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So...I'm changing the whole thing. I know I started with a very similar challenge to what I've been doing. I like that format, and I like every element of the plan. Trouble is, I want that plan to work and it never does. Therefore... I'm returning to the Ranger class. Some while ago, in a previous character incarnation, I switched to Druid because I deeply desired to develop a long-latent love of meditation (and alliteration, apparently). And my meditation practice has improved, but it's not leading to greater happiness. I think this may be because I've put a few things on hold. The first of these is the warrior spirit -- I've got background in both military and martial arts that I’ve downplayed for maybe too long. You take the Druid, you take the Warrior, you take the Assassin....it's a Ranger. So, let's be me. Here's the challenge: Body: Fuel - balanced macros and calories (weekly basis) for a 185 pound (84 kg) target weight. Hydrate - 4 liters of water per day (green tea counts) Stabilize - Yoga or Pilates for 30 minutes, 4 times weekly Aerate - Cardio (run, ruck, or row) for 30 minutes, 4 times weekly Mind: Sleep - light cutoff at 9:00 pm, GETOUTOFTHEDAMNBED after 8 hours Happiness Project - prune dead end "wants" (projects I'll never actually do), practice mindful enjoyment when negative self-talk starts Read - non-fiction audiobooks on commute, fiction at night Soul: Home - do something daily to improve the family home, beyond chores Meditate - daily in morning or bedtime or both, micro-meditations throughout the day Stoicism - strive to live in accordance with nature Friends - start making new friends and strengthening old ones, starting at home Sorry for the false start. Away we go!

Me the past two years I woke up this morning at 185.2 That may be my highest ever. So basically I need to start moving and eat right. No theme to this challenge just a few basic principles and the help and support of this community. Daily: My morning routine A workout later in the day(lifting or cardio) Eating right No alcohol Morning Routine Walk around the blockish. Some mornings I do 45 mins, sometimes I do less. That is all. If I do this I always hit at least 10k steps later in the day. Read. Read a book for some period of time. That's it. Duolingo 50XP When I start my day like this it generally goes really well after. It also prompts me to get to bed early so I can get up early and do these things. Workout 3 Days a week I'll do compound barbell lifts. The other 4 days I will do some form of cardio. Some examples might include: Running Biking Paddle boarding Hiking Rucking Hockey Tennis This will likely be done right after work. Eating Right Is it Mediterranean? Specifically Ikarian. Is it Paleo Those are my two approved eating methods. I am loving eating Mediterranean food, specifically Ikarian. Ikarian is mostly veggies/fruits, lots of beans, some whole grains, and a metric ton of EVOO. Very little fish and poultry, very little dairy. I am still eating paleo since that is in my freezer and cabinet. I will not be buying any more paleo items though. When out to eat, I will just try to make good choices. I went and had Thai with my GF for lunch this past week and ordered the ginger dish with shrimp and brown rice upcharge. I ate half and then took half home for later. Normally I would order pad thai and eat the whole thing and that is why I am in this mess now. No alcohol None. However I will cook with it if called for it since a lot of my recipes call for it. IPA is good, but it makes me fat. Maybe after this challenge I will reincorporate red wine into meals like the Mediterranean.

Trying a New Years challenge to get organized! I exercised like a champ all through 2020, but last June I gradually started dropping off and haven't recovered. I walk/ruck pretty regularly but I'm exercising like once/week and not stretching or working on any little things at all right now. Daily yoga with bird or other yoga/stretching routine since I've been neglecting stretching and it is BAD Track what fitness I'm already doing - walking/rucking/crossfit/cycling - to figure out what my current baseline is Do max pullups at least once/day when taking my dog outside - I was doing this really successfully for a while but I've been slacking on it Rewards: Once I complete 30 yoga sessions I can get...some kind of reward, TBD

Hello. I am Stronkey Kong. I've been on NF about eight years . I'm still fat and making the best of it. My NF Birthday is July 8, and I'm turning 8. Four days later is the closing date on the house (aka Wizard Tower) I'm trying to buy. Tho it's less of a tower and more of a single story bungalow. This challenge will revolve around surviving that while trying to do the basics here. I meditate and am for all intents and purposes a Tibetan Buddhist of the Gelug Lineage. I am have it in my head to hit the trails and do some camping this summer, tho I will be quite busy. Right now my fitness goals are basically: Stay functional and limber and don't throw out your back doing stupid shit. Eating so I can maybe drop a few pounds And get some movement in so I can push back some of the medical trauma that runs in my family. I am also writing my fantasy novel again, and reading for inspiration. And, yeah, here's that big list I keep bringing up at the beginning of these things. Frankly, buying a house is THE BIG ONE on the list so as long as I pull that off, this challenge and this year is a win no matter what. MEGA GOAL: BUY MY FREAKING WIZARD TOWER AND MOVE INTO IT This is just one big, pain in the ass TO-DO List that will, like a snake, slither left, right, turn, coil, snap, wrap, and constrict my life until the process is done. As of now: Inspection: June 19, 9:30 am. Decision: Jun 20, 11:59 pm -- make the final decision whether to buy and promptly notify my apt. complex I'm moving the fuck out. Buy Homeowner's Insurance Pay Appraisal and admin fees Closing: July 12 But, I don't want to forget about the little things. So I'm going to just keep nibbling daily. Goals: MEDITATION: do at least one session daily -- this is mostly solid habit now MOVEMENT: 15 min. of exercise: rucking, yoga, qigong, stretching, and dammit, packing counts. WRITING: 15 min. or one writing task including making a character profile, outline a scene, describing a place or thing in my novel. READING: a combination of reading for writing inspiration and studying Tibetan and Buddhist philosophy. I've been good at doing this before bed, but any 15 min or more of reading, any time of day will suffice. I'm good with that. If I can at least keep some regular momentum on all those things while buying a house and moving.

