), Chest & Back (Bench & Lat pull down) Endurance or Speed (& Abs?) BW/(MA?) Squats/Quads, Shoulders & Rows) Yoga/Rest Abs? Resistance? Yoga/Abs/(Rest)? Endurance or Speed (& Abs?) I'm also thinking really hard about getting a barbell for home. If I manage that, I'll do a RDLs every day. In which case, the whole thing will change. *****Honestly, this challenge changed three different times while I was writing it. Here are my goals, 1. Workout every day, (or not if approved by schedule) 2. Eat more, earlier in the day, so I don't overeat at night. ( And I guess less overall). 3. At least 6: hours of sleep and glasses of water, per day. Chart key: ❌s & ✔️s Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Week 0 Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5

I fell flat two weeks ago. Just stopped doing my challenge for no very good reason. And then I had a weird FB altercation with my SIL which emotionally drained me. She had the gall to try to use my playing video game twice with her child as an insult. Argh! Still processing. I'm taking this as a sign to just maintain. And eat cookies. The goal therefore is to just maintain fitness, health, and home. I was doing better socializing here, so any extra energy will go to spending some good nerd time.

It's autumn. I need to do the things. And I need a bit of discipline and structure about it. But the supportive mentor variety. So I need to get the dojo mentality back into my life. This fire dude will do, cuz of all of them, he's the one who has his adulting game on point. Hopefully there will be autumnal moon cakes. (Of the inauthentic low-carb variety. This is Avatar, you're lucky they're not on fire.)

I decided to reset this challenge. It's Week 0 and I'm struggling. Not because the challenge itself was hard, and I plan on keeping on with those goals. But I think it put me in a negative mindset and you know, Week 0 was hard. I don't think the rest of the challenge will be as hard as week 0, but I'm already so very tired. So the previous goals are in the spoilers and are still relevant, but it's time to bring out a fresh piece of paper and make some new marks. Taking Charge of my Time: wrapping up each week on Friday mornings. Paying bills, answering emails, filing, and making notes of what I want to accomplish in the next week Silent time- I need time that is quiet. Living with a blind person, there is always noise in this house. Music, audiobooks, Mom and Dad talking, talking, talking. I need quiet time. That was the best part about working out in the yard. It was so quiet. I just need an hour of quiet for my brain to just rest from the constant stimulation. Time to work- I'd like to get all the exercise and chores done in the morning, and just focus on my illustration in the afternoons. I think that I'll work better if I have shorter days anyway. I got so much done in the yard and that was two hours a day. If I can do that with illustration for 4 hours a day, I think I can get a couple dummies done by the end of summer.

Suddenly the machine was wobbling... In a few hours the shops out there were expecting deliveries, and they weren't going to arrive. The government couldn't sit this one out. A city like Ankh-Morpork was only two meals away from chaos at the best of times. Every day, maybe a hundred cows died for Ankh-Morpork. So did a flock of sheep and a herd of pigs and the gods alone knew how many ducks, chickens and geese. Flour? He'd heard it was eighty tons, and about the same amount of potatoes and maybe twenty tons of herring. He didn't particularly want to know this kind of thing, but once you started having to sort out the everlasting traffic problem these were facts that got handed to you. Every day, forty thousand eggs were laid for the city. Every day, hundreds, thousands of carts and boats and barges converged on the city with fish and honey and oysters and olives and eels and lobsters. And then think of the horses dragging this stuff, and the windmills... and the wool coming in, too, every day, the cloth, the tobacco, the spices, the ore, the timber, the cheese, the coal, the fat, the tallow, the hay, EVERY DAMN DAY. And that was now. Back home, the city was twice as big. Against the dark screen of night, Vimes had a vision of Ankh-Morpork. It wasn't a city, it was a process, a weight on the world that distorted the land for hundreds of miles around. People who'd never see it in their whole life nevertheless spent their life working for it. Thousands and thousands of green acres were part of it, forests were part of it. It drew in and consumed... ...and gave back the dung from its pens and the soot from its chimneys, and steel, and saucepans, and all the tools by which its food was made. And also clothes, and fashions and ideas and interesting vices, songs and knowledge and something which, if looked at in the right light, was called civilization. That's what civilization meant. It meant the city. Was anyone else out there thinking about this? Was anyone important thinking about this? Suddenly the machine was wobbling, but Winder and his cronies didn't think about the machine, they thought about money. Meat and drink came from servants. They happened. Vetinari, Vimes realized, thought about this sort of thing all the time. The Ankh-Morpork back home was twice as big and four times as vulnerable. He wouldn't have let something like this happen. Little wheels must spin so that the machine can turn, he'd say. But now, in the dark, it all spun on Vimes. If the man breaks down, it all breaks down, he thought. The whole machine breaks down. And it goes on breaking down. And it breaks down the people. Terry Pratchett, Night Watch My machine is wobbling, and little wheels must spin so that the machine can turn. Right now, it all spins on me. If I break down, it all breaks down.

