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Hi. I'm Nymeria, and I'm accepting my path as one of the shiny object chasing, Jack-of-all-trades, do-all-of-the-fun-things types of assassins. I climb multiple times/week. I also love power yoga/handbalancing, martial arts, playground parkour, hooping, rings, and other random fitness stuff I also NEED my soundtracks to operate in life. Whether I'm exercising, cleaning, taking a relaxing bath, or whatever, I need music to get into my groove. It's at times been a bit of a hinderance to me, since I can't handle a lot of exercise videos or classes where I have to endure crappy music and a teacher yammering on and on. (yoga stuff and hooping at 4x and 2x speed, because it's kind of boring otherwise. All of the indoor clips were filmed in the last week, and the outdoor stuff was from the autumn. It feels great to get back into the groove of posting training videos!) 2014 was a really rough year for me, both personally and fitness-wise. Very late in 2013, I had a catastrophic fall while climbing, tore my ACL, MCL, and broke 2 bones in my knee. Then I had surgery and spent the better part of 2014 dealing with physical therapy and rehab. I'm ready for 2015 to be an injury-free year, so I can focus on being awesome and not on just regaining ground. For my part, the "Awesome mix" isn't making a great playlist (although I'm always open to music suggestions. I gravitate most toward progressive metal stuff). Instead, it's the formula of eating habits, exercise stuff, and daily routines that help me achieve the things I most want. In this challenge, I'll focus a lot more on eating habits, since they got a bit out of hand over the holiday season. I also have gained about 5 lbs of flab over the last few months, and I really need to lose it. Goal 1: Awesome eating for an awesome life (diet). I don't do tracking, so instead, I'm using a point system to encourage healthier choices and discourage destructive ones. Goal edited, to make things simpler. I eat 3 meals/day, so... +1 point for any meal that is filled with wholesome food, veggies, proteins, etc. and only a very modest/minimal portion of carbs/starches. +1 point for drinking only water or tea in a day +1 point for choosing healthy evening snacks, like carrots and hummus, celery+peanut butter, or other veggies in the evening. I will permit myself to have a modest snack in each day and a small portion of a sweetened drink (like 4 oz of orange juice or lemonade). I'll also permit myself to have a beer on football gamedays for no penalty. -1 point for anything beyond a modest snack -1 point for caloric drinks beyond what was set forth ^^^ -1 point for unhealthy meals. Goal: 21 points/week. If that becomes too easy by week 3, I'll increase the goal. Goal 2: Batch cooking (diet) For me, bad choices are often made because I either let myself become so hungry that I want to eat NOW, or because I'm just feeling too lazy to cook. The solution for me is to batch cook something healthy, so I have plenty of leftovers to reheat. Goal: 6 batch cooked meals during the challenge (nominally 1/week). Goal 3: Shore up some climbing weaknesses (fitness - climbing) - I'm pretty comfortable with my workout routine, but there are a few tweaks that should help me progress faster. My raw strength is great, but my muscular endurance is fairly poor. This is a huge problem with climbing, where I'll climb beautifully for 2/3 of the route, and then I'm out of gas for the end. To fix this, I'm going to do some high rep, low weight work with DB rows, bodyweight inverted rows, grip training (focus on hanging loooong periods of time on some very easy grips, rather than short holds on really small ones). Goal: 2 sessions/week of the endurance stuff. Goal 4: Keep things fresh and exciting (fitness - yoga) This is a 2 parter. The first I'm shamelessly stealing from starsapart. 1x per week, I'll try a new pose from the Yoga Journal advanced poses blog. I would hate for yoga to become stale for me. The second part is that I'm toying with the idea of becoming a certified yoga teacher at some point. The problem is that I'm 99% a home practitioner, largely because I enjoy playing my own music and because I'm afraid that most yoga classes would be kind of boring for me. But, I need to suck it up and at least try out some classes for informational purposes, if nothing else. Before the end of the challenge, I want to attend at least 4 formal yoga classes at my gym. Goal: 1 new yoga pose/week. 4 formal yoga sessions/challenge. Goal 5: The boring, dreaded cardio (fitness - general) This one is simple: 60 minutes of pure cardio action. Whether it's HIIT style, cycling, jogging, elliptical, I need to keep my heart rate up there. I generally find cardio to be boring, but getting back into some cardio action would help me lose some flab, improve my stamina, put the finishing touches on my knee rehab, and would probably be good for me. So, I just have to suck it up and do it. I'm not counting lower heart rate cardio stuff for this goal, so no credit for hooping, walking, etc. Goal: 60 minutes/week. Yeah, this challenge isn't necessarily going to be fun, but at the moment I'm filled with ambition and resolve. I'd rather push myself and come up short than just do another space filler, coasting type of challenge.