Hello. I am Stronkey Kong. I've been on NF over seven years -- it's getting close to 8 now. I'm still fat and making the best of it. Some days I'm not sure if I can even. I'm kind of winnowing down to what matters and that's having good health, a calm mind, good relationships with others, and being able to enjoy life better. Lately I've been really committing myself to practicing Buddhism, and studying through the Tibetan Gelug lineage (same as the Dalai Lama). So meditation and study has become a real focal point. I'm also no longer worried about losing weight or getting ripped/buff/jacked... or stronk even, I just want to have the flexibility, stability, and stamina to move through daily life with less effort and be able to endure through my meditation practice comfortably and not have a shitty back or diabetes and whatnot in a few years if it can be helped. Just so I can even. During the holidays I made a wishlist for this year to work on. Every challenge since I've come back to it and picked out a few things to work, made some amendments, etc. Then I make a challenge of it. Here is said list (with updates and shit): Goals: Shop and cook/prep smarter: Something that's bothering me is that I keep having to throw away good food at the end of every week. This is usually because I bought too much of something because I thought I needed it or wanted it when I didn't really need or want it at all. Then I'm hungry, I look in the fridge at all the things I don't want, and I'm like "Fuck it, I'm having pizza." I've actually been pretty good about not eating fuck loads of pizza lately, but this general area of picking foods better and wasting less needs work. Here's an example: I had three yellow squashes that are on the verge of going bad cuz they've sat all week. There are fresh carrots and celery that I snack on with PB. There's lettuce and tomatoes for quick salads. And while yellow squash in pasta or soup is fine, I'm not thrilled about mushy, bland summer squashes and didn't make any soup that called for them. So why the hell did I buy them? ... because I thought I needed another vegetable. Basically I need to be more mindful of why I'm buying something. I need to ask myself, before I put it in the cart: Do I really need it? -- Is it going in a recipe that I plan to make? Will it be harmful to my diet to not eat this, and is there no other substitute for it? Do I want it? -- If it's not part of a bigger tastier recipe, will I eat it on it's own? Is it good? If I buy this do I have something to pair it with that is good? If I have to buy another thing to make this thing edible is it worth it? Also: Do I need to buy/make that much of it? How long will it hold up in the fridge and can I freeze it for later? Daily Movement: Work on one of the following for at least 20 min daily Ruck: Walk with backpack with 25 lbs. weight Yoga: Go back and re-read/study Yoga for the Inflexible Male and work on the poses and routines therein. Qigong: For when yoga gets boring and I still want to work on being flowey and breathing and stuff. Quarterstaff: Not sure yet, but if I start working on this again it will be acceptable movement Write Get crackin' on that novel. I was supposed to come up with 5000 words last challenge to get to the end of part 1. FFS, why not try to finish the thing? Do at least one 15 min writing sprint daily Study: All my Buddhist classwork, readings, and language study, also taking breaks to read other things. I typically do some Tibetan study in the morning, and study a text at night. Then lighter filler material when I'm bored on the weekends. Tibetan Main goal: Memorize writing and reading the conjunct characters -- I can do this before the end of this challenge. Stretch goal: transcribe and memorize the Prajana Paramita Sutra in Tibetan -- I might be able to start this before the end of this challenge. Nagarjuna: Mulamadhyamakakarika -- keep going Lighter stuff: take a break from study and read for recreation, but keep reading things People: I have to start peopling again. What? How? I'm getting my first covid shot on Wed. May 5. We're getting toward the end of all the hardest social distancing stuff. I haven't been totally cut off from family and work, but I haven't been meeting new people, or only rarely. And by the end of this challenge, my Buddhist Center will likely open back up so I can hang out with those people and attend classes in person. I'm not sure what the goals should be, but something to do with getting out of the house and peopling again. Idk. Meetups? Dating? Going to new shops/restaurants? Learn a couple Dad jokes? I've got until I get my second shot (+ 10 days I think) to figure out a plan for how to people again. Oh! And now I'm sober... how do I even? Camping: I am going camping sometime around the end of this challenge. At least an overnight trip. My zero week goal will be to research and make arrangements for said trip... i.e. pick a park and site, and purchase passes/reservations as needed... Probably gonna hike in somewhere on the Tecumseh trail and do it backwoods style but car camping will remain an option. However, I am on night shift and will likely be getting somewhere in the evening and staying up all night meditating and reading. Could be weird, but it's still time outdoors.

So I have been struggling on my challenges for a few years(understatement), but I thought deeply and realized what made me really happy when I was most active on NF around 2015. It was a rucking PVP. Taking this knowledge and what I need to do to improve myself I enrolled in the weight loss PVP for the next 10 weeks. I am right above 170lbs and would like to get below 160lbs by Memorial Day weekend, specifically Saturday May 29th. I leave for a week long vacation in the Florida Keys and am staying on the water and will be bringing my boat. I think that whole week will be spent fishing, snorkeling, spearing, swimming, boozing, and eating fish. So obviously my one goal is to lose some weight. I also need to exercise daily. Yes daily, no rest days. Every day will include a 30-45 minute ruck(more if I am up for it). After the ruck I will lift Mon/Wed/Fri and then run Tues/Thurs/Sat. Sunday is going to be a hard 2 miler since one of my goals this year is to get that sub 6:30 pace. Each workout is followed by my stretching routine. I need to seriously restart my eating habits. I have been pretty good the past couple weeks but now need to crack down. I meal prep for work and do great during the week, but the weekend is the put it all back time. So I am going to attempt to eat only whole foods with a lot of veggies. I already am there 5 days a week. Also as far as alcohol goes, no more IPA's and thick bois. I need to stick with mixed drinks, wine, and white claws/ultras. I also need to limit myself to Friday and Saturday only, as well as 2-3 on each of those days. Maybe I will try something where I can have 3 or 4 drinks per weekend. I'll play with it. Goals: Weigh under 160lbs Ruck 100 miles Run 50 miles Continue to hit my 2021 goals