I'm new and here for a place to describe what I'm doing, express my thoughts about it, get some feedback, and ideally participate in a community. Areas for exploration Physical Be consistently active, following my plan. Since I'm trying to do too much, figure out what's carved in stone and where I can be flexible. Dumbbell workouts three times a week will likely be foundational. See what happens when my planned hikes and weighted pack walks collide with my new jogging habit -- do I decrease my weekly urban hike? Kick jogging down the road? Leave the backpack behind? Take walks and do gentle yoga as often as they're needed. Diet Find easy ways to increase protein intake at all meals. Make better choices overall. Cook regularly and happily. Say yes to Gatorade on long walks. Rest Get quality rest. Take sufficient rest between demanding activities. Recuperate with baths, hydration and healthy food. If I need to take a week off again, focus on yoga and walking rather than sitting on the couch watching Star Trek. Improve sleep hygiene: decrease drinking during the week (glass of wine with supper yes, "one more dram" at ten o'clock no), screens off by 9:30, read before bed. Create room for prayer and meditation before bed. Build a habit of getting up on time. To Do (Zero Week stuff, hopefully) Sort out the indoor/outdoor shoe issue. Inventory and replace socks. Look into new jogging pants since the ones I've been working out in have holes in the butt. Probably get a new hiking hat. Prowling dragons If there is a sudden increase in my workload, I will either shorten my strength workout or go for a walk or do yoga on my break and do my strength workout after work. If self-esteem issues around exercising in public flare up, I will build up time gradually and do longer runs before work; the early morning dog walkers are generally chill. If Bad Thoughts attached to running flare up, I will express them in a neutral venue and judge how seriously I should take them; it might mean scaling back or letting jogging go for now. When unresolved issues that decide to be relevant when I try something new flare up, I will distract myself with more interesting thoughts (what even is the relationship between Neo-Platonism and Merkabah mysticism anyway?). Weapons True Names (being able to describe the problem helps tame it), a plan (make it easy) Virtues curiosity, self-awareness, courage

Late to the party, whoops, but I did just return from vacation on Monday. I trailed off on the last challenge but don't feel terrible about it because it was insanely hectic - not the most stressed I've ever been, but definitely the most major events in a month. Plus at the beginning of the challenge I wasn't planning on the Italy work trip, and then that happened in the middle of everything. My healthy routines were thoroughly disrupted, but I still squeezed in a little exercise and some vegetables. I'm thrilled to be home, and in my own kitchen and bed again (not at the same time, obviously). After eating out most meals for three weeks, I am excited to cook balanced, delicious meals at home. Overall Goals My general life goals have changed a bit because, uh, I'm pregnant and all - so weight loss is no longer the primary aim. I weighed myself this morning and was unpleasantly surprised by the number on the scale, but the internet tells me it's normal to have gained 4-6lb at this point even though the baby is only the size of a raspberry, so I feel better about it now. I'm going to stop weighing myself at home because it makes more sense to focus on make healthy choices each day. I've cancelled my NF Coaching because I already feel a bit overwhelmed, and through work I'm going to be assigned an RN who will advise on healthy eating and exercise throughout my pregnancy. But I have even stronger reasons to eat healthy, and I won't be drinking ha, so I'm going to focus on paying attention to how I feel - more frequent, small meals seems to sit better with me these days. I am currently working to use up a lot of my pantry/freezer food which has been accumulating for...a while. I also want to declutter since we mayyy buy a house and move before the baby comes. Goal #1: Cook all the things Make (nearly) all our food at home, avoid relying on processed food. I'd like to get in a good pattern of meal prep and eating at home pre-baby. Document food here. Goal #2: Feel the burn Work out doing whatever feels good. Right now that's barre but I'd like to try to get running again if I can do it without chest pain. Aiming for working out 3x/week minimum, and walking on other days to aid digestion and circulation. Goal #3: Feed the fire Take extra kind care of myself. Give myself an 8-hour sleep window. Nap if needed. Meditate daily. I have FIVE WEEKS before our family vacation when we tell the family, and I have already told random coworkers in Italy (because finding out I was pregnant the week before the trip was anxiety-inducing), a couple coworkers I am closer to (because we were on vacation for a week and they wouldn't have figured it out from the not drinking anyways, and this way I was able to talk to a friend who had twins last year about it), and another friend (who I stayed with on the way to and from the Florida vacation, because we're close and it was nice to do it in person). Between now and the official family announcement at which point it will be public, I will probably tell a couple more friends because as an external processor keeping secrets is not my strong suit. It still feels completely surreal, but in the best way.