I just returned from visiting a friend in Grand Teton National Park. After seeing all 13,775 feet of grandeur I'm inspired to step up my mountaineering training. My friend also just sent me pictures of climbing Mt. Hood and Mt. St. Helens within three days of each other. As I can't be left behind it's time to accelerate the training program from the last challenge. I don't have a lot of time, so this isn't highly illustrated with gifs or punctuated with stories. Those are cool but I have to focus on the critical elements or else I burn out. Goal Number One: The best training for climbing is climbing. The goal is to go rock climbing at least once per week. In addition, I will accomplish other strength training (bodyweight mostly) workouts per week to achieve a total of 3 workouts per week. That is the metric. I previously accomplished breaking into 5.11 routes. This go-around will be focused on climbing a large volume of 5.10 and 5.11 routes with not as much of a focus on pushing the grade. Goal for a day's climbing is 5+ routes in the 10-11 range. Goal Number Two: Improve lungs for high altitude work Running is good for the lungs and good for the soul. I will go running for at least 3 miles 10 times this challenge. That doesn't sound like a lot but I don't want to ramp this one up too quickly and goal number one is a big time commitment. Goal Number Three: Core training never hurts (except the next day) Three days per week I'll do a morning workout (mostly on the rings) before or after work. This one is both both for looks and because a strong core is a great asset is climbing, and everything else. Goal Number Four: Get a checkup and schedule follow-ups I have an embarrassingly long list of things that I should probably ask a doctor about. I'll schedule an exam, go to it, and then schedule any follow up visits needed. One things is that I previously hurt my shoulder and it's not as better as I think it should be. Goals and Points Summary 1) 3 Workouts/Week including 1 or more climbing day. 4 str for full credit. 2 str for 5/6 weeks. Any less is 0 points. 2) 10 Runs. 4 sta for 10 runs. 3 sta for 9 runs. 2 sta for 8 runs. 0 sta for less than 8 runs. 3) 3 Core Workouts/Week. 2 cha and 1 str for 6 weeks. 1 cha for 5 weeks. Any less is 0 points. 4) Visit a doctor. 3 con. No partial credit.

Ok! So, here we go again. I tried to get started with the last 6 week challenge and did ok IRL but not so well with keeping up in here. Main Quest: Lose 40 lbs over the next year.Smart Goals: Yoga (Sunday) [pass/fail grade]Rock Climbing (Tuesday, Wednesday*, Friday*, Saturday*) [weekly grade A- F]I'm just getting back to climbing, but I'd like to be back up to climbing 5.8s by the beginning of FebruaryRunning (Monday, Wednesday*, Thursday, Friday*) [weekly grade A- F]Currently running 12min/mile with three breaks. By the end of this challenge, be down to one break. Motivation: I'm going on a work trip to Hawai'i the first week of February. Get in gear before then!

Oh thank god for the respawn point! I'ts been a year ... or more ... I was even scared to log back in again. But well, it cannot be helped, and I am going to need you guys if I am ever going to get my *!$%t together aren't I? So yes, here I am, most literally back where I started and only slightly worse. Last August, I moved back to Germany from the UK with my family, I changed careers (new job - yay!) and only now do I have enough time to get my head above the water (barely). I have gained 3 kgs in the process ... which puts me at 76kgs now, definitely overweight now and no longer in the Oh-but-I-still-am-a-healthy-BMI-(barely) range. What went wrong? Stress is the big issue, definitely, and the alcohol that goes with (cheeky glass of red every night to take the edge of? Yes please). So this is what's going to have to change and it's an easy one as everybody and their auntie is having a dry January anyway right? Next, diet. I cannot do carbs because I pile on the pounds if I do, so it's going to have to be low-carb paleo. I need to lose at least 20lbs (30 would be better but that sounds a bit daunting). So at least I know what to do. My big poblem is treating myself. Money is still an issue and will be for another couple of years, so I must not fall into the trap of using food as a reward ("I so deserve this raisin and custard pastry... and it's only one Euro!"). It's not like I don't have a long list of little things I need and want in the 10€ range (like, new workout top, new towel for the sauna, new stainless steel lunchbox, new thermos coffee mug etc), but every time I get something for myself I feel like I'm splurging (yeah I know this is a mum thing). So, I'm going to save up my raisin custard pastry money and splash out on something sensible every week. That said, if I do go dry, that wine I'm not having is probably a tenner a week. I have gotten a lot better at planning since we moved because I now have to get up before 5am every morning and catch the train at 6am. So I have the kids' lunch boxes ready every night (except for the sandwiches because I don't want them to go stale); only thing, I need to fix one for myself as well. Sleep is a big one too. I usually do about 7 hours and I'm an early riser, but one of these days I slept for 10 hours and I woke up feeling amazing. So I think there is room for improvement. I have signed up for another half (in March) and have completed the first week of training (*looks chuffed*). The plan has 4 running days and two strength training days a week. I have lost quite a bit of speed over the past year but I guess it could be worse. Good thing about my weird hours is I have no trouble fitting the training in. I know that cardio doesn't do much good for me in terms of weight loss. Still, I love running and I don't want to let it go. Plus I love training for an event and ticking off the trainings I have done ... yep. Another good thing is that I found out my health insurance is willing to pay for a Pilates course for me and this takes place (wait for it): next door: yay! Also, I there is a bouldering place about 10 mins from where I live and I have been taking the kids there - they love it. tl;dr relaxation without alcohol (dry January and beyond)treating myself with nice things instead of food (from list, one item a week)prepare paleo lunch box the night beforesauna with best friend once a weekPilates course once a weekhalf marathon training continueshealthy family hobbies So, no I'm going to have a bit of a look around and see what has changed ... Sorry for the long post! Happy to be back!