During the last challenge I noticed that I crammed all the reps towards the weekend. I was doing multiple 10km+ rucks back to back which I noticed took a toll on my feet health once Monday came around. Just as well on the weekends I was pushing out 150+ pushups per day. Thus this challenge is all about doing the absolute minimum every single day! Everyday the goal is to achieve: 1 pull-up ( I don't have a pull-up bar, so get to look for one of those out in public) 10 push-ups 10 ab exercises, ideally dead hang knee raise, but sit-ups/leg raises also work 10 air squats 60 seconds squat holds, it is harder than perceived 1 mile ruck, which fits well with finding a place to do a pull-up For each failed exercise, 5 times the amount needs to be done as a payout. Not getting the ruck miles in nor the pull-ups will probably be the harder achievements, because I physically have to leave the house. In worst case I will have to 30 ruck miles and 30 pull-ups on Sundays. As a secondary goal: at least achieve 25 ruck clicks ideally 50 ruck clicks *1 click = 1km Starting with the challenge on 8. Feb, 2021.

I'm Stronkey Kong -- neutral good human/wizard adventurer/warrior hybrid. I made a list for Santa during the holiday challenge. That is now 'The Big List' that I'm trying to achieve goals on to improve life, health, and fitness. Right now the big things on my plate are strength training, getting outdoors and walking/hiking, cooking/eating healthier, painting/drawing, and buying a home (my Wizard's tower). I left off last challenge building a foundation of barbel training, batch cooking, and just put an offer on a house. Here's the big list: (spoilered cuz it's a big list) And here's what I'm focusing on for this challenge. Intuitive Eating: Keep batch cooking tasty, healthy meals Start food journaling, Bujo portions and notes on mood, energy, etc. Intuitive Exercising: Keep up the barbell program 2+ times /week Ruck (>= 1 mi) or walk (>= 2 mi) 1+ times/week Painting and drawing: Ahh.... just keep going. But especially with the ink drawings right now because that makes me focus... cuz you only get one chance with ink. Buying my Wizard's Tower: This one's an ongoing to-do list Satisfy requirements for loan Gather documents Do taxes Complete first-time homeowner class(es?) Realtor/Property Search Look at moar houses. Work and save Respond to shop manager about the lab position Tax returns: Set aside a portion for first-time homeowner classes Save the rest

2020 was such a lazy year only achieved 1000 ruck kilometers which is 600 ruck kilometers less than the year before. This year I have the goal to achieve 2021 ruck kilometers, which equates to about 40 ruck kilometers per week. Thus the goals for this challenge with be combined with a recent post I came across on Instagram, that deals with saving dogs from the meat market in China and flying them to the UK. The post talks about the number 505, thus all goals will deal with that number as well. Goal 1: move 505 kg of dead weight in a kilometer per week Dead Weight is anything you put in a ruck that has no further purpose than being weight. Currently I ruck with 30# = 13.6 kg Moving 505 kg within a kilometer means that one has to ruck so much until it equates of moving the weight within one kilometer. Thus either you can put more weight in and ruck less or less weight and more distance. This equates to 37.1 km/week which fits perfect within 2021 km yearly goal. Goal 2: 505 push-ups per week With using the Greasing the Groove technique I am slowly building up my push-up max. Currently at 34 PR. Goal is to achieve at least 55 push-ups within 2min within this year. Since this is one of the requirements for the GORUCK Selection. Updates:

So since I am in a much better mental state these past couple months and have moved back into my house after the ex left I figure I can now focus on the next 5 months. I have a lot of cleaning/purging to do in my house of junk as well as clothes and kitchen things. I need to buy some more furniture and set some things up here and there. My back yard is an overgrown mess and the garden is a nightmare. The garage is ummm, did a hurricane already come? So I am going to set some 5 month goals in here and refer back to them over the next couple challenges as well as challenge goals and weekly goals moving forward.