Hello everyone, first challenge here. Little bit about me, I am in my last semester of undergrad. Working towards a degree so I can become a usmc officer, I'm not in an rotc unit I'm going for the ocs route. Outside of my training, I enjoy cooking, video games, old movies (think 90s and earlier), and reading/writing fiction. Major goal 1: become master of martial arts. Major goal 2: become a more well rounded individual Small goals to work on: - Training, train martial arts at least 4 times a week. Two tkd classes, two independent sessions. -rest and recovery, Meditate at least 5 mins daily, a major struggle for me is to make time for meditation. -rest and recovery, do yoga, ayurvedic self massage, or use my foam roller at least every other day. -personal development, read for self improvement at least 30 mins a week, topics of leadership, psychology, philosophy, etc. Second major struggle is reading non fiction, but I know there are plenty of benefits to it. My conditioning and diet are pretty good, see (BB's battle log for details), but I find myself running ragged many days and wasting my time not devoted to training or class work. Plan for recording my progress: This list filled out every other day. Date______ Training (y/n) Meditated (y/n) how long _____ Recovery (y/n) Read (y/n) how long ______ To be filled out in the evening after all my classes. Any suggestions for formatting, or anything else would be appreciated. -BB

The dapper necromancer, a man of questionable scruples and even more questionable magic, is tired of having to get his bodies from grave diggers and the like. They're never quite fresh enough and once you've made one old corpse rise from the dead, the novelty loses its value and the rot begins to stink up the place. So he's diversifying into corpse acquisitions! Of course, before he can start running and jumping across rooftops, he needs to start with some fundamentals. Oh and don't worry, he swears to only use what he learns on monsters. Though the thought of an undead minotaur should probably worry you a bit... Fitness goals: 9 hours of sleep a day Run at 6mph for 5 minutes (last tested limit: 2 minutes) ONE. DAMN. PULL UP. Life goals: Make a very, VERY simple stealth game in Unity (VERY simple. One level, 2D, rotating guard LoS with no extra movement or sensors)

After four long years (which have actually gone by very fast), I am returning to his chosen art of Shotokan karate, in earnest. I feel I finally have all the tools I need to keep the only back injury at bay, to keep my priorities straight, to overall keep a balanced approach to my training and my life. To goal of my practice is simply that, to practice. Part I - Daily Meditation: As in previous challenges, I will continue my daily, early-morning meditation. I wake up at approximately 5:45 AM and immediately meditate for 12 minutes. +4 Wis Part II - Morning Workout: During the work-week (Monday - Friday), immediately after my meditation, I exercise. The workouts will alternate between rucking (going for a walk with weight in a backpack) and indoor bodyweight/yoga/parkour training. The parkour piece of the training isn't so much to actually learn and practice parkour, but to simply use the conditioning exercises to compliment the rest of my training. Quadrupedal movement (QM) is especially good for training strength, endurance, and flexibility. The Tapp Brothers consider it to be the ultimate bodyweight exercise. +4 Sta Part III - Karate Training: I will be returning to the dojo where I last trained in earnest, four years ago. I will start by attending once per week, at least until my body adapts to the intensity of training. Then I may step up to twice per week, but for the purpose of this challenge the minimum will remain one session per week. I will also have at least one dedicated self-training day per week. Due to an old karate-related back injury from years ago, I must approach this cautiously. Too much, too soon, could be my undoing. +4 Dex Part IV - Rest: I am constantly learning and re-learning how important it is to get regular sleep to augment any kind of training. The goal here is to be in bed by 10:30 PM at the latest, every evening. The only exception will be Saturday evening, where I may stay up until midnight, but no later. However, I must try to keep even this to a minimum. Good rest is key to recovery after workouts, and key to maintaining my ability to do my early morning routine. +3 Con Placeholder: I will allow myself up to two placeholder exercises per week, should conditions on any particular day prove unsuitable for the planned workout. I'm not going to designate a particular exercise as the placeholder. I've leaving it open so that I can adapt it to the current situation.