As the title suggests, I really just want to keep the momentum going from #1 and add to it. So! Main Quest: Return to rock climbing/bouldering (and beyond?) There are plenty of rock climbing places around. That's the easy part. The hard part is getting back the strength, flexibility, and endurance after having two children. My entire body is way too lax (joints, etc) or way too tight (muscles, especially hamstrings). Previous challenge helped me make some great progress (yay, knuckles on the floor in a forward bend! I can lift our propane tank safely!). I'm looking at taking it to the next step and actually getting into a regular climbing/bouldering routine. I say "and beyond" because I love me some rappelling, I've always wanted to try zip lining, rope obstacle courses make me giddy, and some of the other guildmates are doing amazing things with silk that I've never seen before! Who knows what the next 6 weeks will bring? Sub Quest #1: More Yoga! (+1STR, +2STA, +1CON) I've already built it into my weekly schedule to do Tues and Thurs classes at the Crack of Dawn time (6:30am). I have a few options - I can do more Crack of Dawn classes (my membership covers any classes that happen before 9am, lol), or I can build and do a personal routine. Either way, more yoga. A: More than four sessions of yoga, any combination of class or personal practice. B: At least four sessions of yoga, any combination. C: At least three sessions of yoga, any combination. D: Only two sessions, must have made it to the classes at least. F: Less than two! Ugh! Sub Quest #2: The Awesome Hand Strength (+2STR, +1DEX, +1STA) I have long hands and fingers, and my hand strength has always been low. My hand joints lock up pretty easily. Time to change! Sylph actually inspired me to do this, as I saw her Theraputty posts last challenge. I am going to look into getting some. I'm considering doing these exercises possibly, or a different routine if I find a better one. This has a lot to do with consistency and habit - I really just need to make this a part of my life! Sub Quest #2-B: Focus (+2CON, +1STA, +1WIS) Reducing all distractions from what is important in my life. If my husband, kids, and my complete health are what truly matter to me, then I need to make it happen. Taking some cues from others here: No FB or NF before 8pm. Crunchyroll only during nap or kid sleep time. Computer work such as budgeting, finances, and other digital to-dos need to be scheduled out and done during nap times, so Crunchyroll will be second in line on those days. A: Stuck to the limits. No digital stuff before 8pm or only during kid sleep/nap times (excludes skyping and text communication). B: A couple slipups but needed to get stuff done so had to do it. C: Intentional choice to do otherwise a couple times. D: Trying hard, but am not committing fully. F: Never stuck to it. Sub Quest #3: Bodyweight Continuum (+2STR, +1DEX, +1CON) I had the hardest time balancing all three of my subquests last challenge. It seemed like it was just too much habit building all at once? I really want to make BBW a habit though. YAYOG is interesting to me but I don't know much about it yet. Whatever it is I decide to do for this section I want it to help me increase my actual strength and endurance. I also want to incorporate some kind of running as warm up. A: More than 3 sessions a week. B: 3 sessions a week. C: 2 sessions a week. D: 1 session a week. F: Nothing. Life Quest B: Fix the problems! (+3WIS) Help my husband craft ideas to fix the multiple problems that cropped up, including needing designs for new dinner table, fixing leaks, fixing flooring (replace with new flooring), etc. Will be graded according to whether I found plans, provided them, talked with hubby, and worked on them. Life Quest: Draft a 3D image of our home for renovations (+3WIS) My husband helped me come up with this one. We talked about what I should accomplish in 6 weeks' time and what was important in our lives. We want to do a TON of renovation on the trailer we live in, with some pretty unique, never-before-done ideas. He doesn't want to do it half-heartedly or without proper planning. I'm going to use TinkerCAD to develop a model of our trailer with some of the major changes we want to make to it, with exact measurements, etc. I believe that I can do this in 6 weeks' time. A: Completed model with changes B: Completed model, without changes C: Mostly done model D: Half done model F: Never reached half way Motivation: That Woman I am going to be, soon! Honestly, I want to be healthy and fit and balanced in life for my husband and kids, but what I really want is to be that awesome woman I saw myself being as a kid. I even dream of doing awesome things as an older adult, or elderly, but I can't get there if I don't start now. I don't want to impress people, or show off. I just want to be the best version possible of myself. I have no idea what that looks like, so let's find out!