Tactical- of or relating to a maneuver or plan of action designed as an expedient toward gaining a desired end or temporary advantage. One of my more successful challenges in a while was my Tactical Human™ challenge. I was focused. I was determined. And I was on a mission. That mission was to get my family into a house. Well guess what? I completed my mission! We got the house aaaaaaand we moved in this week! WOOT WOOT! This challenge is taking the success from my former Tactical Human challenge and making this one a success as well. *Insert move in day pic here* As most everyone else is experiencing, we are still under some sort of quarantine. I'm still working from home for my day job and going to Costco in the evening. With gyms still being closed, I have really had to think outside the box as far as training goes. Mostly, like 98% of the time, I implement a "grease-the-groove" style of workout. Basically, throughout the entirety of the day, I do sets of push-ups and pull-ups. I can range from 100 pushups to close to 300 depending on the day. As for pull-ups, I'm doing maybe 70-120 a day, but more on the lower end for those if I'm being completely honest. I need to add some lower body exercises in the mix. So, I will be incorporating KB swings and KB racked squats as well as forms of jumping/plyometrics and the occasional split squat, jump squat and practicing pistols. Buuuuut, more on that when I set up my goals. Now that we are moved into our house, it's time to make it a home. Since Heather and I had no real intentions on using the garage to park our car, we both agreed we would want to turn it into a workout room of sorts. Set down some padding, get some more equipment, including a heavy bag and I'll probably look at building my own squat rack as well. The possibilities are endless. We also want to have the rest of the house set up to have people over when quarantine subsides a little more. Over the next 5-weeks, it's time to kick things into gear and get ready for swimsuit season 2020...even though the pools probably won't be open, lol. I still want to look good shirtless . Getting back on our meal prepping schedule is going to be crucial. It's also going to be a million times easier now that we have a deep freeze of our own. I will be posting before pics to keep track of things. And, well, to make @Mr_Willes little willy happy, too, haha! Goal #1: The Herschel Walker Program (but not) That guys face, tho, lol This is Herschel Walker. He's 48 years old in this pic. He's a former NFL running back and all around freak of nature. Even in his mid 50's, he does MMA and is actually pretty good. This...lol, is his DAILY workout routine: 750-1000 push-ups exercise 2000 sit up exercises Cardio exercises (such as wrestling, kickboxing and sparring) Wide and close grip pull-ups for 1,500 reps 1,000 and more tricep dips 1000 and more weighted squats Variety of running drills Air squats 1000 Squat Thrusts Sprinting exercises to build up stamina One word. INSANE. Now, my body can't hold up to that kind of exercise magnitude. For starters, Herschel has been doing that most of his life, so, he's used to it. My goal is to just do a fraction of what he does. My goals are: 350-500 push-ups a day 100-200 sit up exercises 70-100 pull-up variations Weighted Squats (number unknown) Sprints Plyometrics And that's just something I would like to do daily. Or, at the very least, 3-5x a week depending on schedule. *This goal is subject to change* Possible Stat Points Earned: +3 STR, +1 DEX, +1 END Goal #2: Gimme Fuel. Gimme Fire. Gimme that which I desire. Eating right makes the body tight. So, let's get back on that, shall we? Eating good has never been an issue for me, I just need to get back in the habit of meal prepping. Like I said above, we have a deep freeze now and a bigger fridge, so, meal prepping is going to be a helluva lot easier than it used to be! Meal prep 5x a week MINIMUM. OR, just make sure to make food for the day and DON'T. EAT. FAST FOOD. Possible Stat Points Earned: +2 CON, +2 WIS, +1 CHA Goal #3: Welcome to our Humble Abode Don't be like this chick. Know how to use calk. SO! We have a house now, aaaaaaand we want it to look nice. The first starts with unpacking everything, storing what we don't need right now and turning our house into a home. The goal is: Do 1 things for the house each week. This can be mowing the yard, watering the flowers, getting soaker hoses for the foundation. Anything to make our home more of a home. Possible Stat Points Earned: +3 CHA, +2 DEX And that's about all I got right now. I'm already up to 160 push-ups today..but only 8 pull-ups, lol. I got a lot of work ahead of my this challenge but I'm excited about it all. Being in our house is very freeing of the stress and anxiety I've had the last month or so. I'm sooooooo glad to finally be moved in! In the words of Alex and Ghost: "Let's do this." Wolf

Happy New Year! I am Mr. L and this is my first challenge. A bit about myself: I have a collection of board games that I do not play enough (current favs right now are Arkham Horror: LCG and Terraforming Mars), I teach high school math, and I am presently potty training a very feisty 2 year old. I am starting this challenge, because I have 3 big things to face this year and I need to be healthier to tackle them. "What are those three things you say?" Good question. I turn 40 in September I signed up for a Goruck Light Challenge in October Child #2 is due to arrive in July My goal for this quest is to lose 15 pounds by the end of the challenge. My quests for this challenge are: No Pop: I am giving up pop (soda, Coke, sugary carbonated beverages, etc) for the year. I drink way too much of it and I often make poor food choices to get more (ie getting fast food or ordering pizza) since we rarely have any in the house. I plan on maintaining this particular quest for the whole year. Be Active: I need some more activity in my life and my goal is to have at least 5 days of activity per week over the course of this challenge. I plan on starting the Stronglift 5x5 program later today and on some of my off-days I will do some rucking (either on the indoor track at the Y or around my neighborhood - weather depending). Eat Better: Eat within my calorie target goal for the day - at least 6 days per week. My non-fitness related quest is: Cleanup Time: Ever day due 15 minutes of cleaning, or other housework while my daughter is asleep. Good luck to everyone!

Hey everybody! The day this challenge officially starts, Rabbit season opens in my area! So I'm probably going to aim to try and take a rabbit this year, but it depends on if my buddy is ok with me butchering any over at their place as my family definitely wouldn't be okay with that haha. Starting Stats Age: 29 Height:5'4" Weight:240# The Goals: Exercise daily!! My plan is to do bodyweight training 2x a week and walking at least a mile on my off days. This time I'm in it to build endurance! 7 days- A 6 days - B 5 days - C 4 days - D 3 or less - F Log Foods Daily! I don't really know how many calories I should be eating anymore, but I definitely need to get back in the habit of keeping track! I'm back on MyFitnessPal, my username is RoachRex! 7 days- A 6 days - B 5 days - C 4 days - D 3 or less - F Meal Prep! My goal is, every week, to prep my meals for the entire week. I'm honestly A-ok with eating the same thing every day, I even was into Soylent for a while (but it messed with my gut too much). Honestly the reason I eat junk is out of convenience. So if I can batch-cook and make all my meals in advanced? Ain't nothing more convenient than that! 4 weeks - A 3 weeks - B 2 weeks - C 1 weeks - D 0 weeks - F Ruck/Hike! My main goal this time is to build my endurance for hunting. I've got some gear together and I've got some locations in mind! I'd love to go camping but I'm not sure that's going to happen this time, but I definitely intend to at minimum go on some sort of hike every week, with a pack on my back. 4 times - A 3 times - B 2 times - C 1 times - D 0 times - F

I pretty much gave up last challenge and ate So last challenge I did two GORUCKS and then really just sat around and ate. two years a go my pre IRONMAN Texas race weight was 163lbs. Up until a few months a go I have stayed down in the 165's or so. That has recently gone way off the charts though. This morning I was 175lbs. That being said I know a lot of it is sodium but I still have gained close to 10lbs I am guessing. It is not helping that my In Laws are here until Sunday and we are drinking and eating out every night. I can try to use that excuse but last nights burger and brownie sundae were my choice as opposed to a salad. The Delerium Red on draft was excellent though and I have never seen that. So for this challenge I would like to get under 163lbs, yes lose 12lbs in 5 weeks. Keep in mind though I should drop 3-5 quickly due to sodium. I also have two other minor goals, WOD daily, and eat paleo clean(this will be how I lose the weight). Lose 12 lbs WOD daily(includes stretching) Eat Paleo I do have a GORUCK heavy in 3 months so my WODs will be a 3 day rotation. Lift Recovery(swimming usually) Ruck, and possible light WOD That is about it for me. Kicking this off today 6/25.