Whoa, for the first time I'm actually late posting my challenge Anyway, welcome everyone - if you followed my last challenge, this is going to be quite similar, and for everyone else here's a brief introduction: I'm 25 from the UK, and I specialize in gymnastics, weightlifting and bodyweight skills of various styles (video: summer training sampler). I'm also a software engineer, mental calculation competitor and amateur composer. Goal #1: the list: yep, I'm having another list of goals and workouts, as this format seems to work well for me This time I'm adding in a few extra things that count as workouts. +0.25 for each. Overall we have: weightlifting (double points!)bodyweight (10 exercises)jumping training (6 exercises) <-- something I need to focus on for gymnasticsbouldering1-arm push-up, handstand or bar muscle-up training session <-- summer 2016 goals!gymnastics classAnd bonus items - mostly stolen from my previous challenge - are: cartwheels: learn decent cartwheels on each sideround-off: learn this gymnastics movefront handspring: do this consistently on floorfront flip: land this safely on floorfront flip: bonus points for landing it on floor800-metre run: in 02:50 or less (02:47 into a headwind yay)fix my bike: the gears are getting slowly worsechange phone contract: I should be able to move to a cheaper onecreate piano cover: of the death metal piece "Lost Reality" by Mercenary. It's the heaviest song that I actually like, even though it starts with some aggressive vocals. In fact, that's one of my reasons for wanting to make this piano cover - I'd like to find a way to provide an equivalent effect with a piano (whilst hopefully making it pleasant to listen to)create piano cover: as above - but just the first 00:55create piano cover: as above - but just the first 03:25create piano cover: with recording and sheet music Goal #2: mental calculation: I compete internationally at mental calculation, and I have two potential competitions this year: Mental Calculation World Cup 2016 (September, Germany)Memoriad 2016 (November, Las Vegas)I'm only going to enter if I think I'll perform well (the standard is much higher than when I last competed, in 2012) so I'm currently training for that. Firstly I have a challenge to train using some of the custom software I've created. For each week: 5 days with 5 mins training before midnight: +0.25 WISThere are also some specific goals to be scored alongside the list for +0.25 WIS each: calendar dates: 42 in a minute (before challenge, 41)calendar dates: 44 in a minutecalendar dates: 46 in a minutecalendar dates: 48 in a minutecalendar dates: 50 in a minutesquare roots: second-best score of 315 (during challenge, improved from 308 to 325+)square roots: second-best score of 330square roots: second-best score of 345square roots: second-best score of 360 (maximum possible)binary digits: learn algorithmbinary digits: memorize 500 digits in 30 minutesbinary digits: memorize 750 digits in 30 minutesbinary digits: memorize 1000 digits in 30 minutes Goal #3: rest properly: Laptop off by 01:00 every day. I did this last challenge, and I had much more energy and was happier and more successful as a result. It means I'll get about 8 hours of sleep but won't have rush around brush teeth etc. just before sleeping! Scoring: for each week: 7 days with laptop off by 0100: +0.50 CON5 days with laptop off by 0100: +0.25 CONI'll start this at 2015-02-01 01:00:00 for 28 nights. So I'll never complete all of this before the end of the challenge, but I'm hoping to make good progress and get 8+ of the available stat points. Good luck everyone!