Crunching the crimson leaves scattered underfoot, the Tinkerer carried his pack from the foothills around the village. Though his face showed signs of a summer's worth of sun and his boots barely surpassed tatters, his gait was confident and quick. The stout rope slung over his pack was obviously well used and the staff in his hand was polished smooth from wear. While I'd love to spend hours on the back story of the Tinkerer and his return to the village after a year's adventures in the mountains my real life adventures and work demand brevity. I hope that someday I'll be able to sit down and write - merely for the fun of it - the tale I have in mind of an Elven Blacksmith/Mountaineer. Today's tale however is about a busy 30 year old with a desire to improve his fitness. Introduction: My wife and I moved 400 miles this spring to be closer to family. We found an amazing house in need of a lot of work and I have a new job which also requires a lot of work. While we've stayed active over the summer, I want to improve myself over the winter. We both love rock climbing and I have discovered mountaineering is my sport of choice. As the weather in the mountains this time of year is terrible it's the perfect time to focus on training. I was more or less burned out on NF after my last unsuccessful challenge with the Rangers when I got a message from KylieWyotie. I figured, if he can come back after a big break, I may as well try! Thanks for reaching out, man. My focus is to improve my cardio abilities and my climbing abilites so that I can feel confident venturing into the mountains when the season is right. I hope to climb Mt. Rainier this summer and have some other more technical peaks in mind as well. Challenge: 1 - Run a 6:00 mile (+2 dex) and a 20:30 5k (+2 sta) 2 - Climb two 5.11a routes at the gym w/o falling (+3 str) 3 - Success on Weekday Morning Routine (+2 con, +2 str) 4 - Home gym (+2 cha, +2 wis) Fix lights Install pull-up bar and rings. Paint Floor covering Bonus - Run with Roy-the-Dog 2x per week on average How and why will I accomplish these tasks? Glad you asked! 1 - I will be moving the first week of the challenge. This week I'll run at least once. Following weeks, I'll run 3-5 miles at least twice. I will also, once per week, run a "time trial" for a 1-mile time. My fastest mile was 6:22 so I have my work cut out for me. I believe this is doable in six weeks if I actually try for it. +1 dex and +1 sta for each successful goal. 2 - Again, the first week will be a planned "skip". Following that, I'll be headed to the gym 1-2 times per week. The first time there, I will climb some 5-10 level routes and try some 5.11s. This should give me an idea of where I stand. I have the strength to climb 5.11 routes but need to work on skills. Practicing on routes for 5 weeks should result in success. +2 str for 1st successful climb, +1 for second. 3 - My morning routine will consist of 5-minutes ab/core work and eating breakfast (which I currently succeed at about 15% of the time). I'll start with planks but may venture into some L-lever work in the future. This is just designed to get me to think about fitness first thing in the morning. 1 Con - 24 Breakfast Points2 Con - 27 Breakfast Points1 Str - 24 Ab Points2 Str - 27 Ab Points 4 - THIS IS MY FAVORITE GOAL! Our new place has a room which we'll be turning into a workout room. Long term, it may have some rock-climbing holds to practice on but it needs a few other items first, like lights. We've already added a sweet new french door which will be great for morning light. I'll figure out how to post progres pics of this as it progresses. +1 point for each element. Attributes to be assigned based on project results. Bonus - My dog, Roy, needs a workout buddy. He loves to run but gets tired easily. I'll go on runs with him consisting of a mile at a reasonable pace. As his fitness improves this distance may increase. This goal will be delayed until he is out of his (ridiculous looking) cone-of-shame. Wrap Up: I think that's the challenge. I'm looking forward to trying this again and to catching up with the assassins. I'd love to get to know some others with climbing related goals, too!