After experiencing some success with my 1st challenge I have decided to get join up with the Rangers Guild and start a new one. Here are my goals for this coming challenge. Get Healthy: In order to get healthy, I need to lose some weight (about 140 lbs), and the best way (for me) to lose weight has been monitoring my calories. In this challenge, I will stay under my target calorie goal for the day - every day. Get Strong: I have been following the Stronglifts 5x5 program and I need to keep at it with greater consistency. I will do my Stronglifts workout 3 times each week. Get Outside: One of my long term fitness goals is to complete a GoRuck challenge. In order to start working on that I bought a backpack, which I now need to use. In this challenge, I will go for at least 2 rucks a week. Bonus Life Quest Get Off the Phone: I have been wasting too much time on my phone while at home recently, which I need to stop doing. I have downloaded and set up an app on my phone blocking everything but essential communications. I will engage the app when I get home and leave it running until at least 8 PM daily.

So I signed up for a GORUCK Heavy in January. I need to get rucking, miles on my feet as well as build muscle while losing fat. For those that do not know what this is, here is the description from the website: So with a pack loaded with a 30lb weight plus water and food/gear we will travel around 40 miles in 24 hours. All lead by a special forces Cadre. Sounds fun right. Leading up to it I have a back to back regular Challenge and Light in October, as well as two sprint triathlons in September and October. Goals for this challenge: Get working out - mornings of weights and cardio(long or sprints), afternoons swimming for fun. Get my diet and food choices down. When selecting dinner think about the fact I will be working out in the morning. This includes drinking. Keep up my Duolingo(I try to finish two modules or crowns in French and Spanish during weekdays. On weekends just hit my 20 minute goal) Reading, podcasting, audible as usual.

My goals are geared toward preparing for my introvert hiking adventure in June! I am super stoked for the trip. I'm hoping it will be rejuvenating and that I might learn a thing or two about myself. Last challenge my physical goals were: Move your feet, Endurance, and Strength. I did great on moving daily, pretty good on endurance, and pretty lack luster on strength. I feel that everything needs a bit more work to really settle into habit. Because they went well last time I combined daily movement and endurance into one maintenance task. Strength got it's own task because I really struggled with it. Physical Health: 1. Maintain progress made in last challenge Move your feet - get up an move daily (walk, hike, ruck, run, etc). Endurance 2 times a week - run/walk or ruck 2. Strength train 2 times a week - weights, body weight, core, or ruck. 3. Make it out for a hike at least twice during the challenge. Somewhere other than the little local nature preserve. Life Goal: A Cleaner House - do a 5 minute clean up daily before bed. Set a timer for five minutes and clean/tidy up. If I'm traveling I can clean/tidy up my luggage, hotel room, or car. If I'm sick in bed I can throw my pile of tissues away or something. I'm considering making this a 100 day project. On Going Projects not part of this challenge: Daily Fiddle Practice: This is a 100 day project - the goal is 100 straight days. Read 24 books in 2018: Only two completed so far Introvert Adventure Planning

I have been MIA on NerdFitness for quite some time. A few days ago I got a random bug to plan an introvert adventure. Some where nature like. Alone. As I've fleshed this idea out I'm leaning towards a rustic (hike in!) cabin, or maybe camping + hiking. This kind of trip would require some training and planning. I'm kind of out of shape and have never done anything like this before. A four week challenge is perfect for getting me started on prepping for my adventure. Move your feet I will go on a walk once a day. It can be long or short - just so long as I do it. Condition/Endurance Twice a week I will do some combination of: run/walk intervals, hiking, or rucking (bad weather sub: rowing machine) Strength Training Twice a week I will strength train: weights at gym, body weight at home, or rucking. I can't count the same rucking session for both Condition/Endurance and Strength Training. Life Goal: Plan the Adventure Pick a date and location, make a plan of what to do while I'm out adventuring, figure out what gear and supplies I'll need & make a packing and shopping list. Let the adventure prep begin! Edited to Add: I have some on going self improvement projects that I didn't include as part of this challenge, but still want to update on! 100 days of Fiddle/Violin Practice Any length practice so long as I do it, can be fiddle music or classical music. Sick and travel day contingency plan: listen to pieces currently working on, or use a music theory app to do some music theory study. Read 24 books in 2018 Pretty self explanatory! I'm going to at least partially work through Book Riot's Read Harder challenge to help expand my reading choices.

I'm back. It's hard to believe it's been more than a year since I've been here. Let's go. I: Gain Strength Bodyweight workout at least twice a week. Particularly, I want to focus on improving my overhead pulling and pushing. These are areas where I'm pretty weak. Pull-ups and shoulder presses/wall walks will be a part of my workouts. II: Walk Do my three-mile walk at least once a week. This should be simple. I have a three-mile route that I can walk to work, or I can take a loop around my neighborhood. Poor weather and short days may limit the frequency of this walk, so I only put once a week. For Christmas, I bought myself a GoRuck pack. I may get a ruck plate as well so I can carry weight easily. I want to incorporate this into my hiking. III: Eat Right Intermittent Fasting (calorie input between 11:00 and 19:00) six days a week. (Saturday breakfast may be permitted!) I've been doing IF on occasional days over the last month or so, and my weight has moved from hovering around 190 to hovering around 180. I know the scale isn't the best tool to measure, but I do feel better, too. I'll drink tea and water when I wake up. For l lunch, I'll pack stuff like salad, fruit, nuts, veggies, boiled egg, green smoothie, etc. Good dinners with veg and protein. Limit breads and empty sugars. IV: Read Read one book during the challenge. I've set up a Goodreads reading challenge this year of 15 books. I want to start and finish one book during this challenge. Bonus: Keep daily Standard Memorandum entries I bought a Standard Memorandum book this year. I've seen old notebooks like this at my mother's house, and I think it's a great way to document a year simply. There's only room to write a couple sentences, so it's easy to write an entry each day.