Last time on the Rebellion My last challenge was officially a flop. I neglected the last 3 weeks of my challenge when the darkness within (aka my depression) decided to come roaring in for a visit. There are a number of factors contributing to why I am so exhausted and withdrawn from the things I love. Like lifting, yoga, friends. I don't remember the last time I touched my kettlebells or my pull-up bar. Luckily, I've been slowly recovering and taking care of myself and am ready to tackle a new challenge. I'm focusing on making some tiny changes to my current routine so I don't get overwhelmed. I keep thinking I can do ALLL THE THINGS, but am reining myself in to the smallest possible change I can move forward with for my bigger goals. In the meantime, challenge time! Main Quest Health, wholeness and healing in body, mind, and spirit. Motivation I will face each day with an open heart, be adventurous in all the ways that piqued my curiosity, have specific long-term goals, and practice kindness and compassion towards myself. I will meet myself where I am with love, compassion, and without judgement. I will celebrate the smallest of successes and be gentle with myself if I fail, focusing instead on learning what works for me. I am a unstoppable, untamed and wild force of nature when I go through life with all of my mind, body and soul. Challenge Aim: This challenge I'm recovering in the Druids grove. While I struggle to do battle with the darkness within, I am seeking refuge, support, love, compassion and rest from the earth and sky. Getting in touch with my inner Druid will allow me to find the peace, confidence, and resiliency to face whatever challenges will come my way. Challenge Quests: Quest 1: Peace Within (2 mins daily yoga flow) I want to grow deeper into my yoga practice. Yoga has worked wonders for my anxiety and pain levels when I commit to it. I want to do 2 mins of a yoga flow when I wake up in the morning after my shower before I start my day. I originally wanted to do a 30 day yoga challenge but decided to start REALLY small so I didn't get overwhelmed. 2 mins is definitely doable! Quest 2: Sky Above (No phones in bed, sleep tracking) My sleep has been all over the place, and a struggle for the last couple challenges. I tried doing no phones in bed last challenge and it worked wonderfully when I committed to it! Going to continue working on that this challenge. I also ordered a Mi fitness band (like a fitbit) to track my sleep, I'm exicited for my new shiny! 1) No phones in bed - I moved my charger to the kitchen so it stays out 2) Track my sleep using a Mi fitness band Quest 3: Earth Below (Daily tracking Pain Levels and Triggers) I've been under a lot of stress lately at work, and I've been having a difficult time managing my pain levels as a result. I'm working proactively with my support team (therapist, doctor, etc) to address this, but need some data! I'm going to track my pain levels and eating and see if I can come up with any patterns) Quest 4: Fire Within (Pick up 5, put it away not down) In my ongoing quest for a clean house, I want to focus on putting items away, not down! My daily quest is to pick up 5 items out of place and put them away. Challenge Summary QUEST 1 - Peace Within: 2 mins daily yoga QUEST 2 - Sky Above: No phones in bed and sleep tracking QUEST 3 - Earth Below: Daily journaling QUEST 4 - Fire Within: Put it away not down, pick up 5.

So, I'm still losing fat after a successful last challenge. Unfortunately, the caloric restriction seems to aggravate minor injuries so I need to be vigilant in my approach. Post school and trying to get my feet on the ground means that finances are tight at the moment and what I probably really need is to train in a gym where I would have access to a variety of equipment that would allow me to have more options for a work around. Sadly, that probably won't happen so I need to work with what I have. So, the big problem. I did a few night shifts just picking up work but that has put me back on my terrible 3am - 10am sleep schedule that I seem to always default to. Now, The goal is usually in bed by 1am so that will be the main goal of the next challenge. So barring any temp work, I will be endeavoring to be in bed before 1am each night. This will afford me more sleep and more time to get stuff done during the day. Aside from that, I'll be trying to lean out for the duration of the summer but I don't know what the fall will bring. I may have to up my food intake then so I can build back and be healthy long term. We will see.