Hi guys, I just started rock-climbing regularly a couple of weeks ago and I love it. The problem is that starting a couple of days ago I noticed some pain in the inside of my elbows the day after climbing. It had gone away today so I went climbing again, but within 20 mins or so I was in a lot of pain, so I stopped. It's subsided now, but I don't know what's causing it. My main question is, is this something I should work through in the hope that my joints get stronger over time, or should I stop climbing until I'm completely better so that I don't injure myself?

I took a while off, but I think I could use a little extra motivation and focus for the next six weeks. Been keeping up the climbing/swimming/juggling regularly, eating what I want when I want it and discovering how awesomely that works for me. Came back today on a whim, only to discover it's the beginning of a new challenge - and it's my thirteenth. AWESOME. Goals: 1. Pull-up power. I've let this hang out at a maintenance level of 4 pull-ups while I've focused on actually climbing - time to build some more muscle, get some more reps. I also want to move my rings upstairs from the basement - having them more available should mean using them more. Ten pull-ups a day, every day for the first week. We'll see where it goes from there. 2. Core strength. While I'm hanging out doing pull-ups, might as well add some skin the cat/lever/toes to bar work in there. 3. Juggling math. I love club passing so much, my ball juggling skills have been atrophying. Now that I understand siteswap a little more, I'm going to work on at least one new pattern a week. Learned 531 on Saturday, so that's my first step. 4. Bonus points for handstand work, which I've entirely neglected for months. Looking forward to getting back on the challenge path!

Motivation I climb things. Climbing is hard. I will train. Intro It's been since December of 2012 that I was active on NF. Recently, I've moved to a new location and want to make sure that I build good habits. In general, I am an active and fit person but I miss training for and achieving goals. After re-reading my last challenge (link) I see that I wandered away for two reasons. One reason is that my goal of making new fiends and finding new activities worked. I joined both a running club and a mountaineering club and was swept away with activities. Those led to friendships with people who pushed me to go faster, to climb higher and harder. Having moved from those friends, I miss the thrill of tackling new physical feats. I still run, climb, and hike but I am not pushed in the same way. I'm hoping re-joining NF can lead to more of a goal-oriented training plan. I was in the Assassin Guild previously but my goals seem to fit the Ranger idea so I'm giving this a try. The second reason I faded into the background is that NF takes time. I had recently taken on a new job which was eating me alive. I was spending more time posting than accomplishing my fitness and life goals. For that reason, I won't be spending hours on the boards this challenge. I'll dedicate some time to posting and keeping up with other challengers but will keep in mind that my true intentions are not to spend my days tapping a keyboard. I'm posting this now while I have time. I may try to make it more interesting as time allows. The Challenge Main Quest - Develop Solid Training Routine I've continued to sporadically work out and stay active as I've settled into my new location. I have also developed some bad habits like putting off workouts and skipping breakfast. My mission is to ingrain better habits into my life. Goals Rock Climbing more than an average of 1x per week Points Available - 4 Str My wife and I enjoy climbing together. We can either go to a crag 15 minutes from our house or a couple of gyms. A small one 10 minutes away and a larger one 35 minutes away. Once a week is doable and is a good starting place. 1 Pt - Average .25 to 0.5 2 Pts - Average 0.5 to 0.75 3 Pts - Average 0.75 to 1.0 4 Pts - Greater than 1.0 Morning Routine Points Available - 2 Str, 2 Con On weekdays I will earn 1 point for eating breakfast and 1 point for completing a morning ab session. A banana is not breakfast. An ab workout must involve at least 5 minutes of work. These are not amazingly difficult because the important thing is to do them EVERY DAY. An exception to ab workouts will be made if I bike to work; I still get the point for that day. I'll track the two activities separately. 1 Con - 24 Breakfast Points 2 Con - 27 Breakfast Points 1 Str - 24 Ab Points 2 Str - 27 Ab Points Run an average of more than 8 miles per week Points Available - 4 Sta This one is pretty self explanatory. I expect to set speed goals in the future but for now consistency is key. Biking to or from work counts as 5 miles each day I do it (15 miles one way). 1 Pt - Average 2mi-4mi 2 Pts - Average 4mi-6mi 3 Pts - Average 6mi-8mi 4 Pts - Greater than 8 Life Quest Work on new house >6 hours per week average Points Available - 3 Cha My wife and I just bought a new house. We hope to move in sometime in October but it needs a lot of work. 2 Pts - Average 2-4 hours 3 Pts - Average 4-6 hours 4 Pts - Greater than 6 hours Side Quest Dog Training Not that kind of training. My dog needs to work out. Quest is to run with him >15 miles over the next month. He only runs about 1 mile at a time currently, so this is a big thing. I don't want to over-train or injure him.