I have been wanting to do a Dark Tower themed challenge FOR EVER. This series is probably my absolute favourite of all time. I’m encouraged by the movie hopefully providing a wide availability of gifs so I'm finally doing it! I won’t be following the movie plot though, I’ll be sticking with the book characters and locations. This is going to be a 3 challenge long theme, with pre-planned variations and additions each challenge. This triple-challenge is all leading up to Mr. Raxie and I’s wedding in October, and then our honeymoon in early November! The first major thing I’ll be working towards is Mr. Raxie’s and I’s first dance. We started taking dance lessons last week I want to continue that. I also want to start taking group dance classes when I can because I remembered how much I truly love to dance (I did ballet for 15 years of my life growing up but it’s been quite a while since then) and every time we leave a dance lesson I feel so unbelievably happy and light. I want to get more of that feeling. A few weeks after the wedding is the honey moon! We were originally going to do something relaxing like going to an all inclusive resort or Disney or something like that and then realized that’s just not us, no matter how much we would love to pretend it is. So instead we are going to do a ~2 week backpacking trip across the Great Smoky Mountains via the Appalachian Trail! About halfway through we’ll be submitting Clingman’s Dome, which at 6,643 feet is the highest mountain on the Appalachian Trail and the third highest mountain on the east coast. It’s going to be really tough. I’m not concerned about being out in the middle of no where for that long as I feel adequately prepared in that sense, the terrain itself is just going to be hard as heck compared to what we are used to… so we are going to have to get really serious about training for that with as much hiking as possible between then and now, and rucking around the city when we can’t get out to nature. With all that said, I’ve got a pretty rigorous training plan for the next three challenges, and my challenges will include zero weeks so they are each 5 weeks long. Each challenge will be a leg of Roland’s journey to the tower with his Ka-Tet (for non-constant readers: the Ka-Tet is Roland’s tightly bound group of travelling companions through the series. They are so tightly bound they are essentially family and their destinies are entwined) and will be traveling towards a confrontation with one of the Dark Tower big-bads. The main Ka-Tet will come with me for each challenge, and each challenge will also have a guest member from the series for that challenge alone. Note: The characters that do and do not come with me, the potential deaths of big-bads, and how each relates to the locations of that particular challenge will have no correlation to book events, so it’ll all be pretty spoiler free.

Continuing on the trend of trying to rebuild my damn good habits this go round. Maaaaaaaaybe something will stick this time, eh? Goals aren't really changing much - maybe adding novel accessory work is just the kick in the pants i need. Buckle up for a brain dump. Goal The First: Work Out I am still sucking at making this a consistent thing in the face of having an inconsistent schedule. This is something that is always going to be difficult for me given my love of routine. This is also something I need to actively fight to work on - coasting isn't going to get it, waiting for a stable schedule damn sure isn't getting it - actively working against my need for order is pretty much the only thing that's going to work here. I need to tell my brain that the world is not going to stop spinning on its axis if I don't work out at 5:00 4x a week. I don't *have* a 5:00 4x a week. Now, that's not to say I'm going to be radically changing things (to am workouts ... eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwwwwww) or dropping responsibilities that are either actively making me the benjamins or will lead to future cheddar. I'm more going for a 'stop in the face of schedule panic, look at the panic, identify the panic, and tell it to go F itself' kind of thing here. Baby steps. My brain is not going to melt if I work out at 3:30. I'm (sorta) unemployed, for jibbers' sakes. What I'm thinking: Start trying out yoga studios either near home or school or both. Get all up in this 14-day yoga challenge Come up with some sort of accessories thing - like 50 squats a day for a week - something I can do while cooking, watching tv, or taking a pee break during class Goal The Second: Quit Eating Like A Damn Ninny -- AGAIN Seriously. I can't be trusted with 2 variances a week, because apparently that means in my little raccoon brain that I can visit the uber fancy-ass coffee/"healthy" food place and eat damn dessert (because it's not a sandwich and it's cheap). When did dessert - even healthy dessert with mostly paleo ingredients - become ok in my brain? I don't even really like dessert. Why do I keep getting it, then? Ohhhhhh yeah. Keto. Keto increased my intake of sweet stuff from zero to 'every damn thing has Stevia in it let's eat a zillion Quest bars because that's all I can have' mode. Thanks, me. Gooooooood thinking. I really don't want to have to Whole30 it to break this mental cycle - especially not with class starting back up in a couple weeks - but I will if I must. Until then, I'm going for a more balanced approach to thinking about what I am shoving into my face. Fats: Good - but not allthefats because I'm not operating under the cloak of fat burning Carbs: Okayish. Don't eat allthecarbs but don't eat keto-few carbs. I missed kale and pineapple Fruits: Moderation, yo Veggies: Eat more of these and more variety - broccoli and kale are the jam, but other veggies exist Meat: Let's not go back to 'all meat all the time' snacking, shall we? Nuts: I'm finally almost tired of nuts - except hella expensive macadamia nuts and cashews Other Snacks: I need to calm down on the packaged snacks. Quest bars are great, but I don't need more than 1 a week - and that one, only in an emergency Sugar: What the Serious F is going on here? Dates: still sugar. Cacao: Always has sugar. Stevia: Yep. It's sugar. Sthaaaaaaaap Dairy: Also stop. Cow milk hates me. Other animal milk is ok, but not when it makes cow cheese a thing in my head. I've been pretty good here recently, but this always needs work unless I'm strict paleo-ing it So, what does that leave me? Back to paleo land. Which is a land I'm comfortable in. I lived in harmony there for a couple years. I need to go back. No crazy other hard stuff until I get back to that land and sit there for awhile. Also. Contemplate going back to tracking macros. I know what works for me: 70g or under on carbs, 100g or under in fats, 70g or so of protein. It works when I'm consistent. My calories are sometimes too low, buuuut I can fix that with more fat since I'm still in fat = yummy mindset. Goal The Third: Get A Job - Or More Of A Job I've got my hated copywriting gig, a part-part time teaching gig, a part time teaching gig coming up, and that company I've poured hours into in hopes of eventually garnering a paycheck. I need to continue on working to get some gainful employment situation happening. I'll be pretty wiped at night, so networking events most likely won't be happening once class #2 starts up. I need to continue: Submitting 10 applications a week Working on my portfolio Learning CSS Grids while I'm at it Practicing something related to HTML/CSS or Javascript daily Other things I need to do: Build out my "formal" UI/UX portfolio a bit Work on more graphic designy things I actually want to show people - like SVGs (consequently, there's another 50-day challenge for SVGs I could do) Work on networking through my social groups (I'm a part of a few online tech and womens' groups) Goal The Fourth: Rando Keep the house clean Go take pictures Go for a ruck Explore the neighborhood Work on the deadline-driven craft project I've barely started Do what I can where I can to make living in Suburban hell a little better for myself Find peace on mass transit while I'm stuck there for 1:30 often Get back to doing the things I enjoy doing, despite now having 4 hours of my day being taken up by transporting myself a couple times a week - like recipe creation and blogging. And a zillion other things. Not worry about how much more difficult that shit is going to get if I get an office job Fit QT in with the DH since he's now busy at night too with BJJ