Hey all! I am just throwing up this thread as a resource for people looking for feedback and advice on fueling recovery. I can answer most any question about recovery and training so ask away. Here is a good video to kick it off and any feedback is helpful. www.youtube.com/watch?v=KasfvUnunt0

BlackTezca's BATTLE LOG Hola folks! BlackTezca is making a battle thread and just like my first challenge thread, it'll be filled with gifs and images and all sorts of silly crap as well as the continuation of my journey towards greatness. So some background behind my username. BlackTezca is essentially short for Black Tezcatlipoca (usually just known as Tezcatlipoca since White Tezcatlipoca is actually Quetzalcoatl...god damn these names sometimes). If you have the faintest knowledge of Aztec religion, then you know Tezcatlipoca as the Jaguar god, who also really likes it when the best warriors are sacrificed in his name. Hearts are yummy apparently. And that would be a badass tattoo...So in any case, my favorite animal would be to be the jaguar, a feline so powerful, so awesome that the most famous of the many, many Aztec God's chooses it as it's form/mascot/etc. I wouldn't mind being a little more similar to this awesome feline. The jaguar is one of the most successful of the predatory felines, perhaps second to only the Leopard (and third to the most successful feline of all, the common domestic house cat). It has a bite force strong enough to crush skulls and tortoise shells, it is an apex predator, it has all the grace shared by big cats while look particular buff and muscular ( the largest feline in the New World) and it purrs like a Harley Davidson. It also sleeps about 12 to 24 hours a day. I definitely won't be able to get that much sleep during the work week, but during my challenge I had to push myself every hard to get to bed by a certain time so I can just get seven hours of sleep before my work out. It wasn't easy, but I can just drop off now. I need that sleep so I can get battle ready in the morning. I want to be strong enough to crush skulls, skilled enough to hunt (I don't hunt but I love me some martial arts), flexible enough to not hurt my back, and rested enough to keep going on with my day. So here am I ready to hold myself accountable for this year in order to be more like this amazing feline of the Amazon jungle (which matches the theme of my challenges ^~). Wish me luck!

We all know how men train--they pick up some absurdly large weight, do 5-10 reps, then set it down and wait for a minute while they watch something on the gym TV. But if men get so muscular doing this, is it possible for women too? Or are women's bodies different? Is it that much more beneficial to do HIIT training or at the very least circuit training with short rest periods? To be honest, the former sounds more enjoyable. Any opinion is appreciated!

Who knew Princesses weren't born with immunity to all harmful illness or disease? I certainly didn't. So enters the emergency surgery for an obstructed bowel that decided to come around on my break between challenges. Although, to be fair, my several weeks of discomfort in the last challenge's end were clearly indicative had I done something about them sooner. So here I am post surgery and another challenge has begun, clearly there will be no fitness goals to speak of, other than increase activity gradually as tolerated. But the diet...ohhhh the diet! After no food for 9 days, it seems logical to only reintroduce things I am trying to eat, rather than things I will have to cut out later. My body makes life easy for me like that! So we have diet goals, rest goals, continue the reading goal. All starting once I get home from the hospital. Challenge Goal Recap: 1. No gluten, dairy, sugar, allergens or artificial ingredients in my diet...and KEEP IT THAT WAY! 2. Menu planning and cooking for said diet to cement changes for harder times. 3. Firm Bedtime of 10pm 4. Read Book 8 "The Path of Daggers" and continue "Meditations from The Mat"

So last night I went to a bar with some friends. As usual things like that get late and I went to sleep at around 3 AM. I decided to get up at 9, giving me (imo) just enough sleep and a longer day I can use to be productive (or procrastinate a bit more). The thing is this: If you're for example someone who has a schedule to sleep from 11 PM to 7 AM, is it then more important that you always get these 8 hours of sleep (so when you go out on occasion, you sleep from 3AM to 11AM), or should you always get up at the same time, in this case being 7 AM (when you might get less than 4 hours of sleep on occasion, but you can make up for this by going to bed earlier the next day). Of course this can differ from person to person, but I'd like to hear some of your opinions.

I am a recent purchaser of the rebel strength guide, just starting Barbell Batallion, and i'm slightly sceptical / confused ... Firstly... I am 'skinny-fat'... slim, female, with 18% body fat. Also relatively fit, certainly not starting from ground zero with exercise. But I AM starting from ground zero with strength training. Its intimidating...! Would love to just build some strength and power, im tired of cardio making me tired without building my muscletone ! My first question - What are you all doing on your rest days? Surely not... nothing? Can i do interval running? Kickboxing? Or will that affect my strength development / recovery...? Secondly - Barbell batallion... two exercises?? Is that really going to do it... ?? It just doesnt seem right. You go to a personal trainer, they'll do at least 4 or so different weight sets wont they? Can you guys tell me about your experience (and success!!) from sticking to this routine? I think I just need some reassurance and encouragement while getting started.