A Meetup.com group for those in their 20s & 30s who enjoy outdoor sports and fitness in the Quinte Area (Brighton-Belleville-Picton-Napanee area). If there are any fellow rebels in the area and looking to meet new people to explore the outdoors with, and drink beer, please check it out! http://www.meetup.com/Quinte-Outdoor-Fitness-and-Social-Club-20s-30s/

So, the new semester of school is starting at my college, and I'm looking to be in the gym more this semester. My plan so far is: Monday: Yoga in the morning, then swim laps in the evening Tuesday: Weight lifting in the morning, then rock climbing in the evening. Wednesday: Yoga in the morning, then swim laps in the evening Thursday: Weight lifting int he morning. Nothing else planned. Friday: Yoga at noon, rock climbing in the evening. Saturday and Sunday are mostly off days/free days. Will this be conducive to building muscle and getting my body toned and strong? Is there anything that won't work recovery-wise or something I should be careful of? Thank you for any and all help.

This PVP (PVS? player vs. self?) challenge will continue indefinitely, and the goal is to continue improving your climbing skills while helping all of your fellow climbers by sharing videos, tips, techniques, advice for relevant exercises, and more. It's also a great place to just talk about climbing, vent when you're frustrated, or have the rest of us cheer you on when you finally get that route you've been projecting. There are no real rules for this PVP. Just set some climbing goals for yourself, hang out here, talk about climbing, and occasionally update on how you're progressing with your goals.

Main Quest: Reclaim my 'fighting' body (by opening day of KCRF 2014 - 30 August 2014)Lose 25 poundsFit back into my size 2 clothesMake it through a full 30 minute fight show (Bawdily Harm), in a bodice/corset, without nearly passing out or even being windedGoals: Get 8 hours of sleep every night Exercise (pilates or cardio) for at least 1 hour, 5 out of 7 days each week Go to Aerial Silks class or go rock climbing once a week Life Quest: Start being on time, if not early, everywhere I am supposed to be. Motivation: I have been generally unhappy for well over a year; gained 30 pounds in about a year-and-a-half, tired all the time, moody, muscles are stiff, and knees hurt. It wasn't always like this; I wasn't always like this. I want to - and am going to - reclaim my health, fitness, body, a sunnier, more optimistic personality.Basically, I want to be this chick again.

Once upon a time, there was a hobbit called Ruby. She had a cheerful life, with good friends, a loving family, and a job that made her happy. But somewhere, deep inside, there was something missing. A discontentment. Unlike other hobbits, who preferred to stay at home and never stray beyond their borders, Ruby pined for adventure. And so, at the first dawn of the new year, she packed up her things, and set out on her quest into the unknown… + + + + Main Quest: So what’s my ‘real life’ motivation? A fairly shallow one, if I’m honest. I love going shopping with my friends, but it becomes a bit of a painful subject when they’re all picking out lovely little designer clothes in sizes that, right now, I could only dream of fitting into. I also don’t have the confidence in myself right now with the way I look to try and get into a meaningful relationship with someone. And thirdly, I want to take up an active hobby, to devote time to an interest, meet new people, and to have something in my life other than being at home or being at work. So, no more. I have the time, and now, I have the willpower to change things too. I successfully managed my career-focused goals of 2013 (going from unemployed to the first rung of the ladder in my dream career from January to September), so 2014 is going to be my year of focusing on my own wellbeing and happiness. CURRENT STATS: Age: 24 Height: 5ft 1†Weight: 219lbs Level 0 STR: 0 | DEX: 0 | STA: 0 | CON: 0 | WIS: 0 | CHA: 0 My overall goal is to lose 100lbs before I'm 30. Instead of looking at that as my one and only thing to aim for, I’ve decided to break that down into more manageable and achievable sub-goals. My first goal is to lose 20lbs in weight, so my first Six Week Quest is to lose 10 or more pounds in 6 weeks and to introduce exercise back into my weekly routine. To do this, I will: Phase processed foods out of my diet.Walk my dog for half an hour every day.Go out on my bicycle every Sunday morning for one hour. Side Quests: To finish my current short film script in these 6 weeksTo join an after-work class to make new friends and try out a new hobbyEarmark one evening a week where I will look after me: have a bubblebath, read a book, do my nails and generally make me feel good about my inner and outer self. Life Quest: Save up 100% of my mortgage deposit over the next two years and buy my own place to live! Quest Progress Side Quest #1: Pages Completed - 1/5 Side Quest #2: Class Joined - NO Side Quest #3: Evenings Taken Out - 0/6 Life Quest: 0/25