I over-committed on my adulting responsibilities and it's kicking my ass. I thought about not doing a challenge this time around but I know that is just a recipe for disaster. I need to find a way to do both. Here is what I will not do: Give in Allow life to put my priorities on hold Set myself up to fail Set placeholder goals that don't move me forward Here is what I will do: Focus on things that I can control given my time constraints Set reasonable goals Ace this challenge Create incentives to go beyond my reasonable goals when I have the opportunity And the Over/under challenge was created. Keeping my 2017 roadmap in mind, I'm continuing to build on my goals. Where I must set the bar a little lower than I would prefer due to time constraints, I didn't want to just accept the low bar and barely make any impact. I need incentives to push me past the minimum when I am able. But I don't want to set the bar high initially and not be able to reach it. So for each of my goals, I've set an Over/Under. It represents the minimum standard to pass the challenge. If I go over the goal, I get points. If I go under, I lose points. The points mean absolutely nothing but I'm counting on my competitive nature to keep each week competing against the previous and filling this challenge with all WINs. Food Last challenge I won a few days on a technicality. I couldn't 'snack' but I discovered a loophole, eating junk food with a meal. I'm closing that loophole here. For the weekdays (M-R) I am allowed 2 servings of junk food (primarily baked potato chips, dark chocolate, and ice cream). I already plan on having 1 serving of chips with my lunch so that only leaves me 1 additional serving. This may even give me incentive to stop having the chips with lunch, though I don't necessarily think they are a problem. But points! Over/Under 2, +/- 1 point for each serving of junk food. Weekends the focus is on calories. The goal for weekends is 1800, higher than weekdays. But I found last challenge that I didn't always need them. This will be incentive to not use them just because they are there. Over/Under 1800 calories, +/- 1 point for every 100 calories Sleep I did really well cutting late night diet sodas. Some nights I just needed it to get through the list of to do's for the day. I did discover through my bujo that I was pretty consistent with 5 a day. Having late night sodas will still hurt my score because I am sure they will be over the 5. If I can manage an extra one to get me through and stay within the 5, then I'm OK with that. Over/Under 5, +/- point for each soda. I have also been having a lot of late nights working on class prep. This is currently the biggest hindrance to rest. It's also affecting my day job since I have trouble getting up and getting to work on time. If I can be up by 7am, I can just barely get to the work on time. Anything past that and I'm rolling in past 8. Over/Under 7am, +/- 1 point for every 10 minutes Training This one is particularly difficult. I have little time on the 3 days I have class, the 1st day after those days I don't want to do anything. That leaves 3 more days where I find it difficult to give up time doing class prep. I can't guarantee that I can squeeze in 4 workouts. Last challenge my goal included working out for at least 30 minutes. When I didn't have a full 30 minutes I would just not do anything. So I'm counting workouts in 10 minute increments. Since I have little time, intensity will be key. Rather than set the bar lower, I'm just going to make up for the lack of time with more intensity. Each workout will be measured by minutes x intensity*. Over/Under will be 100 units, +/- 1 point for every 10 units. *Intensity is predetermined by the type of activity. I've scaled my typical activities by intensity level. walking 1 rucking 1.5 yoga 1 Daredice 2 lifting 2.5 Running 3 HIIT 3 Sessions with trainer 3 Family As part of my roadmap for 2017, I am trying to be more present. This is both more difficult and more important now that I am so busy. This goal is basically the same as before only I am dropping the family time due to time constraints. I still want to spend some one-on-one time with each person in my family at least once a week. I can get more but I can not substitute time with different people. I have to satisfy one one one with each person before any additional time is counted for the over/under. Over/Under 3, +/- 1 for each unique event. Other Items Finances are still a huge part of my roadmap this year. I am continuing with YNAB but I don't have any goals tied to it at this time. Kitty Jar - still in effect. 25 cents for each great day 10 cents for each OK day, meeting some goals, but not all 5 cents for meeting at least 1 goal 1 cent for a day hitting no goal with some valid excuse 0 cents for lame duck days. I'm sure I've forgotten to mention something I intended to. I always seem to forget something. I probably won't have time to update as often as I normally do and I won't have as much time to follow your fantastical challenges so I apologize in advance.