I'm stoked to be joining the Assassins for my second challenge! From my last challenge, to keep my eye on the Main Quest: Last challenge, I lost approximately 7 pounds (177 to 170). My goal is to get to 150, which is a good weight that allows me to build strength and burn fat, and then fine-tune body comp from there. I'd estimate maybe two more challenges after this one to get there. I definitely improved my strength and flexibility - yesterday, I redpointed an outdoor climb I started last challenge, so that was very exciting. So, this challenge, my main quest will be the same, but my objectives will be tweaked and simplified based on lessons learned last challenge: 1. Sharpen skills on the rock: Get to the rock-climbing gym (or even better, outside!) at least twice per week for at least 90 minutes at a time for as long as my schedule allows. (Lesson: take it where I can get it. Some days might be four hours of climbing, others only one. Baby requires flexibility.) 2. Regain strength and flexibility: incorporate four home workouts into weekly schedule. This should alternate between interval sprints/calisthenics in the park, P90X, a climbing-specific hangboard workout (related side quest: install hangboard that is chilling in my living room), and yoga DVDs. The day after the most intense workout of the week, allow an active recovery day with just a long walk for exercise (> 1 hour). (Lesson: classes require too much time out of the day. Also, strength is equally important to flexibility, and it has also been severely compromised. Find a few intense, short home workouts to fill in the gaps.) 3. Target body comp: Keep carb count below 100 g/day by adhering 90% to Paleo guidelines (I do consume limited dairy and tolerate it well). Do a Whole30 - but make it last the whole challenge. So I guess it's a Whole42? Lesson: tracking is a pain and not really necessary. Use an eating plan that has proven effective for me in the past.) Overall, this amounts to one workout per day and a strict eating plan that does not require daily tracking. Life Quest: Determine new career path. This is going to require a lot of introspection and industry research.i Motivation attached!

Greetings from central TX! I'm an average guy, with a newfound love for rock climbing, parkour, and nerdly fitness! I've been following the NF blog for awhile, and decided I should check out the community! Seems like a lot of knowledgable people like to hang here, so I thought I'd join. I've been rock climbing for about 6 months, V4+ now, and practicing parkour at a couple of the local gyms once a week. And I wear black. A lot. So, TX Assassin reporting for duty!

I'm joining the Assassins after having a bit of a hard time with the Scouts. Not their fault. I was well on my way to running my first ever 5K, and then I had a foot injury that sidelined all that. Running is not something that I can do at the moment. But there's lots of other interesting things I'd like to do. Like a frog stand, for example. And I did some rock climbing last winter and enjoyed that so I'll see if that's something my foot can handle again. Plus I've secretly always loved this guild, and that alphabet challenge you had last time out looked wicked fun. So here I am. It's late and I didn't realize the new challenge was starting already, so I'll have to wait until tomorrow to get my thoughts and my goals in proper order. The Bounty Hunter thing will hopefully make sense once I post my goals and whatnot. But for now, hello! And also, goodnight.

So this is my second time around signing up for the beginners Rebel challenge. The reason being that when I signed up for the last one, in the midst of jumping right into the excitement I failed to notice I “jumped†in 4 weeks late. I decided to use this time as a warm up for my next “real†challenge and can thus allot true points to my character vs imaginary ones. My Main Quest To be an average rock climber. I just decided one day that I really wanted to try it and I instantly fell in love. It's all I could think of after first going. I love how physically demanding it is while challenging mentally at the same time. I love figuring out the puzzle aspect of it. I declare I desire to be average because that is what my sister calls herself (she's an experienced climber) and she amazes me. And I want to be just like her when i grow up. This will require a good combination of strength, endurance, and flexibility skillz. I think its important to note I'm in pretty poor physical shape for such a demanding sport. I'm not overweight and I eat healthy but I'm at an all time low when it comes to strength and endurance. So much so that when I jumped into climbing (because it was love at first grip..) I added running to the list for endurance (again.. I suck at this..) and found our real soon I have HORRID tight arches on my feet and could barely walk from the pain within a week. This comes from a life spent living in flip flops and not taking care of my most precious possessions (aka feet). Lesson learned. Only supportive shoes and no more bare feet until healed. CHECK. Daily stretching and foot strengthening. CHECK. Taking it easy and not pushing to hard beyond my capabilities. gunna go for a CHECK. I don't expect to be as amazing as my at the end of 6 weeks. Just amazing compared to myself. This will require meeting my specific goals each week: 1. Daily stretching for body and feet 20 minutes a day. 10 in the morning 10 at night. This will include my arch/calf stretches and exercises for foot health. 2. 35 minutes cardio (cycling until my feet can handle something else.) and 20 minutes weight training, alternating days with lower, core, and upper body. 3. Climbing gym at least 2 times a week. Get experience doing what I love, absorb the wealth of wisdom from my new climbing buddies, and just have some out of the house away from the family me time. So in essence climbing time will cover both physical, mental, and social skills.. During this time I will continue to gather my gear (I'm new and it's expensive..) I will grade each week by how I do daily 6 out of 6 days. Sundays I rest from judgments unless I swap Sunday for another day. A-F just to get an idea where I'm at with reaching my goals. I will decide pass or fail at the end of the challenge by how I realistically feel about what I have (have not) accomplished. <---- Just to note, no matter how much I try to fix this font to match the rest, my computer will just NOT do it. grr.. My Life Quest: This kind of meshes with my motivation. I have a brilliant, energy filled 3 year old son who literally takes every ounce of my energy just to keep up with him. He is so passionate about life and goes from 6:30 in the morning until 9 at night (and later if I'd let him..) and I want to provide him with as many cool projects and adventures as I can. As he gets older I want to be able to continue to play and adventure with and somewhat keep up. So each week I want to have something creative and exciting to do with him that takes us somewhere special. He deserves that K enough said! Tomorrow I take up my quest. Onward for the scrolls..

hey Rebels! Long time listener, first time caller, etc. Right now I'm focusing primarily on getting to the point where I'm kicking ass and taking names at rock climbing (I've been climbing desultorily since last September, seriously from January) so my goals are mostly focused in service of that: upper body strength, flexibility, endurance, but without putting on too much muscle so I'm less to lift. I should also note that I have no natural abilities in this arena. In a real-life guild of assassins, I'd be the one filing the paperwork. But who's to say that thrashing away wildly against genetics, inclinations, and skillsets isn't fun, eh? With that hideous disclaimer, here are my goals for the challenge. The first three are definitely health/fitness related, with the fourth being a health/fitness/being a better person (to make up for all those lives I'm taking as an assassin, I guess? ) goal. Goal 1: Climb a 5.10 (indoor) route clean Just being able to scale a wall doesn't count if you're an assassin –– you need to be able to do it quickly, cleanly, and with enough energy to spare that you can ~get the job done~ once you're up there. I want to work on the 5.10 routes at my gym that I can do in (effortful) pieces until I can piece at least one together smoothly. Mini-goal within this one: climb at least 3 times a week consistently (and at least 6 routes each time I climb). +3 str +2 dex +2 sta Goal 2: #yogaeveryday Assassins need to be flexible, limber, and have the mental equanimity to tackle any situation they're thrown into. I need to do some form of yoga every day, whether it's going to a class, leading a vinyasa practice, starting the day with sun salutations, or even meditating or pranayama before bed. Mini-goal: go to at least 2 intermediate expansion or advanced practice classes at my yoga studio. It's impossible for assassins to get caught in a rut, why should I let my practice stagnate? +3 dex +1 wis Goal 3: Eat minimal processed food What it sounds like. I know I feel slow and tired when I eat tons of processed junk, but it just tastes so damn delicious. I'm not interested in totally cutting out sugar and processed carbs just yet (plus disordered eating history makes me wary of any cold turkey diet nonsense), but I'm down for giving this 80/20 thing a shot. I figure at 15-20 meals a week (combining breakfast and lunch into the delicious, beautiful mana that is "brunch" is one of my favorite things), 12-16 of them should be processed-food free. Mini-goal: Spend less money eating out! No more than 2 meals out a week, and that counts "snacks" at coffee shops. +2 con Goal 4: Drive less than 100 miles/week My whole goal is to be a badass stealth monster - why would I ruin it by driving around a clunker of a car that sounds like it's dragging chains the whole way? Try and replace some of that driving with bus, walking, or more biking. It's better for me and the environment, and saves gas $$. Mini-goal: At least one of the places I drive, though, should be to get the oil changed and that aforementioned chain noise checked out. +1 wis +1 sta