Holla, 2017 2016 was a weird year. (in part because of the support I gained from all you lovely Rebels), I hit the eject button have had a complete life change in the last 365 days. in 2016 I Quit my comfortable but unfulfilling job in marketing/design/copywriting Took a 3-month immersive bootcamp to learn the skills necessary to transition into a career in web development Have since undergone the most grueling job hunt I have ever had - including the rough post-college hunt Have gone from on top of my macros game to completely letting that fall by the wayside due to school stress to having dug my way out of the hole I created Have monkeyed with said metrics to transition from paleo to keto (and am still playing around with them for optimization) Have gone from a 5x a week workout schedule to nothing at all during school and a whole host of body crapiness that ensued, to kiiiiinda digging my way back out of that hole Started (assistant) teaching front-end web development at my alma mater Have shattered my comfort zone through: leaving the house (I used to work from home and am a natural hermit), going to a school every damn day with humans in it, forcing myself to attend networking events upon networking events, forcing myself on job interview after job interview, and now putting myself out there as someone who knows enough of what they are doing to be able to teach other humans Have worked really damn hard on not being quite so hyper critical of myself and my abilities in an effort to stay sane during this job hunt Have worked really hard on reaching out to my Nerds for support when I've fallen down on that last one Went to CAAAAAMP and met some of my Internet Friends IRL - with Hugs! And got to tell the NF team in person just how damn much this community means to me - through that, I practiced a whoooooole lot of gratitude in a short amount of time And that's it? Up for 2017 Get a damn job that involves trading services for actual money Minimalize the shit out of my stuff in prep for a move in late February/early March Continue on with yoga - I've got 9 classes of hot yoga that need booking before the move! Aim to add deadlifts & rings into my schedule with the new gym (providing that *is* the new gym - it has barbells and a spot to hang rings) Explore the new neighborhood - wherever it is Work on slooooooowly re-incorporating rucking into my rotation (of course there will be videos) - slowly so I don't roach my shoulder yet again Continually work on my self-criticalness -- especially during the remaining (and hopefully waning) parts of this job hunt Find ways to actively work on cultivating and improving my IRL relationships (Internet ones, too, but that's much easier) Continue to build a presence in the NYC tech community Find more ways to mentor and/or teach since that is a great way to rip the last of my comfort zone out from under myself Travel asap Keep learning in some fashion Keep practicing This Challenge Cycle My goals will look familiar. I'm operating yet again under 'no damn free time in the evenings' protocols, so I'm rolling with the punches comfort v schedule-wise. Goal 1: Work Out Yoga classes 2x a week Something else 1x a week - this can be either a quick Darebee bodyweight workout in the kitchen while doing job stuff, a supplemental video yoga class, or - lord forbid - an HIIT video in the gym. Maybe throw in a ruck if it's not too freezing and my shoulder isn't cranky. Goal 2: Macros Track macros. Stick with keto. Play with fat ratios. All tracking will be done on my Spreadsheet of Keto Awesomeness and involves doughnut charts. Goal 3: Get A Job Continue to apply for 10 - 15 jobs a week Attend networking events as time allows Find and work on side projects - on the list: continuing a 30-day vanilla JavaScript course, picking up PHP, working on SVG animations, building some pure layout sites using various shiny new technologies (either ways of approaching responsiveness, load time or accessibility), working on some pure layout designs that have really tricky elements because they are beautiful, and working on some great full-workup UI sites for business just because. I will also look into picking up some sort of side hustle to generate some supplemental income. Goal 4: Other Life Shit Here is where I will work on all those other goals - starting with minimalism. Dog pics forthcoming.

Ok, so I have a terrible idea: I'm going to do my lifting workouts in January outside. I live in a small apartment with neighbors that sleep late and I don't want to be lifting in the house at 5 am moving furniture and otherwise making a rukus. I don't mind being outside in the winter and last January didn't prevent me from getting my runs done outside. To make matters worse my gym is under construction so the weight room is smaller than usual and everyone is using the boys' locker room which is half the size of the men's. That's going to suck with the new years resolutioners start coming in. I CAN do this I just don't know exactly WHAT I'm doing. That's where you guys come in. Any ideas for how to get weightlifting done in the cold outside? I figure if I follow some simple rules I'll be fine: Nothing under 10* F (same as when I run) Warm up indoors (same as when I run) Nothing that requires taking gloves off or fine motor skills (no changing weights on my dumbells for example) I have access to: Dumbbells (adjustable up to 50 lb single dumbbell) Several parks one has an outdoor circuit training, but I'll have to look if it's safe for winter one has a 1/4 mile track and a heavy athletics throwing area one is a few feet away from my apartment but it's basically just a small lawn with a path. Several field areas that probably aren't being cleared if it snows. A rucksack (my Xmas gift to myself) A hardware store and basic hand tools. I'm thinking something in the vein of the Scotland highland games might be a good idea. Maybe make some weights/kettlebells out of concrete and see if I can press or throw them? Load things into my rucksack and press that? Any ideas or thoughts would be welcome.

I wanna be the very best, like no one ever was I believe that I am ready to be my very best. I know what makes me feel and look my best, I just need to follow through. I'm taking my pokemon with me to give me some inspiration and companionship along the journey. ____________________________________________ Bulbasaur: 4 servings of fruits and vegetables every day Squirtle: 3 cups of water/herbal tea every day Charmander: Keep the metabolism fired up with 10k of walking/rucking every week Pikachu: 5 days of real sun or electric sun lamp (20 minutes) Gym Battle: Train for the Rainbow badge by completing 10 kettlebell workouts (following "Enter the Kettlebell") Pokemon Coins Bonus: No grains = 1/2 a coin Low sugar = 1/2 a coins 5 Coins = 100 PokeCoins on my PokemonGo game